What is the definition of folk culture?

What is the definition of folk culture? Folklore is a culture that depends on people's life, habits, feelings and beliefs.

Due to the collectivity of folk culture, in the final analysis, folk culture promotes social consistency. Folk culture strengthens national identity, strengthens national spirit and shapes national character, which is the core element of folk custom formation.

On the Definition of Intangible Cultural Heritage

The definition of intangible cultural heritage is a controversial issue in academic circles in recent years. In the past, there didn't seem to be much doubt about this question. Because before this, China folklore scholars or folk culture circles have been using the concepts of folklore, folk culture, folk culture and national folk culture. Now an academic name of "intangible cultural heritage" has suddenly appeared, and this term has become very fashionable. Many universities and research institutions have changed their names, established intangible cultural heritage research institutes and intangible cultural heritage research centers, and some have proposed to establish intangible cultural heritage disciplines. In fact, in my opinion, this is a new style, a fashion label. As in previous years, anthropology has become hot, and many disciplines keep up with the situation, such as anthropology sociology, anthropology ethnology, anthropology folklore and so on. People cannot help asking, what are these subjects? Whether it is sociology, ethnology or folklore, is it necessary to join anthropology to strengthen its facade? After all, we are all a little guilty and lack confidence in these subjects. I dare not admit that folklore or folk culture is an independent subject. Intangible cultural heritage actually refers to folk culture and folk culture that we used to be familiar with and study. The concepts of "intangible cultural heritage" and "folk custom" and "folk culture" can be replaced with each other.

Some people think that the concept of intangible cultural heritage is richer and broader than the concepts of folklore and folk culture. I don't think so. On the contrary, "folklore" and "folk culture" are more widely studied than intangible cultural heritage. A simple truth is that folklore studies not only intangible cultural heritage, but also material cultural heritage. Material folklore, social folklore and spiritual folklore are all the objects of folklore research. This view does not contradict the spirit of UNESCO's Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Declaration on Cultural Diversity.

From 65438 to 0989, the Proposal on Protecting Traditional Culture and Folk Creation adopted by the 25th General Conference of UNESCO in Paris mentioned "traditional culture and folk creation". The Declaration on the Representative Works of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Mankind adopted the expression "oral and intangible heritage". Is this expression different from "folk creation" and "traditional folk culture"? It can be said that the content is exactly the same. It seems that "intangible cultural heritage" and the traditional concept of "folk custom" in China are completely interchangeable. If we look at the objects of oral and intangible cultural heritage again, we can better explain this problem. The Declaration of Representative Representatives of Human Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage issued by UNESCO mentioned the definition of oral and intangible heritage: "Oral and intangible heritage refers to all creations from a certain cultural group, based on tradition, expressed by a certain group or some individuals, and considered to meet the expectations of the group. As the expression of their cultural and social identity, their norms and values are passed down orally through imitation or other means. Its forms include: language, literature, music, dance, games, myths, etiquette, habits, handicrafts, architectural arts and other arts. In addition, it also includes traditional forms of contact and information. " Obviously, this definition includes all material and intangible folk culture or folk culture handed down from people. The difference is that the creator of this culture, that is, the creative subject of intangible cultural heritage, is much broader than what we used to call "people" (mainly farmers and citizens).

The definition of academic concepts has always been a complex issue. The development of folklore has a history of 100 years. There are dozens of definitions of "folk custom", which one do we insist on? It is necessary to define the concept, but the research should not only start from the concept, but also from the reality.

What are the definitions and differences of national culture, folk culture and traditional culture? National culture refers to the inherent culture of a nation and cannot go beyond the scope of that nation.

Folk culture refers to the popular cultural elements in all ethnic groups, not limited to ethnic minorities.

Traditional culture refers to all kinds of cultures, arts and so on, which have been passed down from ancient times to the present, and is not limited to ethnic groups.

The difference between folk custom and folk culture is online. The website can't be posted, which forced me to post the landlord's "stealing".

Long Zaitian Ya, Bo, Ke,

Folklore has a long history in China and even the whole world. The widespread existence of folk customs plays a great role in regulating society and people's behavior. In our country, if the "wind" in the Book of Songs is regarded as the great significance and function of people to folk customs, it has a history of more than two thousand years. If it is counted from the time when there is no written record, the history is longer. Although folk customs are very old, there is no unified concept about what is folk customs.

Folk culture is not only the culture of advanced nationalities, but also the culture of backward nationalities. When it inherits folk culture, it is particularly interested in the broadest masses of the people. It is not only a culture handed down from generation to generation, but also develops slowly in modern life, affecting real life. Folk culture is not all-encompassing and mysterious, but is embodied in people's daily life in the form of people's behavior and oral expression. It is a series of material and spiritual cultural phenomena formed by ordinary people (relative to officials) in their production and life. It has universality, inheritance and variability. The reason why folk culture has the functions of strengthening national identity, strengthening national spirit and shaping national character is that its core element, folklore, has been observed, repeatedly demonstrated and constantly implemented.

Please adopt it conveniently.

The topic of folk culture is the spread of a national culture.

The difference between custom culture and folk culture: custom and folk custom. The obvious difference between the four is that custom only exists in individuals or families. Folk custom generally refers to a large-scale fashion that suddenly rises among the people. Because the popularity of fashion is large enough, customs have been formed, which contain the commonness and particularity between local nationalities. Finally, these are called folk culture.

For example:

I'm used to setting off firecrackers on New Year's Day. Some people dance and sing, but no one around me.

People from all over the country found it interesting to do so and began to dance and sing.

It is customary for these people not only to drum and sing, but also to dance with their female companions, and to let the younger generation learn to pass on.

When people in other places see it, they learn to imitate it, pass it on, and add understanding from different places.

Folklore younger generations inexplicably sang and danced for many years. Although they questioned the hype, no one gave up doing so.

Bad habits and customs eventually accumulate in today's smog. Everyone found that this was not good for personal health, so they reprimanded it and criticized it on a large scale.

The understanding theme of folk culture: the understanding and concept of folk culture

Text: My understanding and thoughts can't be described in words. I hope the teacher will forgive me.

Mystery of folk culture: common objects in people's lives. Such as: "Two wings and one tooth, if you don't walk, you can only crawl, and you are born to care about injustice and spit flowers" (airplane), "My mother's house is green and haggard when I go to her husband's house, and I always cry when I can't bring anything up" (penny)

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Look at knots, touch no knots, cold at both ends and hot in the middle "(calendar). This riddle uses the ambiguity and pun of words to describe the characteristics of things and hide them. Festivals are not only festivals of solar terms, but also festivals. Solar terms are invisible, but we can see 24 solar terms a year in the calendar. At the two ends of the year (the beginning and the end of the year), the weather is cold, and the summer in the middle is of course hot.

The characters on the puzzle are buckled with answers, some with one word, some with multiple words, and some with multiple words. For example, Wang Chuan (performing a Kunqu Opera: Fifteen Levels) is commonly known as "Fifteen Levels", and "Wear" and "Guo" are synonymous, which are deducted as "Fifteen Levels" respectively.

Fly down three thousands of feet (four families) mountains, water, Jingpo and Zhuang.

What do you know about Mongolia's past?

Stop talking about (beating two ethnic groups) and hiding.

All the guests are Naxi.

Transplant (plant three families) seedlings and return them to the soil.

All fields are planted with jade (three families), and the soil is full and white.

This riddle is not easy to find. There's only so much.

The Origin and Legend of Tomb-Sweeping Day

The traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day in China began in the Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,500 years. Tomb-Sweeping Day is first of all a very important solar term. As soon as Tomb-Sweeping Day arrives, the temperature rises, which is a good season for spring ploughing and planting. Therefore, there is a saying that "melons and beans are planted before and after Qingming". Agricultural proverb "Planting trees is not as clear as Qingming". Later, as the days of Qingming and cold food approached, cold food was the day when people banned fire to sweep graves. Gradually, cold food and Qingming became one, and cold food became another name of Qingming and became a custom of Qingming. On Qingming Day, there are no fireworks, only cold food.

There is a legend about cold food:

According to legend, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Jin Xiangong's concubine killed the prince in order to let her son inherit the throne, and Shen Sheng was forced to commit suicide. Shen Sheng's younger brother, Zhong Er, went into exile to escape the scourge. During his exile, Zhong Er suffered humiliation. Most of the courtiers who went out with him went out one after another. Only a few loyal people have been following him. One of them is called meson push. On one occasion, Zhong Er fainted from hunger. In order to save Zhong Er, Jiezitui cut a piece of meat from his leg, cooked it with fire and gave it to Zhong Er. Nineteen years later, Zhong Er returned to China and became the monarch, that is, Jin Wengong, one of the famous five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period.

After Jin Wengong came to power, in addition to meson push, he offered many rewards to courtiers who shared his joys and sorrows. Someone defended meson in front of Jin Wengong. Jin Wengong suddenly remembered the past and felt guilty. He immediately sent someone to ask meson to take the imperial court to be rewarded as an official. However, after several trips, the meson could not be pushed. Jin Wengong had to please. However, when Jin Wengong came to the meson pusher's house, he saw that the door was closed. Jiezitui didn't want to see him, and had already been hiding in Mianshan (now southeast of Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province) behind his mother's back. Jin Wengong asked his body guard to search Mianshan, but he couldn't find it. So, someone had an idea, saying, it is better to let Yamakaji go, set fire on three sides, leave one side, burn it and the meson will come out. Jin Wengong ordered the promotion of Yamakaji. Unexpectedly, the fire burned for three days and nights. After the fire was put out, the meson was not pushed out after all. Looking up the mountain, the mother and son were holding a charred willow tree and were dead. Jin Wengong looked at meson push's body and cried for a while. Then I buried the body and found that the back of meson push was blocked by a willow hole, as if there was something. Take out a look, turned out to be a skirt, with a blood poem:

I hope your master is always clear.

It is better to be a ghost than to accompany you as an exhorter.

If your master has me in his heart, remember that I often reflect.

I have a clear conscience in Jiuquan, diligent and honest.

Jin Wengong hid the bloody book in his sleeve. Then meson tui and his mother were buried under the charred willow tree. In order to commemorate Jiexiu, Jin Wengong ordered Mianshan to be changed to Jiexiu Mountain, and an ancestral temple was built on the mountain, and the day when Yamakaji was released was designated as the Cold Food Festival, telling the whole country to ban fireworks every year and only eat cold food.

When he left, he cut a charred willow and made a pair of clogs in the palace. He looked at it every day and sighed, "What a pity." The "first step" is the name of ancient people's subordinates respecting each other between superiors or peers, which is said to come from it.

The following year, Jin Wengong led his ministers to go hiking in plain clothes to show their respect and condolences. Walking to the grave, I saw the dead old willow tree resurrected, with thousands of green branches dancing in the wind. Jin Wengong looked at the resurrected old willow tree and seemed to see the meson push. He walked up to him respectfully, lovingly squeezed a branch, braided it into a circle and put it on his head. After the sacrifice, Jin Wengong named the revived old willow "Qingming Willow" and named it Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Later, Jin Wengong often took a bloody book with him as a souvenir, urging himself to take power. He is diligent and honest, and strives to govern the country well.

Since then, the people of Jin have been able to live and work in peace and contentment, and they are very nostalgic for Jietui, who has made outstanding contributions and is not looking for wealth. On the day of his death, it is forbidden to set off fireworks in memory of him. It is also made of flour and jujube paste, kneaded into the shape of a swallow, strung with wicker and inserted in the door to summon his soul. This thing is called "pushing swallows" (also called intermediary pushing). Since then, cold food and Qingming have become grand festivals for the people of the whole country. Whenever there is cold food, people don't make a fire to cook, but only eat cold food. In the north, people only eat cold food prepared in advance, such as jujube cakes and wheat cakes. In the south, there are mostly green balls and glutinous rice and sugar lotus roots. Every time I go to Tomb-Sweeping Day, people put wicker in a circle and put wicker branches in front of the house to show their memory.

In March and April, when spring is bright, pink and green, one of the most important festivals in China's traditional customs is Tomb-Sweeping Day. Tomb-Sweeping Day is now a national grave-sweeping festival. According to Sunday, it is around April 5, and according to the lunar calendar, it is the first half of March. The ancients divided a year into 24 solar terms and used this calendar to sow and harvest. Qingming is one of the twenty-four solar terms, fifteen days after the vernal equinox. According to the saying of "always asking questions": "Everything is long, clean and bright at this time. So it is called Qingming. " Therefore, "Tomb-Sweeping Day" was originally a solar term. Later, the custom of forbidding cold food and fire and beating graves was added, and Tomb-Sweeping Day was formed.

Originally, the Cold Food Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day were two different festivals. In the Tang Dynasty, the day of sweeping graves was designated as the Cold Food Festival. The day of the Cold Food Festival is the first day from winter to the future 105, around Qingming, so Qingming and the Cold Food Festival are combined!

The custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors in front of graves originated in China very early. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, people attached great importance to tombs. Mencius' article about Qi people in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period also mentioned a ridiculed Qi person, who often went to the tomb of Dongguo to beg and offer sacrifices to the tomb. However, slapping tombs was very popular during the Warring States period. When he arrived in Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Xia Shao designated the cold food tomb as one of the "five rites" at that time. Therefore, whenever Tomb-Sweeping Day comes, "the fields and roads are full of scholars and women, and servants and beggars are given their parents' graves." (Liu Zongyuan's Book with Xu Jingzhao) Grave sweeping has become an important social custom.

In the cold winter, it is forbidden to make a fire to eat cold food, for fear that some old, weak women and children can't stand the cold. In order to prevent cold food and cold food from harming their health, outdoor activities such as hiking, outing, swinging, playing football, playing polo, inserting willows, tug of war, fighting cocks, etc. They are all set up to let everyone come out to bask in the sun, exercise their bones and muscles and increase their resistance. Therefore, in addition to ancestor worship and grave-sweeping, there are various outdoor fitness activities in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which make this festival not only have emotional appeal, but also have a joyful atmosphere of spring outing. There are both sad and sour tears in Where Are You Going, and vivid and bright scenes everywhere. This is really a very special festival.

It is one of the 24 solar terms in China. Because the 24 solar terms objectively reflect the changes of temperature, rainfall and phenology throughout the year, ancient working people used them to arrange agricultural activities. Huainanzi? Astronomical training says: "On the 15th day after the vernal equinox, the bucket refers to B, and the Qingming wind is coming." According to the centenarian question, "everything grows clean and bright at this time." So it's called Qingming. "As soon as Qingming arrives, the temperature rises and the rainfall increases, which is a good time for spring ploughing and spring planting. Therefore, there is an agricultural proverb that "before and after Qingming, point melons and plant beans" and "planting trees is not as good as Qingming". It can be seen that this solar term is closely related to agricultural production.

However, Qingming, as a festival, is different from pure solar terms. Solar terms are symbols of phenological changes and seasonal order in China, while festivals contain certain customs and activities, which have certain commemorative significance.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional festival in China, and it is also the most important festival to worship ancestors and sweep graves. Grave-sweeping is commonly known as going to the grave and offering sacrifices to the dead. Most Han people and some ethnic minorities visit graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

According to the old custom, when sweeping graves, people should bring food, wine, fruit, paper money and other items to the cemetery, offer food to the graves of their loved ones, then burn the paper money, cultivate new soil for the graves, break some green branches and insert them in front of the graves, then kowtow and worship, and finally go home after eating and drinking. The poem Qingming written by Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "There are many rains during the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls. Ask local people where to buy wine? The shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village. " Write about the special atmosphere in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, according to the solar calendar, between April 4th and 6th every year, it is the season of beautiful spring and lush vegetation, and it is also a good time for people to have a spring outing (called outing in ancient times), so the ancients had the custom of going for an outing in Qingming and carrying out a series of sports activities.

To this day, the custom of worshipping ancestors and mourning the dead relatives in Tomb-Sweeping Day is still very popular.

Grave-sweeping in Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival custom related to funeral customs. According to records, in ancient times, "tombs were not graves", that is to say, only graves were dug and graves were not built, so sacrifices were not recorded. Later, graves and graves, the custom of offering sacrifices to sweep graves, were supported. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, tomb sacrifice has become an indispensable ritual activity.

According to the biography of Yan Yannian in the Han Dynasty, although Yan is thousands of miles away from Beijing, her family will still return to the East China Sea Tomb in Qingming. Yan Yannian's behavior is reasonable in terms of the development and strengthening of ancestor worship and consanguinity consciousness of China people. Therefore, the tomb sacrifices that were not included in the norms in ancient times were also included in the Five Rites: "It is appropriate for a scholar to go to the grave and be included in the Five Rites, and it will always be a routine." With the official affirmation, the wind of tomb sacrifice is bound to prevail.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is a festival in memory of ancestors. The main memorial ceremony is to sweep the grave, which is a concrete embodiment of being cautious in pursuing the future, caring for the family and filial piety. Based on the above significance, Tomb-Sweeping Day has become an important festival for China people.

Tomb-Sweeping Day is at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, that is, after the winter solstice 106 days. Grave-sweeping activities are usually held 10 days before or 10 days after Tomb-Sweeping Day. Some people in their hometown have been sweeping graves for a month.

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When it comes to Tomb-Sweeping Day, people with a little knowledge of history will associate it with the historical figure meson tui. According to historical records, in the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,000 years ago, Zhong Er, the son of the State of Jin, fled and lived a hard life. Follow his meson and cut a piece of meat from his leg to satisfy his hunger. Later, Zhong Er returned to the State of Jin and became a monarch (that is, Jin Wengong, one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period). He rewarded all his followers who followed him into exile, but meson refused to accept the reward. He took his mother to Mianshan and refused to come out.

Jin Wengong was at his wit's end, so he had to let Yamakaji go. He thought that meson tui would be filial to his mother and would definitely come out with her. Who knows this torch meson mother and son burned to death. In order to commemorate Jie Zitui, Jin Wengong ordered that no fire should be lit on this day every year, and every household can only eat cold food, which is the origin of the Cold Food Festival.

Cold Food Festival is the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day. The ancients often extended the activities of the Cold Food Festival to Qingming. Over time, people combine cold food with Qingming. Now Tomb-Sweeping Day has replaced the Cold Food Festival, and the custom of worshipping Jietui has become the custom of sweeping graves in Tomb-Sweeping Day.

Commemorative way

Tomb-Sweeping Day commemorates his ancestors in many ways:

Grave-sweeping is the earliest custom in Tomb-Sweeping Day, which continues to this day and is gradually simplified with the progress of society. On the day of grave-sweeping, the descendants first pruned the graves of their ancestors and the weeds around them, and then offered food and flowers.

As the cremation of human remains is becoming more and more common, the custom of sweeping graves is gradually replaced by the way of offering sacrifices to ancestors with ashes.

Chinese Singaporeans also set up a main card for the dead in the temple, and the temple has thus become a place to worship ancestors in Qingming.

On that day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, some families also worshipped their ancestors at home.

On this day in Tomb-Sweeping Day, you can bow silently in front of ancestors' graves, places where ashes are placed or temples.

No matter what form of commemoration, the most basic ceremony in Tomb-Sweeping Day is to remember the ancestors in front of the grave, where the ashes are placed or in front of the coffin. In order to make the ceremony of commemorating ancestors more meaningful, we should let the younger generation of family members know about the past struggle history of our ancestors.

What is the unique function of folk culture? Folk culture is a force of social integration, which can be combined with all aspects of daily life. As a cohesive force to maintain society, folk culture can not only serve as a vertical historical link, but also connect social members in different spaces. Compared with modern institutionalized social control, this kind of soft binding force based on informal rules is also very powerful. The social integration power of folk culture also lies in that it can provide a foundation for social transformation.

What is the principle of promoting folk culture? Seek truth from facts .. No exaggeration, no copy mechanically.