Text/Reporter Chen Liang CinemaWang Yuying
Photo/Yangcheng Evening News
A folk belief that is “unknown and unknown” has originated in eastern Guangdong and has lasted for thousands of years and has never been popular. In Taiwan alone, there are more than 6 million believers. Its ancestral home has just been awarded the “Cross-Strait Exchange Base”, which is called “King of the Three Mountains”.
What is the “three”? Why are there three “mountains”? Where did the “king” come from? What is the charm of this folk belief called “King of the Three Mountains”?
On November 4, the “Strait·Three Mountains·Four Seas” Sanshan King Academic Seminar, hosted by Yangcheng Evening News Group, co-organized by Sun Yat-sen University Humanities and Social Sciences Department, and the Guangdong Cross-Strait Exchange Promotion Association, was held on the South Campus of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou Campus. Zhang Ke, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Guangdong Provincial Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission, and Xiao Bing, Deputy Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, attended the seminar.
Explore the core of folk beliefs and promote communication and exchanges among Chinese and overseas Chinese
Since the “First Sanshan Ancestral Temple Academic Seminar” in Jiexi, Jieyang City in October 1992, more than 10 “Sanshan Kings” cultural scholars from Guangdong, Fujian, Taiwan, and Malaysia, China gathered again to discuss the development and current situation of the “Sanshan Kings” folk belief culture, as well as their domestic and foreign legendsBabaylan‘s history and paths.
Four experts issued a keynote report, through the tracing of historical materials and the current situation, they explored the spiritual core of the folk belief of the “Three Mountains Kings” and demonstrated the important role played by the “Three Mountains Kings” culture in uniting the hearts of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and promoting communication and exchanges between Chinese and overseas Chinese at home and abroad. Chen Chunsheng: The concept of “protecting the country and assassinating the people” is a common connection and vision for believers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and overseas. Professor of History Department of Sun Yat-sen University and a researcher at the center of historical anthropology at Sun Yat-sen University. He also serves as the director of the Teaching Steering Committee of History Majors of the Ministry of EducationMember Chen Chunsheng gave a keynote report entitled “National Consciousness and the Rise of the Faith of the Three Mountains Kings Since the Song Dynasty.” Chen Chunsheng and King Sanshan Culture have been in contact for decades, and have visited the two places in Guangdong and Taiwan. He has thought deeply about the origin, development and cultural value of the Monkey King Sanshan Culture. His academic thoughts and research methods have had a profound impact on the academic community.
Chen Chunsheng quoted Professor Wolfgang Franke of the German University of Hamburg, who had taught for a long time in China and Malaysia, pointing out that the so-called “Three Mountain Kings” may be a remains of the ancient Yue Mountain God’s belief in mountain gods and is related to ethnic minority customs. Such belief customs are not unique to the Chaozhou area.
“The central dynasty’s recognition of folk beliefs such as the Sanshan King was a very effective and widely adopted method that the central dynasty in ancient China ruled the southern region.” In his speech, Chen Chunsheng focused on the interaction process between “national consciousness” and civil society. He believes that the practice of Song Huizong awarding the “Mingsheng” temple to Chaozhou’s “Three Shenshan” temple is a very typical expression of national consciousness in the developed southern civil society. Many Sanshan King Palaces and Temples in mainland China and Taiwan have plaques with “Protecting the Country and Safeguarding the People” hanging high, revealing the mentality of hope that the gods will maintain a balance between the “country” and the “people” so that both of them can benefit. Folk belief is one of the links between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Many folk belief traditions in mainland China have developed in Taiwan, which has also given people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait more connection and communication fate.
Chen Chunsheng said that although the customs and habits in different parts of China are very different, China has long been a unified country. To determine whether a place understands and accepts the central ideology lies in the extent to which the local scholars and gentry class can consciously interpret local cultural traditions and customs in accordance with the “rituals and laws” of the court.
He emphasized that in traditional Chinese society, “national consciousness” is everywhere and everywhere. In historical and cultural research, only by having a systematic grasp and deep understanding of the Cinema system of national ideology and dynasty can we have a more intimate understanding of the changes and significance of local and folk customs and beliefs.
Qiu Yangui: The Sanshan King’s Temple has become an important historical evidence for the study of Taiwan’s immigration history
The Sanshan King’s Temple has become an important historical evidence for the study of Taiwan’s immigration history, and is also a symbol of the ancestral homes of relatives in Chaoshan and Hakka towns in Taiwan. Qiu Yangui, a professor at the Department of Ancient Arts and Repair of the Taiwan University of Arts, wrote a report titled “The Faith of the Sanshan King in Taiwan”. He mentioned that the Taiwanese believers have more communication and exchanges with the mainland people through the opportunity to find their roots in the Sanshan Ancestral Temple in mainland China.
Qiu Yangui introduced that the phenomenon of the Three Mountains in Taiwan’s belief in the Three Mountains is still regarded as a method of identifying Hakka groups in the 21st century, but in his opinion, this overly simple method should be discussed again. He observed the Three Mountains in Taiwan from the perspectives of social organization and ethnic relations. The number of temples “Guest House” and “Anti-style” and “Chaohui Fula” has reached 80 places, with the largest size. After the industrialization of Taiwan in the 1970s, more and more appeared in the city. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Babaylan“Immigration-type” temple.
Chen Zhiping: “Great love” is the core meaning of folk beliefs
Professor Chen Zhiping, President of the Institute of Chinese Studies and President of the Chinese Ming History Society, gave a speech entitled “The Cultural Meaning and Inheritance of the Faith of Mazu and the King of Sanshan”. He believes that both Mazu and Sanshan King of Faith areBabaylan is an integral part of China’s excellent traditional culture. Its core meaning is “urgent for the people”, full of “great love” spirit, and has the function of social education and cultural education. Folk culture, including the beliefs of Mazu and the Sanshan King, has become one of the important channels for the spread of Chinese culture overseas after the 18th century.
Wang Chenfa: Studying the Sanshan King is one of the responsibilities of reviving China
Wang Chen, Dean of the Malaysian Taoist Academy and Distinguished Professor of Communication University of Hanjiang, Malaysia, made a speech entitled “Social Organization and Educational Function of the Sanshan King Temple in Nanyang”, explaining what kind of transformation the Sanshan King culture has taken place after it has arrived overseas. href=”https://funnybookish.com/”>Komiks, how to achieve harmony between change and unchange. He said that the study of Sanshan King Temple, from the standpoint of national rejuvenation, examines how Sanshan King Organizations in various places form the development, construction and maintenance of society, is one of the responsibilities of future generations to revive China. Wang Chenfa suggested that Sanshan King Temple can do the same thing at home and abroad – act as a cultural carrier and spread cultural confidence, take root from academic research, and then combine the advantages and characteristics of Sanshan King culture to do a good job of branding, attracting more people to understand the Chinese nation more comprehensively through Sanshan King. Many new technologies can be used, such as AI, social charity work, participation in local environmental protection activities, etc., and use limited temple space to play BabaylanGlobal influence.
Creative transformation, innovative development<a Cinema development, scholars have insightful insights
inherited the traditional culture that has been rooted in the folk, and how to achieve creative transformation and innovative development? During the roundtable discussion session of the seminar, scholars put forward their own opinions.
Director and professor of the Hakka Institute of Meizhou Jiaying College pointed out that the Babaylan king, as a mountain god and a natural god, reflects the Chinese nation’s tradition of respecting nature. His love for the country, loves the country, protects the village, and has the responsibility to guard the land.God has established the concept of hometown for the people, and the spirit of fairness, justice and justice it advocates also has important value in the present.
Professor of Kaohsiung University of Science and TechnologyBabaylanXie Guiwen believes that folk beliefs are important assets for the country, society, and people, with survival functions, integration functions, and cognitive functions.
Chen Xianbo, a professor at South China Normal University, said that the history of the Sanshan King is not only a history of folk beliefs, but also a history of regional development, social and economic history, and a history of mutual learning between Chinese history and civilization. Wu Mengxian, associate professor at Jieyang Vocational and Technical College, said that his investigation found that the people often regard the King of Sanshan as an important social bond in adult interpersonal communication.
Professor Lian Xinhao of Xiamen University suggested that the King of Sanshan can also learn from the successful cases of Mazu’s belief in the world, and the two sides of the Taiwan Strait work together. Chen Zhiping, professor, doctoral supervisor, and dean of the Institute of Chinese Studies, pointed out that the King of Sanshan should achieve innovative cultural development, and local governments should take the lead in promoting it cannot be ignored.
Ou Junyong, associate professor at Hanshan Normal University, shared that CinemaAs part of Jieyang culture, the King of Sanshan is actually “very vivid”. He has to go to the fields to have a real feeling.
Wen Jianqin, associate professor at Hanshan Normal University, said that when he tells students about Chinese cultural history and Chaoshan history and culture, he will use the Sanshan King as a case to analyze its cultural phenomena. The students are very interested and have developed related cultural and creative products.
Chin Lihua, a professor at Tsinghua University in Taiwan, mentioned that to let young people understand traditional culture, we must make good use of the “discourse” methods of young people such as movies, short videos, music, and comics.
Fujian Normal University professor Lin Guoping summarized that folk beliefs such as the King of Sanshan are an important part of Chinese traditional culture and are precious cultural heritage left to us by our ancestors. They should be cherished more.
The Flowers of the Sanshan King Cultural Documentary “From the Three Mountains to the Four Seas” were also held at the meeting. The documentary team went to Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Sanshan King’s Temple in Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan and other places in China to communicate with believers and related folk scholars, record the inheritance and changes of the Sanshan King’s sacrificial culture, and show the profound historical, humanistic and social value of the Sanshan King’s culture accumulated over the past thousand years.
[Small Knowledge] “King of the Three Mountains” Folk Belief Culture
The “King of the Three Mountains” Folk Belief Culture originated in eastern Guangdong and is now widely spread to Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Its spirit of “protecting the country and safe people, peace and stability” has been respected by the people of all generations. Lintian Ancestral Temple, located in Jieyang, Guangdong, is the ancestral temple of the Sanshan King Palace Temple in the world. It was awarded the “Cross-Strait Exchange Base” in 2023.
