Shamanic Culture’s Reconnection of Earth and Heaven (Xu Ditiantong) in the New Era in China: The Dialectical Relationship between Material Civilization and Cultural Intimacy
Xiaoshuang Liu
Religions April 5, 2023 DOI: 10.3390/rel14040500 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that shamanic culture in China has re-emerged in a new form that adapts to official ideology without challenging it, functioning as a manifestation of "cultural intimacy." This new image helps practitioners address personal problems and express the sacred while maintaining a stable cooperative balance between government and folk practices. |
Abstract
Shamanic culture, which adheres to the worldview of connecting earth and heaven, has been marginalized in the discourse of the modern material world and separated from mainstream society. However, with the increase in personal problems in civil society and the rise of regional cultural identity since the reform and opening up in China, shamanic practitioners have again become active. Adapting to the official ideology, shamanic culture has emerged in China as a new form of folk culture and cultural heritage. Using Michael Herzfeld’s theory of “cultural intimacy” to a limited extent, this paper regards the new image of the shamanic tradition that has appeared in the new era as a manifestation of “cultural intimacy”, which does not infringe the authority of official discourse, nor damage the interests of government departments, and is in line with the imagination of official discourse about culture. Within the shaman cultural community, the shamanic tradition continues to connect earth and heaven, helping to solve difficult personal problems, alleviating the pressure of the material world, and at the same time making the sacred expression of the members of the shaman cultural community possible. In this way, the shaman tradition, which has emerged in a new image since the new era, has maintained the ecological balance between government and folk practices and formed a more stable pattern of cooperation.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |