Buddha’s ICH : connecting the intangible cultural heritage and place-context of Xingguo Temple, Yancheng, Jiangsu, China

Abstract

The intangible cultural heritage of Buddhism is a complete and lively cultural system that includes both the Buddhist system, rituals, and arts, and other elite cultures, as well as the daily life customs, festivals, and traditional techniques of many grassroots believers. The two are an indivisible unity. In China, almost every city has temples that the local people believe in, and various activities such as Buddhist rituals are held on time. Although Buddhism is respected by people and Buddhist activities are also considered to be valuable intangible cultural heritage, people seldom realize the close connection between them and the place where they occur. Only when they are protected as a whole can they be considered as a valuable asset to China’s real protection of material cultural heritage. In Funing County, Yancheng City of Jiangsu province, the most popular and oldest temple in the area is Zhenwu Temple. Zhenwu Temple was built during the Northern Song Dynasty, which was the peak of the cultural economy in Chinese history. The temple witnessed the prosperity of the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, Local Richman Liu Han funded the reconstruction of the temple; in the Qing Dynasty, the main hall was rebuilt in the 25th year of Daoguang; in the early years of Tongzhi, the temple was destroyed due to war; and in the eighth year of Guangxu, the Liu clan rebuilt it and changed the Taoist temple to a Buddhist temple and its name was changed to Xingguo Temple. Until now, Zhenwu Temple still holds a high status in the hearts of local people. On the first or fifteenth of each month of the lunar calendar and some traditional Buddhist festivals, the temple will hold religious activities, and people will also go to the temple to burn incense and pray for blessings. However, many Buddhist customs have been declining for various reasons, especially among young people. Many young people who believe in Buddhism do not understand the complicated procedures and etiquette of worshipping Buddha. The research will take Xingguo Temple in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province as an example to study the history of Buddhist temples and traditional Buddhist activities, as well as the relationship and significance between the two and to understand the ICH embodied in and specific to this place.