Abstract

Ritual is an intermediate of the inherited and construction of religion tradition，and it also play an important role in the observed perspective of the local society. There are many ritual specialists in Chinese society and history whose ritual tradition deeply influenced by Taoist ritual tradition but do have there ritual tradition. The Shigongs（师公）who live in the center of Guangxi province are one of them. These ritual specialists play a key role in the ritual world of the country. The most important augment of this thesis is suggest that the inherited and construction of the Shigongs’ ritual tradition was affected by the competition in the ceremony market. In this case，Shigongs become the writers and performers of local culture that make the texts and ritual of Shigongs become the medium of the expression and construction of local culture.

This thesis studies on four groups of Shigongs in Shanglin county Guangxi province. This county was the transition zone of Tusi（土司）and Liuguan（流官）during the Ming-qing dynasty. There no evidence to prove that the education and economic of Shanglin were developed until the republic china. We can see that the ritual specialists who called Shigongs were provision ritual service as doctors in Qianlong dynasty. Unfortunately，we couldn’t fine any evidence to show that the Shigongs who still live in the country now were modeled by the Shigongs who lived in Qianlong. Their modeled pedigree can not trace earlier than the Guangxu dynasty. The Taoist specialists who also play an key role in the country ritual life were lived in the country in Jiaqing dynasty. Shigongs have to change their ritual texts and ritual process in order to deal with the challenge of Taoist specialists. In another way，Shigongs also cooperate with the Xianpoes（仙婆）during the ritual life.

In this context，Shigongs crate more ritual texts to show the important of their ritual. They also communicate with the audience trough the ritual. From the performance of the ritual texts and the process of the ritual，we can fine that Shigongs become actors rather than ritual specialists. People who live in the country were influenced by Shigongs’ ritual and texts. The story of Dongyong as an classic case of filial pity was becoming enlightenment in the ritual and normal life. In another way the cosmology of Shigongs are also influencing the audiences.

This thesis try to analysis the Shigongs’ texts trough the ritual context. The author believes that all the texts will meaningless unless we understand how important of them for Shigongs. And we also have to know how the Shigongs use them. In a word，the thesis believes that the Shigongs are dynamic individuals who take the ritual as the courses of practice. They always take their audiences as the most important element of the consideration. By this way，the local culture integrated into their ritual texts and ritual.

Keywords：Shigongs；Ritual Tradition；Local Culture；Shanglin Guangxi Province