The associations of good-doing () are organised groups of the

indigenous religion Indigenous religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being "indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the "world religions" and "new re ...

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province (河北民间宗教 ''Héběi mínjiān zōngjiào'' or 河北民间信仰 ''Héběi mínjiān xìnyǎng''), or the "Pear Area" of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The Congregation of the Dragon's Name (龙牌会 ''Lóngpái Huì'') is one of these movements of good-doers. Xinghaode associations organise temple festivals and pilgrimages for the worship of certain deities, as well as other types of collective activities. Their purpose is to make ''rènào'' (), that is "social living" or "social harmony".

Etymology

The designation of ''Xínghǎode'' (), literally "good-doers" or "those who act well", originated with the spread of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the Pear Area over the last two hundred years. Local Chinese following the native faith adopted the name in contrast with Catholics, who in the area were called ''Fèngjiàode'' (). Catholics nowadays remain less than 3% of the population of the Pear Area.

Cooperation with local shamans

In Hebei folk religion, people who have the ability to mediate with the gods are known as ''xiāngdàode'' (), "practitioners of the way of incense", and they cooperate with good-doing groups. The major ritual practice of ''xiangdaode'' is provide communities of good-doers with "incense reading" (看香 ''kànxiāng''), "incense watching" (瞧香 ''qiáoxiāng'') or "incense kindling" (打香 ''dǎxiāng''). They are mostly female and are also called by the general terms ''shénpó'' () or ''xiāngtóu'' (香頭 "incense heads"). In the Pear Area, one can acquire the ministry of the way of incense either through afflatus (or vocation, 仙根 ''xiāngēn'') or acquisition (ordination from another specialist). Often they claim that they are spiritual disciples (童儿 ''tónger'') of the

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, whose specialists operated in

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in the 1940s, thus connecting their practice with the shamanism of northeast China.

Deities

The deities (神 ''shén'') of good-doers are divided into two classes: * generated or natural gods (家神 ''jiāshén''), who are part of nature and produce concrete things. They can be pan-Chinese deities such as

Guandi Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

or uniquely local deities such as the goddess of the Nine Lotuses. * full gods (全神 ''quánshén''), who sustain the cosmos. They are gods of the three planes of the world (heaven, earth and the underworld). The Horse god (马神 ''Mǎshén'' or 马王 ''Mǎwáng'') has a particular importance in the religion of good-doers. Gods that are believed to be particularly powerful are dedicated independent worship halls (仙家堂 ''xiān jiā táng'') or altars (仙家坛 ''xiān jiā tán''), that often start from the house and congregation of popular ''xiangdaode'' (shamans).Yue, 2014. p. 76

References

Sources

* Zhiya Hua. ''Dragon's Name: A Folk Religion in a Village in South-Central Hebei Province''. Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2013. * Zhiya Hua.
Renao (Heat-noise), Deities’ Efficacy, and Temple Festivals in Central and Southern Hebei Province
'. On: ''Journal of Cambridge Studies''. Volume 8, No. 3-4, 2013. * Zhiya Hua.
Revitalization of Folk Religion in Contemporary China: A Case Study of Dragon Tablet Festival in Central and Southern Hebei Province
'. Department of Asian and International Studies, University of Hong Kong, 2011. * Yongyi Yue.
Holding Temple Festivals at Home of Doing-gooders: Temple Festivals and Rural Religion in Contemporary China
'. On: ''Cambridge Journal of China Studies'', Volume 9, No. 1, 2014.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xinghao De Chinese folk religion in Asia Religion in Hebei