“各族皆有家神”——以湘潭阳塘龙王信仰与周氏宗族建构为中心

Dragon Belief and Lineage Development of the Yangtang Zhou Lineage in Xiangtan County,Hunan

湖南湘潭阳塘的龙王信仰,作为周氏宗族的家神信仰,与宗族建构密切相关,其发展变化的背后具有深刻的地域社会文化脉络。龙王信仰在周氏族人记忆中是明初周氏始迁祖从江西带来的,由周氏族人轮流奉祀,是周氏宗族早期建构的重要文化符号。雍正初年,周氏宗族编修族谱、修建宗祠、举行祭祖仪式,宗族制度自此成为占有经济资源、展示历史渊源和社会地位的主要方式。晚清以降,周氏宗族通过经管老龙神庙愈益体现其在地域社会文化的中心地位。龙王信仰对于地域宗族和社会结构一直具有不可替代的文化意涵。

The case on Zhou lineage living around the Yangtang village of Xiangtan County shows that the dragon belief is not only connected with the environment and agricultural production, also firmly rooted in the social, cultural and historical context. In the memory of local villagers, the＂ dragon belief was brought from Jiangxi by their first ancestor immigrating into Xiang- tan in the early Ming, and has been worshiped by moving the idols from household to household in the Zhou lineage. Zhou line- age has been building and repairing their ancestral hall, and editing lineage documents since 18th century. Lineage ritual be- came the main ritual of Zhou lineage to present their history and social position in the local society. Members from Zhou lineage set up a temple to worship the dragon belief in the late Qing Dynasty, and stress their sound in the territory further more through their charge in the temple. Dragon belief has always been an irreplaceable cultural marker for territorial social structure.