Cultural Co-Inheritance and Value Isomorphism: Multi-Role Interaction in the Tunpu Xiufu Ritual and the Local Construction of the Shared Spiritual Home of the Chinese Nation

Haoyuan Zheng; Zi Yang

doi:10.62177/chst.v3i3.1742

Authors

Haoyuan Zheng Kunming College of Arts and Sciences
Zi Yang Kunming College of Arts and Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62177/chst.v3i3.1742

Keywords:

Xiufu, Folk Belief, Multi-Role Interaction, Shared Spiritual Home of the Chinese Nation

Abstract

Xiufu (merit cultivation) is a women-centered folk belief tradition within Tunpu culture in central Guizhou. Based on fieldwork in Liuguan Township, Anshun, this study examines how Futou (female ritual leaders), Taoist priests, village elders' organizations, Dixi (local opera) troupes, spirit mediums, and ordinary believers interact across ritual practice, village governance, and cultural transmission, and how these interactions support cultural co-inheritance and value isomorphism. The findings show that Xiufu is not an isolated local "little tradition." Its historical formation reflects the coexistence of Confucian, Buddhist, Taoist, and shamanic elements, long-term interethnic exchange, and cross-regional religious networks. Its living transmission depends on differentiated ritual labor, dual-track collaboration in village affairs, and collective cultural work. The moral exhortation, sentiment of family and country, and collective affect conveyed through Fuge (blessing songs) and ritual practice connect local folk values with the common values of the Chinese nation, giving the shared spiritual home a concrete local form in central Guizhou. The case provides a micro-level perspective on how folk culture can contribute to forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation in multiethnic regions.

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