Abstract:

Until 1960's a ritual performance focusing on the cult of Kengsan Maiden was prevalent in the Songjiang region, south of Shanghai. The performance consists of a complex sequence that unfolds itself like an embryonic dramatic form. There are four main steps: going out to meet the deity, showing veneration, to the deity, inviting the deity to act, and sending off the deity. In this regard the performance parallels other forms of popular veneration in China, where the gods are invited to come down, asked to carry out a particular ritual or magical action and then sent off with fanfare. In China deities are not considered to exist in one place all the time but to travel from place to place. The performance is at once a form of religious veneration, a source of entertainment, and an outlet for creative and emotional expression by young women who are the primary practitioners.

Key words: ritual performance, Kengsan Maiden, religious veneration