The village community in the southeast of Shanxi originated in Sui and Tang dynasties,last-ed for a thousand years,experienced several transformations of Song,Jin and Yuan dynasties,and entered a period of development and stability in the Qing Dynasty.In the Qing Dynasty,the spatial layout of the vil-lage community centered on the Shemiao was basically formed,which was an important prerequisite and guarantee for the implementation of the village community system.The frequent ritual of offering sacrifices to the gods of the community objectively played a role in the cultural and psychological construction of gath-ering the community and people,and also established the responsibility of the village community organiza-tion and the authority of Sheshou in the ceremony.Both the democratic selection of Sheshou,Shefen system based on the expropriation of land and even the social regulation system detailed to all aspects of villagers'lives were perfected during this period.After the Qianlong Dynasty,the village community in southeast Shanxi developed from a disorderly custom into a local autonomy system with strict organization and norms.In the construction of Shemiao and the formation of village community system,the gentry,as the head of the four occupations,found an orthodox theoretical basis for it.They endowed the village community with the ancient thought of"previous kings constructed the She"and"She derived from Mu",and set up an orthodox image with"education by Gods and ghosts".This conscious or unconscious theoretical characterization also became an important driving force for the rapid development of village community system in southeast Shanxi in Qing Dynasty.
village communitySai She offers sacrificesto GodsShefenGentrya community of villages
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