TITLE:
Diverging from Religious Practices and Embracing Folk Custom: The Festival Customs of Zoroastrianism in Chang’an during the Sui and Tang Dynasties
AUTHORS:
He Yang
KEYWORDS:
Zoroastrianism, Chang’an, Secularization
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Historical Studies,
Vol.13 No.3,
September
18,
2024
ABSTRACT: The spatial and temporal hub status of Chang’an in the Sui and Tang dynasties allowed foreign cultures to enter the core region of the empire and gradually take root, mutate, and even Sinicize, profoundly influencing the lives of the Chinese people at that time and in subsequent generations. Chang’an in the Sui and Tang dynasties was the first stop for Zoroastrianism to enter the core region of the empire, and there must have been demands from various sides. The Zoroastrianism that entered the Chinese mainland was significantly different from that in Central Asia, and in general, it was trending towards secularization, which manifested but was not limited to the tendency of the entertainment in SaiXian, the waning worship of the sacred fire, the localization of the prayer for utilitarianism and the prayer for rain. The shift was facilitated by the time, space, transmitters, audiences, performance context, social structure, and cultural traditions of Chang’an City and the process of Zoroastrianism dissemination.