Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Also available in print.

Thesis (PhD--History)--University of Auckland, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis presents an account of a sociological research project exploring funeral practices in Stornoway, Inverness and Edinburgh carried out during 2007.  While practices are rooted in Scotland’s Presbyterian past, changes have been occurring over the past decades, and the project explored these changes from the perspective of the reflexive individual and detraditionalisation as described by Giddens (1990, 1991, 1996).  Practices in Stornoway remain traditional, with funeral worship that focuses on God, and community involvement in the conduct of the funeral.  On the mainland, however, funerals show signs of detraditionalisation and personalisation which frequently occur at the suggestion of funeral professionals employed.  This happens through a focus on the deceased during the funeral, commonly through the inclusion of a tribute to the deceased and the playing of music the deceased liked.  The research was carried out using qualitative methods, and involved participant observation at four funerals and the analysis of documents such as <i>In Memoriam</i> notices.  The main research technique employed however was unstructured interviews, involving ministers of religion, humanist funeral celebrants, funeral directors, crematorium staff and a small number of bereaved individuals who had arranged funerals.  Bereaved informants were recruited with the sensitivity of the topic firmly in mind, and the ethical stance taken was informed by the British Sociological Association’s guidelines on ethical practice.

秦漢時代的國家制度和意識形態對後世影響深遠，而祭祀制度是國家制度的重要組成部份，也代表了國家所倡導的思想規範。地方祭祀包括地方政府主導的官方祭祀和民衆自發的信仰活動，是國家禮儀制度和社會風俗信仰的交叉地帶。秦漢的國家祭祀體系隨著統一的深入發生了從覆蓋全國的神祠到集中於南北郊的改革，儒家思想確立為主流意識形態；地方祠祀在此過程中的地位升降和面貌變化成為國家禮制和意識形態變動、確立的一個標誌。 / 以天地日月、社稷五穀、自然現象、物怪神怪等為對象的地方祠祀與山川祭祀、人神祭祀共同構成了地方祭祀的圖景。山川神具有求雨、保護神、個人禱祀等不同面向的作用；地方官員對山川祭祀的參與、利用與反對，則是政治需求與社會實際的影響。人神祭祀的信仰對象包括先王仁人、地方名人、神仙和厲鬼等，人神祭祀的性質多存在轉換，官方祭祀與民間信仰互相吸收和借鑑；地方官員鼓勵地方賢人祭祀，反對妖巫祭祀，作為實施教化的手段。 / 地方政府的祭祀是國家制度的一部分，中央機關也對地方政府的祠祀有監管作用。隨著國家祭祀的成立與變革，地方祭祀在國家祭祀中的地位先升後降，官方祭祀和民間信仰在地方祠祀處交會，東漢時期的地方祭祀有許多呈現官方和民間相結合的特徵。儒家式國家禮制的成立使得祀典與淫祀有了明確的邊界，但是這一界線受到經濟、社會等多種因素的影響，存在著相當的彈性。「禮俗合一」是儒家式的社會理想，士人試圖通過對地方祭祀的管理實施教化，移風易俗；但是祭祀活動的實踐與諸多現實因素有關，還有個人與偶然因素的作用，社會信仰始終包含多重屬性，以「禮俗合一」為理想，卻始終多種社會意識並存，成為中國古代社會的重要特徵。 / As the beginning of a united empire, Qin and Han Dynasties had established the elementary state institution for dynasties hereafter. Qin and Han Dynasties absorbed and reconciled various religious traditions, including religions of all social classes and different regions in their efforts to set up a sacrificial system; and then turned to a Confucian-oriented sacrificial system with the reverence for Confucianism. Local cults, containing popular beliefs and sacrificial practice of local governments, stood in the overlapped place of state sacrificial system and popular beliefs, therefore the shifts of status and sacrificial practice of local cults can be a representative of the settlement of official ritual system. / Miscellaneous Gods were worshiped throughout the empire. The groundwork of this research is to investigate the existence of different kinds of local cults and the sacrificial practices. Worship to mountains and rivers were indispensable in both official religion and popular belief, and all levels of sacrifices had multiple functions in local society. The approval or opposition of sacrificial ceremonies by local officials mostly depended on social reality. Human gods accounted for a large part in local cults, who were worshiped in different motivation and social surroundings. The proportion of respectable officials and moral models increased in Later Han, for they were encouraged for the ethic function to rectify the customs and achieve the indoctrination of Confucianism. / Sacrifices to mountains and rivers and human gods in local society stretched across orthodox ritual and popular belief, but the boundary of the two traditions were in alteration all the time, which was largely affected by economic and political factors; and despite the officials and Confucian scholars tried to revise the sacrificial practices in local society, sacrifices to local cults were always contained multiple characters. "Corresponding custom to ritual" was the ideal social order, which officials struggled to approach but never actually achieved. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 李玥凝. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 408-428). / Abstracts also in English. / Li Yuening.

筆者在徽州田野考察時，發現當地人常表達出兩套關於祖先的觀念：第一，徽州人的祖先，就是神明；第二，即使祖先和神明身份重疊，當地人卻能清楚分辨祭於祠堂的祖先，和祭於廟宇的祖先，不會混淆祭祀的場所。這兩套觀念，其實表達出徽州人在宋明間祖先形象的變化。箇中的變化並不單純是「祖先」、「神明」此等稱謂的改變，而是一套與王朝政策息息相關的祭祖儀式漸漸出現。 / 自南宋遷都杭州後，徽州的地位在宋朝政府變得非常重要，冊封徽州地方神明這套禮儀是王朝與地方建立關係的重要手段。同時，這些受王朝賜封神號和廟額的神明，亦被視為徽州人的祖先，供奉在廟宇，享受地方信眾的香火和經濟捐贈；元朝時期徽州士人開始流行以譜系追溯遠祖，這套文字方式將神明祖先及其後裔一代一代的聯繫起來，但卻不見於應用在祭祀儀式上；到了明朝，政府推行的戶籍登記以及後來的賦役改革，迫使地方社會要仔細劃分神廟祭祀和祠堂祭祀，否則難以確保祭祀場所和祭產的擁有權。 / 盡管在祠堂祭祀祖先的儀式在明朝中葉普及起來，但並不表示神明祭祀的傳統因而消失，所以在徽州地方社會上，同時存在著在廟宇祭祀神明祖先的禮儀和在祠堂祭祀宗族祖先的禮儀。 / 筆者的研究方法，是以歷史人類學的視野，結合歷史學對時間變遷的敏感和人類學對地方社會的細膩觀察，利用族譜、碑文、地方志、文集和田野考察所得的資料，重構徽州地方社會這段獨特的發展，展示出徽州人對祖先的理解，如何由神明拉近至放在村內祠堂祭祀的木主。 / In my visits to Huizhou, I was attracted by the interesting phenomenon that there are two different kinds of concepts about ancestor in Huizhou. The first concept is that some ancestors are recognized as deities in government gazette, genealogy and document. They got a double image. In second concept, although those ancestors are recognized as deities, the difference between the rituals of ancestral worship in temple and of deity worship in ancestral hall is very clear. One of the most interesting cases is Wang Hua, who had been remaining an important regional god and an ancestor of the Huizhou Wangs since the Sung dynasty, but who also came in the Ming dynasty to be worshiped as the ancestors in ancestral hall, separated from the worship of deity Wang Hua in temple. This thesis examines this phenomenon by studying the transformations of Huizhou society from the Song through the Ming. / This thesis argues that the gradual shift in Huizhou society from the worship of gods in temples to the worship of ancestors in halls is a long process of integration between local society and the state. This process, which reached a now-agreed upon turning point in a 1536 decree of the emperor Jiajing, followed different paths in different parts of China. In Huizhou, various lineages gradually came into existence that was based on the foundation of worship of gods in temple. They at first worshiped their ancestors together with local gods in the temples of the latter and only gradually moved to the building of independent ancestor halls. / By using a range of rare documents, genealogies, government gazettes, current observation of the environment of villages, and interview recorded in the field, the thesis reconstructs the history of traditional Huizhou society that is in marked contrast with the history of other regions in South China. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 郭錦洲 = Distance from ancestor : the change of ancestral worship in Huizhou from the Song to Ming dynasty / Kwok Kam Chau. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-189). / Abstracts also in English. / Guo Jinzhou = Distance from ancestor : the change of ancestral worship in Huizhou from the Song to Ming Dynasty / Kwok Kam Chau.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2007. / The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the funeral costs on households. This study was of greater importance in that it makes the public to be aware of ever increasing costs and how this is fundamentally damaging the economic situation of the poor people in the Thulamela Municipality. The major findings of the study were that there existed a gap between what was socially expected at a funeral and what the households could afford in arranging for the funerals. The households used maximal amounts of what they got from burial societies and block contributions. The funerals were not only attended by relatives and friends assisted by undertakers as this would minimize the amounts used, but were attended by multitudes of people who, at the end of the funeral, expected to be entertained with food and drinks. An interesting feature that emerged related to gender was that, in the area of study, women had more to say pertaining to issues of funeral arrangements. In most cases, they were the ones who joined burial societies and gave each other practical support at the time of death. This study is qualitative in nature. The qualitative approach helped the researcher to gain in-depth knowledge about the impact of death in the specific area of study. To explore the topic fully, the researcher conducted focus group discussions and interviews. The respondents in the focus discussions were selected from the households that had bereavement within the last five years directors of five funeral parlours in the municipality were also interviewed. The study highlighted the influence of funeral directors on the expenditure of households in the Thulamela Municipality. The study outlines the misappropriation of funds accumulated over a long period of time in a one day funeral service. The study further revealed the role played by formal insurers, funeral parlour, burial societies and funeral schemes that deceive households in the Thulamela Municipality part of their little income. / Not listed

Thesis (M.A.)(African Languages) --University of Limpopo, 2009. / Most people feel not comfortable in taking part in ritual ceremonies thinking that they are barbaric, old fashioned and valueless. The aim of this study is to make this people change their perspective by bringing out their significance through thorough investigation on the symbolism which is used in their performances which hides their practical meaning and value. Qualitative method was used to gather the information and data used in this research in which interviews were conducted. Thirty people, both males and females were visited at their homes from villages around Malamulele Township, although only few were quoted.Their responses made it clear that a lot of symbolism is used in Xitsonga ritual ceremonies which made it not clearly understood by the youth which led to their downfall. It is recommended that in the performance and practice of these rituals, a sort of explanation should be given which will clear inquisitive minds. It is also recommended that the society at large be educated about their value and significance for them to practice them with pride and dignity.

The impetus for this thesis came from experience in the worlds of medicine, urgent and disturbing aspects of heath and people meeting to find ways through complex problems about them. The author facilitated policy making and dialogue between people from very different backgrounds for a number of years. The thesis is an engagement with ambiguous and contradictory human reactions to stress while being-in-the-middle of threat and differences of many kinds. These trigger both scapegoating and an urge to mate. The phenomenon is embodied in the symbol and ritual of the pharmakos. The aim of the thesis is to engage with the phenomenon of the pharmakos, in order to bring back its symbolism and practice to conscious attention in dealing with many demanding situations today. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2007. / Thesis directed by Mary Rose D'Angelo for the Department of Theology. "December 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 381-407).