Rituals and Collective Memory Construction in the Age of Social Media: A Case Study of Beijing Temple Fairs

Abstract

Beijing Temple Fair is a long-standing practice in Chinese folk culture. For a very long time, millions of people have enthusiastically participated in the massive and vibrant temple fairs. As media technology develops, temple fairs have developed into an online tradition or phenomena in the social media age. This article aims to explore the media as a communication carrier in the process of technological development by beginning with the theory of ritual in anthropological research, the ritual concept of communication in communication research, and the cultural memory and cultural identity of human beings themselves. This paper uses semi-structured and in-depth interviews as research methods. The study discovered that, as medium ceremony, Beijing temple fairs are well known and adored by the general public. The inclusion of social media platforms has increased the Beijing Temple Fair's depth and breadth and, to some extent, has sparked its thorough distribution and construction process.