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The belief of land is a kind of natural worship which originated from agriculture, and was extended by the attention of the authority. Then,it became the very basic in folk beliefs in the history and also continued the concept of different rituals since Chou Dynasty. When villages were formed and the livings were enhanced, people started to establish temples for the Land Deity as indicators of the rally of villagers and also the regions of the villages. This belief was later developed in Taiwan by immigrants from Fukien and Guangdong Provinces in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The temples for Deity of Land were fewer in number and were evenly distributed in Banchiao, a city which is geographically plain. During the span of urban development, besides the emerging of new temples, the scale of temples and rituals were changed as well. Some temples held ceremonies both for Gods and human beings and toured around villages. While the city of Banciao was developing and the villages were evolving, the temples for Deity of Land were also changing. In the early stage, right after the villages were stabilized, temples for Deity of Land were built.Following the early development of villages came along with the middle-stage; it became one village with one temple for Deity of Land in one district. Later, with the fast development of urban areas in modern times, the situation remained the same as it was in the middle –stage. Of course, some adjustments were also necessarily made. Table of numbers in Temples for Deity of Land and the relativity to the development of villages in Banciao Development of Villages Numbers in Villages Numbers in Temples Relativity For Deity Of Land The Early Stage (1740~1852) 1~6 7 Villages were started to develop temples were started to build The Middle Stage(1853~1945) 6~15 19 one village with one temple Modern Times (1946~2010) 15~126 37 changes and adjustments were made according to Previous status We generally string the events and characters to know the vertical development of local history while the relativity of village development and temples for Deity of Land show the horizontal parts. In this thesis, take the city of Banciao as the target to research into the relativity of village development and temples for Deity of Land, which helps us understanding our local history and changes of belief.
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