*Article* **Form Follows Function in Community Rituals in North China: Temples and Temple Festivals in Jiacun Village**

**Xiaohuan Zhao**

> Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; xiaohuan.zhao@sydney.edu.au

**Abstract:** *Yingshen saishe or saishe* is a general name for all types of temple festivals held to offer sacrifices to deities of local communities. With its roots traceable to ancient shamanic beliefs and practices, *saishe* demonstrates itself as a closely integrated form of religious ritual performance and musical/theatrical performance and proves to be instrumental in the development of Chinese theatre from ritual to drama. Based on my fieldwork on Jiacun Double-Fourth Temple Festival in May 2016, this paper offers a close examination of Jiacun temple culture and temple theatre with focus on the religious ritual performance and musical/theatrical entertainment presented during the festival. In so doing, this paper provides an enhanced understanding of the highly dynamic, interactive relationships between temple and theatre and between efficacy and entertainment.

**Keywords:** ritual; temple festival; temple theatre; Jiacun Double-Fourth Temple Festival; the Primordial Sovereign of the Morning Clouds (Bixia yuanjun); Shangdang
