On the Processes and Contents of Hakka's "San Xian Li" in Chengdu's Xindu District: Based on a Field Survey of Xindu and Its Surrounding Areas in Recent Ten Years

San Xian Li, a religious ritual activity, is rare at the moment. It was practiced in Ba-Shu region, Sichuan. However, the ritual in the Hakka ethnic group of Xindu is a different matter. The procedures of the sacrificial rituals include the traditional worship for three times, the storytelling, songs with the distinct local features. Based on both ten years' fieldwork in Xindu and beyond and documentation, this paper reveals different functions of the grand ceremony, including emotional release, social integrity, mourning, recollection, the edification of the ethnic group and cultural inheritance etc.