Ritualization in cultural performance: the case of Chenxiang Saving His Mother in the Chinese Huayin shadow play

Ritual and performance have long been central to the study of Chinese folk arts, yet the boundary between theatrical performance and religious practice often remains analytically ambiguous. This article examines Chenxiang Saving His Mother as performed in Huayin shadow play, focusing on how cultural performance becomes ritualized within a specific local and religious context. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Huayin, including observations of temple festivals and shadow play performances, the study explores the ways in which ritualization operates through performance structure, embodied practice, and spatial organisation. Rather than treating ritual and cultural performance as fixed or mutually exclusive categories, this article approaches ritualization as a dynamic process through which performance acquires sacred authority and cosmological meaning. By analyzing the interaction between Taoist ritual elements, narrative conventions, and performance practices, the study demonstrates how Huayin shadow play functions as a culturally embedded mode of ritualized performance. In doing so, the article contributes to broader discussions on ritualization, cultural performance, and the role of local theatrical traditions in mediating religious and social life in contemporary China.