www.ccsenet.org/ach Asian Culture and History Vol. 2, No. 2; July 2010 The Evolution of Song-Jiang Battle Array and the Relationship between Song-Jiang Battle Array and the Rural Society of Southern Taiwan Chengan Chin Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan Tel: 886-910-834-832 E-mail:
[email protected] Chaurtzuhn Chen Professor, Academic Dean and Vice President National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan E-mail:
[email protected] Lungming Tsai Professor of Chinese Culture University, Taiwan E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract This paper attends to find out the relationship among religious belief, society and Song-Jiang Battle Array in southern Taiwan, by using the qualitative methods which include literature analyses and the fieldwork investigations. In the process of research, the origin and development of Song-Jiang Battle Array are emerging step by step, which demonstrates that development and evolvement of Song-Jiang Battle Array are most related to contemporaneous social formations. They influenced the relationship between government and people and also affected the relationship between religious belief and Song-Jiang Battle Array. In the end, people’s devotions toward religion are the main force of uniting people in rural society of southern Taiwan and have played an essential role in helping maintain their heritage. All of that is not established in one night. It has been evolving for hundreds of years. Keywords: Song-Jiang Battle Array, Southern Taiwan, Religious belief, Government, Folk art array 1. Introduction The famous folk art array “Song-Jiang Battle Array” (Song-Jiang Zhen) only exists in Taiwan as an unique folk art skill in the world.