A Study of the Names of Maogusi (Part Four)
Section Two: The Chinese Names of Maogusi. Maogusi has quite a few Chinese names, differing mainly in the characters used for phonetic transcription, while the pronunciations remain quite similar. Transcribed in Chinese characters, they fall into these types: 1. Mao Gu Si, 2. Mao Gu Si, 3. Mao Gu Si, 4. Mao Gu Shi, 5. Mao Gu Shi, 6. Mao Gu Si, 7. Mao Gu Si, 8. Mao Lie Si, 9. Mao Gu Si...
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Section Two: The Chinese Names of the Maogusi
Maogusi has quite a few Chinese names, mainly differing in the Chinese characters used to transcribe the sound, while the pronunciations remain quite similar to one another. To sum up the Chinese-character transcriptions, there are the following several kinds:
1. Maogusi
2. Maogusi
3. Maogusi
4. Maogusi
Five, Mao Gushi
Six, Mao Gusi
Seven, Mao Gusi
Eight, Mao Liesi
Nine, Mao Gusi
The first time Chinese characters were used to transcribe the sound appeared in 1956 in the 'Report on the Tujia Issue' by the Central Tujia Issue Investigation Team. At that time, when the Central Tujia Issue Investigation Team went to Tubi Village, Longxi Township, Baojing County, Xiangxi, to investigate and interview, they saw the local Tujia people perform Maogusi on the spot for the investigation team. Since there was not yet an accurate name for Maogusi at the time, and the investigation team saw the performers covered in straw and the performance content was also hunting, some people then called it Maoliesi. Later, people gradually called it Maogusi, and it gained social recognition, becoming the established Chinese name for Maogusi. Until now, because there is no standard, universally recognized name, various arbitrary names have appeared. However, these arbitrary names still follow one rule: they all remain within the framework of Maogusi, only the Chinese characters used to transcribe the sound differ. In order to make the research more scientific and standardize the cultural term Maogusi, we will first examine these terms below, and then draw a conclusion to establish a relatively standardized term.
First, let's look at 'Maogusi'. The reason for this name is that Maogusi is covered with grass, symbolizing the hair covering the bodies of ancient people. So it starts with 'Mao' (hair), 'gu' means ancient, and 'si' is a suffix with no concrete meaning.
Next, consider 'Maogusi' (with 'gu' as grain). The 'Mao' at the beginning is the same as in the first name. The 'gu' here refers to the scene of 'scattering millet' during the Maogusi performance, because millet is also called 'gu' (grain), hence the name. 'Si' is the same as in the first name.
Now look at 'Maogusi' (with 'si' as in 'shaman'). The 'Mao' is the same as in the first and second names, and 'gu' is the same as in the second name. The 'si' here might be because during the Maogusi performance, a Tima (shaman) presides over the altar. Tima is also called 'Tulaosi' (earth shaman), so the namer might have taken the last syllable 'si' from 'Tulaosi'.
Also consider 'Maogushi' (with 'shi' as in 'master'). The 'Maogu' part has been explained above. The 'shi' at the end is because during the Maogusi performance, a Tima acts as the altar master, so the namer took the last syllable 'shi' from 'altar master'.
Finally, look at 'Maogushi' (with 'gu' as grain and 'shi' as master). The explanation for this name is recorded from Tian Changhua of Pojiao Township: 'Maogushi' means that our ancestors in ancient times lived as wild people in the wilderness. Since humans evolved from apes and were covered with hair all over, living entirely as wild people with long hair on their bodies, they were called 'Mao' (hair). 'Gu' means: the five grains and miscellaneous crops we eat now and cultivate were all discovered and planted by our ancient ancestors. 'Shi' means: ancestors are also called ancestral masters, meaning first teachers. From being covered with hair to wearing grass clothes, our ancestors were the first teachers in discovering and developing various daily necessities, and even more so our ancestral masters, hence 'shi'. This explanation is far-fetched in many places, but it can be kept as one theory.
Looking further at 'Maogusi', the 'Mao' in it is because the performers of Maogusi are covered all over with thatch, so it is taken as the first syllable. The 'gu' in it is because the performers of Maogusi are naked, and thus the symbolic 'gu' is taken. Some people may ask again, why not take 'rou'? The author believes that 'gu' is still somewhat more elegant than 'rou', and besides, no one calls it 'rou', so 'Maogusi' was formed in this way.
Looking further at 'Maogusi', the 'Mao' in it follows the same principle as the previous example, and 'Gusi' follows the same principle as the above items.
Looking still further at 'Maoliesi', the 'Mao' in it follows the same principle as the above items. The 'lie' in it is because the performances of Maogusi are mainly based on scenes of 'hunting', so taking 'lie' should also be correct. The meaning of 'si' follows the same principle as the above items. The term 'Maoliesi' exists only in Tubi Village, Longxi Township, Baojing County, Xiangxi. The author's information about this Maogusi term in Tubi Village is only indirect material obtained from other books and periodicals. Because this is an individual case, a careful and detailed investigation is still needed before drawing a conclusion. For now, let it remain in doubt.
Finally, looking at 'Maogusi', the 'Mao' in it has the same meaning as the 'Mao' in 'Maogusi'. 'Gusi' follows the same principle as the second term 'Maogusi'. According to the article 'Maogusi Dance' by Tian Maohe of Baojing County in Xiangxi Wenshi Ziliao, Issue 1, 1994, it is recorded: 'In the spring of 1957, the Central Nationalities Visiting Delegation came to Baojing for a visit. After witnessing the ancient dance performed by the common people of Tubi Village, Longxi Township, wearing grass clothing, it was named the Maogusi dance and confirmed as part of Tujia culture.' This fully shows that before that time Maogusi did not yet have the name 'Maogusi'; it was only later that it was fixed in Chinese according to the attire worn during its performance.
Section 3 The Standardized Name of Maogusi
The above has briefly analyzed the Chinese terms related to Maogusi. Next, a conclusion must be drawn: which term actually conforms to the real situation of Maogusi? The author believes it is the last one, 'Maogusi'. The main reasons are as follows:
First, according to the author's on-site investigations in Tujia mountain villages in Longshan County, where Maogusi is most prevalent, local elders over 80 years old told the author that Maogusi originally involved the body being entirely wrapped in thatch grass, and rice straw only began to be used later after rice cultivation culture emerged in Tujia areas. For example, in Pojiao of Longshan, even today, Maogusi performances still primarily use thatch grass. The ancestors of Shuangfeng in Yongshun and Tubi Village in Baojing were all from Pojiao; although they now use rice straw in Maogusi performances, their ancestors originally used thatch grass. Therefore, using the 'mao' from the Chinese word for thatch grass as the first syllable of Maogusi is quite reasonable.
Second, the syllable 'gu' also aligns with the agricultural cultural characteristics of the Tujia people. This is because the earliest agricultural culture of the Tujia ancestors involved slash-and-burn farming to sow millet. As mentioned earlier, millet is known as guzi in China. Naming Maogusi after millet, the primary product of primitive agricultural production, also carries certain symbolic significance.
Third, and most importantly, the name 'Maogusi' matches the actual practice of Maogusi. Maogusi has a natural connection with a Tujia term 'Kuqi Kabu.' This is because the phonetic transformation of 'Kuqi' is 'Gusi'; if 'Maogusi' is read with phonetic shifts, it becomes 'Luo Kuqi,' where 'Luo Kuqi' means 'man-bear person,' and 'man-bear person' refers to the primitive ancestors of the Tujia people. In this way, the term 'Maogusi' aligns with the Tujia language's name for Maogusi. Therefore, the author believes that 'Maogusi' is the most ideal and reasonable standardized term for this culture.
Section 4 Changes in the Name of Maogusi
The change in the name of Maogusi is not a simple matter of name change; it also involves the development trajectory of the culture of Maogusi, and this is shown most clearly in the Tujia-language names of Maogusi. It can be said that from the very day of its birth, Maogusi has been constantly developing and changing. According to materials related to Maogusi itself and some oral materials in society, Maogusi should have gone through several periods of human society, and it is synchronized with the development of Chinese social history. Maogusi passed through primitive society, slave society, feudal society, and present-day society. In the period of primitive society, Maogusi also went through two stages: matrilineal clan society and patrilineal clan society. Divided by type of marriage, marriage is the most important social form by which humankind reproduces, and human marriage has also gone through a long historical period and is also staged. To sum up, it went through the following five stages.
The first stage is the period of apemen. Our ancestors had just learned to walk upright with a stoop, and their knees still could not be straightened. Male and female apemen among different populations practiced a completely chaotic mode of mating. This can also be called the earliest form of "marriage" among humans: polyandry, polygyny, exclusive monogamy... By time reckoning, this should have been from 3 million years ago to 2 million years ago, the early Stone Age. According to anthropologists' positioning, this stage belongs to the age of savagery in human society. In this period, besides hunting and fleeing for their lives, humans also prevailing within the group in unrestrained sexual relations—every woman belonged to every man, and likewise every man belonged to every woman—forming a typical group marriage system. Children knew only their mothers, not their fathers. Group marriage was a shock and negation to human eugenics and sound childbearing, so in primitive society, where the productive forces were not high, the average human lifespan was very short. In addition, women at that time never demanded promises from men or required them to take responsibility; their mutual relations were limited only to sexual contact. Men could be promiscuous and indiscriminate without responsibility. Excessive sexual license restricted human development. Marriage is the most precious intangible cultural phenomenon of human society and the most important way and means by which human society multiplies its descendants. Without marriage, human society would perish on its own. Some people may shamelessly say: "With sex, humankind will not perish." This is incorrect! At least, it can be said to be not entirely correct. The fall of the Roman Empire sounded the death knell for human sexual license: in its fall, sexual license was the chief culprit. The fall of the Roman Empire was not only a regression of European civilization, but also one of the most serious reverse selections in world history. As someone sighed at a Christian council: "Magnificent buildings were demolished, precious classics were burned, prosperous cities were abandoned, and delicate and noble women became playthings in the hands of beasts." At that time, the flourishing of public prostitution directly struck and destroyed the monogamous marriage structure. Invalid sexual life (sexual life that does not produce children) increased, valid sexual life (sexual life between husband and wife) decreased, population fell sharply, and it bears an inescapable responsibility for the phenomenon of inferior human stock in human society.
The second stage was more than 1 million years ago, in the middle and late Paleolithic period. The natural division of labor in the human body gradually made humanity's ancestors realize that old husbands with young wives and old wives with young husbands were not conducive to eugenics and sound childbearing. There arose an extremely obvious difference in energy between young and middle-aged people engaged in hunting and gathering and the elderly engaged in housework and caring for children. Sexual life then developed boundaries drawn by generation. Humankind entered an era of "consanguineous family" lasting nearly 1 million years—generation marriage or generation-line marriage. Generation marriage caused human history to begin to have a form of social organization; it was the difference between humans and beast herds, but this form of social organization was very loose, without a hierarchical social structure, and was only some primitive, temporary, and very crude quasi-social organizations. Human society and the long course of human civilization started from this point.
The third stage was 10,000 years ago, in the late Neolithic period, the later stage of modern humans. Humankind was preparing to use "prohibition of incest" to end the last savagery and barbarism. At that time, chaotic sexual intercourse among close relatives led to a low infant survival rate and the terrifying phenomenon of too many deformed and mentally deficient children. Primitive people began to have relatively strict definitions of relations between men and women. The gradual establishment of maternal authority caused changes in the form of marriage. Different tribes intermarried, and marriage saw a brilliant sunlight. Exogamy made our species increasingly superior, and the productive forces improved somewhat.
The fourth stage was 5,000-6,000 years ago, when pairing marriage began to take shape. The family began to step onto the stage of history, and the monogamous model was about to tear apart the playboys' beautiful dreams through "marriage by capture." In the whole of human society, when a young man, with the help of his friends, seized or abducted a girl, they would take turns having sexual relations with her. After this hurdle, the girl was considered the wife of that young man. Conversely, if the abducted woman fled from her husband and was captured by another man, she became the latter's wife, and the former lost his husband's rights and his sexual relationship with her. For the first time in human history, an exclusive marital relationship was formed. The group marriage system died out.
The fifth stage was 4,000 years ago, when the maternal authority system that had ruled human society for 50,000 years was completely overthrown. In order to grasp this "great" victory firmly, men revealed their terrifying true face. From then on, the husband held authority in the home. The wife, however, was belittled and enslaved. She became the slave of her husband's lust and became a tool specifically for bearing children and continuing the race.