The Tragedy of the Luodong Women
In the Miao regions of western Hunan, young women who fell into a coma or madness from sexual repression, babbling incoherently, were said to have been "luodong" (fallen into the cave). According to Shen Congwen, this phenomenon of luodong women was a tragedy of tangled human and divine forces. In his essay "Fenghuang," Shen Congwen described: "All those who fall into the cave..."
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In the Miao areas of Xiangxi, young women who, because of sexual repression, fell into unconsciousness or madness and spoke nonsense were in the past called "luodong women" (women who had fallen into caves).
According to Mr. Shen Congwen, the emergence of this phenomenon of luodong women was a tragedy of intertwined humans and gods. In his essay "Fenghuang," Shen Congwen described it: "Any woman who falls into a cave must have bright eyes, a pure and gentle disposition, and be intelligent and beautiful. She must be unmarried, must love adornment, and be good at dressing up. Ordinarily she remains chaste and quiet, her passionate feelings not outwardly revealed, and she is rather given to fantasy. Occasionally, when she goes out, she imagines that at some time she unintentionally passed by a certain cave, and was glimpsed by the cave god, who took a liking to her... When this abstract counterpart enters the woman's heart, although it causes her a little shyness and fear, it must also make her feel intense and excited. In fact, it is also a transformed form of self-abuse." After a woman contracted this strange illness, her family worried anxiously; seeking medical treatment was mostly ineffective, so they had no choice but to invite a xianniang (female shaman) to treat it with witchcraft. The xianniang set up a nuo altar in the house, rode a wooden horse, swayed left and right, recited incantations, and before long ascended into the immortal realm. Then, after some searching and inquiry, the xianniang told the host family that because their daughter was beautiful, on a certain month and day when she went to the mountain to gather firewood or to drink at a cave, she had been taken a fancy to by the cave god, who wanted to marry her as the cave god's wife; her soul had been seized, so they must ask a tu laosi (Tujia ritual master) to perform rites to attack the cave in order to save their daughter. Hearing this explanation, the host family then invited the tu laosi. The tu laosi was a male sorcerer; in his hand he held a horn-handled ritual knife, wore a ritual crown on his head, a blue Daoist robe, straw sandals on his feet, white leggings wrapped around his legs, and a god-beating whip thrust into his back. Before attacking the cave, the tu laosi first had to perform nuo rituals, that is, turn somersaults in the nuo hall, spin around, and perform a series of daring actions; afterward, holding the horn knife and god-beating whip, he charged out the main gate, fighting through passes and slaying generals all the way until he reached the cave where the woman had fallen. He ordered the heavenly soldiers and divine generals to tightly surround the evil spirits and the hidden soul, while chanting: "My left foot steps upon my horse, my right foot steps upon my chariot; a hundred thousand brave soldiers, eighty thousand fierce generals, surround them! Surround them!" At this time, the onlookers also joined in shouting encouragement: "Surround them, surround them!" In a moment, the old tusii's hair and beard stood on end, and he shouted sternly: "What god or ghost has taken her soul? What god or ghost has taken her soul? A million brave soldiers, a hundred thousand fierce generals, put forth your strength! The soul must return home, the spirit must return to the body!" The surrounding crowd also shouted together. This battle continued until dawn, when the cave god and evil spirits finally could not withstand the power of the sorcerer god and fled and vanished. The tu laosi then declared that the patient's soul had been recovered, and so drums and gongs sounded again, the troops were withdrawn and returned, and then the nuo rites were concluded and the nuo sent off, inviting the heavenly soldiers and generals back to heaven, and the ritual ended. After this rescue, some luodong women perhaps truly recovered, while others saw no effect and ultimately died in illness and pain.
This old custom of summoning the soul and attacking the cave for luodong women appears full of superstitious color, and after the founding of New China such phenomena have basically disappeared. But as one of the mysterious witchcraft customs of Xiangxi, if one focuses on studying its rich cultural connotations, it of course still has realistic positive significance and value.