The Magic of Chenzhou Talismans
Legend tells of a highly skilled physician at the side of the Yellow Emperor, China's legendary ancestor. He treated illness without needles or medicine, relying only on a bowl of clear water, inscribed talismans, and incantations; the patient would drink the water and be cured. His name was Zhuyou. The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, Basic Questions, records: "I have heard that in ancient times, illness was treated only by redirecting the essence and transforming the qi, which could be done through Zhuyou."
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor, the legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, had a medical official of exceptionally high skill. He treated illnesses without the need for needles or stone probes, nor did he use medicine; he relied only on a bowl of clear water, along with drawing talismans and reciting incantations, and then had the patient drink it, which could relieve the patient's pain. This person's name was Zhuyou. The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Basic Questions records: "I have heard that in ancient times, treating illness required only moving the essence and transforming the qi, and it could be done by Zhuyou." A certain expert annotated this: "Invoking and explaining the cause of the illness, without the need for needles and stone probes."
Zhuyou was a native of Chenzhou Prefecture in Hunan, so the later renowned Chenzhou Talisman school honored him as the founding ancestor of the Zhuyou Section.
The Qing scholar Zhang Peiren recorded in Miaoxiangshi Conghua: "The Zhuyou Section was most flourishing in Chenzhou. In a certain year, during a military review at the local parade ground, a man's eye was hit by a stray arrow, and the arrowhead was firmly lodged and could not be extracted. A Zhuyou practitioner was urgently sought, and it turned out to be a decrepit old woman. Upon arrival, she ordered the injured man to be bound to the eastern pillar, while she stood at the western pillar and recited incantations... After reciting for some time, the old woman ordered the onlookers to stand a bit farther away, then suddenly gave a great shout and swiftly turned her head aside. The arrow in the injured man's eye immediately flew out and shot back, striking the western pillar and embedding itself about an inch deep; it passed only a few inches from the old woman's temple. Everyone was greatly astonished. They looked at the injured man's eye, and it was completely intact without any wound."
Qing According to the Yuanling County Gazetteer:"Shu Rong had extraordinary arts and could treat external diseases without prescriptions or medicines. He would take a bowl of water, chant incantations over it, and trace talisman-like signs with his finger. When patients drank it, they were immediately cured. Sometimes he cut open the abdomen to remove toxins, wiped it with water, and the wound closed without the person feeling pain. In the late Qianlong period, Beizi Fugong Kang'an and Xuanyongbo Hegong Lin commanded troops on a campaign against the Miao, and Rong traveled with the army. When soldiers were hit by firearms or cannon, drinking the water immediately healed them, saving thousands upon thousands of people. The masses called it divine water."
From these written records, it can be seen that the Chenzhou Talisman, more than 200 years ago, was once an important means of treating illness and healing wounds in the Xiangxi region. During the Qianjia Uprising in the Qing dynasty, even two famous commanders like Fukang'an and Helin, in the process of suppressing the Miao people of Xiangxi, once invited folk witch doctors knowledgeable in the Chenzhou Talisman to treat the wounded.
As the Chenzhou Talisman developed, its magical power seemed to become capable of anything, and all local shamanistic affairs were inseparable from the spells of this divine talisman. As Shen Congwen said in his essay "The People of Yuanling": "The Chenzhou region is famous for the Chenzhou Talisman, and among the legendary miracles of the Chenzhou Talisman, corpse-driving is the most renowned." Corpse-driving required drawing Chenzhou Talismans and using talismans to block the deceased's "seven hearts" and ears, nose, and mouth; otherwise, the corpse could not stand up.
In addition, when witch doctors performed the Chenzhou Talisman, they could not do without reciting incantations. The incantation for corpse-driving was the recitation of Wen Tianxiang's "Song of Righteousness," while other healing incantations varied. For example, if a person was bitten by a dog, the witch doctor would write the character for "tiger" on the ground and recite the incantation: "One, two, three, four, five, metal, wood, water, fire, earth. When a mortal is bitten by a dog, please, Earth God, lift up the soil to patch it." After the incantation, the witch doctor would spit on the soil, then lift the soil onto the affected area, and the patient's wound would heal. Another example: when a witch doctor treated a pregnant woman with difficult labor, the incantation was: "I invite the Master of Chenzhou to come, the Master's name is Zhang Shangcai. Blow open the five horses, dragons, and phoenixes, whether boy or girl, come down early. First, do not harm the liver; second, do not harm the lungs. I respectfully invoke the Supreme Lord Laozi, urgently as the law commands." After the incantation, the witch doctor would give the pregnant woman a bit of clear water over which the incantation had been recited, and it was said this could smoothly assist childbirth.
Among the people of Xiangxi, there are many more contents of talisman-drawing and incantation-reciting performed by witch doctors for healing illnesses and wounds. Overall, in ancient times when medicine was undeveloped, these witchcraft practices had a great market. But today, anyone who is still bewitched by such divine talismans would have to be a laughable fool to fall under their spell. Nevertheless, as a mysterious cultural phenomenon that appeared over a long period, whether later generations acknowledge it or not, the great reputation and beneficial value it once had in history will still exist eternally.