Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture — Worship of the Xiangwang Tianzi (Part 3)
V. Xiangwang Tianzi Worship and Tujia Culture. The Xiangwang Tianzi is an ethnic deity combining the features of both a totemic god and an ancestral founder god of the Tujia. Over thousands of years, it has served to maintain the Tujia community and has influenced Tujia culture in many ways, standing as a symbol of Tujia culture. From Xiangwang Tianzi worship derives the "Xiangwang Festival" on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month...
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V. Worship of Xiangwang Tianzi and Tujia Culture
Xiangwang Tianzi is an ethnic deity combining the features of a Tujia totemic god and an ancestral founder god. Over thousands of years of history, he played a role in maintaining the Tujia community, exerted influence on Tujia culture in many aspects, and is a symbol of Tujia culture.
From the worship of Xiangwang Tianzi derived the "Festival of Sacrificing to Xiangwang" on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. On this day, all boats and rafts on the Qingjiang River stopped sailing and returned to port, because ancient Lin Jun had rendered meritorious service in opening up the Qingjiang River; sacrificial activities were held, with chickens killed and offerings placed at the bow of the boat, incense burned, and firecrackers set off to pray for safety on the water. The Tujia Ox King Festival on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month and the Ox King Meeting on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, two festivals related to oxen, are also connected to a certain extent with the worship of Xiangwang Tianzi. In Tujia history, for a considerable period oxen were used to sacrifice to Xiangwang Tianzi. Items used for sacrifice are often things people regard as especially spiritual, and because oxen were used to sacrifice to Xiangwang Tianzi, they were especially revered by the Tujia and regarded as divine, with two festivals in a year held to sacrifice to oxen.
From the ritual of blood sacrifice to Xiangwang Tianzi also derived a Tujia specialty food—cured pig-blood tofu. Because sacrificing to Xiangwang Tianzi required seeing blood, people soaked tofu in pig blood to make blood tofu, preparing it for sacrifices to Xiangwang Tianzi in all four seasons; this blood tofu was also used to sacrifice to recent ancestors. Cured pig-blood tofu is generally made at the end of the year when the New Year pig is slaughtered. After slaughtering the New Year pig, the pig blood is held in a basin, and then freshly made tofu is soaked in the blood and mixed evenly. After freezing, the tofu is squeezed into lumps and placed on a wooden rack over the fire pit, where it is long smoked and roasted by smoke and fire until it becomes a hard block. When eating, it is cut into slices with a knife; every slice of tofu is blood-red. Then it is put into a pot and fried in oil, seasoned with chili and the like, and cooked. This blood tofu is fresh and delicious, with a distinctive flavor.
The Tujia funeral custom of the funeral dance also developed from the tiger dance used to sacrifice to the white tiger ancestor Xiangwang Tianzi. The tiger dance was a sacrificial dance of the Ba people for ancestor worship, imitating the tiger's leaping and roaring to sacrifice to the founding ancestor Xiangwang Tianzi, all because after his death his soul transformed into a white tiger, and both the Ba people and the Tujia called themselves descendants of the white tiger. The white tiger dance is briefly recorded in historical sources. The Hubei Tongzhi: Yudi Zhi records: "The customs of Jingchu are half Yi and half Xia. There are Ba people among them,... the Ba people are fond of singing, and it is called treading-hoof white tiger service,... they beat drums for sacrifice and roar to express rise and decline." It also says: "At every ancestral sacrifice, they sing zhuzhi." This white tiger dance for sacrificing to the distant ancestor included movements imitating the tiger's leaps, and also required beating drums, imitating the tiger's roars, and at the same time singing. Later, the white tiger dance was used to sacrifice to family ancestors (recent ancestors), and thus formed the funeral custom of the funeral dance. The funeral dance is called tiaosa'erhe by the Tujia. Among the Tujia, when an elderly person dies, it is considered a "smooth-headed road" and "ascension to heaven," called a "white happy event." That night, neighbors, relatives, and friends, regardless of sex or age, gather at the bereaved family's home to "sit up the night" and "dance the funeral" in order to mourn the deceased and comfort the living. A Tujia ballad says: "When a person dies, the whole community mourns; everyone gathers on the ground; first beat the funeral drum, second lend a hand." The funeral dance was recorded in historical sources early on. Fan Chuo's Manshu records: "The Ba clan sacrifices to its ancestors, beating drums in sacrifice; they are descendants of the white tiger." It also says that when parents "first die, they beat drums to express grief; their songs must wail, and their crowd must dance." The funeral dance popular in later times still had the characteristics recorded in the Manshu. In the central room, the coffin of the deceased is placed. To the left in front of the coffin is placed a large cowhide drum, one chi three or four cun in diameter and more than two chi high. A song master skilled in singing and dancing beats the drum, leaps, leads the singing, and directs. Two or four people step to the drumbeat in front of the coffin, singing and dancing according to a certain procedure and prescribed movements, occasionally drinking a few mouthfuls of strong liquor to rouse their spirits. When one group tires of dancing, another group takes over, alternating in turns until dawn. The content sung in the funeral dance in the first half of the night is mostly the deeds of ancients, folk stories, riddles, and the twelve months of farming. In the second half of the night, in order to drive away people's drowsiness, the content is mostly "meat songs," that is, matters between men and women or jokes. At dawn, a "Drum-Stopping Song" is sung to conclude. The Tujia poet Peng Qiutan's Zhuzhi Ci described the funeral dance scene: "Family rites and mourning for relatives are claimed by Confucian scholars; the methods of monks and shamans do not reach the scholar. Whose family opens the road and adds a new ghost? A whole night of funeral songs sung until dawn."
Because of the transmission of Xiangwang Tianzi worship, temples to Xiangwang Tianzi were built generation after generation and once spread throughout the Qingjiang River basin. Temples to Xiangwang Tianzi were built in Changyang, Badong, Jianshi, Enshi, Wufeng, and other places, and most of their remains still exist. Some temples to Xiangwang Tianzi are still well preserved today, and the statues of Xiangwang Tianzi in the temples are lifelike, becoming precious cultural relics that display Tujia history and are available for visitors to admire.
VI. Worship of Xiangwang Tianzi and Worship of Xiangwang Tusi Kings
As the ethnic deity of the Tujia, Xiangwang Tianzi was worshipped by Tujia people of various surnames. The Xiang clan was one of the powerful and prominent surnames of the Tujia and often regarded itself as direct descendants of Xiangwang Tianzi. In fact, the situation of the Xiang clan is rather complex. Some may indeed be direct descendants of Xiangwang Tianzi, but a considerable portion may have migrated in from elsewhere one after another, as evidenced by their genealogies; the details await separate research. Since the Xiang clan both honored Xiangwang Tianzi as their ancient ancestor and attached their recent ancestors to Xiangwang Tianzi, especially attaching certain Xiang Tusi kings to Xiangwang Tianzi, this formed many different Xiangwang Tianzi. For example, one account says Xiangwang Tianzi was Xiang Fu, another says Xiang Chong, another says Xiang Baosheng, and so on; in fact, all were Tusi kings. This kind of Xiangwang Tianzi worship should belong to the category of Tusi king worship. Thus, the Tujia Xiangwang Tianzi actually has two kinds: one is the ethnic deity jointly worshipped by all Tujia surnames, including the Xiang clan, and the other is the Tusi deity to which the Xiang clan attached the name of Xiangwang Tianzi. These must be strictly distinguished.
The Xiangwang Tusi deities named after Xiangwang Tianzi also had different specific objects in different Xiang Tusi jurisdictions. Since all Xiang Tusi deities were called Xiangwang Tianzi, their specific objects are already difficult to verify. Based on relevant materials, the lineages of the various Xiang Tusi are arranged below for reference:
Sangzhi Xuanwei Office
The Sangzhi Xuanwei Office governed an area roughly corresponding to present-day Chenjiahe, Liangshuikou, Wudaoshui, and other places in Sangzhi County, Hunan, with the office seat in present-day Sangzhi county town. The office was established in the Yuan dynasty, and Xiang Zhongshan was the ancestor of the Sangzhi Tusi. Its office lineage is:
Xiang Zhongshan, Xiang Sifu, Xiang Wancheng, Xiang Yongzheng, Xiang Kuan, Xiang Shiying, Xiang Jing, Xiang Shou, Xiang Shilu, Xiang Zongzheng, Xiang Zhonghe, Xiang Chengzhou, Xiang Yiguan, Xiang Xian, Xiang Ding, Xiang Changgeng, Xiang Guozhu, Xiang Guodong.
Shixi Xuanfu Office
The Shixi Xuanfu Office governed an area roughly between present-day Liaojia Village in Sangzhi County and Maoba in Yongshun County, with the office seat at present-day Shangdong Street in Sangzhi. The office was established in the early Ming dynasty, and its office ancestor was Xiang Wuke. Its office lineage is:
Xiang Wuke, Xiang Wanming, Xiang Wancai, Xiang Yongtong, Xiang Shilu, Xiang Tianfu, Xiang Anding, Xiang Shide, Xiang Shijin.
From Xiang Shijin onward, the office split into two, the Upper Dong Zhangguan Office and the Lower Dong Zhangguan Office.
The lineage of the Upper Dong Zhangguan Office is:
Xiang Zhongxian, Xiang Shixiong, Xiang Ronghong, Xiang Dingbang, Xiang Yaochang, Xiang Youfang, Xiang Shiqi, Xiang Bingzhong, Xiang Delu, Xiang Guodong, Xiang Jiuluan, Xiang Yuanqin, Xiang Yuheng.
The lineage of the Lower Dong Zhangguan Office is:
Xiang Zhonggui, Xiang Guang, Xiang Yong, Xiang Xianzong, Xiang Zhongkui, Xiang Tianjue, Xiang Guoyong, Xiang Huaizhong, Xiang Delong, Xiang Shilong, Xiang Rikui, Xiang Dingcheng, Xiang Zuoliang.
The Three Zhangguan Offices of Laifeng Maodong, Manshui, and Baihu
The three offices of Laifeng Maodong, Manshui, and Baihu were Zhangguan Offices subordinate to the Sanmao Xuanfu Office, all in present-day Laifeng County.
The lineage of the Maodong Zhangguan Office is:
Xiang Guishi, Xiang Lanuo, Xiang Nawu, Xiang Dazhong, Xiang Long, Xiang Jingchun, Xiang Zheng, Xiang Mingfu, Xiang Wei, Xiang Tongting, Xiang Nan, Xiang Zikun, Xiang Zifan, Xiang Shun.
The lineage of the Manshui Zhangguan Office is:
Xiang Zonglie, Xiang Motiesong, Xiang Jin, Xiang Honghua, Xiang Qiong, Xiang Guotai, Xiang Zhengqian, Xiang Tingfu.
The lineage of the Baihu Zhangguan Office is:
Xiang Mai, Xiang Tie, Xiang Zuohailebi, Xiang Lisong, Xiang Xi, Xiang Cheng, Xiang Zhongren, Xiang Han, Xiang Gong, Xiang Zhuyuan, Xiang Jinluan, Xiang Guozhi, Xiang Quan.
The Two Dong Zhangguan Offices Subordinate to the Yongshun Xuanwei Office
The Yongshun Xuanwei Office had six Dong Zhangguan Offices under it, of which two were of the Xiang surname: the Laruo Dong Zhangguan Office and the Luchi Dong Zhangguan Office.
The lineage of the Laruo Dong Zhangguan Office is:
Xiang Beishuo, Xiang Shigui, Xiang Zhong, Xiang Yuan, Xiang Shengzu, Xiang Shilong, Xiang Luan, Xiang Benliang, Xiang Jiuneng, Xiang Shichao, Xiang Zhongtai, Xiang Zhonghe.
The lineage of the Luchi Cave Headmen's Office is as follows:
Xiang Dadi, Xiang Ermozhong, Xiang Jing, Xiang Maitiezhong, Xiang An, Xiang Yang, Xiang Chengxun, Xiang Tianqi, Xiang Shichen, Xiang Guangzhou, Xiang Xijue.
From the distribution of the large and small Xiang-surnamed native officials above, it can be seen that Xiang-surnamed native officials were mostly found in Xiangxi and Laifeng. Therefore, the Xiang Wang Tianzi worshipped in these places was mostly the Xiang Wang native-official deity, though it cannot be ruled out that it often also contained elements of a clan ancestral deity. In the various areas of the Qingjiang River basin, however, Xiang-surnamed native officials were rarely seen, and this was the region where Xiang Wang Tianzi had earlier been active; here the worship of Xiang Wang Tianzi was less impacted by the worship of Xiang-surnamed native-official kings, and the Xiang Wang Tianzi they worshipped was the Tujia clan ancestral deity Lin Jun.