Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture — Tuwang Worship (Part 1)
Chapter 8: Tuwang Worship. In a broad sense, Tuwang worship is still the worship of clan or tribal leaders within ancestor worship. The Tuwang — the native king, the king of a local region — means the Eight-Bu Kings discussed earlier also fall within the category of Tuwang worship. However, the Tuwang worship discussed in this chapter has a specific meaning: first, the Tuwang were all lords of a certain region, and...
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 Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated.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.
Chapter Eight: Tuwang Worship
In a broad sense, Tuwang worship is still the worship of clan or tribal leaders within ancestor worship. Tuwang means the native king, the king of a local region; therefore, the previously discussed Eight-Bu Kings also fall within the category of Tuwang worship. However, the Tuwang worship discussed in this chapter has specific meanings: first, the Tuwang were all lords of a certain region and mostly came from powerful and prominent clans, unlike the Eight-Bu Kings, who had names but no surnames; second, the Tuwang were often the Tusi of a certain region. From the Yuan Dynasty to the implementation of gaituguiliu (replacing native officials with centrally appointed officials) in the Qing Dynasty, the Tujia areas always practiced the Tusi system, with large and small Tusi hereditary rulers of their territories. Some larger Tusi had lineage roots going back very far and were renowned in their domains, often called Tusi Kings. In Tujia areas, Tuwang and Tusi are often confused with each other and difficult to distinguish. Some influential Tusi were often worshipped as Tuwang gods after death, and people established temples to offer sacrifices to them. Therefore, a large part of the Tuwang worship discussed in this chapter is Tusi god worship.
Tuwang worship includes the objects of worship, sacrificial rituals, sacrificial sites (Tuwang temples), and related legends and customs.
I. Objects of Tuwang Worship
The objects of Tuwang worship are Tuwang gods, and Tuwang gods are mostly the ancestral gods of powerful and prominent Tujia clans. Due to differences among powerful and prominent clans in different places, the Tuwang gods of different regions differ slightly.
The Xiangxi area worships the Tuwang of the Peng, Tian, and Xiang surnames; the Laifeng and Hefeng areas of Hubei worship the Tuwang of the Qin, Tian, and Xiang surnames; the northeastern Guizhou and southeastern Sichuan areas worship the Tuwang of the Ran, Yang, and Tian surnames; and some places worship a combination of the above surnames. Tuwang also have various titles such as Juezhu, Tuzhu, Fugong, and Tusi Wang. Below, different Tuwang gods are introduced separately according to regional boundaries.
1. The Peng, Tian, and Xiang Tuwang Gods of Xiangxi
The Tuwang temples in Longshan, Yongshun, Baojing, and other places in Xiangxi enshrine the Tuwang gods of the Peng, Tian, and Xiang surnames, respectively called Duke Peng, Good Fellow Tian, and Old Official Xiang. They are the three representative honored deities worshipped in most Tuwang temples. Many Tuwang temples outside Xiangxi also enshrine these three honored deities.
The arrangement of the three honored deities is: Duke Peng in the center as the main deity, Good Fellow Tian on the left, and Old Official Xiang on the right. Because this type of Tuwang temple mainly sacrifices to Duke Peng, it is also called Juezhu Palace.
Duke Peng is "Peng Shichou of Xizhou" recorded on the Xizhou Bronze Pillar. The Xizhou Bronze Pillar was erected during the Later Jin of the Five Dynasties by Ma Xifan, King of Chu, and Peng Shichou, Prefect of Xizhou, as a bronze pillar with the significance of a peace agreement. From the fourth to the fifth year of Tianfu of the Later Jin (939–940 CE), Peng Shichou, Prefect of Xizhou, led the Man of Jin, Jiang, and other places to attack Lizhou. Ma Xifan sent Liu Qing, Liu Quanmin, and others to lead five thousand infantry to fight Peng Shichou. As a result, Peng Shichou was defeated, fled to Jiangzhou, and sent his son Peng Shigao to lead the Man chieftains to surrender and make peace with Liu Bo. Later, Ma Xifan made peace with Peng Shichou, concluded a covenant, and had the covenant inscribed on a bronze pillar. This historical episode is recorded in the New History of the Five Dynasties: Hereditary House of Chu: Biography of Ma Xifan. The bronze pillar was originally erected at Huixiping in Xizhou, northwest of Chenzhou Prefecture (present-day Guzhang County, Xiangxi), and now stands on a small hill near Wangcun on the north bank of the Youshui River in Yongshun County, Xiangxi. The inscription on the bronze pillar was composed by Li Honggao, a scholar of Chu, and is called the Record of the Xizhou Bronze Pillar. It records Peng Shichou's deeds: "Peng Shichou of Xizhou inherited the commandery seal from generation to generation, and his family commanded the prefecture's troops, spreading benevolence and establishing authority, recognizing kindness and knowing how to encourage; thus he was able to pass through three or four generations and stand out among thousands of men through the ages." It also says: "Accordingly, following the previous memorial, Peng Shichou was appointed Prefect of Xizhou and additionally granted the title of Grand Guardian; his sons, generals, and officials all restored their posts, with rewards according to rank, so as to pacify their lands." The post of Prefect was an honorary office granted to Peng Shichou by Ma Xifan; Peng Shichou was actually the leader of the tribal alliance of Tujia and other ethnic minorities in the Xizhou area at that time. According to the bronze pillar, Peng Shichou should have been the third or fourth generation of the Peng family to "inherit the commandery seal" in Xizhou. Regarding the three or four generations above Peng Shichou, the Guangxu edition of the Longshan County Gazetteer has a passage. According to it, the Peng family moved to Xiangxi from Jiangxi. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the old Man chief of Xiangxi, Wu Zhuchong (chong meaning chief), invited the Peng family of Jishui County, Jiangxi, to serve as his assistant. The Peng family privately won people's hearts through favors, and their power gradually grew. By the generation of Peng Jian (probably the second or third generation after entering Xiangxi), the Peng family's power was probably sufficient for them to establish themselves independently. Peng Jian then plotted to drive out the old Man chief Wu Zhu. As a result, Wu Zhu was defeated and fled, and Peng Cheng led his followers in close pursuit. At that time, Xiang Bolin, younger brother of the native official of Manshui Department (present-day Laifeng County, Hubei), was on bad terms with his elder brother and submitted to Peng Jian. Peng Jian then ordered Xiang Bolin to lead troops to attack Wu Zhu, and Wu Zhu was killed at Luota Mountain. Peng Cheng rewarded Xiang Bolin with the land of Luota, and all other lands belonged to himself. Wu Zhu's sworn brother, Ruoba Chong, was later also eliminated by Peng Jian. In the Later Liang of the Five Dynasties, during the Kaiping era (907–910 CE), Peng Wangcheng submitted to the Han government and was appointed Prefect of Xizhou. He had a son, courtesy name Yanxi, also named Shichou, who later succeeded to the position. Peng Shichou had great influence among Peng surname Tusi and Peng surname Tujia people and was worshipped as a Tuwang god, called Duke Peng. He was called Juezhu because legend says the King of Chu granted Peng Shichou a noble title.
Good Fellow Tian is a Tuwang god worshipped by Tujia people of the Tian surname, formed on the basis of the Tian surname Tusi King of Xiangxi with heroic legends attached. Some say Good Fellow Tian was Tian Ergen, a Tian surname Tusi of Xiangxi, who in the early Qing was unwilling to submit his territory and later resisted "gaituguiliu." However, judging from the legendary stories of Good Fellow Tian circulating among the people, Good Fellow Tian in the minds of Tian surname Tujia people can no longer be simply equated with a certain Tian surname Tusi, but is a hero god recreated through imagination. Legend says Good Fellow Tian was highly skilled in martial arts, kind-hearted, and dared to struggle against evil forces. Of course, Good Fellow Tian's defiant character has the prototype factor of Tusi Tian Ergen. Once, Good Fellow Tian and his companions went to Xiajiang to do business. They heard that there was a black shop there that murdered people for their money, and others did not dare to dock. Good Fellow Tian said without fear, "I'm not afraid!" That night, he drove away the people running the black shop. Because he had offended the black shop people, they came to murder him. That group happened to meet Good Fellow Tian and asked him where "Good Fellow Tian" was. Good Fellow Tian said, "Good Fellow Tian is my master; let me go call him." With that, he leaped up to the tip of the ship's mast and shouted for his master to come quickly. Seeing that even Good Fellow Tian's disciple had such ability, the visitors were frightened and slipped away. The second group coming to murder Good Fellow Tian happened to meet him again. Good Fellow Tian invited them into the house and said, "Come in and smoke a pipe. Good Fellow Tian is my master; I'll go call him." As he spoke, he casually picked up a copper tube and squeezed it hard, turning it into copper powder. He fitted it onto a pipe mouth and then handed it to the visitors, who were frightened out of their wits and fled in panic. In legend, Good Fellow Tian had extraordinary abilities and was also resourceful. Later, Good Fellow Tian was still murdered. After Good Fellow Tian was killed, his soul did not perish and manifested to take revenge. His wife, following his instructions before death, bit three times on his sleeping mat and shouted "Good Fellow Tian" three times. Immediately the river surged and drowned the enemies. Good Fellow Tian's miraculous legends originate from Tujia people's worship of Tian surname heroes containing historical shadows. People sacrifice to him, hoping he will bless the region and grant later generations miraculous strength and wisdom. In Tuwang temples, Good Fellow Tian is depicted with both hands behind his back holding a long sword.
Old Official Xiang is the ancestral god worshipped by Tujia people of the Xiang surname. In Tujia areas, there has always been worship of King Tianzi Xiang, and Old Official Xiang should be a direct descendant of King Tianzi Xiang. Due to the influence of King Tianzi Xiang, Old Official Xiang also had a very high status, and his divine seat is indispensable in Tuwang temples with different combinations of deities. It is said that Old Official Xiang was a local Tusi in the late Ming and early Qing, named Xiang Zongyan, whose name appears on the Xizhou Bronze Pillar. The author believes that although Old Official Xiang on the divine altar is related to a certain Tusi, he is also a figure processed through beautification and deification, as evidenced by the miraculous and legendary color of the tales about Old Official Xiang. Legend pushes Old Official Xiang's birth and death forward by several eras, saying he was a person from Shuiba, Baojing, Hunan, during the Northern Song Dynasty. Because he could not pay the imperial grain tax, he began to gather people to practice martial arts under the pretext of hunting, intending to resist. As the martial arts training group grew, Old Official Xiang began to oppose the court and openly refused to pay the imperial grain tax. He also led people to eliminate violence and bring peace to the good, robbing the rich to help the poor, and thus became the support of the Tujia common people in the region, enjoying great prestige.
Because he resisted grain taxes and rebelled, the government sent a large army to encircle and suppress him. Old Official Xiang led his people to use the dangers of high mountains and steep ridges to maneuver against the government troops, but was finally defeated due to being outnumbered. Old Official Xiang hid in Shuiba Cave. A year later, he came out of the cave. It is said that he had been a guest of the Dragon King in the cave for one day; one day in the cave equals one year in the human world. The Dragon King taught him the skills of drilling through mountains and entering the sea, summoning wind and rain, and scattering beans to make soldiers.
After leaving the cave, he first tested his newly learned methods at Longma Mouth, subduing the demon at Longma Mouth, and also obtained a precious horse that could travel a thousand li by day and eight hundred by night and understood human nature. From then on, Old Official Xiang's abilities became even greater. The government could do nothing about him and had to make other plans.
At that time, Liao troops repeatedly invaded the border, and the court conscripted soldiers for war every year. The government then offered amnesty to Old Official Xiang and sent him to lead Tujia troops to campaign against the Liao. When Old Official Xiang set out, he brought three sheng of yellow beans, three sheng of iron sand, and three boxes of paper horses. When he reached the battlefield, he saw forty-eight camps of Liao soldiers covering the sky and earth; compared with them, the Tujia troops were vastly outnumbered. To change this situation of being outnumbered, Old Official Xiang used magic, scattering three sheng of yellow beans toward the direction of the Liao king's central army tent; each yellow bean became a soldier. He scattered three sheng of iron sand; each grain of iron sand became a weapon. He scattered three boxes of paper horses; each paper horse became a warhorse. In an instant, countless soldiers and horses appeared before the Liao camp. The Liao soldiers thought they had fallen into an ambush and hurriedly withdrew. Old Official Xiang led the Tujia troops in pursuit while victorious, and the Liao soldiers scattered and fled. Old Official Xiang won a great victory.
When Old Official Xiang returned to court in triumph, the emperor held a grand banquet to celebrate the victory over Liao. While drinking, word suddenly came that the rear palace of the imperial palace was on fire. The whole court of civil and military officials was instantly panic-stricken and in chaos. Only Old Official Xiang remained calm and composed, using magic to extinguish the fire. He pointed with his hand toward the rear palace, then waved from the direction of the sea toward the imperial palace. Immediately a torrential rain fell from above the imperial palace, and the great fire was quickly put out.
When the emperor saw that Old Official Xiang possessed such great abilities, he wanted to keep him in the capital to serve as an official, so as to make use of and control him. The emperor said to him, "I grant you an official post in the capital." He replied, "I do not want to be an official. The capital is not as fun as my hometown. I want to go back." He also refused the gold, silver, treasures, and beautiful women the emperor bestowed upon him. The emperor wanted to play three games of chess with him, saying that whoever won would take the empire. In the end, he won all three. The emperor, alarmed and uneasy, asked, "What do you want?" "I want to go home."
The emperor asked how big Old Official Xiang's house was, and he answered, "The house has a thousand pillars reaching the ground, and nine arrow-pierced archways make a fine estate." In reality, his family lived in a thatched hut, with walls made of bamboo strips woven into fencing, and a roof of cogon grass to which a new layer was added each year.
The emperor asked what his family ate and slept on, and he said, "By day I drink water from the riverside; by night I sleep on a golden-toothed bed. What I eat is silver-wrapped gold; what I swallow is gold-wrapped silver." In reality, Old Official Xiang's family lived on a mountain where water was scarce, so they had to carry water up from the riverside at the foot of the mountain. What they ate was steamed rice mixed with cornmeal, and what they swallowed was the yellowed outer leaves of old cabbage.
The emperor asked how many servants and hired hands his family had, and he answered, "Seventy people carry water, eighty people gather firewood." In reality, his family was extremely short of labor. When he was away from home, his seventy-year-old mother had to carry water, and his eighty-year-old father had to gather firewood.
Whatever the emperor asked about his family circumstances, he always described them in the best possible light, displaying his optimistic and cheerful character. In the end, when the emperor saw that he could not keep Old Official Xiang, he feared that letting a tiger return to the mountain would bring endless trouble in the future, so he resolved to do away with Old Official Xiang.
The emperor bestowed upon Old Official Xiang a jar of imperial wine, telling him to drink it when he returned home for reunion. Old Official Xiang, unaware that the wine had been poisoned, accepted the imperial wine and rode his fine horse home. On the way, Old Official Xiang grew thirsty and opened the imperial wine and drank it. As the poisoned wine went down, Old Official Xiang let out a great cry and is said to have died on horseback.
After Old Official Xiang died, the white horse carried his corpse swiftly homeward, crossing mountains when it met mountains and fording rivers when it met rivers. There is a place on the You River called White Horse Ferry, said to be where the white horse carried Old Official Xiang's corpse across the river.
The white horse carried Old Official Xiang's corpse home, and his parents buried him on Fierce Tiger Mountain. After poisoning Old Official Xiang, the emperor was still uneasy and sent people to inquire where he had been buried. As soon as the emperor heard that Old Official Xiang had been buried on Fierce Tiger Mountain, he felt it was inauspicious and hastily issued an edict to dig up the grave.
But as they dug beside Old Official Xiang's grave, it grew back as they dug. They dug day after day, yet Old Official Xiang's grave still stood unmoved. Later, they summoned Zhang Tianshi, who said, "A thousand hoes and ten thousand blades are nothing to fear; what is feared is a copper bell and iron nail nailing through the waist."
Following Zhang Tianshi's method, the soldiers digging the grave drove large iron stakes and copper stakes into the grave, and from the grave flowed a stream of bloody water that ran all the way down to the pond below the grave. The surface of this pond stayed red for three full years. This pond is still called Blood Water Pond today. After Old Official Xiang died, people greatly revered him and honored him as a deity. In the Tuwang Temple, Old Official Xiang is depicted holding an imperial edict, which is related to his having received amnesty from the imperial court during his lifetime.
The Duke Peng, the Good Fellow Tian, and Old Official Xiang worshipped in the Tuwang Temples of Xiangxi should be the three leaders of the Tujia clan alliance, which is why they are enshrined together in one temple. One legend weaves the three into a single story and shows the close relationship among them, which may also reveal that the three surnames once formed an alliance. According to legend, all three had a very close relationship with Granny Basha. Once, when Old Official Xiang held a feast, Duke Peng ate the grand banquet in the courtyard, while Good Fellow Tian and Granny Basha slipped into the pounding room to hide and eat a small meal. Duke Peng, in a rage, wanted to punish Good Fellow Tian, and Good Fellow Tian hurriedly fled with Granny Basha. Accordingly, in some places in Longshan, they are worshipped at separate sites. Old Official Xiang is worshipped in the main hall, Duke Peng in the courtyard, and Good Fellow Tian in the pounding room. During sacrifices, the Tu teacher presides, offering pigs and sheep, praying for blessings upon the descendants of the three surnames.