Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture — Goddess Worship (Part 3)
III. Fertility Goddesses. Fertility goddesses were often also clan ancestor deities. Besides the aforementioned Luanyu and Salt Goddess, Tujia fertility goddesses also include Yiluo Niangniang, Chapo, and Yongni. 1. Yiluo Niangniang. Yiluo Niangniang is a Tujia creator goddess similar to Nüwa. While the Han Chinese Nüwa used clay to create humans, Yiluo Niangniang...
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 Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated.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.
III. Fertility Goddesses
Fertility goddesses are often also clan ancestor deities. Besides the aforementioned Luanyu, Salt Goddess, and others who are fertility goddesses, the Tujia fertility goddesses also include Yiluo Niangniang, Chapo, Yongni, and others.
1. Yiluo Niangniang. Yiluo Niangniang is a Tujia goddess of creation similar to Nüwa. The Han Chinese Nüwa used clay as material to create humans, while Yiluo Niangniang used plants. The former is obviously related to pottery-making life, while the latter is clearly closely connected to agricultural life. Yiluo Niangniang used bamboo to make the skeleton, lotus leaves to make the liver and lungs, red beans to make the intestines, and a gourd to make the head, chopped seven holes in the head, blew a breath of immortal air, and the person was made. In the Tujia "Handwaving Song," this goddess of creation is called Yiwu Aba. Her story is a variant of the above myth.
In the "Handwaving Song" it is sung:
On earth there were no people, cold and desolate,
Motieba again called Yiwu Aba to go make people.
Yiwu Aba again made people,
Busy for ten days and ten nights straight.
First picked a gourd to make the head,
The gourd head was truly impressive,
Below the forehead, two eyes,
Drew some eyebrows to cover them,
One nostril for breathing through,
Two ears planted left and right,
Evenly and symmetrically cleverly arranged.
Below the nose, opened a mouth,
The mouth had a tongue and also teeth,
In the throat, connected the windpipe,
Intestines, liver, stomach, lungs, every part connected,
Cut some bamboo to make the skeleton,
The skeleton made was tightly bound.
Mixed mud to make the muscles,
Tightly plastered onto the skeleton.
Peeled a piece of tree bark to make the skin,
Picked a leaf to make the liver and lungs.
Then used cowpeas to make the intestines,
Also used thatch to make body hair.
On the human body, every part was present,
She made the feet and she made the hands.
Yiwo Aba was so careful and thorough,
She did not forget the navel on the belly,
She even thought of peeing and pooping,
So bearing and raising children would be no worry.
Busy for ten days and one night,
Yiwo Aba was utterly exhausted,
Her eyelids grew puffy and swollen,
Horns seemed to sprout upon her face.
In ten days and ten nights she made a person,
The mouth opened and breath came out,
She pulled its ear and gave a shout,
"Weng-ai! Weng-ai!" it cried aloud,
It could sleep and it could breathe,
It could sit and it could stand,
Its two feet could walk,
Yiwo Aba had succeeded in making a person.
Compared with the myth of Yiluo Niangniang, Yiwo Aba's act of creating humans seems more complete, meticulous, and complex, and the materials used were no longer only plants but also mud, clearly incorporating elements of the mud-creation myth. Yet the vast majority of the materials were still plants, so it still belongs to the category of "plant-creation" myths.
2. Tea Granny. Tea Granny, also called Ami Mama, is the fertility goddess of the Tujia people and the protector of children. Legend says that in her youth Tea Granny was called Shapani. She was clever and deft, able to weave Xilangkapu with all kinds of patterns. One day, she went down to the river to wash clothes and saw a big red flower floating down from upstream, with the sound of birdsong coming from within its petals. Curious, she scooped up the flower and took it home. A rooster saw it and ran over to peck at the flower. She hurriedly put the flower into her mouth, but it slipped down her throat into her belly. Not long after, she became pregnant, and her belly grew bigger day by day. Her father and her brothers and sisters-in-law all scolded her for disgracing the family and wanted to drive her out of the house. Her mother, taking pity on her daughter, hid her in a cave. Later she gave birth to a child. When the child grew up, he became an incomparably brave hunter. Shapani also cultivated herself into a deity in the cave, becoming a fertility goddess and protector of children. People often went to the cave to beg Shapani for children, and after a child was born, they would cut a paper image of Ami Mama and paste it on a wooden wall or a cupboard, making sacrifices on every festival. In the "Hand-Waving Song" it is sung:
Let no child be startled or frightened,
Let no child suffer heat or cold,
The children sleep in their cradles,
Smiling even in their dreams.
They grow up like puppies,
Plump and strong like gourds,
As lovable as flowers,
As spirited as tigers,
The Bizika multiply and prosper,
All thanks to Ami Mama.
Ami Mama is a deity,
Worshipped by the Bizika for generations.
3. Yihe Niangniang. When Yihe was a young woman, she once went up the mountain to pick tea. Parched with thirst, she chewed a handful of fresh tea leaves, and when she returned home she was pregnant. She was pregnant for 3 years and 6 months and gave birth to 8 brothers. Unable to raise them, she threw them into the mountains. The eight brothers grew as soon as the wind touched them, were suckled by tigers, and later became known as the Eight Tribe Kings.
4. Chunba Mama. Chunba Mama, also called Bashan Old Ancestress, or the Saltwater Goddess. Legend says that when she went up the mountain to gather firewood, a caterpillar fell onto her clothes, and she became pregnant. The child she bore was covered in hair all over and could fly, looking like an insect. Later Chunba Mama lived together with Lin Jun, who came from Mount Wuluo Zhongli, and they bore and raised children, but afterward she was shot dead by Lin Jun. After death, Chunba Mama became the fertility goddess of the Tujia people and the protector of children. When a child was born, a paper image of Chunba Mama was cut and pasted on the cupboard for sacrifice, praying that she would protect mother and child in peace and bring the child to adulthood.