Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture — Auspicious Object Worship (Part 3)
The Tujia have a venue for ancestor worship and hand-waving dance called the Baishou Hall. In front of every Baishou Hall stands a tall metasequoia or osmanthus tree, which the Tujia call the Pushe Tree. During hand-waving rituals, the Pushe Tree is decorated: colorful small lanterns are lit and hung on the tree like blooming flowers. Tujia men, women, and children also dance the hand-waving dance around the tree. Speaking of the Pushe...
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 Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated.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.
The Tujia have a place for ancestor worship and the hand-waving dance—the Hand-Waving Hall. In front of every Hand-Waving Hall stands a tall dawn redwood or osmanthus tree, which the Tujia call the Pushe tree. When the hand-waving sacrifice is held, the Pushe tree must be decorated: small lanterns of various colors are lit and hung on the tree, like blooming flowers. Tujia men, women, old and young also dance the hand-waving dance around the tree. There is a legend about the Pushe tree. It is said that long ago, the ancestors of the Tujia crossed mountains and rivers to reach western Hubei in order to escape famine. There was a Qin clan, more than a hundred men, women, old and young, led by an old chieftain, who crossed the Yi River in dugout canoes. They found that all the good "langchang" (places) had already been occupied by other clans first, so they had no choice but to keep moving forward. They climbed 49 slopes and crossed 49 ridges, arriving at a high and cold mountain. While resting in the evening, a young girl suddenly pointed at the cliff on the peak and cried out: "What a guai tree!" (guai—beautiful!) Everyone looked up and saw that on the mountaintop there really was a strange tree, its countless leaves glittering and illuminating half the sky. The old chieftain said: "This is the Pushe tree that the elders often spoke of, a divine tree rarely seen in the world. Whoever obtains it can be free of illness year after year, escape disaster year after year, and live and work in peace for generations." Hearing this, everyone resolved to take the divine tree away. People cut the tree down with sand knives and long axes, but it could not be pushed over or pulled away. Suddenly a gust of wind blew from the mountaintop, and the divine tree abruptly flew up, then fell into the You River flowing below the slope. Everyone rushed down from the mountaintop regardless of everything, and when they reached the riverbank they saw the divine tree standing upright floating on the water, neither sinking nor toppling, slowly moving downstream with the current. Everyone grabbed the hanging vines on the bank and leaped onto the divine tree. The old chieftain said: "This is the will of the heavenly gods. Where the divine tree takes root in the soil is the good langchang where we shall live and work in peace for generations." The divine tree drifted for seven days and seven nights, then stopped at one place and would go no farther. Indeed, this place had clear mountains and beautiful waters, fertile land—a rare geomantic treasure spot. Before everyone could get down from the tree, a gust of wind suddenly rose in the river valley, and the divine tree soared into the air and landed on the bank. Overnight, the divine tree took root in the soil and put out countless tender leaves. The Qin clan settled in this place and built a Hand-Waving Hall under the tree. This Pushe tree did not shed its leaves all year round and bloomed with more than a hundred kinds of flowers of various colors. Whenever the descendants of the Qin danced the hand-waving dance under the tree, the flowers would fall by themselves, and men, women, old and young would pick them up and wear them on their heads. Later, it is said that after a great earthquake, this Pushe tree disappeared. But from then on, the Tujia had the custom of planting a divine tree in front of the Hand-Waving Hall, and they had to hang small lanterns of various colors on the divine tree to symbolize the hundred-colored flowers on the Pushe tree. From this highly mythical story one can faintly discern the scene of the Tujia ancestors using trees as sailing tools and drifting with the water in search of places with rich water and grass. When they arrived at a new place, cleared land, planted crops, and built homes, they would invariably establish an ancestor-worship temple—the Hand-Waving Hall—and in front of the Hand-Waving Hall they would invariably plant a divine tree as the marker or guardian object of their tree village. Where there is a Hand-Waving Hall, there must be a great tree; the great tree is a divine tree with the nature of a community god in the minds of the Tujia.
The Tujia setting up divine trees in front of their villages can be traced back to the Ba people's Lin Jun. The Changyang County Gazetteer calls an ancient tree growing on top of Xianglu Rock in Changyang the "Thousand-Year Wood," which the local people call a "divine tree," or sandalwood tree. Legend says that long ago King Xiang Tian (that is, Lin Jun) established a city on Xianglu Rock and set up this tree as a divine tree. It is said that this divine tree responded to every request, and all the fortunes and misfortunes of King Xiang Tian's tribe were tied to this divine tree. When people went up the mountains to hunt or down to the river to fish, they first had to report to the divine tree, and the game they brought back or the fish they caught had to be offered first to the divine tree. They had a common incantation: "Thousand-year wood, ten-thousand divine images, share blessings together, share hardships together." Whether Lin Jun really established a city and planted this tree as described in the legend is hard to verify, but it is a fact that the ancestors of the local people once regarded this tree as a divine tree. Unfortunately, this ancient tree on Xianglu Rock was cut down in 1964. At that time, log drivers from Badong risked their lives to climb onto Xianglu Rock, which is narrow below and thick above, cut down the Thousand-Year Wood, and destroyed many pottery vessels and potsherds. So today, when people come to Xianglu Rock, they can no longer see the Thousand-Year Wood.
Fruit trees can bear fruit, and this too is worshiped by the Tujia. The fruit borne by fruit trees is regarded as bestowed by the tree deity, so there is the practice of sacrificing to fruit trees. On New Year's Eve, the Tujia feed meals to the fruit trees in front of and behind their houses. Generally, a group of paired boys and girls participates in this ritual. The girls carry on tea trays rice, glutinous rice, millet rice, corn rice, and mung bean rice, called "perfect in every way," as well as pig's head and pig's tail, implying that from beginning to end of the year there is a head and a tail. The boys hold firewood knives, three sticks of incense, candles, and paper money. First they go to the middle of the threshing ground in front of the house to burn paper and incense and set off firecrackers, then they go into the fruit grove, choose the largest fruit tree, and cut a gash in the trunk. The girls then use an iron ladle to stuff the mixed food into the tree's gash. After stuffing it, the girls hide behind the tree, while the boys stand respectfully and begin the question-and-answer.
The boy asks: "Will it bear fruit?"
The girl answers: "It will, it will, it will!"
The boy asks: "Will it drop?"
The girl answers: "It won't, it won't, it won't!"
The boy asks: "Will it be sweet?"
The girl answers: "Purely sweet, purely sweet, purely sweet!"
After the two sides finish the dialogue, they go to another tree to feed the New Year meal and carry out the same question-and-answer until every tree has "eaten." Feeding the New Year meal expresses the Tujia people's worship of the fruit tree deity. They believe that only after the fruit tree deity has eaten the New Year meal will it bear large and sweet fruit the following year. This custom was originally introduced by the Han Chinese. The Han have the custom of feeding Laba porridge to fruit trees on the Laba Festival. The Tongzhi Fourth Year (1865) Fang County Gazetteer records: "On 'Laba Day,' rice is mixed with flour, beans, and various vegetables and fruits to make porridge, called 'Laba porridge.' For fruit trees that do not bear fruit, one chops the tree with an axe and puts porridge in the cut, saying: 'Will it bear, will it bear, the branches will bend under the weight.' This is called 'feeding the tree.'" The Tujia originally had tree-spirit worship; after the Han custom of feeding Laba porridge to fruit trees was introduced, they accepted it and formed the custom of feeding the New Year meal on New Year's Eve, and from this custom they also attached a legend. Long ago, there was a household in the village with an elderly mother and five children, who relied entirely on a slope of fruit trees for their livelihood. One year there was a great drought, and the fruit trees also suffered a spring cold; the flowers fell early, and soon the branches of the whole slope of fruit trees were bare. Four of the mother's five children left; only the youngest daughter, Cuicui, could not bear to leave her old and ailing mother. That year, little Cuicui and her mother lived on kudzu root, and the mother's illness unexpectedly improved day by day. Later, while digging kudzu root, Cuicui met a young man. The young man was so hungry he was sallow and thin, so Cuicui brought him home and gave him kudzu root cakes every day. The young man grew stronger day by day, while the mother's illness grew worse day by day. Before she died, the mother said only one sentence: "Cuicui, I'm hungry, I want to eat kudzu root cakes." Sadly, Cuicui buried her mother in the fruit grove. It turned out that the young man was not a good person; he was a wild kudzu vine spirit from the cliff opposite, and only by drinking the mother's blood every day had he recovered his vitality. From then on, after the annual reunion dinner, the five children would come to their mother's grave and feed the fruit trees, making up for their filial devotion and praying for a bumper harvest of fruit the following year. The legend shows that the Tujia regard fruit trees as deities, which is why the custom of sacrificing to trees and feeding them meals could take shape.
Among the Tujia divine trees, one type is regarded as a tree reaching to heaven, by means of which humans can ascend to the heavenly court; we call these heaven-ladder trees. One kind of heaven-ladder tree is the dawn redwood, a rare tree species preserved from the Ice Age. There is a tall, ancient dawn redwood at Modao Creek in Lichuan, Hubei, which has been listed as a key national protection object. The Tujia regard the ancient dawn redwood as a heaven-reaching tree. Legend says that long ago it snowed heavily again and again; the world was ice and snow, extremely cold, and all living things froze to death, leaving only a brother and sister. The brother was named Qin Atuxi and the sister Qin Atuzhen. They had nowhere to live and nothing to eat, so they searched everywhere for a way out. They walked and walked on the vast white snow, when suddenly they saw a great tree, many arm-spans thick, towering into the clouds, which the great wind could not shake and the heavy snow could not bury, with green branches and leaves, very luxuriant, giving people a feeling of spring even in this severe cold season. They felt they had found a glimmer of life, so they climbed the tree, climbing and climbing; the higher they climbed, the warmer and brighter it became, and when they looked closely, they had already reached the heavenly palace.
Guanyin Bodhisattva said to them: "Only you two are left in the world. Go down to the mortal world and marry, for the human race must still continue!" They did not agree, saying there was no principle by which brother and sister could marry. Guanyin Bodhisattva said: "This is fate, and it cannot be disobeyed!" Qin Atuxi said: "Whether it is fate must be tested. My sister and I will each take a branch and throw it down to the mortal world. If the two branches join together, we will agree to marry." Guanyin Bodhisattva agreed. In the end, the branches thrown down indeed joined together, and the brother and sister had no choice but to marry. But the sister was very shy, so Guanyin Bodhisattva told her to break off a dawn redwood branch and make an umbrella to cover her face, and then she would not be shy. That is why afterward, when Tujia girls married, they all liked to carry a red umbrella. After the brother and sister married, they gave birth to a red ball. The red ball flew into the sky and burst open into countless small pieces; those that fell to the ground became people, and they were the later Tujia people. The dawn redwood is the heaven-ladder tree in Tujia belief, so some especially ancient dawn redwoods cannot be cut at will. For example, the giant dawn redwood at Modao Creek in Lichuan cannot be cut at will. The terrain of Modao Creek resembles a boat, and the local people believe that this ancient dawn redwood is the mast of the boat; whoever damages it will make the boat sink. It is said that long ago, several foreigners passed by Modao Creek and, seeing that this dawn redwood was extraordinary, wanted to steal its treasure. They dug its roots, peeled its bark, cut its branches, and picked its fruit, and after several days and nights of trouble they still could not move it. When the common people learned of this, they came one after another to protect the tree. The foreigners had no choice but to flee; before leaving, unwilling to give up, they turned back and shot several arrows, and a pair of young men and women protecting the tree were hit. Instantly, this young man and woman turned into a pair of phoenixes and flew onto the dawn redwood to protect this divine tree. From then on, no one dared to cut the tree or steal its treasure. There is another legend about this ancient tree at Modao Creek. It is said that in ancient times two heroes appeared at Modao Creek, a woman named Qin Liangyu and a man named Fan Zengqi. They hung a white tiger banner on the dawn redwood and gathered people to rebel, and soon gathered many people. They killed the rich to aid the poor and were deeply welcomed by the poor common people. There was a local tusi named Shen Tuohu. His only son was gravely ill and about to die. A fortune-teller said that only by eating the phoenix eggs on the dawn redwood could he be cured. While Qin Liangyu and her husband were away leading troops, the tusi sent his retainers up the tree to get the phoenix eggs. The retainers could not climb the tree, so Shen Tuohu told them to cut it down. Just as they raised their axes, suddenly a great wind arose and hail the size of bowls fell. The hail crushed to death the retainers and Shen Tuohu's whole family. It is said that the hail was transformed from the phoenix eggs on the tree.
The masang tree is a tree that grows very short, but in Tujia belief it was once a heaven-ladder tree, with a trunk reaching to heaven; later, for various reasons, it became short and could no longer serve as a tool for reaching heaven, but it is still a sacred tree. How exactly did the masang tree become short? Among the Tujia there are actually several explanations. One explanation is related to the Monkey King. Legend says that long ago the masang tree grew as high as the sky, and the Monkey King often climbed up the masang tree, climbing and climbing until he reached heaven. Once, the Monkey King again climbed to the heavenly court and came to the Jade Emperor's hall, where he was caught by the heavenly patrol guards. The patrol guards took him to see the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor asked him how he had come up to heaven, and the Monkey King said he had climbed up from the masang tree. The Jade Emperor asked what he had come for, and the Monkey King could not think of a good reason, so he lied that the lower world had sent him to beg for rain, and made up a story that the drought in the lower world was extremely severe. Hearing this, the Jade Emperor quickly took a golden broom, dipped it once in a golden basin of water, and sprinkled it down toward the lower world. Instantly torrential rain fell in the human world, raining for a whole day and night; water in the flat plains accumulated more than a foot deep, and when the sun shone on the water surface of the plains it was bright and glistening. The Jade Emperor sent the Monkey King to see how the rain had relieved the drought. The Monkey King went to the Southern Heavenly Gate and looked down, and saw only a bright glistening expanse. He hurried back and told the Jade Emperor that the plains of the lower world were not even wet yet! The Jade Emperor again took the golden broom, dipped it once in the golden basin, and sprinkled it down toward the lower world; he dipped and sprinkled three times in succession, and it rained in the human world for three whole days and nights. Everything in the lower world was submerged by the flood, leaving only a vast ocean. The Jade Emperor again told the Monkey King to go look at conditions in the lower world. The Monkey King went to the Southern Heavenly Gate and looked, and saw only some mountain peaks protruding above the water; he mistook them for plowshares, and so he told the Jade Emperor that even the plowshares were not submerged! Hearing this, the Jade Emperor poured the water in the golden basin down toward the lower world, and with this pour the flood rose level with the sky. On the flood floated a gourd, in which sat Goddess Luoshen and Grandpa Luoshen. They reported to the Jade Emperor the matter of the flood overflowing the human world, and the Jade Emperor sent Li Gulao with a sea-stabilizing needle to control the waters; one thrust made a lake, one sweep made a river, and in seven days and seven nights the water receded. Goddess Luoshen and Grandpa Luoshen returned to the human world, and after many twists and turns married and again multiplied the human race. The Jade Emperor, fearing that the Monkey King would again climb up to heaven along the masang tree and recklessly report conditions in the lower world, recited an incantation: "The more the masang grows, the more it bends; it cannot grow to two zhang high." From then on, the masang tree could never grow tall again. But people still regard the masang tree as a divine tree and do not cut it for firewood.
Another explanation for why the masang tree cannot grow tall is related to the sun-shooting hero Luo Yu. Legend says that in ancient times there were 12 suns in the sky, and one day they suddenly came out all together and scorched the earth dry. The hero Luo Yu was a skilled archer, and he resolved to rid the people of this calamity and shoot down the surplus suns. He stood on the ground and shot at the suns, but the arrows fell back long before reaching them. People then thought of a way for Luo Yu to shoot the suns from the masang tree on the summit of Bamian Mountain. Luo Yu climbed the sky-high masang tree and shot several arrows in succession, bringing down 10 of the 12 suns and leaving two: one to come out in the daytime as the sun, and one to come out at night as the moon. Because he used too much force, he trampled the masang tree short and bent it. From then on, the masang tree could never grow tall again.
There is another account that comes from a more recent story, yet it still reflects the divinity of the mulberry tree as a heavenly ladder. It is said that Scholar Luo Yuan was a great sleeper: his long sleeps lasted thirty years, and his short sleeps eighteen springs. One year during the dog days, he was resting in the shade of a mulberry tree and, casually hanging his hat on the tree, fell asleep. When he woke up, the mulberry tree had grown as tall as the sky, and it took him a long while to climb up and retrieve his hat. After coming down, somewhat annoyed, he pointed at the mulberry tree's branches and said: "From now on you may only grow one person tall; grow any more and you must bend at the waist." From then on, the mulberry tree could no longer grow tall.
Among some surnames of the Tujia, tree deities still retain traces of totem worship. For example, taking a certain tree as the ancestral deity of one's clan contains the totemic notion that the clan originated from a certain plant and that this plant has a protective function for the clan. Some Tujia of the Tian surname have the custom of regarding the redbud tree as their ancestral tree: they plant redbud trees in front of and behind their houses, and on the ancestral spirit tablets worshipped in the main hall they even write words such as "In the Hall of Purple Gold..." These are all traces of the Tian clan's redbud tree totem worship. There is also a legend that reflects the Tian clan's notion of the redbud tree as their ancestral tree. Long ago, there was a family surnamed Tian whose head was nearly sixty when he finally had a son. On the day his son was born, he planted a redbud tree in front of the house and even gave it the name "Tree of One Son and Many Grandsons." The son was named Tian Shi. When Tian Shi grew up, he married. The redbud tree in front of the gate put out three branches from halfway up its trunk. That same year, Tian Shi's wife gave birth to three sons in one delivery. When the three sons grew up, each married a wife. The three branches of the redbud tree each put out three tender shoots, nine in all. That year, the three daughters-in-law together gave birth to nine sons. Tian Shi's household could truly be called prosperous. But the three daughters-in-law often quarreled and demanded to divide the family. Tian Shi called his sons and daughters-in-law under the redbud tree and said, the redbud tree was planted by the elders; it is the ancestral tree of the Tian family. If you want to divide the family, only if it withers and dies may you do so. To achieve their goal of dividing the family, the three daughters-in-law poured scalding water on the redbud tree's roots and tore at its branches. Before long, the flowers at the top fell and the leaves turned yellow and withered. The three daughters-in-law then proposed to divide the family. Tian Shi said: "The redbud tree has not died yet." But the three daughters-in-law insisted on dividing, so the family had to be divided. As soon as the family was divided, the redbud tree withered completely. Tian Shi called his three sons and daughters-in-law under the tree and said: "If the tree dies, the Tian family's descendants will not prosper." After some guidance, the three daughters-in-law merged into one family again. The next day, the redbud tree came back to life, still with green branches and leaves, covered with red flowers. From this legend it can be seen that in the minds of the Tujia of the Tian clan, people and trees resonate with each other: when the Tian clan is prosperous and harmonious, the redbud tree flourishes and displays dazzling vitality; when the redbud tree grows vigorously, the Tian clan also prospers in descendants. This notion of mutual resonance between people and trees (the trees in front of and behind the house) still exists today in some Tujia areas.
The Tujia also have a custom of planting a "joy tree" when a newborn is born, which is likewise based on the notion of mutual resonance between trees and people. Here, the growth of the planted joy tree is used to resonate with the newborn and promote its growth. The custom also contains the notion of tree deities. Planting a joy tree is generally done in spring, because only trees planted in spring can survive. If the sapling planted for a child fails to survive, it is considered the most unlucky thing. If the child is born in spring, a joy tree can be planted for him immediately; if born in another season, one must wait until spring to plant it. The joy trees planted are mostly toon trees, because toon trees grow fast, adapt strongly, survive easily, have straight trunks, and solid, brownish-red wood that is a first-rate material. Generally several or more than ten toon trees are planted. By the time these toon trees mature, the sons and daughters have also reached marriageable age, and the toon trees can be used as material to make furniture. This custom has both a religious function and a practical one, so it is still passed down today in some Tujia areas.
2. Flowers. Ginkgo flowers, honeysuckle flowers, peony flowers, dream flowers, and ciguo flowers are all auspicious flowers of the Tujia.
Ginkgo flowers are often embroidered on the Tujia brocade Xilankapu and are a symbol of the pure and beautiful Tujia girl. The legend of the ginkgo flower has been discussed earlier and is omitted here.
Honeysuckle. Honeysuckle is a small-petaled flower that blooms on a twining shrub; the flowers are white at first and then yellow, alternating yellow and white, hence the name honeysuckle. Honeysuckle is cold in nature and sweet in taste; it can clear heat and detoxify, and treat warm-disease fever, skin rashes, sore throat, heat-toxin dysentery, and swollen sores and ulcers. The Tujia pick honeysuckle, dry it in the sun, and brew it as tea to clear heat, relieve summer heat, and detoxify. Because honeysuckle has medicinal functions, it is regarded by the Tujia as an auspicious flower that wards off evil. One legend even attaches honeysuckle to the transformed spirits of a man and a woman. It is said that in a certain mountain village there were Brother Jin and Sister Yin, a match made in heaven. Just as they were about to marry, a plague suddenly broke out; old and young alike lay in bed waiting to die, and only Brother Jin and Sister Yin were not sick. They tried every means and endured countless hardships to gather herbs and brew medicine to treat the villagers, but there was still no improvement. Later, guided by an old man with a white beard, they went to Hundred Herbs Ridge to ask the immortal elder for divine medicine. They found the white-haired immortal elder leaning on a cane; the elder handed Brother Jin a golden seed and Sister Yin a silver seed, telling them to take them back and soak them, saying that once soaked the seeds would sprout and bloom, and that if the flowers were steeped in water and given to their parents to drink, the illness would immediately be cured. Hearing this, Brother Jin and Sister Yin said: "Then what about the other people in the village?" The immortal elder said with difficulty: "To save everyone in the village, unless you two swallow the two seeds and turn yourselves into flowers." To save the whole village and for their love, Brother Jin and Sister Yin both swallowed the seeds. Brother Jin fell to the ground and became a green vine covered with clusters of small golden flowers; Sister Yin also fell to the ground and became a green vine covered with clusters of small silver flowers. The fragrance of the flowers filled the village, and when the sick smelled it, they all recovered. After the people recovered, they found that Brother Jin and Sister Yin were gone from the village. They searched everywhere but could not find them, and saw only white and yellow flowers on green vines all over the ground. Everyone immediately understood: Brother Jin and Sister Yin had turned into the healing flowers of alternating yellow and white. So people called them "honeysuckle." The legend of honeysuckle reflects people's admiration for its healing function and their love for this beautiful flower of alternating yellow and white, so the legend greatly exaggerates honeysuckle's healing power, saying that people need only smell its fragrance to be cured, which is truly divine. At the same time, imagining the beautiful flower of alternating yellow and white as transformed from the spirits of a pair of passionately in love young man and woman, and deriving a fine tale from it, thereby using the beautiful flower to embody the Tujia national virtue of "sacrificing oneself for others," is an aesthetic elevation of honeysuckle. Honeysuckle is a symbol of goodness and beauty, and an auspicious flower in the hearts of the Tujia people.
Peony. The peony has long been known in our country as the 'king of flowers.' Peonies are incomparably beautiful and are often a symbol of goodness; people often describe peonies as 'national beauty and heavenly fragrance,' and use this to describe beautiful people. Influenced by Han culture, the Tujia people also plant peonies, and they have even formed the custom of planting a peony when a daughter is born. Whenever a daughter is born, a peony must be planted in front of or behind the house, and then carefully tended, fertilized, weeded, and watered, so that the peony grows up and blooms into a beautiful flower. The meaning of this custom lies in using the peony's growth and blooming of beautiful flowers to resonate with the daughter growing up to become a beautiful girl, as beautiful as a peony. When the daughter marries, this peony must also be dug up and sold as herbal medicine, and the money obtained is used to prepare the dowry. No matter how wealthy the family is, they will do this. Because it means letting the beautiful peony go with the daughter to her husband's home. The peony, among the Tujia people, is an auspicious flower expressing the hope that a daughter will be beautiful and prosperous. Around the meaning of planting peonies in hopes that a daughter will grow more and more beautiful, a legend also arose. The legend says that a Tujia hunter went into the mountains to hunt and unknowingly walked into a very, very deep old forest. He was lonely and miserable, when suddenly he heard a few bird calls, as pleasant as a young girl singing. The hunter looked toward the sound and saw an oriole on a tree staring at him with bright, sparkling eyes. The hunter said to it, keep me company. The bird indeed fluttered over and chirped without stopping. The hunter told it to stop on his shoulder, and it spread its wings again, but unexpectedly at that moment an eagle swooped over, seized its neck, and bit it to death. The hunter was furious, raised his gun, and shot the eagle dead. The eagle fell to the ground, but the oriole's body was nowhere to be seen. However, the hunter found that a peony had just sprouted from the soil, in the blink of an eye grew leaves, and soon bloomed. The hunter had never seen a peony grow so fast or bloom so beautifully, and thought to himself, it must have been transformed from the oriole. So he dug it up and took it home. Before he even entered the door, he heard the sound of a baby crying from inside the house. It turned out his wife had just given birth to a daughter. The hunter then planted the peony in front of the door, and from then on cared for and nurtured this peony as carefully as he did his daughter. The daughter was also named Mudan. Later, the hunter's daughter grew up just like the peony, equally beautiful, and everyone praised her. People also followed their family's practice: when a daughter was born, they planted a peony in front of the door, and gradually it became a custom.
Dream flower. The dream flower is a small yellow flower that carries the dreams of the Tujia people. In the western Hubei area, the Tujia plant in front of and behind their houses a twining shrub with yellow flowers, called the dream flower tree. When people have a dream, they tie a knot on the dream flower tree. If the knot grows tight, the dream will come true; if it grows loose, the dream will not come true. So the dream flower tree is a sacred object used by people to divine whether a dream is efficacious.
Ciguo flower. The ciguo flower is a wild flower that grows on mountain slopes. In spring it blooms with red and white flowers, and in autumn it forms red lantern fruits covered with thorns, called candy in some places. The ciguo flower and lantern fruit are, among the Tujia, flowers and fruits symbolizing steadfast love. There is also a legend about this symbolic meaning. Long ago, two families lived in the mountains, separated only by a small stream. The two families were very close. The family on the east side had a son named Yanbao, and the family on the west side had a daughter named Yanhua. Yanbao and Yanhua were childhood sweethearts, innocent playmates, and when they grew up they became a pair of lovers. When it came time to discuss marriage, the elders of both families asked Yanbao's maternal uncle to be the matchmaker. Yanbao's old uncle was an idle, ill-intentioned man. He was then helping the Tusi select concubines. That year the Tusi wanted to marry twelve concubines. If the old uncle helped the Tusi choose one, he could receive a house and ten fine horses as reward. Seeing that Yanhua was as beautiful as a flower, the old uncle conceived an evil idea. Under the pretext of matchmaking, he actually intended to send Yanhua to the Tusi to be a concubine. The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and so was the happy day for Yanbao and Yanhua. One night, Yanhua was kidnapped. The elders of both families came to Tian Sheba's house to report the case, but unexpectedly saw a bridal sedan chair being carried out from Tian Sheba's house, and from the sedan chair came Yanhua's crying. The old uncle and Tian Sheba were just coming out of the house. The two families of Yanbao and Yanhua finally understood: it was the old uncle and Tian Sheba who had colluded to seize Yanhua and give her to the Tusi king as a concubine. Tian Sheba's retainers drove Yanbao and the others away and carried the bridal sedan chair to the Tusi's mansion. Yanhua firmly refused to marry the Tusi king and was tied up by the Tusi in the mill room. On the third night, Yanbao rescued Yanhua. The two, carrying two prepared lanterns, went up the Ten-Li Thatched Ridge. The Tusi king sent soldiers in pursuit, and from afar they saw two lanterns drifting on the Great Thatched Mountain. They chased toward the lanterns. Yanbao was strong and threw down more than a dozen soldiers. The soldiers did not dare advance, so they surrounded the two tightly and shot arrows wildly. The two held each other tightly, their whole bodies shot up like hedgehogs. A year later, ciguo flowers grew here: the white flowers were transformed from Yanhua, the red ones from Yanbao, and they bloomed on the same branch. In autumn, the flowers became lantern fruits, and the little thorns all over them were the arrow shafts all over their bodies.
3. Grasses. The Tujia's grass-type auspicious objects are mainly various medicinal herbs; because they have healing functions, they are regarded as auspicious objects that ward off evil. Among them are danggui, mugwort, and so on.
III. Animal Auspicious Objects
Some Tujia animal auspicious objects originate from ancient totem worship, such as the Ba snake, white tiger, and eagle, which have been described in detail earlier; another group of animal auspicious objects is closely related to the daily life customs of the Tujia, mainly including the ox, yangque, sheep, magpie, and fish; there is also a group of animal auspicious objects that are mainly imaginary animals, such as the dragon, phoenix, and qilin, and this group of auspicious objects was entirely introduced from the Han.
1. Ox. The ox is an important tool of farming; only with oxen can large-scale cultivation be carried out, so the ox is closely related to agricultural harvest and was regarded by the ancients as an auspicious object that could bring abundant grain. After the ox-plowing mode of production was introduced into Tujia areas, the ox also became an auspicious object symbolizing abundant grain among the Tujia. Among the Tujia, there are yellow oxen and water buffaloes: yellow oxen are used for mountain cultivation, and water buffaloes for flatland paddy-field cultivation. The Tujia have the custom of respecting oxen; generally they do not kill oxen to eat beef, and only after an ox grows old is it slaughtered for meat. The Tujia also have ox festivals, namely the Ox King Festival on the eighth day of the fourth month and the Ox King Gathering on the eighth day of the eighth month. That a single ethnic group should have two festivals concerning oxen shows the reverence for oxen. The eighth day of the fourth month was set as the Ox King Festival: one account says it is the birthday of the Ox King, another says it is the day the Ox King descended to the mortal world to help people pull plows and harrows. Many ethnic groups have this explanation for the Ox King Festival. The Tujia explanation of the origin of the Ox King Festival also incorporates an event from the ethnic group's own history. It is said that the Tujia were defeated in a battle and, when fleeing, were blocked by a great river; the soldiers could not cross, and the pursuing troops were already pressing close. At this critical moment, a water buffalo swam over, and the soldiers, holding the buffalo's tail hair, crossed the river and were finally saved. From then on the Tujia set this day as the Ox King Festival. This account is actually an attached interpretation. The original intention of celebrating the Ox King Festival was to cherish the plowing ox and let it rest for a day during the busy farming season; after attaching the ethnic historical event, the Tujia Ox King Festival also incorporated the meaning of commemorating ancestors. On this day, every Tujia household kills chickens and pigs, prepares fine dishes, steams glutinous rice, first sacrifices to ancestors and then the whole family dines together; they also let the ox rest from plowing for a day, clean the ox shed, feed the ox tender grass, cook ox rice, and feed it eggs. In some places they even cut a few slices of cured meat for the ox to eat. Another Tujia festival concerning oxen is the "Ox King Gathering" on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month. At this time the crops are ripe and farm work has decreased, so the Tujia gather in various places to hold the "Ox King Gathering," nominally for the ox to have a festival but actually to celebrate the harvest. At the Ox King Gathering a sacrificial ceremony is held, presided over by a Daoist priest. First the priest beats, chants, and sings, presenting the "Ox King Memorial," whose content mostly praises the Ox King's sacred origin, experiences, and divine office, such as "the incarnation of green majesty, master of calves; attaining the Way at Mount Fu, weighing the ways of demons." The "Ox King Memorial" is submitted to the "Ox King Chou Constellation Lord." After the priest finishes presenting the memorial, people kowtow and bow to sacrifice to the Ox King.
The Tujia's two ox-related festivals and their customs clearly bear the color of an ox-plowing economy and are accompaniments of ox-plowing production activities. In fact, before the ox-plowing mode of production was introduced into Tujia areas, the Tujia already had ox deity worship; the ox, as a sacred object or auspicious object of the Tujia and their ancestors, had existed for thousands of years. This point is the same as among some ethnic minorities in the southwest. In ancient times, the ethnic minorities of the southwest regarded the ox as a sacred object, and oxen were mainly used as sacrificial victims. For example, the Nama people, a branch of the Bai, used oxen to sacrifice to Heaven; the ox used for the Heaven sacrifice had to be selected and had to be a vigorous black-and-white, white-and-black, or pure yellow bull, tended by a special person. Such an ox enjoyed privileges and could eat wherever it went; even if it trampled or ate crops, it could not be driven away. When important matters of praying to the gods arose, this ox would be killed to sacrifice to Heaven. The ox for sacrificing to the gods was a sacred object, so some southwestern ethnic groups often took the head of the god-sacrificing ox as a guardian object to drive away evil ghosts and demons. Among the Tujia, the ox deity also has the function of suppressing evil and averting misfortune; the ox deity sacrifice on the Ox Deity Festival on the eighth day of the fourth month has this meaning and can be regarded as a remnant of ancient ox sacred-object worship.