Study of Institutional Culture in Ancient Tujia Society—Religious System Culture (II)
Section 2: Religious Activities. Religious activities are the external expression of believers' religious concepts and emotions. Due to differences in purpose and manner of expressing faith, religious behaviors such as prayer, sacrifice, taboo, and witchcraft emerge in religious life. Prayer and sacrifice are religious behaviors of universal significance in Tujia religious life; 'sacrifice'...
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Section II Religious Activities
Religious activities are the external expression of religious believers' religious concepts and religious emotions. Because believers differ in the purposes and ways of expressing their faith, religious behaviors such as prayer, sacrifice, taboos, and shamanism appear in religious life. Prayer and sacrifice are religious behaviors of universal significance in the religious life of the Tujia people. "Sacrifice is a religious behavior using objects as symbolic signs, expressing piety, wishes, and prayers to the gods through the offering of tribute; while prayer uses specific norms of speech and action to achieve this purpose, expressing worship of the gods through believers' standardized symbolic movements." Here, we will focus on discussing religious behaviors and activities in Tujia areas such as ancestor sacrifices, hunting sacrifices, and production sacrifices.
I. Ancestor Worship
Ancestor worship originated from the soul worship and totem worship of primitive society and is the product of the combination of ghost worship concepts and blood relations. The manifestation of ancestor worship in Tujia areas is a broad-ranging and complex set of ancestor sacrificial activities. The Tujia people "in March kill white sheep, beat drums and play flutes, and call it sacrificing to ghosts. ... On the eighteenth day of the fourth month and the night of the fifteenth day of the seventh month they sacrifice to ancestors, and also sacrifice at the Popo Temple. In the sixth month, they cook new rice, slaughter livestock, and also call it sacrificing to ghosts. On the ninth day of the ninth month, the whole village slaughters livestock to sacrifice on Double Ninth, to repay the merits of the soil. On the night of the twentieth day of the twelfth month they sacrifice to ancestors, also called sacrificing to ghosts, and forbid the sound of cats and dogs." According to the characteristics of the objects of worship and the sacrificial rituals, the ancestor sacrificial activities of the Tujia people can be divided into sacrificing to the Eight Tribes Great Gods, sacrificing to Xiang Wang, sacrificing to the Tuwang, and sacrificing to family ancestors.
Sacrificing to the Eight Tribes Great Gods. According to legend, in ancient times the leaders of eight Tujia tribes led their people in opening up the territory of the eight "Man" regions of western Hunan and were meritorious; the native officials enfeoffed them as the Eight Tribes Great Gods and built temples for them, regularly holding sacrificial rituals. The religious activity of sacrificing to the Eight Tribes Great Gods was large in scale and was called the "Great Hand-waving." According to the traditional custom of two times every three years, from the ninth to the eleventh day of the first lunar month at the Eight Tribes Great King Temple, that is, the "Pai," with pai as the unit, each pai was a hand-waving team. The number of people in each pai varied, and all had hand-waving teams, sacrificial teams, flag teams, music teams, armored teams, and firecracker teams. The first row was the dragon-and-phoenix flag team. The dragon flag and phoenix flag were made of red, blue, white, and yellow silk materials, each a triangular large flag of one color on each of the four sides, with the white dragon and red phoenix flags considered the finest, walking side by side at the very front of the procession. The second row was the sacrificial team, composed of village elders of high prestige and virtue, numbering more than twenty. After the sacrificial team came the dance team, men and women, old and young, dressed in festival costumes, some holding court tablets, some holding green tree branches. After the dance team came the small flag team. Then came the music team, armored team, and firecracker team, accompanied by ox horns, native horns, trumpets, and dongdongkui, playing the unique melody of the festival. After each pai arrived at the hand-waving hall, they first swept away evil, then pacified the gods. The presiding master held a broom and, in a loud and stirring voice, condemned those exploiters who "take in with a large measure and give out with a small measure"; with the iron broom of morality he swept away those ethnic scum who "intentionally harm others and commit theft and prostitution," fully expressing the Tujia people's virtue of hating evil as if it were an enemy and being honest and kind. After sweeping away evil, everyone stood on both sides respectively, leaving an open space in the middle for the sacrificial team to perform the sacrifice. The sacrificers, led by the presiding master, first knelt down, and the dancers immediately knelt as well, singing the song of inviting the gods in unison. After the song, the offerings were presented on the divine altar. On the offerings were made the characters "Fu Lu Shou Xi," "Auspicious and Satisfactory," "Abundant Harvest of the Five Grains," and "Favorable Weather," indicating the purpose of sacrificing to the Eight Tribes Great Gods. After the sacrifice was completed, three-eyed cannons, bird guns, and firecrackers all roared toward the sky, and the whole place seethed. Under the command of the presiding master, people joyfully danced the hand-waving dance and sang hand-waving songs.
Sacrificing to the Xiang King. The Xiang King, namely Lin Jun, is the ancient ancestor in Tujia legend and a national god tied by an umbilical cord to the Tujia white tiger totem. In the Tujia areas of western Hubei such as Changyang, Enshi, Jianshi, Badong, and Wufeng, temples to the Xiang King Tianzi were built. Among the Tujia people in the Suimu Stream area of Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, from the twenty-fourth to the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, they sacrifice to the Xiang King every day. Boatmen on the Qingjiang River hold the Xiang King Festival on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month each year, when boats moor ashore to pray for safety. Among the Tujia surnamed Xiang and Qin in Enshi, the practice of "repaying the Xiang Gong vow" is popular to sacrifice to the Xiang King, and this ritual activity lasts three days and three nights. One of these activities is called "jian tou" (head-cutting), in which the master officiant presiding over the sacrifice cuts his own forehead with the tip of a pig-killing knife, drips the blood onto a long string of spirit money, hangs it up in public, and then burns it. It is said that the earliest "repaying the Xiang Gong vow" used human heads as sacrifice, and later it was changed to the shaman opening a cut on his own forehead and shedding a few drops of blood to replace human sacrifice; this sacrificial ritual is called "jian tou." However, the more common ritual of sacrificing to the Xiang King is still "animal sacrifice," that is, slaughtering cattle, pigs, and other livestock to fulfill vows. Among these, the "repaying the sheep-head vow" ritual is the most common: "The most efficacious of the gods is called the sheep vow; an altar is set up in the open field, and a sheep is slaughtered for sacrifice. The sheep's head is reverently offered to inquire about fortune and misfortune." The master officiant places the offerings on the fou and bo vessels on the altar, and on the fou and bo are hung banners reading "a thousand thousand mighty soldiers, ten thousand ten thousand brave generals," wishing the Xiang King Tianzi to recruit more soldiers and buy more horses and protect the clansmen. From "human sacrifice" to "jian tou" and then to "animal sacrifice," this reflects the evolution of Tujia sacrificial customs from barbarism to civilization. These sacrificial rituals, coming down in one continuous line, are collectively called "blood sacrifice." In addition to "blood sacrifice," religious activities honoring the Xiang King also include other activities, such as singing the "Tima Divine Song" and climbing the knife ladder.
Sacrificing to the Earth King. The object of Earth King worship is the Earth King God, that is, the deceased indigenous kings of the Tujia. The Earth King God is the general term or substitute name for the Tusi king deities revered throughout the Tujia region; because the surnames of the Tusi varied from place to place, the names of the deities sacrificed to also differed. In western Hunan, the Earth King Temple honors Duke Peng, the good man Tian, and the old servant Xiang; in western Hubei, the three Earth Kings Tian, Qin, and Xiang are sacrificed to; in eastern Sichuan, the three Earth Kings Ran, Yang, and Tian are sacrificed to. The most grand collective sacrificial activity in Tujia villages each spring is the sacrifice to the Great King. At that time, the shaman sacrifices cattle, and every night men and women gather in front of the Earth King Temple, loudly singing divine songs, beating drums and ringing bells, and dancing the hand-waving dance. "When the Tujia people sacrifice to the Tusi gods, there was formerly a hall called the Hand-Waving Hall, where the spirit tablet of a certain Tusi was enshrined and livestock and sweet wine were offered. When the appointed time came, at nightfall, groups of men and women entered together. After the repayment was finished, they draped themselves in five-flower brocade and wrapped their heads in silk scarves, beat drums and sounded gongs, danced and sang, and competed for several nights before stopping." The specific time of sacrifice varies from place to place; some hold it from the third to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, while others have several collective sacrifices of differing scale such as the "first-month hall, second-month hall, and third-month hall." Besides collective sacrificial activities, there are also customs of household sacrifice, such as "on every New Year celebration, first place the spirit tablet of the deceased Tusi in the front of the house and offer fish and meat, while the family's own ancestral tablets are set behind the door."
Sacrificing to the family ancestors. Ancestor worship is commonly called by Tujia people "respecting the family ancestors," and it is the sacrifice to the ancestral spirits of one's own lineage and household. The main objects of sacrifice are the ancestors of the recent five generations, and the time is usually set on festivals such as the New Year, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, and the half of the seventh lunar month, with the New Year and the half of the seventh lunar month being the most important. On New Year's Day, before eating the reunion dinner and after sacrificing to the Earth King, a grand family ancestor activity must be held. The family ancestor tablets, incense burners, and candlesticks normally kept on the shrine are taken down and placed on the large table below the shrine, with offerings such as pork, glutinous rice cakes, and tuan san placed on both sides. All the men of the family, led by the eldest in seniority, face the family ancestor tablets, burn incense and light candles, and kowtow in worship. First, they invite the family ancestors of past generations to eat the reunion dinner together with their descendants and pass a happy and lively New Year; second, they pray that the family ancestors will bless their descendants with a bumper harvest in the coming year, prosperity for the six livestock, abundant wealth, and happiness for the whole family. On the evening of the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, every household holds an ancestor sacrifice ceremony, offering cakes, meat, wine, and other offerings on the sacrificial table below the shrine in the main hall. Adult members of the family come forward to bow and kowtow, and some paper money is burned in front of the door, which is called "sending off the ancestors." Announcing marriage and childbirth to the ancestors is also a relatively popular ancestral sacrifice activity in Tujia areas. The ancestor-announcement ceremony is held on the day before the wedding bows are performed. Couplets are pasted on both sides of the main hall, candles are lit on the shrine, and a square table is placed below the shrine with an incense table set up, offering chicken, pig's head, wine, sugar, and fruits. On both sides of the square table stand four people: the ritual officiant, the praise officiant, the song boy, and the guiding officiant. The bridegroom, led by the guiding officiant, enters from the right and exits from the left, performing the three kneelings and nine kowtows to the ancestral tablets. The ancestor sacrifice ceremony held for bearing children is generally held on the day the child is one month old, when the couple holds the infant and kneels in worship to the husband's family ancestors and offers sacrificial wine and meat.
II. Hunting Sacrifices
Hunting was a traditional mode of production of the Tujia. Historical records state: "In the deep mountains and dense bamboo groves of Longshan, in former days all were hunting grounds of the native officials; not a blade of grass or a tree could be taken lightly. Hunting every winter was called 'gan zhang.'" "After the slack season in farming, the country people occupied themselves with hunting animals and catching fish." The patron deity of Tujia hunters is the Meishan God. The activities of sacrificing to Meishan differ from place to place and are generally carried out secretly among hunters. The sacrificial activities fall into two types: sacrifices on fixed dates and sacrifices before entering the mountains to hunt. In some places, a special Meishan temple is set up at the mouth of the great mountain, rather simple in form; others set up another shrine beside the household gods in the main hall, enshrining a wooden carved image of the Meishan God, with some hunting tools placed beside the image. On the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month, Tujia hunters hold sacrifices to the Meishan God at home, while in some places they worship only on the evening of the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month. During worship, they burn incense and paper in front of the hall and sing the "Meishan Ci," praying to the Meishan God to protect the hunters' personal safety, drive away wild beasts, and protect the farmland. Before going out to hunt anywhere, one must worship the Meishan God, often with no fixed place; most choose a shady spot in the mountains to set up an altar, and a few choose to do it at a Meishan temple or beside a Meishan image. Before hunters enter the mountains to hunt, they must hold the religious ritual of sacrificing to the "Meishan God" in order to seek safety in hunting and obtain more game.
The hunting sacrificial rituals include inviting the gods, divination, sacrificing to the gods, observing the mountains, and the concluding sacrifice. The god-inviting ritual is presided over by the hunt master, with an altar set up at the central hunting ground far from the village. In the ritual, the ritual master offers tea and pours wine, one person beats a drum, one fires a blunderbuss, and one blows a ox horn. After inviting the gods, divination is performed. The methods of divination are varied, such as bamboo divination, rice divination, water divination, and character divination. The content of the divination is mainly whether going out to hunt is auspicious and whether wild beasts can be captured. The god-sacrificing ritual is presided over by two female shamans. The sacrificial priest wears five-colored clothes, an eight-cornered hat, and a wild beast skin. A young and beautiful girl is chosen, wearing a palm-leaf skirt, with stripes painted on her body in charcoal, and she dances the god-sacrificing dance on a high platform built from three tables. Observing the mountains means "choosing the site," determining the hunting location according to the mountain terrain, the tracks of wild beasts, and other conditions. The concluding sacrifice is the sacrificial ritual held at the end of the entire hunting activity, presided over by the hunt master. First, the gun is sacrificed in front of the hunt master's spirit tablet; the blood of the first prey is sprinkled on the gun stock, or a little animal hair is pasted on the muzzle, to comfort the Hunting King God for the success of the hunt. Then all the hunters gather before the Hunting King God's tablet and bow together to the Hunting King, thanking the hunting god for his help.
Hunting was an important means by which the ancestors of the Tujia obtained food. It was both a nationwide activity and a sacred profession. Under conditions of very low productive forces, in order to avoid harm from fierce beasts and capture more prey, the ancestors of the Tujia created the heroic figure Meishan, a huntress who could overcome fierce beasts, and gave her the role of patron deity of hunters, worshipping her with the greatest reverence. The process of creating gods was in fact also the process by which the ancestors of the Tujia came to understand nature and gradually overcome it.
The religious rites derived from hunting activities embody the Tujia social and historical outlook of esteeming heroes. The worship of the Meishan God entrusts the wish of the Tujia ancestors to overcome natural difficulties with the power of an illusory hero, and is a manifestation of the heroic worship concept of the Tujia ancestors.
III. Agricultural Sacrifices
Agricultural sacrifices occupy a prominent place in the religious activities of the Tujia. They reflect the primitive concept of nature worship of the Tujia. The sacrificial activities revolve around agricultural work, mainly to pray for agricultural harvests and to avoid natural disasters. The traditional agricultural sacrifices of the Tujia mainly include sacrificing to the Earth God, sacrificing to the Wind God, and the "water-splashing dragon."
The rituals of sacrificing to the Earth God are roughly divided into two types. One is the household form of sacrificial activity: when a family goes to work in the fields, before breaking the soil, they must pinch a few blades of thatch grass, tie a knot, and press it into a small crevice with a stone, called "pressing a grass marker," to sacrifice to the Mountain God and the Earth God, and perform exorcistic shamanic magic, silently reciting the spell: "Earth Bodhisattva, protect us wherever we go; may the rocks not collapse, may the mud not cave in." When work ends, the grass marker is removed; if one goes to work in the fields again the next day, a grass marker is still pressed to sacrifice to the gods. The other is the collective form of sacrificial activity: when people work together, there must be a special ritual to gather the gods, namely singing the soil-digging gong song, which is in fact a ritual song for sacrificing to the Earth God, accompanied by gongs and drums and using song as praise. The sacrificial song is divided into four major parts: the song head, inviting the gods, the rising song, and sending off the gods. The song head expresses one's wishes and prays to the dragon gods of heaven and earth to protect the peace of the mountain people; in inviting the gods, one must first burn incense and paper at the edge of the fields, place some meat and rice wine there, and then sing the god-inviting song, whose lyrics praise the merits of the various Earth Gods and pray that the Earth Gods will bless the livestock with prosperity and the five grains with abundance; the rising song is an impromptu singing contest on the spot, with very rich content, including narrative songs adapted from folk stories, popular story songs adapted from historical events, and production songs reflecting the labor conditions of the Tujia. The singers tease and joke with one another, entertaining both gods and people; sending off the gods marks the end of the soil-digging song, sending the gods back to their places. For example, the god-sending lyrics in Changyang, Lichuan, Sangzhi, and other places are: "When sending off the gods, the gods must go; when welcoming the gods, the gods descend; the eldest brother reaches heaven to face the Jade Emperor, the second brother reaches the earth to the gates of hell; the third brother reaches the wind for ten thousand li, the fourth brother shows his spirit in fire; the fifth venerable god remains in the world, remains in the world to govern the myriad people; the Five Penetrations and Five Manifestations thank the host, and take leave of the host to ascend to the heavenly court."
The religious activity of sacrificing to the Wind God is relatively prevalent in the Tujia areas of northeastern Guizhou. The Tujia believe that sacrificing to the Wind God can eliminate drought and flood disasters and obtain favorable weather and abundant harvests. The sacrificial activity is generally arranged in the first ten days of the sixth lunar month. Beforehand, each village selects a headman to organize the Wind God Association and prepare the five sacrificial animals: cattle, sheep, fish, chicken, and goose. The Wind God sacrifice is divided into two forms: the great sacrifice and the small sacrifice. The great sacrifice is held once every twelve years, with participants numbering in the tens of thousands; the small sacrifice is held once every three years, with participants numbering in the thousands. The ritual consists of three parts: dancing the gods, erecting flags, and killing the sacrificial animals. First, the Tima and his assistants, musicians, and other clergy sing and dance to the gods, and the scene is solemn and dignified. After the god dance is finished, two flags are erected, and the flags are not lowered until after rain falls. Finally, the sacrificial animals are killed: first a bull is speared, and then seventy-two sacrificial animals are killed. After the ritual is completed, the cattle and the seventy-two sacrificial animals are boiled together into porridge, which the headmen of each village collect and distribute to the old and young of every household to eat. The Tujia believe that if they eat more, they will be able to eat their fill every year; if they eat less, they will go hungry, so everyone competes to eat more. To this day, in addition to sacrificing to the Wind God, the Tujia in this area still preserve the folk custom of cooking porridge to eat in years of great drought.
"Water-Splashing Dragon" to pray for a good harvest. In the Tujia areas of eastern Sichuan, an agricultural sacrificial activity called the "water-splashing dragon" is popular. It arose during the period of the Tusi system and is generally agreed to be held on a certain day in the sixth or seventh lunar month when the sun is blazing. At that time, every household in the Tujia villages prepares large amounts of water in front of their doors using buckets, basins, ladles, and other utensils. As soon as the water-dragon-playing team arrives with suona playing, gongs and drums beating, and firecrackers exploding, hundreds and thousands of men, women, old and young continuously splash water with ladles, basins, and buckets onto the bare-bodied dragon dancers. Whichever household splashes the most water is seen as a sign that that household will have a bumper harvest in the coming year.
Agricultural sacrificial activities reflect the difficult situation of early humans, who occupied a very weak and passive position in their relationship with the natural world, lacked understanding of natural forces, and yet were highly dependent on the natural environment. Thus, natural forces were deified. Agricultural sacrifices appear to center on natural deities, with people prostrating themselves before the gods, but in fact they attempt to influence natural forces through offerings so that they will bring benefits to oneself, or through worship activities to better realize the orderliness of social life. Therefore, they express the eager wish of the ancestors to improve their own conditions of survival.