II.3

The Xi-lai An Incident in Colonial Tai-wan

Paul R. Katz

249-82

"All agreed that horrific calamities would occur during the seventh lunar month ... a black poisonous rain lasting seven days and seven nights. ... Those who joined Yu: Ch>ing-fang’s or Lo Chu:n’s groups were promised rescue by celestial soldiers (tianbing) ... . ... Those who wished to survive the apocalypse were supposed to purchase an amulet (fu). Such amulets were ... considered as receipts proving one’s membership in the movement."

"individual joined after having heard rumours of the birth of a messianic saviour who would rule as emperor ... named Zhu Litao, a probable variation on the names of the messianic figures Zhu Jiutao and Li Jiutao. ... accounts indicate that this imperial saviour was accompanied by an immortal (xianren), who possessed the ability to make himself invisible or take flight at will ... . ... the imperial saviour ... possessed ...

"ears reaching to his shoulders,

{This is likewise true of both Lao-zi and the Buddha.}

and arms extending below (to) his knees"."

{This is likewise true of the Buddha.}

p. 267

"Almost all individuals who joined the movement purchased or were given amulets. ... . ... those who wore amulets could not be harmed by bullets or

p. 268

swords ..., a claim similar to that made by the Boxers. ... their amulets could ... stupefy their enemies. During rituals to empower amulets (referred to as fufa), which ... doubled as initiation rites, new members ... invoked the names of popular deities like the Jade Emperor (Yuhuang Dadi) ... . ... they also drank "charmed water" (fushui) or "divine water" (shenshui)".

p. 273

"Penis Mountain (Yinjing shan), which many identify due to its phallus-like peak ... and a nearby site known as "Vagina Mountain" (Yinmen shan) are said to have been sites for evening revels involving the area’s young men and women. ...

p. 274

Local men were able to take their revenge the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiu jie, the 15^th day of the 8^th lunar month) ... .

Aboriginal religion survives today, including the worship of bottles and jars (sihu) in small shrines known as gongxie."

The founder of the Min dynasty "traced their origins to the worship of a "tooth banner" (yaqi; alleged to contain the tooth of a yellow dragon) during the reigns of the Yellow Emperor and Han Wudi."

II.4

The White Dragon Hermitage & the 8-Generals Possession-Troupe

Wan C^ien-c^>uan (transl. by Philip Clart)

283-302

emperor

Z^an

Z^on

Liu

S^i

Z^ao

title (__-lin Gon)

Xian-

Yin-

Xuan-

Yan-

Z^en-

tabu name

Yuan-bo

S^i-xiu

Yuan-da

Wen-ye

Guan-min

birthday (mo./d.)

7/10

4/10

3/3

9/1

3/15

office

ruler

censor

memoranda-submitter

bursar

punisher

robe’s color

gold

green

red

blue

white

hall’s name (Fu-__ Tan)

-s^ou

-s^an

-lian

-z^on

-an

generals’ hall-name (Ru-__ Tan)

-yi Zen-s^ou

-s^an Fan-si

-lian Yin-xin

-s^un Xie-xin

-xin Xi-xian

# of generals

10

4

8

6

8

p. 294, fn. 29 "There are those with painted faces, called the Eight or Ten Generals, whose function it is to rid the district of pestilences."

{cf. the variegated-faced Mixtec deities of Codex Vindobonensis Mexicanus?}

p. 295, fn. 33 "The Six Generals are exorcists who paint their faces in many colours and adorn their temples with horns. ... Each acts in the character of the spirit he impersonates and they wear old-style robes."

II.5

Rituals and Beliefs of ... Cantonese Opera

Tuen Wai Mary Yeung

303-25

p. 308

"When Yuhuang Dadi saw that ... opera players performed Yuhuang dengdian (The Jade Emperor ascends the hall), he ... sent Huaguang, his adopted son, to the mortal world to ... the stage of the performers ... . Huaguang descended to the secular world and enjoyed watching the opera. As a result, he showed himself on a costume trunk and ... taught the performers ... . ... Up in the Celestial Palace, Yuhuang sent Qianli Yan (Thousand-li Eye) and Shunfeng Er (Favourable-wind ear) to investigate ... Huaguang ... . These two deities ... reported to Yuhuang Dadi that Huaguang had already carried out his mission."

p. 309

"Regarding the legend of Tiandou Ershi (The Two Masters of Field and Hollow) ... : Their birthday is on the twenty-fourth of the third month. According to legend, one day ... two small children came out from a hole in the midst of the field and fought a whole day with each other and then disappeared. The performers ... addressed them as Tiandou Ershi because they had come out of a hole in a field."

p. 310

[quoted from the epitaph of the Tan-gon temple at Won Nai C^un Gap] "Xianshen Tangong {with the name /TAN-GoN/ cf. the Korean /TAN-GuN/} (Holy Immortal-Lord Tan) is a patron deity of fishermen. His native place was Huizhou. He lost his parents in early boyhood [and] relied on his grandmother for nurture. In his childhood, he could foretell the future and cure illness in marvelous ways. ... He ... often manifested miracles by sending down sweet dew and calming storms." [fn. 31 : "In order to obtain immortality he practiced the Way at Jiulong Shan (The Nine Dragon Mountain) in Huizhou."]

p. 317, fn. 59

[Xian-hua S^an Da He-s^ou] "Guanyin ... obtains the Way at the Purple Bamboo Grove (Zizhu Lin). All immortals, such as the Eight Immortals, the Four Dragon Kings, the Three Holy Mothers, Liu Haixian, the Dragon Subduing Celestial General, the Tiger Taming Celestial General and Wei Tuo, go to Zizhu Lin to offer their congratulations."

p. 317, fn. 60

[Tian-ji Da Son-zi] "Dong Yong ... When his father passed away, ... did not have enough money to offer him a proper burial. Thus, he sold himself as a bondman for three years. Moved by Dong Yong’s filial affection, the Jade emperor ordered the Celestial Maid to descend to the mundane world and marry Dong Yong. In order to pay his debt, the Celestial Maid wove three hundred rolls of silk within a hundred days. As a result, Dong Yong was set free. ... the Celestial Maid left the secular world and returned to the heavenly palace. Soon afterwards, she gave birth to a son. Dong Yong ... passed under the shade of the locust tree where he met the Celestial Maid who offered him his son."

"When a troupe member died, he would put the troupe’s rice ladle on the floor. Troupe members threw their donations ... into the ladle. ... their donations were only enough to buy a poor coffin to bury their deceased colleague nearby."

{cf. caerimonial function of rice-ladles in Japanese New Religions of spirit-mediumship}

"There was a menstruating actress who did not worship Huaguang’s image before her rehearsal. As a result, when she came onstage, she forgot the metrical patterns."

"If I do not pay tribute to Huaguang and other patron deities, ... dizziness and fever, would be the punishment from these occupational deities. As an actress ..., I have ... internalized this kind of belief."

II.6

The Ro^le of Possession-Trance in Chinese Culture

Jordan Paper

327-45

"J. J. M. de Groot, the first Western scholar to ground his study of Chinese religion on observation, found mediumism so ubiquitous that he termed

normative Chinese religion, "Wuism," referring to a common term for mediums in the classical literature : wu.

{Normative Korean religion is often termed "Muism", referring to the common term for spirit-medium in Korean : /mu/.}

Searching through the Chinese literature, de Groot found numerous references to mediumism, these being the first clearly described religious experiences in early Chinese texts." [fn. 2 : "J. J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China (Leiden : E. J. Brill, 1910), 6.1187-1341."]

their wisdom could interpret the upper (Sky) and the lower (Earth) realms;"

their __

was able to __ .

sanctity

enlighten the distant, proclaiming it with clarity

intelligence

illuminate it

cleverness

understand ... it.

the bright spirits (deceased clan luminaries) descended into (possessed) them;"

if into a __

that person was designated __ .

male

xi

female

wu

p. 334

"The dead of past generations place people in trance and use them to speak. When the wu pray with mysterious sounds they bring down the souls of

p. 335

the dead, who speak through the mouths of the wu."

p. 335

"The Shiji (ch. 12), in referring to ... Yue, not only mentions frequent rituals involving

possession by ghosts (gui), but

{Sokrates often asserted that he was at that time under influence of his daimon.}

places these rituals in the context of divination with cocks, common combination or religious practices throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia."

{[Phaidon 118 – AG, p. 121] "Socrates would be dead. ... Socrates ... said (these were his last words), ‘Krito, we ought to offer a cock to Asklepios ... .’ "}

"in the Hanshu, we find mention of a female wu being possessed by a spirit (shen) ..., who was a specific former emperor."

{Possession of a spirit-medium by a dead emperor (or empress, or imperial prince or princess) is quite usual in Vietnamese spirit-mediumship.}

p. 336

"Wang Fu (2^nd c. CE), in his Qianfu Lun (Discourses of a Recluse) (chap. 3), ... noted that many wu were either married or unmarried women who began their practice in the home but then took on public functions."

"Mao shan Daoism" : "its founder, Yang Xi (b. 330), practiced spirit-writing".