Popular Religion and Shamanism, Part II : "Shamanism"
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11. (pp. 423-84) Song Zhaolin : "Daba Beliefs and Written Script".
Contents
|
2.11. |
Subheading |
PP. |
|
.4 |
Wen-quan Text |
441-50 |
|
.5 |
Book of Divination |
450-74 |
|
.6 |
Indigenous Pictographic Characters |
475-9 |
|
.7 |
Inventors of Written Scripts |
479-84 |
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4. (pp. 441-450) "The Wen-quan Text".
4. (pp. 441-50) the 32 symbols recording the fortunes of the days of each of the 12 months, in the Mosuo book "Almanac ... or Book of Heaven"
|
p. |
object depicted |
its praesage for the day |
|
441 |
"Female reproductive organ" |
"getting married or befriending azhu lovers." |
|
"Horse rump" |
"livestock ... with shiny hair." |
|
|
442 |
"Woman’s vagina" |
"raising seedlings of various types of legumes" |
|
"Female breast(s)" |
"filled with milk" |
|
|
"Male-female sexual intercourse" |
"sexual intercourse indoors or outdoors" |
|
|
443 |
"sun surrounded by a halo" |
{Kemetic hieroglyph for ‘sun’ is identical} "people can bring food or things into the home" |
|
"Throat" |
"swallowing food" |
|
|
"Diarrhea and vomit" |
"raw" |
|
|
444 |
"Sea conch" |
"empty" {cf. Maya shell-glyph ‘zero’} |
|
"Three stars in a horizontal line" |
"renovate or build a house" |
|
|
"Three stars in a diagonal line" |
"frosts" |
|
|
"Three stars clustered" |
"pastures will have ... luxuriant grass" |
|
|
445 |
"The Big Dipper" |
"bumper crops of grain." |
|
"Turtledove" |
"fiendish ghosts ... will haunt" |
|
|
"Crow’s head" |
"disasters involving fire ... plagues and diseases" |
|
|
"Pig’s mouth" |
"bits leak out ... losing property" |
|
|
446 |
"Boar’s reproductive organ" |
"breeding animals. The livestock ... breed" |
|
"Lard" |
"financial resources" |
|
|
"Pig tail" |
"things will be small ... and only small events" |
|
|
"Beast’s horn" |
"withered" |
|
|
447 |
"Ear" |
"the essence " |
|
"Eye" |
"hunters will find game. ... Those who fish will find ... where fish five" |
|
|
"Palm of the hand" |
"they must pick it up and bring it" |
|
|
"Tiger’s head" |
{‘time’ as Na-hsi glyph} "rites of passage [coming of age]" |
|
|
448 |
"Poisoned food" |
"People must be especially careful and cautious" |
|
"Male reproductive organ" |
"the stone ancestor effigy" |
|
|
"Deformed person" |
"physical deformities. ... Having sex out-of-doors is prohibited." |
|
|
449 |
bi-ge |
? |
|
paen-mi |
? |
|
|
"Fire-steel" |
"fire-making with flint" |
|
|
so,-tu: o,-lu |
"even-numbered" |
|
|
"Female reproductive organ" [again!] |
"unobstructed" |
[6. (p. 477) in the Mosuo Book of Divination,"There are 30 characters in all."]
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5. (pp. 450-474) "The Book of Divination".
5.0 (p. 450) Mosuo pictographic manuscripts discovered by the author (S.Zh.)
|
site of MS |
characteristic of MS |
|
Sanjia Village in Qiansuo District of Yanyuan County in Sic^uan |
? |
|
Lijiazui |
colored |
|
Lijiaju |
black-and-white |
|
Wujiao Village in Muli County |
Bodish glosses |
p. 451 "the Book of Divination ... is still prevalent in Muli County, ... precisely where very few Yunnan scholars tend to go."
5.0 (p. 451) the 2 categories of MS
|
pictographs for each day |
Manuscripts with that # of pictographs for each day |
|
1 |
Walapian |
|
Lijiazui |
|
|
Wujiao |
|
|
2 |
Lijiaju |
|
Sanjia |
5.1 (pp. 452-9) the 2 symbols for each of the 28 nights of the month {28 hsiu lunar-mansions, viz. constellations} in the Sanjia Manuscript
|
p. |
d. |
1st object depicted |
2nd object depicted |
praesage for the day |
|
452 |
1. |
niz^i "two stars" = "two male phalluses {phalloi}" |
"seven throats" {tree?} |
"cremation" |
|
2. |
"Horse Star" |
"sun" |
"long journey" |
|
|
3. |
"sheep’s sexual organs" |
"moon" {sickle?} |
"working" |
|
|
453 |
4. |
"human sexual organs" {drill?} |
"eye" |
bad for eyen |
|
5. |
"Water Star" |
"palm of a hand" |
"constructing a storehouse" |
|
|
6. |
"pond" {beads?} |
"throat" {fruit in bowl?} |
"food to eat" |
|
|
7. |
"Throat Star" {flower?} |
"nose" |
-- |
|
|
454 |
8. |
6 "Human Body Stars" |
"seven throats" {bush?} |
-- |
|
9. |
"Fire Star" {conch?} |
"sun" |
-- |
|
|
10. |
"three stars" |
"moon" |
-- |
|
|
11. |
"two stars" |
"eye(s)" |
-- |
|
|
455 |
12. |
"four stars in a row" |
"palm of a hand" |
not visit graves; "pen up all livestock" |
|
13. |
"white stars" |
"nose" {phurpu?} |
-- |
|
|
14. |
"eagle" |
"throat" |
not harm livestock |
|
|
15. |
"eagle" |
"throat" {tree?} |
" " " |
|
|
456 |
16. |
"pig’s head" |
"sun" |
not sell swine |
|
17. |
"sexual organs of a boar" |
"moon" |
-- |
|
|
18. |
"lard" |
"eye" |
-- |
|
|
19. |
"pig’s tail" |
"palm of a hand" |
-- |
|
|
457 |
20. |
"ox horn" |
"throat" {phurpu?} |
not sell animals |
|
21. |
"ox ears" |
"nose" |
not sell draft animals |
|
|
22. |
"ox eyes" |
"nose" {tree?} |
watch livestock |
|
|
23. |
"body of an ox" {mountains?} |
"sun" |
-- |
|
|
458 |
24. |
"tiger" |
"moon" |
-- |
|
25. |
"Tiger Star" {wedge?} |
"eyes" |
-- |
|
|
26. |
"upper body of a sheep" |
"palm of a hand" |
not sell goats |
|
|
27. |
"private parts of a sheep" |
"throat" {phurpu?} |
not sell draft animals |
|
|
459 |
28. |
"human head" |
"nose" |
-- |
[day 17 (p. 456) is wrongly illustrated, a dittography of the praeceding]
{The informant evidently wrongly identified at least some of these pictographs.}
5.2 (pp. 460-7) the 2 symbols for each of the 28 nights of the month {28 hsiu lunar-mansions, viz. constellations} in the Wujiao Manuscript
|
p. |
d. |
1st object depicted |
2nd object depicted |
praesage for the day |
|
460 |
1. |
niz^i "stars" = "male sex organs" |
"seven throats" {bush?} |
"cremation" |
|
2. |
"horse" |
"sun" |
"traveling" |
|
|
3. |
"sheep’s sex organs" |
"moon" {horn?} |
not sell livestock |
|
|
4. |
"sex organs of livestock" |
"eyes" |
not hurt one’s eyen |
|
|
461 |
5. |
"Water Star" |
"palm of a hand" |
not kill livestock |
|
6. |
"pool of water" |
"throat" {spearhead?} |
"do anything" |
|
|
7. |
"Throat Star" {flower?} |
"the Earth" {a well?} |
-- |
|
|
462 |
8. |
"six stars" |
"seven throats" {bush?} |
no mountain-spirits |
|
9. |
"Fire Star" {conch?} |
"sun" |
"water wells" |
|
|
10. |
"three stars" |
"moon" {horn?} |
-- |
|
|
11. |
"three stars" |
"eyes" |
-- |
|
|
463 |
12. |
"eye of three stars [in a row]" |
"palm of a hand" |
not enter mountain-gravesites |
|
13. |
"white star" |
"throat" {spearhead?} |
"hosting big events" |
|
|
14. |
"wild chicken" |
"the Earth" {a well?} |
"training young cattle to plow" |
|
|
15. |
"eagle" |
"throat" {bush?} |
watch livestock |
|
|
464 |
16. |
"pig mouth" |
"sun" |
swine must not root |
|
17. |
"pig’s sexual organs" |
"moon" |
not offer sacrifices |
|
|
18. |
"pig’s urinary bladder" |
"eyes" |
-- |
|
|
19. |
"pig tails" |
"palm of a hand" |
-- |
|
|
465 |
20. |
"ox horns" |
"throats" { spearhead?} |
not sell sheep |
|
21. |
"sheep ears" |
"the Earth" {crosswalk?} |
-- |
|
|
22. |
"sheep eyes" |
"throats" {bush?} |
"not do anything" |
|
|
23. |
"body of an ox" {cloud?} |
"sun" |
-- |
|
|
466 |
24. |
"tiger" |
"moon" |
"avoid losing livestock" |
|
25. |
"body of a tiger " {net?} |
"eyes" |
-- |
|
|
26. |
"sheep horns" |
"throats" |
not sell sheep |
|
|
27. |
"sheep tails" |
"throats" |
--- |
|
|
467 |
28. |
"upper body of a human" |
"the Earth" {crosswalk?} |
-- |
5.3 (pp. 468-74) symbol for each of the 28 nights of the month {28 hsiu lunar-mansions, viz. constellations} in the Lijiazui Manuscript {The symbols are more elaborately delineated in this Manuscript than in the other manuscripts.}
|
p. |
d. |
object depicted |
its praesage for the day |
|
468 |
1. |
"two male phalluses" {divination-device?} |
-- |
|
2. |
"two Horse Stars" {2 yokes?} |
-- |
|
|
3. |
"frog" |
"spirit’s blessings" |
|
|
4. |
"human sexual organ" {tadpole?} |
-- |
|
|
469 |
5. |
"Water Star" |
"building houses and putting out fires." |
|
6. |
"a pool" {egg including its yolk?} |
-- |
|
|
7. |
"a star, holding four little stars." {a clutch of 5 eggs?} |
-- |
|
|
8. |
"a set of six stars" |
not the Dragon King |
|
|
470 |
9. |
"sea conch ... . It means the Fire Star." |
"do anything." |
|
10. |
"three stars." |
-- |
|
|
11. |
"two connected stars" {yoke?} |
-- |
|
|
12. |
"four stars" |
not enter graveyards |
|
|
471 |
13. |
"white star." |
-- |
|
14. |
"wild chickens." |
"good for plowing." |
|
|
15. |
"the eagles" |
"avoid injuring livestock" |
|
|
16. |
"pig’s head." |
-- |
|
|
472 |
17. |
"sexual organ of male pigs." |
-- |
|
18. |
"pig fat sitting on a plate." |
-- |
|
|
19. |
"pig tail." {bolo?} |
-- |
|
|
20. |
"ox horn." |
"not buy or sell livestock" |
|
|
473 |
21. |
"ox ears." {rabbit-ears?} |
"not good for livestock." |
|
22. |
"pair of eyes" |
"avoid losing animals." |
|
|
23. |
"body of an ox." {mountain?} |
-- |
|
|
24. |
"tiger’s head." |
-- |
|
|
474 |
25. |
"arrow-headed object, ... meaning "Tiger Star."" {toadstool?} |
-- |
|
26. |
"upper body of a sheep." |
"not sell sheep" |
|
|
27. |
"lower body of a sheep." |
" " " |
|
|
28. |
"human head." |
-- |
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6. (pp. 475-479) "Indigenous Pictographic Characters".
pp. 477-8 geographic region of use of pictographic characters
|
p. |
regions |
|
477 |
"the Mosuo ... pictographic characters ... are used in the areas surrounding Lake Lugu, including Ninglang County, Yanyuan County and Muli County." |
|
478 |
"In the Tibetan Bon religion, the sacred texts, such as the text for sending away spirits (songhunjing {Chinese name} ...) and the books used for divinations, are also like this, as are the Tigress Almanac (Muhu Lishu ...) of the Ersu ... people (a Tibetan subgroup) and the Qiang ... people’s divination books for their ritual priests, who are called shibi ... ." |
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7. (pp. 479-484) "Ritual Specialists Are the Inventors of Written Scripts".
7. (pp. 479-80) pictographic scripts of neighboring tribes
|
p. |
tribe & its script |
|
479 |
"Only their [the Mosuo people’s] ritual priests, the daba, use the pictographs ... . ... |
|
The Ersu people in Ganluo County ... of Sichuan province are a branch of the local Tibetan people. ... . ... their priests, the shaba ..., have an Ersu script, which is used to write the Tigress Almanac ... . |
|
|
... the Nashuiyi ... people ... inhabit the river basin of the Yalong River ... . ... The ritual priests of the Nashuiyi, the pabi ..., also have some pictographic |
|
|
480 |
characters and sacred texts ..., among which is the Book of Providing Directions (Lupiao ...). ... |
|
The ritual priests of the Yi people in Sicuan and Yunnan provinces are called bimo ... . They use types of Yi script to record all kinds of sacred texts ... . ... |
|
|
The ritual priests of the Qiang people in the western part of Sichuan are called shibi ... . Their divination books ... are very similar to those of the Ersu people, the Namuyi [= Nashuiyi?] people and the Yi people. |
|
|
In Sandu County ... of Guizhou .... there lives a branch of the Shui people. ... their ritual priests, the "ghost masters (guishi [Chinese term] ...), invented their written own script, which they used to compose the Shui Writings (Shuishu ...)." |
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RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA COLLECTION, Vol. 1 = Ma Xisha & Meng Huiying (edd.) : Popular Religion and Shamanism. Brill, Leiden, 2011.