Killing a Buffalo for the Ancestors [Don-lan in northwestern Guan-xi (p. xii) : Don-lan (= Northern Z^uan) & Bou-yei are dialects of Northern Tai, as distinguished from
Southern Z^uan. which is Central Tai (p. 1, fn. 1);
Tai dialects also include Nun [which is Central Tai (http://www.vnpeoples.org/Nung/daily_lives.htm )], Tho, and Black Tai (p. 4);
the Bou-yei are in Gui-z^ou (p. 7)]
p. ix Bu-yi Wen (‘Bou-yei script’, used in Gui-z^ou province)
tone |
final consonant |
1st |
-l |
2nd |
-z |
3rd |
-c |
4th |
-x |
5th |
-s |
6th |
-h |
7th |
sonant mute + -t |
8th |
sonant mute |
[sonant mute + -t is also used in transcribing Na-khi (Na-xi) of Yun-nan]
p. ix "Long vowels are ... indicated by doubling the original vowel. Thus lab ‘to stuff, pack’, and laab ‘wax’." {with /LaB/ cf. /LuBiya/ (DMWA, p. 1034b) ‘beans’ [crowded together in pod]; with /LAAB/ cf. [<ibri^] /LehABah/ (Strong’s 3852) ‘flame’ , as in "melt like wax before the flame" (I H.no^k 1:6 -- SA, p. 99, fn. 169), /Lhabi^m/ (Strong’s 3853) contrasting with /LuBBi^/ (Strong’s 3864).}
DMWA = Cowan : A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic.
Strong’s = Strong’s Hebrew & Aramaic Dictionary
SA = The Syriac Apocalypse of Daniel http://books.google.com/books?id=Z9bKSB5hAEwC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq="melt+like+wax+before+the+flame"&source=bl&ots=71pYU8WLHq&sig=bYvy_Z35b6JBYeKFPhJT5P2R5fg&hl=en&ei=65ybSu2JIpOStgeByvSbDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=%22melt%20like%20wax%20before%20the%20flame%22&f=false
pp. 52-53 phonetic transcription
p. 52 |
tones |
|
1 |
high falling 53 |
|
2 |
low falling 21 |
|
3 |
high 44 |
|
4 |
mid falling 211 |
|
5 |
mid 33 |
|
6 |
low 22 |
|
7 short |
55 |
|
7 long |
45 |
|
8 long |
22 |
|
8 short |
23 |
|
p. 53 |
/j/ as in German = IPA |
pp. 223-224 tones
p. |
tone |
final consonant |
value |
223 |
1st |
-- |
24 |
2nd |
-z |
21 |
|
3rd |
-j |
55 |
|
4th |
-x |
42 |
|
5th |
-q |
35 |
|
6th |
-h |
33 |
|
224 |
7th |
surd mute |
55 (short), 35 (long) |
8th |
sonant mute |
33 |
p. 224 (for 7th & 8th tones, length is that of vowel)
p. 224 different transcriptions of phonetics
symbol |
IPA |
b |
p |
by |
pj |
g |
k |
gy |
kj |
mb |
>b |
nd |
>d |
r |
G |
s |
t |
{/G/ & /t/ as in <ar. "Gayin" & "ta"}
p. 54 grammar (word-sequence)
adjectives follow their substantives; |
numerals (except ndeu ‘one’) and daenx / saemq ‘all /every’ praecede their substantives, with numeric classifier (such as, /boux/ for mature humans) betwixt (thus : numeral + classifier + substantive); |
praepositions praecede their substantive |
p. 15 cliff-side tombs
"there are hundreds of coffins found in caves high up ... one the cliffs overlooking the Hongshui River near the village of Banwen in Sihe parish [located at the most abrupt major loop in the river (p. 17, Map 3)]. ... These coffins are said to be "the things of the Buyang," of "a people who have long since vanished." [fn. 36 : "The Buyang (Bouxyaengz) are ... still found in Jingxi and elsewhere in the southern part of Guangxi."] The Buyang are reported to have been banished to "the edge of the sky and the corner of the sea," that is, much further south, after a losing a contest of wits with the Bouyei’s apical ancestor Baeu Rodo. {The Boux-yaengz apparently formerly dominated southern mainland China (i.e., to the south of the Yan-zi river-basin), judging from their language’s being the most archaic in the Kra-dai linguistic stock; the residue (other than Boux-yaengz) of the Kra-dai appears to have been formerly confined to Hai-nan (where its greatest diversity is apparent).} |
Even now, however, when the wind blows at night the villagers still light lamps, because otherwise the returning ghosts of the Buyang will mistake their houses for cave, and fly into them. {cf. function of lighthouses to warn ships} On such nights women’s clothing is festooned on trees, as a way of keeping the spirits of the Buyang at bay." {are the lamps intended to warn male ghosts, but the women’s clothing to warn female ghosts?} |
p. 160, fn. 10 "Buyang are currently found in Funing ... county in eastern Yunnan; the "local Yao" ... in Napo ... county in far-western Guangxi speak a very similar language, and call themselves jE55 jon13. A small enclave ... found in two villages in the western outskirts of Nanning ... are referred to ... as "Buyang.""
pp. 19-22 bou-mo (‘priests’ = ‘ritual specialists’)
p. |
bou-mo |
19 |
"priests, called pu: [pu] ... mo ... (bouxmo) in the local dialect, are ritualists who conduct divinations, expel troublesome spirits, and make sacrifices ... . All the sacred texts of the boumo are written and performed in the vernacular language." |
how an aspirant became a disciple, and then a priest : "he would stay and eat at the house of an old boumo ... in the hamlet ... ["on the bend of the Hongshui River" (fn. 43)]. [That old boumo] taught him how to read the old Zhuang script, and to read the ritual texts used by the boumo. He also took [this disciple] along with him when performing rituals, and had him fill in as "assistant" ... . ... he invited [the disciple] ... for the purpose of setting up a domestic altar where he could make obeisance to |
|
20 |
the Three Primordials (Sanyuan ...), the founding masters of the boumo lineage. [fn. 45 : "The Three Primordials are the Generals Tang ..., Ge ... and Zhou ... ."] He subsequently began to perform as a boumo himself." |
21 |
"The boumo, called mogong ... in Chinese, perform ... rituals ... calling back lost souls, when loss of vitality indicates that the soul of a person, animal or rice crop has "wandered off." They also select auspicious days for weddings, funerals, and house-building, and conduct divinations by means of eggs, chicken thigh-bones, and divination blocks." |
22 |
"In Zhuang, mo means ‘to recite (in a low voice)’ ..., while in Bouyei mo1 means ‘to recite scriptures’, or, as a noun, ‘recitation of scriptures’ ... . The boumo ... discharge their duties with utmost seriousness and decorum. Their main function is to recall lost souls." |
p. 30, fn. 66 "the Three Primordials, who are said to reside in the Great Temple on Meishan (Meishan damiao ...)."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
pp. 58-104 Text 1 : "Song of Introduction".
p. 60 deities who are invited to the buffalo-rite
l. |
text |
meaning |
1 |
Doj-Deih fa yunh |
Soil-God beside fence |
2 |
Doj-Deih byonh ranz |
Soil-God between houses |
3 |
Doj-Deih gwnz fag |
Soil-God under eaves |
4 |
Doj-Deih laj guenz |
Soil-God in houseyard |
13 |
boux swiq bya roz |
"god of those who ... dried fish" |
14 |
boux sox bya un |
"god of those who ... pickled fish" |
18 |
doenz luenz |
"posts of the spirit-shelf" |
p. 70, n. 1 /doj-deih/ = /tu3 di4/ ‘land-god’ "Among the Zhuang and Bouyei the dojdeih are the messenger of the spirit world, serving much the same function for the boumo as do the Officers of Merit of the Four Divisions of Time ... Sizhi gongcao in the Meishan Taoism of the ritual masters ... . When the boumo conduct rituals, the dojdeih is sent to the spirit world to find out the causes of disaster or good fortune, to bring back blessings, or ... to convey invitations to the gods and ancestral spirits. ... His jurisdiction includes ... everything except for the insides of houses, the latter being the province of the ... domestic gods."
p. 71, n. 5-6 "the priest throws the divination blocks" repeatedly until "both divination blocks face downwards – indicating the dojdeih’s arrival". {A similar procedure of throwing the divination-dice until the wished-for combination is achieved is done in Bon.}
p. 71, n. 7 "one must have a little boat to help the conveyance of children’s souls into this world from their place of origin {i.e., antara-bhava ‘between becomings’ (between lives)} (in the spirit world, or the Mountain of Flowers ...)." "In Chinese ritual tea ... to welcome the arrival of the gods ... has been ... made ready but not given to the dojdeih until he returns with the gods ... that have been invited to attend the ritual."
p. 73, n. 13-14 "fresh and pickled fish for the offering-table. ... fish offerings ... for ancestral spirits." {so, deities praepare fish as food for human ancestors?}
p. 73, n. 16 "fish are the most important of offerings at the annual new-year sacrifices to the ancestral spirits among the Bouyei of Guizhou, and are also offered to the soul after death".
p. 73, n. 17 "In Zhuang houses a ... altar to the Goddess of Flowers ... is set up in the wife’s bedroom".
p. 74, n. 18 "the ‘bronze columns’ on either side of the spirit shelf."
p. 76, n. 25 "the world of the ancestors and unborn children – is located ... across a body of water from the world of the living."
p. 77, n. 29 "sa ‘bamboo raft’. This is the bamboo raft on which the souls of children are ferried over from land of the ancestors."
p. 62 Baeuq Roxdoh
l. |
his __ |
is __ |
48 |
home |
"in a cave" |
49 |
village |
"down by a ditch" |
50 |
realm |
in Huai-yuan |
51 |
staff |
"Slender Lady Palm" |
53 |
" |
"Gold-thread Plum" |
p. 79, n. 46 Mo Loeg-gyap is "the wife of" Baeuq Roxdoh
p. 80, n. 50 /Huai-yuan/ is the Chinese name of a county whose Z^uan name is /Hah-yienx/ : /hah/ (= Chinese /xia4/) ‘summer’ {name of legendary 1st dynasty}
p. 80-1, fn. 51 "Slender Lady Palm" = Rhaptis humilis, "often used for ... umbrella handles."
p. 81, fn. 53 "Gold-thread Plum" = Garcinia paucinervis, "regarded as the best wood for walking-sticks."
p. 62 Fanz-goj
l. |
his __ |
is __ |
62 |
home |
Greystone |
63 |
site |
Upper Market |
64 |
praefectural seat |
An-don |
p. 82, n. 57 Fanz-goj : "When boumo run amok among bystanders during a ritual, this is often taken as a sign that they [bou-mo] are being possessed by this god."
p. 83, n. 62 Rin-cij ‘Greystone’
p. 84, n. 63 Gwn-z^aw (‘Upper Market’) "is ... a place in the land of the dead. The dead also ... have need of markets. Well-developed legends about markets in the world of the dead are widespread among Tai-speaking peoples."
p. 64 numerics of invited deities
l. |
numeric |
70 |
the 32 antient deities |
71 |
the 72 antient tutelary spirits |
p. 64 god of water; god of fire
ll. |
god |
87-9 |
"The god of the clear-water spring, The god who sank in clean water. His home is in the churning waters in the middle of the great river". |
94-6 |
"grandfather hearth-fire ... who ate figs for his breakfast, ... who ate sweet-bamboo shoots for his meal." |
p. 88, n. 84 Bauj-bunz (Bo-bug) "meaning ‘slope’ (bo) of the ‘pomelo trees’ (bug).
p. 89, n. 96 go-faiz (‘Sweet Bamboo’) ‘Dendrocalamus latiflorus’ "widely cultivated ... Its stems are too brittle to be used".
p. 66 further deities who are invited
l. |
text |
meaning |
102 |
boux gyaeuj lae |
"the god of those who crawl near the house-ladder" |
103 |
boux gai gvak |
"the god of those who sell hoes" |
104 |
boux dwk goenh |
"the god of those who make bracelets" |
105 |
boux dwk baenz |
"the god of those who beat cloth" |
106 |
boux roenz gyaed |
"the god of those who put it into vats of small-leaved indigo" |
107 |
boux diz baenz |
"the god of those who beat cloth" [again!] |
108 |
boux loenx cienz |
"the god of the money-chest" |
p. 90, n. 102 "the deity who guards the stairs, especially for the protection of children."
p. 90, n. 105 "After the cloth is dyed and soaked in a glue made of cow-hooves, which acts as a mordant, it is pounded in order to make it solft and improve its wind resistance."
p. 93, n. 106 gyaed = Indigofera (tinctoria); romj = Strobilanthes cusia
p. 66 persons, including babies & ghosts
l. |
category of persons |
112 |
babies |
114 |
"those who are bowed with age" |
115 |
"those who have conceived a child" |
122 |
"The one who was pregnant" |
126 |
"the one who guards the water-hole by the grain-field" |
129 |
"the one who throws the wooden divination blocks" |
130 |
"the one who picks up the bamboo divination blocks" |
131 |
"the one who trims hardwood into lengths to make purlins" |
132 |
"the one who beats hard iron into ploughshares" |
p. 94, n. 112 "a small ceremony performed after childbirth to "supplement the fate" ... of the baby ... . This was performed on the off-chance that the child had a bad life last time, and therefore needed to have its fate "patched up." The deity invited was the deity in charge of reincarnation." {the Bauddha shaven-headed bhiks.u-s whom impersonate hairless babies are endeavoring at a later age to remedy the effects (karman) of a bad praevious life : Bauddhatva (Buddhism) is a poor travesty of Z^uan religion}
p. 94, n. 113 "a winnowing-tray is hung up in front of the house in order to "repel nefarious influences" ... {from ghosts of persons who had opposed the baby in the baby’s praevious adult life?} either before or just after the birth of a child. ... female spirit mediums are responsible for plaiting the winnowing-tray and affixing it to the front of the house." {The idea is that just as the winnowed grain’s chaff is blown away by the wind, thusly are the deities of fate informed that the baby’s praesent parents would like to have any noxious influences from the baby’s praevious life blown away from it.}
p. 95, n. 116 Dead "ancestors are frequently referred to as fangzranz, ‘ghosts of the house’, as opposed to fangzroeg, ‘ghosts of the outside’. ... there is a proverb that refers to ancestral spirits in this way : ...
If the house-ghosts aren’t making a commotion,
How can the tiger seize the pig?
(External misfortunes betoken unhappy ancestors within)".
p. 96, n. 126 "Boux saeq raemx gaeuq. Boux dingh cienliengz. "The lord of one’s own waters. The [god of the] waterhole of money and grain." These deities are connected with a ritual called "Redemption of the Money Soul and the Grain Soul" ...".
pp. 66, 68 places in the world of the dead
p. |
l. |
place |
66 |
136 |
Lanz-faenz |
137 |
Lanz-mwnz |
|
68 |
138 |
Doenz-gyeu |
p. 98, n. 136 "the name of a place in the world of the dead".
p. 99, n. 137 "Langzmwngz (or Nangzmwngz ...) is a place in the world of the dead. ... Nangzmwngz is often mentioned in song, as a market-place in the spirit-world."
p. 99, n. 138 Doenz-gyeu "is likely to be a variant name for Jiaozhi ...". [p. 97, n. 128 : Chinese /Jiao-z^i/ = Z^uan /Gyanz-gyeu/ -- both terms for ‘An-nam (Viet-nam)’ {which is situated to the south (just as is the realm of [Vaidik god] Yama the psychopomp)}.]
p. 68 feasting on the marrow & brain of the oxen {whose souls transported the soul of the dead human into the world of the dead?}
ll. 139-40 |
"Go invite the one who killed the oxen and ate their bones, Go invite the one who struck the oxen and ate their brains." |
p. 99, n. 140 "the Zhuang custom of eating a broth made of fermented ox bones [marrow] ... ." {relate to other actions of brain-eating of / for a dead human – such as the North American Indian belief that the soul of a dead person devoureth that person’s own brain}
p. 68 closing set of invitations {all these invitees are categories of ghosts of the dead}
l. |
"invite __" |
145 |
"the one who gathers duckweed from the pond" |
146 |
"the one who crossed the bridge by the great river" {souls of the dead must cross a bridge into the world of the dead, according to Taoist lore} |
147 |
"the one who died in a thorn-bush" |
148 |
"the one who slipped on the grass and died" |
149 |
"the elder of the upright stone" |
150 |
"the elder of the main house-post" |
p. 101, n. 148 "someone who slipped on the grass on top of a cliff, fell down, and ... became a muengz ... ‘dead soul’ ". {This may be an alternative route into the world of the dead – in Maori lore, the only means for return from the world of the dead is via grass-roots.}
p. 102, n. 149 "rin daengj ... ‘stone + set upright’ ... is the Zhuang term for what is known in Chinese as ... shigandang, an apotropaic stone. Such stones, complete with an inscription, are intended to ward off some baleful geomantic influence, and are often found ... at the head and foot of the village. They are part of the spiritual and geomantic defenses of the village."
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY MONOGRAPH SERIES ON SOUTHEAST ASIA, No. 5 = David Holm : Killing a Buffalo for the Ancestors : a Zhuang Cosmological Text. DeKalb, 2003.