Origin of the term shaman

The shaman is a primitive belief of the northern peoples, and its origin is very early.

The historians of the Xiongnu period did not use the term "shaman", but only called it "witch" in the text. In the Xiongnu era, the shaman played a role in political and military affairs, and all wars or other events in a state of hesitation, the last to depend on the shaman. The shaman of the northern peoples is very different from the shaman of the central plains. Shaman must have a lot of common sense or knowledge, be able to observe the development of things, predict the future, dare to prophesy good and bad luck. This is also the case with Zoran, but his biography is too brief to describe it!

The shaman is a primitive belief of the northern peoples, originated very early, in the matriarchal system of society has been very developed and mature. The shaman was almost always a clan leader, and the Western Queen Mother, who was deified in the Middle Kingdom, was a shaman and a chieftain.

The creation of the dish gourd doctrine of heaven and earth is also a female shaman, "Gaoxin's old woman living in the palace, get ear disease, get something as big as a cocoon, sheng gourd in the, back to the disk, and then turned into a dog ......". This old woman is the shaman, became the ancestor of the Inuyasha. Her understanding of all things in heaven and earth has a new sublimation, resulting in the cosmic concept of heaven and earth, heaven and earth are compatible with the birth of all things. Cocoon, can be interpreted as a primitive cell, canine on behalf of all things, five colors into five lines of water, fire, wood, gold and earth, five east, west, south, north and south, five colors of green, yellow, red, white and black, five flavors and so on the simple materialistic ideas and evolutionary consciousness, because of which the most primitive beliefs, that is, the nature worship of all things in heaven and earth. In particular, the "sky"

is the highest object of worship of the ancient Mongolians. Zoran is the "sky". Zoran Khanate is the "Kingdom of the King of Heaven".

Joan is Ding Zero, Di calendar of the sound change, pronunciation for the upside down even, Chinese writing Joan, and spend time at home with the same sound.

The ancients believed that natural changes from the celestial bodies give people enjoyment, but also give people disaster. Human beings in the instinctive activities of good luck and avoidance of evil, the changes in nature, produced fear and respect for the ideological consciousness. Because of these misfortunes and blessings come from the sky, the sky has produced the most noble worship and faith. Objects of worship other than the sky, the ancients believed that all attached to the sky, all follow the will of the sky, according to the sky made all to perform. For example, the interactions between all things, their prosperity and their demise, were all the result of heaven's action in the underworld. When mankind produced the leader and the led, the ancients also associated the leader of all things in heaven and earth, and thought about who would preside over this mysterious sky. In imitation of the division of labor among human beings, they simulated the ruler of the sky. Some people say that "Di Li" is the highest sky god of the northern people, although the reason is close, but it is not easy to follow blindly.

Shamanic culture

The Manchus believed in and inherited shamanism, which is consistent with the ancient polytheistic beliefs of the Tunguska people, for a long period of time. The word shaman first appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty historical document "Three Dynasties of the Northern League", which is a female language meaning a person of the type of sorcerer.

Shamanism is a primitive religion commonly practiced by the northern peoples of ancient China, which arose in the prosperous period of the primitive matriarchal clan society. Ancient northern peoples or tribes, such as Sushan, Bedji, Mohe, female true, Xiongnu, Qidan, etc.; modern northern peoples, such as Manchu, Mongolia, Hezhe, Ewenke, Kazakh, etc. also believe in shamanism or to retain some of the shamanism of some of the legacy of customs. Shamanism original belief behavior of the spread of the region is quite broad, including North Asia, Central and Northern Europe and North America's vast areas.

Shamanism is a primitive polytheistic religion. In ancient times, people associated all kinds of natural objects and unpredictable natural phenomena with human life itself, and endowed them with subjective consciousness, so as to worship and pray for them, forming the initial religious concept that everything has a spirit. The universe is dominated by the "God of Heaven", mountains have the "God of Mountain", fire has the "God of Fire", wind has the "God of Wind" and rain has the "God of Rain". "Rain God", on the ground and a variety of animal gods, plant gods and ancestral gods ...... form a universal nature worship (such as wind, rain, thunder, electricity God, etc.), totem worship (such as tigers, eagles, deer God, etc.) ancestor worship (such as Fodor's mother, etc.). In the shaman held religious activities in the ceremony, the use of many instruments, such as the case of the gods, waist bells, copper mirror, grab drums, drums, whips and so on. In the magic weapon are engraved with a variety of God's pattern, especially in the god case and grab the drum on the ancient times are engraved and painted with colorful masks of the gods. These Manchu masks, whether artistic value, academic value, folklore value, cultural value are invaluable. Because the Manchu shaman masks are religious items, generally only by the shaman heirloom collection, outsiders are difficult to see.

The shaman, known as the intermediary between God and man. He can convey people's prayers and wishes to the gods, as well as the will of the gods to people. The shaman attempts to master the secrets and powers of super life forms in various spiritual ways, and access to these secrets and divine wonders is an element of the shaman's life practice. Shamans are categorized as home shamans and wild shamans. The family shaman serves as an attendant to the gods and is mainly responsible for the ritual activities of the clan. The Wild Shaman (also known as the Great Spirit) is the God Grasping Shaman, i.e., the shaman who is possessed by the spirit of the gods. The activities of the god-grabbing shaman include healing the sick, calamities, praying for blessings, divining, predicting and other problems that people need to solve. Manchu shamans are usually the same as ordinary people in the clan, their services are not paid, and they have no authority over others, they can get married and have children. When a shaman dies, the sacred artifacts, ornaments and clothing used are buried with him. New shamans are selected, trained (in Manchu, Wu Yun) and finalized. Manchu shaman masks are mostly used in the jumping wild god rituals. Shaman rituals, in accordance with the requirements of the content of the sacrifice, simulated as a variety of animals or gods and monsters. For fear of being recognized by the dead or the gods, the shaman should wear a mask and use the colorful tassels on the god's hat to cover his face. Dressed in a shaman's uniform, with a waist bell tied around his waist, his left hand grasps the drum, his right hand holds the drum whip, and with the cooperation of the lifting drums and other ringing instruments, he beats the sacred drums and sings the sacred songs, which are full of mysterious colors.

Wang Songlin, a young Manchu scholar, found that Fu Yingren, an heir to the Ningan Manchu culture, mastered a large number of Manchu shaman masks during his research and study in the Ningan area of Heilongjiang. Wang Songlin's sincerity, obsession and persistence impressed the old man, who took out more than 100 Manchu shaman masks and 25 Manchu totem drawings and presented them to him as Manchu historical materials. After Wang Songlin's finishing and drawing, the Manchu shaman masks finally came out in the fall of 2000, and were known as the wonders of Chinese folk art at the end of the twentieth century.

The Manchu masks, which mainly reflect goddesses, were formed around the time of the prosperity of the primitive matriarchal society. Manchu mask is a living fossil of shamanism, which involves a long history, rich in connotation, mysterious and rugged, bright colors, childish beauty.

Masks as a purely spiritual all-purpose weapon, wait until the primitive forefathers of the sense of fear, inferiority complex gradually disappeared, on the diffuse evolution of entertainment tools. Manchu masks by the solemn and majestic shaman worship gradually turned into theater entertainment performance.

In the Qing Dynasty, the court and folk have been widely circulated Mahu theater. "Mahu" for the Manchu language, that is, mask dance, or mask dance. In the early years, the masks were mostly made of grass quartz, animal leather, turtle cover and shell. In recent times, they are made of Koryo paper and birch bark, and then carved and painted with images of people, birds, ghosts and monsters, or kind, or hideous, in a variety of forms.

The Qing Historical Manuscripts of the one hundred and one volumes of the record: "eight years of Qianlong, renamed Qinglong dance, within the big and small horse guards for the Yanglie dance, is a martial arts dance; ministers dance on the birthday for the Xiqi dance, is a dance for the text." Also reads: "Yanglie dance, with masks thirty-two people, dressed in yellow canvas with, dressed in black leather with. They jumped and threw themselves upside down, like foreign animals." The text refers to "Ma Gu" both "Mahu", also refers to the mask. And with the "Aihui ten miles of the Yangtze River," described: the love of the tiger play, not only in the Qing dynasty, Manchu folk Wang and large tribes as early as in the Jin dynasty, there is the tiger play.

Manchu mask is a rare and precious heritage of Manchu culture, it is not only for ethnology, folklore, archaeology, linguistics, fine arts, theater and other aspects of academic research provides a new research methodology and new revelations, and opens up a new field and direction of research, it also provides a great opportunity for the development of tourism and folk arts and crafts.

Shaman ritual

Shaman culture originated in the Manchu, shaman rituals are divided into fire rituals, learning rituals, and other forms of sacrifice

Shaman in the rituals in the musical instruments, clapping in the sound of songs and dances to the gods to pray for the descent of the gods, praying to descend on the people's blessed life. At the same time, it also has the purpose of entertaining the gods and people. The lyrics of the songs can connect the relationship between human and gods, and the dances show that the shaman expels the evils and people's piety for good fortune and life by force and magic power, and expresses the shaman's journey to heaven to invite the gods and the dangers encountered on the way, as well as the struggle against the evils and devils. Through song and dance to achieve the purpose of inviting the gods to pray for blessings:

Shaman in the sacrificial offerings into the sacrificial offerings, in the three strings, pazhou, clapperboards, clapping in the sound of the wine offering. Each offering, the Secretary of the altar people sing "E Luo Luo". After the offering of wine, in the three strings, pipa, clapperboard, clapping sound, the shaman to pray and bow in front of the god of the sword. Each time the sword is lifted, a song called "Erolo" is sung. When the shaman has prayed with the sword three times, he will sing the sacred song once. If the song is sung three times, the shaman prays nine times. The prayer is recited, the "Erolo" is sung, and the "chanting of the sacred song" is the singing of the words of the prayers and invocations.

Accompanied by musical instruments and clapping, the prayer and kowtow in front of the god's sword is a simple dance, and the song "Erolo" and the chanting of the god's song are obvious singing, which creates an enthusiastic scene of singing and dancing in front of the leading of the animal. A joyous celebration of man and god