Cover Page
The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/49321 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation.
Author: Frost, S.Q.
Title: The altar of primordial treasure : ritual, theater, and community life in the mountains of China's Guizhou Province
Issue Date: 2017-06-06
CHAPTER 3
The Sacred Space and Its Components
Some families which are afflicted with repeated and inexplicable sickness, having first made a solemn vow to have a ceremony performed, the object of which is to beg or to bribe the god to dissipate or destroy these influences....
They employ several priests belonging to the Tauist sect. The ceremony lasts . . . from one day and one night to three days and three nights, according
to the amount of money they determine to expend on the occasion155
— Justus Doolittle
Chapter 3 begins with an introduction of Deng Qiyu’s domestic altar. The front room of the home, where the altar is located, has a special significance for Chinese families. The altar is where the spirits of benevolent ancestral spirits receive sacrifices of incense. The ritual troupe transforms this physical space into a temporary sacred space, where the deities are hosted on ritual occasions.
Much of the material in this chapter is drawn from primary sources, namely the ritual manuals belonging to the Deng family. The visual elements of the sacred space include the morphology of the ritual altar and its attendant paintings and statuary. Also, the symbolic language utilized by the ritual master to purify the sacred space and communicate with the deities; incense, sacrificial offerings, the dagger and sword, talismans, documents, incantations or spells, and divination.
In identifying these elements as constituent parts of a symbolic ritual field, religious practice in Huangtushao can be understood within the context of shared ritual structures and a symbolic language that enjoys a remarkable homogeneity across southern China. The symbolic elements are enacted within a liturgical framework featuring a preparation, exorcism and purification, an invitation to the deities to manifest themselves within the sacred space, presentation of a memorial and sacrificial offerings, theater, and, finally, the sending off of the gods.156 The ritual invocation, specific theatrical performances within the context of a temple fair, and an examination of the larger role of ceremonies within social and economic life will be examined more closely in Chapter 4.
3.1 The Domestic Shrine
Rituals performed within a village home, before the domestic altar, constitute the core of rural Guizhou’s religious life. The front room of the home is the location of the domestic shrine and incense burner, displaying memorial tablets representing the deities and paternal and maternal ancestral lineages (often photographic portraits of the proceeding generation are also featured).
155 Doolittle, Social Life of the Chinese, 104.
156 Ruizendaal, Marionette Theatre in Quanzhou, 188. Altar for Protecting Good Fortune Ceremonies do not include theater.
The domestic shrine occupies the back wall, opposite the home’s double front doors. It faces outward towards the front courtyard. The altar and its attractive calligraphy first draw a visitor’s attention when approaching a home’s threshold. Because it is the spiritual center of the home, when the ritual masters arrive to construct the Sacred Arena of the Dao, this location becomes the focal point of the sacred space.157 As the home’s spiritual nexus the domestic shrine has a special significance in the life of the family and its members. The seats of important deities and the ancestors are represented by their names, written vertically in bold, black ink on bright red paper and pasted onto the back wall. These deities include those worshipped across the Chinese speaking world, namely Confucius, Wenchang, the God of Wealth, the Stove God, Guanyin, Lord Guan, Erlang, and also regional deities associated with Guizhou’s traditions.
Deng Qiyu’s domestic altar provides a fine example of the morphology of domestic altars across most of Guizhou and southern Sichuan (Fig.3.1).158 Deng’s altar sits within an approximately two-by-two-meter niche centered on the back wall of the front room of the home. The altar’s arrangement reflects how the members of this community understand their relationship to the celestial realm (deities), human society (the state, community and ancestors), and the earth (nature and the underworld). This understanding has guided and sustained their way of life for countless generations. The moral instructions contained within the brush calligraphy of the domestic shrine affirm idealized Confucian norms governing relationships between individuals, family members, and the state. This altar arrangement is broadly shared across a large geographical area and among diverse ethnic groups.159 The moral values displayed on the altar are perpetuated both through time and space. Moral behavior originated with the ancestral lineage, and living descendents are responsible for its perpetuation and transmission to future generations. Pasted horizontally above the niche of the altar is the instruction to “Admire and Perpetuate the Ancestor’s Ethics.” Framing the left and right side of the shrine are couplets, the left reads “Let One Hundred Generations of Ancestors Leave a Good Reputation” and the right,
“The Whole Sacred Hall and Its Deities are Often Blessing Us.”
At the center of the niche, written vertically in large, bold characters is the “Family Shrine’s Seat for Serving Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Ancestors and Confucius.” 160 To the immediate right are the trinity of the Lord of the River, Lord of the Earth, and the Medicine King, and the trinity of the Three Paternal Uncles. These two trinities are specifically associated with Yang Theater.
According to legend, three brothers realized the spiritual efficacy of Yang Theater and spent their life fortunes and energy to make sure it was preserved for future generations. To the immediate left of the center is the seat of the patriarch of the Sect of August Mystery’s Sacred Lord Zhao
157 Ran, “Daozhen chongnuo yu yangxi zhi bijiao,” 29.
158 Fava, Aux portes du ciel, pp. 180–182 for images of domestic altars in western Hunan.
159 Duan, Sichuansheng Youyangxian Tujiazumiaozuzizizhixian Shuanghequ Xiaogangxiang Xinglongcun Mianjuyangxi, 309, illustrates a similar altar in a Tujia village.
160 Some domestic altars central registers now read: Heaven, Earth, Country, Ancestors and Confucius. Deng and others have kept the traditional convention of Monarch 君 (or Ruler) rather than Country. For an extensive discussion of venerating these five entities see Thoraval, “Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Ancestors, Masters.” HAL archives-ouvertes.fr. 08/03/2016.
Figure 3.1 The Domestic Shrine of Deng Qiyu, Huangtusao Village, Fuquan, Guizhou Province, August 2010. At the upper left is Deng’s ‘sky flag’, presented to him at the time of his ordination.
Against the wall on the bottom left are martial props used for theater. The table below the altar hides a lower niche for the Earth God and his Wife.
1 仰承先德 Revere and Inherit the Ancestors Ethics 2 金玉福满堂 Abundance of Wealth and Good Fortune 3 祖宗百代永流芳 One Hundred Generations of Ancestors
Leave a Good Reputation
4 神圣一堂常赐福 The Whole Sacred Hall and Its Deities are Blessing Us
5 邓 喻氏历代高曾远祖考妣位 Seat of Every Generation of Paternal and Maternal Ancestors of the Deng and Yu Clans 6 敕封盖天古佛关圣帝君位 Seat of the Ancient Heavenly
Buddha, Sacred Lord Guan
7 九天东厨司命灶王府君位 Seat of the Office of the Eastern Kitchen of the Nine Heavens Stove God
8 当年太岁神位 Seat of the God of Jupiter
9 梓潼帝君神位 Seat of Sacred God Zitong (Wenchang) 10 玄星会上赵候圣主罗公位 Seat of Sacred Lord Zhao of the
Sect of August Mystery
11 家龛侍奉天地君亲师神位 Seat of the Household Shrine Serving Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Father and Confucius
12 土主川主药王三圣三伯公浦女位 Seat of The Lord of the Earth, Lord of the Streams, the Medicine King and Three Paternal Uncles
13 三教圣贤神位 Seat of the Sages of the Three Teachings (Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism)
14 是吾教伎神位 Seat of My Skilled Sacred Teaching
15 南海岸上救苦救难观音位 Seat of Guanyin of the South Sea Bank Who Rescues Us From Hardship and Difficulty 16 太上三元三品三官大帝位 Seat of the Supreme Reigning
Three Primordials of the Three Ranks
17 求财有感四员官将福绿位 Pray for Wealth and Move the Jade Emperor. Four Benevolent Generals of the Bureaus of Good Fortune and Emoluments
18 南山圣母 The Sacred Mother of South Mountain 19 Incense Burner
20 东山圣公 The Sacred Father of East Mountain 21 财神 Statue of the God of Wealth
22 Flag of Ordination
1
2
3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13
14 15 16 17
18 19
20 21 22
of the Great Canopy Heaven’s Authentic Teaching of the Great Method. Two smaller tablets to the left of the central one represent the seat of Taisui, the greatly feared God of the Year who controls human destiny and the seat of Lord Zitong (Wenchang), the deity prayed to for success in examinations.161 Two small tablets on the right are for the Virtuous Sacred Deities of the Three Teachings and the Skilled Ancestors of My Sect.
The tablet on the far left contains the seats of the Stove God of the East Kitchen of the Nine Heavens, the Ancient Buddha Who Covers Heaven Sacred King Guanyu, and every generation of paternal and maternal ancestors of the Deng and Yu Clans. On the far right of the niche are the seat of Guanyin of the South Sea Coast Who Rescues Us from Hardship and Difficulty, the seat of the Most High Reigning Three Primordials of the Three Ranks, and lastly, the Four Benevolent Generals of the Bureaus of Wealth and Emoluments.162 Along the bottom of the niche on a shelf are the carved heads representing The Sacred Father of East Mountain and The Sacred Mother of South Mountain. These sculptures date to the mid-1800s and are introduced below (Figs. 3.2, 3.3). Also on the shelf is a statue of the God of Wealth, carved by Deng some years ago.
Beneath the altar table, approximately 30cm off the floor is a smaller niche containing the seats of terrestrial deities. Pasted above the niche is “the Earth God Will Protect Those Who are Benevolent and Kind.” At the upper corners of the red rectangular paper pasted within the niche are characters meaning “stability.”163 At center left is the seat of the Lower Altar Five Furies of the Five Directions and Their Cavalry. At the center right are The Earth God of Longevity and his Auspicious Wife. To the left is “One Thousand families invite, Ten Thousand Households Welcome.” The right margin is the seat of the Wealth Attracting Lad in Proximity to Treasure.
The left and right sides of the niche are framed by the couplets “The Earth Provides the Path to Wealth” and “What The Earth Produces is a Priceless Treasure.” Before the niche, on the floor, are small statues carved by Deng, representing Fantan Fifth Lad Zhang and Zhang’s subterranean generals, the Little Mountain Bodhisattvas, commanders of the Five Furies (Fig. 3.4).164
The hierarchy of Chinese religion informs the altar’s vertical arrangement. Celestial deities are represented above the altar table on the wall. The regal primordials, The Sacred Father of East Mountain and The Sacred Mother of South Mountain are placed at approximately the same height as the altar table and the deities of the earth and underworld are below. Schipper opines that temple architecture is actually based on two models, the first a metaphor for an administrative residence (in our examination it is actually an imperial audience hall) and secondly, a cosmological one.165 An undated nineteenth century account, titled Offering Sacrifice to the Gods, within the Historical Gazetteer of Pingyue Township,166 describes domestic altars in Fuquan in terms identical to the
161 Meulenbeld, Demonic Warfare, 70.
162 The four generals were originally poor thieves who lit camphor wood in a cave to keep warm. The Jade Emperor mistook the smoke for an offering and awarded each of them a gold ingot and an official position.
163 妥安
164 Zhang, Minjian Diaoke, 99 and Fava, Aux portes du ciel, pp. 118–125 for related examples of Zhang Wulang.
165 Schipper, The Taoist Body, 21.
166 Pingyuezhen Lizhou Zhi. 平越黎洲志
Figure 3.2 The Sacred Mother of South Mountain. 24 cm tall. Her facial expression and morphology suggest Guanyin. She wears the phoenix crown and is associated with the moon or female (yin) energy. The Sacred Mother is a deity of protection, fecundity and reproduction. She and her husband, The Sacred Father of East Mountain, are considered the highest terrestrial authorities. From their respective palaces the imperial couple govern humanity.
Figure 3.3 The Sacred Father of East Mountain. 24 cm tall. His bright red face suggests powerful life force and male (yang) energy. The Sacred Father’s bulbous eyes and grimace communicate bravery and valor. Both of the heads are hollow in the middle to allow them to be placed upon bamboo struts and then dressed in ceremonial robes. They are variously placed upright against the wall behind the altar or placed directly upon the altar inside a bowl of rice.
Figure 3.4 Fifth Lad Zhang who overturns the altar. This 18 cm tall, particularly fine example was photographed in Daoping, Fuquan. Zhang is the leader of the Five Furies, five ferocious demons who slay recalcitrant evil spirits. Zhang is also the ritual master’s “policeman” in hell. He has a reputation for incredible courage in the face of danger. His inverted posture references his ability to move in any direction, overturn objects, and uncover lost souls. Local legend says Zhang left a mountain temple in Sichuan after studying Daoist magic and encountered the tiger on his way home. He tamed the beast and made it his pet. One informant states, “Zhang would travel ten thousand li to kill an evildoer and that he is strong enough to break through an iron pipe.”
domestic altars found in nearly all village homes today. The author of the entry indicates that these altars were a custom shared by officials and commoners alike:167
The homes of officials and the people have the the incense burner positioned within the front hall.
Written in large characters is the seat of Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Clan and Confucius. To the sides are Confucius, Wenchang, Lord Guan, the Stove God and various Bodhisattvas; there are more than ten positions.
The same entry contains an interesting point about the scarcity of ancestral lineage halls in Guizhou:
Official families and others construct ancestral halls, but there are not many.
This absence stands in stark contrast to the well-documented traditions of village populations in Southeastern China, and points to Guizhou’s smaller population, underdevelopment of the economy providing funds for construction of more permanent communal structures, and the fact that historically people of Huangtushao are relatively recent immigrants from other parts of China, disconnected from their ancestral homes. Despite the existence of inter-village communal temples for important deities like Lord Guan and Erlang and yearly communal processions and celebrations occurring on these deities’ birthdays, in rural Guizhou the domestic space remains the ubiquitous venue for enacting ritual life.
3.2 Preparing for a Sacrificial Offering of Repayment to the Gods for Their Grace
One of the basic characteristics of Chinese religion is the making of a request to the deities for a need, and promising to repay their blessings at a future date.168 When an individual wishes to sponsor a ritual ceremony he first seeks out the ritual master at his residence for a consultation.169 This must be done in person per the regulations of the altar.170 To treat such an important matter casually would be considered disrespectful to the deities. The ritual master washes his hands and lights the incense burner. He asks the sponsor which month he would like to conduct the ceremony, and then takes out an almanac to select an auspicious date. Once the date is determined the ritual master prepares a “paper fire list” of the sacrificial offerings necessary for the ceremony. The standard list of offerings is found in the handwritten manual of Deng Qiyu:171
One large hog
One Jar of Sacred Wine
Four sets of Nine Types of Joss Sticks and Candles 167 Yang, ed., Zhongguo Nuoxi Nuowenhua Ziliaohuibian, 215.
168 Lagerwey, China: A Religious State, 59.
169 Schipper, The Taoist Body, 73.
170 Huangpu, Guizhou Yangxi, 36.
171 DFYC, 20.
Five Large Candles
(Sacrificial) Roosters for Cleansing the House172 Long Paper Money
Flags, Flowers, and Fruit
The actual offerings agreed upon are dependent on the sponsor’s financial situation and how grand a ceremony the sponsor desires. Hogs and goats are seldom sacrificed in Huangtushao today—the cost is considered too exorbitant—and the number of guests attending these
ceremonies is much smaller than in the past. At least one-third of any given village’s population is absent, working in towns and cities. In her recent study of ritual among Guizhou’s Tujia people, Lan Li notes that in recent years ritual masters have raised their prices for conducting ceremonies significantly.173 This is a reflection of China’s transition to a market economy, and the increasing purchasing power of its residents. There are also stories told everywhere of families who spent their life savings to sponsor rituals. While plausible, these stories are also propaganda for ritual masters to increase their prestige, number of paying clients and a justification to charge what some might consider exorbitant fees for their services. Once a handwritten list of necessary offerings has been agreed upon, the ritual master gives it to the sponsor. The list functions as a binding contract for performing the ritual at the appointed time, and is signed by both the master, as “the disciple leading the troops” and the ritual’s sponsor, who signs as “the host making a payment of gratitude.”174 The sponsor must also agree not to discuss the agreement with anyone else and vow that if the ritual is not successful he will not mention it to anyone.
The rationale for inviting the ritual troupe to one’s home to conduct a ceremony and
apotropaic function of ritual in Huangtushao is communicated by the colloquial expression “to expel evils and obtain auspiciousness.” It is also clearly elucidated within the opening pages of Deng Qiyu’s ritual manual containing the templates for the written memorials. This passage is taken from a memorial template:
Everyone is safe and sound. The baleful stars retreat and auspiciousness descends. Today we offer a celebration and toast of thanks to the gods. This year, this time, this month is auspicious and fine.
Welcome the whole troupe to construct [the altar].
3.3 Ritual Instruments
Most of the ritual instruments employed in Huangtushao are recognizable to those familiar with Daoist ritual practice elsewhere.175 The Master’s Dagger and Paidai, explained below, appear to be unique to China’s southwest.
172 The term within the ritual documents for rooster is 扫盘鸡. 盘 refers to the ritual area, possibly an incorrectly borrowed character for 棚.
173 Li, Popular Religion in Modern China, 203–204.
174 “Disciple leading the troops” describes the ritual master’s command of spirit soldiers who will vanquish unruly ghosts and demons.
175 Asano, Haruji in Predagio, ed., The Routledge Encyclopedia of Taoism, pp. 412–415.
Master’s Dagger 师刀 or 神刀
This instrument is employed by ritual exorcists across the southwest, including many Yao and Hmong communities in the China/Southeast Asia border region.176 The ritual dagger of Deng Qiyu is of recent manufacture—in Huangtushao the older daggers disappeared during various Maoist political movements. According to Deng the origins of the ritual instrument are during the disciples’ time at Maoshan:
When the disciples were at Maoshan blacksmithing articles such as tongs and bellows did not exist.
It took disciples three years of blowing on the steel and holding it with their bare hands, forging the ritual instrument on their knees. When Old Lord Lao witnessed his disciples suffering, his heart could not bear it. Thus he created bellows and blacksmithing instruments in order to forge these daggers more easily.
The ritual master holds the dagger in his left hand, the sharp end facing upwards and the large ring at the bottom. The attached metal discs or coins are able to move freely along the ring. When chanting before the altar, the metronome provided by the sound of the metal discs rattling marks the rhythm of the invocation. The dagger’s function is to decapitate demons. The metal discs on the dagger’s circular metal ring represent the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams 九宫八卦 or the Taiji Diagram 太极图.177 On older examples the discs were actual coins or discs made to resemble antique coins, with a center hole for stringing.
Paidai 排带
The paidai contains the spiritual power of all the previous masters in the lineage. In holding the paidai the ritual master is thought to have the presence of his entire ancestral lineage alongside him while performing the dangerous work of exorcising ghosts and demons. The handle of the paidai is fabricated from a hollow rectangular wooden block containing the master’s document of ordination. This document is inserted into the paidai at the time of the ordination ceremony.
During his audience before the altar the paidai functions as the ritual master’s baton of command to lead his troops of spirit soldiers. During the invocation the paidai either rests upon the ritual master’s left shoulder or forearm.
According to Deng, the handle is not to be opened and its contents should remain secret. The possession of the paidai is proof that the owner has reached the rank of ritual master. A number of strips of cloth are attached to the rectangular wooden block. Some of these strips of cloth are present on the paidai at the time the ritual master receives it during his ordination ceremony. The strips must be made by chaste, young women. Other strips are donated by the sponsors of ritual ceremonies in gratitude for the troupe’s service. Some informants say the paidai handle contains the ghosts and demons captured by the ritual master.
176 Pourret, The Yao, 208. Plate 572 features related examples.
177 Qu, ed., Guizhou Dejiang Nuotangxi, 36.
Lingpai 令牌
The lingpai is the ritual master’s audience block. It is struck upon the altar and some- times the doorway of a structure or object to issue a command, such as calling down lightning to smite demons. The lingpai of Deng Qiyu is fabricated from camphor wood. Each side of the block is inscribed differently (Fig. 3.5). The lower right and left of Face A contain a four character inscription to command the 10,000 deities to descend, subdue, and vanquish evil spirits 降伏邪魔. At the top is the talisman of the Jade Emperor 玉皇讳, indicating the ritual master is acting under the Jade Emperor’s commands. Directly underneath, in the shape of a square, are four talismans. The top two talismans are those of the Moon 太阴 讳 and Sun 太阳讳, alluding that all com- munication from earth to the celestial realm is communicated through Sheng Gong and Sheng Mu. Beneath the sun talisman is the talisman ziwei 紫微 representing the pole star
and all the other stars that revolve around it. Inscribed over ziwei is a diagonal sword for slaying demons. Beneath the moon talisman is the talisman of all the deities 总讳. Framing the two sides of the vertical register descending down the block are star diagrams with the character dou 斗 representing the Big Dipper. The vertical register descending down the block are three more talis- mans representing the secret names of the Three Pure Ones: Shangqing, Taiqing, and Yuqing. The fourth talisman in this register represents huodou, the secret name of the eight trigrams. Next, the character gang 罡, is the name for the thirty six celestial evil influences. Last is the character sha 煞 referring to the seven murderous influences of the earth. The talisman at the bottom, repeated twice, symbolizes a shoulder pole with buckets to collect and carry away any evil spirits.178
The inscriptions on Face B read: “By command of Yuanhuang, ten thousand deities listen and collect one hundred nefarious spirits.” Below is a circular talisman representing the command of the Five Thunders to destroy demons and evil spirits, and two additional hui, representing the cattie to collect and carry away evil spirits.
On the sides of the block are the trigrams representing yinyang, or the universe, and the Eight Trigrams. Collectively, the trigrams protect their bearer from misfortune.
178 鬼挑担
Figure 3.5 Two faces of the block of command (lingpai).
A B
Treasure Sword 宝剑
The sword in the possession of the Huangtushao troupe was made during the Qing Dynasty. This sword is used as a prop by martial deities like Erlang, Wang Lingguan, and Lord Guan when performing Yang Theater. The ritual master wields the sword to slay demons when performing domestic exorcisms and to sacrifice livestock.
Seal of the Thunder Bureau 雷霆都司法章
The Seal of the Thunder Bureau is used to notarize each official document prepared by the ritual masters while performing a ceremony. Without this official notarization of the Thunder Bureau, celestial officials will not consider the requests of the ritual masters or their sponsors.
Ceremonial Horn 牛角
According to one legend, a disciple was walking at Mount Sumeru 须弥山 when he saw two rhinos fighting. When the rhinos broke off their horns, the disciple recovered them and fabricated the ceremonial horn and divination blocks. The horn is sounded to announce the beginning of the ritual program, and to call the celestial deities, the earth deities, and the troops of spirit soldiers and their cavalry to the altar. The horn is actually from a water buffalo (Fig. 3.6).
Staff of the Ancestral Masters 祖师棍
The staff of the Huangtushao troupe dates to the Qing Dynasty and is illustrated in the
introduction. Atop the wooden staff is a carved representation of ancestral master Lord Zhaohou in ceremonial dress, seated upon a lotus. In his left hand he holds his audience block and in his right a pair of divination blocks (Fig. 1.2).
Percussion Instruments 神器
The percussion ensemble consists of three types of cymbals and a drum. The drum can be held on one’s lap or placed upon the floor. The rhythmic cacophony keeps time for the ritual master as he chants the invocation and also has the apotropaic function of frightening away evil spirits.
Divination Blocks 神卦
The divination blocks are fabricated from the nodes of large bamboo when it first sprouts from the ground. They are naturally pointed on one end. Being bamboo, they have a convex and concave side. When cast upon the ground, usually in sets of three, the blocks are read by the way they are facing. A desired reading indicates the approval or blessing of the deities for a given request.
Court Robe 法衣
The ritual masters of the Huangtushao troupe wear simple red robes that are unadorned, a marked contrast to the highly decorative, embroidered court robes of Daoist priests in Hunan.
This is consistent with the custom of most ritual troupes in Guizhou.
Ceremonial Crown 头扎 or 五佛冠
The ritual master’s ceremonial crown is either fabricated from paper or leather. The ritual master wraps his head in red cloth prior to donning the crown. The crown is illustrated with images of either the Daoist Three Pure Ones, or the Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius. This lack of standardization, even amongst the members of a single troupe, illustrates the small variances and flexibility within local traditions (Fig. 3.6). Notably, on altar paintings of the complete pantheon, one also variously finds the supreme deities in the upper register identified as the Three Pure Ones or The Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius, depending on location.
3.4 The Imperial Metaphor
The decoration of the ritual space, the language used to address the deities, ritual tools like the audience block and sacred seal used to notarize memorials, the language contained within the written memorials, and the instructions within the ritual text all evoke an imperial, bureaucratic protocol. Within the liturgy the sacred space is regularly referred to as a “palace,” where officials have an audience with the ruler. The master formally refers to himself as a Court Officer of Ritual. He presents the memorial to the Jade Emperor before the altar with the manner of a court official, and the ritual text instructs him to kowtow before the seat of the respective deity to whom he is presenting his petition. There is a specific protocol where the memorial must first be presented to the Sacred Father of East Mountain and Sacred Mother of South Mountain, who are also called Grandpa and Grandma, reflecting the earlier discussion that the troupe tie themselves and the community by descent from a sacred lineage aligned within the larger cosmological structure, with the Jade Emperor at the apex.
Anna Seidel, in her study of early Daoism following the fall of the Han Dynasty (220 CE), suggests that in appropriating the symbols of the Han Imperial Court, Daoists, living in a time of turmoil and weak institutions, were attempting to recreate the cosmic unity of the Han Dynasty.179
179 Seidal, “Imperial Treasures and Taoist Sacraments,” 291.
Figure 3.6 A ritual master from Daoping, Fuquan blows his spirit horn to call the deities. His head is wrapped in the red cloth of the exorcist. He wears a crown ornamented with the Three Pure Ones, roosters (symbols of life force) and the characters for the sun and moon, symbolizing yin and yang.
Dean writes: “Imperial power comes to inform every aspect of society. This is most evident in the bureaucratic metaphor, with its heavenly palaces and hierarchies, its ranks of immortals, its dan- gerous ghosts and demons, and its tribunals in the underworld.” 180 For people in China’s remote, mountainous southwestern frontier the symbol of emperor as the omnipotent center of the imperial state must have seemed as mysterious and symbolically powerful as any of the celestial deities in the heavens. The contemporary writing of Yang Jisheng, speaking of his childhood in a remote part of Hubei Province, further supports this notion. Yang suggests Mao Zedong co-opted Chinese farm- ers’ awe at the imperial institution to build a personality cult that would follow him blindly.181
The imperial state administration was divided into civil 文 and military 武 branches. Courtly and martial elements exist as complimentary components of ritual practice. Domestic ritual has its courtly, civil element, represented by the audience with the deities, the presentation of the memorial by the ritual official and toasting and feasting the visiting spirits. Ritual’s exorcistic component is conceived as a military expedition, where the ritual master commands his troops of spirit soldiers in a war against evil spirits. Nie Shixue, Deng’s senior disciple, says the killing of ghosts is the most important duty the ritual masters perform. In this endeavor the ritual master is assisted by celestial thunder deities within the Bureau of Thunderclap, who can smite demons with lightning. Clearly illustrated in the altar paintings of Lord Guan and Han Xin, are spirit troops of the five directions being led into battle by heroic generals, with the Lord of the Earth acting as a sentry. Celestial deities provide assistance from above. The martial element of the ceremony is also referenced in the couplets decorating the front door of the home, where all the troops of the five directions are commanded to assemble at the sacred arena and restore order.
The significance and power of the ritual space resonates with believers by embodying this power of imperial absolutism. The presence of The Sacred Father of East Mountain and Sacred Mother of South Mountain, emperor and empress of the altar, who, according to Deng, are greater than the emperor himself, complete the symbolism of an imperial audience hall with emperor and empress seated in the central position.
3.5 Memorials and Other Sacred Writing
Within the ritual manuals are the templates for writing memorials to the deities. These memorials, typically written on yellow paper (white paper in the case of those directed to the Emperor of the Eastern Peak), indicate the place, time, the name of the sponsor, reason for the service, and what the sponsor hopes to obtain. They also indicate which deity the memorial is addressed to and the palace that will receive it. There are various memorials for different occasions. All memorials are folded into a rectangular shape, sealed in an envelope, and endorsed with the red stamp of the Office of Thunderclap (Fig. 3.7). Without this endorsement
180 Dean, Taoist Ritual and Popular Cults of Southeast China, 184.
181 Yang, The Great Chinese Famine, 10.
Figure 3.7 Seal of the Bureau of Thunderclap belonging to Deng Qiyu.
the documents are worthless in the eyes of the deities. The first twenty pages of Deng’s handwritten manual has five memorial templates associated specifically with the performance of Yang Theater:
1. Memorial to the Jade Emperor, a general announcement for the Redeeming of Vows.
2. A report specifically for the Merit Officers of the Four Directions who will deliver invitations to all the heavenly bureaus, requesting the deities to descend and be present at the sacred space.
3. A memorial containing the physical inventory of sacrificial offerings, presented when the sacrificial offerings are placed upon the altar.
4. A memorial presented before the seat of the Three Paternal Uncles, progenitors of Yang Theater.
5. A memorial absolving the debt of the sponsor to the deities. This is read at the end of the ceremony. The debt is symbolically “written off” by a Judge from the Netherworld, freeing the sponsor’s family from future torment in hell.
The second set of memorial templates are found at the end of Deng’s manual. They are specifically for the Altar for Protecting Good Fortune. These ceremonies are typically one night in duration and are performed when a sponsor encounters great difficulty like mental or physical illness or the sudden death of a family member. Their goal is to regain lost souls for those who inhabit the world of the living or to free the souls of the dead from torment in the underworld.
1. The first memorial is addressed to the Emperor of the Eastern Peak. The Eastern Peak is Mount Tai, most important of China’s five sacred mountains. In popular belief, the emperor of the Eastern Peak is charged with the judgment of souls. In order to recover lost souls from the underworld the ritual masters must petition the Emperor of the Eastern Peak and the Courts of Hell. This was a widespread practice also documented by de Groot in Fujian, where the statues of deities were carried before the Temple of the Emperor of the Eastern Peak to petition the Emperor to liberate a victim’s lost soul.182 Reinforcing the bureaucratic nature of the cosmos, this memorial contains instructions that it must first be inspected by The Sacred Father of East Mountain and Sacred Mother of South Mountain and the Northern Emperor of Purple Subtlety, The Palace of the Three Lords of Middle Heaven, and finally by The Emperor of the Eastern Peak and Empress of the Southern Peak and the Generals of the Underworld serving under the Eastern Peak’s command.
2. An order for the Four Merit Officers to invite the deities.183 3. A memorial listing the sacrificial offerings (as above).
4. A martial command to dispatch Wutong Wuchang184, the spirit troops and cavalry of the underworld to attack malevolent, uncooperative spirits.
182 de Groot, The Religious System of China, Vol. 6, 991.
183 牒文
184 The Wutong are a pentad of popular deities associated with good fortune, while the Wuchang are a pentad of ferocious demons of the five directions, enlisted by the ritual masters to quell evil. In Guizhou what were originally two distinct groups of popular deities are conflated into one.
5. A memorial to the Stove God in the Ninth Heaven. The Stove God is examiner of family members’ good and bad deeds. During domestic rituals an audience is held with the Stove God to ask for forgiveness on behalf of any transgressions on the part of the sponsor’s family.
In doing so, the sponsor is helped to gain merit. This merit is to be recorded. The Stove God is very close to the Jade Emperor, since he reports a family’s transgressions directly and is responsible for preparing and serving the Jade Emperor’s meals.
At the local market, woodblock printed versions of similar memorials are available, with blank spaces for the location, date, and sponsor’s name.185 Using these avoids the laborious process of transcribing the text from the ritual manual’s templates with a calligraphy brush.
3.6 Other Ritual Writing
Short written “commands” are sometimes also dispatched to protect the ritual master from harm and send away evil spirits. 186 These are read aloud during the ritual program. One “command” is to call down thunder deities to smite demons:
Order to the Office of Thunderclap
Respectfully invite the Great Sire Thunder of Heaven’s Capital.
A Thunderclap Shakes the Vast Sky, [Above your] Head is a Flaming Wheel Eighty Thousand Fathoms High.
[Your] Feet Stomp Booming Drums of Thunder.
Moving Towards the East is the Wood of Jiayi. 187 Colliding with the Bingding188 Blazing in the South.
Heavenly Thunder Generals, Thunder Kings of the Earth Quickly Come With Me and Exterminate the Savages.
Today I Recite the Order to The Office of Thunderclap.
The Evil Spirits Under Heaven Dare Not Act.
Four Spirits, Four Great Creatures, Four Heavenly Kings Dharma Wheel of the Eight Fold Path, Eight Sages The Dipper’s Handle
Sincerely Invite Sire Thunder and Thunder Spirits.
I Respectfully Invite You In the Hope You Will Arrive” 189
The writing of talismans is an important tool in the battle against physical and mental illness, traditionally believed to be the result of evil spirits. Talismans “are not meant to be read by humans. Legible only to the gods, they give power over troops of divine protectors, both within
185 Ran, Furong Gudu, pp. 13–17. Ran’s study contains Qing Dynasty woodblock printed memorial templates used in Daozhen.
186 诰
187 甲乙 The first two Heavenly Stems.
188 丙丁 The third and fourth Heavenly Stems.
189 Yang, Qielan Nuohun, 200.
and without the body.”190 De Groot’s examination of talisman usage in Fujian at the end of the Qing Dynasty begins with a story from Censored By Confucius, about the use of talismans for sorcery in Yunnan and Guizhou. According to the Censored By Confucius account, magical talismans were used more in Yunnan and Guizhou than in any other part of the empire.191 Deng has a small manual that is exclusively concerned with employing talismans in the fight against demons and pestilence. Written on either red or yellow paper, some are to be dissolved in water and ingested by a sick patient, others hung above the door or carried on the body of the individual needing assistance. Talismans for curing illness are written in red ink, symbolizing blood’s life force. In this way the vital energy of the ritual master can be transferred to the sick patient.192 This reminds us of another important function of the ritual master—that of village doctor. In addition to knowledge of talismans, many ritual masters also supply medicinal herbs.
Whenever talismans are written the master will simultaneously make a sacred hand gesture representing his ancestral master with his left hand while writing the talisman with his right hand.193 This act, along with the application of the sacred seal, makes the charm efficacious.
Talismans also protect the ritual arena, including the corners of the theater stage.
The morphology of most of these talismans consists of the characters for “command” as top cover, followed by characters that provide clues to the function of the talisman.194 They are written vertically and arranged in a rectangular shape. In the case of The Altar for Protecting Good Fortune ceremonies a talisman for “sweeping away demons” is written on a rectangular strip of red paper and pasted above the door. Later the talisman is anointed with a feather from a sacrificial rooster. Other talismans are for the suppression of evil, protecting workers when a new house is being erected,195 assisting mothers with difficult childbirth, protecting individuals from harm (as in the case of a talisman featuring Wang Lingguan distributed after the temple festival on Lord Guan’s birthday), and preventing nightmares.
There are also a number of characters sometimes written on paper, but usually written in the air with burning joss sticks or the ritual master’s block of command. These characters, called hui, lack adequate translation, but mean “things which are not mentioned.” 196 Hui are square shaped sym- bols, consisting of a “cloud cover” on the top and in many cases, a “ghost foot.” In the case of an ill person, the symbols are often written directly on the body of a patient. At the same time the ritual master recites incantations and sprays holy water from his mouth to cleanse the spiritual pollution affecting the patient. In comparing documented talismans from Huangutshao, northern Guizhou,
190 Bokenkamp, Stephen R. in Predagio, ed., The Routledge Encyclopedia of Taoism, 38.
191 de Groot, The Religious System of China, Vol. 6, 1031.
192 Schipper, The Taoist Body, 73.
193 祖师诀 194 敕令
195 Meulenbeld, Demonic Warfare, 94, for a discussion of dangerous killing airs that can be disturbed when building a house.
196 讳 Li calls these “magic codes.” Li, Popular Religion in Modern China, 100.
eastern Guizhou, and western Hunan there is a common morphology and language with regard to shared symbolic elements, but no standardization in individual meanings (Fig. 3.8).197
3.7 Gestures of the Hand (Mudras)
Gestures of the hand (mudras) are common to both Bud- dhist and Daoist traditions.198 Gestures of the hand are used for welcoming and sending off the deities, binding evil spirits, inducing childbirth, or increasing the power of a corresponding ritual action. When these gestures are performed, the master always first claps his hands together. According to Deng Qiyu: “When the disciples were studying Daoist methods at Mount Mao the master was busily kneading rice cakes. The disciples asked the master to show them a hand gesture and he first clapped his hands together to brush the rice flour away. The disci- ples interpreted this action as a necessary prelude to the gesture itself.”
When trapping demons during the opening purification of the altar, hand gestures, in combination with hui written in the air, are a crucial tool. Using his block of command the ritual master writes the character for “well” in the air. This is the well where ghosts and demons are trapped.199 In order to seal these beings inside the well, the ritual master then writes the talisman for the dipper constellation four times, in a square pattern around the bowl.
He writes once more, directly above the bowl, before burning spirit paper and a joss stick inside the bowl. Above the bowl he then writes the following hui to capture and bind harmful and murderous influences: 1, the copper hoop; 2, the iron hoop; 3, the large golden dagger; 4, the small golden dagger; 5, the two palaces of the sun and the moon; 6, the copper horseshoe;
and 7, the iron horseshoe.200 An empty rice bowl is placed on top of the first bowl when the incense and paper has burned completely. This covered bowl, where harmful influences have been safely corralled, is placed before the Seat of Lord Zhao and left undisturbed until the end of the ceremony when it is placed on a straw boat and burned.
The trapping of demons in a well immediately brings to mind the scene from the opening chapter of Outlaws of the Marsh where Marshall Hong foolishly orders Taoist monks to open a
197 Fava, Aux portes du ciel, pp. 39–40. Ran, Furong Gudu, pp. 44–46. Tuo, Nuoyun, pp. 733–748 and Yang, Qielan Nahun, pp. 183–192.
198 手诀
199 de Groot, The Religious System of China, Vol. 6, 1259.
200 Yang, Qielan Nahun, 207.
Figure 3.8 Talisman of the Ances- tral Masters (left) and Talisman for the suppression of evil spirits (right). The check marks at the top of each talisman represent lightning. The bottom of each talisman contains the caddy for carrying evil spirits away.
A B C
D
E
F G H
Figure 3.9 Deng demonstrates gestures of the hand:
A This is performed when a mother is having difficulty giving birth, to help induce childbirth.
B Performed to invite Lord Zhao and the other ancestral masters of the lineage to the altar. This is also performed with the left hand when writing talismans.
C Performed when inviting Wang Lingguan. When a casting of divination blocks is unsuccessful, this gesture can be used to assist in achieving the desired results on the next throw.
D This is used to request rain or to make rain stop.
E This gesture is used during Altar for Protecting Prosperity rituals to invite Li Laojun.
F The Lotus Flower gesture is used when bidding farewell to the deities at the conclusion of a ceremony.
G and H The Five Tigers of the Earth and Five Tigers of the Underworld. These gestures are used to drive away ghosts.
sealed pit, one hundred thousand feet deep, allowing one hundred and eight demons trapped by the first celestial master to escape.201 The well as a device for quelling evil has a long historical pedigree. In his study of plague suppression ritual in imperial Zhejiang Katz notes: “wells have always been one of the centers of Chinese life, part of the water supply and irrigation systems and also a social center where people congregated when doing laundry....Wells are also places where drownings occurred, both accidental and intentional, and consequently were conceived as sites full of spiritual power.” 202
3.8 Incantations
During rituals, frequent recourse is made to the uttering of incantations.203 These spells are quickly muttered in a soft voice rather than spoken clearly, thus heightening their power and mystery. They are uttered in combination with the drawing of hui symbols in the air, striking the audience block upon the altar or doorway of the home to issue a command, burning incense and paper money, or sprinkling spirit water. Incantations are also used to manifest the power of specific deities like Wang Lingguan or the Earth God to pacify the ritual site. Many of the incantations do not lend themselves well to translation. One, to assist a sick patient by having them drink sacred water, begins with a command from the Jade Emperor:204
This water is not of the mortal world.
It is the northern water of the ninth and tenth heavenly stems.
A little bit on the inkstone.
In an instant the rain will cease.
The patient ingests it.
One hundred ghosts are extinguished.
Baleful spirits are ground to powder. 205
3.9 Divination
The casting of divination blocks is a crucial ingredient of most ritual actions, in order to determine whether the deities approve of an action, or to determine whether an action has been successful. Divination blocks resemble approximately 12 cm-long crescent-shaped cattle horns.
They are, in fact, dried bamboo shoots, curved and pointed on one end and painted with black lacquer. They have an outer convex surface and concave interior. These blocks can be thrown in groups of two, four, or six.
According to Deng, the bamboo nodes must be harvested at dawn, during a Dragon Year.
When using the hoe to extract them, if anyone passes by, you should ask them where they are
201 Shi et. al. Outlaws of the Marsh, pp. 19–24.
202 Katz, Demon Hordes and Burning Boats, 101.
203 咒语 204 敕水咒
205 Yang, Qielan Nahun, 196.
going, but completely ignore their answer and keep digging. Only by extracting the bamboo in this way can the divination blocks effectively call on the deities for confirmation.206 Any other method of fabricating these blocks will not imbue them with spiritual efficacy. An interesting aside is how Deng used this explanation to differentiate himself from perceived rivals: “The divination blocks of those witches and sorcerers you meet on the street are useless because they were not made according to these instructions.” 207
Divination blocks are thrown and read according to their orientation on the ground. These readings are based on the Eight Trigrams.208 The blocks are thrown in pairs of two, four, or six, thus allowing their interpretation to be extended multifold. Hu Shi wrote: “The key importance of divination in the history of Chinese civilization cannot be overestimated.” 209 Lagerwey also notes:
“Recourse was had to divination with almost obsessive frequency in Chinese ritual life.” 210 Chance does not wholly describe the phenomenon of ritual divination, for when a casting of the blocks is unfavorable, the blocks are re-thrown until the desired outcome is achieved.
The ordination ceremony previously described in Chapter 2 makes provisions for additional liturgy to perform if the first casting of divination blocks is unsuccessful. In the summer of 2012, during an Altar for Protecting Good Fortune ritual, Deng Qiyu cast his divination blocks repeatedly while family members of the deceased watched anxiously from the doorway. It took a very tense ten minutes, repeatedly casting the blocks, before finally achieving the desired reading. This was blamed, plausibly, on the concrete floor being too rough. It was also telling that only during these few moments of the entire ceremony that the eyes of all male and female family members were looking into the front hall and carefully watching the actions of the troupe.
The fact that a negative response is not accepted is worthy of further attention. Schipper noted that in Taiwan: “it is perfectly acceptable to start over as many times as necessary to obtain a favorable answer, to force the gods to agree. In the end, the gods depend on men, on the alliance they make with the master.” 211
I would add that a ritual sponsor is making a material offering towards a specific and explicit resolution of his problem. Within the context of Chinese conventions of reciprocity, it is unthink- able to accept an offering, particularly of food and drink, and not reciprocate in kind. This offer- ing is not a bribe or manipulation, rather it is part and parcel of the negotiation of Chinese life and maintaining equilibrium in relationships. The offering of sacrificial goods including, liquor, tea, paper money, incense, candles, livestock, and a hefty payment to the ritual master officiating
206 喊得灵
207 “现在在路上那些巫婆和鬼师，他们做的那个卦就没有用” It is common to find individuals in Guizhou’s rural markets with divination blocks sitting before them in an attempt to solicit business from passersby.
208 See Yang, Qielan Nahun, pp. 147–181 and Qu, ed., Nuoyun, pp. 39–46 for detailed explanations on the interpretation of divination blocks.
209 Zhou, ed., The English Writings of Hu Shih, 117.
210 Lagerwey, China: A Religious State, 169.
211 Schipper, The Taoist Body, 49.
the ceremony, is an expression of earnestness and sincerity, rather than “empty” words. Therefore there is an expectation on the part of the sponsor to obtain the desired result for his efforts.
3.10 The Sacred Arena
The physical elements of the “Arena of the Dao” constructed by the ritual masters in Huangtushao share common elements with altars elsewhere in southern China. In identifying the elements constituting the sacred space we see a shared symbolic language transcending any one locality. De Groot noted that the disparate physical, visual elements of ritual “altogether constitute or produce the reality which they express or represent.”212 Ruisendaal also mentions the central importance of visual representation in Quanzhou Marionette Theater.213 That this visual symbolism should be important in a place like Huangtushao, where literacy was extremely limited, is unsurprising.
Across Guizhou, regardless of lineage affiliation, troupes classify the ritual arena into an
“inner altar” and an “outer altar,” as in Taiwan.214 In Huangtushao and elsewhere in Guizhou, the
“inner altar” refers to the physical space inside the front doors of the structure where the altar is established. All activities that take place inside are called the “rituals of the inner altar.” The
“outer alter” includes a makeshift elevated stage for performing theater and a seat for the Earth God and the Merit Officers. A large 1.5 meter square wooden threshing bucket is stood on end, facing the house, and a scroll painting of the Earth God is hung inside. Deng Qiyu describes the seat of the Merit Officers as a “post office.” After the reading of memorials before the altar, they are dispatched by fire and carried by the Merit Officers to the appropriate bureaucratic offices in the celestial world. The Earth God has a counterpart at the South Gate of Heaven, which the Merit Officers must pass to deliver their communications.
The morphology of the sacred arena is described as having Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, similar to those documented by Lagerwey in describing Daoist altars in southern Taiwan.215 The ritual masters articulate the Nine Palaces thus: “When the ritual master faces the altar and incense burner he is symbolically facing north towards the pole star, his right hand represents the east. The four walls of the room plus the corners are eight directions, plus center equals nine, thus Nine Pal- aces.” 216 The Eight Trigrams refer to the compass associations of each Trigram. For the ritual mas- ters of Huangtushao the Eight Trigrams are most important for their talismanic ability to ward off evil.217 With the sacred arena as the center, space is also delineated according to the Five Phases.218 This diagram guides the ritual master in using cups of sacred liquor to purify the five directions and installing offerings for deities of each direction upon the altar (Fig. 3.10).
212 Quoted in Ruisendaal, Marionette Theater in Quanzhou, 101.
213 Ibid., 336.
214 Lagerwey, Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History, 37.
215 Ibid., 36.
216 Csikszentmihalyi, Mark in Predagio, ed., The Routledge Encyclopedia of Taoism, pp. 590–591.
217 Ibid., 201–203.
218 Ibid., pp. 1068–1070.
Figure 3.10 Diagrams from Deng Qiyu’s ritual manual. On the left, a diagram for placing offering cups of sacred liquor for the deities of the five directions. These offerings are a “toast”
to the arriving deities of the five directions. Below are the corresponding celestial stems and earthly elements associated with each direction. At right, the diagram for administering the Merit Officers of the Five Directions. These Merit Officers are couriers responsible for transporting official documents from the altar to the celestial officials. The top register lists the Emperors of the Five Directions, each of whom is associated with a specific color; black, white, yellow, red and blue. Each Emperor has a Merit Officer riding a horse, wearing a robe, and riding upon a cloud of the same color. After reviewing the ritual master’s petitions they are then forwarded to the supreme ruler, the Jade Emperor, at his palace at the Pole Star. The character 北 bei north has been used as a phonetic substitute for 白 bai white. The Merit Officers are ordered to travel to the Inner Altar and receive the ritual master’s memorial.
Like other aspects of this tradition, ultimately there is flexibility depending on the
circumstances. In Huangtushao, an altar prepared for a single night ceremony (without masked theater) is referred to as the “Altar for Protecting Good Fortune.” These rituals are typically conducted to recover lost souls. Small ceremonies are conducted in times of extreme duress and do not require a long time in planning. They do still require checking the almanac to select an auspicious day. Following is a diagram of an Altar for Protecting Good Fortune from a ceremony in Deng’s home in 2010 (Fig. 3.11).
1 Painting of Ancestral Ritual Masters
2 Painting of the Three Pure Ones: Laozi, Buddha, Confucius 3 Painting of all Gods
4 Sacred Father of East Mountain and Sacred Mother of South Mountain 5 Staff of the Ancestral Masters
6 Ancestor Tablet of Lord Zhao
7 Tablet of the Exalted Northern Lord of Middle Heaven
8 Tablet of the Exalted Jade Emperor of the Thirty Three Heavens 9 Bamboo Divination Blocks
Figure 3.11 Altar for Protecting Good Fortune
10 Props for performing Yang Theater 11 Spirit Drum
12 Little Mountain Bodhisattvas 13 Idol of Fantan Zhang Wulang 14 Tablet of the Gods of the Lower Altar
15 Paidai instrument for catching ghosts and demons 16 Five Bowls for blood and liquor offerings to the Five
Furies of the Five Directions 17 Exorcist’s sword
3.11 Scroll Paintings
Scroll paintings representing the major deities are hung behind the altar table and incense burner.
These religious paintings are a crucial visual element of ritual altars across China. Huangtushao has a group of paintings from the late Qing Dynasty, but they have not been used for many years, due to the dispute between the descendents of Xu Fagui, Deng’s master, and Xu’s descendents.
In Huangpu Chongqing’s book of more than twenty years ago, there are no photographic images of a “complete altar,” but there is a line drawing.219 An altar featuring these paintings has not been seen for at least thirty years. Nevertheless the Xu family allowed the paintings to be photographed. They are included here for their historical value (Figs. 3.12–3.19).
219 Huangpu, Guizhou Yangxi, 42.
Figure 3.12 Erlang (Lord of the River) descends from Heaven on his steed to slay the malicious dragon afflicting the citizens of Guanzhou. He holds a trident halberd in his left hand. His loyal dog grasps the dragon by the tail while demon warriors under his command assist Erlang in the fight. This painting illustrates the hagiography sung when Erlang appears onstage as the first act of a Yang Theater cycle. Above are the Earth God of the Southern Gate of Heaven and Erlang’s father looking on.
Figure 3.13 Lord Guan riding on horseback and carrying his flag of martial command, inscribed with the character for “general.” At the upper left are sentries blowing bugles to call the spirit troops to battle against evil. Lord Guan’s brother in arms, Zhang Fei is in the upper right and Liu Bei stands at the top center. Below is the Lord of the Earth as sentry, leading the spirit soldiers of the Five Directions to the altar. The spirit soldiers hold a martial flag inscribed with the character for “army.”.
Figure 3.14 General Han Xin on horseback. An unidentified demonic being peers from behind. Above him are sentries and a celestial commander. Below are the troops of the Five Directions being led by the Lord of the Earth. Like Lord Guan, Han Xin’s power derives from his unjust murder, turning him into a vengeful demon thirsty for revenge. In the case of Han, this was at the hands of Empress Lü Zhi, empress of Liu Bang.
Figure 3.15 The Palace of the Three Paternal Uncles, three brothers who dedicated their lives and fortunes to ensuring the survival of Yang Theater for future generations. The figure in the middle is completely worn away from blood offerings daubed on him each time a rooster was sacrificed. The two extant figures also show marks of blood sacrifice. Below, the Lord of the Earth and other dignitaries on the right, with their wives on the left, watch a theatrical performance with an auspicious lad (perhaps Nezha), as exorcist, featured in the center. Some community members identify this painting as The Buddha, Laozi ,and Confucius. This makes no sense based on the iconography, nor does it make sense in the daubing of blood offerings on their likenesses. Unfortunately, these paintings have been unused for so many years that accurate information was unavailable by the time of my study, so certain identification remains problematic.
Figure 3.16 The Judge of the Underworld, who erases the sponsor’s debt (for sponsoring a redeeming of vows) to the deities for blessings and protection. He holds aloft the brush used to strike the debt from the ledger he grasps in his left hand.
Figure 3.17 The Mountain Breaker Kaishan Beheads the Serpent. There is a martial performance of the same name. With his fierce countenance and demonic features, Kaishan is a destroyer of evil par excellence. In his right hand he wields a hatchet for slaying an evil serpent. With his left hand he makes the hand gesture used by Yang Theater performers when they enter and leave the stage. The subjugating of a serpent is common iconography representing the controlling of melevolent spirits.
Figure 3.18 Contemporary altar paintings by Deng Qiyu featuring ancestral masters and celestial deities, including Thunder Gods under the ritual master’s command.
Figure 3.19 A contemporary painting by Deng Qiyu which is hung behind the Seat of the Merit Officers, where memorials are dispatched by fire to the appropriate bureaucratic offices. At the bottom right a ritual master stands before the palaces of the underworld, represented as a fortress. Above him is Mount Grdhrakuta, where the Buddha is said to have sat and preached. To the right is The Crystal Palace, said to be the dwelling place of Guanyin. In the upper right is the south gate of Heaven, which the Merit Officers must pass through to reach the palace of the Jade Emperor. Merit Officers are pictured on horseback, riding dragons, a phoenix and a tiger. This painting illustrates the way the heavens, earth and underworld are visualized as a collection of palaces and bureaucratic offices. The ritual master is a mediator between the worlds of heaven, the human realm and the world of the dead.
