Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building 981165476X, 9789811654763

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Shiwu Li

Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building

Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building

Shiwu Li

Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building

Shiwu Li Yunnan University Kunming, China Translated by Xiao Xiao Beijing, China

Eric Chiang Beijing, China

Edited by Ms. Yuanlin Wei

ISBN 978-981-16-5476-3 ISBN 978-981-16-5477-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5477-0 Jointly published with Social Sciences Academic Press The print edition is not for sale in China (Mainland). Customers from China (Mainland) please order the print book from: Social Sciences Academic Press. Translation from the Chinese language edition: 中国工匠建房民俗考论 by Shiwu Li © social Sciences Academic Press 2016. Published by Social Sciences Academic Press. All Rights Reserved. Supported by a Grant from the Yunnan University Double First-Class Initiative © Social Sciences Academic Press 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Introduction

Significance of Constructed Human Dwellings and Deified Artisans The emergence of constructed human dwellings marked a remarkable step forward in the evolution of civilization. Be it a dim cave, a thatched cottage, a tent, a stone or wood house with a tiled roof, or a magnificent palace built for the nobility or monarchs, a constructed dwelling provides a shelter and a haven for humans, keeping them from ferocious animals, insects, snakes, and other harms. In modern society, the overwhelming industrial culture forced people to put practical use of their homes before anything else. As Le Corbusier puts it, “A house is a machine to live in.” This, however, is not what human dwellings were expected to be in the first place. Houses, which have a sacred origin, are experiencing a process of desacralization in modern days. “The process is an integral part of the gigantic transformation of the world undertaken by the industrial societies, a transformation made possible by the desacralization of the cosmos accomplished by scientific thought and above all by the sensational discoveries of physics and chemistry.”1 Over a very long period of time, an incredible level of sacredness was bestowed on the place of dwelling. “The house is not an object, a ‘machine to live in’; it is the universe that man constructs for himself by imitating the paradigmatic creation of the gods, the cosmogony. Every construction and every inauguration of a new dwelling are in some measure equivalent to a new beginning, a new life.”2 With an emotion close to religious piety, Mongols praise their sacred homes in a folk song: “We build the round yurt’s vault, like the sky. We use the woolen felt, like the white clouds. That is the Mongol yurt; we live our life in it. We open the skylight; it is like the sun in the daylight. We have a pendant lamp; it is like the moon at night. That is the Mongol yurt; we live our life in it.”3 Mongols find cosmic symbolism in the very structure of 1

M. Eliade; Wang Jianguang (Trans.), The Sacred and the Profane (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, December 2002), 21–22. 2 Ibid., 25–26. 3 Mao Gongning (Ed.), Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, September 2006), 15. v

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their habitation,4 and they invest the yurts with a religious sacredness. The Yi people living in Yongren County, Chuxiong, Yunnan Province, also extol their homes in their folk songs. They not only praise the important value of houses for human life but also draw an analogy between building construction and social structure: “For generations, we are taught to build a house. We first select the direction and site of auspiciousness. The crossbeam is the backbone of the house; it is like the headman to families. The central post is the center of the house; it is similar to Mama to the entire house. The house is nice. Indeed nice. It is in the house we worship our ancestors and raise our younger generations.”5 The sheltered, walled space built by primitive men was not entirely separated from outdoor space; instead, they lived in a sort of space of continuity. According to Kongqian Duli, a Drung sorcerer, Heaven consists of ten tiers. Ghosts, deities, and souls and spirits live across from the first to the eighth tier. The ninth tier is the sky over rooftops in the mortal world. This tier is the only way through which ghosts come into this world. The tenth tier is immediately above the fire pit in each house. Kelun, another Drung, thinks that Heaven consists of nine tiers. The eighth tier is the sky over rooftops in the mortal world, while the ninth tier is right above the fire pit.6 Humans feel sacredness in their homes by establishing an analogical relation between a sheltered living space and cosmos. According to the traditional beliefs of most people around the globe, a dwelling is not only for the living ancestors but also for the spirits of their deceased ancestors who are still there protecting them. In the same living space, there may even be deities. The deal souls or deities may thus share the space together with people, entirely or partly.7 They may sometimes move in and out as they wish. It is still a common practice in China to enshrine and worship God of Wealth, Guanyin or Avalokitesvara, and God of Kitchen, at home. Sometimes, a house may even be haunted. In other words, a house is traditionally believed to be a place where deities, ghosts, and evil spirits may share with people; thus, it can be a sacred place as well as an evil place. People in ancient China not only gave minute attention to architectural techniques but also related a house to the family’s fate, out of their belief in the supernatural power. They tried to control the supernatural power to make a haunted space pure and sacred. Ancient Chinese attached great importance 4

M. Eliade; Wang Jianguang (Trans.), The Sacred and the Profane (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, December 2002), 23. 5 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.),Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, September 2003), 1570. 6 He Zhiwu et al. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Naxi, Qiang, Drung, Lisu, and Nu peoples. In Lv Daji & He Yaohua (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), 2001), 623–624. It is particularly noteworthy that Kongqian Duli finds souls of deceased “A’xi” or blacksmiths reside in the fourth tier of Heaven, while Kelun finds them in the fourth tier. Their narratives indicate the blacksmith worship held by the Drung people. 7 The Yi people living in Chuxiong, Yunnan Province generally see three souls of the deceased. One soul lives in the memorial tablet in the house, to protect the family. The second soul resides in the tomb, to protect the graveyard. And the third travels to the nether world.

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to the relationship between people and their dwelling place. We find statements such as these in Chinese classics: The dwelling place stands as the link between this world and the nether world and determines the family’s happiness. Only a well-informed man can understand this. The rule of dwelling place is the most important of the five. Man must live in a house, be it large or small, or about this world and the nether world. Man must have somewhere to get sheltered even away from home. Thus, there is always good and evil about the house. Big or small, a house must follow the applicable theory. When a taboo is violated, those in the house must incur something unfortunate. Appropriate means must be taken to drive any evils. It is like to cure a disease with appropriate medication. The dwelling place is thus the root of man. People reside in a house. The family enjoys prosperity in a peaceful and secured house. The family declines when the house is haunted. The same theory applies to tombs. It also applies to any place or space people live in, from the state down to prefectures, counties, villages, and mountain cottages. That is, the peaceful dwelling place cradles prosperity; the haunted space harbors evils.8 The ancient people possessed an awe-inspiring system of knowledge about site selection, house construction, and protection, which was widely disseminated because of classical texts on house construction.9 The religious reverence towards human dwellings naturally came with a cult-like respect for artisans who had built them. It was only later that the respect was lessened and artisans were often bossed around by the people who hired them. Artisans emerged because of the need to do skilled work. There has never been a human society without artisans. The mythological creator Pangu is depicted as an artisan who created man’s living space in Gujin Shiwen Leiju: Tiandaobu: Tian (Collected Ancient and Contemporary Works: The Way of Heaven: Heaven10 ): 8

Classics of House-building, Vol. 1, in Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 9 In Zhaijing (Classics of House-building), Vol. 1, in Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition) there are various editions, including: two editions of the Yellow Emperor, Didian Classics of House-building, Sanyuan Classics of Housebuilding, King Wen’s Classics of House-building, Confucius’ Classics of House-building, Zhaijin, Zhainao, Zhaitong, Zhaijing, Tianlao Classics of House-building, Liu Gen’s Classics of Housebuilding, Xuannv’s Classics of House-building, Celestial Master Sima’s Classics of House-building, Huainanzi Classics of House-building, Wang Wei’s Classics of House-building, Sima Zui’s Classics of House-building, Liu Jinping’s Classics of House-building, Zhang Zihao’s Classics of Housebuilding, Eight Diagrams Classics of House-building, Wuzhao Classics of House-building, Xuanwu Classics of House-building, Sixty-four Diagrams Classics of House-building, Youpanlong Classics of House-building, Li Chunfeng’s Classics of House-building, Five Families’ Classics of Housebuilding, Lv Cai’s Classics of House-building, Feiyin Luanfu Classics of House-building, Zixia Jinmen Classics of House-building, and Diaotan Classics of House-building. 10 The myth taken down by Xu Zheng of the Three Kingdoms Period is merely one of the kind about Pangu. According to the story “The Devastating Flood” in Bimo Jing (The Priest’s Sutra) of the Yi people living in Chuxiong, Yunnan Province, it was Pangu who separated Heaven from Earth. See Zhe Houpei (Comp.) & Chuxiong Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs (Ed.), Three Girls

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Initially, Heaven and Earth were like an egg, out of which grew Pangu at an age of eighteen thousand. Heaven and Earth got separated. The energy of yang was clear and light and went upwards to be Heaven. The energy of yin was foul and heavy and went downwards to Earth. Pangu was in between and changed many times a day. He surpassed both Heaven and Earth. Heaven was one zhang higher a day. Earth grew one zhang thick accordingly. And Pangu grew one zhang a day. It was like this for other eighteen thousand year. Heaven became extremely high. Earth got extremely thick. And Pangu grew extremely tall. The Three Sovereigns had not been in the scene until Heaven and Earth separated from each other.11 The value ancient human society placed on artisans was vividly reflected in the creation mythology in which Pangu created a place for humans to live in.12 Chongbangtong is a Tongba work of the Naxi people and tells about human migrations. The myth goes that the world was in chaos in the remote antiquity. Heaven and Earth were separated from each other by sixteen artisans, namely, Nine Brothers of Heaven and Seven Sisters of Earth. As the myth goes, “Nine Brothers of Heaven came to make Heaven; they made it hang towering overhead. Seven Sisters of Earth came to make Earth; they made it soft and moist. The Brothers and Sisters reached an agreement and solution: A white-conch pillar was to be erected in the east of the Flood, a jasper pillar in the south, a black-pearl pillar in the west, and a gold pillar in the north. A giant Heaven-supporting pillar was erected in the center of Heaven and Earth. Heaven was not that round. Jade was used to repair it. Heaven became round and perfect with jade-green embedded in it. Earth was that flat. Gold was used to pave it. Earth became flat and perfect with gold-yellow stone embedded in it.”13 Obviously, the myth drew an analogy between building construction in real life and ancient creation myth. In mythical thought, the house was amplified into Heaven and Earth, while artisans were deified. House-building artisans were once deified in early human history. For instance, Youchao was listed among god-like emperors in the Chinese classics. According to Taiping Yulan: Huangwang III (Imperial Reader: Emperors III), there were Tianhuang or the Heavenly Sovereign, Dihuang or the Earthly Sovereign, Renhuang or the Human Sovereign, Youchao, Suiren, Taihao (Paoxi), Nvwa, and the Yan Emperor Shennong. Youchao took a position following the Human Sovereign. Youchao was

in Search of the Sun: Ethnic Folk Literature in Chuxiong (Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing House, 2001), 88–102. 11 Zhu Mu, Collected Ancient and Contemporary Works, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 12 In addition, in Tangwen there were myths of Nvwa’s “melting down five-color stones to repair the sky” and “creating human beings.” Those myths were actually something about the craftsmanship thought. The relationship between craftsmanship thought and mythical thought shall be discussed in details in a separate article. 13 He Zhiwu et al. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Naxi, Qiang, Drung, Lisu, and Nu peoples. In Lv Daji & He Yaohua (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), January 2001), 320–321.

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believed to be the inventor of houses and buildings and the forefather of professional house builders in Chinese mythology. As an iconic figure, Youchao, like other creators of civilizations, was admired and worshipped. The Youchao myth was told in variants. According to Taiping Yulan: Huangwang III: Youchao (Imperial Reader: Emperors III: Youchao): According to Li (Book of Rites), “There were no houses or palaces in remote antiquity. People took shelter in caves in winter and lived on firewood piles in summer.” (Note: Zheng Xuan annotated, “To be sheltered in caves in winter and live on firewood piles in summer.”) It reads in Xiangjun Shixue Pian (Primer by Xiang Jun), “In remote antiquity, people all lived in caves. The sage Youchao invented houses and was known as Da Chao. Today, people in the south live in houses, and those in the north live in cave dwellings. It’s been an old custom from the remote times.” (Note: Huangfu Mi held that Youchao lived after Nvwa.) It reads in Hanzi, “In remote antiquity, human beings were outnumbered and outdone by birds, beasts, snakes, and other venous creatures. A sage built wood shelters to fend off harmful things. People were delighted at what the sage did and supported him as their leader. That was Youchao.” It reads in Dunjia Kaishan Tu, “Youchao ruled in the south of Shilou Mountain at Langya.” (Note: Youchao was said to be in reign for over one hundred generations, but the exact dates are not known.)14 Chinese mythology credits Youchao with having vastly improved people’s living conditions. But there were other myths about artisans, though. The Hani people have the “Three Magical Eggs” myth: In remote antiquity, humans knew nothing about farming and lived on gathering and collecting. Moreover, many died in brawls. The dead in turn do harm to and even ate the living. In other words, human society was in a primordial state of disorder. Such conditions came to an end thanks to the three highly capable individuals, the Headman, the Priest, and the Artisan, that had been hatched from the three eggs laid by God Momi, a bird. The three people accepted the Hani people’s request and began to discharge their respective responsibilities. The Headman settled disputes and established order among human beings; the Priest punished evil spirits and protected people from illnesses; the Artisan invented tools that improved productivity and built houses so that humans were shielded from the elements and wild animals. Thanks to their instrumental role in establishing orderliness on earth. These three characters were granted privileges not enjoyed by many others, attracting an increasing number of people to these three trades. When the Hani people’s respect for the practitioners of these three trades began to wane, these people just left, plunging Hani society back into chaos and disorder. The Hani people did everything they could to bring them back. It was not when they succeeded when order was restored. This marked the establishment of the ruling triumvirate comprising headmen, priests, and artisans in Hani society. Another myth, namely, “Zhipijue”, tells about a similar legend.15 During my fieldwork in Dazhai Village, Gelanghe 14

Li Fang et al., Imperial Reader (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960), Vol. 1, 363. Yang Zhiyong. Concepts crystallized in “village core” and “house core” of the Hani people. In Jiang Bin. (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Beliefs in Folk Deities (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, December 1994), 173–174.

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Hani Township, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, I interviewed Abo Meiwu, who told me about a myth he had heard in his childhood: Humans lived at first together with tigers, leopards, and ghosts. It was only when houses began to be built when they had homes. Most male Ai’ni adults in Gelanghe Hani Township have learned carpentry.16 Lu Ban has been the most widely worshipped artisan god for the longest time in China. In actuality, Lu Ban has been an immortal Taoist worshipped largely by professional house builders. Regarded as somebody with extraordinary craftsmanship and great supernatural power, he has been admired and worshipped as the founder of the trade.17 Lu Ban worship is still present in rural China to this day. Carpenters, as Lu Ban’s nominal disciples, were somehow deified. For example, the Bai carpenters who knew well about Mu Jing (Classic of Wood Structure) were deified into mountain gods. People believe that those deified carpenters were capable of controlling the mountains and the forests in them.18 The Bouyei people chant praise of building construction carpenters: “The entire world enjoys tranquility and peace. The house builder comes to the house. The house was built by the builder. The house will be enjoyed by the owner. The entire world enjoys tranquility and peace. The house builder comes to the house. The house was built by a mortal, who has the extraordinary craftsmanship awing an immortal.”19

Incipient Building Construction Folklore Houses have long been worshipped throughout history as a sacred place, and professional house builders have been widely deified. However, the building construction folklore discussed in this book will be limited to those subscribed to by artisans who are believers of Taoism. Undoubtedly, some small communities retained their own unique building construction traditions before Lu Ban worship became widespread and in areas outside its reach. The Hani people may well provide us with a good example. In a Hani community in Bada Mountain, Menghai County, people rely on dreams to determine whether a selected building site is protected by deities before construction work starts.20 They believe that although a protective ritual was 16

Interviewee: Abo Meiwu, 64, Ai’ni Clan. Originally from Gelanghe Haini Township, he married in 1970 into Dazhai Village and lived with his wife’s family. Abo Meiwu was a good carpenter. Interview date: Afternoon, 31 December 2008. Interview venue: Dazhai Village. 17 Refer to Chapter Four “Supernatural Beings, Incantations, and Talismans: The Taoist Influences” for more details on Lu Ban. 18 Editorial Team of Folktales of the Bai People of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Folktales of the Bai People (Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing House, January 1982), 187–221. 19 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.),Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, September 2003), 244. 20 Before a house is built, a village-building ceremony is held, to define the construction sites of all the houses to be built. On the ceremony, magical rites are conducted to expel evil spirits and pray for protection from deities.

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performed on the day of village inauguration, the site is not entirely immune to wandering ghosts. The rule is that a good dream stands as the good omen, meaning the house can be built; a nightmare is the ill omen, requiring the selection of a new site; and three dreamless nights in a row allow for building construction as well. Following the divination by dreams, the center of the principal room is to be set. A elderly male from the family prays to deities and receives an oracle to see whether the point selected by the priest is to be the center of the principal room. Next, the central post is to be erected. This involved a complicated religious ceremony: The male elderly from the family first digs a hole and sprinkles water into the hole. Then, he puts into the hole three handfuls of glutinous rice. Next, he puts the central post into the hole. During this process, the others are only allowed to help by holding the upper part of the pillar. Only elderly males are allowed to touch the lower part and bottom of the pillar. Afterwards, the male elderly offers up a bowl of rice with an egg on it at the hole. Then he puts earth back onto the pillar. In the meantime, the maternal uncle kills a dog and smears the dog’s blood on the pillar. Only when the central post is securely erected can the other posts be erected. Then, panel walls are installed, and the thatch is placed. On the evening of the day when the thatch roof is completed, dog blood is smeared on the panel walls, and some thatch from the old house is placed on the new house roof. Before moving in a newly built house, the family kills a rooster in the female’s room and a sow in the male’s room and offers up an earthen bowl of rice wine to the central post. The central post is the place where the family’s ancestors are worshipped and stands as the connection between the secular world and Heaven and Underworld. The Hani people attach great importance to the central post. Farm cattle of the family are fastened to the central post on the ground floor.21 The author of the above-cited article did not describe the artisan’s role in a building construction ceremony. However, it did not necessarily mean a fault of the observer. In my interviews in Dazhai Village, Gelanghe Hani Township, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, I focused on the building construction sorcery played by artisans. The interviews indicated that in the building construction ceremony conducted by the local Ai’ni people, artisans did not stand out from the cohort of sorcery practitioners such as the sorcerer/priest, the male owner of the house, and the maternal uncle of the male owner of the house. However, artisans participated in making ritual or magic objects. There are even more singular cases. For instance, Abo Meiwu was the carpenter and owner of the house. Moreover, he practiced soul calling for others in the village.22 Thus, this type of folkway can be defined as a primitive folkway of building construction. In this type, artisans play no prominent 21

Yang Zhiyong, Concepts crystallized in “village core” and “house core” of the Hani people. In Jiang Bin (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Beliefs in Folk Deities (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, December 1994), 173–174. I made a field survey in Dazhai Village, Gelanghe Hani Township, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, and found that the local Ai’ni people see the maternal uncle the most important person in the family and show particular respect for the maternal uncle. And the maternal uncle plays a prominent role in magical rites. 22 Interviewee: Abo Meiwu, 64, Ai’ni Clan. Interview date: Afternoon, 31 December 2008. Interview venue: Dazhai Village.

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role in folk activities. However, they are engaged in those activities, directly or indirectly, and thus a part of the folkways. Primitive folkways of building construction are different from those based upon belief in Lu Ban. In the communities following primitive folkways of building construction, the artisan is sometimes right the male owner of the house. No proper division of labor is in position in the social structure. There, most of the male adults know well about building construction. The Hani people worship carpenters more in a technical sense. A ballad “Song of the New House” is sung in Menghai County, “The artisan is invited to draw lines and pierce holes (on posts). It requires skills. Don’t mess up if you don’t know how to do… Timbers are made into the frame and secured by wedges. The artisan is so skillful that he needs no nails. Even so, the house stands fast and firm in earthquakes.”23 However, there are connections between incipient building construction folkways and later folkways centered on Lu Bang worship. The latter is inherited from the former folkways, such as auspicious-day selection, land worship, tree worship, use of roosters, and blood sacrifice. For instance, the Jino people set strict rules for lumbering before building a house. Lumbering is strictly prohibited on the parents’ death anniversaries or the house owner’s birthday. Lumbering was not allowed if an ill omen came up in the dream the night before. The best lumbering time is when the moon begins to wane. Thunder-struck trees cannot be felled. A rooster is offered up to the tree god after the tree has been felled. The priest chants: Man eats rice. Rat eats fruit. Birds eat worms. Man eats rice and has to fell trees rooted down in the earth. We offer up the rooster to the tree god before we cut down trees. God of Tree, I offer up a two-foot rooster to you. Do please eradicate the evil of earth from the root. Do please eradicate the evil of leaves from the tip. The post is to be cut into eleven sides (eight sides of a pyramid, in actuality). One side is for the spirit of rice, one for the spirit of silver, one for spirits of large animals, one for spirits of small animals, one for the seven spirit of the female, and one for the nine spirits of the male.24 The Jino people worship the tree god in a pious manner. They try to execute their promise to the tree god by offering sacrifices and chanting eulogies. The Jino people try to expel evil spirits from underground by using magic objects. They smear the black dog’s blood at the bottom of a post and put into the post hole magic objects, such as skulls of bamboo rats, hedgehogs, and pangolins, as well as dog’s paws, charcoal, and iron sand, to drive off evil spirits, “Skulls of bamboo rats and hedgehogs can dig a hole in the ground and drive off evil spirits from under. Charcoal and iron sand can suppress down evil ghosts. Evil spirits are scared away by the dog’s blood and paws.”25 A Jino carpenter’s dream is of magical significance to lumbering. Thus, the house owner may wish the carpenter a good dream at night before the day of 23

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.),Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, September 2003), 198. 24 Lv Daji & He Yaohua (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 850. 25 Ibid., 853.

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lumbering. The carpenter needs to carefully check the timber to be used. Any illtreated wood should be avoided, such as trees hit by thunder, slingshots, and guns.26 The Wa people living in Ximeng County, Lincang area, Yunnan Province would select auspicious days to demolish or build a house. They even find it ominous to have a fallen tree lean against another or rest on a stump. They pray for bless on a selected building site, “We pray for bless from deities and spirits on this site selected for a new house. Ants won’t make a nest here. Maggots won’t wriggle in. The site will be immune to illnesses. And evil spirits will be guarded off.”27 The Drung people living in Gongshan County, Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province may be one of the communities in China who have best retained primitive building construction sorcery. When they try to select a building site, they place three grains on a burning-hot slate for divination and chant a prayer, “We’re to build a house on the site. Auspicious or not, it’s up to you!”28 Meanwhile, they earnestly offer sacrifice to the tree god. The prayer goes, “You and I have both survived the Great Flood. You and I share the trees and land. Do please give me wood for my new house. I offer you wine and give back branches and leaves. The sun shines when I select the site. The moon’s bright when I erect the central post. Dampness in the ground disperses when I lay the foundation. Rain drops spare my house when I pave the roof.”29 The Jingpo people living in Longchuan County invite a dishi or geomancer for building construction. However, it has less to do with fengshui in divination or Classics of House-building. Instead, it is something more of primitive religions. Some scholars wrote down in the Jingpo script a ballad of the building site chanted by dongsa or the priest in the primitive Jingpo religion, “The vein of the mountain is cut off. The water source is blocked. The rock in the front is a stool wandering ghosts would sit on. The tree in the back is under the thunder god’s foot. The wind ghost blows the fire of disaster into here. The spirit of illness usually takes a rest here…” A place of evils like this isn’t appropriate for building construction. A site of auspiciousness is like this: Our ancestors offered sacrifice to the sun and left here good luck behind. Home spirits also like the place. All in this world and nether world sing a happy song and lay the central post. Your family will have prosperous descendants. Your family will herd strong bulls and horses. Trees are grown good for wood drums. Shalong the messenger of the spirits doesn’t want to leave. The evil-spirit of childbirth won’t come with wood. The evil-spirit of illness has left for a place faraway. We see stars around the moon. We see the sun at dawn. The wind blows from the hill. Ghost of illness is blown away. The fire god shines glory. The owner of the house, I close my eyes and peeling the eggs. I see home spirits eat with happiness. You can dig out the earth here. You can place the post here. Aliluo!30 26

Ibid., 853. National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.),Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, September 2003), 1416. 28 Ibid., 446. 29 Ibid., 442. 30 Ibid.,763–764. 27

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Artisans may conduct no sorcery over the entire process of building construction. The issues between man and ghosts and deities are handled by a priest or sorcerer. In incipient building construction folkways, artisans play no significant role as sorcerers do. Alternatively, artisans play such a role in an obscured manner in sorcery activities; they are usually participants or even insignificant bystanders. However, primitive building construction sorcery was actually a predecessor of Taoism-centered building construction sorcery. The former leaves impact the latter, while the latter learns from and sometimes gets assimilated by the former. However, in some cases, primitive building construction sorcery has never been affected by foreign folkways and customs. Complicated as they are, all the entanglement is generated from cultural dissemination. However, one thing to be certain is that both have been passed down in continuity, to varying degrees. Many folkways and ceremonies have been found not only in China but also in universal human culture. Centuries-old folkways may have generally declined into a sort of survival in most parts; nonetheless, there is yet to be compelling evidence to their extinction.

Literature Review and Data Sources A literature review is necessary before we start to examine Taoism-centered folklore in relation to professional house builders. Folklore study is an important area in cultural anthropology, and there is a long list of great names, from armchair anthropologists such as Tylor and Frazer to Geertz and Victor Turner, who have been highly admired by contemporary scholars. Here, we would not write down these names and discuss them one by one, as that would be the job of folklore historians. All studies of folk knowledge and culture—be them an overview or a case study—are somehow a continuation of anthropological and folkloristic traditions. The book tries to explore a specific category in the gigantic family of folklore and relates it to theories of folklore and anthropology, as will be found in the conclusion part of the book. Cultural researchers have long been interested in house-building folklore. Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917), the founder of anthropology, collected materials from all over the world to establish his science of culture or anthropology. In his Primitive Culture, Tylor talks about survival in culture and enumerates horrible, brutal means in architecture, such as blood sacrifice to a building or animal and even human sacrifice, and sees them superstitious things to be eradicated. These things, to Tylor, like survivals in culture, “remain as proofs and examples of an older condition of culture out of which a newer has evolved.”31 Tylor gives his opinions on the attitude taken to those things, “The nobler tendency of advancing culture, and above all of scientific culture, is to honor the dead without groveling before them, to profit by the past without sacrificing the present to it… An unprejudiced survey may lead us to judge how many of our ideas and customs exist rather by being old than by 31

E.B. Tylor; Lian Shusheng (Trans.), Primitive Culture (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, August 1992), 15.

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being good. Now in dealing with hurtful superstitions, the proof that they are things which it is the tendency of savagery to produce, and of higher culture to destroy, is accepted as a fair controversial argument.”32 Tylor is sharp on the purpose of a foundation-laying ceremony. However, he stops there and goes into no more details on the evolution and significance of that custom. After all, blood-stained foundationlaying ceremonies are only one of numerous examples he uses to support his theory of survival in culture. Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942), an anthropologist and founder of social anthropology, illustrates folk ceremonies held by natives for canoe building in his monograph Argonauts on the Western Pacific. Canoe-building and building construction folkways are of anthropological homology. Malinowski gives a separate chapter on the ceremonial building of a waga (canoe). One of the spells chanted on the ceremony runs, “I shall take hold of an adze, I shall strike! I shall enter my canoe, I shall make thee fly, O canoe, I shall make thee jump! We shall fly like butterflies, like wind; we shall disappear in mist, se shall vanish.”33 From his field surveys, Malinowski constructs his popular theories of magic, religion, science, and myth. His surveys indicate a magical connection between carpenters and their creations. Malinowski’s detailed records and related arguments have inspired discussion on building construction sorcery. Two French scholars of magic and witchcraft mention in their works the study of artisans’ sorcery. Jean Servier points in his La Magie (The Magic) that Greek carpenters hold a lumbering ceremony out of an idea that it is dangerous for man to change Nature’s order.34 Marcel Mauss (1872–1950) was an iconic figure of the French Annales school and another eminent scholar of theory of magic after Frazer. In his A General Theory of Magic, Mauss points out the deficiencies in theories of magic constructed by Tylor and Frazer and gives a more universal, original term “mana.” He stresses the collective power and sentiments involved in magic. Mauss finds that magic is part and parcel of some professions. For instance, blacksmiths are thought to have magical powers because they work with a substance that universally provokes superstition. It is their profession which places these people apart from the common run of mortals, and it is this separateness which endows them with magical power. Mauss writes about carpenters and their experiments, with which this group of people win prestige. 35 However, artisan’s sorcery in the works of the two aforementioned French scholars is merely used as single-case materials to construct their theory of magic, instead of a separate subsystem of magic to be studied. As shown by the studies conducted by the aforementioned scholars, artisan sorcery is of global significance. Those scholars have established theories of magic with artisan’s sorcery

32

Ibid., 164. B. Malinowski; Liang Yongjia & Li Shaoming (Trans.), Argonauts of the Western Pacific (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, December 2001), 118. 34 J. Servier; Guan Zhenhu (Trans.), La Magie (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, September 1998), 35. 35 M. Mauss; Yang Yudong (Trans.), A General Theory of Magic/Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2007), 39. 33

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and many other materials, despite no focused studies dedicated. Their work in the field shouldn’t be underestimated. The studies of artisan folklore in China started with two pioneering figures in folklore studies. One was Cao Songye from Zhejiang. The other was German Sinologist Wolfram Eberhard (1909–1989), who has been known for his work Typen chinesischer Volksmärchen (Types of Chinese Folktales). Since the establishment of the Aarne-Thompson classification systems or the AT Index, Eberhard has been the first researcher on types of Chinese folk literature. His Chinese Folktales was the first academic work categorizing Chinese folk literature and conducting related analysis. The work is not perfect. Many scholars, such as Jia Zhi and Dong Xiaoping, have talked straight about the defects of the book. To be honest, Eberhard as a German scholar in the research conditions back then deserves our respect for his academic passion on the issue, as is said by Zhong Jingwen the founder of folklore in China. In fact, Cao Songye collected academic materials in China for Eberhard. We find in Eberhard’s work some rarely seen materials, including tales of artisan’s building construction sorcery. Eberhard summarized basic patterns of tales of victims to architecture: (a) A construction failed; (b) The official-in-charge got the name of the able-hand by a supernatural means; (c) The picked able-hand was walled in the architectural structure under construction; (d) The construction was completed; and (e) The victim able-hand was worshipped as a god. In the meantime, Eberhard looked at tales of the artisan’s trump card: (a) A mason or carpenter thought he was ill-treated by the house owner; (b) He added something of supernatural power in the building; (c) The thing worked, and the house owner incurred losses; and (d) The thing was removed, and the artisan incurred losses. Eberhard did not go further to the origin and development of tales of victims to architecture, but he was basically correct about those of the artisan’s trump card. According to him, those tales were created and told because it was believed that things in a house would have impacts on the residents. Specific methods were recorded in Lu Ban Jing (Lu Ban’s Canons) composed at unknown times. Approximately 100 BC in the Han Dynasty, puppets were said to be found in the imperial palace, and those puppets were believed to be capable of evil effects (Book of Han, Vol. 45 & Vol. 66). Eberhard put tales of the artisan’s trump card in this catalog. He dated that type back the Han Dynasty and saw tales of victims to architecture quite ancient.36 However, there was a major error in Eberhard’s theory. Some tales of the artisan’s trump card were collected from Collected Works of Cao Zijian (I), according to Eberhard. But no index is possible. In addition, the places in brackets were all in Zhejiang, as Eberhard clearly stated that a–cy are from Zhejiang and the type was proven to emerge in the late eighteenth century, as was shown by cz and da.37 However, I did not find any of such tales in Collected Works of Cao Zijian (I). In actuality, before Eberhard’s Chinese Folktales was published, Eberhard’s assistant Cao Songye had published “An Exploration on Tales of Plasterers and Carpenters” on Folklore, 108. The article has been the first treatise on artisans’ sorcery in the 36

W. Eberhard; Wang Yansheng & Zhou Zusheng (Trans.), Typen chinesischer Volksmärchen (Beijing: The Commercial Press, February 1999), 163–173. 37 Ibid., 173.

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history of China’s modern folklore studies. Cao collated over eighty related legends in four sections, namely, “reasons and causes, actions, troubles, and consequences of mischief and plot.” Cao combined the relations between these legends and Luban Jing (Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry) and customs. He also made a good analysis of those legends. Not long, this article has been a pioneering article in the studies of artisan building construction folkways, out of question. Japanese scholars have traditionally been keen on studying Chinese culture. They can sometimes dwarf Chinese scholars in the understanding of Chinese classics. In his Ch¯ugoku no juh¯o (Chinese Spells), Mizuho Sawada extensively cites artisans’ exorcism actions from ancient Chinese documents and books and makes an incisive study of historical data. Sawada may be a founder of studies on the history of artisan exorcism actions.38 He earnestly investigated Chinese scholars’ jottings and encyclopedias on Chinese folklore from the Song Dynasty onwards. However, Sawada made no further expounding on the generation and dissemination of the type of sorcery. Moreover, what he discussed is only a category of artisans’ building construction folkways. There is yet no monograph on China’s building construction folklore in China. Scholars usually analyze a part or parts of the otherwise indivisible system. Zhang Zichen’s Chinese Sorcery is based upon field surveys held across China.39 In this book, Zhang opens a separate section, “Sorcery in House-building,” discussing sorcery in building construction adopted by the Miao, Pumi, Yi, Dong, Hani, and Jino peoples. Evidently, Zhang has treated artisans’ building construction sorcery as a subsystem of the larger system of magic. Deng Qiyao’s A Study of Chinese Witchcraft focuses on both textual criticism and analysis of field surveys.40 Deng finds that witchcraft and insect poisoning in China dates back to oracle inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells. He combs the history of Chinese witchcraft from its source in remote antiquity by using philology and seeing into witchcraft and insect-poison tradition of ethnic minorities. In the section “Damage to House and Fengshui”, he follows the academic course of Cao and Sawada. The originality of Deng’s work lies in its focus on witchcraft as something living. The materials were collected in Deng’s years as educated youth. He even had personal experience of it. Moreover, Deng follows media coverage on witchcraftrelated events, such as the fight of stone lions in 1993 and dispute over the carpenter’s sorcery in 1994. Deng conducts his studies within Cao’s and Sawada’s academic tradition; nonetheless, he makes an incisive study of historical data and presents follow-ups. It is a methodology to be admired and drawn on. Scholars who conduct a macroscopic, holistic study of folklore evidently notice the significance of artisans’ building construction sorcery. Hu Xinsheng makes an in-depth exploration of witchcraft in ancient China and authors the remarkable Witchcraft in Ancient China on the ages-old cultural phenomena that contains so 38

Mizuho Sawada, Ch¯ugoku no juh¯o (Tokyo: Hirakawa Shuppan Inc., Rev. 1990). Zhang Zichen, Chinese Sorcery (Shanghai: Shanghai Joint Publishing, July 1990), 207–216. 40 Deng Qiyao, A Study of Chinese Witchcraft (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, December 1999). 39

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many contents and exists in so wide a territory.41 Hu extensively uses ancient Chinese documents and books, supplemented by archaeological evidence. In this way, he puts witchcraft in ancient China into several categories and analyses related documentation. The book is a good combination of description and comments and focuses on textual criticism. Some of his ideas, such as “the origin and evolution of incantations,” “the origin and evolution of charms,” “exorcism with roosters,” “house-guarding stones and exorcism stone figurines,” “the making and use of exorcism coins,” and “sorcerer’s puppets,” have been greatly inspiring for the study of artisan’s building construction sorcery. Liu Guiqiu’s “Artisan’s ‘exorcism Sorcery’: An Example of Homoeopathic Magic” is a theoretical article dealing with artisans’ sorcery by using materials from jottings of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Liu sorcerily puts exorcism under Frazer’s theoretical framework of magic.42 Wan Jianzhong investigates artisan exorcism sorcery and puts it under “the taboo-transfer motif.” This is an inspiring argument for the study of carpenter exorcism sorcery. Wan follows Frazer’s Law of Similarity: In fact, artisans’ exorcism sorcery originates from primitive magic. Moreover, it was also a primitive “like produces like” mentality from remote antiquity that if the image of a man suffers, so does the man. As Frazer puts in his The Golden Bough, “If we analyze the principles of thought on which magic is based, they will probably be found to resolve themselves into two: first, that like produces like, or that an effect resembles its cause; and, second, that things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed. The former principle may be called the Law of Similarity, the latter the Law of Contact or Contagion… Charms based on the Law of Similarity may be called Homoeopathic or Imitative Magic. Charms based on the Law of Contact or Contagion may be called Contagious Magic.” The taboo we talk about here is a “Homoeopathic or Imitative Magic” that originates from primitive thinking of “like produces like.” Thus, an artisan may apply the sorcery on the house owner in hope that the owner may incur undesirable things.43 House-building folkways have actually consisted of a complete set of building construction procedures. Zhu Zhenhao sorts out archaeological findings from the period of the Yangshao Culture onwards and analyzes foundation-laying ceremonies in remote antiquity and the significance of such ceremonies.44 Wang Xiaodun earnestly investigates how Erlangwei beam-setting prayers and beam-setting ceremonies were related to social customs: Erlangwei beam-setting prayers originate from exorcising Erlangwei prayers, and a beam-setting ceremony is held to expel 41

Hu Xinsheng, Witchcraft in ancient China (Jinan: Shandong People’s Publishing House, June 2005). 42 Liu Guiqiu, Artisan’s ‘exorcism Sorcery’: An Example of Homoeopathic Magic, Folklore Studies, 1993 (3). 43 Wan Jianzhong, Taboo Removing and Irremovable Taboos in Chinese Folktales, Journal of Guangxi University for Nationalities (Philosophy and Social Science Edition, July 2000), 51. 44 Zhu Zhenhao, House-building Ceremonies in the Ancient Times of China, Cultural Relics of Central China, 1990 (3).

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evils and pray for auspiciousness. Artisans throw rice and flour in the beam setting process. Rice and flour were originally used for spirits and ghosts.45 Wang’s investigation has proved significant in analyzing the sorcery involved in beam setting ceremonies because with centuries of evolution, beam setting ceremonies have been interpreted as something, as indicated by contemporary field work, purely for fun.46 Li Feng collates Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry edited by Wu Rong of the Ming Dynasty and annotates the original texts; Li’s work proves to be very helpful.47 Yang Lifeng’s study of “Yi Ke Yin” vernacular dwellings in south Yunnan has well been beyond the building techniques involved; instead, he details in the building construction folkways and the roles, attitudes, and interpretations to sorcery the house owner and artisans hold. Yang takes down the carpenters’ words, which are of great academic value to the study of building construction folkways in south Yunnan in modern days.48 Ouyang Meng conducted a case study of the building construction folkways of the Tujia people in Laochakou Village, Xuan’en County, Hubei Province. She goes into detail the local building construction folkways over the entire process of building construction step by step. The data and materials collected in the field work of modern anthropology and folklore have thus been of great significance to the study of preservation of the building construction folkways of the Tujia people. Ouyang integrates in her dissertation the study of rites and the analysis of cultural connotations. The keywords she centers on include rites, theatres, carnivals, experience, cultural connotations, and spirit. She doesn’t confine to the history of cultural icons in the Tujia people’s building construction folkways; moreover, the significance of sorcery gives its way to the analysis of rites. Ouyang Meng’s study provides a lively illustration of metamorphoses in the dissemination of artisan building construction sorcery.49 Chen Jinguo investigates the belief of fengshui in Fujian from a historical anthropological angle and presents in his work building construction rites held by the Hakka people and southern Fujian people, including beam setting prayers, appreciation prayers, and other magical rites. He clearly depicts how the artisans, geomancer, and house owner work together to fulfill then entire and all building construction sorcery. The artisan plays an irreplaceable role in the rites. Furthermore, belief in Lu Ban, Taoist beliefs, and much from divination are described in detail in Chen’s

45 Wang Xiaodun, beam setting Prayers on the Korean Peninsula and Erlangwei Prayers in Dunhuang,Annual of the Institute of Chinese Classics of Nanjing University, 11 (Nanjing: Phoenix Book Ltd., 2008). 46 Such an interpretation has been found in some survey reports on house-building folkways. 47 Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 220. 48 Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005). 49 Ouyang Meng, A Study on House-building Customs of the Tujia People: A Case Study of Laochakou Village, Xuan’en County, Hubei Province, M.A. Thesis (Wuhan: Central China Normal University, May 2007), 8–41.

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work.50 However, Chen investigates building construction folkways as a part of fengshui studies and makes no investigation of artisan-related folkways or essential factors. In fact, not all artisans’ building construction folkways fall into the scope of fengshui. The two just see some overlapping parts in their goals. Studies and analyses of local cases are of their own academic significance. I have gained a stronger foothold in the existing studies of the artisan’s building construction folkways and acquired a region-specific angle of view. The materials and data used in the book are grouped into five categories. The first group contains quotations from ancient Chinese books and documentation. The second group is about the materials from modern folklore surveys. In this group, some ballads from Zhongguo Geyao Jicheng (Chinese Ballad Collections) may be sacrificial prayers, exorcism spells, or narrations of building construction procedures; thus, building construction folkways are necessarily contained. Furthermore, the surveyors usually put in the additional comments to the ballads some supplementary descriptions of building construction folkways. Zhongguo Geminzu Yuanshi Zongjiao Ziliao Jicheng (Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China) is another remarkable source of cultural survival that may facilitate the study of artisans’ building construction folkways. The legends of the artisan’s building construction folkways and the explanatory legends of such folkways from the Ming and Qing dynasties don’t tell about the objective facts, no doubt. However, the legends are prose narratives of trustworthiness in specific cultural contexts and best reflect people’s belief in the artisan’s building construction folkways. Additionally, the legends demonstrate the role and significance of artisan-related folkways in the social and cultural structure. The third group consists of archaeological findings and evidence. The fourth group includes materials from works of foreign anthropologists and folklorists. The fifth group contains the materials I collected in my field surveys conducted in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture in July 2008, in Hani villages in Gelanghe Township, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna in December 2008, and in Erhai Village, Zijin Township, Weishan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in January and February 2011.

Purpose, Significance, and Methodology Building construction folklore has been in existence in China for thousands of years. House-building artisans did not turn into workers or architects engaged in architectural activities until the modern days. In a longer history of human development, a house builder was equally a sorcerer and artisan, building solid, eye-pleasing, and comfortable houses, and conducting various sorceries to deal with evil spirits. When he felt inadequate, he would devoutly pray to the trade founder, deities, and immortals for their help. Artisans’ building construction folkways have long been in primitive forms in some areas. However, the folkways have historically grown into 50

Chen Jinguo, Beliefs, Rites, and Customary Societies: A Historical Anthropological Exploration of Fengshui, II (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), November 2005), 410–434.

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a separate system by integrating the legends of Lu Ban, Taoist ideas, and divination and taking into it some sorcery ideas from primitive folkways. Artisans have applied folkways in building construction. In addition, these folkways have been widely spread across the country because of population migration, war, and trade, as well as the migration of artisans. Travelling folklore and local sorcery blended into sorcery consisting of the popular artisan’s building construction folkways and local folklore. To this end, the book aims to illustrate the formation, evolution, and dissemination of artisans’ building construction folkways; trace the sources, original meanings, and final changes of folklore factors; and investigate the causes. Additionally, the book takes the artisan’s building construction folkways as a case study of man’s folklore activities as an entirety and conducts a reverse thinking on the strengths and defects of the theories established by Taylor, Frazer, Malinowski, and Durkheim to make a theoretical breakthrough in folklore studies. As mentioned earlier, until now, no methodological studies of China’s folklore building construction have existed. Therefore, this monograph on the origin and development of artisans’ building construction folkways in China will be the first. How did systematic folklore ideas come into being and take shape? And how have people come to a long-lasting belief? It won’t help to understand the phenomena if we simply despise it as superstitions. It is wise to know more about humans and treat the evolution of human civilization as an entirety of continuity. It is wise to envisage both positive and negative sides of human civilizations. In superstitions and mistakes are rooted man’s deep-down anxieties and desires. The phenomena revealed to our bare eyes are no more than the tip of the gigantic iceberg. According to the materials and data available, artisans’ building construction folkways have long been in belief since the Yangshao Culture. It can be even found in present-day rural areas. Academically, a methodological investigation of the artisan’s building construction folkways is surely an opportunity to reflect on the history of anthropological and folklore studies. Is there a universally applicable academic theory of folklore? Personally, I don’t see the existing folklore theories perfect enough to explain every factor in folklore; instead, the theories are capable of explaining some factors or other. In addition, certain issues related to the artisan’s building construction folkways must be discussed, including at least the relationships between building construction folkways and techniques, between building construction folkways and religions, and between popular folk knowledge and local folklore. Tracing the origin of a cultural phenomenon is an approach with definite strengths. “The best way to explain a thing is to have its origin and development clarified, because you can best explore its nature by looking at its evolution throughout its life.”51 This is also what I am trying to do in this book. However, some phenomena associated with building construction folklore defy accurate explanations, as is a universal dilemma in cultural studies. Geertz puts forth a shift in methodology, “In matters human, we are far better off if we abandon the ‘explanation of behaviors’ 51 Wang Xiaodun, beam setting Prayers on the Korean Peninsula and Erlangwei Prayers in Dunhuang,Annual of the Institute of Chinese Classics of Nanjing University, 11 (Nanjing: Phoenix Book Ltd., 2008), 131–132.

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approach that a natural scientist might apply to a colony of bees or species of fish and turn instead to the ‘interpretation of cultures.’”52 Operationally, interpretive anthropology emphasizes detailed description. Interpretation is certainly better than explanation in case-specific field surveys or for a fast-changing society. However, textural research is necessary for long-lasting cultural phenomena that are meticulously recorded. Explanation and interpretation stand as two different approaches for different research subjects, but they can complement each other if necessary. The study tries to integrate research on ancient books and documentation with field surveys to illustrate the origin and evolution of China’s building construction folklore. Anthropological and folklore study methodologies are adopted in our discussions.

52

D. L. Pals; Tao Feiya, Liu Yi, & Niu Shengni (Trans.), Seven Theories of Religion (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, February 2005), 322.

Contents

1 Land Worship and Building Construction Folklore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Gruesome Sacrifices and Relics from the Age of Barbarianism . . . . 1.2 Personification of Land Deity and Ground-Breaking Ceremony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 4 11

2 Tree Worship and Building Construction Folklore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Origin of Tree Cutting Taboos and Evil-Removing Ceremonies . . . 2.2 Sanctification of Beams and Columns in Kunlun Mythology . . . . . . 2.3 Wood, Dragon and the Law of Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

29 31 41 48

3 Beam Setting Ceremony and the Use of Fetishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Beam Setting Ceremony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Eight Diagrams, Rooster, and Beam Setting Coins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

57 58 70

4 Supernatural Beings, Incantations and Talismans: The Taoist Influences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 4.1 Two Ways Supernatural Beings Help House Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 4.2 Taoist Talismans and Incantations in the Building Construction Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 5 House Builder’s Covert Sorcery and Its Social and Cultural Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Injurious Sorcery and Its Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Cultural Motivation for House Builder’s Covert Sorcery . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Sorcery as Bargaining Chips Between Artisans and Those Who Hired Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Classification of Sorcery Folklore in Social and Cultural Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

125 128 132 139 153

6 The Legend of Gun and the Origin and Evolution of Chiwei . . . . . . . . 159 6.1 The Religious and Political Symbolism of Chiwei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 6.2 The Mythological Origin of Chiwei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

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Contents

7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 Legends and Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 Symbolism and Limen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 Religion and Sorcery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

173 174 176 181

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Chapter 1

Land Worship and Building Construction Folklore

Breaking ground is the first step in building a house. Evidence shows that folk rituals related to building construction begin at the time of breaking ground. The breaking ground ceremony has an occult implication. Ground-breaking is never a casual or random act. It must follow established procedures, including selection of an auspicious day, sacrifice-offering, and exorcism, to evade misfortune and secure happiness. It is believed that land cradles certain invisible supernatural powers, such as deities, ghosts, and spirits, and people may offend them by acting carelessly. In primitive building construction folkways, divination is practiced to select a proper site, as people see an oracle as the instruction on an auspicious site for their house. The Lisu people use clamshells and seeds to practice site-selecting divination. It goes this way: Nine seeds are put into three sets of three. The sets are then planted in three different places. If all three seeds in a set grow out of the soil, the place is an auspicious site for building. Otherwise, it is an inauspicious place inappropriate to build a house. They sing a house-building ballad, “Corn is grown in a flat lot. Corn is grown in a spacious lot. I go to see my corn three months later. The sprouts come out. I go to see my corn three days after thinning. The leaves are shiny green. I find a good place. I find a place of fortune. It’s a girl’s fortune to find a good lay line. It’s a girl’s fortune to find a good base.” In addition, the Lisu people also select an auspicious day to break ground for building a house.1 According to ancient texts, it was a taboo during the Spring and Autumn Period to enlarge a house westwards. As Lunheng: Sihui (Discourses in the Balance: Four Taboos) goes: There are four taboos. One is not to enlarge a house westwards. It is thought to be inauspicious to do so, which must lead to death. People are thus frightened to enlarge a house westwards. It has been a long-lasting taboo. There is an entry in Zuozhuan (The Commentary of Zuo) on this: Duke Ai of Lu wanted to enlarge his dwelling place westwards. The official historian argued that it would be inauspicious to do so. The Duke was offended and angry and refused to listen to any exposures. He asked Zai Zhisui the Grand Preceptor, “I want to enlarge 1

Office of Yunnan Folk Culture, Team of Folk Culture of Baoshan, Collection of Lisu Folksongs (Kunming: Yunnan Ethnic Publishing House, March 1988), 229–271. © Social Sciences Academic Press 2022 S. Li, Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5477-0_1

1

2

1 Land Worship and Building Construction Folklore the house westwards. The official historian finds it something inauspicious. What do you think?” Zai Zhisui said, “There are three inauspicious things under Heaven. Enlarging a house westwards isn’t included, indeed.” Duke Ai was pleased. He asked a while later, “What are those three inauspicious things?” Zai answered, “The first is to commit unrighteous actions. The second is to be insatiable. And the third is listening to no good advice.” The Duke fell into a silent pondering. After a second thought, he gave up the idea.2

The taboo Duke Ai of Lu abided by may not fully demonstrate the critical role of land worship in building construction. Then, the selection of an auspicious day for breaking ground plays an even more important role. According to Lunheng: Jiri (Discourses in the Balance: Day-selection Despised), a breaking ground taboo was recorded in artisan canons: Artisan’s canons rule that an auspicious day must be selected before breaking ground for a new house. A house is only a thing sheltering human bodies and a place where people live in. Is there any harm to deities of the year or month, so that a specific day must be selected in advance? If deities were displeased at a house for being a shelter to human bodies, a specific day would be selected for cart assembly, ship building, umbrella spreading, and hat taking. If deities were displeased at breaking ground, a specific day was selected for channeling and tilling. If the land god sees man’s intention to sustain himself and nothing more, the god won’t be angry at man’s breaking ground. In this case, man incurs no disaster without selecting a specific day for breaking ground. If the land god doesn’t see man’s intention to sustain himself and nothing more, the god will be angry at man’s breaking ground. In this case, what can the selection of day help?3

Wang Chong (27–c. 97) said in his Discourses in the Balance that people so extensively believed in the potential death threat imposed by breaking ground that they tried to avoid possible disasters by following the principle of the Five Elements and holding sacrificial ceremonies. Lunheng: Lanshi (Discourses in the Balance: Nonsense of Deified Time) goes on this: It is a common belief that gods of year and month harm human beings when breaking ground is done. Wherever the gods do evil to a place, there must be deaths. If the Year’s God is in the due north (the position of zi), it will do evil to those dwelling in the west (the position of you); and in this case, if the first lunar month is designated as the one when the Dipper’s handle points to the northeast (the position of yin), the Month’s God will do evil to those dwelling in the south (the position of si). Thus, if breaking ground is conducted in the positions of zi and yin, those dwelling in the positions of you and si will incur disasters. The victims should practice exorcism sorcery by following the principle of the five elements and hanging proper objects. If the Year’s God the Month’s God do evil to a household in the west, it should hang a metal object. If the victim household is in the east, it should hang a lump of charcoal. Alternatively, a sacrificial ceremony is held to expel potential disasters. Alternatively, the entire household moves out of the house to evade potential disasters. It has been accepted and followed as a common practice.4

Kong Qi of the Yuan Dynasty talks about “large-scale construction” in the fourth volume of his Zhizheng Zhiji (Jottings from the Zhizheng Era): 2

Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance, IV (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 1323–1324. 3 Ibid., 1364. 4 Ibid., 1342.

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A large-scale construction leads to the unfortunate. This may be because the land god prefers tranquility and feels agitated at any disturbance. In a lesser case, the artisans and servants concerned incur something bad. In a major case, the house own may incur something serious. I see more than one official who liked to build temples and saw no good end of his tenure. However, I never bother to investigate the root cause. Such a construction is still a waste of manpower, though. It may be because the land god has been disturbed. It is best to inherit and live in the family’s house passed down from one’s ancestors. It won’t hurt to have necessary repair work. However, Shoushi li (Time-telling Calendar) should be consulted before repair work. Gods and evil spirits listed in the Calendar must be well avoided. One must follow the rule. Even if it is commonly said that the east of this house is the west of its next door, a second thought is required in practice.5

Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry, or simply Lu Ban Jing (Lu Ban’s Canons), are classic popular folk knowledge about craftsmanship and contain much divination content. In this book, there are repeated descriptions of guidelines for auspicious-day selection for a breaking ground ceremony. Breaking ground on an inauspicious day would lead to diseases and even burglary. If Tuhuang or the emperor of land is offended, people concerned would suffer serious illnesses. Anyone who offends tufu or the god of terrains will suffer edema. A person who offends tuwen or the god of land plague will have swollen feet. If the heaven’s thief is stirred, a household will incur burglary. Lu Ban’s Canons goes, “In case of breaking ground, an auspicious day must be selected. The Year’s Deity and the Month’s Deity mustn’t be offended.”6 The book is evidently under the influence of divination works, such as Yuyaoshi (Jade Key) and Xieji Bianfang Shu (Collected Methods of Divination), in its guidelines for auspicious-day selection and taboos for breaking ground and foundation-laying. It is made clear in Lu Ban’s Canons that any offense of deities and spirits are strictly prohibited. For instance, tufu is in charge of five types of terrains. “Tufu is the god who takes charge of five types of terrains.”7 Xieji Bianfang Shu (Collected Methods of Divination) also clarifies tabooed days for breaking ground, “Qinglong, Mingtang, Jinkui, Tiande, Yutang, and Siming are deities on Huangdao or literally the Yellow Road. All the days they are on duty are auspicious ones for everything, without the need to avoid deities of Taisui, Jiangjun, and Yuexing; all evils turn away. Tianxing, Zhuque, Baihu, Tianlao, Xuanwu, and Gouchen are deities on Heidao or literally the Black Road. Ground-breaking, construction, moving, travel, marrying, and troops-sending shall not be done in the directions where Heidao deities sit or on the days those deities are on duty.”8 In Dunhuang manuscripts, there are entries on sacrificial rites and prayers to the land god.9 According to the sacrificial prayers, the land god could protect a 5

Kong Qi; Zhuang Min & Gu Xin (Punctuated & checked), Zhizheng Zhiji (Jottings from the Zhizheng Era) (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, April 1987), 142–143. 6 Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 21–23. 7 Ibid., 240. 8 Collected Methods of Divination, Vol. 7, in Li Ling (Ed.), An Overview of Chinese Necromancy: Arts of Selection (Beijing: People’s China Press, January 1993), 252. 9 Chen Yuzhu, A Study of the Dunhuang-edition “Classic of House-building (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, March 2007), 177.

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house and its dwellers. Thus, people could make their wish known to the god by offering sacrifices and making prayers to get blessed. Evidently, the land god is a personified figure in the sacrificial ceremony. The breaking ground rules set in Lu Ban’s Canons somehow exemplify the far-reaching impacts of land worship on the artisan’s building construction folkways. Be it the mild-tempered personified land god in Dunhuang manuscripts, or the complicated divination-like folklore described in Lu Ban’s Canons, it came into being after land worship. The artisan’s building construction folkways grown out of land worship date back to the Yangshao Culture and Longshan Culture. However, building construction folkways popular in remote antiquity are ridiculous, savage, brutal, and even horrible to the civilized, modern eyes. However, the behaviors did exist in man’s folklore histories and even stood as the iconic watershed of the benighted age and the age of barbarianism. It is an established theory of classical evolution that heinous killings marked an advance of human civilization.

1.1 Gruesome Sacrifices and Relics from the Age of Barbarianism In the excavation of the Banpo site, a lidded stoneware jar was discovered underneath the layer living west of a building site, a skull in the white lime layer underneath the southern wall, and a broken stoneware jar next to the skull. The three pieces were supposed to be deliberately buried there when the house was built.10 During the excavation of the foundations from the Longshan Culture period at the Wangyoufang Site at Yongcheng, Henan Province, human remains were found in the foundations in the lower layer of the ruins. In an east–west wall on Layer No. 4, T29, there were three child skeletons. All three skeletons were placed with the skulls in the east. No tombs were seen. The skeletons were thus supposed to be human sacrifices buried when the wall was built. In the middle layer of the ruins, there were three stacked male-adult skeletons in the foundation of the room’s northeast corner. The three men were supposed to be aged between twenty-five and thirty-five and die unnatural death. The skeletons were placed with the skulls in the north and feet in the south, without tombs. They were evidently deliberately buried there when the foundation was laid. In the upper layer of ruins, there was the remnant of a round-cornered, square foundation on Layer 3A, T30. In the bottom layer of the foundation, there was a child’s skeleton approximately 0.68 m long and at a 40° angle. No tomb was seen. The skeleton was supposed to be deliberately buried when the house was built. A skull-less child’s skeleton was found in the yellow–brown pan soil east of Layer No. 1, T29. The skeleton measured approximately 0.7 m long and was placed at a 255° angle. The grave was hardly visible. The skeleton was supposed to have something

10

The Institute of Archaeology CAS (Ed.), Banpo in Xi’an: Sites of Primitive Clan Communes (Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1963), 18.

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to do with the foundation nearby.11 In the excavation of village sites of Longshan Culutre at Baiyinghe, Tangyin, post holes of two sizes were found. Three types of jar burials of children were found in the earth filling and against the outer wall of the foundation. Giant clamshells were discovered buried in the earth filling underneath the layer living in the foundation, outside the wall, and on one side of the door. It was a common practice to bury giant clamshells there. Outside the southeastern wall of the third layer of living of the F65 foundation, there was a skeleton jar inside which was a face-up child’s skeleton. The skull was in the south, the feet were in the north, and the limbs were straight.12 In the excavation of the Hougang site, Anyang, in 1979, twenty-seven tombs for children were found in the lime soil or rammed foundation soil of the Longshan Culture. Ten had no funeral wares in them, and the other seventeen were urn burials. The children were largely aged between one and five and buried in four types, namely, face-up with straight limbs, face-up with flexed limbs, on-side with straight limbs, and face-down with straight limbs. The children were buried in the foundation, in the outdoor stack or aproll, beneath the wall base, and in the mud wall. Generally, the children buried in the outdoor stack or aproll were placed with their heads toward the house. The children buried beneath the wall base or in the mud wall were generally buried in tombs parallel to the wall. A child was also buried in the post hole at the post-erecting ceremony. Such a skeleton concaved down in the middle, and the legs turned upwards. All the children buried beneath the wall base were girls, and their heads were to the south. All tombs had openings underneath the rammed earth under the wall base. A tomb was dug out in the rammed earth under the foundation. One or two of the three children buried in the mud wall were buried with funeral wares. They were supposed to be buried during the process of building construction. The order was as follows: The rammed earth was laid first; two children were buried; and the wall was built when a third child was buried. The children beneath the aproll were buried with funeral wares and their heads to the southwest. Four children were buried outside the western and northern wall in an order like this: Three children were first buried in the immature soil on the building site; a layer of rammed earth of foundation was paved at the pit mouth; a fourth child was buried; another layer of rammed earth of foundation was paved; and the wall was built.13 The authors of the report pointed out, “In the excavation, we found children’s skeletons beneath or near fifteen building sites. All the children were buried during the process of building construction. There were four at the maximum beneath a single building site. Evidently, the children 11

No. 2 Team of Henan of the Institute of Archaeology CASS & Heritage Management Committee of Shangqiu Area of Henan Province, Report on the Excavation of Wangyoufang Site at Yongcheng, Henan, in Editorial Board of Archaeology, Papers of Chinese Archaeology, V (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), March 1987), 81, 84. 12 Heritage Management Committee of Anyang Area of Henan Province, Report on the Excavation of Village Sites of Longshan Culutre at Baiyinghe, Tangyin, in Editorial Board of Archaeology, Papers of Chinese Archaeology, III (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), November 1983), 3, 6. 13 Anyang Working Team of the Institute of Archaeology CASS, Report on the Excavation of Hougang Site in Anyang in 1979. Acta Archaeologica Sinica, 1985 (1), 51–54.

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died unnatural death. They were buried as human sacrifices in certain superstitious, religious ceremonies for building construction. Human or animal sacrifices were also found in the ruins of the Longshan Culture. However, it was the first discovery of children sacrificing beneath foundations in primitive sites in China. The findings indicate that sacrifice offerings were already popular as an important form of primitive religion in the Longshan culture period. However, different from human sacrifices of adult captives or slaves in the slavery society, the human sacrifices at Hougang Site were mostly children.”14 In the thirteen pounded earth pits found at the Wangchenggang Site of Phase II, Longshan Culture, Dengfeng, Henan Province, there were layers of rammed human remains from building construction sacrificial ceremonies. The number of adult and child skeletons in each layer varied from one to seven. Pit No. 1 was 2.66 m deep and had as many as twenty layers of rammed earth remaining. In the bottom layer there were seven human skeletons. In the third layer from the bottom, there was a child’s skeleton. Fourth from the bottom, there was the skeleton of an adult man. In the fifth layer from the bottom, there were skeletons of an adult man and an adult woman. In the sixth layer from the bottom, there were skeletons of a young woman and two children. Most of the remains had their heads to the east and their feet to the west. In one or two cases, the heads were to the south and the feet were to the north.15 While excavating at the site of the Shang Dynasty in Zhengzhou, archaeologists found remains of two children and one dog beneath one foundation, as well as remains of three children and three adults beneath and parallel to another foundation.16 In the excavation of the early Shang palace site at Erlitou, Yanshi, Henan Province, archaeologists found ten tombs on the stylobate. Some of the remains were supposed to have been tied up. The skeleton buried outside the second eave column on the southwestern side of the hall appeared face-up with straight limbs; the feet were higher than the head due to earth ramming. In the tomb between the post holes inside the southern wall base, there was wood ash and half of the pottery basin. The earth inside the tomb was rammed. No remains were seen.17 In the Shang ruins in Anyang, Henan Province, there were numerous pottery coffins for children around rammedearth walled houses. The pottery coffins seemed to be placed by following certain rules. Two human skulls were found in the center of the bottom of foundation pit F8. The two face-down skulls were placed side to side, with the crowns to the south. Beneath the skull in the west, there was a piece of rib and a tooth. Both skulls were

14

Anyang Working Team of the Institute of Archaeology CASS, Report on the Excavation of Hougang Site in Anyang in 1979. Acta Archaeologica Sinica, 1985 (1), 83–84. 15 Henan Institute of Cultural Relics & Archaeology Department of Museum of Chinese History, Wangcheng and Yangcheng Sites in Dengfeng (Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, January 1992), 38–42. 16 No. 1 Henan Cultural Work Team, An Overview of Our Eight Months’ Work in Zhengzhou, References of Cultural Relics, 1955 (9). 17 Erlitou Working Team of the Institute of Archaeology CASS, A Brief Report on the Excavation of the Early Shang Palace Site at Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan Province, Archaeology, 1974 (4), 238.

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thin and thus supposed to be children’s skulls.18 In the excavation of the Shang city site in Zhengzhou, archaeologists found a complete human skeleton and a human skull in the middle of the upper-layer foundation of the Erliang Phase overlapping on the city wall of the Shang Dynasty. The deceased was supposed to be a slave who had been tied up before being buried. In addition, beneath the northern wall of the foundation, there were pig skeletons. It was supposed that both humans and pigs were buried for foundation laying. In the upper-layer city wall of the Erligang Phase of the Shang Dynasty, there were a large number of pits for dog sacrifices. In the pits there were also human bones. The dogs and slaves were killed by the slave owner for a sacrificial ceremony. At each of the four corners of the square pit for dog sacrifices in the western city wall, CWT2 was buried by a dog. The dogs were also sacrifices.19 At the Mengzhuang site of the Shang Dynasty in Zhecheng, Henan Province, there was a human skeleton 1.1 m into the ground on rammed earth. The skeleton measured approximately 0.3 m further deep down to immature soil. It belonged to a young woman aged seventeen or eighteen, face-down with straight limbs. Her palms faced upward, and her digits were bent. The palm bones were under breastbones. The head was to the west at a 270° angle. There were traces of tying ropes. Scholars hypothesized that the deceased was sacrificed to lay the foundation of a house.20 At the Shang site in Taixi Village, Gaocheng, Hebei Province, remnants of animals, human heads, and children are sacrificed around houses, doors, foundations, and plinths.21 In the spring of 1976, the remains of a child were found in an indoor post hole, standing, head up and feet down, during an excavation in Beidi, Xiaotun Village.22 In inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty, there were already descriptions on dog, pig, and sheep sacrifices in a foundation-laying ceremony: Divination on the Gengxu Day told that five dogs offered as sacrifices for peace in all directions (Nanming 487); Divination on the Yihai Day told that God needed one pig, four dogs, and two sheep as sacrifices (Jia 3432).23 A story on Zhongguo Wenwu Bao (Chinese Cultural Relics) on 22 February 1990 showed that two pottery urns were found west of the central doorway in the northern row of palaces at the Yinxu site. The two urns were next to each other, one in the east and 18 The Institute of Archaeology CASS, Report on the Excavation of Yinxu Site 1958–1961 (Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, November 1987), 14, 19. 19 Henan Museum & Zhengzhou Museum, Report on the Excavation of the Shang City in Zhengzhou, in Heritage Editorial Board (Ed.), Cultural Relics Collections, I (Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, December 1977), 15, 18. 20 No. 1 Team of Henan of the Institute of Archaeology CASS & Heritage Management Committee of Shangqiu Area of Henan Province, Mengzhuang Site of the Shang Dynasty in Zhecheng, Henan Province, Acta Archaeologica Sinica, 1982 2(1), 53–54. 21 Hebei Museum & Excavation Team of Taixi Site of Hebei Heritage Division, Significant Findings in the Excavation of the Shang Site in Taixi Village, Gaocheng County, Hebei Province, in the Year of 1973, Cultural Relics, 1974 (8). 22 Yang Baocheng & Xu Guangde, Report on the Excavation of Hougang Site in Anyang in 1979, Acta Archaeologica Sinica, 1985 (1), 84. 23 Zhu Zhenhao, House-building Ceremonies in the Ancient Times of China, Cultural Relics of Central China, 1990 (3), 84.

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the other in the west. To the west of a door, there were three beheaded skeletons. The heads were placed pointing to the east. The skeletons were buried with burial objects. “All indicated that the former case was likely to be something related to the supreme position or foundation-laying in palace-building and the latter might be a sacrifice pit for house-peace and exorcism.”24 Human and animal sacrifices used in building construction were evident of sorcery practices. Some scholars have pointed out again and again that the purpose of such practices was to bring peace to a house and that some ceremonies were held to offer sacrifices to land deities.25 Another point is that human and animal sacrifices might play similar roles in a sacrificial ceremony. “People were killed alive to be human sacrifices for deities, spirits, and ancestors to ‘eat.’ Thus, human sacrifices were used in the same way as animal sacrifices like dogs and pigs.”26 This argument goes by assuming that cannibalism did exist in man’s early days. This may further lead to the conclusion that deities or evil spirits would also eat humans, as cannibalism did exist in human societies. So is the conclusion about the buried ornaments: Deities or evil spirits would also need ornaments as human beings do. Thus, human sacrifices, dogs, pigs, and giant clamshells were buried to treat and please deities and spirits. However, bloody sacrifices at the initial stage of building construction were a somehow universal phenomenon in the world. Tylor enumerates in his Primitive Culture quite a number of examples to explain “survivals in culture.” We may have in Tylor’s examples a broader view of observation of man’s foundation-laying behaviors: There is current in Scotland the belief in bathing foundation-stones with human blood; and legend even tells that St. Columba found it necessary to bury St. Oran alive beneath the foundation of his monastery to propitiate the spirits of the soil who demolished by night what was built during the day. As recent as 1843, in Germany, when a new bridge was built, a notion was abroad among the people that a child wanted to be buried beneath the foundation. It is believed that walls or bridges want human blood or immured victims to make the foundation steadfast. When the broken dam of the Nogat had to be repaired in 1463, the peasants were said to have made a beggar drunk and buried him there. Thuringian legend declares that to make the castle fast and impregnable, a child was bought for hard money of its mother and walled in. The wall of Copenhagen, legend says, sank as fast as it was built, so they closed a vault over an innocent little girl. Then, the wall was raised and stood firm ever after. The Slavonic chiefs sent out men to take the first boy they met and bury him in the foundation. The Serbian legend tells how three brothers combined to build the fortress of Skadra (Scutari). The youngest brother’s wife was buried beneath to appease the demon that razed by night what was built by day. German folklore says it is well, before entering a new house, to let a cat or dog run in. in Africa, in Galam, a 24

Zhu Zhenhao, House-building Ceremonies in the Ancient Times of China, Cultural Relics of Central China, 1990 (3), 98. 25 Zhu Zhenhao, House-building Ceremonies in the Ancient Times of China, Cultural Relics of Central China, 1990 (3), 98. 26 Wang Lei, A Preliminary Study on Human Sacrifices and Offerings of the Longshan Culture, Southeast Culture, 1999 (4), 22.

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boy and girl used to be buried alive before the great gate of the city to make it impregnable. In Borneo, among the Milanau Dayaks, a slave girl was placed in the deep hole dug to receive the first post at the erection of the largest house, and the enormous timber descended, crushing the girl to death. A seventeenth century account of Japan mentions that when a great wall was to be built, some slave would lie down in the trench to be crushed by the heavy stones lowered upon him, so that the wall would be secure from accident.27 Tylor’s description of ugly survivals in culture is obviously full of extreme indignation and shock. However, as an advocate of the science of culture, Tylor has a rational comment on the purpose of those bloody foundation-laying ceremonies: “From all this it seems that, with due allowance for the idea having passed into an often-repeated and varied mythic theme, yet written and unwritten tradition do preserve the memory of a bloodthirsty barbaric rite, which not only really existed in ancient times, but lingered long in European history. If now we look to less cultured countries, we shall find the rite carried on in our own day with a distinctly religious purpose, either to propitiate the earth-spirits with a victim, or to convert the soul of the victim himself into a protecting demon.”28 Human and animal sacrifices on foundation-laying ceremonies were something undoubtedly universal, as is shown by examples and facts Tylor collected from travelers and legends and by the findings and analyses made by Chinese archaeologists on Yangshao and Longshan cultures. French scholars talk about the magical purpose of such a sacrificial ceremony, “in the building sacrifice, for example, one sets out to create a spirit who will be the guardian of the house, altar, or town that one’s building or wants to build, and which will become the power within it. Thus the rites of attribution are developed. The skull of the human victim, the cock, or the head of the owl, is walled up. Again, depending on the nature of the building, whether it is to be a temple, a town, or a mere house, the importance of the victim differs. According to as the building is already built or is about to be built, the object of the sacrifice will be to create the spirit or the protecting divinity, or to propitiate the spirit of the soil which the building operations are about to harm.”29 Here is a matter of redemption, through a victim, from the anger of the spirit that is the owner of the ground, or in some cases of the building itself.30 Surely, the large numbers of infants, young girls, adults, animals, and ornaments buried as sacrifices over the periods of Yangshao and Longshan cultures, in a sense of sorcery, were not meant to exert control over supernatural powers or expel evils by applying divination or fortunetelling; instead, people bowed to and served deities and evil spirits by offering those sacrifices. “Consciousness is at first, of course, merely consciousness concerning the immediate sensuous environment and consciousness 27

E.B. Tylor; Lian Shusheng (Trans.), Primitive Culture (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2005), 83–86. 28 E.B. Tylor; Lian Shusheng (Trans.), Primitive Culture (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2005), 85. 29 M. Mauss et al.; Yang Yudong (Trans.), A General Theory of Magic/Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2007), 218. 30 M. Mauss et al.; Yang Yudong (Trans.), A General Theory of Magic/Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2007), 283.

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of the limited connection with other persons and things outside the individual who is growing self-conscious. At the same time, it is consciousness of nature, which first appears to men as a completely alien, all-powerful and unassailable force, with which men’s relations are purely animal and by which they are overawed like beasts; it is thus a purely animal consciousness of nature (natural religion) just because nature is as yet hardly modified historically.”31 It was right under such mentality that humans in remote antiquity committed cruel killing of their fellow members of the species to propitiate supernatural powers like deities and evil spirits. Mengjiangnv’s story is one of the four best-known legends told in China. It experienced changes all throughout history. These changes serve as evidence of human sacrifices in building activities. The original legend tells how a woman from State Qi mourned for her husband Qi Liang who had died in a battle. However, Tang Poet Guanxiu (832–912) wrote in his poems how Qi Liang was buried beneath the wall when building the Great Wall for Qin Shi Huang. Guanxiu’s poems thus heralded a tragic turn of Mengjiangnv’s story.32 According to Gu Jiegang, Mengjiangnv’s legend after the Tang Dynasty tells how the woman’s husband died of being walled in as an exorcism human sacrifice. Gu’s study reveals more evidence that exorcism human sacrifices did exist in Chinese society and leave far-reaching impacts. According to Gu, the scenario was added to Mengjiangnv’s legend under the influence of folk customs. Gu’s methodology of setting a legend in the specific cultural context is truly admirable. Gu Jiegang finds, “When Helian Bobo built Tongwan City, he would kill the artisan and built him in, if the iron awl could penetrate one cun deep into the wall. This must have been what Guanxiu wrote ‘with men buried beneath’ in his poems. It must have some influence on Mengjiangnv’s legend.”33 Gu’s observation is actually seen in Beishi: Lizhuan Dibashiyi (History of the Northern Dynasties: Biographies Eighty-first). The entry tells how Qu Gai mercilessly killed artisans when he supervised the construction of 31

Completed Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 3 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, December 1960), 35. 32 Gu Jiegang says, “It was first seen in the poem ‘Qi Liang’s Wife’ written by Monk Guanxiu at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The poem reads: All the four seas dried up due to the tyranny of Qin; who had the Great Wall built to guard off northern Barbarians. The wall ran ten-thousand li, with men buried beneath; Qi Liang’s wife wailed at her husband’s death. She had no father, husband, nor son; she was left a lonely widow, without supports. At her first wail, collapsed the Great Wall; at her second wail, came out Qi Liang’s bones. Souls of victims were set free from the wall; Be sure not to disturb them on the street! (See it in Collection of Yuefu Poetry, Vol. 73. A similar poem in Guanxiu’s Chanyue Ji is not quoted here.) I see three things astounding in the poem. First of all, Qi Liang was a man living in the Qin Dynasty. Secondly, the Qin Court built men alive in the Great Wall, and Qi Liang was one of the victims. Thirdly, the Great Wall collapsed at the wail of Qi Liang’s wife, and at her second wail, Qi’s remains came out from the wall.” See Gu Jiegang (Ed.), Folktales of Mengjiangnv (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, February 1984), 14. In addition, Guanxiu’s poem “Qi Liang’s Wife” collected in his collection of poetry Chanyue Ji only slightly differs in wording from the one quoted by Gu. But both poems tell that Qi Liang was built alive in the Great Wall, which collapsed at the wail of Qi’s wife. See Shi Guanxiu, Chanyue Ji, Vol. 1. In Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 33 Gu Jiegang (Ed.), Folktales of Mengjiangnv (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, February 1984), 290.

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the city. Qu Gai had artisans to build the city wall. He would kill the artisan and built him in if the iron awl could penetrate one cun deep into the wall.34 Chen Lin (?–217) of the Three Kingdoms Period wrote, “Can’t you see stacks of human skeletons beneath the Great Wall?”35 “With men buried beneath” in Guanxiu’s poem should be a sort of description of officials’ cruelty in history. However, archaeological findings serve as evidence of a bold conjecture that exorcism may have been taken into Mengjiangnv’s legend before the Tang Dynasty. However, I would like to investigate the purpose of human sacrifices in the building construction process. As Tylor points out, “the object of the sacrifice will be to create the spirit or the protecting divinity, or to propitiate the spirit of the soil which the building operations are about to harm.” However, foundation-laying sorcery was practically held to secure the building fast and impregnable, as construction artisans imputed the collapse of a building to the anger of deities, instead of inferior and crude building techniques. Then, an investigation of the relationship between techniques and sorcery is required. Is it fair to say the ignorant cult of sorcery hampered technical progress? This theory seemed to satisfy cultural evolutionism. However, considering that numerous architectural wonders like temples, mausoleums, and palaces were built in the times when sorcery prevailed, I don’t think the above assumption could be hundred-percent true. Malinowski’s insightful comment on sorcery is based on anthropological field work. According to him, magic has never replaced man’s substantial work, and man doesn’t turn to magic unless he feels truly powerless.36 I must say that sorcery did hamper technical progress, but it was not always so. In primitive culture, sorcery and techniques could be practiced side by side, not mutually exclusive. In some cases, sorcery was even a boost to technical progress, as the practice of sorcery made people feel confident. For instance, man probably could not make the first step in building, without his efforts to propitiate the spirit of the soil or building. Man dared not break ground to build before offering sacrifices to deities and evil spirits of such as land and building.

1.2 Personification of Land Deity and Ground-Breaking Ceremony More than human and animal sacrifices to propitiate deities and evil spirits, land worship was an increasingly important component of the artisan’s building construction folkways. Lu Ban’s Canons specifies how to pick an auspicious day for breaking ground; nevertheless, breaking ground is far from a sorcery practice that could be 34

Zhou Guolin (Ed.), History of the Northern Dynasties, Vol. 4 (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 2050. 35 Gu Jiegang (Ed.), Folktales of Mengjiangnv (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, February 1984), 15. 36 B. Malinowski; Fei Xiaotong (Trans.), A Scientific Theory of Culture and Other Essays (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, February 1987), 61.

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completed by the artisan alone. Both the geomancer and the house owner would play their roles. Non-artisans would participate in other sacrificial ceremonies for building construction. However, artisans play the leading role in such a ceremony anyway. However, the artisan’s leading role in the breaking ground ceremony is comparatively weakened. The artisan is only one of the many participants in the ceremony. The practice of sorcery is always from and for land worship. For example, an artisan from Tonghai County, Yunnan Province knows something about how to pick an auspicious day. However, he must rely on a geomancer for accurate selection.37 In actuality, a geomancer would rely on the widely accepted almanac. As intellectuals in rural areas, geomancers are better educated than their fellow villagers and practice geomancy and day picking in village communities. Artisans and geomancers work closely in the building construction process; therefore, artisans may know something about fengshui and day picking as well. However, the available data from folklore surveys illustrate the division of practice between geomancers and artisans. Given that fengshui and the artisan’s folk knowledge are two interconnected yet separable knowledge systems, I would like to focus on the artisan’s role and talk about other actors in a very light way. In Fujian, before a house is built, a geomancer is invited to see the terrain, select an appropriate place, and pick an auspicious day for breaking ground. In a breaking ground ceremony held by southern Fujian people, the geomancer has two iconic fir sticks prepared by the house owner and sticks them in the grounds at both ends of the axis of the building site. Then, mason places a tablet inscribed “Tudigong Shenwei” (Tablet for God of Land) or “Fude Zhengshen” (God of Fude) roughly at the place where the back parlor is to be built. The tablet stands for the deity to be offered with sacrifices. The house owner gets sacrificial offerings ready and makes prayers and offers up to God of Heaven, God of Land, and Protecting Spirit of Household. In some cases, the sacrificial ceremony for God of Land is held after breaking ground. In such a circumstance, a sacrificial tablet is stuck in the ground before a mason chants the prayer. A prayer chants, “May Heaven and Earth be in the best state at the right time on the right day. May gods of land in charge of all types of terrains be at ease and gay. May all twenty-four bearings see auspices and be in favor. May the house owner have a good helper.” Another prayer goes, “May all crops see a good harvest. May the house sturdy and impregnable. May the family grow ever larger. May the family be prosperous one generation after another.” The Hakkas also offer sacrifices to God of Land, the local deity of soil, or Protecting Spirit of Household. In a foundation-laying ceremony held in Quanzhou, the geomancer gives instructions to artisans on position. According to a southern-Fujian geomancer, at the foundation laying on a selected day, abundant sacrificial offerings are placed on an old-fashioned square table or Baxianzhuo in Chinese and offered to deities and spirits, including God of Heaven, God of Land, and Protecting Spirit of Household. In Jinjiang and surrounding areas, a mason or bricklayer first places the plinth and chants a prayer, “The foundation is 37

Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005), 16.

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laid for everlasting wealth and noble status. The foundation is laid for everlasting prosperity and grandeur. The foundation is laid for the family lineage continuing until perpetuity, for their success in official career, and for their lasting credit.”38 The relationship between man and deities, that is, the one between the geomancer, artisans, the house owner and God of Land and other deities and spirits, keeps on even after the beam setting ceremony. Therefore, an appreciation/farewell ceremony is held to express man’s gratitude to deities and spirits. A southern Fujian artisan chants an “appreciation prayer” or “farewell prayer to the god.” A “appreciation prayer” is chanted in Dongkeng Village and surrounding areas in Shanxia Town, Hui’an County, “XX (the house owner’s name) from X Village, X Town, X County, X Province, offers, with his due respect, animal sacrifices, fruit and vegetable, wines, incense and candles, and foil money, to God of Fude and Protecting Spirit of the Household, at X (time) on DD/MM/YY. XX (the house owner’s name) started the construction at X (time) on DD/MM/YY. It took (the duration of construction) to complete the construction at X (time) on DD/MM/YY. In case artisans offended Your Revered during the construction, I now pay you my due respect and sacrificial offerings. May you please forgive us any offense during the construction. And may you please give my family all your blessings. Do please enjoy the feast. May Your Revered do me the favor.”39 The building construction sacrificial ceremonies in Fujian demonstrate a change: The deities and spirits have been the personified ones man could establish a harmonious relationship with by offering sacrifices and making prayers. The personified deities and spirits are not as macabre as those in Yangshao and Longshan cultures. This change was the result of evolution over a lengthy period of time. Even though the earth is usually called Mother Earth, people practiced land worship in different ways in ancient times. “People had rather different ways of worshipping Nature, due to different natural environments they lived in and different animals they lived with. For instance, hunters and mountain people worshipped mountain and tree gods; belief of water and land gods prevailed in agricultural settlements; and people living in coastal areas held religious respect for the sea.”40 Farming peoples have a stronger reliance on soil than hunting or fishing peoples do. The Chinese nation was among the first farming settled people. Shiming: Shidi Di’er (Explanation of Names: Earth) explains, “Earth means the bottom to hold everything on it. It also means to be careful; that is, it carefully examines things from and on it. Yi (Book of Changes) calls it kun, which means obedience to qian or Heaven. Earth is to generate everything.”41 Earth grows everything and thus is worshipped side by side with Heaven. The explanation in Shuowen Jiezi (Explaining Graphs 38

Chen Jinguo, Beliefs, Rites, and Customary Societies: A Historical Anthropological Exploration of Fengshui, II (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), November 2005), 412–417. 39 Ibid., 424–425. 40 Song Zhaolin, Sorcerers and Sorcery (Chengdu: Sichuan Ethnic Publishing House, May 1989), 75. 41 Wang Xianqian, Revision and Annotations to “Explanation of Names” (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, March 1984), 52.

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and Analyzing Characters) may be rooted in the “chaos” theory: “When Heaven and Earth got separated, the energy of yang was clear and light and went upwards to be Heaven, and the energy of yin was foul and heavy and went downwards to be Earth. Everything grows out of Earth.” “Earth is the thing generating everything. The character ‘土’ illustrates how a thing grows out of Earth. Any character referring to something relating to earth has ‘土’ as a part.”42 Ancient people had their first impression of Earth that it grows and carries everything on it. Even in modern days, people still feel awed at Earth’s vastness, let alone primitive men who had no modern transport means and could only rely on their imagination to feel Earth’s immensity. People in ancient times did not see themselves as th master of the Earth. Rather, they felt insignificant and weak man compared to the unmeasured vastness of Earth. People in ancient China did not have an object of land worship until the concept “she”, literally “God of Land” came into being. Shuowen: Shi Bu (Explaining Graphs: Shi) read, “She is literally God of Land… Commentary of Zuo writes, ‘Goulong, a son of Gonggong’s is God of Land.’ Rites of Zhou states, ‘Twenty-five families have their own land gods and plant trees suitable for their territories.’”43 God of Land has occupied a prominent position in Chinese culture, as “land gods are much closer to people than the Supreme God.”44 Primitive people found the Supreme God unreachably high in Heaven and felt awed in front of it. However, they had a feeling of intimacy and attachment to Earth. People followed the law of Heaven and were willing to accept their fate. However, people made their living on Earth and were grateful to the Earth for what it offered. Liji: Jiao Tesheng (Book of Rites: Heaven Worshipping Ceremony) states, “People show their respect for God of Land by offering sacrifices to the god. Earth nurtures everything on it. Heaven presents all sorts of omens to man. Humans make their living on what Earth gives them and follow the law of Heaven. Thus, man should hold due respect for Heaven and feel close to Earth. Thus, people are told to offer abundant sacrificial offerings to show their gratitude. A household offers up to Zhongliu, and a vassal state offers up to She, to show their respect for and gratitude for God of Land. (Note: Zhongliu is another term for the land god.)” Zheng Xuan (127–200), a renowned philosopher of the Han Dynasty annotated Book of Rites, “She or God of Land is the most prominent deity worshipped in a state.”45 There are five types of terrain on Earth. Thus, She or God of Land is the god that reigns over all five types. Ji or literally God of Grain receives sacrificial offerings side by side with God of Land. Liji Zhushu (Book of Rites with Exegesis) says, “Xiaojing (Classic of Filial Piety) rules, ‘She is God of Land. However, it is impossible to offer up to every inch of land of unmeasured vastness. Thus, an earth mount is piled for the local land god, as a sort of icon to 42

Xu Shen; Xu Xuan (Ed.); Wang Hongyuan (Rev.), Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), February 2005, Modern edition), 763. 43 Ibid., 7. 44 Yang Kuan, An Introduction to the Ancient Chinese History, in A Discriminating Ancient History, Vol. 7, Part I (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, August 1982), 128. 45 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 917–918.

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show man’s respect and gratitude.’”46 According to modern research, the concept of Ji or God of Grain came into being in the Zhou Dynasty. “People of Yin only offered up to God of Land. They had no God of Grain.”47 Kong Yingda (574–648) made commentary on Liji: Jiao Teshe (Book of Rites: Heaven Worshipping Ceremony), “It says, ‘a sacrifice is held for God of Land who reigns over the energy of yin.’ Land has five types, namely wooded mountains, rivers and lakes, hills, waterside lands, and swamps. Sacrifices are held for God of Land according to season. Soil is the lord of the energy of yin, thus God of Land ‘reigns over the energy of yin’.”48 Zheng Xuan annotated Liji: Yueling (Book of Rites: Proceedings of Government in Different Months), “She is God of Earth and receives sacrificial offerings from man, to bless agricultural activities and harvests. A sacrifice for God of Land should be held on the Day of Jia or the first day of every ten days.”49 In Liji: Jifa (Book of Rites: The Law of Sacrifices), Houtu or literally God of Earth was described as a mythical figure who pacified all the nine prefectures under Heaven and a son of Gonggong’s, “Ji (the progenitor) of Zhou, who continued his work after the decay of Xia, and was sacrificed to under the name of Ji; Houtu, a son of the line of Gonggong, that swayed the nine provinces, who was able to reduce them all to order, and was sacrificed to as the spirit of the ground.”50 The same record is found in Guoyu: Luyu (Discourses of the States, Vol. 4: State Lu, I), “Houtu, a son of the line of Gonggong, that swayed the nine provinces, who was able to reduce them all to order, and was sacrificed to as the spirit of the ground.”51 Houtu the God of Land was ceremoniously sacrificed to in the Zhou Dynasty, as is said in Zhouli: Chunguan Zongbo–Dazhu (Rites of Zhou: Zongbo the Officer of Spring–Greater Prays), “Before the establishment of a vassal state, sacrificial offerings should be offered to Houtu. (Note: Houtu is God of Land.)”52 Houtu is not only God of Land. In the theory of the five elements, Houtu is respected as one of the five gods of elements. However, Houtu tops the list as the supreme god of the five. Liji: Yueling (Book of Rites: Proceedings of Government in Different Months) goes, “Right in the center is earth. Its days are Wu and Ji. Its divine ruler is the Yellow Emperor, and the (attending) spirit is Houtu. Its creature is that without any natural covering but the skin. Its musical note is Gong.”53 Titles of the five gods of elements are specified in Zuozhuan: Zhaogong Ershiwu Nian (The Commentary of Zuo: Twenty-fifth Year under the Reign of Duke Zhao of Lu): 46

Ibid., 992. Chen Mengjia, Yinxu Buci Zongshu (An Overview of Oracle Inscriptions Found in Yinxu Site) (Beijing: Science Press, July 1956), 583. 48 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 918. 49 Ibid., 552. 50 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 1524. 51 Classics Collating Team of Shanghai Normal University (Revised & punctuated), Discourses of the States, I (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, March 1978), 166. 52 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Rites of Zhou with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 792. 53 Ibid., 601–602. 47

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1 Land Worship and Building Construction Folklore Sacrifices are held for the Five Gods to show respect and gratitude. The Spirit of Fire is Zhurong, the Spirit of Metal is Rushou, the Spirit of Water is Xuanming, and the Spirit of Earth is Houtu… Goulong from the line of Gonggong is Houtu (Kong Yingshu’s commentary says that Jifa [The Law of Sacrifices] goes, “Houtu, a son of the line of Gonggong, that swayed the nine provinces, who was able to reduce them all to order, and was sacrificed to as the spirit of the ground.” That is to say, Houtu was able to pacify the power of water and soil. Gonggong’s son may mean a descendant of Gonggong’s. However, it remains unknown when Goulong became respected as Houtu.). Thus are two sacrifices.54

Lvshi Chunqiu: Jixiaji (Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals: Late Summer) says, “Right in the center is earth. Its days are Wu and Ji. Its divine ruler is the Yellow Emperor, and the (attending) spirit is Houtu…”55 Dong Zhongshu (179BC–104BC) said in his Chunqiu Fanlu (Quintessence of Chunqiu) that earth was the supreme ruler of the Five Elements, “Metal, wood, water, and fire have their own functions. However, none of the four would be in function, without earth… Earth is the supreme ruler of the Five Elements.”56 Huainanzi: Shizexun (Huainanzi: Monthly Rules) states that the Five Emperors and their attending spirits rule over the four directions and the central place.57 Liji: Jifa (Book of Rites: The Law of Sacrifices) stipulates a hierarchy of sacrifices to God of Land: “The king, for all the people, erected an altar to (the spirit of) the ground, called the Grand altar, and one for himself, called the Royal altar. A feudal prince, for all his people, erected one called the altar of the state, and one for himself called the altar of the prince. Great officers and all below them in association erected such an altar, called the Appointed altar.”58 One would normally assume that Houtu, who was a son of Gonggong’s line and remembered for his brilliant feat of bringing the nine provinces to order, should have been the first personified figure of God of Land in history. However, Houtu always stands at the most prominent position, according to ancient documents, and receives great sacrifices. Human beings hold a distant respect for Houtu. The land god hadn’t been truly personified or desacralized until it was addressed as “gong”, a venerable title used for addressing a male elderly. The history of the practice of using the title of “gong” to address a local god of land goes back at least to the Han Dynasty. According to Imperial Reader (Vol. 532): Rituals (Sect. 11): God of Land and God of Grain cited from Wujing Yiyi (Different Interpretations of the Meaning of the Five Classics), “People of the day respect a local god of land by the venerable title of ‘gong,’ indicating the god’s status among

54

Yang Bojun, Annotations to “The Commentary of Zuo”, IV: Duke Zhao, Duke Ding, and Duke Ai (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 1981), 1502–1503. 55 Zhang Shuangdi et al., Interpreted and Annotated “Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals” (Changchun: Jilin Literature & History Publishing House, April 1986), 150. 56 Dong Zhongshu; Ling Shu (Annotated), Quintessence of Chunqiu (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, September 1975), 393–401. 57 Liu An; Gao You (Annotated), Annotated Huainanzi (Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore, July 1986), 83–85. 58 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 1520.

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upper-class gods.”59 Additionally, according to Book of Later Han: Biographies of Alchemists: Fei Changfang, a local god of land was no longer a figure high on the altar; instead, the god became an ordinary deity subordinate to celestials. As was described in Book of Later Han: Changfang bid farewell to the old man, and the latter gave him a bamboo stick, saying, “You ride on this. It’ll carry you home. When you arrive, just throw it into the Ge Pond.” The old man painted a charm for Changfang, saying, “You can order about ghosts and deities with this charm.” Changfang sat on the bamboo stick and arrived home in an instant. He thought he’d been away only a couple of days. However, over ten years had passed. Changfang then threw the stick into the pond, and the stick turned into a dragon. However, Changfang’s family did not believe in his words, thinking he’d long been dead. Changfang said, “Go to open the tomb. What’s in it is only a bamboo stick.” The family then went to dig the coffin out and found a bamboo stick in it. Changfang was able to cure all diseases, flog ghosts and spirits and order the local god of land. He was found sitting alone and in great anger from time to time. Others asked him why, and Changfang explained, “I was scolding the ghosts and spirits that committed offence.”60

Soushenji: He Yu (Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals: He Yu) even tells a tale that the local god of land could be ordered about by man: He Yu from Kuaiji, courtesy name Yanju, was once very sick. Totally unconscious, he was only warm at chest. Yu regained consciousness three days later and told about his story: An officer brought him to Heaven. He was brought to the government mansion that was well guarded. Then someone took him to a secret chamber. There was a shelf in the chamber. A seal sat on the top of the shelf. A sword lay on the middle layer. Yu was told to take whatever he wanted. He would prefer the seal. Yet, he was too short to get it. So Yu took the sword. The gatekeeper asked, “What did you take?” Yu answered, “The sword.” The gatekeeper said, “What a pity you did not have the seal. Otherwise, you could order about all deities. With the sword, you could only order about the local god of land.” After Yu had been recovered, a spirit came to have words with him, as the gatekeeper had told. The spirit said that he was the local god of land. Whenever Yu went out, he found the local god of land showing him respect on the roadside. Yu loathed it very much.61

As a Taoist immortal, Fei Changfang was not one of the immortals with the most formidable magic powers. He Yu got the magic sword by chance. But both could order about a local god of land. Evidently, the land god was already reduced to a petit deity. Moreover, Goulong, who was a son of the line of Gonggong’s, had lost his exclusive right over the title of God of Land. Land gods became deified souls of the deceased. Soushenji: Jiang Ziwen (Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals: Jiang Ziwen) tells the legend that Jiang Ziwen became a local god of land after his death.62 59

Li Fang et al., Taiping Yulan (Imperial Reader) (Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & 1998 reprinted edition), Vol. 3, 2414. 60 Xu Jialu (Ed.), Book of Eastern Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1659–1660. 61 Gan Bao & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals; Tao Qian & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Continuation of the Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals, I (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 2007), 362. 62 Ibid.,107–108.

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It is noteworthy that land gods worship evolved over time. First, an ordinary man could become a land god after his death, even though he had been a debauchee in the previous life. Second, a land god could pose a threat to the living by appearing in their dreams. Third, a land god had only a very limited jurisdiction that was no rival to that of Houtu’s, which “extended twelve thousand li from the center;” also, a local god of land was not one high on altar or able to bring order to all nine provinces. Fourth, after a sacrifice to the local god of land, “catastrophic disasters consequently disappear and people would naturally offer up abundantly to the god.” Thus, a personified land god who had emotions as humans do came into being. It was right because of the emergence of personified local land gods that the god was reduced to a petit deity. That is, it was only a local land god that was reduced to a petit deity; instead, the Supreme Ruler of Five Terrains or the Supreme God of Earth has remained high on altar. According to Gu Zhangsi of the Ming Dynasty, the land gradually became a low-ranking deity reigning over a limited jurisdiction. Such a god could be seen across the territory. “A local god of land was already addressed as ‘gong’ in Biographies of Alchemists of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Thus, a local god of land was generally addressed that way and later addressed as ‘tudi gonggong’ or literally the venerable old man of land. In anecdotes, such a figure was always a grey-haired old man… A township or town usually had its own temple of land god. According to Zhouli: Chunguan (Rites of Zhou: The Officer of Spring), in addition to the national altar, altars were also built to earth and land. That was the origin of the later-day term of god of land. Altar to earth was built to the land god.”63 A land god may be only a low-ranking local deity on the township or town level; also, such a god may, in some cases, merely have the jurisdiction over a single dwelling place. A legend in Beimeng Suoyan (Trivial of the North) authored by Sun Guangxian of the Tang Dynasty tells: A Councilor Cui from Fujian was an upright man and respected by his colleagues and subordinates. On his way back from Hunan to the capital for reporting on the completion of his mission, Cui came across bandits. All his companions were killed. However, someone showed Cui a way out, and he escaped killing. However, it was a long journey. Cui later came down with malaria and had no access to medicine. He took a stop at a temple in Yanpingjin. In his dream, the temple deity gave him three pills. Cui was miraculously cured. This was an example of how a deity can provide virtuous person assistance in a time of need. Liu Shanfu from Pengcheng recounted that his maternal grandfather Councilor Li Jingyi lived in Yucai Neighborhood in the Eastern Capital (present-day Luoyang—translator’s note). The local land god was believed to have prescience. Zhang Xing was a servant in Li’s house and always offered well up to the god. Before a great flood, the local land asked Zhang for a treatment in Zhang’s dream. On the very day of the flood, the god led his fellow deities to stop the flood peak from destroying Li’s dwelling place. It was a miracle.64

63

Gu Zhangsi, Tufeng Lu (Anecdotes of Local Customs), Vol. 18 (Edition of the third year of the Jiajing era, Ming Dynasty), in Meng Yuanlao & Deng Zhicheng (Annotated), Dreams of Splendor of Kaifeng (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, January 1982), 254. 64 Sun Guangxian; Lin Qing & He Junping (Revised and annotated), Trivial of the North (Xi’an: Sanqin Publishing House, January 2003), 217.

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Shi Shengwo in Yijianzhi (Tales of Yijian) was actually saved by the household god from potential harms from evil spirits.65 A local land god was rather different from the great God of Land, which was able to reduce nine provinces to order and pacify the five terrains in terms of godhood. A local land god had his own jurisdiction and scope of power over a tiny place. The sacrificial prayer from Emperor Xiaozong of Song indicated an ever-narrower scope of jurisdiction for a local land god.66 In addition, a local land god was as emotional and sensational as man did, despite the supernatural power he possessed. This fully demonstrated a human-originated mentality in the god-creating process. There is a tale that “the local land god took a wife” in the third volume of Jianhu Yuji (More Worthless Things).67 In the tale, the local land god married a daughter from the Zhang family using his supernatural power. His goes to show that despite being a god, he was nonetheless not immune to the carnal desires that beautiful women would arouse in ordinary men. The pattern that the deceased may turn into a deity actually builds a logical framework of personified deities and godhood. A personified land god and man had between them a contractual relationship. That is, the local land god was responsible for the safety of the place, while local people must show proper respect for and give proper sacrificial offerings to the god to exchange for his protection. Man and god were in mutual need. That is what we call a sacred contract. In some tales, a local land god would unexpectedly suffer hunger and turn to man for help. In the eighth volume of Zibuyu (What the Master Would Not Discuss) there is a tale that “a local land god suffered hunger.”68 This may be a hint at the real life. Accordingly, a land god was no longer beyond reach for earthly creatures. Human beings and gods could communicate with each other through dreams. A dream was a place of divine visitation. The foregoing analysis helps us understand why in Fujian, professional house builders hold sacrifices to the land god and protect the spirit of households. Land doesn’t belong to human beings. Instead, it is ruled by god. Thus, sacrifices and prayers are required before breaking ground and construction can begin. Otherwise, human beings are to be punished. The Bai people of Cai Village on the western bank of Erhai Lake, Dali, Yunnan Province, hold a grand sacrificial ceremony before breaking ground. They draw eight diagrams in the center of the building site and place clean, fecal-free soil in the east, west, south, north, and center, symbolizing the gods of five directions. The same ceremony is also held at the place where the courtyard and central room are to be built. In the center of the place where the courtyard is to be built, sacrificial offerings are presented to God of Heaven, God of Dragon, and 65

Hong Mai; He Zhuo (Punctuated and checked), Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1981), 781–782. 66 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 1862. 67 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 2082. 68 Yuan Mei, What the Master Would Not Discuss (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing House, July 1987), 139.

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God of Earth. The offerings include one duck egg, one uncooked fish, a basin of pig blood, a bowl of rice, a cup of liquor, and a cup of tea. The following is drama-like, a solemn drama, of course. Two elders, who enjoy a healthy, long, and happy life, act as God of Land and Goddess of Land and chant the tune of the Bai nationality, praying for blessings from gods and deities, so that the house “enjoys tranquility and peace, prosperous descendants, and all happiness.” Geomancers, Taoist priests, neighbors, and the house owner all take a part in the rites of sorcery characterized by Taoist, Buddhist, and Bai ethnic cultural features. The Bai people attach great significance to the rites.69 Despite the lack of significance of artisans seen in the rites, artisans are never pure bystanders on a rite in rural society; instead, they are participants and insiders. They feel in person the group worship and admiration of land. A house they are to build could be justified only by such a rite. Thus, sacrificial rites lay conditions for artisan activities and are thus an integral part of the artisan’s building construction folkways. Records of sacrifice to the land god in building construction can be found in texts from the Han Dynasty. Lunheng: Jiechu (Discourses in the Balance: Exorcism) goes, “When people build a house or break the ground, they hold an appreciation rite to express their gratitude to the land god at the completion of construction. An earthen idol is made to present the spirit. A sorcerer prays to expel evils. People feel pleased and satisfied after the rite, thinking that evils have been expelled. Closely seen, it is truly nonsense.”70 The aforementioned “appreciation/farewell” ceremony held by professional house builders in southern Fujian may originate from this “appreciation rite for the land god” described by Wang Chong. Moreover, the Bai artisans in Zibi Township, Eryuan, Dali, Yunnan Province, held an exorcism rite after the completion of construction to pacify the land god and dragon god. The local Bai people believe that a construction of house disturbs the local land god and dragon god. They would be punished by angry gods if no sacrificial offerings are presented as a sort of compensation for the gods. Elders from the Dongjing Music Society or Old Granny’s Society are invited to chant the prayer. Or, a family holds a sacrifice by itself. The prayer chants, “When gods exercise their power, evils are expelled. It is a great virtue indeed. A house is built and the ground broken. May the dragon god and land god be back to peace. May the gods bring tranquility, prosperity, and productivity to the family.” The ingots, coats, and pants used in the sacrifice are made of gold- and silver-colored paper. All the sacrificial offerings should be burned, and the ashes must be disposed of into a ditch and washed away.71 The survey was conducted in April 1988. The sacrifice it recorded was a well-preserved ancient appreciation ceremony for the land god. The rite originated from the religious sacrifice popular dating back thousands of years as was described by Wang Chong in the Han Dynasty. The Yi 69

Lv Daji & He Yaohua. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 748. 70 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance, IV (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 1440. 71 Lv Daji & He Yaohua (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 730.

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people living in Gulv and Tuanjie townships, Kunming, Yunnan Province, invited Xibo (a Yi sorcerer) to preside over a “dragon/land pacifying” (alternatively called “land-pressing”) ceremony after the completion of building construction. When Xibo is chanting the Huishu Scripture, the house owner kowtows towards the east, south, west, north, and center to show his gratitude to the land gods of the five directions for their blessings over the construction.72 The five gods reign over the five types of terrain, namely, wooded mountains, rivers and lakes, hills, riparian land, and swamps.73 There are numerous examples of sacrifices for the land seen in folkways across the country. Also, these folkways evolve over time. The local god of land is a Chinesenative deity growing out of China’s primitive religion. However, in some areas, this native deity has been given Buddhist characters. Artisans in the Fengxian area hold a “land-warming” sacrificial ceremony (colloquially called alms-giving to the land) before breaking ground for the Bodhisattva of Land. According to the related field work, despite his Buddhist title, the deity is in actuality a local god of land who could communicate with spirits and gods and protect the place in his jurisdiction. The niche in a sacrifice is called shenma and placed on an old-fashioned square table. The sacrificial offerings include fish that are pronounced and sounds like jade and surplus, as the three characters are pronounced as yu in Chinese, slightly in tone, though. This grows out of an auspiciousness-pursuing psychology. After the sacrificial ceremony, the niche and tinfoil ingots are burnt to show people’s piety to the god.74 In Huzhou, the house owner should hold a sacrifice to the local god of land on the eve of breaking ground. A fortune teller or “qin ba” (literally “biological father,” a term used in sorcery) is invited to pick an appropriate time for breaking ground. The rite is held at midnight. In the ceremony, the curtain for the land god is erected on the old-fashioned square table. After the sacrificial offerings are presented, the curtain is burnt outside the gate.75 In Sichuan Province, a mason offers sacrifices to the god of earth before laying the foundation stone. The niche for the god of earth is placed at the site where the main room is to be built. The mason places the first hard-textured foundation stone beneath the niche. Prayers are chanted to the god before and after laying the foundation stone for the god’s blessings.76 We have seen how the deities to which sacrifices are offered in building construction-related ceremonies became personified. More explanations are needed for details of the sacrificial ceremonies themselves. While the choice of food used for 72

Ibid., 353. Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 918. 74 Song Genxin, A Survey of Beliefs and Customs of Living in Fengxian Area, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Folk Literature Studies, Vol. 6 (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, June 1992), 220–221. 75 Zhong Ming, A Survey on House-building Customs in Huzhou, in Jiang Bin (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Oral Folk Culture (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, September 1993), 240–241. 76 Zhu Shizhen, An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 141. 73

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sacrificial offerings can be the same as or similar to what is eaten by the living, many other aspects of these ceremonies do not easily lend themselves to explanation by reference to personification. For instance, at the end of a sacrificial ceremony held by the Bai people living in Cai Village on the western bank of Erhai Lake, Dali, Yunnan Province, the house owner puts all the sacrificial offerings into a jar and buries the jar near the house (and the survey of 1988 showed that such a jar was usually thrown into the lake). Otherwise, gods would be angry and punish the people. Thus, the family incurs something bad and even death.77 In Gulv and Tuanjie townships in Kunming, a carpenter sprinkles chicken blood into the pits at the four corners of the foundation and places stones in the pits at foundation laying.78 Additionally, blood sacrifice and burial of sacrificial offerings have been widely seen in foundation-laying rites of Yangshao and Longshan cultures. The pattern has been unique to a sacrifice to the land god. It was a sort of protocol in ancient sacrificial rites to the land god to bury sacrificial offerings. Liji: Jifa (Book of Rites: The Law of Sacrifices) writes, “With a blazing pile of wood on the Grand altar they sacrificed to Heaven; by burying (the victim) in the Grand mound, they sacrificed to the Earth. (In both cases), they used a red-fur victim.” According to the annotation, “Both an altar and a mound were an earth-piled mound for a sacrificial rite. An altar was flat on the top. A mound was built to worship the god. God of Earth represented the energy of yin. And a black-fur victim was used. Calves were presented both to Heaven and Earth. Thus, red-fur victim was a term of conjunction.”79 The burial rite is widely talked in Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). For instance, Nanci’er Jing (Classic of the Second Mountain Chain in the South) says, “The second mountain chain in the south starts from the Wuling Mountains in Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in south Hunan and ends at the Zhoushan Islands. The seventeen-mountain chain extends seven thousand and two hundred li. All the mountain gods there feature the dragon’s body and bird’s head. A mountain god in the mountain chain is sacrificed with beasts and birds that are buried after sacrifice with a jade ring, and the sacrificial rice wine is made of japonica rice.”80 Beishanshou Jing (Classic of the First Mountain Chain in the North) says, “The first mountain chain in the north starts from Danhu Mountain and ends at Di Mountain. The twenty-fivemountain chain extends five thousand four hundred ninety li. All the mountain gods there feature the snake’s body and man’s head. A mountain god is sacrificed with a rooster and boar that are buried after sacrifice with an elongated pointed tablet gui, but without grain.”81 Zhouli: Chunguan Zongbo–Siwu (Rites of Zhou: Zongbo the Officer of Spring–Head Sorcerer) goes, “In a sacrificial rite, there is someone who 77

Lv Daji & He Yaohua (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 748. 78 Ibid., 353. 79 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 1509–1510. 80 Guo Fu, Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas” (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), May 2004), 48. 81 Ibid., 268.

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keeps guard on the buried sacrificial offerings.” According to the annotation, “Jade sacrifice is buried as the sacrificial offering to the land god. The person on guard leaves at the end of the rite.”82 Erya: Shitian (Literary Expositor: Heaven) goes, “A pile of wood is set on fire at the end of a sacrificial rite to Heaven. Sacrificial offerings are buried at the end of a sacrifice to the Earth.”83 Lvshi Chunqiu: Rendi (Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals: Land Utilization) states, “It’s the rule of Heaven to have four seasons. It’s the rule of the Earth to nurture all things. It’s the rule independent of man’s will. Be it a harvest year or a year of crop failure, the land god must be sacrificed. Farming season mustn’t be missed. People shouldn’t be let go unchecked for any stupid deeds.” According to the annotation, “People sacrifice to the land god in a harvest year to extend their gratitude and pray to be spared from any disasters in a year of crop failure.”84 All the evidence suggests that sacrificial offerings were buried particularly to sacrifice to the land god. The deity was thought to live underground; thus, sacrificial offerings would be closer to the deity for a more convenient feast. “God of Heaven sits high in Heaven; thus, firewood is burnt to the god. God of Earth dwells deep down in the ground; thus, offerings are buried, so that the god could savor them.”85 Evidently, the land god is usually seen as a deity that eats sacrificial offerings up, as is shown by sacrificial offerings, particularly food offerings. This is evidence to personification of gods. Lunheng: Siyi (Discourses in the Balance: Sacrifices) argues, “Heaven and the Earth are both substances. There are stars in the sky and houses on the earth. Houses are built on the substantial earth and stars hang in the substantial sky. Only a substantial form may have a mouth to eat. Had Heaven and the Earth mouths, they would eat up all the sacrificial offerings.”86 Blood sacrifice to the land god has a long history. Zhouli: Chunguan Zongbo– Dazongbo (Rites of Zhou: Zongbo the Officer of Spring–Grand Zongbo) goes, “Gods of land, grain, five direction, and five mountains are sacrificed with blood sacrifice…” According to the annotation, “All the gods are deities of Earth; thus, blood is offered up to land gods. Earth represents the energy of yin that relates to blood. What’s cherished here is the smell of blood. Gods of land and grain are thought to be ones of virtue. Goulong the son of the line of Gonggong is sacrificed to as God of Land. Zhu the son of the line of Lishan is sacrificed to the God of Grain.”87 Guanzi: Kuiduo (Guanzi: Observation and Estimation) talks about human victims for the land god, “The rule goes: One who claims to be capable of military affairs and fails should be 82 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Rites of Zhou with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 810. 83 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Literary Expositor with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 200. 84 Zhang Shuangdi et al., Interpreted and Annotated “Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals (Changchun: Jilin Literature & History Publishing House, April 1986), 924–927. 85 Jin E, Sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, in Qiugulu Lishuo, Vol. 13 (Jinan: Qilu Press, September 2001). 86 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance, IV (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 1446. 87 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Rites of Zhou with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 536.

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killed and offered to the battle drum; and one who claims to be capable of agricultural affairs and fails should be killed and offered to the land god.”88 Jin E (1771–1819) of the Qing Dynasty explained the blood sacrifice to the land god from the angle of yin and yang theory, “In a blood sacrifice, blood is dripped onto the ground in a way scented tulip wine is used. Smoke is yang. Blood is yin. Thus, firewood is burnt so that smoke goes up to Heaven, and blood is dripped so that blood seeps down into the Earth. That is the way of yin and yang.”89 However, Sun Yirang (1848–1908) saw it in a different way: “Blood sacrifice to the land god and firewood-burning to sacrifice Heaven seem to have something in common. Both are to show respect for a god first and offer up to it, so that the god gives his blessings.”90 There are two things to be emphasized here. First, it took quite a long time to have land gods personified. People put land gods into a hierarchy of rank and power based upon the real-life political scene. Second, land god worship in building construction folkways has seen variations throughout histories and across regions; nonetheless, the variations largely have their sources dating back thousands of years. A sacrificial rite is held before breaking ground and building construction, in case the land god or protecting spirit of household, who is believed to have supernatural power, gets offended. An appreciation/farewell ceremony is also prepared after the completion of construction to show gratitude towards the gods and send them off. However, mysterious land is home not only to kind deities but also to various evil spirits. Thus, man holds sorcery rites to chase evil spirits away. An exorcism rite is usually conducted together with a sacrificial ceremony. Taisui is typical of the evil spirit to be avoided by professional house-building artisans at breaking ground. An auspicious day is usually picked to avoid evil spirits such as Taisui, who is associated with ominous events. “The thing we call ‘Taisui’ refers to ‘the Taisui Star,’ which is a fictitious star. It is said to move on the same orbit as ‘the Sui Star’ (the Jupiter), yet in the opposite direction. Each revolution takes twelve years. The legend goes that Taisui is often underground, and those who encounter it while building a house will have something very bad happen to them. Thus, when picking a building site and breaking ground day, people try to avoid such encounters, lest they ‘move the earth that is on top of Taisui’s head.’”91 The entry on Taisui in Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (Modern Chinese Dictionary) reads, “Name of a legendary god. An ancient superstition goes that Taisui God runs underground, parallel to the Sui Star (the Jupiter) in the sky. Breaking ground (for a construction) must not be done where Taisui sits. Otherwise, something bad would happen.”92 88

Li Xiangfeng; Liang Yunhua (Collated), Revised and Annotated “Guanzi” (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, June 2004), 1374. 89 Jin E, On Firewood-burning and Sacrifice-burying, in Qiugulu Lishuo, Vol. 13 (Jinan: Qilu Press, September 2001). 90 Sun Yirang, Commentary on “Zongbo the Officer of Spring–Grand Zongbo,” in Rites of Zhou with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, December 1987). 91 Shen Lihua & Qian Yulian, Chinese Culture of Auspiciousness (Hohhot: Inner Mongolia People’s Publishing House, May 2005), 192. 92 Dictionary Editorial Board of the Institute of Linguistics CASS (Ed.), Modern Chinese Dictionary, Rev. (Beijing: The Commercial Press, July 1996), 1220.

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It is believed that Taisui could be avoided or chased away by erecting a pole of charm, burying tea and rice, hanging a sieve, or placing a charm. Taisui is evidently something integrating ancient astrological superstition and legends. The sacrifice to the land god and the Taisui-expelling rite sit side by side at breaking ground, as is chanted in Tadige (Ballad of Ground-stamping) popular in Chun’an, Zhejiang Province, “Heaven and Earth bless us at the good time on the right day. Taisui the evil spirit leaves us and goes away. Incense and candles are burnt to please the land god. A house is to be built and stand fast and impregnable to an unspecified day.”93 Taisui is something horrible in legends and man-like in real life. Thus, people feel awed by it. Qixiu Leigao (Jottings of Seven Types) authored by Lang Ying of the Ming Dynasty tells, “I once tried to compile Tanpu that tells that a creature was dug out when the city wall was built during the Yuanfeng era. The thing looked like a man, yet without eyebrows and eyes. Someone said it was ‘Taisui’.” In Maiyouji (Carefree) authored by Zhu Meishu (1795–?) of the Qing Dynasty, there is a story telling that Taisui scared a timid woman to death, “My second elder sister married into a Family Zhang. One of her younger sister-in-law suffered hemoptysis. One day, that sister-in-law was preparing the lunch in the kitchen when she happened to see a hand stretching out close to the water urn against the wall. It looked fully like a human hand, with five fingers. The woman was terribly scared and called out. When others arrived, the hand had disappeared. They dug at the place where the hand had been. But nothing was found. The woman began to suffer palpitation and died soon afterwards.”94 Horror stories about Taisui proliferated engendering throughout the ages a host of taboos. One thing repeatedly emphasized in the folktales is that Taisui is a powerful evil spirit to be carefully avoided. There are numerous stories of the kind in Xu Yijianzhi (A Continuation of Tales of Yijian), for instance, “Soil Taboo, II” in the first volume: In the spring of the Yisi Year, when the servant of a young man dug on the ground was ordered by his master, he found a large chunk of meat. When cut with a knife, the lump felt like mutton with membrane. The servant said, “chunks of meat found in the ground are said to be Taisui. Anyone who has it is cursed. Digging it up is forbidden.” The young man said, “I don’t care at all.” He told the servant to go on and got two other lumps. Deaths took place within half a year. No creatures in the family were spared, including cattle and horses. It has been said that one is challenging God by trying on anything of ill-omen. My neighbor Shen Hulu saw the incident in person and told it to me.95

According to “Lump of Meat in the Ground” in the first volume of A Continuation of Tales of Yijian: He Xinshu from Xuzhou Prefecture was somebody who had achieved academic success in the Cheng’an era and left home to pursue a career in the government. He returned to 93 Shen Lihua & Qian Yulian, Chinese Culture of Auspiciousness (Hohhot: Inner Mongolia People’s Publishing House, May 2005), 192. 94 Shen Lihua & Qian Yulian, Chinese Culture of Auspiciousness (Hohhot: Inner Mongolia People’s Publishing House, May 2005), 192. 95 Yuan Haowen; Chang Zhenguo (Punctuated & checked), A Continuation of Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, May 1985), 5.

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According to “Old Zheng against the Soil Taboo” in the first volume of A Continuation of Tales of Yijian: An Old Zheng in Nanhantou Village, Pingyu County, was a strong-will man and believed in no taboos. In the eighth year of the Taihe era, he had a construction southeast of the house. Someone said Taisui was there and warned Zheng against it. Zheng said, “I’m Taisui myself. Why should I be scared?” He then had artisans to start. A pair of women’s red shoes was found two chi deep in the ground. The artisans wanted to stop. Old Zheng was angry and burnt the shoes. Two or three chi deeper down there was a black fish. Zheng cooked and ate it up. Old Zheng and his wife died within ten days. Then, his eldest son died, followed by more than ten others in the family, ten horses, and forty cattle. The survivors were terribly frightened and escaped. The disaster then ceased.97

These legends help perpetuate the belief that people would get their comeuppance if they turn a deaf ear to the established taboos or dismiss the conventional wisdom about such matters. Undoubtedly, those tales warn against something dangerous in breaking ground and urge precaution. In some cases, the repercussion of breaking such a taboo is felt immediately, as is told in “Taisui Cooked and Eaten” in the fourth volume of Qiudeng Conghua (Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn): Someone from Qixia surnamed Lin was a tough man who did not believe in ghosts or gods. He happened to uncover a black-colored meat ball while digging in the field. The ball appeared to be moving. Greatly startled, people cried out, “This is the legendary Taisui. Harm befalls whoever that comes across it.” Lin sneered at the nonsense and brought the thing back home. His wife and children all fled. Lin was angry, “It’s just an inanimate object. What is so frightening about it?” He proceeded to cook it. One action had just concluded when something else happened or began. Lin sooner raised his chopsticks than he dropped dead, with blood coming out of his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.98

Probably because people felt so terrified by the ominous power of Taisui and helpless in trying to avoid him, another type of legend emerged as an antidote. “Taisui” in Jianhu Miji (Worthless Things)99 and “Results Varied at the Encountering of Taisui”100 in the thirteenth volume of Zibuyu (What the Master Would Not Discuss) are examples. 96

Yuan Haowen; Chang Zhenguo (Punctuated & checked), A Continuation of Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, May 1985), 7. 97 Ibid., 4. 98 Wang Qi; Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 52. 99 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 1900. 100 Yuan Mei, What the Master Would Not Discuss (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing House, July 1987), 219.

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Adages such as “if you don’t let scary things scare you, they are not scary to you.” and that “good fortune or bad fortune, it is what it is” are all meant to alleviate the psychic strain beliefs about Taisui had put on people. In fact, the thing people found in the earth that was believed to be Taisui is a type of slimy fungus, something whose appearance easily lent itself to wild and ghoulish associations in people’s imagination.101 Records of monstrous beings found on Earth go back a long time. According to Soushenji: Fenyang (Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals: Fenyang Goat): Jihuanzi had a well dug and found an earthen jar-like container in the ground, in which there was a goat-like thing. Jihuanzi sent someone to Zhongni, “I found a dog when digging a well. What’s that thing?” Zhongni answered, “As far as I know, it’s a goat. I hear that spirits of wood and rock are called qiuqi and wangliang; monsters from water are dragon and wangxiang; and the one in the ground is named fenyang goat.” Xiandingzhi tells, “Wangxiang looks like a three-year-old, black in color, with red eyes, large ears, long arms, and red claws. It could be tied up with a rope and eaten.” Wangzi reads, “The wood spirit is called Bifang, the fire spirit Youguang, and the metal spirit Qingming.”102

In some cases, things to be expelled before breaking ground have no specific names but are a generic kind of evil spirit. The Bai artisans in Zibi Township, Eryuan, Dali, Yunnan Province, hold an exorcism rite before breaking ground and foundation laying. They sprinkle incense ash water over the building site and speak, “Be clear, happy, and peaceful!” “Construction begins today. May all things go off without a hitch for the entire family!” The objective of the ceremony is to chase away evil spirits and bad omen. In the Republican era (1912–1949), people living south of the Yangtze River usually placed a red banner that read “Jiang Shang is here; No evil thing can do a harm” under the foundation stone, as they believed that this could prevent accidents during construction.103 Since the time people first began to build houses, both land gods and evil spirits have been a source of concern and anxiety. Sacrificial offerings are presented to please gods, and pious prayers are chanted to seek their protection and mercy. Regarding evil spirits, people have tried to avoid an inauspicious day or use incantations and magic objects to fend them off. Often, evil spirits are expelled by the alleged supernatural power of those imagined gods and deities. The good and evil of supernatural beings is based on human experience and knowledge. People follow the rules and folkways and show their respect for land, knowing they are not the only master of land. Human beings must observe the law of Earth and chase away evil spirits before they can build their houses on the land. In land worship-based folkways, sorcery is practiced by the artisan, geomancer, Taoist priest, sorcerer, or house owner. Whoever he is or 101

Shen Lihua & Qian Yulian, Chinese Culture of Auspiciousness (Hohhot: Inner Mongolia People’s Publishing House, May 2005), 193–194. 102 Gan Bao & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals; Tao Qian & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Continuation of the Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals, I (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 2007), 263– 264. 103 Zhong Jingwen (Ed.) & Wan Jianzhong et al., History of Chinese Folklore: Republic of China (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2008), 151–152.

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whatever is done, all is for a good start or a sound completion of the work. Sorcery rites have long played a significant role in building construction and have been in existence since the beginning of architectural history. They have also undergone many changes.

Chapter 2

Tree Worship and Building Construction Folklore

Trees are an indispensable building material in Chinese architecture, particularly for Lu Ban followers, most of whom use sand and timber in their construction. Posts and beams play a critical role in ensuring structural soundness. Below, we will find a close relation between building construction folklore and tree worship—a widely observed phenomenon in folk customs around the world. The widespread occurrence of tree worship has been discussed by many anthropologists and pioneering folklore scholars. Tylor, the founding father of anthropology, enumerates in his Primitive Culture tree worship practiced by dozens of ethnic peoples: Trees are the dwelling place and embodiments of spirits; deities communicate oracles to people; a tree nymph can marry a human male and become a hero’s wife; tree god can be the source of family names; a forest grove is the place for religious rites for many tribal people, and the tree serves as a scaffold or altar. Tylor’s examples try to illustrate a fact to people that “the tree may be merely a sacred object patronized by or associated with or symbolizing some divinity.”1 Tylor finds tree worship was something of man’s primitive animistic theory of nature. “This is remarkably displayed in that stage of thought where the individual tree is regarded as a conscious personal being, and as such receives adoration and sacrifice.”2 Tylor, as an advocate for cultural evolution, applies the concept of animism to explaining primitive culture and finds animism the root source of religion and magic. “It seems as though thinking men, as yet at a low level of culture, were deeply impressed by two groups of biological problems. In the first place, what is it that makes the difference between a living body and a dead one; what causes waking, sleep, trance, disease, death? Second, what are the human shapes that appear in dreams and visions? Looking at these two groups of phenomena, the ancient savage philosophers prob-

1

E.B. Tylor; Lian Shusheng (Trans.), Primitive Culture (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, August 1992), 666–672. 2 Ibid., 662. © Social Sciences Academic Press 2022 S. Li, Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5477-0_2

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ably made their first step by the obvious inference that every human being has a life and every human being has a spirit. These two are evidently in close connection with the body, the life as enabling it to feel and think and act, the phantom as being its image or second self; both, also, are perceived to be things separable from the body, the life as able to go away and leave it insensible or dear, the spirit as appearing to people at a distance from it.”3 Savages applied the belief of human souls to all other things, thus the concept of animism. The tree is believed to have a soul as human beings do, thus the practice of tree worship. Sir J.G. Frazer, another prominent scholar, spent decades in the libraries before completing his magnum opus The Golden Bough. Interestingly, the book started with the practice of tree worship in Ancient Rome. Within the sanctuary to Diana of the Wood grew a certain tree of which no branch might be broken. Only a runaway slave was allowed to break off, if he could, one of its boughs. Success in the attempt entitled him to fight the priest in single combat, and if he slew him he reigned in his stead with the title of King of the Grove (Rex Nemorensis).4 Frazer describes in a separate chapter the book tree worship practices around the world: The tree has a soul; trees are of different genders; the tree is inhabited by ancestors’ souls; the tree is capable of changing the weather; and the woman may have a better fertility by sacrificing to the tree.5 As seen in available field surveys, tree worship has been proven to be universal. This does nothing to bolster the case of advocates for field studies, who contemptuously dismissed Tylor and Frazer on the ground the latter were little more than “armchair anthropologists”. If anything, this only provides more powerful evidence of their erudition and perspicacity. In China alone, tree worship has long been extensively practiced by different ethnic groups across regions. In ancient Chinese texts, there is something about successful rain praying by deifying a maple tree.6 In a Heaven worshipping ceremony, the presiding Dongba priest of the Naxi people kowtow to the divine pine, cypress, and chestnut trees that are placed in the center of the altar.7 Among the Yi groups in Yunnan, there is a belief that they are descendants of a man from the bamboo tube and a pine-turned woman.8 Ancestors of the Manchu people in northeast China practiced willow worship and admired the willow as the source of life.9 The Jino people living in Jinghong County, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province chant A Prayer for the Tree God’s Forgiveness after cutting down trees, “Amai the 3

Ibid., 416. J.G. Frazer; Xu Yuxin et al. (Trans.), The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, June 1987), 4. 5 Ibid., 177–181. 6 Geographic Annals of the Qing Territory by the Imperial Order), Vol. 249, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 7 Bai Gengsheng, Interpretation of the Divine Tree in the Heaven Worship of the Naxi People, Journal of Yunnan Minzu University (Social Sciences), 1997 (2), 32. 8 Liu Aizhong, A Survey on the Plant Worship of the Yi People in Chuxiong, Yunnan Province, Biodiversity Science, 2000 (1), 130–131. 9 Wu Laishan, The History of the Willow Worship in Shamanism of the Manchu People, Journal of Liaoning Normal University (Social Sciences), 2004 (3), 111–122. 4

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mischievous spirit, the tree is stuck in the branches. Please show your mercy. Today’s a good day. Please show your mercy. Gods of bamboo groove and mountain! Please show your mercy to the felled tree and let it survive.”10 They also believe that trees are haunted by evil spirits. So they pray earnestly, “You ferocious spirits of the ground, we have left the trunk and root to you. You evil spirits of the wind, we’ve thrown the branches to you. What we want is only the section in the middle. May you all leave us alone.”11 We see that tree worship was close to primitive religion. To its believers, the tree was not a plant as it’s in the eyes of rational, civilized, modern men; instead, the tree was something spiritual more than a physical existence. In his discussion of the significance of tree worship in cultural history. Burne noted that primitive man found things in plants to meet basic needs, including those for food, shelter, firewood, and clothes. While picking fruits, primitive man inevitably comes across poisonous, hallucinogenic, or other curative fruits. Myths and sacrificial rites then came into being out of man’s demand and fear of mysterious-looking trees. According to Burne, man in his early days held a fear-driven tree worship that was stronger than worship of the sun, moon, storm, thunder and lightning, mountains, and rivers and seas. Moreover, in primitive cultures, plants were thought to be human-like things that had feelings, consciousness, and personality. It was believed that some plants possessed magical or supernatural capability and power. Tree worship was thus practiced by Primitive Man.12 Technically, Burne failed to fully explain the reasons for tree worship. In fact, trees are in many aspects superior to humans. For instance, trees live longer. There are huge numbers of kinds of trees. A tree has an expansive root system. It is luxuriant and bears fruits. Arbors may grow high into the sky. Some trees regrow despite being cut down. Some give out red sap that looks like human blood. Only natural objects that have superiorities man doesn’t have can become the objects of a fetish; otherwise, they would be unable to engender worship mentality. That is, man only worships what is worth worshipping. Generally, the worshipper feels weak and petty in front of the fetish, which is thought to be a powerful existence. A natural object-turned hierophany is thus thought to possess a strong power, good in some cases and bad in others, and becomes a fearsome, respectful fetish for man.

2.1 Origin of Tree Cutting Taboos and Evil-Removing Ceremonies A universal custom is that tree worship must be seen in building construction folkways and plays a large role in the artisan’s building construction sorcery. The Shui 10

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, 2003), 687. 11 Ibid., 715. 12 C.S. Burne; Cheng Deqi et al. (Trans.), The Handbook of Folklore (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, April 1995), 12.

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people pick auspicious days between the Spring Equinox and Pure Brightness or the fourth and fifth solar terms to cut down trees. Artisans prepare meat, incense, paper money, and water and sacrifice to the first cut “green-picking tree.” The tree is then carried back to. No one is allowed to step over it.13 According to my field surveys, the Bai carpenters in Erhai Village, Zijin Township, Weishan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province worship Lu Ban as the Patriarch of Carpentry and hold complicated sacrificial rites. The legend goes that Lu Ban wanted to choose a king of trees when he was to build a house. The king of trees was assigned by the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord took shelter from rain under a pine tree and was soaked. The immortal got angry, “[I will] chop off your head, let your roots rot, and peel off your bark.” Ever since then, the roots of any pine tree that has been cut down would rot in two or three years. The Supreme Lord took a stroll and felt hungry. He ate a couple of plums from the plum tree and was no longer hungry. After returning home, the immortal told his disciples to bestow the title of king trees on the plum tree. However, his disciples were too lazy to walk all the way to the plum trees, which were much farther away than the Chinese Toona nearby. They cut down the toona and brought it back. Having been robbed of the title of king of trees, the plum tree, when felled, would remain moisture in the core even though the bark would dry up. One thing led to another until the toona became Lu Ban’s favorite.14 Its prized status continues to this day, evidenced by the practice of including it in the materials used in making dowels, spar caps and other woodwork tools. Lu Ban’s Canons set strict rules for tree cutting15 and how to pick an auspicious day for tree cutting.16 Something bad would happen to artisans who flout these rules. Artisans from Sichuan hold a sacrificial rite for the king of wood before erecting wooden walls. “King of Wood” is chanted, “I burn three incense sticks in the early morning. I light candles to show my respect for the king of wood.” Artisans do so because they “use wood to make wallboards.” Carpenters sacrifice to the tree god before cutting down trees in the wooded mountain. The prayer The Tree Roots chants fabulous praise of the tree.17 Species such as pines and cypresses are usually used as construction materials in China. Shiji: Liezhuan–Guice (Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Diviners) says, “Bamboos have nodes and the culms are straight and hollow. Pines and cypresses are the best arbors, thus suitable for door frame construction.”18 Not 13

Mao Gongning (Ed.), Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, September 2006), 946. 14 Carpenters in Erhai Village were historically called Luban artisans. 15 Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 1. 16 Ibid., 1. 17 Zhu Shizhen, An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 147. 18 An Pingqiu (Ed.), Records of the Grand Historian (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1526.

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only is timber construction material for making beams and posts, it is also the object of powerful control through sacrifices design to cleans it of evil spirit. In some cases, a beam or post is usually thought to be inhabited by an immortal or an evil spirit. In the beam-lifting ceremony held by the Tujia artisans, the beam is reverently worshipped as a supernatural entity. The ink-mastering artisan, who is actually the chief engineer of the construction chants, “Immortal of Beam! Immortal of Beam! I see the beam off for becoming immortal. May the family’s descendants become high-ranking officials. (The others would then reply with “Oh yes”.)”19 The thinking behind this is that the carpenter’s turning the beam into something supernatural can help ensure prestigious government careers, wealth and nobility for the house owner’s descendants. A sorcery rite called “wood god send-off” was once popular among carpenters in Dali and Tengchong, Yunnan Province, in which homage is paid and a send-off given to the wood god. Paper charms of the wood god were burned as sacrifice to “the log” that the carpenters had sawed off on an auspicious day. The ceremony aims to supplicate god for help. The use of paper charms representing the tree god and wood as sacrificial offerings to the log symbolizing the wood god was meant to satisfy it so that it would leave. The reason why the wood god was able to generate so much fear was that failure to chase away from the house those spirits it commanded would lead to “noises in the house; no peace for the inhabitants, poor performance of the family business, and ill health for the domestic animals.”20 The legends and tales of immortalized and deified trees are widely told in ancient Chinese texts. The legend that Duke Wen of Qin met a tree god is extensively seen in Luyizhuan (Collected Strange Things), Soushenji (Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals), Xuanzhongji (The Abstruse), and Chunqiu Biedian (Anecdotes about the Spring and Autumn Period). The legend goes: When Duke Wen of Qin had the giant catalpa in Yongnan Mountain cut down, the storm raged all of a sudden. The cut on the tree closed. It was impossible to cut the tree down. A sick man went into the mountain at night and happened to hear a ghost, and the tree god, “If Duke Wen of Qin has someone have his hair hanging down loosely and wind red silk thread around the tree, you can be released from the tree once it is cut down.” The sick man told what he’d heard to Duke Wen the next day. The duke then successfully cut down the tree by following the ghost method. A cyan ox ran out of the tree. It rushed into water and came out again. No one could defeat the ox. Then, a man had his hair hang down loosely. The ox was scared and retreated to water, never to come out again.21

The proverbial “loosely hanging hair” and “red silk thread” are evidently related to pre-Qin sorcery beliefs. The tree god in the legend was a cyan ox. The tree was nothing more than a vicarious entity that allegedly embodies something supernatural, 19

Ouyang Meng, A Study on House-building Customs of the Tujia People: A Case Study of Laochakou Village, Xuan’en County, Hubei Province, M.A. Thesis (Wuhan: Central China Normal University, May 2007), 12. 20 Yang Yusheng, The Paper-charms of Yunnan (Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing House, January 2002), 137–139. 21 Li Fang et al., Imperial Reader (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & reprinted 1998), Vol. 1, 210.

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no doubt a literary expression of tree worship in ancient times. Some other legends tell that an ancient tree may be inhabited by some fearsome monster.22 In Suishu (Book of Sui), there is an entry on the State Ruled by Women (“nvguo”), “People in the State Ruled by Women worship Asura and God of Tree. At the beginning of each year, humans or macaques were sacrificed for tree growth. After sacrifice, people went into the mountains to pray. A pheasant-like bird alighted on the palm of the sorcerer, who cuts the bird open. If the sorcerer finds a grain of millet in the bird’s stomach, it presages good harvest for that year, but ifa grain of sand is found, it presages some disaster. This is known as bird divination.”23 People in that foreign State Ruled by Women were not unscrupulous, as Duke Wen of Qin was when dealing with the tree god. They sacrificed to the god. Another legend tells about an anecdote about the pine deity and Lv Dongbin, one of the eight immortals. There was an ancient pine in front of the White Crane Temple in Yuezhou. The ancient pine was a couple of arm spans around. The crown looked like a dragon. Once upon a time, Lv Dongbin rested under the tree. An old man came down from the crown and paid his respect to Lv. The old man claimed to be the pine deity. Lv asked if he was beneficent or malicious, to which the old man responded, “If I had been malicious, how could I have recognized celestial immortals such as you?” Then, he went back into the crown. Lv Dongbin was captivated by the incident and wrote a poem on the wall: “I maintain a lonesome existence, unrecognized by ordinary folks. No one else would have known my identity as a celestial immortal but a millennium-year-old pine.”24 Records such as “a deity in the tree” are also found in Taoist classics.25 Many legends tell that the tree god could take a human shape and communicate with man in dreams.26 The Jino people have an ancient practice whereby a dog is slaughtered and sacrificed to the tree god the day before work is to commence on cultivating a piece of land for farming. The Jino people have long been engaged in slash-and-burn cultivation and cut down and burnt trees every year. One day, they happened to find that trees they’d cut down the day before actually stood up again. Five young men spied at night for the reason. “The ancient tree in the woods was yet to be felled. Its two giant branches turned into two big hands, moving up and down, as if the tree was tidying itself up. Gradually, the ancient tree turned into an old man.” With the old man’s instructions, the trees that had been cut down in the day stood up. Thus, trees grew 22

Gan Bao & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals; Tao Qian & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Continuation of the Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals, I (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 2007), 270– 271. 23 Sun Yongchang (Ed.), Book of Sui (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1674. 24 Tao Zongyi, Shuofu, Vol. 50, Part II, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 25 Wang Ming, Revised and Interpreted “Baopuzi: Arts of Necromancy” (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 1985), 175. 26 Wang Qi; Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 52.

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on, while people had their farming land to sustain on. Thus, the Jino people and the tree god cemented a sacred contract. The Jino people would no longer overact down trees and sent a dog as the tree god’s assistant. The time and venue of killing a dog is picked by the tree god.27 For carpenters, if a tree bled when being cut, it means the tree god has been hurt. A legend even tells how a carpenter lost his life to the bleeding tree god. “Good and evil tree spirits” in the sixteenth volume of Qiudeng Conghua (Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn) reads: A military officer in Qiantang intended to cut down trees around the tomb of Prime Minister Huang. The officer dreamed that a Setrap beg for his mercy. The second officer refused, he shouted, “The god is shooting at me,” and died of heart ache. Inspector Fang Guolian from Susong found a shortage of ship-building timber and had an ancient tree in front of Shanjuan Cave at Yangxian. Fang saw seven men in a dream, who were dark-skinned and of large built, begged for his mercy while standing around the tree. Fang refused and urged the carpenter to proceed with the cutting. A spurt of blood squirted from the tree killed the carpenter. Fang also died of terror. Zhang Bing from Cixi ruled over Qianshan, where he found a large tree an obstacle in farmland. Zhang told his men to cut the tree down. Zhang came across three well-dressed men on the side of road who bowed in homage to him. Zhang rebuked them. The three instantly vanished. Blood gushed out from the tree at cutting. Zhang Bing got angry, and the tree fell immediately. Two women fell from a nest on the tree. Both had been captured by the evil tree spirit. Zhang Bing was later promoted to the position of the assistant governor of Sichuan. The trees in the above anecdotes were inhabited by spirits, while the cutters had rather different results. Is it because there are good trees and evil trees just like there are good people and bad people?28

Evil spirits inhabiting trees have different capabilities. In some cases, the tree god is a living existence that could foretell the future. According to “Tree God” in Xiaoting Zalu Xulu (Jottings from the Howling Pavilion [Continued]): There is an elm outside the funerary temple in the Yong Mausoleum. The tree stands dozens of zhang high. Its crown spreads over the temple’s hall. The trunk and branches curl like dragons. There are hundreds of galls. The locals said, “A gall fell whenever an emperor or empress died. It has been so for five reigns.” It’s a good omen for the country’s ever-lasting prosperity. Even the long-lasting Zhou couldn’t match.29

Tree worship has continued till modern days. According to “Ages-old Pines” in the first volume of Xu Zibuyu (What the Master Would Not Discuss [Continued]): Age-old pines grow in Phoenix Mountain, Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province. Westerners climbed by ladder, and the pines moved incessantly. The foreign men were angry and shot at the pines. However, all dozens of bullets missed the target. The pines are still green as ever nowadays.30 27

Editorial Board of Jino Folktales, Jinuozu Minjian Gushi (Jino Folktales) (Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing House, July 1990), 29–32. 28 Wang Qi; Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 270. 29 Zhaolian; Dongqing (Punctuated & revised), Jottings from the Howling Pavilion, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 4606. 30 Yuan Mei, What the Master Would Not Discuss (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing House, July 1987), 461.

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As the object of worship over centuries, trees have always been inhabited by good deities and evil spirits. Some tree spirits are not as powerful as the tree god and are capable of little more than trivial trickery meant to deceive people. A story in Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian tells about how the camphor tree spirits bewitched men: In the winter of 1274 (the Jiaxu year of the Xianchun era of Song), two men came to Hangzhou and invited street performers to play on a Family Zhang’s wedding ceremony. The two told the performers not to play the Huangzhong tune. The street performers asked about the address. The two men answered, “On the border between Jiangyin and Wuxi.” The performers questioned, “It’s more than five hundred li away from here. And it’s dusk. How can we manage the trip?” The two men replied, “You just sit in the boat. We’ll pole it.” The performers did so. The boat sailed fast past Chang’an, Chongde, Suxiu, and Wujiang and arrived at a large dwelling place at approximately nine o’clock in the evening. The performers played as was agreed. All the guests and servants were short and small. Lamps and candles gave out blue light that wend weaker afterward. The performers left untreated deep into night. They were hungry and angry. Thus, they played the Huangzhou tune. The guests and servants were frightened and tried to stop the performers. The latter refused. There came a gale all of a sudden. All the guests, servants, and mansion disappeared. Nothing was left except for a giant tree against the starry sky. The performers went to a village house by following bark. The villager said, “There are camphor tree spirits. You were bewitched!” They saw a giant camphor tree at dawn. The two men, guests, and servants were spirits in the temple near the tree.31

In some cases, a tree spirit may take a human shape and live together with humans, thereby adding joy to the lives of the latter. A story in Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian tells about how an elm spirit did so: Lv Yijian took a post somewhere in Sichuan. An elm spirit lived in the government mansion. It took the shape of an ugly, old woman and was named Yu Laogu. The spirit often spent time with maidservants in the kitchen. After some time, the family gradually got used to it. Lv called the spirit, who answered with respect, “I’ve been here for a while now. But I dare not cause any trouble, even though I’m not a human being.” Lv left things the way they were. The elm spirit often said that Lv would acquire high social status one day. The spirit was teased by the maidservants when she became pregnant. Yu Laogu told the girls that she would have difficult labor. Then disappeared for more than a month. One day she suddenly materialized, “I have given birth. Please go and take a look. There’s a large tumor-like thing southwest to the elm in the garden.” They went to look and she was right.32

This is an illustration of how widely accepted the idea of transubstantiation in relation to humans and trees was becoming. A tree may assume a human form, while a human being may take on the appearance of a tree. As “People May Turn into Trees” in the fourth volume of What the Master Would Not Discuss reads, “Wulute and Hui peoples never commit suicide, because they believe that a man who committed suicide would turn into a tree. A tree is likely to be cut down. Thus,

31 Anonymous; Jin Xin (Punctuated & checked), Huhai Xinwen Yijian Xuzhi (Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian) (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, May 1986), 262. 32 Anonymous; Jin Xin (Punctuated & checked), Huhai Xinwen Yijian Xuzhi (Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian) (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, May 1986), 263–264.

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those people never commit suicide. It was told by Prefecture Chief Jiang Yunxiang from Qinzhong.”33 However, tree spirits’ harm to humans could be underestimated; otherwise, tree worship cannot be fully understood. “A Tree Spirit” in the nineteenth volume of What the Master Would Not Discuss writes: Fei Cidu was on the conquering expedition to West Sichuan. The troops found a tree standing alone in desolation when they arrived at the Three Gorges. The withered tree had neither leaves nor flowers. However, soldiers died when they walked past the tree. Three deaths occurred. Fei got infuriated and went to have a look. The tree’s branches looked like bird’s claws and tried to grasp anyone walking past it. Fei cut down the tree with a sharp sword. Blood oozed out from the tree. Passers-by were safe from then on.34

A tree spirit was ferocious. However, it was suppressed by humans anyway. There are also legends about undefeatable tree spirits, as is told in “Wood-hooped Necks” in the ninth volume of What the Master Would Not Discuss: Zhuang Yiyuan saw in northeast China a hunter who has wood hoops around his neck. Curiously, Zhuang asked for the reason. The hunter said, “My elder brother and I rode to hunting. We suddenly saw in the wilderness a man about three chi tall. He had a white beard and a kerchief on the head. The man made a bow in front of us. My brother asked who he was. But the man said nothing and gave a puff to the horses. Our horses were too scared to go. My brother was angry and shot arrows at the man. The man fled. My brother chased after him. And he did not come back to me. I followed him to a giant tree and found him lie unconscious, his neck a couple of chi long. I was frightened. Right at the time, the man walked out of the tree and blew a puff to me. I felt unbearably itchy at the neck and scratched. My neck grew longer at scratching. It looked like a snake. I carried my lengthened neck and fled a narrow escape on horseback. However, my neck can’t recover. I’ve to have it hooped.” The short man they met may be a water or wood spirit that is called Youguang and Bifang. If one can call its name in the face, the spirit will do no harm. It was seen in Baopuzi.35

In addition to legends of tree gods and spirits, there are numerous folktales about how a person became immortal in the environ of trees. Zhengao: Jishenshu (Declarations of the Perfect: Records of Gods) tells, “Once upon a time, a man was keen on becoming immortal, yet without knowing the right way. He only kowtowed to a withered tree and prayed for immortality. The man kept doing this for twenty-eight years, without a single day off. One day, the withered tree flowered, the nectar of which tasted honey sweet. As was told by someone, the man ate the flowers and nectar and ascended to immortality right away.”36 Additionally, in the same book, a story tells about how a Taoist priest Hou Daohua became immortal. Before ascending to Heaven, Hou first ascended to the top of an ancient pine where “cranes hovered 33

Yuan Mei, What the Master Would Not Discuss (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing House, July 1987), 501. 34 Yuan Mei, What the Master Would Not Discuss (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing House, July 1987), 335. 35 Yuan Mei, What the Master Would Not Discuss (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing House, July 1987), 151. 36 Tao Hongjing, Declarations of the Perfected, Vol. 12, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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in clouds and beautiful music resonated.” The legend tells that Hou Daohua knew in advance that he would ascend to Heaven from the pine crown, and he cut down pine branches beforehand for later use.37 In some cases, it was believed that trees could bleed. “There are numerous accounts of trees that bleed and utter cries of pain or indignation when they are hacked or burned in Chinese books, even Standard Histories.”38 Soushenji: Lingling Shubian (Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals: The Shape-shifting Tree) tells: In the third year of the Jianping era under the reign of Emperor Ai of Han (4BC), a tree occupied a large area of ground in Lingling. The giant tree was one zhang and six chi around and fourteen zhang and seven chi tall. The locals had their root cut off, which measured longer than nine chi. The root was withered. However, the tree had not died until three months later; yet, it remained standing where it was. A tree was cut down in Suiyang Township, Xiping, Runan. Its branches and leaves grew into a human-like thing, which had a greenish-yellow body, a white-colored face, and hair and beard. Later, the thing grew larger and measured six cuns and one fen long. Jingfang Yizhuan (Book of Changes by Jing Fang) reads, “When the supreme ruler loses his virtue and his subjects are about to rise in rebellion, a tree will grow into a human shape.” Wang Mang usurped the throne.39

According to Tang Kaiyuan Zhanjing (An Astronomy Book of the Kaiyuan of Tang), occult phenomena related to trees, such as humming, sobbing, bleeding, and growing teeth, are all ill omens. “Dijing (Gigantic Mirror) says that if a tree grows with no leaves, the year will suffer crop failure and famine; humming from a tree foretells deaths, and the sound of metal from a tree is a sign of disintegration of the country. Dijing (Gigantic Mirror) also tells that a tree sobs before a war… Book of Changes by Jing Fang says that a bleeding tree foretells something bad for a ruler, and teeth on a tree are the sign of a rebellion.”40 Folktales of deities or evil spirits of trees are all evidence for tree worship. It is because of tree worship that carpenters act carefully in lumbering. “Gratitude from the Tree of Heaven” in the ninth volume of Qiudeng Conghua (Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn) reads: The Pavilion of God of Literature in Tongzhou sat on the city wall. The tree of heaven in front of the pavilion was several zhang tall and a dozen arms spanned. It was there for three or four centuries. In the early Qianlong era, the pavilion was to be renovated. Before the renovation was started, the chief asked to remove the tree. An old artisan refused, “I’m afraid the ancient tree is inhabited by a deity. We can’t cut it down.” The chief insisted having the tree removed. The artisan warned against the idea over and over again. The next day, the old artisan climbed onto the roof ridge of the pavilion and slipped down to the eaves. The eaves 37 Zhang Junfang (Ed.); Li Yongsheng (Punctuated and checked), Seven Treasure Sects of Taoist Scriptures, Vol. 5 (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, December 2003), 2485–2486. 38 J.G. Frazer; Xu Yuxin et al. (Trans.), The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, June 1987), 172. 39 Gan Bao & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals; Tao Qian & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Continuation of the Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals, I (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 2007), 188– 189. 40 Gautama Siddha, An Astronomy Book of the Kaiyuan of Tang, Vol. 120, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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were high above the moat. The artisan would have fallen down to death if he hadn’t been stopped by the tree of heaven. The old artisan was too frightened to continue his work and intended to resign from his post by citing ill health. He had a dream that night. A tall, strong man said to him, “I’m really grateful for your effort to save me yesterday. It was my pleasure to save you today. But I’m afraid I can’t be spared tomorrow. Please save me once again.” The old artisan woke up and hurried to the magistrate’s office. It was right at the moment that Magistrate Du ordered to remove the tree, thinking that it was not good to have a tree growing high on the city wall. The artisan tried his best to stop the magistrate and told about his dream. The tree was thus spared. The pavilion is now housing Luhe Academy. I once went there and saw that luxuriant, ancient tree.41

In response to the trees’ ability to generate awe and fear in them, people felt compelled to subject trees to sacrificial rituals and other witchcraft and sorcery practices aimed at taming them. In Zibi Township, Eryuan, Dali, Yunnan Province, when the Bai people build a house, the house owner and carpenters co-act in a sorcery rite to send the wood spirit (“muqi”) away. This rite is held immediately after the sacrificial ceremony for Lu Ban. Local carpenters believe that, in this way, they can get help from Lu Ban and secure success in the following sorcery rite: After the prayer is chanted, the house owner knocks on every post with a wooden hammer, and the sound is believed to chase away the evil spirits hiding therein. Sacrificial offerings and the wood spirit (“muqi”) are then placed onto a wooden tray, together with a pair of incense sticks and a red envelope. Inside the red envelope is thirty-six fens or sixty-six fens. A young man brings the wood tray to the center of the crossing in the village and is accompanied by carpenters.

There are taboos in a sorcery rite to send “muqi” away, as “muqi” is believed to be an evil spirit, which would cause trouble if allowed to remain in the house: It is said that sometimes people see in a newly built house a ghost in red clothes hanging from the beam. Strange sounds may be heard in the house. Alternatively, the house owner contracts a serious illness or even dies due to the evil spirits remaining in the house. All is because of “muqi” that hasn’t been sent away.42

Those who believe in “muqi” and its mischief are thus forced to reverently hold a farewell rite to send evil spirits away. They carefully prepare sacrificial offerings, such as a symbolic red envelope. When building construction folklore encountered local beliefs, they inevitably intermingled. Affinity in genesis facilitated mutual integration. The Bai people in Dali are a good example. Field data show a traditional practice of tree worship among the Bai people in Dali. According to the thirteenth volume of Diannan Zazhi (Magazine of South Yunnan) published in the Jiaqing era (1796–1820), there was an ancient plum tree on the right of Linghui Temple, Xizhou Town, and “those who pass by the tree show it respect, daring not show the slight disrespect.” According to one entry in Haidongzhi (Annals of Haidong Township) from the year 1932, Jingu, 41

Wang Qi; Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 149. 42 Lv Daji & He Yaohua. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 730.

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who was a half god, half ghost or fairy-turned female, was believed to live in the ancient giant banyan outside the Temple of Meng Hu in Mingzhuang Village; and the locals believed that Jingu would make people ill, unless sacrifices and prayers were made to the divine banyan tree. A legend among the Bai people in Haidao Village, Haidong Township tells that before 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded, an ancient giant tree on Jinsuo Island had turned into an evil spirit and made people ill, and people had been forced to sacrifice to it. Additionally, the ancient pine in the south of Haidao Village was worshipped as the tree god. When the alleged divine tree was cut down by some young people in 1958, a number of elderly women congregated nearby asking to be forgiven by the tree god. The Bai people of Sha Village worshipped an evergreen tree as the divine tree. When a fire took place in the village, villagers attributed it to the revenge from the cut-down tree. The Bai people of Heqing have sacrificed tree gods and spirits. The Bai people of Zhongdeng Village, Shaxi Township, Jianchuan hold a grand sacrifice to the giant holly in front of the village on the New Year’s Eve. They call the holly “wu bai hei zheng” or literally “Heaven God’s divine tree of five hundred years.” On the rite, a female elder kowtows to the holly and chants a prayer, “Heaven God’s divine tree of five hundred years! The whole family comes to pay our respect. Both the old and the young come to you. Our whole family is here. We beg for your mercy and bless, to protect our family from disasters and illness, and to give us a year of favorable weather and good harvest.”43 Undoubtedly, the Bai people’s belief in the tree’s ability to become either divine or spectra has been instrumental in the formation of their relationship with trees as one between people and the supernatural. It has historically been the foundation of building construction folkways. The Bai artisans practiced building construction sorcery by following the artisan’s canons titled Mu Jing (Classic of Wood Structure). The book is a manual of craftsmanship and sorcery. It may originate from Lu Ban’s Canons and Book of Lu Ban. The handwritten copy has been popular. Works such as Lu Ban’s Canons and Book of Lu Ban were under the influence of legends of Lu Ban and Taoist magic arts and divination. They have been an integral part of traditional Chinese culture and extensively recognized by all ethnic groups across China. Mu Jing (Classic of Wood Structure) of the Bai people has been a localized variation of the nationwide folklore. A Bai carpenter “who knows well about Lu Ban’s Canons and Book of Lu Ban is qualified to be a head artisan and direct house design and construction. Such a man is respectfully addressed as mountain god who is believed to order about mountains and woods.”44 The artisan’s building construction sorcery has been integrated with tree worship of the Bai people who have for centuries been awed by and performed sacrificial rites to tree gods and spirits. Artisans, as Lu Ban’s disciples, practiced sacrifice and powerful magic by following Patriarch’s canons. In

43

Lv Daji & He Yaohua. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 508–514. 44 Editorial Team of Folktales of the Bai People of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Folktales of the Bai People (Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing House, January 1982), 187–221.

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this kind of artisanship, the Bai people have discovered a new logical foundation for tree worship that is heavily influenced by witchcraft and sorcery. Supernatural beliefs are associated with not just structurally critical parts such as the beams and the columns. According to folklore, evil spirits can also be found in many seemingly insignificant objects. For example, in Chun’an County, Zhejiang Province, after the completion of construction, the carpenter holds an exorcism ceremony. On the evening of the day construction was completed, the carpenter held a wooden mallet in his hand, “and brought the pole used in beam setting out of the village, where it was set on fire. The carpenter shakes the mallet in his hand, to chase evil spirits away and secure a peaceful life for the house owner.”45 Such a sorcery rite is held under protection of Lu Ban and other deities to expel evil spirits. It is a battle of exorcism.

2.2 Sanctification of Beams and Columns in Kunlun Mythology We have seen how tree worship, i.e., the set of beliefs associating trees with supernatural beings such as gods, immortals, and evil spirits, has a long history, going back to the age of primitive religion. We have also seen how carpenters have tried to expel these spectral existences through sacrificial rites. However, the relationship between tree worship and building construction folkways is yet to be fully understood, as the spiritual connections between trees and people are far more extensive. Columns and beams in particular have often been regarded as a legacy of ancient myths as the bond between people and gods. The central post not only provides structural support for the wooden structure of a house but also has religious significance. “Because of the ancient belief that Heaven, Earth, gods, and man live in different layers of space and that the soul is immortal, the central post in a traditional wood structure of ethnic minorities in China has taken a more spiritual significance. It is seen as the sacred, religious thing in the house and a conduit among Heaven, Earth, gods, and people.”46 For instance, a Miao tribe who calls itself “Denao” and lives in Leigong Mountain in southeast Guizhou plants a species of bamboo they call “flower tree” by the central post. The “flower tree” is important in funerary ceremonies and serves as the passageway along which the soul of the deceased travels to the place where the souls of ancestors congregate. The Naxi people living in Tacheng, Lijiang, call themselves “Luxi” and believe the deceased’s soul can travel along the central post to meet the deceased ancestors. The Miao people in southwest Guizhou find it a sacred thing to make a sweetgum central post. They see sweetgum as something closely related to the Miao ancestors. They thus sacrifice 45

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections: Zhejiang (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Zhejiang (Beijing: ISBN China Center, December 1995), 146. 46 Luo Hantian, Central Post: A Channel to the Other World, Ethnic Art Studies, 2000 (1), 115.

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to the sweetgum tree at lumbering. Additionally, sacrifices to the sweetgum central post are a part of everyday routine. All these illustrate the importance people attach to the central post in a house. But I see great differences between the central-post fetishism in a relatively-closed, small community characterized by a simple social structure and the central-post totemism in artisan’s folkways that under the influence of legends of Lu Ban, Taoist magic arts and divination. The former follows the track of primitive religion in a region. The latter originates from myths of Kunlun Mountain and Heaven’s Ladder. Thus, we should closely examine the sweetgum worship of the Miao people in southeast Guizhou and systematic folkways of architecture to find their source and expression. For instance, a carpenter may pour chicken blood into his ink marker and practice divination by drawing a line with his ink marker. Such is the general folk practice that has been accepted by the Miao people, not something native to the belief system of the local Miao groups.47 Artisans from different ethnic groups believe that the beam is made of timber harvest from sacred Kunlun (Mountain). Ethnic Gelo artisans, a group that is concentrated in Guizhou Province, hold a sacrificial ceremony before cutting down trees. The prayer chants, “King of Tree! King of Tree! Where were you born? Where do you live? At Kunlun the Sacred Mountain. Who gave birth to you? Who brought you up? It is the God and Goddess of Earth; It is the sun and the rain. You have luxuriant branches and leaves, and the crow dares not rest on you. You have expansive roots and vines, and they emit bright lights. Neither civilian officials nor military officers dare hurt you. Lu Ban’s disciples are great and powerful and hold high the axe before you. One shout from us, one cut on you. Tree is felled down. The root is cut; so it the crown. We need only the giant trunk. With an adze we cut. With an adze we cut. What is the tree cut for? For making the beam in the new house.”48 As is indicated by the prayer, the tree used to make a beam is nothing ordinary; it is King of Tree that grew in Kunlun Mountain. A similar prayer is chanted in a sacrificial rite of the same kind by carpenters in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province, “Fuyi! Fuyi! Where is the tree from? The tree grows in Kunlun Mountain. Who saw it? The Little General saw it. Who bought up the trees? Goddess the Queen Mother bought them up. Who cut it down? Cheng Yaojin cut it down. Who prepared the wood? Reverend Lu Ban prepared the wood. What is the larger piece for? To make the crossbeam. What is the smaller piece for? To make lesser beams. What is the trunk for? To make the purplegold beam. The larger piece is cut small. The smaller piece is cut off the surplus. To get the timber right for a good beam.”49 Carpenters in Guizhou and Zhejiang live far away from each other. However, they both chant prayers about the tree growing in Kunlun Mountain. Moreover, the prayer in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province, chants about Goddess the Queen Mother, who is a mythical figure developed from the Queen 47

Ibid., 122–123. Mao Gongning (Ed.), Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, September 2006), 1327. 49 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections: Zhejiang (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Zhejiang (Beijing: ISBN China Center, December 1995), 138. 48

2.2 Sanctification of Beams and Columns in Kunlun Mythology

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Mother of the West living in Kunlun Mountain. Evidently, it is not a coincidence; instead, it is the result of cultural diffusion. Artisan canons such as Lu Ban’s Canons, Book of Lu Ban, and Mu Jing (Classic of Wood Structure) have been cultural carriers of disseminated sorcery. beam setting Song of Wuling County also chants about the purple-gold beam mentioned in the prayer in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province, “The tree is pulled by two cattle and to be made into timber by skillful carpenters. One is to be made into the sky-reaching post. The other is to be made into the purple-gold beam…” Seen in this light, the cultural gene must originate from Kunlun the Sacred Mountain. Kunlun mythology has been much discussed. However, no final conclusion is drawn academically, as Kunlun has diversified meanings and significance. It is held that Kunlun has macroscopic geographic and mythological meanings, despite its rich meanings in the history of Chinese civilization. Kunlun in the mythological system refers to the Sacred Mountain equivalent to Olympus in the ancient Greek myths. In addition, Kunlun is “the Naval of Heaven and Earth” and “the Central Pillar of Heaven” and connects Heaven and Earth.50 It has been widely seen that artisans in many places have drawn inspiration from Kunlun mythology. In prayers chanted on sorcery rites see in them repeatedly Kunlun or the Queen Mother of the West (or Goddess the Mother Queen evolved from the mythical figure), who is believed to be the ruling god of Kunlun. The chicken used in the rite is usually a divine chicken from Kunlun. The Bai carpenters in Dali chant at the beam setting ceremony, “What is this chicken in my hands? It’s the Phoenix Chicken from Kunlun. It lays three eggs in one time. Three chickens are hatched.” The prayer tells that the divine chicken used at the beam setting ceremony, the divine chicken from Heaven Palace, and the ordinary domestic chicken all born to the same Phoenix Chicken from Kunlun.51 Prayer to the Beam chanted by artisans in Songming County, Kunming, Yunnan Province, sings, “… Eggs are laid on Kunlun Mountain. Chickens are hatched from the phoenix’s nest…”52 The prayer chanted on the beam setting ceremony in Jiande, Zhejiang Province, tells that the rooster used as sacrifice is from the pen of the Queen Mother of the West. According to artisans from Dongyang, the rooster they use is actually the one crowing for the Goddess the Queen Mother, who is a female immortal evolved from mythical figures on Kunlun Mountain. Shanhaijing: Dahuangxijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: In the West of the Great Wilderness) reads: Kunlun Mountain extends south of Lop Nur, on the border of Taklamakan, and between the Yellow River and Black River. The ruling god of the area has a human head on an entirely white tiger’s body. The Ruo River and Black River run at the mountain’s foot. Flaming Mountain outside the area may get whatever thrown into it on fire. The ruling god is the 50

Liu Xicheng, Kunlun in Mythology and the True Appearance of the Queen Mother of the West, Northwestern Journal of Ethnology, 2002 (4), 176. 51 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, 2003), 44. 52 Ibid., 572.

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2 Tree Worship and Building Construction Folklore Queen Mother of the West, who has a floral headgear, tiger’s teeth, and a leopard’s tail and lives in a cave. Kunlun Mountain has many creatures and minerals.53

Artisans have traditionally attributed the alleged magic power of certain objects to Kunlun, Sacred Mountain and the Queen Mother of the West to establish a sense of belonging. In Kunlun myths, the mountain is as high as the sky is, thus the entrance to Heaven. The ten sorrers travel between Heaven and Earth by way of Kunlun Mountain. Shanhaijing: Dahuangxijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: In the West of the Great Wilderness) reads: Sorcerers Xian, Ji, Pan, Peng, Gu, Zhen, Li, Di, Xie, and Luo travel between Heaven and Earth by way of Mountain Lingwu and gather and collect all sorts of medical herbs in the mountain. There are mountains of the Queen Mother of the West, Mount He, and Mount Hai. The tribes of tiger and bird live in the fertile land. The residents there pick up phoenix’s eggs to eat and drink spring water. They find there whatever food they want…54

It is believed that Heaven’s Ladder extends to Heaven from Kunlun Mountain, as is indicated in Lunheng: Daoxu (Discourses in the Balance: Absurdity of Getting Immortal): Both Heaven and Earth are substance. There’s no place lower than Earth; thus, there’s no place higher than Heaven. In that case, how could one get upwards into Heaven? Man simply can’t manage to do that. If the Gate to Heaven is in the northwest, one should start his way to Heaven from Kunlun. Anyone who lives in Huainan State in the southeast and wants to achieve that goal has to move to Kunlun. In that case, Prince Huainan must have had wings and been able to fly to the northwest before he ascended to Heaven. However, there is no mentioning of his movement to Kunlun or his ever having wings. Thus, it’s lip service to talk about his ascending to Heaven and becoming immortal.55

As the Kunlun mythology spread, the sacred mountain gradually evolved into Heaven’s Pillar or Heaven’s Pillar on Kunlun Mountain. Hetu Kuodixiang (A Geographical Encyclopedia) is quoted in the fifth volume of Chuxueji (Primary Learning), “Kunlun Mountain is the Heaven’s Pillar stretching upwards to Heaven. Kunlun sits in the center of Earth. There are eight posts underneath. Each measures a hundred thousand li around, with three thousand six hundred axels. They are all interconnected. So are the mountains and rivers.”56 Shenyijing (Classic of the Strange) is cited in the thirty-eighth volume of Taiping Yulan (Imperial Reader) on Kunlun Mountain, “The copper pillar on Kunlun Mountain goes upwards into Heaven and is known as Heaven’s Pillar. The Pillar is three thousand li around and as smooth surfaced as knife-cut. There is a gigantic room beneath the Pillar.”57 Longyu Hetu 53

Guo Fu, Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), May 2004), 847–848. 54 Ibid., 834–835. 55 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance, IV (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 413. 56 Xu Jian et al., Primary Learning (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, January 1962), 87. 57 Li Fang et al., Imperial Reader (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & reprinted 1998), Vol. 1, 182.

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(Dragon-and-fish Geographical Encyclopedia) in the same section, “Kunlun Mountain stands as the Central Pillar of Heaven.”58 Such a conclusion was drawn on the premise that Kunlun Mountain sits at the center of Earth, as may be seen in Guo Pu’s annotation to Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). Shanhaijing: Haineixijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: In the West Within the Seas) reads, “Kunlun Mountain occupies an area of eight hundred square miles and is about eight thousand meters high.”59 Guo Pu’s annotation goes, “It is fifty thousand li away from Mount Song and sits at the center of Earth.”60 Thus, it goes in Li Daoyuan’s Shuijingzhu: Heshui (Classic of Water: Rivers), “Kunlun Mountain sits in the northwest, fifty thousand li from Mount Song and sits at the center of Earth.”61 A theory of the kind tells about the same thing that Kunlun Mountain is the center of Heaven and Earth and serves as the passageway between Heaven and Earth. As seen in historical texts, Kunlun Mountain was not seen as Heaven’s Pillar in itself from the very beginning; instead, the Pillar was originally referred to the Divine Tree called “jianmu”. Shanhaijing: Haineixijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: In the West Within the Seas) describes all sorts of miraculous trees on lofty Kunlun Mountain: Kunlun Mountain in the northwest within the seas is Xiadu, which is the mountain pasture of the Yellow Emperor. Kunlun Mountain occupies an area of eight hundred square miles and is approximately eight thousand meters high. A tall and sturdy Muhe of the grass family grows on the mountain. A grain and grass belt may extend forty meters long and is over five meters wide. Nine lakes are on the mountain, and some of them have jade balustrades going around. Each of the nine passageways on the mountain is guarded by chieftains of the Tiger Tribe. One hundred chieftains get together on the mountain. There are cave dwellings on the waterside of the Red Spring. Only a hero like Yi of Dongyi Tribe can climb onto the lofty mountain… The lake on the mountain top is as deep as three hundred eight hundred meters. The gigantic tiger-like totem animal of the Tiger Tribe has nine human heads. It stands on Kunlun Mountain and faces the east… In the north of the territory of the Tiger Tribe, there are slime molds, granular jade trees, figured jade trees, bluish red jade trees, and trees of immortality. There are phoenixes and golden pheasants. There are sturdy grains, cypresses, and sweet springs. The Divine Tree called Mandui is used to make astronomical instruments. Mandui is also called tingmu yajiao.62

The towering tree called “jianmu” on Kunlun Mountain exclusively serves as the ladder that leads to heaven. The tree is repeatedly seen in Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas); for instance, in Shanhaijing: Haineinanjing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: In the South Within the Seas), “The tree looks as strong and sturdy as an ox. With its bark peeled off, there is a yellow, tassel-like trace that looks like snakes. The leaves look like those of Pyrus calleryana. Its fruit look like that of Koelreuteria paniculata. The wood texture feels like that of Hemiptelea davidii. This 58

Ibid., 182. Yuan Ke, Revised and Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas” (Chengdu: Bashu Publishing House, July 1993), 344–345. 60 Ibid., 346. 61 Wang Guowei (Red.); Yuan Yingguang & Liu Yinsheng (Collated & punctuated), Revised and Annotated “Classic of Water” (Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, May 1984), 1–2. 62 Yuan Ke, Revised and Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas” (Chengdu: Bashu Publishing House, July 1993), 344–345. 59

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tree called jianmu is botanically Koelreuteria bipinnata…”63 Shanhaijing: Haineijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: Within the Seas) describes: Between the Min River and the Yangtze River within the boundary of the South Sea, there are nine hilly areas on watersides, namely, Taotang, Youshude, Mengying, Kunwu, Heibai, Chiwang, Canwei, Wufu, and Shenmin. There is a tree that has cyan leaves and a purple trunk, with black flowers and yellow fruits. It is called jianmu or botanically Koelreuteria bipinnata. An extraordinarily towering jianmu tree has its branches cut down and is made into a totem pole. There are nine winding branches on the top and nine interlacing roots at the bottom. There are seed- and leave-shaped decors. The Yellow Emperor’s Bear Tribe erected such a totem pole to welcome Taihao of the Dragon Tribe.64

The term “jianmu” is seen in other ancient Chinese texts. According to Lvshi Chunqiu (Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals), “South to the White-bodied State there is Jianmu tree, which has no shadow in the daylight and no echo to a shout. The tree sits at the center of Heaven and Earth.” According to Gao You’s annotation, “As Polaris and stars move, Dubhe remains where it is. The sun runs to the far on the Winter Solstice and to the near on the Summer Solstice. However, there was no difference in day and night under Dubhe. Jianmu grows at Duguang in the south. Emperors travel between Heaven and Earth along the tree. It may be south to the White-bodied State. The tree looks as strong and sturdy as an ox. With its bark peeled off, there is a yellow, tassel-like trace that looks like snakes. It leaves look like those of Pyrus calleryana. At the noon there is no shadow beneath the tree. Also, no echo sounds at a shout. It’s because the tree sits at the center of Heaven and Earth.”65 Huainanzi: Zhuixing (Huainanzi: Geography) says, “Jianmu grows at Duguang in the south. Emperors travel between Heaven and Earth along the tree. At the noon there is no shadow beneath the tree. Also, no echo sounds at a shout. This is because the tree sits at the center of Heaven and Earth. Ruomu tree grows west to jianmu tree. On the top of ruomu tree there are ten suns that give out bright light.” Gao You’s annotation goes, “The tree looks as strong and sturdy as an ox. With its bark peeled off, there is a yellow, tassel-like trace that looks like snakes. It leaves look like those of Pyrus calleryana. Duguang is a mountain in the south…Emperors travel between Heaven and Earth via Mount Duguang. At noon, the sunshines overhead, and there is no shadow. That’s why it is thought to be the center of Heaven and Earth.”66 Yuan Ke gives a different interpretation: Neither Guo nor Hao was quite correct here. Huainanzi: Zhuixing (Huainanzi: Geography) says, “Jianmu grows at Duguang in the south. Emperors travel between Heaven and Earth along the tree.” Gao You’s annotation goes, “Emperors travel between Heaven and Earth via Mount Duguang.” However, according to the text, it must mean that “emperors travel between Heaven and Earth” “along the tree,” instead of “via Mount Duguang.” Thus, the true meaning should be that “Taihao of the Dragon Tribe… travels along jianmu tree.” 63

Ibid., 329. Ibid., 507–509. 65 Lv Buwei; Gao You (Annotated), Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals (Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, July 1986), 126. 66 Liu An; Gao You (Annotated), Annotated Huainanzi (Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore, July 1986), 57. 64

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Ancient people may have a simple thinking that gods, immortals, and sorcerers also need a Heaven’s Ladder into Heaven… Two natural objects may serve as Heaven’s Ladder, namely, the mountain and the tree. Kunlun Mountain may top the others of its kind as Heaven’s Ladder… It is only jianmu tree that is believed to be the one along which “Taihao travels between Heaven and Earth;” that’s why this tree has been written a great deal: Taihao or Paoxi, who is believed to be “King of Kings” (as is seen in Hanshu [Book of Han] and Diwang Shiji [Sovereign Series]), travels between Heaven and Earth along jianmu tree. The tree is thus the Divine Tree worth written about.

Accordingly, Yuan Ke holds, “Jianmu tree is built by the Yellow Emperor, who is believed to be the supreme ruler of the universe.”67 In other words, the significance of jianmu tree lies in its being Heaven’s Ladder, via which great figures travel between Heaven and Earth instead of simply walking past it. Yuan’s research is more of textural significance, while archaeological findings have provided more material evidence. The bronze divine tree unearthed from the No. 2 sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui, Guanghan, Sichuan Province is archaeological evidence for tree worship practiced by people in ancient Shu state: “The giant bronze tree discovered at Sanxingdui may be material evidence for the legend of ‘jianmu tree as the Heaven’s Ladder.’ A dragon coils down from the top of the towering, straight bronze tree. It depicts the legendary scene in which an ancient tribal chieftain or sorcerer turned into a dragon and travelled between Heaven, Earth, secular, and immortal worlds. Thus, the divine tree is a religious icon connecting the “human world” and the “celestial world.”68 The image of “jianmu” the Divine Tree that is “towering and without branches” must have been modeled on a sort of tall arbor. House builders have believed in “the tree growing on Kunlun Mountain” and “the Heaven-reaching Pillar,” because of all sorts of divine trees, “jianmu” tree in particular, described in Kunlun myths. Artisans from Chongzuo County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, see the significance of beam setting: “We disciples of Lu Ban climb up stairs and set the beam. We set the beam high, to pick a magic peach for Goddess the Queen Mother.”69 We can see in it people’s desire to communicate with celestials. It was universally believed in remote antiquity that man could communicate with gods high on Heaven in a way or another. However, things changed after Zhuanxu made the religious reform of “ending communications between Heaven and Earth.”70 Before Zhuanxu’s religious 67

Yuan Ke, Revised and Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas” (Chengdu: Bashu Publishing House, July 1993), 510–513. 68 Zeng Weijia, An Exploration on the Relationship Between Tree Worship and Taoism in Chengdu Plain, Religious Studies, 2008 (1), 69. 69 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Guangxi (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Guangxi (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), July 1992), 153. 70 Shangshu: Lvxing (Classic of History: Marquis of Lv on Punishments) reads, “…The great Emperor Zhuanxu compassionated the innocent multitudes that were (in danger of) being murdered, and made the oppressors feel the terrors of his majesty. He restrained and (finally) extinguished the people of Miao, so that they should not continue to future generations. Then he commissioned Zhong and Li to make an end of the communications between Earth and Heaven; and the descents (of spirits) ceased. From the princes down to the inferior officers, all helped with clear intelligence (the

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reform, “when Shaohao’s reign was on decline and Jiuli Tribe was on rebellion, man and gods lived in mixture, and nothing was in the status it should be. Sacrifices were widely held. Every household had its own sorcerer. Thus, integrity was out of the question.”71 However, the belief in “reaching Heaven” has remained in traditional Chinese culture and left its far-reaching impacts on China’s building construction folklore.

2.3 Wood, Dragon and the Law of Participation Tree worship has taken a distinct form in China’s building construction folklore: in an artisan’s prayer, the beam is usually called the black dragon, wood dragon, or simply dragon. The beliefs behind the mentality have been quite complicated. Artisans from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province call the beam black dragon in the wine-pouring ceremony before the beam setting rite. The artisan holds a winepot in his hand and pours the wine onto the beam, chanting the beam setting Song, “I pour the wine on the black dragon’s head, and the new generation will go up high. I pour the wine on the black dragon’s body, and there’s a president from the next generation. I pour the wine on the black dragon’s claws, and the new generation will get prosperous. I pour the wine around the black dragon, and the family will become the best one in Ningbo.”72 Builders in Sheyang County, Jiangsu Province call the beam the dragon wood and have a more methodological rite for it. The prayer chants, “The first cup of wine is for the head, and the family will see for generations state heads. The second cup of wine is for the neck, and the family will enjoy eternal tranquility to rest. The third cup of wine is for the eyes, and the family will enjoy peace. The fourth cup of wine is for the claws, and the family will become prosperous. The fifth cup of wine is for the tail, and the family will be upright and honest. Three more cups in a row, and the family will forever grow. Three more drops in a line, and the family will go higher in the rank.”73 A wine-pouring ceremony like this is held to pray for secular happiness like wealth and tranquility. Wood and dragon seem to have something in common literally. However, we may not stop here, given the beliefs in the age of sorcery. Ancient Chinese texts contain a great deal of writing on the dragon. For a long time, the dragon was thought to be a divine creature unpredictable and changeable. Zhouyi: Shangjing—Qian (Book of Changes: Qian) reads, “In the first (or lowest) spread of) the regular principles of duty, and the solitary and widows were no longer overlooked.” Li Min & Wang Jian, Interpreted and Annotated “Classic of History” (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2004), 399. 71 Classics Collating Team of Shanghai Normal University (Revised & punctuated), Discourses of the States (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, March 1978), 562. 72 Zhong Jingwen (Ed.) & Wan Jianzhong et al., History of Chinese Folklore: Republic of China (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, March 2008), 153. 73 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Jiangsu (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Jiangsu (Beijing: ISBN China Center, July 1998), 176.

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NINE, undivided, the dragon lies hid in the deep; it is not the time for active doing. In the second NINE, undivided, the dragon appears in the field; it will be advantageous to meet with the great man…In the fifth NINE, undivided, the dragon is on the wing in the sky; it will be advantageous to meet with the great man. In the sixth (or topmost) NINE, undivided, the dragon exceeds the proper limits; there will be occasions for repentance. The use of the number NINE, if the host of dragons (thus) appearing were to divest themselves of their heads, there would be good fortune.”74 What a dragon looked like remained unknown. Over the Spring and Autumn Period, the dragon took a worm’s shape, but not for long. For the dragon was believed to be changeable. Guanzi: Shuidi (Guanzi: Water and Land) goes, “The dragon is born in water. It swims freely and has different colors. Thus, the dragon is a mysterious creature. It can be as small as a silkworm and as large as Heaven and Earth. It can fly high into clouds and hide deep into seas. The dragon keeps ever-changing. It is a mysterious creature.”75 Zuozhuan (The Commentary of Zuo) finds something in the dragon: The dragon an aquatic creature; a god once turned into a yellow dragon; the dragon could be tamed and domesticated; the dragon may be a male or female; the dragon could serve as a personal mount.76 Shanhaijing: Haiwainanjing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: In the South beyond the Seas) reads, “Zhurong the Spirit of the South features a beast body and human head and rides on two dragons.” Shanhaijing: Haiwaixijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: in the West beyond the Seas) reads, “Rushou the Spirit of the West has a snake in his left ear and rides on two dragons.” Shanhaijing: Haiwaidongjing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: In the East beyond the Seas) reads, “Goumang the Spirit of the East features a bird’s body and human head and rides on two dragons.”77 There is general agreement among scholars that the image of dragon was settled in the Han Dynasty. According to Sima Qian (145BC/135BC–?), the dragon was closely connected to the emperor; that is, the dragon was the symbol of the emperor, and Emperor Gaozu of Han was even the dragon’s descendant. Shiji: Benji—Gaozu (Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Emperor Gaozu of Han) writes, “His Majesty’s mother Mdm. Liu once rested on the waterside and dreamt of meeting a god. Right at the moment, thunder and lightning struck. His Majesty’s father saw a dragon coiling on Mdm. Liu. Liu was thus pregnant and later gave birth to His Majesty.”78 The dragon was listed among the “four intelligent creatures” in ancient Chinese texts, as put in Liji: Liyun (Book of Rites: Ceremonial Usages; Their Origins, Development, and Intention) reads, “The four intelligent creatures being made to 74

Zhou Zhenfu, Interpreted and Annotated “The Book of Changes (Nanjing: Jiangsu Education Publishing Ltd., April 2006), 36–37. 75 Li Xiangfeng; Liang Yunhua (Collated), Revised and Annotated “Guanzi” (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, June 2004), 827. 76 Yang Bojun, Annotations to “The Commentary of Zuo” (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 1981), 1502–1503. 77 Guo Fu, Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), May 2004), 595, 620, 661. 78 An Pingqiu (Ed.), Records of the Grand Historian (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 121.

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become domestic animals, there would be constant sources of food and drink. What were the four intelligent creatures? They were the Qi-lin, the phoenix, the tortoise, and the dragon. When the dragon becomes a domestic animal, (all other) fishes and the sturgeon do not lie hidden from men (in the mud). When the phoenix becomes so, the birds do not fly from them in terror. When the Qi-lin does so, the beasts do not scamper away. When the tortoise does so, the feelings of men take no erroneous course.”79 In the texts of the Han Dynasty, Azure Dragon was believed to be one of the Guardian Gods. Lunheng: Jiechu (Discourses in the Balance: exorcism) reads, “Then what can an exorcism rite really do to chase evil spirits out of the house? It is absurd to believe such a rite truly works. Moreover, an exorcism rite is held to expel guest spirits. However, there are twelve host gods in the household, Azure Dragon and White Tiger included. Both of the two are awesome gods high from Heaven. Then how dare wandering evil spirits do mischief with the two in presence? It is right like that no villains dare harass the house if the owner is bold and strong.”80 According to Xu Shen (c.58–c.147), “The dragon is the leader of fishes and the sturgeon. It can hide or come out, become thinner or thicker, or become shorter or longer. The dragon flies high up into the sky on the Spring Equinox and dives deep into the water on the Autumn Equinox. The creature has a fleshy shape and is able to fly. The character is pronounced ‘l-ong.’ A character referring to something related to the dragon has the character referring to dragon in it.”81 Luo Yuan (1136–1184) of the Song Dynasty may give the most detailed explanation to the dragon in Erya Yi: Shilong (A Reference to “Literary Expositor”: Dragon), “The dragon features deer’s antlers, a snake’s head, ghost’s eyes, a snake-like neck, a clam’s belly, fish scales, eagle’s claws, tiger’s paws, and ox’s ears.”82 There was during the Qianlong era a mysterious incident involving the dragon’s fall. “A fallen dragon” in the first volume of Qiudeng Conghua (Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn) depicts the event and what the dragon looks like: In the seventh lunar month of the Renshen Year of the Qianlong era (1752), Changshan suffered a lengthened rainstorm. A dragon fell down outside the east city wall. It measures several zhang long and over ten arm spans around. Its head looked like that of an ox. There were green whiskers. The scales were shiny. Its crown concaved slightly and was as large as a plate, inside which there was a toad. The toad first skipped out and then back. The entire city was out to see the dragon. The county magistrate had a shelter built over the dragon. A thunderstorm hit all of a sudden days later, and the dragon flew away.83

79 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 918–919. 80 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance, IV (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 1436. 81 Xu Shen; Xu Xuan (Ed.); Wang Hongyuan (Rev.), Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), February 2005, Modern edition), 652. 82 Luo Yuan, A Reference to “Literary Expositor”, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 83 Wang Qi; Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 15.

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However, in this book, my interest is not in the image and function of the dragon or the customs related to it. I simply offer an account of what ancient texts have to say about the dragon. In modern days, there have been various theories of “what the image of the dragon is based on,” such as dinosaur, foreign creatures, Chinese alligators, hurricanes, and a Chinese totem. It is an issue open for more discussion. The theory of the Chinese totem put forth by Wen Yiduo (1899–1946) was once quite influential. However, a scholar holds a rather different view that “the dragon was something modeled on the pine.” According to this scholar, “Personally, I think the mythical figure of dragon in China was an incarnation of the tree god. Chinese dragon worship was a variation of their tree worship. That is, the dragon was actually the tree god, a god of plants. The dragon was originally modeled on evergreen arbors like ‘pine’ and ‘cypress’ (primarily pine) … In ancient times, people created the image of dragon based upon the pine. Thus, there are features of the pine seen in the dragon. As time elapsed, the dragon became an independent concept and image from the pine. However, the image of dragon (i.e. pine) left indelible traces on that of ‘the animal dragon’.”84 The scholar tried to prove the argument that “the dragon was something modeled on the pine” with support from ancient texts, folklore field surveys, character analysis, and metaphors of dragon (or part of the dragon) and pine. This argument has something reasonable, despite biases in it. On the basis of my own observations, I believe there are a number of ways in which affinity between the tree and the dragon might be established. First, the tree was believed to be the place where the dragon hid. Lunheng: Longxu (Discourses in the Balance: Illusion of Dragon) goes: In summer, a tree or house may be hit by thunder and lightning. It is believed that Heaven tries to get the dragon. The dragon is believed to hide in the tree or house. Thus, it will go out when the tree or house is thunder-hit. In this circumstance, the thunder will hit the dragon and take it back to Heaven. All, be they ignorant, intelligent, good, or bad, believe this. It is absurd at a closer look… As jottings say, “a dragon can’t go up to the sky without a short bar of tree,” indicating that the dragon flies to the sky from the tree. It was a common view and wrong. The dragon is seen fly at the thunder or lightning. At the moment when thunder or lightning hits the tree, the dragon happens to be at the tree. And the dragon leaves with the thunder and lightning. That is how it goes that the dragon flies up to the sky from the tree.85

Beimeng Suoyan (Trivial of the North) writes, “It is believed that the dragon doesn’t want the labor to rain and tries to hide away to escape the duty. The Thunder God will catch the dragon hide in an ancient tree or post. The dragon has nowhere to hide in an open field. Then it will attach to an ox’s horn or a shepherd boy. Thus, the ox or the boy usually dies of thunder-hit.”86 Thus, an ancient tree, house, or post 84

Yin Rongfang, Dragon as the Deity of Tree: A Study of Pine as Dragon’s Prototype, Academic Monthly, 1987 (7), 39, 44. 85 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance, IV (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 366–376. 86 Li Fang et al., Imperial Reader (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & reprinted 1998), Vol. 1, 3457.

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became a hiding place for the dragon to escape from its duty to rain and Thunder God’s catching it. Second, the tree was believed to be able to turn into the dragon. The best-known myth is the Myth of Jiulong. Book of Eastern Han: Biographies of Barbarians in the South and Southwest reads: A woman called Shahu living in Ailao Mountain became pregnant after having touched sunken wood. She gave birth to ten baby boys ten months later. The sunken wood turned into a dragon and flew out of water. Shahu heard the dragon, “Where are the boys you gave birth to?” All the boys were scared away at the sight of the dragon, except the youngest one. He sat with his back to the dragon. And the dragon licked him. Shahu pronounced “back” as “Jiu” and “to sit” as “Long.” Thus, the youngest boy was called Jiulong. After the boys had grown up, Jiulong was elected by his elder brothers as the king, as he had been licked by their father. A couple living at the foot of Ailao Mountain had ten daughters, all of whom married the ten brothers. Their descendants all had dragon-shaped tattoos and long-tailed clothes. Their species grew larger after Jiulong’s death. They were then divided into smaller communities and lived in valleys. Those people lived in isolation deep in mountains and never contacted the Central Plains.87

This myth was solid evidence for totem theory, as totem was originally referred to as “relatives of something.” Jiangxi Tongzhi (Comprehensive Accounts of Jiangxi) tells, “It was said: A giant tree turned into a dragon. When a drought hit, an ox was sacrificed to the tree, and the metal drum was beaten. It was called to stir up the pond. No sooner had the tree moved than the rain came down.”88 “In the first year of the Qiandao reign (1067), the giant tree on the pond side in front of Yongning Temple turned into a dragon and flew away.”89 In the first volume of Qiudeng Conghua (Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn) there is “A tree-turned dragon”: The river in my hometown rises around summer and autumn. Trees on the riverside are mostly rushed into the water. Children thus get the wood and sell it for money. Two children from Zhangjiacun Village in the south of the county once saw a giant tree with several zhang-long floats in the river. They thus swam to the tree and climbed onto it. There were scales covering the tree. It seemed to be a dragon. The two children were terribly scared. However, the dragon was too fast. One child cried, “I don’t care about death. How about my mom?” Upon the words, he was thrown onto the bank. The other remained silent and was carried away by the dragon.90

Third, there was believed to be a dragon tree that was a dragon tree hybrid. In the twenty-eighth volume of Jinshu (Book of Jin), there was an entry about the plant spirit: “In the twenty-fifth year of the Jian’an era under reign of Emperor Xian of Han (220), Emperor Wu of Wei had the Jianshi Hall built in Luoyang and cut down the dragon tree. The tree bled. Another human-face tree was cut down. And the tree 87

Xu Jialu (Ed.), Book of Eastern Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1722. 88 Ji Yun et al., Comprehensive Accounts of Jiangxi, Vol. 13, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 89 Ibid. 90 Wang Qi; Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 13.

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was hurt at the root and bled. Emperor Wu felt anxious and got ill. He died that month.”91 “A dragon-shaped wolfberry” in the first volume of Jianhu Yuji (More Worthless Things) tells: In Wenjian Zhiyan (Fragments of Hearsay): An ancient wolfberry grew on the western wall of the seat of Jiaxing Prefecture. The large plant looked like a dragon, with lifelike scales and claws. It shone at night, and the light could be seen miles away. However, no light was seen at a close distance. Roars were heard in an evening of thunderstorm. The residents living nearby were afraid of causing something disastrous someday. Thus, they hacked one larger branch. The juice became blood-red overnight. However, no roars have been heard any more after that. However, the dragon-shaped plant survives today.92

The Bai people in Dabona Village, Xiangyun County, Yunnan Province hold religious rites for the dragon tree, praying for favorable weather and protection from windstorms and plague of insects.93 In addition, the Naxi, Lisu, Wa, Jingpo, Yi, Dai, Zhuang, Hani, Tu, Oroqen, Daur, Hezhe, Ewenki, and Manchu peoples call a tree worshipping ceremony the sacrifice to dragon.94 However, some Hani scholars denied that a sacrifice to the tree god was the same as the dragon and held that there was no connection between the tree god and the dragon.95 A large amount of reliable data and material is needed to discriminate the concepts of dragons, dragon trees, and tree gods. Personally, I don’t think the divine tree and the dragon were mingled in primitive cultures of ethnic minorities; moreover, some ethnic minorities had no such a concept of dragon at all. However, it may be likely that the ancient tree and the dragon become mingled when the dragon culture continues to be disseminated. In a case that there was no dragon but only the ancient tree at the water source where the sacrifice to dragon was held, a dragon-tree hybrid came into being when a new image was needed. Fourth, in the yin-yang and Five Elements theory, Azure Dragon in the Four Mythical Creatures corresponds to “wood” in the Five Elements. Yunji Qiqian (Seven Treasure Sects of Taoist Scriptures) says, “The Four Mythical Creatures refer to Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Azure Dragon of the East is tagged Jiayi and corresponds to wood…”.96

91

Xu Jialu (Ed.), Book of Jin (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 666. 92 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 2047. 93 Lv Daji & He Yaohua. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 511–512. 94 Wu Bing’an, A Study of Chinese Folklore (Shenyang: Shenyang University Press, September 1999), 290–291. 95 Mao Youquan, Concept of “Soul” and Primitive Religion of the Yeche People, Journal of Yunnan Customs, Vol. 1. 96 Zhang Junfang (Ed.); Li Yongsheng (Punctuated and checked), Seven Treasure Sects of Taoist Scriptures, Vol. 5 (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, December 2003), 1599.

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The foregoing analysis indicates that there does seem to be some kind of mysterious connection between wood and dragon. However, we are far from fully understanding what that connection is. Traditionally, the practice of calling the beam wood dragon is widespread among artisans. I would like to reiterate that this is has never been purely a literary metaphor. A carpenter from Huzhou chants in the beam setting Song, “Carpenter Zhang is to set the crossbeam and knocks at the wood dragon’s head… The wine is poured at the wood dragon’s head, and the granary gets filled. The wine is poured at the wood dragon’s tail, and the family has unmatchable wealth.”97 In the Fengxian area, a cantilevered corner beam at the house’s southeastern corner is called an “Azure Dragon corner beam.” When carpenters set beams, they chant, “The golden dragon flies high and brings luck in making money.”98 A wine-pouring prayer is chanted at building construction in downtown Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, “A cup wine is poured at the center of the hall, and the house owner raises dragons in four. The azure dragon brings water. The yellow dragon brings grain. The white dragon brings rice. The black dragon brings meals.”99 The Tune of House-building and beam setting in Lijiang County, Yunnan Province depicts the beam setting rite held in Jianchuan, “Three knocks on the dragon’s head for the house owner’s longevity. Three knocks at the dragon’s tail for the house owner’s prosperity. The shiny gold-beam sits straight over the room.”100 On the relationship between the tree and the dragon or between the beam and the dragon, the kind of logical thinking to which we are accustomed would only lead us to a conclusion that is both apparently rational and unsettling, and it is based on what Lévy-Bruhl calls the “law of participation”, “Rather let us consider these connections in themselves, and see whether they do not depend upon a general law, a common foundation for those mystic relations which primitive mentality so frequently senses in beings and objects. Now, there is one element that is never lacking in such relations. In varying forms and degrees, they all involve ‘participation’ between persons or objects that form part of a collective representation. For this reason, I shall, in default of a better term, call the principle which is peculiar to ‘primitive’ mentality, which governs the connections and the preconnections of such representations, the law of participation.”101 There must be a mysterious power of participation between the wood and dragon; thus, the beam is believed to be the dragon and receives sacrifice 97 Zhong Ming, A Survey on House-building Customs in Huzhou, in Jiang Bin (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Oral Folk Culture (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, September 1993), 245. 98 Song Genxin, A Survey of Beliefs and Customs of Living in Fengxian Area, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Folk Literature Studies, Vol. 6 (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, June 1992), 224. 99 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections: Zhejiang (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Zhejiang (Beijing: ISBN China Center, December 1995), 142. 100 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, 2003), 1157. 101 L. Lévy-Bruhl; Ding You (Trans.), Primitive Mentality (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, May 1985), 82.

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and prayers from people. It is believed to be able to endow people with wealth, peace, and other secular happiness. “From the dynamic standpoint, also, the creation of entities and phenomena, the manifestation of such an occurrence, are the result of a mystic influence that is communicated, under conditions themselves of mystic nature, from one being or object to another. They depend upon participation, which is represented in very varied forms: contact, transference, sympathy, telekinesis, etc.”102 Artisans’ folkways absorbed traditional cultural factors, including myths. Thus, participation occurred between the mysterious dragon and the long-worshipped dragon. Therefore, the belief in “wood dragon” came into being in the beam setting ceremony. Lévy-Bruhl’s explanation of phenomena in primitive mentality with the term “mystic” was ambiguous and thus bashed by the anthropologist’s peers. However, we have learned that in-depth analysis is impossible for numerous cultural phenomena, and the most we can hope to do is to offer some preliminary insights.

102

L. Lévy-Bruhl; Ding You (Trans.), Primitive Mentality (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, May 1985), 83–84.

Chapter 3

Beam Setting Ceremony and the Use of Fetishes

Beam setting ritual is of the most far-reaching impacts and richest implications in China’s building construction folklore. Many ethnic groups in China hold beam setting ceremonies. In Sichuan, artisans undergo various procedures before the beam setting ceremony is held. They would first search for the appropriate timber in wooded mountains. Then, the beam is made and painted. And the sacrificial ceremony is held. With everything ready, some more steps are taken: to locate the best position for wealth; to expel evil spirits; to wind red cloth around the beam; to throw rice; to kowtow to the beam; to wind the beam; to pray to the beam; to receive the beam; to start beam setting; to lift up the beam; to pull the beam; to place the beam; to secure the beam; to walk on the beam; to throw stuffed steamed buns; and place a dou.1 The Tujia people have a rather complicated beam setting ceremony, which consists of eleven parts, namely beam-worshipping (bai liang), openings made on both ends of the beam (kai liangkou), rope wound at both ends of the beam (chan liang), beam-lifting (song liang), beam setting (shang liang), turning round the beam (fan liang), beampraising (zan liang), feast enjoyed and chanted by the beam setting artisans (zan jiu), praises chanted to glutinous rice cake (zan ciba), throwing glutinous rice cake (pao liang), and descending of the beam setting artisans (xia liang). A prayer- or charmlike “beam setting song” is chanted in each step.2 According to Zhongguo Shaoshu Minzu Fengsuzhi (Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China), beam setting ceremonies are held by numerous ethnic minorities in China, including the Miao, Yi, Bouyei, Dong, Yao, Bai, Tujia, She, Shui, Gelo, Achang, and Bao’an peoples.3 beam setting

1

Zhu Shizhen, An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 140. 2 Ouyang Meng, A Study on House-building Customs of the Tujia People: A Case Study of Laochakou Village, Xuan’en County, Hubei Province, M.A. Thesis (Wuhan: Central China Normal University, May 2007), 12. 3 Mao Gongning (Ed.), Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, September 2006). © Social Sciences Academic Press 2022 S. Li, Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5477-0_3

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ceremonies have even been brought to Japan and Korea.4 beam settings have been widely held and thus contain a variety of traditional cultural symbols. It is necessary to conduct a diachronic investigation of the key cultural symbols to understand the religious significance of the beam setting ceremony as a whole. Beam worship is an embodiment of tree worship. Beam worship came into being and took shape over the process in which people made the beam out of the naturally growing tree. Man tried to communicate with Heaven and locate the world’s center by worshipping the central post. Beam worship has been a sort of metaphor of “ascending.” A beam setting ceremony is held to pray for eminence, wealth, and prosperity. When the beam is lifted up, it is hoped that the house owner and his descendants will climb higher on the social ladder, in a way that the mythical dragon soars into the sky. The ceremony is carefully prepared. Prayers for happiness and good luck are chanted in the ceremony. Artisans, house owners, and bystanders readily play their roles and interact with each other. Thus, the beam setting ceremony may be the most joyous and festival part of building construction. Artisans are more of folk artists in the ceremony. beam setting prayers are in essence folk ballads practically chanted to expel evil things and pray for the good. Artisans usually use the eight diagrams, roosters, and beam setting coins in a beam setting ceremony to sanctify the ceremony in hope of becoming more blessed.

3.1 Beam Setting Ceremony We shall first trace the origin of the beam setting ceremony. It may go all the way back to when building construction first began in ancient times. However, we would like to know exactly when the beam setting ceremony as something religious came into existence. It is helpful to investigate beam setting prayers to understand the evolution and significance of the beam setting ceremony. According to Francis L. K. Hsu (1909–1999), “whichever criterion we employ, we are led to the conclusion that magic and religion, instead of being treated as mutually exclusive entities, must be grouped together as magico-religion or magico-religious phenomena. This is a position increasingly endorsed by anthropologists.”5 Mischa Titiev (1901–1978) saw the issue differently. Titiev took a fresh start toward a dichotomy, namely, calendrical and critical practices, to distinguish between religion and magic. We are more inclined to see, in the ancient times when primitive religion prevailed, that magic and religion were not as different back then as they are in modern times; that is, religion and 4

Refer to Wang Xiaodun, beam setting Prayers on the Korean Peninsula and Erlangwei Prayers in Dunhuang, Annual of the Institute of Chinese Classics of Nanjing University, 11 (Nanjing: Phoenix Book Ltd., 2008); and Wang Xiaoping, A Study on the Japanese beam setting Prayers, Root Exploration, 2009 (1). 5 M. Titiev, A Fresh Approach to the Problem of Magic and Religion, in Shi Zong (Ed.), Selected Works of the Western Anthropologists of Religion of the Twentieth Century (Shanghai: Joint Publishing, April 1995), 726.

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magic in a modern sense both grew out of “primitive religion.” Beam setting prayers have been evidence of the inextricable connections between religion and magic. People in the pre-Qin period chanted praise of a newly built house and prayed for god’s the blessings: Zhao Wu of State Jin, posthumously called Xianwen or Wenzi, had a new house completed. His fellow colleagues went to give congratulations. Zhang Meng said to Zhao Wu, “It is truly towering and beautiful! You could hold sacrificial ceremonies, funerals, and banquets here.” Wu answered, “I’m able to hold sacrificial ceremonies, funerals, and banquets here, and I’m allowed to die a natural death and be buried together with my ancestors.” He then kowtowed to the north to extend his gratitude. Zhang Meng was thought to be capable of chanting praise. Zhao Wu was thought to be capable of praying.

The annotation goes, “Praise is chanted to grandeur of the house. Prayers are chanted for blessings.”6 According to Zheng Xuan, the above text demonstrates a tendency of praise- and prayer-chanting after the completion of a house.7 beam setting prayers mostly contain the content to pray for blessings from deities. Such a prayer is also seen in Shijing (Classic of Poetry). Xiaoya: Sigan (Minor Odes of the Kingdom: Sigan) chants: A murmuring stream runs joyfully in front of the wooded Zhongnan Mountains, on which luxuriant bamboo and pine trees grow. Loving brothers are close to each other, with no schemes played in between. A grand palace is to be built to make the family line extend and grow. The gate is open in the southwest. In the house happily lives the entire family. Their happiness has been envied and desired by the whole world. Wallboards are tightly fastened with thick ropes. Earth is pounded with stone rammers. No wind or rain breaks into the impregnable house. No sparrow or mouse makes its way into the solid house. That is the palace where our lord lives. What a towering palace it is! What a grand palace it is! Flying eaves look like birds spreading their wings. The palace is as colorful as pheasant feathers. That is the palace where our lord deals with state affairs. What a spacious the front courtyard it is! Plus those towering columns. The main hall looks so bright and spacious, flanked by magnificent side halls. That is the palace where our lord resides. Spread a rush mat and add onto it a cool mat, on which our lord will have a dream sweet. Our lord will wake up and savor what he dreamt about. What did he see in the dream, do you think? He dreamt about a strong, black bear. He dreamt about a thin, long snake. A dream-teller is then summoned. O my lord, you dreamt about a strong, black bear. And you are going to have a boy. O my lord, you dreamt about a thin, long snake. And you are going to have a girl. O my lord, do please put your boy on a large bed. He must be in pretty clothes clad. Do please give him exquisite jade ware. How clear and loud he cries! He’ll certainly be entitled to a red apron. He’ll certainly be our prince or lord. O my lord, do please put your girl on the ground. She must be in swaddling bands. Do please give her a pottery spindle. May she stay off troubles and evils. May she handle house chores and meals. May she behave herself and make no trouble for her parents.8

The above ode prays for family harmony and more descendants. Divination in it is right something of primitive mentality. Annotation by Zhu Xi (1130–1200) states, “It 6

Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 371. 7 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 372. 8 Zhou Zhenfu (Interpreted & annotated); Xu Minghui (Ed.), Shijing Xuanyi (Selected Odes from “Classic of Poetry”) (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, January 2005), 189–191.

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is like a drinking toast at the completion of a house.”9 Both Book of Rites: Tan Gong II and Minor Odes of the Kingdom: Sigan were chanted after the completion of a house. Not exactly beam setting prayers, however, were of similar function. According to Yan Can, “In ancient times, prayers were chanted at the completion of a house. They were similar to present-day completion toasts and beam setting prayers. The best wish for a new house has been nothing more than having prosperous descendants. It’s been human nature. Thus goes the prayer: I wish for having prosperous descendants after moving into the newly built house, as in my dream. It must have been a metaphor, instead of having such a dream in reality. One must be knowledgeable before having a clear mind. A bear was an omen for sons. Snakes were believed to be something of the yin catalog and thus the omen for daughters. In ancient times, people had no textual base for dream-telling. They had only a rough idea then. However, all was fabricated to pray for good luck.”10 Beam setting prayers were initially built by literary men and thus mostly of flower language. A scholar of the Song Dynasty held that beam setting prayers were first written by Wen Zisheng (495–547) of Later Wei. “Wen Zisheng of Later Wei wrote a beam setting prayer for Changhe Gate, ‘His Majesty built this state. His Majesty is entitled to his supreme rank. By the order of His Majesty, the towering gate opens wide. By divination, the auspicious day and time were picked. Exquisitely carved beams were thus set, towering and grand. Dragons may get lost at the grandeur of the gate. His Majesty reigns at Heaven’s will and thus is able to have an easy peace. All the people come to His Majesty, in happiness and at ease.’ That was the ever-first beam setting prayer.”11 In Wen’s beam setting prayer, there were already words about auspicious time and dragon. According to Liu Shipei (1884–1919), beam setting prayers emerged as a new genre in the Southern Dynasties: “There were beam setting prayers; (originating from Classic of Poetry: Sigan)… Men of letters composed such things, long or short. The wording was quite absurd. That was just what Yang Ziyun called an insignificant skill; such a writer was someone Han Changli denounced as a comedian. As the old saying goes, “blandishments disturb the Great Way.’ beam setting prayers are right of the kind.”12 However, Liu gave no other examples of the kind except Wen Zisheng’s beam setting prayer for Changhe Gate. Lu Ban, the Patriarch of Artisans, was first mentioned in the beam setting Prayer for Jinguangming Temple on the Eighteenth Day of (??) Lunar Month of the Xin(?) Year, the First Year of the Tiande Era of Tang (written in 943): The ancient temple was pebbles and rubbles, despite its history of ages. Ten-thousand sages arise. A thousand Buddha sit on golden lotuses. Sacred water runs in streams. Voices of divinity resonate in temples. Buddha’s great deeds may be told up. Paper and ink simply 9 Zhu Xi, On “Classic of Poetry” (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, March 1987), 84. 10 Yan Can, A Study on “Classic of Poetry,” Vol. 19, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 11 Wang Yinglin; Weng Yuqi (Annotated), Textual Criticisms on Classics) (Taiwan: The Commercial Press, November 1935), 1485. 12 Liu Shipei, Jottings on Literary Issues (Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, May 1998), 113.

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cannot speak. The Xianyun barbarians harassed the border. They burnt down temple for Buddha. Monks worked hard to rebuild the temple. They’d like to be fellow monks in the life of future. Beams and pillars are exquisitely carved and painted. Coiling dragons may soar into the sky. It is of a smart design, similar to that made by Lu Ban. Every timber is precisely cut, and every pattern is precisely painted.13

The above beam setting prayer also expresses good wishes for blessings. However, the beam setting prayers cited above vaguely show the religious feature of a beam setting ceremony. Numerous beam setting prayers that consisted of paragraphs started with “Erlangwei” have been seen in the Dunhuang manuscripts. Those prayers were written indeed in a sort of sorcery language. The “Erlangwei” beam setting prayers written in the late Tang Dynasty show that people back then set the crossbeam at a selected time on a picked auspicious day in hope of attaining prosperity. For instance, a prayer written in 930 is titled the beam setting Prayer for the Niche Built on the Dangquan Site on the Twenty-fourth Day of the Guisi Month of the First Year of the Changxing Era of Great Tang (No.: Bo 3302): Dunhuang has been a place of great sceneries and historical figures. It is hard to exhaust all its greatness… Erlangwei, the Phoenix Tower is even better. It’s unrivalled… Erlangwei, monks here are mostly extraordinary among their contemporaries… Erlangwei, the beam is set on this auspicious day… With the crossbeam at its place, prosperity will long last.14

“Erlangwei is a special verse found in Dunhuang manuscripts, mainly used on an exorcism, beam setting, or wedding ceremony. The verse features paragraphs started with ‘Erlangwei,’ usually seen at the beginning or transition. The style is similar to other forms of verse seen in the Dunhuang manuscripts. A rhythmical sentence usually consists of six characters or is of a six-four rhythmical form. There are more than fifty ‘Erlangwei’ prayers in over twenty scrolls in the Dunhuang manuscripts.”15 Wang Yinglin investigated the cultural meaning of Erlangwei culture: According to the Collected Works of Lou Gongkui, Erlangwei is equivalent to Erlangmen. According to Yuanqi, the above idea was originally from Wu Zeng’s Nenggaizhai Manlu (Jottings from Nenggai Studio). Lou Gongkui (1137–1213) wrote in the postscript to Jiangshi Shangliangwen (beam setting Prayer for Family Jiang): A beam setting prayer seems to always start with “Erlangwei.” At first, I did not know the meaning of the term “Erlangwei” or the exact character used for “wei.” When I was working in the court’s legislative body, I happened to see records of burglary cases of the Yuanfeng era. The records faithfully took down the colloquial terms in daily use. A Chen Ji said, “My sect would lead you all to Shenzhou Prefecture.” Bian Ji answered, “I’ll go with you.” They all used the term “men,” which refers to a plural form of people. The term “wei” was seen nowhere except in the case of Li De from Qinchuan, “We (Zijiwei) may leave tonight.” I came to understand. Erlangwei 13

Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 258. According to Professor Li Daohe from Yunnan University, the period should be under the reign of Wang Yanzheng (?–951) of Min State; thus, it should be “the Guimao Year,” instead of “the Xin(?) Year.”. 14 Quoted from Gu Shuguang, On beam setting Prayers of the Song Dynasty, Jianghuai Tribune, 2009 (2), 155. 15 Wang Xiaodun, beam setting Prayers on the Korean Peninsula and Erlangwei Prayers in Dunhuang, Annual of the Institute of Chinese Classics of Nanjing University, 11 (Nanjing: Phoenix Book Ltd., 2008), 114.

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3 Beam Setting Ceremony and the Use of Fetishes is equivalent to Erlangmen, literally meaning “you all” or something similar. It’s a term from the dialect of Guanzhong area and borrowed to use in beam setting prayers. Chang’an of the Tang Dynasty followed the usage of this word. I once said that this term may be likely to take form Shangshu (Book of Histories). Shen Yuqing and Wang Jilu were both learned men. But neither knew the origin of this term. There’s another theory about the term “Erlangwei.” But I found it wrong as well. Ye Dadu of the Song Dynasty also recorded in his Airizhai Congchao (Collected Works of Airi Studio) Wu’s and Lou’s thoughts. According to Ye, Lv Buwei also wrote that when men carried a large tree, those in the front would shout “yuyu” and those at the back would gave their echo. Gao You annotated that “yuyu” may also be written as “xieyu”, a sort of slogan shouted when men carried something heavy. According to Huainanzi, “wei” and “xiexu” were shouts made by men carrying trees.16

According to Wang Xiaodun, Erlangwei prayers were originally used in exorcism ceremonies. Erlangwei prayers recorded in the Dunhuang manuscripts were mainly used to expel evil spirits, and beam setting Erlangwei prayers had much in common with exorcism Erlangwei prayers, “mainly in two aspects: First, such a prayer is ended with ‘With the beam securely set, we wish’ and things like that, indicating the wish for expelling evil spirits and securing blessings. This sentence form is actually a fossil of exorcism ceremonies. Also, an Erlangwei prayer contains the part of throwing steamed buns or things like that from the beam to east, south, west, north, up, and down, to expel evil spirits and pray for blessings in all the six directions.”17 The exorcism Erlangwei prayer numbered P.2569 chants something to expel evil spirits and pray for blessings in four directions: The divine person is blessed by Heaven. No one can be his match. All bad things are to be wiped out. All evil spirits are to be expelled. There’s an evil in the east. It prohibited springtime to come. There’s an evil in the south. It has sun-like red eyes. There’s an evil in the west. It interrupts autumn days. There’s an evil in the north. It is sheer black from the head to toes. There’re evil spirits at both gates. All shall be caught and tied. There’s a judge in the center. It’s clear about penalties. The justice will last all around the clock. No peach wood charms are needed. No cure-all shall be used. With bow and sword in hand, we dance around the fire. We expel all evil spirits. They will all get subdued.18

Beam-setting prayers grew out of exorcism prayers. So did the beam setting ceremony. Thus, it has been of something magical. Ancient people held exorcism ceremonies to fend off harm from evil spirits. Additionally, ancient people were in need of safe and secured space; thus, they borrowed exorcism ceremonies into building construction customs. The borrowed ceremony occupied an eminent position. There has been reliable evidence of the relationship between the beam setting and exorcism ceremonies and the art form of beam setting Erlangwei prayers and beam setting ceremonies. But I’m curious about the six directions to which steamed buns and things like are thrown in a beam setting ceremony, as there were only 16

Wang Yinglin; Weng Yuqi (Annotated), Textual Criticisms on Classics) (Taiwan: The Commercial Press, November 1935), 1485–1486. 17 Wang Xiaodun, beam setting Prayers on the Korean Peninsula and Erlangwei Prayers in Dunhuang, Annual of the Institute of Chinese Classics of Nanjing University, 11 (Nanjing: Phoenix Book Ltd., 2008), 136. 18 Quoted from Zhang Muhua & Zhu Yingping, The Origin of beam setting Prayers, Root Exploration, 2007 (5), 99.

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four directions mentioned in the exorcism Erlangwei prayer numbered P.2569. An example may be found in Chen Shidao’s beam setting Prayer for Piyun Pavilion: … It’s thrown to the east. The sun shines and the sky’s clear. The couple enjoys great fame. The couple enjoys great prosperity. It’s thrown to the south. Along the river there’re all sorts of boats. In favorable weather good crop grows. In cool summer good friends have chats. It’s thrown to the west. Good luck will find its path. A future of great expectations comes. Wine bubbles warm as the sun sets. It’s thrown to the north. The pagoda stands tall into clouds. Go far away the war and turbulence. The family will enjoy peace. It’s thrown upwards. Go far away all sorts of dangers. The house has exquisite eaves and posts. The house is spacious. It’s thrown downwards. Meat piles up and wine gushes. Here fly swallows and sparrows. Here’s no room for mice or bats.19

Xu Shizeng (1517–1580) of the Ming Dynasty talked about the use of beam setting prayers: “A beam setting prayer is chanted by the artisans when the beam is to be mounted. It is a common practice in building construction to pick an auspicious day for beam mounting. Guomian (i.e. steamed buns) and other gifts are presented as a sort of reward for the artisans. The chief artisan throws steamed buns from the beam and chants the beam setting prayer, wishing for good luck. The prayer is started and ended with antitheses. The main part is written in six-character sentences. Each of the six directions is chanted to have three sentences. It’s been a common practice. I collect some such prayers, as example.”20 According to Xu, the beam setting prayer was a literary genre exclusively used in the beam setting ceremony. The prayer was chanted by “the chief artisan” to get blessings. Such prayers were usually composed of men of letters and thus of distinctive styles of the authors. The Song Dynasty saw the heyday of beam setting prayers. Many renowned literary men of the Song Dynasty wrote such prayers, including Wang Anshi (1021–1086), Huang Tingjian (1045–1105), Su Shi (1037–1101), and Xin Qiji (1140–1207). Some scholars hold that beam-setting prayers may only follow a pattern created by artisans who are familiar with folkways. “However, the prayers composed of artisans were too crude to be presentable. Thus, beam-setting prayers were very likely to be written by men of letters by following the pattern from artisans. Thus, it’s quite understandable that literary men were much involved in composing beam setting prayers.”21 The beam setting prayers composed of men of letters were a good integration of folk culture and high culture. Given that the prayer’s pattern was created by artisans, there must have been six directions chanted, as the artisan should stand on the beam or rooftop in the beam setting ceremony and face east, west, south, and north, as in an exorcism ceremony; in addition, he should look upwards and downwards as well. Only in this way could evil spirits be expelled and blessings prayed for in the entire space. 19

Lv Zuqian (Ed.), Collected Literary Works of the Song Dynasty, Vol. 129, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 20 Wu Ne; Yu Beishan (Revised & punctuated), Wenzhang Bianti Xushuo (Literary Forms through Histories); Xu Shizeng; Luo Genze (Revised & punctuated), On Literary Forms and Styles (Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, August 1962), 169. 21 Lu Chengwen, A Preliminary Study of the beam setting Prayers of the Song Dynasty, Jianghai Academic Journal, 2008 (1), 195.

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Judging from the textual pattern of beam setting prayers from the Song Dynasty, tossing steamed buns and things like that in all six directions had become the standard for beam setting ceremonies. However, modern surveys of folkways tossing these objects in five directions, namely, east, west, south, north, and center, are more common. For example, artisans from Songming County hold a ceremony called “offerings tossed in five directions.” The prayer chants go, “Firstly toss Wood tagged with Jiayi eastward, secondly toss Metal tagged with Gengxin southward, thirdly toss Fire tagged with Bingding westward, fourthly toss Water tagged with Rengui northward, and fifthly toss Earth tagged with Wuji at the Center”22 Such a ceremony involving the five directions was an application of the theory of the Five Elements. Moreover, a beam setting ceremony is not necessarily held to follow the theory of the five elements. For instance, artisans from the Fengxian area chant a “coin-throwing prayer,” “Coins are thrown to the east, and the house owner has a beautiful jade. Coins are thrown to the west, and the house owner enjoys longevity and wealth. The house owner affords to buy three thousand mu of land in the east, three thousand in the west, three thousand in the south, three thousand in the north, three thousand in the front, three thousand in the rear, three thousand in the left, and three thousand in the right. One thousand mu in the center is reserved for the courtyard. Coins are thrown to the south to receive the God of Wealth. Coins are thrown to the north, and the house owner enjoys a long life of happiness.”23 In the ceremony, coins are thrown to east, west, south, and north, while the good-wish prayer for land and house is chanted to eight directions. In the following ceremony, steamed buns and cakes are thrown to the east, west, south, and north.24 A variation such as this was generated in the dissemination of sorcery knowledge throughout history. Folk culture is preserved and passed down in different ways. Traditional knowledge may be preserved in its original form when written classics are available. Traditional knowledge may also be passed down through word of mouth, without written records. Alternatively, new forms of folk culture may be added to the original form of traditional knowledge to meet the changing needs of the people. Finally, different forms of folk culture may be enriched by one another when people interact, communicate and learn from one another. Professional builders are highly mobile, and the exchange of ideas and dissemination of skills are very common. In addition, eminent cultural figures and common intellectuals were also engaged in composing beam-setting prayers. It is thus natural to have variations of specific words and charms, with a somehow unchanged core. As quoted above from Xu Shizeng, “It is a common practice in building construction to pick an auspicious day for beam mounting. Guomian (i.e. steamed buns) and other gifts are presented as a sort of reward for the artisans. The chief artisan throws 22

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, 2003), 572–573. 23 Song Genxin, A Survey of Beliefs and Customs of Living in Fengxian Area, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Folk Literature Studies, Vol. 6 (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, June 1992), 231. 24 Ibid., 232.

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steamed buns from the beam and chants the beam setting prayer, wishing for good luck.”25 It seems that the action was of little meaning of sorcery; instead, the chief artisan simply threw down his rewards to celebrate the completion of construction. Surveys of modern beam setting customs have also shown such a practice. In a similar ceremony held by the Tujia people, the chief artisan or literally ink-master artisan throws glutinous cake down from the beam to the house owner and ceremony attendants. It is a festive scene.26 The glutinous cake used in such a ceremony held by the Shui people is a gift from relatives and friends. A larger cake will be a sacrificial offering, and smaller cakes will be thrown down from the beam. Ceremony attendants all try to catch a glutinous cake in the festive ceremony, “to catch happiness and wealth.”27 A similar ceremony held by the Bai carpenters is also festive and joyous. The things to be thrown include steamed buns, grains, rice balls, and coins, all of which are gifts from the house owner’s relatives. The chief carpenter first throws the things down to the house owner, and the two have a Q&A chat. After the setoff of firecrackers, the carpenter shouts to the house owner, “Catch the bun.” The house owner’s father will go to catch it. The carpenter goes on, “It’s the rice cake of happiness for the house owner. It is snow-white and flower-like. Today is an auspicious day. The house owner will enjoy wealth and prosperity, with or without the rice cake of happiness.” After that, the carpenter throws the other things to ceremony attendants and chants, “Here are gold ingots from the house owner for all the ceremony attendants. Wish the elderly happy longevity. Wish men great wealth. Wish students academic success.” All the attendees came to catch the things. And the scene is truly festive and joyous.28 The ceremony may be best explained as something to pray for blessings. However, the beam setting ceremony has been proven to grow out of the exorcism ceremony. Why does a modern-day ceremony of the kind look that festive, with little trace of sorcery? Erlangwei prayers of the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and the Five Dynasties (907–960) went with the custom of throwing gold/silver paper ingots, flour, and rice, an action conducted in an exorcism rite. Erlangwei prayer numbered P.2058 in the Dunhuang manuscripts reads, “Hungry ghosts consume lots of flour and rice. There’s something for them and Heaven.” The prayer numbered P.2569 chants, “Here is the tribute, including horses and coins.” The one numbered P.4011 writes, “May you calm down and have the city and money.”29 Traditionally, ancient people held that evil spirits and ghosts wanted food and money, as the living did. Thus, by 25

Wu Ne; Yu Beishan (Revised & punctuated), Wenzhang Bianti Xushuo (Literary Forms through Histories); Xu Shizeng; Luo Genze (Revised & punctuated), On Literary Forms and Styles (Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, August 1962), 169. 26 Shang Shoushan, Arts, Customs, Space Concept, and Deification in Folk Architecture of the Tujia People, Journal of Hubei Minzu University (Philosophy & Social Sciences), 2005 (1), 12. 27 Mao Gongning (Ed.), Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, September 2006), 336. 28 Ibid., 537. 29 Wang Xiaodun, beam setting Prayers on the Korean Peninsula and Erlangwei Prayers in Dunhuang, Annual of the Institute of Chinese Classics of Nanjing University, 11 (Nanjing: Phoenix Book Ltd., 2008), 140.

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throwing flour, rice, and gold/silver paper money, people may satisfy ghosts and evil spirits and send them away. In ancient thinking, the deceased would turn into ghosts. According to Shuowen (Explaining Graphs), “people turn into ghosts upon death. Thus, the character ‘鬼’ has its heading part looking like the character ‘人’ literally meaning ‘the living’. Ghosts belong to the nether world. Thus, the character ‘鬼’ has the part ‘厶’ literally meaning ‘something in the dark’. Any character relating to ghosts has in it the character ‘鬼’.”30 Liji: Jifa (Book of Rites: The Law of Sacrifices) rules, “Generally speaking, all born between heaven and earth were said to have their allotted times; the death of all creatures is spoken of as their dissolution; but man when dead is said to be in the ghostly state. There was no change in regard to these points in the five dynasties.”31 However, the deceased-turned ghosts had preferences similar to those of the living ghosts. Wang Chong, the renowned, superstition-rebutting scholar of the Han Dynasty, had his opinion, “The day for sacrifice is also carefully picked. If animals are killed and offered as sacrificial victims on days when blood should be avoided, there must be something bad. A sacrifice is held to feed ghosts. The deceased turn into ghosts. Otherwise, people never know what ghosts prefer to eat and drink. People actually serve the deceased as they serve the living and serve ghosts as they serve humans. People eat and drink when they are alive. Ghosts are thought to behave in the same way. People hold sacrifices as a memory of their deceased family members.”32 It was out of the mentality of analogy that the custom grew to send food or money to ghosts. Exorcising rites have been in existence for at least three thousand years. Zhouli: Xiaguan–Fangxiangshi (Rites of Zhou: The Officer of Summer–Fangxiang) reads, “Fangxiang was coated in bear skin. On the mask there were four golden eyes. He was clad in a black jacket and a red skirt, with a dagger-axe on one hand and a shield on the other. Fangxiang led one hundred slaves to drive away evil spirits.” The annotation goes, “The man coasted in bear skin drove away evil spirits. His costume was similar to qitou the costume used in exorcising rites today. Fangxiang was originally assigned with the task of exorcism.”33 Liji: Yueling (Book of Rites: Proceedings of Government in Different Months) writes, “In the last month of spring…, orders are given for the ceremonies against pestilence throughout the city; at the nine gates (also) animals are torn in pieces in deprecation (of the danger): to secure the full development of the (healthy) airs of the spring. (Annotation: The ceremonies were held to drive away the spirit of coldness; otherwise, it would remain and do harm to people.)… In the second month of autumn…, the son of Heaven performs the ceremonies against pestilence, to secure development for the (healthy) airs of autumn. (Annotation: The ceremonies were held to drive away the spirit of hotness; otherwise, it would remain 30

Xu Shen; Xu Xuan (Ed.); Wang Hongyuan (Rev.), Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), February 2005, Modern edition), 497. 31 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 1514. 32 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance, IV (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 1358–1459. 33 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Rites of Zhou with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 971.

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and do harm to people.) …In the third month of winter…, His Majesty issues orders to the proper officers to institute on a great scale all ceremonies against pestilence, to have (animals) torn in pieces on all sides, and (then) to send forth the ox of earth, to escort away the (injurious) airs of the cold. (Annotation: The ceremonies were held to drive away the spirit of yin; otherwise, it would remain and do harm to people.)”34 exorcism rites were popular with not only high society but also commoners, as is seen in Lunyu: Xiangdang (The Analects: Villagers), “When the villagers were going through their ceremonies to drive away pestilential influences, he put on his court robes and stood on the eastern steps.” Kong (Anguo) commented on this, “Confucius was afraid that the pestilential influences driven away in such a rite would disturb his ancestors’ souls, so he put on his court robes and stood on the eastern steps.”35 Li Chao (?–862) of the Tang Dynasty wrote, “(All the performers) were dressed up as ghosts or spirits, and two elders acted as exorcism God and exorcism Goddess.”36 Wu Zimu of the Southern Song Dynasty described the matized exorcism: A grand exorcism ceremony is held in the imperial dwelling place on New Year’s Eve. Guards on duty in the imperial city all have masks and colorful costumes, golden spears and silver halberds in hands. Painted wood knifes and swords, colorful dragons and phoenixes, and five-color flags were used. Performers from the Performing Department are dressed up as military generals, exorcising-charm messengers, life-and-death registering officials, Zhong Kui, Six Ding Goddess, Six Jia Gods, celestial soldiers, Five Gods of Plague, God of Kitchen, the local god of land, Door Gods, and Shenwei God. The performing group sets off from the imperial dwelling place and marches outside the East Gate of Splendors (Donghua men) to drive evil spirits away. Then it takes a turn around the Dragon Pond. Until then, evil spirits were thought to be buried, and the performers were dismissed.37

Thus, exorcism ceremonies were once held across the country, from the imperial court down to the emperor’s subjects. However, beam setting prayers of the Tang and Song dynasties were mostly well composed, yet with little sorcery. They were thus literary works of the beam setting ceremony. Yang Yi (974–1020) of the Song Dynasty described the festive scene of a beam setting ceremony in a beam setting prayer he composed, “Erlangwei. The construction is completed on this auspicious day. The crossbeam is to be secured, and artisans are rewarded. The ground is covered with coins. Wheat buns and rice cakes are in piles. Wine and pork meat are in lines. Cups are full and tables are well set. People drink to their satisfaction… Fully satisfied, they sing and dance. They all enjoy His Majesty’s blessing. They all enjoy Heaven’s joy and peace.”38 Yang’s description agreed with what was found in modern folklore surveys. 34 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 651–653. 35 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, The Analects with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 152. 36 Customs of Central Shaanxi, quoted from Gu Qiyuan, Shuolve, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 37 Wu Zimu, Dreams of Lin’an (Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, February 1984), 50. 38 Lv Zuqian (Ed.), Collected Literary Works of the Song Dynasty, Vol. 129, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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In such complicated contexts, the originally mysterious exorcism ceremony gradually desacralized into the auspicious, festive beam setting ceremony in celebration of the completion of construction. However, exorcising imprints have survived. Has the beam setting ceremony radically become a festive celebration, without any folklore trace? In actuality, heavily religious beam setting ceremonies have been in existence throughout history. Beam-setting prayers composed of men of letters of the Song Dynasty were merely one form of the kind. Lu Ban’s Canons contains a beam setting prayer model titled “Lu Ban’s beam setting Prayer to Celestial Beings,” which reads, “… We humbly and respectfully expect celestial beings from Heaven, Earth, and Water Circles, and from Heaven, Earth, Water, and Earth Palaces; sages from ten directions; celestial beings from all of the cosmos; Twelve Zodiac Gods; Five Land Gods; God of Void and Past, Fude God, and God of Smartness; Buddhist and Taoist immortals; Six Gods of Household; Lu Ban and Gong Shu; and ancestral artisans. May you leave your palaces for a while and pay us a visit in this house…” The prayer ends with a poem, “The sound of the mallet resonates in Heaven. Sages and immortals come to the scene. Evil spirits are driven back where they belong to, Earth or Heaven. May the house enjoy long-lasting prosperity. May the descendants see every good thing happen. With the mallet comes gods’ protection. With the mallet away evil spirits are driven.”39 A beam setting ceremony is held under gods’ protection to drive away evil spirits and bring long-lasting happiness and peace to the house. The goal of such a ceremony is the same as that of an exorcism rite. In addition to driving away evil spirits, which is one purpose of the beam setting ceremony, it also has a secular objective, which is to pray for happiness. In Sichuan Province, artisans chant a prayer called The exorcism Rooster on the beam setting ceremony. A rooster is placed on the beam. It is the best to have the rooster crow loud.40 Stuffed steamed buns are thrown down from the beam to the east, and the prayer chants, “First to Wood of the East tagged with Jiayi.” Other things are then thrown to the south, west, and north, and corresponding prayers are chanted.41 The Bai artisans in Dali, Yunnan Province hold an exorcism ceremony in which they throw steamed buns under gods’ protection. The prayer chants, “The sun shines high in the sky. The house owner can thus steam glutinous rice cake piled high. There are two hundred pairs of larger ones. There are three hundred pairs of smaller ones. First to Wood of the East tagged with Jiayi: A pair of boys comes to take wood. Second to God of the South tagged with Bingding: A pair of boys comes to receive the god. Third to Metal of the West tagged with Gengxin: A pair of boys comes to take metal. Fourth to Water of the North tagged with Rengui: A pair of boys comes to take water. Fifth to Earth of the Center tagged with Wuji: A pair of boys comes 39

Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 35–36. 40 Zhu Shizhen, An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 143. 41 Zhu Shizhen, An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 144.

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to take earth. Neither Zhang Ban nor Lu Ban was covetous. Gold ingots are thus returned to the owner of the house.”42 However, “Second to God of the South tagged with Bingding: A pair of boys comes to receive the god” seemed not to fit in the Five Elements. It may be due to some mistakes over the dissemination of sorcery knowledge; or, it may be a deliberate replacement, because of the fear of fire in building construction. Artisans from Zhongwei County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, throw baked buns in the beam setting ceremony. The prayer fits with the Five Elements, chanting, “Wood of the East tagged with Jiayi: I give out this baked bun. Fire of the South tagged with Bingding: I get this baked bun. Metal of the West tagged with Gengxin: This baked bun is for the relatives. Water of the North tagged with Rengui: Anyone who has this bun has prosperity for generations. Earth of the Center tagged with Wuji: This baked bun is for the owner of the house. I have no buns now. I’m going down to my work.”43 It is evident that the theory of the five elements and building construction folkways were integrated with the exorcism ceremony. As the beam setting ceremony is held under gods’ protection, the objects used in the ceremony, such as glutinous rice cakes, baked buns, stuffed steamed buns, grains, and coins, have something auspicious in them. Thus, the ceremony attendants try to get one of the things and good luck accordingly. The effect of happiness praying is thus spread.44 A beam setting prayer followed the pattern based upon the five elements. Fixed sentence forms were seen, namely, “Wood of East tagged with Jiayi,” “Fire of the South tagged with Bingding,” “Metal of the West tagged with Gengxin,” “Water of the North tagged with Rengui,” and “Earth of the Center tagged with Wuji.” Chunqiu Fanlu (Quintessence of Chunqiu) has a separate chapter, “Meanings of the Five Elements”, on the issue.45 Numerous ancient Chinese philosophers contributed to the theory of the five elements and built it into a knowledge system whose explanatory power covers almost everything. Even a major tenet of the theory has a solid basis in a set of axioms. The five elements have their own residing directions. This fits well with the goal of building construction folkways to create a harmonious, living space. Artisans 42

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, 2003), 46. 43 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Ningxia (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Ningxia (Beijing: ISBN China Center, August 1996), 428. 44 Artisans from Tonghai, Yunnan throw glutinous rice cakes, popcorns, sugar, steamed buns, and small gourds, when they lift up the beam. The prayer chants, “First to Wood of the East tagged with Jiayi. Second to Fire of the South tagged with Bingding. Third to Metal of the West tagged with Gengxin. Fourth to Water of the North tagged with Rengui. Fifth to Earth of the Center tagged with Wuji.” See Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005), 153. The matching in the Five Elements was slightly different, though. 45 Dong Zhongshu & Ling Shu (Annotated), Quintessence of Chunqiu (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, September 1975), 389–393.

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toss auspicious offerings in the five directions of east, south, west, north, and center to facilitate the interdependence among the five elements. In this way, artisans build well blessed houses.

3.2 Eight Diagrams, Rooster, and Beam Setting Coins Magico-religious objects are used in all rites, including beam setting ceremonies. Eight Diagrams may be of the widest use. It was once a common practice to stick the eight diagrams on the crossbeam at the completion of a house, as it was believed that the eight diagrams could fend evils off. It goes, “Kan is in the north and Li in the south; Zhen is in the east and Dui in the west. The four take the four directions. Yin and yang sit in harmony in the center.” The Eight Diagrams is stuck to drive away evil spirits and pray for good luck.46 Zhuge Bagua Village in Lanxi, Zhejiang Province is said to be a settlement of Zhuge Liang’s descendants. The village is of a layout of the map of eight diagrams, featuring nine separate yet connected sections. The inner eight diagrams and the outer eight diagrams are seen inside and outside the village. Bagua Village exemplifies the eight diagrams’ impacts on fengshui in architecture.47 The ancient sage Paoxi was believed to create the Eight Diagrams, “Anciently, when Baoxi had come to the rule of all under heaven, looking up, he contemplated the brilliant forms exhibited in the sky, and looking down he surveyed the patterns shown on the earth. He contemplated the ornamental appearances of birds and beasts and the (different) suitabilities of the soil. Near at hand, in his own person, he found things for consideration, and the same at a distance, in things in general. On this he devised the eight trigrams, to show fully the attributes of the spirit-like and intelligent (operations working secretly) and to classify the qualities of the myriads of things.”48 Baoxi was another name of Fuxi, who was the Male Ancestor of Man. The eight diagrams he created are called Xiantian Bagua or the Early Heaven Sequence. According to ancient study of changes, Houtian Bagua, the Later Heaven Order or Bagua Octagon was created by King Wen of Zhou. Shiji: Zhoubenji (Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Zhou Emperors) reads, “Ji Chang was taken prison at Youyi in the fiftieth year of his reign. There, he expanded the Eight Diagrams of Book of Changes into Sixty-four Diagrams.”49 Hetu and luoshu in the study of changes are two position systems corresponding to the positions in the Early Heaven Sequence, while the positions in the Later Heaven Order are right on the opposite. Shangshu: Guming (Book of Histories: 46

The Eight Diagrams Pasted in the Beam-sitting, New Agriculture, 1989 (12), 12. Shao Yuan, The Layout of the Eight Diagrams in the Zhuge Village, Fujian Tribune (Humanities & Social Sciences), Special 2006, 98. 48 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Rites of Zhou with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 350–351. 49 An Pingqiu (Ed.), Records of the Grand Historian (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 33. 47

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Imperial Posthumous Edict) reads, “The knife, edict, great jade ring, and beautiful jade were placed in the west. Jade from Mount Hua and other places, tianqiu, and hetu in the east.” According to the annotation, “Hetu is the Bagua Octagon or Eight Diagrams. When Fuxi reigned, a dragon horse rushed out of the river. Fuxi then created eight diagrams according to the pattern on the horse. That is hetu or River Chart. It has been historically a state treasure.”50 Yi: Xici (Book of Changes: Xici) reads, “Therefore Heaven produced spirit-like things, and the sages took advantage of them. (The operations of) heaven and earth are marked by (so many) changes and transformations, and the sages imitated them (by means of the Yi). Heaven hangs out its (brilliant) figures from which are seen good fortune and bad, and the sages made their emblematic interpretations accordingly. The River gave forth the map, and the Lo the writing, of (both of) which the sages took advantage.”51 Lunyu: Zihan (The Analects: Zihan) reads, “The Master said, ‘The phoenix does not come; the river sends forth no map. It is all over with me!’”.52 Thus, the Eight Diagrams or the Bagua Octagon has been widely used as a religion fetish in the beam setting rite. Lu Ban’s Canons, which is a classic artisan’s sorcery, starts with explaining the Early Heaven Sequence and Later Heaven Order in its second part. Artisans from Dongkeng Village, Shanxia Town, Hui’an County, Fujian Province chant at the beam setting, “Taiji consists of yin and yang. Qian is in the south, Kun in the north, Li in the east, and Kan in the west.” The Early Heaven Sequence is used for lifting up the crossbeam, and the Later Heaven Order is used when the crossbeam is secured.53 Bagua was used strictly according to the context of yin and yang. “Moving into a New House” numbered TAIWAN103 in the Dunhuang praying texts goes: The house will be in balance of yin and yang. It will see good omens in tortoise shell divination. Bagua Octagon will be in good positions. All the Five Elements run for good luck. All the four directions see tranquility. All the eight bearings are livable. Li is in the south and Kan in the north. Zhen is in the east and Dui in the west. Azure Dragon coils on the left, while White Tiger crouches on the right. Qian and Kun are well matched. Vermilion Bird squats in the front, while Black Tortoise rests at the back. Yin and yang are in harmony. May the house have the golden dragon and jade phoenix hover over the rooftop and see agates above it. The Four Heavenly Kings will hack any invaders. Demi-god warriors will drive away all evil spirits.54

The Yi carpenters from Chuxiong fixed the Early Heavenly Sequence Octagon in the middle of the beam to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck to the 50 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Classic of History with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 592. 51 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Rites of Zhou with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 314. 52 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, The Analects with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 129. 53 Chen Jinguo, Beliefs, Rites, and Customary Societies: A Historical Anthropological Exploration of Fengshui, II (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), November 2005), 419. 54 Huang Zheng & Wu Wei (Eds.), Praying Texts in Dunhuang Documentation (Changsha: Yuelu Press, November 1995), 648.

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household. The prayer chants, “The beam is one zhang, one chi, and six cun long. The Early Heavenly Sequence is to be fixed on the beam. From the day when the posts were erected, all the evil spirits were driven away. From the day when the posts were erected, the family will enjoy peace, wealth, and good harvest. Granaries are all filled. Pigs, dogs, chicken, ducks, cattle, horses, donkeys, and mules all grow strong.”55 The prayer tells about the function of the Early Heavenly Sequence as driving away evil spirits from the house. The Naxi people living in Lijiang County once invited carpenters from Jianchuan, Dali, to build houses. The carpenters applied Bagua Octagon during building construction, as described in the Tune of Housebuilding and beam setting composed of the Naxi people, “The crossbeam has on red satin and Bagua Octagon at the noon. Clear water is sprinkled. Satin belt is applied. The beam looks like the dragon high in the sky.”56 Bagua, as the fetish, has evolved in different regions and among different ethnic groups. The image of Bagua used in the beam setting ceremony has been simplified; thus, it’s impossible to tell whether the Bagua Octagon used is the Early Heavenly Sequence or the Later Heavenly Order. In some cases, the Bagua Octagon grew into an unrecognizable “mysterious symbol.” Some scholars conducted field surveys on building construction folkways and were perplexed by the symbol the Tujia chief artisan painted on the beam: “The chief artisan wrote the characters ‘Qian’ and ‘Kun’ on both ends of the beam and drew an oval-shaped symbol in the middle of the beam. The outer circle was painted with vermilion or black ink. It was of a crude style. A hole was pierced at the yellow-colored center of the circle. The mysterious symbol might stand for the universe or the Tujia people’s memory of remote antiquity…”57 This scholar may find a clue in the beam setting prayer quoted above, “I make the first step. A round Taiji is right in the middle of the beam. Everything will start here and gain good luck. I make the second step. The characters ‘Qian’ and ‘Kun’ sit on both ends of the beam. The sun and the moon will always in harmony sit.”58 Thus, that mysterious symbol must be a variation of Bagua Octagon. In Sichuan, a painter or carpenter draws the image of Taiji on the lower side of the beam,59 and the image of Taiji is actually another variation of Bagua Octagon. Bagua Octagon crystallized ancient Chinese wisdom and was developed by generations of Chinese philosophers. It was also informed by ideas about fengshui. Thus, it has taken an eminent position in the beam setting ceremony. In addition, the rooster 55

Interviewee: Li Zuochun, 75, male, Yi nationality. Li was a famous carpenter. Place of interview: Hong Village, Chuxiong, Yunnan Province. Date of interview: 23 July 2008. 56 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, 2003), 1157. 57 Shang Shoushan, Arts, Customs, Space Concept, and Deification in Folk Architecture of the Tujia People, Journal of Hubei Minzu University (Philosophy & Social Sciences), 2005 (1), 12. 58 Shang Shoushan, Arts, Customs, Space Concept, and Deification in Folk Architecture of the Tujia People, Journal of Hubei Minzu University (Philosophy & Social Sciences), 2005 (1), 12. 59 Zhu Shizhen, An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 142.

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is another fetish in wide and long-term use. In fact, the roost has played a role throughout building construction. The Yi artisans from Gulv and Tuanjie townships, Kunming, Yunnan Province present a rooster that crows its first crow to the carpenter for foundation laying. The carpenter sprinkles the rooster’s blood in the foundation pit on each of the four corners of the house and places a stone in each pit. In the beam setting ceremony, “the house owner passes a red rooster to the carpenter. After the beam is placed, the carpenter holds the rooster abreast and walks three rounds. Then, he cuts the cockscomb and drips the rooster’s blood at the left end, middle, and right end of the beam. In the Yi language, this action is called ‘a si li’ (literally meaning smearing the rooster’s blood). Then, the carpenter throws the rooster into the sky, and the rooster will spread its wings and fly downwards. The carpenter burns incense and kowtows, indicating the success of the beam setting.”60 Artisans from Tonghai, Yunnan Province hold a beam-painting ceremony. Blood from a young rooster cockscomb was dripped at the front, back, left, and right places on the beam. The artisan chants a prayer at the same time, “To Azure Dragon on the left. To White Tiger on the right. To Vermilion Bird in the front. To Black Tortoise at the back.” Or, the artisan chants the prayer first, “The little red rooster; Clad in colorful coat; Today’s DD/YY; Lu Ban takes you to serve the beam…” “First to the beam’s head: The family’s descendants will go to officialdom. Second to the beam’s foot: The family’s descendants will go to academia. Third to the beam’s waist: The family’s descendants will be better off than their forefathers.” The rooster’s blood is dripped at three places on the beam. In the beam-lifting ceremony, the artisans also use a rooster. The prayer chants, “The rooster looks like a phoenix, with colorful feather and a beautiful shape. Its crow resonates, to fend off evil spirits. Raised in the family, it is the Five Virtues. Sacrificed in the hall, it is the God. Here’s its blood for all deities and gods.”61 Why could the rooster play so important a role in sorcery? What is the significance of its role in the history of sorcery? The rooster has been in use in the exorcism ceremony as long as Bagua Octagon. In the pre-Qin texts, there was already a description of exorcising with the rooster. Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas) contains content concerning sacrificial rites with the rooster. Beishanshou Jing (Classic of the First Mountain Chain in the North) says, “The first mountain chain in the north starts from Danhu Mountain and ends at Di Mountain. The twenty-five-mountain chain extends five thousand four hundred ninety li. All the mountain gods there feature the snake’s body and man’s head. A mountain god is sacrificed with a rooster and boar that are buried after sacrifice with an elongated pointed tablet gui but without grain. People living north to the mountains only eat uncooked food.”62 Zhongciliu Jing (Classic of the Sixth Mountain Chain in the Center) reads, “The mountain god looks like a human figure 60

Lv Daji & He Yaohua. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 353. 61 Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005), 24. 62 Guo Fu, Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas” (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), May 2004), 268.

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with two horns and is called jiaochong, or Apis cerana. It is actually the honeycomb. It is sacrificed with a rooster. However, the rooster is only used for praying, without being killed.” Yuan Ke quoted Wang Fu’s annotation, “The sacrifice is held to drive the insects away, so that they won’t sting people. The rooster is released after the sacrifice.”63 Zhongciba Jing (Classic of the Eighth Mountain Chain in the Center) reads, “The mountain chain extends from Mount Jing to Mount Jing and Mount qingu. The twenty-three-mountain chain extends two thousand eight hundred ninety li. All the mountain gods there feature the bird’s body and man’s head. A mountain god is sacrificed with a rooster. The rooster’s blood is smeared on sacrificial vessels before the rooster and vessels are buried.”64 Classic of Mountains and Seas gives clear description of rules for sacrificing with roosters. Ying Shao (ca. 153–196) of the Han Dynasty summarized, “the rooster fends off death and evil spirits.” Therefore, roosters are widely used in religious and sorcery rites.65 In folk customs, roosters are believed to crush down evil spirits, as goes the story that “the ghost shrank at hearing the rooster’s crow” in the eighth volume of Zibuyu (What the Master Would Not Discuss).66 The rooster crows at dawn and thus is believed to be a symbol of alternation of the day and night, as well as a demarcation mark of this world and the nether world. The Taoist yin-yang theory helped consolidate the rooster’s role in the exorcism ceremony. According to the theory, everything is either yin or yang; yin and yang stand opposite yet interconnected. Furthermore, it was right from the yin-yang theory that grew the hierarchical theory that “yang is superior over yin.” It has been the root theory for all sorts of behavior patterns. Dong Zhongshu of the Han Dynasty categorized things into yin and yang and made it clear that yang was superior over yin.67 In the Han Dynasty, a court official submitted a memorial to the throne, “I hear that yang is superior over yin. It is Heaven’s way that the inferior follows the superior and the superior acts modestly to the inferior. Thus, a man is always the root of a family, even if his social status is low. A woman should have an inferior status, even if she is from the royal family.”68 Li Guang (1078–1159) of the Song Dynasty said, “Qian is powerful and Kun follows. Yang is superior over yin. It is the rule of Heaven and Earth.”69 The 63

Guo Fu, Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), May 2004), 442–443. According to Guo Pu, “The sacrificial rite held is called ‘rang’ and to drive away evil energy.”. 64 Guo Fu, Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), May 2004), 500. 65 Ying Shao; Wang Liqi (Rev. & annotated), Revised and Annotated Comprehensive Meanings of Customs and Mores (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, January 1981), 374–376. 66 Yuan Mei, What the Master Would Not Discuss (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing House, July 1987), 132. 67 Dong Zhongshu; Ling Shu (Annotated), Quintessence of Chunqiu (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, September 1975), 393–401. 68 An Pingqiu & Zhang Chuanxi, Book of Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1722. 69 Li Guang, Explanation to “Book of Changes”, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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rooster is believed to be something yang, and evil spirits something yin. Thus, the rooster could drive away evil spirits. In his Bencao Gangmu (The Compendium of Material Medica), Li Shizhen (1518–1593) enumerated the functions of “rooster’s head,” including killing ghosts, curing diseases caused by venomous insects, driving away evil spirits, and fending off plague. Li even gave the theoretical basis.70 Li Shizhen also talked about the use of cockscomb blood: “A three-year-old rooster is the best to take cockscomb blood, as the rooster has the fullest yang energy at that age… The cockscomb blood tastes salty and travels in the entire body. Thus, it gathers the rooster’s essence of energy. The cockscomb is the nearest to Heaven. Blood is of a red color, thus the essence of yang and able to fend off evil-spirits and cure pestilence and convulsion.”71 At the rooster’s crow, the night ends and day breaks in; also, the energy of yang grows and that of yin declines. Fictions and legends were widely told that the rooster could suppress ghosts and evil spirits. This also fueled the belief of exorcism roosters. In some cases, it is believed that a rooster may possess evil spirits.72 Thus, the use of roosters in beam setting ceremonies may be rooted in traditional culture. Artisans in Sichuan Province use the rooster as a sacrificial offering to the beam and chant a specially composed prayer The Rooster Sacrificed to the Beam. The rooster’s blood drips from the cockscomb into the wine cup in the Hall of Lu Ban, and divination is practiced by observing the shape of blood in the wine. The rooster’s blood is smeared on the beam, with several feathers from the rooster stuck, to gain good luck.73 This is an exorcism rite. The prayer The exorcism Rooster chants, “The rooster’s cockscomb is cut. The blood gushes out. Blood drips on the beam’s head to expel evils and gain good luck. Blood drips on the Bagua in the beam’s waist, and the Bagua gives out purple light. Blood drips on the beam’s tail, to generate all good luck.” The “exorcism” prayer in the beam setting ceremony chants, “… I, Lu Ban’s disciple am here. Master Lu takes his place. Evil spirits go back to where they are from. All the one hundred and twenty devils are driven away. I follow the rooster straight to Master Jiang. All gods and deities do please give your way.”74 The Bai carpenters from Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture chant ballad-like prayers in the beam-painting ceremony. They sing praises of the rooster, “What is this chicken in my hands? It’s the Phoenix Chicken from Kunlun. It lays three eggs in one time. Three chickens are 70

Li Shizhen, The Compendium of Material Medica (Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House, September 1981, revised & punctuated edition), 2590–2591. 71 Li Shizhen, The Compendium of Material Medica (Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House, September 1981, revised & punctuated edition), 2591. 72 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 1731. 73 Zhu Shizhen, An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 142. 74 Zhu Shizhen, An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 148.

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hatched. One chicken flies to the palace of heaven and becomes the golden chicken. Another flies down to this world and is raised at home. A third flies to Lu Ban to serve Lu’s disciples to paint the beam…”75 According to the prayer, be it the golden chicken in the Palace of Heaven, a domestic chicken raised by man, or a rooster used by Lu Ban’s disciples, they are descendants of the phoenix on Kunlun Mountain. Thus, the ceremonial rooster is actually a bloodline of the phoenix, thus its magical efficacy. The Maonan people in Huanjiang County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, believe that the golden chicken and the phoenix are both present on the beam setting ceremony, “The golden chicken crows on the left. The phoenix sings on the right. The golden chicken stands on the gorgeous hall. The phoenix perches on the beam.” The use of the ceremonial rooster in the beam setting ceremony in Dongyang and Jiande, Zhejiang Province, may also be connected with the belief of Maori Xingguan (the Hairy Head Officer) the Rooster of Heaven. The beam setting prayer chanted in Dongyang goes, “Fuji! Fuji! He holds the golden chicken in hands. The chicken is never ordinary. It is the rooster crowing dawn for Goddess of Queen Mother. Fuji has the golden axe in the right hand and the golden chicken in the left hand. Red light glows over the earth and brings great happiness. A drop of blood in the east: Descendants see prosperity for generations. A drop of blood in the west: Descendants have wealth for generations.”76 The beam setting Song chanted in Jiande goes, “The golden chicken is held in hands and glows red light all around. It is not an ordinary chicken. It is raised at Goddess of the Queen Mother’s. Why is it here then? To serve the artisans to paint the beam… The first drop of blood on the beam: Star of Ziwei sits in the hall. A second drop of blood to the corridor: God of longevity stands on side. A third drop of blood to doors and windows: Gods of grains and wealth come to the house. A fourth drop of blood to lintels: Away you go evil spirits. A fifth drop of blood to the main hall: Prosperity will long last.”77 In such a sorcery rite, it is believed that evil spirits are driven away and good luck is invited by dripping five drops of blood from the golden chicken raised by Goddess of the Queen Mother. Thus, the use of the ceremonial rooster has been integrated with the Taoist system of immortals. The Dai people living in Xishuangbanna have their ceremonies hardly affected by Taoist arts of necromancy or belief of Lu Ban. They find that the Day of Chicken is best to erect posts. Song to Celebrate the New House chants, “The house owner brings two pieces of bacon and asks Bome to pick an auspicious day. Bome carefully picks the Day of Chicken. No evil spirits dare make trouble on that day. Day of Chicken is an auspicious day. The house owner will have happiness when 75

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, 2003), 45. 76 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Jiangsu (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Jiangsu (Beijing: ISBN China Center, July 1998), 143. 77 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Jiangsu (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Jiangsu (Beijing: ISBN China Center, July 1998), 144.

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he starts the construction on the Day of Chicken.”78 Evidently, it has been widely believed that the rooster can drive away evil spirits. Rooster blood is another issue for further discussion on the use of ceremonial roosters. As discussed above, the rooster’s blood is believed to be essence of yang energy and thus able to drive away evil spirits. However, blood sacrifice has its own origin. The head carpenter of the Yi nationality in Dahei Village, Xiyang Township, Jinning, Kunming, Yunnan Province drips the blood from a red rooster’s cockscomb in the wine and holds the wine cup to pray, “It’s an auspicious day. Heaven and Earth open up. Lu Ban travels around. There’s happiness where he arrives. Today’s an auspicious day. The wine is presented to the beam. Du Kang brews the good wine. Lu Ban builds the new house. First to the beam’s head: The dragon holds its head high. Second to the beam’s body: The dragon turns around. Third to the beam’s tail: The dragon shakes its tail. Light, light, light! The studio is on the right. The hall is on the left. Here comes great happiness. The family has prosperous descendants…”79 A Tujia chief carpenter also drips the cockcomb’s blood in wine as a sacrificial offering to Lu Ban. Such a sacrifice is held to inform the sacrificial object of people’s will. Blood serves as a sort of medium between man and the sacrificial object. Hui Shiqi (1671–1741) of the Qing Dynasty investigated the function of blood sacrifice. He first talked about xin, which was a sacrificial method of smearing animal blood on the sacrificial vessel.80 Hui’s investigation reveals that blood sacrifice is held to inform the god of man’s wills by using animal blood. That’s why artisans use the rooster’s blood in sacrificial rites: The rooster’s blood, which is something yang, is used to expel evil spirits and express man’s wills to gods. In some areas, the rooster not only serves as the sacrificial offering and is used to drive away evil spirits but is also used in divination. In the Chuxiong area, Yunnan Province, carpenters eat up rooster meat first and practice divination with the rooster’s skull. The carpenter cuts open the skull and searches for a red dot at the skull’s joint. The red dot is believed to be a good omen for the house owner’s wealth. The larger the dot is, the richer the house owner will be. There is a concave joint known as dicao (Earth’s groove) in the rooster’s skull. Any horizontal line found in the groove is an omen of death in the village. Thus, it is good to find no horizontal lines there. A blurred joint line of the skull foretells rain. A clear one foretells sunny days.81 Ban Gu (32– 92) of the Han Dynasty held that rooster divination was first practiced by sorcerers of Guangdong, and he gave his opinion in Hanshu: Jioasizhi II (Book of Han: Sacrifices II), “After Dongyue and Nanyue states had been wiped out, someone from the region 78

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, 2003), 305. 79 Lv Daji & He Yaohua. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 354. 80 Hui Shiqi, Explanations to the Rites of the Zhou, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 81 Interviewee: Li Zuochun, 75, male, Yi nationality. Li was a famous carpenter. Place of interview: Hong Village, Chuxiong, Yunnan Province. Date of interview: 23 July 2008.

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said, ‘It’s widely believed that there are ghosts and spirits in our region. Sacrifices are thus held and effective. King Doung’ou always showed his due respect for ghosts and spirits and enjoyed a long life of one hundred and sixty years. However, later generations declined due to their disrespect to ghosts and spirits.’ Thus, an imperial order was given to build a temple, without an altar, though. Ghosts and spirits, as well as deities, were worshipped there. The rooster divination was also practiced. The Han emperor believed in it. The Guangdong sorcery and rooster divination thus came into use.”82 Sima Qian wrote in his Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of Emperor Xiaowu, “After Nanyue state had been wiped out, someone from the region told, ‘It’s widely believed that there are ghosts and spirits in our region. Sacrifices are thus held and effective. King Doung’ou always showed his due respect for ghosts and spirits and enjoyed a long life of one hundred and sixty years. However, later generations declined due to their disrespect to ghosts and spirits.’ Thus, an imperial order was given to build a temple, without an altar, though. Ghosts and spirits, as well as deities, were worshipped there. The rooster divination was also practiced. The Han emperor believed in it. The Guangdong sorcery and rooster divination thus came into use.”83 Despite a slight difference in word—Sima Qian used “越” and Ban Gu used “粤”— the rooster divination came into being and use in the reign of Emperor Wu of Han at the latest, for sure. There is an affirmatic connection between rooster divination and sacrifices to ghosts and deities. According to Xie Zhaozhe (1567–1624), the rooster divination practiced in Yunnan originated from the sorcery knowledge system established by sorcerers in the Guangdong area.84 The artisan’s folkways have continued to absorb folk knowledge and become enriched throughout history. A Wa legend goes that the rooster divination originated from rooster worship: Once upon a time, a Wa man called Maliao went to open wasteland for cultivation. He got angry at the baking sun and shot a sun dead. The sky became dark. His fellow villagers tried to call the sun out by dancing and singing. But they failed. They had Maliao sing songs to the sun. But he failed, too. The sun had not been up again until the rooster crowded three times. At the moment, the sun rose in the east. Thus, the villagers worshipped the rooster and hung the rooster’s leg bone as a memorial. Since then, the Wa people have practiced divination by counting the holes on the rooster’s leg bone.85 As seen in the aforementioned examples, the ceremonial rooster used in building construction is usually parallel to the mythical phoenix in traditional Chinese culture. In some cases, the phoenix is mentioned alone in beam setting prayers. A beam setting prayer chanted in Sheyang County, Jiangsu Province, goes, “The beam is wrapped with red satin, except some space left for the phoenix. The phoenix never perches in 82 An Pingqiu & Zhang Chuanxi, Book of Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 541. 83 An Pingqiu (Ed.), Records of the Grand Historian (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 183–184. 84 Xie Zhaozhe, Brief Accounts of Yunnan, Vol. 4, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 85 Shang Zhonghao et al. (Eds.), Wazu Minjian Gushixuan (Selected Folktales of the Wa Nationality) (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, April 1989), 230–231.

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an ordinary place. The golden phoenix rests on the jade post. Your family will have top-rank scholars. The house owner will have prosperity and happiness.” When the wood is to be hacked, a prayer is chanted, “Brave military officers always hold their great weapons. The phoenix always rests on a mulberry. The phoenix never perches in an ordinary place. Your family will have high-ranks.” An incense-burning prayer chants, “The beam is secured with firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Piculs of gold, silver, and treasures are carried and brought. The artisans are truly smart. The phoenix flies high on the Mount West. Dragons play with the pearl in the east gable. The phoenix sings in the west. With the dragons and the phoenix, the family’s descendants have academic success.”86 The phoenix is believed to be an auspicious mythical bird and the place where it perches is a place of treasure and happiness. This has been widely accepted in fengshui theory. More often than not, the phoenix is worshipped together with other fetishes. The beam setting prayer is chanted in duet in the Fengxian area: “A gold belt is carried in my hand. I climb higher with every step. The golden chicken crows at the first step. The phoenix sings at the second. Good things happen at the third step. A Number One scholar comes at the fourth step. More successful scholars come out at the fifth step. Luck, wealth, and longevity run at the sixth step. Smart girls grow in the family at the seventh step. Eight Immortals come here at the eighth step. Three Gods smile at the family at the ninth step. Brilliant boys are born to the family at the tenth step. The family get ever better in the future.” When sacrificial offerings are thrown, the prayer goes, “Steamed buns are thrown to the west. Fly a pair of phoenixes. They fly three circles around the beam. The golden chicken crows in the right hall. The phoenixes sing in the left… Sweet cakes are thrown to the east. Here come near luck, longevity, and happiness. Rice cakes are thrown to the west. Fly the dragon and the phoenix. Sweet cakes are thrown to the south. Wealth and happiness rush to the door, every year, every month, every day, and every minute. The family is always blessed. Sweet cakes are thrown to the north. The phoenix flies in peonies and brings all sorts of happiness.”87 The phoenix has evidently taken on religious significance in beam setting prayers. The mythical bird has long been worshipped. It is believed to be an auspicious mythical bird. Lunyun: Zihan (The Analects: Zihan) reads, “The Master said, ‘The phoenix does not come; the river sends forth no map. It is all over with me!’”88 Shanhaijing: Nancisan Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: Classic of the Second Mountain Range in the South) sees the phoenix a bird of peace and tranquility, “Mount Danxue sits five hundred li further in the east. The mountain is rich in gold and jade. The Danshui River starts from her and flows southwards into the Bohai Sea. The bird living in the mountain looks like a chicken with colorful feathers and 86

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Jiangsu (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Jiangsu (Beijing: ISBN China Center, July 1998), 175–177. 87 Song Genxin, A Survey of Beliefs and Customs of Living in Fengxian Area, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Folk Literature Studies, Vol. 6 (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, June 1992), 224. 88 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, The Analects with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 129.

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is called phoenix. The pattern on its head symbolizes virtue, the one on its wings righteousness, the one on its back rite, the one on its breast benevolence, and the one on its belly integrity. The bird lives on nature and sings and dances. When it appears, there’s peace and tranquility.”89 Xu Shen’s explanation of the character “ 凤” or phoenix in his Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters evidently drew inspiration from the documents before him: “The phoenix is a mythical bird. Tianlao, a court official to the Yellow Emperor, said: The phoenix has feathers on its breast and scales on its back. It features a snake-like neck and fish tail. Its head looks like a crane’s, and its cheeks are similar to mandarin ducks. It has the dragon’s pattern, a tiger’s back, a swallow’s chin, and a chicken’s beak. The color-feathered bird grows out of the state of saints in the east and flies all around the four seas. The bird flies over Kunlun Mountain and drinks at Heaven’s Pillar. It cleans its feathers in the Ruoshui River and rests at the cave of wind. When it appears, there’s great peace and tranquility.”90 It has long been believed that “the chicken is born to the phoenix.” This thought has been accepted in beam setting ceremonies. Liu Xiang (77BC–6BC) of the Han Dynasty wrote in Xiaozi Zhuan (Biographies of Filial Children): Shun’s father suffered from poor eyesight. His second wife told the old man to kill Shun in a well. Shun’s father was poor and lived in the market. One night, the old man dreamt of a phoenix. The bird called itself a chicken and took rice to feed the old man. The bird said that the chicken was born to it. At a second look, the old man found it actually a phoenix. According to the Yellow Emperor’s Dream-telling, the old man must have somebody unusual in his descendants. Shun had the same result in divination. The old man bought rice and found coins in it. It was Shun who’d done it. The old man regretted what he’d done to Shun and prayed to Heaven for three days and nights. Thus, he recognized the voices of two men who’d done business with him. One of them was Shun. Shun licked his father’s eyes. The old man then regained his eyesight. He felt embarrassed yet deeply moved at the sight of Shun. The most filial saint would have assistance from god.91

Fetishes adopted in beam setting ceremonies actually vary. A scholar had an on-site investigation of the beam setting ceremony held in a Family Huang at No.51 Jianzhong Road, Jianshui County, Yunnan Province: The chief carpenter first pierced a hole with a chisel in the middle of the beam and put inside a handful of grains, two copper coins from the Guangxu era (of the Qing Dynasty), a silver piece, and a gold earring. A piece of red cloth was then spread over the hole. The two corners of the cloth were nailed down with two silver coins.92 The Shui people living in Yunnan Province use ten copper coins, a calendar, two writing brushes, two ink ingots, two branches from Chinese toon, a Japanese cypress branch, and a pouch of salt, tea, 89

Guo Fu, Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), May 2004), 55–56. 90 Xu Shen; Xu Xuan (Ed.); Wang Hongyuan (Rev.), Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), February 2005, Modern edition). 91 Dong Sizhang, Enlarged Records of Ddiverse Matters, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 92 Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005), 24.

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rice and beans. The red cloth wrapped around the beam measures 50 cm on each side, plus five-color thread and five-color cloth.93 Seeing all those fetishes, we may agree with Bagby that in a sense, culture is indeed merely skills mastered by large groups of people. Those skills may be acquired or invented.94 We may also make wise guesses on the meaning of fetishes when we look into folklore surveys. For instance, a handful of grains means a good wish for harvest, and the 50 cm-long red cloth, five-colored thread, and five-colored cloth are applications of the theory of the five elements. Such a guess undoubtedly fits with the Law of Similarity in Frazer’s theory of imitative magic. However, we may not be entitled to stopping here, as historical combing is always necessary to investigate age-old fetishes. For instance, it is an age-old practice to use exorcism coins in beam setting ceremonies. According to Zhang Taiyue (1525–1582) of the Ming Dynasty, “There was a Guanghan Hall in the northern garden in the imperial city. The roof tiles had long gone. Rafters and beams survived. It was said to be the building on which Empress Xiao of Liao dressed up. When Emperor Chengzu reigned Yanjing, His Majesty asked to preserve the building as a sort of warning. The hall collapsed in the fifth lunar month of the seventh year of the Wanli era. One hundred and twenty gold coins were found on the beam. They must have been placed there to expel evil things. Each coin was inscribed as Zhiyuan Tongbao. Zhiyuan was the reign title of Emperor Shizu of Yuan. Thus, the hall must be built over the reign of Emperor Shizu of Yuan. It was not a building from the Liao period.”95 The coins Zhang Juzhang talked about were one type of exorcism coin that had come into use by the Han Dynasty at the latest. Chen Yuanlong (1652–1736) found that exorcism coins were originally a special type inscribed on characters and patterns. According to his “ancient coins” entry: Qianpu (Category of Coins) authored by Feng Yan reads: In the Han Dynasty, there were exorcism (yansheng) and lotus-core (ouxin) coins. The shield-shaped coin was roughly rectangular and not round. It might be a variation of the ancient spade coin. The coin was similar to the coins given to Madame Huarui at the title-conferring ceremony. Bogutu (Catalog of Curios) reads: There were five exorcism (yansheng) coins. One weighed six-and-half liang, and the other four each weighed three-and-half liang. Emperor Wu of Han had three types made with silver, tin, and white gold. The patterns were dragon, horse, and tortoise beetles, round, square, and turtle-like. Today, the coin is rectangular shaped with patterns of dragon and horse. However, the millet pattern below seemed not to fit with those made by Emperor Wu of Han. Additionally, in Li Xiaomei’s Catalog, there was a “Yong An Wu Nan” coin. The coin was round in shape, yet with a millet pattern on the edge, and looked similar to the aforementioned coin. Xiaomei called it exorcism (yansheng) coins, thus the usage of the coins.96 93

Mao Gongning (Ed.), Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, September 2006), 946–947. 94 P. Bagby; Xia Ke, Li Tiangang, & Chen Jianglan (Trans.), Culture and History: Prolegomena to the Comparative Study of Civilizations (Shanghai: People’s Publishing House of Shanghai, November 1987), 143. 95 Yu Minzhong et al. (Eds.), Textual Criticisms on “Hearsay of Old Matters from Under the Sun” (Beijing: Beijing Classics Publishing House, October 1981), 566. 96 Chen Yuanlong, Investigation of Things and Their Origins, Vol. 35, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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Chen’s account was only about how exorcism coins looked like. Li E (1692–1752) gave a more detailed description to such coins in a preface to one of his poems: A book dealer came from Wuzhong to Guangling. He brought more three hundred ancient coins. There were genuine and fake ones. Wang Fujiang rubbed from them and gave me four coins as gifts. “Qian Qiu Wan Sui” coin had dragon-and-phoenix pattern. “Chang Sheng Bao Ming” coin had the patterns of the Big Dipper and a man and woman standing opposite. “Zhan Yao Fu Xie” coin had one standing god, one crouching tiger, and one charm. “Gui He Qi Shou” coin had no pattern on it. All the four were ancient exorcism coins. I put them into an album and wrote a poem. Also, I invited Fujiang to write another poem… Wang Weishan also gave me an exorcism coin inscribed with the seal characters “Jin Yu Man Tang” surrounded by two dragons. The coin had a cloud-shaped handle. It measured two cun in diameter. I added it to the album and wrote another poem to it.97

Every exorcism coin has had in it mysterious belief of good luck and naturally been an ideal fetish. Liu Chongyuan of the Five Dynasties wrote down in his Jinhuazi Zabian (Miscellaneous Tales Collected by Jinhuazi) the tale of coins in the Tang Dynasty: Yan Zhuo said: There was a little mound in front of the central gate of Beihai County. It was there years, but no one dared to remove it. A county magistrate then had it removed. Several chi down from the ground, there were small iron coins. There were so many coins down there that many people were called to carry the coins away. A written message was then found somewhere in the west: This is the eye of the sea. The coins were cast and buried to fill it. The coins were innumerable and without any date of casting. Each coin was roughly the size of a Wuzhu coin. The entire county was scared of any possible disasters. They then held a sacrifice and refilled the pit with the coins they’d carried away. Nothing unusual happened afterwards, though.98

I find that it was a common practice to use exorcism coins in building construction in the Song Dynasty. According to the biography of Xu Xianzhi (364–426) in Songshu (Book of State Song of the Southern Dynasties), when Xu was young, a man who claimed to be Xianzhi’s ancestor came to tell him how to survive a disaster by using exorcism coins, “You’ll definitely have a great future. However, you have to face a great adversity. But you may be spared by burying twenty-eight coins at the four corners of the house. After that, you’ll take a highest rank in officialdom.”99 In mid-April 1973, archaeologists discovered a silver exorcism coin in the family cemetery of Bao Zheng (999–1062). The coin was found in the tomb of the wife to Bao Yongnian (1070–1120), who was Bao Zheng’s eldest grandson. The exquisite coin was named after the pattern on it “the exorcism coin with two-dragons-in-peony pattern.”100 A rescue repair project was conducted on Yinggeng Pagoda in Chongfu 97

Li E, Collected Works of Li E, Vol. 4, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 98 Liu Chongyuan, Miscellaneous Tales Collected by Jinhuazi, II, in Jottings of the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Song, II (Shenyang: Liaoning Education Press, January 2000), 22. 99 Yang Zhong (Ed.), Book of State Song of the Southern Dynasties (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1053. 100 Wu Xinghan, Silver exorcism Coins Unearthed from the Tomb of the Wife of Bao Yongnian the Eldest Grandson of Bao Zheng, Collectors, 2006 (3).

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Temple, Quanzhou, Fujian Province, in September 2001. Altogether, 4,417 exorcism coins were found in the pagoda and foundation. The coins were placed there when the pagoda was built in the late Northern Song Dynasty. The coins dated from the Western Han Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, including Banliang and Wuzhu coins of the Westerns Han Dynasty (202BC–8AD); Daquan Wushi coins of the Xin Dynasty (8–23); Wuzhu coins of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534); Kaiyuan Tongbao, Qianfeng Quanbao, Qianyuan Zhongbao, and Huichang Kaiyuan coins of the Tang Dynasty (618–907); Zhouyuan Tongbao coins of the Later Zhou Dynasty (951–960); Tianhan Yuanbao and Qiande Yuanbao coins of the Former Shu (907– 925); Kaiyuan Tongbao and Tangguo Tongbao coins of the Southern Tang (937– 976); Songyuan Tongbao, Taiping Tongbao, Chunhua Yuanbao, Zhidao Yuanbao, Xianping Yuanbao, Jingde Yuanbao, Xiangfu Yuanbao, Xiangfu Tongbao, Tianxi Tongbao, Tiansheng Yuanbao, Mingdao Yuanbao, Jingyou Yuanbao, Huangsong Tongbao, Qingli Zhongbao, Zhihe Yuanbao, Zhihe Tongbao, Jiayou Yuanbao, Jiayou Tongbao, and Zhiping Tongbao coins of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127). The coins featured different craftsmanships, including color paint, back carving, rasping and piercing, and high relief.101 Coins are widely used in the beam setting process and are known as beam setting coins. In the first year of the Xianfeng reign (1851), the beam setting ceremony was held for the rebuilt main hall of the Temple of Confucius in Fuzhou. The beam setting coins used were specially cast spade and knife coins.102 According to Daquan Tulu (Catalog of Coins), “Guangxu Taobao coins were inscribed with the Eight Diagrams. When a palace or hall was under repair or construction, a treasure box was placed on the crossbeam. Guangxu Tongbao coins were put in the treasure box.”103 A coin collector has in the collection a “beam setting coin with Chinese unicorn and phoenix pattern,” which is said to be found on the crossbeam of an old house dating back over three hundred years in a village in Ji’an, Jiangxi Province.104 Exorcism coins were found to be in two types. They were either specially cast for a religious purpose or ordinary ones in circulation. The former featured special patterns and inscriptions and never went into circulation. In some cases, the pattern on an exorcism coin itself vividly depicted an exorcising rite. For instance, a large exorcism coin had a pattern like this: On the front side, there is Emperor Zhenwu on the right, clad in gold armor and black robe. Beside him there is a tortoise and a snake. The man behind him holds a black flay in the hand. Two celestial warriors stand on the left wait for assignment. The pattern is vivid and well-structured. It depicts the scene in which the players are ready to fight any evil spirits. On the back, a tiger crouches above either of the charms and has the written charm in its mouth. Stars are seen above the hole.105 101

Tang Hongjie, exorcism Coins of the Northern Song Dynasty Unearthed from Yinggeng Pagoda in Chongfu Temple, Quanzhou, Chinese Numismatics, 2003 (3), 42. 102 Qu Yanbin, An Overview of exorcism Coins, Root Exploration, 2000 (3). 103 Shi Songlin (Ed.), Essentials of Numismatics (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, April 1995), 302. 104 Luo Ci’an, beam setting Coins, Business Daily, 18 December 2003. 105 Yu Wei, A Rarely-seen Large exorcism Coin, West China Finance, 2009 (3), 87.

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The coin well revealed the Taoist impacts on the artisan’s building construction sorcery; also, Taoism as an invocation-oriented religion native to China was actually a hybrid of religion and sorcery. Exorcism coins functioned mainly through homophonic, auspicious mythical images, and religious charms to pray for good luck directly or indirectly.106 Hu Linyu finds exorcism coins as an instrument to pray for blessings and drive away evil spirits: “By praying for blessings, people intend to gain whatever beneficial and favorable and enjoy happiness, longevity, many descendants, and wealth. It is a pursuit of auspiciousness. By driving away evils, people hope to fend off poverty, illness, no-offspring, war, and disasters. They wish for peace, harmony, success, and health.”107 In this sense, every pattern on exorcism coins has its own cultural meaning and is thus a traditional symbol long recognized and believed. Traditional symbols have thus gained reliability rooted in history and have been widely used in sorcery activities. Thus, we can see that creativity in folklore was never given free rein; rather, it was always ruled by the force of traditional culture. The Taoist impacts on folkways of architecture crystallized as mythical creatures such as Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger, as well as symbols such as the eight diagrams, eight immortals, and charms on exorcism coins. Some exorcism coins were evidently cast with Buddhist impacts. Religious figures played the role of sorcerers in social life to win more followers and gain a more impressive presence among commoners; thus, Taoist and Buddhist impacts were seen in the artisan’s sorcery. Artisans justified their sorcery with a stronger force of traditional culture and refined the originally crude sorcery. Believers and worshippers never showed clear opposition against any specific sorcery knowledge and accepted all sorts of sorcery knowledge out of a functionalist attitude towards gods, immortals, and sorcerers. Religious figures, sorcerers, and worshippers thus went into such a relationship. The beam setting ceremony has been a sort of utilitarian ritual. It’s been nourished all through histories by people’s craving for peace in house. beam setting fetishes have never been a random choice; they have been carefully selected. The strong force of traditional culture has always been present in people’s lives. The eight diagrams, rooster, and beam setting coins have historically formed an interpretative discourse system and underpinned faith in their efficacy.

106

Xu Jingbin, On exorcism Coins and Auspiciousness-pursuing Culture, Journal of Guilin Normal Collage, 2007 (4), 59. 107 Hu Linyu, The Cultural Meanings of exorcism Coins, Chinese Numismatics, 2003, 80.

Chapter 4

Supernatural Beings, Incantations and Talismans: The Taoist Influences

Before science and reason took hold, religious thoughts permeated society, and professional house builders often proclaimed their dual status as artisans and sorcerers. Taoism is China’s native religion; it originates in the long procession of primitive religions that human societies have undergone. As Taoism developed, it began to have an important influence over professional house builders. Commenting on the ancient definition of Taoism, Japanese Taoist scholar Noritada Kubo said, “Taoism is a natural religion based on ancient folk beliefs, with supernatural theories at its core and tao, I Ching, yin-yang, the five elements, sorcery, medicine, and astrology thrown into the mix. With a Buddhist organizational structure, it has immortality as its aim with a profound tendency toward the occult.”1 Many house builders from different parts of China held religious ceremonies during the building construction process. Scholars have done research in this area, but there has been no deep and systemic analysis of the relationship between Taoism and building construction traditions. The supernatural beings, talismans, and symbols used in building construction traditions borrowed heavily from Taoism; some were especially direct and unmistakable. As Taoism spread, its positive aspects, such as immortality, miraculous power, and the distinction between good and evil, were etched in collective psychology. Broadening its appeal to the secular world is the main method through which Taoism spread, and a typical example is the Taoist elements in the traditional building construction process. For a tradition to endure, it must be conflated with popular beliefs, in this case Taoism, which provides ideological and ceremonial resources to strengthen its position in people’s minds. The art of building construction borrowed the idea of supernatural beings from Taoism in two ways. First, directly, Jiang Ziya and the eight immortals whose functions of offering protection and luck were conveyed through ceremonies. Second, through the idealization of true historical figures, such as master builder Lu Ban of the Spring and Autumn Period, toward the status of

1

Noritada Kubo; Xiao Kunhua (Trans.), History of Taoism (Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, July 1987), 30. © Social Sciences Academic Press 2022 S. Li, Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5477-0_4

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mythical legends of another era, such as the period of Yu the Great, so that the historical figures became part of the Taoist system. The purpose of this idealization is to raise the confidence and social status of the building construction profession and to satisfy the popular desire for luck and fortune. The building construction traditions borrowed not only supernatural beings but also talismans and symbols of Taoism for use in the ceremonies; we may say that Taoism standardized the building construction traditions. The influence that Taoism exerts on building construction traditions attests to the influence Taoist traditions have on folk customs and the sustained vitality of Taoism without the help of Taoist temples.

4.1 Two Ways Supernatural Beings Help House Builders Taoism has developed many tenets and practices in its history of several thousand years. However, “regardless of the myriad of tenets and practices, the core of Taoism is the belief in the supernatural.”2 According to Shuowen jiezi (Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters), when the heaven sees omens of fortune and misfortune, it tells people about it. Thus, the word “示” (meaning tell or show), the left part of the word “神” (deity), is associated with deities and supernatural affairs both in form and in meaning. It further explains the word “神” or deity as “creator of all things in the world.”3 “On the Young and the Old:10” in Shiming (Explanation of Names) commented on the word “仙” (immortals), “To age is to decay; to be old and undying is to be supernatural; to be supernatural is to retire into the mountains. That’s why the word ‘仙’ consists of a person and a mountain”4 “Story of Supernatural Beings” in Taiping Guangji states, “A tao practitioner is not supernatural, for a supernatural being can leap into clouds and fly without wings; he rides dragons on clouds and creates heavenly order; he morphs into birds and animals, travels on oceans, soars above mountains, ingest qi and herbs; he comes into the world incognito or invisible; strange bones give structure to his face and odd hairs cover his body; he does not befriend common people; he is immortal but lacks emotions and distances himself from fame and happiness.”5 Generally speaking, a Taoist supernatural being has supernatural power, longevity, and immortality; he lives on well-chosen mountains and differs from common people. The belief in supernatural beings derives from the pursuit of longevity or immortality by the ancients; the belief in supernatural beings in the art of building construction comes mainly from the popular belief that the building construction process 2

Qing Xitai, A New Study of Taoist Culture (Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House, October 1988), 19. 3 Xu Shen; Xu Xuan (Ed.); Wang Hongyuan (Rev.), Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), February 2005, Modern edition), 2–3. 4 Wang Xianqian, Revision and Annotations to “Explanation of Names” (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, March 1984), 150. 5 Li Fang, et al., Taiping Guangji, (Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company, September 1998), Vol. 1, 9.

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would go smoothly and the house would be free from the evil or the filthy as its owner had wished if the process is under the protection of supernatural beings. There are many ways Taoist supernatural belief influences the sorcery of builders. One is that these supernatural beings become the gods that builders pray for during building construction ceremonies. In the rafter-setting ceremony of Huzhou, the “Gua Hong Lv Bu” (literally “hanging red and green fabrics”) prayer declares, “We pay respect first to the heaven, second to the earth, third to the three happy encounters of the east, fourth to the auspicious day of the south, fifth to the three stars of luck, prosperity, and longevity, sixth to the Eight Immortals of the north; may the house be protected and filled to the rafters with happiness.” “Prayer to the Master” states, “…Take eight steps and Eight Immortals shall cross the sea; take nine steps and prosperity shall reign for nine generations…when the Badong supernatural beings gather, dragons fly, phoenixes dance, cranes flock.”6 In this ceremony, Taoist supernatural beings in different parts of the world gather to bless and grace the setting of the rafters, the most important ceremony during the building construction process. Another way is the singing of the rafter-setting song during the ceremony; this song’s origin is a prayer to the supernatural beings, and its ending is “Eight Immortals, Eight Immortals! They cross the sea to trot their stuff, and they are all centenarians.”7 The song aims to entertain, but it betrays the desire for prosperity and divine protection.8 From some of the house builders’ incantations, such as “I follow the divine edict” or “I rush to fulfill the divine order,” we can see the importance of Taoist supernatural belief in the building construction ceremonies. Supernatural beings often come in groups in the incantations and prayers of building construction activities, which makes people believe that supernatural beings can indeed offer them protection. However, in some special circumstances, Taoist 6 Jiang Bin (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Oral Folk Culture (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, September 1993), 343–344. 7 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Ningxia, Chinese Ballad Collections: Ningixa (Beijing: China ISBN Center, August 1996), 426. 8 Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005), 41. The Eight Immortals appear widely in the rafter-setting ceremonies, but a legend of Tonghai County, Yunnan has it that the reason why there are so many house builders in this county is the result of Lu Dongbin’s making fun of Iron-Crutch Li. This is the legend: When the Eight Immortals passed through the county, Li was hungry and wanted to eat some pancakes. Lu wanted to make fun of Li and changed himself quickly into a pancake vendor. After Li bought the pancakes, Lu asked him, “What sauce do you want on them?” “What sauce have you got?” Li shot back. “I’ve got whatever sauce you want,” said Lu. Li became furious and shouted, “I want blacksmith sauce, carpenter sauce, whatchamacallit sauce. You’ve got them all, do you?” [trans. “sauce” is homonymous with “artisan” and carpenter is a “wood artisan” in Chinese.] Lu smiled, raised Li in midair, and said, sweeping in the vista in front of him with a hand gesture, “Look, whatever sauce you want, it’s all there!” From that time on, all the places Lu pointed to began to produce all kinds of artisans (or sauce): carpenters in Jiujie and Yangguang, tile makers in Xingmeng, blacksmiths in Luoji, stone cutters in Jiejiaying, etc. People of Tonghai County seemed destined to learn a craft they were interested in and pass it on from generation to generation.

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supernatural beings will walk calmly into the building process and offer some magical solutions to the builder’s problems. There is a legend that describes Lu Dongbin, one of the eight immortals, as turning himself into a carpenter and helping other artisans build the famous Yueyang Pavilion.9 This story explains not only the source of the silver fish of Dongting Lake but also the jinx-suppressing sorcery in the building construction folklore. According to the myths, Yueyang Pavilion has collapsed many times in its history due to the evil doings of some supernatural bats, while Lu Dongbin’s jinx-suppressing sorcery is related to that of the ancient building construction process. That Lu has changed into a Taoist carpenter implies the intimate union between the professional house builder and the supernatural being. When we talk about the influence of Taoist supernatural beings on the building construction tradition, we must not forget about another supernatural being, Jiang Ziya. Lu ban jing describes a sticker with “Jiang Ziya is here” written on it; the sticker also says, “Heaven has no taboo, the earth has no taboo, yin-yang has no taboo. Don’t be afraid of taboos.” The instruction for using this sticker is this: For the sake of propitiousness, one should write on yellow, not white, paper when making a Jiang Ziya sticker. The sticker can be used once the work begins, whether the work is for new building or renovation. The editor of Lu ban jing has given an example: “…Around today’s Yuncheng, Shanxi, if the main section of the house is badly hampered by a hill, river, cemetery, hillcrest or ridge of the roof, a small structure of green bricks is built on the ridge of the roof with the inscription ‘Jiang Ziya is here. All supernatural beings retreat.’ This will ward off evil spirit. One can write the words on a paper and paste it in the house or garden, or have the words inscribed on walls or other places, depending on where the evil spirit is.”10 It is evident that Jiang Ziya is a powerful figure in the building construction tradition. He can eradicate evil spirit and is admired for it. Jiang Ziya’s deification has evolved over a period of a few thousand years. He was a real person, a great military strategist and politician. He was also known as Taiwanggong from Jizhou. He helped Zhou kings Wen and Wu defeat King Zhou of Shang and establish the Qi Kingdom. He was a well-known minister and strategist. “Daming” in Classic of Poetry has descriptions of him as a valiant general leading an army to fight King Zhou of Shang at Muye: The field is wild, War chariots strong. The steeds we ride Gallop along. Our Master Jiang Assists the king To overthrow the Shang Like eagle on the wind. 9

Wei Yuelv (Ed.), Folk Tales, (Shanghai: Guangyi Publishing House, 1940), 42–47. Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 311.

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A morning bright Displaced the night.11 The most detailed description of Jiang Ziya’s life is found in Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian,12 which tells the unusual family origin of Jiang: Jiang’s ancestors helped Yu the Great tame the waters. Jiang Ziya became famous after meeting King Wen, founder of Zhou, who had found Jiang through divination. This often-repeated theme was controversial from the beginning, and this is one of the reasons for Jiang Ziya’s mythification. Legends tell of Jiang Ziya’s seeing divine signs, such as catching a jade huang inscribed with divine prediction while fishing and catching a carp with a heavenly book inside which contained such words as “thou shall be lord of Qi. Another legend says that King Wen of Zhou and Jiang Ziya both dreamed of the Supreme Deity: One night, King Wen dreamed of the Supreme Deity wearing a black robe and standing on the dock at Linggujin, with an old man standing behind him. The Supreme Deity said, “Wen, I give you Wang, a good teach and helper.” King Wen kneeled down, and so did the old man. That night Jiang Ziya dreamed the same dream. Later, King Wen saw Jiang Ziya and asked him, “Is your name Wang?” “Yes,” Jiang answered. King Wen said, “I think I’ve seen you before.” Jiang told him about the date of their encounter and what the king had said. The king acknowledged that Jiang was right and made him a minister.13

Jiang Ziya was deified during the Han Dynasty. The “Huiguo” chapter of Lunheng (Annotated Discourses in the Balance) states that Jiang Ziya secretly fed a child red dye, and when the child grew up, Jiang taught him to say “Shang will perish.” When the people of Shang saw the red child, they thought he was a deity and believed their kingdom would perish. It did.14 This text seems to suggest that Jiang Ziya was an occultist who was well versed in sorcery; the methods he used were clearly not mainstream. However, another legend recorded in “Buqian” of Lunheng says that he was averse to sorcery, such as fortune telling: “King Wu of Zhou wanted to fight King Zhou of Shang and went to have his fortune told. The fortune teller said King Wu would fail. Jiang Ziya was furious and said to the fortune teller, ‘It is absurd that you could tell failure from a pile of dead bones and dry grass!’”15 This incident is also recorded in Records of the Grand Historian, “King Wu goes to battle against King Zhou. The fortune teller predicts adversity and stormy weather. All the ministers are afraid except Jiang Ziya, who successfully persuades the king to go ahead.”16 After 11

Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Classic of Poetry with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 144. 12 An Pingqiu (Ed.), Records of the Grand Historian (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 523. 13 Wang Yinglin, Jade sea: An encyclopedia, Vol. 46, In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 14 Annotating Team of Lunheng of PKU Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance (Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing House, October 1979), 1115. 15 Annotating Team of Lunheng of PKU Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance (Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing House, October 1979), 1378. 16 An Pingqiu (Ed.), Records of the Grand Historian (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 524.

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the establishment of the Han Dynasty, rumors abounded that Zhang Liang was taught by Jiang Ziya the art of war and was thus able to help Liu Bang restore peace in the empire. Jiang’s reputation rose as a result. Jiang Ziya wrote many books on the art of war that were very popular during the Han Dynasty; these books contained military strategy, certainly but also sorcery, including magical incantations.17 “Jinhuan” in Taiping yulan (Imperial Reader) quotes from Liutao (six strategies): The Duke of Ding disagrees with King Wu’s intention to destroy Shang. Jiang Ziya uses a drawing of the duke as the target and shoots three arrows at it. The Duke of Ding gets sick, and the fortune teller advises him to pledge allegiance to Zhou. The duke does so out of fear. Jiang Ziya removed the arrow on the duke’s head in two days, that on the mouth in another two days, and that on the stomach in yet another two days. The duke gets well gradually. When the Four Barbarians get wind of this, they all come to Zhou to pay tributes.18

Jiang Ziya practiced a kind of sympathetic magic that is closely associated with divination. He could communicate with the divine spirit, which would help him tame recalcitrant dukes. This is the characteristic of a supernatural being. Legend has it that Jiang Ziya talked to the divine spirit during King Wu’s battle against King Zhou; it was a battle between good and evil and what Jiang did was to mete out divine justice and satisfy people’s desire. Taigong Jingui has descriptions of a stormy night during the battle. Deities of each of the four seas, the rivers, the wind, and the rain all came to help King Wu, who did not recognize any of them. It was with Jiang’s help that the king met these seven deities. It is clear that these passages want to show Jiang Ziya’s supernatural power.19 Scholars of the Han Dynasty classified books written by Jiang Ziya under the Taoist rubric. Book of Han says that “there are 237 writings under ‘Taigong’, 81 under ‘Mou’, 71 under ‘Yan’, and 85 under ‘Bing’.”20 Taoists and Taoism are intimately related and that Jiang Ziya is viewed as a Taoist supernatural being intimately related to his mythification by Han officials and the general public. By the time of Liu Xiang’s Story of Supernatural Beings, Jiang had become a two hundred-year-old deity. Stories of Supernatural Beings states: Jiang Ziya was born in Jizhou. He had an inner wisdom that allowed him to predict fortune. He lived in seclusion in Liaodong for forty years to avoid warfare and chaos under the rule of King Zhou of Shang. Later he went westward to Zhou and lived in Nanshan. He liked fishing but had not caught a fish in three years. People of the village advised him to stop, but he ignored them. He eventually caught a fish and found a military bell inside it. King Wen dreamed of a saintly old man by the name of Jiang Ziya and made him an official. Jiang ate lotus flowers and foxgloves and died at the age of two hundred. Hi son put his six writings, 17

Sun Deqi (Ed.); Nie Songlai (Trans.), Six strategies (Beijing: Military Science Publishing House, January 2005), 110–112. 18 Li Fang et al., Taiping Yulan (Imperial Reader) (Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & 1998 reprinted edition), Vol. 3, 3267–3268. 19 Li Fang et al., Taiping Yulan (Imperial Reader) (Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & 1998 reprinted edition), Vol. 3, 3918. 20 An Pingqiu & Zhang Chuanxi (Ed.), Book of Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 784.

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not his body, inside the coffin. [The author concludes], Jiang caught a fish with red scales. He and King Wen dreamed the same dream, and the king made him an official. He was good at strategizing and exercised to strengthen his body. He is known to be a celestial being.21

Jiang Ziya’s deification occurred as early as the Han Dynasty. References to Jiang in historical sources after the Han Dynasty tell us about a change in the image of Jiang: Jiang was now revered as a deity and was worshipped in temples built in his honor.22 The Tang court built Taigong temples. The Old Book of Tang records that “in the third year of Empress Consort Wu’s reign, a court edict allowed dukes to teach the martial arts and scholars were invited to become candidates. In the nineteenth year of Kaiyuan reign, a Taigong temple, where people could also worship Han hero Zhang Liang, was built in Chang’an and Luoyang. In the sixth year of Tianbao reign, candidates of the military examination were required to stop by the Taigong temple to pay their respects to Jiang Ziya when they visited the capital. In the second year of Shangyuan reign, Jiang Ziya was elevated to the title of King Wucheng, and the ten most celebrated generals of Chinese history were selected.”23 The Tang court also dispatched trained officials to officiate the ceremonies in the Taigong temples. “An official and an assistant are assigned to each of the two temples in Chang’an and Luoyang. They are in charge of the opening, closing, cleaning, and worship ceremonies.”24 The Taigong temples were built under the order of Emperor Xuanzong (both Kaiyuan and Tianbao are his reigning titles); they were situated in the two capitals and all the prefectures (zhou). At the start and successful conclusion of military expeditions as well as on the occasions of appointment of generals, a visit to the temple to pay respects to Jiang Ziya was necessary. During the Shangyuan reign, Jiang Ziya was elevated to the title of King Wucheng, and the Taigong temple was also known as the Wucheng temple.25 Jiang Ziya was worshipped throughout China, and his hallowed status as the god of war was at its height during the time of Tang Emperor Xuanzong; his Yin Incantations was included in the Taoist canon Tao Treasures, and he was regarded as a Taoist deity. His reputation lost some of its luster during the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms but rebounded after the establishment of the Song Dynasty. It is stated in History of Song that “there have been regular memorial ceremonies celebrating 21

Qiu Heting Interpreted and Annotated Annotated “Biographies of Deities”/Annotated “Biographies of Immortals” (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), September 2004), 21–22. 22 Li Daoyuan, Wang Guowei (Rev.) Yuan Yingguang & Liu Yinsheng (Collated & punctuated), Revised and Annotated “Classic of Water” (Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, May, 1984), 304–305. 23 Huang Yongnian (Ed.), Book of Tang (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 797. 24 Huang Yongnian (Ed.), Book of Tang (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1468. 25 Wang Pu, Institutional History of the Tang Dynasty (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, fourth printing November, 1998, First edition June 1955,), Vol. 1, 435–438.

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Jiang Ziya since the establishment of the Taigong temples in the Tang Dynasty. In the early years of the Shangyuan reign, the emperor elevated Jiang Ziya to the title of King Wucheng, chose the Confucian Saints and Ten Celebrated Generals, and added ‘72 Disciples.’ The memorial ceremonies were abolished in the Later Liang Dynasty and restored in the Later Tang Dynasty. Song Emperor Taizu ordered the renovation of the temples and appointed Cui Song as the overseer. Cui’s job was to find the most capable ministers and generals since the end of the Tang Dynasty.”26 Song Emperor Zhenzong “gave the title of Zhaolie Wuchengwang to Jiang Ziya and ordered a temple to be built in Qingzhou and gave the title Wuxianwang to the Duke of Zhou and ordered a temple to be built in Qufu County.”27 After this round of temple building, Jiang Ziya was universally respected as Confucius, for he was regarded as the military saint and Confucius the literary saint. The worship of Jiang Ziya continued in the Jin Dynasty.28 The historical records of Ming and Qing often mention the Taigong temples. Ming yitong zhi (Geographic Annals of the Ming Territory) states, “The Taigong Temple is situated forty li northeast of Xinghua County; its old name is Fishing Temple”29 and “The Taigong Temple sits on the bank of Pan Creek; in front of it is a stela whose inscriptions are either damaged or missing.”30 Qinding daqing yitong zhi (Geographic Annals of the Qing Territory by the Imperial Order) mentions that “The Taigong Temple at the northeastern corner of the city is mainly for the worship of Jiang Ziya, but Guang Zhong and An Yin are also worshipped here. The stele erected by Song Emperor Zhenzong in the first year of the Dazhong Xiangfu reign still exists.”31 We can see from the above historical records that the worship of Jiang Ziya has been going on for a few thousand years. He has gone from a capable minister to a supernatural being and then to a military deity, exerting great influence on society. The worship of Jiang Ziya underwent great changes during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is because at that time, people had a voracious appetite for popular literature that painted Jiang with a Taoist palette. An increasing number of people began to accept Jiang as a supernatural being, and nothing contributed more to this trend than the fantasy novel Investiture of the Gods. However, Jiang became a Taoist deity in the Ming Dynasty, which is not accurate since Jiang was a mythical figure between the pre-Qin period and the Qing Dynasty. Jiang’s books on the art of war were classified as Taoist literature in the Han Dynasty, showing the intimate 26 Ni Qixin (Ed.) History of Song (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 2081. 27 Ni Qixin (Ed.) History of Song (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 144. 28 Zeng Jizhuang (Ed.), History of Jin (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 601–602. 29 Geographic Annals of the Ming Territory, Vol. 12, In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 30 Geographic Annals of the Ming Territory, Vol. 34, In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 31 Geographic Annals of the Qing Territory by the Imperial Order), Vol. 135. In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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relationship between Jiang Ziya and Taoism, and Investiture of the Gods only served to emphasize this link. In reality, before the appearance of this book, another book, King Wu Fighting King Zhou, circulated in the Yuan Dynasty and served as the precursor to Investiture of the Gods.32 The plot of Investiture of the Gods concerns the contest of magical powers; believers of Chanism were on the side of Zhou whereas those of Jieism were on the side of Shang. Lu Xun made some conjectures about the source of Chanism and Jieism: “Those on the side of Zhou believe in Chanism which is Taoism and Buddhism. Those who helped Zhou are Jieists and I don’t know where Jieism comes from.”33 Chanism and Jieism are fictitious religions, and many scholars explored whether they were meant to be metaphors for some phenomena in society, and it became quite a contentious subject of discussion. Some scholars analyzed the book in detail, gathered social evidence and declared that “…Chanism and Jieism are really the Quanzhen and Zhengyi schools of Taoism in the Ming Dynasty. Chanism fought the more popular Jieism.”34 Moreover, many scholars believe that the author of Investiture of the Gods is Ming Taoist priest Lu Xixing.35 In Investiture of the Gods, Jiang Ziya is a disciple of Yuanshi Tianzhun, Chanist founder. Unsuccessful in his practice to become supernatural, Jiang lives the life of a common man. He meets King Wen of Zhou and helps him battle King Zhou of Shang. After King Wen dies, Jiang stays on to help King Wu, who eventually defeats Shang and establishes Qi. Jiang battles against Jieist supernatural beings with the help of fellow Chanists; when he finally wins after many trials and tribulations, he inducts many deceased fighters into the ranks of deity. As the investigation of the gods gained popularity in society, people accepted Jiang as a Taoist supernatural being. This transformation of identity is fortuitous on some level of course, but the consistent deification of a few thousand years is key to Jiang’s supernatural identity. In reality, the folk literature of different parts of China began to explain how Jiang Ziya influenced the sorcery used in the process of building construction only after his investment in the ranks of deity. A popular legend in Gaoling County explains that the reason people of Shaanxi erect a rooftop tablet with the inscription “Jiang Ziya Is Here” when they build new houses is that there was a mistake during Jiang’s investiture as a deity; the title of Jade Emperor, which was to go to Jiang, went instead to another man by the name of Zhang Ziran. There was no place Jiang could sit, so he went to sit on a rooftop. People erect the tablet to keep minor ghosts or deities at bay.36 According to another legend also based on the plot of Investiture of the Gods, Jiang was given the title of Qi Taigong as the reward for destroying Shang. 32

Zhao Jingshen, “Popular Stories of King Wu’s Defeat of King Zhou and Investiture of the Gods”, Study of Chinese Novels (Jinan: Qilu Press, October 1980). 33 Lu Xun, A Brief History of Chinese Fiction, Complete Works of Lu Xun (Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, 1981), Vol. 9, 170–171. 34 Hu Wenhui, Investigation on the Chan and Jie Sects of Taoism in Investiture of the Gods, Academic Research, 1990 (2), 48. 35 Zhu Yueli, Investiture of the Gods and Religions, Religious Studies, 2005 (3), 89. 36 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Folktale Collections: Shaanxi (ED.), Chinese Folktale Collections: Shaanxi (Beijing: ISBN China Center, September, 1996), 415.

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Jiang hired a carpenter by the name of Zhang to build his palace. Evil concubine Daji and Shang King Zhou’s ghost, jealous of Jiang’s success, came to make trouble. At first, King Zhou’s ghost transformed into an old beggar who rendered much of the timber unusable, and then Daji changed into a crying woman and walked under the scaffold, causing a fire that injured Zhang and stopped his work. Later, Jiang Ziya picked an auspicious day and used chants and amulets to burn Daji and King Zhou’s ghost to death. Jiang put up a drawing of himself to prevent Daji and the ghost from wreaking havoc again. The drawing was lost over the years, and people began to write “Taigong is here, this house is blessed” on the rafters. Very often, they would paste a couplet, “House frame is put up on an auspicious day, rafters are set when Jiang Taigong is here.”37 A popular legend of Sichuan believed that Jiang Ziya was behind the taiji picture that they used to ward off evil spirit. This was the reason behind their claim of “fearing not when Jiang Ziya is here.” As for the legend that Jiang Ziya mistakenly gave the title Jade Emperor to his nephew Zhang Youren, people used it to explain why spring chanters in spring celebrations would not cross the top beam of the house when they entered people’s homes.38 People of the Qing Dynasty often put up the picture of an old Taoist priest riding a celestial animal to protect their houses; the priest in the picture was Jiang Ziya. The picture contained the words “fearing not when Jiang Ziya is here” on both sides and other Taoist symbols, such as the eight-diagram picture.39 Masons of Liujiang County also prayed Jiang Ziya’s protection. Their Wall Pounding Song advises, “Following the Master’s instructions begets prosperity, building wall under the wall buckets ensures success. Peace and security of a thousand years depends on Jiang Taigong’s protection.”40 Bricklayers of Huzhou sang “Rafters-Setting Song” showing their belief in Jiang Ziya, “lob a beam to the east and Jiang Ziya appears in the east; no fear, all good, prosperity stays in your house.”41 Elements of traditions accumulate in layers and they end up making a revered minister into a Taoist god who watches over the art of building construction. Some Taoist supernatural beings were once carpenters. Deities Search explains, “Chijiang Ziyu was a man in Huangdi’s reign. He ate no grains, only flowers of plants. He was a carpenter under Emperor Yao and moved with the wind and rain. He sold 37

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Folktale Collections: Shaanxi (Ed.), Chinese Folktale Collections: Shaanxi (Beijing: ISBN China Center, September, 1996), 413–414. 38 Zhu Shizhen, “An Exploration on House-building Customs in Sichuan”, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993), 147. 39 Yin Wei, Chinese Folk Deities (Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing House, January 2003), 68. 40 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Guangxi (Ed.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Guangxi (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China)) July 1992), 152–153. 41 Song Genxin, A Survey of Beliefs and Customs of Living in Fengxian Area, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Folk Literature Studies, Vol. 6 (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, June 1992), 246.

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ropes for swords in the market.”42 Another legend has it that Taoist priest Hou Daohua was able to become a supernatural being because he knew carpentry.43 Sometimes it can happen that divine help materializes during the building construction process, but the source of help is unknown. Volume 13 of Autumn Night Tales has this description: Shengmi, a town thirty li west of Fengcheng, is where Xu Zhen achieved enlightenment. There was a temple built in his honor, but it was burned down. The townspeople wanted to rebuild, but there was no wood in the area. One day during a storm, lightening split open the mountain, and there were trees inside. The townspeople began to rebuild the temple, cutting down trees only according to their needs, no more and no less. By the time they finished the temple, there were no more trees left. That was in July, the thirty-seventh year of Qing Emperor Qianlong’s reign.44

Volume 1 of Jianhu ji (Worthless things) contains this description: “Guang Wen Lu”: During the Wangli reign, Buddhist monk Weixin, who lived at the Cuifeng Temple west of Dongting Lake in Wu County, reorganized a room of the temple and painted it with white chalk. One night he heard thunder and lightening. He went into the room the next morning and found the walls covered with drawings of mountains, rivers, trees, and houses. The art work, which had the style of Monk Mei, was exquisite and brightened up the space.45

Another example is Lu Ban, who went from master carpenter to supernatural being and finally deity. This process took a long time, however. Lu Ban was the main deity revered by ancient house builders. Scholars believe that Lu Ban was Gongshuzi (aka Gongshu Ban or Gongshu Pan), a master carpenter during the Spring and Autumn period. Mr. Ren Jiyu also agrees with this arguement.46 According to ancient texts of the pre-Qin era, Gongshuzi was well known for being an inventor of machinery. The Tangong chapter of the Book of Rites states, “When the mother of Ji Kang-zi died, Gong-shu Ruo was still young. After the dressing, Ban asked leave to let the coffin down into the grave by mechanical contrivance. They were about to accede, when Gong-jian Jia said, ‘No. According to the early 42

Gan Bao & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals; Tao Qian & Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Continuation of the Newly-compiled Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals, I (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 2007), 23. 43 Zhang Junfang (Ed.); Li Yongsheng (Punctuated and checked), Seven Treasure Sects of Taoist Scriptures, Vol. 5 (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, December 2003), 2485–2486. 44 Wang Qi; Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 224. 45 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 2035. 46 Mr. Ren Jiyu said, “When I was studying Mozi’s background, I discovered that he was a good friend of Lu Ban, and they both came from Tengzhou City…Apart from the interaction between Mozi and Lu Ban recorded in the history books, we can see from the life and background of Lu Ban, Tengzhou’s ancient history and archeological artifacts, Lu Ban’s inventions and Tengzhou’s ancient technological know-how, folk legends, local sites, and the relationship between the two men that Tengzhou is Lu Ban’s hometown.” See Anonymous, “Legend of Lu Ban in Tengzhou” inscribed on the first intangible cultural heritage.” Tengzhou Information Port, http://new.tengzhou.com.cn/ 2460.html.

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practice in Lu, the ducal house used (for this purpose) the arrangement looking like large stone pillars and the three families that like large wooden columns. Ban, you would, in the case of another man’s mother, make trial of your ingenuity—could you not in the case of your own mother do so? Would that distress you? Bah!’ They did not allow him to carry out his plan.” This passage from the Classics of Rites was later annotated by Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to Zheng, Ban is a member of Ruo’s clan and excels at inventions. Seeing Ruo is still young, Ban proposes to take charge of the coffin lowering arrangement in his place.47 The Luwen chapter of Mozi also contains a reference to the great artisan who took pride in his own ingenuity. Gongshuzi carved a magpie out of bamboo and flew for three days without falling down. Gongshuzi thought of himself as smart. Mozi said to him, “Your accomplishment in constructing a bird does not compare with that of the carpenter in making a linch pin. In a short time, he could cut out a piece of wood of three inches. Yet it would carry a load of fifty shi. For, any achievement that is beneficial to man is said to be beautiful, and anything not beneficial is said to be clumsy.”48 Apparently Mozi did not think highly of Gongshuzi’s invention, which Mozi believed was not beneficial to men. Gongshuzi was also involved in the battles between kingdoms. The Luwen chapter of Mozi states, “Chu soldiers fought Yue soldiers on the Yangtze River. Chu soldiers advanced with the current and retreated against the current. It was easy to advance but difficult to retreat. Yue soldiers advanced against the current and retreated with the current. It was difficult to advance but easy to retreat. This strategy allowed the Yue soldiers to win many battles against the Chu soldiers. Gongshuzi traveled south from Lu to Chu and began to make weapons for the boat. He made gou and xiang. When the enemy wanted to retreat, gou was used to hook the retreating boat; when the enemy advanced too close, xiang was used to push away the approaching boat. Shuzi calculated the most appropriate lengths for the gou and xiang, which were better weapons than those of the Yue soldiers. Chu won many battles against Yue as a result.”49 Chu had a reversal of fortune with the help of weapons invented by Gongshuzi. Gongshuzi and Mozi had a simulated contest to test their strategies of offense and defense. The Gongshu chapter of Mozi states, “Gongshuzi built a cloud ladder for Chu to use against Song.” Mozi suggested defense in response to Shuzi’s new weapon, and the result was that “Shuzi’s offensive weapons were all used up while Mozi had more than enough for defense.”50 Many ancient texts have referenced Gongshuzi. The Shendalan chapter of Lvshi Chunqiu (Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals) states, “Mozi knows how to strategize for offense and defense, and Gongshuzi concedes Mozi’s superiority. However, Mozi does not want to be known for offensive strategy. Those who can 47 Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, Book of Rites with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 346–347. 48 Wu Yujiang (Ed.), Sun Qizhi (Punctuated & revised), Revised and Annotated “Mozi” (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1993), 739–740. 49 Wu Yujiang (Ed.), Sun Qizhi (Punctuated & revised), Revised and Annotated “Mozi” (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1993) 739. 50 Wu Yujiang (Ed.), Sun Qizhi (Punctuated & revised), Revised and Annotated “Mozi” (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1993), 765.

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sustain victory will grow stronger.”51 We can see from all this that Lu Ban was originally an inventor of weapons of war and tools of production. In ancient texts and legends from the Spring and Autumn period to the Han Dynasty, Lu Ban went through a slow transformation into an extraordinary man, with increasing degrees of otherness and wizardry. Stories of Mozi and Gongshuzi were collected in books of occultism. The Qisuxun chapter of Huainanzi states, “Lu Ban and Mozi made a wooden eagle which flew for three days without falling down.”52 This statement is based on the content of the Luwen chapter in Mozi. Famous skeptic Wang Chong of the Han Dynasty declared that the supernatural element in Lu Ban stories was drivel added in by the Confucianists: How can a likeness of eagle carved out of wood be able to fly and not fall down? If it could fly, how could it fly for three days? If there was machinery behind the wooden eagle, it is more logical to say “it can fly” and not “it does not fall for three days.” Many people think Lu Ban lost his mother due to his craftiness. They say Lu Ban made a wooden horse and wooden wagoner for his mother. She went on that wagon and never came back. If the wooden eagle is as good as the wooden horse, it would just fly and not come back. In truth, machinery can only work for a short while never three days, the wooden horse should have stopped within three days, and Lu Ban would not have lost his mother. In short, these two stories can’t be real.53

The Lu Ban legends annotated by Ren Fang are the first to show the supernatural aspects of Lu Ban. An important characteristic of supernatural beings is that they do not die and can travel freely in space and time. Lu Ban shows his supernatural characteristics from the time of Yu the Great to the period of Han Emperor Wu in Shuyiji (Tales of Strange Matters): Lu Ban carved a boat out of the trunk of a magnolia tree at Qilizhou, the boat is still there, and it is the origin of the magnolia boat that some poets wrote about. Lu Ban made a crane out of wood at the southern peak of Mount Tianlao; the crane flew a distance of seven hundred li and was put on a western peak of Mount Bei. Han Emperor Wu wanted to get the crane, but it flew to the southern peak. Its wings shook when rained came, but it continued flying. Lu Ban carved a picture of Jiuzhou out of stone for Yu the Great; it is now on Mount Shishi at Luocheng. Lu Ban carved a large turtle out of stone at Dongbeiyan close to the sea; the turtle submerged in the sea during the summer but reappeared on the mountain during the winter. Lu Ji wrote a poem about this, “…the stone turtle misses the sea, but I want to forget about home.”54

Legends collected by Li Daoyuan of the Wei Kingdom show Lu Ban able to communicate with the deities who, in fact, fear him. It is believed that the stone bridge on the Wei River “used to have a statue of Cunliu, a deity. The deity talked 51

Zhang Shuangdi et al., Interpreted and Annotated “Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals (Changchun: Jilin Literature & History Publishing House, April 1986), p. 440. 52 Liu An; Gao You (Annotated), Annotated Huainanzi (Shanghai: Shanghai Bookstore, July 1986), 182. 53 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 466. 54 Ren Fang, Tales of Strange Matters, Vol. 2, In Wenyuange Siku Chuanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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to Lu Ban, who asked him to show himself. Cunliu said, ‘I can’t come out because I’m ugly and you’re good at drawing pictures.’ Lu Ban said respectfully, ‘At least show your head.’ Cunliu showed his head, and Lu Ban began to draw Cunliu’s head on the ground with his foot. When Cunliu found out, he went back into the water. This is the reason that the statue was on the water and only the head was above the water. Dong Zhuo burned down the stone bridge when he acceded to power, but Wei Emperor Wu rebuilt it with a width of three zhang and six chi. The emperor of Cao was astonished when he saw the statue as he rode past on a horse and ordered the statue destroyed.”55 The Tang Dynasty was the key period of Lu Ban’s deification. Youyang zazu (Miscellaneous morsels from Youyang) Volume 4 states, “When people see a beautiful building today, they say that it looks as though Lu Ban built it. Temples in the two capitals are often thought of as Lu Ban’s creation, but history does not bear this out.”56 We can see from this that there was a popular tendency to ascribe all exquisite buildings to Lu Ban’s creative genius. Historical records of the Tang Dynasty no longer describe Lu Ban as solely extraordinary; they associate him with sorcery. Chaoye qianzai (Draft notes from the court and the country) tells the story below: Lu Ban of Dunhuang County, Suzhou, was famous for his intricate craftsmanship, although details of his life and death were unknown. When he was building a pagoda in Liangzhou, he created a wooden eagle into whose back a wedge was driven. When he struck the wedge three times, the wooden eagle would fly up, and he would ride it home. Soon his wife became pregnant. When his parents asked her what had happened, she told them about the wedge. His father held the wooden eagle one day and struck the wedge ten times. He rode the eagle to the capital of Wu. The local people thought he was the devil and killed him. Lu Ban made another wooden eagle and rode it to Wu and found his father’s body. He hated the people of Wu for killing his father and created a wooden deity south of Suzhou. This wooden deity pointed in the southeastern direction, and kingdom Wu had three years of drought. A fortune teller said that Lu Ban created the drought and the people of Wu went to Lu Ban, bearing gifts to atone for the killing of his father. Lu Ban chopped off one of the arms of the wooden deity, and it began to rain in kingdom Wu. Local people still prayed the wooden deity at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty. In the period of the Six Kingdoms, Lu Ban created a wooden magpie to spy on Song.57

This legend denies Lu Ban was in fact Gongshu Ban and depicts Lu Ban as a supernatural being who practiced sorcery. Witchcraft was popular in the Dunhuang area, but Taoism did not originate there, so Taoism must have brought along sorcery and supernatural beliefs as it spread to that area. Lu Ban’s deification and the wood god to which local people prayed were apparently the result of Taoist supernatural beliefs. At this point in the history of legends, Lu Ban was already endowed with immortality and magical power, and he also had the function of protecting house 55

Li Daoyuan, Wang Guowei (Red.), Yuan Yingguang & Liu Yinsheng (Collated & punctuated), Revised and Annotated “Classic of Water” (Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, May, 1984), 607. 56 Duan Chengshi, Fang Nansheng (Punctuated and checked), Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, December 1981), 233–234. 57 Zhang Zhuo, Draft notes from the Court and the Country (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1997), 153.

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builders during the building construction process. “Guizhufamu” (Ghost Helps a Carpenter) in Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi (Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian) has the following description: A carpenter, Li Jian, once went alone into the mountains to cut timber to build a house. One day at noon, he saw a tall and ugly man with tattoos all over his body suddenly appearing before him. Li was about to chop down a tree when the man also took up an axe; Li asked him what his name was, and he said “Dr. Hua.” Li’s heart leapt with fear, believing the man to be a mountain goblin; looking round and seeing no one, he yelled out several times to his guardian spirit. The other man leapt up and said, “You suspect me and it’s hard to help you.” Uttering a long loud cry, he climbed on a tree and disappeared.58

The guardian spirit mentioned here must have been Lu Ban, who protected carpenters. In texts from the Jin Dynasty, Lu Ban was sometimes seen on Zhaozhou Bridge. “Lubanzaoshijiao” (Lu Ban Builds a Wooden Bridge) in Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi has the following description: There was a stone bridge south of Zhaozhou. It was of such solidity and strength that nobody but Lu Ban could have built it. One day, a deity named Zhang riding a donkey wanted to cross the bridge. He grinned and said, “This bridge looks sturdy but will it shake when I cross?” He rode the donkey on the bridge, and the bridge shook violently as if it was about to fall. Lu Ban went below the bridge and held it up with both hands. To this day, marks of the donkey’s head, tail, and hoofs can be seen on the bridge, and Lu Ban’s handprints can be seen below the bridge. This legend is mentioned here because it is not recorded elsewhere.59 58 Anonymous; Jin Xin (Punctuated & checked), Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, May 1986), 238. 59 Anonymous; Jin Xin (Punctuated & checked), Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, May 1986), 218. The legend of Deity Zhang crossing the stone bridge has farreaching influence. There is a Tongxian Bridge in Gudeyi Village in Kunming’s Anning District. Legend has it that after the bridge was finished and before it was opened, an old man riding a donkey showed up one day, insisting on crossing the bridge. The crew told him that he’d have to wait until the fireworks were finished, and the old man agreed to wait. As he made his crossing, he said that the bridge would shake at the other end, and it did. This is why people called the bridge Tongxian (magical crossing.) See Wang Dingming, ed., Kunming Legends, Yunnan Nationalities Publishing House, December 1994, p. 307. House builders of Tonghai County, Yunnan cited this legend involving Zhang Guolao and Lu Ban to explain the carpenters’ crooked ruler: One day, Zhang Guolao riding a donkey wanted to cross the bridge built by Lu Ban. Zhang asked Lu, “Will my donkey crush your bridge?” Lu Ban answered, “Ten thousand people can stand on the bridge without problem, why should your donkey crush it?” Zhang Guolao went on the bridge with the donkey and their weight made the bridge bend. It turned out that the donkey was supernatural and it was pulling mountains behind it. Lu Ban frantically went below the bridge and used his staff to prop it up. The bridge didn’t collapse but the staff bent to an “L” shape. This is the origin of the crooked ruler, which carpenters say can prop up anything. It is the carpenters’ magic tool. See Yang Lifeng, Artisanry of southern Yunnan, doctorate dissertation of Tongji University, December 2005, p.107. There is a legend among the Mongol minority in Yunnan and it goes like this: On the last day before the bridge was completed, an old man came riding on a donkey. He was in fact Zhang Guolao but people didn’t know it. Zhang heard about the high quality of Lu Ban’s craft and wanted to see for himself. The donkey looked like any other in the village but when Zhang rode it backwards, the weight was more than that of a hundred elephants. The old man went to Lu Ban and asked, “I heard that the bridge you have built is solid, can I give it a try and ride my donkey on it?” Lu Ban was not amused and said, “Surely you jest! Go ahead and try it.” No sooner had the donkey taken the first step than the bridge began to shake. Thunderstruck, Lu Ban said to himself,

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People believed later that the donkey-riding deity was Zhang Guolao, one of the eight Taoist immortals, and this is why the popular opera Little Cowherd has the following verses: “Who fixed the Zhaozhou Bridge? Who put up the jade railings? Who crossed the bridge on a donkey’s back? Whose cart left wheel marks on the ground? Lu Ban fixed the Zhaozhou Bridge, the saints put up the jade railings; Zhang Guolao rode the donkey across the bridge, Chai Rong’s cart left the wheel marks.”60 Lu Ban has been the carpenter’s most revered deity since the Ming Dynasty. “Biography of the Immortal Master” in Luban Jing (Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry) gives exaggerated descriptions about Lu Ban’s birth and abilities. When he was born, a flock of cranes gathered, and the air was permeated with a strange fragrance that did not dissipate. These are signs of the birth of a saint. When he was seven years old, Lu played all day long and never thought about studying, and his parents started to become worried. At fifteen, he was indignant that various principalities had asserted their independence, and he traveled to and lobbied them to come back to Zhou’s rule, much like a member of the School of Diplomacy would do. His lobby was a failure, and he retreated to live on a mountain south of Taishan. He lived there like a hermit for thirteen years. A chance encounter with an old man compelled him to “look at sculptures and paintings with a view toward renewing Chinese culture relics.” He created standards and rules for building houses and other things. At forty, he went back to live on Mount Lishan and, with the help of a hermit, learned to fly like a supernatural being. He became a scholar official during the Warring States period and was given the title Master Zhihui three years later. He “showed up to help the emperors” during the Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties and collected august titles. He left instructions when the Shenglong Temple of Beijing was being built in the Ming Dynasty, and this is the reason the temple was finished on time. People built temples to honor him for this magical feat, with “Lu Ban Gate” inscribed on the entrance plaques. Ceremonies with animal sacrifice were held in his honor during spring and autumn. Legends claim that “carpenters who pray to Lu Ban will get all the help they need. He can solve problems and shed light for

“This is Zhang Guolao crossing the bridge!” Lu then used a wooden ruler to prop up the bridge. He said to Zhang, “Please continue your crossing.” The bridge ceased to shake. Lu Ban invited Zhang Guolao to some libations after the bridge crossing but Zhang Guolao declined and congratulated Lu Ban for his craft. Zhang Guolao then disappeared in thin air. People went below the bridge and saw that the wooden ruler had become bent but didn’t break. Carpenters have been using bent rulers to this day. There are many legends in China about supernatural beings testing Lu Ban’s craft. Among the Mongol minority of Yunnan there is a legend which says that when Lu Ban’s disciple Zhan Ban was building the Chongjin Temple, Zhang Guolao went to test Zhan’s skills in the guise of an old cowherd. Zhang Guolao used sorcery to shorten the columns of the temple but Zhan responded by using a mixture of rice soup and wood shavings to make up the difference in length, thereby completed his job successfully. See Liu Huihao, Sun Min, Collected Works of Mongol Folk Literature in Yunnan Province (Yunnan People’s Publishing House, April 1988), 61–65. Whether it is Zhang Guolao testing Lu Ban’s or his disciple’s skills (or sorcery) or Lu Ban transforming into Zhan Ban or Zhang Ban, the aim is to create a support system for an oral tradition which shows the intimate relationship between Lu Ban and Taoism and attests to Lu Ban’s deification. 60 Ma Shutian, China’s Folk Deities, Tuanjie Publishing House, January 1997, p. 147.

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generations.”61 All these talks about the unusual birth, the retreats to the mountains, the learning, the deification, and the assistance to carpenters are intimations of the Taoist deification process. Most of the incantations mentioned in Luban jing and Luban shu (The Book of Lu Ban), both of which are falsely attributed to Lu Ban, in fact originate in Taoism. When the carpenters chant them during the worship ceremonies, it means that they believe Lu Ban will come through to help them. There are many factors affecting the changes in Lu Ban’s images from a clever artisan to a supernatural being and then to a deity. His (or Gongshuzi’s) craft is the starting point; then there is the supernatural power supported by the legends, the spread of Taoism, and it is small wonder that he ended up a Taoist deity. That Lu Ban became a god is a testament to the inclusiveness of Taoism and its secular aspects. Taoism’s supernatural image underwent important changes during the Ming and Qing periods. To spread, Taoism had to make adjustments to its cultural system to meet the people’s religious needs. In other words, it had to get off the sacred pedestal and delve into people’s everyday life to become a folk religion. Supernatural beings had to take on more human qualities. The Taoist deities moved out of the temples, changing from unassailable idols to immortal beings with human instincts. It was against this backdrop that simple oral legends became sophisticated and enriched and that their influence rose first locally and then spread to the different strata of society.62 Since most of the Taoist deities are enlightened human beings, it is only logical that they retain some human characteristics. What these supernatural stories want to instill is the belief that human beings can attain the status of deity. With this as the background, Lu Ban’s deification seems inescapable. Moreover, the building construction profession was only too happy to accept this deification process, which worked wonders for its reputation. Through the myths and oral histories recorded in Luban Jing and Luban Shu, the story of Lu Ban’s deification spread far and wide. It was a win–win situation for Taoism and the building construction profession. “The belief in deities who, more or less, are associated with Taoism was able to spread gradually from the guilds to the general public.”63 In fact, the belief in Lu Ban as deity spread to the different ethnic minorities of China. For instance, the epic Yao poem Lu Ban Song, approximately eleven hundred lines long, describes Lu Ban’s deification: Lu Ban was born supernatural, the incarnation of the eighth Star Lord. His father died when he was one, and his mother died when he was two. A loving aunt took him in and raised him. When he was seven, he was a cowherd for his uncle. He watched the cattle during the day, but his mind was filled with calculations. He helped Lu Huo erect a bridge over the river and assisted Ba Mang in building a house on the beach. He gained many skills and made many friends as he traveled far and wide. He appeared in Jingjiangfu and taught his craft to 61

Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 220. 62 Gou Bo, Secularization of Images of Taoist Immortals in Ancient Chinese Novels, Religious Studies, 2005 (4). 63 Noritada Kubo, Xiao Kunhua (Trans.), History of Taoism (Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, July 1987), 280.

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many students. Without Lu Ban, carpenters cannot build houses, blacksmiths cannot make tripods, silversmiths cannot make jewelry, tailors cannot make shirts, and house builders cannot pitch roofs. Only Lu Ban can teach these skills; nobody else can.64

The Yao poem “Lu Ban Builds Temple” in the Collection of Panwang Songs eulogizes Lu Ban as an immortal: Lu Ban builds a temple; he chops wood and bores holes; he clusters panels to make doors. Lu Ban builds a temple; he hires skillful carpenters; they use seven golden columns and eight large melons to support the rafters. Lu Ban builds a temple; it is big and tall, covered with dragon scales and glass tiles; he paints the high walls white. Lu Ban has amazing skills and thirteen amazing skills; he carves dragons and phoenixes into the columns and paints flowers on the walls.65

For masons, carpenters and carvers of the Mongol minority in Yunnan, Lu Ban was a supernatural artisan who did not ask to be compensated for his work, and they held an annual ceremony on April 3 to commemorate him. They have given Lu Ban a Mongol name, Zhan Ban Master, to show their admiration.66 The elderly individuals within the Mongol minority often tell this story: Once he (Zhan Ban Master) led a group of our disciples to build a temple that needed ninetynine pillars. The disciples received the pillars and counted them, but on the day they had to use them, they found that one was missing. There was no time to go up the mountain to find timber, so the master was naturally very worried; he sweat bullets. Then he had an idea. He gathered the bits of wood on the floor and mixed them with his sweat to create a pillar. The disciples later couldn’t tell which pillar was made by him.67

In the story “Lu Ban and Zhan Ban”, Lu Ban again appears as a supernatural being. He rides a wooden horse in the air and creates many wooden carpenters to help him chop wood. When his daughter delivers food to him, she cannot distinguish real Lu Ban from wooden carpenters. However, his wife tells his daughter, “Your father is the one who sweats as he works.” Lu Ban passes the Guidelines on Carpentry to Zhan Ban.68 Sometimes Lu Ban helped other carpenters under the guise of a regular human being; he also helped poor people who showed kindness. Legend has it that before a mountain temple was built, a man passed out in front of a house in a winter morning. The destitute couple who lived in this house moved the man inside and gave him the last of their porridge. After the man had eaten, he went out and cut many wooden wedges and brought them into the house. He told the couple that each wedge was 64

Qi Lianxiu, On Ethnic Folktales of Lu Ban, Studies of Ethnic Literature, 1984 (2), 111–112. Qi Lianxiu, On Ethnic Folktales of Lu Ban, Studies of Ethnic Literature, 1984 (2), 112. 66 The writer believes that “Zhan Ban Master” comes from “Zhang Ban” in Chinese and represents a linguistic variation during the spread of the legend. 67 Liu Huihao, Sun Min, Collected Works of Mongol Folk Literature in Yunnan Province (Yunnan People’s Publishing House, April 1988), 58–59. 68 Liu Huihao, Sun Min, Collected Works of Mongol Folk Literature in Yunnan Province (Yunnan People’s Publishing House, April 1988), 61–65. In this legend, Zhan Ban was Lu Ban’s disciple, and this differs from the Mongol legend where Zhan Ban was a title given to Lu Ban. This shows how the details could change during the spread of legends. 65

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worth one dou of rice. Later, some carpenters began to build the mountain temple. They had trouble cutting correct-sized wedges. The foreman asked for outside help, and the couple was able to exchange each of their wooden wedges for one dou of rice. Not only were the wooden wedges perfect-sized, they were all used up when the temple was finished. The carpenters knew that only Lu Ban was capable of such a feat.69 In the legends, one never knew where Lu Ban was. He had the power of foresight concerning matters of construction. In the legend “Lu Ban Repairs Huzhu Temple”, Lu Ban chanted incantations as he mixed wooden residues with rice soup and added the mixture onto a pillar to make it into the right size. There was something magical about the temple since it was built with Lu Ban’s sweat: the leaves from trees nearby would not fall on the temple since the birds would carry them away.70 What is worth mentioning is that there is another respected pioneer in the carpenters’ trade, and his name is Zhang Ban. Zhang Ban’s influence is not nearly as strong as Lu Ban’s, and he is a supernatural being whose life seems to be based on Lu Ban’s. Volume 2 of Jianhu ji (Worthless things) has this description: Gongshuzi was named Ban, a craftsman of Lu; see footnotes in Mencius. Master Li Junshi states: Gongshuzi was also known as Lu Ban, a craftsman of Chu; he opposed Mozi’s theory of offense and defense. Classical poem “Yan Ge Xing” says, “Only Gongshuzi and Lu Ban could have sculpted this.” This means that they are not the same man. The carpenters also worshipped Zhang Ban, who was also known as Huang Chuqi of Jinhua. Chuqi and brother Chuping practiced under Master Chisongzi. When Chuqi attained tao, he called himself Lu Ban, while Chuping called himself Chisongzi. This is a case of confounding names of the past to confuse people.71

There is a tradition in China of worshipping Lu Ban and Zhang Ban at the same time; the former was viewed as the patron saint of carpenters, and the latter was viewed as the patron saint of roof tile makers. The Lu Ban Pavilion of Fengxian is such an example. Carpenters go to this temple on holidays to pay respects to the patron saints and ask for protection from risk and errors in professional activities such as rafters setting. A survey taker once gave the following description of the temple: “There are two statues in Lu Ban Pavilion. On the right side is Lu Ban, an ax in one hand and a rule in the other; on the left side is Zhang Ban with trowel in hand. It’s obvious that Zhang Ban is the patron saint of roof tile makers and he is worshipped when the top beams of the new house are set.” It is clear that Lu Ban enjoys a higher status than Zhang Ban, judging from the flow of the worship ceremony. A couplet is on display during the ceremony; the first verse is next to Lu Ban, while the second is next to Zhang Ban. The song that invites the deities to show up, sung by the head master during the ceremony, also shows the difference in status: 69

Bi Jian, Legend of Tengchong (Dehong Nationalities Publishing House, May 1986), 26–27. Bi Jian, Legend of Tengchong (Dehong Nationalities Publishing House, May 1986), 151–152. This legend obviously comes from the same source as that of the Mongol minority in Tonghai, Yunnan. We can see that it was the itinerant carpenters who spread the legend of Lu Ban throughout China. 71 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 2069. 70

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The new house faces south. In the main hall is Lu Ban’s altar in gold and silver, on which red candles are placed and the eight deities presently descend. With the first blink of the eye, Lu Ban’s cloud passes over your head; with the second blink of the eye, Zhang Ban descends from the sky. Libations pour out from the silver pot, golden elixir for the gods. The first cup is for the heaven, the second for the earth; the third is for the dirt, the fourth for the Eight Immortals; the fifth is for your children’s success, the sixth for the health of your animals; the seventh is for your family staying together, the eight for the eight deities’ safe passage on water; the ninth is for nine dragons vying for the pearl, the tenth for Lu Ban and Zhang Ban to descend on the altar.72

People’s belief in Lu Ban has a few thousand years of history behind it, and the carpenter’s craft—be it skill or sorcery—is more important in the building construction process than that of the roof tile maker, so it is small wonder that Lu Ban has a higher status than Zhang Ban in the worship ceremonies. Zhang Ban’s appearance is decidedly not what Chu Renhuo called “a case of confounding names of the past to confuse people.” Chinese artisans of different fields all want to find their patron saints; for instance, the blacksmiths worship Laojun, while painters worship Wu Daozi. This is out of the desire to raise the status of their profession in society, but it is also a manifestation of the secular aspect of Taoism. Because both are worshipped as saints by the carpenters, Lu Ban and Zhang Ban are both present in the carpenters’ building construction ceremony as protectors of the ongoing project. Carpenters of Jiangyin, Zhejiang often sing the following verses as they put in the foundation of a stone wall: “When a smidgen of sunlight appears in the east, Lu Ban and Zhang Ban will be here to work. Jiang Ziya knows about the auspicious days, when work can be done without worries or fears.”73 When carpenters of Dantu County put up the top beams of a new house, they sing, “As we put in the wrappers on both sides, Zhang and Lu will descend from the sky. Their disciples are skillful, the wrappers they make are round or square…We pray to the two Bans to protect the house and bless the beams. What Zhang Ban does, Lu Ban can do as well. Phoenixes sing in the sky, birds chirp on the ground. No fear for heaven, no fear for earth; no fear for yin, no fear for yang; no fear for the people, no fear for the gods; no fear for the house owner, no fear for the carpenter. The gods listen to the people, and the wood listens to the carpenter. The two Bans walk past here…They walk past here when the house is done.”74 Carpenters of the Bai minority in Talizhou, Yunnan sing about Lu Ban and Zhang Ban repeatedly when they pray during the rafters-setting ceremony: “Who created this ladder? Zhang Ban 72

Song Genxin, A Survey of Beliefs and Customs of Living in Fengxian Area, in Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Folk Literature Studies, Vol. 6 (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, June 1992), 221–222. A Luban Pavilion on Lucheng South Road, Chuxiong City, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province was used by craftsmen to sacrifice Luban. This custom has disappeared. 73 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Zhejiang (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Zhejiang (Beijing: ISBN China Center, December 1995), 172. 74 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Zhejiang (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Zhejiang (Beijing: ISBN China Center, December 1995) 173–174.

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designed it and Lu Ban made it. I’m Lu Ban’s true disciple, he nudges me to get married. Purple and golden beams, purple and golden beams! I’m the tree king in the mountain. Zhang Ban takes one for the central beam, and Lu Ban takes one for the top beam. Zhang Ban says he’s smart, Lu Ban says he’s strong. They are both smart, they are both strong. Zhang Ban sculpts the lion, Lu Ban sculpts the phoenix.”75 It is obvious that Zhang Ban was worshipped long after Lu Ban was deified and widely worshipped; even though he was also a Taoist legend and supernatural being, Zhang Ban wielded less influence than Lu Ban. The following table offers additional information on the long history of Lu Ban worship (Table 4.1). Taoism absorbed and systematized ancient sorcery into a religion; it retained a strong bent toward the occult and was highly influential in later-day sorcery. To attract more believers, it took on a more secular aspect and gave birth to a kind of folk Taoism. When we look at how belief in supernatural beings affects the ancient building construction process, we see its amenability for secular aspects and its close association with sorcery.

4.2 Taoist Talismans and Incantations in the Building Construction Process Magical talismans and incantations are not as central to Taoism as the belief in immortality, but they had more believers because they were more accessible than the arcane tao of immortality. Most of the talismans and incantations used in building construction activities are borrowed from Taoism, be it directly or indirectly. There is a long history of incantations in China. Legend has it that “Tang of Shang saw people cast nets in all directions while chanting, ‘whether you come from heaven, earth, east, west, south, or north, drop into my net!’ Tang said, ‘You’ll catch everything. Who will do a thing like that except Jie?’”76 The Dahuangxijing chapter of Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas) states, “Shujun is the deity of agriculture and Ba the goddess of draught. Ba often rambles around, and to drive her away people would chant, ‘Go north, Goddess!’”77 According to the Jiaotesheng chapter of Book of Rites, the incantation at the year-end worship ceremony with animal sacrifice is “Dirt, go back home! Water, return to the ditch! Insects, don’t eat

75

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, September 2003), 45–46. 76 Zhang Shuangdi et al., Interpreted and Annotated “Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals” (Changchun: Jilin Literature & History Publishing House, April 1986), 283. 77 Wu Renchen (Annotated), Expanded Annotations to “Classic of Mountains and Seas”, Vol. 17, In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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Table 4.1 Spread of Lu Ban Legends Structure/device

Location

Characteristics

Source

Temple

Lingshi County

Remote and rugged location

Comprehensive Accounts of Shanxi, Vol. 57

Lu Ban Pond

Lujiang County

There is a “laughing brook”; when laughter is heard, water would gush foot-high

Comprehensive Accounts of Jiangnan, Vol. 17

Lu Ban Gate

Huoshan County

Comprehensive Accounts of Jiangnan, Vol. 36

Lu Ban Bridge

Xiaogan County

Comprehensive Accounts of Huguang Vol. 13

Lu Ban Dam

Jingshan County

Comprehensive Accounts of Huguang Vol. 20

Stone path

Pingshun County

Cliff steep as a wall, stone path like a ladder reaching for the clouds

Feihong Bridge

Xianglin County

Wood all stacked up with Comprehensive no ax marks Accounts of Shanxi, Vol. 30

Lu Ban Temple

Shuozhou

Comprehensive Accounts of Shanxi, Vol. 165

Lu Ban Temple

Zuoyun County

Comprehensive Accounts of Shanxi, Vol. 165

Yizu Temple

Qinzhou

Lu Ban worship

Tianshou Taoist Temple

Taiping County

Today’s Southern Comprehensive Temple, plaque dating Accounts of Shanxi, back to the Tang Dynasty, Vol. 168 picture of bagua on roof, wood not ax-cut

Huafo Temple

Baodezhou

For many years sound Comprehensive coming out of stone cave Accounts of Shanxi, in the southern cliff, Yang Vol. 170 Bay. Natural stone statue of Lu Ban carrying a chisel around the waist, hundreds of smooth stone statues of Buddha

Comprehensive Accounts of Shanxi, Vol. 10

Comprehensive Accounts of Shanxi, Vol. 166

(continued)

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Table 4.1 (continued) Structure/device

Location

Characteristics

Source

Taiping Xingguo Temple

Anyi County

Built in 8th year of Song Emperor Jiayou’s reign; monk-official post created during Ming Emperor Hongwu’s reign. Inside there is a 13-level tower, 260 chi high, topped with yellow and white flasks, purportedly put there by Lu Ban. Earthquake during Emperor Jiajing’s reign caused fissures which disappeared afterwards

Comprehensive Accounts of Shanxi, Vol. 170

Shikong Cave

Fuzhou

1 zhang 5 chi deep; 10,000 stone Buddha statues inside, purportedly made by Lu Ban

Comprehensive Accounts of Shaanxi, Vol. 13, “Stories of Famous Mountains”

Lu Ban Gorge

Longxi County

Python Cave long and deep

Comprehensive Accounts of Gansu, Vol. 5

Mount Lu Ban

Fuqiang County

Lu Ban Cave on top, Comprehensive purportedly carved out by Accounts of Gansu, Lu Ban; Big Buddha Vol. 5 Gorge at foot of mountain

Lu Ban Cliff

Xigu City

Two steep cliffs with two Comprehensive strange-looking trees Accounts of Gansu, grown out of the rocks; a Vol. 5 bridge made of planks covered with dirt connects the trees

Lu Ban Gorge

Nianbo County

Comprehensive Accounts of Gansu, Vol. 6

Lu Ban Bridge

Jiezhou

Comprehensive Accounts of Gansu, Vol. 11

Lu Ban Temple

Minzhou

Built in 10th year of Comprehensive Ming Emperor Hongwu’s Accounts of Gansu, reign Vol. 12 (continued)

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Table 4.1 (continued) Structure/device

Location

Characteristics

Lu Ban Wells

Zhanbo County

Lu Ban Gorge dotted Comprehensive with wells, three of which Accounts of Gansu, are on cliffs 20 zhang Vol. 23 high, well water doesn’t freeze or dry up. In the middle of the gorge is a boulder 4 zhang high, 8 zhang in circumference, jutting out from the river floor. A stone plaque on the boulder has the inscription “Mi Dian’s Rock.”

Source

Lu Ban Road

Nanchong County

Comprehensive Accounts of Sichuan, Vol. 22, Part 2

Lu Ban Temple

Xichang County

Comprehensive Accounts of Sichuan, Vol. 28, Part 1

Lu Ban Well

Pingle County

Ming poet Xie Jin had poem carved into a rock next to the well

Comprehensive Accounts of Guangxi, Vol. 14

Fort Yulong

Yangshuo County

Purportedly built by Lu Ban; one corner section missing, repeated attempts to repair it had failed

Comprehensive Accounts of Guangxi, Vol. 18

Jielong Bridge

Pingle County

Several zhang in height and width, in the middle is an arch purportedly built by Lu Ban. County chief Huang Dacheng made repairs during the 52nd year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign

Comprehensive Accounts of Guangxi, Vol. 18

Dahe Bridge

Lipu County

Comprehensive Accounts of Guangxi, Vol. 18

Lu Ban Bridge

Wuyuan County

Comprehensive Accounts of Guangxi, Vol. 18

Lu Ban Pond

Rong County

Comprehensive Accounts of Guangxi, Vol. 21 (continued)

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Table 4.1 (continued) Structure/device

Location

Characteristics

Source

Chang Gate

Wujun

The legendary Gate of Heaven; Wu conquered Chu passing through this gate; Sun Jian’s mother dreamed about this gate, purportedly built by Lu Ban

Fan Chengda (Song Dynasty): Wu County Annals, Vol. 3

Lu Ban’s Warfare Machines (painting)

Zhang Yanyuan (Tang Dynasty): Famous Paintings Through the Ages, Vol. 3

Lu Ban’s Tomb

10 li in circumference; several hundred stone chambers

Zhang Xie (Ming Dynasty): Oceanic Studies, Vol. 3, “Folk Customs”

Pavilion

Exquisite craftsmanship

Wu Zimu (Song Dynasty): Liang Dreams, Vol. 19

Bridge

Chang’an

Bridge

Hongdong County

Song Minqiu (Song Dynasty): Chang’an Annals, Vol. 5 Treacherous road in valley, stone path to inn, people called it Lu Ban Bridge

Yue Shi (Song Dynasty): Universal Geography of the Taiping Era, Vol. 43

Source Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete Library in Four Sections)

my crop! Reeds, return to the riverside!”78 These ancient incantations are simple, primitive, and to the point. Taoist incantations began to take shape in the Eastern Han period; they often ended with expressions of haste such as “rush to execute as commanded” or “rush to execute the emperor’s spoken order,” which were in keeping with the normal style of government documents of the Han Dynasty. A document at the time of Han Emperor Wu states, “In April of the sixth year of the Emperor’s reign, imperial historian Tang gave an instruction to the prime minister, who in turn promulgated it to the proper levels of officials who rushed to carry it out.”79 Another imperial declaration of war in the second year of Yong’chu during Eastern Han Emperor An’s reign reads: War Incantation against the Qiang (Note: Excavations at Guanyou unearthed a clay bottle containing many bamboo slips of the Eastern Han period. Only the one recording the war incantation against the Qiang people is in good condition, written in Zhangcao style. This is 78

Committee of Thirteen Classics with Annotations and Commentaries, The Analects with Annotations and Commentaries (Beijing: Peking University Press, December 2000), 936. 79 An Pingqiu (Ed.), Records of the Grand Historian (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 871.

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recorded in the Dongguan chapter.) Obtained cheqi general’s official document in June of the second year of Emperor Yongchu’s reign. The document was promulgated to all levels of the government and declared: Conscript men to fight Qiang. Rush to execute as commanded!80

Modern archeologists have shown that incantations from the Han Dynasty simulated government documents. A tomb-stabilizing document of the second year of Yangjia during Eastern Han Emperor Shun’s reign, discovered in a clay bottle unearthed from a grave in Hu County, Shaanxi, ends with “as commanded.”81 A tomb-stabilizing clay bottle unearthed in Luoyang, Henan was inscribed with “tombstabilizing bottle can dispel evil spirit, as commanded!”82 We can see from this that sorcerers of the Han Dynasty were the first to use this form of incantations, and Taoist sorcery, whose root is ancient sorcery, inherited some elements of this. “After Taoism was created, its practitioners had to absorb and systematize elements of folk sorcery to maintain an image of strict order. Having a rigorous form of incantation made the religion more attractive and more accessible, and this in turn enabled the spread of standardized incantations.”83 The use of magical talismans (fu) comes from an imitation of official or military symbols. The Shishuqi chapter of Shiming (Explanation of Names) states, “Fu is an attachment. It carries an imperial order for the bearer to transmit. The imperial order has to be carried out.”84 The use of talismans also comes from people’s fascination with secret symbols. When he dispatched an army to fight Vietnam, Han Emperor Wu created a sacred banner with symbols of the sun and moon, the Big Dipper, and a dragon. A talisman is also inscribed on tomb-stabilizing clay bottles unearthed in Hu County, Shaanxi and Luoyang, Henan.85 Taoist practitioners borrowed and changed these talismans consisting of strange drawings and words and made them their own. “As Taoism developed, books on talismans began to appear, and the Way of Five Pecks of Rice was especially beholden to the functions of talismans. This school strove to create and study talismans and incantations, pushing this study to unprecedented heights, and people later also called it the talismans school.”86 Taoist incantations and talismans began to spread during the Eastern Han period, but they did not produce a profound impact on the building construction trade until much later. 80

Mei Dingzuo, Eastern Han Documents, Vol. 3. In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 81 Zhuo Zhenxi, Two Han tombs in Hu County, Shaanxi Province, Archaeology and Cultural Relics, Inaugural issue. 82 Guo Baojun et al., Report on the Excavation in the Eestern Suburbs of Luoyang in 1954, Acta Archaeologica Sinica, 1956 (2). 83 Hu Xinsheng, Witchcraft in ancient China (Jinan: Shandong People’s Publishing House, June 2005), 48. 84 Wang Xianqian, Revision and Annotations to “Explanation of Names” (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 1989), 300. 85 Hu Xinsheng, Witchcraft in ancient China (Jinan: Shandong People’s Publishing House, June 2005), 57. 86 Hu Xinsheng, Witchcraft in ancient China (Jinan: Shandong People’s Publishing House, June 2005), 58.

4.2 Taoist Talismans and Incantations in the Building …

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Taoism originates in the Central Plain, not the Dunhuang region, but Dunhuang was rife with sorcery before the ingress of Taoism. “The Biography of Dong Zhuo” in Records of the Three Kingdoms states that before Dong Zhuo was killed by Lv Bu, a Taoist monk tried to warn him by writing the word “Lu” on a piece of cloth. Dong did not understand the meaning of this and was killed as a result. This incident was described in detail in the fantasy novel Strange Happenstances of the Southern Dynasties period. Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law Niu Fu dabbled in the occult. The same chapter of Records of the Three Kingdoms also states that Niu Fu “often carries with him a military tally, an ax, and a sword to protect himself from harm. He always consults a fortune teller before receiving a guest. He will see the guest only after the fortune teller declares it is safe to do so. When officer Dong Yue comes to see him, the fortune teller says that the visitor has ulterior motives, and Niu Fu kills him.” This kind of fortune telling was already popular in the Dunhuang area and was later incorporated into the building construction sorcery. Records of the Three Kingdoms also state in the same chapter, “Li Jue is an aficionado of the occult. He often invites monks and sorcerers to chant incantations and beat drums. He has talismans and other paraphernalia of the occult. He has a temple built for Dong Zhuo near the government office and holds worship ceremonies with animal sacrifice. General Li Gu appoints Li Jue to a senior position. Li Jue thinks he is blessed by the deities and rewards the monks and sorcerers handsomely.” The existence of this kind of occult helped Taoism develop a system of house-stabilizing customs. In the Wooden Slips of Han-Jin Period’s Western Frontier, Zhang Feng describes a Taoist wooden slip unearthed in Dunhuang; it was traced to the fourth year of Wei Emperor Jingyuan’s reign and belonged to the Way of Five Pecks of Rice School. Taoism reached its apex in the Tang Dynasty when the imperial family held it in high esteem and the different sects and schools consolidated. Most of Dunhuang’s Taoist scriptures were copied between the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the early Tang period, while others were copied between the Tang and Northern Song Dynasties. There are already house-stabilizing texts in these Taoist scriptures. Huangdi Zhaijing, the scripture most influential on later professional house builders, was probably written in the late Tang period around the time of the Guiyi Circuit; Xuannu Zhaijing was probably written during the Guiyi Circuit period. Huzhai Shenlijuan and Daojiao Zhenzhai Fuzhou, which have descriptions of Taoist house-stabilizing talismans and incantations, were copied in the Cao-controlled Guiyi Circuit period, as was Zhaizhu Cunyazhenzhai Qiyuanwen; Dunhuang Wangcao Yanlu Zhenzhai Qiuyuanwen was written by a Taoist monk for “Dunhuang Wangcao Yanlu.”87 That people’s dwellings need to be protected from evil spirit is a theme repeatedly emphasized in Dunhuang Taoist scriptures. “Yinyang zhaijing” in Dunhuang xieben zhaijing (the Dunhuang-edition “Classic of House-building”) states, “One’s dwelling has consequences in one’s life. The difference is between big and small, yin and yang. Even staying in a room temporarily can have consequences; the larger the room is, the larger the consequence. The bad consequence can be stopped by a 87

Wang Ka, A Study of Dunhuang Documentation on Taoism: Overview, Content, and Index (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), October 2004), 3, 4, 5, 13, 14.

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stabilizing agent, like taking medicine for an illness.” Practicing house-stabilizing sorcery is the same as taking medicine for an illness. The luck of the dwelling is related to the luck of the dweller: “The dwelling is the home and foundation of the dweller. Tranquility in the home begets generations of prosperity; absence of tranquility means generations of bad luck.” The author listed twenty-five volumes of scriptures regarding the dwelling, and we can see how popular this knowledge was. The main purpose of stabilizing a dwelling is to ward off evil spirit. The Search for the Gods states, “Spirits, supernatural beings, ghosts can transform into human form; humans can resonate with and become evil spirit.” The function of housestabilizing talismans is to chase away spirits of any kind. The “Lunfuzhen” chapter of Ten Volumes on Yin-yang states, “If the house is deemed inauspicious or hard to live in, one must stabilize it with a talisman which affords protection.” “P. 3358” in Huzhai Shenlijuan has a “House-stabilizing Square Talisman” with the following note: “If one is ill, this talisman can stabilize the four corners of one’s house, chase away ghosts, and eliminate evil.” The incantation “Door Talisman” states, “Affix this on the door and all illnesses disappear automatically within ten thousand li and the property is secure in its entirety.” The incantation “Guan Gongming Sacred Talisman” states, “Guan Gongming Sacred Talisman eliminates ghosts which exit through any opening.” The incantation “Magical Tree Talisman” states, “When the dwelling god is agitated or money disperses, it is because the house is inauspicious. Hang this talisman up and the magical tree will absorb the evil spirit residing in the house.” There are also tomb-stabilizing talismans in the Dunhuang Taoist scriptures.88 “Lingqu Jiefa Dongming Zhenyan Mishu” in Lu ban jing describes many talismans and incantations relating to building construction, such as “Zhusha Zhenliangfu,” “Wulei Dizhi Lingfu,” and “Jiezhuwu Yanrang Wanling shengbaofu.” Putting up a talisman needs the corresponding ceremony and incantations, which shows that the carpenters’ talismans come from the Taoist idea of dwelling stabilization.89 Talismans are used not only when the carpenter wants to eliminate evil spirit from the house but also when he wants to do harm to the house owner. Ji Xiaolan’s Yuewei caotang biji (Jottings from the Thatched Abode of Close Observations) states: My brother Dongbai’s house is near a well to the west of the village. Before the house was built, that area had mud shacks surrounded by dirt walls. There were knocking sounds during the night in some of these shacks. The people who lived there were always sick. One day, the wall next to a door collapsed, there was a wooden man inside, his arm raised as if to knock on a door, and there was a talisman pasted on his body. As it turned out, this was a prank by the carpenter because he had a grudge against the owner. One must be careful with the carpenters.90

88

Jin Shenjia (Ed.), Revised and Annotated “Book of Burial Custom” in the Dunhuang-edition “Classic of House-building” (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, January 2007), 6–8, 159–204. 89 Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 324–338. 90 Ji Yun, Jottings from the Thatched Abode of Close Observations (Chongqing Publishing Group, May 2005), 317.

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The talisman in this story apparently had the power of giving orders to the wooden man. In reality, Tao Zang (Taoist Canon) contains a collection of Taoist dwellingstabilizing talismans. For instance, Wushang sanyuan zhenzhai linglu (Supreme Sanyuan Dwelling-Stabilizing Talismans) has a description of this brand of sorcery. Japanese scholar Yoshioka Yoshitoyo believes that this book was written in 552 or the first year of Chengsheng during Liang Emperor Xiaoyuan’s reign.91 Another talisman collected in Taoist Canon is the Lord’s Secret Dwelling-Stabilizing Talisman.92 Wang Ka, an expert in Dunhuang Taoist texts, once made the following observation: There were two kinds of ceremonies that the Dunhuang Taoist priests did for the people; one of them was the house-stabilizing ceremony to pray for divine protection for the house. This was the specialty of those priests who were well versed in incantations and talismans. In terms of incantations, when we compare the carpenters’ incantations with those written by Taoist priests for Dunhuang Governor Cao Yanlu and a petty official named Cunqin, we find that they are very similar. What these two Dunhuang Taoist texts show is the broad belief in the occult.93 The house-stabilizing sorcery that the Taoist priests practiced for the four directions of the house is the result of ancient people’s desire for safety in the space they occupied. The idea of the four directions appeared in some ancient texts, such as the saying “the four directions of heaven and earth are called ‘yu’ and the past, present, and future are called ‘zhou.’”94 However, the idea of four directions no doubt contains the idea of five directions—the center is the precondition of the four directions. The ancient Chinese people had a comprehensive sense of space; they started with a point and then moved outward to obtain the four directions. This is why they asked, “First comes the heaven, second comes the earth, third comes man; four directions, up and down, left and right, front and back: there is no more confusion.”95 The abovementioned incantation document for Dunhuang Governor Cao Yanlu also displays this sense of space.96 Once the directions were known, beliefs in directional deities appeared. Divinations inscribed in oracle bones tell of deities of the east, south, west, and north.97 Shan hai jing has descriptions about deities of wood, fire, metal, and water but not of 91

Zhu Yueli, Classification of Taoist Canon (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, January 1996), 99. Zhu Yueli, Classification of Taoist Canon (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, January 1996), 114. 93 Wang Ka, A Study of Dunhuang Documentation on Taoism: Overview, Content, and Index (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), October 2004), 45–48. 94 Shanghai Classics Publishing House. (Ed.), Ershi’er zi (Twenty-two classics) (Reprinted from the Zhejiang Book Company edition of the early Guangxu era of Qing) (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, March 1986), Vol. 2, 373. 95 Shanghai Classics Publishing House. (Ed.), Ershi’er zi (Twenty-two classics) (Reprinted from the Zhejiang Book Company edition of the early Guangxu era of Qing) (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, March 1986), Vol. 18, 162. 96 Wang Ka, A Study of Dunhuang Documentation on Taoism: Overview, Content, and Index (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), October 2004), 45–48. 97 Jiang Bin (Ed.), Chinese Folk Culture: Beliefs in Folk Deities (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, December 1993), 28. 92

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earth. Once the five elements were adopted, they were merged with the directional deities. In the late Warring States period, the interaction between the five elements and the heavenly stems, the five emperors, the five directions, the five forms, the five sounds, the five animals, the five tastes, the five smells, the five numbers, the five worships, the five organs, and the five seasons were established.98 In order that this system of knowledge could have a solid logical foundation, it was shot through with this concept of five; it was not that all the objects were reduced to five, “but since the concept of five was set a priori, only five objects were admitted into the system.”99 The “Four Divine Beasts” appearing in the Dunhuang house-stabilizing texts originated in ancient astronomy. The “Quli” chapter of Rites of Zhou states, “Movement requires red finch in the front, black tortoise in the back, pale dragon on the left, and white tiger on the right.” Rites of Zhou Annotated explains it as “When the emperor moves, there must be red finch in the front, black tortoise in the back, pale dragon on the left, and white tiger on the right. Four directional banners were set to signify the homes of the four diretions.”100 The “Jiechu” chapter of Lunheng states, “There are twelve main deities in the house, including Pale Dragon and White Tiger. The dragon and tiger are fierce; they are the good deities. Bad spirits do not dare to gather; the owner is fearless and traitors do not dare to look in.”101 The red finch is really a phoenix. The “Nanci Sanjing” chapter of Shan Hai Jing states, “Five hundred li east of here on Danxue Mountain…there is a bird, fowlshaped with colorful plumage, also called a phoenix…if you see it, there is peace in the world.”102 The “Shuolinxun” chapter of Huainanzi states, “One uses the tortoise for divination for it has longevity.” The black tortoise in Taoism once transformed into Emperor Zhenwu, who could tame evil spirit. The Four Divine Beasts are deities that protect the space one lives in; only through their protection can one live safely. They exerted great influence on the building construction sorcery, and a good house needs their collective embrace. Artisans sculpted and painted the Four Divine Beasts on eave tiles to lend auspiciousness to the house; we see this in the eave tiles of the Western Han period unearthed between 1956 and 1958 in the ancient Chang’an archeological site in Xi’an, Shaanxi.103 The origin and evolution of the Four Divine Beasts are influenced by the five elements. Ancient texts have already made this observation, and Taoism is keen on absorbing this kind of knowledge. The Four Divine Beasts are Taoist protective gods. The “Zaying” chapter of Baopuzi: Arts of Necromancy states, quoting the Divine 98 Chen Qiyou, Revised and Annotated “Master Lv’s Spring and Autumn Annals (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1984). 99 Liu Zongdi, On Source of the Theory of Five Elements, Philosophical Researches, 2004 (4). 100 Wang Yuzhi, Revised “Rites of Zhou”, Vol. 72, In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 101 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 1436. 102 Guo Fu, Annotated “Classic of Mountains and Seas (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), May 2004), 55–56. 103 Lv Shuzhi, Eaves Tiles with the Patterns of Four Deities of the Western Han Dynasty, History Teaching, 1985 (12).

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Canon, “the Supreme Lord has twelve pale dragons on the left, twenty-six white tigers on the right, twenty-four red finches in the front, seventy-two black tortoises in the back. There were also thirty-six protective animals in the back and thunder and lightening above. The Divine Canon says so.”104 Beidi qiyuan ziting yansheng mijue (Xuanwu Emperor’s Qiyuan Imperia Secrete Formula for Longevity) states, “…On the left is a pale dragon named Mengzhang, on the right is a white tiger named Jianbing, in the front is a red finch named Lingguang, in the back is a black tortoise named Zhiming. Banners, talismans, and drums shall surround me a thousand times. Make haste in executing this command!”105 Taoist worship of the Four Divine Beasts is amply documented. Tuhua jianwen zhi (History of Painting) Vol. 2 states, “Taoist priest Chen Ruoyu is from Western Sichuan. He is a disciple of calligrapher Zhang Suqing. He once saw a painting of the pale dragon, white tiger, red finch, and black tortoise in Chengdu.”106 The Four Divine Beasts are also known as the Four Sacred Beings. The Four Divine Beasts are intimately intertwined with the five elements in Yunji qiqian (seven treasure sects of Taoist scriptures): “The Four Divine Beasts are pale dragon, white tiger, red finch, and black tortoise. Pale dragon represents east jiayi wood, or quicksilver. White tiger represents west gengxin gold, or white gold. Red finch represents south bingding fire, or red sand. Black tortoise represents north renkui water, or black mercury.”107 The belief in Taoist directional gods is exemplified in the incantations during the building construction ceremony. An incantation in the Yi community of Chuxiong, Yunnan during the top beam-setting ceremony states, “First setting is east jiayi wood, treasures will get on the scales. Second setting is south bingding fire… The third setting is West Gengxin gold, and treasures will be uncountable. The fourth setting is north renkui water, and treasures will flow like water. Fifth setting is central wuji earth…”108 A carpenters’ incantation in Sichuan called “Mugensheng” states, “First setting is east jiayi wood, wood overcomes wood and nothing grows. The second setting is a south bingding fire; fire overcomes wood, and nothing grows. The third setting is west Gengxin gold, where metal overcomes wood and nothing grows. The fourth setting is north renkui water, where water overcomes wood and nothing grows. The fifth setting is central Wuji earth, earth nourishes wood, and there is growth. Sow a bunch on Mt. Babao and reap a bunch on Mt. Kunlun.”109 The Incantations were chanted in all directions to bless the house. This kind of belief was 104

Wang Ming, Revised and Interpreted “Baopuzi: Arts of Necromancy (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 1985), 273–274. 105 Zhang Junfang (Ed.); Li Yongsheng (Punctuated and checked), Seven Treasure Sects of Taoist Scriptures (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2003), 568–569. 106 Guo Ruoxu, History of Painting, Vol. 3, In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 107 Zhang Junfang (Ed.); Li Yongsheng (Punctuated and checked), Seven Treasure Sects of Taoist Scriptures (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2003), 1599–1601. 108 Interviewee: Li Zuochun, 75, male, of the Yi ethnicity, a famous carpenter. Location of interview: Red Village. Time of interview: July 23, 2008. 109 Shanghai Folk Literature and Art Association & Shanghai Folk Culture Society. (Eds.), Chinese Folk Culture: A Study on Folklore (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, April 1993).

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no doubt influenced by the house-stabilizing incantations practiced by Taoist priests in Dunhuang even though folk incantations, which were more closely associated with the secular world, had begun to show differences from Taoist incantations. The Taoist influence on the incantations in Lu Ban Jing is even more obvious. They were probably Taoist incantations that were later passed to professional house builders, or they could be the work of artisans who simulated Taoist incantations. It is stated in Lu ban jing that when a nefarious carpenter harmed the homeowner with insect infestation, “on the day a carpenter goes up to the rafters, he has to sacrifice three animals, create a plaque dedicated to Lu Ban and other deities, and chants the following incantation: Ignorant and nefarious carpenter infested this house with insects; he must bear all responsibilities and no harm will come to the house owner. I chant this incantation silently seven times to bring punishment to the ignorant carpenter. I’m obeying the order of Lu Ban who brings auspiciousness to all things. I rush to execute his command.” Lingqu jiefa dongming zhenyan mishu (Secret Text to Elucidate Apotropaic Methods for Specters) contains a “Completion of Work and Dispelling of Evil” incantation that uses the five elements’ overcoming qualities and ends with “I rush to execute the Lord’s command.”110 Some incantations recorded by scholars also contain much Taoist influence. Zhiwenlu (Whispered Tales) contains an incantation that states, “I say! The bright red sun comes out of the east. May your sons attain high social status and prosperity. Pray that calamity befalls you so that clouds and fortune can gather. Rush to execute command!”.111 Edward Sapir (1884–1939) said, “It goes without saying that the mere content of language is intimately related to culture. … In the sense that the vocabulary of a language more or less faithfully reflects the culture whose purposes it serves it is perfectly true that the history of language and the history of culture move along parallel lines.”112 Through the multidimensional perspective of culture and the in-depth study of language, scholars have rejected the notion that language is only a tool of communication and affirmed the union of humanity and the instrumentality of language. A phenomenology of language cannot be separate from the cultural context. “The linguistic context is the sum of linguistic and non-linguistic factors influencing the structure and understanding of language. The linguistic factor is the linguistic context; the non-linguistic factors include the material background (time, location, conditions), the participants’ basis of apperception and their political, social, cultural, and historical background.”113 The context of the carpenters’ incantations reveals the influence of people’s psychological needs and their linguistic traditions. As a specific linguistic behavior, an incantation is an urgent verbal expression of the 110

Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 303–329. 111 Yongne Jushi, Whispered Tales. Edition: Biji xiaoshuo daguan (A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches) (Nanjing: Guangling Classics Publishing House, April 1983), 295. 112 Edward Sapir; Lu Zhuoyuan (Trans.) Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech, (Commercial Press, 2000), 196. 113 Wang Dongzhu, Context and Speech (Heilongjiang People’s Publishing House, 2004), 93.

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sorcerer and the people; the black sorcery abides strictly by the principle of secrecy whereas the white sorcery does not and sometimes even expects openness. There is interchangeability between the two kinds of sorcery depending on the result of the contest between the sorcerer and the people. The long existence and development of the building construction trade has created a unique cultural arrangement. As an important element of building construction sorcery, incantation is not just a simple tool of communication; it is a secret language trusted by the people and influenced by traditions. It is also shaped by the traditional culture both in content and form and shares an interpenetrated and symbiotic relationship with sorcerous ceremonies. Building construction incantation represents an imaginary mode and expression of thoughts in a field where sensibility, knowledge, and skill are rendered ineffective. According to Malinowski’s functionalism, mankind, even primitive mankind, can clearly tell the difference between skill and sorcery. The combination of skill and sorcery is only semblance. His studies of aboriginal peoples have found that real work and sorcery are very clearly differentiated and that sorcery has never replaced real work. He notes that the aboriginal peoples only use sorcery to control those things that are unreliable, mostly ineffectual, or reducible to fate, chance, or fortuity.114 For Malinowski, function is the satisfaction of needs. Mankind live in a natural and social environment full of competition and danger; they must exert some control over the physical and mental worlds. House-building artisans serve society by building objects such as homes, boats, and bridges to satisfy the practical needs of sheltering and river crossing. However, to respond to chance happenings, people need to control shapeless and formless concepts in their minds, and this is the origin of building construction sorcery. People’s thinking and speaking faculties develop simultaneously; people think through speech. Language is the embodiment of spirit and the exteriorization of thoughts. Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1941) believed that the modality of language determines the speaker’s view of the universe; how language describes the world determines how we view the world. Since there are different languages in the world, there are different views on the world.115 According to Marcel Mauss, “there is no such thing as a wordless ritual; an apparent silence does not mean that inaudible incantations expressing the magician’s will are not being made.”116 When a carpenter holds a ceremony, he may be silent in appearance, but his mind is using language to think and organize an intention; that is, the control of a material event is affected through the control of an invisible force. This is why the hypothesis that incantation originates in the supernatural power of language does not reveal the true nature of incantation. Philologists believe that vocalization is the shell of language. The true source of magical incantation is people’s control of invisible forces, the exteriorization of a thought process through language. The carpenters’ incantation 114

Bronislaw Malinowski; Fei Xiaotong (Trans.) A Scientific Theory of Culture and Other Essays (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, 1987), 61. 115 Liu Runqing, Western Theories in Linguistics (Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2002), 139. 116 Marcel Mauss, Yang Yudong (Trans.), A General Theory of Magic, Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function, (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2007), 71.

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must therefore originate in the worship of sorcery by the sorcerer and the public. The sorcerer uses language to order, appeal, or pray; language is one of the ways of expressing the power of sorcery. What people worship is the power of sorcery, not language itself; without the belief in such power, the incantation that expresses the power of sorcery cannot embody the nature of sorcery. Incantation is a universal linguistic phenomenon. Malinowski provides an example by saying, “The man under the sway of impotent fury or dominated by thwarted hate spontaneously clenches his fist and carries out imaginary thrusts at his enemy, muttering imprecations, casting words of hatred and anger against him…The anxious fisherman or hunter sees in his imagination the quarry enmeshed in the nets, the animal attained by the spear; he utters their names, describes in words his visions of the magnificent catch, he even breaks out into gestures of mimic representation of what he desires.”117 But Malinowski’s simplification and generalization of magic misses two points: First, an incantation includes language of curse as well as prayer and he has not made any clear distinction between the two traditions; second, there is an important difference between the linguistic phenomenon of using language to exert control and an incantation spoken in a magical context, which is that an inctation antation follows antation based on traditions. While it is true that carpenters are responsible for the heritage and continuation of building construction incantations, the force of tradition, created by society at large, also obliges carpenters to chant incantations, especially prayer-type incantations. To obtain approval from a group, carpenters must act according to the psychological needs of that group. Carpenters use prayer-type incantations to satisfy the public and harmonize their relationship with house owners. The traditional wish for prosperity and practicality is what keeps incantations alive; in short, it is tradition that is responsible for the existence of carpenters’ incantations. China’s building construction incantations are influenced by Taoist incantations; we may even say that most of the former originate in the latter. According to the studies by James George Frazer and others, mankind experienced a long era of magic before the advent of religion. In China, the era of magic was the period before the Qin Dynasty. “Between the Qin and Han Dynasties, this magic was taken over by the necromancers but also absorbed by Taoism.”118 After the birth of Taoism, the carpenters borrowed from necromancy and created a system of sorcery. “The bagua used in rafters-setting is the core symbol of the Taoist culture. Moreover, the choice of auspicious time during the building construction process was done using numerological principles. Lu ban jing is the carpenter’s code of conduct; sorcery and technique are inseparable in the book, and we can see how Taoism is the source of inspiration for the building construction sorcery. Not all building construction incantations are influenced by Taoism. Taoism was not always accepted during its spread; some places rejected it. Moreover, the carpenter, implementer of speech, is himself a creator; this fact will imbue the incantations with a unique characteristic. 117

Bronisław Kasper Malinowski, Li Anzhai (Trans.), Magic, Science and Religion (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, May 1986), 67. 118 Qing Xitai & Tang Dachao, History of Taoism (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2006), 28.

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For instance, the incantation of boat- and professional house builders in the “Yuji” chapter of Jianhu ji (Worthless things) states: Wooden Dragon, wooden dragon, hear my prayer: the profit doubles during the first year the boat sails, thirty percent during the second year. All is destroyed during the third year!119

The incantations have a literary style, and the oft-used literary devices include qi-xing (introducing a subject through metaphor), rhyming, and embellishing. Employing these methods makes the incantations more vivid and formal. Zhu Ziqing has an insightful explanation about qi-xing. He said, “It is an important principle to start with something familiar and then go on to broach something that is not. What one wants to talk about is often not of the here and now, so for ancient people, the subject might be hard to accept. It’s better to start with something in the present, and this is called qi-xing. The ancient people had simple minds; they’d rather intuit than reflect. The opening sentence is often connected to the next sentence not in meaning but in sound. When the sounds are connected, it satisfies the ancient people’s sense of hearing, so they feel the two sentences are connected after all. When such sentences become more numerous, they become ready-made expressions. Classic of Poetry has many similar ready-made sentences, so do folk songs old and new.”120 Embellishing as a method has a long history in Chinese literature. Guo Jinxi said, “To embellish is to exaggerate and adorn. The purpose of creative writing is to make things stand out; there is exaggeration on the one hand and in-depth depiction on the other. This is why I called this chapter ‘Embellishment.’”121 The different literary methods make the story vivid. Things are presented right in front of the reader; they satisfy his psychological needs. At the same time, the pithy incantations have vigor and momentum. “The momentum we talk about here is created by the literary device. The incantations are expressed pithily; they are both broad and intricate.”122 Professional house builders’ incantations also reveal the relativity of secrecy. Studies in cultural anthropology, religion, and folklore have shown that incantations have strict rules of secrecy. According to my field studies, when the artisan practices white sorcery, the incantations are not only public; they must be chanted loudly. It is only when the artisan practices black sorcery that there are strict requirements of secrecy. The reason is that white sorcery has prayerful prosperity-seeking incantations that can promote good relations between the carpenter and the homeowner. Black sorcery, on the other hand, concerns incantations that are curses whose purpose is to bring harm to the homeowner; they will provoke the ire of the homeowner and decimate the relationship between the carpenter and the homeowner. It is the cultural difference between the incantations that determines the relativity of secrecy. We see 119

Chu Renhuo, Worthless Things (Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1986), Supplement to Vol. 4, 13. 120 Zhu Ziqing, “Zhu Ziqing Talks About Poetry”, Poetry Expressing Aspiration, (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 1998), 684. 121 Guo Jinxi, Annotated Translation of “the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons” (Gansu People’s Publishing House, 1982), 468. 122 Lin Tuo, “Taoist Incantations’ Literary Value”, Chinese Taoism, Vol. 4, 2000.

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from this that incantations must be analyzed in conjunction with their cultural context to determine their nature. Scholars tend to distinguish between two kinds of incantations, the original and the magical, depending on the practitioner and the target. While Malinowski is right in saying that to the extent that it is exaggerated and omnipotent, magic is very similar to an impulse, daydreaming, or a strong but unrealizable desire,123 we do not conclude from this that magic can be practiced by everyone. One basic fact remains that sorcery cannot be separate from its cultural context; we must not confuse personal superstition with sorcery that has strict requirements for its adherents. When sorcery involves religion, we must be very careful in our definitions. There are certainly vestiges of the sorcerous mindset in modern society. However, we obviously cannot view as incantation any behavior that attempts to use everyday language to control objects to effectuate a purpose and compare it with magical incantation within the same logical sphere. This is because a cultural object can possess universal meaning only when it has the force of tradition behind it; any personal incantatory behavior loses its cultural habitat if it has no approval from a community or society. Personal superstitious language is very different from magical incantation. The existence of incantations is the result of the force of tradition (or the social collective) brought to bear on the artisans. This is certainly the case with prosperity-seeking incantations. Incantations whose purpose is to bring harm to the house owner are the manifestation of the artisan’s resentment at being mistreated by the house owner; through them, the artisan wants to protect the reputation of his profession. Magical incantations always have the belief of a significant number of people; they are believed, not understood. Moreover, there is something inaccurate about dividing incantations into the original and the magical: within the system of magical incantation there exist cases where objects are addressed (i.e. original incantation) and cases where supernatural beings are addressed (i.e. magical incantation.) For example, a carpenter’s incantation in the Dali region states: Purple and golden beam, purple and golden beam! You are the tree king of the mountain. Today is an auspicious day, so I pick you to be the top beam of the house. The house builder specifies the size of one zhang two chi, but why are you over by five cun? I’ll let Yang Er come up and squeeze you into perfect size.124

An artisan’s incantation recorded in Zhiwenlu (Whispered Tales) states: First house next to the gate, banners fly on poles; money pours in, generations of prosperity.125

There is no invocation of deities in these two incantations, only a calling out to objects and fate. An artisan’s incantation in Lu ban jing states: 123

Bronislaw Malinowski; Fei Xiaotong (Trans.) A Scientific Theory of Culture and Other Essays (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, 1987), 62. 124 Editorial Team of Folktales of the Bai People of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Folktales of the Bai People (Yunnan People’s Publishing House, 1982), 224. 125 Yongne Jushi, Whispered Tales. (Nanjing: Guangling Classics Publishing House, April 1983), 295.

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Evil spirit of five quick-changing surnames. I have no choice but to hack with my ax and let loose thunders, and the evil spirit is shred to pieces. I obey Thundering General’s order and rush nonstop to Fengdu.126

This incantation invokes the Thundering General, who is a supernatural being. The purpose of the invocation is to obtain magical power through supernatural communication. In analyzing the artisan’s incantations, it is better to divide them into those that invoke supernatural beings and those that do not. If the artisan doesn’t invoke any supernatural being, it is because he is sure of his own power; he doesn’t need any deity to control objects or fate to achieve a desired goal. By the same token, if he invokes a deity, it is because he lacks confidence in his own power or is beholden to a tradition which requires the worship of deities because it sees the artisan merely as a go-between. The classification of incantations depends at its source on the degree to which the artisan accepts the tradition of deity worship. When the artisan is more influenced by sorcery, including Taoism, he is more likely to invoke the deities in his incantations; the opposite is also true: if he is less influenced by sorcery, he is less likely to invoke supernatural beings. It is a moot point to ask which of the two kinds of incantations is more effective, since it is up to the public to decide. In other words, society, or a specific community, has the ability to distinguish between incantations; the choice of or identification with deity-invoking or non-deity-invoking incantations is the result of coagulated social force and does not depend on the artisan. Moreover, the relationship between the artisan’s incantation and ceremonial sorcery has to be examined. As mentioned above, there is no ceremonial sorcery without incantations. “The intimate relationship between language and body (or behavior) can be fully expressed in social ceremonies. The ceremony is a performative language, and performative utterance is also a behavior; it transcends the limitations of ‘voice as signifier’ and glues body movement with speech. Movement replaces speech, speech is attached to movement.”127 Body movement and speech constitute ceremony; they are inseparable. If we admit body language into the system of language, then ceremony is an implementation of language. The artisan’s incantation maintains an interpenetrated and symbiotic relationship with ceremony. The artisan’s incantation is a unique linguistic phenomenon and not an ordinary language; it is an important element of the artisan’s sorcery and a cultural practice by the artisans. The artisan prays for (or brings harm to) the house owner, relying on tradition and chanting incantations that are deeply rooted in the culture. Through incantation, the artisan commands, appeals, and prays that his wish may come true, whether it is the materialization of prosperity or harm. The incantation is the magical power, the sorcerer himself. French ethnologist Jean Servier said in his book La Magie, “Words themselves don’t have magical power; they are only words. But words have a hidden power which comes from wisdom, and this power takes effect in the souls of people who are believers.”128 For the believers, the artisan’s incantation is a 126

Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 329. 127 Nari Bilge, “Regarding Linguistic Anthropology”, Minority Language of China, 2002 (5). 128 Jean Servier; Guan Zhenhu (Trans.), La Magie (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 1998), 65.

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language they believe in, and the power of belief comes from a cultural heritage which is formed by the long history of cultural practices. It is cultural practices that have given language its nature, and it is therefore unscientific to discuss language without its cultural context. If we view language as a cultural practice, it is because we want to explore the cultural information language contains through linguistic phenomena and reconstruct their historical background and the mechanisms for their occurrence. Frazer’s theory on magic, religion, and science attempted to prove that magic came before religion. Due to what the public learned from the failure of magic and the elites’ change in thinking, which also edified the public, Frazer believed that the status of sorcery changed from being on the same level as god to one that was subservient to god. But Durkheim was critical of the antecedence of magic. He believed, “Quite the contrary, the precepts on which the magician’s art rests were formed under the influence of religious ideas, and only by a secondary extension were they turned to purely secular applications.” He went on to say, “Hubert and Mauss showed magic to be something altogether different from crude industry, based on crude science. They have brought to light a whole background of religious conceptions that lie behind the apparently secular mechanisms used by the magician, a whole world of forces the idea of which magic took from religion. We can now see why magic is so full of religious elements: It was born out of religion.”129 Now, we see how difficult it is to determine the sources of ancient cultural phenomena such as magic and religion, especially if we want to take ancient religion into consideration. We are more prone to believe that at the beginning, magic and religion were mixed together, more like magic-religion. This is why a large amount of ethnological texts describing the lives of ancient people contain religious prayers as well as sorcerous curses. It is only after the appearance of what Durkheim called moral communities (i.e. the church) that sorcery and religion diverged in organization and later in the world of thought. Religions such as Taoism, which absorbed ancient sorcery and then systematized and remolded itself into a religion with obvious sorcerous tendencies, have had great influence over the sorcery of later periods. After all, apart from monks who followed the Taoist doctrine closely, there were monks who specialized in sorcery; they were in fact high-level sorcerers who relied on those who believed in Taoism. To attract more adherents, Taoism began to move closer to the secular world and ended by giving birth to folk Taoism. When we gauge Taoist influence over building construction sorcery through supernatural beings, incantations, prayers, and talismans, we clearly see the secularizing tendencies of Taoism and the interpenetrating relationship between sorcery and Taoism. While it is true that Taoist influence in building construction sorcery is apparent in terms of supernaturality, incantations, and talismans, we should not ignore the Buddhist influence. Even though in Lu ban jing, edited by Wu Rong of the Ming Dynasty, mentions of Buddhist incantations are scant compared with Taoist ones, there are many examples of Buddhist power in the legends of Buddhist temple building. There is a Feilai Temple high up in the mountain of Chuxiong, Yunnan. 129

Emile Durkheim; Qu Dong & Ji Zhe (Trans.), The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, July 2006), 344–345.

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Legend has it that after artisans had moved the lumber to the top of the mountain, the lumber was transported to the top of the adjacent mountain during the night. Nobody knew what had happened; people believed that it was the Buddha who had moved the lumber, and the temple was built according to the Buddha’s will. To attract believers and promulgate Buddhism, many stories of Buddha’s power in temple buildings were created, no doubt by the Buddhists and lay believers. The second largest Buddhist temple of Yunnan, the Panlong Temple in Kunming’s Jinning District, was built in 1347 by Master Lianfeng of the Duan clan of Dali. There is an interesting legend about how Master Lianfeng helped build the temple with supernatural power. Lianfeng had a magical black robe with golden strands. To build the temple, the first thing he had to decide was the location. He went and talked with the god of Mount Panlong and the Lord of Soil and Ground. They agreed that Lianfeng could build the temple in an area that could be covered by his robe. Four deities held up the four corners of Lianfeng’s magical robe and covered the whole mountain. The god of Mount Panlong and the Lord of Soil and Ground were in awe of Lianfeng’s supernatural power and asked humbly to stay with him. Lianfeng took the two gods to a temple in a densely populated location so that they could enjoy the continuous incense offering. Having acquired the land, Lianfeng went to the lumber god and asked for a robust lumber. Thinking that this was a small request, the lumber god readily agreed. However, Lianfeng’s robe covered a large section of the forest; the lumber god was surprised but did not want to go back on his own word. People heard about Lianfeng’s magical robe and came to the forest to help cut the wood. When they finished cutting the wood, there was the problem of moving the wood to the top of the mountain. Lianfeng used his power to summon the souls of buffaloes, and they came to carry the wood to the top. Lianfeng then drilled a well half way up the mountain; inside the well floated an inexhaustible supply of wood. The artisans took all the wood they needed and shouted, “Enough! Enough!” and the wood disappeared from the well. Moreover, Liangfeng used incantations to drive away six havoc-wreaking dragons and a pilfering deity who built a dam to flood the temple.130 There is another story about a “low temple”; there is a monk with supernatural power, but we don’t know who he is. In the story, the artisans were ready to build a tall and spacious temple. They were cutting wood under a sweltering sun when a grinning monk came along to greet them. Being busy at work, the artisans gave him short shrift and offended him. The monk stretched his legs, and the carefully measured beams became longer; he then relaxed his legs, and the beams became shorter. An older artisan realized what had happened and apologized to the monk; the monk said, “Big becomes small, tall becomes short, Amituofo!” Then, he drifted away with the wind. Because of what the monk had said, the tall temple could not be

130

Wang Dingming (Ed.), Kunming Folk Legends (The Nationalities Publishing House of Yunnan, December 1994), 106–112.

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built. The artisans could only build a low temple.131 The story of Guanyin Temple tells how Guanyin transformed herself into an old monk to help build the temple.132 The reason for the plethora of legends regarding supernatural power in the templebuilding process is twofold. First, the supernatural aspect of the stories serves to attract potential adherents and facilitates the spread of Buddhism. Second, temple building is an arduous process involving wood cutting, transport, and construction. Difficulties in the real world can work to enhance the creation and spread of these stories.

131

Wang Dingming (Ed.), Kunming Folk Legends (The Nationalities Publishing House of Yunnan, December 1994), 118–119. 132 Wang Dingming (Ed.), Kunming Folk Legends (The Nationalities Publishing House of Yunnan, December 1994), 146–147.

Chapter 5

House Builder’s Covert Sorcery and Its Social and Cultural Context

In building construction traditions, artisans often worked closely with the cohort of sorcery practitioners in all activities from preconstruction work such as groundbreaking and logging to column erection and beam lifting and to the completion of the building. They offered oblation to divinities or used exorcism to quell noxious specters. These occultist activities were performed openly, representing the collective will to pray for felicity and ward off evil. Artisans, the persons they work for, and the sorcerer, geomancer, Taoist or shaman of some ethnic minority that may at some point be present formed something of an alliance, i.e., the were all working toward the same goal, which is to acquire the blessings of divinities and to secure happiness for the new building’s owner by protecting them from evil spirits. In this situation, the artisans were regarded as “white sorcerers”, respected and trusted by the community, and the ceremonial activities they engaged in were considered legitimate. However, professional house builders play dual roles, as priest and exorcist and technologist and sorcerer. In rural society, they often wear three hats at the same time: as peasant, technologist and sorcerer. So they are never sorcerer only. There is overwhelming evidence that because of their skills in both white and balck sorcery, these people are often both respected and admired and reviled and shunned at the same time. In the process of building construction, an artisan sorcerer may stealthily place a magical object in the house intended to bring either good or bad luck to the residents. The fortune or misfortune depends on the artisan’s will and whether the sorcery had been performed successfully. Such an act of concealment may be referred to as a “house builder’s covert sorcery” to set it apart from the magic performed openly. The elucidation below will unravel the long history of how artisans used the covert sorcery to haggle with the house owners and to raise their professional esteem and how such sorcery has produced a far-reaching impact over a long period of time. House builders’ covert sorcery involves objects that might affect house owners favorably or unfavorably. The Secret Text to Elucidate Apotropaic Methods for Specters in Luban Jing (Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry) gives a list of such objects. The first category is those used to elicit bliss. The specific method is © Social Sciences Academic Press 2022 S. Li, Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5477-0_5

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to conceal a skiff bow in the base bracket to bring in wealth for the house owner, or the opposite if the bow points outward; a cinnamon leaf in the base bracket to bring luck to a family member who is to sit the imperial scholar examination; a “Buju” twig at any place to bring longevity to the house owner; or a bamboo tip with three leaves on which each one has a writing, such as Great Auspiciousness, Healthy, and Peace, either at the highest rafter beam or on the under-eave corner rafter above the column-beam, to bring peace and everlasting fortune to the entire family. The artisans may also hide a brush in between a door gap to give the family a righteous worthy for generations or a loyal and trustworthy person in a reclusive family; paint a futou or wushamao (official headwear) on a beam, a pair of officer boots on the doorsill, or a girdle on the architrave to bless the proprietor’s son to pass the imperial scholar examination and secure a position in Hanlin Imperial Academy; a bag of rice in the base bracket to bring the proprietor a prestigious status, wealth, prosperity and abundance; a coin flat at each end of the main beam to bring the family longevity, wealth, fortune and emolument for generations. The second category is objects used to entrap others or to incite woes, such as a death spell against the proprietor—a drawing of a disheveled ghost with the word “ghost” written at each of the four corners of the paper along with the characters of metal, wood, water, and fire in succession. Hinting five disheveled demonic figures, the drawing was buried inside a central column. Other examples include a concealed small coffin inside the tie-beam of the main hall to bring criminal sanctions against the proprietor or death to a minor; a concealed laced circular article written with a “日” (meaning “sun”) character inside the architrave over the main door to wilt prosperity, bring in hindrance and deteriorate the health of the proprietor; a fivecolored wood puppet hidden in an iron lock which is then buried at the bottom of a well or inside a wall to cause five deaths within one year and the death of the proprietor’s entire family within three to five years; a hidden bowl shard and one chopstick inside the lintel of the front gate to turn the proprietor’s offspring into poor down-and-out, survivable only by selling the ancestral property and living under a bridge or in a temple; a flipped skiff buried under the due north of the house to overturn the proprietor’s boat en route a business trip, get children drowned in a well or river, and cause mother and child deaths due to dystocia; a drawing of two knives on paper hidden inside the first west beam of the front gate which will cause the imprisonment and decapitation of an occupant due to murder, arson or other serious crimes; a piece of firewood attached with a string buried underground anywhere to bring relentless feud between the couple and between father and son, resulting in suicides by hanging; a drawing of an armed soldier on a warhorse to cause the proprietor’s death on a battlefield despite his growing reputation as a military officer; a hidden image of a white tiger inside a lintel to bring disarray of spat and restless brawl to the proprietor’s family; a hidden broken eave-tile with the words “melting ice” written on it and a fragment of a broken saw inside a beam joint to cause the death of the proprietor, remarriage of his wife, desertion of the son and the fleeing of servants; a hidden pouch of seven nails inside the mortise of a column to limit the household population to seven through elimination; a hidden drawing of a demonic talisman inside the engraving groove to call evil spirits upon the house and cause

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sickness; a concealed inkstone and brush inside the architrave to bless the house owner to become a prime minister or retire if the brush is eaten by pests; the word “ 口” (mouth) written on the main architrave to bring accidental calamity and crush the proprietor’s wealth; the word “囚” (imprisonment) written inside the doorsill joint to cause imprisonment or death row to the proprietor; a hidden knife wrapped by hair to induce offspring’s tonsure, or cause the death of the husband or wife; a cow bone buried at the center of the house to cause the hard and ailing life of the proprietor and offspring who cannot even afford a coffin; and a drawing of gourd hidden inside the wall joint to subject the proprietor to the adverse influence of occultism.1 Artisans who practiced sorcery while building work for generations compiled their occult acts into books. Several classics thus appeared, including Wu Rong’s Luban jing in the Ming Dynasty and the Book of Lu Ban, which, popularly known as A Book of Curse (Que yi men), was categorized as heretical writings. Some books were circulated in remote rural regions. For example, the Timberwork Manual of Dali’s Jianchuan, the Cradle of Carpenters, is a classic localized carpenter. Folklorists add a note to “Timberwork Manual” referenced in the Bai People’s folklore Legend of Dragon Sculpture, saying “It is an architectural classic of construction experience passed down orally by Lu Ban. Jianchuan’s Bai People have never lacked talent in carpentry since ancient times. They are able to construct buildings, carve Buddhist statutes, make frescos and possess power to make divine incantation to summon auspiciousness and dispel noxiousness. The Timberwork Manual was imparted oneto-one from father to son or master to disciple and has now become lost.”2 According to folktales about ethnic Bai carpenters, the Timberwork Manual contained not only craftsmanship but also occult arts, including both white and black magic. According to scholars’ investigations, the existing version of the Book of Lu Ban in Diannan (southern Yunnan) is a manuscript that records the occult art of which a significant part belongs to black magic.3 “In the minds of the locals, Lu Ban is a carpenter and a pest-sorcerer (gu master, an occultist).” Carpenters of southern Yunnan once used the witcheries in the book to curse conscience-smitten house owners.4 Based on my investigation in the Yi People-inhabited region of Yunnan’s Chuxiong, a manuscript of the Timberwork Manual was once circulating among local carpenters who reportedly learned the witcheries from the handwritten copies and exercised them at will.5 Zhejiang’s Cao Songye has collected over 80 stories6 of carpenters applying the 1

Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 316—323. 2 Editorial Team of Folktales of the Bai People of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Folktales of the Bai People (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, January 1984), 122. 3 Deng Qiyao, A study of Chinese witchcraft (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, December 1999), 121. 4 Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005), 24. 5 Investigation Location: Hongcun Village, Yunnan’s Chuxiong City; Bada Village, Yunnan’s Mouding County, July–August, 2008. 6 Cao Songye, Stories of Masonry Workers and Carpenters, Folk Customs (108), 1.

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witcheries documented in the manuscript to take revenge on house owners. Both the written classics and oral impartation of the skills have been conducive to the diffusion of the house builder’s covert sorcery.

5.1 Injurious Sorcery and Its Origin After tracing the origin of house builders’ practice of hiding objects to bring harm to the residents, we have reasons to believe that it is rooted in an ancient belief in the occult power of gu. Here, we would not go into details about how gu occultism emerged, a topic that has already been extensively researched, but would only sum up a few research findings particularly noteworthy. One of them is the divination script on oracle bones unearthed in Yinxu, a finding revealing a large volume of information on the prevailing belief in the magic power of gu as early as the Shang Dynasty. Another finding reveals the hieroglyphic origin of the word gu. From the perspective of etymology, the traditional Chinese character for gu (“蠱”) signifies three pests in a vessel (or two pests in a vessel according to the oracle bone script). The word “divine pestilence” in the Dongba writing is a pictogram of two pointedhead pests placed in a vessel, while in Qin’s seal script (a precursor to traditional Chinese writing), gu has been represented as three pests in a vessel. “Having pests in a vessel” explains the basic rule for the formation of the word gu. Another point worthy of note is that records of gu can be found in classics such as “First Year of Duke Zhao” in the Commentary of Zuo, “Ministry of Justice” in Rites of Zhou, and “The Treatises on Religious Sacrificial Ceremonies” in the Records of the Grand Historian. “The Classic of Southern Mountains” in the Classic of Mountains and Seas writes, “On Mount Luwu, there is bareness except abundance of metal and rocks, where the Zegeng River flows down southward and empties into the Pangshui River. A man-eating beast in the river is called gu-diao (wicked hawk-eagle) in a hawk-eagle’s form with horns and a voice like a baby’s.”7 From the etymology, the earliest record in ancient writings about gu, and investigations on border ethnic minorities done by modern scholars, gu is indeed a vile occultism of fostering venomous pests. This is consistent with how ordinary people have generally pictured it over the long course of history. However, from records of the Han Dynasty onward, gu occultism often went beyond raising venomous pests to endanger other humans. The Gu Occultism Incident during the late years of Emperor Wu of Han did not involve poisonous pests at all; it was instead a case of sorcery through a puppet-like medium. This incident involved Emperor Wu, Crown Prince Liu Ju, two prime ministers Gongsun He and Liu Qumao and other prestigious figures of the Han court. The number of people being executed counted up to fifty to sixty thousand. The most appalling calamity in the history of Chinese gu occultism actually consisted of three events. Although the growing suspicion and cruelty of the emperor 7

Deng Qiyao, A study of Chinese witchcraft (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, December 1999), 45–49.

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at old age was to blame for bloody killings, which often involved extermination of an entire family, the underlying cause for the calamity was a deeply rooted belief in the occult power of gu and a broad base of believers. To quell the incident, the Han court paid a high price, including the lives of two prime ministers. The suppression did not stop gu occultism from spreading among the commoners. It became more rampant. This disastrous incident revealed the disturbing impact of sorcery on society and its use as a vehicle for taking vengeances. The first case in the Gu Occultism Incident was related to Gongsun He.8 “Gongsun Jingsheng” in the Book of the Han reads, “(Zhu) Anshi submitted a memorial to the throne that accused Jingsheng (Gongsun He’s son) of having an illicit relationship with Princess Yangshi and of burying an occult puppet en route the passageway to Ganquan Palace with heinous runes to jinx the emperor. The case was investigated and proven by the Judicial Office to involve Gongsun He. Both father and son were thereupon sentenced to death and executed in jail. The entire family was eliminated.” The most tragic case in the incident was that of Jiang Chong framing the crown prince. “Jiang Chong” in the Book of the Han records, Later, His Majesty stayed at Ganquan Palace because of sickness. Jiang presented himself and discovered His Majesty’s deteriorating health and worried about being executed for conspiracy after the Crown Prince came to the throne. He told Emperor the sickness was due to gu occultism. With permission, he led a team of barbaric shamans to dig up the ground in search of occult puppets. They caught people who used sorcery and those who prayed and could see ghosts at night. They deliberately defiled some places with occult objects and tortured those who were captured with hot pincers to force confession from them. Commoners falsely accused each other of occultism, and officials charged others with heresy. Tens of thousands of people were involved and killed. As the Emperor got older, he became more suspicious of everybody around him. Some were wrongfully executed without being able to defend themselves. Jiang was prompted to conspire further by investigating consorts, followed by the Empress before framing the Crown Prince by burying a puppet in the prince’s establishment. As the parasol wood puppet was found, the Crown Prince was afraid of not being able to clear himself. Unable to hold back his wrath, the Crown Prince cursed Jiang, ‘You Zhao scum! Isn’t it enough for you to alienate the prince of Zhao from his son? Now, you want to sow discord between me and my father!’ The Crown Prince was defeated. His last words are written in Records of Liyuan Establishment. Later, Emperor Wu found out the truth and ordered the extermination of three clans related by marriage or birth to Jiang Chong.9

Jiang Chong, to save himself, exploited Emperor Wu’s excessive suspicion and belief in gu occultism. Under the excuse of searching for occult articles in the palace city, he plotted against his rivals, resulting in the armed resistance of the Crown Prince. Along with the fall of the Crown Prince, the execution of his supporters was thorough and cruel. There were many cases of familial elimination to their entirety. Before this, Zhu Shian’s accusation of idol sorcery against Gongsun He had begun Emperor Wu’s wrath against black magic. Jiang Chong’s launch of opportune palatial 8

An Pingqiu & Zhang Chuanxi (Eds.), Book of Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1372. 9 An Pingqiu & Zhang Chuanxi (Eds.), Book of Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1021–1022.

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intrigue capitalized on it. Both sorcery incidents were related to hexing puppets. The employment of hexing puppets in sorcery existed before the Han. “Imperial Annals of Shang Dynasty” in Records of the Grand Historian has a record of a grotesque incident that a king defied the Heavens by making a puppet imitating a god and scorned it. The writing says, “The unprincipled King Wuyi made a puppet imitating a god. He gambled with the puppet and insulted it when winning the game. [On another occasion,] he made a leather sack. After filling it with blood, he hung it high and shot it with an arrow. He named the sport ‘Shooting the Heavens.’”10 The wondrous book Grand Duke’s Golden Cabinet, supposedly written in the Warring States Period, records an incident of King Wu of Zhou punishing Marquis Ding’s absence from the audience by applying a puppet sorcery on him. The details on how the sorcery was practiced revealed it was based on numerology. King Wu of Zhou overthrew the rule of Shang. Marquis Ding refused to attend audience. Grand Duke drew a figure of Marquis Ding on a bamboo slip and shot three arrows onto the slip. Marquis Ding fell ill. A diviner deciphered his perplexity by saying, “The Zhou goaded this.” Ding was frightened and surrendered to Zhou. The Grand Duke then told a squire to remove the arrow on the head of the bamboo figure on the first two days of a lunar month, the arrow on the mouth on the third and fourth day and the arrow on the abdomen on the fifth and sixth day. Ding was recovering. After learning this, the other states soon bowed and sent tributes to Zhou.11

There were even cases of puppet-assisted interrogation in the Han dynasty. “On Dragons” in Discourses in the Balance writes, “Li Zhangzi who was in charge of judicial affairs wanted to know more about a suspect. He made a parasol wood puppet of the suspect. He dug a hole in the ground and placed a coffin made of reeds in the hole then put the puppet inside the conffin. The puppet would stay still if the suspect was guilty as charged, and it would try to get out if the suspect was wrongfully charged. It is unknown whether the suspect’s soul was conjured to attach onto the puppet or if the prisoner’s soul moved the puppet. If it was, why could not it be true that rains come at the call of dragons? This is the fourth reason why dragons can summon rains.”12 In this sorcery tale, the sorcery is on the prisoner’s soul. Li Changzi used the occult connection between the prisoner and the parasol puppet to confirm the crime. In the Western Han, sorcery and its ilk were deemed capital felony punishable by death and familial eliminations as a result of the lingering impact of the Sorcery Incident and fear of puppet sorcery during the reign of Emperor Wu. “Huo Qubing and Gongsun Ao” in the Book of Han writes, “(Gongsun Ao) was later discovered and thrown into prison. Implicated by his wife’s involvement in a case of sorcery, he

10

An Pingqiu (Ed.), Records of the Grand Historian (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 28. 11 Li Fang et al., Taiping Yulan (Imperial Reader) (Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & 1998 reprinted edition), 3267–3268. 12 Annotating Team of Lunheng of Department of History, PKU, Annotated Discourses in the Balance (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1979), 915.

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was executed. The entire family was eliminated.13 “Huo Qubing and Zhao Ponu” in the same book writes, “Having stayed in Xiongnu for ten years, he came back with the Crown Prince An Guotu. Involved in a case of sorcery later, he was executed.14 The entire family was eliminated.” Han’s sorcery primarily involved the use of an occult puppet. As summarized by scholars, “The sorcery was to bury a parasol wood puppet underground. A needle or pin was forced into the puppet to curse the death of the target. Royal regulations in the Book of Rites say, ‘Dig out six parasol wood puppets that have traces of being pierced by needles.’”.15 Gu occultism was thus no more than a belief in the occult power of pests. It began to involve the use of hexing puppets, more records of which could still be found in documents after the Han Dynasty. Gu Kaizhi, a painter, fell for a pretty girl but was not successful in courting her. He made a drawing of the pretty girl and pinned the figure with a thorn. A biography of him in the Book of the Jin records, “(Gu Kaizhi) once wooed a neighbor girl but got rejected. He hung a painting with a drawing of the girl and used a thorn to needle her heart. as the girl suffered from heartache. Learning what had happened, the girl accepted Gu’s confession. Gu removed the thorn. The girl was healed.”16 In the years of the Southern Qi, Xu Shibiao, an ambitious schemer and paranoid, was obsessed with becoming an emperor. He deliberately ravaged other people’s portraits to satisfy his desire. “Xu Shibiao”, in the History of Southern Dynasties, writes, “(Xu Shibiao) drew over ten some paintings of the emperor in torturous scenarios and himself in imperial dresses. He called himself Emperor Xu in the painting’s inscriptions. In the second year of the Yongyuan Era, he was reported to the authorities and given a verdict of familial elimination.”17 Sui’s Crown Prince Yang Guang repeated what Jiang Chong had done to frame others. “Demoted Prince Yang Xiu” of the Book of the Sui reads, “The Crown Prince secretly made a hexing puppet bearing the name of Prince Han. The puppet had tied hands and nailed heart and was buried in the Huashan Mountains. The Crown Prince then asked Yang Su to dig it out.”18 The death of Tang’s Gao Pian is also believed to be related to the vicious puppet sorcery: “Yang Xingmi entered the city, and dug the ground of Lv’s dwelling place. He found a bronze human figurine over three chi in height with shackles on hands, nails in the heart, and the name Gao Pian carved on the chest.

13 An Pingqiu & Zhang Chuanxi (Eds.), Book of Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1187. 14 An Pingqiu & Zhang Chuanxi (Eds.), Book of Han (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1188. 15 Qu Duizhi, A History of Customs and Institutions of the Han Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, March 1991), 230. 16 Xu Jialu (Ed.), Book of Jin (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 2063. 17 Yang Zhong (Ed.), History of the Southern Dynasties (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1639. 18 Sun Yongchang (Ed.), Book of Sui (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1108.

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Yang realized Gao Pian was bewitched by the vile sorcery that also led to his family’s elimination.”19 Occult puppets were also used for venting jealousy. “Consorts II” in the History of Jin writes about a case: “The late emperor would occasionally stay in the bedchamber of one of his concubines. Consort Li became jealous and asked a sorceress Li Dingnu to make a paper puppet with an intercourse talisman to perform a succubus hex. This eventually caused the end of the royal bloodline. The illicit act was beyond any more accusations. The crime was immediately revealed… Consort Li was then ordered by the emperor to commit suicide.”20 The emphasis on puppet sorcery here is mainly because it was the principal form of gu occultism in the Han Dynasty, which, in turn, was the source of house builders’ occult practice of hiding things—jinx puppets in many cases. Although this kind of sorcery remained in use in the subsequent Tang and Song dynasty, we would not go into detail here. Seeing the prevalence of such occultism in the world’s different civilizations, Sigmund Freud summarized, “One of the most widespread magic procedures for injuring an enemy consists of making an effigy of him out of any kind of material. The likeness counts for little; in fact, any object may be ‘named’ as his image. Whatever is subsequently done to this image will also happen to the hated prototype; thus, if the effigy has been injured in any place, he will be afflicted by a disease in the corresponding part of the body. This same magic technique, instead of being used for private enmity, can also be employed for pious purposes and can thus be used to aid the gods against evil demons.”21 Fraser’s theory of sympathetic magic also offers a rational explanation about this. What we care is that much of the knowledge related to sorcery has been deciphered and put into practice by humans. The sorcery adopted by artisans during house construction must be part, if not all, of the legacy, though the knowledge is more likely about ways of occult thinking.

5.2 Cultural Motivation for House Builder’s Covert Sorcery Now, we may set eyes on strange things that happened on dwellings where house builders had hidden occult articles. During the Three Kingdoms Period, numerologist Guang Lu, who lived in the State of Wei, already knew how to use roof tiles to cast a sickness curse on a deer poacher’s father. Collections of Strange Things has a record on this. It says,

19

Huang Yongnian (Ed.), Book of Tang (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 4049–4050. 20 Zeng Zaozhuang (Ed.), 2004, Book of Jin (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1095. 21 Sigmund Freud; Yang Yongyi (Trans.), Totem und Tabu, (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, 1986), 101.

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Guan Lu had mastered numerology. His first task was to find a missing cow for a countrywoman. He divined and told the woman that the cow was reintrapped in the southwestern graveyard. Finding the cow, the woman suspected a plot set up by Guan and brought a case against him to the magistrate before realizing Guan’s knowing was by numerology... Once in Licao, an official farmer captured a deer that was stolen later. Guan was asked to make an augury. Guan replied, “The thief is at the third house in the eastern alley. You go there and take off a roof tile to place it on the seventh rafter in the east of their house. The thief will return the deer before lunch time the following day.” At the same night, the thief’s father got a sudden burning headache and came to Guan for healing. Guan enabled the jinx. The thief bowed and returned the deer as being told. Guan removed the occult article from the rafter. The thief’s father recovered.22

Roof tiles are trivial objects. The way Guan Lu used them produced amazing outcome. After the case of theft quieted down, the removal of the occult roof tile dispelled the vile sorcery. Gan Bao’s Anecdotes About Spirits and Immortals is a collection of folklores and legends. As Gan Bao commented, “This book is trying to attest to the existence of divine power.”23 The book contains a story about a house haunted by noxious spirits that, as it turned out, were gold, silver, and pestle buried in the house. Zhang Feng of Weijun County, filthy rich, died suddenly. Wealth doted out. The family sold the dwelling place to Liyang’s Cheng Jing. After Cheng moved in, his families became sick. Cheng sold the house to He Wen, a neighbor. Holding a broad sword, He alone climbed up to the main beam of the northern hall in dusk and waited. Regarding the first night watch, a very tall person wearing a pointed cap and red headdress appeared suddenly in the hall and called “Slender Waist!” “Yes,” answered Slender Waist. “Why do I smell human?” “None.” Slender Waist replied and left. Moments later, another man with a high cap and in blue dress came, followed by one wearing a pointed cap and white dress. They questioned the same and got the same answer. Near dawn, Wen dismounted. He called Slender Waist the same way and Slender Waist answered. He asked, “Who was the one in red dress?” “The Gold under the hall’s west wall.” “And, the one dressed in blue?” “The Money five steps west of the well in the courtyard.” “And, the white?” “The Silver under the hall’s northeast corner column.” “Who are you?” “I’m the Pestle under the stove, now.” In the morning, He dug them out accordingly and acquired 300 catties of gold and silver and millions of coins. He burned the pestle and became rich. The house was thus cleaned up.24 This interesting story tells how gold, money, silver and pestle could transform into human figures and haunt the house. It should be a prototype of folktales of occult articles previously concealed by artisans inflicting harms on house owners. This will be discussed in more detail in the following. Here, we may easily surmise that 22

Liu Jingshu, Fan Ning (Punctuated and revised); Yang Songjie, Cheng Yizhong & Cheng Youqing (Rev.), Garden of the Unusual (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, August 1996), 87–88. 23 Gan Bao, Huan Tiaoming (Trans. & annotated), Translated Anecdotes About Spirits and Immortals (Guiyang: People’s Publishing House of Guizhou, January 1991), 559. 24 Gan Bao, Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Newly-compiled Anecdotes About Spirits and Immortals; Tao Qian, Li Jianguo (Compiled & annotated), Continuation of the Newly-compiled Anecdotes About Spirits and Immortals (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, March 2007), 331.

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the practice of concealing occult articles during house construction existed among artisans at Gan Bao’s time or even earlier. However, as an isolated case, this can only be a conjecture. It is worth noting that this kind of sorcery has a great impact on posterity. “Story of Wicked Antique” in Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian writes, Yao Kangjia sojourned at Xing Junya’s deserted house. At night, looking across the courtyard, he saw three persons entering a side room and chanting verses. One thin and tall man with a dark face recited, “Past scorching days I knew; Now the cold stove left me at a loss. Useless is my long hilt /That once served people’s meals.” A tall gaunt man with a sallow face chanted, “Gone are the good old days / When a music piece of mine was worth a bunch. Now the unknowing bamboos at the courtyard, hum like a dragon in the wind.” The third man who was stout and disheveled sang, “My cheeks sag and hair lost, only my heart still minds dust. Don’t laugh at my shabby look, cleaning doors was my glory past.” They disappeared after finishing. Yao was stunned. On the following day, Yao tried to look for them and found an iron cooking pan, a used flute, and a broom.25

Wu’s Lore contains a story about Lin Daqing acquiring a mansion: A guy had a haunted mansion that nobody wanted to buy it. Lin Daqing was excited to acquire it. After moving in, at one midnight, Lin sat in the hall alone to flaunt his guts. A woman in white suddenly appeared as the hearsay said. The woman floated to a place and disappeared. The following day, Lin got people to dig the place and found hundreds of silver taels minted with “Lin”. This apparently has something to do with Weichi Jingde (Deity of Doors).26

A column mortise is an excellent place to hide an occult article. Many artisans have practiced this. Tang Dynasty scholar Sun Guangxian told a story of how a puppet that had been placed in a column mortise transformed into a pretty girl who foxed a Zhang Doe a low-rank officer in the capital. It reads, In the mid-Wende Era of the Tang Dynasty, a young low-rank capital officer surnamed Zhang lived temporarily at Sutai. He was adored by a pretty girl whom he had met at the house of Lu, the Officer of Case Review. After a while, he became sick and had suspicion. He met Taoist Wu Shouyuan, who told him being attached by a noxious spirit and gave him a talisman. With the talisman, Zhangyu soon found an occult puppet of a maid with the name “Hongying” written on its back in a column mortise of an empty room. He burned and obliterated the puppet. This lore was told by Liu Shanfu.27

The unusual thing about this tale is the hexing puppet, which, rather than the image of the cursed target as in most cases, is transformed into the specter “Hongying”. In other words, the principle behind this occult art is not exactly what Fraser termed “sympathetic magic” but the magic of transformation. In fact, some scholars have given sharp criticism over Fraser: “Frazer’s ideas are dogmatic in this regard; he expresses no doubts and offers no exceptions to his rules. Sympathy is a sufficient and inevitable feature of magic; all magical rites are sympathetic and all sympathetic 25

Anonymous; Jin Xin (Punctuated & checked), Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, May 1986), 232. 26 Gong Mingzhi, Sun Juyuan (Revised & punctuated), Wu’s Lore (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 1986), 22. 27 Sun Guangxian, Lin Qing & He Junping (Revised and annotated), Trivial of the North (Xi’an: Sanqin Publishing House, January 2003), 162.

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ritual is magical.”28 Of course, there was a likeness between the puppet and the pretty girl. To produce Zhang, the puppet went through a transformation process, which was obviously the result of occult power. Stories of house builders’ sorcery written after the Song Dynasty also involved the transformation of a puppet specter. While it was not expressly indicated that what the low-rank capital officer Zhang had encountered was the result of an occult article being concealed by a house builder, this was very possible because the hidden place was inside a column mortise, a location unlikely to be used by an ordinary sorcerer. Paranormal activities inside the dwelling place were the nightmare of the ancients. These activities might have been caused by antique articles left in the house, by some intrusive demonic spirits, or by something of an intriguingly unexplainable nature. Citing Extensive Records of the Taiping Era Vol. 358, Records of the Dark and Unseen writes, Bi Xiu’s maternal grandmother Guo slept alone one night. She called out for maids. The maids responded but never showed up. Guo kept calling. A square-faced figure on the screen wall suddenly appeared with sharp eyes brightening the entire room. The figure had palms such as dustpans and fingernails a few inches long. It moved its ears and eyes. However, Guo’s Taoist practice was adept. Her clear mind dispelled the spirit. After a while, all maids came and said they had been stopped from moving by something heavy and rushed over once it’s gone.29

The wangliang, elementals or spirits of mountains and rivers mentioned by Confucius may also be the cause of a haunted house in folklores. According to “Elementals in Zongyang Palace” in Worthless Things, Vol. 2, Manuscript of Northern Farmstead says, “Wulin’s Zongyang Abbey enshrines the Jade Emperor. The spirits of the Thunder Sire and Lightning Madam under the same roof are awe-inspiring. During the Ming Dynasty, several students studied in the rear court of the abbey. One of them was very courageous. On a thundering, raining night, he was told by his fellow students, “Now if you can put a piece of red paper into the Lightning Madam’s gold cymbals, tomorrow we will feast you well with wine all you can drink.” The courageous one replied, “Right.” Before long, he came back and confirmed, “It’s done. As I turned to the hall corner, an elemental stood by the eaves. I howled at him to let me through. It turned deaf to me. I gave him a punch on its waist but felt as if I had been hitting on a pile of cotton and felt no innards at all. I drew back my fist and yelled at it. It disappeared right away.” Others ridiculed his story. The following morning, the courageous one got up to wash himself and found his arm turning dark like being lacquered. All the rest were stunned and began to believe his encounter the previous night. A month later, the darkened skin peeled off, but the young scholar did not fully recover until the following year.30 28

Marcel Mauss, A General Theory of Magic. London: Routledge. Mauss, M. & Hubert, H. (1964). Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chinese edition: Mauss, M. & Hubert, H. (2007). Wushu de yiban lilun; Xianji de xingzhi he gongneng (Trans.: Yang Yudong). (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2007), 43. 29 Liu Yiqing, Zheng Wanqing (Compiled & annotated) Records of the Dark and Unseen, (Culture and Art Publishing House, December 1988), 96. 30 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 1930.

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The encounters of Guo, maids and students were threatening but not dangerous. However, there were many lethal cases of demonic phenomena in residential houses. “Grey-bearded Elder” in Tales under Autumn Lamp(Vol. 1), writes, Supervisory Officer Fang Xi from Tongcheng was transferred to Linqing after being criticized in the early years of Emperor Yongzheng’s reign. The place where he stayed was said to be haunted. Fang was not bothered and continued to stay there over a year without having any encounters. One of his relatives, Xiao, came from the south to visit him. He arranged a room for Xiao to stay. Xiao studied until late one night and was about to go to bed. A gray-bearded square-face elder suddenly appeared in a broad robe. The elder strutted into the room. Xiao was about to question him. The elder made a greeting posture. Xiao could not make a sound. The elderly came close and took a book from the desk to fumble it. Whenever he read of something interesting, he would tap his fingers on the desktop rhythmically. After reading a few pages, a boy with a front tuft came to serve tea. The elderly made a slight courtesy nod and started sipping. When finishing, he waved the boy to move forward and swung his fist at the boy’s head. The boy started to spin swiftly in air like a turning wheel each time he got a knock on the head. Brilliant light radiated out. After a few rounds, Xiao felt a chill that ran through his body and was tired and listless; he then fell sleep. The following morning, Xiao’s servant woke him up. Nothing unusual occurred at the house afterwards. Xiao returned home and passed away just over a year.31

Tales of house demons bewitching and casting succubus hex and taking humans’ life were believed by Ji Xiaolan and his teacher. This indicates that the fears of house demons have shadowed man’s mind. Ji Xiaolan wrote seriously, In the summer of Xinmao (28th year, reign unknown), I returned from Urumqi after a military expedition and stayed at a courtyard house east of Zhuchao Street, neighboring the dwelling place of Judicial Commissioner Long Chengzu. The second hall was a five-bay building. The southernmost room often had its curtain swung up high as if blown by winds. But that did not occur in the other rooms. Nobody understood why. Young children who entered the room would be shocked, saying a plump bonze sitting on the bed was teasing them. Eviling ghosts might take people’s dwelling place as their own. This phenomenon is unexplainable. After the third night watch, wailing sounds of women were often heard from Long’s house, but the Long said it was from my house. The puzzle was never solved. I realized that this spirit was noxious and decided to move out to Tuonan’s double-tree retreat. Later, I heard all those living in the two houses suffered certain misfortunes. Bai Huanjiu, Minister of Justice, died a sudden death at Long’s house, without known causes at all. A haunted house was indeed true. My late teacher Chen Baiya said, “An auspicious house might not necessarily bring people good luck, but a haunted house brings misfortune without fail. By the same token, a warm breeze might not necessarily heal people, but the freezing cold would surely make people sick; nourishing herbs may not cure people immediately, but strong medicine would definitely inflict damage to one’s health.” This seems about right and people should not act recklessly in face of change for the reason that life and death are both predestined. Mencius said, “Therefore, one who knows about one’s fate would not stand under a shabby wall.”32

Of course, not all house demons are bad. Someone had propitious retributions. “The Elder in between Beams” (Vol. 3) in Miscellaneous Stories of the Paranormal writes, 31

Wang Qi, Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 30. 32 Ji Yun, Dong Guochao (Punctuated & annotated), Jottings from the Thatched Abode of Close Observations (Chongqing Publishing Group, May 2005), 171—172.

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In the middle of Chongzhen’s reign, a bonze sitting in Ciren Temple’s Pilu Pavilion heard people talking in between beams. The voices got louder. He tiptoed up the staircase to take a peek and saw a group of short men and women who were barely one chi (approximately 0.3 m) high. An elder came forward and said, “We lived in deep mountains. The whole family comes here because we want to see how the grand capital looks like. We will only stay here for a few days and will leave soon. Please do not tell anyone. I will show my appreciation.” After a few days, the bonze heard the noise again and went to ask. The elder said, “We are leaving. You can wait for me at the location outside the outer city.” The bonze went to the location and waited. Not seeing the elderly for a while, the bonze became tired and fell asleep by the left side of the road. When he woke up, he found a big fortune in his pocket. In the past, when the Jin Dynasty was about to move its capital southward, a fox danced in Xuanhua Hall. When the Yuan Dynasty was defeated, a fox came out from Duanming Hall. Is this the same kind of supernatural being?33

Some paranormal incidents brought neither curse nor boon to the house owner. They were only mysterious phenomena for people to gossip about. “Paranormal Things in Shen’s House” in Worthless Things, Vol. 5 tells the following tale: Records of Collected Gossips writes: In the seventh month of the 41st Year of Wanli Emperor’s Reign (1613), a three-foot toad was found at Shen Tinghua’s house in Xiatang neighborhood outside Changmen Gate. The toad had a red triangular head like a coral. It moved along the edge of the wall. The ground under the wall soon split open, and dozens of human figures approximately 2 or 3 cm tall walked out. These figures were old or young, good or bad looking, wearing official cap and dresses or a hair knot with regular dresses, grey-haired or near bold. The people there chased them out. Near dusk, the figures suddenly dispersed away and hid themselves. The following morning, Shen’s families got up and saw an outline of a painting. The next day, the painting turned into a landscape colored gold and emerald. Another day, it became verdant mountains and waters. The day after, the painting became a fine story picture, with qilin (a sacred beast) gazing at the moon and a vermillion phoenix worshipping the sun. One day, two sitting immortals appeared playing chess under a tree. Another day, a well-dressed child stood there by holding the hem of a young woman. The observers stuck the young woman’s forehead with a fingernail, and she bled. So one month passed by. Talismans and invocations had no effect.” Collections of Gossips had a record reading: “In the middle of Jiajing’s reigning period, Qu Yuanli once saw a three-foot toad that fed itself from the urn, and it was gone the following day.34

All fiendish talks of haunted houses doubtlessly have some association with legends of past dynasties and witching apparitions at night. People looked for ways to clear their houses of these specters and ghosts, which led to the rise of housewarding sorcery, a kind of magic used for positive purposes. On the negative side, however, all the talk of haunted houses also provided fertile soils for house builders’ practice of hiding items to affect the house occupants’ fortunes, and the popular belief in the existence of haunted houses offered a cultural context or impetus for the house builders’ occult practice. Thus, the house, a living space of humans, was turned into a venue for artisans to flex their occultist dexterity. 33

Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 1680. 34 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 1996.

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Such occult practice obviously has close ties with the housewarding sorcery, which, according to Dunhuang manuscripts, had been popular for several centuries from the Tang to Song Dynasty in the Dunhuang region.35 At that time, the housewarding sorcery had been widely welcomed and trusted by people, regardless of their status and prestige, and had a great impact on their lives.36 People believed how such sorcery worked was important for the house owner’s safety and prosperity. A successful housewarding act would help the house owner’s career and wealth. One thing notable is the large volume of records about occult articles buried within houses to effectuate the sorcery. The housewarding practice in Dunhuang used variegated stones—red, yellow, black, blue and white—plus unidentified others. Dunhuang manuscript P.3594 records a way of using stones to protect one’s houses, Detrimental outcomes caused by one’s dwelling place, such as sickness, fleeing, and loss of wealth, can be quelled by putting a 90-catty stone on the “ghost gate”. Deaths and losses of lives, money and business can be fixed by putting an 80-catty stone east-southeast to bring in a great fortune. Warring calamities and spat and hunger can be removed by burying a 60-catty stone under the front gate.37

In addition, “Demon-quelling Vessel Chime Four Three Twelve” in Manuscript P.793 records, “Any thing detrimental to domestic animals can be dispelled by burying a one-catty black stone at the due north.”38 Apart from Dunhuang manuscripts, many other books also record the use of stones in house-warding sorcery. Examples include “Stone I” in Taiping yulan (Imperial Reader). Quoting Controlling Changes, it states, “Bury stones at the four corners to dispel all ghosts. (Find four blue stones and seven nuts. Fling the nuts to the four corners of the dwelling place to dispel ghosts.)”39 Eight Treatises on Nourishing Life, Vol. 6, cites a passage from Seven Taoist Treatises, stating, “On the lunar New Year’s Eve, bury a boulder at each of the four corners to ward off disasters and paranormal things. The following day, mix a round stone with seven nuts and bury them at the four corners to dispel evil spirits.”40 Stone-assisted house-warding sorcery originated from the stone worship of the ancients. Under some circumstances, stones and other numinous objects were used in sorcery.41 These seemingly insignificant housewarding articles actually possessed occult power for both the performers and the receivers. They were not arbitrarily chosen 35

Deng Wenkuan, Collected Dunhuang Documents on Astronomy and Calendar (Nanjing: Jiangsu Classics Publishing House, May 1996), 143. 36 Chen Yuzhu, A Study of the Dunhuang-edition “Classic of House-building” (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, March 2007), 168–169. 37 Ibid., 169. 38 Ibid., 170. 39 Li Fang et al., Taiping Yulan (Imperial Reader) (Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & 1998 reprinted edition), Vol. 1, 205. 40 Gao Lian, Eight Treatises on Following the Principles of Life, Vol. 6. In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 41 Chen Yuzhu, A Study of the Dunhuang-edition “Classic of House-building” (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, March 2007), 189.

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but were selected after careful consideration of the spatial conception of East–WestSouth-North-Center. The sorcery power emanated to all directions of the living space and shielded them with auspiciousness. In the Tang Dynasty, housewarding sorcery even included iron. “Wen Zao” in Imperial Reader, Vol. 144, records, Minister Wen Zao had a house in Xinchang Lane, where Sang Daomao stayed often. Two cypress trees in the courtyard were quite tall. Sang said, “Houses should have ageing and dense trees removed, for lush trees would neuter the soil. Deprived soil would sicken the house owner.” Sang buried several dozen catties of iron under the cypress trees to quell the disadvantage. Sang further told people there, “Any future house owner removing the quelling iron will ask for death.” In the ninth year of the Dahe Era during the Tang Dynasty, Wen renovated the house and dug out Sang’s quelling iron. A few days later, Wen died. This is from Records of Summon Chamber.42

Balancing the five elements produces a direct effect on people’s health in the house. The jinx that Sang put acted. A mechanism similar to contagion exists between incantations, occult articles, the enchanter and the victim. The housewarding sorcery that involved buried occult articles as recorded in Dunhuang manuscripts and relevant writings from the Tang Dynasty undoubtedly have some correlation with house builders’ practice of concealing occult articles during their work. This sorcery had been mastered by Taoists and the commoners alike, thus becoming an important component of the societal and cultural context for the belief in sorcery.

5.3 Sorcery as Bargaining Chips Between Artisans and Those Who Hired Them The exact inception of the house builder’s practice of concealing occult articles was in the Song Dynasty. “A Mason in Changshu” in Hong Mai’s of Tales of Yijian reads, Grand Master of the Palace Wu Wenyan, a native of Dezhou, once served as Commandery Governor. Later, he moved to Pingjiang’s Changshu County and built a house there. In the new house, every night, he dreamed seven white-dressed men who came down from the house ridge. He asked families to find about them, but in vain. Before long, he was sick. His son order servants to check the house for any noxious things. Seven paper puppets were found after roof tiles were removed. The paper puppets hexing the house owner were placed by the masons who built the house to avoid getting the deserved remunerations. Commandery Governor Wang Xiandao arrested all artisans involved after hearing the case and gave them caning punishment before exiling them to a remote region. According to customs of the Wu People, on paving roof tiles, a trustworthy kin of the house owner must be present to supervise the work to prevent such noxious things from happening regardless of the weather. Wu, who had come from the north, did not know this until falling under the vile spell.43

That hexing paper puppets hidden by artisans during the construction of a house turned into demonic things to inflict sickness onto the house owner. This provides 42

Li Fang et al., Taiping Guangji (Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1960 & 1998 reprinted edition), Vol. 3, 1035. 43 Hong Mai, He Zhuo (Punctuated and checked), Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1981), 452.

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another example of how effigies turn into demons. Such black magic had been banned officially, revealing its spread among the Wu People at that time. The whole event occurred in the following sequence: masons placing seven hexing paper-puppets under roof tiles—Wu dreaming of the seven puppets but not knowing the reason and then becoming sick—the collapse of the sorcery after the discovery of the occult articles—the arrest and punishment of the artisans (the price that artisans must pay). The answer was unraveled at the end. Many stories about house builders’ sorcery follow almost the same model. Ming Dynasty records on such sorcery as house builders concealing occult articles are more abundant, indicating the peak of the occult art during this era. Books offering practical everyday guidelines and instructions, such as Collated Drawings of Tilling and Weaving and Whole Book on Agricultural Activities, have already included ways of protecting house owners from artisans’ black magic. In Whole Book on Agricultural Activities, it says, Succuba captured in bedrooms must be killed by frying them in oil followed by burning them in a fire. The artisan who put the hex will be sick or dead. Another way of breaking the possible spell is to steal a 1.8 m-long stick and a line marker from the carpenters before lifting and installing the beam. Place two wooden horses outside the side door in an eastwest facing arrangement before putting the stick over the two horses and the line of the line marker on the stick. Do not let the carpenters know. After finishing the beam lifting, ask the carpenters to stride across the stick. The enchanter will not dare to follow.44

Frying succuba to punish the hexing artisan was based on the relationship of “contagion” between the occult article and the artisan that were connected by a mysterious occult power. The punishment on the former would have the same effect on the latter. The law of sorcery governing the use of the 1.8 m-long stick, wooden horses, and the line marker involved two aspects. One was the characteristics of the tools that the carpenter used. Another was the connection between the carpenter and the tools. After being used by the craftsman for a long time, the tools had become occult articles, especially the line of the line marker. In ancient culture, the line had been attached with the attribute of the power of justice. Its function in construction activities was to keep things “right” and “straight”. Its derived occult meaning is to rectify anything unjust. Qing Dynasty scholar Yu Yue explained this principle in his writings, The line of the line marker used by carpenters and masons was called the inked line. “Explanations of the Classics”, Book of Rites writes, “With a right inked line, there can be no imposition in straightness. Among gauges and rulers, only the line markers of carpenters and masons can quell noxiousness because the upright need not fear the crooked.” “Allembracing Unity” in Guanzi says, “The line marker is to straighten and rectify lines.” The Eastern Jin Dynasty’s Documents of Antiquity writes, “Wood works are rectified by the line marker.” “Seasonal Rules” in Huainanzi says, “The line marker is to straighten all things.” Gao You commented, “The line marker is to right things.” Ghosts and goblins fear the line marker for its rightness. Once a zombie ravaged outside the West Gate of Cixi City at night. One night, several carpenters went up the city wall and hid behind the battlements to check 44

Xu Guangqi, Whole Book on Agricultural Activities (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, December 1956), 871.

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out. They saw a zombie flying out of a coffin and wafting as swiftly as wind. These carpenters waited it out afar before using the line marker to mark around the coffin. They waited on the city wall again for the zombie to return. The zombie was too afraid of the line marks to cross them. It lingered and searched for people around the coffin. It noticed the carpenters on the city wall. Before it jumped up there, the carpenters inked the battlement with the line marker. Zombie could not reach the top. The following dawn, zombie fell down. The carpenters burned it to ashes.45

The line marker could “rectify things” and “straighten all things”. It was even used to quell horrifying, ferocious, wicked things, such as cannibal zombie. It was only natural to use it to examine artisans’ “disposition” since the line marker could “straighten all things”, including “artisans”. The commoners using artisans’ tools to counter artisans’ own sorcery became a natural reaction, as documented in Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn Vol. 2, My clan had a shared estate. Any member of the clan who once lived on the estate would be impoverished and move away. Later, the house was dismantled for dilapidation. In one of the joints of the beam frame, a carving was discovered on a section of the beam. The carving was of a reined carriage running outward toward eaves, and the horseman wept a horsewhip behind. It was then that people realized the artisan had cast sorcery on the house. Some say, “Before the completion of the construction, cut out a wooden horse and put it on a 10-m long staff on the left side of the front gate. Place an ax under the horse. Asking the artisans to stride over the horse.” The effect of the solution has not been verified.46

As the author has pointed out, the likeness between these related things is not in any literary sense but a kind of mystical participation defined by Levy-Bruhl. The tools of artisans can be said as sacred articles worshipped in occultist rituals. In the ethnic Bai artisans’ ritual of worshipping the Deity of Woods in Dali’s Cai Village, which lies west of Lake Erhai in Yunnan, the ruler and the line marker are also revered. They place the divine tablets of the Divine Ruler Lad and Divine Line Marker Officer on the two sides of the “Great Auspicious Round Log” tablet, which symbolizes the deity of woods. The two tools in the ceremony apparently are apotheosized.47 Similar tools are also worshipped in the ritual by the Yi People’s artisans of Lvhe of Yunnan’s Chuxiong. There is a popular perception in the Hongcun region that artisans might be able to punish thieves who have stolen their tools through an occult ritual. After artisans find out tools stolen, they will prepare three sheets of red paper by writing down the following one by one on each paper: Divine Seat for Master Lu Ban of the State of Lu Divine Seat for Ruler Lad Divine Seat for Line Marker Officer

45

Yu Yue, Jottings from the Abode of Immortals (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, June 1986), 155–156. 46 Wang Qi, Hua Ying (Rev.), Jottings in the Lamplight of Autumn (Jinan: Yellow River Press, June 1990), 30. 47 Lv Daji & He Yaohua. (Eds.), Primitive Religions of Ethnic Groups in China: Yi, Bai, and Jino People (Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China), August 1996), 748–749.

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Place the three divine seats in a rice bucket full of rice, kill a chicken and use its blood for the ritual. Wind the line of the line marker on the wooden horse. Strike the plumb-bob of the line marker on the horse and chant, “Return soon! Return soon!” Carpenters and villagers all believe the ritual can bring headache to the thieves. The thieves must apologize with stripes of meat and hang the meat on the wooden horse to disengage the jinx.48 In this occult ritual, the ruler and the line marker are apotheosized to have divine seats. The worship about the Deity of Tools passed down by ancestors can cast the incantation to punish the thieves. The tools are not only apotheosized but also used in house builders’ sorcery to revenge the house owner. A folk carpenter of Hunan’s Xiangxi daubed his own blood on a worn chisel and cast curse on it. He hid the cursed article at some concealing place in the house owner’s house. The carpenter was convinced that the cursed chisel would turn into a demon to bedevil the house owner years later.49 Artisans’ tools are worshipped as gods and used as occult articles that are able to turn into demonic things. There is an occultist close connection between artisans and their tools.50 The method of “frying succubae” in Collated Drawings of Tilling and Weaving and Master Records of Agricultural Activities was deemed practical wisdom in both the Ming and Qing dynasties.51 After a carpenter cast a spell on the wooden dragon and concealed it on a boat, the fate of the boat owner was at the disposal of the occult article. The emergence of incantation cast onto the occult article in cases like this is worth noting. In these stories, the relation between the carpenter and the occult article he had concealed is 48

Interviewee, Li Zuochun, 75, male, of the Yi ethnicity, a famous carpenter. Location of interview: Red Village. Time of interview: July 25, 2008. 49 Tian Maojun, Artisans in West Hunan and Their Status Quo. Folklore Studies, 1998 (4), 41. 50 A story called “the Curved Ruler of Carpenter Yang” shows the carpenter’s tool worship. It is said that there is a carpenter named Yang Fazhan who lives in Qushi street. One day, Yang picked up his tools and went out to help villagers with woodwork. He arrived at Xiaohui street when suddenly the rain was pouring down with the wind howling. In haste, he ran to a nearby rock and hid under it to avoid the torrential rain. He looked at the big rock and said to himself, “How dangerous. I do hope this rock won’t fall down.” After he said this, the rock fell down. The anxious carpenter used his wooden ruler to stop it. Although the falling rock was held up, the ruler was weighed down. Three days had passed. People in the village did not see Yang coming back, so they went out to look for him. “Yang Fazhan, Yang Fazhan, where are you?” shouted the villagers. “I’m here, I’m here…” The villagers quickly moved the rock and rescued the Yang. Later villagers found that houses built using Yang’s curved ruler would never fall. So from then on, curved rulers became popular among carpenters. See Bi Jian, Legend of Tengchong (Dehong Nationalities Publishing House, May 1986), 182. In addition, according to a legend circulated in Tonghai, Yunnan Province about Zhang Guolao’s testing Luban’s bridges, Luban used a straight ruler to support a bridge, which curved the straight ruler. See Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005), 107. See Liu Huihao, Sun Min, Collected Works of Folk Literature in Yunnan Province (Yunnan People’s Publishing House, April 1988), 61–65. 51 Chu Renhuo. Worthless things (Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, August 1986), Vol. 4.

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governed by what Fraser calls the Law of Contagion. Thus, when the occult article was being fried, the carpenter was killed. However, scholars such as Xie Zhaozhe ridiculed such house builders’ sorcery.52 Xie, although touting his being an outlier disbelieving in sorcery, has made reference to the fact that house builders’ sorcery had attracted considerate adherents in Jiangnan (southern region of the Yangtze River) and Sanwu (areas surrounding the estuary of the Yangtze River). Among the professional house builders, carpenters seemed to possess greater occult power than earthwork artisans and stonemasons. Xie smartly exposed career carpenters’ hidden tricks but failed to end the influence and spread of an entrenched belief in sorcery that would not be curbed unless a major breakthrough was made in ideology and technology. Meanwhile, “it is a well-known fact that in human memory the testimony of a positive case always overshadows the negative one. One gain easily outweighs several losses. Thus the instances which affirm magic always loom far more conspicuously than those which deny it.”53 Thus, the house owner usually dared not to slight the artisans who worked for them. This also gives out a message that the existence of house builders’ sorcery, though a threat to the house owner, was an effective means for the artisans to protect their professional authority and interests. The three stories of occultist practices given in Yang Mu’s Miscellaneous Records of Western Farmstead demonstrate the application of the law of similarity. One story goes, and continuous wrestling noises were heard at night in a house. The owner realized it was paranormal but was unable to relieve the occult art and had to sell the estate. After the house was sold and dismantled, two small naked, disheveled wrestling puppets were found between the beams. In another story, the Hans who lived in the Gaoqiao neighborhood kept having family deaths over four decades without knowing the reason. It was not until a storm crushed a wall that they knew a mourning scarf hidden under a brick had spelled the deaths. The last one goes, a family in Changshu County had a new house built. For two or three generations, girls in the house committed adultery, which, as was later known, had been caused by the artisans who had placed between rafters wooden puppets of a woman and three or four seducers. The sorcery was relieved after the house owner had the puppets removed.54 How incomprehensible they were, these sorcery incidents were associated with folk people, thus having limited impact. In the early Ming Dynasty, an incident similar to the famous tragedy in the Han Dynasty took place. This time, Emperor Taizu was involved. “Biography of Xue Xiang” in History of the Ming Dynasty, records, In the eighth year of the emperor’s reign, Xue Xiang was appointed Minister of Works and oversaw the building of Fengyang Palace. The emperor sitting one day in the hall heard armed soldiers fighting on the ridge. Grand Preceptor Li Shanchang said it was artisans’ sorcery. 52

Xie Zhaozhe, Wuzazu (Jottings) (Shanghai: Shanghai Century Publishing Group & Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, August 2001), 112. 53 Bronisław Kasper Malinowski, Li Anzhai (Trans.), Magic, Science and Religion (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, May 1986), 70. 54 Liu Guiqiu, “Yanzhen” of Craftsman: An Example of Imitative Witchcraft, Folklore Studies, 1989 (3), 92.

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The raging emperor intended to execute them all. Xue remonstrated that shifts and goldsmiths and masons were not involved. Xue thus saved thousands. When Jingshen Hall was built, officials wrongly listed intermediate artisans as top-level. The furious emperor wanted to have them executed. Xue remonstrated again, “Being executed for incorrect reporting is overpunishment.” The emperor changed it to castration. Xue remonstrated once more, “Castration will impair this person. Caning followed by working with no wages would serve the purpose.”55

At that time, long years of war had just ended, and the Ming Empire was in its infancy. The emperor was very likely to have illusions. Merciful Xue’s remonstration saved many artisans’ lives. Chai Xiaofan, a scholar in early 20-century China, wrote in his Fantianlu conglu (Anecdotes collected by Xiaofan), Comprehensive institutions continued records: “In the 8th year of Ming Emperor Taizu’s reign, Fengyang Palace was completed. One day, the emperor sitting in the hall heard fighting noise of armed soldiers on the hall ridge. Li Shanchang reported the artisans had used sorcery. The furious Taizu wanted to execute all the artisans. Xue Xiang, Minister of Works remonstrated that they were on shifts, and goldsmiths and masons were not involved. He thus saved thousands." Today’s construction works still provide evidence of the practice of sorcery among common people. House builders unhappy with their customers might cast the occult spells to settle the score. Like spat between children, it produces no serious harm. It was extremely ridiculous for the early Ming Dynasty to exercise severe group punishment for this.56

Emperor Taizu, however, firmly believed in the harm house builders’ sorcery might produce. He could get over what he thought had happened in Fengyang Palace lingered and mentioned the incident twice in his edicts. The Imperial Edict to Exempt Grain Tax of Henan and Other Provinces, Yangzhou, Cizhou, Anqing and Huizhou reads, Military expeditions were made in the past. All military logistics were prepared and supplied by the people there. Today, the warring chaos has been calmed, and the land becomes peaceful once again. It is an opportune time for the people to move forward to thrive. This is our intention. The incident of artisans’ sorcery on the palace impeded the initial effort and brought burdens onto regions in proximity. Logistics to outer regions became more difficult. We ordered the Ministry of Revenue on the 25th day of the fourth month this year to make a national budget to balance treasury. Their response to me says military provisions are sufficient for three years. I issued an edict to Henan and Beiping provinces and Hebei and Yangzhou prefectures to exempt the grain tax of summer and autumn. Details of all matters are the following…57

Prayer for Devotion to Gods of Soil and Grain reads, “When the dynasty was just founded, an altar was placed here besides palaces and shielding walls. Artisans’ sorcery interrupted the peace and brought disturbance. Imperial orders were given to rebuild palaces. The work is now complete. For the sake of the state and to ward off 55

Zhang Peiheng & Yu Suisheng. (Eds.), History of Ming (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 2086. 56 Chai Xiaofan, Anecdotes Collected by Xiaofan (Taiyuan: Shanxi Classics Publishing House & Shanxi Education Press, September 1999), 1130. 57 Yao Shiguan et al. (Eds.), Collected Works of Emperor Taizu of Ming, Vol. 1. In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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sorcery, the altar is built on the right of Wumen Gate. The rite calls out an offering ceremony upon the completion of the project. We hereby ask all divinities to accept the offerings.”58 From the preceding, we can see that Emperor Taizu detested house builders’ sorcery so intensely that he ordered the rebuilding of the palace and had the altar of soil and grain placed at the right side of Wumen Gate to shun the possible occult spells. What was merely a superstition in the eyes of a modern man or a cock-and-bull story for daredevils like Xie Zhaozhe in ancient times had fretted the emperor and even continued to haunt him in his later life. The event took a terrible toll: Artisans lost their lives, works were remade, and labor and money were splurged. A large volume of Qing Dynasty’s manuscripts recorded house builders’ sorcery, many offering great details. They have become important sources for research into sorcery. Ji Yun wrote that approximately three generations in his clan had suffered from insomnia because of an occult article concealed in a corner of the house by artisans.59 Even renowned scholars, such as Ji Yun, believed in the effect of occult arts, especially when the victims were his loved ones. The story of a wooden lamp stand was set in a period earlier than the Qing Dynasty, as recorded in the Jin Dynasty. “The Spirit in a Wooden Lamp Stand” in Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian says, Gandu’s Chief Police Commissioner Song Qian employed Zhao Dang to teach his children. On a quiet night when Zhao was reading alone in his respite, a pretty girl appeared suddenly beside the lamp and said, “My dear is away; my heart is sad and racking. By the window I daze in winds; tears drop like rain beating against the west window.” She put off the lamp and rushed Zhao to bed. “I am from the east and married to a man in Pengcheng. Since my husband is now on tour, I do not want to be in bed alone at night!’ Zhao accepted her. The pretty girl went in the morning and returned in dusk. His students noticed the difference of Zhao and reported to Song. Song went to check it out. Zhao embraced a pretty girl to hide her and realized that a wooden lamp stand was in his arms. They burned the lamp stand, and the spirit was gone.60

Sun Mingjing, an officer from Zichuan, described his encounter with a hexing succubus. His story was written down by Yuan Mei.61 Mingjing had been plagued by a hexing puppet secretly hidden in his house by a craftsman. This obviously involved the ancient art of idol sorcery originating from the reigning era of the unprincipled king Wuyi of the Shang Dynasty. The story goes like this: The craftsman who renovated the house for Mingjing’s father-in-law wreaked his vengeance on his customer after his request was refused (the trigger of the sorcery)—(hexing) a wooden puppet dressed in red, wearing a red string around the neck and having hands cuffed 58

Yao Shiguan et al. (Eds.), Collected Works of Emperor Taizu of Ming, Vol. 17. In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 59 Ji Yun, Jottings from the Thatched Abode of Close Observations (Shanghai: Shanghai Century Publishing Group & Shanghai Classics Publishing House, April 2005), 89. 60 Anonymous; Jin Xin (Punctuated & checked), Miscellaneous Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, May 1986), 232. 61 Yuan Mei, What the Master Would not Discuss, (Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing House, January 1987), 552.

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was concealed in the house—Sun Mingjing fell sick and heard “strangling sound”. He then saw a tiny child in his dream (the hex was acting)—He slashed the puppet to a bronze urn with a sword (uncasting the hex)—The craftsman died (the price the occultist has to pay). Unlike Hong Mai of Song Dynasty, the author revealed the reason for all the happening in the very beginning, though he kept the readers in suspense until the most thrilling moment. Flashback, as a format of narration, has often been used by storytellers to make their stories more riveting and impressive. Many stories about building construction sorcery have been told in the same format. Sun Mingjing probably suffered from insomnia and dreaminess, causing him to be bewitched by phantom beauty. Interestingly, the tiny puppet transformed into a scaring walking puppet—a wooden puppet turning into a bogy without changing its appearance. The two stories on house builders’ covert sorcery recorded in the Manuscripts of Rain Listening Pavilion might be the most spellbinding among all the writings on the subject. These two pieces are also classical examples of novella.62 What befalls Qiu Yunda’s father evidences the law of similarity and law of contagion in occult arts. In addition, the method of casting spells in the story is similar to that documented in the Qing Dynasty book Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry,63 and the method of removing the spells comes from Ming Dynasty’s Collated Drawings of Tilling and Weaving and Master Records of Agricultural Activities. It is thus clear that house builders’ knowledge of sorcery and folk knowledge of countering sorcery had already been playing a role in society. The two opposite forces—artisans and house owners and their knowledge of occult arts and ways of removing them—interacted in the societal context. The anti-sorcery adherents reacted with mercy, not using the method of “frying the hexing puppet” to kill the enchanting craftsman but inflicting incurable dementia onto him. The second tale is a dramatic event developed around the law of similarity, contagion and imitation. The occult articles concealed by artisans were in dozens. The puppets had the likeness of officers and bailiffs. The puppets resembling officers were hidden at the joint of the bean and lintel and the others under columns. The hiding locations and the making of puppets apparently followed certain rules. The artisans’ sinister plot was having puppet-transformed bogies to play in a scene of legal proceedings. As a result of the sorcery, Zhang was involved in year-round lawsuits. The two stories were told in the same format: (the trigger of the sorcery)— (hexing)—(the hex was acting)—(removal of the hex)—(the price the occultist has to pay). From the situation of the house owner interrogating the craftsman, lies in the event were exposed. The elements used to remove the spell in the second story also indicate that courage was the most essential element required to quell bogies. Blood 62

Qingliang Daoren, Jottings from Rain-appreciating Pavilion. Edition: Biji xiaoshuo daguan (A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches (Nanjing: Guangling Classics Publishing House, April 1983), Vol. 25, 337. 63 The occult art is to write a 日 character in a circular article with an annotation saying “The black sun hidden in the house brings noxiousness, dull for days, as cloudy days, sickness-stricken for years. Hide the rune in the front gate architrave.” See Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 317.

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from pigs and sheep was effective in this process. The puppet-transformed bogies were walking puppets since their appearances were retained. Professional house builders were by no means the only people who know how to practice black magic using wooden, clay or paper puppets. Occult practices such as these were once quite popular among the general public and had been mastered by many underworld alchemists. In Pu Songling’s collection of short stories of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, there are episodes of underworld alchemists using hexing puppets to frighten people at night for racketeering. The occultist principle is the same as that of house builders’ use of hexing puppets that can transform into bogies or monsters.64 From Pu’s comments, alchemists’ occult arts had a large following in society. Sorcery on the basis of the law of imitation was practiced by not only underworld alchemists but also some vile Taoists. “Taoist and Sorcery” in More Collections of Mysterious Stories, Vol. 1, depicts, Hearsay and Gossip writes, “Chongyi’s Jin Doe left for Yunnan to serve an office after passing the provincial scholar examination and his family remained in town. One day, several Taoist priests dropped in his house to ask for donation. The Jin sent him off rudely. The Taoists left a paper note. At night, fire went off and was put off several times between beams and columns. His family hired a Cai Doe as a private teacher. Cai brought his own son to the class. One day, Cai saw two of his sons like twins sitting the class and talking the same and giving the same answer. Cai could not tell which one was a phantom. Cai held the two tight. One of them dropped to the ground suddenly. Cai stomped him who turned out to be a paper puppet. Cai knew this must be what caused the fire. Therefore, he put down his own son and dropped the paper puppet into water to quell it. The spell was gone. The same Taoists also left a note to Anqiu’s Lao. At night, a snake showed up and committed adultery with maid servants in the house. The frightened household head paid the blackmail. The spell was then removed.65

It is not surprising that Taoism is closely associated with Maoshan sorceries and talismans as the religion incorporated folk sorceries at the outset and has interacted with the latter during the course of its development. This is also the reason why the house builder’s covert sorcery varied. The interaction between Taoist and folk sorceries can be further illustrated by another example in “Spell to Heal Burning Wounds” of More Collections of Mysterious Stories, Vol. 2, Stories of the Paranormal records, “Sorcerers dancing over boiling water or flaming fire must chant a spell, ‘Nagarjuna Bodhisattva bestows the power of northern water quelling fire onto me to dispel southern fire star as my command. Abracadabra.’ When finishing, they would blow air toward the Seal of the Perfected Warrior before quenching it with cold water. All blister or sore will be cured. This is very effective for the healing purpose.66

64

Pu Songling, Yu Canying (Trans. & annotated), Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (Chongqing Publishing Group, 2002), 69–70. 65 Chu Renhuo, Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 2035. 66 Chu Renhuo, Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 1568.

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Folk and religious sorceries vary in the latter’s strict written rules. Though the latter were developed on the basis of the former, religious sorcery had been practiced according to established rules, and folk sorcery tended to absorb every form of witchcraft or magic that people believed in. Hence, the folk sorcery was a hybrid of Buddhist, Taoist and primitive sorcery. It was thus less sophisticated and lacking originality. House builders’ sorcery, as a form of folk sorcery, was built on primitive religions and had borrowed heavily from Taoism. According to records on sorcery incidents, house builders’ sorcery, if practiced in a way contrary to the established rules, would produce the reverse effect, turning a curse into a blessing. For example, Records of Unusual Gossips says, Zhou Ruiru, a native of Qianzhong, hired a carpenter to fix his dilapidated front gate, but he mistreated the man and haggled down to pennies. The carpenter knew magic. When well treated, he would give his blessing; otherwise, he would give the curse. The carpenter hated Zhou for his meanness and spiked dozens of red-lacquered bamboo chopsticks underground, trying to curse Zhou’s luck. Immediately before casting the spell, the carpenter noticed Zhou was watching him. He could not help but change his chant loudly: “The first house behind the gate has dozens of flags of bliss. Enjoy prosperity for life. Great offspring are good to last.” Later, when his gate broke again, Zhou still asked the carpenter to fix it. Thinking him almost being caught before, the carpenter wanted to make a hexing succubus this time. He carved a wooden puppet and a horse plus a handful of rice and put those occult articles inside the doorsill. Zhou saw what he did through a window and questioned him. The carpenter pointed his forefinger and middle finger and walked with a gait often used in rituals. When he saw the house owner, he sprouted out water and chanted, “Hoot-hoot tut-tut! The red sun rises in the east. The son rises to be a lord. Rice and millet fill the granary. Squires come and donkeys file. Alone, woes fall. Together, luck comes. Abracadabra.” For over a hundred years, Zhou had prospered as the carpenter had chanted. The saying goes, “Man proposes but God disposes.” So it shall be.67

Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry mentioned a way of making house builders’ sorcery ineffective: “The incantation must be done alone and should never be seen by another pair of eyes. Close your eyes and then open them. The magic takes effect instantly.”68 Zhou Ruiru obviously forced the carpenter to hit the taboo of occult arts and turned the curse to work in his favor instead. The use of incantation indicates its undeniable importance. Here, one issue arises in our discussion. International academia, in general, divides magic into white magic and black magic depending on the occultist’s intentions.69 In reality, the distinction between the two is questionable. Human Talks from Nonhuman Realm provides an example that challenges the idea that deems one as an antipode to the other.70 Sorcery itself is riddled with contradictions. It does not work in all situations and may even turn against the practitioner if it was practiced in a way incompliant with the established rules. The 67

Yongne Jushi, Whispered Tales. Edition: Biji xiaoshuo daguan (A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches) (Nanjing: Guangling Classics Publishing House, April 1983), Vol. 25, 296. 68 Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 316. 69 Li Anzhai (Ed. & trans.), Magic and Language (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, March 1983). 70 Cheng Zhixiang, The Insider’s Words. Edition: Biji xiaoshuo daguan (A comprehensive anthology of literary sketches) (Nanjing: Guangling Classics Publishing House, April 1983), Vol. 24, 218–219.

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classification of white magic and black magic, as a result, is obviously inappropriate. If we adhere to the strict dichotomy, our understanding of sorcery will be hampered. We need to keep in mind that white and black magic are relative terms and may sometimes transform into each other. Ming Dynasty’s Eight Treatises on Nourishing Life contains a large number of spells and tricks house builders may use and ways to remove them. From this, we may see the diversification of occult arts and their underlying principles.71 The hush-hush sorcery practiced by artisans to the detriment of house owners turned out to have a myriad of approaches available. Each of artisans had his own method. Among the many ways of countering the sorcery spells Gao Lian records in his book, one is praying to the local god of land who may then come to the help. An evil may be removed by order, exorcism or preventive measures. A cursing ritual sometimes involves a nail being driven into an image to the likeness of the person cursed, a practice echoing ancient idol sorcery. In Gao Lian’s records, there is a way of suppressing evils with upside-down wood. This could be evidenced by Achang people’s building construction tradition. In the Republic of China period (1911– 1949), when the Achang people built a house, they would have small banners written with “dao hao” (for joy), “dao you” (for wealth), “dao fu” (for luck), and “dao gui” (for prominence) and paste them, either upside-down or askew, on the four eave columns outside of the great hall. Story has it that the practice originates with a carpenter who was at odds with a customer who hired him for building construction. Believing he was badly treated with low-quality food, the disgruntled carpenter installed the four eave columns upside down to take revenge on the house owner. Later, the carpenter found out the house owner packed pig offal for him to take home. After realizing he had wronged the house owner, he let his apprentice paste the four slips with the words “blessing”, “thriving”, “luck”, and “prosperity” in the columns. However, his apprentice could not read. Therefore, the four slips were pasted either upside-down or slantingly. Afterwards, the house owner had an auspicious life. The custom was passed down as a house construction ritual.72 Ming Dynasty’s Collated Drawings of Tilling and Weaving, Master Records of Agricultural Activities, and Eight Treatises on Nourishing Life document house builders’ sorcery as part of life tips. Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry, Book of Lu Ban, Timberwork Manual, and Timberwork Manuscripts contain the knowledge of how house builders used sorcery. Writings on sorcery incidents by scholars of the Ming and Qing dynasties also record spell casting and removing methods, echoing the popular belief in occult arts. Furthermore, orally transmitted folklore and knowledge related to sorcery is a much more profound system. The two contending forces—the sorcerers and liberators—used their respective knowledge to battle each other in numerous sorcery incidents.

71

Gao Lian, Eight Treatises on Following the Principles of Life, Vol. 7. In Wenyuan ge siku quanshu (Complete library in four sections, Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 72 Zhong Jingwen (Ed.) & Wan Jianzhong et al., History of Chinese Folklore: Republic of China (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, March 2008), 153–154.

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The defensive behavior of victims of sorcery—house owners—was undoubtedly to break the threatening incantation. Artisans used sorcery to flaunt their authority, protect their interests and esteem and acquire an awing social status. Interestingly, apart from vile sorcerers, artisans could also be liberators who remove the spells cast unto their customers. Craftsman’s classics include the methods of removing the occultist vice. Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry record both the spells and ways of breaking them. Below are examples of the solutions. It is highly likely that during building construction, carpenters, masons and other tradesmen would cast spells against their customers. [To break them, the house owner] needs to offer three animal sacrifices and perform a ritual to summon divine generals and Lu Ban the Immortal Master on the beam-lifting day. He shall then chant a secret rune saying, “The malicious and ignorant artisan used pests, poisons and hexing succubus against me. The evil works on the one who did it, inflicting no harms to me. Chanting on the sly seven times, harm will fall onto the evil doer. Under the Imperial Decree of the Supreme Lord Lao, no harm falls on me, and all things become auspicious. Abracadabra. Burn the talisman at a secrete place without being seen. Drip blood from a brown and black dog into a jar of wine. Three cups of wine was given to the head of artisans, and the remaining wine was distributed to the remaining artisans on the beam-lifting day. Should the artisans use any hexing succubae or the like, the harm will be inflicted upon the artisans, and the house owner will be safe and sound.73

Rampant sorcery and popular belief in it raised house owners’ vigilance against artisans. To lessen the tension between the two contending forces, methods to remove the spells were valued. House builders’ sorcery remained popular in the Republic of China era. Chai Xiaofan, a scholar of that era, said, “Today’s construction works still give evidence of the practice of sorcery among common people. House builders unhappy with their customers might cast an occult spell to settle the score. Like a spat between children, it produces no serious harm.”74 However, given the popular belief in sorcery at that time, Chai very probably downplayed its impact. According to Sawada Mizuho, a Japanese scholar, in addition to Chai Xiaofan’s Fantianlu conglu (Anecdotes collected by Xiaofan), other contemporary scholars’ writings that contain a reference to the subject include Zheng Yimei’s Collection of Plum Petals, Haishang Shushisheng’s (Sun Jiazhen) Manuscripts of Awakening Retreat, and Wang Daxia’s Anecdotes of Strange Things.75 Zhejiang’s Cao Songye collected over 80 stories about house builders’ sorcery in the 1920 and 1930s. These stories typically tell readers why a sorcery incident took place, how, and whether the magical power worked or failed.76 They reveal the underlying principle for house builders’ sorcery and the conflict between 73

Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 316–323. 74 [PRC] Chai Xiaofan, Anecdotes collected by Xiaofan (Taiyuan: Shanxi Classics Publishing House & Shanxi Education Press, September 1999), 1130. 75 Sawada Mizuho, Ch¯ ugoku no juh¯o (Tokyo: Hirakawa Shuppan Inc., December 1990, Revised Version); Deng Qiyao, A Study of Chinese Witchcraft (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, December 1999), 121. 76 Cao Songye, Stories of Masonry Workers and Carpenters, Folk Customs (108), 1–7.

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the house owner and artisans. The Law of Similarity, Contagion and Transformation all played a role. The use of items traditionally believed to have magic power, such as blood, incense, and noxious matters, in spell-breaking rituals generated popular superstition. Over time, their use was no longer limited to house builders’ sorcery. In addition, some occult methods listed are consistent with what is recorded in Wu Rong’s edition of Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry, while the others are not. The reasons are two. One is that classics dealing with house builders’ sorcery are many, and Wu Rong’s book is just one among them. The other reason is that artisans may have created their own ways of practicing sorcery. House builders’ sorcery was not uncommon in the Republican era and onward. In order to revenge their customers, artisans in western Hunan would occasionally chant the Tripping Incantation when building a bullpen, hoping cows fall to their death or they would chant the Thousand-year Stunting Incantation when building a pigpen, hoping pigs would not gain weight. The kindred curses should have no effect, but secretly placing spiders, centipedes, and ants in beams brought real calamities.77 In the Song Dynasty, centipedes hidden in the column mortise poisoned an elderly person to death. The case almost ended with an erroneous verdict to a filial woman if not for a righteous magistrate.78 Since house builders’ sorcery had already appeared in the Song Dynasty and the origin of sorcery was closely associated with gu (poisonous pests), we cannot rule out the possibility that the death of the elder was caused by the centipede covertly planted by house builders. Folklore about artisans in Dali’s ethnic Bai community includes a story of house builders’ sorcery (“Genzi Building a New House”). In the tale, the carpenter dissatisfied with the hirer’s daily meal arrangements hid a piece of so-called “Ghost Wood” shim under the main beam. It was said the wood might make strange sounds at night to scare the occupants. Later, the carpenter found out he had misread the house owner. He thus removed the shim and sang a duet in a Bai tune. Genzi, the house owner, happily saw the carpenter off.79 In fact, the Ghost Wood, also called “Ghost Sound Wood”, is a kind of pine wood that will make popping sounds when cracking. Carpenters would plant this kind of wood under a beam as a revenge for mistreatment. The frightened house owner would mistake it for ghosts.80 The Bai carpenter pitted himself against his hirer by making use of his knowledge of the true attribute of the wood as well as the popular belief in occult arts to further his interests and uplift the professional authority. The two cases specified above were not just about imagined, useless sorcery but an application of specific knowledge of nature to pain 77

Tian Maojun, Artisans in West Hunan and Their Status Quo, Folklore Studies, 1998 (4), 41. Hong Mai; He Zhuo (Punctuated and checked), Tales of Yijian (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, October 1981), 975. 79 Editorial Team of Folktales of the Bai People of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Folktales of the Bai People (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, January 1984), 320–321. 80 Yang Lifeng, Techniques, Idea, and Style of Artisans: A Survey on the Traditional Wood Structure Building Techniques of “Yi Ke Yin” Vernacular Dwellings in South Yunnan, Ph.D. Dissertation (Shanghai: Tongji University, December 2005), 24. 78

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others. Therefore, sorcery and science are not two polar opposites but may often be used together in human activities. (a) There was a favus-infected carpenter in Laohuachang, Dachengsi. Though he was dexterous in his trade, he was mistreated by the rest. One day, some carpenters tried to erect the frames, and the carpenter sat alone enjoying a cup of tea. He put a 2 m-long stick on the ground. The frames could not be put up. A villager saw him sipping his tea and went to report to the house owner. The house owner came right away and asked him to help. The carpenter swung a hand-ax to knock on the stick trice, saying, “Why not get up?” The frames were put up. When people were being stunned, the carpenter went home. (b) There was a carpenter who went home after finishing making mortise and tenon. Villagers began to erect the house without waiting for him, but the house could not be put up. Later, they found that the carpenter pasted the name of the timber on its back. The villagers could not help but asked the carpenter to help. The house was up. (c) A family hired a carpenter to build them a staircase. Before the work started, the house owner promised to cook a rooster to feast the carpenter and familiarly called the carpenter brother-in-law. However, the house owner did not keep his promise. When finishing the staircase, the carpenter threw a 2 m-long stick down from upstairs and said, “The staircase is level.” After the carpenter went home, the house owner found he would fall down whenever he tried to get up the stairs to the top. He had no choice but to ask for the help of the carpenter. He cooked a chicken and held the chicken on a tray to come down the stairs to give it to him. The staircase was ready for use. (d) A carpenter went to his sister-in-law to do some wood work. The carpenter stayed late in bed every morning. His sister-in-law vented, “You are so lazy!” “I bet you cannot get up tomorrow,” the carpenter talked back. The following morning, the sister-in-law could not get up and get on her pants. It turned out the carpenter had used a magic trick. The interviewees said these sorcery incidents are not hearsays or tales but what actually happened as they could remember. Artisans’ tools are their magic articles that enable them to have mysterious occult power to control the construction of houses. Housing builders sorcerily experienced acclimation and localization in ethnic minority communities along border regions. Decades ago, a folklorist and his educated-youth friends tried to explore the truth about sorcery. They made a trip to a newly built house that was supposedly haunted, as scary knocking sounds were often heard at night, and found out it was actually bats attracted by the blood of rice-field eel daubed on the door. The occult art of “ghost retching” under the bed at midnight was actually to put pepper power inside a toad mouth before muffling it and hiding it in a bamboo tube with a breathing hole under the bed. At midnight, the poor creature would make horrifying sounds like an old man coughing.81 Many ethnic Yi sorcerers had a grip on these tricks. They would use the blood of rice-field 81

Deng Qiyao, A Study of Chinese Witchcraft (Shanghai: Shanghai Art & Literature Publishing House, December 1999), 122–124.

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eel to draw a grim-looking ghost on rough paper and paste the paper on the wall when it dries. After spewing a mouthful soda on the paper, the image of a bloody ghost will appear. In that ghost folklore-rich rural society, on a spooky night, the enchanter would successfully bring fears into a dwelling place. In the 1990s, there was still a public safety case associated with house builders’ sorcery in Zhejiang’s Wenling. During the Spring Festival of 1994, Chen Dezheng, a villager of Xialuocun in Taiping Town who had been suffering vasculitis and became impoverished, was beguiled by a sorcerer to remove the beams and roof tiles of his house in search of the occult article supposedly planted by carpenter Lin Fuzeng. According to the sorcerer, Chen’s sickness was incited by the sorcery practiced by the carpenter during house construction. Chen Dezhang’s wife, who was sent to settle the score, smashed the doors and windows of three rooms at Lin’s house in Xialuocun. Chen Dezhang’s other relatives gathered a mob to crush equipment and products of Lin’s factory and forced it to shut down. Moreover, the mob also shattered Lin’s new dwelling place, but Lin was not there. The mob returned to Lin’s factory and continued to wreck the factory. Many villagers also began to dismantle their beams, as did the people in the neighboring village to hold Lin responsible.82 Is house builders’ sorcery fading away? We should say that although its decline is inevitable, it is too early to say it has completely vanished. The occult art has a long history and broad popularity. We may describe its future as perhaps aptly described by a veteran folklorist who commented on folk belief in the 1990s: “The long-standing and deep-rooted belief in supernatural power will continue in China’s expansive rural and mountainous regions. As long as there are natural and human catastrophes, pains of life, aging, sickness, and death, people’s fear and prayer for supernatural power will never cease.”83

5.4 Classification of Sorcery Folklore in Social and Cultural Context The belief that professional house builders may influence the fortunes of house owners by concealing objects is doubtlessly superstition. When performed for evil purposes, the act of concealment might disrupt the lives of both the house builder and the owner. Why could such practice exist for an extended period of time? Though we have touched upon the issue in the preceding sections, we still need to add a few explanatory comments here. Digging into those sorcery stories, we may find a myriad of reasons why artisans would perform sorcery for evil purposes. According to Wolfram Eberhard, such sorcery (what he called the motif of vice) might have been performed for three 82

Qian Yu & Jian Ping, Carpenters Suffered due to the Swindler’s Nonsense. People’s Daily, 1994 (5). 83 Wu Bing’an, 1995, A Study of Chinese Folklore (Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, January 1995), 300.

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reasons. One is the artisan was mistreated by the house owner (which may be in one of the three situations, intended, unintended, and unintended but misread). Another is “a craftsman’s practical joke”. The last one is “incidental vice”.84 In Qing Dynasty’s manuscripts, there was one case of craftsman’s accidental harm to the house owner. Manuscripts of Immortal Pavilion on Mount Youtai writes, “The Liu newly built a house. People living inside had blood stasis. A feng-shui expert believed abnormality came from the beam. After they sent someone to check it out, they confirmed a red worm of a few centimeters long there but failed to have it removed. They replaced the beam and the sickness was gone. The reason was that one carpenter had accidentally cut his finger when at work, and his blood stained the beam.85 Scholars also gave accounts of how house owners treated artisans badly. Some lamented, “House builders’ sorcery is indeed to blame, but the house owner’s asperity may deserve it. It is said, ‘A big mind shall not care about the petty.’ That’s quite true.”86 There might be another classification. One is the intended. Another is unintended. The former was common. Artisans’ vengeance might have been driven by a strong motive of seeking societal acceptance. Put aside occult arts. A conversation between a carpenter and a Taoist can unravel the reasons for all those incidents from the perspective of the social status of carpenters who were craving for recognition. Scholar Craftsman in Worthless Things, Vol. 3, writes, One well-educated carpenter who called himself scholar-carpenter often supervised the work at a Taoist abbey. One Taoist mocked him, “A carpenter calls himself a Confucian carpenter. Only I do not know him a Confucian worthy or a Confucian unworthy?” The carpenter replied, “A man is called a person of Tao (Taoist). Only I do not know him in the Tao of Hungry Ghost or the Tao of Animals?”87

Regardless of their profession, people crave for recognition and respect of others. This, however, might not be achieved in the stratified society in which cultural inertia has stiffened. The artisans who had devoted their energy and wisdom to the building of houses and temples might not get the deserved respect and were thus forced to seek other ways to achieve the goal, sorcery for example. Indeed, in the long course of history, artisans as members of low caste suffered oppression and mistreatment. Some scholars have pointed out that agriculture was always deemed more important than handicrafts and commerce by dynastic rulers. Emperor Yongzheng was no exception. Folk music from his reigning period showed that the lowliness and nobleness of a profession was judged based on remuneration. Even artisans themselves believed their profession was “the lowest among the four trades”. Stele of Lu Ban Hall says, 84

Wolfram Eberhard, Wang Yansheng & Zhou Zusheng (Trans.), Typen Chinesischer Volksmärchen (Beijing: The Commercial Press, February 1999), 170–171. 85 Yu Yue, Jottings from the Abode of Immortals (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, June 1986), 116. 86 Qingliang Daoren, Jottings from Rain-appreciating Pavilion. Edition: Biji xiaoshuo daguan (A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches (Nanjing: Guangling Classics Publishing House, April 1983), Vol. 25, 337. 87 Chu Renhuo; Li Mengsheng (Revised & punctuated), Worthless Things, in A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches of the Qing Dynasty (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, October 2007), 1148.

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“Artisans of my ilk work to build houses. Though of all trades, ours is the lowest, what we do serves daily needs, and gratitude is even [words missing in original source].”88 “Artisans of my ilk work to build houses. Though of all trades, ours is the lowest, what we do help us maintain a living.”89 In fact, “Despite all plaints, they admit their profession at the low end of all trades. But, for the same reason, they seek different ways to promote their status, build a sense of belonging and increase competitiveness…most importantly, to create and strengthen the symbol of their professional belief and make this symbol acceptable to all classes in the society.”90 In other words, house builders’ sorcery may be considered continued utilitarian behavior of this group to gain greater respect and higher social status. Here, we examine the motive behind artisans’ occult practices from the perspective of social structure. Like what has been repeatedly emphasized from the very beginning, the artisans and the house owner have been in a bargaining game. From the remuneration (wages, meals, respect) aspect, the two have been in fact in a supply–demand relationship. In terms of sorcery, the artisans have the alleged capacity of influencing their hirer’s prosperity while the house owners crave for the auspicious and try hard to avoid the unpropitious”. The artisans use as their bargaining chip their crafts and knowledge of occult arts (including how to bring good or back luck and various methods of breaking spells), while the house owners have as their bargaining chip the offer of remuneration and knowledge of anti-sorcery measures. Very often, they would reach an agreement for their respective interests. Artisans sell their skills and boon-based sorcery and promise not to plant vice-based curse, while the house owner offers decent wages and benefits. Once the agreement is breached, black magic would be performed covertly, and both sides would pay a price. In general, the house owner suffers losses and implements measures to counter the sorcery and punish the carpenter. In the confrontation, artisans’ knowledge of black magic and house owners’ countermeasures became the most effective deterrent. The analysis from the perspective of social structure does not suffice to explain why people believe in sorcery over such a long period of time. For instance, while no sorcery is involved in house construction in modern society, the bargaining game between construction workers and property owners stays the same. Construction workers ask for decent pay, safe workplace and respect, and for owners, project quality, efficiency, and compliance are what matters. This means that the negotiating game is common to an employer-employee relation. Only playing cards differ due to different social and cultural contexts. This reveals another reason for house builders’ sorcery to exist—the cultural context. 88

Stele of Lu Ban Hall, 2001, Collectanea of Chinese Dynasties’ Stone Stele Rubbings in Beijing Library, Vol. 71, 17; see Zhao Shiyu, Deng Qingping, Society of Lu Ban: Ritual Organization and Industrial Advocacy in Qing-Republic Era, Study on History of the Qing, 2001 (1). 89 Stele of Lu Ban Hall, 2001, Collectanea of Chinese Dynasties’ Stone Stele Rubbings in Beijing Library, Vol. 76, 32, see zhao Shiyu, Deng Qingping, Society of Lu Ban: Ritual Organization and Industrial Advocacy in Qing-Republic Era, Study on History of the Qing, 2001 (1). 90 Zhao Shiyu, Deng Qingping, Society of Lu Ban: Ritual Organization and Industrial Advocacy in Qing-Republic Era, Study on History of the Qing, 2001 (1), 3–4.

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Societal demands and popular belief in sorcery have encouraged the practice of occult arts. The many accounts of sorcery incidents reveal how the Chinese people value a safe living environment. Housing has a direct impact on dwellers’ woes and boons. When the existence of sorcery is widely believed in a culture, so is the existence of house builders’ sorcery. Unavoidably, most of the artisans and the house owners within such a cultural context were socially remolded into believers of sorcery. “So pervasive a belief must respond to deep human needs or anxieties. At one level, it is a simple attempt to explain misfortune, which in turn may offer the hope this can be reversed. It also seems to incorporate elements of our shared fantasy life, to articulate some of our deepest fears and to express our latent suspicions of other people.”91 Cao Songye noted, “It is said when buying a copy of Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry, you will receive the book from the shop owner who turns his head from you. Masons and carpenters who have read the book would break three weeds if they do not want to practice the arts. This is because not harming others after reading the book is also a vice. So we can see people generally see it as a book about black art.”92 In addition, the folklore says whoever practices the art in the Book of Lu Ban will be cursed with great loss. This gives evidence to a public perception of sorcery and the conclusion that the long-term existence of house builders’ sorcery is not merely attributed to its utilitarian value as a bargaining chip for the artisans— “rational men” who sought the maximization of their interests—in their negotiation with the house owner. Within the same perspective of sorcery mentality, the numerous fictional tales associated with house builders’ sorcery are explainable. Some even can be considered fantasies so dramatic that have become surreal yet real in sorcery mentality in the minds of the artisans and the house owner, which are sated with fabrication, fantasy, suspicion, revenge, deterrence, fear, and lies, as natural constituents of a human body. Even in the era when sorcery was ridiculed by science, we still observed the functions of these human instincts. The decline in sorcery did not point to the end of sorcery mentality. The mentality as a legacy continues to exist and sway the behavior of human society or even lives. The oral and written accounts of sorcery incidents transmitted among the general public have strongly supported the belief in artisans’ sorcery, which has thus become a particular motif of folklore. “These traditions hold a considerable place in the folk cultures of the world and form an important part of the study of folklore…These legends and tales are not simply exercises of the imagination or a traditional expression of collective fantasies, but their constant repetition, during the course of long evening sessions, bring about a note of expectation, of fear, which at the slightest encouragement may induce illusions and provoke the liveliest reactions.”93 Legends related to artisans’ sorcery fall into two categories. One is about the patriarch of 91

Robin Briggs, Gao Yonghong & Lei Peng (Trans.), Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft (Beijing: Peking University Press, November 2005), 3. 92 Cao Songye, Stories of Masonry Workers and Carpenters, Folk Customs (108), 1. 93 Marcel Mauss, Yang Yudong (Trans.), A General Theory of Magic (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2007), 43.

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carpenters, Lu Ban. The other is about ordinary artisans. Whereas many studies in this field fail to distinguish the legends and tales, we think it necessary to clearly define the legends of house builders’ sorcery. Scholars have accurately defined myth, legend and folktale. William Bascom believed folktales were fictional prosaic narratives, while myths and legends were considered factual descriptions by the narrator and the audience, only myths happened in the remote past and legends happened in a world close to the present one.94 Bascom apparently discussed myths, legends, and folktales in a social and cultural context. The faithfulness of myths and legends is the belief on their factual authenticity by the people who are transmitting them. The faithfulness of legends is built upon the social and cultural context that supports them. This is also true for legends on artisans’ sorcery in the preceding sections. It is within this context that legends strengthen belief in artisans’ sorcery, which, in turn, becomes the most active element that invigorates the sorcery system. Bronisław Malinowski commented on “current mythology of magic”. He said, “Round every big magician there arises a halo made up of stories[…]In every savage society such stories form the backbone of belief in magic.”95 Myths, legends, and folktales may switch positions with the change of the context. “In passing from one society to another through diffusion, a myth or legend may be accepted without being believed, thus becoming a folktale in the borrowing society, and the reverse may also happen. It is entirely possible that the same tale type may be a folktale in one society, a legend in a second society, and a myth in a third… Nevertheless is it important to know what the majority in a society believes to be true at a given point in time, for people act upon what they believe to be true.”96 From the commoners and Emperor Zhu Yuanzheng, believers of artisans’ sorcery were swayed by legends. Numerous sorcery incidents thus occurred, which then became part of the legends again. The never-ending stream of legends invigorated the belief in sorcery. Evidently, there were always skeptics, such as the daredevil Xie Zhaozhe, but more were holding a “better-believe-it” attitude. The small number of disbelievers soon had their voice drowned in the social and cultural context where there was a prevailing belief in sorcery. Furthermore, there were always coincidences that made the sorcery seemingly work. The incidences of successful sorcery were always more persuasive than those of failures. Legends about artisans’ sorcery are thus “faithful” in the context where they are transmitted. Further study reveals that the prosaic narrative supporting the belief in sorcery has grown into a huge family, and we may even give a summary of the usual plot types. Wolfram Eberhard’s writings published in the 1940s include this stereotype. However, Eberhard did not use the Aarne-Thompson (AT) classification, and his books have a large number of myths and legends for which he obviously did 94

Bronisław Kasper Malinowski, Li Anzhai (Trans.), Magic, Science and Religion (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, May 1986), X. 95 Bronisław Kasper Malinowski, Li Anzhai (Trans.), Magic, Science and Religion (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, May 1986), 71. 96 William Bascom, The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives. In Alan Dundes, Chao Gejin et al. (Trans.), Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth (Nanning: Guangxi Normal University Press, June 2006), 11 & 13.

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not consider the important principle of “faithfulness”.97 While the reason for Wolfram Eberhard not to follow the AT classification is unknown, legends of artisans’ sorcery are unlikely to fit into the internationally accepted classification model for folklores. We can even say that legends of “house builders’ sorcery” (Eberhard called them “Craftsman’s Holy Grail”) are unique to China. These stories center around sorcery which professional house builders and the common people would use on the basis of knowledge of China’s ancient architectural sorcery and a body of knowledge documented in such classics as Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry, Book of Lu Ban, Timberwork Manual, and Timberwork Manuscripts. Since these stories do not fit the AT classification at all, categorizing them in this way will be like trimming feet to fit the shoes. The purpose of the AT classification is to let folklorists search for different versions of a story in a global context to facilitate the parallel study and impact study of folklores across national borders. Some motif-index scholars believe that many stories are shared across cultures.98 This indeed is true. Human psychology does not vary too much in different contexts. However, we also need to see that many legends belong only to Chinese. House builders’ sorcery is one of the cases. The reason why these stories could be transmitted in a society with a prevailing belief in sorcery is not their intriguing plots but that such belief could arouse mysterious, complex emotions, fear, shock and so on and produce a direct impact on people’s daily lives. If the people were indeed riveted by the plot, that is because the legends have already been reversed into folklores widely accepted in society. While carefully developed motif indexes help make the large volume of sorcery research materials easily accessible for scholars, their value for folk literature research is indeed limited.

97

Wolfram Eberhard, Wang Yansheng & Zhou Zusheng (Trans.), Typen Chinesischer Volksmärchen (Beijing: Commercial Press, February 1999), 164–173. 98 Ting Naitong, Zheng Jiancheng et al. (Trans.), A Type Index of Chinese Folktales (Beijing: Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, July 1986), 18.

Chapter 6

The Legend of Gun and the Origin and Evolution of Chiwei

Ancient Chinese architecture often features ornaments in the forms of birds, fish, animals, or the combination of all three, which are not only of great aesthetic value but are also of great magical significance as symbols of witchcraft. Among these symbols, the chiwei is undoubtedly the most widely known. (The term chiwei consists of two parts: chi is the name of a bird of prey, and wei means “tail”). The Japanese scholar Jiro Murata has shown deep insight in his studies of the chiwei, which has not yet been surpassed by other scholars in major issues such as the origin and evolution of the chiwei. In his masterpiece “A Brief History of the Chiwei in China,” Murata describes the evolution of the form of the chiwei. He makes the following claims: (1) The chiwei was not found in Chinese architecture before the Jin Dynasty. It appeared after Eastern Jin or later. The multiple references to the chiwei in documents of Eastern Jin might be the precursors of the chiwei and should not be confused with what is known as chiwei now. (2) The term chiwei was used across the ages since Eastern Jin. Another term chiwen (consisting of two parts: chi, the name of a bird of prey, and wen meaning “mouth”) was widely used in the Tang Dynasty and was used in the Dynasties of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. (3) The chiwei was originally used to decorate imperial buildings. Later, it was used in religious buildings, buildings of high-level governmental offices, and residential buildings of aristocrats. It was a symbol of power. (4) The chiwei was used as a magical protection against fire hazards, and it had many other purposes. The Japanese scholar Bunzaburo Matsumoto argues that the chiwei was derived from Makara, the imaginary sea creature of India. In The Great Tang Records in the Western Regions, this imaginary fish is described as “a spirit that has sun-like eyes, an immense mouth, beards, and manes, with seawater gushing from the mouth.” Murata found this theory unconvincing because “it does not account for the evolution of the form of the chiwei, and amounts to a fundamental weakness. An archeologist must base their theory on historical artifacts. The chiwei did not gain the fish form until the Liao and Song dynasties (its form was not yet established at the end of the Tang Dynasty). Before then, it was a headless creature that at once resembled a fish and a bird but was neither. The chiwei only suggested a connection with Makara after it © Social Sciences Academic Press 2022 S. Li, Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5477-0_6

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had developed the fish form. Its nature before the development of the fish form is still unclear.”1 Many of Jiro Murata’s opinions based on detailed investigations are convincing. However, considering the common worship of fish among the ancient Yue people in China and the habits and characteristics of the whale, I believe that the Chinese chiwei (AKA chiwen) is probably derived from the whale worshipped by the ancient Yue people. In Chinese mythology, Gun, the hero who tried to tame the flood at remote ages, turned into a xuanyu fish. The xuanyu is the whale. With various changes in its form, the chiwei, as a symbol with a long history, continued to acquire new meanings over time.

6.1 The Religious and Political Symbolism of Chiwei The poem “Sigan” in the Book of Poetry describes the beauty of buildings with these lines: Like a man on tip-toe, in reverent expectation; Like an arrow, flying rapidly; Like a bird which has changed its feathers; Like a pheasant on flying wings; Is the hall which our noble lord will ascend.2

It is hard to tell from these lines whether the described forms are totemic or just decorative. It’s even harder to find in them any suggestion of the origin of the chiwei. What we can be sure of is that ornaments in the form of birds could be found in buildings at the poem’s time already. Jiro Murata writes, According to the record in Shiyiji (Lost Tales) written by Wang Jia of the Jin Dynasty and edited by Xiao Qi of the Liang Dynasty, “When Gun failed in his attempts to tame the flood, he jumped into Yu Lake and turned into a xuanyu fish. Later, people built the Temple of Xuanyu at the foot of Yu Mountain and offered sacrifices throughout the year. The xuanyu fish was sometimes seen emerging from the water, with a body of giant size, spurting water and raising waves. When this happened, rain would follow. The Book of Han records how the wizards of Yue suggest using the chiwei to prevent fires. The chiwei is the tail of this same fish.”3

Jiro Murata looked through relative parts in the Book of Han and Records of the Grand Historian but only found records of the wizard of Yue suggesting building a house of great size as magical protection against fire hazards, with no reference to 1

Jiro Murata; Xue Fan (Trans.), A Brief History of the Chiwei in China. Traditional Chinese Architecture and Gardens, 1998 (2). 2 Xu Minghui (Ed.); Zhou Zhenfu (Translated and annotated), Selections from The Book of Poetry in Modern Chinese Translation (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, January, 2005), 189–191. 3 Jiro Murata; Xue Fan (Trans.), A Brief History of the Chiwei in China. Traditional Chinese Architecture and Gardens, 1998 (2).

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the chiwei.4 The following is quoted from the entry of Chiwei in Volume Eight of Shiwu Jiyuan (Origins of Things) by Gao Cheng of the Song Dynasty: chiwei According to Tang Huiyao (Institutional History of Tang), “after a fire happened in the Boliang Hall, a wizard of Yue said that in the sea an eagle-like fish with the dragon’s tail could bring rain by raising waves. Thus, the roof was decorated with its form as protection against fire hazards.” Wang Rui writes in Zhiguzi, “After a fire happened in the Boliang Hall, a wizard of Yue suggested that the roof of the palace should be decorated with the tail of the chi fish to protect it. This ornament remains on buildings of this day.” Su E writes in Yanyi, “Emperor Wu of Han built the Boliang Hall. According to Shangshu, the chiwei (with the character for chi meaning ‘monster), a spirit in the water, had the power to prevent fires and was placed on the main hall. Now people usually use the character for chi, meaning a bird of prey. Yan Zhenqing wrote chiwei with the meaning ‘bird.’ Liu Xiaosun still wrote chiwei with the character meaning ‘monster’ in his time. As it was also commonly known as chiwen (chi’s mouth) with the character for chi meaning ‘bird,’ later people began to use the character meaning ‘bird.’ ” Wang Jia writes in Shiyiji (Lost Tales), “When Gun failed in his attempts to tame the flood, he jumped into the Yu Lake and turned into a xuanyu fish. Later, people built the Temple of Xuanyu at the foot of Yu Mountain and offered sacrifices throughout the year. The xuanyu fish sometimes emerged from the water, with a body of great length, spurting water and raising waves. When this happened, rain would follow. The Book of Han records the suggestion of a wizard of Yue on using the chiwei to prevent fires. The chiwei is the tail of this same fish.” The character for chi meaning “bird” was already used in the writing of Wang Jia, a man of the Jin Dynasty, which was quite close to the Han Dynasty. It is obvious that Su E was not accurate in his writing. Wu Chuhou writes in Qingxiang zaji (Miscellaneous Writings in the Blue Case), “In the sea, a fish that has the tail of the dragon and that looks like the chi bird, can bring the rainfall by raising the waves. In the Han Dynasty, after a fire happened in the Boliang Hall, a wizard of Yue suggested building the Jianzhang Palace with the form of the chi fish on the roof to prevent fires. It is the origin of what is known today as chiwen.”5

Tang Huiyao (Institutional History of Tang) compiled by Wang Pu of the Song Dynasty quotes a relative text from Su’s Yanyi by Su E, who lived in the late Tang Period: 4

The version of Shiyiji (Lost Tales) in the Complete Library in Four Sections includes the mythology of Gun turning into a xuanyu fish without mentioning any record in the Book of Han about the suggestion of the wizard of Yue on using the chiwei as magical protection against fire hazards. The following is the record in Ban Gu’s Book of Han: “Yongzhi then said, ‘According to the customs of Yue, a large house should be built after a fire, so the power of the large size will protect it.’ Therefore the Palace of Jianzhang was built with tens of thousands of rooms. The size of the front hall was built in accordance with the size of the Weiyang Plalance. To its east stood the Tower of Phoenix of over fifty meters in height. To its west lay the Pond of Shangzhong and the tiger pen with the circumference of several miles. A large artificial lake named Taiye was built to its north, with a terrace of over fifty meters at the center. Islets were built in the lake, named after mythic islands such as Penglai, Fangzhang, Yingzhou, and Huliang. To the south stood the Jade Hall, the Jade Gate and sculptures of huge birds. The Shenming Terrace and the Railed Tower were over a hundred meters tall and were connected by lanes for carriages.” See the “Treatise on Sacrifices” in the second half of Volume Twenty-Five of Ban Gu’s Book of Han in the Complete Library in Four Sections. Here we can see the use of religious symbols during the Han Dynasty was obviously influenced by prehistoric religions. 5 Gao Cheng, Origins of Things, Vol. 8, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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According to Su Shijun, a fish in the East Sea has the tail of the dragon. It looks like the chi bird and is therefore named after it. Rain falls when it raises waves. In the Han Dynasty, a fire occurred in Boliang Hall. A wizard of Yue taught the emperor a magic trick. The Jianzhang Palace was thus built with the form of the chi fish on the roof and the image of caissons on the ceiling to prevent fires. Now the ornament is called chiwen. What a mistake!”6

Neither the Book of Han nor the Records of the Grand Historian includes the record of the wizard of Yue using the chiwen as magical protection against fire hazards. Nor did Wang Jia mention that his writing was based on the record of the Book of Han. It is possible that the record in Shiwu jiyuan is inaccurate. The record of the custom of using the chiwei as magical protection against fire hazards in the Han Dynasty possibly appeared in the late Tang period. I think there are two possible explanations for such records. One is that it was a fact, and people at the end of the Tang Dynasty put it down in writing based on other historical records.7 The other is that it was a farfetched guess or a false report. However, it is certain that the chiwei was widely used on buildings by the time of the Jin Dynasty. The following records are found in the Book of Jin. On the day of Bingyin, the earthquake destroyed the chiwei of the Ancestral Temple.8 In the sixth month of the sixteenth year of the Era of Daming under the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, a bird nest was found on the eastern chiwei of the Taiji Palace; another was found on the western end of the hall in the Imperial Academy.9 On the day of Bingyin of the sixth month of the fifth year, a thunderbolt struck the Ancestral Temple. The eastern chiwei and the columns were damaged. The thunderbolt also struck the hall of the Imperial Prince Western Pond.10

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, chiwei had great magical significance and was considered omens of fortunes and misfortunes: On the day of Wuwu in the first year of the Era of Daming under the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, multi-eared wheat with five stalks grew on the chiwei of the Qingshu Palace.11 In the seventeenth year of the Era of Yuanjia under the reign of Emperor Wen of Song, when Liu Bin was governor of Wujun Prefecture, the western chiwei of the main hall of the prefecture yamen fell for no reason. Before it was fixed, the eastern one fell, too. Before long, Bin was executed.12

Many references to chiwei can be found in records since Tang and Song. The following are some examples: 6

Wang Pu, Institutional History of Tang, Vol. 44, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 7 It is possible that at an earlier time people were able to learn about the Han Dynasty from other records in addition to the Book of Han and the Records of the Grand Historian. They might have used some records that did not survive to the modern time. 8 Xu Jialu (Ed.), Book of Jin (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 187. 9 Ibid., 672. 10 Ibid., 681. 11 Yang Zhong (Ed.), Book of State Song of the Southern Dynasties (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January, 2004), 696. 12 Ibid., 743.

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On the day of Yiyou, a wild wind damaged the chiwen of the Ancestral Temple.13 On day Wuwu in the sixth month, a wild wind uprooted trees, blew down houses and destroyed the chiwens on the Duanmen Gate. Half of the chiwens on the Duchengmen Gate and the temples fell. Because of the drought and the storms, His Imperial Majesty told the courtiers officials to submit memorials criticizing affairs of state without reservation… On the day of Jiaxu in the seventh month, a thunderbolt struck the two chiwens, the rails and the columns of the tower over the Xingjiao Gate. Minister of Rites Su Ting died.14 On the day of Jiashen, a hailstorm blew away trees, roofs and chiwens. Twenty percent of the inhabitants were killed. The crops were destroyed in seven districts in the proximity of the imperial capital.15 On the day of Yichou, the wind howled, and a thunderbolt destroyed the chiwen of the Ancestral Temple and trees in the Imperial Censorate.16 On the day of Xinchou, a wild wind blew down all four chiwens on the Hanyuan Palace and damaged the houses of the Imperial Guards.17 On the day of Yichou in the seventh month of the sixteenth year, a thunderbolt struck on the chiwen on the Fasting House of the Ancestral Temple. On the day of Wuchen of the seventh month in the fifth year, a thunderbolt damaged the chiwen of the Ancestral Temple.18 In the Month of Bingwu in the sixth year, a thunderbolt struck on the chiwen of the Fengxian Palace. The screens were all damaged, and the bronze rings were all ruined.19 … and discussed with the masons about letting two chiwens bite the ridge of the Buddhist temple.20

These historical records show the main features of the chiwei. As an architectural ornament on religious or political buildings, such as the Ancestral Temple, the Duanmen Gate, the Duchengmen Gate, temples, the Hanyuan Palace, the Fasting House, the Fengxian Palace, the chiwei symbolizes the powerful and the sacred. The records of the damage of chiweis by wind and thunder show that the chiwei had a very important religious role. In ancient China, natural forces of wind and thunder were considered Heaven’s messages and demonstration of power. The natural forces were personified as deities such as the gods of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. When the chiwei on the Duamen Gate fell, the emperor summoned the officials and asked for their criticism. This shows that the damage of the chiwei was considered a warning about mistakes of the court. Such a phenomenon was also seen as an omen foreboding the death of Minister of Rites Su Ting. In the record of Shuzhong guangji, the chiwei was used in the black magic of “biting the ridge of the Buddhist 13

Huang Yongnian (Ed.), Book of Tang (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 77. 14 Ibid., 154–155. 15 Ibid., 253. 16 Ibid., 416. 17 Ibid., 496. 18 Ni Qixin (Ed.) History of Song (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 1157. 19 Zhang Peiheng & Yu Suisheng (Eds.), History of Ming (Shanghai: Chinese Dictionary Publishing House, January 2004), 343. 20 Cao Xuequan, Records on Eminent Buddhist Monks, Shuzhong guangji (General Records on Shu), Vol. 86, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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temple.” The chiwei originated in the magic to prevent fires, but in different historical periods, it was associated with power, religion, black magic and was used as magical protection against thunder.

6.2 The Mythological Origin of Chiwei According to historical records, the role of the chiwei was established by the Jin Dynasty. What, then, is its original form? According to the record of Wu Yue chunqiu (Chronicles of Wu and Yue) by Zhao Yu of the Han Dynasty: Wu Zixu observed the features of the land and the water. Based on the laws of heaven and earth, he built the outer city with a circumference of forty-seven li. Eight gates were built on the land, symbolizing the eight kinds of winds from heaven; eight gates were built over water, symbolizing the eight kinds of sounds from earth. He built the inner city with a circumference of ten li. Three gates were built on the land. The eastern region was kept close to interrupt the geomantic energy of Yue. The Changmen Gate symbolizing the heavenly gate (as the heavenly gate was called the Changhe) was built to establish a connection with heavy energy. The Shemen Gate was built to symbolize the earthly gate. King Helu wished to defeat Chu, which was to the northwest, and the Changmen Gate was built to establish a connection with heavy energy for this purpose. Therefore, the gate was also known as the Pochu (ChuDefeating) Gate. The king also wished to conquest Yue, which was in the southeast, and the Shemen Gate was built to contain the enemy for this purpose. The Kingdom of Wu lies in the direction of Chen, the direction of the dragon. Therefore, on the southern gate tower of the inner city, the roof was raised to form two Nimiao resembling the two horns of the dragon. The Kingdom of Yue lies in the direction of Si, the direction of the snake. Therefore, a wooden snake was placed on the southern gate with its head facing the north to symbolize Yue’s obeisance to Wu.21

Wu Zixu planned and built the city with magical symbols. Here, the magic that prevailed in the areas of Wu and Yue found unison of its form and significance in architecture. In the record one finds this line: “Therefore on the southern gate tower of the inner city, the roof was raised to form two nimiao resembling the two horns of the dragon” I believe that the nimiao is the precursor of what would later become the chiwei. In ancient times, ni was the name of the female whale; the meaning of miao was unclear,22 but it was probably the name of the male whale. In Wu Yue chunqiu, the record of Wu Zixu building the city is followed by the well-known story of Ganjiang and Moxie forging the “male and female swords.” As magical symbols, the whales were probably a couple, too. It is also possible that the whale is the precursor of the dragon worshiped by the people of Wu and Yue. If the record in Wu Yue chunqiao is not enough to establish the connection between the whale and the chiwei, we can find more evidence in the fish worship of ancient Yue people. Some studies have shown obvious fish totemism among the ancient Yue 21 Zhao Yu, The Biography of Helu, Chronicles of Wu and Yue, Vol. 2, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 22 Jiro Murata; Xue Fan (Trans.), A Brief History of the Chiwei in China, Traditional Chinese Architecture and Gardens, 1998 (2).

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people. “Wuyu, the ancestor of the ancient Yue people, is a descendant of Yu. Yu’s forefathers Zhuanxu and Gun also worshipped the fish totem.”23 A record of Gun turning into a xuanyu fish can be found in Wang Jia’s Shiyiji (Lost Tales): Yao assigned Gun of Xia to the task of controlling floods. Gun failed after nine years of work. He jumped into the Lake and turned into a xuanyu fish. It often showed its fins and scales on the waves. Those who saw it called it the river spirit since Yu Lake was connected with rivers and seas. The coastal people built the Temple of Gun at the foot of Yu Mountain and offered sacrifice throughout the year. The xuanyu fish was often seen jumping out along with a dragon. Those who saw it were filled with awe. Later, Yao assigned Yu to the task of dredging rivers and stabilizing mountains. Yu turned giant turtles and crocodiles into bridges when he crossed the seas and rode on the dragon when he went over tall mountains. His journey covered every part under the sun and the moon except for the area of Yu with respect to the sage’s virtue. Different stories were told about Gun’s transformation. They all agreed about Gun’s transformation but disagreed about what he turned into. Some said he turned into a xuanyu fish, and some said he turned into a yellow bear, probably because the two terms “xuanyu fish” and “yellow bear” could easily become confused with each other in writing. The character for Gun might consist of the radical meaning “fish” and the character for xuan. There are different unverified explanations, so I briefly mention them here.24

“The Treatises on Religious Sacrificial Ceremonies” in the Records of the Grand Historian has a record of the Yue people’s custom of offering dried fish to the ancestors: “Dried fish is offered to the God of Wuyi and a cow is offered to the Yin-Yang Messenger…” The annotation explains, “According to Gu, ‘The Treatise on Geography’ mentions that a god was buried in the Wuyi Mountain in Jianan. That is the God of Wuyi in the record of the Book of Han: Emperor Wu listened to the suggestion of Yongzhi, the wizard of Yue, and offered sacrifice to the god. Since only dried fish and no cows or pigs were offered to the god, Gu might be right.”25 The Yue people’s custom of offering dried fish is possibly related to their observation of dead bodies of stranded whales. It can be inferred that the Yue people’s custom of offering dried fish to their ancestor, the God of Wuyi, is closely related to the mythology of Gun turning into the xuanyu fish. From this, it could also be inferred that the story of the Yue wizard suggesting using the chiwei as magical protection against fire hazards might have been real. The whale is a giant fish-like mammal. When it emerges from the water to breathe, a spring-like column seen above it, which is formed with water vapor in the air, condenses into tiny liquid water droplets. The ancient people of Wu and Yue living on the coast were amazed by the shape and characteristics of the whale and developed enthusiasm for worshiping it as a totem. It is understandable, then, why its image is associated with magical power to prevent fires. The episteme of a later time inherited and enriched the knowledge of Gun’s transformation into a xuanyu fish and the chiwei’s magical power to prevent fires. The encyclopedia Shiyuan leiju has an 23

Gu Yin, The Origin of the Fish Totem Worship of the Buyi People, Ethno-National Studies, 1999 (1). 24 Wang Jia, Lost Tales, Vol. 2, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 25 The Records of the Grand Historian, Vol. 28, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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account of the chiwei’s magical power to prevent fires after the Han Dynasty, as well as the changes of the chiwei’s image across the ages: fish-tale chiwen In the Han Dynasty, palaces were vulnerable to fires. Magicians said the image of it could be placed on top of the building to prevent fires. In the Tang Dynasty, temple and palace buildings maintained the traditional image of a flying fish with the tail pointing upwards. It is unknown when its name was changed to chiwen and when it lost the shape of a fishtail.26

Pingzhou Ketan (Talks at Pingzhou) points out the chiwen’s role as a symbol of imperial and religious power and has an account of the regional differences in customs: Only palace buildings are decorated with the chiwen. The officials and the common people dare not to use the chiwen. Instead, they use the form of an animal head. It is said that these forms can prevent fires. In Guangzhou, every house is decorated with the animal head. In Huangzhou, however, the animal head can only be found on governmental buildings and temples; it is not used on buildings of private dwelling places in fear that it would cause fires. The two areas are only a hundred li from each other, but their customs are greatly different.27

Wings to the Erya have a comprehensive account of the mythology of Gun’s death and transformation: Neng: a three-legged turtle. According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Cong Mountain teems have three-legged turtles. They are probably the same kind as the three-legged turtles found in the pond on Xianjun Mountain in Wuxing Prefecture. Under the bowl of the Great Dipper, six stars in three groups of two neighboring stars are known as the three nengs because of the shape they form. Once the Marquis of Jin fell ill in sleep when he dreamt that a yellow neng entered his bedroom. Zichan said, Yao executed Gun at the Yu Mountain. Gun’s spirit turned a yellow neng and jumped into Yu Lake. Scholars think that this neng is a three-legged turtle. It doesn’t make sense if neng is interpreted as the name of an animal meaning “bear,” because a bear, an animal of the land, would not jump into the lake. Now, the sacrifice offered at Yu’s temples would not include either turtles or bears to the Temple. It is possible that people wish to avoid both. According to Wang Jia’s shiyiji (Lost Tales), “Gun jumped into the Yu Lake and turned into a Xuanyu fish.” The two terms xuanyu and yellow neng can easily become confused with each other in their pronunciation and writing. The character for Gun might consist of the radical meaning “fish” and the character for xuan. Shuowen explains that yu is a three-legged turtle-like creature that can harm people with its breath. It seems a similar creature to neng.28

As seen in the explanation of Yingzao fashi (The Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standards), a classic of the Song Dynasty on architecture, the use of the chiwei is actually based on an inherited magic:

26

Jiang Shaoyu, Shishi leiyuan, Vol. 60, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 27 Zhu Yu, Pingzhou Table Talks, Vol. 2, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 28 Luo Yuan, The Entry of “Fish” in A reference to “Literary Expositor”, Vol. 31, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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chiwei: According to the records of the Han Dynasty, after a fire occurred in the Boliang Hall, a wizard of Yue said that in the sea, a fish with the tail of the dragon and the appearance of the chi bird can bring rain by raising waves. Therefore, its form was placed on the roof to prevent fires. It was a mistake for people at the time to call it chiwen. According to Tanbao Lu, a fish in the east with the tail of the dragon and the appearance of the chi bird can bring rain by raising waves. Therefore, its image is placed on the roof ridge.29

The account in Tianzhong ji (Records on the Tianzhong Mountain) shows the connection between mythology and etymology: xuanyu fish Gun of Xia failed to control the flood and jumped into Yu Lak, turning into a xuanyu fish of giant size. Later, it died when it was stuck between the river and the lake. As xuanyu fish was a sacred creature, the character Gun was invented by combining the characters for “fish” and “xuan” (Shiyilu).30

The features of the xuanyu, such as its power to raise waves and cause rain, its giant size, and its dead body seen stranded on the shore, provide evidence that Gun turned into a whale. It is logical, then, that the flood-fighting hero in the form of a whale (as a water spirit) is considered to have fire-preventing magical power. A legend of a bird turning into a fish is added to the mythology in Yiyutu zanbu (Additional Commentaries on Illustrations of Curious Fish): A fish in the sea has the tail of the dragon and looks like the chi bird. It can bring rain by raising waves. After a fire occurred in Boliang Hall, a large Jianzhang Palace was built. The form of the chi fish was placed on the roof ridge to prevent fires. This is what is known as chiwen. According to the Chorography of Huizhou, a siskin fish often takes the form of a siskin in the eighth month of the year and returns to the sea in the form of a fish after the tenth month.31

Bieya shows that the various names of the chiwei are the results of changes and confusion of pronunciation and writing in earlier times. It also provides an astrological explanation for the origin of the chiwei, accounts of different sizes of the chiwei in history, and the importance of the chiwei to palace buildings: Chiwei (with the character for chi meaning monster), ciwei, and chiwen and all different names of chiwei (with the character for chi meaning a kind of prey bird). According to Su E, the chi is a sea monster. When Emperor Wu of Han built the Boliang Hall, its form was placed on the roof. According to Shangshu, the chiwei (with the character for chi meaning monster) is a water spirit that has the magical power to prevent fires. According to Yanshi jiaxun (Instructions for the Yan Clan), some asked why the chiwei was referred to as ciwei in Anecdotes of the Eastern Palace. The answer was Zhang Chang, the author of the book, was native to Wu. The people of Wu did not distinguish chi from ci. It is also known as chiwen. Huang Zhaoying finds a record in Juanyou zalu (Miscellaneous Records on the Journey): In the Han Dynasty, fires often occurred in the palaces. Magicians said that the image of the 29

Li Jie, Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standards, Vol. 2, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 30 Chen Yaowen, the Entry of “Fish” in Records on the Tianzhong Mountain, Vol. 56, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). This record is related with the observation of the death of stranded whales. 31 Hu Shi’an, Feathered Fish in Additional Commentaries on Illustrations of Featured Fish, Vol. 2, Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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fish tail stars in the sky should be placed on top of buildings to prevent fires. According to the Book of Chen, chiweis are placed on the main halls of the Three Lords. Xiao Mohe was allowed to place the chiwei on his house as a reward to his meritorious services. According to the “Biography of Yuwen Kai” in the History of the Northern Dynasties, there was no chiwei before the Jin Dynasty. Jiangnan Yelu points out that the character for chi (meaning a kind of prey bird) in chiwen is written as the chi (meaning “monster”) because of the similar pronunciation and that it would be mistaken to associate it with Chiyou (the legendary king). Daye zaji mentions a chiwei of over five hundred meters in height. Shilin yanyu mentions that the chiwen marks the man halls.32

The collection of the different names of the chiwei in Bieya shows some patterns of the way knowledge was spread. Chi was confused with ci because of the similarity in pronunciation; the use of the character for chi (meaning “monster”) owes to both confusion in pronunciation and a groundless association with Chiyou the legendary king. The idea of the chiwei’s origin as a symbol of the fish-tail stars seems contradictory to the idea that the chiwei originated in the whale worship. However, the fact that the stars are marked with the fishtail suggests that they were so named because of certain symbolic association with fish. Records of the Ming Dynasty present a comprehensive view of the use of different animal images as magical symbols in architecture and craftsmanship. In Xushi Bijing, the chiwen is said to be one of the dragon’s nine children: The dragon gives birth to nine children, and each of them has its own characteristics. The pulao likes to scream and is used to adorn the top of bells; the qiuniu likes music and is used to adorn musical instruments; the chiwen likes swallowing things and is used to adorn roof ridges; the chaofeng likes to adventure and is used to adorn the four corners of roofs; the yazi likes to kill and is used to adorn swords; the bixi likes texts and is placed next to inscribed steles; the bi’an likes litigation and is placed over prison gates; the suanni likes to stay sitting and is used as the bases of Buddhist statues; the baxia likes to carry heavy objects and is used as the bases of monuments. A different list of the dragon’s nine children includes: the earthen cat that likes to adventure and is placed at the edge of the eaves, the taotie that likes water and is placed below bridges, the manquan that is indolent and is placed before the gates, the xianzang that likes guarding prisoners and is placed over prison gates, the lizard that likes the smell of blood and is used to adorn swords; the rest are the pulao, the baxia, the bixi and the chiwen with the same features described above.33

The legend of “the nine children of the dragon” shows the phenomenon of aggregation and dispersion in the worship of mythic creatures. The dragon’s nine children are aggregated under the broader notion of dragon worship. However, each of the dragon’s nine children shows its own mythic features, and thus the dragon worship is dispersed to the decorative art in artifacts and buildings with the mythic features of each creature, following the logic of the parent–child relationship. The notion of magical protection in ancient China is based on the powerful vision of various shapes. The idea that the chiwen likes swallowing things can be seen in juxtaposition with the record of “letting the chiwen bite the ridge of the Buddhist temple” in Shuzhong 32 Wu Yujin (Assistant instructor of the Fengyang Prefecture), Bieya, Vol. 1, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 33 Xu Huobo, Xushi bijing, Vol. 8, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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guangji. The “Section on Architecture” in Yilin Huikao (A Comprehensive Study of Art) adheres to the idea that the chiwen is one of the dragons’ nine children: According to Yinlin Fashan (Abstracts of Works on Art), the dragon has nine children and one of them, such as the bixi and the chiwen. None of them would grow to become the dragon, and each of them has its own characteristics.34

Yanshan Waiji, however, states that the chiwen is the child of the chixiao: At each side of the gate over the canal, a beast is carved in stone, which resembles the lizard, with the head pointing upward and the tail pointing downward. The name of this creature is baxia. In ancient times, the chixiao gave birth to three children. The eldest one is the pulao, which likes loud sound and is used to adorn bells; the second one is the chiwen, which likes to look into the distance and is used to adorn buildings—this is what is known now as the wentou; the youngest one is the baxia, which likes to drink water and is placed next to the gate over the canal.35

Mingyi kao (A Study of Names and Their Meanings) lists fourteen magical creatures used in masonry and craftsmanship, without mentioning the chiwei: Here are the meanings of the fourteen creatures: the bixi, with an appearance that resembles the turtle, likes to carry heavy objects and is used as bases of monuments; the liwen, with an appearance that resembles a beast, likes to look into the distance and is placed on the corners of the roof; the tulao, with an appearance that resembles a dragon except for its small size, likes to scream and has great strength, and is therefore placed on top of bells; the xianzhang, with an appearance that resembles a beast, has a stately look and likes to guard prisoners and is therefore placed over prison gates; the taotie likes water and is therefore placed on bridges; the lizard, with a body that resembles the beast and a head that resembles a monster, likes the smell of blood and is therefore used to adorn sword hilt; the manquan, with an appearance that resembles a dragon, likes wind and rain, and is therefore placed on the roof ridge; the lihu, with an appearance that resembles a dragon, likes refined writing, and is therefore placed on top of inscribed steles; the jinni, with an appearance that resembles a lion, likes fire and smoke, and is therefore placed on stove covers; the jiaotu, with an appearance that resembles a spiral shell, likes to keep its mouth shut, and is therefore placed on doors—today it is mistakenly called guliao; the diaoshe, with an appearance that resembles a dragon except for its small size, likes to stay in dangerous places and is therefore placed on top of rails; the aoyu, with an appearance that resembles a dragon, likes to swallow fires and is therefore placed on the roof ridge; the shouwen, with an appearance that resembles a lion, likes to eat evil spirits, and is used to adorn the door knocker; the jinwu, with a beautiful woman’s head, a fishtail and two wings, is vigilant by nature and is therefore used in the patrol. This is seen in the account of Shuyuan zaji (Miscellaneous Records in the Shu Garden). The book has gained miscellaneous records from the villagers of Ni Village and seems to be a collection compiled by the learned. The part about the lihu is mistaken. I’m afraid this is not the only mistake, either.36

An immense symbolic system was established when the ancient people used magical creatures of special characteristics, with the shapes of beasts, fish, birds, 34

Shen Zinan, House Heams, Buildings and Architecture in Collected Investigations in the Forest of Literature, Vol. 9, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 35 Lu Shen, Yanshan waiji, Vol. 7, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition). 36 Zhou Qi, “Names of Objects” in A Study of Names and Their Meanings, Vol. 10, in Complete Library in Four Sections (Belvedere of Literary Profundity edition).

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or combined shapes, as symbols in architecture and craftsmanship. This symbolic system covers a broader range than the system of the dragon’s nine children. The aoyu is probably a variant name for the chiwei. Mistakes and confusion were inevitable in the process of the knowledge of folk decorative art being spread from mouth to mouth. Additionally, the great variety of magical creatures shows that craftsmen kept enriching their knowledge and inventing new artistic symbols based on the inherited tradition. The chiwei is part of the historical process of inheritance and innovation. As demonstrated above, the magical significance of the chiwei in architecture probably originated in the whale worship of the ancient Yue people. The whale’s giant size, water-spurting feature, and its occasionally seen dead body stranded on the shore aroused in the ancient people an imagination that associated it with the mythology of the hero Gun turning into a xuanyu fish. Thus, its image is used as a magical protection against fire hazards. Practice and imagination have endowed chiwei with great cultural significance, which has a long-lasting influence. Although the mythology of Gun turning into a xuanyu fish is not found in any record before the Jin Dynasty, it was spread among the ancient Yue people as part of the mythology of their ancestors. It existed in oral narratives and in the interpretation of rituals before the Han Dynasty at the latest. The transformations between the dragon and the fish and between the fish and the bird show mysterious features in mythical thinking. The practice of the chiwen as a magical protection against fire hazards is obviously influenced by the principle of the five elements overcoming each other. That is, water spirit, aquatic plants, and water-providing structures such as wells are used as symbols of the water element to achieve the goal in practice—to prevent fires. The chiwei is a widely known magical symbol in ancient Chinese architecture. Ancient Chinese architecture is a cultural entity that combines the practical and the supernatural (or the sacred); it is a sacred cultural space. We can find many other magical symbols similar to the chiwei, such as the eight trigrams, the rooster, the numismatic charm, the magical grains, shigandang, Jiang Taigong, Lu Ban, the earthen cat, and so on. These historico-cultural symbols with special magical functions are used in a building process that combines technology, magic, and art, with the purpose of averting disasters and evil, of praying for safety in the house. Spatial safety is one the basic needs of human beings. Magical symbols such as the chiwei are part of the system of cultural symbols invented to soothe human anxiety concerned with spatial safety. The production and acceptance of the protective function of the chiwei are backed up by the mythology of Gun turning into a xuanyu fish. The production and acceptance of the chiwei, in turn, strengthened the sacred significance and the credibility of the mythology of its origin. As a symbol of visual interaction, the chiwei strengthened faith in prehistoric religion. Chiwei is also an artwork of enchantment. Anthropologist Alfred Gell considers art as a technical system of enchantment. Such enchantment is a type of magical efficacy. In the eyes of the enchanted viewer, the world is endowed with enchantment. Thus, art is a weapon for psychological warfare and evidence of the magical

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power emanating from the world.37 From different perspectives of the modern man, the special cultural aspect of the chiwei can be understood as a magical instrument, a work of decorative art, or part of the system of architectural technology. However, in the cultural context of ancient times, art, magic and technology were not clearly distinguished from each other; rather, they were mutually integrated. The enchantment of the chiwei lies in the tragic and fantastic features in the mythology of its origin, in its unique and bizarre form, and in its implied logic that the power of water overcomes that of fire. The image of the chiwei high at the top of buildings invites people to imagine about the ancient mythology of Gun turning into a xuanyu fish. Aesthetically, it arouses the worship and memory of a cultural hero who sacrificed himself for the people. Practically, it soothes anxieties about fires, misfortunes and thunders. Therefore, in addition to aesthetic effects, the chiwei is also a psychological weapon against anxieties. The aesthetic and practical functions are closely related to the technical system in accordance with which the chiwei is produced.

37

Gell, A. ‘The Enchantment of Technology and the Technology of Enchantment’, in Coote and Shelton (Eds.), Anthropology, Art and Aesthetics. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 41–62.

Chapter 7

Conclusion

Now, we should be able to better sum up the origin and development of China’s building construction tradition and folklore. After our primeval inhabitants created the first shelters, building construction activities began to involve two aspects. One was to make technical improvements to build safer and more beautiful dwellings. The other was to build a sacrosanct space shared by humans, spirits, and divinities according to primeval inhabitants’ understanding of dwelling. For this reason, the religious idea and ritual of expelling noxiousness and embracing auspiciousness emerged. Worshipping earth and trees was the primitive form of belief stressed in the building construction process. Primitive inhabitants believed earth and trees were not owned by humans; if magic ceremonies were not performed, divine and demonic spirits from earth and trees would have adversities fall on the dwellers. Belief in the ubiquitous existence of spirits and divine beings had a great impact on the entire process of building construction. The cult of homes embodied the worship of home builders. In the Spring and Autumn Period, in Shandong’s Tengzhou, a dexterous craftsman named Gongshu Ban (Lu Ban) applied his deftness to innovate copious objects. Many legends and folklores were created about him and his adherents. Literati’s writings and craftsmen’s ostensible boasts made him a household name and an extremely influential artisan. Not later than the Tang Dynasty, people tended to associate house builders with Lu Ban. Obtaining an impetus from theories of demonic spirits and divine beings and beliefs in immortals, Lu Ban gradually revered as the primogenitor of all craftsmen and god of crafts. His believers, who were also influenced by Taoist magic, numerology, theories of yin-yang and five elements, beliefs in sorcery and gu, and feng-shui geomancy, compiled a series of sorcery classics in his name. When these classics were spreading out, different editions, such as the Book of Lu Ban, Timberwork Manual, and Timberwork Manuscript, emerged. Artisans transmitted their knowledge of building construction skills along with sorcery to different places they worked in. When classic folk knowledge, which had incorporated the knowledge of occult arts in the primeval building construction traditions, was disseminated, it was closely bonded with local customs and beliefs. In this process, inheritance and innovation worked together to make building © Social Sciences Academic Press 2022 S. Li, Folklore Studies of Traditional Chinese House-Building, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5477-0_7

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construction traditions further variegated. Craftsmen—to whom the folklore classics were imparted—played the unusual role of sorcery practitioners in the building construction process. They often worked with a feng-shui expert, yin-yang masters, sorcerer and proprietor as the organizers for building construction rituals, which typically included timber logging, groundbreaking, beam lifting and capping for Lu Ban’s adherents. Every procedure involved the use of traditional cultural symbols. Craftsmen who wanted to emphasize their social status and obtain better remuneration might conceal some magic objects within the houses to influence the house owners’ fortunes. Even in modern times, sorcery does not vanish, though challenged by rational thinking. Traces of it can still be found in rural life. The above provides an overview of the origin and development of the building construction tradition. However, for the conclusion of our study, further clarifications are still needed.

7.1 Legends and Rituals In the process of examining the creation of Taoist deities’ godhood in building construction folklores, it becomes conspicuous that such godhood is a juxtaposition of legends of divinities and rituals. In the research area of folk literature, there once was a far-reaching Myth-Ritual School created by Frazer, who after analyzing myths, rituals, and customs, made a great deal of examples of myths emergence in rituals and the opposite proofs of the sprouting rituals and customs after myths. The conclusion of his studies provides evidence of the dual existence of myths and rituals. Inspired by Frazer, scholars including Murray, Harrison, and Huke published their treatises in succession. There has emerged a longstanding dispute on the causality problem of ritual and myth. Despite the disagreements, many scholars within the school agree, “Myths are a narrative that serves a certain ritual purpose. They are events narrated in rituals. A ritual may include both the recounting of myths and the performance of ceremonial acts. Myths may be recounted indirectly or directly with the ritual.”1 Notwithstanding, the Myth-Ritual School faded away in the 1950s, and the myth-ritual dispute, like the chicken-egg problem, is to a certain extent meaningless. However, the dispute has opened a new window for the study of myths and ritual in the cultural context. Instead of separating the two, people tend to consider them together as one cultural matter. Studies on them require emphasis on their cultural context. In general, myth, legend, and folktale are categorized as the three formats of prose narratives of folk literature. Because all three formats have a complex structure, sometimes it is necessary to rely on the creator, transmitter and recipient to distinguish them. Unlike folktales, a legend and a myth share a common quality, faithfulness, which means that both of them are “real”. The School of Historical Anthropology that emerged in recent years has deemed myths and legends “historical memories”. 1

Meng Huiying, Myth - Emergence and Development of Ritual School, Journal of the Central University for Nationalities, 2006(5).

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They argue that although different from “historical facts” as traditionally understood by historians, myths and legends represent a kind of “historical faithfulness” and constitute the history of thought and mentality of the masses. “Truth” in this book refers to what “is usually believed to be completely true” by people who disseminate the “truth”.2 House builders’ sorcery is a phenomenon of occult arts built upon the belief of “manipulating the woes and boon of the builder and the proprietor through the building construction procedure.” The existence of the phenomenon undoubtedly correlates closely with rituals and legends. It may be said that occult rituals and legends are the most critical motivations underpinning occult belief. The special attributes of the building construction tradition offer the possibility of using them to create a special context to analyze the correlation between rituals and legends. At the center of occult rituals is the specific behavior model in which people worship divine beings or dispel demonic spirits. The feeling of participants—awe, fear, or loathing—mainly depends on whether the target of sorcery will facilitate or hinder the achievement of the intended purpose of sorcery. The reason for legends’ lives is that they are not stereotyped stories but examples of adaptation to time and space. However, most of them retain an unchanged plot, similar to the motifs of folklores. Surrounding the characters in a legend, the same legend expands. A big family, a cohort of legends, emerges. The cohort is a product of time. However, when the cohort unites with a popular occult ritual, the apotheosis created by the cohort obtains its faithfulness. The confirmation of traditional culture confers authority and sacrosanctity onto the apotheosis. For instance, the acclaimed divine figure worshipped in folk building construction rituals is Lu Ban. As the primogenitor of all professional house builders, Lu Ban in occult rituals has been piously venerated. Lu Ban’s apotheosized and immortalized divinity has been driven by two internal forces. His legends through millennia have become an interpretative phenomenon. Another is the unrolling process of the ritual worshipping him, which has become a patterned ceremonial behavior to brace up and confirm his apotheosized divinity. The Lu Ban phenomenon has successfully built Lu Ban’s divine status in China’s multiethnic society across a vast region and produced a derivative divinity Zhang Ban and rituals devoted to him. This phenomenon has made Lu Ban a symbol, a transformation from a legendary figure in the literary sense to sanctified divinity. In another example, legends about Grand Duke Jiang increased over time and finally established the divinity of the character. Jiang is depicted as a family guardian to quell perverse spirits. His emergence in professional house builders’ ritual prayers, incantations, and divine tablets indicates his divinized status. His function in these rituals is to give oversight of the ceremonial procedure. In folk sorcery related to building construction, legends and rituals are interdependent. Undeniably, the same chicken-egg dilemma also exists between legends and rituals in the same way as the myth-ritual dispute. The ancients’ admiration for 2

William Bascom; Alan Dundes (Ed.); Chao Gejin (Trans.), The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives, Readings in the Theory of Myth (Guangxi Normal University Press, 2006), 11–13.

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building construction techniques and belief in divine beings and sorceries progressively shaped the divinity of Lu Ban. It can be said the worshipping ritual for Lu Ban occurred after the legends about him. However, after the emergence of the ritual, the legend and ritual became intertwined. Except for diligent analytical scholars, folklorists and locals possessing knowledge might not care much about the historical evolution of the topic. Some ethnicities even considered Lu Ban as their native craftsman. Grand Duke Jiang had his divinity apotheosized similarly. The popularity of his legends accumulated before the ritual. The appearance of the worshipping ritual, however, made the two inextricably linked. I support the argument that legend comes into being earlier than rituals since common sense shows that conception decides action, and a legend generates its associated ritual. Of course, people might argue the opposite because of the need for legends to ascertain the legitimacy of the ritual. If taking into consideration the process for legends to become a phenomenon, the latter view might be crushed. In reality, there are voluminous legends that explain and justify rituals. This is often because a breakdown occurred in the knowledge dissemination process, and a new interpretation system is thus required to fill the blank. This new system is what Clifford Geertz called “regional knowledge”. Moreover, the emergence of interpretive legends may also include a mirror of reality. Kluckhohn believes that myths and rituals are founded on the same mentality. “Ritual is an obsessive repetitive activity—often a symbolic dramatization of the fundamental ‘needs’ of society, whether ‘economic,’ ‘biological,’ ‘social,’ or ‘sexual.’”3 Legend is a prose narrative that is continuously adapted to changes, and rituals become presentational performing acts. Both arise out of a complex human need or even anxiety. The two are considered intertwined true for their common ground of belief. Any misalignment between them indicates a fractural in knowledge or cultural invasion in the heritage. Certainly, not all legends incite ritual manifestation, and not all rituals have a backing interpretive legend. Coexistence, independence or nullification of legends and rituals are not uncommon.

7.2 Symbolism and Limen Key elements in building construction tradition are cultural items cradled through time. They have been reinvented and recreated during the course of evolution, but any newly derived item has stemmed from the old item. In the process of building construction rituals, symbolization and limen are two characteristics that are closely related to tradition. For example, for a symbol to become emblematic, it is necessary to be realized as such. Without being confirmed as a tradition, the symbolization process will not be accepted by the specific community. However, tradition is not 3

Clyde Kluckhohn; Shi Zong (Ed.), Myths and Rituals: A General Theory, Selected Works of Western Religious Anthropology in the 20th Century (Shanghai: Shanghai Joint Publishing, 1995), 166.

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symbolization that is closely related to mental activities such as abstracting, materialization, and association, while a look at limen is to analyze the ritual that is considered a human behavior that is dynamic yet with a certain regularity and model. Symbolization is one of the defining features of rituals. Ritual is a symbolized process. Symbolization in literary theory is a rhetorical method. An image, if occurring repeatedly, becomes a symbol or a part of the symbolization or mythological system.4 The ritual symbolization apparently differs from that of literary theory. The Symbol Dictionary interprets ritual in this way: “Basically, every rite is symbolic and is creatively reproduced. Hence, functions of ritual and symbolization are closely related. Whether they are slow-moving rituals or individualized ceremonies, rites are bonded together with a rhythm that goes beyond motion. Every ritual belongs to an assemblage, affected deeply by imposing forces and related genres. Functions of a ritual are powerful expressions from different forces and interactions with these forces.”5 Ritual or literary symbolization unquestionably must consider its primal meaning, “Symbol, in Greek, means to ‘associate’ two unrelated things to create a certain new thing after permutation. The new creation is more complicated and valuable. This is the initial meaning of a symbol.”6 Symbolization is certainly a reinvention by humans. It is a cultural behavior to attach special meaning to a thing or behavior. Symbolization is found in all building construction rituals. The Jino People judge an auspicious land by checking the sprouting percentage of seedlings. The Delung People determine an auspicious land by observing whether seeds placed on a heating stone slab will eventually move from the slab. In a society with a prevailing belief in religion and sorcery, divination on incidents was accepted as symbolization of Heavens’ commands. Under that ideology, occasionally unacknowledged results were interpreted in favor of Heavens’ commands and in concert with human thought. The divination behavior of the occultist or craftsman during the building construction ritual, such as observing a rooster, was to take the circumstance as a Heavens’ command. The divinity revealed the truth to people through a specific medium to guide people’s actions. For a better analysis, it is important to identify the two levels of symbolization: one is the symbol, or the sign that is invested with a particular meaning, and the other is the act of symbolization. It is noteworthy that both of the two have traditional connotations—a necessary condition for the symbol to be acknowledged in a particular community. For instance, the Pumi People worship the king post, which is not the central column supporting a house frame but a verdant pine planted by the side of the dwelling. The Pumi chant a religious litany to laud the pine symbolizing the king post, “This is a pearl-adorned post, a post cut out of an emerald

4

Warren Welleck; Liu Xiangyu, Xing Peiming, Chen Shengsheng, Li Zheming (Trans.), Literary Theory (Shanghai Joint Publishing,1984), 204. 5 Peng Zhaorong, Theory and Practice of Human Rituals (Beijing: The Ethnic Publishing House, June 2007), 202. 6 Hu Zhiyi, Myths and Rituals - An Archetypal Interpretation of Drama (Shanghai: Xuelin Press, October 2001), 102.

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jade, an auspicious king post…The holy post, please accept out worship!”7 Symbolization allows an ordinary pine tree in reality to take on other meanings. It mystifies an otherwise ordinary object and complicates an otherwise simple thing, creating an association between the simple and the complex, the ordinary and the mysterious. In the universe of symbolization, what matters particularly is not the symbol used but the meaning it has taken on. Symbolization uses a symbol to signify. Therefore, the final interpretation of a symbol rests with the culture holders. The Dai People in Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna must select a “shaozhao” (Prince Post) representing the male, a “shaonan” (Princess Post), King Post, “shaodiuwalahen” (Family Deity Post), and “shaohuan” (Soul Post) when building a bamboo stilt house. These posts must be straight, thick, and round to indicate the prosperity of the household. Plantain leaves hung on the posts are talismans to quell vile dragons. The leaves of Dongdao and Dongmang trees avoid disturbing Dragon King.8 When we speak of symbol and the act of symbolization, we are not trying to isolate them. In fact, in building construction rituals, symbolization is achieved through procedural use of symbols. Without symbols, a ritual cannot be called an act of symbolization. Sorcerers and craftsmen always rely on symbols to make their behavior impressive. Thus, some scholars have pointed out that symbols are the smallest units of what enables the unique attribute of ritual behavior to be kept intact during a ritual. These symbols connect objects, behavior, and meaning. The symbols and the things they signify maintain a connection in quality, fact, or thought. Because of the influence of traditional culture, symbols become typified or exemplified in a way that is collectively supported by adherents. Symbols are tokens of association.9 Take beam-lifting for example. One of the most critical components of building construction rituals, a beam-lifting ceremony, has instilled symbolic meaning into almost every object. The beam is referred to as a purple-gold beam or even a dragon; the post is a king post or jade post; the offering chicken is a golden rooster, phoenix or the rooster of the Queen Mother of the West; the deities to whom devotion is accorded include Lu Ban and Grand Duke Jiang, among others, usually symbolized by divine tablets and the great invention of human scripts to make the divine symbolization more descriptive; Bagua (the Eight Trigrams), beam-lifting coins and other variegated confetti. Each of them conveys a symbolic meaning. Of these symbols, some (such as Lu Ban, Grand Duke Jiang, Bagua, and rooster) have their legitimacy confirmed by a belief system (such as folklore) that has survived millennia. Some symbols, though lacking such a strong support system, have established an association between the physical objects and other everyday items that might be used in the future (such as the calendar, brushes, inkstones, eucalyptus, cypress tree, salt, tea, rice, and beans 7

National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Eds.), Chinese Ballad Collections: Yunnan (Beijing: ISBN China Center, September 2003), 1268. 8 Mao Gongning (Ed.), Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China (The Ethnic Publishing House, September 2006), 699. 9 Victor Witter Turner; Zhao Yuyan, Ou Yangmin, Xu Hongfeng (Trans.), The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, November 2006), 19.

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the Sui People’s used to wrap around the beam).10 According to Turner, symbols are related to human interests, intentions, goals and means of achieving them, whether the relation is explicitly expressed or surmised by the observers.11 Symbols are purposeful, and the great variety of symbols used in building construction rituals are purposed to dispel noxiousness and bring auspiciousness. Of course, traces of symbolization can also be found in artisans’ particular occult actions. Their every move is symbolic, thus allowing them to convey an occult message. The lintel-lifting procedure in the beam-lifting ritual of Tujia People is a good exemple. During the performance, the craftsman chant, “One riser, one fortune; two risers, two principles of Taiji; three risers, three reincarnations of luck; four risers, wealth comes in all four seasons. Five risers, five scholar-sons; six risers, career rises; seven risers, seven sisters’ reunion; eight risers, eight times of luck and fortune; nine risers, all luck and wealth endure. Ten risers, all is well.” Every step is given a special meaning.12 Another example is the chant of the craftsmen of Zhejiang’s Dongyang in their five-crop throwing ritual, “A handful of crop scattered to the east, the proprietor will be rich; a handful to the west, the proprietor is in bliss; a handful to the south, every meal is big and nice; a handful to the north, crops are affluent in all four seasons; a handful to the ground, gold fills the barns and kitchen; have a bumper harvest for ten thousand years.”13 An additional example is to hurl objects toward all cardinal directions plus the center and chant a prayer for auspiciousness. The prayer incorporated the idea of five elements and involved sorcery at the same time. Whether craftsmen chant traditional prayers or improvised prayers for occasions, the purpose of the ritual is to ask for auspiciousness. The occult articles scattered at this time are symbols, and the act of scattering is also symbolic. The entire ritual is symbolic. “The simplest property [of ritual symbols] is that of condensation. Many things and actions are represented in a single formation.”14 The use of symbols is a wisdom that only humans possess, a manifestation of active human imagination. Using the simple to signify the complex, a few to signify many, symbols instill a particular meaning into human acts and allow people to weave a network of meanings. Victor Witter Turner stressed that transition is “a process, a becoming, and in the case of rites de passage even a transformation—here an apt analogy would be water in process of being heated to boiling point, or a pupa changing from grub to moth”.

10

Mao Gongning (Ed.), Customs of Ethnic Minorities in China (The Ethnic Publishing House, September 2006), 947. 11 Victor Witter Turner; Zhao Yuyan, Ou Yangmin, Xu Hongfeng (Trans.), The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, November 2006), 20. 12 Ouyang Meng, A Study on House-building Customs of the Tujia People: A Case Study of Laochakou Village, Xuan’en County, Hubei Province, M.A. Thesis (Wuhan: Central China Normal University, May 2007), 19. 13 National Editorial Committee of Chinese Folk Literature Collections & Editorial Committee of Chinese Folktale Collections: Zhejiang (Eds.), Chinese Folk Literature Collections: Zhejiang (Beijing: ISBN China Center, December 1995), 139. 14 Victor Witter Turner; Zhao Yuyan, Ou Yangmin, Xu Hongfeng (Trans.), The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, November 2006), 27.

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He also emphasized that a transition and a state have different cultural properties.15 The reason for Turner to stress the difference between the two is because he thought it is “state” that Arnold van Gennep talked about in his ritual theory that had provided Turner with a direct inspiration. Gennep believed “all rites of transition are marked by three phases: separation, margin (or limen), and aggregation.16 Obviously, the building construction ritual is a ritual of transition that Turner said to have an ambiguous feature, and every participant in it is a “transitional-being” or “liminal persona”.17 China’s professional house builders tended to have multiple identities. In old rural societies, they were often farmers in the busy season and house builders in the slack season. Even a professional artisan might have dual identities, a craftsman sorcerer. They had to shift roles at different times: a farmer (busy season), craftsman (when building houses for customers) and sorcerer (performing occult art during a house project). As a liminal persona, craftsmen play an ambiguous role at the time of performing occult arts. Are they farmers? Craftsmen? Or Sorcerers? The answer is an ambiguous yes-and-no. The old social and culture context had defined their identity, and when they acted in a new context, they found it difficult to be completed from the old identity. The occult art performed by ethnic Yi craftsmen at Chuxiong, Yunnan Province had formed and developed in an agricultural setting. It was part of the occult art system centering around Lu Ban’s Craftsmanship and Guidelines. Carpenters were no different from ordinary farmers, as they also engaged in farming activities. Their knowledge of carpentry and sorcery earned them the respect of fellow villagers, though in an implicit way. When there were requests for building construction, however, their farmer identity became less pronounced, and their technician and sorcerer identities surfaced. During the building construction ritual, every sorcerous move of craftsmen would affect the proprietor’s wellbeing or the family’s fate. In other words, every technical procedure of a carpenter would be matched by a sorcerous procedure, and techniques and sorcery runs parallel. The application of sorcery is to ensure the successful completion of the housing building work (for example, preventing accidents) and to affect the future life of the proprietor. After the completion of a house project, craftsmen would return to their farmer identity, no long possessing features of the liminal persona (as a result of changing occasions). In this transitional or liminal stage, “contagion” could be seen among people and things at a specific time and space. A dwelling would become livable only after a magic ritual. Artisans are also technicians, sorcerers, and farmers. The proprietor as a participant is also experiencing this stage. All articles used in the ritual is symbolic. Other building construction sorcery cases we have collected can also support this argument, though I would not go into details here. In fact, the three periods before, during and after house construction may be defined as secular, sacred, and secular phases: the first secular phase (preconstruction) -> sacred phase (in construction), and second secular phase (postconstruction). Of course, so-called 15

Ibid., 94. Ibid., 94. 17 Ibid., 97. 16

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secular and sacred are two relative terms. The beam-lifting ritual, for example, also has a strong secular element, and it thus brings together the sanctification of sorcery and secular jubilance. Nevertheless, during the ritual, the participants indeed experienced a psychological transition.

7.3 Religion and Sorcery Modern societies are often biased against sorcery because the term gives unpleasant associations to the grotesque, ludicrousness, even abominableness, or heterodoxy (in an extremely derogatory sense). It is also often misunderstood, despised, and biased.”18 Obviously, we can hardly classify professional house builders as sorcerers dealing with specters and divine spirits, nor were they quacks who used magical tricks to swindle money. Their work was closely associated with housing, the basic need of humanity. They created numerous dwellings as physical and mental havens for people. They were both technicians and sorcerers, two identities not yet deemed antithetic in premodern societies. In fact, modern scholars tend to distinguish sorcery and religion by clear criteria. If we consider its relation with religion, how shall we define house builders’ sorcery? The answer to this question actually touches upon one of the hotly debated issues in the fields of anthropology and sociology: What is the relationship between religion and sorcery? As discussed in the preceding chapters, although Taoism had had a profound impact on house builders’ sorcery in terms of supernatural beings, incantation, and talismans, the latter shall not be included in the Taoist system. Frazer, like Taylor, believed in cultural evolution and considered magic, religion, and science to be the three stages of evolution in succession. He said, “If then we consider, on the one hand, the essential similarity of man’s chief wants everywhere and at all times, and on the other hand, the wide difference between the means he has adopted to satisfy them in different ages, we shall perhaps be disposed to conclude that the movement of the higher thought, so far as we can trace it, has on the whole been from magic through religion to science.”19 Frazer considered religion a more advanced form of thinking than magic. He posited that the difference between religion and magic is how they treat personal agents. For religion, the ruling power of the world is “personal agents”, the divine beings to whom people must submit without reservation. Persuasion and entreaty are the means to please them. Magic deals with divine beings, too. However, magicians believe that as long as they master “immutable laws” that act mechanically, they could “constrain and coerce” divine beings and thus fulfill

18

Jean Serveir; Guan Zhenhu (Trans.), Wushu (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, September 1998),

9. 19

Joe Frazer; Xu Yuxin et al. (Trans.), The Golden Bough (Chinese Folk Literature and Art Press, June 1987), 1006.

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the intended purposes. The laws of magic control humans and divine beings, thus enjoying a higher status than the latter two.20 Frazer’s theory was a conjecture made based on his analysis of secondhand materials before applying the then lauded evolution theory. Scholars after him abandoned his classification method. The first person rebuffing his views was France’s famous sociologist David Émile Durkheim, whose conclusion was almost entirely the opposite of Frazer’s: “Thus magic is not, as Frazer held, a primary datum and religion only its derivative. In contrast, the precepts on which the magician’s art rests were formed under the influence of religious ideas, and only by a secondary extension were they turned to purely secular applications. Because all the forces of the universe were conceived on the model of sacred forces, the contagiousness inherent in the sacred forces was extended to them all, and it was believed that, under certain conditions, all the properties of bodies could transmit themselves contagiously… Although there are sympathetic rites, they are not peculiar to magic. Not only are they found in religion as well, but it is from religion that magic received them. Thus, all we do is court confusion if, by the name we give those rites, we seem to make them out to be something specifically magical.”21 Durkheim distinguished magic and religion by using his theoretical model of a “sacred” society. According to him, magic, like religion, has its beliefs and rites. It also has myths, dogmas, sacrifices, prayers, and dances. Both religion and magic are focused on forces and beings of shared nature, and only magic is more elementary because it seeks utilitarian ends while religion values thinking and meditation.22 Religion unites people by means of shared beliefs. They think about sacred and secular affairs and act on the basis of common faith. All the believers in the same faith form a moral community that is called a church. A society thus comes into being.23 Magic deals mainly with secular matters. In most circumstances, magicians worked alone, rather than in unison, to perform their art. Even on special occasions, magicians organized an association where they only met at long intervals. This kind of organization was loosely knit, and no lasting bond was established between a magician and the people asking for his help. In other words, magicians did not enjoy large and sustained following. Participants in magic rituals were not members of the magicians’ association.24 In short, religion and magic each had their own agenda. The former was busy to form its moral community, and the latter focused on solving real secular problems. Durkheim indicated that a declining subject could not be a study topic. When studying the elementary forms of religious lives on the basis of totemism of Australian tribes, he proposed a well-known definition of religion: “A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to 20

Ibid., 7–79. David Émile Durkheim; Qu Dong, Ji Zhe (Trans.), The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, July 2006), 344–345. 22 Ibid., 38. 23 Ibid., 39. 24 Ibid., 40. 21

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say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them.”25 Although Durkheim did not give strong evidence to support his view on the precedence of religion over magic and some scholars refuted his Australian totemism as oversimplified ethnography, the “moral community” he proposed is a very persuasive idea for distinguishing religion and magic in the era when Christianity, Buddhism and other religions with strong ethical doctrines emerged. Durkheim might have assumed a priori that religion in his study is typified by Christianity, an advanced form of religion, and that is why he would use the “moral community” as the dividing line between religion and magic. By Durkheim’s definition, what house builders performed by using the supernatural power derived from the belief in Lu Ban unquestionably belongs to “magic”. Durkheim apparently had already considered the existence of an occult society. However, his comment on occult society as a loosely knit organization that lacked a common faith to form a moral community is contradictory to the facts that the artisans who worshipped their common primogenitor Lu Ban as a divine being and that artisans in some places once formed an organization, Society of Lu Ban, to enshrine the master craftsman. “Origin of Divine Master Lu Ban” in Lu Ban’s Craftsmanship and Guidelines records, “In the Yongle era, His Emperor ordered thousands of artisans to build the awe-inspiring Peking Longsheng Hall. The project was able to be completed only after the Divine Master arrived to guide the work. A shrine was erected to enshrine the master with a tablet to name it ‘Lu Ban School’, and the master had the title ‘Bulwark Grand Preceptor Beicheng Marquis’ conferred onto him. Offerings are provided in spring and autumn with rites of Tailao (three animal offerings). Afterwards, any requests from artisans are rewarded. Hereby, the tablet is hung to let people know for ten thousand years.”26 According to scholars’ investigation, from the early Qing to the Republic of China, the Society of Lu Ban organized by people of different professions in Beijing was a professional association that attached great importance to worshipping rituals.27 A Qing Dynasty manuscript, Writings on Ming Studio, records the ritual once held, Lu Ban Shrine south of Dihua Bridge is visited by all artisans within the perimeter of the region. The shrine had only one bay, showing dilapidation after years of use. In the summer of Xin-you Year, carpenters and masons collected money to hire a drama troupe. They placed the divine tablet in the rear hall of the City Deity Shrine. The procession of artisans who beat gongs, carried sedan chairs, held incense, staff or offerings, and dressed in formal costume was filing down the street. The occasion was the assembly of artisans.28

Many places in China celebrated the Lu Ban Festival on the 16th day of the sixth lunar month, while the Mongol People in Yunnan celebrated it on the second day 25

Ibid., 42. Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 220. 27 Zhao Shiyu, Deng Qingping, Society of Lu Ban: Ritual Organization and Industrial Advocacy in Qing-Republic Era, Study on History of the Qing, 2002 (1). 28 Zhu Lian, Superficial Jottings from Zhu Lian, A Comprehensive Anthology of Literary Sketches, Vol. 28, (Nanjing: Guangling Classics Publishing House, April 1983), 53. 26

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(the birthday of Lu Ban) or the 16th day (the anniversary of Lu Ban’s death) of the fourth lunar month, a practice they had kept until 1996. The locals recalling the Lu Ban Festival were 130 years old in 1990. The festival was promoted by a Mongol Wang Zhihe who was educated in a private school, mastered masonry, carpentry, lacquer, color painting, knitting, and drawing. The locals drew lots or chipped in to raise funds for festival celebrations. On the day of celebration, people would put a wooden statute of Lu Ban in colorful, pavilioned divine litter to join a procession circling around villages. Villagers set up an incense altar beside the lanes and bowed to the litter as it passed through. Wine was also offered to the carriers. The celebration followed some religious rules, and it was also attended by Taoists. The specifics are as follows: The Lu Ban Festival is male-oriented. Traditionally, females could only participate in entertaining sessions of the event but are banned in worshipping rituals, feasts and lot drawings for emcees who need to be married men. Men must cleanse themselves before the festival and not have copulation for half a month before the day. A fire needs to be made before an Avalokitesvara Temple where the main ritual site is. All males must stride over the fire before entering the ritual hall and accept the sweetened glutinous rice bun and cake from the first and the second emcees. All women must avoid the passageway leading to the site on the first day of the festival. The reason for this is because Lu Ban’s wife was said to be a talented woman who nevertheless kept Lu Ban from fully showcasing his dexterity. Therefore, once a woman attends the ritual, craftsmen in the community will not become deft. During the festival, a Taoist from Hexi City must be invited to chant the prayer and conduct the offerings. In particular, on the first day, the first emcee must hold an incense burner to follow the Taoist who will light the incense when chanting. The second emcee must hold a bronze tray filled with wine, food, tea, and rice to follow the Taoist for him to do the offerings. Both emcees must follow the command of the Taoist to kneel and bow to Lu Ban. The remaining 10 emcees and the other attendees did not join the bowing procedure.29 From materials available, we cannot be certain about the places where Lu Ban worshipping ritual existed as part of a festival or temple fair. However, from the conclusion of this study, Lu Ban was indeed worshipped in building construction rituals. The influence of Taoism on the belief in Lu Ban was also obvious. Artisans’ ritual assembly to worship Lu Ban did not show traces of church-type organization, nor did the artisans form a moral community. Artisans’ worship of the deity of craft was just to commemorate their primogenitor and wish for the primogenitor’s blessings. This attests to the dividing line Durkheim has used to distinguish religion and magic. In other words, according to Durkheim’s definition, artisans’ assembly is an occult association, and the assembly does not bond artisans together to form a moral community. The premise for perceivable Taoist influence on house builders’ sorcery is the pre-existence of Taoism. Another obvious fact is that Taoism has incantations as one 29

Du Yuting, A Study on the Luban Festival of the Mongol People in Yunnan Province Inner Mongolia Social Sciences, 1990 (6), 44.

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of its key elements in its canonic system. While the art of incantations is customarily known as magical tricks, it is actually a complicated and canonic form of sorcery. Taoism emerged after absorbing some folk occult arts since the Spring and Autumn period. Hence, clearly, Durkheim’s theory can only apply to the religion and magic of this period. Both Frazer and Durkheim’s arguments are not sufficient to define the initial relationship between religion and magic. Academia of modern times has proposed an idea, “The primitive religion.” Even anthropologists engaged in field research cannot ascertain the precedence of religion or magic. The issue has become a chicken-eggs dilemma.30 The father of functionalism, Bronisław Kasper Malinowski, created his theory through his long-term fieldwork. He distinguished religion and magic by the purpose of behavior. This is his constant approach to explain cultural phenomena. He believed magic to be part of religion. But magic was a series of movements, a practical instrument; religion was the opposite. Humans needed luck only in activities and magic in dealing with incidental uncontrollable events. Magic and technique had a clear dividing line between them. He noted that no matter how much science and knowledge can help people fulfill their needs, they have their bounds. Humanity has a vast domain where science cannot work. Science cannot eliminate diseases, decay, and death, nor can it ensure harmony between men and the environment or between men themselves. This domain that remains out of reach of science belongs to religion. Here, special rituals serving practical purposes emerge, and they are known as magic in anthropology.31 Magic is a tool to achieve a goal, a pack of actions with practical values. Religion creates a set of values to fulfill its objective directly.32 His theory would easily cause people to take religion as in a conceptual form and magic as ritual activities. In his ethnography, he did not make a distinction between religious rituals and magic rituals. Deeming magic as a tool is an attractive idea that, for a period, greatly influenced the study of China’s scholars in this area.33 However, it is rather mechanical to make

30

This dilemma is as perplexing as that of myth and ritual. Bronisław Kasper Malinowski; Fei Xiaotong (Trans.), A Scientific Theory of Culture and Others Essays (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, January 2002), 53. 32 Ibid., 57. 33 For example, Lv Daji ed., General Theory of Religion, writes, “Magic is a ubiquitous religious phenomenon in everywhere of the world in any historical period. It has a common format of using ritual performance to employ and manipulate a certain supernatural mysterious force to affect humans’ life or natural events to achieve a specific objective.” See Lv Dajing ed., 1989, General Theory of Religion, July Edition, Beijing, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Press, pp. 254. Another, Zhang Zichen’s Chinese Occultism, “Occult arts, internationally referred to as Magic, in China, is defined by ‘practice or method’. International community has elevated activities and methods of occult arts into academic terminology and given them science status. Occult arts are collectively a human behavior that attempts to obtain a possible controlling power over a surrounding environmental or an external world. In other words, it is a means for humans to effectively control an external environment (external Nature) and the delusional specter’s world. This means and its real function cannot be verified. Its obscurant nature can be defied and realized by people only after people have lost relevant belief in it. Therefore, it is humans’ primal characteristics, not a 31

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the value system that characterizes religion and the instrumental feature of magic as classification criteria. Frazer uses the different attitude toward divine beings—persuasion and entreaty in the case of religion and coercion and constraints in the case of magic—to distinguish the two. This, however, is not convincing since magic uses both soothing and extortion when dealing with divine beings.34 Carpenters, for example, would pray piously and make offerings to the deity of trees in hope of their blessings while at the same time dispelling any perverse things inside woods before logging timbers. The same idea and ceremony that involved both soothing and coercion occurred in the case of the deity of earth. It is indeed questionable to artificially divide a continuum of rituals into “religion” and “magic”. In the case of house builders’ sorcery, it is not feasible to distinguish it from religion on the basis of their attitudes towards divine beings. In the process of transmission of such sorcery, there is an independent variable—how the sorcery practitioners carry forward the tradition and adapt to change. Because of the existence of this variable, attitudes towards divine beings can only be depicted properly in a specific context. Nevertheless, we can also consider the general rule. Artisans typically treat divine beings and demonic spirits differently: worshipping the good piously and rejecting and dispelling the bad. Here, the good are often the divine beings while the bad are ghosts, succubae, elementals, and demons; the good are the main force helping humans win the fight against evils, while what humans do is merely to create the battlefield via proper ritual procedures and use occult articles to assist the goodness to prevail. In actual rituals, people’s attitude toward evil is also complicated. For instance, the Bai People of Zibi in Dali’s Eryuan County would perform a so-called sending-off “wood miasma” ritual when building a dwelling. Their attitude towards evils as revealed in the ritual cannot be depicted as “coercion” or “dispelling”. Rather, it is soothing and persuading. This is consistent with the criticism made by Alfred Radcliffe-Brown about Malinowski’s magic-induced confidence for humans: “While one anthropological theory is that magic and religion give men confidence, it could equally well be argued that they give men fears and anxieties from which they would otherwise be free—the fear of black magic or of spirits, fear of God, of the Devil, of Hell.”35 In fact, attitudes as exhibited in magic rituals is indeed a complicated emotion—a mixture of veneration and fright. Therefore, many rituals performed by professional house builders start with an act of worship of divine beings, which is immediately followed by the evil-dispelling procedure performed with the aid of divine beings. Using a “moral community” or “value instrument” to distinguish religion and magic is based on presuppositions, and the approach might sometimes be mechanical.

manifestation of civilization.” See Zhang Zichen, 1990, Chinese Sorcery, Shanghai: Shanghai Joint Publishing, 17. 34 Hutton Webster, Magic: A Sociological Study (Stanford University, 1984), 44. 35 A. R. Radcliffe - Brown; Shi Zong (Ed.), Taboo, Selected Works of Western Religious Anthropology in the 20th Century I (Shanghai: Shanghai Joint Publishing, April 1995), 101.

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To artisans performing sorcery and adherents of this sorcery, the dichotomy between religion and sorcery does not exist, as noted by some scholars of social science.36 Pritchard comments, “The Azande, therefore, see no competition between science on the one hand and their system of magic, oracles, witchcraft, and religion on the other. Significantly, the notion of a struggle between these two forms of knowledge— which is so central to views of Tylor, Frazer, Freud, Lévy-Bruhl and so many other theorists of the primitive mind—seems totally foreign to their experience. Magic and religion are not replaced by science; they simply operate alongside and with it.”37 A growing body of field evidence indicates that magic and religion may overlap. Religion often includes “control through spirit agencies; material interests of groups; prayers for rain; blessing of technical equipment and of economic methods and adjuncts.” These are religious contents that, nevertheless, are often found in magic as well.38 Therefore, it has to be said that dualistic dichotomy provides a seemingly clear yet inopportune distinction for magic and religion. Levi-Strauss’s insight on the issue is admirable. He said, “For, although it can, in a sense, be said that religion consists in a humanization of natural laws and magic in a naturalization of human actions—the treatment of certain human actions as if they were an integral part of: physical determinism—these are not alternatives or stages in an evolution. The anthropomorphism of nature (of which religion consists) and the physiomorphism of man (by which we have defined magic) constitute two components that are always given and vary only in proportion. As we noticed earlier, each implies the other. There is no religion without magic any more than there is magic without at least a trace of religion. The notion of a super-nature exists only for a humanity which attributes supernatural powers to itself and in return ascribes the powers of its super-humanity to nature.”39 The same is true for house builders, who have religious elements such as prayers to divine beings and blessings to a new dwelling. To Lu Ban’s adherents, in particular, their admiration of the master artisan’s dexterity and supernatural power have incited pious, sacred emotions. Russell commented on the origin of religion: “Religion is 36

For a long time, a great number of eminent scholars have used natural science models in their studies of human minds. That is why we have such terms as “cultural sciences” and “social sciences”. Many scholars advocated a kind of empiricism, as in Durkheim’s words, “Sociology does not seek to become acquainted with bygone forms of civilization for the sole purpose of being acquainted with and reconstructing them. Instead, like any positive science, its purpose above all is to explain a present reality that is near to us and thus capable of affecting our ideas and actions. That reality is man.” He added, “A cartesian principle had it that the first link takes precedence in the chain of scientific truths.” Descartes was a famous philosopher of positivism, pursuing empiricism and rationalism, which are actually just the imitation of natural sciences by liberal arts. See [F] David Émile Durkheim; Qu Dong, Ji Zhe (Trans.), The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2006, 1, 3. 37 Pals, D.L., Tao Feiya, Liu Yi, & Niu Shengni (Trans.), Seven Theories of Religion (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, February 2005), 282. 38 Raymond Firth; Fei Xiaotong (Trans.), Human Types: An Introduction to Social Anthropology (Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House, January 2002), 133. 39 Claude Levi Strauss; Li Youyan (Trans.), The Savage Mind (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, May 1987), 252.

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based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown, and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing— fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion has gone hand-in-hand.”40 As artisans needed to ensure the success of a house project, they often experienced anxiety and fear of accidents such as collapse of walls and errors in column erection. They constantly worried about technical problems as well as the interventions of fierce spirits, and thus sought help from the Divine Master Lu Ban who would “respond to all prayers of today’s artisans like the sun and moon in the sky that illuminate the world.”41 Of Lu Ban’s legends of each ethnicity, many are about the miracles created by the master artisan in the process of constructions. Apart from technical advice, the kind-hearted divinity would also provide other helps for those in need.42 In this sense, what Lu Ban means for artisans does not differ much from Buddha for Buddhists or God for Christians. In addition, house builders performed sorcery, particularly by hiding objects, to influence the fortunes of the house owners. Despite the impact of Taoist deities, spells, and talismans, such sorcery mainly originated from the belief in gu. Taoism itself is closely related to exorcism or the primitive, aboriginal religion. Max Weber keenly realized the necessity to distinguish religion and magic. After having done a comparative study on religion, he classified the world’s religions in human history. According to him, religion can be classified as “traditional” or “rational”. The “traditional” religion to some extent is “magic”, or the primitive religion named by academia. Practiced mostly by aboriginal peoples, it featured polytheism that was deeply rooted in the primal minds that easily anthropomorphized objects seen in daily life, such as rocks and trees. Rituals were commonly held at every transition point of life. Because the focus of their attention was on dealing with divine beings or demonic spirits, the primeval communities did not develop a clear awareness of religion. For these primeval cultures, religion was more like a cultural constancy embedded in every aspect of life. The opposite of the “traditional” cult, the “rational” religion, includes religions practiced around the world, such as Judaism, Confucianism, and Hinduism. Different from the polytheism of the “traditional” religion, the “rational” religion became logical and abstract, centering around one or two divine beings or just religious creeds. The divine beings or creed that adherents believed in were above trivial life. The purpose of their belief was to get close to the divine beings or sacred objects, to gain a mysterious spiritual experience, rather than to substantiate their wishes in daily routines through the numerous magic rituals. The adherents attracted by the “rational” religion were “rational” people who were clearly aware of their religious faith. “Unlike the adherents of traditional cults, the 40

Bertrand Russell, Shen Haikang (Trans.), Why I Am not a Christian (Shanghai: The Commercial Press, February 1982), 25. 41 Wu Rong (Ed.) & Li Feng (Collated), Guidelines for Architecture and Carpentry (Haikou: Hainan Publishing House, August 2003), 220. 42 As in Lu Ban legend of the Bai People.

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followers of such religions are very much aware of what they are doing; they know well that they have chosen a single, well-organized system of belief.”43 This book supports Max Weber’s view. The house builders’ sorcery we have examined should belong to traditional religion or sorcery. If believers of a religion show a stronger tendency towards metaphysical thinking, the religion becomes closer to “rationalism” and less related to magic or sorcery.

43

Pals, D.L., Tao Feiya, Liu Yi, & Niu Shengni (Trans.), Seven Theories of Religion (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, February 2005), 342–343.

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