Sinapinchu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

At the age of twelve he followed his father, Gema Pinchu, in learning to preside over sacrificial rites. Within the regional tradition and school record of Folk Beliefs and Customs in Deqin, Yunnan: The mountain sacrifices of the Deqin area take Kawagebo as their core: one mountain, three routes, each walked separately. The Great Circuit is the outer circuit, circling the entire mountain range and requiring several dozen days; the Middle Circuit circles the main peak cluster; the Small Circuit is the inner circuit, consisting only of prostrations in the frontal basin of the main peak — those with infirm legs and beginners enter through it. More than a hundred sacred mountains and more than a hundred villages each have their own sacrifice dates and lineages; on the mountain, cangba (mountain-sacrifice masters) preside over communal sacrifices, while in the villages aqu lead household sacrifices — two sets of personnel each managing their part. The sang offering is mostly performed at three places — hilltops, communal houses, and household rooftops — one village per day, the sang smoke never ceasing; and the ritual procedures of cangba lineages such as that of Sena Pinchu are carried out round after round on these days. After the rise of Tibetan Buddhism, the content of mountain-circumambulation and worship activities was enriched and expanded.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Born in August 1967, male, Tibetan ethnicity, a native of Deqin County, Yunnan Province. He comes from a family of cangba, presiders over sacred mountain sacrifices, and was nurtured in Tibetan cangba culture from childhood. He received initiations and blessings from such eminent Tibetan Buddhist figures as the Jili Living Buddha, the Butun Living Buddha of the Tibetan areas of Sichuan, and Master Lapu Zhonglu of Dongzhulin Monastery in Benzilan, and he has mastered the procedures of sacred mountain sacrifices and Buddhist ceremonies. From 1991 to the present he has served as the cangba of the lasi, the sacred mountain sacrifice, in Deqin County, presiding over sacred mountain sacrificial activities, and is deeply respected by the local Tibetans. He has taken many apprentices. Within the documented technical tradition of Folk Beliefs and Customs in Deqin, Yunnan: Mountain sacrifice is a folk custom widespread in the Tibetan-inhabited areas of China; its core is the belief in sacred mountains. The Kawagebo snow mountain within Deqin County, Yunnan Province (better known as the Meili Snow Mountain), is the main peak of the Nu Mountain Range, the range straddling the Yunnan-Tibet border. It is the principal sacred mountain of the south among the four-direction sacred mountains of the Tibetan-inhabited areas, called "Rongzan Kawagebo"; in the ancient Bon religion classics it ranks among the world's twenty-four sacred peaks (kenie), and it is therefore also called "Naiqin Kawagebo" ("naiqin" means sacred site; Kawagebo snow mountain is believed to be the mandala manifested in this world by Cakrasamvara, the principal deity of Tibetan Buddhism — that is, the sacred site of Cakrasamvara). During the period of Bon culture, the custom of mountain circumambulation (also called "turning the scriptures", zhuanjing) arose. Historically, there were three Kawagebo circumambulation routes, called the "Great Circuit", "Middle Circuit", and "Small Circuit" (i.e., the outer, middle, and inner circuits). Of these three routes, some circle the entire mountain range, some circle the main peak cluster, and some involve prostrating in the frontal basin area of the main peak. Mountain-sacrifice activities are highly prevalent in the Deqin region; their forms include sang (incense offerings), hanging prayer flags, and wind-horse flags. Wind-horse flags are banners printed on silk cloth with carved wooden blocks. While circumambulating the sacred mountain, people reflect with gratitude on the mountain's blessings, examine their own faults, and make devout confession; at the same time they recall "yang" (the life-force and fortune) in order to seek well-being. The sang offering is the most solemn form of mountain sacrifice; in Tibetan it is called "sangtong". It takes the form both of collective mountain-sacrifice rites by the village and of rites by the individual household. Mountain-sacrifice sites include hilltops, communal houses between villages, and household rooftops. In some places the mountain-sacrifice rite is presided over by monastery monks; in others it is led by "aqu" (ordained lay ritual masters). Mountain-sacrifice rites also include folk activities such as fortune-summoning ceremonies, "daozan" (sword eulogies), "kaxia" (joke-telling), and welcome toasts for guests. The Meili Snow Mountain region has more than a hundred sacred mountains; every sacred mountain and every small village has its own mountain-sacrifice rite, and multiple transmission lineages exist. The mountain-sacrifice rites of the Deqin region have complete procedures, rigorous structure, and rich content; they cover traditional knowledge education, the transmission and application of classics, folk literature, costume, sculpture, dance, and spoken-sung performance, integrating social, literary, artistic, religious, astrological, and folkloric dimensions in one. They are among the most comprehensive, all-embracing folk activities of the Deqin region. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The outer, middle and inner circuits": Three established circuits around the peak - outer, middle and inner - differing in length, with prostrations on the innermost. "The sangdong smoke-offering rite": Juniper and mugwort are stacked in a stone hearth with barley and butter, burning in a column of smoke at mountaintop, village hall or rooftop. "Raising prayer flags": Prayer flags line the ridges while printed wind-horse banners are bought in the town below and hung at the mani piles. "Calling for blessings, knife praises and jokes": The middle stage includes calling back the blessing, knife chants, comic interludes and the welcoming of guests with wine.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He is a national representative bearer of Folk Beliefs and Customs (the Meili Sacred Mountain Sacrifice), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Sinapinchu · National Representative Bearer Archive