Folk Beliefs and Customs

Ⅹ-85Folk CustomsLinqu, ShandongBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

From the Han, Sui, Tang, and Song to the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, successive courts repeatedly conferred additional titles on Yishan, and the sacrificial ceremonies were never discontinued.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Dongzhen Yishan Sacrifice Rite is the "rite of wangzhi" (looking in order) performed by emperors of successive dynasties for Dongzhen Yishan. Before the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the time of sacrifice was fixed in the second month of the lunar calendar; after the Sui and Tang, it was changed to "Lichun" (Beginning of Spring); after 1949, the emperors' "rite of wangzhi" evolved into a large-scale popular Yishan sacrificial ceremony, with the time changed to the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. Yishan, also called the "Eastern Mount Tai", was anciently known as the "Sea Mountain" (see the History of Ming) and the "Divine Mountain" (see the Ode to the Qi Capital), and has long enjoyed the reputation of "the foremost of the Five Guardian Mountains". It is the eastern main peak of the Taiyi mountain range, situated in the south of Linqu County, Shandong Province; it is the source of the Yi, Wen, Shu, and Mi rivers, and also the birthplace of the Longshan culture. According to the "Treatise on the Feng and Shan Sacrifices" of the Records of the Grand Historian, the Yellow Emperor ascended and sacrificed to the Eastern Mount Tai (i.e., Yishan). When Shun delimited the provincial boundaries and enfeoffed the mountains, he designated Yishan as an important guardian mountain, and sacrifice to Yishan had already begun in the time of Yu the Great. On the occasion of major celebrations, such as an emperor's accession, or when the seasons were unseasonable and the earth unsettled, the emperor would either lead his ministers in person or send high ministers to sacrifice to the deities of the East, in order to the Eastern Peak Mount Tai, Dongzhen Yishan, and the Eastern Sea. Yishan preserves sixteen imperial steles from successive dynasties and about two hundred steles of deputy sacrifices. Since 1979, the Yishan Scenic Area Management Committee has presided over the sacrifice, and the restored "Dongzhen Yishan Grand Ceremony of Sacrifice to the Mountain" has the following basic program: First, at 8 a.m. at the East Gate of Yishan, a folk performance team of six hundred people begins folk performances such as dragon lanterns, stilts, land boats, and lion dances. Second, at 9 a.m., the chief sacrificer lights tall incense at the Jade Emperor Pavilion and announces the beginning of the sacrificial ceremony, with bells and drums sounding together. Third, sixteen performers portraying emperors who once sacrificed to and conferred titles on Yishan enter the sacrificial site in dynastic order, while an ancient-costume warrior team of four hundred and sixty people stands in formation, accompanying the sacrifice in performance. Fourth, the villagers of Dongzhen Yishan offer sacrifices and pour libations. Fifth, guests from religious circles and from the Four Guardian Mountains present flower baskets. Sixth, the three-kowtow salute is performed. Seventh, the chief sacrificer reads the sacrificial text. Eighth, a hundred-person music-and-dance troupe announces the sacrifice. Dances and music such as the "Ode to Yishan" and the "Majestic Gong and Drum" are performed in succession. The sacrificial ceremony runs from 8 a.m. to noon. The Yishan sacrificial rite has gone through five stages of development: totem worship, mountain-form sacrifice, guardian-mountain sacrifice, the fengshan ceremonial journey, and the sacrifice to the peaks, guardian mountains, seas, and great rivers; each stage of development contains rich cultural information.

The dragon, stilt and boat dance at the east gate

Six hundred performers open the ceremony at the east gate with dragon lanterns, stilts, land boats and lions before the procession moves in.

Lighting the tall incense at the Jade Emperor hall

The master of ceremonies lights tall incense at the Jade Emperor hall and opens the rite to the sound of bells and drums.

The emperor impersonators entering in dynastic order

Sixteen men impersonating emperors who worshipped the mountain enter in dynastic order before four hundred and sixty costumed attendants.

Three prostrations and the reading of the address

After offerings, wine and baskets, the officiant performs three prostrations and reads the address in formal parallel prose before burning the silk.

The hundred performers of music and dance

A hundred performers close the rite with the Ode to Mount Yi and the Weifeng gongs and drums, ending the four-hour ceremony at noon.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The transmission of the Yishan sacrificial rite relies on the temple-fair network of Linqu: on the mountain the Jade Emperor Pavilion receives the sacrifice, and at the foot of the mountain, along the stone bridges and old roads, are scattered several village communities, each sending people by household and burning incense on schedule, with registers of deputy sacrifices kept since the Ming and Qing. The sacrifice nominally belongs to the court's rite of wangzhi, but the actual performance of the rites is mostly undertaken jointly by local gentry and Daoist clergy, with the chanting of the rites, the offering of sacrifices, and the burning of silk each in the charge of specialists; the choice of ritualists rotates within the village, and once a few experienced hands have been trained they are kept on for a long time. Since 1979 the Yishan Scenic Area Management Committee has presided over the sacrifice; the viewers of the ceremony have changed from officials to mountain people, and the order of observance has been rearranged accordingly. The mountain is dense with steles: sixteen imperial steles and nearly two hundred deputy-sacrifice steles keep in place the texts of sacrifices from Yu the Great through the Ming and Qing, becoming a physical textbook by which the villagers understand their own relation to the dynasty. Yishan is also the eastern main peak of the Taiyi range and the source of the Yi, Wen, Shu, and Mi rivers; the seawall workers and boat households at the foot of the mountain still follow the old custom of going up the mountain to worship on the days of opening the channels and releasing the waters, joining the guardian-mountain sacrifice and water control together in one act of worship.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The culture of the guardian mountain has been passed down in one line and has kept pace with the times; promptly excavating and transmitting the Yishan sacrificial culture has positive significance for anthropological and folklore research, for transmitting national culture, and for promoting local social harmony and the moral edification of popular custom.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

Wu Jishan 05-3019
Xu Shunwei 05-3020
Huang Guanghui 05-3021
Chen Jikun 05-3022
Sinapinchu 05-3023
Liu Shimei 05-3024
Zhang Qingming 05-3025
Zheng Quanguang 05-3026
Ye Da 05-3027
Li Yaohui
Luo Shengzong

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Folk Beliefs and Customs (Linqu, Shandong) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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