Folk Beliefs and Customs

Ⅹ-85Folk CustomsDeqin, YunnanBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

After the rise of Tibetan Buddhism, the content of mountain-circumambulation and worship activities was enriched and expanded.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

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.

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.

Warehouse officials and lay priests

Rites may be led by monastery lamas or by lay priests ordained within the community, with many separate lineages among the hundred sacred peaks.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

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.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Sacred-mountain belief culture blends the Bon concept of the animation of all things with the Buddhist cherishing of life; the reverence for nature and respect for life it advocates have played an important role in environmental protection. The Meili sacred-mountain sacrifice is a direct vehicle for the continuation of sacred-mountain culture, integrating the value orientations and aesthetic consciousness of the local Tibetan people, and holds reference value for anthropological and sociological research. Sena Pinchu (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in August 1967, a native of Deqin County, Yunnan Province. Born into a cangba (mountain-sacrifice master) family, he was steeped in Tibetan cangba culture from childhood. He received empowerments and blessings from eminent Tibetan Buddhist monks including Living Buddha Jili, Living Buddha Budun of the Tibetan-inhabited areas of Sichuan, and the master Lapu Zhonglu of Dongzhulin Monastery in Benzilan, and mastered the ritual procedures of sacred-mountain sacrifice and Buddhist ceremonies. Since 1991 he has served in Deqin County as a cangba of lasi (sacred-mountain sacrifice), presiding over sacred-mountain sacrifice activities; he is deeply respected by the local Tibetan people. He has trained many disciples. He is a representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Folk Custom (Meili Sacred Mountain Sacrifice).

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

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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