Qinghai Hujihai
01 · Historical Records
The history of worship at Qinghai Lake can be traced back as early as the Han dynasty. In the first month of the tenth year of the Tianbao era of the Tang dynasty (751), when the imperial court conferred noble titles on the four sea gods of the east, south, west and north, the god of the Western Sea was granted the title "Guangrun Gong" (Duke of Broad Moistening) and an envoy was sent to offer ritual sacrifice; the Qinghai Lake sea-worship activities have continued from that time to the present, a history of more than twelve hundred years. The ritual master stands on the shore facing the lake water and recites incantations, while the worshippers cast offerings into the lake, expressing reverence for the sea god and at the same time praying that the sea god will protect the happiness of all beings and bring peace and prosperity to the country.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Qinghai Lake sea-worship ceremony is the largest folk sea-worship activity in the area around Qinghai Lake. The ceremony is held each year on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. On the occasion a sang (incense-offering) platform is built by the lakeside and pine and cypress branches are lit; lamas recite scriptures, and people of the Tibetan, Mongolian and other ethnic groups offer hada (ceremonial scarves), white spirits, five-coloured grains, tsampa (roasted barley flour mixed with butter) and other sacrifices, and scatter paper wind-horses (lungda) into the air. When the offerings are finished, the ritual master, holding a five-grain packet wrapped in five-coloured silk thread, leads a procession of lamas bearing various ritual implements and playing Tibetan suona horns and ceremonial horns, while the deer god, the ox god and other local deities wearing deer-head and ox-head masks surge towards the lakeshore. After the sea-worship ceremony, horse races, yak races, archery and other sports events are held by the lake, along with performances such as the spirit-jumping dance, the zuodouhou, the sande dance and the auspicious deer dance.
The juniper altar on the lakeshore
The rite is held on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, beginning with a juniper altar lit on the shore.
Five-coloured offerings and paper wind-horses
As lamas chant, people offer khata, wine, five-coloured grain and fried flour, throwing paper wind-horses skyward.
The five-coloured grain bundle procession
The officiant raises a five-coloured silk-wrapped grain bundle and leads lamas with ritual implements, horn players and masked deer, ox and local spirits to the water's edge.
Races, archery and masked dances after the rite
Afterwards the lakeside hosts horse and cattle races, archery, and masked dances, turning the day into a full festival.
The book on the sea sacrifice and the Bayu clan
The inheritor Jiahuo Jiajucuo gathered the history, rite and scriptures of the sacrifice into a book covering the Bayu clan's practice.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The sea-worship practice in the area around Qinghai Lake is carried out jointly by people of the Tibetan, Mongolian and other ethnic groups, and the ritual procedures divide into monastic and lay strands: the sang offering and the recitation of scriptures are undertaken by the lamas, while the presentation of five-coloured offerings and the scattering of lungda are completed by laypeople. Jiahuo Jiamucuo, a representative inheritor of the fifth national batch, was born in Haiyan County; after taking monastic vows at Baifo (White Buddha) Monastery in 1982, he began work on protecting the sea-worship ceremony, visiting and compiling its history, ritual regulations and scriptures, and wrote the book Jiehai (Worshipping the Sea), which systematically presents the origins and transmission of the sea-worship ceremony of the Dayu tribe. At the various sites around the lake, the sang platform and the offering of sacrifices into the lake serve as common markers, while the specific scriptures and incantations differ with the transmission of each monastery.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Qinghai Lake sea-worship ceremony preserves a fairly complete body of traditional folk custom. Its sacrificial litanies, scriptures and traditional sports competitions are of considerable value for religious and ethnological study, and constitute precious material for investigating the history of the development and evolution of China's ancient peoples. Jiahuo Jiamucuo (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in April 1962, native of Haiyan County, Qinghai Province. In order to gain a systematic understanding of the Qinghai Lake sea-worship custom, he visited and compiled historical knowledge, ritual regulations and scriptures related to sea worship, and wrote the book Jiehai (Worshipping the Sea), which comprehensively presents the historical origins, cultural background, historical and cultural connotations and transmission of the Qinghai Lake sea-worship ceremony and of the Dayu tribe. Representative inheritor of the national-level intangible cultural heritage project Qinghai Lake Sea-Worship Ceremony, fifth national batch. In September 1982 he took monastic vows at Baifo Monastery, where he systematically studied Tibetan history, the history of religious origins and related subjects, and at the same time began work on protecting the Qinghai Lake sea-worship ceremony.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jiahuojiamucuo 05-3028
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。