A preliminary study of primitive religious rituals
Abstract: Primitive religious ceremonies have different forms of expression, including ritual mimicry, totem mimicry, characters imitating gods, exorcism rituals and so on. Although primitive religious ceremonies have various forms, they are all based on the hazy religious feelings of primitive ancestors praying for good weather and all the best.
Keywords: primitive religion; Ritual mimicry; God-like ceremony; Totem mimicry
Primitive ancestors showed awe in the face of natural forces and expressed their desire to conquer. So they imagined that the gods controlled the natural forces, and human beings could reach a settlement with the natural forces by communicating with the gods. This is the birth principle of sympathetic witchcraft.
The ancestors were also afraid and shocked when facing the beast, so they longed for the deterrent power of the beast. In addition, matriarchal clans do not know the cognitive limitations of their fathers, and they often regard some animals and plants as the ancestors of their own tribe. And this is the birth principle of totem.
Primitive religious ceremonies include ritual mimicry, totem mimicry, deification ceremony, exorcism ceremony, etc., which are mostly based on sympathetic witchcraft and totem.
First of all, ritual imitation
The practice of sympathizing with witchcraft leads to conscious imitation of human beings. Fraser said in "The Myth of adonis": They hold ceremonies and recite incantations, so that rain falls, the sun shines, animals multiply and fruits grow on the earth. They hope that the performance will make nature run more smoothly. ? [ 1]472
Fraser explained the manifestation of sympathetic witchcraft, that is, by imitating natural things and events, communicating with the gods who control these things and events, and finally realizing the desire to control natural forces.
Fraser recorded a voodoo rain instrument in a village near Delput, Russia, in "Golden Branches": three men climbed a tree, one of them hit a bucket or kettle with a hammer to simulate thunder, the other hit a lighted torch to simulate lightning, and the rest held twigs in their hands and sprayed them in all directions from the container to simulate rain. They symbolically imitate the steps of rainfall to realize their thirst for rain.
This simulation of natural laws, such as rainfall, and human activities, such as hunting and war, aims to realize the communication between human beings and the gods who control these activities through simulation, and finally achieve the goal of human beings controlling natural laws and personnel, which is also the basic content of ritual mimicry.
Second, imitate the rituals of God.
Although early human beings made unremitting efforts to conquer nature, they still showed passivity in the face of natural forces, which led primitive ancestors to surrender to the gods they created.
With the strengthening of this worship consciousness, the original ritual mimicry is becoming more and more solemn. So who are the special organizers and executors of witchcraft activities? A wizard? Appeared. ? There is no problem that ancient sacrifices were presided over by wizards. It has been recorded in Oracle Bone Inscriptions that sacrifices are held at four o'clock all over the country. Except for the national prayer for returning to the monarch, all of them are presided over by sacrificial wizards. ? [2]35 "Zhou Li? Guan Chun Zongbo records:
The decree that witches take charge of witches. When the country is dry, you are handsome and dance. If there is a national disaster, you are handsome and you are a witch. Where there are funerals, they are all gifts from witches. The wizard looks at the worship, looks at the face, awards the number, and recruits the hair. ? [3]37 1
It can be seen that professional wizards have fixed functions, specializing in sacrificial activities. ? A gift from the witch to surrender? Is responsible for welcoming the gods, descending the gods and other ceremonies, and the wizard? By the way. His behavior is also to attract the four gods back with Mao, including welcoming, entertaining and descending.
China embodied the characteristics of farming civilization in ancient times, so the most representative sacrificial ceremonies in ancient China were rain-praying sacrifice and agricultural harvest wax sacrifice. "Zhou Li? Guan Chun Zongbo records:
(Si Wu) If the country is dry, you will become handsome and dance. When the witch was old, she was moved away, smoked and bathed, and suffered from drought. And then dance. ? [3]373
Witches are mainly engaged in sacrificial activities, while wizards lead a group of witches to perform sacrificial activities together. Although it is not clearly recorded in Zhou Li? Dancing? However, according to the early witchcraft mimicry activities, witches must be accompanied by performances that imitate gods in sacrifices. Moreover, before the dance, there is an aromatherapy bath and dance movements, so there is a great element of flattering the gods in the sacrificial activities.
In addition to offering sacrifices, important sacrifices in ancient times also included wax sacrifices, which were sacrificial activities for the ancients to pray for a bumper harvest in agriculture. Book of rites? "Suburban Sacrifice" records:
Dabala, Tian Zi. Benevolence is the best, and righteousness is the best. Welcome cats, feed voles for them, welcome tigers, feed their fields and make sacrifices for them. Sacrificial workshops and aqua, things also. ? [4] 1373
In the wax festival, wizards not only communicate with Ba Shen through the activities of praying for a good harvest in agriculture, but also simulate actual events to make suggestions for the monarch. Does Roche hide seeds from deer and women? [4] 1373 tells the story that Roche warned the monarch by leading the people to perform hunting and erotic kingdom, and keen on hunting and erotic kingdom would lead to national subjugation.
Therefore, wizards often play the role of welcoming, descending and entertaining gods in the ceremony of imitating gods, which means that our ancestors tried to realize the ideal of good weather by communicating with gods.
Third, totem mimicry.
Totem mainly embodies the ancestor worship complex of primitive ancestors, which is often expressed through animal performances. In the late primitive society, the clans under the command of the Yellow Emperor unified the ministries, but the totems of the tribes were different. So in large-scale celebrations, in order to express the worship of ancestors, it appeared? Dancing at the speed of a beast? Situation. "History? Where is Yu? "Book of Changes" records:
Hey: racquet, harp, singing. , phoenix emperor to instrument. ? Hey: Yu! To strike a stone with one stone, all animals dance together, and Yin Yun is harmonious. [5]323
All the birds and animals here are played by people. Birds and beasts (continued from page 40) (continued from page 38) appear in large-scale ceremonies with special significance, and are actually symbols of totem of various tribes.
According to archaeological data, in ancient times, people did hold some solemn ceremonies by playing with birds and animals. The bronze gongs unearthed in Shizhai Mountain, Jinning County, Yunnan Province are painted with figures decorated with feathers, dancing in groups, which should also be an animal-like ceremony to express totem worship. On some unearthed bronze cultural relics, we can often see some monster images and some arrogant masks, which are probably used in ancient totem worship activities.
The belief of totem worship is presented through the animal-imitating ceremony, which expresses the memory and belief of our ancestors. Performing by simulating tribal totem is not only to communicate with ancestors to express awe and prayer, but also to entertain tribal totem gods, or to entertain ancestors and express an ancestor worship complex.
Fourth, exorcism ceremony
In order to get rid of disasters and diseases, primitive humans often express themselves in the form of Nuo dance. The psychology of exorcism is not the same as totem worship, but the exorcism ceremony is similar to totem animal ceremony. The exorcism ceremony in the Zhou Dynasty was presided over by a special person, namely? Where is Fang? ,? It's a ghost pretending to be a terrorist and holding a shield to scare away the plague. ? [3]405 "Zhou Li" has a more detailed record of the exorcism ceremony in the Zhou Dynasty:
Fang Xiang wore bearskin, four eyes of gold, mysterious clothes and Zhu Shang in his palm, holding Ge Yangdun, handsome and difficult to handle, and used the cable room to drive away the epidemic. ? [3]45 1
As the main sacrificial ceremony, Fang led people to search the interior of the house to eliminate the ghosts that caused the disease. Not only that, Fang Xiang's family must also remove the evil spirits from the grave to protect people from infringement after death. "Zhou Li? Xia Guan Sima Zai:
(Party) bears the brunt of the huge losses. That is, the entrance to the tomb, hit the four corners, and drive away Liang Fang. ? [3]45 1
Fang came to the cemetery when he was about to be buried after his death, knocking on the tomb door to expel the ghosts in the tomb to ensure that people would not be disturbed by evil spirits after their death.
Whether it is ritual mimicry, deification ceremony, totem mimicry or exorcism ceremony, it is based on the desire of human beings to conquer nature and thrive, with the meaning of simple primitive religion. However, with the continuous breakthrough of human cognitive level, these rituals gradually moved away from the initial religious consciousness and turned to the field of secular entertainment. When primitive religious ceremonies began to play the role of drama, their essence had changed.
References:
[1] British James? George? Fraser: Jin Zhi, Popular Literature and Art Publishing House, 1998.
[2] Gao Guofan: The History of Witchcraft in China, Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore Press, 1999.
[3] Yang Tianyu wrote: "Thirteen Classics? Interpretation of Zhou Li, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2004.
[4] Chen Xiangmin and Pei Zeren. Note translation: "all the five classics and four books are translated?" Book of Rites, Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 2002.
[5] Chen Xiangmin et al. Translation Note: The Five Classics and Four Books are fully translated? Shangshu, Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 2002: 323.