The clear record of Shamanism in China's historical records began with Nuzhen in the Jin Dynasty. Xu's "Three Dynasties North Alliance Compilation" records: "Savages (that is, shamans) are also witches and flexible as gods." Believing that the soul is immortal and that there is a spiritual world outside the world is the most basic thought of Shamanism. In this case, we must try to communicate between man and god, and the person who can undertake this mission is the shaman.
The History of Dosan Mongolia says: "Shamans are also teachers of simple religion. It is also a magical person, a dream interpreter, a fortune teller, a star and a doctor. Beating gongs and drums and chanting spells gradually became passionate and even confused, thinking that the gods possessed them. Then the dance jumps and dazzles, and the rumors are good and bad. " Shamans have no organizational form, no temple buildings, no statues of gods and buddhas, no unified scriptures and no complicated ceremonies. Scriptures, incantations and eulogies are also given by mouth and heart, which are flexible and changeable. When shaman was active, only Weng Zhou relied on the mourning hall, which was an "Aobao" made of stone.
At first, this primitive worship changed from a simple personal behavior to a collective sacrifice activity with rich offerings and complicated ceremonies, and then gradually developed into a full-time person to preside over this activity, which is called primitive religious belief.
One legend is that ...
When the world first opened, there was no disaster of birth, illness and death, and people lived happily. This scene was envied by the evil spirits who suffered in hell. The evil spirits secretly sprinkled birth, illness and death on the world, so the disaster of birth, illness and death came to the world, and there was pain in the world. This situation is reflected in Gods in the Sky, where the gods sent eagles from the sky to help solve their sufferings. However, people on the ground can neither understand the words of the eagle falling from the sky nor understand what it came to the earth for. As a last resort, the eagle had to return to the sky After asking about the situation, the gods said to the eagle: Just teach the shaman skills to the first person you meet when you come to earth. In this way, the eagle came to the world again and saw a woman sleeping under a tree at a glance. The eagle crossed with this woman and got her pregnant. At this time, this woman is in a period of temporary separation from her husband. When she returned to her husband, she gave birth to a full-term boy. This boy is the earliest shaman in the world. Later, there were male shamans and female shamans.
Shamanism is the primitive religion of Mongolian grassland. Mongolians have idolatry in their minds. They believe that the sun, the moon, fire, water, the earth and mountains are all gods. The idols of the gods call it "Weng Zhou", which is made of felt and dedicated. Mongolians believe that God is everywhere, and they are everywhere. The highest deity calls it "Mengge Tengger" (eternal paradise), and the Mongols respectfully call it "Ozige Tengger" (heavenly father). "From the master of the Tatar to his people, everything belongs to heaven." It is the creator of all tangible and intangible things and can give people the theory of truth, goodness, beauty, falsehood, evil and ugliness. The caller between Tengger and people is a witch. The wizard calls it "Kyle Polo" and the witch calls it "Yidugan". This has found a basis for the emergence of heroes on the grassland. For example, the root of Genghis Khan's success is Kyle Polotiechina, who was born by the mandate of heaven, and his ancestor Kyle Polochar was born above the light. Its logic is that everything Genghis Khan said and did was to give orders and perform his duties on behalf of heaven. The worship of Mongolian Tengger by the Mongolian people is reflected in their infinite loyalty to Genghis Khan. Therefore, in Mongolian society, the loyalty of thoughts and actions to Genghis Khan has become a universal moral norm, because it is God's will. It can be seen that religious belief, as an ideological field, has a strong political color since its birth. This is the main reason why he can exist and develop.
Due to the limitation of early human understanding, incomprehensible things and phenomena were mystified, and witchcraft was the product of mystified thinking. Shaman appeared with a brave attitude of challenging nature. Sacrifice, divination, exorcism and healing are the basic activities of shaman clergy of all ethnic groups, and the ultimate goal is to respect and soothe the soul.
Since we can reach the sky, we should show the shaman's unusual clothes. Shaman, as the incarnation and messenger of God, is fierce and abnormal after being possessed by God. He can fly over the eaves and walk over the walls, and several boys with big arms and round waist can't catch him. Therefore, clothing must be tight. The sleeves of the magic clothes are very narrow and can only reach into the arms. Underwear, single jacket and other upper body clothes are close to the body, and the legs are tied tightly.
All the light emitters and scintillators on the mirrors and hats symbolize the sacred light of the sun, the moon and the stars, and represent the light. The mirror is bright and dazzling, reflecting everything, and it is extremely sacred and majestic. People also think that the mirror itself is a god, and it can extend in all directions at will. Therefore, shamans must rely on the power of mirrors to communicate with gods. These mirrors decorated on shaman's hat and clothing can not only illuminate the shaman's journey from heaven to earth, but also serve as weapons for exorcism and security. They can help the shaman beat the devil and make the shaman reach the bright world smoothly.
Wearing "Erri En", also called Zhong Fu, is a robe worn by shamans when they practice. It is made by splicing and hanging rags from various sources. The shaman in Horqin wears a bell suit, and his ears are 3 inches wide and knee-length. The shaman in Kerkha wears a bell-shaped costume with colored spikes related to western paradise, eastern paradise and hades behind it. It is also necessary to fix nine bronze mirrors along the belt on its clothes. The middle mirror is slightly larger, and there are images of zodiac, lion and tiger on the mirror. This kind of open-back robe with many different origins and different cloth colors indicates the magical power of the gods from all directions; The bronze mirror nailed to the back and chest represents the starlight of the sun and the moon, and the four birds of prey carved on it symbolize that they can fly freely in the universe, and bear the heavy responsibility of communicating heaven and human messengers, showing the invulnerability and unparalleled divinity of the shaman. The bronze bells hanging in different parts of the robe are the embodiment of wisdom and will remind and alert ordinary people.
In order to show that honest practice can drive away evil spirits and maintain peace, some believers sometimes wear the robes of "tiger shirts" and participate in shaman prayer activities. The pedals are beautifully made, and various disc patterns are sewn on the boots. Shaman boots made of thick leather or wear-resistant coarse cloth, on the one hand, ensure that shamans don't open their lines when they are in a trance, on the other hand, make their souls light and comfortable when walking in heaven and hell.
There is a bird-shaped ornament on each shoulder of the shaman shawl, which is said to be a cuckoo. The shawl is decorated with 360 shiny shells on both sides of the chest, and the back is embroidered with various birds and animals patterns. In ancient times, shamans drilled the bones of various birds and animals into bone robes, and the decorations and patterns on the shawls can be said to be the signs of this bone robe. Through this shawl, the shaman can gain the magical ability of birds and animals to climb mountains and wade, and defeat all kinds of monsters. Therefore, it can be said that these animals and birds are the auxiliary gods of shamans. The more birds and beasts there are in the shawl, the more powerful the shaman is. It must also be pointed out that the cuckoo on the shawl also plays an important role in informing the shaman of all kinds of information about the journey and destination. Shaman obtains all kinds of information through cuckoo, making it invincible.
On the copper rings on both sides of shaman's clothing, there are nine thin bumps on each side, which is the protective belt. There are boar teeth and three bronze whistles on the right side of the copper ring, and boar teeth and conch horns on the left side. The tusks of wild boar symbolize courage, and bronze whistle and conch horn are the instruments for shaman to ask God to exorcise evil spirits.
Shaman wears a hat marked with the totem symbol of raptor when jumping into the gods. God hat has different shapes in East, West and Mobei. Horqin is the representative of the god hat in the eastern region. That is, the outer part of the round melon skin cap is woven with thin copper strips with finger width. The front of the hat is inlaid with worshippers' idols, and the bottom is decorated with blue silk ears. On the hat stood three strands of bronze hairpin about the size of a thumb and a foot long, with a bronze eagle arranged on the top. There are several small bells tied to the eagle's legs, and five-color ribbons hang down from the back. Western gods' hats are simple and compact, with soft tops. The god hat in Mobei is represented by Gurkha, which is characterized by a high crown and a bunch of eagle feathers tied on the crown, so it looks tall and gorgeous. In some places, there is a god's hat with iron leaves hanging on the cortex.
? In addition to special clothes, shamans have to have their own instruments, that is, magic drums. The magic drum is a round one-sided drum, covered with goatskin or roe deer skin and decorated with copper coins. The barrel handle is installed in the middle of the barrel back. The drumstick is called "auspicious delivery" (auspicious delivery) The word "Jisong" has the meaning of tongue, language and drumstick. Drumsticks are shaped like tongues, hence the name. Chicken legs are made of hoof skin. Drumming with such a drumstick is loud and thunderous. The edge of the magic drum is generally elm. It's best to use trees that have been hacked by lightning, because the drum ribs of ancient shamans are like this. The drum edge and the copper ring of the drum handle are connected into a beam by four thongs. Shaman called the beam "Tao" and the hole in the center of the beam "the center of the universe". Shaman believes that the drum itself symbolizes the universe, and the nine knots on the side of the drum represent the nine worlds that the shaman will stay in when traveling.
The magic drum plays an important role in shaman's practice of refueling, issuing orders and urging. As long as the drum rings, it can not only scare away ghosts, but also knock on the door of the underworld, recall the soul and bring people back to life. At the same time, the righteousness between heaven and earth will condense on the shaman, who is possessed by gods, and not only becomes infinite in strength, but also the drum itself will change at will according to the needs of the shaman. Shaman wants to go to heaven, and drums can become birds; If the shaman wants to walk on land, the drum can become a galloping horse; When the shaman wants to cross the river, the drum can become a floating canoe. So the shaman's drumming style is like flying in the sky.
? As an ancient religious belief, because it is not strictly regulated like Buddhism, and because it mainly relies on the method of possessing gods, and the ensuing sacrifice and burial, it deviates from human nature and is farther and farther away from the progressive real society. Although Buddhism stresses God, it pays more attention to the noumenon of personal cultivation and the religious view advocated by good thoughts, which is more in line with human nature. Therefore, when Tibetan Buddhism enters Mongolia, the demise of Shamanism will become a reality. (Yan Jubin)