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宗教人类学(第五辑)试读：
著者简介
Mayfair Yang（杨美惠），美国加州大学宗教研究系主任，教授。
宗喀·漾正冈布（Yongdrol K. Tsongkha），医学博士，兰州大学历史文化学院、西北少数民族研究中心暨民族学研究院教授（2004.8～），美国印第安纳大学人类学系研究员（2003.3～），兰州大学藏缅-阿尔泰研究所所长（2005.10～）等。
英加布（Yumjeap Rwa），历史学博士，西北民族大学藏学院副教授；西北少数民族宗教研究中心研究员。
才贝，民族学博士，青海民族大学民族学与社会学学院副教授。
德吉卓玛，中国藏学研究中心宗教研究所所长、研究员。
张海云，民族学博士，青海民族大学民族学与社会学学院教授。
李光耀，青海民族大学民族学与社会学学院历史文献专业硕士生。
尕藏加，中国社会科学院世界宗教研究所研究员，中国社会科学院研究生院教授。
罗丹，香港中文大学东亚研究中心博士候选人。
廖小菁，香港中文大学历史学部博士候选人。
马健行，香港科技大学人文学部助理教授。
韦锦新，香港中文大学历史系博士后。
David A. Palmer（宗树人），人类学博士，香港大学社会学系助理教授。（日）河合洋尚，人类学博士，日本民族学博物馆研究员。（日）土肥步，日本学术振兴会特别研究员，博士后。（日）山崎典子，东京大学大学院综合文化研究科博士研究生。（日）奈良雅史，日本筑波大学人文社会科学研究科博士生。（英）Fenella Cannell（卡奈尔），伦敦政治经济学院人类学系教授。（意大利）Gabriele Marranc，澳大利亚麦卡瑞大学当代伊斯兰生活研究中心主任。
艾菊红，人类学博士，中国社会科学院民族学与人类学研究所副研究员。
黄超文，中国人民大学人类学研究所硕士研究生。
张珣，人类学博士，台湾中研院民族学研究所研究员、副所长，台湾人类学与民族学学会理事长。
聂家昕，社会学博士，沈阳师范大学社会学学院副教授。
陈锐钢，宗教学博士，浙江台州学院讲师。
译校者简介：
马强，人类学博士，陕西师范大学西北民族研究中心教授。
黄剑波，人类学博士，华东师范大学人类学研究所教授。
杨思奇，中国人民大学人类学研究所讲师。
李金花，人类学博士，中国社会科学院世界宗教研究所助理研究员。
名家特约
SPECIAL APPROXIMATIONSShamanism and Spirit Possession in Chinese Modernity：Some Preliminary Reflections
（美）Mayfair Yang（杨美惠）Shamanism（巫wu）in China is an archaic religious tradition tracing back to the beginning of Chinese ideographic writing on the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty（1700-1027 BCE），and probably stretching further back to the Neolithic age. I will define shamanism as a religious culture that revolves around certain gifted and respected holy men or women who have rare abilities to communicate with or be possessed by spirits or ancestors，go into trance or ecstatic states，or travel to divine realms and other worlds，whether Heaven above，or the Underworld below. Shamans also have the ability to heal the sick and dying through rituals and exorcism，and to divine or foretell the future. Although Mircea Eliade in his classic work on shamanism（1989）dismisses spirit possession and denies that it is a “true” form of shamanism，I follow other scholars who have shown that spirit possession is just as archaic and important to shamanistic practices as the spirit travel to other worlds that Eliade [1]privileges（Teiser，1994；Lewis1989；Boddy，1994）.We will see that spirit possession and spirit mediums have important ancient legacies in China and are common features of shamanistic practice in Wenzhou today，where I have conducted fieldwork on the revival of popular religion on repeated visits since 1991.
Scholars and archaeologists of ancient China such as K.C. Chang，have suggested that shamans and diviners（巫师）were important “appendages of the archaic state”，and conducted divining rituals in the court in communication with spirits of the ancestors of the king，who was the chief shaman himself（Chang，[2]1983：45）.The monopoly of shamanistic access to the ancestors and gods above，and the possession of precious bronze ritual vessels，imparted political authority to the king and his state. The Han Dynasty text The Rituals of Zhou《周礼》，which describes the state court of the earlier Zhou Dynasty，states that shamans belonged to the lowest class of state officials at the court，and their duties included presiding at state sacrifices，calling down the invited gods and ancestors，performing exorcisms，dancing at sacrifices for rain，averting diseases，and natural disasters（de Groot，1910：1188-1189）.The following passage in the fifth century BCE text，the Discourses of States《国语》may bethe earliest and most detailed historical description of shamans in ancient China：
古者民神不杂。民之精爽不携贰者，而又能齐肃衷正，其智能上下比义，其圣能光 远宣朗，其明能光照之，其聪能听彻之，如是则明神降之，在男曰觋，在女曰巫。是使制神之处位次主，而为之牲器时服，而后使先圣之后之有光烈，而能知山川之号、高祖之主、宗庙之事、昭穆之世、齐敬之勤、礼节之宜、威仪之则、容貌之崇、忠信[3]之质、禋絜之服而敬恭明神者，以为之祝——《国语·楚语下》。
Anciently，men and spirits did not intermingle. At that time there were certain persons so perspicacious，single-minded，and reverential that their understanding enabled them to penetrate and compare the worlds above and below，and their sagacity enabled them to illuminate what is distant and profound，and their bright insight enabled them to enlighten（people），and their intelligence enabled them to hear things（from the gods）and penetrate through（what was said）. Therefore，the spirits would descend into them. Those who were thus（possessed by the gods）were，if men，called xi（shamans），and if women，wu（shamanesses）. It was（these shamans）who supervised the ranking and positions of the spirits at the ceremonies and prepared the sacrificial victims and vessels，and seasonal clothing. It was also（these shamans）who ensured that those descendants of the former sages were able to know the designations of the（gods of）the mountains and rivers，the primary order among the august ancestors，the affairs of the lineage temples，and the zhaomu order of the generations（for rituals）.（These shamans）made sure that（rulers）assiduously paid respects to the deities，and observed the authority of ritual propriety and ritual regulations. They（helped the rulers put on）solemn and lofty facial expressions and（develop）an ethos of loyalty and sincerity so that they could offer sacrifices with purity of heart and serve the deities with reverence. In these ways，（the shamans）[4]assisted the rulers in offering sacrifices.
In the Han Dynasty，shamans continued to be used in the court as ritual specialists，diviners，and healers in the state religion.
In medieval to late imperial times，shamanic practices continued to be found in Chinese society，especially at the local grassroots level. According to Stephen Teiser：
Shamans always maintained a following at the local level…Developing out of the state religion of Han times，shamanism became one of the major forms of “diffused religion” in medieval and modern China，a form of religious activity with its own specialists，yet one which was well integrated into ancestral religion and local cults. In these non-institutional religious settings-the family and the local temple—shamans cured illness，expelled pestilence，fought demons，became possessed by spirits，and performed divinations.（Teiser，1988：143）
Since late imperial times to the present，these local shamans have been quite diverse in their divine abilities to heal or communicate with spirits，in the kinds of ritual forms practiced，and in the particular gods，ancestors，or animal spirits that inhabit them. Dancing and drumming in trance（Chau，2006：54-55）and the presence of fox spirits（狐狸精）（Kang，2005：97-126）tend to be found across northern China，while spirit-writing，self-laceration with swords，and the carrying of deity palanquins by mediums in trance seem to be common to southeastern coastal China and in Southeast Asia where southern Chinese have migrated.
In addition to free-floating shamans and spirit mediums，some attached to local temples，there is another legacy of shamanism to be found：in shamanism’s absorption and integration into Daoist and Buddhist practices. Eliade thought that Daoists，with their lore of immortals flying，dance steps in ritual healing，and communion with the gods，had “elaborated and systematized the shamanic technique and ideology of protohistorical China” and were the “successors of shamanism”（1989：450）. Similarly，Kristofer Schipper，a pre-eminent scholar of Daoism，wrote that Chinese shamanism provided “the substratum of Taoism”（Schipper，1993：6），because so many Daoist healing and exorcistic rituals and incantations look like they derived from shamanistic precursors. Likewise，in Chinese Buddhism，Stephen Teiser has suggested that the popular Chinese Buddhist tale of the monk Mulian（Johnson，1989），a disciple of the Buddha，has deep roots in indigenous Chinese shamanistic culture. In the medieval Buddhist ghost festival（盂兰盆Yulanpen）stories，Mulian travels to the darkest realms of hell to save the suffering soul of his sinful mother trapped there，and engages in battles with the demonic armies of hell. These two elements of spiritual travel and communing with ancestral spirits are the hallmarks of Chinese shamanism，and this subterranean level of resonance explains the deep popularity of these religious stories in the folk tradition（Teiser，1988：140-167）.
Yet，despite the antiquity of Chinese shamanism，in the dominant view today in China，shamanism is perhaps the lowliest and least desirable form of religiosity，earning it the epithets “feudal superstition”（封建迷信）and “charlatanry for cheating people out of their money”（骗钱手段）.Whether in official discourse or in mainstream urban attitudes，shamans today are regarded with suspicion as either people with mental problems or people who fake possession in order to cheat the ignorant folk and engage in a dishonest but lucrative livelihood（Anagnost，1987）. Whereas inancient times，shamanism imparted political authority to rulers，today it is associated with old and mentally disturbed women at the lower margins of society. Indeed，the contrasts between today and the ancient past are quite vivid. In ancient times，shamans were described as “perspicacious”（明），“intelligent”（智），and “sagacious”（圣）people with special talents and powers who assisted the kings at court. Ancient Chinese shamans were welcome at the courts，and they were associated with the earliest writings in China，while today’s shamans are often barely literate and concentrated in rural villages. Whereas ancient shamans made sure that the rulers adhered to ritual propriety and regulations，and developed a virtuous ethos and sincere heart，today’s shamans translate their special powers into a resource for subsistence，and are accused of profiting from others’ignorance and gullibility.Whereas ancient shamans were indispensable in assisting at imperial sacrifices to the gods and ancestors，which in turn brought blessings to the monarch’s subjects，today’s shamans are accused of proffering fake cures to illnesses that prevent the common people from seeking real doctors.
Nor has the venerable tradition of Chinese shamanism found in modernity a new social respect，in contrast to the recent national pride in shamanism in South Korea since the 1980’s. In South Korea，shamanism has survived first，the Christian missionary denigrations of it as “superstition” and “devil worship，” then the thJapanese colonial prohibitions of the early 20 century，as well as the repressive modernization drives of President Park Chung-hee in the 1960’s and 70’s when shamans were persecuted（Kendall，2009）. Taken up as a symbol of authentic Korean rural folk culture by the college student-led minjung movement of political opposition in the 1980’s，Korean shamanism provided opportunities for both protest theater and nostalgic preservation of traditional culture（Kendall，2009），and went on to experience a resurgence today among urbanites and rural people alike in the age of the internet（Choe，2007）.Today，famous Korean shamans are designated “Human Cultural Treasures，” and called on to enact major public rituals，and while ordinary shamans are sought out to provide charms，communications with the dead，and ritual services，often over the internet（Kim，2003）. Similarly，during the Martial Law era of Taiwan in the 1970’s and 1980’s，American anthropologist Robert Weller found that spirit possession，called dang-gi（童乩）in Taiwanese，was also denigrated by the Guomindang state authorities，and steps were taken to outlaw spirit mediums altogether（Weller，1987：158）. However，spirit possession was never banned in Taiwan，only restricted，and today it thrives in the open in Taiwan，as attested by the prominent and colorful presence of dang-gi’s（mostly men）in ritual processions of the gods and popular religious festivals，lacerating themselves with swords and saw-tooth shark spears，or burning themselves with bunches of incense sticks while in trance or spirit possession.
However，in Mainland China today，despite the recent rehabilitation of Buddhism and Daoism，and the increasing acceptance of ancestor worship and deity cults in popular religion，shamanism and spirit possession continue to be denigrated and marginalized in most areas of China，so that they live a subterranean existence mainly in rural areas. What are the particular historical conditions of Chinese modernity that have led to this continued marginalization？What do these conditions have in common with those found in Taiwan during the Martial Law era and in modern Korea before the democratic changes of 1987？Furthermore，how might these conditions differ from those of some other places in the world with strong traditions of shamanism or spirit possession，such as modern Africa？This is the inquiry I wish to undertake in this essay，first through a small encounter I had with a shamaness in Wenzhou，and then through a national television show about spirit mediums in rural Wenzhou. I not offer a definitive conclusion on the reason for the continued suppression of shamanism in contemporary China，but rather，some informed speculations，conjectures，or hypotheses for other scholars to consider and take up with further research.Shamanism and Spirit Possession in Wenzhou Today
In the Wenzhou area today，shamans are called by various terms. Male shamans are called “men of the deities”（shenhan神汉），while female ones are called “old women of the deities”（神婆），“woman of the Dao”（道姑），or “spiritually efficacious women”（linggu灵姑）or “spiritually efficacious female child”（灵姑僮）. I was advised to avoid using the term “old shamaness”（wupo巫婆）in directly addressing a shamaness to her face，for this term has a pejorative sense. There are also the terms “child of a deity” or “servant of a deity”（shentong神僮），and “servant-body”（僮身），and “divination（or divine）child”（jitong乩童）which do not seem to be gender specific. There is also a kind of shamaness who are vegetarians，called “teacher-mothers”（师娘）. According to everyone I asked，most shamans today in Wenzhou are women，and many believed that these women generally have some sort of mental illness（shenjingbing）or physical ailment that predisposed them to hear voices，have visions，or go into trance. Most of them have very little formal education and cannot speak much mandarin，only the local Wenzhou language. A primary ability of shamans in Wenzhou is their capacity to embody or communicate with deities or ancestors，who speak through them. This experience of spirit possession is called “coming on to the body”（上身）or “dancing like the body of a shaman”（跳僮身）in local parlance. Elsewhere in China，especially in northern China，the term “dancing to the great deity”（跳大神）is used，but it is not favored in Wenzhou. Other shamanic abilities include ritual healing，exorcism of ghosts and demons，and seeing or divining the future. Some shamans are accomplished in all these arts，while most only have one or two abilities. The ability to travel to other divine realms seemed to be less common in Wenzhou than the ability to be possessed by spirits，for the body to become a vessel for spirits.
Mr. Wang，an old diviner in Longwan District，told me that in the Yong Qiang（永强）area of Wenzhou，he knows of only three male shamans，but there are over 40 women shamanesses. There are many more in Pingyang and Cangnan Counties in southern Wenzhou，and also in Yongjia County in the north，the less developed areas of Wenzhou. Said Mr. Wang，“They close their eyes and sing Beijing or Yue opera tunes. Then a god or someone’s ancestor enters into their bodies（上身）and they start to give voice to the god. Sometimes they speak in strange tongues that no-one can understand.” Mr. Wang works with several women shamans who come to him to have him divine an auspicious date for their clients，and then they advise their client to do certain things on the lucky date. Most shamans operate at their own homes because officially，they are not allowed in temples，and they could be fined or even taken to jail if they are caught practicing in public. They often treat illnesses that doctors and hospitals could not cure. They also help people who want to get rich or who want a son（求财求子）.
I asked Mr. Wang why most shamans in Wenzhou today are women，when my understanding was that in the old imperial days，there were both men and women shamans？He thought it had to do with the fact that women’s minds are “simpler” and more “naïve or pure”（danchun），therefore women are more sensitive and it is easier for them to hear the gods and ancestors and communicate effectively with them（好沟通）. They are more receptive and sensitive to the gods’presence and words，he thought. Another reason was that most of their clients are also women who firmly believe in them and regularly consult them，so they are sustained both emotionally and financially by a constituency that is female.“Men do not seek this occupation because there are many other opportunities open to men to make money，so they are too busy pursuing these other avenues of income，” said Mr. Wang.
Since 1991 when I started fieldwork in Wenzhou，to about 2003 or 2004，it was difficult to find shamans in more populated urban areas of Wenzhou，because they kept themselves hidden for fear of the law. Thus，in urban areas，shamans tend to operate out of their homes，relying on word of mouth for their new clients to come to them. When shamans ventured to conduct their rituals in public，it would usually be in a small temple tucked discreetly away in a side lane. In rural or more remote mountainous areas，the local authorities either look the other way in concession to local beliefs，or they believe in shamans themselves. It seemed that by 2005，I was hearing about shamans operating more openly. That year，I heard of a shamaness in Kun Yang Town in Pingyang County，who dared to set up shop right at a busy intersection. Her rituals were believed to be so efficacious that huge crowds were drawn to her，blocking traffic for several blocks. The local authorities finally allowed her to move into an abandoned small shrine honoring the god Erlang，located along the ancient highway from Wenzhou to Fujian Province，and ordered her to stay within its confines.
In January 2012，I interviewed a shamaness in Wenzhou whom I shall call “a reluctant spirit medium，” and name her Cao Jinling. She lived with her husband and his parents in a newly built modern apartment building in Kunyang Town，Pingyang County. The husband sold cell phones in their local town and in Shanghai，where he spent some of his time each year. Cao did not work because of her continuous ill health，and her two children were mainly raised by her mother. At the age of 46，Cao had only one year of schooling in her life，and both she and her husband were basically illiterate. When I talked with her，Cao seemed alert and in good spirits，and I was glad that she spoke rudimentary mandarin. She recounted that she first started getting ill at the age of 15. Her leg hurt and her whole body felt sore and weak，and she could not work. Over the years，she went to see one doctor after another，trying out both traditional Chinese medicine and Western biomedicine，but they all told her that there was nothing wrong with her. Cao’s husband started quarreling with her，accusing her of being too lazy to work or take care of her children.
She first felt the presence of “the bodhisattva”（菩萨），as she calls all the gods，at the age of 31. When she was 35，Cao and her husband moved to Taiyuan in Shanxi Province in north China to do business. It was there，far from home，that she again fell seriously ill and started to get possessed. She describes the sensation as “going crazy”（疯了一样），or “like getting drunk”（像喝醉了）. When she awoke from her possessed state，people described her as looking “crazy and unsteady”（疯疯癫癫）. During her possession，her eyes were closed，as if sleeping，but her body was not shaking convulsively，nor did she have saliva or foam flowing out of her mouth. However，each time after a possession，she hurt in her stomach and intestines（肚子疼，肠胃疼），and since she started getting possessed，she has lost a lot of weight，dropping down to her current weight of about 90 pounds. In her possessed state，people would ask Cao what was the matter，and she would reply in a strange，eerily low voice that was not her normal voice，that she was the goddess Mother Chen the Fourteenth（陈十四娘娘）. This goddess is affectionately called “Mother”（niangniang），and she is perhaps the most commonly worshipped goddess in the Wenzhou area. This goddess was born as Chen Jinggu（陈靖姑）in Gutian，Fujian Province in the Song Dynasty. She is also called “Lady by the Side of the Water”（临水夫人）by worshippers in Fujian and Taiwan. Sometimes a voice would also tell Cao that she was the goddess Li the Thirteenth（李十三娘娘），the “shamanic sister”（僮妹）of Goddess Chen the Fourteenth. Cao was also possessed by Goddess Chen’s two elder brothers，named Fatong and Faqing（法通，法青），and she also had visions of being the male Earth God（土地公），who often led the way（迎路）for the other gods who possessed her. Each time she woke up from being possessed，she felt really exhausted，as if she had just returned from a long and difficult journey. She never remembered what she did or said while she was possessed，and could only rely on what people told her later. The “bodhisattva” would often appear to Cao in her dreams，she said，as if to convince her that she or he was real，and had taken up residence in her body，since Cao kept on doubting that she was a medium.“I never wanted to be a shaman，” said Cao，“but for some reason，this is my fate.”
Cao’s husband recounted that he was really scared the first few times his wife was possessed，so scared that he could not sleep the whole night. He asked around in Taiyuan about this strange phenomenon and discovered that there were many local people there who also got possessed，but by their local gods，which are different from Wenzhou gods.“So I found out this thing is fairly common，so that made me feel relieved，” he said. The two of them even went to visit a few shamans in Taiyuan to find out their experiences and share stories. Cao and her husband were convinced that the Taiyuan local gods were all lower than Wenzhou’s Mother Chen the Fourteenth.
Cao’s reputation for helping people obtain effective answers to prayers and requests has been spread by word of mouth and people from far and wide have come to visit her in her home. Many come from the countryside where she herself came from，but others live in town or come from other towns in Wenzhou.They come asking for her help in petitioning Niangniang to grant them a favor：to give birth to a son；to ensure that their child will do well on an impending exam；to consult the goddess about a big decision they must make about their
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