Chapter 20 2. Kunning magic rod

In the southeast of the courtyard of Kunning Palace, there is an important symbol of shaman sacrifices - "Manchurian god pole", also known as "Solo pole". "Solo" is the Chinese transliteration of "pole" in Manchu.When translating this noun back then, Bi Tie Shi (translator) was very clever. He combined the transliteration of "Solo" in Manchu and the free translation of "Ganzi" in Chinese, taking the advantages of both and making it concise and clear. To talk about the magic pole of Manchuria, we must talk about shaman culture.Shamanism is Manchuria, and it is also the primitive religion of Jurchen. "Shaman" is the Chinese transliteration of Manchu Saman.Shaman is Wu, Zhu, and the host of shaman sacrifices.Shamanism has a long history and is widely popular.The ancestors of Manchuria, Sushen in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Yilou in the Qin and Han Dynasties, Wuji in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Mohe in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Jurchen in the Liao and Jin Dynasties, and Manchuria in the Ming and Qing Dynasties all believed in Shamanism.Ancient Northeast Asia, including Northeast China, the Russian Far East, Japan, and North Korea, also believed in Shamanism.Throughout Mongolia and the Western Regions, Shamanism was also practiced in ancient times.Regarding the shaman culture in our country, "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of Dongyi" records:

It is often held that Mayfield sacrifices to ghosts and gods, holds day and night receptions, gathers for singing and dancing, and dozens of dancers accompany each other and tramples on the ground as a festival.After finishing farming in October, it will be the same.Each country and city has one person, who worships the god of heaven, and is called the king of heaven. He also erects Sutu, builds a large tree, and uses the county tambourine to serve ghosts and gods. That is to say, in May and October of the lunar calendar, the ancestors of Manchuria erected big trees, beat drums and ring bells, sang and danced, and worshiped gods and heaven.In fact, the earlier "Historical Records" also has similar brief records.

This kind of "magic pole" existed in front of the imperial palace Kunning Palace in the Qing Dynasty, and also in the southeast corner of the courtyards of all Manchurian families.What god does the Solo pole worship?There are many theories, such as: Some say that Manchuria is heavy on riding and shooting, and the pole is like a spear, which is sacrificed to the spear; The five grains are sacrificed to the country; some say that the poles point to the sky, and the sacrifices are to heaven;Although they are all reasonable, I think that the Manchurian poles are mainly worshiped by black magpies, and they also have the meaning of offering sacrifices to sacred trees.Here I focus on offering sacrifices to crows.Why do you say this way?I will tell a legend first.

There is a popular legend in Manchuria, that is, the story of a black magpie rescued Qing Taizu Nurhachi.It is said that when Nurhachi was fleeing, his pursuers were about to catch up. At a critical moment, there was a big tree beside the road with a big hole in it. Nurhachi got his wits and got into the tree hole, and a group of crows landed on the edge of the tree hole.The pursuers rushed to the tree and looked around, but there was no sign of Nurhachi, wondering if he was hiding in the tree hole.But then I thought: no!Because there are many crows around the tree hole.After the pursuers left, Nurhachi came out of the tree hole and escaped unharmed.Nurhachi later became a climate. In order to thank the crow for saving his life, he asked future generations to sacrifice to the crow.Manchu ancestors regarded the black magpie as a divine bird, a totem, an auspicious bird, and a guardian deity.

Judging from the offerings of tin buckets (and wooden buckets) on the god pole, it is also a sacrifice to crows.The pork intestines, tripe, bones, etc. from Kunning Palace are chopped up, added with sorghum, millet, etc., and put into a tin bucket for the flying crows to eat.There are so many crows in the Forbidden City, is it related to the sacrifice of crows?It has been a hundred years since the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the cessation of worship of the sacred pole. Why are there so many crows in the Forbidden City?It is not known whether crows have information genetic genes.

There are many places and various forms for the Manchurian royal family to offer sacrifices to god poles.Among them, there are two most important ones: one is the god pole in front of Kunning Palace mentioned above, and the other is the god pole of Tangzi.Let me talk about the unique Tangzi in Manchuria. Tangzi, this is a unique building and a unique sacrificial place in Beijing in the Qing Dynasty.It has been inherited from Tangse (Tangzi) in Hetuala in Xingjing (now Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning Province), to Tangzi in Shengjing (Shenyang), and then to Tangzi in Beijing.The Tangzi in Beijing, in September of the first year of Shunzhi (1644), was built in the southeast of Yuhe Bridge, now west of Beikou Road, Zhengyi Road, and later moved to the east of Nanheyan Nankou Road, where Guibinlou Hotel is now located.

The hall buildings include Xiangdian, octagonal pavilion-style hall, etc., with red walls outside.Tangzi sacrifices in the Qing Palace, on the first day of the Lunar New Year (Yinzheng 4 o’clock), the emperor led the clan princes, first-rank civil and military officials from Manchuria, etc., first to the Tangzi to worship the gods and heaven, then returned to the palace to worship the first hall, and then went to the Taimiao to worship the ancestors , Then went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to accept the worship of the officials.Tangzi sacrifices, Han and Mongolian officials have no part.The sacred tree worshiped by Tangzi, I have here a "Sacred Tree Picture" in the "Imperial Manchuria Worshiping Ceremony to God and Heaven". There are several rows of trees in the picture, and the tallest sacred tree is among them.Where did this big tree (magic pole) come from?Every spring and autumn, Tangzi holds a great pole sacrifice. The pine poles used are sent to the mountains of Yanqing County, Beijing to cut down.At that time, the ecological environment was good, and there were many tigers in the mountains. Before felling, the tigers should be sacrificed first, and then, together with the local officials, two pine trees were cut down: two feet high (about 6 meters, equivalent to the height of a two-story building), five inches in diameter, and pine trees. Nine branches and leaves are left at the tip to make a god pole (one for Tangzi and the other for Kunning Palace).Wrap it in yellow cloth and transport it to Tangzi and Kunning Palace for later use.The day before the pole-standing ceremony, the pole is erected on the stone seat of Tangzi and Kunning Palace.Manchuria's worship of sacred trees is a vivid example of the forest culture of Manchuria and its ancestors.