Chapter 3 Preface Types of Shamanic Cultural Legacy Phenomena

Like ethnic groups in many parts of the world, ethnic minorities in China have been exposed to globalization. Although the problems they face are not in sync with my country’s dominant economic structure, social life, and mass cultural mentality in the process of globalization, they are The influence of modernization or globalization of various channels already exists, and they are changing the environment and means in which ethnic minority traditions are produced and reproduced. The cultural problems encountered by contemporary ethnic minorities have become unprecedentedly complex. 1) Disappeared Shamanism

Years of ethnic culture investigation experience has shown us that in the present era, the culture of ethnic minorities in China has undergone tremendous changes, even structural changes.The traditional way of life shared by those ethnic minorities is gradually disappearing, and the overall cultural feeling and spontaneous cultural expression in the traditional environment are also gradually missing. The consciousness of "hometown" created by the unique geographical environment has been greatly affected by "modernization". gradually loses its character. In today's rapidly changing social life, the knowledge models for understanding the world provided by many ethnic minority traditions encounter too many insurmountable difficulties and insoluble problems.Many problems in the real world are incomprehensible to those who stick to national traditions.Needless to say, the gap between some traditional cultures and the requirements of modern life is obvious.

The spread and introduction of modern science, technology, and education have promoted some new cultural standards, especially those embodied in knowledge disciplines, which have been institutionalized, which will completely change the status of knowledge provided by shamans. Prestige gradually fades, and the haunting of ghosts becomes less and less important.The different expressions of modern knowledge question the cognitive content and form of shamanism, making them lose their credibility in many areas and to a large extent. The loss of shamanism's status as a unified national culture seems to be a foregone conclusion.Therefore, the shamanism that we can witness with our own eyes is often the relics of shamanism preserved by various ethnic groups, such as idols, god books, shaman utensils, shaman clothing, sacrificial supplies, oral legends and so on.

2) Struggle Shaman activities In some areas, shamans still maintain dancing or offering sacrifices to gods.However, there are not many old shamans left in most areas. Some young people who call themselves shamans are not compatible with the old shamans, nor are they understood by the general public. Cultural influence and personal influence.There are fewer and fewer people who believe in shamanism, and in some places only a few elderly people still believe in it.Once there is a disease, people usually go to the hospital for treatment, and few people are willing to hand over the patient to a shaman for treatment.Occasionally, some individuals who suffer from intractable diseases or terminal diseases, when there is no cure, will find a shaman to perform a ceremony under the persuasion of the elderly or believers. Even so, everyone's attitude is dubious.It is inevitable that shamans' activities are in parallel with modern education, medical system, and science and technology.Of course, we are also fully aware of the long-term and complex process of traditional cultural change. The dissemination of institutional science, technology and education in some countries is still relatively lagging behind, and the modernization of local social traditions cannot be achieved.Therefore, it is not difficult to understand the confusion of knowledge models, the conflict of values, and the pluralism or multiplicity of authoritative knowledge to varying degrees in many ethnic minorities.

3) Shamanism as a cultural exhibit The globalization movement has greatly promoted the development of national culture worldwide.Minority culture is mainly due to its non-mainstream culture, showing modern charm because of its uniqueness and differences.The interest of foreigners in the culture of their own nation has inspired members of the nation to reflect on their own cultural traditions to a certain extent and awakened their national enthusiasm. People re-understand their own cultural traditions and recognize the modern value of these traditions, thereby strengthening national identity. Consciousness, and more consciously shoulder the responsibility for the prosperity and development of the nation.Many ethnic groups have demonstrated their uniqueness and singularity from different aspects of folklore, art, religion, architecture, and academics. Through the expression and shaping of ethnic consciousness in different ways, the image of the nation has become more distinct and strengthened. Cultural interests are protected, inherited, continued and developed.

The uniqueness of ethnic culture is the most attractive to modern people. In the vigorous promotion of ethnic culture, ethnic culture and the natural scenery of ethnic residences have become important resources that have economic value and can create wealth.We have seen that shaman culture is also in the trend of the times. In some ethnic groups and regions, it is actively explored and recommended as a commodity for cultural display.Inspired by the commodity economy, shaman culture has become a series of national performances.In this way, shaman culture is often reduced to a few elements or features that are easy to grasp and use, and man-made arrangements make shaman culture gradually become objectified and non-historical.Shaman cultural performances have become eye-catching cultural commodities in certain regions and on certain occasions, attracting the audience's curiosity, enjoyment and understanding of them, in order to bring considerable economic benefits.Therefore, it is not difficult for us to see some large-scale sacrificial performances with traditional ceremonial shells and related recreational and cultural activities organized by government administrative departments. We can also see various sacrificial performances requested by shamanism investigators and co-organized by local governments etc.

In short, shaman culture is not a strict self-enclosed system, and the value and meaning it contains is always in the process of variation that is constantly strengthened or weakened under various conditions.Every nation will retain or eliminate the content and form of its traditional culture according to its own needs in reality.With the continuous development of society, the needs for national culture are also constantly developing, and various phenomena left over from shaman culture will continue to be constantly changing and adjusting.The description we provide today will allow people to see various phenomena of shaman culture in the period of national cultural change in recent years.

The situation introduced in this book is only a small part of the memory and phenomenon of Shamanism in contemporary China, and it is also part of the author's overall investigation experience.This is not the task of presenting all the research findings of the author himself or contemporary Chinese shamanism scholars. What it hopes is that readers can understand the situation of contemporary Chinese shamanism through the several cases introduced in this book, and draw their own perceptions, judgments and conclusions from them .