Chapter 8 Part I Shaman Cultural Memory of the Oroqen Nationality-5

The Last" Shaman Meng Jinfu The Oroqen people living in the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains in Northeast my country are typical forest hunters. According to the investigation of Chinese ethnologists, before 1949, the Oroqen people were in the period of patrilineal family communes, the clan system began to decline, and individual families were on the rise.The family commune stage of the Oroqen people is a period of drastic changes, full of contradictions and struggles between the old and the new.During this period, family communes, clans, and individual families coexisted.The family commune is in the transitional stage from the clan commune to the rural commune.Nevertheless, during this period, the clan nature of shamanism activities was quite distinct.

Due to the influence of the clan system, the shaman of the Oroqen clan is regarded as the undisputed great shaman.Among the shamans of Oroqen, those who serve as Mokun (clan) shamans are considered to have powerful magic powers and are said to be able to cure all diseases.The mana of Deleku (wandering) shaman is much inferior to that of Mokun shaman. The gods he leads are only individual wandering gods, and he has no ability to summon all kinds of gods, so he can only cure certain diseases .The shaman of the clan represents the social status of the clan, and his ability directly affects the prestige and survival of the clan.

Under the leadership of Guan Xiaoyun, we interviewed the shaman Meng Jinfu.Meng Jinfu is 68 years old, born in 1927.He appeared to be in good health, flushed, thin, inarticulate, and shy, and if no one disturbed him, he would probably forever go about his work in silence.In this village, Meng Jinfu is a marginalized person. Due to his status as a shaman, he is not so willing to contact people, and others rarely bother him.But he is also the most well-known person, and all foreign interviewers must meet this shaman.He has become a symbol of the original tradition of the Oroqen people. There is a movie called "The Last Mountain God", in which Meng Jinfu respects the mountain god "Bai Nacha", and "the last" has become a symbol of Meng Jinfu's own value.

Meng Jinfu's experience as a shaman is very typical as seen in classic shamanism research works.When the things in the books and the real events were presented in front of us by such a coincidence, we felt the luck of this investigation and the preciousness of the parties involved.Therefore, Meng Jinfu's narration was recorded in detail, and Guan Xiaoyun translated the conversation. Meng Jinfu said that when he was eighteen or nine years old, he suddenly became ill. He called his illness loneliness.He said that he was always alone, unwilling to contact and talk to people.At that time, his parents arranged for him to marry an E ethnic girl.After getting married, the new daughter-in-law was very kind to him, but he was very annoying to her. Once he touched her, he felt uncomfortable like an electric shock, so he didn't want to get close to her.At that time, his health was very bad, his face was pale, his limbs were weak, and his new daughter-in-law cried for him, and finally died of the disease himself.After his daughter-in-law died, his health became worse and worse. The family invited several shamans to see him, and they all said that it was time to receive a shaman god.When the great shaman Guan Wu Liyan came to see him, he said, if you don't invite the shaman again, his life will be in danger.Your family has shaman roots, you just need to prepare animals (moose, roe deer, etc.), and I will ask God for him.

Meng Jinfu's family began to prepare animals for him. His uncle went up to the mountain to hunt for him. He ran from Baiyinna to Tahe for 5 days, hunted the prey and prepared the offerings.Shaman Guan Uliyan began to take him to dance with him.At that time, there was a second god named Ge Yingnu, who assisted in the dance.The two gods have great responsibilities, and they are the roles of uploading and assigning. They are very powerful and specialize in communicating the relationship between humans and gods and ghosts.What the great god (shaman) has to say, and what the family members have to say, will be conveyed by him, requiring a wide range of knowledge and eloquence.His role is particularly important when the shaman dances to the gods.The two gods have a nice voice, their singing is moving, and they can move the gods.

When Meng Jinfu's family held the ceremony, all the Oroqen people from hundreds of miles away came.Guan Wuliyan invited the gods for a long time but failed to cure his illness, because the way of the gods was wrong, Guan Wuliyan's gods could not cure his illness.He had no other choice, so he asked the shaman Meng Changguo to invite the gods and recall his soul.Meng Changguo's first and second invitations to the gods were unsuccessful, but the third time he finally invited the gods. Meng Jinfu said that when the gods descended, the earth trembled.It turns out that the god of Meng Changguo and the god of Uncle Meng Jinfu are the same god, and they are both the ancestor gods of the Meng family.From then on, Meng Jinfu recovered from his illness, and engaged in shaman dance and became a little shaman.

Meng Jinfu's parents prepared a drum and clothes for him.First, the shaman master took him to dance the gods, and later he was able to complete the rituals of dancing gods independently, and healed people everywhere.Ge Xiuzhen from Rucun is the patient he cured.There was another patient named Meng Tongni, who was close to death at that time, and he also cured him.Before the treatment, Meng Tongni's family said that if you cured his illness, he would give you a horse and asked him to take the bridle first.After Meng Tongni recovered from his illness, he really gave him a horse.According to Meng Jinfu's understanding, the patient Meng Tongni got sick because he didn't worship the gods after beating the animals.

Later, we visited Meng Jinfu again.He said that when they were in the mountains in the past, each tribe had one or two shamans, and they relied on the shamans to cure their illnesses.The two gods have a particularly important position in the dancing gods. Without good two gods, no matter how good the master is, it is useless.In the past, the best second god was Meng Changguo, and in the next few years, the best second god was Zhao Baochang, who also often participated in shaman activities. Then Meng Jinfu introduced the situation of some Oroqen shamans and gods.He said that there are 12 kinds of gods in the god box of every family, and if there are no 12 kinds, one cannot become a god.Among them, there are 5 eagle gods (Deyi), both male and female.The female has long wings with blue, green and red feathers.Seke God is a portrait, with an old man in the middle and a man and a woman on both sides.There are also two nine-headed pythons, a husband and wife; underneath are two "Wu Liuqian", which are one-legged gods who can jump from one mountain to another.Among the 12 gods, only the "color engraved" gods are portraits, and the others are carved in wood.During the sacrifice, use them to form a god case, and then pray.

According to the introductions of Meng Jinfu and Guan Xiaoyun, we also found that in patrilineal clan societies, the requirements for women to be shamans are often suppressed.Meng Jinfu's ex-wife was named Tie Boshan. One year after their marriage, Tie Bishan fell ill and went mad, and often sang divine songs alone.Meng Jinfu's parents planned to ask a shaman to treat their daughter-in-law's illness.Generally speaking, such patients will also become shamans after being cured by shamans. Some relatives agree to let Tieboshan be a shaman, while some people do not agree with her being a shaman, especially the maiden family. They said: "How can a girl from our Ge family become a shaman in Meng's family?" People have different opinions. Tie Boshan's condition worsened and he passed away soon after.Another surviving female shaman, Guan Koni, was seriously ill when she was young. The family believed that "this child will recover from his illness only if he becomes a shaman."Her grandfather disagreed, saying: "This child is about to marry, so he can't be a shaman. If he becomes a shaman, he's another person!" Parents can't disobey the old man's opinion, but seeing their daughter being tortured like this, they can only do so. Slowly persuade the old man, and finally get permission.