Chapter 17 The second part of Xinjiang Qapqal Xibe folklore - 7

In Chapchar, we can still see some cases of insisting on traditional shaman activities, among which those elderly people who claim to be various types of shamans are the protagonists of these activities.Most of the people who accept the shaman ceremony are middle-aged and elderly women and some people who suffer from diseases.On the whole, the proportion of people who participate in such activities is very small, and there are many people who are dubious, and there are many people who treat dead horses as living horse doctors.We have recorded some of these activities, which are of academic significance and practical value no matter for the study of the ancient culture of the Xibe people or the understanding of the current folk culture.

Guan Shumei from Aixinsheli Town We came to Aixinsheli Town to visit Guan Shumei.Aixinsheli is Xibe language, which means golden spring.There is a spring flowing through the whole town from Shuimogou on the south slope.It is 30 kilometers away from the county seat, on the west side of the county seat.10 kilometers further to the west is the border line.There is still a section of earthen city wall remnants from the Xibo camp period left in the town.There are about 1,200 households here, and Xibe people account for 3/4.In addition, there are Han, Kazak, Uygur, and Kirgiz residents.Qi Cheshan and Zhao Chunsheng were with me. They not only helped me establish relationships, but also acted as translators and guides for me.

When we arrived at Guan Shumei's house, since we were all acquaintances, she quickly opened up her psychological defense and told us her views and personal experiences. Guan Shumei, 53 years old, female.She claims to be Erqi, and on the west wall of her house are Mama, Mafatu, Erqizu statues and a lonely old lady.She said Erqi used to have 25 idols, but now only two remain.Erqi's statues were rarely painted, so a statue of a god had to be erected to symbolize it. Guan Shumei believes that the difference between Tongtong, Erqi, and Shaman lies in the different ways of leading God.Erqi is a pediatrician.Shamans heal adults.I seldom treat children, but treat adults more.Dou Qi mostly uses acupuncture and moxibustion, using fire needles.The same and Erqi also have two paths, the same is the lowest position, and can only see children's diseases.My husband's grandfather is Erqi, and Erqi is accepted by me, not by my husband.

She introduced her previous situation in detail and said: I used to be in good health, but after giving birth to my second daughter, I started to get sick.Our tori (bronze mirror) is placed in a small box in the old house. My husband's grandma said, keep it safe, and you will be fine in the future if you take care of these things.I took it out and hung it up to my chest.My grandfather's thing is very effective, and my child's vaccinia can be reflected on this mirror.But I didn't take it seriously at the time.As a result, after giving birth to my second child, I became irritable and bored. When my husband cooked the meals, I scolded and threw me down. The hospital didn't take good care of my illness.My waist and legs were in severe pain, and wearing cotton trousers and cotton shoes in summer made my legs and feet inconvenient.The old lady said, look for the same.Later, I found an old lady to look at it.When I went to see the old lady, she was sitting on the kang.She asked, "What's the matter with you?" Guan Shumei told the story.After hearing this, the old lady took a stone for divination first, and then said "bah", and said, "You are a very capable person, and you will do some good things for others in the future." Guan Shumei asked what was going on with her illness?The old lady said, "Why did you pee on that thing (referring to Mama Mafatou)?"

Our Mama and Mafatu have been destroyed. The old lady appointed an old man who can draw pictures and let us find them.When we found the old man, we found that his hand was broken.Later, I went to find an old lady who could draw.When I found the old lady's house, there were three old ladies cutting decibels (talisman paper) in the house. I wanted to kneel down and beg them to help me draw a portrait, but my legs didn't work.An old lady said, bring the yellow paper over here tomorrow morning. When I woke up the next morning, I felt that my legs and feet were much lighter, and my whole body became more flexible.I used to use crutches when I went out, but that day I didn't even use crutches, so I went lightly.When I arrived at the old lady's house, she said, "You came so early?" I knelt in front of her, and the old lady told me to take the cut decibels home and not to talk to anyone I met on the way.I bumped into my husband on the way back, but I didn't dare to speak.I talked as soon as I entered the door, but my illness did not recover, and the decibel was not good.I ripped off the decibels whenever I got angry.I thought it could not be cured, so I went to Urumqi to see a doctor.In this way, I haven't found the same old lady for a week.When I was about to go to Urumqi, my mother said, since you let her see it, is there something on you?Just look at her again.

This time my husband accompanied me to see the old lady, and as soon as she entered the door, she said, "Didn't you go to Urumqi? Didn't you stomp the things I cut?" I hurriedly apologized.The old lady cut a few more decibels for me to drink at home.The old lady looked at the decibel and said, "You are a man of means." I said, "I am so sick, what should I do to get better?" "You prepare a two-year-old sheep, and I will hold a ceremony for you." The old lady The ceremony was performed for me with sheep bones, and the rest of the meat was buried outside.During the ceremony, the old lady told me: "You have picked up Erqi, after you pick up Erqi, the illness will gradually get better." During the ceremony, she gave me a red belt, 15 cm wide and 90 cm long.Also wearing a red vest, Erqi has a red belt.With a red belt, it means that I am already Erqi.When I picked up Erqi, my hands were not able to cut things. The old lady said, "It's okay, it will get better slowly." Now, I have cut more decibels, and my hands are naturally more flexible.

What is "decibel", He Ling, a Xibe scholar, believes that decibels are talisman papers.On the day before the start of treatment, cut a piece of talisman paper (called "decibel") for the patient's family members at home. or within three or five days or one week, the patient's home will not receive any guests, otherwise it will not work.Lock the gate and post a sign (hang a red cloth strip) to show that this house is holding the same ceremony.From the night when the talisman book was cut, various ceremonies were held at the patient's home for several consecutive days, cutting "Wuerhu" (paper-cut for sending ghosts), making face candle lamps, and hanging Wuerhu on a thread , Pulled up at the four corners of the room, it is called "Lawuerhu".After pulling Wuerhu, a prayer ceremony is held, followed by a "walking cover color" ceremony: a square wooden box is made, the bottom layer is covered with talisman paper, the top layer is covered with plant ash, a specific number of small flags are inserted around it, and candles are placed in the middle.Then fold Wuerhu and put it on the back of the sheep, take it with the wooden box to the outside of the village or in the cemetery and burn it, and give the sheep to the same as reward.

Guan Shumei also said that my youngest son also had this sign. When he was full moon, such a ceremony was held, and he would probably inherit my identity.Now my youngest son is in good health and I want to get rid of this status.I do various ceremonies for other people, and I often take my youngest son there so that he can learn something.Seeing that he is in good health, I will not take him there.One of my daughters also had this situation, and I found a similar one to cure her.If you want to learn our technology, there should be signs of it. If there is no sign, you will never learn it in your life.Personally speaking, I don't want to learn this thing, but if I don't learn how to cure diseases, I will get sick immediately, so I can only keep doing it. ,

At the beginning, the same Qinghua was the one who treated my illness and helped me to receive God. She said, I should not treat your illness, but there is no suitable person to treat it.I followed her for several years, and finally she helped me pick it up.The doorway is different, and it took her a lot of effort to let me pick up Erqi.Like Chinese medicine and Western medicine, they are not the same way.In the past, most of the similarities were shamans, but now there is no similarity, and they are all shamans.Guan Shumei believes that communication and shamanism are the same thing. Guan Shumei also said: When I first picked up Erqi, I went to the county to find Yin Ximei, and she said, you'd better not look for me, you are Erqi's way.I said, just to see you.She covered it with a white paper, and uneven shadows appeared on the paper.She told me that your level is much higher, we can't see it.Come over and have a look, there seems to be something blocking it.It is because you are a high-level elder sister that you appear like this.Not only have you received God, but you have done many things.We have been studying for a short time, so we can't see the eldest sister.

Zhao Chunsheng asked: How did you know how to cure diseases? Guan Shumei replied: I have a cure, but I can't say it.Patients who came to see me were as far away as three or four days away.Sometimes three or four patients come to me in a day.Anyone who comes to me, I have a premonition.But the omens are not very clear. Sometimes two or three things get mixed up, and I use stones for fortune-telling.Use stones for divination for small things, and use incense for big things (look at the smoke from the incense), or drink decibels, and look after drinking.The decibel is a human figure cut out of yellow paper, put it in a bowl and burn it, crush the ashes, mix it with water and drink it.There should be no ashes left on the bottom of the bowl, and you should drink it all up.

Usually three days in advance I know where someone is looking for me and why they are looking for me.A woman in Yining City came to me, and I said, "Don't tell me, I'll tell you." I told her that three masters have seen you, and one master pointed you to come to me.From my point of view, you made a big mistake.The woman knelt on the ground and cried, and said: "I happened to find three people. I worshiped Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. I first found an old lady of the Han nationality. The second one was also an old lady of the Han nationality. The third one was Guan Shumei. My apprentice (Erqi)." This woman's bones are pure, and my apprentice has been crooked.I said, "You shouldn't make offerings to Bodhisattvas. You made a mistake and started doing trivial things. That's why you are not in good health now." Guan Shumei said, "I saved her. Before, she looked weak and slept a lot.After I read it, I couldn't sleep at night, my whole body hurt, and my feet felt like the wind was blowing.After about a week of treatment, I performed a ceremony and returned the things that should not be picked up.I told her, you have seen three people, so you can’t get rid of it just by doing one ritual, you have to do 2-3 rituals.Guan Shumei believes that this woman should be a shaman. Guan Shumei doesn't talk about her gods, she only talks about a few of her experiences. A young man who was about to get married came to her and asked her to see a doctor for him.A few years ago, this young man went out to do business and made some money.But whenever a big deal is about to be done, there are problems with the car.Either his bicycle hit someone else, or he fell down.It seems that there is something against him, and the business cannot be done.For the first time, Guan Shumei didn't show it to the young people, thinking that he was not telling the truth.Tell him, "I'll show you the incense tomorrow." The next day, a woman came with him, who she said was his aunt.The woman said: "Yesterday, the child came back and fell to the ground. It took him a long time to wake up, and he didn't eat. When he was about to come, he said that he didn't dare to look into the eyes of this aunt. So I came with him. You said you want incense, See if the one I took is the one you want? A lot has happened to his family over the years, do you think he has something on his body? Is this related to his previous life? He was crushed to death by a tractor in the past His father, this young man made a wish for his father in the cemetery, saying that the tomb should be repaired. I said, you are not married yet, you can’t spend too much money, just do what you can financially. The result is in his Some simple repairs were made on his father’s grave. When he was in the mainland, someone told him a fortune teller in a temple that at 7:30 a.m. on a certain day in the future, two of the four brothers in your family would die at the same time. As a result, he was young My younger brother died in prison at 7:30, and he was injured at 7:30 that day." Hearing what she said, I agreed to hold a ceremony for him.A goat and two chickens were used in the ceremony.This young man also has signs of becoming a shaman. He wanted to worship me as his master, but I did not agree, so I will talk about it later.Because you have to wear a red belt for the acceptance ceremony, you cannot get married if you don’t take off the red belt, which is not suitable for the young man who is going to get married.If the red belt is not removed, there will be adverse reactions after marriage, which is very troublesome. Later, the boy's girlfriend had a dream. In the dream, she gave birth to a child. The child was very beautiful, but the mouth was not good-looking, so she took it to the basin to wash, and the child fell into the basin and turned into a basin of blood.She wanted to hug the child, but she didn't want the child to pounce on her all at once.That must be something about me, said the lad.Guan Shumei said, don't explain it anymore, I will do a ceremony to help you relieve it.You first tie the red cloth on the goat, then ride on the goat, get off again, and finally throw away the red cloth.After this matter is over, you can get married. In another family, the mother and daughter went out together and encountered a whirlwind.The old lady took a few bites, and as a result, the girl's eyes hurt.I went to the hospital to take medicine and the medicine still couldn't stop the pain. Later, I used acupuncture and moxibustion, and as a result, I couldn't even move my legs.They came to me, and I said, how did you offend the gods?I taught her a few spells for incense, but they forgot them when they got home.Later, he taught them three mantras and asked them to kowtow to the gods.After three days, I can ride a bicycle. It was late at night, so I left a bottle of wine and a bag of sugar cubes for Guan Shumei, and we left Guan Shumei's house. September 30th is the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, which is the Shaman Festival. Qi Cheshan, Lao Zhao and I came to Guan Shumei's house.Today, she will hold a ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of learning shaman for her apprentice Yulan, and she will also perform a ceremony for the Xinsheng family to sacrifice to the fox fairy to drive away disasters. As soon as I entered Guan Shumei's house, I saw her playing with 41 black and shiny broad beans on the bed for divination.The person who came was a middle-aged man with a Henan accent who lived in the nearby No. 6 brigade. His name was Xu Gonggong.His family's cattle were lost the day before yesterday, so he came to ask if they could be retrieved. Guan Shumei asked: "Did you drive the cow out by yourself?" The man replied: "It ran out. We changed the cow pen and separated the calf from the mother. As a result, the calf ran out to find its mother. Now the old cow has returned, but Niu Wazi has not." "Have you looked for it?" "Look for a day yesterday." "How old is Niu Wazi?" "One year old, a cow calf, very well." Guan Shumei is carefully dividing her broad beans in groups of four. (19) The result of the first round was: Niu Wazi was not lost, but was captured and not slaughtered.She fiddled with it again, but the result was still: someone caught it, it was alive, but it was not slaughtered.She said, if you suspect someone has caught it, go find it, not too far away.Now it's up to you to find it. At this time, the carriage of Guan Shumei's apprentice Yulan arrived, she hurriedly got rid of the person who asked the divination, and we accompanied her on the road.She and I sat in the carriage, Yulan was driving, and Lao Zhao and Qi Cheshan were walking on the road.The sun is shining brightly, the road is facing the sky, and a horse-drawn carriage is strolling slowly on the country dirt road, which is really happy.Old Qi suddenly ran to the front, clicked, and took a picture of us.I thought to myself, this photo will be very beautiful, and I will treasure it. Guo Erjia Yulan is 37 years old this year. She is tall and thin. She looks like a capable rural woman.It is exactly one year since she held the shaman acceptance ceremony.When she was a girl at the age of 17, she suffered from a strange disease, which was ineffective everywhere.Later, I asked a shaman to see a doctor, and they said that she had clean bones and a pure soul, and she had a way to be a shaman, but she didn't take the shaman, and she got married later. Last year, she had pain in the joints of her legs and hands, and she couldn't swallow food.Vomit whatever you drink, the more you drink, the more uncomfortable you become.In the end, I asked Guan Shumei to see a doctor, but it turned out that she was asked to take care of God.Last year, Guan Shumei held a god ceremony for her, and then boiled water with seven kinds of flowers, and gently bathed her body with the boiled water from top to bottom.She has been cured since then.She was the god who received it on August 15th last year. She did the first ceremony, and this year she did the second ceremony.Yulan can't cure the disease yet, she said when the disease will be cured, she will naturally know when the time comes. The Yulan ritual entails offering chickens to the shamanic spirit.The chicken offered to God must be a rooster, and it must be a rooster that can crow.The requirement for chickens is also to have bone white chickens, so white roosters are generally used. (21) Yulan first lit three sticks of incense on the shrine, and (22) offered two cups of wine.Then wash the chicken.Wash the back first, then the legs, then the wings. Yulan kowtowed three times to the god, and kowtowed three more times.She slowly poured out the water used to wash the chickens. It is said that this kind of water cannot be poured out.Then tie the washed chicken, and when the chicken shakes, everyone understands that the gods have accepted it.Yulan began to kill and cook chickens.After the chicken was cooked, it was placed on the offering table, and Yulan murmured softly: "Grandpa Shaman, here is the chicken offering for you." (twenty three) Yulan's son was not in good health recently, and the doctor said that he had offended the fox fairy, so Yulan killed another chicken and offered it to the fox fairy in the barn. (24) The 6-year-old son and she kowtow to the fox fairy in front of the shrine. Guan Shumei made several wax stands with dough, wrapped small wooden sticks with cotton to make candle wicks, inserted them into the wax stands made of flour, and poured cooking oil. (26) After lighting this candle, put it in front of the shrine.Before the candle burned out, the Yulan couple kowtowed to the gods and brought back the offering chicken.Her husband threw the head of the chicken on the roof, saying he offered it to the gods. Then, the husband and wife brought a white sheep, washed it, and tied the sheep to a post in the courtyard.In the yard, place a wooden bench on which three incense sticks are lit, and the couple kowtow to the god it represents.At this time, the body of the sheep trembled, indicating that God had accepted it, so he began to kill the sheep.We took pictures of the whole process of killing sheep.Then, Yulan started to cook the sheep.Taking advantage of this free time, we followed Guan Shumei to Xinsheng's house again. She was going to hold a ceremony to sacrifice to the fox fairy and drive away disasters. At 2:30 in the afternoon, the Xinsheng family held a ceremony.Because two sons died in a row, they wanted to make a ceremony to protect the youngest son.In the master's house, the 72-year-old lady first put incense on the shrine at home.The old lady said that there is a girl (Dede) shaman enshrined in this house. (30) During the westward migration of the Xibe people, some people kept getting sick along the way, some women gave birth to children, and they were also harassed by demons.This unmarried shaman girl is busy, treating people's diseases every day, and constantly fighting demons in order to protect her tribe.In the end she was exhausted.To commemorate her, a shrine was set up for her as soon as she arrived in Yili, Xinjiang, and offerings are made to her every year. The fox god of this family stands in the newly built barn, (31) so chicken sacrifices and sheep sacrifices are held there.The situation of this house has been recorded before.The ceremony process is almost the same as that of the Yulan family. When we rushed back to Yulan's house, the whole sheep sacrifice was over.The guests sat in two rooms and were eating meat.It was past 8 o'clock in the evening, the meat had been eaten, and the guests were chatting.Seeing Yulan holding a plate with folded new towels inside, she knelt down respectfully and offered it to Guan Shumei.Guan Shumei took over.Someone next to me told me that there is money in the towel, how much is it?He guessed it was 5 or 10 yuan. The bones of two chickens and one sheep offered as offerings were placed in two plates and a basin respectively. (36) Guan Shumei divided the cut yellow paper and white paper into three parts and placed them in front of the three piles of bones, saying that they were paper money for them.Next to each pile of bones are incense sticks and candles.Those who deliver the bones must be people with foreign surnames, and six men take the initiative to undertake the work of delivering the bones, and they work in groups of two.Guan Shumei told them to send the bones to a place where no one was around, first to light the incense, and then to light the candles.Two kinds of paper, one is given to the gods of the Shaman Festival, and the other is given to the Lord of the Land.When burning, keep a little distance from each other, and burn in places where they can't see each other.The place where the bones are placed should be clean and open, with no cemetery.After finishing the ceremony, walk back, you can't look behind, and you can't speak. Before all the people who delivered the bones returned, we got up and went back.On this day, the two brothers who accompanied the interview ate mutton from two families, but I, a non-meat eater, have been hungry for a whole day.