Repaying a Nuo Vow=還儺願; Western Hunan=湘西; Miao=苗族; trans-hybridity=跨混性; ritual specialists=神職人員
摘要
This paper explores the significance of a set of Han Chinese rituals and dramas known as ＂Repaying a Nuo Vow＂ (Huan Nuoyuan 還儺願), based on the study of their performance among the Miao (苗) of Western Hunan (Xiangxi 湘西). I examine the cultural significance of the Repaying a Nuo Vow rituals from three perspectives: 1) a case study of one such rites held at Hulu (葫蘆) Village in Huayuan (花垣) County on November 15-16, 2011; 2) additional data that other scholars have collected about these rites throughout Western Hunan, including among both Miao and Tujia 土家 communities; 3) historical and ethnographic information on such rituals performed in other parts of Southwest China. The overall goal of this paper is to examine the development of and recurring interaction between Han Chinese and non-Han ritual traditions, as opposed to focusing exclusively on one community and its religious life. In doing so, I have attempted to to distinguish between deep-rooted indigenous rites and the absorption of Daoist ritual elements introduced to Western Hunan by Han Chinese ritual specialists. This paper will show that in areas settled earlier and in great density by Han migrants, the rituals and dramas performed during Repaying a Nuo Vow retained many of their original features, including numerous liturgical texts written in Chinese that survive to the present day. In areas settled later and less extensively (including Huayuan), Repaying a Nuo Vow blended features of both Miao and Han religious traditions. Vow-making and vow-repaying rituals are particularly well-suited for the study of cross-cultural interaction. This is because repaying a vow made to the gods constitutes a basic element in many religious cultures worldwide, including in China, with a central theme of Chinese religious life being repayment or retribution. If one relies on a chronological approach based on existing sources, one can uncover a long and complex record of Chinese terms for rituals referred as ＂vows＂ (or ＂oaths＂) (including ＂yuan＂ 願, ＂shi＂ 誓, ＂meng＂ 盟, etc.). Rituals featuring the making and then repaying of vows to the gods encompass the entire spectrum of Chinese religious history, dating back to the ancient ＂spring prayer and autumn repayment＂ (＂chunqi qiubao＂ 春祈秋報) rites for the god of the soil. They have played integral roles in the development of Chinese Buddhism and Daoism, and continue to flourish among Chinese communities today, including in Taiwan. Vow-making and vow-repaying rituals have long been widespread among the Western Hunan Miao as well, where they include ancestor worship rites and the renowned oxen sacrifice. In the case of the Repaying a Nuo Vow rituals and dramas, the data reveal that their development was characterized not only by the deliberate transmission of doctrine and liturgy, but also by their gradual absorption of indigenous beliefs and practices. To do justice to these complex forms of cultural reverberation and their impact on Repaying a Nuo Vow, I have chosen to combine the two key mechanisms at work into a shorthand, ＂transhybridity,＂ which will be used throughout the paper.
Case Study - Repaying a Nuo Vow in Hulu Village, Huayuan County 11 Fundamental Facets of Repaying a Nuo Vow 22 -The importance of repaying vows 22 -Family identity 27 -Gender, fertility, and sexual humor 28 -Flood and incest myths -The motifs of fertili 33 Essential Features in the Historical Development of Repaying a Nuo Vow 37 Conclusion: Ritual reverberation and trans-hybridity 46 References 66
