NO. I 



CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



39 



along the road and lighten its souls as they 

 return home. They will lighten the way for 

 the family's souls (of the living) halfway 

 along the road. They will lighten the souls 

 of the family as they come back and return 

 to their garden squares (where the garden is 

 divided into squares for planting different 

 things)." 

 Here the tuan }{ting beats his gong as usual. 



Stimmoning Chinese Gods and Exorcising De- 

 mons (718) 



At this time the paper horns must be taken 

 off the tttan \ung's head and he does not 

 beat the gong, but merely stands up and sings. 



"I call the six stars of the southern dipper 

 (cross), the seven stars of the northern dipper. 

 In the name of Li Lao Chiin I speak to the 

 great Pearly (jade) Emperor above, and be- 

 low to Kuan Shih Yin (Kuanyin) of Nan 

 Hai." 



Now he must speak the Miao language to 

 exorcise demons. 



"When the beeswax burns, the smoke arises. 

 When it arises, we will call Ntsong Yin ''- 

 who lives at the foot of Ntzi's great stone 

 called the stone bamboo sprout. Call also 

 Na Bo Sun Yin to come from NtzT's old 

 colored cliff. Call the 99-layered cliff to come 

 to the front. Also call the cliff with 99 layers 

 to come and separate. Separate people into 

 their homes and demons to the land of de- 

 mons. Separate people so that they will not 

 go near demons and demons so they will not 

 go near men." 



Mailing a Container (719) 



A large bamboo container that is shallow 

 and has a flat bottom is used. In it are placed 

 bean curd, biscuits, wine, meat, paper (spirit) 

 money, incense, and candles. (Some put in 

 water and a little rice in a rice bowl also.) 



A. "If I am not to make this vessel (con- 

 tainer made of bamboo), then I will not. If 

 you make such a vessel, it is harder and 

 harder. If I make the vessel, it is not very 

 hard. From this time, if you make the ves- 

 sel, it has a beginning. A piece of bamboo is 

 braided back and forth. The two ends are 

 cut off, and you use the middle. A slanting 

 weave (road) is made, and a slanting edge. 

 In the two sides are made slanting edges, 

 and in the middle is made a square. There 

 is a slanting weave and a slanting edge. We 

 request the Emperor Jen Tsung 'jll^ to sit 

 in the center. The slanting weave comes, be- 



^2 A revered patron of the ttian ktings who was 

 once a prophet of Ntzi. 



ginning with the man character.'^^ We re- 

 quest the Emperor Jen Tsung to come and sit 

 on a high seat." 



As he speaks these words the demon is sup- 

 posed to be driven away. 



B. "First I call the wood characters chia i 

 Ep ^ from the east. Secondly, I invite the 

 fire characters ^ "X from the south. In the 

 third place I call the water characters jen \uei 

 5B^ from the west. In the fourth place I 

 call the metal characters J(eng hsin ^^ 

 from the north. Fifth, I call from the middle 

 the earth characters wu chi ^ 2i •" ^* 



The tuan \ung here shouts "T'ai" and 

 stamps his foot to frighten the demons. 



"First, call Mao Ta Lang (the oldest son 

 of the Mao family). Second, invite the sec- 

 ond son of the Mao family. Third, call the 

 third son of the Mao family. Fourth, invite 

 the fourth son of the Mao family. Fifth, in- 

 vite the fifth son of the Mao family. Sixth, 

 invite the sixth son of the Mao family. Sev- 

 enth, invite the seventh son of the Mao family. 

 Also invite the flowery mountain sister. Then 

 the pitcher of wine and the sliced meat will 

 emit light (because the gods have come). If 

 one's head aches and one's whole body aches, 

 it is you (the demons mentioned above). If 

 one's stomach aches and the flesh flinches, 

 it is you. If the heat and cold are not in 

 harmony, and coolness and warmness are not 

 peaceful, it is you. If one's body is feverish, 

 it is you. To be hot and then cold, it is you. 

 If the whole body aches, it is you emitting 

 light. If the whole body aches as though 

 bound, it is you emitting great light. If the 

 whole body is bound, it is you emitting great 

 light. Please come up on this container (flow- 

 ery vessel) and go forward. There are some 

 people killing a pig and pouring out wine 

 on the stone-paved road who have invited 

 you. Come, come, we will go together. This 

 is not a place where you will stay a long time. 

 It is not a place where you can tie up your 

 horse. In this place there is a foul odor of 

 urine and human ordure. Go, go, go, get on 

 the container. Let us go together." 



When he has repeated the ceremonial to 

 this point, he puts the container on the 

 ground. He regards the demons as having 

 been led (invited) into the vessel and he will 

 arrange a light for these demons. 



■^^ The weave slanting in two directions resem- 

 bles the character J\^ , "man." 



^* These characters are on the round object used 

 by Chinese geomancers and are here regarded as 

 demons. 



