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on one hand, have had connotations of slaughtering, and on the other, associations with 'breaking of clay or earth', as is done in ploughing. This is, of course, but a vague hunch; if, for the sake of our present argument, we accept this interpretation, we could transpose this hunch to the universe of Qingming and say that what is given to the ancestors as edible meat and drinkable wine is earth and rice.
8. Order in Worship
The note from Yuanjiang, quoted above (p. ), tells us that grave worship started before Earth God Day which falls around the vernal equinox in the second moon. The ceremonies directed to the new graves took place before that particular date. Then there seems to have been an intermission of thirty days before the ritual was continued, and then it was focussed on the old graves. There is no explanation given in the chronicle for the different categories of 'new' and 'old' graves, so we will assume that new graves were those of the recently deceased. If we accept this we must look for possibilities to account for this difference between the two categories as it is represented in time, and why in that mode of representation the point of reference is She ri, Earth God Day.
This particular day was devoted to offerings to She ji, the Earth God.75 Meat and wine were used in this ritual. From Jiangling we learn that the meat for the She offerings was a mixture of pork and mutton which was placed inside a pumpkin.76 In Wuling the term sheng describes the meat. The day was generally for divining about the coming crops, and qi gu 'prayer for grain'. In Zhongxiang, according to the chronicler, there were shamanistic performances accompanying the offerings.78
There are at least some superficial similarities between the Qingming practices and the offerings on She ri. In this context one main question concerns the sort of relations conceived of in this area of China as linking the grave ancestors and the She. I have found no substantial information from the Dongting area to provide us with any further clues. But it appears as if it was necessary to do the grave rituals for the recent dead before one could go ahead with the worship of the Earth God. And perhaps the She offerings were a necessary precondition for a successful grave worship at the older graves. At any rate, the note from Yuanjiang stresses the
QINGMING FESTIVAL IN CENTRAL CHINA
73
on one hand, have had connotations of slaughtering, and on the other, associations with 'breaking of clay or earth', as is done in ploughing. This is, of course, but a vague hunch; if, for the sake of our present argument, we accept this interpretation, we could transpose this hunch to the universe of Qingming and say that what is given to the ancestors as edible meat and drinkable wine is earth and rice.
8. Order in Worship
The note from Yuanjiang, quoted above (p. ), tells us that grave worship started before Earth God Day which falls around the vernal equinox in the second moon. The ceremonies directed to the new graves took place before that particular date. Then there seems to have been an intermission of thirty days before the ritual was continued, and then it was focussed on the old graves. There is no explanation given in the chronicle for the different categories of 'new' and 'old' graves, so we will assume that new graves were those of the recently deceased. If we accept this we must look for possibilities to account for this difference between the two categories as it is represented in time, and why in that mode of representation the point of reference is She ri, Earth God Day.
This particular day was devoted to offerings to She it, the Earth God.75 Meat and wine were used in this ritual. From Jiangling we learn that the meat for the She offerings was a mixture of pork and mutton which was placed inside a pumpkin.76 In Wuling the term sheng describes the meat. The day was generally for divining about the coming crops, and qi gu 'prayer for grain'. In Zhongxiang, according to the chronicler, there were shamanistic performances accompaning the offerings.78
There are at least some superficial similarities between the Qingming practices and the offerings on She ri. In this context one main question concerns the sort of relations conceived of in this area of China as linking the grave ancestors and the She. I have found no substantial information from the Dongting area to provide us with any further clues. But it appears as if it was necessary to do the grave rituals for the recent dead before one could go ahead with the worship of the Earth God. And perhaps the She offerings were a necessary precondition for a successful grave worship at the older graves. At any rate, the note from Yuanjiang stresses the
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