95
his own funeral
At the next level in the hierarchy he proceeds to mastership (tou sai) through a still more important ceremony. But this already high position can be still further improved, to two higher levels with more important qualifications of varying degrees. Henceforth, they will use, in similar religious contexts, what one may call a 'knightly' or 'gentlemanly' name. For instance, a man who has already been granted a fa boa, as in the example Tang Fa On' given above, will now change it to Tang On yet-long' if he is a first-born, meaning 'On, the First Squire of the Tang Family'. If he is a second or third son, this will also be stated in a similar way.
This tradition is claimed to have descended from Zhang Zhao Er Lang, who, as we shall see, is known as a disciple of Lu Shan Jiu Lang since before 1220.7 I am not sure if the two styles of ordination names among the Hakka correspond in detail with this practice of the Yaos of Thailand; the Yao data suggest at least they could indicate different levels of initiation.
A similar custom, though less detail is available, is found among the She minorities of China, an initiation rite for men who have reached the age of 16. The ceremony, known variously as jiaoming (perhaps corrupted form of zhouming “submitting a name for celestial/royal approval”), dushen (“ordination”), and rulu (“entering the [Daoist?] register”), although it is often described as jizu (“worship of ancestors”). Those who have been initiated through the ceremony obtain a faming, "religious title". Evidence suggests that the "religion" concerned is traced to the traditions of Lù Shan and Mao Shan, from where the first ancestor of the She is claimed to have learned magic. Literature on the She is more fragmentary on the format of the "religious title". It is known that those initiated can be called after death lang in the case of men, and niang in the case of women. It is also known that the She used the characters Da, Xiao, Bo, Qian, Wan and Nian to indicate generations. Examples of actual names confirm that those formed with numeric characters and lang follow the same style of ordination names as those of the Hakka.
It should be pointed out clearly that this should not imply that the Hakka have descended from the Yao or She. There are clear evidences
95
his own funeral
At the next level in the hierarchy he proceeds to mastership (tou sai) {through] a still more important ceremony But this already high position can be still further improved, to two higher levels with more important qualifications of varying degrees. Henceforth, they will use, in similar religious contexts, what one may call a 'knightly” or "gentlemanly' name. For instance, a man who has already been granted a fa boa, as in the example Tang Fa On' given above, will now change it to Tang On yet-long' if he is a first-born, meaning 'On, the First Squire of the Tang Family'. If he is a second or third son, this will also be stated in a similar way"
This tradition is claimed to have descended from Zhang Zhao Er Lang, who, as we shall see, is known as a disciple of Lu Shan Jiu Lang since before 1220.7 I am not sure if the two styles of ordination names among the Hakka corresponds in detail with this practice of the Yaos of Thailand, the Yao data suggest at least they could indicate different levels of initiation.*
A similar custom, though less detail is available, is found among the She minorities of China, an initiation rite for man who has reached the age of 16. The ceremony, known variously as jiaoming (perhaps corrupted form of zhouming “submitting a name for celestial/royal approval”), dushen (“ordination”), and rulu (“entering the [Daoist?] register), although it is often described as jizu (“worship of ancestors") Those who has been initiated through the ceremony obtains a faming. "religious title" Evidence suggests that the "religion" concerned is traced to the traditions of Lù Shan and Mao Shan, from where the first ancestor of the She is claimed to have learned magic.” Literature on the She is more fragmentary on the format of the "religious title". It is known that those initiated can be called after death lang in the case of man, and niang in the case of woman "It is also known that the She used the characters Da, Xiao, Bo, Qian, Wan and Nian to indicate generations." Examples of actual names confirm that those form with numeric characters and lang the sample style of ordination names as those of the Hakka "
It should be pointed out clearly that this should not imply that the Hakka has descended from the Yao or She. There are clear evidences
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.