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received." There were unsuccessful attempts by a county magistrate to eliminate these and other customs relating to belief in sorcerers and shamans. The practice is also mentioned, as prechang dushui, in the Third Gazetteer of Yongan County, compiled about 1822, which gives very slightly more but very useful information. It mentions that "those ordained", again, "were given white [ordination] certificates and yellow [celestial] mandate”, and, in addition, “slaughtered animal for sacrifice for the rite of Fengchao". Similarly the Changle County Gazetteer of about 1845 mentioned very briefly the practice, as, again, jrechang dushui,22
We cannot preclude the possibility that the Hakka ordination actually amount to initiation to the practice of magic as in the Yao case, as the Xueshan Gazetteer mentioned that men in Kaijian “like to study to be a sorcerer.21
The Tradition of Lü Shan and Mao Shan
The Hakka and the Yao were ordained under a religious tradition distinct from Daoism and Buddhism which may be called the Lu Shan tradition. Popular traditions of “Daoist" ritual experts of Fujian, Guangdong Cantonese and Hakka, and the Yao had in common the Lu Shan Jiu Lang, his disciples and a Wang Tai Mu which is often confused with the Daoist goddess Wang Mu. The canonical Daoist gods appear to have been incorporated at a time later than Southern Song dynasty, while the characteristic group of gods still occupies a central position.
Probably the earliest mention of the Lu Shan Jiu Lang's tradition is a passage about the wuze's ("sorcerers") magic / method of exorcism from the Southern Song dynasty which gave the names of Lu Shan Jiu Lang, his successors and predecessors. The passage is in the Sayings of Bai Yuchan,25 the famous Daoist who was active in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Jiejiang and Fujian around 1220. Bai is obviously talking about something that had begun before his time, as he mentioned several names of these "sorcerer's magic” that existed "in the past". The account began, curiously, with The King of Sha Tan, which can be interpreted by a sinicization of Satan. The magic originated with the King of Satan, who passed it to the King of Pan Gu, who in turn passed it to the King of Asura, who in turn passed it to a Wei Tou Shi Wang,26 King of Changsha, Tou To Wang, Lu Shan Jiu Lang, Meng Shan Ji
!
98
received." There were unsuccessful attempts by a county magistrate to eliminate these and other customs relating to belief in sorcerers and shamans. The practice is also mentioned, as prechang dushui, in the Third Gazetteer of Yongan County, compiled about 1822, which gives very slightly more but very useful information. It mentions that "those ordained", again, "were given white [ordination] certificates and yellow [celestial] mandate”, and, in addition, “slaughtered animal for sacrifice for the rite of Fengchao". Similarly the Changle County Gazetteer of about 1845 mentioned very briefly the practice, as, again, jrechang dushui,22
We cannot preclude the possibility that the Hakka ordination actually amount to initiation to the practice of magic as in the Yao case, as the Xueshan Gazetteer mentioned that men in Kaijian “like to study to be a sorcerer.
21
The Tradition of Lü Shan and Mao Shan
The Hakka and the Yao were ordained under a religious tradition distinct from Daoism and Buddhism which may be called the Lu Shan tradition. Popular traditions of “Daoist" ritual experts of Fujian, Guangdong Cantonese and Hakka, and the Yao had in common the Lu Shan Jiu Lang, his disciples and a Wang Tai Mu which is often confused with the Daoist goddess Wang Mu. The canonical Daoist gods appear to have been incorporated at a time later than Southern Song dynasty. while the characteristic group of gods still occupies a central position.
Probably the earliest mention of the Lu Shan Jiu Lang's tradition is a passage about the wuze's ("sorcerers") magic / method of exorcism from the Southern Song dynasty which gave the names of Lu Shan Jiu Lang, his successors and predecessors. The passage is in the Sayings of Bai Yuchan," the famous Daoist who was active in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Jiejiang and Fujian around 1220. Bai is obviously talking about something that had begun before his time, as he mentioned several names of these "sorcerer's magic” that existed "in the past". The account began, curiously, with The King of Sha Tan, which can be interpreted by a sinicization of Satan. The magic originated with the King of Satan, who passed it to the King of Pan Gu, who in turn passed it to the King of Asura, who in turn passed it to a Wei Tou Shi Wang,26 King of Changsha, Tou To Wang, Lu Shan Jiu Lang, Meng Shan Ji
25
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