THE SACRED IMPLEMENTS

44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 1 35 on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, on the fifteenth of the

5. THE SACRED IMPLEMENTS

The

implements used

by

^the priest in his ceremonies are holy

and

are therefore treated with reverence

and

respect.

They

are believed to be surchargd with supernatural power, so that they

add

to the efficiency

and power

of the priest. Their sacredness

and

potency are believed to increase with age.

I.

The

hat. This is

made

of a golden-haired

monkey

^skin

and

is

believed to be very efficacious, greatly adding to the dignity

and

po- tency of the priest

and

his ceremonies.

The

eyes

and

ears of the

monkey

are left on,

and

the tail is

sewed on

at the back.

The

eyes enable the hatto see

and

^{the ears}tohear,

and add

to the efficiency of the hat.

The

^tail also adds to its efficiency.

The

front of the hat is

ornamented

with old

cowry

shells arranged in ornamental designs, one or

two

polished white bones that are said to be the kneecaps of tigers,

and

sometimes with carved sea shells.

These ornaments

im-

provethe looks of thehat

and

also

add

to its efficiency.

Other

orna-

ments

believed to

add

efficiency

when

used are

two

cloth pennants, one or

two

small circular brass mirrors,

and

one or

two

small brass horse bells

much

like sleigh bells,

on which

the Chinese character

wang ^ ^meaning

^{kingiscarved.}

^{Near Wen-ch'uan}

^thepriests

^some-

FiG. 5.

—

Drawing of the ceremonial hat worn by the Ch'iang priest at

Mu-

shang-chai. It is ornamented by round whitebone disks and cowry shells.

times assist the magistrate in praying for rain

and

in turn are pre- sented with asmall,thinsilverplaque to be

worn on

thehat,

on which

is

stamped

theChinese

word shang ^,

^or"reward." This plaquealso adds dignity

and

efficiency.

2.

The drum,

called at

Mu-shang-chai

bo (bo-) or

mbo (mbo-^) and

at Hsi-shan-chai, Ho-p'ing-chai,

and

Ts'a-to,

bu

(bu-) or r ^bit

(jbu-^).

One

side only is covered with goatskin,

and

inside is a

NO. I

CUSTOMS AND

RELIGION

OF THE CH lANG GRAHAM

₅₇

wooden

handle

on which

there is generally

some

simple carving.

On

one edge strips of paper are fastened to represent hair,

and

inside there issometimesa small brassbell

which

jingles asthe priestdances

and

beatshis

drum. There

is only one drumstick.

3.

The

sacred cane,

which

has a sharp iron tip atthe

bottom

ena- bling the priest to stick the cane into the ground,

and

sometimes at thetop a

humanlike

head carvedto represent theking ofdemons.

The

sacred cane

must

be knotted or rugged in appearance.

Sometimes on

the side of the cane is the imprint of a wild vine that

grew around

thelimb while thelimb

and

the vine

were

alive,

and

at thetopa snake head is carved so that the imprint of the vine

and

the carved snake head give the appearance of a snake coiled

around

the cane.

The

snake

and

thekingof

demons make

thecane

more

efficacious in exor- cising

demons, which

is the only use

made

of the sacred cane by the Ch'iang priest.

The

king of

demons

controls

and commands

the de-

mons, and

the snake frightens them. This sacred

implement

closely resembles thesacred cane of the Taoist priests,

which

is used for the

same

purpose,

and

it is very likely that the Ch'iang priests

borrowed

it

from

the Taoists,

making some

adaptations oftheir

own.

4.

A

circularbrassgong,

6

to

8

inches in diameter,concave

on one

side

and convex on

the other,with a tapper

on

theinside

and

a leather handle

on

the outside. This is very similar to the ceremonial brass

gong

used bythe

Nashi

or

Moshi and by

theblack lamasinTibet

and

ontheChina-Tibetan border.

5.

A

^short

^sword

^or dagger used to kill the sacrificial goat or cockerel

by

cuttingits throat. Italso inspires fear in the demons.

6.

An

ironorbrass seal,

on which

are elaborateChinesecharacters, usedtoprint

charms on

paper. Itis exactlylikethesealsusedto

make charms by

Chinese Buddhist

and

Taoist priests

and

by the Chinese tuan

kungs

or magicians.

7.

Carved

boards forprinting

charms

on paper.

The charms

con-

sist of Chinese characters.

8.

A

leather

bag

in

which

the priest puts

meat and

other things given

him

forhis services.

9.

A

^sacred bundle. It includes horns of wild

mountain

goats, halves of sea shells, scapulas

and

^other bones of small animals

and

birds, shoulder blades, feet

and

claws of

hawks and

eagles, Chinese brass or bronze coinlike charms, small,

round

brass horse bells,

and

tusks of

musk

deer, wild boars, bear, leopards,tigers,

and musk

deer.

10.

A

long, naturally-notched antelope

horn which

is used in the exorcism of demons. It

was

identified

by

Dr. Dolin of the Philadel- phia

Museum

as Panthrolops hodgsoni, a Tibetan antelope ranging

58 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOL. I35

from

the borders of

Kashmir

to Chinghai. If a person has a pain in hishand,eye, back, orleg,the priest sticks the point of the

horn

into the ground, repeats his incantations, pours water into the disturbed ground,

and

the patientis healed.

II.

A

brasshollowcircle

on

the outsideof

which

^iscarvedthe eight trigramsof the Chinese,

and

inside of

which

is a metalobject so that the

implement

jingles

when

itis shaken duringthe ceremonies.

Sometimes

the

Abba Mula

^{or Ndjei}

Chu

of the priest, his patron deity, is thought of as one of the sacred implements of the priest, probably because itis carried about

by

^thepriest or hishelpers

when

he

performs

the great

ceremony

of paying the

vows

in the sacred groves.

The

sacredceremonial implements arenotdestroyedor buried with their

owner

after the death of apriest.

They

are eithergiven or sold to another Ch'iang priest

who

desires to

own and

use them.

Some

priestshave

more

than one set of ceremonial implements.

Thus

these objects,

becoming more and more

holy

and

efficacious with age, are passed

on from

priest to priest,

from

generationtogeneration.