Giovanni Stary
University of Venice
Fundamental Principles Of Manchu Shamanistic Prayers
35th Annual Meeting of the PIAC, 1992
It is well-known that the shamanistic rituals of the imperial Aisin Gioro Clan have been published in 18th century with the Chinese title Ch’in-ting Man-chou chi-shen chi-t’ien tien-li 欽定滿洲祭神祭天典禮, in Manchu Hesei toktobuha Manju usai wecere metere kooli bithe (i. e. “Regulations concerning the sacrifices to Gods and Heavens of the Manchus, fixed by Imperial order.” )
As said in the imperial preface, one of the purposes of this work was to save the old Manchu tradition of celebrating shamanistic performances from being forgotten by posterity.
In this paper the author’s aim is to investigate the earliest traces of these shamanistic prayers. These traces could be found in the Chiu Man-chou tang 舊滿洲檔 (time of Nurhaci) in a very brief and archaic form. The author reconstructs their development from Chiu Man-chou tang to Man-wen lao-tang 滿文老檔 and the Ch’in-ting Man-chou chi-shen chi-t’ien tien-li.
In addition, the author quotes some examples from other Manchu clans’ shamanistic rituals, where similar or identical
passages as in the Aisin Gioro clan’s ritual are found. This demonstrates a basic cultural and religious identity between different Manchu clans and Sibe (錫伯) clans.