The Genealogical Clan-registers as Part of Manchu Shamanic Practices
(45th Meeting of the PIAC, Budapest 2002)
One of the characteristics of Manchu shamanic practices was the “bringing up-to date” of the clan and family registers, and took usually place at the end of the main annual sacrifice in autumn. These registers contain not only a list of rules and taboos to be observed during the sacrifices, but also very strict rules for marriages, descendants, burials and burial places and so-called “clan-harmony”. The best examples are found in the registers of the Guwargiya clan near Shenyang and the Tatara clan near Qiqihar.