Sometimes alleged to be shamans, the wu, appear often in early Chinese texts, including the Rites of Zhou, the Record of Rites, the Analects, the Mencius, and the Mozi, and are, for the most part, depicted as ritual bureaucrats and healers. The Rites of Zhou is a pre-Qin text containing "a blueprint for the government of a hoped-for unified Chinese empire. Here, the highest ranked shamans were called the head shamans (siwu), overseeing the activities of the shaman (wu) office. The head shaman adminis­tered the orders given to the rest of the shamans, guided them in the performance of ritual rain dances in times of drought, and oversaw the funeral ceremonies in which unranked shamans invoke spirits. Head shamans also prepared the offertory caskets for sacrifices and ensured that spirits attended the funeral services. However, as head shamans were ranked individuals, they did not enter trance and become possessed by spirits.

The next in rank were the teaching shamans (shiwu), chosen from among the unranked male shamans and charged with the instruction of all of the other male and female shamans. The duties of unranked shamans were determined by gender. Male shamans performed the important sacrifices, as well as indoor and outdoor ritual exorcisms, and accompanied the king and priests on visits of condolence to the families of the dead. Female shamans commu­nicated with spirits, performed rituals of purification during exorcisms held during the year, and performed the rain dances during drought. Like their male counterparts, female shamans also accompanied the queen and the priests on visits of condolence to the families of the dead. Beneath these unranked male and female shamans is another class of unranked shamans called the horse shamans (mawu), responsible for horse healing, in which shamans invoke an­cestors of the sick horse and perform horse ex­orcism and horse funerals.

Shamans are also mentioned in the Analects, a book attributed to the teacher Confucius (traditional dates 551-479 B.C.E.). The first reference appeared toward the end of Book 13, in which Confucius repeats a southern saying about shamans: "The southern people have a saying: `People without constancy cannot as such make shaman physicians."' Confucius is a northerner who uses the words of a southerner to express that the shaman healer needs to be a calm person. His use of the saying may derive from an understanding that calm shamans make better doctors because they can withstand the stress of entering trance and-communicating with deities in order to heal. The Analects other reference to the shaman is to an individual named Wuma (Horse shaman) Qi, a loyal Confucian disciple with a name suggesting he is related to the horse healers and exorcists described in the Rites ofZhou.

The Mencius is another Confucian classic that refers to the shaman as a healer. Here, the Mencius contrasts those who make arrows and armor with the shaman and coffin maker. The shaman and coffin maker heal and protect as opposed to the makers of armor and arrows, who profit from people hurting and killing each other.

Like the Rites of Zhou, the Record of Rites referred to the shaman as a minor ritual bureaucrat, but unlike that text it provided little information about the role of the shaman. Here there is the suggestion that the shaman had already become less important. Accounts in this text noted that the shaman's services were required during court, funeral, and ancestral ceremonies. Emphasis was placed on the shaman's physical position in relation to others in the ritual processions, such as the priest and the ruler and the ruler's son, and few details were given about the shaman's specific role as a spirit medium. While the others proceed into the temple, the shaman remained outside to keep the evil spirits away from the temple doors, indicating his or her position as a secondary religious figure, excluded from the inner activities of the religious ceremony. In addition, the Record of Rites included an account from an earlier text, the Zuo Commentary, in the section of the twenty-first year of Duke Xi, in which a duke proposed to burn a cripple, or wuwang, but was ultimately advised not to . The Record of Rites' inclusion of this anecdote implied a comment on the former practice in which female shamans or sick children were sacrificed in ritual rain offerings. The anecdote suggests that instead of relying on the shaman to pray for rain, society was increasingly choosing secular ways to end drought that involved ritual propriety and repudiating the need for ecstatic religious possession.

Another text in which references to shamans are found is the Mozi, ascribed to the disciples of Mo Di (fifth century B.C.E.), who founded the Moist school of thought. The Mozi is a text coming from a school that was in some ways close to the Confucian school and in other ways critical of it, condemning the wastefulness of elaborate funerary ceremonies and criticizing the emphasis on ritual propriety. The Mozi stressed the shaman's role in rituals but often in a negative way, displaying contempt for the way the performance of ritual and the shaman's role as a ritual bureaucrat had evolved. Here the shaman was called a zhuzi and was portrayed as a spirit medium and ritual expert who ensured that the ritual was performed at the right time of year and that the offerings and animals sacrificed were good enough for the deity.

Elsewhere, the Mozi elaborated on the shaman's talent as a spirit medium and diviner, explaining that there were restrictions on what the shaman could communicate to the people while he or she was possessed by the deity. What the shaman said had to first be told to the official, who would determine whether the people could hear it.

According to Confucian and Moist texts, shamans were ritual bureaucrats, healers, spirit mediums, exorcists, and sometimes rain dancers. But anecdotes within these texts suggest that opinion about the shaman's role as a ritual bureaucrat was divided and that there was a growing trend away from using shamans who entered trance in formal state rituals. While these texts conveyed one perspective, texts now classed as Daoist revealed another perspective of shamanic practice.

Zhuang Zhou, the reputed author of the Zhuangzi, is believed to have lived in the dis­trict of Meng within the State of Song near the border of Chu during the reigns of King Liang (370-319 B.C.E.) and Qi (319-301 B.C.E.). There are references to shamans (wu) in the Zhuangzi, but these individuals were not de­picted favorably. They were portrayed as charla­tans who fool people into believing they can di­vine the future, and as outdated practitioners of cruel sacrificial rituals. It was Zhuangzi's ideal human beings who had many of the traits of shamans: they took spirit journeys, entered trances, were masters of fire and the natural elements, and demonstrated an extraordinary un­derstanding of the Dao, or way. Many examples were given in the Zhuangzi of ideal human beings who were recognized by their names (the true man, the daemonic man, the perfect man, the sage, the nameless man). They were also recognizable by their unusual appearances: hunched backs and skinny necks. Some of these individuals became shamanlike following an illness (Master Yü) or during a meditative trance (Ziqi of the South Wall).

Clad as Kuan Yin the Medium/Shaman leads the Festival of the Nine Imperial Gods, Click to enter:

In addition to the Zhuangzi, early texts often associated with Daoism include the Elegies of Chu (Chuci), and the Classic of Mountains and Waters (Shanhaijing). Wang Yi (d. 158 C.E.), an imperial librarian who wrote the earliest commentary on the Elegies of Chu, attributes the text to Qu Yuan (fourth century B.C.E.), a loyal official betrayed by his ruler and banished to the south of China. Although Wang Yi's commentary does not consider the shamanic origins of the songs in any great detail, modern commen­taries and scholarship have mined the work for its information about shamanism in southern China before the second century C.E.. One of the best examples of shamanism is found in the section called the Nine Songs. In the first song of this work, "Great One, Lord of the East," a ling, or shaman, performs a ritual dance to Taiyi, the great sun god. The shaman's dance to a cacophony of drumbeats, pipes, zithers, and the jingling of the jade pendants on her waistband sends her into a trancelike state that enables the deity to descend and possess her.

The authorship and dating of the Classic of Mountains and Waters (Shanhaijing), is shrouded in debate, with some saying the text was a traveler's guide or geographical gazetteer of the ancient Chinese terrain and others saying that the text is the work of shamans. The text describes shamans (wu) as healers who bring the dead back to life and travel to distant mountain summits in search of medicinal herbs. There is also the suggestion that shamanic practices were performed in connection with the snake cult and the worship of the Queen Mother of the West.

In the China of the past, on the ninth day of the ninth month people would fast and climb the mountains to cleanse themselves from whatever evil had gotten attached to them during the preceding year. Today, people of Chinese descent date the Festival of the Nine Imperial Gods (also called ‘immortals’) to the first nine days of the ninth month.

For centuries, Chinese have upheld the belief that the Nine Imperial gods - T ien Ying, T'ien Jen , T'ien Chu ,T'ien Hsin , Tien Chin , T'ien Fu, T'ien Ch lung,
T'ien Jui , and Tien P'ong – reside in` the northern heavens, each on one of the sewn stars off the ßig Dipper (Ursa Major) and the remaining two gods on two stars nearby.

These two stars are invisible. They are stars of transformation which are visible only to the eyes of immortals people believe. Four stars form the bowl of the Dipper' and three stars form its handle. When we add the two invisible stars, we reach the figure nine.

The location of these two invisible stars has remained ambiguous. One Sung Dynasty commentator of the "Nine Songs" says that they are "Sustainer" (Fu or Alcor, attached to Mizar) and "Far Flight" (Chao-yao or Bootis, the tip of an extended dipper handle).

The opinions of medieval Taoists, however, differ. A map in a canonical version shows two ancillary stars as dipper treaders, one being "Sustainer" acid the other "Straightener." The former is Alcor and the latter is said to be attached to Phecda. "Straightener," though, is an invisible star and one of its names is "Void". Furthermore, this arrangement of stars is surrounded by another group of nine which cast a "light that does not shine." They are inhabited by feminine divinities, consorts of the gods who reside in the first group of visible stars. These invisible divinities from the "black stars" are invoked in many of the exercises designed to confer the power of ‘invisibility’.

Wherever patterns of seven spots in the shape of the Dipper appeared, Chinese have considered them to be omens. The eyebrows of Lao-tzu, for example, have been described as being shaped like the Northern Dipper. In the past, the Northern Dipper has also been related to the Imperial Metropolis and was supposed to decide the fate of individuals as well as the welfare of the state. It was believed that cosmic harmony had been restored when a ruler was in consonance with the stars of the Dipper.

The divinities who might dwell in a Taoist saint, presiding over his formation and animating his subtle body, were also believed to be only a transformation of the nine souls of the Lord, which in the beginning, were the Nine Celestial Breaths or the Nine Original Heavens. Through a series of transformations they became the nine divinities of the Palace of the Brain.

Over time, these nine stars have become part of the Taoist ‘cabala’ (secret teachings). Grand Supreme Perfected Men (t'ai shang then jen ), belonging to the most exalted class of Taoist superbeings, can summon. the Polar Deity (Tai-child ), by "pacing the road of the Nine Stars".

It is not surprising that the names of the Nine Imperial Gods correspond with the names forming the Big Dipper (the names for stars 1 to 3 are sometimes differently transcribed). According to legend, the ancient ruler Yü the Great used these steps to stop the floods. The Great Yü (2205-2197 B.C.) saw a tortoise coming from the Loh River. The animal then bestowed on him a chart about how to regulate water. Others though, maintain that Yü of the Chia Dynasty (1994-1523 B.C.) has been taught these steps by the "Realized Person" of Mount Chung. Yü later divided China into nine provinces and had nine ding (cauldrons) cast to represent each of these provinces. These nine ding became symbols of power and prestige.

There is also the p u-tu ritual where the souls progress through the nine courts of hell in a dance, using the steps of Yü. And comprehending the esoteric meaning of the Dipper and its components, of learning to project one's secret self into it, of realising it within one's innermost anatomical chambers, of conjuring it to inspire to protect, to outlaw, to perform miracles are manyfold. In Shan tradition, an adept was supposed to repose himself at night on a diagram of the dipper laid oat on his bed, with its bowl like a canopy over his head and feet pointed to major stars. He is to recite the names of its stars, picture them in his imagination, recite prayers, and in the end bring their sublime embryonic essences into his body where they build up, in the course of time, an immortal body which will ascend to heaven in broad daylight (Schafer 1977:241).

Each of the nine stars has a secret name and corresponds to a trigram of the I-Ching -4 a. A Taoist ritualist must learn which of the five cosmic elements - wood, fire, metal, water or earth - corresponds to each of the nine stars connected with the constellation of the Big Dipper so that all spiritual forces can be tapped.

 

Star	Secret Name	Trigram	Position	Element
T'ien feng	Tzu ch'in	k'an	1	water
T'ien jen	Tzu ch'ang	ken	8	earth
T'ien chung	Tzu ch'iao	chen	3	wood
T'ien fu	Tzu hsiang	hsün	4	wood
T'ien ying	Tzu ch'eng	li	9	fire
T'ien ping	Tzu hsü	k'un	2	earth
T'ieng chu	Tiu chung	tui	7	metal
T'ien hsin	Tzu hsiang	ch'ien	6	metal
T'ien ch'in	Tzu chin	k'un	5	earth

 

Stars 1, 2, and 7 are also said to be associated with cloud-soul/actualizing spirit (hun shen ^; ) and stars 3, 4, 5, and 6 with white-soul/embryonic essence (p 'o chung ).

The earliest myths, recorded in China, say that the Nine Imperial Gods were the Nine Human Sovereigns who reigned a total of 45,600 years. There are, however, many later versions, for example that speaks of nine heroes who helped the people at the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1912).

The mother of the Nine Imperial Gods is Tou Mu it is said. She was born as Mo-li-che in the Western Realm, T'ien-chuh-kwoh , Kwan Ying from India. Having attained deep insights into heavenly mysteries, she began to radiate light, roaming over the seas and travelling to the sun and the moon. She showed great charity for human beings and finally married Ch'en-tsu-ts'ung King of Cheu-yü in the northern regions of the universe. Her nine sons she instructed in transcendental knowledge. Because there were not many people in the north, she went with her family to the south of Mt. Che Siu where the people thought they were genii. They made the eldest son king. Later the Jade Emperor came down and took the family up to heaven where Tou Mu lives in the palace of the Polar Star near the heavenly palaces of her sons. Other mention a divine mother, "Female Pivot" (Nu Shu) who seems to be a female version of the Polar Star. Nil Shu conceived the prehistoric king or demigod Chuan-hsü when she saw the seventh star of the Dipper, "Gemmy Light," piercing the moon like a rainbow. The Jade Emperor was considered to be a reincarnation of Yuan-shi t'ien-tsun who entered the womb of Shan-sheng, Queen of the Kingdom of Tsing-loh ll , on a ray of light.

In Taoism, Tou Mu has also been called T'ien Hou ("Queen of Heaven") and has been compared with Kuan Yin , the female form of Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of Amitâbha Buddha. Like Kuan Yin, T'ien Hou is of Indian origin. In India, she was the Goddess of Dawn, Marici ("Ray of Light"). The Tibetans called her Semding and every successive abbess was considered to be a reincarnation of Marici.

The Chinese got to know her as the god Chun-ti. At the end of the Shang Dynasty (12th century B.C.), Chun-ti allegedly fought many wars in which gods, immortals and all kinds of spirits were involved. When in the seventh century A.D. Buddhists were persecuted in China, the Taoists adopted Chun-ti and transformed him into a goddess, retaining, however, the warlike attributes of Chunti. At this time they gave her a husband and nine children.

Of course there are also late 20th Century re-inventions of these beliefs. An example is evidenced by the following drawings from "Taoist Astral Healing" (2004) p.182.

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