Society and the Supernatural in Song China

5 The Daoist Ritual Masterand Child-Mediums

5 The Daoist Ritual Master and Child-Mediums In a recent essay on vernacular and classical traditions of contemporary Daoist ritual, Kristofer Schipper offers a modern perspective on the notion of the Daoist Ritual Master’s mediating function in the Song, just outlined in Chapter 4. Following J. J. M. de Groot’s observations in nineteenth-century Amoy, Schipper states that Ritual Masters (fashi) were, and for that matter still are, recruited from two sources: from among “the junior, non-ordained members of daoshi families ,” and from among the local initiation groups of “gong-beating lads,” or young spirit-mediums.1 This “double direction of recruitment ” obtained in the Song period, though with respect to the daoshi, or clerical, provenance of the fashi, the evidence is more oblique. In Chapter 2 I considered elite relations with the fashi and their extensive involvement in exorcism. Here I am concerned with the other side of the fashi’s mediating function—his relation with spirit-mediums. In the modern period, the relationship between the Daoist Ritual Master and spirit-mediums is not defined simply by recruitment. The two actually perform together in varying religious contexts in which the Ritual Master officiates and directs the trance of the spirit-medium. Schipper makes the following general comments in reference to one complex of rituals that concern journeys to the other world: The transaction between the living and the dead is the favorite field of action for mediumistic practices, and in these cases the fashi may yield his place of officiant to a spirit-medium (dangki; Mandarin: tongji or 87 tongzi). While the latter takes the leading role in the dancing and miming , the fashi remains at his side as his assistant, directing the trance. When the ritual has progressed to the point that the emissary stands before the judges of the Inferno, the singing is interrupted, and the seance takes over. Speaking in different voices, now the plaintiff’s, then the judge’s, the medium transmits the voices of these spirits of the nether world to the accused persons. In some cases, a speaking medium may be replaced by experts in spirit writing. The fashi acts as the interpreter of the medium’s utterances or the scribbled signs of the writing stick.2 We must look, I believe, to the Song dynasty for the formation of the special relationship between Ritual Masters and spirit-mediums. In the twelfth century, Daoist fashi and spirit-mediums were brought together for the first time, primarily in the performance of therapeutic ritual. Ritualized spirit-possession became an enduring feature of the exorcisms of the Daoist fashi, and these exorcisms can be seen as a momentous episode in the process whereby Daoism entered into a lasting and complex accommodation with those representatives of village religion and their practices to which it had previously stood in firm opposition.3 Let us begin, then, with an anecdote from Hong Mai’s Yijian Zhi as a way to introduce this characteristic practice of the lay Daoist Ritual Master: In the summer of 1192—twenty-two years since I recorded [the anecdote entitled] “The Retribution of Qingxi’s Cat” (Qingxi maobao)—Qingxi’s mistress became ill from water vermin and daily her condition became increasingly dangerous . The woman’s hired servant, Wang Fu, said, “I have heard Mr. Qianyong Erlang of the teashop in Tianjing alley remark that a Mr. Pan, who resides outside the gate of Mount Gen, is good at matters that concern the other world. People call him ‘Pan the Demon Seer’ (Pan Jiangui). I will beg him to go with me and pay my respects.” Wang consequently dragged Qian to Pan’s residence. Pan burned mulberry paper money and with his hands offered up a handkerchief before the effigy of the spirit he served. At the top of a lantern, he saw a woman and a cat standing opposite each other. Pan said, “Both of you have grievances, yet I do not understand the cause.” Wang and 8 8 Society and the Supernatural Qian took the handkerchief, returned home, and explained to the mistress what had transpired. The mistress was astonished and said, “Years ago, I was in fact angry and blamed this servant. However, her death was from injuries. It was not I who caused her death. For what reason does she cause demonic visitations like this?” And she sent them back to...