Taoist origin of Nuo culture

Taoism, as a local religion in China, has great vitality and penetration among the people. The origin of Taoist witchcraft and alchemy, as well as the openness of Taoism to folk beliefs, have infected Guizhou Taoism with strong witchcraft and exorcism. In order to survive and develop, Taoism develops to remote rural areas and ethnic minority areas. In addition to professional activities, folk Taoist priests also engage in funeral ceremonies and beat sacrifices, and "exorcising evil spirits and wishing" and "celebrating the altar" are their important contents, which are inseparable.

Taoist culture and Nuo culture have their own ontological core, which cannot be equated, but the close relationship and mutual penetration between Taoist altar and Nuo altar are obvious. Tao and Nuo are genetically homologous. The concept of animism is the early religious and cultural psychology of human beings, which promotes the emergence of ghost belief and has primitive religious and cultural behavior full of witchcraft. The confusion of life and death and the desire for eternal life also communicate the connection between people and ghosts and gods from one side. At this level, Taoism and Nuo altar have similar understanding, which is also the basis of mutual infiltration.

Nuo opera was born out of the ancient Nuo sacrifice activities, and its original form was the dramatization of asking God to exorcise ghosts and diseases in the Nuo sacrifice ceremony. Nuo opera is developed from Nuo sacrifice and Nuo dance. In the course of its development, it gradually incorporated the cultural contents of witchcraft, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, historical and life events, and the contents and forms of China traditional operas. Therefore, today's Nuo opera has rich connotations and forms. Nuo opera is a ritual drama with multi-dimensional religious consciousness as its core, and it is an artistic religious ceremony.

Nuo opera was bred in the soil of religious culture and was obviously influenced by religious thoughts such as witchcraft, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. As far as the south is concerned, especially Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Chongqing and other places are deeply influenced by Taoism, which is mainly manifested in the taoism of Nuo altar masters, the taoism of Nuo altar gods and the fasting of Nuo altar utensils.

Taoists' Taoism. Most Nuo altar masters think that they belong to their own school. They said, "We are the Laojunjiao, that is, Taoism. Our old gentleman pays attention to one word, that is, practicing magic, which was also handed down by the old gentleman. " Nuo altar has many ways to communicate with gods, and these skills, such as singing and dancing, divination spells, animals (sacrifice), are the same or similar to those of orthodox Taoism. The costumes and utensils used by the masters of Zhangtan are also the same, similar or different from those used by Taoist priests, showing an obvious Taoist trend. The orthodox school attaches great importance to the spiritual strength of France and India, and so does the Nuo altar.

Daoism of Nuo Tang God. Nuo altar gods are a mixture of witchcraft gods, folk vulgar gods, secular ancestor gods, Taoist system gods and gods. Later, Buddhist gods and Confucian gods joined in, but Taoist gods have always been the dominant gods of Nuo altar.

The fasting of Nuo ceremony. Taoist fasting has experienced a development process from disorder to standardization and from complexity to simplicity. Nuo altar should be earlier than Taoist altar. Taoism is the religion with the strongest witchcraft color. Witchcraft dancing, divination, taboos, spells and witchcraft customs preserved in Nuo altar are all inherited from Taoism. Due to the lack of religious organizations and theoretical norms, the scientific instruments of Nuo altar have become Daoism. But unlike Taoist altars, the specifications are lax, the requirements are not high, and they are very casual. The ritual and Taoist trend of Nuo altar scientific instruments is becoming more and more obvious.