Dongba Literature Sacrifice Classic Poem in Ancient Sacrifice to Heaven by Naxi Dongba Wen.

Sacrificing to heaven, which Naxi language calls beauty supplement, is a traditional sacrifice activity with the longest history, the largest scale and the richest cultural connotation in Naxi society, and is also an important part of Dongba culture. There have been two sayings among Naxi people since ancient times, which accurately show the important position and significance of offering sacrifices to heaven in Naxi people's minds: Naxi beauty makes up the virtue, that is, offering sacrifices to heaven is the biggest thing for Naxi people; If Naxi beauty adds, is Naxi the son of worshipping heaven? quot。 At the beginning of the tradition of offering sacrifices to heaven, there was a mythical narrative source in the Naxi epic "Worship the Elephant" (Genesis): after they moved from heaven to earth, they had no children for a long time, and only asked their parents (gods) did they know that they wanted to offer sacrifices to heaven and give them to their three descendants. The third son couldn't speak, so he looked up to his father and knew that there were ceremonies such as setting up sacred stones, sacred trees, lighting incense and offering sacrifices to heaven. After the sacrifice, the third son can speak three languages. Since then, offering sacrifices to heaven has become an ancestral custom. It can be seen that the activities of offering sacrifices to heaven have a long history in Naxi society. According to Jing Li's Records of Yunnan in the Yuan Dynasty, on the fifteenth day of the first month, someone climbed a mountain to worship heaven, which was very strict and clean. Men and women moved hundreds of times, each holding his hand and dancing in groups for fun. From this, we can see one of the activities of offering sacrifices to heaven of Naxi nationality in Yuan Dynasty.

Generally speaking, the Naxi people worship heaven from the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month, which lasts for four or five days, or seven or eight days, and is a big sacrifice; Some also hold autumn festivals, that is, small festivals. There is a special field to worship heaven, forming a relatively stable group to worship heaven. Dongba, a priest, presided over the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, and Dongba recited the corresponding poems of offering sacrifices to heaven for each program, with nearly ten thousand lines, forming a magnificent Long song offering sacrifices to heaven.

The Dongba classic poem "Ancient Songs of Sacrifice to Heaven" edited by Yunnan General Office of Folk Literature is all works of offering sacrifices to heaven. According to the sacrificial procedure, it has 8000 lines from beginning to end, which comprehensively and systematically reflects the original appearance of sacrificial culture. Generally speaking, this ancient song of offering sacrifices to heaven is the stylized result of Naxi ancient offering sacrifices to heaven activities, and it is a poem of offering sacrifices to heaven created by Dongba, a priest, in order to coordinate with specific and complicated ceremonies. The specific age of the work can not be traced back, but it has developed from oral chanting to scripture recording, and its stereotype should be the late development of Dongba literature, that is, around the Yuan Dynasty.

The ancient songs of offering sacrifices to heaven are composed of the following volumes: the basic idea of ancient songs of offering sacrifices to heaven refers to one thing, that is, praising the gods of heaven and earth, tracing the ancestry, praising the achievements of ancestors in creating the world, expressing reverence for ancestors, and expressing the heart of imitating their rules; Determined to drive away filth, wish the nation prosperity and good luck and longevity. At the same time, the ancient songs of offering sacrifices to heaven reproduce the historical life of Naxi ancestors, which has positive ideological significance and is helpful to explore the psychological quality and personality characteristics of Naxi people. Although "Ancient Song of Sacrificing to Heaven" is a eulogy and sacrifice to the gods of heaven and earth, it is also full of humanistic thoughts, showing the struggle spirit of ancient human beings who are unwilling to yield to fate and fight against disasters. For example, each scroll has a description of resistance to disaster:

If the beauty in the sky, Kosikolo,

Bring disaster and disaster to the earth,

We should try our best to resist it.

Whether it's the plague that causes yellow eye disease,

Whether it's the plague that causes intestinal infarction and abdominal pain,

Whether it's a disease that makes people vomit and jaundice,

Whether this is a terrible disease.

Whether it's a fierce leopard released behind a cow,

Whether it's swine fever,

Whether it's chicken plague,

Whether it's a fierce flood,

Whether it's a disaster that erodes the white valley,

Whether it is the disaster that leads to red wheat stripe rust,

Whether it's a disaster that prevents grain from bearing fruit,

Whether it's a natural disaster that withers seedlings,

We all want to boycott it!

Another example is "resisting common resistance", which describes people making bows and arrows and shooting ten sharp arrows at a time to suppress the arrogance of the enemy to resist foreign invasion. This scene is also wonderful:

The big bow and arrow aimed at the east,

The enemies of the East will never invade us;

The big bow and arrow aimed at the west,

The enemies of the west will never invade us;

……

All enemies who dare to attack,

Let's shoot down one by one with sharp arrows!

With dauntless spirit and heroic fighting spirit, Shi Jing expressed the determination of Naxi ancestors to fight indomitable against natural disasters and social disasters, and showed the indomitable and self-reliant national spirit and tenacious will of Naxi people to forge ahead in unity. Swear to the death to defend territory, safeguard national dignity, and curb evil with justice, which is worthy of being a heroic battle song. This is also the positive ideological significance of "Ancient Songs of Sacrifice to Heaven".

The ancient worship songs fully reflect the ancient religious rituals and related ancient customs of Naxi people, and have rich cultural connotations. From this, we can study Naxi ancient culture from the perspectives of religion, folklore, society, philosophy and literature, and explore its subtlety, so as to get a glimpse of Naxi ancestors' understanding and thoughts on the origin of the universe, the structure of heaven and earth, the spread of human beings and the formation of nations. For example, the works vividly reflect the overall national characteristics of the ancient Naxi belief system by laying out the specific religious sacrificial activities, which integrates nature worship, ancestor worship and wood and stone worship. Therefore, the works show the life history paintings and spiritual world of the ancient Naxi ancestors' society, sum up the social experience in a certain historical period, and show the life ideals of ancient human beings. They have not only historical and cognitive values, but also literary and aesthetic values. Sacrificing heaven and earth is the first ancient cultural event in the life of all ethnic groups in China, and the ancient humanistic information accumulated in the cultural traditions of all ethnic groups is the heaviest. For example, the Oracle Bone Inscriptions in China literature records the primitive sacrificial activities of praying for rain to heaven; There are also records of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth in Oracle Bone Inscriptions such as Yin Shang, The Book of Songs, The Analects of Confucius and Zhou Li. After the Western Zhou Dynasty, with the vacillation of the concept of destiny and the growth of humanistic thought, the worship ceremony of the Han nationality gradually declined. However, in the ancient Naxi culture preserved by Dongba hieroglyphics, there has been a complete and systematic ritual of offering sacrifices to heaven. What is more noteworthy is that the Naxi people in Batang, Yanjing, Tibet and other places in Sichuan are still offering sacrifices to heaven, and they have maintained the original appearance of the ancient culture of offering sacrifices to heaven. From the Detailed Rules of Sacrificial Ceremony in Naxi Folk Custom written by Dongba, an old classmate of Ludian Township in Lijiang County, and Zhang Yun, we can also see the complicated procedures of sacrificial ceremony and the quaint characteristics of Naxi sacrificial culture. Therefore, the ancient worship songs are undoubtedly of great reference value to the study of the ancient culture of the whole Chinese nation.

The cultural information reflected in "Ancient Songs of Sacrificing to Heaven" is undoubtedly very old. Some scholars compare it with the sacrificial culture of the Han nationality in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and think that the Naxi nationality, which originated from the ancient frontier nationalities, has many similarities with the sacrificial culture of the Chinese nation such as Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties in terms of ritual connotation, explicit and implicit behavior patterns, functional and ecological cultural factors, and deep psychological structure of people. The contents of worship reflected in the ancient songs of offering sacrifices to heaven, including time, method, ceremony, setting of altar, preparation and disposal of sacrifices, are consistent with those recorded in the Book of Songs and other Chinese documents: Zhou people offered sacrifices to heaven through three views (the sun, the moon and the stars), and the altar was set in the suburbs, and the Naxi people also set up an altar on the top of the hillside in the suburbs; The sacrifices of Zhou people were made of rice and oil, and were made of real wood, which was generally consistent with what was written in the ancient Song of Sacrifice to Heaven. In The Book of Songs Zhao Nan, it was written that the village girl picked Artemisia ordosica to sacrifice to the nobles, thinking that Artemisia ordosica could ward off evil spirits, while in the ancient Song of Sacrifice to Heaven, it was written that Artemisia ordosica exorcised evil spirits in many places, and the two concepts were the same. "The Analects of Confucius Bashu" contains the ancient ceremony of setting up trees: shed, pine, Yin people, cypress, Zhou people and chestnut. Naxi people also worship heaven with cypress and chestnut; "Li Zhouchun Gong Zongbo No.3" contains a cloud: The post of uncle is given by the ghosts and gods who are in charge of the founding of the country and help Wang Jianbang defend his country. The arrangement of gods, ghosts and land gods is similar to that of gods, Xu gods and land gods in Naxi people's worship to heaven. Another example is in the Book of Rites: A king deserves the status of his ancestors. The Naxi people's offering sacrifices to heaven also means offering sacrifices to their ancestors. For example, in Suku, there are repeated ancestor gods and their genealogy representatives from Ren Lien. "Zhou Li" also wrote a raft to worship heaven? Quot Sacrifice, jade and silk are burned on firewood, and smoke is used to worship the sky. Naxi people also burn cypress branches and cuckoo trees, and put all kinds of meat, which is called: burning tianxiang, and so on. To sum up, based on the ancient worship songs and related sacrificial activities, we can explore the obvious origin relationship between Naxi ancient culture and Huaxia ancient culture. This is also the cultural value of "Ancient Songs of Sacrifice to Heaven". The ancient songs of offering sacrifices to heaven came into being under the background of spreading (Dongba) and accepting (offering sacrifices to heaven). According to different ceremonies, the priest Dongba read different sacrificial words in the form of chanting, chanting, chorus and harmony, accompanied by dancing and simulated actions such as archery. The ethnic groups participating in the sacrifice cooperated with each other in corresponding forms. For example, when singing Hushi, the priests sang and danced, and the priests cheered for good luck; When reciting "Kang Gong Kang", the priests and worshippers asked questions, described the origin of bows and arrows and the course of the war, and then simulated the scene of archery to kill the enemy. When the priest read: the enemy of the East is not ready to act, and our sharp arrow will shoot through your forehead, everyone shouted and shouted: We shot down the enemy ... This performance turned the solidified plot and scene in classical poetry into a vivid drama, so some scholars called it a poetic drama.

Due to the combination of the spreading mode of "Ancient Sacrificial Songs" and the sacrificial ceremony, Dongba, as a priest, is required to refine and scrutinize the language expression, not only to please the gods with beautiful and vivid language, but also to satisfy the audio-visual pleasure of religious aesthetic experience. In this way, Dongba people made full use of the traditional artistic techniques of Dongba literature in "Ancient Songs of Sacrifice to Heaven" under the two-way requirement of entertaining gods and people, which made the works have special artistic charm.

First, strong lyricism. The works take us as the narrative angle, and pour out their hearts from beginning to end. Even if there are some narrative plots in the middle, including the myth of IAAF marriage, they are described in lyric language. It can be said that "Song of Ancient Sacrifice to Heaven" is a hymn full of Naxi national feelings and personal feelings. First of all, from the perspective of human subjects, the works repeatedly express gratitude, admiration, yearning and reverence for the God of Nature (heaven and earth) who gives them luck and happiness, and express the sincere feelings of God Yi Xi who will always bless the people, care infinitely and protect future generations. However, when the nature is changing, the world is in danger and the disaster is serious, there are all kinds of emotions of awe, lament, anger, curse and resistance. In short, people's ever-changing feelings and psychology-joys and sorrows are vividly expressed. Secondly, the works also express the blood feelings of Naxi people and their respect for their ancestors. The Naxi people's worship to heaven and ancestors are integrated. Many chapters in ancient worship songs describe the history of Naxi ancestors, which has the function of strengthening ethnic unity and solidifying the collective consciousness of ethnic groups with the glory of ancestors. Therefore, the works are full of praise for the achievements of ancestors in previous dynasties, and their emotional psychology of admiration and memory is particularly hot and strong. Therefore, "Ancient Song of Sacrificing to Heaven" presents a strong lyricism in its overall style.

Second, vivid description. Although Song of Ancient Sacrifice to Heaven is mainly lyrical, it also pays great attention to the portrayal of images. Here is only the image depiction of Thor as an example. The work vividly presents the imaginary Thor to people through personification, and its thunderous personality characteristics are also very prominent:

On the left is the majestic Thor,

It's a god named Cordovaz,

Riding a white-tailed dragon,

It came from Meg,

Come to the land where human beings live.

It appeared on the top of the mountain,

You can cut off the green branches on the tree one by one;

It appears in a deep valley,

Can turn over the soil layer on the ground again and again;

Only Thor has such great power,

Only Thor can create such a great miracle,

Only the power of Thor,

Can destroy 90 enemy villages,

We can wipe out 70 enemy camps!