Repaying a Nuo Vow in Western Hunan: A Rite of Trans-Hybridity?
摘要
This paper explores the significance of a set of Han Chinese rituals and dramas known as ＂Repaying a Nuo Vow＂ (Huan Nuoyuan 還儺願), based on the study of their performance among the Miao (苗) of Western Hunan (Xiangxi 湘西). I examine the cultural significance of the Repaying a Nuo Vow rituals from three perspectives: 1) a case study of one such rites held at Hulu (葫蘆) Village in Huayuan (花垣) County on November 15-16, 2011; 2) additional data that other scholars have collected about these rites throughout Western Hunan, including among both Miao and Tujia 土家 communities; 3) historical and ethnographic information on such rituals performed in other parts of Southwest China. The overall goal of this paper is to examine the development of and recurring interaction between Han Chinese and non-Han ritual traditions, as opposed to focusing exclusively on one community and its religious life. In doing so, I have attempted to to distinguish between deep-rooted indigenous rites and the absorption of Daoist ritual elements introduced to Western Hunan by Han Chinese ritual specialists. This paper will show that in areas settled earlier and in great density by Han migrants, the rituals and dramas performed during Repaying a Nuo Vow retained many of their original features, including numerous liturgical texts written in Chinese that survive to the present day. In areas settled later and less extensively (including Huayuan), Repaying a Nuo Vow blended features of both Miao and Han religious traditions. Vow-making and vow-repaying rituals are particularly well-suited for the study of cross-cultural interaction. This is because repaying a vow made to the gods constitutes a basic element in many religious cultures worldwide, including in China, with a central theme of Chinese religious life being repayment or retribution. If one relies on a chronological approach based on existing sources, one can uncover a long and complex record of Chinese terms for rituals referred as ＂vows＂ (or ＂oath