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| Folk Customs
- She Nationality > Ancient Totem Tales |
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She
women of Luoyuan patiently await the arrival of the
tri-annual ancestor-venerating procession.
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Once upon a time long, long ago, Emperor
Gaoxin went travelling at his leisure through the fields. The
Empress suffered three years from an itchy ear from which issued
a three-inch golden worm. The worm became a dragon-dog twelve
feet long, its fine coat of fur splotched with black and white.
Its eyes shone like lychee stones! Tempering itself under the
golden bell, it hoped to be human in seven day's time. Lifting
the bell after only six, the empress found a human with a beast's
head....
The above poem is actually an extract from the Song of Emperor
Gaoxin, also known as the Song of Panhu, and is very popular
among the She, one of China's minority peoples. The She live
in seclusion in Fujian's remote mountain areas. One of the most
interesting things about them is that they keep their ancestral
pictures secret, hiding them away from outsiders like great
treasures. Apparently these pictures show that the ancestors
of the She people looked like dragons, unicorns or, as some
say, more like dogs. |
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