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| Folk Customs
- She Nationality > Ancestor-Venerating Ceremonies |
In eastern Fujian, She people live side by
side with Han Chinese, and their houses look more or less the
same as those of their neighbours. The houses by the sea are
all made of stone, while those at the foot of the mountains
are simply log cabins. Neither type shows any special characteristic
of the She nationality in its architecture. However, once you
know the tale about Panhu, you will be able to tell a She residence
from a Han house at first glance. This is because the front
beam of the main hall of She houses usually bears a three-character
inscription: "Fuma's Mansion". Here Fuma, which means the Emperor's
son-in-law, specifically refers to Panhu, the legendary ancestor
of the She people.
Liukeng Village, a typical She settlement, is situated in a
mountainous forest at Xilan in Luoyuan County. Luoyuan County
is said to be the first place where the ancient She people landed
on their southward exodus by sea. The She people living near
Badu in the county of Ningde and those in Liukeng Village bear
the same family name, Lei, and belong to the same clan. Every
three years they hold a ceremony to venerate their ancestors.
On this occasion, a procession of people carrying wooden memorial
tablets and ancestral pictures sets off from Badu and crosses
several mountain ridges until it finally reaches Liukeng. Anyone
belonging to this clan joins in along the way.
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The
ancestor-venerating procession arrives at its destination.
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After having covered half the distance, the
procession meets the people from Liukeng who have come to greet
them, and by the time the entire gathering reaches its destination,
what began as several dozen people has become several hundred.
Their drums and gongs echo from one mountain side to another.
Some hold wooden plaques inscribed with the words "Silence"
or "Clear the Way", and some hold up canopies of red and yellow
(used in the old days when an important official went out on
inspection accompanied by guards of honour). These are then
followed by sedan-chairs carrying the ancestral pictures and
wooden memorial tablets. The whole ceremony is in fact arranged
in imitation of Panhu's funeral as depicted in the ancestral
pictures. |
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