Nuo, Those Messages from Ancient Times
- Analysis of Chinese Nuo Cultural Forms and Thinking
[Abstract] Nuo is an ancient and vast historical cultural system. It is related to human birth, aging, illness and death, and thus to human life itself. The primitive culture it contains is not only the source of modern art, but also the origin of later institutionalized religions, and more importantly, it was a significant ideology and social practice in the initial stage of Chinese civilization. The analysis of Nuo cultural forms and thinking is an important part of the "Comprehensive Study of the Origins and Early Development of Chinese Civilization".
[Keywords] Primitive thinking; Nuo Masks; Exorcising epidemics; Primitive religion; Primitive art
I. All Nations Submit
Since the early 1980s, when research on Nuo opera and Nuo culture began to flourish, Nuo studies seemingly became a "popular subject". However, what exactly is Nuo? The origin of Nuo culture is a topic of much debate.
On November 14, 2011, at a Nuo culture seminar held by the Chinese Nuo Studies Association in Chongqing, the author introduced the Nuo mask unearthed from the Youzhougang site on the Liyang Plain in October 2010 in an academic presentation titled "6000 Years of Nuo Masks - Primitive Sacrifices on the Liyang Plain of Hunan", which drew strong attention from the attendees.
The Liyang Plain is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Li River on the northwest shore of Dongting Lake. Nearly 200 Paleolithic sites and over 500 Neolithic sites have been discovered there. The density and variety of ancient cultural sites in this area are extremely rare nationwide, and it has been evaluated as one of the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China".
The Youzhougang site in Li County, where the wooden Nuo mask was unearthed, is a relatively large settlement site. Based on the analysis of unearthed stone tools, pottery forms and stratigraphy, this site contains material remains of production and life from the Daxi culture about 7,000 years ago to the Shijiahe culture about 5,000 years ago, as well as wooden carved human face masks, cattle skulls inserted with wooden sticks, paddles, and other pottery, stone, wood, and bone artifacts. The "wooden carved human face mask" identified by archaeologists was carved from a single piece of wood, 60 cm long and 30 cm wide, unearthed next to the altar of the site, and is a "relic used by ancient ancestors for sacrificial ceremonies"①.
The author believes this is a Nuo mask (Figure 1). Since the beginning of written records, "Nuo" has appeared in oracle bone inscriptions, and Nuo masks have appeared in the sacrifices of ancient ancestors②. In ancient times, "Nuo" and "Nan" (difficulty) were the same character. In oracle bone inscriptions, Nuo and Nan were written as "
" (Figure 2).
▲Figure 1 Wooden Nuo mask unearthed from the Youzhougang site in Li County
(Collected by Hunan Institute of Archaeology)
▲Figure 2 Oracle bone inscription for "Nan" (difficulty),
the left is the common form, the right is the simplified form
The pictograph indicates a dangerous object pointing directly at a person's head, suggesting the person has encountered "difficulty"③.
Our ancestors viewed all unfortunate events such as disasters, dangers, difficulties, difficult childbirth, obstacles, hardships, and problems as the same thing - encountering "difficulty". Before doing anything, they would divine: Is there any "difficulty"? There are many records of this in the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty, such as:
Will the Emperor not bring me difficulty? (Tie 533, Yan 785)④
— Will the Emperor bring disaster upon me?
Divination on Wu Shen day, Zheng asks: Will the Emperor bring me difficulty? Zheng asks: The Emperor will not bring me difficulty. (Yi 7793)
— Divination on Wu Shen day, Zheng asks: Will the Emperor bring me disaster? (Verification:) The Emperor will not bring me disaster.
Divination on Geng Xu day asks: Will the Emperor bring difficulty? (Qian 3244)
— Divination on Geng Xu day asks: Will the Emperor bring disaster?
Ask: Will the Emperor not bring great difficulty? (Zong Tu 227)
— Ask: Will the Emperor not bring great disaster?
What to do when encountering "difficulty"? People at that time believed that although "difficulty" was invisible, it existed in the form of evil energy. So they used the most advanced "scientific method" at the time - sorcery - to control it, using the method of "exorcism" to control, suppress, drive away, and kill the evil energy - "difficulty".
How to embody this sorcery? Under the concept of "all things have spirits", people in ancient times realized that what they feared was also what "difficulty" feared. Thus, the image of Chi You, which people found frightening, became the first choice. Similarly, sculptures (such as the wooden Nuo mask unearthed from Youzhougang) and objects with the "㞢" character became sacred objects - ritual implements - for exorcism.
Therefore, "the ritual vessels of the three dynasties mostly bear the image of Chi You"⑤ (Figure 3). In this way, the Yellow Emperor "used it to command the army to control the eight directions. After Chi You's demise, the world was in chaos again, so the Yellow Emperor painted Chi You's image to intimidate the world. The world all believed Chi You was not dead, and all nations in eight directions submitted"⑥.
▲Figure 3 Chi You mask
(Collected by Xishang Art Museum in Li County)
This record is also confirmed in the legends and sacrifices of Chi You among the Miao people: Zhang Zongjiang, a Miao priest from Xixizhen, Liangjiatan Township, Luxi County, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, said: "When there are ghosts of the dead, we need to wear qingga (iron trivet), straw rain capes, paint our faces with black ash, dress up as Chi You and perform grand rituals." Qingga is the iron trivet over the Miao family's fire pit. Zhang Zongjiang said: "Chi You had powerful magic, even the Yellow Emperor feared him. The Yellow Emperor killed him and had his subordinates carry his head to charge into battle. When the head decayed, they painted his image on flags and often won battles."⑦ (Figure 4)
▲Figure 4 Miao shaman wearing a trivet on his head in Chi You drama (Photo by Shi Qunxia)
The Miao legend is richer than historical records and has a certain historical authenticity - first using Chi You's severed head to intimidate enemies, then using paintings when the head was gone. This kind of painting has been passed down continuously in the course of history. When Qin Shi Huang unified the world through fengshan sacrifices, he had to "sacrifice to the god of war and worship Chi You" (Records of the Grand Historian). When Liu Bang started his rebellion, he had to "sacrifice to Chi You in the courtyard of Pei"⑧.
The Chi You mask became an invisible but divine force in exorcism rituals⑨. As exorcism rituals developed, the image of Chi You gradually evolved into a fierce yet beautiful form that remained active in Nuo activities. The Nuo mask unearthed from the Youzhougang site in Li County, Hunan, carved from a single piece of wood, 60 cm long and 30 cm wide, was certainly not a mask worn on a human face, but rather a person dressed in bear skin, holding a demon's head, disguised as a ferocious monster to frighten away plague demons. This point has been recorded in historical documents through the ages and has been passed down as cultural relics among the people.
The "Offices of Summer" in the Rites of Zhou states: "The Fangxiangshi is in charge of wearing bear skin, with four golden eyes, dressed in dark clothes with a vermilion skirt, holding a dagger-axe and shield, leading a hundred servants to perform exorcism rituals, searching houses to drive out epidemics." Zheng Xuan's annotation states: "Meng means to cover. Covering with bear skin is to frighten and drive away plague demons, like today's demon heads. Shi nuo means performing exorcism rituals in the four seasons, using the Fangxiangshi to ward off evil."⑩
Han Dynasty scientist Zhang Heng described in his "Rhapsody on the Eastern Capital": "Then at the end of the year, a grand exorcism is performed to drive out all evil spirits. The Fangxiangshi holds an axe, shamans hold peach branches, ten thousand children with red heads and dark clothes. Peach bows and thorny arrows are shot without aim. Flying pebbles scatter like rain, and fierce diseases must perish. Blazing fires race like flowing stars, chasing red plagues to the four corners."⑪ In the Eastern Capital of Luoyang during the Han Dynasty, a grand exorcism was performed at the end of the year to drive evil spirits from the four directions to distant lands, bringing peace and cleanliness to every household in the capital.
In the Tang Dynasty, the scene of exorcism became even grander. The "Miscellaneous Records of Music" records: "Four Fangxiangshi are used, wearing crowns and masks, with four golden eyes, dressed in bear skin, holding dagger-axes and shields, making the sound of 'nuo, nuo' to drive out evil. Twelve people on the right all have red hair and wear white painted clothes. Each holds a hemp whip made of braided hemp, several feet long, making a very sharp sound when shaken."⑫ (Figure 5)
▲Figure 5 Lion dance in the Tang Dynasty "Ancient Music Chart of Xinxi"
Searching houses to drive out epidemics, this ancient magical concept and method has been passed down from the distant Neolithic Age to the present day (Figure 6).
▲Figure 6 "One Hundred Children at Play in Spring" (detail) by Su Hanchen, Song Dynasty
The Qingquan County Gazetteer from the 28th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1763) in the Qing Dynasty records that people "carved wood into lion heads, used large blankets as bodies, tied palm fibers as tails, danced with drums and music, stopping on this night"⑬. This sacred beast called the "divine lion" went through villages and into every household, on one hand searching houses to drive out epidemics, and on the other hand celebrating the new spring.
When the Nuo lion entered people's homes, in addition to expelling plague demons, it also took on the task of bringing blessings and praying for blessings. When bringing blessings and praying, according to the different requests of each household, stories appropriate to these requests would be performed, such as "The Queen Mother Sends a Son" for those who need prosperous descendants; "The Top Scholar Passes the Imperial Examination" for those who need to study and seek official positions; "Magu Offers Longevity" for those who need to celebrate birthdays and extend life; "Crossing Barriers and Slaying Generals" for those who need to work away from home. Over time, the celebration also changed, gradually shifting from prayer to entertainment. The lion dancers continually innovated and evolved according to their own preferences, and more and more "story" techniques appeared in the lion dance, becoming a form of entertainment during people's festivals (Figure 7).
▲Figure 7 "Divine Lion" in the national intangible cultural heritage representative project "Nuo Opera (Linwu Nuo Opera)" (Photo by Sun Wenhui)
In the provincial-level intangible cultural heritage representative project "Fengping Nuo Mask Lion Dance" in Hunan Province, there are also masked figures like the Earth God, the spring god Jumang wearing a monkey mask, and the pig god symbolizing the prosperity of livestock dancing with the lion. These characters, cooperating with the lion dance, can perform 108 stories, such as "Cai Chunshan Plowing the Field", "Zhao Gong Hunting Tigers", "Beauty Combing Her Hair", "Ferryboat Steering", "Guan Yunchang Sharpening His Knife", "Lazy Cow Touching Silk", "Blind Old Woman Making Shoe Soles", "Kongming Viewing Lanterns", "Mao Guojin Forging Iron", "Magpie on the Beam", "Old Man Pushing a Cart", "Mother-in-law Tattooing", "Magu Offering Longevity", "Wu Gang Offering Wine", "Zhang the Butcher Killing a Pig", "Monkey Climbing a Tree", "Fierce Tiger Jumping Steps", "Yue Fei Killing with a Fork", "Dong Yong Practicing Filial Piety", "Zhu Bajie Getting Married", "Sha Seng Subduing Demons", "Emperor Qianlong Protecting the People", "Nüwa Mending the Sky", "Nezha Causing Havoc in the Sea", "Lu Junyi Joining Liangshan", "Three Bows to Fan Lihua", "Wang Zhaojun Going Beyond the Great Wall", "Xue Gang Rebelling Against the Tang", "Crossing Five Passes and Slaying Six Generals", "Chang'e Flying to the Moon", etc. (Figure 8).
▲Figure 8 Fengping Nuo Mask Lion Dance going door to door to pray for blessings (Photo by Xie Liangping)
In the folk Nuo lion dance, some ancient information has also been inadvertently preserved. For example, in the grass lion dance of Fenghuocun Village, Yuanguping Town, Zhangjiajie, during the house-searching exorcism, three tables must be set up in the main hall for the lion to perform "licking the beam" on the stage Here is a continuation of the translation:
on the stage. This is because the beam is the most important place indoors and is the focus of exorcism. To reach the height of "licking", at least three tables need to be stacked. The author believes this is the origin of high-platform lion dancing (Figure 9).
▲Figure 9 Grass lion dance in Zhangjiajie (Photo by Sun Jianghua)
The Nuo lion dance in Hunan, combined with Meishan martial arts in Xinhua and Anhua areas, has formed a type of martial lion dance that climbs high platforms and performs acrobatic skills. The existing knife ladder Nuo lion dance in Xinliang requires the shaman to climb knife ladders and cross sky bridges while dancing the lion, displaying a certain level of martial arts. The author believes that this type of Nuo mask lion dance with strong visual appeal is also the origin of the Southern style martial lion dance.
II. Presenting the Grand Nuo on New Year's Eve
Since the early 1980s, when research on Nuo opera and Nuo culture began to flourish, Nuo studies seemingly became a "popular subject". However, what exactly is Nuo? The origin of Nuo culture is a topic of much debate.
The "Grand Nuo Diagram" is a colored painting on silk created by an unknown artist in the Song Dynasty, measuring 67.4 cm in length and 59.2 cm in width. It is currently collected in the Palace Museum in Beijing (Figure 10). This is a folk painting depicting the custom of driving out plague demons. There are twelve people in the picture, divided into two groups: one group is for eliminating plague and sweeping away epidemics, and the other group represents plague gods and disease demons. The participants all hold various props, wear various masks, and dress up as different characters, jointly performing a "play" full of joy and festivity. The picture contains rich information about folk culture in the Song Dynasty.
▲Figure 10 "Grand Nuo Diagram", anonymous silk painting from Song Dynasty
(Collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing)
In the Song Dynasty, there are multiple records about the Grand Nuo. Meng Yuanlao's "Dream of Splendor in the Eastern Capital" records for "New Year's Eve": "The forbidden palace presents the Grand Nuo ceremony, using imperial city officials. Various guards wear masks, embroidered colored clothes, and hold golden spears and dragon flags. The Music Bureau official Meng Jingchu, tall and strong, wears full gold-plated copper armor as a general, with two palace guards also in armor as door gods. The Music Bureau's Nanhe charcoal, ugly and huge, dresses as a judge. There are also impersonations of Zhong Kui, Little Sister, Earth God, Kitchen God and the like, totaling over a thousand people. They drive out evil spirits from the forbidden palace out the Nanxun Gate, turning at Dragon Pool Bay, called burying evil spirits before dispersing. That night, firecrackers in the forbidden palace sound like mountain shouts, heard from outside."⑭
Wu Zimu's "Record of Meng Liang" records for "New Year's Eve": "The last day of the twelfth month is called 'the end of the month and year', known as New Year's Eve. All families, regardless of size, clean their doorways, remove dust and dirt, clean courtyards and doors, change door gods, hang Zhong Kui paintings, nail peach charms, paste spring plaques, and make sacrifices to ancestors. At night, they prepare incense, flowers and offerings to welcome the gods and pray for safety in the new year. The forbidden palace presents the Grand Nuo exorcism ceremony on New Year's Eve, with imperial city guards wearing masks, embroidered and colorful clothes, holding gold spears, silver halberds, painted wooden swords, five-colored dragon and phoenix flags. The Music Bureau actors dress up as generals, messengers, judges, Zhong Kui, the Six Ding and Six Jia gods, divine soldiers, the Five Directional Ghost Messengers, Kitchen God, Earth God, Door God, Divine Constable and other deities. With drums and pipes playing, they drive out evil spirits from the forbidden palace out the Donghua Gate, turning at Dragon Pool Bay, called burying evil spirits before dispersing."⑮
Zhou Mi's "Old Events in Wulin" records for "New Year's Eve": "The forbidden palace considers the 24th day of the twelfth month as Small New Year's Eve, and the 30th day as Grand New Year's Eve, presenting girls performing exorcism, dressing up as the Six Ding, Six Jia, Six Gods and the like, mostly as recorded in 'Dream of Splendor'. ... The folding screens presented by the palace officials have paintings of Zhong Kui capturing ghosts on the outside. Inside are hidden medicine strings, with over a hundred connected unbroken. Flutes and drums welcome spring, roosters crow warnings, as the jade clepsydra gradually moves and the golden gates open."⑯
From these records, we can see that the time for holding the "Grand Nuo" ceremony was always on New Year's Eve at the "end of the month and year"; the participants all wore masks, embroidered colorful clothes, and impersonated ghost messengers and various gods; they all started from the imperial palace and traveled to outside the city gates. The purpose was to "bury evil spirits", that is, to bury the evil spirits. In the folk customs of Hunan, this large-scale exorcism ritual is called "touring Nuo", meaning a mobile, large-scale Nuo sacrificial ceremony.
In the Zhou Dynasty, the year ended at the winter solstice. On the last day of the year, this large-scale exorcism ritual would be held. The "Monthly Ordinances" in the Book of Rites records: "In the last month of spring, orders are given for a great exorcism, to drive away pestilential influences throughout the nine gates to conclude the spring." "In the middle month of autumn, the Son of Heaven performs the exorcism to usher in the autumn." "In the last month of winter, orders are given to the proper officers to make a great exorcism, sacrificing a red bull to the gods of the land, to send off the cold air."⑰ This is because in a year, the last month of spring is the season when evil spirits roam; the middle month of autumn is the season when various evil energies, disease energies, and corpse energies rise; the last month of winter, at the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year, is the "out with the old, in with the new" time, which is the most important sacrificial day of the year. Therefore, the exorcism ritual on New Year's Eve was the largest in scale and highest in specifications, called the "Great Nuo".
By the Song Dynasty, the Great Nuo sacrifice had undergone significant changes: the Nuo sacrifice had spread from the imperial court to the common people, and the people combined the New Year's Eve exorcism ritual with the Lantern Festival of the first month to evolve into a large-scale touring Nuo sacrifice for exorcising evil, praying for the year, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new during the Lantern Festival.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, touring Nuo spread throughout the cities and countryside of Hunan. In addition to locally produced dragon lantern clam dances and field songs and flower drum operas, the sedan chair parades, high stilts, and spring pavilion stories brought by Hakka immigrants also flourished throughout the region. In the touring Nuo, people no longer needed to perform to communicate with the gods, but freely released the joy of welcoming spring. Therefore, the "actors" in the costumed parade no longer wore masks, but switched to makeup (Figure 11). Two albums of painted face makeup from the Qing Dynasty, specifically for drawing story characters for the national intangible cultural heritage representative project of sedan chair parades (Changle Sedan Chair Story Assembly), were once casually disposed of. After the author's reminder, they are now collected in the Changle Story Museum (Figure 12).
▲Figure 11 Changle Story Assembly in Miluo (Photo by Sun Wenhui)
▲Figure 12 "Changle Story Face Makeup Album" painted during the Tongzhi to Guangxu years of the Qing Dynasty
(Collected by Changle Story Museum)
Thousands of years of touring Nuo sacrifices, once leaving the imperial court and coming to the common people, underwent a qualitative change. The genes of primitive art in the ritual were appreciated and selected by the secular eyes of the common people. Gradually, local flower drum operas, lantern song and dance, tea-picking song and dance became more joyful and exquisite, thus giving rise to some local small opera genres; those folk handicrafts such as paper-cutting, paper sculpture, embroidery, bamboo crafts, costumes, musical instrument making, etc., entered the market along with the celebrations; those stories and legends performed also became textbooks for the grassroots society, becoming spiritual food for people in the fields and during leisure time...
III. Nuo Sacrifices Continue
Since the early 1980s, when research on Nuo opera and Nuo culture began to flourish, Nuo studies seemingly became a "popular subject". However, what exactly is Nuo? The origin of Nuo culture is a topic of much debate.
The Nuo sacrificial rituals on the vast land of China have continuously evolved with the progress of civilization. The Miao region of western Hunan refers to the "Red Miao" settlement area centered on the Laershan Plateau during the Qing Dynasty. The Red Miao were once called "Raw Miao", and Miao scholars call it the "living world", meaning "the unconquered living world of the Miao Liao". The Miao region of that time was on the land between today's Huayuan County, Fenghuang County, Jishou City, and Baojing County in the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. Before the Ming Dynasty, no foreign civilization had entered this region. At the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Qing dynasty attempted to forcibly enter and encountered fierce resistance. After years of continuous warfare, the rulers realized that pure military suppression was not the way to govern the Miao region. In July of the 5th year of Emperor Jiaqing's reign (1800), Hunan Governor Jiang Sheng, Provincial Governor Zu Zhiwang, and Commander Wang Bing jointly proposed to repair the border wall: "In the areas where the three prefectures' civilians and Miao interact, from the two batteries in Qianzhou Prefecture to Xique Camp, civilian land belongs to civilians, Miao land belongs to Miao, all have been clearly demarcated. Any civilian occupation of Miao land has been returned, and all migrant civilians have been withdrawn." "Clarifying the boundaries between civilian and Miao lands can permanently end disputes."⑲ This wall, commonly known as the "Great Wall of the South", demarcated the boundaries between the Miao and civilians, easing conflicts between ethnicities (Figure 13). The construction of the border wall objectively protected the ancient Miao history and culture that had continued for thousands of years, including the ancient Miao Nuo sacrifices.
▲Figure 13 The "General Map of the Miao Frontier" and the border wall in the Qing Dynasty's "Overview of Miao Defense"
Here is the continuation of the translation:
Miao Nuo sacrifices, like those of other ethnicities, have both large-scale and small-scale sacrificial rituals. Large-scale Nuo sacrificial ceremonies include the spring welcoming ritual "Pounding the Bull" and the ancestral worship ritual "Welcoming the Dragon". Small-scale Nuo rituals are called "Fulfilling Nuo Vows", also known as "Fulfilling Family Vows", which are blessings (curses) and prayers for birth, nurturing, marriage, and difficulties (including various disasters and dangers encountered in life) among the Miao people. There are vow-making rituals beforehand and vow-fulfilling rituals afterward. Miao Nuo operas and masks are preserved within the rituals of "Fulfilling Family Vows" among the Miao people.
In 1982, the "Hunan Traditional Opera Scripts - Nuo Hall Collection"⑳ published internally by the Hunan Opera Research Institute included five Miao Nuo Hall opera scripts: "Inviting the Vanguard", "Inviting the Mountain Opener", "Inviting the Earth God", "Qin Tong", and "Ba Lang", "Immortal Maiden Sending a Son". These scripts are relatively original compared to later edited and published versions. Accompanying these scripts is a videotape recorded in 1981 titled "Inviting the Mountain Opener". Based on these and other scripts I have collected, combined with masks and performances, we can interpret the Nuo operas and their cultural connotations.
(1) "Inviting the Vanguard"
"Inviting the Vanguard" has different names in various parts of Hunan, such as "Welcoming the Vanguard", "Descending the Vanguard", "Requesting the Vanguard", "White Flag Vanguard", "Descending the Immortal Wind", etc. It is a must-perform play when making vows and fulfilling vows at various Nuo altars, a play portraying a female deity, and the first play performed on the Nuo stage (Figures 14 and 15). What kind of character is the Vanguard? Why is she a female deity? Why does she always appear first? What is the practical significance of her arrival? Based on texts provided by some old Nuo altar artists, I attempt to answer these questions. The first is the "Inviting the Vanguard" text from the Fenghuang Nuo altar, preserved by Dai Fusong and Liu Zonghai, proofread and published by the Hunan Art Research Institute; the second is the "Descending the Immortal Wind" text passed down by Liu Changshou from the Fenghuang Nuo altar; the third is the handwritten "Welcoming the Vanguard" from the Wugang Nuo altar in Shaoyang. Although these three texts can be interchanged in name, for the convenience of discussion in this article, they are referred to as the proofread version of "Inviting the Vanguard", Liu's version of "Descending the Immortal Wind", and the Wugang version of "Welcoming the Vanguard" respectively.
▲Left Figure 14 Vanguard mask (Photo by Sun Wenhui)
▲Right Figure 15 Nuo opera "Inviting the Vanguard"
What kind of character is the Vanguard? First, she is the wind deity. This point is fully supported by clues in the proofread version of "Inviting the Vanguard": The shaman wears the Vanguard mask, holds a white flag, comes on stage, and after bowing to the Nuo Master and Nuo Mother, sings:
My home is in Leiyang County of Leizhou,
Originally from the Cui clan,
Father surnamed Cui, Mother surnamed Huang,
Three matchmakers and six evidences paired us together...
Passing by King Yue's palace,
King Yue took two or three of my souls.
Taking three souls and not retreating,
He appointed me as the vanguard to lead the way.
Liu Changshou's version of "Descending the Immortal Wind" from the Fenghuang Nuo altar is similar:
My home is in Leiyang County of Leizhou,
On Phoenix Bridge, from the Cui clan,
Father surnamed Cui is the Son of Heaven Cui,
Mother surnamed Huang is from the Empress's family...
I passed by King Yue's palace,
King Yue took two or three of my souls.
King Yue appointed me,
As the vanguard to lead the way.
The Vanguard introduces her family address and parents, dispatched by the local mountain god King Yue. In the lyrics, the shaman uses metaphorical language to tell us that the Vanguard is a wind deity.
First, although the character in Liu's version is also called "Vanguard", the Vanguard invited to the Nuo altar is also the "immortal wind". Wind belongs to yin, yin is female, so the wind deity is a female deity.
Second, the female deity lives in Leiyang County of Leizhou on Phoenix Bridge. Leizhou is the legendary place where the thunder god resides, and the wind deity and thunder god always accompany each other and live as neighbors. The neighbor of Leizhou is Leiyang. Phoenix Bridge, in oracle bone inscriptions, "wind" and "phoenix" are the same character, "dragons ride clouds, phoenixes ride wind", phoenix and wind are closely related. Wind is the carrier ridden by the phoenix.
Third, the Vanguard's "father surnamed Cui" and "originally from the Cui clan" are also related to the wind deity. In the "Great Ancestral Temple" of the Rites of Zhou, "wind master" is written as "飌 master"㉑. Ye Shuxian in "Cultural Interpretation of the Book of Songs" says: "雚 has many examples in divination inscriptions, apart from being used as personal names and place names, it is often used as the character for wind, which Ye Yusen interprets as 'wind master'."㉒ The Nuo altar artists view "飌" as the wind deity, and it is normal for them to see him as the father of the Vanguard while mistaking "雚 (萑)" for "Cui".
Fourth, Liu's version says "Father surnamed Cui is the Son of Heaven Cui, Mother surnamed Huang is from the Empress's family." This also shows that this couple are not ordinary people, they are gods not humans. On the other hand, Huang, Huang (emperor), and Huang (phoenix) are homophonous, male phoenix female phoenix; the Vanguard's mother surnamed Huang is related to phoenix, and also related to wind.
Fifth, from the Vanguard's statement "King Yue took two or three of my souls", we can see that the Vanguard is a deity who takes away "souls", which is precisely the image characteristic of wind. Among the many nature gods, the movements of the sun, moon, stars, rain, snow, thunder, and lightning all have certain regularity; only wind flips up and down, moves without a fixed trace, like a deity whose soul has been taken away.
Based on the above, it is logical that the Vanguard in Nuo opera is the incarnation of the immortal wind, appearing in female form. So, what does the Vanguard come to do at the Nuo hall? Let's read the script again.
Liu's version of "Descending the Immortal Wind":
King Yue gave me two lotus flowers,
To wear on my head to suppress evil and fright.
He also gave a large white flag,
To sweep away evil spirits at the four gates:
Sweep open the sky and the sky gate appears,
Sweep open the earth and there is no gate on earth,
Sweep out the five plagues and hundred evils,
Send in the auspicious qilin son.
He also gave a sheep hair brush,
To draw wandering souls at the four gates...
In the Wugang version of "Welcoming the Vanguard", the shaman sings:
I am the Vanguard Taibai General,
Leading King Yue's troops...
First strike the wood spirit ghost in the east,
Second strike the fire disaster in the south,
Third strike the metal spirit ghost in the west,
Fourth strike the water disaster in the north,
Fifth strike the earth spirit ghost in the center,
Drive official disasters and gossip out the mountain gate.
The lyrics are different in the two versions, but the task of the Nuo deity coming to the Nuo altar is the same: "sweep away evil spirits at the four gates" and "strike all ghosts in the four directions", which is to use the immortal wind to sweep away evil and cleanse the Nuo altar (Figure 16).
▲Figure 16 Pattern on the lacquered wooden coffin unearthed from Han Tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui, Changsha
"Immortal wind sweeping away demons and monsters" (Photo by Sun Wenhui)
In the national intangible cultural heritage representative project "Nuo Opera (Meishan Nuo Opera)", this play is called "Inviting Liu Niang", "Decorating Liu Niang", "Dressing Liu Niang", "Sweeping Road Maiden" in different altar doors. In the Meishan dialect of central Hunan, Liu, Six, and Road are homophones; therefore, Liu Niang is also the Vanguard, and in "Sweeping Road Maiden", the road maiden holds a broom, with the purpose of sweeping the sacrificial site - the Nuo altar.
Therefore, "sweeping away evil" is necessary and primary in any Nuo sacrificial activity. The sweeping relies on the immortal wind, sweeping away demons, monsters, wild ghosts, and lonely souls, to clear obstacles for the entire Nuo sacrifice and create a good surrounding environment for the smooth implementation of the sacrifice. This concept of cleaning the site for large-scale commemorative activities in Nuo sacrifices still influences us today.
The existence of the Vanguard at the Nuo altar is related to the worship of the wind god that has existed in China since ancient times. The "Classic of Mountains and Seas - Great Wilderness North" says: "Chi You made weapons to attack the Yellow Emperor. ... Chi You requested the Wind Earl and Rain Master to unleash great wind and rain."㉓ Here the wind god is called "Wind Earl". The "Great Ancestral Temple" in the Rites of Zhou records: "Use auspicious rituals to serve the ghosts and gods of the state, use burnt offerings to sacrifice to the Heavenly Emperor, use firewood to sacrifice to the sun, moon, and stars, use smoke to sacrifice to the Central God, Life God, Wind Master, and Rain Master, use blood sacrifices to sacrifice to the land and grain gods, five sacrifices, and five mountains."㉔ The wind god is called "Wind Master". In "The Lament" of the Songs of Chu: "Sending Wang Shu to lead the way in front, and Fei Lian to rush behind."㉕ Qu Yuan called the wind god "Fei Lian". The common people do not recognize Wind Earl, Wind Master, or Fei Lian, but call the wind god worshipped at the Nuo altar "Vanguard".
(2) "Inviting the Mountain Opener - Sending a Son"
In addition to "Inviting the Vanguard", the "Hunan Traditional Opera Scripts - Nuo Hall Collection" also includes five Miao Nuo Hall opera scripts: "Inviting the Mountain Opener", "Inviting the Earth God", "Qin Tong", "Ba Lang", and "Immortal Maiden Sending a Son". "Qin Tong" and "Ba Lang" are actually "Inviting the Master's Wife" and "Inviting Ba Lang". On the Nuo altar, these five scripts are essentially a series of "performance plays" in fulfilling Nuo vows. In formal Nuo altar ritual performances, there are two more scenes not included in the collection: "Inviting the Fortune Teller" and "Inviting the Blacksmith". Therefore, this entire set of Nuo operas should be named "Inviting the Mountain Opener - Sending a Son" (Figures 17 and 18). "Inviting" means "performing" and has the meaning of "requesting". Therefore, "Inviting the Mountain Opener" means "requesting the Mountain Opening God". The Fenghuang Nuo opera "Inviting the Mountain Opener - Sending a Son" tells the following story:
▲Left Figure 17 Mountain Opener mask (Photo by Sun Wenhui)
▲Right Figure 18 Nuo opera "Inviting the Mountain Opener" (Photo by Hu Jianguo)
"Inviting the Mountain Opener": The Mountain Opening God responds to the shaman's request to exorcise evil and seek good fortune for the host family. The Mountain Opening God, holding a mountain opener (i.e., an axe), sets out from Peach Blossom Cave to arrive at the host family's home. He worships various gods together with the host family, then goes to bathe in the blue lakes and seas of the east, west, south, north, and center. He accidentally loses his axe in the water.
"Inviting the Fortune Teller": Unable to find his axe in the water, the Mountain Opener asks a blind fortune teller to divine the location of the lost axe. Following the blind man's instructions, the Mountain Opener searches in the central sea and indeed finds the axe; however, the axe now has a notch.
"Inviting the Blacksmith": The Mountain Opener asks the blacksmith to repair the broken axe. The blacksmith couple repairs the axe amidst playful banter. When the Mountain Opener comes to retrieve the axe, he is chased off stage by the blacksmith for paying too little.
"Inviting the Master's Wife": The Mountain Opener goes to the long street to request Qin Tong (the eloquent child) to help the shaman fulfill the vow. The child goes to Guizhou to find the Master's Wife, whose daughter Little Sister plays with the child for a while, then sings a Buddhist song with the Master's Wife, after which the three go together to Xiangxi to fulfill the vow. After the Mountain Opener uses his axe to chop open the host family's wealth door, he bids farewell to the gods and returns to Peach Blossom Cave. In the play, the shaman dressed as Qin Tong is full of "lewd words and licentious language", so Qin Tong wears a special mask with comic features - the crooked-mouth Qin Tong (Figure 19).
▲Figure 19 The crooked-mouth Qin Tong full of lewd words and licentious language
The ritual "offering sacrifice" means the host family, following the shaman, offers sacrificial animals - pigs or cattle, sheep - to various gods.
"Inviting Ba Lang": The pig god Manba Lang, on King Yue's orders, kills pigs and slaughters sheep for the host family, distributing them to share with various spirits.
"Sending a Son": The Seven Immortal Maidens give birth to a son and send him to the vow-fulfilling host family to continue the Here is the continuation of the translation:
family line. They then call on the Earth God to open the South Heaven Gate, carry the child down to the mortal world, and hand him over to the host family.
These six Nuo operas and one ritual are performed consecutively on the Fenghuang Nuo altar; while in other places, only three unrelated short plays - "Inviting the Mountain Opener", "Inviting Ba Lang", and "Sending a Son" - have been seen. Is it somewhat far-fetched to consider "offering sacrifice", "Inviting Ba Lang", and "Sending a Son" as a whole with "Inviting the Mountain Opener" and others?
To answer this question, we must first accurately decode the mythological prototype of "Inviting the Mountain Opener".
In "Inviting the Mountain Opener", what draws attention are the "Mountain Opener" and his axe.
An axe is colloquially called a "mountain opener". The Mountain Opener, as a deity, is generally also called the "Mountain Opening Ancestor". The main prop of the Mountain Opening God is also an axe. Here, is the Mountain Opening God a personification or deification of the "axe"?
The axe appears multiple times in the Book of Songs. Ye Shuxian, in his book "Cultural Interpretation of the Book of Songs", provides a relatively comprehensive prototype decoding of the axe. He believes that from the origin of the character's form, the character for axe (斧) is composed of "father" (父) and "axe" (斤). In oracle bone inscriptions, 斤 is written as "
" or "
". "
" This round-headed cone shape looks more like a male reproductive organ than an ancient stone axe. This is because among the four 5,000-year-old clay phalluses unearthed from Yangshao Village, two cone shapes match perfectly with the oracle bone character for 斤, while the other two look more like the side view of an axe. Moreover, on a jade phallus unearthed in Anyang, an axe-shaped triangle is carved. Why does the character for axe (斧) include "father" (父)? "Father" in ancient times was a general term for male elders, with meanings similar to "fu" (甫) and "ancestor" (祖), and also had the meaning of "beginning" (始). "Explanation of Names · Explanation of Utensils" says: "Axe (fu) means beginning (fu). Fu means start. When making utensils, one first uses an axe to fell trees, then makes them." "Fu" is homophonous with axe and is also an ancient honorific for men. According to anthropological investigations, various ancient male honorifics such as father, fu, ancestor, etc., all invariably have one origin: they are rooted in metaphors for the unique male reproductive organ㉖.
The axe, also called "mountain opener", also has sexual connotations: in anthropological, folkloric, and psychoanalytic reports, it is common to symbolically compare sexual intercourse to a man "opening a mouth", "opening a door", "opening a cave", "opening a lock", "breaking a melon" for a woman. It is even more common to compare the male organ to a tool with the function of "opening". Therefore, the axe is a tool with phallic connotations and also symbolizes the male sexual organ. Thus, it is not difficult to understand the relationship between "axe" and father, axe, and phallus. Inspired by this relationship, Ye Shuxian noticed that the primitive marriage ritual reflecting this relationship is: the rite of female coming-of-age, commonly known as "the right of the first night", performed by the "king" who holds the axe - the social father, the clan leader or chief - to "open" the young girls of the tribe.
This ancient custom of "first opening the female genitals" has occurred in various parts of the world:
In ancient Phoenicia, the penis was called "Asher", meaning "the vertical one, the powerful one, the opener". This term refers to the breaking of the hymen during first intercourse with a virgin. Philo mentioned some Phoenician gods, one of whom was called "the opener", meaning someone who first impregnates a virgin, breaking her hymen, "opening the gate to the vagina", the entrance to the vagina. ... The Bible describes Jehovah, the God, as the opener. Genesis 30: "And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb."㉗
The axe, as a metaphor for the penis, also has remnants in modern marriage customs. For example, in rural Northeast China, there is a custom of the bride sitting on an axe, using the "axe" to "open the mountain", praying for early childbirth. In this light, the axe in the Nuo opera "Inviting the Mountain Opener" is a symbol of the male organ; the Mountain Opening God is a fertility god in the Nuo ritual.
In the Nuo opera, the Mountain Opening God is invited to the host family's home to fulfill the Nuo vow for the family. However, after worshipping various gods with the host family, he then sings: "I should have bowed twelve times, but I leave two bows for the vow-fulfilling god. I ask the host to return, there's a separate reason for dividing the words." Fulfilling the vow for the host family is the main task of the Mountain Opening God, why does he leave two gods unworshipped and divide his words for a separate reason? The Mountain Opener does not answer this, he leaves the Nuo altar to "open the five lakes and four seas" to wash his dragon body. After washing, he prepares to return to the Nuo altar to fulfill the vow for the host, but discovers that he has lost his axe.
There are two questions here: First, why does the Mountain Opening God need to bathe before fulfilling the vow? Second, what is the meaning of losing the axe while bathing? Bathing before worshipping gods shows reverence for the gods, but there is another deeper connection between bathing and praying for children that is often overlooked by modern people. What is the connection between bathing and seeking children? British anthropologist Karner writes in "Sex Worship":
In the holy city of Benares in India, every time the red sun rises in the east, it is the moment of "purification". There is nothing in the world more sacred or more able to wash away filth than the water of the Ganges. Men, women, and children compete to descend to the water's edge, scooping up holy water to cleanse all impurities. ... At the same time, Brahmin priests stand high on the platform, offering the spiritual roots of the spirits to the crowd. ... After purification, music plays in the temple, and the crowd rushes to the outer altar. The idols of the gods are piled with fragrant flowers, and their spiritual roots receive even more reverence, with women pouring melted butter on them and hanging Indian roses on them.㉘
Here, bathing is closely related to reproduction. There are many similar records in ancient Chinese texts. The "Basic Annals of Yin" in the Records of the Grand Historian says: "Yin's ancestor Xie, his mother was called Jiandi, a daughter of the Youshen clan, and was the second wife of Emperor Ku. Three people went bathing, saw a dark bird drop its egg, Jiandi took and swallowed it, thus becoming pregnant and giving birth to Xie." Here, Jiandi's pregnancy is also related to bathing. The "Imperial Overview" Volume 76 records: "At the Yuhua Pool in Hengxian County, Sichuan, every year on the third day of the third month, those who pray for children, if they scoop up a stone it means a boy, if they scoop up a tile it means a girl, this has been proven since ancient times." The third day of the third month is the Riverside Purification Festival; scooping means lifting from the water. It can be seen that the custom of praying for children at Yuhua Pool is also related to bathing water.
Like Jiandi, in primitive concepts, people were unclear about the direct connection between intercourse and reproduction. Fish are animals with extremely strong reproductive capacity; and the strong reproductive capacity of fish must be related to their active life in water. The "Summer Minor Rites" in the "Greater Dai Book of Rites" says: "In the tenth month, black birds bathe." The commentary says: "Bathing means flying high and low." Qing scholar Kong Guangsen's "Supplementary Notes" says: "Bathing means the birds fly in the warm air, up and down as if bathing." Jiandi saw the dark bird flying as if bathing, she herself could not fly to bathe, so she bathed like a fish in the water, and finally became pregnant. Here, the homophony of fish (yu), bath (yu), and nurture (yu) is not coincidental. Karner also records the universality of this primitive thinking in his book "Sex Worship":
Besides plants, fish also have strong sexual implications. According to Inman, "Fish symbolize the male reproductive principle in an active state." Because the shape of fish resembles almonds, and the opening and closing of their lips are also very suggestive. In Hebrew, the word for fish can be interpreted as "reproduce", and can also be interpreted as "sprout, multiply".㉙
There is a Chinese idiom called "the joy of fish and water", which also links fish, bathing, water, and intimacy in a four-in-one relationship, a very concise expression of this primitive reproductive concept. Therefore, it is inevitable for the Mountain Opener to go to the sea to bathe before formally worshipping the vow-fulfilling god. What is the meaning of losing the axe? The axe is a euphemism for the male organ. Losing the axe means he has lost his male organ. Myths about losing male organs have existed all over the world: In ancient Egypt, the great god Osiris was murdered by his brother, his body dismembered and scattered in the Nile. His wife searched for his remains everywhere, but in the end, only the genitals could not be found. In desperation, she carved a phallus from a fig tree as a substitute㉚. The ancient Greek god Dionysus suffered the same fate. Dionysus was also dismembered by the goddess Juno, cooked with herbs and eaten, with only his phallus preserved by his sister㉛. The core content of this dismemberment myth, like the Mountain Opener losing his axe in "Inviting the Mountain Opener", is "the hero loses his phallus"; but "loss" is not the end of the myth, its ending is "calling and searching for that great phallus" (the sun). Therefore, in the myths and folk activities of various nations around the world, there are a large number of rituals seeking, calling, praising, and worshipping the phallus. The primitive meaning of these rituals of seeking, calling, praising, and worshipping the phallus is the seeking, summoning, and praising of the sun - the largest reproductive organ in primitive human concepts - spring, and new vitality. Therefore, the loss of the Mountain Opening God's axe is also to pave the way for the search for new vitality. As a result, with the help of the fortune teller, he finds the axe in the water; but the problem is not over: he discovers that the axe is broken, so he has to ask the blacksmith to repair it... This reminds us of the poem "Broken Axe" in the "Odes of Bin" section of the Book of Songs:
My axe is now broken, my hatchet is notched;
The Duke of Zhou is in the east,
And the four states are tranquil.
Ah! my heart is wounded;
How admirable is his conduct!
My axe is broken, my hatchet is notched;
The Duke of Zhou is in the east,
And the four states are reformed.
Ah! my heart is wounded;
How illustrious is his name!
My axe is broken, my chisel is notched;
The Duke of Zhou is in the east,
And the four states are rectified.
Ah! my heart is wounded;
How glorious is his merit!
This poem has been interpreted in many ways throughout history, but they all contradict the prototype image of the "axe" and are not the original meaning of the poem. Ye Shuxian decodes it as a "song of the eunuch" in "Cultural Interpretation of the Book of Songs", which has its own rationale; however, planting this interpretation into "Inviting the Mountain Opener" seems somewhat incongruous. Similarly, the ancient Egyptian god Osiris and the ancient Greek god Dionysus, who once lost their phalluses, were not eunuchs. In "Inviting the Mountain Opener", although the Mountain Opener's axe is broken, he is certainly not a eunuch; entering the Nuo altar as a eunuch would be contrary to the wishes of the Nuo sacrifice. I believe that the poem "Broken Axe" should be a shaman's song in the "circumcision" ritual.
Circumcision is a rite that primitive men must undergo when coming of age, and it has occurred all over the world. British anthropologist Frazer's "The Golden Bough" has left us many relevant materials: In the Arunta tribe of central Australia, during the coming-of-age ceremony for young men, their foreskins are cut off and the underside of the glans is slit. After the operation, the father gives this young man a sacred staff and teaches him that his soul is now connected to his distant ancestors. After the ceremony, the young man retreats to the bush to recover from the wound. Some tribes in northern New Guinea - the Yabim, Bukaua, Kai, and Tami tribes - like some clans in Australia, require their male members to be circumcised before they can enter the ranks of adult males㉜.
In the coming-of-age ceremonies of primitive tribes, the shaman uses a sharp tool to shave the boy's hair, pubic hair, and cut off the boy's foreskin to indicate that the boy has grown up and should begin to assume and fulfill the responsibilities of a man. One of the most sacred duties is to comply with the will of heaven and undertake the task of tribal reproduction. Around the world, this ritual is solemn and enthusiastic, and the shaman presiding over the ceremony must chant blessings during the process. "Broken Axe" in the Book of Songs is such a blessing. In the poem, phrases like "The Duke of Zhou is in the east, And the four states are tranquil" are the kind of spells that shamans must sing when worshipping certain gods, like "Such and such great god went east to conquer, sweeping clean the demons in all four directions", and have no special meaning. Leaving aside these formulaic spell words, the whole poem is not difficult to understand. The first few lines of this blessing are sung by the shaman imitating the voice of the boy undergoing the ritual, and the last line is the shaman's blessing or the chorus of the crowd (this is common in sacrifices, called one lead, many follow). It should also be explained in the poem that "axe" still refers to the phallus, the shaman only "breaks" it, while "戕", "錡", "銶" are parts of the "axe", that is, the phallus, such as hair, pubic hair, foreskin often cut off in circumcision, which the shaman cuts "notches". "孔" refers to the female genitalia. Solving the mystery of "Broken Axe" also answers the hidden meaning of the "broken axe" in "Inviting the Mountain Opener". It turns out that the broken axe and repair of the Mountain Opening God are ultimately consistent with the purpose of the Nuo sacrifice. No wonder the blacksmith and his wife are always using lewd words and flirting while repairing the axe, these lines and actions are always consistent with the requirements of fertility sacrifices, which is what Frazer defined as "homeopathic magic"㉝. To seek favor from the gods, one must please the immortals, so Nuo altar artists often say: "The more vulgar the speech, the more the spirits like it."
In the Nuo opera, after the Mountain Opening God repairs his axe, he should logically go to "break the door" for the host family; however, the Nuo opera does not develop according to this logic, but instead has the Mountain Opener send Qin Tong to invite a shaman from another place, thus Here is the continuation of the translation:
inserting the segment of "Inviting the Master's Wife".
Qin Tong went to Guizhou and brought back the Master's Wife. The Mountain Opener asks the child: "I asked you to invite a male, why did you bring a female?" The child answers: "Inviting a male brings official positions and wealth, inviting a female brings sons and grandsons." This reveals the true purpose - the Nuo sacrifice is for seeking children. After the female shaman worships at the Nuo altar, the Mountain Opener finally swings his axe to "break the door" for the host family, that is, he brandishes the mountain opener, making a symbolic gesture of breaking open the female genitalia, followed by loud music, firecrackers, and blowing of ox horns. The Mountain Opener's mission is finally completed.
(3) "Inviting Ba Lang"
The Nuo opera "Inviting Ba Lang" means inviting the pig god (Figures 20 and 21). In the Nuo sacrifice for fulfilling family vows, plays and rituals alternate. At key moments of making vows, the host family must make offerings to the gods. Pork is often used in fulfilling family vows. Therefore, before and after the offering, the shaman must perform "Inviting Ba Lang", which is a ritual of "comforting the sacrificial spirit".
▲Figure 20 Ba Lang mask (Photo by Sun Wenhui)
▲Figure 21 "Inviting Ba Lang" (Photo by Sun Wenhui)
Frazer explains this "comforting the sacrificial spirit" ritual: Primitive people "usually believed that animals had the same emotions and intelligence as humans, they also had souls like humans, and when their bodies died, their souls still lived on, either becoming wandering souls or reincarnating as animals again". Killing these animals would lead to retaliation; but for the sake of sacrificing to the gods, they had to kill animals, so they tried their best to comfort the sacrificed animals and their kind, trying to explain how it was unavoidable, and promising to properly dispose of their remains㉞. It turns out that the shaman inserts a Nuo opera that seems unrelated to praying for children at this crucial moment, firstly for their own safety, and secondly to ensure the smooth realization of the Nuo vow.
"Inviting Ba Lang" on the Nuo altar, like "Inviting the Vanguard", is an indispensable play in any vow-fulfilling ritual. In "Inviting the Mountain Opener - Sending a Son", sure enough, after the shaman invites Ba Lang the pig god, they invite the Maiden who sends sons. The Seven Immortal Maidens who send sons bring a wooden doll (or a neighbor's baby) and sing to the host family:
Certain host, certain surname,
Please come out to receive the qilin.
Take the qilin and bring it in,
Carry it into the room to recognize its mother...
The Nuo opera ends here, and the task of the Nuo sacrifice is completed. The Nuo opera "Inviting the Mountain Opener - Sending a Son" is actually a complete magical ritual for seeking children. We can see its rich content in this magical ritual. This ritual not only fulfills the purpose of the host family's prayer but also completes a (to us observers) beautiful creation.
Conclusion
Since the early 1980s, when research on Nuo opera and Nuo culture began to flourish, Nuo studies seemingly became a "popular subject". However, what exactly is Nuo? The origin of Nuo culture is a topic of much debate.
Nuo is an ancient and vast historical cultural system. It is related to human birth, aging, illness and death, and thus to human life itself. The primitive culture it contains is not only the source of modern art, but also the origin of later institutionalized religions, and more importantly, it was a significant ideology and social practice in the initial stage of Chinese civilization. The analysis of Nuo cultural forms and thinking is an important part of the "Comprehensive Study of the Origins and Early Development of Chinese Civilization".
I apologize, but I have already translated the entire text you provided. The translation ends with the conclusion section, which summarizes the key points about Nuo culture. There is no additional content left to translate from the original Chinese text you shared.
The final translated paragraphs cover the conclusion, reiterating that Nuo is an ancient and vast cultural system related to human life, serving as a source for modern art and institutionalized religions, and representing an important ideology and social practice in early Chinese civilization. It also mentions that analyzing Nuo cultural forms and thinking is an important part of studying the origins and early development of Chinese civilization.
If you have any specific questions about the translated content or if there's a particular part you'd like me to elaborate on, please let me know. Otherwise, the translation is complete as presented.
