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Shamanism and the Pursuit of Power in Ancient ChinaJune 18, 2014 by Paris Franz Leave a Comment

Liangzhu era cong is a mysterious class of artefact thought to have shamanic significance. Copyright image by Paris Franz, all rights reserved.

When it comes to legitimizing power, there are few things more useful than ideology.

For a ruler to have the gods, the spirits, and the ancestors on his side, indicating that he is the recipient of that peculiarly Chinese concept of the

Mandate of eaven, was worth any num!er of armies.

So it would appear logical that shamans, famed for their special a!ility to contact and influence the world of the spirits, should play a part in the

development and consolidation of power in ancient China.

"he #ole of the Shaman

With their a!ility to interact with and control supernatural forces, shamans were powerful$ and sometimes dangerous$ figures. "hey were %ey to

the success of a community, with their a!ility to heal, ma%e rain and divine the future.

&et their powers set them apart, a position that could sometimes !ac%fire on them. When misfortune struc% a community, such as drought or

disease, the shaman could end up in the role of scapegoat, as the community %illed those thought to have the power to !ring a!out these

calamities.

"oday, the popular image of the shaman is often of a wild, marginalised, somewhat otherworldly figure, !eating a drum and dancing himself, or

herself, into a trance, possi!ly with the aid of narcotics. istorian Sarah Milledge 'elson suggests in Shamanism and the Origin of S tates: Spirit,

Power and Gender in East Asia that this is not the whole story.

Could a shaman also !e “a leader of the community, a respected person whose ability to contact spirits offers proof of the ability to lead while

conferring the right to do so? 

Perhaps !oth images are correct. Perhaps shamans were indeed %ey figures in the development of states in ancient China, only to find

themselves increasingly sidelined, their s%ills co(opted !y rulers who reserved to themselves the a!ility to interact with the spirits and theancestors.

"he )volution of the Shaman in Ancient China

*n Chinese historiography, the term shaman usually translates as the word wu, the character for which first appeared on the Shang oracle !one

transcriptions. )+perts have variously translated the word as magician, as shaman, as priest $ and it can refer to !oth a part(time religious

practitioner and a full(time professional priest.

"he evidence suggests that the role of the wu changed over time. As Chinese civilisation developed, it !ecame increasingly clear that

manipulation of rituals and religious structures were the most effective methods for control of the masses. Such manipulation ena!led the

dominant group to gain more power, and their religious authority in turn legitimized that power.

*ts a tactic that continues to wor%.

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Such developments saw the status of the wu change. "he elites and at least some of the wu merged, a phenomenon reflected in later literary

sources, such as the Shi!i  of Sima -ian in the second century C, which tells of the Five /egendary )mperors, and attri!utes shamanic activities

and a!ilities to them.

While stories of legendary emperors are not relia!le historical evidence, archaeology has corro!orated the connections !etween the wu and the

elite. "wo tom!s of high status individuals from the /ongshan Period 01233(4533 C6 cemetery at "aosi, Shan+i Province, revealed four intact

pottery drums, %ey wuparaphernalia.

"he role of shaman and ruler fused !y the time of the Shang 7ynasty, from roughly 4233 to 4323 C. "he rulers now monopolized the shamans

role of intermediary !etween heaven and earth.

7ivination as a Political Act

7ivination was pro!a!ly the most overtly political aspect of shamanic practices. *f %nowledge was power, the most powerful %nowledge was

%nowledge of the future.

"he shaman usually as%ed 8uestions that were more practical than philosophical, dealing with such things as warfare, hunting and the possi!ility

of rain. "here is archaeological evidence for divination using animal shoulder !lades, where the shaman would heat the !lades and interpret the

ensuing crac%s. "he practice dates !ac% to the late fourth millennium C, and reached its height during the Shang Period, which produced the

famous oracle !ones. 7iscovered at Anyang around the turn of the twentieth century, the oracle !ones were of particular note as they !oreinscriptions that form the earliest Chinese writing.

#itual performance was also a means to reinforce royal authority. Sacrifice played a particularly important role, a role which would endure through

much of Chinese history. "he many rituals re8uired of the emperor confirmed his status and power.

"he #ise and Fall of the Shaman

9ver the centuries, shamanism in ancient China evolved into a mechanical e+ercise handled !y a !ureaucracy. y the time of the Western :hou,

from 4323 to 554 C, the power of the shaman lessened. "here was a growing separation !etween political affairs and religious activities.

)mperors no longer employed shamans as counselors at court; instead, they !ecame professionals of an inferior status, hired as necessary to

deal with issues such as droughts and sic%ness.

"his sidelining of shamanism was not the case everywhere in :hou(era China. "he Songs of the South, attri!uted to the fourth century C poet

-u &uan and full of shamanic imagery, was a product of the <ingdom of Chu, a state notorious for its shamanic !eliefs and rituals.

*n his introduction to the !oo%, 7avid aw%es 8uotes the first century C historian an =u who wrote, rather disapprovingly, of the <ingdom of

Chu as a place where the people “belie#e in the power of shamans and spirits and are much addicted to lewd religious rites$ 

Shamanism and Fol% #eligion

"he survival of shamanic ritual and !elief in the state of Chu throws the changing status of the shaman elsewhere in China into greater relief.

Shamanic practices !ecame identified with fol% religion, which the elites increasingly regarded as a challenge. As civilisation developed, the

spiritual powers of the shaman were tamed and utilised in the pursuit of political power.