Chinese Bull Ritual and Its Affinities

Abstract

THE Chinese Festival of j *, Meeting of Spring , or Beating the Spring Ox , was a State ceremony, but unlike the Winter Solstice sacrifices which were performed by the Emperor and the State officials, there were local celebrations of it throughout China in which the common people participated. The ceremony is mentioned in the Li Ki1 but for detailed descriptions we must turn to modern accounts. A typical description is given by Hodous.2 It refers to the ceremony as it is celebrated in S.E. China. On the day before what is styled the Commencement of Spring the marine inspector, the two magistrates and their deputies, having donned garments lined with fur, entered their sedan chairs and were borne to the yamen of the Prefect. Here a sumptuous feast was enjoyed. Then the procession, headed by a band of musicians, proceeded to the Eastern suburb of the city. The spectacle was a splendid one, and indeed was made as magnificent as possible. Tablets were carried bearing the titles and offices of the magistrates and one or more gorgeous umbrellas waved aloft inscribed with the ten thousand names given to a popular official on changing his post. Behind the sedan chairs of the officials came a long retinue bearing bouquets of artificial spring flowers. On this day the Prefect came into his own and his procession took precedence in the streets; so the Viceroy stayed at home in order to avoid having to yield the right of way to a subordiriate official. With all the noise and colour inseparable from Chinese processions the concourse moved through the crowded streets, the jubilation of the populace adding to the animation of the scene. At the East gate they came to an erection called The Pavilion of the Spring Bull . On an altar stood the beast. His ribs were made of mulberry wood plastered over with clay and covered with coloured paper. Beside him was an image of the tutelary god of the year, called T'ai Sui, the Great Year. (In the Li Ki he is called Kou Mang.) Before these stood a table with candles, incense burner, fruits and cups of wine. The Prefect and other officials bowed three times and then an attendant handed a cup of wine to him. After raising it to his forehead three times he returned it and bowed three times again. The musicians lined up and started to play and the two images were placed on a float and carried joyously into the city, the officials following. They proceeded through the streets to the Prefect's yamen, the people throwing salt and rice (with the idea of dispersing noxious vapours) and when they reached the yamen the officials formed a circle round the bull and each of them struck it with a vari-coloured stick three times, breaking off pieces of clay. The fragments were picked