Jerome Yuchien's Ph.D Thesis
Chapter Eight: The Links among the Stone, Tree, and Land Deities (part VI)
(note.5)
Maspero (1981:3), after doing research on Taoism and popular religion, observes that:
... Chinese have never had that sense of a sudden break with the past, that condemnation of earlier beliefs, which characterizes the religious evolution of the West. This has served to give them the illusion that the religion of today is still the ancient religion and that by keeping up the tradition of antiquity, they are preserving something of it.
Therefore, applying historical texts to answer the questions left by the field research, though worth trying, must proceed with caution.
(note.6)
Erkes, a prestigious sinologist, also agrees with Karlgren's theory that the word Zu was a phallic image. However, he argues that:
... the idea that the character designates a phallus is indeed not quite new. When I was a student I learned from my teacher Conrady that was the current explanation; it is mentioned by Schindler and much earlier by Gabelentz, who doubtless derived it from a Chinese source, though I have not been able to ascertain the origin of this statement. Some months before Karlgren's paper reached me, I had communicated this trace of primitive Chinese phallicism to Dr. Buschan, who has incorporated it in a work on phallic cults which he intends to publish (1931:65).
(note.7)
In fact, this sentence has not only been cited by him, but also by Guo Moruo, Granet, and Ling Shun-sheng (cf. Ling Shun-sheng 1959a:- 178).
(note.8)
Chow Tse-tsung (1978:63) also agrees with this theory and thus translates the very character "She" in the poem "The birth of our people," as a "sacrifice for fertility".
(note.9)
In the Zuozhuan we find that: "In the twenty-fifth year of Zhaogong (517 B.C.) the Qi State presented 1,000 'She' to the Lu State". It was said in Liji that every twenty-five households were organised about a local altar and were called a "She" (Hodous 1929:58; (Eberhard 1970:22; Day 1974:62; Werner 1977:413). Therefore, it is clear that, from that time on, the character "She" had already meant not only a sacrificial altar, but also a residential unit (Hsiao Kung-chuan 1960:7).
During the Yuan Dynasty the "She" became an officially instituted centre of agricultural affairs. In 1270 Kublai Khan issued the Nongcan Shiqi Tiao (the Seventeen Articles of the Agricultural and Sericultural System), which called for the organisation of every fifty households in the villages into one "She", and for the appointment of an elderly person versed in agricultural matters to serve as its head, whose duty it was "to teach and supervise the planting of farm crops and mulberry trees" and to guide the general conduct of the inhabitants belonging to his organisation" (Hsiao Kung-chuan 1960:37-8).
(note.10)
In another article, Ling Shun-sheng (1967:134) cites the passage from Huai'nanzi again. However, this time his translation is somewhat different:
Under the rituals of Yu Yu, the she was made of earth; the she of Hsia Hou was made with the pine tree; stone she was used in the rituals of Yin people; and she of chestnut tree was used by the people of Chow.
(note.11)
"Chi" is an ancient Chinese measure unit which is not used nowadays. We are, therefore, not sure what size it is.
(note.12)
The gazetteer of Zhuluo County, present Jiayi County and its environs, Taiwan, 1717 CE.
(note.13)
"Cun" is an ancient Chinese measure unit which is not used nowadays. We are, therefore, not sure what size it is.
(note.14)
I find that the date of Shennong's birthday is sometimes recorded in the Almanac circulated in Taipei area as on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month.
(note.15)
However, in Taiwan, I have not found the Land God represented by a piece of ground or a pile of earth, nor is the God represented by a natural-grown forest. In other words, no surviving examples of the Earth "She" and Forest "She" appear on this island.
(note.16)
Chamberlayne (1966:167) argues that originally Chinese spirits were not represented by statues nor were they housed in temples before the arrival of Buddhism, which brought many new concepts and practices into Chinese worship.
(note.17)
They are: the Stone General of Tan-khe Rural-town (#S8; see figures 8 & 9), the Stone Divine Grandfather of Pat-po Village (#S9; see figure 10), the Stone God of Kang-khau Ward (#S14; see figure 14), the Stone God of Ho-peng Ward (#S15; see figure 15), the stone Granny of Ho-peng Ward (#S16; see figure 16), the Stone God of Tho.-sian Ward (#S20; see figure 20), the stone Good Brothers of Bah-tau Hamlet (#S22; see figure 23), the Stone God of Khe-te Hamlet (#S34; see figure 36), the Divine Stone of Giong-tek Boulevard (#S41; see figure 43), the Stone God of Pe-hun Ward (#S44; see figures 46 & 47), the Stone God of Su-Lim District (#S50; see figures 53 & 54), the Stone God of Pat-li Rural-town (#S52; see figures 56 & 57), the stone Land God of Tiang-ken Village (#S53; see figure 58), the Stone God of Gien-kiu-in Road (#S55; see figure 60), and the Stone God of Tang-si Town (#S59).
Moreover, most divine trees are not housed in temples as well. However, the Tree God and Goddess of Kui-sin Village (#T7; see figure 72), the Tree God of Tiong-san Ward (#T9; see figure 74), and the Tree God of Lam-kian West Road (#T34; see figure 101) are exceptions. Since the original trees that initiated the cults died, the believers moulded deity statues or tablets for these divine trees to worship in temples.
(note.18)
Nevertheless, Ling Shun-sheng (1964:39) points out that it is a survival of Zhongliu, a light-well usually made through the centre of the ceiling of a cave for getting light in. In the ancient times, sacrifices were made to deities mostly at altars without a roof.
(note.19)
In addition, the idea that the Stone Monkey was magically impregnated by the pure essences of Heaven and the fine scents of Earth, the vigor of sunshine and the grace of moonlight might also show the influence of the "She" Cult.
(note.20)
They are: the stone Land God of San-tiau Hill (#S23; see figure 25), the stone Land God of E-kham-te Hamlet (#S25; see figure 27), and the stone Land God of Chhen-the Lane (#S21; see figures 21 & 22).
(note.21)
They are: the stone Good Brothers of San-tiau Hill (#S24; see figure 26) and the stone Good Brothers of E-kham-te Hamlet (#S26; see figure 28).
(note.22)
That is the Stone God of Tiong-guan Ward (#S19; see figure 19).
(note.23)
For this discussion, please see Chapter Four for details.
