Yao folk religion

What it is

Yao folk religion is the ethnic religion of the Yao, a non-Sinitic people living in Guangxi, Hunan and neighbouring provinces of China. Since the 13th century it has been closely mixed with Taoism, and for that reason it is often called Yao Taoism. Its core theology and cosmology are Taoist. The Three Pure Ones of canonical Taoism are the principal deities; beneath them sit lesser gods taken from the Yao's own religion before that blending. Every adult male is initiated into the Taoist clergy to some degree, so the faith is communal: a whole society of practitioners rather than a separate order of priests.

Where it comes from

The Yao absorbed Taoist theology and liturgy over a long period, with the mixing noted from the 13th century onward. A Chinese scholar writing in the middle of the 20th century described the result as thorough Taoisation (道教化). Research reported in the 1980s found that the Yao identified closely with Taoist literature written in Chinese, which they treated as a mark of cultural standing (文化). Yao identity also rests on descent from Panhu, a mythical ancestor. As communities moved south into Guangxi, Guangdong and Southeast Asia, they kept the Meishan region of modern Hunan as a sacred homeland.

How it is done

Death sets off a sequence of rites. Priests first perform zoux caeqv, delivering the body from sin, then zoux sin, a water ritual that purifies the dead body from evil spirits. A third ceremony, doh dangh caeqv jaiv, cleanses the soul, and the closing rite, zoux sin-seix, is meant to give the spirit a peaceful afterlife. Entry into the clergy runs through four stages: kwa-tang, "hanging the lamps"; tou-sai, "ordination of the master", after which the new officiant receives a sigil and a certificate to perform rites; then chia-tse, "adding duties"; and pwang-ko, "enfeoffing liturgies".

Tools and materials

Each household keeps an altar, the mienv baaih, placed where it can be seen from the main door, to welcome spirits (mienv). On it stand the mienv kuv, tablets carrying the names of the family's ancestors; some households use pictures of the ancestors instead. A book of ceremonies, the Sai nzung sou, is used for inviting the mienv zoux ziouv, the good spirits who guard the location. Ordained masters are given a sigil and a certificate. Ritual also involves spirit money and sacrifice.

What it is for

The rites serve the living and the dead. Good spirits are invited to watch over a household and its site, while angry spirits, the mienv morh, are held responsible for sickness and tragedy. The funeral sequence is aimed at releasing body and soul from sin and from evil influence, and at settling the spirit in a peaceful afterlife. Yao ritual texts describe the dead as needing to travel back to the Caves of Meishan to find rest, and the hunter god Zhang Wulang is honoured on altars because he is believed to guard and lead those souls home.

Who does it

All adult men are initiated into the clergy at some level, so religious office is widespread rather than confined to a professional class. The tsow say ong are high priests: they conduct rites for the greater gods, described as "above the sky", and they officiate at funerals. A second class, the sip mien, are lesser priests or shamans who handle ritual for the lesser gods, "under the sky". Standing comes through the graded initiations, from hanging the lamps and ordination of the master to the further stages of adding duties and enfeoffing liturgies.

Peoples and places

The Yao are the community concerned. They live mainly in Guangxi, Hunan and surrounding provinces of China, and communities also settled in Southeast Asia. They speak Mienic languages, which are not Sinitic, yet their liturgical tradition is in Chinese, and high literacy is noted among them. Yao religion has been called conservative in style, resembling the communitarian Taoism of the earliest Taoist movements and the collective fasts of medieval China. In the 1960s and 1970s, Southeast Asian Yao communities held off Christian missionary activity, and their sense of being a Taoist church and their literacy are seen as reasons.

What people believe

Yao cosmology is Taoist at the top: the Three Pure Ones rule, and the gods of the Yao's pre-Taoist religion rank below them. Around the household are mienv, spirits. Some, the mienv zoux ziouv, protect a place; others, the mienv morh, are angry and bring sickness and tragedy. Death begins a journey. The soul is held to travel back to the Caves of Meishan, in the ancestral Meishan region of modern Hunan, and Zhang Wulang, a regional hunter god, has a place on Yao altars because he is believed to guide souls on that road. Descent from the mythical ancestor Panhu also shapes Yao identity.

When it is done

Two life events carry the religious calendar described here: a man's graded initiation into the clergy, and death, which sets off a sequence of funeral rites ending in a closing ceremony for a peaceful afterlife. Priests also perform rites for the higher gods, and each household keeps an altar for the spirits.

How scholars and sceptics see it

Researchers have read Yao religion through its relationship with Taoism. A Chinese scholar of the mid-20th century called it an example of deep Taoisation. Work in the 1980s found that the Yao identified strongly with Taoist literature in Chinese, treating it as a prestigious cultural marker. The French anthropologist Jacques Lemoine studied Yao ritual texts, which record the belief that souls return to the Caves of Meishan. Yao practice has also been compared with the communitarian Taoism of the earliest Taoist movements and with medieval Chinese collective fasts.

Compare and confuse

Yao folk religion is often called Yao Taoism, and its Meishan strand gives it the name Meishan Sect (梅山教). It differs from Chinese Taoism in structure: Chinese Taoism is an order of priests set apart from ordinary Chinese folk religion, while among the Yao every adult male is initiated and the faith belongs to the whole community. Related traditions named alongside it include Chinese folk religion, Chinese ritual mastery traditions, and the folk religions of the Lao and Miao.

Questions people ask about Yao folk religion

Good reading and sources

• Yao folk religion on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data