Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 23. (Budapest, 2004)
Gábor KÓSA: Extatic Flight and the Realm of Light. Changes in the Estimation of Chinese Manichaeism as mirrored in its relationship with Shamanism
another person who is also related to dualism: "On the dingchou Tfl day of the fourth month [12 May 799], as it had not rained for long, a person (performing) yin-yang (prophecy) [yinyang ren g^A] was ordered to employ his magic practices \fashu }£i>|ij] and pray for rain." Although it is obvious that the below story is not "true", some of its elements reflect contemporal conditions perceptibly. It is most illustrative that as early as in the Tang era, and, even more intensely, in the Song era, the description of shamanic activities appeared in literature. The extract of Jishenlu ÍUfftü (compiled by Xu Xuan Mt, 917-992) to be cited below survived in one of the great "encyclopaedias", namely, the Taiping guangji A^JîSfci. The 500chapter Taiping guangji (compiled by Li Fang $ED5, 925-996, in 978) contains - often fictitious - extracts of 485 works produced in the period between the Han era and the era of the Five Dynasties, which, for various reasons, were unworthy of being included in the Taiping yulan A-KííPlí, that is, the "official" collection of the era. The process of shamans' being thrown into the social periphery can be well traced back in these works. In the descriptions concerning them, it is represented in three ways. First, shamans feature in "fictitious" stories more and more often, 19 second, female shamans become more prevalent, 2 " and last, the figure of the unsuccessful shaman (that is, a shaman not as efficient as required) occurs more frequently. 21 The below extract displays all the three features; in addition, the failure of the female shaman is counterpointed by the success (at least as far as exorcism is concerned) of a representative of Manichaeism. 22 mw • J tcik > ums > HIMAM » tez-j-km^im • "In Qingyuan there lived a person called Kwîg, who was the deputy commander of the provincial garrison troops. He lived in a big house with a garden in the Southern part of the town. Early in the morning, he left for his office. He had not returned yet when, while the family were having breakfast, a goose, with a paper-money 23 on its back, flew in through the gate, directly to the room in the western part (of the house). A family member said, 'This goose comes from the temple, does not it?' So he ordered the servant to drive it out of the room. However, when the servant entered the room, he saw but an old man with greyish beard and with hair put up on the two sides. The whole family got so frightened that everyone rushed out (of the room) in full flight. When Yang got home and heard what had happened, he flew into a rage, took a stick to strike (the old man) dead. The spirit, however, disappeared in one corner and appeared in another; he disappeared and appeared so fast that Yang could not hit him. Yang got furious and said, 'When we have finished our meal, I'll come back and strike you dead with this stick.' The spirit bowed, stepped forward and said, 'All right'. Yang had two daughters. (Once, when) the elder one went to the kitchen to carve meat for lunch, a piece of meat fell off the choppingboard and disappeared. Then the girl (started to saw the air) with the knife in her hand and cried, 'I'll cut you to pieces!' Then a huge, black, hairy hand appeared and said, 'You may safely try and cut!' The girl lost her breath and ran away. (Later) she became ill from it. (Some time later,) the younger daughter tried to take out salt from a big bottle, but a monkey sprang forth out of it and jumped on the girl's back. The girl ran to the entrance door, where (the monkey) disappeared. She fell ill, too.
