Fangxiangshi
Sign in to saveAlso known as Fangxiang
thumb|200px|Chinese Han dynasty#Eastern Han|Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE) tomb guardian figure identified as a Fangxiangshi The fangxiangshi () or just Fangxiang was a Chinese ritual exorcist. His primary duties were orchestrating the seasonal Nuo ritual to chase out disease-causing demons from houses and buildings, and leading a funeral procession to exorcize corpse-eating wangliang spirits away from a burial chamber. Ancient Chinese texts record that he wore a bearskin with four golden eyes, and carried a lance and shield to expel malevolent spirits. From the Han dynasty through the Tang d
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Vinony's link graph records 13 inbound references to Fangxiangshi, and connects out to etymology science, Chiyou and Nuoism.
Vinony files it under Chinese classic texts, Exorcism and Practices in Chinese folk religion.
Vinony links it to 4 Wikipedia language editions.
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
11 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Translations
- Early references
- Han dynasty
- Southern and Northern dynasties
- Tang dynasty
- Later periods
- Interpretations
- Japanese ''hōsōshi''
- See also
- References
thumb|200px|Chinese Han dynasty#Eastern Han|Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE) tomb guardian figure identified as a Fangxiangshi The fangxiangshi () or just Fangxiang was a Chinese ritual exorcist. His primary duties were orchestrating the seasonal Nuo ritual to chase out disease-causing demons from houses and buildings, and leading a funeral procession to exorcize corpse-eating wangliang spirits away from a burial chamber. Ancient Chinese texts record that he wore a bearskin with four golden eyes, and carried a lance and shield to expel malevolent spirits. From the Han dynasty through the Tang dynasty (3rd century BCE to 10th century CE), fangxiangshi were official wu-shaman specialists in the imperially sanctioned Chinese state religion; after the Tang, they were adapted into popular folk religion and symbolized by wearing a four-eyed mask.
In the present day, the fangxiangshi is a masked character in Chinese Nuo opera, and continues as the Japanese equivalent exorcist in Shinto ceremonies.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Fangxiangshi” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.