Mongolian shamanistic paper-cutting and paper-cutting types
The paper-cutting used by Mongolian shamanism has a unique shape, rich cultural connotation and a long history. Among them, Horqin shamanistic paper-cutting in Inner Mongolia has typical regional characteristics.
Shaman culture is based on witchcraft activities. It mainly realizes peoples comfort for the soul, spiritual appeal, and satisfies peoples psychological compensation through living rituals such as soul apparition, prayer, sacrifice, treatment, and divination. . This ceremony includes specific costumes, singing and dancing, paper-cutting and other folk art elements. In particular, the use of paper-cutting is very prominent, reflecting extremely rich folk cultural content and has very important research value.
In Horqin shamanism and witchcraft activities, commonly used paper-cutting has the following forms: one is the "Gulu wood" paper-cutting that is specially used to treat mental illness and is used in ghost exorcism rituals; the other is the "Gulu wood" paper-cutting used to summon spirits. The third is the "Hana" paper-cutting to ward off evil spirits and expel ghosts; the fourth is the paper-cutting for shamans to express their own mantras, etc.
Gulumu paper-cutting is actually a small house made of paper-cutting. Before the ghost exorcism ceremony is held, Bo (male shaman) or Odugan (female shaman) personally cuts out four ghost walls and a roof symbolizing the dragnet using white paper according to the fixed pattern passed down by the master, a total of five paper cuts, using sorghum stalks. String the paper cuttings together and build a small paper-cutting room on the square ash bucket. The paper-cutting room faces south and faces north. The paper walls on the left, right and back are fixed. The front door is movable and can be opened or closed. The door lid and the two paper-cuts on the back wall have the same pattern, but different names. The door-cut paper-cut is called "Yelega", and the others are called "Wurige". The pattern layout of the four-sided paper-cut wall is very regular, and the pattern symbols are even more mysterious. (Read the content of Mongolian paper-cutting: Introduction to Mongolian folk paper-cutting)
The basic pattern of the top layer of paper-cutting on the four walls is similar to the symbols of the Qian Gua in Bagua, which are in the shape of horizontal stripes, and the middle part is mostly composed of arrow patterns. Most of these represent Sanskrit mantras and mantras, and many of them have zigzag symbols corresponding to the upper and lower parts. It is said that this is the most powerful weapon to suppress ghosts.The evil ghost of the child has laid a dragnet to give it nowhere to escape. The bottom layer of paper-cuts is a human-shaped symbol drawn flat by hands. These human figures holding hands are also stand-ins for ghosts, called "Ada". They have been blood-spotted on the head by the magician with the tongue method, and are endowed with the true soul method. The shaman plays drums and sings magical tunes to summon the spirits. Any ghost who enters the haunted house will be unable to escape when encountering these hand-in-hand "ada"s. In addition, the wizard sets out one after another. The curse forced it to be burned together with "Ada", thus achieving the purpose of exorcising ghosts and curing diseases.
The second kind of paper-cutting is the soul-awakening paper-cutting, which is called "Sonaga". Historically, in the Horqin area, when a person got seriously ill, they would ask the shaman to make a straw man, and then use two and a half pieces of white paper to cut out an auspicious knot called "Sonaga". For patients, the shaman plays drums and sings "Gulumu" songs. In this way, the patient can expel ghosts and recall the true soul entangled by evil ghosts to relieve the pain. This kind of paper-cutting is quite similar to the soul-drawing flags used in funeral customs in northern Shanxi.
The third type is the "Hana" paper-cutting to ward off evil spirits and exorcise ghosts. "Hana" means "side wall" in Mongolian. If a true shaman succeeds in practicing, he must pass nine levels, such as swallowing fire, swallowing knives, stepping on a fire plow, walking on a nail board, walking through a fire hole, etc., for verification. The masters extraordinary ability is to convince people that when the shaman passes the nine passes, he needs to cut cloth into a wooden frame similar to the "Hana" used to build a yurt. This kind of frame is fixed with wooden sticks in a diamond shape and can be opened and closed. Shamans say that paper-cuts similar to "hana" are walls used to ward off ghosts, and have the function of exorcising evil spirits and protecting the human body.
The fourth kind of paper-cutting is the Hei Bo Heart Mantra used by shamans themselves to practice. It contains the mantra symbols of Eight-Way Vajra, Gyro Vajra, and Heart Mantra. The outer circle is the Eight Diagrams of the Supreme Laojun in the sky, and the center is the fire needle. (Heavenly Sword) is usually used when a person dies after being struck by lightning, and chants the Diamond Sutra to achieve salvation.
The above examples are just an overview of the use of paper-cutting in Horqin Shamanism. Horqin Shamanism paper-cutting embodies the animistic concept of Mongolian shamanism and is a complete spiritual system that combines nature worship, animal worship, and ancestor worship. Shamanism believes that all creatures in the three realms have souls. It uses magic to control good souls and evil souls to sort out the normal spiritual order of people. The shaman itself is the messenger that communicates between people and the heaven and the underworld, and paper-cutting is the realization of the relationship between peoples spiritual world and the underworld. An important medium for communication among the three realms. (Recommended reading: Mongolian leather paper-cutting)
