The Bi-mox in the
Liangshan Yi Society
By: Bamo Ayi
Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture lies in the Southwest of Sichuan Province, China. To
the North of it flows Dadu River, and south, Jinsha River (the upper section of the
Yangtze River). Its 60,000 km 2 territory is the home of 1,610,000 Yi people in Liangshan,
the single largest Yi community in China.
The ethnonym of the Yi in Liangshan is Nuosu. Until the democratic reform in 1956, no
united regiment had evolved and the Yi community split itself into numerous patrilineal
lineages. The estate-and-slave system with lineal descents and personal dependence as
characteristics constituted the traditional Yi social institution. With high mountains and
deep valleys as natural barriers and hostile relations to other communities around,
especially to those of the Han, the traditional Liangshan Yi society was a sui genres and
developed a unique culture, including religious belief, in its own way. Believing in gods
and ghosts, worshipping ancestors and a mixture of witchcraft with sacrificing ceremonies
constituted the main content of traditional Yi belief.
After the democratic reform, the lineage system was abolished, the estate stratification
eliminated, and social practices of the mainstream society was introduced. Thus, great
change resulted since 1956. In order to substitute scientific Marxism for the
"superstitions" and the socialist new culture for the old culture in the slave
society in the fields of ideology and culture, the religious activities of bi-moxes and
su-nyits were forbidden and the religious literature in traditional Yi script were taken
away and burnt. The Yi traditional culture and religion declined in the following two
decades.
However, In late 1970s, with the reform and open door policy implemented, the economy in
China revitalized and political control relaxed. Traditional ethnic culture began to
revive. The once suppressed and weakened traditional Yi culture restored itself in the
forms of ethnic folk traditions and for the development of cultural tourism, etc. The
trend of restoration gained momentous and developed further in the core area of the Yi
community. Take Meigu County for example, statistics shows that there were 6850 bi-moxes
(male only) in 1996, covering 4 percent of the total population and 8 percent of the male.
The variety of religious ceremonies amounted to over 200 and religious scriptures reached
a staggering number of 115, 000 copies.
The form and content of current bi-mox activities have expressed the following features:
1. Gaining ground in the cities. Nowadays, the voice of soul-inviting and chants of
ghost-dispelling, with religious rites involving cattle-killing can be heard and seen in
and around the houses of Yi businessmen, workers, teachers and even civil officials;
2. Soaring of rural bi-yu's learning of "bi-mox" crafts. Bi-yu in the Yi refers
to children and the young in the hereditary bi-mox villages. Under the name of upholding
their forefather's dedication, such motivations as pursuing material benefits, gaining
prestige and social status, and learning the traditional Yi culture are integrated into;
3. Many modern requirements, such as praying for promotion, entering college, making more
money or cursing drugs, plagues, avoiding traffic accidents and thefts are included.
4. The income of bi-mox (by means of bi-mox-ka-ba in the Yi) is much higher than that of
other traditional Yi professions including animal husbandry and farming. In another word,
today's bi-mox is more of a career or profession than a dedication. The living standard of
bi-moxes is generally higher than that of farmers and herdsmen.
The revival of bi-moxes activities offers us an opportunity to study bi-mox as a cultural
complex. For this reason, I went to many counties including Xichang, Ganluo, Yanyuan,
Leibo, Zhaojue, Meigu, and Xide respectively between 1986 and 1996 for my fieldwork about
bi-mox culture. I followed bi-moxes when they roamed about to perform their crafts. During
the process, I have also gained some knowledge about bi-mox scriptures. In this paper, I'd
like to discuss and analyze the nature, function, and characteristics of Liangshan Yi
bi-mox in light of my knowledge gained in my fieldwork.
I. Bi-mox, Religious practitioner Mediating the Relations
Between Human and Spirits by Reciting Scriptures
To approach the nature and function of bi-mox in Liangshan Yi social-cultural context, we
can start with the connotation of bi-mox as a word. This word, in turn, is closely related
to su-nyit, another kind of religious practitioners in Yi society. As two kinds of
religious practitioners Liangshan, the names bi-mox and su-nyit are divided by the
characters of their activities. In the Yi, bi in bi-mox means to recite. It indicates how
a bi-mox acts in a ceremony. This bi can be extended to refer to all the activities
characterized by scripture-chanting in ceremonies, such as ge-fei-yi-tsi-bi, a ceremony to
invite the spirit for birth; ma-du-bi, a ceremony to pacify the spirit (of the dead);
ni-mu-tsuo-bi to see the spirit off. The mox here as a suffix equals to "the
practitioner". So, bi-mox refers to a man who engages in the religious activities by
reciting scriptures. Meanwhile, the su in su-nyit means a person and the "nyit"
means shaking while dancing and beating a drum. That is the act of su-nyit in religious
ceremonies. Broadly speaking, su-nyit is very much similar to shaman, a religious
practitioner who in ceremonies beats drum and shakes while dancing.
Thus in religious practice, the function of a bi-mox is different from that of a su-nyits.
The action of a bi-mox's is more tranquil and quiet, he just recites with mouth. In
contrast, a su-nyit employs more body language. He beats drum and shakes in a crazy and
violent manner, as if a spirit has possessed him. No wonder Yi people should say that
bi-mox is "mild", while su-nyit is "wild"; bi-mox is "graceful in
chanting" while su-nyit is "violent in dancing". The etymological
comparison between bi-mox and su-nyit reveals that a bi-mox characterized by chanting
scriptures. Thus, we can say bi-mox as a term refers to those religious practitioners who
communicate with gods and ghosts by means of reciting scriptures.
From "bi-bu-e-yi-ma" (Bi-mox Scripture for Offering Sacrifice to Ancestors), we
know that in the origin and early stage of development, bi-mox had no written scriptures.
Their chanting was handed down by word-of-mouth. It was not until the time of Qiongbu, a
legendary figure in the Yi tradition, that bi-mox began to document their scriptures down
in black and white, and the history of bi-mox entered the period of literature from that
of the oral. From then on, scriptures became the groundwork of the performance of
bi-mox's. The Yi saying, " 'di-wei' ha-ni-tse, 'huo-wei' er-ce-hei", means there
are 120 scriptures for incantation and 48 scriptures for sacrifice offering. Therefore,
being literate, together with mastering written scriptures and being excellent in all the
oral ones, has become a pre-requisite for a bi-mox to carry out his work and to
communicate with gods, ghosts, and ancestors.
A bi-mox communicates with gods, ghosts, and ancestors by reciting scriptures. But he is
much more than a mere mouthpiece or a media between people and the supernatural spirits.
Rather, he is an effective mediator, an arbitrator in the conflicting relations between
people, gods, ghosts, and ancestral spirits. It is modern scholars' consensus that
relations between mankind in the society and between mankind and the nature constitute the
two major categories of relations in human life. However, in the traditional Liangshan Yi
society, the relationship between human and gods, ghosts and ancestors are also
fundamental.
It is a deep rooted Yi belief that ancestors, gods and ghosts are able to influence the
thriving of population, the bumper harvest, the multiplication of cattle，the prosperity
of lineage, etc. If the relationship between mankind and gods, ghosts, and ancestors
breaks or becomes unbalanced, it will not only endanger the people's belief and mentality,
but also effect their material production and daily life. Gods, ghosts, and ancestral
spirits are manifolds. They are good and evil. They can bless or curse people. It all
depends on time and occasion. So, people praise spirits, appreciate ancestors, but in the
meanwhile, they hate ghosts and fear gods and ancestors. In the interaction between human
and various spirits, the latter do influence the life of the former. However, it is more
important that the former can control the latter through the mediation of bi-mox who can
dispel disasters, invite fortunes, and turn disasters into fortunes.
A bi-mox is able to predict the intention of gods and ghosts and, is familiar with
ancestors' desires. Through scripture-chanting and with the magic power of language
reinforced by rites of sacrifice-offering and witchcraft with strong symbolic
connotations, bi-moxes mediate the relationship between people and supernatural spirits by
means of praising, appreciating, persuading, or warning, cursing, etc. Just as Chubi Somo,
a famous bi-mox in Meigu county said: " 'Bi-ne-mo-mu-su' (bi-moxes are mediators), we
bi-moxes are just like ndep-ggu, judges in the Yi folk society. The difference is that a
ndep-ggu mediates between people and/or between lineages, while a bi-moxes mediates
between human and supernatural spirits. But the function is the same. The purpose of a
bi-mox's mediation is to serve the people. The aim of his mediation is not only to promote
people's reconciling with their faith, but also to detach people's bonds to the
supernatural spirits, including that of their ancestors', so that they will not interact
with each other.
Bi-mox has derived from Yi society since very early time and evolved into an separate
order of religious practitioner. This is reflected both in the bi-mox genealogy and the
standardization and normalization of the bi-mox reward as an institution. Before
democratic reforms, besides cash in the form of silver, the kind in the form of animals,
grain and cloth, and in services such as labor, such items as guns, slaves, land and even
opium had entered the inventory of bi-mox's income. A Yi saying indicates that: "a
tiger and a leopard may fail in food-hunting, but a bi-mox and a su-nyit l never returns
with empty hand after performing a ceremony." Up to now, reward for ritual activities
still contribute total or part of a bi-mox's livelihood in Liangshan.
In brief, bi-moxes in the Yi society are a class of people specializes in religious
activities dealing with people's faith-pertaining affairs. They mediate the relations
between human and supernatural beings including their ancestral spirits by reciting
scriptures. For this service, they earn payment as total or partial resources of their
life.
II. The Special Bi-mox Faith relating to Their Professional Activities
Believing in supernatural spirits is common to all the Yi as an ethnic group. But on top
of this, bi-moxes have their own faith. Since the formation and development of bi-mox as a
religious profession, the ideology of bi-mox has gradually established and some special
supernatural spirits emerged to suit the needs of the profession and to protect bi-mox's
activities and interests. These spirits are the objects of bi-mox's adoration. They can be
roughly classified into the bi-mox gods, the guardian gods and the souls of the bi-mox
instruments and scriptures.
The common Yi name of bi-mox gods is bilu. It refers to all the spirits of bi-mox
ancestors' traceable back in the genealogy. Traditional Yi society recognized only a small
number of lineages that has ever engaged in the bi-mox practice, such as the lineage of
Jike, Shama, Jili, Di-re, etc. These lineages, each having whose first ancestor engaged in
the practice, are called bi-mox lineages. Bi-mox lineages have the tradition of inheriting
the practice of their forebears. They have carried on the career from generation to
generation. The bi-mox gods include all the first ancestors in those lineages, who in
their lifetime had tutored their children and grandchildren of the performance. Their
souls are respected as gods and worshipped by their descendants. They are thought, on one
hand, to bless their descendants multiplying and prosperous; on the other hand, to be
guardians to ensure the success of their offspring's' ceremonial performance. In short,
the bilu have double characters: the ancestral gods and profession guardians.
As Yi society attaches great importance to consanguineous lines and blood inheritance, it
is natural that each lineage has it's own bilu. This is demonstrated clearly in
bi-ci-e-yi-mu, a Yi scripture meaning "The scripture of bi-mox genealogy". It is
essential for every bi-mox lineage. The scripture begins with the first bi-mox ancestor of
the lineage. In the form of chain-of-names between master and disciple (usually father and
son, occasionally, uncle and nephew), it enlists all the bi-moxes in the lineage, down to
the one who possesses and uses it today. This scripture, on one hand, is the certificate
of a bi-mox's lineage background that provides him with credit. On the other hand, it
enables a bi-mox, by means of its reading or chanting, to recruit whatever reinforcement
from their bi-mox ancestors to bless the success of a ceremony.
The belief of bilu (bi-mox gods) emphasizes consanguineous heredity and continuity, and
stresses on believing in the ancestors to whom the bi-mox has blood ties with. This is
obviously the combination of the Yi ancestral spirit belief with the bi-mox religious
profession. It functions to identify and strengthen consanguineous relations between
father and son, to guarantee the heredity and continuity of bi-moxes' religious status and
identity.
Besides the ancestral bilu who has blood relation with them, bi-moxes also share a common
belief of those famous bilu in history and widely celebrated in the Yi community. This
kind of bilu usually made special contribution to their career in their lifetime. They all
have the outstanding achievements, super power, profound knowledge, and lofty morals in
the Yi folklore. For example, Tibi Zhamu and Haibi Shizu contributed especially the
establishment of ceremonial rules. Bia Sula standardized writings and sorting out the
religious scriptures. Age Emo brought a high mountain down by chanting incantation.
However, from different lineages, these bilu are regarded as heroes and spiritual leaders
by all the bi-moxes in Liangshan, especially the younger generation. For this reason,
whenever a ceremony is held, bi-moxes would recite bi-bu-te-yi (Bi-mox Sacrifice-offering
Scripture"), and invite these bilu to enjoy the offerings and to ensure the success
of bi-mox's performance.
The Common faith to these famous bilu is a special type of belief among bi-moxes. It
transcends the consanguineous limitation of lineage. In stead, it bases on personal
achievement and religious practice. We can say it is a combination of hero-worshipping and
professional identity. It functions to stimulate and intensify bi-moxes' dedication to
their profession, and to encourage them following the their heroic forebears' example,
improving themselves in knowledge and practice.
The guardian gods refers to spirits who help bi-moxes when they during their performance.
In the Yi, it is called mulu musi, meaning all the spirits in nature, including the god of
the sky, of the earth, of mountains, wind, rock, thunder, tree, eagle, etc. Originally,
they are the natural gods commonly believed by Yi people, each for its own divine duties.
But bi-moxes integrate them into a belief and respect them as guardian gods. In each
ceremony, bi-moxes establish divine seats by erecting magic branches, inviting gods to
come and help. As for whom and how many to be invited, it is determined by the nature and
scale of ceremony, or kind and amount of the sacrifices. For example, xuo-bur, a counter
incantation, is but a small one in which only a cock is sacrificed, thus only some
mountain gods nearby are invited. If the occasion is big, such as co-ssy (evil-cursing) on
which cattles and goats sacrificed, the god of sky, earth, rock and tree would be invited
to share the offerings and help the performance. Special scriptures as
"mu-lu-mu-si-bi" (Scripture of Gods-inviting) and
"mo-luo-mo-she-te-yi" (Scripture of Warrior-recruiting) are chanted. The
invitation of natural gods as guardian is a temporary matter. The guardians gods are at
bi-mox's call to come and go. During the ceremony, they yield their duties temporarily and
serve as guardian gods to performance of bi-mox.
Still another special bi-mox belief is the belief in spirits of instruments and
scriptures. Instruments and scriptures are means and bedrock of bi-mox performances.
According to "bi-bu-te-yi" a Yi scripture, in the remote times of Nuili, Shisou,
Momu, Ge-e, bi-moxes had come into being. But they did not have such instruments as golden
water drum, divination bone, cedar container of divine slips, divine bamboo fan, divine
bamboo hat, divine bell, etc., so they couldn't expel ghosts, bring fortunes and heal
patients. Not until the time of Qiongbu when bi-moxes were equipped with all the
instruments and scriptures. From then on, bi-moxes became omnipotent.
It is a bi-mox understanding that the magical power of the instruments and scriptures do
not lie merely in their forms. In stead, a lively soul is embodied in each of them. If the
soul is lost or polluted, the power will vanish, or weaken down. Ceremonies as sacrifice
offering to the souls of instruments and scriptures can invite the souls back and have
them purified. The same belief is expressed in the rules and taboos for making, using,
collecting and keeping the instruments, and in duplicating and circulating of the
scriptures
In summary, it is a peculiar bi-mox belief in bilu, guardian god, and the souls of bi-mox
instruments and scriptures. All bi-moxes must observe it. It gives religious power to
bi-moxes for carrying out their religious activities and a spiritual support for bi-moxes
to exist and develop.
III. A Set of Special Institutions for Bi-moxes to Share
In the long periods of religious practice, a set of special religious institutions have
evolved gradually for the sake of sustaining the bi-moxes community and conducting their
religious activities. These are not regulations made by institutions, but spontaneous
conventions formed in the religious practice. The conventions are highly relevant to
bo-moxs' roles and activities. They are the standards of bi-mox conduction. We can
classify the conventions into two kinds: the customary rules and the bi-mox rituals.
The bi-mox customary rules include all the conventional regulations that define bi-mox
themselves and their activities. My tentative research witnesses that following
conventions concerning the bi-moxship inheritance, initiation (bi-jjie), renouncing
(bi-cip), and practicing bi in tour (bi-ji) are strictly observed by all the bi-moxes in
Liangshan.
The inheritance of bi-moxship comprises the passing down of both status and identity of a
bi-mox. When a bi-mox is old and become feeble. He will yield his bi-moxship to a young
one in the lineage. Then, who who has the qualification and thus will inherit the status
and identity from him? There are some special principles in this relevance:
1. Only a male descendant can inherit bi-moxship. This is in strict accordance with the
patrilineal nature of Yi society. The profession of bi-moxes is scared and highly
respected. The lineage wants to keep this status and honor within itself. Therefore, it
should only to be inherited by a male descendant in the lineage. A female can not inherit
it. When a girl reaches seventeen, she is thought no longer a member of the lineage
whether she is married or not.
2. The family of bi-mox enjoys the primary position. This is the dominant form of
bi-moxship inheritance. It can guarantee the lineage of bi-mox to possess the privilege of
the profession.
3. Inheriting by a non-bi-mox lineage is subsidiary. Under certain circumstances, a person
from a non-bi-mox lineage can learn the craft from a bi-mox. In the Yi, this is
"zzyt-bi", means inauthentic bi-mox. The status of a Zzyt-bi in Liangshan is
much lower, for he has no assistance from his patrilineal bi-mox ancestors, no ancestrally
inherited scriptures, so his power is inferior. He is not able to carry out such major
ceremonies as sacrifice-offering to ancestors, cursing evil people and ghosts, and
inviting spirits. Moreover, a zzyt-bi can not pass his status and identity to his
descendants. For this reason, his lineage can never become that of a bi-mox. These
principles reveal that the dominance ideology behind bi-moxship transfer is the discourse
of consanguinity and professional privilege. It is different from the professional
identity in modern society.
The conventions of bi-jjie and bi-cip refer to the starting or ending of bi as a
profession. The profession of bi-mox is a holy one that communicates with spirits for
human. For this reason, it can not be entered and quitted at one's will. Special
conventions with certain ceremonies have to be involved for its entrance and quitting. .
Long and special education is required before bi-jjie, the initiation of the profession.
In the Yi, the education and training is "bi-sso", meaning to learn the
performance of bi. During the period, the apprentice learns the moral norms of bi-mox, as
well as knowledge and skill. This is to ensure their consciousness of the role. Only when
the master thinks his apprentice can carry out religious rites independently, can the
latter become a novice bi-mox, after a ceremony called bi-jjie-bi-hlo (sacrifice offering
to gods at bi-jjie). All the bi-moxes, relatives and friends near and far are invited. In
the ceremony, the new identity and status of the novice is announced publicly. The master
hands over bi-mox instruments and scriptures to the novice, and entrusts bilu, the
guardian gods, and the souls of the instruments and scripture to bless his disciple in his
religious performance. Acknowledged by the mater, the gods and society, the novice is
recruited and the team of bi-mox is reinforced.
On the contrary to bi-jjie, bi-cip means to end or give up bi as a career. Bi-mox is a
lifelong profession, but two situations will lead to the halt of it:
1. A bi-mox's soul can't get along well with bilu, guardian gods and the souls of his
instruments, scriptures, and thus can't perform bi successfully. Such a failing bi will
not bring safety and luck to the client. Moreover, it will invite disaster to the bi-mox
himself or his family. In this case, the bi-mox must halt his career of bi, though his
offspring can succeed his profession.
2. Due to any reason, the bi-mox lineage has no descendant to inherit his profession for
three generations. In this case, a bi-cip ceremony must be held by the lineage to declare
quitting the status and privilege of bi-mox for good. A bi-sha ceremony is added to bi-cip
for sending all the gods that have helped the bi-mox away. A bi-sha has to be presiding
over by another bi-mox. The function of it is to extricate the relations of a bi-mox with
all the gods and spirits, to announce the ending of a bi-mox, and to get its approval from
bi-moxes, gods and society. After an offering of sacrifices, the divine branches standing
for all kinds of gods, together with the bi-mox's instruments and scriptures will be sent
to a remote mountain, and thus the career of the bi-mox comes to an end.
The function of bi-ji (customary rules concerning practicing bi in tour) is to adjust the
relations between bi-moxes' and between a bi-mox and other social organizations. As we
know, a bi-mox's religious practice is independent, mobile, and extensive. A bi-mox roams
about from village to village, to perform bi at the call of his clients. It is usual for
him to stay away home for several months. When he is away from his lineage context, how
can he coordinate the relations between different territories and lineages? Can a bi-mox
depending on one lineage lord visit territories under the control of anotheror, even a
hostile lineage of his? All these have been arranged conventionally in the Yi society.
If bi-mox A is invited to perform religion rites temporarily in the house where bi-mox B
acts as bi-si (the regular family bi-mox ), he has to yield part of his rewards in kind or
cash to B according to the rules of bi-ji (a reward convention). However, if he does this
regularly and gradually replaced B in the house, he and the client family must pay some
compensation to B. B then gives up his position as "bi-si" in the family.
In Greater and Lesser Liangshan area, Yi people settlement clustered according to lineage.
Each nuohuo (black Yi) and zimo (chieftain) lineage has it's own domain. Usually, every
bi-mox lineage depends on one of them. A few bi-mox lineages are responsible to perform
religion rites for every lineage and family all over Liangshan. According to the bi-ji
rules, a bi-mox is entitled carry out religion rites in every village and lineage in the
Yi area. So long as they wear or carry on his shoulder a divine bamboo hat, hold a divine
fan, carry a bag of scriptures, no one should interfere or prevent him. Anyone dares to
interfere a bi-mox's performances or injure him personally will be punished severely. In
extreme cases, all bi-mox lineages will unite to curse the enemy with reliable means until
the death of the offender and his people. Therefore, a bi-mox can safely tour in the Yi
area. They and their activities are respected and protected all over the society.
The bi-mox rituals, (addressed as bi-jie-mop-jie in bi-mox's terminology), refer to all
the procedures and rules a bi-mox must observe whenever he carries out his activities. It
is the standard procedures of ceremony and rules of bi-mox activities. In history, the
procedure of Yi religious ceremonies is well known to be complicated, mystical and
over-elaborate. In the long period of practices, bi-moxes have established a standard for
various performances, and thus formulated a set of stable procedures and norms. As for as
procedures are concerned, the following items are more or less universal:
1. Mu-gu-cyt, welcoming the assistance from gods by lighting fire;
2. Lur-ca-su, the rites of purification;
3. Yie-lyt, prologuizing or delivering opening speech;
4. Te, the rites of reconciling different gods and spirits;
5. Mux-lup-mu-se-bi, inviting gods for help;
6. Sacrifices-offering in the form of live animals or birds;
7. Chanting scriptures and perform crafts;
8. Sacrifices-offering in the form of killing on the spot but uncooked;
9. Chanting scriptures and perform crafts;
10. Sacrifices-offering in the form of cooked (boiled or roasted);
11. Comforting gods and spirits and seeing them off;
12. Ka-bba-qip, paying bi-mox in the name of reward.
There are other strict conventional rules for ceremonies, such as the requiry of selecting
the date and choosing the form of sacrifices. Major ceremonies not only involve date
selecting, but also the hour, the month and the year. The sex, color, age, quality, and
kind are all-important and have specific regulations. The ways of animal sacrificing
includes that of the alive, the uncooked, the cooked, the blood, the horn, etc. Many
ceremonies require a ground for performance that is fenced by erecting branches. In the
respect, different ceremonies require different kinds, quantities, and ways of erecting
the branches for different symbolic connotations.
The bi-rewarding institution is also important. There are three ways to acknowledge the
religious performances: cash, kind and service. The ways and quantities vary. The main
criteria are the ceremony's nature, size, the number of sacrifices used, and the terms
between the bi-mox and client. Conventions are also important. It is customary that a
bi-moxes can't demand a sky-high price. These institutions reflect that bi-mox's religious
practice has become a profession to a certain extent.
These conventions about bi-moxship inheritance, initiation, renounce, touring service,
procedures and reward regulate the bi-mox' s behaviors and activities in a united,
standard, ordered, and identical way. They are essential to guarantee the existence and
sustaining of bi-moxship as a religious practice.
IV. Professional Ethics of Religion Observed by Bi-mox as a Class
Besides the conventions and rituals, the bi-mox community norm is also reflected in the
form of bi-mox moral or ethics. By nature, the bi-mox moral is the moral of religious
practitioners. In their professional activities, a bi-mox contact with other bi-moxes, as
well as with gods, ghosts and humans. We can say that three relations are essential to the
normal practice of a bi-mox: with god and ghost, with vi-si (clients), and with other
bi-moxes. In order to adjust all these relations for protecting the reputation and dignity
of religious practitioner, a set of morals has gradually evolved to adjust, conduct, and
restrain bi-moxes' professional behaviors.
It is a known fact that Yi religious belief has a strongly connotaion of utilitarianism.
People worship their ancestors, believe in gods, ghosts and spirits for safety and
happiness. As a religious practitioner, a bi-mox' s task and mission is not to help people
extricate themselves, save their souls, ensure them to go to a paradise after death.
Rather, he is to fulfill people's actual needs, such as avoiding disaster, approaching
fortune and luck, ensure the harvest of crops, prosperity of animals, and to demonstrate
the power and strength of their lineage, etc. In short, he is responsible for providing
people with spiritual support and satisfaction for their existence and development. As bi
saying goes: "The fortune and peace of a client should be revealed in three days of
the ceremony". Therefore, it is reasonable to say that bi-mox is responsible for
human and work his clients, rather than for gods, ghosts and spirits of any sort.
The bi-mox ethics is constructed on the basis of the professional duties. It is
interrelated closely with the nature and characters of the profession. It includes the
following contains:
1. Dedication to the profession and faithfulness onto the duty. As said, bi-mox
performance is the spiritual pillar of people's physical existence and development. It
requires all bi-moxes to have a full recognition of the profession and its social values.
Bi-moxes must keep on strengthening his love to the profession, and continuously develop
his sense of professional honor and firm aspiration. A bi-mox must take the matters of his
clients as his own, and always eager to help his clients and be mindful of their
interests. They are to be conscientious, dutiful, and considerate in their activities.
Even a minor error due to the bi-mox' s carelessness and negligence will bring misfortune
and disaster to his client, and consequently to the bi-mox himself. As bi saying goes as
follows: "Inadequate scripture-chanting harms bi-mox, while insufficient
divine-branches harms client". Therefore, it is basic for a bi-mox to love and
dedicate to his religious practice.
2. Treating all clients equally. Every estate, lineage, family and person in the
traditional Yi society needs the service of bi-mox. The requirement is widespread. A
client can select a bi-mox with high power and moral performance. Nevertheless, a bi-mox
is not allowed to select rite or client. The Yi saying is this concern is "A good
horse doesn't select road, A good arbitrator (ndep-ggu) doesn't select issue, a good
bi-mox doesn't select client." Treating all in a equal way is one of the most
important bi-mox rules. It specifies for bi-mox to no difference between the rich and the
poor, the noble and the humble, close relatives and strangers. Whoever the client is, a
bi-mox must fulfill his duty with equal responsibility. If he treats clients in
discrimination, he will soon be reproached and condemned by the whole society, including
other bi-moxes. He will be isolated with no invitation. He will be boycotted by other
bi-moxes by halting the exchange of skills with him. The reason for the universal respect
to bi-mox dues not only to people's owe to their divinity, but also dues to their ethics
of treating people in equal way.
3. Acting in good honor of his promise. This is determined by the nature of bi-mox
profession, as well as minimum demands by the society. The Date of a Yi religious rite
must be calculated and arranged several days or more in advance, and is forwarded to
bi-mox by the client or his trustee. Special rite like that of
"ge-fei-yi-ci-bi", (fertility and soul-promoting) must be fixed a year earlier.
When time comes, the bi-mox brings scriptures and instruments to perform crafts. His
activities are considered to resolve problems and dispel worries for people. For this
reason, he must come on time regardless of road, weather conditions, and family duties. A
bi-mox must keep his words. It is a shame to break a promise. The popular Yi saying in
this regard is "killing a bi-mox who fails his promise is not a crime". Once a
bi-mox fails to keep a promise, his status and identity come into being an end.
4, Respecting for colleagues and learning from each other. This is the norm of relations
between bi-moxes. The relevant Yi saying is that "all Bi-moxes are equal in face of
knowledge." In congregation, they are encouraged to learn from each other to make up
deficiencies. Many bi-moxes roam around Liangshan several, or even dozen times in their
lifetime for visiting famous bi-moxes, collecting scriptures, and obtaining knowledge
extensively from others. When a major ceremony is held, bi-moxes from far and near will
come to help, while exchange skills and copy scriptures from each other. A Yi saying
acknowledges this: "su-nyits are enemies, while bi-moxes are friends".
Traditionally, it is a popular belief that su-nyits will attack each other when they meet,
but bi-moxes will enjoy a mutual learning and communication. If a bi-mox is
self-opinionated and habitually attack and vilify others, other colleagues'll condemn him.
The mutual respecting and learning strengthen the internal solidarity of bi-mox as a
community.
5. Proper and solemn behaviors. This is moral requirement concerning the language, diet,
and sex of a bi-mox. Bi-moxes as intermediate between human and spirit enjoys some
divinity. They must show refined characters in their behaviors and speeches in daily life.
This is helpful to establish their divinity and gain approval from spirit and trust from
people. Therefore, a bi-mox must avoid stirring things up, pronounce obscenities, and
gossip. Otherwise, he will be thought a "ke-a-gu", untrustworthy for a loose
tongue and light heart. It is a bi-mox taboo to use, hurt or kill such divine mammals as
tiger, bear, dog, and cat, etc., or they will be thought as polluted, and thus lose their
blessing from spirits, and thus their power. Theft and liberal sex relations are also
taboos. Both bilu and guardian gods will abandon such bi-moxes. During major ceremonies,
such as soul-escorting and sacrifice-offering to ancestors, a bi-mox should quit sex
intercourse. Otherwise, the ancestral spirit will be contaminated and can not find their
way to homeland. Excessive alcohol drinking is also forbidden, because a drunken bi-mox
tends to be irresponsible. A Yi saying goes that "a wry bi can not triumph over the
evils." A drunken bi-mox certainly is no competitor of ghosts and monsters.
6. Working hard and enduring hardships. The profession of bi-mox is a hard one. Touring
far from home and try to be punctuate means a bi-mox has to endure sleeping or eating in
tough places, or travel day and night. It is a matter of course to travel two or three
days to get the client's home for a ceremony. I have personally followed a bi-mox to
perform the practice in tour. The all daylong walking or riding and exhausted me. When
dismounted from horseback, I could hardly walk with numb limbs. A major ceremony tends to
last several or more than ten days without an interval. The bi-mox has to stay up night
after night to endure the torture of sleeplessness. Some apprentices giving up bi-learning
simply because they can't endure hardship. A qualified bi-mox must have a strong will and
lofty character.
7. Not be greedy for money. Tradition says that in early times, bi-mox performance is
voluntary and no reward is involved. Nevertheless, along with development of society and
formation of bi performance as an occupation, bi-moxes gradually earns his income as, or
partly as resources to sustain their lives. The quantity and form of the reward is subject
to conventions. A quarrel over rewards with client is a taboo. It is forbidden for a
bi-mox to extract excessive rewards. A bi-moxes must fulfill his duty in religious rite
even he knows the client can not afford payment. A pet phrase among bi-moxes is that
"no argument over rewards with clients". This is also a moral code for they must
observe.
The bi-mox ethics is based on their religious profession. It is a special requirement to
whoever engaged in the trade. In the long practice of moralities, a stable religious
psychology and collective personality characterized by peacefulness, dignity, sympathy,
and sense of responsibility are formed in bi-mox as a community of religious
practitioners.
V. The Bi-mox Group Identity and Sense of Belonging
The traditional Yi society is interwoven with consanguineous ties of lineage. The
fundamental group identity is that of lineage. On top of this, the bi-mox offers an
overarching cultural identity. This is due to the fact that bi-mox as a person finds his
sense of belonging to his lineage as a social group, but as a religious practitioner, he
transcends the consanguineous boundary and finds his identity in the religious profession,
which in turn is an integral part of the Yi culture. At the same time, they identify
themselves with the community of religious practitioners.
We know the two identities are different. The latter is the extension of the former. In
other words, the existence of bi-mox lineages is the basic carrier of bi-mox as a social
class. The overall bi-mox group identity is rooted in the bi-mox lineage identity. Here,
the two identities, the social and the religious one, find agreement mutually to some
degree.
The basis of bi-mox identity as a group is their professional knowledge and practice. This
is by nature a professional identity. As we said before, bi-moxes engage in the same
religious practice. They serve commonly as intermediates between human, gods, ghosts, and
ancestral spirits. They also deal with people's spiritual needs by means of ceremonies to
ensure people's safety and happiness. In a long and identical religious practice, common
bi-mox values are also formulated in the form of professional conventions, moral norms,
and ritual behaviors. Because of these, each bi-mox feels that bi-moxes are the same,
sharing same identity and belonging to same professional group. This gives them identical
psychology and professional consciousness, represented in the sensation of "I am a
bi-mox"; "we are bi-moxes" etc. The identity becomes consolidated in the
contrast with other social groups.
Owing to this, the traditional Yi society has another special taxonomy to identify people
in a dichotomy: the bi-mox and the dzop-dzop. All the other people beside bi-moxes are
dzop-dzop, no matter to which class or estate they belong. As said, both of qualification
and identity of a bi-mox is approved by spirits, society, and other bi-moxes. Hence, the
line of demarcation between bi-mox and dzop-dzop is distinctive and unmistakable. The
whole society, including the supernatural beings, knows well in such matters as which
lineage is a bi-mox one, which is not; who is a bi-mox, and who is not. In religious life,
bi-mox and dzop-dzop have different status, responsibilities, and obligations. A bi-mox
sustains his status and life by communicating with supernatural beings for the interests
of clients. In providing dzop-dzop with the required safety and happiness, a bi-mox gets
his rewards. Therefore, we say that the existence of bi-mox depends on dzop-dzop, just as
their identity lies in the interaction with and mutual aid to dzop-dzop.
The identity of bi-moxes is expressed in their mutual support and aid as well. Bi-mox is a
class and a professional group with special knowledge and skills. However, they have no
defined religious place, no special institution, or structured organization. Their
religious practice is characterized by mobility and, independence and wide spreading. They
do have regular interactions and contacts, such as in training apprentice, helping each
other in ceremony, exchanging skills and scriptures, and visiting famous bi-mox afar.
Because of this, their group identity is developed and consolidated.
For the sake of defending their status and benefits, bi-moxes have united themselves to a
certain degree. The emergence of vut-tu mo-mgep, the congregation for bi-mox mutual help,
is a good example. Vut-tu in the Yi refers to the container of divine slips of bamboo, an
bi-mox hallmark and instrument in ceremony. Mo-mgep means conference or meeting. The
combination of the two words means the conference of bi-moxes. It is an emergent
congregation when such thing as "a bi-mox's wife kidnapped, or a bi-mox killed, a
bi-mox's crown hair-bun seized, property robbed, instruments stolen"; etc. The
conference is held on the spot of the accident. Every bi-mox and his apprentice who are
informed or who have heard the news, no matter far or near, must attend. Every bi-mox can
participate regardless of his rank, lineage, and divine power.
In 1921, Jier Wuzi, Chunuo bi-mox in Mude Apu village, Yimu district, Butuo County found
his Han salve girl was kidnapped and sold. He sent out an invitation for a vut-tu-mo-mgep
at once. Over 100 bi-moxes came from different lineages all over Butuo County for the
congregation. It was presided over by a bi-mox with higher prestige. Besides the
collective rite of incarnation to curse the suspected, the participants also wrote the
name of slave girl, the time and place of the accident on tso-ssy-tep-yypa, a cursing
notebook. The notebook is copied and circulated to every participant. Later, when the
bi-moxes perform religion rites in any house, they must curse the kidnapper according to
the notebook. This was carried on and on until the kidnapper was believed died.
The Yi tradition says that if a bi-mox engaged in a ceremony and couldn't come, he is
obliged to write curses on co-ssy-sy-pop, a wood board and hung it on a tree by a road to
show his support to the congregation. Vut-tu-mo-mgep is a symbol of bi-mox solidarity. It
also demonstrates their sense of belonging and identity.
The group identity of bi-mox is the identity of religious practitioners based on a common
profession. This identity is the self-consciousness of bi-mox identity. It reflects their
interests, expectations, and demands. It constitutes the psychological and spiritual
strength of bi-mox solidarity and coherence.
Concluding Remarks:
The Yi bi-moxes in Liangshan are religious practitioners who mediate the relations between
human and supernatural beings (including their ancestral spirits) by chanting scriptures.
As a community based on of religious practice, bi-mox has developed its collective
characteristics as following:
1. Bi-moxes have a common belief relating to their religious activities. The belief is
consisted of bilu, guardian gods, and the spirit of bi-mox instruments and scripture. It
is observed by all bi-moxes and it provides spiritual support to bi-moxes in their
religious practices.
2. There exists a set of special conventions to regulate bi-moxship inheritance,
initiation, and renounce, perform bi in tour, and ritual practices. These conventions are
strictly respected by all the bi-moxes.
3. There is such a set of ethic codes, as all bi-moxes must obey. The codes ensure the
standard of bi-moxship and its reputation. The morals' function is to sustain bi-moxes
reputation and honor.
4. Members of bi-mox community have a common professional identity reflecting the
self-consciousness of bi-mox as a class. The identity is the moral force and psychological
ties for bi-mox solidarity and cohesion.
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