HUO WEI

The Custom of Using Skulls to Suppress Evil Spirits in Primitive...

37

The Custom of Using Skulls to Suppress Evil Spirits in Primitive Witchcraft of the Tubo Kingdom

Further Interpretation of Newly Excavated Archaeological Materials on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Huo Wei

In Tibetan primitive witchcraft, it was a very popular practice to use the skulls (or the tops of skulls) of men or animals as divine tools to suppress evil spirits. This custom is still popular in Tibetan-inhabited areas and among the Qiang, Yi and other ethnic minorities which are closely related with Tibetans in ethnic origin or culture. In these areas, people can often see the skulls of yaks, sheep or other animals hung on door frames, chimneys or balconies. This is one of the forms of this custom in its historical development. In recent archaeological discoveries on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, remains of this custom in the Tubo Kingdom have been found. This is of great importance to our understanding of the origin, development and religious connotations of the custom. In this paper, the writer makes a tentative study mainly on the unearthed remains from the Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway with discussions about arch aeological materials found in Qinghai as well as some historical documents.

I
The Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang is in No. 17 Village of Lho-ma Township in Naqu (nag-chu) County of Tibet. It is 100 meters away from the northern part of ThoruStation along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The GPS coordinate of the center of the site is N31 12.882, E091 40. 882, and it is 4589 meters above sea level. The site is located on a flat and vast expanse of land which is about 220 meters away from the eastern bank of the Mogchu River. On the western side of the river, stands a small mountain named Pogamani. About 400 meters to the east of the site are ranges of rolling hills, and in the far south, is Mt. Samten Gangsang (6590 meters high). Before excavation, four piles of stone slices and stone pieces could be seen about 0.1-0.3 meters above the ground, which are numbered in sequence from 03QZCXTJ1 to 03QZCXTJ4 (shortened as J1, J2, J3 and J4 in the following). Among them, the plane shapes of J1, J2 and

38

CHINA TIBETOLOGY Number 1, March 2009

J3 are like flat rectangles above the ground, while the plane shape of J4 is like a trapezoid. J1 is located in the eastern end of the site and J2, J3 and J4 are more close together like a triangle. The whole site covers an area of about 250 square meters, 17.5 meters long from the east to the west and 13.6 meters wide from the north to the south. The site was discovered on May 22nd of 2003 in an archaeological investigation along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Tibet Autonomous Region. From June 11th to 17th of 2003, an archaeological investigation team of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Tibet dispatched a branch to make a rescuing excavation of the Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang. The findings of the excavation were published in Field Report of Archaeological Discovery of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Tibet 1. According to the book, the excavation showed that the four stone structured relics found in the site were all sacrifice offering relics in nature with the following details 2: No. 1 Relic of Sacrifice Offering (03QZCXTJ1) is located in the southeast part of the site. It is a stone pile of grey shale slices and a few granite pebbles rectangular in shape. Its longitudinal axis is 30 in the northeast, and 2.5 meters long from the south to the north. Its northern end is 2.18 meters wide and the southern end 1.96 meters wide. When discovered, only the top layer of slices was above the ground. After excavation and cleaning, a layer of stone slices lower than the main pile was found at the northern end. The stone slices and rocks are various in size and thickness with no signs of artificial cutting. They were piled up irregularly mainly in horizontal layers. The thickest place had five layers. Some stones were put vertically in the middle of the southern side and the southern part of the western side. The stones were piled up evenly in the outside, but put in disorder in the inside. Under the slices in the middle, there is a round pit, which is 0.79 to 0.83 meters in diameter and 0.39 meters in depth from the top of the stone pile. In the center of the pit bottom, there is a single-eared pottery jar covered with a stone slice and surrounded by eleven cobblestones of different sizes. The jar was filled with black-grey fine sand, from which one red agate bead,

one transparent crystal bead, one brown bead, one blue melon-shaped bead, two white thin column-shaped corals, one triangle-shaped, six-sided and gold-coated bronze bead, one oval-shaped iron hoop, one four-arcshaped iron hoop and two broken bronze pieces were discovered. No.2 Relic of Sacrifice Offering (03QZCXTJ2) is located in the middle of the eastern part of the site, about 3.7 meters away from J4 in the west, 3 meters away from J1 in the south, and 3.1 meters away from J3 in the north. The plane shape of the stone pile of J2 above the ground is an irregular circular, 4.3 meters long from the south to the north and 4.5 meters wide from the east to the west. The stone pile is 0.04 to0. 20 meters high above the ground, higher in the south and lower in the north. The stone pile has mainly two layers of dark grey shale slices of different sizes laid in disorder. In some parts, there are three or four layers. The second layer of slice is well preserved, 0.03 to 0.15 meters thick, and evenly distributed with chinks in between. In the southern side, there are three stone slices laid in a good order, all about 0.40 to 0.50 meters long and 0.20 to 0.30 meters wide. Beside them are two broken skulls of yaks and one skull of a dog. Under the three skulls are small slices and pebbles. Under the skull of a yak in the western side, there is a rectangular area of red soil extending towards the southeast. It is 0.78 meters long, 0.40 meters wide and 0.03 meters thick, obviously spread by people. After removing the second layer of slice, sixteen pieces of animal skulls, scapulas, limb bones and one skull of man put in an irregular circle were found. The bones were placed with different distances in between and the skulls were facing different directions. But still, it seems there is a certain pattern. The skull of a man in the northwest side was put opposite to the skull of a yak written with Tibetan scripts in the southeast side, and they were both facing towards the pottery jar in the center; while the two skulls of horses put in the east and west of the southern side were both facing outside, with the one in the east facing upward and the one in the west facing downward; and in the northern side was a pile of broken limb bones of domestic horses or wild donkeys dyed in red color.

HUO WEI

The Custom of Using Skulls to Suppress Evil Spirits in Primitive...

39

Picture 1: Plane map of distribution of No. 2 Relic of the Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang

About 0.30 meters south to the skull of a horse (J2: 19) in the southwest side, there is an area of red soil about 0.40 meters wide from the east to the west, 1.50 meters long from the south to the north and 0.03-0. 05 meters thick. The soil is the same in property and color with that beside the skull of a yak in the western side. In the northern end, there is another area of red clay. Its plane shape is like an oval, hard in property mixed with broken rocks. It is 0.80 meters long from the east to the west, and 0.45 meters wide from the south to the north, with an average thickness of about 0.01 meters. In northwest side of J2, there is a small L-shaped ditch. Under the original layer of sand, it is about 0.03 to 0.04 meters wide, 0.17 to 0.30 meters deep in the north and 0.35 to 0.52 meters deep in the south with a clear corner. The two sides of the ditch are not very straight, and its bottom is uneven, with the northern end higher than the southern end. The ditch is filled with yellow sand mixed with small pebbles. In the southern part of the ditch, 0.08 meters deep from the opening, a broken pottery jar was found (Sample No. J2:20). In a place 0.10 meters away from the northeast side of the jar and 0.12 meters deep under the soil, a broken iron knife was discovered (Sample No. J2:21). Both the jar and the knife were found in the center of the relic.

No. 3 Relic of Sacrifice Offering (03QZCXTJ3) is in the northern end of the site, connected with J4 in the west, about 12 meters away from J1 in the southeast and 3.1 meters away from J2 in the south. It is an irregular circular in shape, 6 meters long from the south to the north and 4.5 meters wide from the east to the west. It is a pile of dark grey shale slices and rocks. It was probably damaged by people in the past with slices and rocks scattering in disorder. The slices in the southeast side were arranged in order, and seemed to be put along the direction from southwest to northeast. While for the remaining slices there was no pattern in arrangement. The southern part of the pile is higher put in two layers on the whole with three layers in some parts. No. 4 Relic Site of Sacrifice Offering (03QZCXTJ4) lies at the western end of the site, connected with J3 in the east, about 6.4 meters away from J1 in the southeast and 3.8 meters away from J2 in the east. Probably damaged by nature or people in the past, it is an irregular oval-shaped pile of rocks in disorder, 10.2 meters long from the south to the north and 6.1 meters wide from the east to the west. It is piled up with two layers of grey shale slices and rocks of different sizes with a large amount of yellow sand, soil and plant roots in the chinks between rocks. Under the second layer of slices and rocks are a large number of relics. They are mainly distributed in the southern and northern ends, with more in the northern end and none in the center. The 23 relics in the northern end were distributed in a circle. They are all animal bones except one small clay pagoda (called Tsa-tsa in Tibetan). Most of the animal bones are skulls, with only two scapulas of sheep and a few broken bones. There is no obvious pattern to the directions faced by the skulls of animals. Four skulls of yaks and horses are facing outward, another seven skulls of dogs and one skull of a yak are facing to the south. They were put either with frontal bones upward, sideward or downward. Something special is that three skulls and other bones were put on slices. One skull of a horse (J4:14) was put with frontal bone downward covered with a slice on which stood a small pagoda. Different from animal bones unearthed from other

40

CHINA TIBETOLOGY Number 1, March 2009

sites in Tibet in the past, in this site, on the skulls and frontal bones of animals heads, there are traces of Tibetan scripts written in black or red ink and paintings. Detailed descriptions about these animal skulls and bones were given in the archaeological report: Specimen J2:16 is a skull of a horse broken in the frontal bone, upper jaw and the right side of the nose. The bone is 25.0 centimeters long and 15.2 centimeters wide. On the remaining left side of the broken nose, two arcs drawn in ink are visible. Inside and outside the circular arcs, as well as between the circles, there are Tibetan scripts, most of which are obscure. A few distinguishable Tibetan characters were written in the formal (dbu-can)style. Specimen J2: 19 is also a skull of a horse, mainly intact with no lower jaw. It is 51.0 centimeters long and 21.4 centimeters wide at its widest. There are eight parallel lines drawn in ink on the frontal bone, with unequal distances in between. On the top, there is a short slanting line. Some traces of Tibetan scripts can be seen under the slanting line as well as between the two lowest lines. Specimen J2: 3 is a skull of a yak. It remains basically intact with two broken horns and no lower jaw.

It is 45.5 centimeters long and 21.4 centimeters wide in its widest part. There are four lines of Tibetan scripts written in ink on the frontal bone between the two eyes, and one line written on the right side of the nose. Though the Tibetan scripts are obscure, it can be seen that they were written in the formal(dbu-can) style.

Picture 3: The skull of a yak with Tibetan scripts written in ink unearthed from No.2 Relic

Specimen J4: 3 is a skull of a yak with the part below the eyes broken and only the ends of the two horns left. It is 23 centimeters long and 22.7 centimeters wide between the horns. There are four groups of Tibetan scripts on the frontal bone, two above the eye frame written on the two sides respectively. On the right side, the scripts were written in four horizontal lines and on the left side in three horizontal lines; one short line was written on the frame of the right eye and four

Picture 2: The skull of a horse painted with ink lines unearthed from No. 2 Relic

Picture 4: The skull of a yak with Tibetan scripts written in ink unearthed from No. 4 Relic

HUO WEI

The Custom of Using Skulls to Suppress Evil Spirits in Primitive...

41

horizontal lines written between the two eye frames. The former two groups of lines are rather clear, while the latter group is obscure and undistinguishable. They were all written in the cursive(dbu-med) style. The analysis of the strokes showed that they were written by bamboo pens. Specimen J2:18 is a skull of a yak with no horns and a broken frontal bone. It is 36.0 centimeters long and 20.2 centimeters wide in its widest part. On the upper part of the right teeth, there are two signs written in red ink (look like Tibetan characters), and one is obscure

no traces of scripts written in black or red ink on them. Specimen J 4: 13 is a well preserved red earthen Tsatsa pagoda, put on a stone slate together with a well preserved skull of a horse without lower jaw. Specimen J 4:6 is a well preserved skull of a dog put on a stone slate in the northern part of J4. Specimen J 4: 10 is a broken skull of a dog surrounded by broken bone pieces. Specimen J 4:25 is a broken skull of a marmot. These two skulls are also put on stone slates. Apart from these, some scripts were written on other parts of animal bones. For instance, J 4: 28 is an animal scapula. It is not polished and broken in its wide end. It is 14.1 centimeters long and 7.6 centimeters wide. Tibetan scripts were written in black ink on both sides of it. On the frontal side there are two sets of scripts, one written on the flat triangle part of the wide end in five horizontal lines and the scripts are obscure especially on the left side. The lowest line extended to the right bead. Another set was written on the narrow end in two horizontal lines. The upper line is indistinguishable and the lower line is a little clearer. On the northern part, there is one set written on the flat triangle part with three faintly seen horizontal lines. Tibetan scripts on both sides were written in the cursive style.

Picture 5: The skull of a yak with signs of red ink unearthed from No. 2 Relic

Specimen J2: 16 is a skull of a horse, with half upper jaw and frontal bone broken. It is 37.5 centimeters long and 21.0 centimeters wide in its widest part. On the left frontal bone there are obscure traces of scripts written in ink. It is indistinguishable whether they are Tibetan scripts or designs, or probably they are a kind of sign. There are other types of animal skulls which have special meaning in their placement, though there are

Picture 6: Sheep scapulas with Tibetan scripts written in ink unearthed from No. 4 Relic

On some other animal bones there are traces of red ink. For instance, Specimen J 2:11 is a set of seven bones, which were broken pieces of limb joints of do-

42

CHINA TIBETOLOGY Number 1, March 2009

mestic horses or wild donkeys. There are traces of red color on their surfaces. Mr. Zhang Jianlin, the writer of the Archaeological Report, drew inferences about the nature and time of the Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang. The following is quoted from his report: It is the first time in Tibet to discover an ancient site with a large amount of animal bones put under stone slices. We exclude the possibility of a tomb based on the nature of the site... It is the first excavation of such an ancient site of sacrifice offering in Tibet, which is well-preserved, large in scale and rich in relics (Animal skulls written with Tibetan scripts in ink were also found in Tubo tombs of Dulan County of Qinghai Province. According to Xu Xinguo, the head of the Research Institute of Archeology of Qinghai, they were found under a sacrificial altar). All the skulls of men and animals in the lower layers of J2 and J4 relics were arranged in order, and under both the centers of J1 and J2 relics and the southern end of J4 relic, there were pottery jars, which were obviously buried according to a kind of complicated ritual practice. As for the time of the sacrifice offering site, based on the unearthed remains we can make the following preliminary speculations: first an analysis was made of the Tibetan scripts written in ink. After experts of ancient Tibetan languageof Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences and the China Tibetology Research Center observed the photos, they reckoned that the contents of the scripts were a kind of spells of the Bon religion which had nothing to do with Buddhism. The spells were unfathomable in meaning with terms like suppression among them. They were written not in the formal style which was popular in the Tubo Kingdom, but in a rather mature cursive style, with the traces of Tubo style. All the experts on ancient Tibetan scripts held that, according to the writing style and contents of these Tibetan scripts, the writing time could be from the 10th to 11th centuries. In the eastern part of J4, a small red clay pagoda was unearthed, which was clearly the remain after the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet (similar Tsa-tsa was also found

in Reshui Tubo tomb of Dulan County of Qinghai Province). Besides, we noticed that these four piles of stone slices were different in plane structures and remains buried under the ground. There were no signs of breaking or piling one over another among them. This probably showed the sequence in time. The comparison of each pottery jar excavated from J1, J2 and J4 could also prove this. One common characteristic of these three jars was single-eared form, while the differences on their bottoms can be classified into three categories in typology. The bottom of the jar from J1 was ball-shaped; the bottom of the jar from J4 was rather flat with some bending; while the bottom of the jar from J3 was almost flat. In the development of pottery from the periods of mid and late Tubo Kingdom till the period after the Tubo Kingdom in Tibet, the change from round bottom into flat bottom was one of the changes in this period. Therefore, we estimated that the Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang was a site of sacrifice offering which lasted for a period of time with repeated activities of sacrifice offering to the same deity. In summary, we think that the time of the site should be in the period of from the 9th to 11th centuries... Now we are still uncertain about whether this site was used for offering sacrifice or for witchcraft in nature and who were the recipients of sacrifice or witchcraft. We once speculated that the recipient of sacrifice could be Mt. Samten Gangsang, facing the site in a great distance. Of course, the final answer will remain unknown until a complete interpretation of the contents of those Tibetan scripts written in ink. It should be pointed out that the observation and analysis made by Mr. Zhang Jianlin in regard with the nature and time of the site are well considered. He first excluded the possibility that the site was a tomb. Secondly, through interpretation and analysis with experts of Tibetan scripts, he found that the contents of the scripts written on animal skulls were probably a kind of spells of the Bon religion unrelated to Buddhism. Especially the interpretation of the word suppression was crucially important for understanding the nature of those skulls of animals buried in the

HUO WEI

The Custom of Using Skulls to Suppress Evil Spirits in Primitive...

43

site. Thirdly, he thinks that the skulls of men and animals buried at the lower layers of Relics J2 and J4 were arranged in order, and under both the centers of J1 and J2 relics and the southern end of J4 relic, there were pottery jars, which obviously, were arranged according to a kind of complicated ritual practice. Fourthly, he pointed out very cautiously that Now we are still uncertain about whether this site was used for offering sacrifice or for witchcraft in nature and what were the objects of sacrifice or witchcraft. By saying so, he has put forward some unavoidable questions pending further study. Undoubtedly, his opinions are of great significance to further analysis of the archeological discoveries of this site. Based on his work, the writer thinks that it is possible to make further discussions in combination with documents as well as archeological materials.

surrounded by eight triangular petals, each with written ancient Tibetan characters. There are also Tibetan spells written in the outside circle. On another skull, there is the same design of three circles, and in the center, stands a figure similar to the previous one. The two circles outside the figure are also written with Tibetan spells. Apart from this, traces of Tibetan scripts and paintings were also found on sheep ribs and shoulder blades in the tomb.4 The writers explanation to this is that The spells and paintings on the two skulls of camels excavated from the Kexiaotu Tomb of Dulan County were probably painted by masters of the Bon religion when performing a magic art of subjugating evil spirits by tomb spellsafter dissection of animals.5

II
Before the introduction of Buddhism, the Bon religion was a popular religion with the nature of other primitive religions in Tibet. This religion took the sun, the moon, stars, sacred mountains, holy lakes, rivers, rocks and even animals and plants as deities of sacrificial offering. It was also a very popular practice of the Bon religion to subjugate evil spirits and expel disasters by killing animals.3 Many scholars hold that the Bon religion of Tibet has the closest relation with Shamanism. Data of ethnological investigations also show that prevention of hail, prayers for rain and suppressing evil spirits are important contents of the rites of the Bon religion among Tibetans. It should be noticed that similar archeological relics were also found in the tombs of the Tubo Kingdom in Dulan County of Qinghai Province. According to related data, two camel skulls with ancient Tibetan written spells were found in Kexiaotu Tomb of Dulan County of Qinghai Province. On the central tops of the two skulls, spells and designs drawn in black ink could be seen clearly. One of them has a design of three circles. In the central circle, a standing figure is painted, whose two twigs are floating outward, two hands crossed in the chest, and two legs bending. The figure is

It can be seen from the comparison of the two sites in Qinghai and Tibet that though the Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang is not a tomb, the excavated animal bones show clearly that it was also used by the Bon religion masters (witches) to perform the art of suppressing evil spirits after dissection of animals. Though the two were different in the site of performing the art, they were the same in basic rituals and

44

CHINA TIBETOLOGY Number 1, March 2009

magic arts (witchcraft). The most spectacular scene is to write spells or draw designs on the skulls of animals in black or red ink when performing the art in order to suppress evil spirits. The writer holds that this is a typical form to subjugate evil spirits by using the skulls of animals in Tibetan primitive religion. Rene de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, a famous Austrian scholar, in his book Oracles and Demons of Tibet explained this custom in details. He said: In order to avert or to counteract the harm caused by the various classes of sri demons, the help of Padmasambhavas wrathful form rDo-rje-gro-lod (or dPal-chen-rdo-rje-gro-bo-lod) should be engaged; the most efficacious method, however, to suppress the sri is to bury or set out the skulls of men and animals which have been filled with slips of paper inscribed with magic spells. The kinds of skulls, the spells, and the nature of the place to which the skulls should be brought vary according to which particular class of sri should be defeated. 6 In his book, he listed specific ways to counteract the malignant influence exercised by some of the more important sri classes, which is helpful for us to understand the details of this witchcraft. The following are quoted from his book: pho sri bury the skull of a yak. mo sri bury the skull of a black bitch. chung sri hide the skulls of a dog and a pig under the bed of the child whose life the chung sri threaten, or bury the skulls of a weasel, a puppy or a piglet. dur sri set out or bury the skulls of a fox, a badger and a marmot in a ceremony. btsan sri bury the heads of a fish and otter. dgra sri bury the heads of a wolf, horse, or yak at the border of an enemys dwelling. dam sri bury the skulls of a lynx, jackal, dog, goat or pig in the center of an inhabited place. rnal byor paI dam sri their influence can be suppressed by hiding the skulls of a man, a dog, and a pig underneath a stupa. med sri their power can be counteracted by burying the skulls of wild dogs and mice. klu sri they can be defeated by using the skull of a khyung. gri sri bury the skull of a hybrid yak.

god sri can be defeated by burying the skulls of a wild dog, monkey or toad, or by placing the skulls of a goat or sheep halfway up a mountain. lha sri their influence can be counteracted by using the skulls of vultures and eagles or the skull of a khyung. sdang baI sri bury the skulls of a wild dog. Of special importance are the manifold ceremonies destined to defeat thevarious groups of phung sri. One of these ceremonies bears the name Za dre phung sri kha bsgyur. While for defeating the phung sri in general the skull of a camel should be used, the application of the following skulls containing paper slips covered with mantras is recommended on the other hand in order to suppress some special groups of phung sri:rgyal pop hung baI phung sri the long skull of a Monpa and that of a man from the Hor country should be buried within the boundaries of a monastery. blon pop hung baI phung sri the skulls of a monkey, a parrot, or a bat should be buried at a place where people gather in order to hold a council. yul khams phung baI phung sri the skulls of a crossbreed yak and a mule have to be buried amidst the countryside. demy is phung baI phung sri the skulls of a lynx and a wolf have to be buried in a pit, which had been dug in the center of a great town.7 From the newly excavated archeological materials on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, we can see that a preliminary survey was made of the animal species unearthed from the Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang in Tibet. According to species identification and minimum statistics, besides common animals like yaks, sheep and horses, the skulls of animals unearthed from No. 2 Relic of Sacrifice Offering included two skulls of domestic horses, two skulls of wild Tibetan donkeys, eight skulls of domestic yaks, one skull of a goat, two skulls of musk deer, four skulls of dogs and two skulls of Himalayan marmots . Among them, the skulls of yaks outnumbered the other skulls. All the skulls of men, domestic horses, Tibetan wild donkeys and domestic yaks have no lower jaws.They were obviously buried after skin and flesh rotted and only skeletons remained.8 In No. 4 Relic of Sacrifice Offering, there

HUO WEI

The Custom of Using Skulls to Suppress Evil Spirits in Primitive...

45

are mainly ten skulls of dogs. The rest are one skull of a domestic horse, three skulls of domestic yaks, one skull of a sheep, one skull of a wolf, two skulls of Tibetan foxes, one skull of a root vole, four skulls of Himalayan marmots, one skull of a musk deer, and one skull of a pika.9 Hence we can see that the species found in these relics are very complicated. From J1 to J4, different animal bones were unearthed. In excavation, archeological workers noticed that The four stone piles are different in their plane structures as well as in remains buried under the ground. There are no signs of breaking or piling one over another among them. This shows that they were probably buried in time sequence. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the word suppression interpreted from the Tibetan spells, it can be preliminarily estimated that this place used to be a site to subjugate all kinds of sri demons in the Tubo Kingdom (around the 9th-11th centuries). The site was probably used for a long time to suppress and avert different sri demons through various rituals. Compared with this, in Tubo Tombs of Kexiaotu in Qinghai, only skulls of camels were found to be used to suppress sri demons. According to the examples given by Nebesky, it should be an archeological site of rites to suppress phung sri held in graveyards. From the above descriptions, the writer thinks that in the past, it was estimated that the Site of Sacrifice Offering of Chaxiutang was a site to offer sacrifice to Mt. Samten Gangsang in the distance. Now this conclusion should be changed. Basically, it can be believed to have the religious function of a site to suppress evil demons, avoid deserters and pray for peace. This site lasted for a long time with different rituals held to subjugate different sri demons. If this speculation is correct, it should be the first archeological site of suppressing demons found in the history of Tibet with records in documents, and it is of special value and significance in the development of religious history of Tibet.

III
After citing examples of using all kinds of skulls of animals to suppress demons, Nebesky pointed out that

subjugation of all kinds of sri demons was done by masters of the Bon religion who were called Mugshen. Tucci, an Italian famous expert of Tibetan studies also described this in Vol. 2, page 715 of his book Tibetan Painted Scrolls.10 Archeological data revealed that in the Kexiaotu Tomb of Qinghai, probably, rites of suppressing sri demons were probably held by Mugshen by using the skulls of camels to suppress phung sri among sri demons. In 1950, H. Hoffmann, a German scholar published his book Sources to the History of Tibetan Bon Religion, which aroused a great interest in academic circles. It was in this well-known book that he put forward the view that the Bon religion had the color of Shamanism and as a result, he made a profound influence in the academic field. Since then, people customarily translated gshen, the master who presides rites into Shaman in the documents of the Bon religion. In Tubo written scrolls of Dunhuang, Mu-gshen mainly referred to professional priests who held all kinds of rites at funerals. Mr. Chu Junjie has made in-depth studies on this. His research showed that in funeral rites of the Bon religion in the Tubo Kingdom, animals were usually dissected to offer sacrifice for the dead person. In ancient Tibetan scrolls of Dunhuan, there are detailed records of funeral rites of the Bon religion in the Tubo Kingdom. In that period, gshen, or professional funeral masters of the Bon religion, were all skilled at holding the rites of sacrifice offering, in which all kinds of animals were dissected as sacrifice to the dead person. For instance, it was recorded in P.T. 1042 of ancient Tibetan scroll of Dunhuang that in the process of a funeral rite, At the climax of the funeral rite, animals were pulled out, cut to drain blood and killed. Sheep were dissected and horses were slaughtered. The calculation of the sheep to be killed was: for a tomb with four angles, sacrifice four sheep; for a graveyard with eight edges, sacrifice four sheep To bury the dead, dig a small hole first, finally dig a grave, and throw soil downward at most three times. Horses, yaks and other animals should be offered according to their sizes from big to small. When animals were killed to summon spirits, cure or prevent diseases, the animals should be cut altogether into thirteen pieces includ-

46

CHINA TIBETOLOGY Number 1, March 2009

ing the head. More pieces would be overdone and less was not enough.11 This rite revealed a very ancient practice and it is rarely recorded in historical documents with strong colors of Buddhism. In tombs excavated in Tibet, a large amount of dissected animals buried with the dead were found, which were recorded in historical documents.12 These professional masters of the Bon religion could not only hold all kinds of funeral rite of killing animals to offer sacrifice in graveyards, but also played important roles in rites of suppressing all kinds of evil demons by using their skills of dissecting and killing animals and their mastery of all kinds of rites of the Bon religion. Apart from different sites and purposes, these two rites are similar on surface. However, though all the killings were done by Mugshen, killing in graveyards which is the symbol of hell is actually slightly different from the killing in the rites of suppressing evil spirits. For instance, usually, the killing rite held in graveyard did not require special parts of animals to be sacrificed objects. From either documents or archeological data, both the whole body or parts of the body after dissection would do, whereas, in the latter rites mainly the skulls of animals were used as instruments. Furthermore, in the former rites, usually no signs or spells were written on animal bones, whereas in the latter both were used. In his description of the purification ceremony held for the dead spirit in the Bon religious rite, Mr. Tucci pointed out that people chanted sacred spells nine times in front of the dead and a paper or wooden piece written with the name of the dead . Under such circumstances, the role of the dead body is very obvious. It is not only the destiny of the dead in the rite as mentioned above, but also the origin of life according to a very popular idea in central and northern Asia. The soul is located in bones, and life can be reborn from them.13 Tuccis idea that souls are located in bones is mainly reflected on the skull, a special part of the body, in primitive religious awareness of many ethnic minorities. As is known to all, in the system of primitive religions of different ethnic minorities of the world, the skulls of men or animal have been endowed with certain mysterious powers. Taking the skulls of

men as an example, in human history, there were all kinds of customs or rites of hunting human heads, offering human heads as sacrifice, cutting the ears of enemies or offering the heads of enemy leaders as sacrifice.14 The skulls of men, especially the processed ones, are still being used as containers or drinking ware called skull cups among many ethnic minorities in the central and eastern Asia. The writer thinks that in explaining this phenomenon, the key point is that the skulls of men or animals are regarded as objects which embody sagacity.15 Many primitive ethnic groups also believe that the skulls of animals are the residence of their souls. British scholar Frazer says in his book The Golden Bough that The Baganda greatly fear the ghosts of buffaloes which they have killed, and they always appease these dangerous spirits. On no account will they bring the head of a slain buffalo into a village or into a garden of plantains: they always eat the flesh of the head in the open country. Afterwards they place the skull in a small hut built for the purpose, where they pour out beer as an offering and pray to the ghost to stay where he is and not to harm them.16 In King Gesar, which is very popular among Tibetans, Mongolians and other northern nationalities, it is recorded that after King Gesar killed the Wild Yak of Red Bronze Horns, he made its head and horns into objects to suppress the souls of the Kingdom of Hor, the Kingdom of Black Hawk the Kingdom of Jang and the Kingdom of Meng, andin order to defeat all demons and subjugate the eight kingdoms, he put them in Mt. Benmuro=where northern elephants and poisonous snakes run around.17 This is an example of using the skulls of animals to suppress evil spirits. The adoration and awe for the souls located in the skulls of animals have been passed on in Tibetan-inhabited areas till today. The most typical form is hanging the skulls of yaks, sheep or other animals. For instance, data of ethnology investigations revealed that Tibetans in Jiarong(rgya-rong) District of Sichuan Province inlay the head of a yak into stone walls with white stones and put the head of a newly killed yak on the roof. The heads of yaks inscribed with spells are consecrated in monasteries or on sutra piles.18 Mr. Xie

HUO WEI

The Custom of Using Skulls to Suppress Evil Spirits in Primitive...

47

Jisheng also pointed out that Up to now, the horns of yaks are put in many mountains or on door frames in Tibetan-inhabited areas People even put enemies objects into the left horns of yaks as witchcraft of subjugating evil spirits by yaks .This is a way for people to expel disasters and evil spirits by the magic power of the yak totem after the deification of it.19 As a result of the previously mentioned primitive concepts, using the skulls of men or animals together with magic spells to expel and subjugate evil spirits and pray for peace has been regarded as the most effective method. It is also one of the forms of witchcraft of many primitive ethnic groups including ancient Tibetan nationality. Newly excavated archeological remains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau preserved the site, instruments (buried objects) and rites of this witchcraft in real objects. They are truly precious materials and their academic value and significance deserve attention. Hope more in-depth studies will be made by experts and scholars.

Notes:
1 Bureau of Cultural Relics of Tibet Autonomous Region, Department of Archaeology of Sichuan University, Institute of Archaeology of Shaanxi Province: Field Report of Archaeological Discovery of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Tibet , Beijing: Science Publishing House, 2005. 2 All the information of the discovery of this paper is from the above report. 3 Chu Junjie: A Study on Funeral Ritual of the Tubo Bon Religion , China Tibetology, 1989, No. 3, No.4. 4 Relevant data is not officially issued in archeological reports. They are from the two pictures sent to the writer by Dr. Amy. Heller, a Swiss expert of Tibetology who took the pictures on the spot. According to her article The Tubo Tombs in Dulan of Qinghai (Translated version was published in Tibetan Studies), two skulls of camels with ancient Tibetan scripts and other images written on them were excavated from the Tubo tombs of Dulan. They are probably the images on the two pictures. As mentioned previously, Xu

Xinguo, Head of Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology of Qinghai Province, once told Researcher Zhang Jianlin, who was in charge of the evacuation of the Site of Chaxiutang, that in the tombs of Dulan there were similar skulls of animals (written with ancient Tibetan scripts) buried with the dead. 5 See the writers descriptions about the rituals of sacrifice offering in the Tubo Kingdom in the latter part of the conclusion of Field Report of Archaeological Discovery of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Tibet, p.183-186. 6 [Austria] Rene de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, translated by Xie Jisheng: Oracles and demons of Tibet , Vol. 2, Lhasa, Tibet Peoples Publishing House, 1993, p607. 7 [Austria] Rene de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, translated by Xie Jisheng: Oracles and demons of Tibet, Vol. 2, Lhasa, Tibet Peoples Publishing House, 1993, p607-608. 8 Field Report of Archaeological Discovery of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Tibet p130-131. 9 Field Report of Archaeological Discovery of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Tibet, p 135. 10 [Austria] Rene de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, translated by Xie Jisheng: Oracles and demons of Tibet , Vol. 2, Lhasa, Tibet Peoples Publishing House, 1993, p607, Note 2. 11 Chu Junjie: A Study on Funeral Ritual of the Tubo Bon Religion , China Tibetology, 1989, No. 3. 12 Huo Wei: The Ancient Funeral System in Tibet, Chapter 7 The Custom of Sacrificing Animals in Funerals of the Tubo Kingdom, Chengdu, Sichuan Peoples Publishing House, 1995. 13 [Italy] G. Tucci, translated by Geng Sheng: Religions of Tibet , Tianjin: Tianjin Ancient Book Publishing House, 1989, p 247. 14 Song Zhaolin: Witch and Witchcraft , Chengdu, Sichuan Publishing House of Nationalities, 1989, p.198. 15 Head-hunting Ethnic Groups in Southeast Asia, Beijing: Commercial Publishing House, 1935, p.112-113. 16 [Britain] James.Joe. Freiz, translated by Xu Yuxin et al: The Golden Bough, Beijing: Chinas Folk Literature Publishing House, 1987, Vol. 2, p. 749. 17 Translated by Wang Yinuan: The Life of King Gesar., Lanzhou, Gansu Peoples Publishing House, 1983. 18 Deng Tingting: Exploration of the Origin of Jiarong Ethnic Group: , Journal of Southwest Institute of Nationalities, 1986, No.1. 19 Xie Jisheng: Exploration into the Mythology of the Origin of Yak Totem-typed Tibetans , Tibetan Studies, 1986, No.3.

From China Tibetology (Chinese Edition) No.1,2007 Translated by Li Hua