Benzhuism () is the indigenous religion of the Bai people, an ethnic group of

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

, China. It consists in the worship of the ''ngel zex'', the Bai word for "patrons" or "lords", rendered as ''benzhu'' (本主) in Chinese, that are local gods and deified ancestors of the Bai people. It is very similar to common Chinese religion. While many of the Bai are Buddhists, the local government of China has recently helped the revival of the Benzhu ethnic religion, for example through the promotion of the Gwer Sa La festival.Liang Yongjia, 2013.

The patrons

Local lords and ancestors

The ''benzhu'' are mainly

deified Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The term has ...

ancestors, "patrons" or "lords" of the local communities. Every Bai village has its own pantheon of gods which has formed throughout its existence, incorporating its history in deifying virtuous leaders, warriors, and

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

es. ''Cultural China''
The Benzhu religion of the Bai
These deities, who are tied to the immediate surroundings, protect the people against sickness and violence, foster local economy, and grant prosperity. Generally, one village enshrines one benzhu, and there are also cases of multiple villages consecrated to the same benzhu. In every village around

Erhai Lake Erhai or Er Lake (), is an alpine fault lake in Yunnan province, China. Erhai was also known as Yeyuze () or Kunming Lake () in ancient times. Etymology The character "洱" (er) does not have the same meaning as ear (耳). During the Han to Tan ...

the local people have developed a peculiar mythology about their local lord, differing from that of neighboring villages. This tradition is similar to that of the

City God Temple The Chenghuangshen (), is a tutelary deity or deities in Chinese folk religion who is believed to protect the people and the affairs of the particular village, town or city of great dimension, and the corresponding afterlife location. Beginning ...

of Chinese religion.

Gods of nature

Other ''benzhu'' are gods of the generation of the local place. These include the God of the Mountain, the God of the Crops, the God of the Hunt, the

Dragon King The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the '' lóng'' in C ...

or the Mother Goddess of the Dragon King.

Features

Benzhu festivals

Benzhu Festivals in

Dali City Dali City () is the county-level seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Yunnan. Dali City is administered through 12 township-level districts, two of which are also commonly referred to as Dali. Xiaguan () formerly ...

take place according to the

lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, t ...

, after Chinese New Year. During festivals, the benzhu shrine are taken from the temples and carried through the towns to a different location where they stay for a number of days. The villagers follow the gods to the designated place burning incense and worshiping with food and money.

Psychology and shamanism

The Bai believe that the soul does not die with the body, but it can go to the "Kingdom of the Shades" helped by complex ritual ceremonies performed by the living community. Angry spirits can cause illness, but local gods can protect people against them. Illnesses are caused by the possession of evil spirits and they can be treated by female

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

Cult of the white stones

The Nama branch of the Bai, residing near the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

, preserves a cult of the white stones common to the ethnic groups descended from the

Qiang people The Qiang people ( Qiangic: ''Rrmea''; ) are an ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 310,000 in 2000. They live mainly in a ...

. Some believe they represent the bones of the ancestors, others that they are a representation of the Fire God, a deity worshipped around China.

References

Bibliography

* Liang Yongjia.
Turning Gwer Sa La Festival into Intangible Cultural Heritage: State Superscription of Popular Religion in Southwest China
. In: '' China: An International Journal''. Volume 11, Number 2, August 2013. pp. 58-75

External links

Benzhuism of the Bai Ethnic Minority
China & Asia Cultural Travel, TanSuo Cultural Travel Solution Ltd. {{Religion topics Bai people Religion in Yunnan East Asian religions Shamanism in China