Cihongo, male spirit of wealth and chiefly power
Cihongo (Chihongo) is the male ancestral mask-spirit of the Chokwe, conventionally translated 'spirit of wealth.' He personifies the masculine principles of power, social status, accomplishment and strength, and is regarded as a source of the prosperity of the community. The mask that embodies him is distinguished by a projecting disc-shaped beard, gaunt angular features, circular sun-disc marks on the cheeks (cijingo, recalling a spiral brass bracelet), and a cross-shaped mark on the forehead, the cingelyengelye, which is said to represent the creator god Nzambi. Historically only a chief or one of his sons was entitled to wear Cihongo; the masked figure travelled from village to village over two or three months collecting tribute for the chief, offering the spirit's protection in return. Cihongo stands as the male counterpart to the female mask-spirit Mwana Pwo.
Domains
- wealth and prosperity
- kingship and sovereignty
Powers
- to bring wealth and prosperity to the chief and community
- to protect the chief while gathering tribute through the land
Epithets
- cingelyengelyeMarie-Louise Bastin, La sculpture Tshokwe (Meudon: Alain et Françoise Chaffin, 1982). (secondary)
Relations
- companion: Mwana Pwo, female ancestral spirit of beauty and fertilityCihongo, the male spirit of wealth and power, forms the classic complementary pair with the female ancestral spirit Mwana Pwo, the model of feminine beauty and fertility; together they embody the masculine and feminine principles of Chokwe society.Manuel Jordán, ed., Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples (Munich: Prestel, 1998). (secondary)
- subordinate to: Nzambi, the remote supreme creatorCihongo is a mahamba; its very mask bears the cingelyengelye cross-mark identified as a sign of the creator Nzambi, situating the wealth-spirit within the order of ancestral powers that mediate the creator.Marie-Louise Bastin, La sculpture Tshokwe (Meudon: Alain et Françoise Chaffin, 1982). (secondary)
Sources
- Cihongo is the male Chokwe ancestral mask-spirit of wealth and chiefly power, impersonated by a chief or his son who toured the realm exacting tribute under the spirit's protection.: Marie-Louise Bastin, Art décoratif Tshokwe, 2 vols. (Lisbon: Companhia de Diamantes de Angola / Museu do Dundo, 1961). (secondary); Manuel Jordán, ed., Chokwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples (Munich: Prestel, 1998). (secondary)