Shan Wang, the Mountain God
Qiang folk religion · deity · Qiang folk religion traditional religion; continuing · deity
Shan Wang, the Mountain King, is the mountain god of Qiang folk religion and the God of the Mountains among the five great gods whose white stones crown the Qiang house. In the upper Min River region mountain-god worship is the most widespread form of the religion, each village cluster keeping its own Shan Wang in a sacred grove on the heights; in some localities he is reckoned the supreme god outright. His chief observance is the Mountain Sacrifice (jishan), among the most important festivals of the Qiang, at which the shibi priest, drum in hand, leads the villagers in offering a goat at the grove's white-stone altar to secure the protection of the community, its herds, and its harvest.
Domains
- mountains and wild land
- hunting and herds
Powers
- to guard the territory, herds, and harvest of the village that honors him
Epithets
- 山王
Sources
- Graham, David Crockett. The Customs and Religion of the Ch'iang. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 135, no. 1. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1958.
- Yu, Shiao-ling. "Sacrifice to the Mountain: A Ritual Performance of the Qiang Minority People in China." TDR/The Drama Review 48, no. 4 (184) (2004): 155-177.