Baeuqloxdoh, the supreme creator
Zhuang · deity · Zhuang traditional religion; continuing · deity
Baeuqloxdoh, sinicized as Bu Luotuo, is the supreme creator and primal ancestor of the Zhuang, the Tai-speaking majority of Guangxi. In the Mo religion his deeds are preserved in the Baeu Rodo (Buluotuo) scriptures, archaic five-syllable verse written in the Old Zhuang character script and chanted by bumo (also romanized boumo or mogong) priests. The epic recounts how he parted earth and sky, found and harnessed water, tamed fire, domesticated rice and the farm animals, and established human institutions such as marriage, sacrifice, writing and chieftaincy. He is reckoned ruler of the earthly, human realm, complementing the thunder god Gyaj in heaven and the dragon king Ngweg in the waters.
Domains
- creation of the world
- culture hero and law giving
Powers
- to separate the earth from the sky and set the world in order
- to teach humankind rice farming, fire, marriage and sacrifice
Epithets
- Baeuqloxdoh
Relations
Sources
- Holm, David. Recalling Lost Souls: The Baeu Rodo Scriptures, Tai Cosmogonic Texts from Guangxi in Southern China. Bangkok: White Lotus, 2004.
- Holm, David. Killing a Buffalo for the Ancestors: A Zhuang Cosmological Text from Southwest China. DeKalb: Southeast Asia Publications, Northern Illinois University, 2003.