Stone Surname Shaman Holy Song Of Research

The present dissertation is a formulaic analysis on a text sung by Manchu Shi clan Shaman in Jilin Province. The text has been regarded as one of the most famous one with archaic elements of the sort, which titled The Translation of Manchu Shamanistic Sacred Songs (hereafter as TMSSS) translated and transliterated by Song Heping.So far researches on the Manchu sacred songs, a genre of folk verbal arts performed in Shamanistic rituals, are in some sense a field needs more academic attention. As far as the present author knows, the majority of the previous researches conducted by Chinese scholars are not satisfactory, since the interpretations came from Chinese translations, and philological concerns are totally neglected. According to the present author's fieldwork experiences in Jilin Province, the Manchu Shamanistic sacred songs were filled with formulae. Formula is a primary concept of "Parry- Lord Theory"(or Oral Formulaic Theory); it explains why a folk illiterate singer is able to keep hundreds of thousands of verse lines in his memory. The Oral Formulaic Theory's methods are being adopted here in analytical work.Through careful reading of the TMSSS, we found that there are eight types of formulae, which help the performer in composing his songs in Shamanistic rituals. We also like to demonstrate here the major functions formula generates.The present author noticed that the procedure of Shamanistic rituals is normally formulaic as well. And it is worth mentioning that the performing formula is counterpart of formulaic phrases in the text.Main points of the present dissertation are the following:First, formula plays decisive role in Manchu Shamanistic rituals. Performer or Shaman takes formula as traditional device to help him in singing his libretto in front of his audience. Second, though Manchu people no longer use the Manchu language in everyday life, they allow those expressions well kept in the songs, despite their meaning blurs in the long run.The structure of the dissertation is as follows:Lead-in: an overview on scholarship of the Manchu Shamanistic rituals and songs.Besides the Introduction and the Conclusion, the main body of the dissertation is divided into four parts.Chap. 1, basic situation of the Shamanistic songs and texts.Chap. 2, frame-structure of Shi clan sacred songs. (Part one)Chap.3, frame-structure of Shi clan sacred songs. (Part two)Chap.2 and Chap.3 compress eight formulae of the Shi clan sacred songs, these formulae always be recited when Shaman sing the songs.Chap.4, the relationship of the sacred songs and the ritual.