Research On Daoist Incantation

Daoist incantations are a combination of Daoist talisman and spells.In Daoism,the use of spells is often combined with the use of talisman.The magic arts practiced by Daoists are either dominated by spells and complemented by talisman or the other way around.Generally speaking,“Fu”(talisman)refers to a mysterious image that consists of dots,lines,characters and pictures and is drawn with a red-ink pen or an ink pen with a flexible technique.Daoists say that it has many functions such as dispelling ghosts,inviting gods,treating diseases and disasters,etc.“Zhou”(spells)refers to the formula with special audio effect,which is widely used by Daoists to achieve special purposes of the performer,such as keeping healthy,praying for good fortune,eliminating disasters,dispelling ghosts or inviting gods.Daoist incantations,originated from the Eastern Han Dynasty and developed in the Wei and Jin Dynasties,are the key to Daoist magical arts.Based on the theory of interactions between man and heaven and using varied pictures and unique language as the medium,incantations symbolize the medium in ceremonies to endow them with infinite divine power.According to whether the literal meaning is easy to interpret,spells can be divided into explicit spells and secret spells.The format of the manifesting mantra is relatively regular.It reads catchy and sonorous;Most of the secret mantras come from Buddhist terms,focusing on the mysterious audio energy and atmosphere.Incantations are essentially the deformation of ancient witch culture,so they inherit the “genetic genes” of witch culture;or in other words,they develop the information symbols of witch culture.From the perspective of cultural anthropology,witchcraft civilization is the product of primitive thinking in human childhood,and incantations are also equipped with this primitive thinking mode.Both talisman and spells are endowed with unique Chinese cultural characteristics,talisman in particular.Spells are a form of worship and superstition of sound and language by primitive human beings,so they have distinct characteristics of language and symbol worship.Talisman can simply be divided into two categories: written talisman and graphic talisman,and the creation of talisman also has the characterized by symbol worship.The research content and innovation of this paper lies in the application of Semiotic to the analysis of characteristics,functional application mechanism,thinking characteristics and cultural values of Daoist incantations.Firstly,the invention of spells indicates that people at that time have surpassed the primitive worship stage to enter a higher civilization.As an important part of Daoist culture,incantations establish a unique and complex symbol system,which needs to be categorized and distinguished according to the characteristics of symbols.Specifically,it is divided into two systems: Taoist talisman symbols and mantra symbols.Firstly,the composition of the talisman system can be divided into many types of symbol components from different angles;It has a two-layer segmented structure in morphological structure;It is closed in system characteristics.Second,the mantra symbol system contains the arbitrariness and similarity of language symbols,and also reflects the unity of individuality and commonness of Taoist innovation and secular language symbols.It is a double-layer structure in the construction of language symbols.Secondly,this paper analyzes the theoretical basis on which the function of spells can be formed.These theoretical bases not only include the relevant concepts of subject and object and time and space in Taoist culture,but also include the formation of the functions of the two systems of talisman and mantra in the biaxial relationship.Finally,this paper summarizes the thinking characteristics and cultural values embodied in the social and historical phenomenon of incantations,it is also worth noting that the negative effects of Taoist spells cannot be ignored and emphasizes that superstition and irrational bias are also a reasonable and justified part of the incantations.