Tongji (;
Tâi-lô: tâng-ki) or Jitong () is a
Chinese folk religious practitioner, usually translated as a "
spirit medium", "
oracle
An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination.
Descript ...
", or "
shaman
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
".
''Tong'' (Vietnamese: ʔdoŋ; Mon: doŋ) has an Austroasiatic
substrate
Substrate may refer to:
Physical layers
*Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached
** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...
which means 'to dance
under daemonic possession' is represented phonologically by the character "child; youth; boy servant" and ''ji'' means "to divine" (cf. ''
fuji'' "divination; planchette writing"). Regional variants include
Hokkien
Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...
''tâng-ki'' and
Cantonese
Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
''gei-tung'' or ''san-daa'' .
A ''tongji'' or ''jitong'' is a person believed to have been chosen by a particular
shen (chinese deity) or spirit as the earthly vehicle for divine expression. The Chinese differentiate a ''
wu'' "shaman; healer; spirit medium" who gains control of forces in the spirit world versus a ''tongji'' who appears to be entirely under the control of forces in the spirit world.
External links and references
* Andersen, Poul. 2008. "''Tâng-ki'' (or ''jitong'') (or ) spirit-medium", in ''The Encyclopedia of Taoism'', ed. by Fabrizio Pregadio, pp. 964-966. Routledge.
* Elliott, Alan J. A. 1955. ''Chinese Spirit Medium Cults in Singapore''. Monographs on Social Anthropology, No. 14. Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science.
* Groot, Jan Jakob Maria. 1892-1910
''The Religious System of China: Its Ancient Forms, Evolution, History and Present Aspect, Manners, Customs and Social Institutions Connected Therewith'' 6 volumes. Brill Publishers.
* Jordan, David K. 1976
''Anthropology: Perspective on Humanity'', ed. by Marc J. Swartz and David K. Jordan. John Wiley & Sons.
* Jordan, David K. 1977
* Jordan, David K. 1999
3rd edition. Department of Anthropology, UCSD.
* Myers, John T. 1974
''A Chinese Spirit-medium Temple in Kwun Tong: A Preliminary Report'' Social Research Centre, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
* Myers, John T. 1975
"A Hong Kong Spirit-medium Temple" ''Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 15:16-27.
Anthropology of religion
Asian shamanism
Practices in Chinese folk religion
Shamanism in China
Indigenous spirituality
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