The Evolution and Transformation of Shaman’s Roles in China

Shamanism was usually treated as a primitive and uncultured beliefs system in comparison with those religions of Axial-Age Civilization. There are even some doubts on the very existence of shamanism. However, the culture and customs with shamanism characteristics do exist and prevail all over the world, especially in Northeast Asia. Therefore, Shamanism once prevailed in some ethnic groups living in the northeast and north of China, including Mongolian, Manchu, Hezhen, Ewenki, etc, and has affected their production and daily life to this day. Besides those descriptions about initiation rituals, costumes and ornaments, functions and roles, the relationships among shaman, chief and priest in myth and folklore are still essential for us to analyze the society, kinship and cosmology. On this basis, it is important to differentiate 2 aspects: “shaman in the court”, and “shaman in the wild”, which reflects the evolution and needs of social function and kingship structure. The great shaman as the original leader, shaman as a medium between whole society and heaven, shaman limited and controlled by the royalty in the court as a branch of religious function of kingship, were three totally different situations that should be carefully distinguished.