Sanctification Of Disease:A Study On The Chengni Rite Of Suni Of Yi In Liangshan

At present,the focus of Yi religious research is mainly on Bimo,who knows Yi language and calendar,and the vast and profound ancient scriptures.However,there are few discussions on Suni,another kind of unique Sorcerer.It makes people feel that Bimo and Suni,who both serve for the belief life of Yi people in Liangshan,are regarded differently.Suni is a traditional Sorcerer of the Yi people in Liangshan,whose number is very small and social status is not as good as Bimo.The main functions of them are to cure diseases and divination.Suni’s unique style of ritual therapy,as a kind of folk medical practice,treats the pain of countless patients and plays a unique role in the diversified medical system in Liangshan.However,Suni’s unique skills are not acquired.The process of becoming Suni is painful and sacred.First of all,they must suffer from witchcraft diseases in different degrees.Then,they need to hold the rite of becoming a Suni to invite and subdue the gods.If the rite is successful,the person can be recognized as a wizard who can cure the disease and must perform his clergy for life,otherwise the disease will recur again.It can be seen that there are two natures of the rite: one is the therapeutic nature of curing patients’ pain,and the other is the transition of transforming their identity into a group of " Sorcerer ".A rite can not only make the patients healthy,but also make their social role and function have a qualitative change,its research value is self-evident.Although the academic circles pay more and more attention to Suni group,there is still a gap in the process of sun I becoming Suni,the definition of Suni’s Gods,the etiology of witchcraft disease and the cure mechanism of it.Based on this,the author takes the rite,Chengni Rite(the name of the rite of becoming Suni)as the research object,mainly uses the methods of field investigation,participation experience,in-depth interview,literature and interdisciplinary comprehensive research to study it,in order to record and analyze the process of the rite,and at the same time to explore the above problems with the results of Shaman research.Specifically,the article includes the following aspects.The first chapter is the introduction,which introduces the origin of the topic,research review,research methods,field selection and research difficulties.The second chapter briefly describes the situation of sun I in Yi and Suni’s belief concept,and focuses on the explanation of "Asa",the gods of Suni.The third chapter discusses sun I’s Witchcraft disease,sorts out and classifies sun I’s various pain experiences and symptom types in the form of oral narration,and analyzes the witchcraft disease in the culture,and concludes that the witchcraft disease is actually a kind of “Divine Manifestation”.The fourth chapter records and combs the ritual process,discusses the ritual logic,the concept of "danger" and Yi People’s religious emotions for ghosts,gods and taboos.The fifth chapter analyzes the concepts and metaphors in the rite from the text of scriptures and symbols.The last chapter is to discuss the two characteristics of Chengni Rite: therapeutic and transitional,and hold that the cure mechanism of witchcraft includes psychotherapy and other comprehensive therapies,and the acquisition of wizard identity is due to the confirmation of the relationship with divinity and the recognition of Bimo and the group on Suni’s individual ability of "Controlling God".It also points out that the process of sanctification of the disease is actually the process of cultural treatment of disease.Whether it is the treatment of the disease by Chengni Rite itself or serving the group as Suni,it is the cultural treatment of sunibn disease.