A Study On Yi 's "Contribution To Sacrifice

Zuoji Xianyao Gongsheng Jing is an important part of Zuoji Jing which are the religious classics. The memorial ceremony for the dead is held grandly in the Yi nationality. Traditionally, only by holding the memorial ceremony, can the ghost be safe and serene, protecting the offspring. Ma Xueliang interpreted and annotated Zuoji Xianyao Gongsheng Jing in the1940s, making us have a good understanding of the scripture and the rich traditional culture of the Yi nationality.Since Ma Xueliang’s study on Zuoji Xianyao Gongsheng Jing in the1940s, few people have made systematic study on it except professor Zhu Chongxian from Minzu University of China. Zhu Chongxian made the scripture his teaching material in classes. Meanwhile, he interpreted and annotated many parts of the scripture in the book Yiwen Wenxian Xuandu, giving us important reference for understanding the scripture. However, most of the other study on Zuoji Xianyao Gongsheng Jing is not systematic, generally analyzing one aspect of the scripture. So, it is imperative to analyze this scripture systematically. This paper will be based on Ma Xueliang’s study on Zuoji Xianyao Gongsheng Jing in the1940s, firstly analyzing some key words of the scripture, then explaning the cultural connotation of it. The paper includes four chapters.The first chapter is introduction, explaning the objective and meaning of selecting this topic, introducing the current study situation of this scripture, and summarizing the main content and research methods of the paper.In the second chapter, this paper interprets and annotates the key words, and analyzes the misinterpretation situation of some key words in Ma Xueling’s interpretation and annotation of this scripture. Through the above study on the key words, the paper tries to analyze the content of this scripture more accurately on a micro level. The second chapter is also the difficult point of this paper. Because of the shortage of the Yi language knowledge and the cultural background knowledge of the Yi nationality, the author often has to find help from dictionaries or relating books, requiring arduous efforts. However, the study on the key words in the second chapter is necessary for us to deeply understand the cultural connotation of this scripture.The third chapter explains the cultural connotation of the scripture from the aspects of philosophy, religion, customs and medicine, including four sections.The section of philosophy analyzes the philosophical knowledge reflected in the scripture from three angles:the Yin and Yang view, the change view and the roots seeking view. The section of religion analyzes the religious knowledge reflected in it following the development course of nature worship, totem worship and ancestor worship. The section of medicine analyzes the medicine knowledge reflected in it from the aspects of vegetable drug and animal drug of the Yi nationality. The next section analyzes the education ideas, etiquette and custom of making sacrifices and the marriage forms.The fourth chapter is epilogue. Three revelations are made in the paper such as finding the right methods of study-making. Meanwhile, the paper has some unresolved problems, for example, the difficulty of analyzing the key words in the scripture because of the lack of the knowledge of the Yi language.