2008 Discount Yangtze River Cruise Starting from 290 USD p.p.! !
RIVER RITES
--by
Madeleine Lynn
Life on board a junk was hard and
dangerous work. Cornell Plant, River Inspector
for the Chinese imperial Maritime Service in
the 1900s, Wrote about the risks of travelling
through the Three Gorges f Chinese say that
one junk in ten is badly damaged, and one in
20 totally wrecked each trip. Probably not 20
per cent reach Chungking unscathed, and never
one without experiencing some hair's--breadth
escape.
It was common for trackers to fall
from the tow-paths to their deaths or to break
a limb and
be left behind by their junk. Thus Yangtze boatmen
had a wealth of rites and taboos that had to
be observed to ensure a safe passage.
At the beginning of a voyage and
also before entering the Three Gorges,the most
dangerous stretch of the river, it was the cook's
task to light incense,set off firecrackers and,
most importantly, to kill a rooster and sprinkle
the blood on the bows of the junk. Writing in
1880, Captain Gill described how to get through
the Xintan Rapids safely. The junk could hire
a shaman who would come on board with a yellow
flag inscribed 'Power of the Water! A happy
star for the whole journey'. As the boat ploughed
through the waves dragged by the straining trackers,
the shaman would stand at the bow,waving the
flag in a regular motion to appease the powers
of the water. It was also essential to sprinkle
rice on the water all the way through the rapids.
Like fishermen everywhere in China,
many Yangtze boatmen still believe that it is
very bad luck to turn over a fish at table f
'capsize fish, capsize boat'.Another taboo is
resting chopsticks on top of a rice bowI in
a position that suggests a junk ran aground.
Unlike Western sailors, however, there is no
taboo against women aboard ship and junk owners
usually brought their
wives along.
Sometimes fish swimming upstream used
to jump onto the decks. They were considered
demons and had to be taken ashore and buried.
Boatmen also had to contend with the ghosts
of the drowned, who would string themselves
in a line behind a boat, preparing to board
the vessel and cause trouble. The way to shake
them loose was to cut quickly in front of another
boat, so that the ghosts would lose their grip
and attach themselves to the boat behind. Not
a very neighborly thing to do ! Describing this
to explorer Wong How Man in l986, a boat captain
recounted that, 'In the past, it was a game
that often left the trailing boat's owner jumping,
cursing and shooting off firecrackers to pacify
his increased string of ghosts.'
Meanwhile those living on shore
had floods to contend with. The lovely pagodas
all along the river were built for flood prevention.
It was believed that floods were often caused
by dragons (since they have the power to control
the waters), or by evil demons. A pagoda built
on top of the hill inhabited by one of these
creatures could prevent him from coming out
and causing trouble. A pagoda could also prevent
the wealth of the nearby town from being swept
away by the current.
After the disastrous flood of 1788,
which inundated over 30 counties in Hubei Province,
the Emperor ordered nine iron oxen to be placed
along the banks of the river. According to the
court record :"The Sea Dragon submits to
Iron and the Ox belongs to Earth, Earth controls
Water, the lron Ox can suppress the flood."
This was following Chinese theories of the properties
of the elements:fire, metal, earth, water and
air.
• Shanghai
• River Rites
• What
to See in Shanghai (1)
• What
to See in Shanghai (2)
• Shanghai's
History Through Its Names
• Cool Depths
• Revolutionary
Sites
• Excursions
from Shanghai
