The Witch's Trance-Dance

"The Witch's Trance-Dance" (Chinese: 跳神; pinyin: Tiàoshen; lit.: 'Jumping God') is a short story by Pu Songling first published in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

"The Witch's Trance-Dance"
19th-century illustration from Xiangzhu liaozhai zhiyi tuyong (Liaozhai Zhiyi with commentary and illustrations; 1886)
AuthorPu Songling
Original title"跳神 (Huapi)"
TranslatorSidney Sondergard (2008)
CountryChina
LanguageChinese
Genre(s)
Published inStrange Tales from a Chinese Studio
Media typePrint (Book)
Publication date1740
Preceded by"Zhangcheng (张诚)"
Followed by"Iron Skin Method (铁布衫法)"

Plot

In Jinan, and even more so in Beijing, elderly female shamans are often invited to sick beds to perform a ritual known as tiaoshen (跳神) intended to drive away the illness; they are also asked to bless newly-weds. Pu Songling goes on to describe in detail the practices of these witches.

Literary significance

Sidney Sondergard writes that "there is certainly nothing sectarian about Pu Songling's depiction of the deities of Buddhism and Daoism, which is keeping with his eclectic enthusiasm for all things beyond the mundane"; in "The Witch's Trance-Dance", he "open-mindedly depicts practices associated with folk beliefs that aren't part of a preexisting religious system".[1] Ma Ruifang likewise notes the vivid description of northern Chinese withcraft in the story, while arguing that Pu is satirising the fraudulent practices of the witches.[2]

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References

Citations
  1. Sondergard 2008, p. xxvii.
  2. Ma 2004, p. 485.

Bibliography
  • Ma, Ruifang (2004). 从《聊斋志异》到《红楼梦》 [From Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio to Dream of a Red Chamber] (in Chinese). Shandong Jiaoyu. ISBN 9787532845040.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sondergard, Sidney (2008). Strange Tales from Liaozhai. 3. Jain Publishing Company. ISBN 9780895810458.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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