モンゴル帝國における燒飯祭祀

Abstract

In successive Chinese dynasties, the main rituals continued to be those to worship the ancestors of the imperial family and those worshipping heaven and earth. During the Mongol empire also, ancestral rituals and those for heaven and earth were emphasized, but there were some differences from the observences of other dynasties. This was because Mongols incorporated their own traditions into the ritual program. Representative of this change is the Shao fan 燒飯ritual at which offerings were burned in order to dedicate the smoke to heaven and to imperial ancestors. This paper demonstrates the result of my investigation into Shao fan showing that it was not a fixed ritual during the Mongol empire but instead combined rituals for ancestral spirits and those for heaven and earth into a ritual that employed burnt offerings in accordance with Mongolian tradition. The characteristics of Shao fan can be summarized in the following 10 points. 1) The offering was burned in a hole. 2) Horses, cattle, and sheep were chiefly used as sacrificial animals, but occasionally water birds, tarbagan, and dogs were also used. In some cases, cereals were also offered. 3) Bones were usually burned, but meat was burned on rare occasions. 4) When burning, horse milk and liquor were sprinkled over the fire. 5) Textiles and daily necessities were also burned together. 6) The heads, chest, and forelimbs of sacrificial animals were distributed to attendees or used for other rituals. 7) The ritual was held in a cemetery, at a mound, within a special area surrounded by walls. 8) Leader who conducted the rituals were women (widows). 9) Mongolian shamans directed the rituals. 10) The remains from the fire were either buried or piled up in a heap. The former was intended for ancestor worship, and the latter for the worship of heaven and earth. The purpose of Shao fan changed when the heaven and earth rituals began to be conducted in Dadu 大都 in 1275. Thereafter, the role of the rituals to heaven and earth in Shao fan died out, and it became exclusively an ancestral ritual. Because many of the historical sources that have been preserved describe the style of Shao fan at that time, the image of Shao fan as an ancestral ritual became firmly established.