Shuguo Wobo Ritual

This ritual is held annually to renew a wobo (sacred mountain-top cairn). The wobo is referred to as Shuguo Wobo 'Big Wobo', and the deity thought to inhabit the cairn is called Wobo Laoye 'Wobo Grandfather'. Wobo Laoye is considered the protector deity for the entire Sanchuan Mangghuer region. Participants in the ritual come from Wangjia, Yangjia, and Qijia, three large Mangghuer villages. This video shows: the valleys and mountains surrounding Shuguo Wobo; the arrival of villagers at the cairn; villagers making offerings of incense, paper, oil lamps, branches, wool, replica wooden weapons, and prayer flags; villagers singing the Tibetan Buddhist mantra of Avalokitishvara, Om mani padme hum; and the arrival of local Tibetan Buddhist monks.

This recording comes from the collection Shuguo Wobo by Wen Xiangcheng. The three videos in this collection depict the Shuguo Wobo ritual held in 2008 in Sanchuan (Minhe Hui and Tu Autonomous County, Haidong Region, Qinghai Province, China). This ritual is held to renew a mountain-top cairn dedicated to an un-named mountain deity who is said to protect local villagers.
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World Oral Literature Project

ritual

Oral Literature; Oral Tradition; Linguistic Anthropology; Mangghuer; Sanchuan; Wobo; Ritual

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