In 2004, a novel called "Wolf Totem" was very popular in China. This book describes the little-known story of Mongolian wolf totem worship, which set off a wave of attention to wolf and totem worship in China. In today's "Folk Customs" program, I will tell you about Mongolian wolf totem worship.
On the vast prairie and desert in northern China, more than a dozen ethnic minorities, including Mongolians, Uighurs, and Manchus, live. In the clan and tribe period of primitive society about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, in order to distinguish them from other tribes, some ethnic minority tribes used an animal as a symbol of their tribe, and this animal was called a totem. They painted patterns of totem animals on their bodies, or put on the fur of such animals, or adorned themselves with the bones or teeth of such animals. In short, people of the same tribe all use the same animal as their symbol and have uniform attire. Later, limited by the level of knowledge, people believed that their ancestors evolved from those totem animals, so they especially respected the totem animals and worshiped these animals like their ancestors, which formed totem worship.
In order to make this kind of totem worship more credible, each tribe produced corresponding legends, telling how the ancestors of this tribe evolved from totem animals, or how the totem animals saved their lives, so that the whole tribe could live together. Survive, wait.
The Mongolians living on the prairie in northern China regard the wolf as their national totem, and have ancient totem legends. Ms. Sarina, a Mongolian who is studying in Beijing, said:
"The Mongolian people have been worshiping wolves since a long time ago, and regard wolves as their national totems. In the first written history book of our Mongolian people, there is an ancient legend (such) recorded, saying that the Mongolian people were born from A nation born from the combination of the wolf and the white deer, so the Mongols consider themselves descendants of the wolf (and) the white deer."
Sarina said that from this legend, it can be inferred that the Mongolian people were produced by the combination of a tribe with a wolf as a totem and a tribe with a white deer as a totem at that time, so they worshiped wolves and deer as their ancestors. Comparatively speaking, wolves are stronger than deer, so the Mongols regard wolves as their national totems.
Mr. He Xingliang, a professor of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is an expert in ethnology. He believes that among many animals, the reason why the Mongolians choose wolves as their national totem is closely related to the living environment and lifestyle of the Mongolians. The Mongolian people are typical nomadic people. They live on the prairie, live by water and grass, and graze cattle and sheep. The wolves on the grassland are the greatest harm to the Mongolian people, they often steal sheep. During the years of fighting and getting along with wolves, the Mongols have become more and more familiar with wolves, and they have become closer and closer, and finally chose wolves as their national totem. Mr. He Xingliang analyzed:
"One is the psychology of awe and worship caused by fear. The wolves on the prairie are in groups, and it is (often) powerless to protect the flock with (the Mongols') weapons; the other is the worship formed by gratitude. The wolf is cruel. And gentle, many legends say that wolves rescued the ancestors of a certain nation; in addition, curiosity can also arouse worship. Wolves have many habits like humans, and Mongolians (feel it) very strange, (so) think (Wolf) is their ancestor.” While Mongolians regard wolves as totems, they also pay attention to learning the advantages of wolves, and then use these advantages as the spirit of their own nation. Miss Sarina of the Mongolian nationality told the reporter:
"The Mongolians believe that wolves are brave and witty. They have tenacious perseverance and a sky-high fighting spirit. They are very powerful animals. I think we should learn from wolves that kind of tenacity, bravery and drive. Witty and sensitive. This will help us in our study and work.” In fact, among the ethnic minorities in northern China, not only the Mongolians worship wolves as totems, but also some ethnic groups worship wolves. For example, the Uighurs living in Northwest China nickname their newborn boys "Little Wolf"; the belts of Xibe men are all decorated with buttons that imitate the shape of wolves' heads. In the legends of these peoples, they are all descendants of wolves.
In addition to wolves, animals such as bears, deer, eagles, and swans are objects of totem worship by ethnic minorities in northern China. For example, the Manchus living in Northeast China use birds such as swans and magpies as their totems, while the Ewenki people living in the forests of the Greater Khingan Mountains use reindeer as their totems. The production of all these totems is closely related to the living environment of each nation.
However, with the passage of time, totem worship, as an ancient cultural phenomenon, has been almost forgotten by people in modern society, and people don't quite understand why totems are worshiped. However, the popularity of the novel "Wolf Totem" has rekindled people's interest in totems and triggered people's thinking about the national spirit hidden behind totem worship. Mr. Zhang Ming is an employee of a design company. He is an authentic Han nationality in central China. He told reporters that the book "Wolf Totem" made him re-understand the relationship between the development of ethnic minorities and totems.
""Wolf Totem" is a good book I have read in recent years. The collision of wolf nature and human nature in the book gave me a lot of inspiration. After reading this book, I re-acquainted with the wolves on the grassland (on the prairie). I got to know us humans ourselves. Wolves are ferocious and brutal animals in my memory, and I used to have misunderstandings and prejudices about the worship of wolves by Mongolians. Now I know that wolves on the grassland have tempered the character of Mongolians.”
Friends, as an ancient cultural phenomenon, totem worship can still arouse people's interest and thinking about it in today's increasingly advanced science and technology. It cannot but be said that this culture has its own unique influence and charm; it also shows that , the cultural exchanges between different ethnic groups in China are being further strengthened, and the cultural identity psychology among different ethnic groups is gradually being respected and understood.