Lunar Mansion, Solar Palace, and Golden Star
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Kim-Mun Yao (also known as Lanten-Yao) are a group of the Yao people whose religion borrowed Daoist ritual practices. Many religious manuscripts are extant, including the “esoteric manuals” (miyu; [Mun] pεi-ɲui) which are also the most representative of the Kim-Mun religion. This article argues that the three key terms “Lunar Mansion” (yuefu; [Mun] ɲot-pou), “Solar Palace” (rigong; [Mun] ɲat-kɔŋ), and “Golden Star/Venus” (jinxing; [Mun] kjam-θiŋ) can be used to decode the contents of the esoteric manuals. The Kim-Mun people used these terms to construct a framework that combined texts and visual representations in religious texts, enabling ritual specialists to form a “mental picture” to visualize while performing. As almost all of the esoteric manuals include these three key terms, they form the basis of all the rituals in the Kim-Mun Yao religion.
Source: Monumenta Serica
Author: Wu Chia-Yun 吳佳芸
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4405419368