A Study on the Textual Features of Dongba Ritual Performance
Yang Jiehong argues that Dongba narrative texts originate in ritual and constitute a multimodal, compound text combining oral and written elements with performance forms including music, dance, painting, and craft. Drawing on oral-formulaic theory (Parry and Lord) and the Chinese concept of "chengshi" (formula/convention), the article proposes that ritual performance texts can be classified both by macro-level ritual type (deity-invoking, exorcism, funerary, divination) and by the scale of a given ritual. It identifies "sequential elements" structuring Dongba ritual narratives -- e.g., the deliverance ritual's six-stage sequence (birth, soul-loss, soul-summoning, soul-receiving, soul-escorting, eternal life) tied to the life of Dongba religion's founder Dingba Shilo, and the sky-worship ritual's five-stage sequence tied to the ancestor Coq Rex Lel Ee. The article concludes that "ritual formula" is the key mechanism unifying these different modes (text, music, dance, painting) into one coherent ritual narrative text, and is the tool that allows the ritual host to complete complex rituals successfully.
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