<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The paper deals with applicability of the ‘memetic approach’ and ‘epidemiology of culture’ in present day folklore research. These theoretical models could be supplemented by certain ideas and hypotheses borrowed from actor-network theory and the cognitive science of religion. The development of contemporary folkloristic theorising could proceed from a new experimental ethnography that would combine memory and narrative studies, cognitive research and the theory of memes with more common or habitual methods of folklore research and cultural anthropology.
</abstract>

Inspirational Insights: ‘Ecosystems’ and ‘Mind Viruses’ in Folklore Research: Does Folkloristics Need Memetics?

Preface to the Special Issue: The Divine, The Demonic and the Beyond in Belief, Narrative and Practice of Central and East Asia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

A Eurasian motif complex built around the illusion of a flood was described by Artёm Koz’min in 2011 under the preliminary name of the Saint Euplus Miracle. Subsequently, this discovery proved to be productive in the understanding of the development of some Chinese plots including the image of a magic paintbrush. This article deals with a combination of the magic paintbrush image and the borrowed motif complex centred around water that apears miraculously, or the illusion of it, in Chinese tradition. The image of a magic brush has been widespread in the literature and folklore of China for centuries, although this combination, which underlies the famous tale Ma Liang and his Magic Brush, remains unnoticed. The aim of the article is to describe the Chinese version of the Saint Euplus Miracle and to point out its characteristic features.
In all the Chinese examples analysed, the role of the magic helper was prominent, while in the non-Chinese cases the helper was generally absent. Another feature specific to the Chinese cases was the helper giving the hero a magic object for use in drawing.
</abstract>

The Saint Euplus Miracle in China: The Local Version of a Motif Complex

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Most <italic>baojuan</italic> (precious scrolls), predominantly religious-oriented prosimetric texts in the vernacular language, in the late period of their development (late 19th–early 20th centuries) lost connection with heterodox religious teachings. Notwithstanding this several newly emerged religious traditions in the 19th century continued to use the <italic>baojuan</italic> form to propagate their teachings. This paper analyses specific religious ideas in the <italic>Complete Recension of the Scroll of Mulian</italic>, first printed in Hangzhou in 1877. This text still has not been translated into any foreign language and is rarely discussed in research work, although it is considerably different from the more widespread recensions of this <italic>baojuan</italic>. The <italic>Complete Recension</italic> includes many additional entertaining episodes from the voluminous Mulian dramas of southern China. We can also find ideas of syncretic religious teachings, including references to the inner alchemy technique, which is especially characteristic of the Former Heaven Religion (Xiantiandao) groups. I also compare this text with other recensions of the <italic>Mulian Baojuan</italic> still recited in China in order to demonstrate the interplay of various beliefs and practices in the late <italic>baojuan</italic> texts.
</abstract>

New Religious Teachings and Narrative <italic>Baojuan</italic> in the Late 19th Century: The Example of the <italic>Complete Recension of the Scroll of Mulian</italic>

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The paper explores materials, methods and approaches used by Russian sinologists to define and analyse the cult of Guan Yu (also known as Guan-gong, Guandi, etc.), a popular god of the Chinese pantheon, revered by Daoists, Buddhists and educated Confucians, and who was also granted a number of imperial titles. Guan Yu was worshipped in late imperial China as god of war and wealth, paragon of moral virtue and loyalty to the ruler. Published and unpublished materials by Russian scholars shed light on beliefs and practices related to Guan Yu and display an array of methods including translation of original Chinese sources, field observations, scrutiny of numerous written and oral sources as well as mythological motifs. The paper displays how various angles and approaches to the same subject – worship of Guan Yu – allow a multifaceted and wholesome vision of this god’s place in Chinese traditional culture.
</abstract>

The Cult of the Chinese God Guan Yu in the Studies of Russian Sinologists: Fieldwork Observations, Approaches, Methodology

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

This article* examines the origins and development of notions about <italic>jian</italic> spirits, beings into which, according to Chinese folk tradition, the souls of the dead transform after their demise. An analysis of the few available references to <italic>jian</italic> in Chinese literature and folklore suggests that the first mention of <italic>jian</italic> as ‘ghosts of ghosts’ appears relatively late, in the 13th century, as the result of a combination of two independent traditions: the written <italic>jian</italic> formula used in apotropaic practices from at least the Tang period (618–907), and a complex of ideas about the mortality of ghosts and their posthumous fate that took shape in the early Middle Ages, possibly under the influence of Buddhism. A detailed development of the ghosts of ghosts motif occurs as part of High Qing supernatural discourse in the works of writers Pu Songling and Yuan Mei. By the end of the 19th century notions that had been created by such literary representation were inherited by the popular belief system. The evolution of ideas about <italic>jian</italic>, which continues to the present, as far as one can judge from the supply on the market of magical paraphernalia and the material of modern supernatural web novels, provides a vivid example of how new concepts of Chinese folk religious tradition emerge and transform.
</abstract>

Death Beyond Death: <italic>Jian</italic> Spirits in Chinese Popular Belief

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The <italic>Book of Origins</italic> (<italic>hnewo tepyy</italic>) is a major ritual text of the Nuosu, a subgroup of the official Yi (Yizu) ethnic group of southwest China. The narrative, existing in both written and oral variants, is part of a living tradition, especially among priests (<italic>bimo</italic>) and folk singers, in the Liangshan Yi autonomous region in Sichuan province and nearby Yunnan province. The epic narrates the creation of the sky, earth, and living creatures through the frame of genealogies. After an age of scorching heat, life is re-seeded on earth and a descendant of the snow tribes of flora and fauna finds a bride. Many generations later this union results in the marriage between an earthling and the Sky God’s daughter. The tropes of genealogy and migration intertwine in the storyworld as clans descended from the couple seek out an “ideal place” to settle and prosper in the local environment in a pattern that resonates with other epics from the southwest and the Southeast Asian Massif.
</abstract>

Seeking an ‘Ideal Place’ in a Nuosu Origin Epic

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

This paper examines the cult of cat spirits in north-western China and their veneration by the Han Chinese, Tibetans, and Monguors. These spirits are revered as family spirits and guardians of wealth and property, but possess resentful and revengeful personalities. The paper explores the origins of the cult, local worship and summoning practices, protection methods, and links with other vernacular traditions in the region. The study uses a combination of research methods, including analysis of Chinese historical sources, published modern narratives, and the authors’ own fieldwork in Mongolia. The paper employs a qualitative and comparative approach to identify invariant features of cat spirits across various local traditions and highlights the assimilation of the cult into different traditional belief systems where it is enriched with new traits. The paper sheds light on the rich and complex tapestry of beliefs and practices associated with cat spirits. The article suggests that the cult of cat spirits may have had non-Han and non-Tibetan origins, possibly connected to Proto-Mongolic tribes.
</abstract>

Senior Researcher, Uralic and Altaic Studies Department

Assistant Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics

Research Fellow, Department of East Asian Studies

Cat Spirits in North-Western China: Worship Practices, Origin, and External Relations

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The paper introduces the results of a case study that attempts to uncover the functions and probable genesis of a group of satirical tales told by the Mongolian peoples. Based on the example of one of the stories, about Argachi, a Til Ulenspiegel-like rogue character, popular among the Oirat Mongols of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China, an assumption is made about the possible practical function of the narratives, which is that they served to broadcast traditional litigation strategies. A comparison of the Oirat story of Argachi’s victory over the demon with a similar narrative recorded from the Halh Mongols showed that the strategy of behaviour described in the stories allows one to effectively get rid of a malicious, but not very intelligent, mythological character.
</abstract>

How to Defeat a Demon: The Function of the Oirat Folk Narrative About Burning the Female Devil

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Dwelling well, for the Dörvöd herders with whom I have interacted over the years, involves getting a few things right about the invisible. On the one hand, they need to navigate spaces that are teeming with ‘things’ that not everybody can see plainly, and which are best left undisturbed. On the other hand, behaving properly towards spiritual ‘land masters’ that constitute the places through which herders circulate involves them conforming to a certain regime of marking, i.e. a geography that implicitly values discretion and disappearance. Considering two apparatuses with which the invisible is either taken care of or produced – saddled horses and gravesites –, this paper explores a concern, and a talent, that people in Mongolia exhibit for things that exist by virtue of (dis)appearing.
</abstract>

A Concern for the Invisible: Dwelling with Sensitive Horses and Vanishing Graves in Mongolia

Notes and Reviews: Book Review: Competing Ideologies in Greek Culture, Ancient and Modern

Book Review: Marian Devotion among the Roma in Slovakia

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 17 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

Volume 17 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023) The Divine, the Demonic and the Beyond in Belief, Narrative and Practice of Central and East Asia

Volume 16 (2022): Issue 2 (December 2022) Hybrid Beliefs and Identities

Volume 16 (2022): Issue 1 (June 2022)

Volume 15 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)

Volume 15 (2021): Issue 1 (June 2021)

Volume 14 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

Volume 14 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

Volume 13 (2019): Issue 2 (December 2019)

Volume 13 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Volume 12 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

Volume 12 (2018): Issue 1 (June 2018)

Volume 11 (2017): Issue 2 (December 2017)

Volume 11 (2017): Issue 1 (June 2017)

Volume 10 (2016): Issue 2 (December 2016)

Volume 10 (2016): Issue 1 (June 2016)

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

The Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics (JEF) is the joint publication of the Estonian Literary Museum, the Estonian National Museum and the University of Tartu. JEF is an international, double-blind peer reviewed multidisciplinary forum for creative, inspiring and cutting-edge academic contributions. Addressed to an international scholarly audience, JEF is open to contributions from researchers all over the world. We aim to encourage discussion of the socio-cultural diversity of the whole world in a thought-provoking, imaginative and experimental scholarly spirit. JEF publishes articles in the research areas including but not limited to ethnology, folkloristics, museology, cultural and social anthropology, sociology, semiotics, history, human geography, cultural studies, heritage studies, and critical theory. JEF aims to offer both theoretical and empirical insights to deepen and advance our understanding of society and culture. The journal encourages contributions that use various disciplinary perspectives and theoretical and methodological approaches. JEF welcomes contributions analysing empirical data as well as theoretical and methodological contributions, critical literature reviews of current research as well as papers engaging in creative or applied practice. In addition to full-length articles the journal also welcomes research notes and book reviews.  Rejection Rate:   69%   Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.  Open Access Statement  JEF is issued two times per year, both in print format and online. The journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.　  Description of the review process:　  Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics is a peer-reviewed journal. All submissions are initially evaluated by the editors and can be desk-rejected at this stage. Submitted research articles that meet the academic and journal’s editorial standards will be read and reviewed by at least two anonymous referees. JEF is using double-blind review, meaning that the author and reviewer identities are concealed from each other throughout the process. Based on the reviewers’ written reports, the Editor-in-Chief and the Editors can accept, reject, or request minor or major modifications to the manuscript.  JEF has neither article submission nor article processing charges.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections. 

Volume 17 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023) - The Divine, the Demonic and the Beyond in Belief, Narrative and Practice of Central and East Asia

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

Volume 17 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023)

The Divine, the Demonic and the Beyond in Belief, Narrative and Practice of Central and East Asia

Inspirational Insights

Inspirational Insights: ‘Ecosystems’ and ‘Mind Viruses’ in Folklore Research: Does Folkloristics Need Memetics?

Editorial

Preface to the Special Issue: The Divine, The Demonic and the Beyond in Belief, Narrative and Practice of Central and East Asia

Articles

The Saint Euplus Miracle in China: The Local Version of a Motif Complex

New Religious Teachings and Narrative Baojuan in the Late 19th Century: The Example of the Complete Recension of the Scroll of Mulian

The Cult of the Chinese God Guan Yu in the Studies of Russian Sinologists: Fieldwork Observations, Approaches, Methodology

Death Beyond Death: Jian Spirits in Chinese Popular Belief

Seeking an ‘Ideal Place’ in a Nuosu Origin Epic

Cat Spirits in North-Western China: Worship Practices, Origin, and External Relations

How to Defeat a Demon: The Function of the Oirat Folk Narrative About Burning the Female Devil

A Concern for the Invisible: Dwelling with Sensitive Horses and Vanishing Graves in Mongolia

Notes & Reviews

Notes and Reviews: Book Review: Competing Ideologies in Greek Culture, Ancient and Modern

Book Review: Marian Devotion among the Roma in Slovakia

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