History ＞Meaning of Shenjiang

Meaning of Shenjiang

        • The origin of Shenjiang comes from religion, and it has a meaning of spiritual sustenance. Since Shenjiang are guards of the major gods, they often don’t show up individually. They usually show up for temple festivals. Generally, the only Shenjiang that show up individually are: the ghost catcher, Zhongkui, and the Four Generals. The rest of the Shenjiang always show up in pairs. “Shenjiang” represents the meaning of exorcism and good fortune. The Shenjiang troupe is noisy, exciting, and very interesting. Such an activity is to remind us to respect gods and purify our soul. In the past, for Xuanshe (folk music associations), Shenjiang brought in competition among them in addition to its religious meanings. In other words, the more Shenjiang statues the Xuanshe owned, the larger their troupe is. The larger the troupe is, the higher position they are in Luzhou and the prouder they are in the parade. However, the inspiration of Shenjiang culture teaches us the historical stories and the spirit of loyalty and filial piety.
        • Source of photo: Pictures we have taken for “Luzhou Shenjiang Statues and Soup Noodles Carnival” held by Luzhou District Office.

        • Perspectives:

          Shun-wei Huang: Part of the meaning of “Shenjiang” came from other religions, such as Taoism and Buddhism. The purpose of the Shenjiang existence is to protect people. Their job is to expel demons and maintain satisfaction and happiness in every family. This is the mission of gods. Shenjiang is under their main god’s command. For example, Shancai and Longnu are under the command of Guanyin Buddha in Yonglien Temple. Their job is to not only expel demons but also give us a chance to repent. Repentance gives us a good life.
          • Po-hung Wang: I feel Shenjiang are our pride. Most people today do not know what Shenjiang is. Even if they know, they only roughly understand and do not care to learn more. From what I learned, most of the Shenjiang are under the command of their main gods. They escort gods on patrol duty. I feel that Xuanshe should not compete against each other, using Shenjiang to earn pride. Shenjiang should be used for expelling demons and praying for good fortune, or they can be used as media to excite the atmosphere during temple worship and patrol tours. Shenjiang means a lot to our Luzhou local culture, and I hope everyone can experience such beauty of this culture.
          Kuan-ting Ho: When a main god is on patrol tour, Shenjiang walk in front to expel demons. In the past, Luzhou Shenjiang statues were attached to Xuanshe. The nine major Xuanshe in Luzhou mainly performed Nanguan and Beiguan music. Later on, as it got more difficult to recruit trainees, the number of Nanguan and Beiguan players became fewer. Luzhou Xuanshe were dying gradually. At the same time, the tall exterior of Shenjiang statues on every patrol tour attracted many young people to participate and learn. This evolved into today’s Shenjiang Association.
          Yuan-ting Tseng: In the beginning, in order to expel demons and pray for good fortune, temples made fake bodies and masks of dead civil officers and military officers to protect believers. There is one royalty and filial piety story behind each Shenjiang to remind believers to maintain good morality. Unfortunately, current Xuanshe use Shenjiang to compete with each other, and ignore the original meaning of Shenjiang statues. I hope this will not happen again.
          Ming-hsien Hsu: Shenjiang statues represent dead civil officers or military officers who were upgraded to be gods or Shenjiang to escort major gods after their death. Shenjiang statues are not only our belief but also our culture. If people treat Shenjiang as decorations on a god’s patrol tour, they will not pay enough attention to our culture. The number of Shenjiang statues will gradually reduce over time and may only be seen in some specific places.
          • Pin-yu Wu: Shenjiang culture is not only for people to view; it is also the spiritual sustenance of believers. We should respect this. Some people think this is a belief, so Christians and Catholics do not accept it. I think Shenjiang culture is a traditional folk culture, not a belief, so we should have a good learning attitude to preserve this invisible treasure forever.