Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 49 (4) 2021   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2021.49.4.120-126

Annotation:  The Early Paleolithic Go Da Site and the Bifacial Lithic Industries of Southeast Asia Paleolithic Personal Ornaments from Xiaogushan Cave: The Formation of Early Symbolism and Its Region A Multidisciplinary Study of Burnt Deposits at Surungur, Fergana Valley, Southern Kyrgyzstan Handles of Early Iron Age Cauldrons from Southwestern Siberia The Pazyryk Style Burial of a Hunnic Period Noblewoman at Karakabak, Mangystau, Kazakhstan Integrative Geophysical Studies at the Novaya Kurya-1 Cemetery in the Kulunda Steppe Reconstructed Paleodiets and Subsistence Strategies of the Central Ciscaucasian Population (1000 BC Archaeological Evidence of Migration from the Southern Taiga of Western Siberia to the Urals in the Hephthalite Coin from an Early Medieval Burial at Gorny-10, Northern Altai Kainar: A Late 18th to Early 20th Century Ritual and Housing Complex in the Northern Ustyurt Tungus-Manchu Traditional Beliefs. Part 2: Zoomorphic Complex Urbanization of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia and the Far East (20th to Early 21st Centuries) Patterns in the Population History of Northern Eurasia from the Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age,   

Tungus-Manchu Traditional Beliefs.
Part 2: Zoomorphic Complex

T.Y. Sem

Russian Museum of Ethnography, Inzhenernaya 4/1, St. Petersburg, 191186, Russia

This article describes the zoomorphic complex of Tungus-Manchu beliefs reflected in mythology, ritual practices, shamanism, and decorative and applied arts. Those beliefs are regarded as a coherent whole within the cultural system. The typology of the zoomorphic complex shows that the key figures were the serpent-dragon, the deer, the bear, and the tiger. In traditional worldviews and rituals, they were related to cosmogony, ancestor cult, hunting and fishing rituals, healing, and initiation shamanic complexes. The semantics of animal images depended on their place in the cultural system, religious ritual, and artistic communication. Comparative analysis demonstrates both ethno-cultural specificity and universal archetypal characteristics, as well as connection with ancient regional beliefs. The Tungus-Manchu zoomorphic complex originated within the East Asian traditions, having been influenced by cultures such as the Old Chinese, Korean, and Jurchen.

Keywords: Zoomorphic complex, beliefs, rituals, folklore, shamanism, Tungus-Manchu peoples, symbolism, semantics of images