page_title: Wu (shaman)
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Wu (shaman) / Terminology / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: Relief scene on a tomb brick, from the Chinese Han Dynasty.
context_page_description: Wu is a Chinese term translating to "shaman" or "sorcerer", originally the practitioners of Chinese shamanism or "Wuism".
context_section_description: A wide range of hypotheses for the etymology of wū "spirit medium; shaman" has been proposed.
  Laufer (1917, p. 37) proposed a relation between Mongolian bügä "shaman", Turkish bögü "shaman", "Chinese bu, wu (shaman), buk, puk (to divine), and Tibetan aba (pronounced ba, sorcerer)".
  Coblin (1986, p. 107) puts forward a Sino-Tibetan root *mjaɣ "magician; sorcerer" for Chinese wū < mju < *mjag 巫 "magician; shaman" and Written Tibetan 'ba'-po "sorcerer" and 'ba'-mo "sorcereress" (of the Bön religion).
  Schuessler (2007, p. 516) notes Chinese xian < sjän < *sen 仙 "transcendent; immortal; alchemist" was probably borrowed as Written Tibetan gšen "shaman" and Thai [mɔɔ] < Proto-Tai *hmɔ "doctor; sorcerer". In addition, the Mon–Khmer and Proto-Western-Austronesian *səmaŋ "shaman" may also be connected with wū. Schuessler lists four proposed etymologies:
  First, wū could be the same word as wū 誣 "to deceive" (Karlgren 1923, p. 363). Schuessler notes a written Tibetan semantic parallel between "magical power" and "deceive": sprul-ba "to juggle, make phantoms; miraculous power" cognate with [pʰrul] "magical deception".
  Second, wu could be cognate with wǔ 舞 "to dance". Based on analysis of ancient characters, Hopkins (1920, 1945) proposed that wū 巫 "shaman", wú 無 "not have; without", and wǔ 舞 "dance", "can all be traced back to one primitive figure of a man displaying by the gestures of his arms and legs the thaumaturgic powers of his inspired personality" (1945:5). Many Western Han Dynasty tombs contained jade plaques or pottery images showing "long-sleeved dancers" performing at funerals, who  Erickson (1994, pp. 52-54) identifies as shamans, citing the Shuowen jiezi that early wǔ characters depicted a dancer's sleeves.
  Third, wū could also be cognate with mǔ 母 "mother" since wū, as opposed to xí 覡, were typically female. Edward Schafer associates wū shamanism with fertility rituals. Jensen (1995, p. 421) cites the Japanese sinologist Shirakawa Shizuka 白川静's hypothesis that the mother of Confucius was a wū.
  Fourth, wū could be a loanword from Iranian *maguš "magus; magician" (cf. Old Persian maguš, Avestan mogu), meaning an "able one; specialist in ritual". Mair (1990) provides archaeological and linguistic evidence that Chinese wū < *mʸag 巫 "shaman; witch, wizard; magician" was a loanword from Old Persian *maguš "magician; magus".
  Mair connects the bronze script character for wū 巫 with the "cross potent" symbol ☩ found in Neolithic West Asia, suggesting the loan of both the symbol and the word.(Mair 2012, pp. 265–279)
caption: Han Dynasty tomb-tile showing "long-sleeved dancers" and attendants.
exif: {}