First , wū could be the same word as wū "to deceive" . Schuessler notes a written Tibetan semantic parallel between "magical power" and "deceive": sprul-ba "to juggle, make phantoms; miraculous power" cognate with "magical deception". Second , wu could be cognate with wǔ "to dance". Based on analysis of ancient characters, proposed that wū "shaman", wú "not have; without", and wǔ "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 identifies as shamans, citing the Shuowen jiezi that early wǔ characters depicted a dancer's sleeves. Third , wū could also be cognate with mǔ "mother" since wū, as opposed to xí , were typically female. Edward Schafer associates wū shamanism with fertility rituals."Linguistic facts reveal the intimate relationships between the word wu (*myu) "shamanka" and such words as "mother", "dance", "fertility", "egg", and "receptacle". The ancient shamanka, then, was closely related to the fecund mother, to the fertile soil, to the receptive earth. The textual evidence supports these philological associations. In Shang and Chou times, shamankas were regularly employed in the interests of human and natural fertility, above all in bringing rain to parched farmlands – a responsibility they shared with ancient kings. They were musicians and dancers and oracles." . cites the Japanese sinologist Shirakawa Shizuka 's hypothesis that the mother of Confucius was a wū. 120px|Drawing of the bronze script character wū (*mjag). 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 "shaman; witch, wizard; magician" was a loanword from Old Persian *maguš "magician; magus". Mair connects the bronze script character for wū with the "cross potent" symbol ☩ found in Neolithic West Asia, suggesting the loan of both the symbol and the word.
Firstly , wū could be the same word as wū "to deceive" . Schuessler notes a written Tibetan semantic parallel between "magical power" and "deceive": sprul-ba "to juggle, make phantoms; miraculous power" cognate with "magical deception". Secondly , wu could be cognate with wǔ "to dance". Based on analysis of ancient characters, proposed that wū "shaman", wú "not have; without", and wǔ "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 identifies as shamans, citing the Shuowen jiezi that early wǔ characters depicted a dancer's sleeves. Thirdly , wū could also be cognate with mǔ "mother" since wū, as opposed to xí , were typically female. Edward Schafer associates wū shamanism with fertility rituals."Linguistic facts reveal the intimate relationships between the word wu (*myu) "shamanka" and such words as "mother", "dance", "fertility", "egg", and "receptacle". The ancient shamanka, then, was closely related to the fecund mother, to the fertile soil, to the receptive earth. The textual evidence supports these philological associations. In Shang and Chou times, shamankas were regularly employed in the interests of human and natural fertility, above all in bringing rain to parched farmlands – a responsibility they shared with ancient kings. They were musicians and dancers and oracles." . cites the Japanese sinologist Shirakawa Shizuka 's hypothesis that the mother of Confucius was a wū. 120px|Drawing of the bronze script character wū (*mjag). Fourthly , 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 "shaman; witch, wizard; magician" was a loanword from Old Persian *maguš "magician; magus". Mair connects the bronze script character for wū with the "cross potent" symbol ☩ found in Neolithic West Asia, suggesting the loan of both the symbol and the word.
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