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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

book review-Thailand Spirits Among Us


Hi I am Zhi Hao.I am doing a book review of .I am doing about a chapter on Chinese Mediums in the vegetarian festival. About two centuries ago, entrepreneurs and young male workers immigrated from southern China. They work as tin miners and traders and set up patriarchal communities complete with family shrines to Chinese god and goddesses. By 1870, there are 25000 Chinese were living in Phuket Island. Today, Thai-Chinese businesses dominate southern cities and play a vital role in politics as well. The most important Chinese ceremony in Phuket is the Vegetarian festival for the Nine Emperor Gods. The Taoist festival was held to stop death from an epidemic in a jungle area. Around 1825, a Chinese opera performed for tin miners and learnt the disease. Believing the death should be punished for not showing respect to the Nine Emperor Gods, they sent a man invite the gods to Phuket and bring back an urn. On his return, a festival for god was held and the dying stopped. The events now pulls in many spirits medium from the south. For nine days the city of Phuket went vegetarian and devotees dress in white. More than 1600 spirits medium parade through the streets displaying bizarre forms of self-inflicted mutilation. These medium are most organise in the south, they even have identification card. This festival are supported by well-to-do and respected business people. Most of the medium are young men from poor background who had a revelatory experience. Gods encourage spirits medium to cut themselves to show the magical power. Over time, the types of mutilation performed at the Vegetarian
Festival became more extreme and odd, some say it become competitive and showy. According to the mediums, it is the spirits that determine the methods of abuse. Commonly, a medium will insert a thick, long metal pole through his cheeks. They say they do not feel pain because they were in a trance. One man supported 19 pineapples on such a rod while another used his mouth to carry a 10 speed bar by the center bar. Other common displays include cutting tongue, walking on fire, climbing sword ladders, bathing in hot oil, walking on broken glass and thrashing their back with spiked balls. The purpose is to show the power of the spirits to both inflict violence but also protect the medium from pain.

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