THE LAWS OF MANU – Comentários antropológico-filosóficos; crítica de seus fundamentos religiosos.

Para dúvidas de vocabulário, ver glossário ao final.

I

He who can be perceived by the internal organ, who is subtile, indiscernible, and eternal, who contains all created beings and is inconceivable, shone forth of his own.

He, desiring to produce beings of many kinds from his own body, first with a thought created the waters, and placed his seed in them.

That became a golden egg, in brilliancy equal to the sun; in that he himself was born as Brahman, the progenitor of the whole world.

The waters are called narah, the waters are, indeed, the offspring of Nara; as they were his first residence (ayana), he thence is named Narayana.

From that cause, which is indiscernible, eternal, and both real and unreal, was produced that male (Purusha), who is famed in this world under the appellation of Brahman.

The divine one resided in that egg during a whole year, then he himself by his thought divided it into two halves;

And out of those two halves he formed heaven and earth, between them the middle sphere, the 8 points of the horizon, and the eternal abode of the waters.

From himself he also drew forth the mind, which is both real and unreal, likewise from the mind egoism, which possesses the function of self-consciousness lordly;”

from minute body particles of these 7 very powerful Purushas springs this world, the perishable from the imperishable.”

But in the beginning he assigned their several names, actions, and conditions to all, even according to the words of the Veda.

He, the Lord, also created the class of the gods, who are endowed with life, and whose nature is action; [à imagem e semelhança do homem!] and the subtile class of the Sadhyas, and the eternal sacrifice.”

Dividing his own body, the Lord became half male and half female; with that he produced Virag.”

They created 7 other Manus possessing great brilliancy, gods and classes of gods and great sages of measureless power,

Cattle, deer, carnivorous beasts with 2 rows of teeth, Rakshasas, Pisakas, and men are born from the womb.

From eggs are born birds, snakes, crocodiles, fishes, tortoises, as well as similar terrestrial and aquatic animals.”

Those trees which bear fruit without flowers are called vanaspati (lords of the forest); but those which bear both flowers and fruit are called vriksha.”

These plants which are surrounded by multiform Darkness, the result of their acts (in former existences), possess internal consciousness and experience pleasure and pain.

The conditions in this always terrible and constantly changing circle of births and deaths to which created beings are subject, are stated to begin with Brahman, and to end with these.

When he whose power is incomprehensible, had thus produced the universe and men, he disappeared in himself, repeatedly suppressing one period by means of the other.

When that divine one wakes, then this world stirs; when he slumbers tranquilly, then the universe sinks to sleep.”

When this soul has entered darkness, it remains for a long time united with the organs of sensation, but performs not its functions; it then leaves the corporeal frame.

When, being clothed with minute particles only, it enters into vegetable or animal seed, it then assumes, united with the fine body, a new corporeal frame.

Thus he, the imperishable one, by waking and slumbering, incessantly revivifies and destroys this whole movable and immovable creation.

But he having composed these Institutes, himself taught them, according to the rule, to me alone in the beginning; next I to Mariki and the other sages.

Bhrigu, here, will fully recite to you these Institutes; for that sage learned the whole in its entirety from me.”

Six other high-minded, very powerful Manus, who belong to the race of this Manu, the descendant of the Self-existent (Svayambhu), and who have severally produced created beings,

Svarokisha, Auttami, Tamasa, Raivata, Kakshusha, possessing great lustre, and the son of Vivasvat.

These seven very glorious Manus, the first among whom is Svayambhuva, produced and protected this whole movable and immovable, each during the period allotted to him.

Eighteen nimeshas (twinklings of the eye, are one kashtha), 30 kashthas one kala, 30 kalas one muhurta, and as many muhurtas one day and night.” Estritamente falando, em contas matemáticas (muhurta/30, etc., 1 nimesha seria 0,177s).

A month is a day and a night of the manes, but the division is according to fortnights. The dark (fortnight) is their day for active exertion, the bright (fortnight) their night for sleep.” A famosa equivalência de 1 mês humano = 1 dia dos semi-deuses, espíritos que no ciclo de reencarnações já estão entre um deus e um humano.

24×28=672h

Deveríamos dormir 12h. E trabalhar umas 3…

A year is a day and a night of the gods; their division is as follows: the half year during which the sun progresses to the north will be the day, that during which it goes southwards the night.”

Se tu és vinte e oito vezes melhor que ele, sou doze vezes melhor que tu. (Ou onze. Não sabemos quantos dias tinha o ano hindu de então. 28 * 12 = 336 dias)

But hear now the brief description of the duration of a night and a day of Brahman and of the several ages (yuga) according to their order.” Do nimesha ao grande ano.

They declare that the Krita age consists of 4,000 years of the gods;¹ the twilight preceding it consists [single-handedly] of as many hundreds”

¹ 1 milhão 344 mil anos do mortal.

In the other 3 ages with their twilights preceding and following, the thousands and hundreds are diminished by one (in each).” 3000 ou 2900 mil.

These 12,000 years which thus have been just mentioned as the total of 4 human ages, are called one age of the gods.

But know that the sum of 1,000 ages of the gods makes one day of Brahman, and that his night has the same length.” 2000 anos dos deuses = 24h do deus dos deuses

The before-mentioned age of the gods, 12,000 of their years, being multiplied by 71, is here named the period of a Manu (Manvantara).” Quase 300 milhões dos nossos anos.

The Manvantaras, the creations and destructions of the world, are numberless; sporting, as it were, Brahman repeats this again and again.

In the Krita age Dharma is 4-footed and entire, and so is Truth; nor does any gain accrue to men by unrighteousness.

In the other 3 ages, by reason of unjust gains, Dharma is deprived successively of 1 foot, and through theft, falsehood, and fraud the merit gained by men is diminished by ¼ in each.

Men are free from disease, accomplish all their aims, and live 400 years in the Krita age, but in the Treta and the succeeding ages their life is lessened by ¼.” Supondo que estamos na quarta idade e o homem vive 70 anos, o verdadeiro homem do eterno e universal mito da idade de ouro vivia 136 anos, não 400. Se calculássemos a partir de 400, viveríamos 168 anos na quarta era. Realmente estamos numa era fodida!

In the Krita age the chief virtue is declared to be austerities, in the Treta knowledge, in the Dvapara sacrifices, in the Kali liberality alone. [Ver GLOSSÁRIO ao final]

But in order to protect this universe He, the most resplendent one, assigned separate duties and occupations to those who sprang from his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet.” As quatro castas hindus, da superior à inferior: os brâmanes provieram da boca de Brahma; são os sacerdotes da religião. Os Chatriya são os guerreiros, e por isso provieram de seus braços; a terceira casta provêm das coxas – embora uma ligação intuitiva entre esta parte do corpo e o ofício de mercador ou camponês não possa ser descoberta rapidamente, são os membros desta casta mais nobres, ou menos indignos, que os últimos, que vêm dos pés de Brahma, a parte mais baixa, e escravos e servos não dispõem de autonomia.

One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Sudras, to serve meekly even these three castes.” E estes que vêm dos pés de Brahma, que não são de barro, são os únicos que não devem estudar os Vedas.

Man is stated to be purer above the navel; hence the Self-existent (Svayambhu) has declared the purest part of him to be his mouth.

The very birth of a Brahmana is an eternal incarnation of the sacred law; for he is born to fulfil the sacred law, and becomes one with Brahman.”

CENTÉSIMO MANDAMENTO: “Whatever exists in the world is the property of the Brahmana; on account of the excellence of his origin the Brahmana is, indeed, entitled to all.”

The Brahmana eats but his own food, wears but his own apparel, bestows but his own in alms; other mortals subsist through the benevolence of the Brahmana.” Ao contrário de outras civilizações baseadas nos serviços dos escravos, o brâmane está interdito de comer alimentos feitos por castas inferiores, produz as próprias roupas, deve estudar os preceitos do Veda constante e ininterruptamente. Não é uma casta ociosa, como no Ocidente. Ou assim nos quer fazer parecer o legislador!

A learned Brahmana must carefully study them, and he must duly instruct his pupils in them, but nobody else”

He sanctifies any company, seven ancestors and seven descendants, and he alone deserves this whole earth.”

In this work the sacred law has been fully stated as well as the good and bad qualities of human actions and the immemorial rule of conduct, to be followed by all the four castes (varna).”

twice-born man: um brâmane versado no sagrado. Auxiliarmente, no que tange ao princípio da transmigração, nenhum brâmane viveu primeiramente como brâmane. Já foi de uma das castas inferiores, renasceu brâmane. E se não se comportar diligentemente como brâmane, renascerá novamente como homem inferior, ou animal ou planta, ou ainda destino pior, como veremos no livro apropriado – sendo ignorar o Veda um pecado irreparável. Não haveria ressentimento se, por via da transmigração, toda a sociedade hindu entender que a cada um será dada sua oportunidade. Se o dogma da reencarnação não for aceitável, isso é uma outra história… Enquanto for, não é uma organização social estapafúrdia, e elimina os ressentimentos sobre “desigualdades” entre castas.

The laws concerning women, of hermits, final emancipation and renouncing the world, the whole duty of a king and the manner of deciding lawsuits,

The rules for the examination of witnesses, the laws concerning husband and wife, the law of division, gambling and the removal of thorns,¹

[¹ Nesse contexto, homens nocivos como espinhos.]

The behaviour of Vaisyas and Sudras, the origin of the mixed castes, the law for all castes in times of distress and the law of penances,

(…)

The primeval laws of countries, of castes (gati), of families, and the rules concerning heretics and companies – Manu has declared in these Institutes.

As Manu, in reply to my questions, formerly promulgated these Institutes, even so learn ye also from me.”

II

To act solely from a desire for rewards is not laudable, yet an exemption from that desire is not to be found in this world: for on that desire is grounded the study of the Veda and the performance of the actions prescribed by the Veda.”

Not a single act here below appears ever to be done by a man free from desire; for whatever man does, it is the result of the impulse of desire.”

The whole Veda is the first source of the sacred law, next the tradition and the virtuous conduct of those who know the Veda further, also the customs of holy men, and finally self-satisfaction.”

Manu (…) was omniscient.”

The man who obeys the law prescribed in the revealed texts and in the sacred tradition gains fame in this world and after death unsurpassable bliss.”

Every twice-born man, who, relying on the Institutes of dialectics, [retórica, oratória] treats with contempt those 2 sources [revelação e tradição], must be cast out by the virtuous, as an atheist and a scorner of the Veda.”

The knowledge of the sacred law is prescribed for those who are not given to the acquisition of wealth and to the gratification of their desires; to those who seek the knowledge of the sacred law the supreme authority is the revelation (Sruti).

But when 2 sacred texts (Sruti) are conflicting, both are held to be law; for both are pronounced by the wise valid law.” Ou seja: é próprio do (inevitável ao) grande homem ser visto como um herético ou imoral, porque o homem pequeno não serve como avaliador justo.

That land, created by the gods, which lies between the two divine rivers Sarasvati and Drishadvati, the sages call Brahmavarta.” Seria interessante apurar a que zona geográfica corresponde atualmente. Provavelmente uma pequena porção da Índia, ou talvez outro Estado-nação.

The precise location and size of the region has been the subject of academic uncertainty. Some scholars, such as the archaeologists Bridget and Raymond Allchin, believe the term Brahmavarta to be synonymous with the Aryavarta region.”

The custom handed down in regular succession since time immemorial among the 4 chief castes (varna) and the mixed races of that country is called the conduct of virtuous men.” Há muito mais no hinduísmo do que aparenta aos olhos ocidentais (4 castas e só – há dezenas de castas e há pessoas fora do sistema de castas que não são os excluídos – proscritos – que compõem na verdade a casta inferior por definição). Talvez que o mundo ainda aguarde o Lévi-Strauss dos hindus.

That country which lies between the Himavat and the Vindhya (mountains) to the east of Prayaga and to the west of Vinasana (the place where the river Sarasvati disappears) is called Madhyadesa (the central region).

But the tract between those two mountains, which extends as far as the eastern and the western oceans, the wise call Aryavarta (the country of the Aryans).”

Por onde não perambula o veado negro, esta é terra de bárbaros.

O homem nascido duas vezes pode residir na terra sagrada; mas um Sudra, este que viva onde for.” Aqui temos duas sentenças seguidas que comprovam o parentesco mais arcano do hinduísmo tanto com a antropologia grega quanto com o hebraísmo mais ortodoxo.

Thus has the origin of the sacred law been succinctly described to you and the origin of this universe; learn now the duties of the castes.

With holy rites, prescribed by the Veda, must the ceremony on conception and other sacraments be performed for twice-born men, which sanctify the body and purify from sin in this life and after death.” Instituição do batismo para o brâmane//católico. Conquanto “concepção” é já o ato sexual gerador, não só o sacramento pós-parto (do qual se trata na sentença seguinte).

Kauda, ou tonsura: “substantivo feminino Corte de cabelo redondo, no topo da cabeça, conferido pelo Bispo aos eclesiásticos que obtiveram o primeiro grau do clericato; a cerimônia em que esse corte é realizado; prima tonsura;

Cercilho; esse corte de cabelo;

Ação ou efeito de cortar os cabelos e a barba.”

Vê-se que isso antecede em muito qualquer “bispo”…

Não pecar (perder a nobreza), nesse sentido, é:

Estudar o Veda;

orar;

recitar;

sacrificar;

procriar.

Before the navel-string is cut, the Gatakarman (birth-rite) must be performed for a male; and while sacred formulas are being recited, he must be fed with gold, honey, and butter.” Uma péssima primeira refeição.

But let the father perform or cause to be performed the Namadheya (the rite of naming the child), on the 10th or 12th day after birth, or on a lucky lunar day, in a lucky muhurta, under an auspicious constellation.

Let the first part of a Brahmana’s name denote something auspicious, a Kshatriya’s be connected with power, and a Vaisya’s with wealth, but a Sudra’s express something contemptible.” A origem consciente dos nomes próprios feios e vulgares.

The second part of a Brahmana’s name shall be a word implying happiness, of a Kshatriya’s a word implying protection, of a Vaisya’s a term expressive of thriving, and of a Sudra’s an expression denoting service.

The names of women should be easy to pronounce, not imply anything dreadful, possess a plain meaning, be pleasing and auspicious, end in long vowels, and contain a word of benediction.

In the 4th month the Nishkramana (the first leaving of the house) of the child should be performed, in the 6th month the Annaprasana (first feeding with rice), and optionally any other auspicious ceremony required by the custom of the family.

According to the teaching of the revealed texts, the Kudakarman (tonsure) must be performed, for the sake of spiritual merit, by all twice-born men in the first or third year.” Repare na insistência no tema (e no já 2º vocábulo utilizado para tonsura).

In the 8th year after conception [7 anos e 3 meses aproximados de vida, este é o aniversário], one should perform the initiation (upanayana) of a Brahmana, in the 11th after conception that of a Kshatriya, but in the 12th that of a Vaisya.” Os brâmanes amadurecem mais rápido (como as mulheres).

The initiation of a Brahmana who desires proficiency in sacred learning should take place in the 5th year after conception, that of a Kshatriya who wishes to become powerful [o Kshatriya está no meio do caminho do que nós consideraríamos como guerreiro e político] in the 6th, and that of a Vaisya who longs for success in his business in the 8th.” Absurdo. Ao mesmo tempo que o nome deve reforçar o destino, o “eleito” deve escolher “livremente” numa idade muito anterior à do próprio juízo, e anterior até à da iniciação ritual. Hoje todos são Vaisyas de berço.

The time for the Savitri (initiation) of a Brahmana does not pass until the completion of the 16th year after conception, of a Kshatriya until the completion of the 22nd, and of a Vaisya until the completion of the 24th.” De novo, o ocidental tem todo o espírito do comércio em sua “formação individual”.

After those periods men of these 3 castes who have not received the sacrament at the proper time become Vratyas (outcasts), excluded from the initiation and despised by the Aryans.

With such men, if they have not been purified according to the rule, let no Brahmana ever, even in times of distress, form a connexion either through the Veda or by marriage.” O apartheid mais intenso jamais imaginado. O Vratya está abaixo do Sudra (quarta casta).

Let students, according to the order of their castes, wear the skins of black antelopes, spotted deer, and he-goats” Não sei precisar a diferença entre antelope e deer nesse caso, ambos tradutíveis como veado ou corça.

The girdle of a Brahmana shall consist of a triple cord of Munga grass, smooth and soft” O comerciante usa cânhamo, quanta ironia, burguesia!

If Munga grass be not procurable, the girdles may be made of Kusa, Asmantaka, and Balbaga fibres, with a single threefold knot, or with 3 or 5 knots according to the custom of the family.” Esses trechos necessitam de consulta a comentadores.

The staff of a Brahmana shall be made of such length as to reach the end of his hair; that of a Kshatriya, to reach his forehead; and that of a Vaisya, to reach the tip of his nose.”

the student should beg alms according to the prescribed rule.” Quem está a serviço, está a serviço, ainda que seja um aristocrata.

Let him first beg food of his mother, or of his sister, or of his own maternal aunt, or of some other female who will not disgrace him by a refusal.”

let him eat, turning his face towards the east, [voltado para o nascer do Sol] and having purified himself by sipping water.

His meal will procure long life, if he eats facing the east; fame, if he turns to the south; prosperity, if he turns to the west; truthfulness, if he faces the east.” Aqui não sei se o texto está corrompido ou se o leste é duas vezes bendito e o norte poluído.

Let him always worship his food, and eat it without contempt; when he sees it, let him rejoice, show a pleased face, and pray that he may always obtain it.

Food, that is always worshipped, gives strength and manly vigour; but eaten irreverently, it destroys them both.” O pai do pai-nosso.

Let him not give to any man what he leaves, and beware of eating between the 2 meal-times; let him not over-eat himself, nor go anywhere without having purified himself.”

They call the part at the root of the thumb the tirtha sacred to Brahman, that at the root of the little finger the tirtha sacred to Ka (Pragapati), that at the tips of the fingers, the tirtha sacred to the gods, and that below between the index and the thumb, the tirtha sacred to the manes.”

Let him first sip water thrice; next twice wipe his mouth; and, lastly, touch with water the cavities of the head, the seat of the soul” As origens do TOC.

“…and turning to the east or to the north.” (ablução – o que significa que o trecho acima provavelmente omite norte de forma errada)

This whole series of ceremonies must be performed for females also, in order to sanctify the body, at the proper time and in the proper order, but without the recitation of sacred texts.” O super-apartheid.

The nuptial ceremony is stated to be the Vedic sacrament for women and to be equal to the initiation, serving the husband equivalent to the residence in the house of the teacher, and the household duties the same as the daily worship of the sacred fire.” O homem é o sol da mulher, e seu professor, e sua casa.

Thus has been described the rule for the initiation of the twice-born, which indicates a new birth, and sanctifies; learn now to what duties they must afterwards apply themselves.

Having performed the initiation, the teacher must first instruct the pupil in the rules of personal purification, of conduct, of the fire-worship, and of the twilight devotions.”

At the beginning and at the end of a lesson in the Veda he must always clasp both the feet of his teacher, [abraçar, apertar – com as mãos ou com os pés, porém? Manter apertado não parece ser o sentido, uma vez que contradiria a sentença seguinte, se se tratar mesmo das mãos – parece ser apenas um amplexo inicial de cumprimento] and he must study joining his hands; that is called the Brahmangali (joining the palms for the sake of the Veda).

With crossed hands he must clasp the feet of the teacher, and touch the left foot with his left hand, the right foot with his right hand. [esclarecimento do ‘mistério’ acima – pode parecer óbvio, mas implica que o discípulo deve cruzar os braços na saudação, posto que estão um de frente para o outro]

Let him [o aprendiz novato] always pronounce the syllable Om at the beginning and at the end of a lesson in the Veda; [if] the syllable Om [does not] precede the lesson, [it] will slip away, and unless it follow[s] it will fade away.” Se o discípulo não recitar Om antes e depois da lição, não será capaz de compreender o que vem a seguir ou esquecerá o que acabou de aprender.

“…and sanctified by 3 suppressions of the breath (Pranayama), he is worthy to pronounce the syllable Om.

Pragapati (the lord of creatures) milked out from the 3 Vedas the sounds A, U, and M, and the Vyahritis Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah.” Não só os deuses tiram leite de pedra como do próprio livro, ou Palavra, ou Grande Verdade. Extraem o mais puro e o máximo do (aparente) mínimo.

A twice-born man who daily repeats those three [vowels] 1000 times outside the village will be freed after a month even from great guilt, as a snake from its slough. [pele]Who repeats, repents. Pêgo com as calças na mão.

The Brahmana, the Kshatriya, and the Vaisya who neglect the recitation of that Rik-verse and the timely performance of the rites prescribed will be blamed among virtuous men.

Know that the 3 imperishable Mahavyahritis, preceded by the syllable Om, and followed by the 3-footed Savitri are the portal of the Veda and the gate leading to union with Brahman.

He who daily recites that verse, untired, during 3 years, will enter after death the highest Brahman, move as free as air, and assume an ethereal form.

The monosyllable Om is the highest Brahman, 3 suppressions of the breath are the best form of austerity, but nothing surpasses the Savitri [iniciação, mote ou lema neste contexto, isto é, expressão curta que resume toda uma doutrina] ‘truthfulness is better than silence’.” A afetação na fala seria o mais ridículo de 3 estados possíveis (pode-se dizer a verdade, calar ou mentir). O silêncio é mais digno. Mas mais digna que o silêncio é a fala sincera.

All rites ordained in the Veda, burnt oblations and other sacrifices pass away; but know that the syllable Om is imperishable, and it is Brahman, and the Lord of creatures (Pragapati).

Uma oferenda sob a forma de orações em murmúrio, é dez vezes mais eficaz que um sacrifício realizado conforme as leis do Veda; uma oração inaudível aos outros, no entanto, supera em cem vezes aquela oferenda; e a recitação puramente mental dos textos sagrados, mil vezes.

Se juntarmos os 4 Pakayagnas [?] e essas oferendas sancionadas pelo Veda, ainda não alcançamos nem um dezesseis avos do valor da oferenda sob a forma de orações em murmúrio.

[?] Ou Pakayanas

Mas também é verdade que um Brahmana pode, sem dúvida, alcançar a mais nobre elevação apenas por orações murmuradas; se ele executa outros ritos ou os negligencia, aquele que é o amigo de todas as criaturas [é ‘duas vezes nascido’, i.e., da primeira casta] é de todo modo um verdadeiro Brahmana [e alcança o que outros não podem alcançar].

Um homem sábio deve se esforçar para controlar seus órgãos que deixados a seu curso natural são seduzidos pelos objetos atrativos do mundo; um homem sábio controla seus órgãos vitais assim como o carroceiro seus cavalos.

Os 11 órgãos que os antigos sábios enumeraram eu vou ensinar na ordem própria e precisa,

o ouvido, a pele, os olhos, a língua, o nariz como o quinto, o ânus, o órgão da geração, mãos e pés e o órgão da fala [sistema fonador – do qual a língua participa; mas na primeira série de órgãos a língua era considerada apenas enquanto instrumento do paladar] como o décimo.”

Know that the internal organ (manas) is the 11th, which by its quality belongs to both sets [órgãos dos sentidos e órgãos da ação]; when that has been subdued, both those sets of 5 organs have been conquered.”

O desejo nunca é extinto através da fruição do desejo; quanto mais prazer se usufrui, mais forte o desejo, como fogo alimentado por combustível.

Portanto, entre obter todos os prazeres e renunciar a todos eles, a renúncia absoluta é sem dúvida melhor.

É extremamente difícil restringir os órgãos sensuais apenas através da abstinência; é preciso buscar constantemente o conhecimento a fim de lograr a renúncia absoluta.

Tampouco bastam os Vedas, a profissão da generosidade, a performance de sacrifícios nem qualquer restrição auto-imposta, nem uma rotina austera, para a obtenção de recompensa divina, se o coração do homem em questão se encontra contaminado pela sensualidade.

Apenas o homem que, escutando, tocando, vendo, provando e cheirando seja o que for, não sente prazer nem desprazer pode ser chamado de homem que domou seus órgãos.

Porém, basta que um dos órgãos escape do controle para que a sabedoria também escape, exatamente como a água derramada do recipiente escorre pelo corpo daquele que vai buscá-la ao poço.

Se o homem conserva os dez órgãos (e a mente, o décimo primeiro órgão) em sujeição, conquistará toda sua meta, sem que careça da prática da Yoga.”

O praticante deve erguer-se com o céu ainda escuro, sussurrando o Savitri até a aurora, mas que ele não deixe de recitá-lo, sentado, manhã e tarde e noite adentro, até as constelações estarem visíveis no céu.” Netero alcançando seu auge (Hunter x Hunter). Gratidão é a palavra-chave (hoje tão banalizada).

There are no forbidden days for the daily recitation, since that is declared to be a Brahmasattra; at that the Veda takes the place of the burnt oblations”

Unless one be asked, one must not explain anything to anybody, nor must one answer a person who asks improperly; let a wise man, though he knows, behave among men as an idiot.

Of the two persons, him who illegally explains, and him who illegally asks, one or both will die or incur the other’s enmity.”

good seed must not be thrown on barren land.” Se ao menos os cristãos fossem mais orgulhosos e assim pensassem teríamos evitado muitos genocídios de povos originários.

But he who acquires without permission the Veda from one who recites it, incurs the guilt of stealing the Veda, and shall sink into hell.”

A Brahmana who completely governs himself, though he know the Savitri only, is better than he who knows the 3 Vedas but does not control himself, eats all sorts of food, and sells all sorts of goods.

One must not sit down on a couch or seat which a superior occupies; and he who occupies a couch or seat shall rise to meet a superior, and salute him.”

After the salutation, a Brahmana who greets an elder must pronounce his name, saying, ‘I am N. N.’”

In saluting he should pronounce after his name the word bhoh; for the sages have declared that the nature of bhoh is the same as that of all proper names.”

and the vowel ‘a’ must be added at the end of the name of the person addressed, the syllable preceding it being drawn out to the length of 3 moras [unidades].

A Brahmana who does not know the form of returning a salutation, must not be saluted by a learned man; as a Sudra, even so is he.

Let him ask a Brahmana, on meeting him, after his health, with the word kusala, a Kshatriya, anamaya, a Vaisya kshema, and a Sudra anarogya.”

But to a female who is the wife of another man, and not a blood-relation, he must say, ‘Lady’ (bhavati) or ‘Beloved sister!’”

To his maternal and paternal uncles, fathers-in-law, officiating priests, venerable persons, he must say, ‘I am N. N.’, and rise, even though they be younger.

A maternal aunt, the wife of a maternal uncle, a mother-in-law, and a paternal aunt must be honoured like the wife of one’s teacher; they are equal to the wife of one’s teacher.

The feet of the wife of one’s brother, if she be of the same caste (varna), must be clasped every day; but the feet of wives of other paternal and maternal relatives need only be embraced on one’s return from a journey.

Towards a sister of one’s father and of one’s mother, and towards one’s own elder sister, one must behave as towards one’s mother; but the mother is more venerable than they.”

Fellow-citizens are called friends and equals though one be 10 years older than the other, men practising the same fine art though one be 5 years older, Srotriyas though 3 years intervene between their ages, but blood-relations only (if the) difference of age be very small.

Know that a Brahmana of 10 years and Kshatriya of 100 years stand to each other in the relation of father and son; but between those two the Brahmana is the father.

Wealth, kindred, age, the due performance of rites, and, fifthly,¹ sacred learning are titles to respect; but each later-named cause is more weighty than the preceding ones.” Os ricos (merceeiros) por último.

¹ Lendo essa palavra me dei conta de que o inglês, mesmo não sendo tão proeminente em consoantes como muitas línguas européias, tem uma palavra de 9 letras em que 8 são consoantes, sendo 6 consecutivas: twelfthly!

Whatever man of the 3 highest castes¹ possesses most of those five,¹ both in number and degree, that man is worthy of honour among them; and so is a Sudra who has entered the 10th decade of his life.” Que cruel essa expectativa…

¹ Três nem sequer dependem da vontade do indivíduo…

Way must be made for a man in a carriage, for one who is above 90 years old, [!] for one diseased, for the carrier of a burden, for a woman, for a Snataka, [estudante graduado] for the king, and for a bridegroom.” Leis inclusivas desde os mais remotos tempos.

a Snataka and the king must be most honoured; and if the king and a Snataka meet, the latter receives respect from the king.”

They call that Brahmana who initiates a pupil and teaches him the Veda together with the Kalpa and the Rahasyas, the teacher (akarya).

But he who for his livelihood teaches a portion only of the Veda, or also the Angas of the Veda, is called the sub-teacher (upadhyaya).”

That Brahmana who performs in accordance with the rules of the Veda the rites, the Garbhadhana (conception-rite) and so forth, and gives food to the child, is called the Guru (the venerable one).”

That man who truthfully fills both his ears with the Veda the pupil shall consider as his father and mother; he must never offend him.

The teacher (akarya) is 10 times more venerable than a sub-teacher (upadhyaya), the father a 100 times more than the teacher, but the mother a 1000 times more than the father.”

That Brahmana who is the giver of the birth for the sake of the Veda and the teacher of the prescribed duties becomes by law the father of an aged man, even though he himself be a child.

Young Kavi, the son of Angiras, taught his relatives who were old enough to be fathers, and, as he excelled them in sacred knowledge, he called them ‘Little sons’.

They, moved with resentment, asked the gods concerning that matter, and the gods, having assembled, answered, ‘The child has addressed you properly.

For a man destitute of sacred knowledge is indeed a child…’”

The seniority of Brahmanas is from sacred knowledge, that of Kshatriyas from valour, that of Vaisyas from wealth in grain (and other goods), but that of Sudras alone from age.

A man is not therefore venerable because his head is gray; him who, though young, has learned the Veda, the gods consider to be venerable.” You don’t have to be old to be wise, right, Halffy?

As an elephant made of wood, as an antelope made of leather, such is an unlearned Brahmana; those three have nothing but the names.

As a eunuch is unproductive with women, as a cow with a cow is unprolific, and as a gift made to an ignorant man yields no reward, even so is a Brahmana useless, who does not know the Rikas.

Created beings must be instructed in what concerns their welfare without giving them pain, and sweet and gentle speech must be used by a teacher who desires to abide by the sacred law.” O inverso da pedagogia contemporânea.

let him not utter speeches which make others afraid of him, since that will prevent him from gaining heaven.” Uma lição à igreja católica, por exemplo.

A Brahmana should always fear homage as if it were poison; and constantly desire scorn as nectar.” Nietzsche em estado bruto.

For he who is scorned sleep with an easy mind, awake with an easy mind, and with an easy mind walk here among men; but the scorners utterly perish.”

A twice-born man who, not having studied the Veda, applies himself to other and worldly study soon falls, even while living, to the condition of a Sudra and his descendants after him.

He who has not been initiated should not pronounce any Vedic text excepting those required for the performance of funeral rites, since he is on a level with a Sudra before his birth from the Veda.”

Let him abstain from honey, meat, perfumes, garlands, substances used for flavouring food, women, all substances turned acid, and from doing injury to living creatures.

From anointing his body, applying collyrium to his eyes, from the use of shoes and of an umbrella or parasol, from sensual desire, anger, covetousness, dancing, singing, and playing musical instruments” Já é demasiado!

MAIS PROBIÇÕES: “…gambling, idle disputes, backbiting, and lying, from looking at and touching women, and from hurting others.”

Let him always sleep alone, let him never waste his manhood; for he who voluntarily wastes his manhood, breaks his vow.”

SANSÃO, O VIRGEM (E ATÉ BRAÇO-VIRGEM!): “A twice-born student who has involuntarily wasted his manly strength during sleep [aqui é definitivamente onde a polução noturna se torna poluição noturna!] must bathe, worship the sun, and afterwards thrice mutter the Rik-verse, which begins ‘Again let my strength return to me’.”

lAwful

He who, without being sick, neglects during 7 days to go out begging, and to offer fuel in the sacred fire, shall perform the penance of an Avakirnin (one who has broken his vow).”

the subsistence of a student on begged food is declared to be equal in merit to fasting.”

In the presence of his teacher let him always eat less, wear a less valuable dress and ornaments than the former, and let him rise earlier from his bed and go to rest later.”

Let him not pronounce the mere name of his teacher without adding an honorific title behind his back even, and let him not mimic his gait, speech, and deportment.

Wherever people justly censure or falsely defame his teacher, there he must cover his ears or depart thence to another place.” Me pergunto se cover his ears neste caso é destruir os próprios tímpanos.

By censuring his teacher, though justly, he will become in his next birth an ass,¹ by falsely defaming him, a dog; he who lives on his teacher’s substance, will become a worm, and he who is envious of his merit, a larger insect.”

¹ Muito conveniente. Mas demonstra que os hindus valorizam mais a mula ou o burro que o cachorro.

If his teacher’s teacher is near, let him behave towards him as towards his own teacher; but let him, unless he has received permission from his teacher, not salute venerable persons of his own family.”

A student must not shampoo the limbs of his teacher’s son, nor assist him in bathing, nor eat the fragments of his food, nor wash his feet.”

Let him not perform for a wife of his teacher the offices of anointing her, assisting her in the bath, shampooing her limbs, or arranging her hair.” Essa segunda recomendação é muito mais importante que a primeira!

A pupil who is full 20 years old, and knows what is becoming and unbecoming, shall not salute a young wife of his teacher by clasping her feet.” Aquele que já é grandinho (sabe o que é morrer e transar), que não abrace a mulher de seu mentor!

It is the nature of women to seduce men in this world; for that reason the wise are never unguarded in the company of females.

For women are able to lead astray in this world not only a fool, but even a learned man, and to make him a slave of desire and anger.” Sábias palavras!

Se ironizar os comandos das Leis de Manu representar minha perdição, eu já estou no pior dos labirintos…

One should not sit in a lonely place with one’s mother, sister, or daughter; for the senses are powerful, and master even a learned man.

But at his pleasure a young student may prostrate himself on the ground before the young wife of a teacher, in accordance with the rule, and say, ‘I, N. N., worship thee, O lady’.”

On returning from a journey he must clasp the feet of his teacher’s wife and daily salute her in the manner just mentioned, remembering the duty of the virtuous.” Podia tirar uma casquinha, desde que estivesse sumido por um tempo!

A student may either shave his head, or wear his hair in braids, or braid one lock on the crown of his head; the sun must never set or rise while he lies asleep in the village.

If the sun should rise or set while he is sleeping, be it intentionally or unintentionally, he shall fast during the next day, muttering the Savitri.”

If a woman or a man of low caste perform anything leading to happiness, let him diligently practise it, as well as any other permitted act in which his heart finds pleasure.”

That trouble and pain which the parents undergo on the birth of their children, cannot be compensated even in 100 years.” Para o homem, não sei a que dor e sofrimento se refere!

The father, forsooth, is stated to be the Garhapatya fire, the mother the Dakshinagni, but the teacher the Ahavaniya fire; this triad of fires is most venerable.

He who neglects not those three, even after he has become a householder, will conquer the 3 worlds and, radiant in body like a god, he will enjoy bliss in heaven.

By honouring his mother he gains this world, by honouring his father the middle sphere, but by obedience to his teacher the world of Brahman. [Contradiz trecho anterior em que a mãe era a mais honorável de todas por longa margem.]

He shall inform them of everything that with their consent he may perform in thought, word, or deed for the sake of the next world.” O ponto fraco do Vedanta: aquele que tem de ser o servo da vontade dos pais por toda a vida acaba inconscientemente desejando sua morte. Desse ponto de vista, os órfãos são muito mais felizes, aliviados de uma tirânica carga patriarcal. Aquele que segue contido e autocensurado diante de pais centenários, por exemplo, se torna mórbido, malvado. Lembrar-se de que o mais comum neste mundo é ser de natureza oposta à dos próprios parentes.

every other act is a subordinate duty.”

He who possesses faith may receive pure learning even from a man of lower caste, the highest law even from the lowest, and an excellent wife even from a base family.” E aqui um dos pontos que é mais mal-digerido pelo Ocidente: a lei de castas NÃO proscreve o casamento intercastas – e nem mesmo o próprio estudo dos Vedas está interdito a um Kshatriya e assim sucessivamente (na verdade ele é obrigatório para o brâmane, nisso consistindo a principal diferença). Se o espírito da religião não for apropriado por uma oligarquia (aristocracia decadente) sacerdotal, há liberdade de expressão individual para todos, e não uma elite que apenas se perpetua no poder através de expedientes absurdos e odiosos, falsamente justificados na tradição infinita dos tempos passados.

Even from poison nectar may be taken, even from a child good advice, even from a foe a lesson in good conduct, and even from an impure substance, gold.

Excellent wives, learning, the knowledge of the law, the rules of purity, good advice, and various arts may be acquired from anybody.

It is prescribed that in times of distress a student may learn the Veda from one who is not a Brahmana; and that he shall walk behind and serve such a teacher, as long as the instruction lasts.” Vivemos tempos assim.

A Brahmana who serves his teacher till the dissolution of his body, reaches forthwith the eternal mansion of Brahman.”

A perpetual student must, if his teacher dies, serve his son provided he be endowed with good qualities, or his widow, or his Sapinda, in the same manner as the teacher.” Me parece que o Código de Manu já é a perversão decadente de um código muito mais antigo e que não continha artimanhas e adulterações dignas de senhores de engenho para escravizar pessoas ingênuas por mais tempo (atravessando até gerações na mesma casa).

Should none of these be alive, he must serve the sacred fire, standing by day and sitting during the night, and thus finish his life.” Patético. O que é um fogo sagrado ou um deus sem o homem para observá-lo e adorá-lo com consciência? Mas neste caso esse mandamento é apenas algo mecânico e esvaziado de consciência e de sentido, compulsivo (e compulsório!) e involuntário, mera auto-imolação.

III

The vow of studying the 3 Vedas under a teacher must be kept for 36 years, or for half that time, or for a quarter, or until the student has perfectly learnt them.” Um aforismo realmente inútil. Positivamente, talvez o único que legisle seja: o tempo mínimo de estudo dos Vedas, excetuando-se os superdotados, é de 9 anos.

In connecting himself with a wife, let him carefully avoid the ten following families, be they ever so great, or rich in kine, horses, sheep, grain, or property,

one which neglects the sacred rites, one in which no male children are born, one in which the Veda is not studied, one the members of which have thick hair on the body, those which are subject to hemorrhoids, phthisis, weakness of digestion, epilepsy, or white or black leprosy.” O que a ignorância não é capaz de prescrever! O que me faz lembrar piada chula, por sinal: – Sua esposa tem hemorróida? – Não que eu saiba, mas por que a pergunta?! – É que ela senta muito

Let him not marry a maiden with reddish hair, nor one who has a redundant member, nor one who is sickly, nor one either with no hair on the body or too much, nor one who is garrulous or has red eyes,

Nor one named after a constellation, [desculpe, Andrômeda, terei de deixá-la!] a tree, or a river, nor one bearing the name of a low caste, or of a mountain, nor one named after a bird, a snake, or a slave, nor one whose name inspires terror.

Let him wed a female free from bodily defects, who has an agreeable name, the graceful gait of a Hamsa or of an elephant, [graciosa como uma jamanta dopada!] a moderate quantity of hair on the body and on the head, small teeth, and soft limbs.” A genealogia dos incels e redpilled.

Quem procura não só pêlo em ovo como cavalo em dente e até os próprios ovos não será nunca feliz no casamento…

Macho, nunca saciado, nunca saciável, nunca sociável: “For the first marriage of twice-born men wives of equal caste are recommended; but for those who through desire proceed to marry again the following females, chosen according to the order of the castes, are most approved.

It is declared that a Sudra woman alone can be the wife of a Sudra, she and one of his own caste the wives of a Vaisya, those 2 and one of his own caste the wives of a Kshatriya, those 3 and one of his own caste the wives of a Brahmana.” Quer-se dizer: desçam escadas um degrau por vez.

he who weds a Sudra woman becomes an outcast, according to Saunaka on the birth of a son, and according to Bhrigu he who has male offspring from a Sudra female, alone.

A Brahmana who takes a Sudra wife to his bed, will after death sink into hell; if he begets a child by her, he will lose the rank of a Brahmana [afundar no inferno ainda em vida].”

For him who drinks the moisture of a Sudra’s lips, who is tainted by her breath, and who begets a son on her, no expiation is prescribed.”

Now listen to the brief description of the following 8 marriage-rites used by the 4 castes (varna) which partly secure benefits and partly produce evil both in this life and after death.

They are the rite of Brahman (Brahma), that of the gods (Daiva), that of the Rishis (Arsha), that of Pragapati (Pragapatya), that of the Asuras (Asura), that of the Gandharvas (Gandharva), that of the Rhashasas (Rakshasa), and that of the Pisakas (Paisaka).

Which is lawful for each caste (varna) and which are the virtues or faults of each rite, all this I will declare to you, as well as their good and evil results with respect to the offspring.

One may know that the first 6 according to the order are lawful for a Brahmana, the 4 last for a Kshatriya, and the same 4, excepting the Rakshasa rite, for a Vaisya and a Sudra.”

the Paisaka and the Asura rites [o 5º e o 8º] must never be used.

For Kshatriyas those before-mentioned 2 rites, the Gandharva and the Rakshasa, [6º e 7º] whether separate or mixed, are permitted by the sacred tradition.”

The gift of a daughter, after decking her with costly garments and honouring her by presents of jewels, to a man learned in the Veda and of good conduct, whom the father himself invites, is called the Brahma rite. (1)

The gift of a daughter who has been decked with ornaments, to a priest who duly officiates at a sacrifice, during the course of its performance, they call the Daiva rite. (2)

When the father gives away his daughter according to the rule, after receiving from the bridegroom, for the fulfilment of the sacred law, a cow and a bull or two pairs, that is named the Arsha rite. (3)

The gift of a daughter by her father after he has addressed the couple with the text, ‘May both of you perform together your duties’, and has shown honour to the bridegroom, is called in the Smriti the Pragapatya rite. (4)

When the bridegroom receives a maiden, after having given as much wealth as he can afford, to the kinsmen and to the bride herself, according to his own will, that is called the Asura rite. (5) [???]

The voluntary union of a maiden and her lover one must know to be the Gandharva rite, (6) which springs from desire and has sexual intercourse for its purpose. [Gostaríamos de dizer que todos os casos de matrimônios em nossa própria sociedade são deste tipo, mas sabemos que não.]

The forcible abduction of a maiden from her home, while she cries out and weeps, after her kinsmen have been slain or wounded and their houses broken open, is called the Rakshasa rite. (7) [Espécie de ‘espólio de guerra’. Entende-se perfeitamente por que está previsto para os Kshatriyas.]

When a man by stealth seduces a girl who is sleeping, intoxicated, or disordered in intellect, that is the 8th, the most base and sinful rite of the Pisakas. (8)

The gift of daughters among Brahmanas is most approved, if it is preceded by a libation of water; but in the case of other castes it may be performed by the expression of mutual consent.

Listen now to me, ye Brahmanas, while I fully declare what quality has been ascribed by Manu to each of these marriage-rites.

The son of a wife wedded according to the Brahma rite, if he performs meritorious acts, liberates from sin 10 ancestors, 10 descendants and himself as the 21st. [o motivo da necessidade de procriação do asceta, qualidade que me deixou perplexo à primeira leitura do Mahabharata]

The son born of a wife, wedded according to the Daiva rite, likewise saves 7 ancestors and 7 descendants, the son of a wife married by the Arsha rite 3 in the ascending and descending lines, and the son of a wife married by the rite of Ka (Pragapati) 6 in either line.”

But from the remaining 4 blamable marriages spring sons who are cruel and speakers of untruth, who hate the Veda and the sacred law.” Brahmen are not to blame. Braman, o homem-sutiã.

The ceremony of joining the hands is prescribed for marriages with women of equal caste; know that the following rule applies to weddings with females of a different caste.

On marrying a man of a higher caste a Kshatriya bride must take hold of an arrow, a Vaisya bride of a goad, [vara de açoite do gado] and a Sudra female of the hem [bainha] of the bridegroom’s garment.

Let the husband approach his wife in due season, being constantly satisfied with her alone; he may also, being intent on pleasing her, [pleasing himself, in truth] approach her with a desire for conjugal union on any day excepting the Parvans.

Sixteen days and nights in each month, including 4 days which differ from the rest and are censured by the virtuous, are called the natural season of women. [?]

But among these the first 4, the 11th and the 13th are declared to be forbidden; the remaining nights are recommended.” Do quinto ao décimo pode mandar ver.

On the even nights sons are conceived and daughters on the uneven ones; hence a man who desires to have sons should approach his wife in due season on the even nights.

A male child is produced by a greater quantity of male seed, a female child by the prevalence of the female; if both are equal, a hermaphrodite or a boy and a girl; if both are weak or deficient in quantity, a failure of conception results.

He who avoids women on the 6 forbidden nights and on 8 others, is equal in chastity to a student, in whichever order he may live.

No father who knows the law must take even the smallest gratuity for his daughter; for a man who, through avarice, takes a gratuity, is a seller of his offspring.

But those male relations who, in their folly, live on the separate property of women, e.g. appropriate the beasts of burden, carriages, and clothes of women, commit sin and will sink into hell.

Some call the cow and the bull given at an Arsha wedding ‘a gratuity’; but that is wrong, since the acceptance of a fee, be it small or great, is a sale of the daughter.

When the relatives do not appropriate for their use the gratuity given, it is not a sale; in that case the gift is only a token of respect and of kindness towards the maidens.

Women must be honoured and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands, and brothers-in-law, who desire their own welfare.”

The houses on which female relations, not being duly honoured, pronounce a curse, perish completely, as if destroyed by magic.

Hence men who seek their own welfare, should always honour women on holidays and festivals with gifts of ornaments, clothes, and dainty food. [não basta ser comida, tem de ser comida boa; dainty food em inglês também parece evocar sempre doces ou ‘comidas que só mulheres e crianças costuma(va)m comer]

By low marriages, by omitting the performance of sacred rites, by neglecting the study of the Veda, and by irreverence towards Brahmanas, great families sink low.” Levar-se muito a sério nunca é bom!

By practising handicrafts, by pecuniary transactions, by begetting children on Sudra females only, by trading in cows, horses, and carriages, by the pursuit of agriculture and by taking service under a king,

By sacrificing for men unworthy to offer sacrifices and by denying the future rewards for good works, families, deficient in the knowledge of the Veda, quickly perish.”

A householder has 5 slaughter-houses, the hearth, the grinding-stone, the broom, the pestle and mortar, [pilão e argamassa] the water-vessel, [?] by using which he is bound with the fetters of sin. [trecho obscuro]

In order to successively expiate the offences committed by means of all these 5 the great sages have prescribed for householders the daily performance of the 5 great sacrifices.

Teaching and studying is the sacrifice offered to Brahman, the offerings of water and food called Tarpana the sacrifice to the manes, the burnt oblation the sacrifice offered to the gods, the Bali offering that offered to the Bhutas, [fantasmas, não-deificados, almas ‘penadas’, portanto em hierarquia inferior aos manes] and the hospitable reception of guests the offering to men.

He who neglects not these 5 great sacrifices, while he is able to perform them, is not tainted by the sins committed in the 5 places of slaughter, though he constantly lives in the order of house-holders.

But he who does not feed these 5, the gods, his guests, those whom he is bound to maintain, the manes, and himself, lives not, though he breathes.

They call these 5 sacrifices also Ahuta, Huta, Prahuta, Brahmya-huta, and Prasita.

Ahuta, not offered in the fire, is the muttering of Vedic texts, Huta the burnt oblation offered to the gods, Prahuta, offered by scattering it on the ground, the Bali offering given to the Bhutas, Brahmya-huta, offered in the digestive fire of Brahmanas, the respectful reception of Brahmana guests, and Prasita, eaten, the daily oblation to the manes, called Tarpana.”

An oblation duly thrown into the fire, reaches the sun; from the sun comes rain, from rain food, therefrom the living creatures derive their subsistence.”

Let him daily perform a funeral sacrifice with food, or with water, or also with milk, roots, and fruits, and thus please the manes.

Let him feed even one Brahmana in honour of the manes at the Sraddha, which belongs to the 5 great sacrifices; but let him not feed on that occasion any Brahmana on account of the Vaisvadeva offering.

A Brahmana shall offer according to the rule of his Grihya-sutra a portion of the cooked food destined for the Vaisvadeva in the sacred domestic fire to the following deities:

First to Agni, and next to Soma, then to both these gods conjointly, further to all the gods (Visve Devah), and then to Dhanvantari,

Further to Kuhu (the goddess of the new-moon day), to Anumati (the goddess of the full-moon day), to Pragapati (the lord of creatures), to heaven and earth conjointly, and finally to Agni Svishtakrit (the fire which performs the sacrifice well).

After having thus duly offered the sacrificial food, let him throw Bali offerings in all directions of the compass, proceeding from the east to the south, [sentido horário] to Indra, Yama, Varuna, and Soma, as well as to the servants of these deities.

Saying, ‘Adoration to the Maruts’, he shall scatter some food near the door, and some in water, saying, ‘Adoration to the waters’; he shall throw some on the pestle and the mortar, speaking thus, ‘Adoration to the trees’.

Near the head of the bed he shall make an offering to Sri (fortune), and near the foot of his bed to Bhadrakali; in the centre of the house let him place a Bali for Brahman and for Vastoshpati (the lord of the dwelling) conjointly.

Let him throw up into the air a Bali for all the gods, and in the day-time one for the goblins roaming about by day, and in the evening one for the goblins that walk at night.” Haha!

In the upper story let him offer a Bali to Sarvatmabhuti; but let him throw what remains from these offerings in a southerly direction for the manes.

Let him gently place on the ground some food for dogs, outcasts, Kandalas (Svapak), those afflicted with diseases that are punishments of former sins, crows, and insects.”

The oblations to gods and manes, made by men ignorant of the law of gifts, are lost, if the givers in their folly present shares of them to Brahmanas who are mere ashes.” Monopólio sacerdotal: só nós sabemos o que são manes e como chegar até eles. Para vocês, leigos, é tudo , matéria sem valor.

Grass room for resting, water, and 4thly [?] a kind word; these things never fail in the houses of good men.

But a Brahmana who stays one night only is declared to be a guest (atithi); for because he stays (sthita) not long (anityam), he is called atithi.

One must not consider as a guest a Brahmana who dwells in the same village, nor one who seeks his livelihood by social intercourse, even though he has come to a house where there is a wife, and where sacred fires are kept.

Those foolish householders who constantly seek the food of others, become, in consequence of that, after death the cattle of those who give them food.

A guest who is sent by the setting-sun in the evening, must not be driven away by a householder; whether he have come at supper-time or at an inopportune moment, he must not stay in the house without entertainment.”

But if another guest comes after the Vaisvadeva offering has been finished, the house-holder must give him food according to his ability, but not repeat the Bali offering.

A Brahmana shall not name his family and Vedic gotra in order to obtain a meal; for he who boasts of them for the sake of a meal is called by the wise a foul feeder (vantasin).

But a Kshatriya who comes to the house of a Brahmana is not called a guest (atithi), nor a Vaisya, nor a Sudra, nor a personal friend, nor a relative, nor the teacher. [meio óbvio!]

But if a Kshatriya comes to the house of a Brahmana in the manner of a guest, the house-holder may feed him according to his desire, after the above-mentioned Brahmanas have eaten.”

Without hesitation he may give food, even before his guests, to the following persons: newly-married women, to infants, to the sick, and to pregnant women.

But the foolish man who eats first without having given food to these persons does, while he crams, [se empanturra] not know that after death he himself will be devoured by dogs and vultures.

After the Brahmanas, the kinsmen, and the servants have dined, the householder and his wife may afterwards eat what remains.

Having honoured the gods, the sages, men, the manes, and the guardian deities of the house, the householder shall eat afterwards what remains.” Origem de os últimos serão os primeiros?

He who prepares food for himself alone, eats nothing but sin; for it is ordained that the food which remains after the performance of the sacrifices shall be the meal of virtuous men.

Let him honour with the honey-mixture a king, an officiating priest, a Snataka, the teacher, a son-in-law, a father-in-law, and a maternal uncle, if they come again after a full year has elapsed since their last visit.

A king and a Srotriya, who come on the performance of a sacrifice, must be honoured with the honey-mixture, but not if no sacrifice is being performed; that is a settled rule.

But the wife shall offer in the evening a portion of the dressed food as a Bali-oblation, without the recitation of sacred formulas; for that rite which is called the Vaisvadeva is prescribed both for the morning and the evening.

After performing the Pitriyagna, a Brahmana who keeps a sacred fire shall offer, month by month, on the new-moon day, the funeral sacrifice Sraddha, called Pindanvaharyaka.

The wise call the monthly funeral offering to the manes Anvaharya, and that must be carefully performed with the approved flesh.

I will fully declare what and how many Brahmanas must be fed on that occasion, who must be avoided, and on what kinds of food they shall dine.

One must feed 2 Brahmanas at the offering to the gods, and 3 at the offering to the manes, or one only on either occasion; even a very wealthy man shall not be anxious to entertain a large company.

A large company destroys these 5 advantages[:] (1) the respectful treatment of the invited, (2) the propriety of place, (3) and [the propriety of] time, (4) purity, (5) and the selection of virtuous Brahmana (guests); he therefore shall not seek a large company.” Trecho empolado.

SUBSTITUTO VIVO, REPRESENTANTE DO DIVINO E DO ALÉM? “Oblations to the gods and manes must be presented by the givers to a Srotriya [?] alone; what is given to such a most worthy Brahmana yields great reward.”

Let him make inquiries even regarding the remote ancestors of a Brahmana who has studied an entire recension of the Veda [um tratado baseado no Veda, ou apenas um dos 3 Vedas?]; if descended from a virtuous race such a man is a worthy recipient of gifts consisting of food offered to the gods or to the manes, he is declared to procure as great rewards as a guest (atithi).

Though a million of men, unacquainted with the Rikas, were to dine at a funeral sacrifice, yet a single man, learned in the Veda, who is satisfied with his entertainment, is worth them all as far as the production of spiritual merit is concerned.

Food sacred to the manes or to the gods must be given to a man distinguished by sacred knowledge; for hands, smeared with blood, cannot be cleansed with blood.

[E dá-lhe imprecações!] As many mouthfuls as an ignorant man swallows at a sacrifice to the gods or to the manes, so many red-hot spikes, spears, and iron balls must the giver of the repast swallow after death.

Some Brahmanas are devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, and others to the performance of austerities; some to austerities and to the recitation of the Veda, and others to the performance of sacred rites.” Parece implicar que quem se devota a ritos não tem tempo para buscar ou seria ilícito que buscasse apenas o auto-aperfeiçoamento ascético.

Oblations to the manes ought to be carefully presented to those devoted to knowledge, but offerings to the gods, in accordance with the reason of the sacred law,¹ to men of all the 4 classes.” Surpreendente. Os manes são hierarquicamente inferiores aos deuses, porém desagradá-los é mais “fácil”, pois eles são mais exigentes.

¹ Pleonasmo.

If there is a father ignorant of the sacred texts whose son has learned one whole recension of the Veda and the Angas, and a son ignorant of the sacred texts whose father knows an entire recension of the Veda and the Angas,

Know that he whose father knows the Veda, is the more venerable one of the two; yet the other one is worthy of honour, because respect is due to the Veda which he has learned.”

He who performs funeral sacrifices and offerings to the gods chiefly for the sake of gaining friends, reaps after death no reward for Sraddhas and sacrifices.”

As a husbandman reaps no harvest when he has sown the seed in barren soil, even so the giver of sacrificial food gains no reward if he presented it to a man unacquainted with the Rikas.”

For a rite sacred to the gods, he who knows the law will not make too close inquiries regarding an invited Brahmana; but when one performs a ceremony in honour of the manes, one must carefully examine the qualities and parentage of the guest.”

Let him not entertain at a Sraddha one who wears his hair in braids (a student), one who has not studied the Veda, one afflicted with a skin-disease, a gambler, nor those who sacrifice for a multitude of sacrificers.”

A paid servant of a village or of a king, man with deformed nails or black teeth, one who opposes his teacher, one who has forsaken the sacred fire, and a usurer;

One suffering from consumption, [tuberculose] one who subsists by tending cattle, a younger brother who marries or kindles the sacred fire before the elder, one who neglects the 5 great sacrifices, an enemy of the Brahmana race, an elder brother who marries or kindles the sacred fire after the younger, [que culpa ele tem?] and one who belongs to a company or corporation,

An actor or singer, one who has broken the vow of studentship, one whose only or first wife is a Sudra female, the son of a remarried woman, a one-eyed man, and he in whose house a paramour of his wife resides;

He who teaches for a stipulated fee and he who is taught on that condition, he who instructs Sudra pupils and he whose teacher is a Sudra, he who speaks rudely, the son of an adulteress, and the son of a widow, [!]

He who forsakes his mother, his father, or a teacher without a sufficient reason, he who has contracted an alliance with outcasts either through the Veda or through a marriage,

An incendiary, a prisoner, he who eats the food given by the son of an adulteress, a seller of Soma, [?] he who undertakes voyages by sea, [!] a bard, an oil-man, a suborner to perjury,

He who wrangles or goes to law with his father, the keeper of a gambling-house, a drunkard, he who is afflicted with a disease in punishment of former crimes, he who is accused of a mortal sin, a hypocrite, a seller of substances used for flavouring food,

A maker of bows and of arrows, he who lasciviously dallies with a brother’s widow, the betrayer of a friend, one who subsists by gambling, he who learns the Veda from his son, [!!]

An epileptic man, who suffers from scrofulous swellings of the glands, one afflicted with white leprosy, an informer, a madman, a blind man, [já havia a restrição a caolhos, que englobava essa…] and he who cavils at the Veda [elabora sofismas em cima dos ensinamentos; questiona] must all be avoided.

A trainer of elephants, oxen, horses, or camels, [animais, impuros!] he who subsists by astrology, a bird-fancier, and he who teaches the use of arms, [aí eu concordo]

He who diverts water-courses, and he who delights in obstructing them, an architect, a messenger, and he who plants trees for money,

A breeder of sporting-dogs, a falconer, one who defiles maidens, he who delights in injuring living creatures, he who gains his subsistence from Sudras, and he who offers sacrifices to the Ganas [multidões], [todas tipificações obviamente nefárias para o Vedanta…]

He who does not follow the rule of conduct, a man destitute of energy like a eunuch, one who constantly asks for favours, he who lives by agriculture, a club-footed man, [!] and he who is censured by virtuous men,

A shepherd, a keeper of buffaloes, the husband of a remarried woman, and a carrier of dead bodies, all these must be carefully avoided.”

I will fully declare what result the giver obtains after death, if he gives food, destined for the gods or manes, to a man who is unworthy to sit in the company.

The Rakshasas, indeed, consume the food eaten by Brahmanas who have not fulfilled the vow of studentship, by a Parivettri and so forth, and by other men not admissible into the company.

He must be considered as a Parivettri who marries or begins the performance of the Agnihotra before his elder brother, but the latter as a Parivitti.

(1) The elder brother who marries after the younger, (2) the younger brother who marries before the elder, (3) the female with whom such a marriage is contracted, (4) he who gives her away, (5) and the sacrificing priest, as the 5th, all fall into hell.

He who lasciviously dallies with the widow of a deceased brother, though she be appointed to bear a child by him [o irmão vivo ou o morto?] in accordance with the sacred law, must be known to be a Didhishupati.

Two kinds of sons, a Kunda and a Golaka, are born by wives of other men; he who is born while the husband lives, will be a Kunda, and he who is begotten after the husband’s death, a Golaka.

But those 2 creatures, who are born of wives of other men, cause to the giver the loss of the rewards, both in this life and after death, for the food sacred to gods or manes which has been given to them.”

A blind man by his presence causes to the giver of the feast the loss of the reward for 90 guests, a one-eyed man for 60, one who suffers from white leprosy for 100, and one punished by a terrible disease for 1000.”

Food given to a seller of Soma becomes ordure, that given to a physician pus and blood, but that presented to a temple-priest is lost, and that given to a usurer finds no place in the world of the gods.”

But a Brahmana who, being duly invited to a rite in honour of the gods or of the manes, in any way breaks the appointment, becomes guilty of a crime, and in his next birth a hog.”

The manes are primeval deities, free from anger, careful of purity, ever chaste, averse from strife, and endowed with great virtues.

Now learn fully from whom all these manes derive their origin, and with what ceremonies they ought to be worshipped.

The various classes of the manes are declared to be the sons of all those sages, Mariki and the rest, who are children of Manu, the son of Hiranyagarbha.

The Somasads, the sons of Virag, are stated to be the manes of the Sadhyas, and the Agnishvattas, the children of Mariki, are famous in the world as the manes of the gods.

The Barhishads, born of Atri, are recorded to be the manes of the Daityas, Danavas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Snake-deities, Rakshasas, Suparnas, and a Kimnaras.

The Somapas those of the Brahmanas, the Havirbhugs those of the Kshatriyas, the Agyapas those of the Vaisyas, but the Sukalins those of the Sudras.

The Somapas are the sons of Kavi (Bhrigu), the Havishmats the children of Angiras, the Agyapas the offspring of Pulastya, but the Sukalins the issue of Vasishtha.

One should know that other classes, the Agnidagdhas, the Anagnidagdhas, the Kavyas, the Barhishads, the Agnishvattas, and the Saumyas, are the manes of the Brahmanas alone.

But know also that there exist in this world countless sons and grandsons of those chief classes of manes which have been enumerated.”

From the sages sprang the manes, from the manes the gods and the Danavas, but from the gods the whole world, both the movable and the immovable in due order.” Um sistema realmente complicado. Os primeiros sábios do hinduísmo precedem a existência, diria Sartre!

For twice-born men the rite in honour of the manes is more important than the rite in honour of the gods; for the offering to the gods which precedes the Sraddhas has been declared to be a means of fortifying the latter.”

Let him make the Sraddha begin and end with a rite in honour of the gods; it shall not begin and end with a rite to the manes; for he who makes it begin and end with a rite in honour of the manes, soon perishes together with his progeny.”

But if no sacred fire is available, he shall place the offerings into the hand of a Brahmana; for Brahmanas who know the sacred texts declare, ‘What fire is, even such is a Brahmana.’

The malevolent Asuras forcibly snatch away that food which is brought without being held with both hands.”

Let him on no account drop a tear, become angry or utter an untruth, nor let him touch the food with his foot nor violently shake it.” Um espirro pode danar famílias…

A tear sends the food to the Pretas, [fantasmas famintos]¹ anger to his enemies, a falsehood to the dogs, contact with his foot to the Rakshasas, a shaking to the sinners.”

¹ wikia: “Acredita-se que os pretas tenham sido pessoas falsas, corruptas, compulsivas, enganosas, invejosas ou gananciosas em uma vida anterior.”

All the food must be very hot, and the guests shall eat in silence; even though asked by the giver, the Brahmanas shall not proclaim the qualities of the sacrificial food.”

What a guest eats covering his head, what he eats with his face turned towards the south, what he eats with sandals on his feet, that the Rakshasas consume.”

A Kandala, a village pig, a cock, a dog, a menstruating woman, and a eunuch must not look at the Brahmanas while they eat.” Não é menos absurda que as outras regras, mas sem dúvida é a primeira que aprendemos sobre os brâmanes… Qual a diferença entre um carregador de mortos e um eunuco? A rigor, nenhuma.

If a lame man, a one-eyed man, one deficient in a limb, or one with a redundant limb, be even the servant of the performer of the Sraddha, he must be removed from that place.

The remnant in the dishes, and the portion scattered on Kusa grass, shall be the share of deceased children who received not the sacrament of cremation and of those who unjustly forsook noble wives.” Isso devia gerar epidemias grotescas… Muita comida apodrecendo no chão…

The foolish man who, after having eaten a dinner, gives the leavings to a Sudra, falls headlong into the Kalasutra hell.”

If the partaker of a dinner enters on the same day the bed of a Sudra female, the manes of his ancestors will lie during that month in her ordure.” Problema deles!

The food eaten by hermits in the forest, milk, Soma-juice, meat which is not prepared with spices, and salt unprepared by art, are called, on account of their nature, sacrificial food.”

I will now fully declare what kind of sacrificial food, given to the manes according to the rule, will serve for a long time or for eternity.” Agradeço.

The ancestors of men are satisfied for one month with sesamum grains, rice, barley, masha beans, water, roots, and fruits, which have been given according to the prescribed rule,” Fantasmas digerem muito devagar…

Two months with fish, 3 months with the meat of gazelles, 4 with mutton, and 5 indeed with the flesh of birds,” Uma boa caçada e o brâmane se livra desse rito por quase um semestre!

Six months with the flesh of kids, [não as que você está pensando!] 7 with that of spotted deer, 8 with that of the black antelope, but 9 with that of the deer called Ruru,

Ten months they are satisfied with the meat of boars and buffaloes, but 11 months indeed with that of hares and tortoises, [hmmmm! abriu o apetite aqui…]

One year with cow-milk and milk-rice; from the flesh of a long-eared white he-goat their satisfaction endures 12 years.

The vegetable called Kalasaka, the fish called Mahasalka, the flesh of a rhinoceros and that of a red goat, and all kinds of food eaten by hermits in the forest serve for an endless time.

Whatever food, mixed with honey, one gives on the 13th lunar day in the rainy season under the asterism of Maghah, that also procures endless satisfaction.”

He who performs it on the even lunar days and under the even constellations, gains the fulfilment of all his wishes; he who honours the manes on odd lunar days and under odd constellations, obtains distinguished offspring.

As the 2nd half of the month is preferable to the 1st half, even so the afternoon is better for a funeral sacrifice than the forenoon.”

Let him not perform a funeral sacrifice at night, because the night is declared to belong to the Rakshasas, nor in the twilight, nor when the sun has just risen.”

They call the manes of fathers Vasus, those of grandfathers Rudras, and those of great-grandfathers Adityas; thus speaks the eternal Veda.”

“…hear now the law for the manner of living fit for Brahmanas.”

IV

He may subsist by Rita (truth), and Amrita (ambrosia), or by Mrita (death) and by Pramrita (what causes many deaths); or even by Satyanrita (a mixture of truth and falsehood), but never by Svavritti (a dog’s mode of life).

By Rita shall be understood the gleaning of corn; by Amrita, what is given unasked; by Mrita, food obtained by begging and agriculture is declared to be Pramrita.” !

But trade and money-lending are Satyanrita, even by that one may subsist. Service is called Svavritti; therefore one should avoid it.”

Let him avoid all means of acquiring wealth which impede the study of the Veda; let him maintain himself anyhow, but study, because that devotion to the Veda-study secures the realisation of his aims.”

Let him not honour, even by a greeting, heretics, men who follow forbidden occupations, men who live like cats, rogues, logicians arguing against the Veda, and those who live like herons [garças].”

A Snataka who pines with hunger, may beg wealth of a king, of one for whom he sacrifices, and of a pupil, but not of others; that is a settled rule.

A Snataka who is able to procure food shall never waste himself with hunger, nor shall he wear old or dirty clothes, if he possesses property.

Keeping his hair, nails, and beard clipped, subduing his passions by austerities, wearing white garments and keeping himself pure, he shall be always engaged in studying the Veda”

He shall carry a staff of bamboo, a pot full of water, a sacred string, a bundle of Kusa grass, and wear 2 bright golden ear-rings.”

Let him never look at the sun, when he sets or rises, is eclipsed or reflected in water, or stands in the middle of the sky.

Let him not step over a rope to which a calf is tied, let him not run when it rains, and let him not look at his own image in water; that is a settled rule.”

Let him, though mad with desire, not approach his wife when her courses appear; nor let him sleep with her in the same bed.”

Let him not eat in the company of his wife, nor look at her, while she eats, sneezes, yawns, or sits at her ease.”

A Brahmana who desires energy must not look at a woman who applies collyrium to her eyes, has anointed or uncovered herself or brings forth a child.” E mesmo assim o homem pode usar brinquinhos dourados…

Let him not eat, dressed with one garment only; let him not bathe naked; let him not void urine on a road, on ashes, or in a cow-pen,

Nor on ploughed land, in water, on an altar of bricks, on a mountain, on the ruins of a temple, nor ever on an ant-hill, [hahaha]

Nor in holes inhabited by living creatures, nor while he walks or stands, nor on reaching the bank of a river, nor on the top of a mountain.”

Let him never void faeces or urine, facing the wind, or a fire, or looking towards a Brahmana, the sun, water, or cows.”

Let him void faeces and urine, in the daytime turning to the north, at night turning towards the south, during the two twilights in the same position as by day.”

The intellect of who voids urine against a fire, the sun, the moon, in water, against a Brahmana, a cow, or the wind, perishes.”

Let him not blow a fire with his mouth; let him not look at a naked woman; let him not throw any impure substance into the fire, and let him not warm his feet at it.”

Let him not interrupt a cow who is suckling her calf, nor tell anybody of it. A wise man, if he sees a rainbow in the sky, must not point it out to anybody.”

Let him not dwell in a country where the rulers are Sudras, nor in one which is surrounded by unrighteous men, nor in one which has become subject to heretics, nor in one swarming with men of the lowest castes.” Let not he live!

Let him not exert himself without a purpose; let him not drink water out of his joined palms; let him not eat food placed in his lap; let him not show idle curiosity.

Let him not dance, nor sing, nor play musical instruments, nor slap his limbs, nor grind his teeth, nor let him make uncouth noises, though he be in a passion.” Verdadeiro instrumento de tortura ascética.

Let him not clip his nails or hair, and not tear his nails with his teeth.” Quer dizer que ele sempre tem de ter barba, cabelo e unhas aparadas, mas não por si mesmo!

Let him not crush earth or clods, nor tear off grass with his nails; let him not do anything that is useless or will have disagreeable results in the future.

A man who crushes clods, [torrão de terra] tears off grass, or bites his nails, goes soon to perdition, likewise an informer and he who neglects purification.” Fofoqueiros cavam a terra e depois roem as unhas?! Esse é o simbolismo?

Let him not wrangle; let him not wear a garland over his hair. To ride on the back of cows or of oxen is anyhow a blamable act.” Interessantíssimo: o brâmane é a vaca, o chapéu seria o brâmane. Let him not wear a hammer as a cap!

Let him never play with dice, nor himself take off his shoes;”

Let him not eat after sunset any food containing sesamum grains;”

Let him eat while his feet are yet wet from the ablution, but let him not go to bed with wet feet. He who eats while his feet are still wet, will attain long life.”

let him not look at urine or ordure, nor cross a river swimming with his arms.”

Let him not stay together with outcasts, nor with Kandalas, nor with Pukkasas, nor with fools, nor with overbearing men, nor with low-caste men, nor with Antyavasayins.”

One oil-press is as bad as ten slaughter-houses, one tavern as bad as ten oil-presses, one brothel as bad as ten taverns, one king as bad as ten brothels.

A king is declared to be equal in wickedness to a butcher who keeps 100,000 slaughter-houses; to accept presents from him is a terrible crime.

He who accepts presents from an avaricious king who acts contrary to the Institutes of the sacred law, will go in succession to the following 21 hells:…”

E eu me pergunto quantos dos (poucos) tolos que seguiram com cegueira todo o Código de Manu entenderam algo do Katha!

Those who know the rules of recitation declare that in the rainy season the Veda-study must be stopped on these two occasions, when the wind is audible at night, and when it whirls up the dust in the day-time.

Manu has stated, that when lightning, thunder, and rain are observed together, or when large fiery meteors fall on all sides, the recitation must be interrupted until the same hour on the next day, counting from the occurrence of the event.” Devemos assim concluir que quedas de meteoritos eram relativamente comuns nessa época?!

PRESCRIÇÕES PARA LER O VEDA NUM COMPUTADOR CONECTADO A TOMADAS! “But when lightning and the roar of thunder are observed after the sacred fires have been made to blaze, the stoppage shall last as long as the light of the sun or of the stars is visible; if the remaining above-named phenomenon, rain, occurs, the reading shall cease, both in the day-time and at night.”

For those who wish to acquire exceedingly great merit, a continual interruption of the Veda-study is prescribed in villages and in towns, and the Veda-study must always cease when any kind of foul smell is perceptible.” Estou começando a achar que o Veda nunca deve ser lido! Bendito o desatento sem olfato!

Nor during a fog, nor while the sound of arrows is audible, nor during both the twilights, nor on the new-moon day, nor on the 14th and the 8th days of each half-month, nor on the full-moon day.” E eu não estou incluindo metade das veda-ções!

Let him not recite the Veda on horseback, nor on a tree, nor on an elephant, nor in a boat or ship, nor on a donkey, nor on camel, nor standing on barren ground, nor riding in a carriage,”

The Rig-veda is declared to be sacred to the gods, the Yagur-veda (sic) sacred to men, and the Sama-veda sacred to the manes; hence the sound of the latter is impure”

Let him not intentionally step on the shadow of images of the gods, of a Guru, of a king, of a Snataka, of his teacher, of a reddish-brown animal, or of one who has been initiated to the performance of a Srauta sacrifice (Dikshita).”

Let him not show particular attention to an enemy, to the friend of an enemy, to a wicked man, to a thief, or to the wife of another man. For in this world there is nothing so detrimental to long life as criminal conversation with another man’s wife.

Let him who desires prosperity, indeed, never despise a Kshatriya, a snake, and a learned Brahmana, be they ever so feeble.”

Let him not despise himself on account of former failures; until death let him seek fortune, nor despair of gaining it.”

Let him not insult those who have redundant limbs or are deficient in limbs, nor those destitute of knowledge, nor very aged men, nor those who have no beauty or wealth, nor those who are of low birth.”

Far from his dwelling let him remove urine and ordure, far let him remove the water used for washing his feet, and far the remnants of food and the water from his bath.”

Everything that depends on others gives pain, everything that depends on oneself gives pleasure; know that this is the short definition of pleasure and pain.”

Let him, when angry, not raise a stick against another man, nor strike anybody except a son or a pupil; those two he may beat in order to correct them.”

Having intentionally struck him [um Brahmana] in anger, even with a blade of grass, he will be born during 21 existences in the wombs of such beings where men are born in punishment of their sins.”

If the punishment falls not on the offender himself, it falls on his sons, if not on the sons, at least on his grandsons; but an iniquity once committed, never fails to produce fruit to him who wrought it.”

The teacher is the lord of the world of Brahman, the father has power over the world of the Lord of created beings (Pragapati), a guest rules over the world of Indra, and the priests over the world of the gods.”

Gold and food destroy his longevity, land and a cow his body, a horse his eye, a garment his skin, clarified butter his energy, sesamum-grains his offspring.”

As he who attempts to cross water in a boat of stone sinks to the bottom, even so an ignorant donor and an ignorant donee sink low.

A man who, ever covetous, displays the flag of virtue, who is a hypocrite, a deceiver of the people, intent on doing injury, and a detractor from the merits of all men, one must know to be one who acts like a cat.

That Brahmana, who with downcast look, of a cruel disposition, is solely intent on attaining his own ends, dishonest and falsely gentle, is one who acts like a heron.”

He who, without being a student, gains his livelihood by wearing the dress of a student, takes upon himself the guilt of all students and is born again in the womb of an animal.”

He who uses without permission a carriage, a bed, a seat, a well, a garden or a house belonging to an other man, takes upon himself ¼ of the owner’s guilt.”

A wise man should constantly discharge the paramount duties (called yama), but not always the minor ones (called niyama); for he who does not discharge the former, while he obeys the latter alone, becomes an outcast.”

Let him never eat food given by intoxicated, angry, or sick men, nor that in which hair or insects are found, nor what has been touched intentionally with the foot,

Nor that at which the slayer of a learned Brahmana has looked, nor that which has been touched by a menstruating woman, nor that which has been pecked at by birds or touched by a dog,

Nor food at which a cow has smelt, nor particularly that which has been offered by an invitation to all comers…”

“…nor any sweet thing that has turned sour, nor what has been kept a whole night, nor the food of a Sudra, nor the leavings of another man,”

Nor food … given by a female who has no male relatives”

Nor the food given … [by] a basket-maker, or a dealer in weapons,”

Nor the food given by those who knowingly bear with paramours of their wives, and by those who in all matters are ruled by women”

The food of a king impairs his vigour, the food of a Sudra his excellence in sacred learning, the food of a goldsmith his longevity, that of a leather-cutter his fame;

The food of an artisan destroys his offspring, that of a washerman his bodily strength; the food of a multitude and of harlots excludes him from the higher worlds.

The food of a physician is as vile as pus, that of an unchaste woman equal to semen, that of a usurer as vile as ordure, and that of a dealer in weapons as bad as dirt.

The food of those other persons who have been successively enumerated as such whose food must not be eaten, the wise declare to be as impure as skin, bones, and hair.

If he has unwittingly eaten the food of one of those, he must fast for 3 days; if he has eaten it intentionally, or has swallowed semen, ordure, or urine, he must perform a Krikkhra penance.

A Brahmana who knows the law must not eat cooked food given by a Sudra who performs no Sraddhas; but, on failure of other means of subsistence, he may accept raw grain, sufficient for one night and day.”

Do not make that equal, which is unequal. The food of that liberal usurer is purified by faith; that of the other man is defiled by a want of faith.’

A giver of land obtains land, a giver of gold long life, a giver of a house most excellent mansions, a giver of silver (rupya) exquisite beauty (rupa),

A giver of a garment a place in the world of the moon, a giver of a horse (asva) a place in the world of the Asvins, a giver of a draught-ox great good fortune, a giver of a cow the world of the sun;”

“…a giver of the Veda (brahman) union with Brahman;”

let him not speak ill of Brahmanas, though he be tormented by them; when he has bestowed a gift, let him not boast of it.” Alguns trechos proíbem a recepção de quaisquer presentes por quaisquer pessoas, mesmo brahmanas…

Giving no pain to any creature, let him slowly accumulate spiritual merit, for the sake of acquiring a companion to the next world, just as the white ant gradually raises its hill.

For in the next world neither father, nor mother, nor wife, nor sons, nor relations stay to be his companions; spiritual merit alone remains.

Single is each being born; single it dies; single it enjoys the reward of its virtue; single it suffers the punishment of its sin.

Leaving the dead body on the ground like a log of wood, or a clod of earth, the relatives depart with averted faces; but spiritual merit follows the soul.”

Let him, who desires to raise his race, ever form connexions with the most excellent men, and shun all low ones.”

He may accept from any man fuel, water, roots, fruit, food offered without asking, and honey, likewise a gift which consists in a promise of protection.” !

The Lord of created beings (Pragapati) has declared that alms freely offered and brought by the giver himself may be accepted even from a sinful man, provided the gift had not been asked for or promised beforehand.” Hmm, exceções oportunas! Estou tendo um déjà vu. Posso ter lido o mesmo no Mahabharata?

During 15 years the manes do not eat the food of that man who disdains a freely-offered gift, nor does the fire carry his offerings to the gods.

A couch, a house, Kusa grass, perfumes, water, flowers, jewels, sour milk, grain, fish, sweet milk, meat, and vegetables let him not reject, if they are voluntarily offered.

He who desires to relieve his Gurus and those whom he is bound to maintain, or wishes to honour the gods and guests, may accept gifts from anybody; but he must not satisfy his own hunger with such presents.

But if his Gurus are dead, or if he lives separate from them in another house, let him, when he seeks a subsistence, accept presents from good men alone.

His labourer in tillage, a friend of his family, his cow-herd, his slave, and his barber are, among Sudras, those whose food he may eat, likewise a poor man who offers himself to be his slave.” !!!

All things have their nature determined by speech; speech is their root, and from speech they proceed; but he who is dishonest with respect to speech, is dishonest in everything.”

Thus have been declared the means by which a Brahmana householder must always subsist, and the summary of the ordinances for a Snataka, which cause an increase of holiness and are praiseworthy.

V

Garlic, leeks [alho-poró] and onions, mushrooms and all plants, springing from impure substances, are unfit to be eaten by twice-born men.

One should carefully avoid red exudations from trees and juices flowing from incisions, the Selu fruit, and the thickened milk of a cow which she gives after calving [dar a luz].

Rice boiled with sesamum, wheat mixed with butter, milk and sugar, milk-rice and flour-cakes which are not prepared for a sacrifice, meat which has not been sprinkled with water while sacred texts were recited, food offered to the gods and sacrificial viands,

The milk of a cow or other female animal within 10 days after her calving, that of camels, of one-hoofed animals, of sheep, of a cow in heat, [cio] or of one that has no calf with her,

The milk of all wild animals excepting buffalo-cows, that of women, and all substances turned sour must be avoided.

Among things turned sour, sour milk, and all food prepared of it may be eaten, likewise what is extracted from pure flowers, roots, and fruit.” Primeiro sinal de bom senso no capítulo!

Let him avoid all carnivorous birds and those living in villages, and one-hoofed animals which are not specially permitted, and the Tittibha (Parra Jacana) [ave parecida com o avestruz],

The sparrow, the Plava, the Hamsa, the Brahmani duck, the village-cock, the Sarasa crane, the Raggudala, the woodpecker, the parrot, and the starling, [estorninho]

Those which feed striking with their beaks, web-footed birds, the Koyashti, those which scratch with their toes, those which dive and live on fish, meat from a slaughter-house and dried meat,

The Baka and the Balaka crane, the raven, the Khangaritaka, animals that eat fish, village-pigs, and all kinds of fishes. [muitas repetições – também pudera, não se pode comer nada, já citou toda a fauna e flora e métodos de preparo!]

He who eats the flesh of any animal is called the eater of the flesh of that particular creature, he who eats fish is an eater of every kind of flesh; let him therefore avoid fish.

But the fish called Pathina and Rohita may be eaten, if used for offerings to the gods or to the manes; one may eat likewise Ragivas, Simhatundas, and Sasalkas on all occasions.” Toda regra tem exceções!

Let him not eat solitary or unknown beasts and birds, though they may fall under the categories of eatable creatures, nor any 5-toed animals.

The porcupine, the hedgehog, the iguana, the rhinoceros, the tortoise, and the hare they declare to be eatable; likewise those domestic animals that have teeth in one jaw only, excepting camels.”

A twice-born man who knowingly eats mushrooms, a village-pig, garlic, a village-cock, onions, or leeks, will become an outcast.”

Thus has the food, allowed and forbidden to twice-born men, been fully described; I will now propound the rules for eating and avoiding meat.” Promete ser uma jornada cansativa…

What is destitute of motion is the food of those endowed with locomotion; animals without fangs of those with fangs, those without hands of those who possess hands, and the timid of the bold.”

After death the guilt of one who slays deer for gain is not as great as that of him who eats meat for no sacred purpose.

But a man who, being duly engaged to officiate or to dine at a sacred rite, refuses to eat meat, becomes after death an animal during twenty-one existences.” Hahaha! Nem 20, nem 22, 21!

As many hairs as the slain beast has, so often indeed will he who killed it without a lawful reason suffer a violent death in future births.” Quase li hares no lugar de hairs!

LEI (DA CONVENIÊNCIA) DO MAIS FORTE: Svayambhu (the Self-existent) himself created animals for the sake of sacrifices; sacrifices have been instituted for the good of this whole world; hence the slaughtering of beasts for sacrifices is not slaughtering in the ordinary sense of the word.” Assim discursam os warmongers: For the greatest good of all!

A twice-born man who, knowing the true meaning of the Veda, slays an animal for these purposes, causes both himself and the animal to enter a most blessed state.”

He who injures innoxious beings from a wish to give himself pleasure, never finds happiness, neither living nor dead.” Por outro lado, viva o direito animal!

He who does not injure any creature, attains without an effort what he thinks of, what he undertakes, and what he fixes his mind on.”

Having well considered the disgusting origin of flesh and the cruelty of fettering and slaying corporeal beings, let him entirely abstain from eating flesh.”

becomes dear to men

becomes deer to men

There is no greater sinner than that man who, though not worshipping the gods or the manes, seeks to increase the bulk of his own flesh by the flesh of other beings.”

“‘Me he (mam sah)’ will devour in the next world, whose flesh I eat in this life; the wise declare this to be the real meaning of the word ‘flesh’ (mamsah).” !!!

There is no sin in eating meat, [???] in drinking spirituous liquor, and in carnal intercourse, for that is the natural way of created beings, but abstention brings great rewards.” Com certeza são passagens interpoladas…

When a child dies that has teethed, or that before teething has received the sacrament of the tonsure or of the initiation, all relatives become impure, and on the birth of a child the same is prescribed.”

Or while the impurity on account of a death is common to all Sapindas, that caused by a birth falls on the parents alone; or it shall fall on the mother alone, and the father shall become pure by bathing;”

On the death of children whose tonsure has not been performed, the Sapindas are declared to become pure in one day and night; on the death of those who have received the tonsure but not the initiation, the law ordains the purification after 3 days.

A child that has died before the completion of its 2nd year, the relatives shall carry out of the village, decked with flowers, and bury it in pure ground, without collecting the bones afterwards.

Such a child shall not be burnt with fire, and no libations of water shall be offered to it; leaving it like a log of wood in the forest, the relatives shall remain impure during 3 days only.”

On the death of females betrothed but not married the bridegroom and his relatives are purified after 3 days, and the paternal relatives become pure according to the same rule.”

If the king in whose realm he resides is dead, he shall be impure as long as the light of the sun or stars shines, [o período de impureza é mais curto porque os reis eram Kshatriyas] but for an intimate friend who is not a Srotriya the impurity lasts for a whole day, likewise for a Guru who knows the Veda and the Angas.

A Brahmana shall be pure after 10 days, a Kshatriya after 12, a Vaisya after 15, and a Sudra is purified after a month.”

When he has touched a Kandala, a menstruating woman, an outcast, a woman in childbed, a corpse, or one who has touched a corpse, he becomes pure by bathing.” Intuo pelas palavras que o Kandala ou Chandala é o nascido proscrito, já o outcast é aquele que se tornou proscrito por infringir a lei sagrada, após ter tido a ‘sorte’ de nascer em uma das 4 castas. Comparar uma mulher menstruada ou em trabalho de parto com um cadáver é inaceitável, há 3 mil ou daqui a 3 mil anos!

Libations of water shall not be offered to those who neglect the prescribed rites and may be said to have been born in vain, to those born in consequence of an illegal mixture of the castes, to those who are ascetics of heretical sects, and to those who have committed suicide,

To women who have joined a heretical sect, who through lust live with many men, who have caused an abortion, have killed their husbands, or drink spirituous liquor.”

Let him carry out a dead Sudra by the southern gate of the town, but the corpses of twice-born men, as is proper, by the western, northern, or eastern gates.” O sul é sempre um cu (ditado que faz mais sentido no Brasil)!

The taint of impurity does not fall on kings, and those engaged in the performance of a vow, or of a Sattra; for the first are seated on the throne of Indra, and the last 2 are ever pure like Brahman.”

A king is an incarnation of the 8 guardian deities of the world, the Moon, the Fire, the Sun, the Wind, Indra, the Lords of wealth and water (Kubera and Varuna), and Yama.”

The learned are purified by a forgiving disposition, those who have committed forbidden actions by liberality, secret sinners by muttering sacred texts, and those who best know the Veda by austerities.”

An earthen vessel which has been defiled by spirituous liquor, urine, ordure, saliva, pus or blood cannot be purified by another burning.

Land is purified by the following five modes, viz. by sweeping, by smearing it with cowdung, by sprinkling it with cows’ urine or milk, by scraping, and by cows staying on it during a day and night.

Food which has been pecked at by birds, smelt at by cows, touched with the foot, sneezed on, or defiled by hair or insects, becomes pure by scattering earth over it.” Repulsivo.

The hand of an artisan is always pure, so is every vendible commodity exposed for sale in the market, and food obtained by begging which a student holds in his hand is always fit for use; that is a settled rule.” Curiosa e contraditória valorização do cidadão de terceira casta e seus produtos!

The mouth of a woman is always pure, likewise a bird when he causes a fruit to fall; a calf is pure on the flowing of the milk, and a dog when he catches a deer.” Poético.

Manu has declared that the flesh of an animal killed by dogs is pure, likewise that of a beast slain by carnivorous animals or by men of low caste Dasyu, such as Kandalas.” Muito conveniente!

Oily exudations, semen, blood, the fatty substance of the brain, [?] urine, faeces, the mucus of the nose, ear-wax, phlegm, tears, the rheum of the eyes, and sweat are the 12 impurities of human bodies.” Oily exudations e sweat se diferem em quê (seria vômito a tradução apropriada do primeiro?)? Por que lágrimas são impuras?!

Sudras who live according to the law, shall each month shave their heads; their mode of purification shall be the same as that of Vaisyas, and their food the fragments of an Aryan’s meal.”

“…bathing is prescribed for him who has had intercourse with a woman.” …

By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house. …a woman must never be independent.”

She must always be cheerful, clever in the management of her household affairs, careful in cleaning her utensils, and economical in expenditure.”

DO MAIS PORCO E CÍNICO JÁ ESCRITO: “Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good qualities, yet a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife.”

A faithful wife, who desires to dwell (after death) with her husband, must never do anything that might displease him who took her hand, whether he be alive or dead.” E por que os “nascidos duas vezes” acham que alguma mulher iria querer uma loucura dessas (passar a eternidade no além com o mesmo marido folgado)?!

she must never even mention the name of another man after her husband has died.”

Many thousands of Brahmanas who were chaste from their youth, have gone to heaven without continuing their race.

A virtuous wife who after the death of her husband constantly remains chaste, reaches heaven, though she have no son, just like those chaste men.”

nor is a second husband anywhere prescribed for virtuous women.”

By violating her duty towards her husband, a wife is disgraced in this world, after death she enters the womb of a jackal, and is tormented by diseases the punishment of her sin.”

A twice-born man, versed in the sacred law, shall burn a wife of equal caste who conducts herself thus and dies before him, with the sacred fires used for the Agnihotra, and with the sacrificial implements.

Having thus, at the funeral, given the sacred fires to his wife who dies before him, he may marry again, and again kindle the fires.”

VI

When a householder sees his skin wrinkled, and his hair white, and the sons of his sons, then he may resort to the forest.”

Let him avoid honey, flesh, and mushrooms growing on the ground or elsewhere, the vegetables called Bhustrina, and Sigruka, and the Sleshmantaka fruit.”

Or let him walk, fully determined and going straight on, in a north-easterly direction, subsisting on water and air, until his body sinks to rest.”

A twice-born man who seeks final liberation, without having studied the Vedas, without having begotten sons, and without having offered sacrifices, sinks downwards.”

Let him always wander alone, without any companion, in order to attain final liberation, fully understanding that the solitary man, who neither forsakes nor is forsaken, gains his end.”

Let him not desire to die, let him not desire to live; let him wait for his appointed time, as a servant waits for the payment of his wages.”

Against an angry man let him not in return show anger, let him bless when he is cursed, and let him not utter speech, devoid of truth, scattered at the seven gates.”

His vessels shall not be made of metal, they shall be free from fractures; it is ordained that they shall be cleansed with water, like the cups, called Kamasa, at a sacrifice.”

In order to expiate the death of those creatures which he unintentionally injures by day or by night, an ascetic shall bathe and perform six suppressions of the breath.”

Let him quit this dwelling, composed of the 5 elements, where the bones are the beams, which is held together by tendons instead of cords, where the flesh and the blood are the mortar, which is thatched with the skin, which is foul-smelling, filled with urine and ordure, infested by old age and sorrow, the seat of disease, harassed by pain, gloomy with passion, and perishable.”

The student, the householder, the hermit, and the ascetic, these constitute 4 separate orders, which all spring from the order of householders.”

And in accordance with the precepts of the Veda and of the Smriti, the housekeeper is declared to be superior to all of them; for he supports the other 3.”

“…now learn the duty of kings.”

VII

A Kshatriya, who has received according to the rule the sacrament prescribed by the Veda, must duly protect this whole world.

For, when these creatures, being without a king, through fear dispersed in all directions, the Lord created a king for the protection of this whole creation,

Taking eternal particles of Indra, of the Wind, of Yama, of the Sun, of Fire, of Varuna, of the Moon, and of the Lord of wealth (Kubera).”

Em nada difere isso do semitismo.

Because a king has been formed of particles of those lords of the gods, he therefore surpasses all created beings in lustre” Mesmo os duas vezes nascidos?

“…nor can anybody on earth even gaze on him.”

Even an infant king must not be despised, from an idea that he is a mortal; for he is a great deity in human form.”

Fire burns one man only, if he carelessly approaches it, the fire of a king’s anger consumes the whole family, together with its cattle and its hoard of property.” Uhhh!

Having fully considered the time and the place of the offence, the strength and the knowledge of the offender, let him justly inflict that punishment on men who act unjustly.”

Punishment alone governs all created beings, punishment alone protects them, punishment watches over them while they sleep; the wise declare punishment to be identical with the law.” Religião de escravos.

UMA OBRA PARA DRACONS E HOBBESES: “The whole world is kept in order by punishment, for a guiltless man is hard to find; through fear of punishment the whole world yields the enjoyments which it owes.”

All castes would be corrupted by intermixture, all barriers would be broken through, and all men would rage against each other in consequence of mistakes with respect to punishment.”

PÉS NO CHÃO:From those versed in the 3 Vedas let him learn the threefold sacred science, the primeval science of government, the science of dialectics, and the knowledge of the supreme Soul; from the people the theory of the various trades and professions.”

Hunting, gambling, sleeping by day, censoriousness, women, drunkenness, dancing, singing, and music, and useless travel are the 10-fold set of vices springing from love of pleasure.

Tale-bearing, violence, treachery, envy, slandering, unjust seizure of property, reviling, and assault are the 8-fold set of vices produced by wrath.”

Drinking, dice, women, and hunting, these 4 in succession, he must know to be the most pernicious in the set that springs from love of pleasure.”

On a comparison between vice and death, vice is declared to be more pernicious; a vicious man sinks to the nethermost hell, he who dies, free from vice, ascends to heaven.” Algo de romano nessas palavras.

Let him appoint seven or eight ministers whose ancestors have been royal servants, who are versed in the sciences, heroes skilled in the use of weapons and descended from noble families and who have been tried.

Even an undertaking easy in itself is sometimes hard to be accomplished by a single man; how much harder is it for a king, especially if he has no assistant, to govern a kingdom which yields great revenues.

Let him daily consider with them the ordinary business, referring to peace and war, the 4 subjects called sthana, the revenue, the manner of protecting himself and his kingdom, and the sanctification of his gains by pious gifts.”

But with the most distinguished among them all, a learned Brahmana, let the king deliberate on the most important affairs which relate to the six measures of royal policy.

Let him, full of confidence, always entrust to that official all business; having taken his final resolution with him, let him afterwards begin to act.”

Among them let him employ the brave, the skilful, the high-born, and the honest in offices for the collection of revenue, in mines, manufactures, and storehouses, but the timid in the interior of his palace.

Let him also appoint an ambassador who is versed in all sciences, who understands hints, expressions of the face and gestures, who is honest, skilful, and of noble family.”

Having learnt exactly from his ambassador the designs of the foreign king, let the king take such measures that he does not bring evil on himself.

Let him settle in a country which is open and has a dry climate, where grain is abundant, which is chiefly inhabited by Aryans, not subject to epidemic diseases or similar troubles, and pleasant, where the vassals are obedient and his own people easily find their livelihood.” Ora, assim é fácil!

A king who, while he protects his people, is defied by foes, be they equal in strength, or stronger, or weaker, must not shrink from battle, remembering the duty of Kshatriyas.”

When he fights with his foes in battle, let him not strike with weapons concealed in wood, nor with barbed, poisoned, or the points of which are blazing with fire.

Let him not strike one who in flight has climbed on an eminence, nor a eunuch, nor one who joins the palms of his hands in supplication, nor one who flees with flying hair, nor one who sits down, nor one who says ‘I am thine’;

Nor one who sleeps, nor one who has lost his coat of mail, nor one who is naked, nor one who is disarmed, nor one who looks on without taking part in the fight, nor one who is fighting with another foe;

Nor one whose weapons are broken, nor one afflicted with sorrow, nor one who has been grievously wounded, nor one who is in fear, nor one who has turned to flight; but in all these cases let him remember the duty of honourable warriors.

But the Kshatriya who is slain in battle, while he turns back in fear, takes upon himself all the sin of his master, whatever it may be;

And whatever merit a man who is slain in flight may have gained for the next world, all that his master takes.

Chariots and horses, elephants, parasols, money, grain, cattle, women, all sorts of goods and valueless metals belong to him who takes them conquering.”

“…what has not been taken singly, must be distributed by the king among all the soldiers.

Thus has been declared the blameless, primeval law for warriors; from this law a Kshatriya must not depart, when he strikes his foes in battle.”

What he has not yet gained, let him seek to gain by his army; what he has gained, let him protect by careful attention; what he has protected, let him augment by increasing it; and what he has augmented, let him liberally bestow.

Let him be ever ready to strike, his prowess constantly displayed, and his secrets constantly concealed, and let him constantly explore the weaknesses of his foe.”

His enemy must not know his weaknesses, but he must know the weaknesses of his enemy; as the tortoise hides its limbs, even so let him secure the members of his government against treachery, let him protect his own weak points.

Let him plan his undertakings patiently meditating like a heron; like a lion, let him put forth his strength; like a wolf, let him snatch his prey; like a hare, let him double in retreat.”

Let him appoint a lord over each village, as well as lords of 10 villages, lords of 20, lords of 100, and lords of 1000.

The lord of one village himself shall inform the lord of ten villages of the crimes committed in his village, and the ruler of ten to the ruler of twenty.”

The ruler of ten villages shall enjoy one kula (as much land as suffices for one family), the ruler of twenty 5 kulas, the superintendent of a hundred villages the revenues of one village, the lord of a thousand the revenues of a town.

The affairs of these officials, which are connected with their villages and their separate business, another minister of the king shall inspect, who must be loyal and never remiss;”

Let that man always personally visit by turns all those other officials; let him properly explore their behaviour in their districts through spies appointed to each.

For the servants of the king, who are appointed to protect the people, generally become knaves who seize the property of others; let him protect his subjects against such men.”

After consideration the king shall always fix in his realm the duties and taxes in such a manner that both he himself and the man who does the work receive their due reward.”

A 1/50 of the increments on cattle and gold may be taken by the king, and 1/8, 1/6, or 1/12 part of the crops.”

Though dying with want, a king must not levy a tax on Srotriyas, and no Srotriya, residing in his kingdom, must perish from hunger.”

Mechanics and artisans, as well as Sudras who subsist by manual labour, he may cause to work for himself one day in each month. [1/30, low tax!]”

When he is tired with the inspection of the business of men, let him place on that seat of justice his chief minister, who must be acquainted with the law, wise, self-controlled, and descended from a noble family.”

At the time of consultation let him cause to be removed idiots, the dumb, the blind, and the deaf, animals, very aged men, women, barbarians, the sick, and those deficient in limbs.

Such despicable persons, likewise animals, and particularly women betray secret council; for that reason he must be careful with respect to them.”

Let the king consider as hostile his immediate neighbour and the partisan of such a foe, as friendly the immediate neighbour of his foe, and as neutral the king beyond those two.”

War is declared to be of two kinds, (viz.) that which is undertaken in season or out of season, by oneself and for one’s own purposes, and that waged to avenge an injury done to a friend.” Ativa ou reativa.

Marching to attack is said to be twofold, (viz. that undertaken) by one alone when an urgent matter has suddenly arisen, and that undertaken by one allied with a friend.”

When he knows his own army to be cheerful in disposition and strong, and that of his enemy the reverse, then let him march against his foe.

But if he is very weak in chariots and beasts of burden and in troops, then let him carefully sit quiet, gradually conciliating his foes.

When the king knows the enemy to be stronger in every respect, then let him divide his army and thus achieve his purpose.”

Let him arrange everything in such a manner that no ally, no neutral or foe may injure him; that is the sum of political wisdom.”

On even ground let him fight with chariots and horses, in water-bound places with boats and elephants, on ground covered with trees and shrubs with bows, on hilly ground with swords, targets, and other weapons.”

Men born in Kurukshetra, Matsyas, Pankalas, and those born in Surasena, (?) let him cause to fight in the van [front, vanguarda] of the battle, as well as others who are tall and light.”

“…he should also mark the behaviour of the soldiers when they engage the enemy.

When he has shut up his foe in a town, let him sit encamped, harass his kingdom, and continually spoil his grass, food, fuel, and water.”

He should however try to conquer his foes by conciliation, by well-applied gifts, and by creating dissension, used either separately or conjointly, never by fighting, if it can be avoided.

For when 2 princes fight, victory and defeat in the battle are, as experience teaches, uncertain; let him therefore avoid an engagement.”

When he has gained victory, let him duly worship the gods and honour righteous Brahmanas, let him grant exemptions, and let him cause promises of safety to be proclaimed.

But having fully ascertained the wishes of all the conquered, let him place there a relative of the vanquished ruler on the throne, and let him impose his conditions.”

The seizure of desirable property which causes displeasure, and its distribution which causes pleasure, are both recommendable, if they are resorted to at the proper time.

All undertakings in this world depend both on the ordering of fate and on human exertion; but among these 2 the ways of fate are unfathomable; in the case of man’s work action is possible.”

By gaining gold and land a king grows not so much in strength as by obtaining a firm friend, who, though weak, may become powerful in the future.”

A weak friend even is greatly commended, who is righteous and grateful, whose people are contented, who is attached and persevering in his undertakings.”

Let the king, without hesitation, quit for his own sake even a country which is salubrious, fertile, and causing an increase of cattle.”

“…let him at all events preserve himself even by giving up his wife and his wealth.”

Let him mix all his food with medicines that are antidotes against poison, and let him always be careful to wear gems which destroy poison.

Well-tried females whose toilet and ornaments have been examined, shall attentively serve him with fans, water, and perfumes.

When he has dined, he may divert himself with his wives in the harem; but when he has diverted himself, he must, in due time, again think of the affairs of state.” Hohohoooo!

Having eaten there something for the second time, and having been recreated by the sound of music, let him go to rest and rise at the proper time free from fatigue.

A king who is in good health must observe these rules; but, if he is indisposed, he may entrust all this business to his servants.” Atestado médico: uma prerrogativa que demorou milênios para se tornar do povo.

VIII

A king, desirous of investigating law cases, must enter his court of justice, preserving a dignified demeanour, together with Brahmanas and with experienced councillors.

There, either seated or standing, raising his right arm, without ostentation in his dress and ornaments, let him examine the business of suitors,

Daily deciding one after another all cases which fall under the 18 titles of the law according to principles drawn from local usages. and from the Institutes of the sacred law.”

Os 18 tópicos são desinteressantes da ótica moderna. Pelo menos 3 tratam das relações homem-mulher sob diferentes prismas (1 só para o adultério feminino, p.ex.).

Where 3 Brahmanas versed in the Vedas and the learned judge appointed by the king sit down, they call that the court of 4-faced Brahman.”

For divine justice is said to be a bull (vrisha); that who violates it (kurute ‘lam) the gods consider to be a man despicable like a Sudra (vrishala); let him, therefore, beware of violating justice.

The only friend who follows men even after death is justice; for everything else is lost at the same time when the body perishes.

One quarter of the guilt of an unjust decision falls on him who committed the crime, ¼ on the false witness, ¼ on all the judges, ¼ on the king.” Proporções imbecis.

A Brahmana who subsists only by the name of his caste (gati), or one who merely calls himself a Brahmana (though his origin be uncertain), may, at the king’s pleasure, interpret the law to him, but never a Sudra.”

That kingdom where Sudras are very numerous, which is infested by atheists and destitute of twice-born inhabitants, soon entirely perishes, afflicted by famine and disease.” Como pode a elite ser a maioria?

Property, the owner of which has disappeared, the king shall cause to be kept as a deposit during three years; within the period of three years the owner may claim it, after that term the king may take it.

He who says, ‘This belongs to me,’ must be examined according to the rule; if he accurately describes the shape, and the number of the articles found and so forth, he is the owner, and ought to receive that property.

But if he does not really know the time and the place where it was lost, its colour, shape, and size, he is worthy of a fine equal in value to the object claimed.”

If a plaintiff does not speak, he may be punished corporally or fined according to the law; if a defendant does not plead within three fortnights, he has lost his cause.”

Those must not be made witnesses who have an interest in the suit, nor familiar friends, companions, and enemies of the parties, nor men formerly convicted of perjury, nor persons suffering under severe illness, nor those tainted by mortal sin.

The king cannot be made a witness, nor mechanics and actors, [?!] nor a Srotriya, nor a student of the Veda, nor an ascetic who has given up all connexion with the world,

(…) nor an aged man, nor an infant, nor one man alone, nor a man of the lowest castes, nor one deficient in organs of sense,

Nor one extremely grieved, nor one intoxicated, nor a madman, nor one tormented by hunger or thirst, nor one oppressed by fatigue, nor one tormented by desire, nor a wrathful man, nor a thief.

Women should give evidence for women,”

On failure of qualified witnesses, evidence may [be] given in such cases by a woman, by an infant, by an aged man, by a pupil, by a relative, by a slave, or by a hired servant.”

On a conflict of the witnesses the king shall accept as true the evidence of the majority; if the conflicting parties are equal in number, that of those distinguished by good qualities; on a difference between equally distinguished witnesses, that of the best among the twice-born.”

One man who is free from covetousness may be accepted as witness; but not even many pure women, because the understanding of females is apt to waver, nor even many other men, who are tainted with sin.”

SEMPRE UMA EXCEÇÃO! “In some cases a man who, though knowing the facts to be different, gives such false evidence from a pious motive, does not lose heaven; such evidence they call the speech of the gods. § Whenever the death of a Sudra, of a Vaisya, of a Kshatriya, or of a Brahmana would be (caused) by a declaration of the truth, a falsehood may be spoken; for such (falsehood) is preferable to the truth.”

If two parties dispute about matters for which no witnesses are available, and the judge is unable to really ascertain the truth, he may cause it to be discovered even by an oath.”

No crime, causing loss of caste, is committed by swearing falsely to women, the objects of one’s desire, at marriages, for the sake of fodder for a cow, or of fuel, and in order to show favour to a Brahmana.”

Evidence given from covetousness, distraction, terror, friendship, lust, wrath, ignorance, and childishness is declared to be invalid.” Jurisprudência 5 mil anos à frente da Lava-Jato.

Manu, the son of the Self-existent (Svayambhu), has named 10 places on which punishment may be made to fall in the cases of the 3 lower castes; but a Brahmana shall depart unhurt from the country.

These are the organ, the belly, the tongue, the two hands, and fifthly the two feet, the eye, the nose, the two ears, likewise the (whole) body.

Unjust punishment destroys reputation among men, and fame after death, and causes even in the next world the loss of heaven; let him, therefore, beware of inflicting it.

A king who punishes those who do not deserve it, and punishes not those who deserve it, brings great infamy on himself and after death sinks into hell.

Let him punish first by gentle admonition, afterwards by harsh reproof, thirdly by a fine, after that by corporal chastisement.

But when he cannot restrain such offenders even by corporal punishment, then let him apply to them even all the 4 modes cojointly.”

Those technical names of certain quantities of copper, silver, and gold, which are generally used on earth for the purpose of business transactions among men, I will fully declare.

The very small mote which is seen when the sun shines through a lattice, they declare to be the least of all quantities and to be called a trasarenu (a floating particle of dust).

Know that 8 trasarenus are equal in bulk to a liksha (the egg of a louse [!!!]), 3 of those to 1g of black mustard (ragasarshapa), and 3 of the latter to a white mustard-seed.” Um trasarenu realmente é porra nenhuma!

Six grains of white mustard are 1 middle-sized barley-corn, and 3 barley-corns 1 krishnala (raktika, or gunga-berry); 5 krishnalas are 1 masha (bean), and 16 of those 1 suvarna.

Four suvarnas are 1 pala, and 10 palas 1 dharana; 2 krishnalas of silver, weighed together, must be considered 1 mashaka of silver.” etc.

JUROS MÁXIMOS DE 8%a.a.: “A money-lender may stipulate as an increase of his capital, for the interest, allowed by Vasishtha, and take monthly the eightieth part of a hundred.”

Neither a pledge nor a deposit can be lost by lapse of time; they are both recoverable, though they have remained long with the bailee.”

Let him not take interest beyond the year, nor such as is unapproved, nor compound interest, periodical interest, stipulated interest, and corporal interest.”

The man who becomes a surety [fiador] in this world for the appearance of a debtor, and produces him not, shall pay the debt out of his own property.

But money due by a surety, or idly promised, or lost at play, or due for spirituous liquor, or what remains unpaid of a fine and a tax or duty, the son of the party owing it shall not be obliged to pay.”

A contract made by a person intoxicated, or insane, or grievously disordered by disease and so forth, or wholly dependent, by an infant or very aged man, or by an unauthorised party is invalid.”

What is given by force, what is enjoyed by force, also what has been caused to be written by force, and all other transactions done by force, Manu has declared void.”

Three suffer for the sake of others, witnesses, a surety, and judges; but 4 enrich themselves through others, a Brahmana, a money-lender, a merchant, and a king.” Tão curioso que parece um provérbio e não a continuação do direito penal/econômico até aqui descrito.

The debtor who complains to the king that his creditor recovers the debt independently of the court, shall be compelled by the king to pay as a fine one quarter of the sum and to his creditor the money due.” Multa de 25% por acionar a justiça em vão (e na verdade menosprezar a justiça como instância da decisão certa).

A sensible man should make a deposit only with a person of good family, of good conduct, well acquainted with the law, veracious, having many relatives, wealthy, and honourable (arya).”

He who restores not his deposit to the depositor at his request, may be tried by the judge in the depositor’s absence.

On failure of witnesses let the judge actually deposit gold with that defendant under some pretext or other through spies of suitable age and appearance and afterwards demand it back.” Excelente expediente!

If the defendant restores it in the manner and shape in which it was bailed, there is nothing of that description in his hands, for which others accuse him.” O problema é que safado (de mané se gradua para malandro) pode se livrar dessa maneira (devolve o depósito de alguns, de outros não).

An open or a sealed deposit must never be returned to a near relative of the depositor during the latter’s lifetime; for if the recipient dies without delivering them, they are lost, but if he does not die, they are not lost.

But a depositary who of his own accord returns them to a near relative of a deceased depositor, must not be harassed about them by the king or by the depositor’s relatives.”

He who does not return a deposit and he who demands what he never bailed shall both be punished like thieves, or be compelled to pay a fine equal to the value of the object retained or claimed.”

If a deposit of a particular description or quantity is bailed by anybody in the presence of a number of witnesses, it must be known to be of that particular description and quantity; the depositary who makes a false statement regarding it is liable to a fine.

But if anything is delivered or received privately, it must be privately returned; as the bailment was, so should be the re-delivery.”

If, after one damsel has been shown, another be given to the bridegroom, he may marry them both for the same price; that Manu ordained.

He who gives a damsel in marriage, having first openly declared her blemishes, whether she be insane, or afflicted with leprosy, or have lost her virginity, is not liable to punishment.”

If an officiating priest, chosen to perform a sacrifice, abandons his work, a share only of the fee in proportion to the work (done) shall be given to him by those who work with him.” Achava que um sacerdote que faz isso era morto!

But if specific fees are ordained for the several parts of a rite, shall he who performs the part receive them, or shall they all share them?

The Adhvaryu priest shall take the chariot, and the Brahman at the kindling of the fires (Agnyadhana) a horse, the Hotri priest shall also take a horse, and the Udgatri the cart, used when the Soma is purchased.” Um capítulo imensamente curioso e multifacetado!

Should money be given or promised for a pious purpose by one man to another who asks for it, the gift shall be void, if the money is afterwards not used in the manner stated.

But if the recipient through pride or greed tries to enforce the fulfilment of the promise, he shall be compelled by the king to pay 1 suvarna as an expiation for his theft.”

But the king himself shall impose a fine of 96 panas on him who gives a blemished damsel to a suitor without informing him of the blemish.”

But that man who, out of malice, says of a maiden, ‘She is not a maiden’, shall be fined 100 panas, if he cannot prove her blemish.” A cavalo dado…?

The nuptial texts are applied solely to virgins, and nowhere among men to females who have lost their virginity, for such females are excluded from religious ceremonies.

The nuptial texts are a certain proof that a maiden has been made a lawful wife; but the learned should know that they and the marriage ceremony are complete with the 7th step of the bride around the sacred fire.”

A hired herdsman who is paid with milk, may milk with the consent of the owner the best cow out of ten; such shall be his hire if no other wages are paid.

The herdsman alone shall make good the loss of a beast strayed, destroyed by worms, killed by dogs or by falling into a pit, if he did not duly exert himself to prevent it.

But for an animal stolen by thieves, though he raised an alarm, the herdsman shall not pay, provided he gives notice to his master at the proper place and time.”

But if goats or sheep are surrounded by wolves and the herdsman does not hasten to their assistance, he shall be responsible for any animal which a wolf may attack and kill.

But if they, kept in proper order, graze together in the forest, and a wolf, suddenly jumping on one of them, kills it, the herdsman shall bear in that case no responsibility.”

If a dispute has arisen between two villages concerning a boundary, the king shall settle the limits in the month of Gyaishtha, when the landmarks are most distinctly visible.

Let him mark the boundaries by trees, e.g. Nyagrodhas, Asvatthas, Kimsukas, cotton-trees, Salas, Palmyra palms, and trees with milky juice,

By clustering shrubs, bamboos of different kinds, Samis, creepers and raised mounds, reeds, thickets of Kubgaka; thus the boundary will not be forgotten.

Tanks, wells, cisterns, and fountains should be built where boundaries meet, as well as temples,

And as he will see that through men’s ignorance of the boundaries trespasses constantly occur in the world, let him cause to be made other hidden marks for boundaries,

Stones, bones, cow’s hair, chaff, ashes, potsherds, dry cowdung, bricks, cinders, pebbles, and sand,

And whatever other things of a similar kind the earth does not corrode even after a long time, those he should cause to be buried where one boundary joins the other.”

If there be a doubt even on inspection of the marks, the settlement of a dispute regarding boundaries shall depend on witnesses.

The witnesses, giving evidence regarding a boundary, shall be examined concerning the landmarks in the presence of the crowd of the villagers and also of the 2 litigants.

As they, being questioned, unanimously decide, even so he shall record the boundary in writing, together with their names.

Let them, putting earth on their heads, wearing chaplets of red flowers and red dresses, being sworn each by the rewards for his meritorious deeds, settle the boundary in accordance with the truth.”

On failure of witnesses from the two villages, men of the 4 neighbouring villages, who are pure, shall make as witnesses a decision concerning the boundary in the presence of the king.”

On failure of neighbours who are original inhabitants of the country and can be witnesses with respect to the boundary, the king may hear the evidence even of the following inhabitants of the forest.

Viz. hunters, fowlers, herdsmen, fishermen, root-diggers, snake-catchers, gleaners, and other foresters.

As they, being examined, declare the marks for the meeting of the boundaries to be, even so the king shall justly cause them to be fixed between the 2 villages.”

Thus the law for deciding boundary disputes has been fully declared, I will next propound the manner of deciding cases of defamation.

A Kshatriya, having defamed a Brahmana, shall be fined 100 panas; a Vaisya one 150 or 200; a Sudra shall suffer corporal punishment.

A Brahmana shall be fined 50 panas for defaming a Kshatriya; in the case of a Vaisya the fine shall be 25 panas; in the case of a Sudra 12.

For offences of twice-born men against those of equal caste, the fine shall be also 12; for speeches which ought not to be uttered, that double.

A once-born man (a Sudra), who insults a twice-born man with gross invective, shall have his tongue cut out; for he is of low origin.”

The one-and-a-half-born man (“classe média” hindu)

With whatever limb a man of a low caste does hurt to a man of the 3 highest castes, even that limb shall be cut off; that is the teaching of Manu.

He who raises his hand or a stick, shall have his hand cut off; he who in anger kicks with his foot, shall have his foot cut off.” Punições muito desproporcionais às vistas anteriormente.

A low-caste man who tries to place himself on the same seat with a man of a high caste, shall be branded on his hip and be banished, or the king shall cause his buttock to be gashed [cortada – não está claro se a nádega será decepada ou apenas ferida, mas parece ser o primeiro caso, para que aprenda a sentar-se somente onde é-lhe devido!].”

If out of arrogance he spits (on a superior), the king shall cause both his lips to be cut off; if he urines (on him), the penis; if he breaks wind (against him), the anus.” Isso merece uma tradução: “Se um hindu cospe em um hindu de casta superior por despeito, o rei deve mandar que ambos os seus lábios sejam decepados; se ele urina no superior, o pênis; se ele peida [breaks wind!] ou coisa pior, o ânus.” À luz desse parágrafo, a nádega (acima) não é decepada, pois o verbo cut não inclui o complemento off. Além disso, decepar o ânus só tem sentido se se referir a cortar fora a carne das nádegas, já que é o fim do tubo digestivo e não se “corta” um ânus fora…

If he lays hold of the hair of a superior, let the king unhesitatingly cut off his hands, likewise if he takes him by the feet, the beard, the neck, or the scrotum.”

In the case of damage done to leather, or to utensils of leather, of wood, or of clay, the fine shall be 5 times their value; likewise in the case of damage to flowers, roots, and fruit.” A imbecilidade, percebida contemporaneamente, de não ressarcir apenas o valor do objeto danificado.

A wife, a son, a slave, a pupil, and a younger brother of the full blood, who have committed faults, may be beaten with a rope or a split bamboo,

But on the back part of the body only, never on a noble part; he who strikes them otherwise will incur the same guilt as a thief.” Vira-te ao ser chicoteado, e teu chicoteador terá as mãos arrancadas!

The killer of a learned Brahmana throws his guilt on him who eats his food, an adulterous wife on her negligent husband, a sinning pupil or sacrificer on their negligent teacher or priest, a thief on the king who pardons him.” E a mesma imbecilidade no pensar não enxerga contágio por más condições de higiene em epidemias. Assim funciona a estreita mente humana!

For stealing men of noble family and especially women and the most precious gems, the offender deserves corporal or capital punishment.” Jóias de mulheres sempre foram um problema, desde que o homem é homem! Uma jóia para uma jóia, diriam os arcaicos objetificadores do sexo não-frágil…

For stealing cows belonging to Brahmanas, piercing the nostrils of a barren cow, and for stealing other cattle belonging to Brahmanas, the offender shall forthwith lose half his feet.” Mais arbitrário que um árbitro do brasileirão!

Um brahmana que rouba paga sessenta e quatro vezes mais caro.

The taking of roots and of fruit from trees, of wood for a sacrificial fire, and of grass for feeding cows, Manu has declared to be no theft.” Repare no duplo sentido: não há sanção porque são para um rito sagrado. Mas for poderia significar: roubar o material santo. Aí seria pena capital, sem dúvida (destined for).

Twice-born men may take up arms when they are hindered in the fulfilment of their duties, when destruction threatens the twice-born castes in evil times,

In their own defence, in a strife for the fees of officiating priests, and in order to protect women and Brahmanas; he who under such circumstances kills in the cause of right, commits no sin.“

One may slay without hesitation an assassin who approaches with murderous intent, whether he be one’s teacher, a child or an aged man, or a Brahmana deeply versed in the Vedas.” Mas que um brahmana profundamente versado nos Vedas queira assassinar alguém quase deita por terra todo o valor da religião!

…in that case fury recoils upon fury.”

A man formerly accused of such offences, [adultério] who secretly converses with another man’s wife, shall pay the first or lowest amercement.” Deve pagar a mesma sentença por um crime menor. Anti-pedagógico.

He who addresses the wife of another man at a Tirtha, outside the village, in a forest, or at the confluence of rivers, suffer the punishment for adulterous acts (samgrahana).

Offering presents, romping [farrear!] with her, touching her ornaments and dress, sitting with her on a bed, all these acts are considered adulterous acts” Onde falta humor aos legisladores, faltam deuses capazes da dança.

If one touches a woman in a place which ought not to be touched or allows oneself to be touched in such a spot, all such acts done with mutual consent are declared to be adulterous” Castrar ou não cidadãos deste Estado não faz diferença, porque são todos castrados metafísicos.

Mendicants, bards, men who have performed the initiatory ceremony of a Vedic sacrifice, and artisans are not prohibited from speaking to married women.”

Let no man converse with the wives of others after he has been forbidden (…)

This rule does not apply to the wives of actors and singers, nor of those who live on the intrigues of their own wives; for such men send their wives to others or, concealing themselves, allow them to hold criminal intercourse.” Ancient times cuckolds.

He who violates an unwilling maiden shall instantly suffer corporal punishment; but a man who enjoys a willing maiden shall not suffer corporal punishment, if his caste be the same as hers.” Se é pra casar que mal tem (pensamento estúpido).

From a maiden who makes advances to a man of high caste, he shall not take any fine; but her, who courts a man of low caste, let him force [be forced?] to live confined in her house.”

But if any man through insolence forcibly contaminates a maiden, 2 of his fingers shall be instantly cut off, and he shall pay a fine of 600” Novamente a pergunta misteriosa: por que dois dedos?! Also: definir insolência, contaminação, etc.

ANTI-LESBIANAS: “A damsel who pollutes another damsel must be fined 200 panas, pay the double of her nuptial fee, and receive 10 lashes with a rod.”

But a woman who pollutes a damsel shall instantly have her head shaved or 2 fingers cut off, [!] and be made to ride through the town on a donkey.” Woman: não-virgem; damsel: donzela, moça virgem?

If a wife, proud of the greatness of her relatives or her own excellence, violates the duty which she owes to her lord, the king shall cause her to be devoured by dogs in a place frequented by many.”

On a man once convicted, who is again accused within a year, a double fine must be inflicted; even thus must the fine be doubled for repeated intercourse with a Vratya and a Kandali.” Aparentemente Kandali aqui não significa pária (fora das castas), mas uma quinta e rara casta, neste sistema tão complexo. Porém, a questão é polêmica, já que o significado que encontrei diverge (veja glossário ao final) e em tese significaria o banimento do brâmane, pois ele não pode tocar uma intocável!

A Sudra who has intercourse with a woman of a twice-born caste, guarded or unguarded, shall be punished in the following manner: if she was unguarded, he loses the part offending and all his property; if she was guarded, everything, even his life.

For intercourse with a guarded Brahmana (…) a Kshatriya shall be fined 1000 panas and be shaved with the urine of an ass.”

A Brahmana who carnally knows a guarded Brahmani against her will, shall be fined 1000 panas; but he shall be made to pay five hundred, if he had connexion with a willing one.

Let him never slay a Brahmana, though he have committed all possible crimes; [!] let him banish such an offender, leaving all his property to him and his body unhurt.”

SUBVERTENDO A NOÇÃO DE PROSTITUTA DE LUXO: “A Brahmana who approaches unguarded females of the Kshatriya or Vaisya castes, or a Sudra female, shall be fined 500; but for intercourse with a female of the lowest, 1000.” Quanto mais sujinha, mais excita?

A Brahmana who does not invite his next neighbour and his neighbour next but one, though both be worthy of the honour, to a festival at which 20 Brahmanas are entertained, is liable to a fine of one masha.” Chame só 19 e recuse “penetras”!

IMPOSTO NUNCA FOI ROUBO, E O LEÃO SEMPRE FOI FEITO PARA DEVORAR COM EFICÁCIA: “He who avoids a custom-house or a toll, he who buys or sells at an improper time, or he who makes a false statement in enumerating his goods, shall be fined eight times the amount of duty which he tried to evade.”

a woman who has been pregnant 2 months or more, an ascetic, a hermit in the forest, and Brahmanas who are students of the Veda, shall not be made to pay toll at a ferry.”

a Brahmana who, because he is powerful, out of greed makes initiated men of the twice-born castes against their will do the work of slaves, shall be fined by the king 6000 panas.”

But a Sudra, whether bought or unbought, he may compel to do servile work; for he was created by the Self-existent (Svayambhu) to be the slave of a Brahmana.

A Sudra, though emancipated by his master, is not released from servitude; since that is innate in him, who can set him free from it?”

A Brahmana may confidently seize the goods of his Sudra; for, as that slave can have no property, his master may take his possessions.”

IX

I will now propound the eternal laws for a husband and his wife who keep to the path of duty, whether they be united or separated.

Her father protects her in childhood, her husband in youth, and her sons in old age; a woman is never fit for independence.

Reprehensible is the father who gives not his daughter in marriage at the proper time; reprehensible is the husband who approaches not in due season, and reprehensible is the son who does not protect his mother after her husband has died.”

The husband, after conception by his wife, becomes an embryo and is born again of her; for that is the wifehood of a wife (gaya), that he is born (gayate) again by her.”

No man can completely guard women by force; but they can be guarded by the employment of the following expedients:”

Women, confined in the house under trustworthy and obedient servants, are not well guarded; [!] but those who of their own accord keep guard over themselves, are well guarded.

Drinking liquor, associating with wicked people, separation from the husband, rambling abroad, sleeping at unseasonable hours, and dwelling in other men’s houses, are the 6 causes of the ruin of women.

Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; thinking, ‘It is enough that he is a man,’ they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly.

through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may be guarded in this world.”

“‘If my mother, going astray and unfaithful, conceived illicit desires, may my father keep that seed from me,’ that is the scriptural text.”

Akshamala, a woman of the lowest birth, being united to Vasishtha and Sarangi, being united to Mandapala, became worthy of honour.”

They all say that the male issue of a woman belongs to the lord, but with respect to the meaning of the term lord the revealed texts differ; some call the begetter of the child the lord, others declare that it is the owner of the soil.”

This earth, indeed, is called the primeval womb of created beings; but the seed develops not in its development any properties of the womb.” Negavam que a mulher passava suas características à descendência.

The rice called vrihi and sali, mudga-beans, sesamum, masha-beans, barley, leeks, and sugar-cane, all spring up according to their seed.

That one plant should be sown and another be produced cannot happen; whatever seed is sown, a plant of that kind even comes forth.

Never therefore must a prudent well-trained man, who knows the Veda and its Angas and desires long life, cohabit with another’s wife.” Mesmo que suas sementes sejam nobilíssimas?

As the arrow, shot by a hunter who afterwards hits a wounded deer in the wound made by another, is shot in vain, even so the seed, sown on what belongs to another, is quickly lost to the sower.”

If one man’s bull were to beget a hundred calves on another man’s cows, they would belong to the owner of the cows; in vain would the bull have spent his strength.”

The wife of an elder brother is for his younger(brother the wife of a Guru; [tudo, e inacessível] but the wife of the younger is declared to be the daughter-in-law of the elder.” In times of need…

An elder brother who approaches the wife of the younger, and a younger brother who approaches the wife of the elder, except in times of misfortune, both become outcasts, even though they were duly authorised.

On failure of issue by her husband a woman who has been authorised, may obtain, in the proper manner prescribed, the desired offspring by cohabitation with a brother-in-law or with some other Sapinda of the husband.” Sabia.

He who is appointed to cohabit with the widow shall approach her at night anointed with clarified butter and silent, and beget one son, by no means a second.” Está isento até de conversar: só o órgão sexual importa.

Some sages, versed in the law, considering the purpose of the appointment not to have been attained by those 2 on the birth of the first, think that a second son may be lawfully procreated on such women.” Hm.

But when the purpose of the appointment to cohabit with the widow bas been attained in accordance with the law, those 2 shall behave towards each other like a father and a daughter-in-law.” Daqui a pouco dirão que é lícito também ao pai (sogro) “depositar” suas sementes…

If those 2 being thus appointed deviate from the rule and act from carnal desire, they will both become outcasts, as men who defile the bed of a daughter-in-law or of a Guru.”

For 1 year let a husband bear with a wife who hates him; but after the lapse of a year let him deprive her of her property and cease to cohabit with her.”

She who drinks spirituous liquor, is of bad conduct, rebellious, diseased, mischievous, or wasteful, may at any time be superseded by another wife.

A barren wife may be superseded in the 8th year, she whose children all die in the 10th, she who bears only daughters in the 11th, but she who is quarrelsome without delay.” Haha!

To a distinguished, handsome suitor of equal caste should a father give his daughter in accordance with the prescribed rule, though she have not attained the proper age.”

Three years let a damsel wait, though she be marriageable; but after that time let her choose for herself a bridegroom of equal caste and rank.”

A maiden who choses for herself, shall not take with her any ornaments, given by her father or her mother, or her brothers; if she carries them away, it will be theft.”

A man, aged 30, shall marry a maiden of 12 who pleases him, or a man of 24 a girl 8 years of age; if the performance of his duties would otherwise be impeded, he must marry sooner.

The husband receives his wife from the gods, he does not wed her according to his own will; doing what is agreeable to the gods, he must always support her while she is faithful.”

Even a Sudra ought not to take a nuptial fee, when he gives away his daughter; for he who takes a fee sell his daughter, covering the transaction by another name.”

“…learn now the law concerning the division of the inheritance.”

Immediately on the birth of his first-born a man is called the father of a son and is freed from the debt to the manes; that son, therefore, is worthy to receive the whole estate.”

Between sons born of wives equal in caste and without any other distinction no seniority in right of the mother exists; seniority is declared to be according to birth.”

A son is even as oneself, such a daughter is equal to a son; how can another heir take the estate, while such an appointed daughter who is even oneself, lives?”

But if, after a daughter has been appointed, a son be born to her father, the division of the inheritance must in that case be equal; for there is no right of primogeniture for a woman.”

Through a son he conquers the worlds, through a son’s son he obtains immortality, but through his son’s grandson he gains the world of the sun.” Poético, mas inócuo.

Because a son delivers (trayate) his father from the hell called Put, he was therefore called put-tra (a deliverer from Put) by the Self-existent (Svayambhu) himself.”

Even the male child of a female duly appointed, [testamentado] not begotten according to the rule (given above), is unworthy of the paternal estate; for he was procreated by an outcast.”

The rules given above must be understood to apply to a distribution among sons of women of the same caste; hear now the law concerning those begotten by one man on many wives of different castes.”

Let the son of the Brahmana wife take 3 shares of the remainder of the estate, the son of the Kshatriya 2, the son of the Vaisya a share and a half (1 ½), and the son of the Sudra may take 1 share.”

The son of a Brahmana, a Kshatriya, and a Vaisya by a Sudra wife receives no share of the inheritance; whatever his father may give to him, that shall be his property.”

For a Sudra is ordained a wife of his own caste only and no other; those born of her shall have equal shares, even if there be a hundred sons.”

Among the 12 sons of men whom Manu, sprung from the Self-existent (Svayambhu), enumerates, 6 are kinsmen and heirs, and 6 not heirs, but kinsmen.

The legitimate son of the body, (1) the son begotten on a wife, (2) the son adopted, (3) the son made, (4) the son secretly born, (5) and the son cast off, (6) are the 6 heirs and kinsmen. [1???]

The son of an unmarried damsel, (7) the son received with the wife, (8) the son bought, (9) the son begotten on a re-married woman, (10) the son self-given, (11) and the son of a Sudra female, (12) are the 6 who are not heirs, but kinsmen.”

Him whom a man begets on his own wedded wife, let him know to be a legitimate son of the body (Aurasa), the first in rank.” Aqui está explicada a diferença entre (1) e (2) imediatamente acima: (1) é a semente do pai e nada mais.

That boy equal by caste whom his mother or his father affectionately give, confirming the gift with a libation of water, in times of distress to a man as his son, must be considered as an adopted son (Datrima).” Não é qualquer um que se acha abandonado, como no nosso direito.

But he is considered a son made (Kritrima) whom a man makes his son, he being equal by caste, acquainted with the distinctions between right and wrong, and endowed with filial virtues.” Desde que comprovadamente da casta, o pai pode adotar um filho que não foi “doado” cerimoniosamente por outros brâmanes (ou casta equivalente).

If a child be born in a man’s house and his father be not known, he is a son born secretly in the house (Gudhotpanna), and shall belong to him of whose wife he was born.

He whom a man receives as his son, after he has been deserted by his parents or by either of them, is called a son cast off (Apaviddha).” Deserdado reintegrado.

A son whom a damsel secretly bears in the house of her father, one shall name the son of an unmarried damsel (Kanina), and declare such offspring of an unmarried girl to belong to him who weds her afterwards.

If one marries, either knowingly or unknowingly, a pregnant bride, the child in her womb belongs to him who weds her, and is called a son received with the bride (Sahodha).

If a man buys a boy, whether equal or unequal in good qualities from his father and mother for the sake of having a son, that child is called a son bought (Kritaka).” Bastante intuitivo: se é um filho comprado, é um filho comprado!

¹ Não em casta!

If a woman abandoned by her husband, or a widow, of her own accord contracts a second marriage and bears a son, he is called the son of a re-married woman (Paunarbhava).

If she be still a virgin, or one who returned to her first husband after leaving him, she is worthy to again perform with her second (or first deserted) husband the nuptial ceremony.

He who, having lost his parents or being abandoned by them without just cause, gives himself to a man, is called a son self-given (Svayamdatta).” Sem essa explicação, jamais seria capaz de adivinhar que diabos seria um filho autodado.

The son whom a Brahmana begets through lust on a Sudra female is, though alive (parayan), a corpse (sava), and hence called a Parasava (a living corpse).” Cruel! Traduzo na seqüência:

IX, 178. O filho que um brâmane obteve via luxúria e cupidez de uma mulher Sudra (quarta casta) é, embora vivo, um cadáver, e dessa forma considerado um zumbi (morto-vivo).”

These 11, the son begotten on the wife and the rest as enumerated above, the wise call substitutes for a son, taken in order to prevent a failure of the funeral ceremonies.” Traduzindo: para o pai não ir para o inferno.

Those sons, who have been mentioned in connection with the legitimate son of the body, being begotten by strangers, belong in reality to him from whose seed they sprang, but not to the other man who took them.”

Not brothers, nor fathers, but sons take the paternal estate; but the father shall take the inheritance of a son who leaves no male issue, and his brothers.” Ou seja: não, mas pode sim.

Always to that relative within 3 degrees who is nearest to the deceased Sapinda the estate shall belong; afterwards a Sakulya shall be the heir, then the spiritual teacher or the pupil.

But on failure of all heirs Brahmanas shall share the estate, who are versed in the 3 Vedas, pure and self-controlled; thus the law is not violated.”

Such property, as well as a gift subsequent and what was given to her by her affectionate husband, shall go to her offspring, even if she dies in the lifetime of her husband.”

The ornaments which may have been worn by women during their husbands’ lifetime, his heirs shall not divide; those who divide them become outcasts.

Eunuchs and outcasts, persons born blind or deaf, the insane, idiots and the dumb, as well as those deficient in any organ, receive no share.

But it is just that who knows the law should give even to all of them food and raiment without stint, according to his ability; he who gives it not will become all outcast.

If the eunuch and the rest should somehow or other desire to take wives, the offspring of such among them as have children is worthy of a share.

Whatever property the eldest son acquires by his own exertion after the father’s death, a share of that shall belong to his younger brothers, provided they have made a due progress in learning.

But if all of them, being unlearned, acquire property by their labour, the division of that shall be equal, as it is not property acquired by the father; that is a settled rule.

Property acquired by learning [ofícios religiosos] belongs solely to him to whom it was given, likewise the gift of a friend, a present received on marriage or with the honey-mixture.”

If brothers, once divided and living again together as coparceners, make a second partition, the division shall in that case be equal; in such a case there is no right of primogeniture.”

A mother shall obtain the inheritance of a son who dies without leaving issue, and, if the mother be dead, the paternal grandmother shall take the estate.”

The division of the property and the rules for allotting shares to the several sons, those begotten on a wife and the rest, in due order, have been thus declared to you”

Gambling and betting let the king exclude from his realm; those two vices cause the destruction of the kingdoms of princes.

When inanimate things are used for staking money on them, that is called among men gambling (dyuta), when animate beings are used, one must know that to be betting (samahvaya).”

Gamblers, dancers and singers, [uma religião CHATA!] cruel men, men belonging to an heretical sect, those following forbidden occupations, and sellers of spirituous liquor, let him instantly banish from his town.”

On women, infants, men of disordered mind, the poor and the sick, the king shall inflict punishment with a whip, a cane, or a rope and the like.

But those appointed to administer public affairs, who, baked by the fire of wealth, mar the business of suitors, the king shall deprive of their property.”

Forgers of royal edicts, those (…) the king shall put to death.”

Whatever matter his ministers or the judge may settle improperly, that the king himself shall resettle and fine them 1,000 panas.”

For violating a Guru’s bed, the mark of a female part shall be impressed on the forehead with a hot iron; for drinking the spirituous liquor called Sura, the sign of a tavern; for stealing the gold of a Brahmana, a dog’s foot; for murdering a Brahmana, a headless corpse.

Excluded from all fellowship at meals, excluded from all sacrifices, excluded from instruction and from matrimonial alliances, abject and excluded from all religious duties, let them wander over earth.”

But men of other castes, who have unintentionally committed such crimes, ought to be deprived of their whole property; if they committed them intentionally, they shall be banished.

A virtuous king must not take for himself the property of a man guilty of mortal sin; but if he takes it out of greed, he is tainted by that guilt.

Having thrown such a fine into the water, let him offer it to Varuna, or let him bestow it on a learned and virtuous Brahmana.” Conveniente…

Varuna is the lord of punishment, for he holds the sceptre even over kings; a Brahmana who has learnt the whole Veda is the lord of the whole world.”

Thus the manner of deciding suits falling under the 18 titles, between 2 litigant parties, has been declared at length.”

Officials of high rank and physicians who act improperly, men living by showing their proficiency in arts, and clever harlots,

These and the like who show themselves openly, as well as others who walk in disguise such as non-Aryans who wear the marks of Aryans, he should know to be thorns in the side of his people.”

Assembly-houses, houses where water is distributed or cakes are sold, brothels, [eles podem existir?] taverns [elas podem existir?] and victualler’s shops, cross-roads, well-known trees, festive assemblies, and play-houses and concert-rooms,

Old gardens, forests, the shops of artisans, empty dwellings, natural and artificial groves,

These and the like places the king shall cause to be guarded by companies of soldiers, [haja soldado!] both stationary and patrolling, and by spies, in order to keep away thieves.”

A just king shall not cause a thief to be put to death, unless taken with the stolen goods in his possession; him who is taken with the stolen goods and the implements of burglary, he may, without hesitation, cause to be slain.”

On those who rob the king’s treasury and those who persevere in opposing his commands, he shall inflict various kinds of capital punishment, likewise on those who conspire with his enemies.”

REGIME PROGRESSIVO! “But the king shall cut off the hands of those robbers who, breaking into houses, commit thefts at night, and cause them to be impaled on a pointed stake.

On the first conviction, let him cause 2 fingers of a cut-purse to be amputated; on the second, one hand and one foot; on the third, he shall suffer death.”

Him who breaks the dam of a tank he shall slay by drowning him in water or by some other mode of capital punishment; or the offender may repair the damage, but shall be made to pay the highest amercement.”

Those who break into a royal storehouse, an armoury, or a temple, and those who steal elephants, horses, or chariots, he shall slay without hesitation.”

PELA VOLTA DA ÉTICA MÉDICA (NEM QUE POR CONSTRANGIMENTOS MAQUIAVÉLICOS): “All physicians who treat their patients wrongly shall pay a fine; in the case of animals, the first or lowest; in the case of human beings, the middlemost amercement.”

Let him place all prisons near a high-road, where the suffering and disfigured offenders can be seen.

Him who destroys the wall of a town, or fills up the ditch round a town, or breaks a gate, he shall instantly banish.”

He who sells for seed-corn that which is not seed-corn, he who takes up seed already sown, and he who destroys a boundary-mark, shall be punished by mutilation.

But the king shall cause a goldsmith who behaves dishonestly, the most nocuous of all the thorns, to be cut to pieces with razors.”

The king [1] and his minister, [2] his capital, [3] his realm, [4] his treasury, [5] his army, [6] and his ally [7] are the 7 constituent parts of a kingdom; hence a kingdom is said to have seven limbs (anga).

But let him know that among these seven constituent parts of a kingdom which have been enumerated in due order, each earlier (named) is more important and its destruction the greater calamity.”

The various ways in which a king behaves resemble the Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali ages; hence the king is identified with the ages of the world.

Sleeping he represents the Kali (or iron age), waking the Dvapara or bra[o?]zen age, ready to act the Treta (or silver age), but moving actively the Krita (or golden) age.”

As Indra sends copious rain during the four months of the rainy season, even so let the king, taking upon himself the office of Indra, shower benefits on his kingdom.”

Let him not, though fallen into the deepest distress, provoke Brahmanas to anger; for they, when angered, could instantly destroy him together with his army and his vehicles.” Espécie de caução colocada pelos brâmanes!

Thus, though Brahmanas employ themselves in all sorts of mean occupations, they must be honoured in every way; for each of them is a very great deity.

When the Kshatriyas become in any way overbearing towards the Brahmanas, the Brahmanas themselves shall duly restrain them; for the Kshatriyas sprang from the Brahmanas.”

Kshatriyas prosper not without Brahmanas, Brahmanas prosper not without Kshatriyas; Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, being closely united, prosper in this world and in the next.” Lembrando que o mutualismo é necessário, pois o rei é o primeiro-dos-Kshatriyas, o último Brahmana, pior que o brâmane mais chão, se assim se pode dizer.

But a king who feels his end drawing nigh shall bestow all his wealth, accumulated from fines, on Brahmanas, make over his kingdom to his son, and then seek death in battle.” Mesmo em tempos de paz?!

Thus the eternal law concerning the duties of a king has been fully declared; know that the following rules apply in due order to the duties of Vaisyas and Sudras.”

For when the Lord of creatures (Pragapati) created cattle, he made them over to the Vaisya; to the Brahmana, and to the king he entrusted all created beings.

A Vaisya must never conceive this wish, ‘I will not keep cattle’; and if a Vaisya is willing to keep them, they must never be kept by men of other castes.

A Vaisya must know the respective value of gems, of pearls, of coral, of metals, of cloth made of thread, of perfumes, and of condiments.” Deve ser melhor que os economistas de nossos tempos! Terceira classe hindu está acima da primeira classe de um Paulo Guedes, cof, cof…

He must be acquainted with the manner of sowing of seeds, and of the good and bad qualities of fields, and he must perfectly know all measures and weights.” E melhor que nossos imbecis senhores do agro!

RELAÇÕES INTERNACIONAIS: A ORIGEM: “Moreover, the excellence and defects of commodities, the advantages and disadvantages of different countries, the probable profit and loss on merchandise, and the means of properly rearing cattle.

He must be acquainted with the proper wages of servants, with the various languages of men, with the manner of keeping goods, and the rules of purchase and sale.”

But to serve Brahmanas who are learned in the Vedas, householders, and famous for virtue is the highest duty of a Sudra, which leads to beatitude.” Nunca houve código de escravidão mais explícito: nossos servos devem ser mais competentes que nós mesmos, eis sua obrigação moral.

NOTE-SE, PORÉM, A SEMELHANÇA COM O REBANHO CRISTÃO: “A Sudra who is pure, the servant of his betters, gentle in his speech, and free from pride, and always seeks a refuge with Brahmanas, attains in his next life a higher caste.”

Be proud, be very proud – or you’ll be a slave forever (because your current life IS forever!). Pride and vanity are not the same.

The excellent law for the conduct of the 4 castes, when they are not in distress, has been thus promulgated; now hear in order their several duties in times of distress.”

X

Pela ordem, não parece que o livro X está numerado corretamente, pois não se inicia falando do direito de guerra.

Let the three twice-born castes, discharging their prescribed duties, study the Veda; but among them the Brahmana alone shall teach it, not the other two; that is an established rule.”

Brahmana, the Kshatriya, and the Vaisya castes are the twice-born ones, but the fourth, the Sudra, has one birth only; there is no fifth caste.

In all castes those children only which are begotten in the direct order on wedded wives, equal in caste and married as virgins, are to be considered as belonging to the same caste as their fathers

Sons, begotten by twice-born man on wives of the next lower castes, they declare to be similar to their fathers, but blamed on account of the fault inherent in their mothers.

Such is the eternal law concerning children born of wives one degree lower; know that the following rule is applicable to those born of women 2 or 3 degrees lower.

From a Brahmana a children with the daughter of a Vaisya is called an Ambashtha, with the daughter of a sudra a Nishada, who is also called Parasava.

From a Kshatriya and the daughter of a Sudra springs a being, called Ugra, resembling both a Kshatriya and a Sudra, ferocious in his manners, and delighting in cruelty.

Children of a Brahmana by women of the 3 lower castes, of a Kshatriya by wives of the 2 lower castes, and of a Vaisya by a wife of the one caste below him are all 6 called base-born (apasada).”

From a Sudra [por uma mãe brâmane, Shatriya ou Vaisya, respectivamente] are born an Ayogava, a Kshattri, and a Kandala, the lowest of men, … sons who owe their origin to a confusion of the castes.” Em tese um Kandala ou Chandala não é um Intocável? Essa dúvida me assolou por anos!

A Brahmana begets on the daughter of an Ugra an Avrita, on the daughter of an Ambashtha an Abhira, but on a female of the Ayogava caste, a Dhigvana.”

Those sons whom the twice-born beget on wives of equal caste, but who, not fulfilling their sacred duties, are excluded from the Savitri, one must designate by the appellation Vratyas.”

NÃO É POSSÍVEL DESCER AQUÉM DO KANDALA (EM TESE!): “The Suta, the Vaidehaka, the Kandala, that lowest of mortals, the Magadha, he of the Kshattri caste (gati), and the Ayogava, § These 6 (Pratilomas) beget similar races on women of their own caste, they also produce the like with females of their mother’s caste (gati), and with females of higher ones.”

excluded from the Aryan community, vahya

Just as a Sudra begets on a Brahmana female a being excluded from the Aryan community, even so a person himself excluded procreates with females of the 4 castes sons more worthy of being excluded than he himself.”

But from a Kandala by a Pukkasa woman is born the sinful Sopaka, who lives by the occupations of his sire, and is ever despised by good men.

A Nishada woman bears to a Kandala a son called Antyavasayin, employed in burial-grounds, and despised even by those excluded from the Aryan community.” How low, how low, how low can you go? 80 cycles

All those tribes in this world, which are excluded from the community of those born from the mouth, the arms, the thighs, and the feet of Brahman, are called Dasyus, whether they speak the language of the Mlekkhas (barbarians) or that of the Aryans.” Eu.

Near well-known trees and burial-grounds, on mountains and in groves, let these tribes dwell, known by certain marks, and subsisting by their peculiar occupations.

But the dwellings of Kandalas and Svapakas shall be outside the village, they must be made Apapatras, and their wealth shall be dogs and donkeys.

Their dress shall be the garments of the dead, they shall eat their food from broken dishes, black iron shall be their ornaments, and they must always wander from place to place.”

By day they may go about for the purpose of their work, distinguished by marks at the king’s command, and they shall carry out the corpses of persons who have no relatives; that is a settled rule.”

A base-born man either resembles in character his father, or his mother, or both; he can never conceal his real nature.”

A SEMENTE DO HOMEM E O CAMPO UTERINO (A S-udra is born): “Some sages declare the seed to be more important, and others the field; again others assert that the seed and the field are equally important; but the legal decision on this point is as follows: Seed, sown on barren ground, perishes in it; a fertile field also, in which no good seed is sown, will remain barren.”

Having considered the case of a non-Aryan who acts like an Aryan, and that of an Aryan who acts like a non-Aryan, the creator declared, ‘Those two are neither equal nor unequal.’

But a Brahmana, unable to subsist by his peculiar occupations just mentioned, may live according to the law applicable to Kshatriyas; for the latter is next to him in rank.

If it be asked, ‘How shall it be, if he cannot maintain himself by either of these occupations?’ the answer is, he may adopt a Vaisya’s mode of life, employing himself in agriculture and rearing cattle.”

Some declare that agriculture is something excellent, but that means of subsistence is blamed by the virtuous; for the wooden implement with iron point injuries the earth and the beings living in the earth.”

If he applies sesamum to any other purpose but food, anointing, and charitable gifts, he will be born again as a worm and, together with his ancestors, be plunged into the ordure of dogs.

By selling flesh, salt, and lac a Brahmana at once becomes an outcast; by selling milk he becomes equal to a Sudra in 3 days.”

A Vaisya who is unable to subsist by his own duties, may even maintain himself by a Sudra’s mode of life, avoiding however acts forbidden to him, and he should give it up, when he is able to do so.

But a Sudra, being unable to find service with the twice-born and threatened with the loss of his sons and wife through hunger, may maintain himself by handicrafts.”

By teaching, by sacrificing for, and by accepting gifts from despicable men Brahmanas in distress commit not sin; for they are as pure as fire and water.

He who, when in danger of losing his life, accepts food from any person whatsoever, is no more tainted by sin than the sky by mud.

Agigarta, who suffered hunger, approached in order to slay his own son, and was not tainted by sin, since he only sought a remedy against famishing.”

On comparing the acceptance of gifts from low men, sacrificing for them, and teaching them, the acceptance of gifts is the meanest of those acts and most reprehensible for a Brahmana on account of its results in the next life.”

Learning, mechanical arts, work for wages, service, rearing cattle, traffic, agriculture, contentment with little, alms, and receiving interest on money, are the 10 modes of subsistence permitted to all men in times of distress.”

The service of Brahmanas alone is declared to be an excellent occupation for a Sudra; for whatever else besides this he may perform will bear him no fruit.”

XI

If an opulent man is liberal towards strangers, while his family lives in distress, that counterfeit virtue will first make him taste the sweets of fame, but afterwards make him swallow the poison of punishment in hell.”

A Brahmana shall never beg from a Sudra property for a sacrifice; for a sacrificer, having begged it from such a man, after death is born again as a Kandala.”

A Brahmana who knows the law need not bring any offence to the notice of the king; by his own power alone be can punish those men who injure him.

His own power is greater than the power of the king; the Brahmana therefore, may punish his foes by his own power alone.”

The organs of sense and action, honour, bliss in heaven, longevity, fame, offspring, and cattle are destroyed by a sacrifice at which too small sacrificial fees are given; hence a man of small means should not offer a Srauta sacrifice.”

Carnal intercourse with sisters by the same mother, with unmarried maidens, with females of the lowest castes, with the wives of a friend, or of a son, they declare to be equal to the violation of a Guru’s bed.”

By his origin alone a Brahmana is a deity even for the gods, and his teaching is authoritative for men, because the Veda is the foundation for that.

If only 3 of them who are learned in the Veda proclaim the expiation for offences, that shall purify the sinners; for the words of learned men are a means of purification.”

The Rikas, the Yagus-formulas which differ from the former, the manifold Saman-songs, must be known to form the triple Veda; he who knows them is called learned in the Veda.”

XII

Action, which springs from the mind, from speech, and from the body, produces either good or evil results; by action are caused the various conditions of men, the highest, the middling, and the lowest.

Know that the mind is the instigator here below, even to that action which is connected with the body, and which is of 3 kinds, has 3 locations, and falls under 10 heads.

Coveting the property of others, thinking in one’s heart of what is undesirable, and adherence to false doctrines, are the 3 kinds of sinful mental action.

Abusing others, speaking untruth, detracting from the merits of all men, and talking idly, shall be the 4 kinds of evil verbal action.

Taking what has not been given, injuring creatures without the sanction of the law, and holding criminal intercourse with another man’s wife, are declared to be the 3 kinds of wicked bodily action.”

In consequence of many sinful acts committed with his body, a man becomes in the next birth something inanimate, in consequence of sins committed by speech, a bird, or a beast, and in consequence of mental sins he is re-born in a low caste.

That man is called a true tridandin in whose mind these three, the control over his speech (vagdanda), the control over his thoughts (manodanda), and the control over his body (kayadanda), are firmly fixed.”

Another strong body, formed of particles of the 5 elements and destined to suffer the torments in hell, is produced after death in the case of wicked men.”

The individual soul, having endured those torments of Yama, again enters, free from taint, those very five elements, each in due proportion.”

Know Goodness (sattva), Activity (ragas), and Darkness (tamas) to be the 3 qualities of the Self, with which the Great One always completely pervades all existences.”

Goodness is declared to have the form of knowledge, Darkness of ignorance, Activity of love and hatred; such is the nature of these 3 which is all-pervading and clings to everything created.”

What is coupled with delusion, what has the character of an undiscernible mass, what cannot be fathomed by reasoning, what cannot be fully known, one must consider as the quality of Darkness.”

Delighting in undertakings, want of firmness, commission of sinful acts, and continual indulgence in sensual pleasures, are the marks of the quality of Activity.

Covetousness, sleepiness, pusillanimity, cruelty, atheism, leading an evil life, a habit of soliciting favours, and inattentiveness, are the marks of the quality of Darkness.”

I will briefly declare in due order what transmigrations in this whole world a man obtains through each of these qualities.”

Immovable beings, insects, both small and great, fishes, snakes, and tortoises, cattle[?] and wild animals, are the lowest conditions to which the quality of Darkness leads.

Elephants, horses, Sudras, and despicable barbarians, lions, tigers, and boars are the middling states, caused by the quality of Darkness.

Karanas, Suparnas and hypocrites, Rakshasas and Pisakas belong to the highest rank of conditions among those produced by Darkness.

Ghallas, Mallas, Natas, men who subsist by despicable occupations and those addicted to gambling and drinking form the lowest order of conditions caused by Activity.

(…)

The Gandharvas, the Guhyakas, and the servants of the gods, likewise the Apsarases, belong all to the highest rank of conditions produced by Activity.

Hermits, ascetics, Brahmanas, the crowds of the Vaimanika deities, the lunar mansions, and the Daityas form the first and lowest rank of the existences caused by Goodness.

Sacrificers, the sages, the gods, the Vedas, the heavenly lights, the years, the manes, and the Sadhyas constitute the second order of existences, caused by Goodness.

The sages declare Brahma, the creators of the universe, the law, the Great One, and the Undiscernible One to constitute the highest order of beings produced by Goodness.” Quase incompreensível para quem não lê os Upanishads! O número 9 cumpre aqui uma função nitidamente cabalístico-pitagórica, refletida, de algum modo, nos 9 círculos do inferno de Dante.

The slayer of a Brahmana enters the womb of a dog, a pig, an ass, a camel, a cow, a goat, a sheep, a deer, a bird, a Kandala, and a Pukkasa.”

A Brahmana who steals the gold of a Brahmana shall pass a thousand times through the bodies of spiders, snakes and lizards, of aquatic animals and of destructive Pisakas.”

Women, also, who in like manner have committed a theft, shall incur guilt; they will become the females of those same creatures which have been enumerated above.” Falta de criatividade do legislador!

A Brahmana who has fallen off from his duty becomes an Ulkamukha Preta, who feeds on what has been vomited; and a Kshatriya, a Kataputana (Preta), who eats impure substances and corpses.”

Acts which secure the fulfilment of wishes in this world or in the next are called pravritta (such as cause a continuation of mundane existence); but acts performed without any desire for a reward, preceded by the acquisition of true knowledge, are declared to be nivritta (such as cause the cessation of mundane existence).”

He who sacrifices to the Self alone, equally recognising the Self in all created beings and all created beings in the Self, becomes independent like an autocrat and self-luminous.”

All those traditions (smriti) and those despicable systems of philosophy, which are not based on the Veda, produce no reward after death; for they are declared to be founded on Darkness.

All those doctrines, differing from the Veda, which spring up and soon perish, are worthless and false, because they are of modern date.”

The 3 kinds of evidence, perception, inference, and the sacred Institutes which comprise the tradition of many schools, must be fully understood by him who desires perfect correctness with respect to the sacred law.”

One who knows the Rig-veda, one who knows the Yagur-veda, and one who knows the Sama-veda, shall be known to form an assembly consisting of at least 3 members and competent to decide doubtful points of law.”

All that which is most efficacious for securing supreme bliss has been thus declared to you; a Brahmana who does not fall off from that obtains the most excellent state.”

Some call him Agni (Fire), others Manu, the Lord of creatures, others Indra, others the vital air, and again others eternal Brahman.

He pervades all created beings in the 5 forms, and constantly makes them, by means of birth, growth and decay, revolve like the wheels of a chariot.”

GLOSSÁRIO DE TERMOS VÉDICOS

agni: fogo; divino quando em letra maiúscula.

Anga: parte. Estudar um Anga do Veda é estudar apenas uma porção dele.

amrita: ambrosia

anna: primeiro

apara: inferior.

asma: consciência de si mesmo. Eu tenho asma! Voltando a falar sério, ASMITA seria a asma doentia (o egoísmo exacerbado).

dva: 2

Dvapara: bronze ou terceira era.

garbha: feto

Kali: “divindade negativa” emanada de Shiva.

kali: ferro; conflito. KALIYUGA vem a ser a “era dos conflitos”, a idade contemporânea, quarta era e final, ainda chamada de era da cobiça.

kalpa: “preceito, dissolução ou aniquilação do mundo, um dia na vida de Brahmā, período de 4.320.000 anos.” Não é a definição correta para a ocorrência de Kalpa acima.

Kandali: “1. Candala ou Chandala é uma classe de pessoas na Índia geralmente consideradas como sem castas e intocáveis; 2. De acordo com a antiga lei do código de Manu smrti, é a classe formada a partir da união de uma mulher brâmane e um homem sudra; 3. O termo também é usado em tempos modernos para uma determinada casta dos agricultores, pescadores, barqueiros.”

karma: grosso modo, ação. (palavra polissêmica)

kaya: corpo = KOSA

Krita ou krta: ouro. Primeira das 4 eras.

manas: como deixado claro pelo contexto, acima, quando citado, manas se refere ao que é exclusivo do homem, i.e., sua faculdade intelectiva.

Nara: Vishnu, divindade mais associada ao homem em si e às águas dentre as formas do “Olimpo hindu”.

Oṁ — símbolo do hinduísmo e do Yoga, é a vibração primordial do Universo, o mais poderoso dos mantras. É dito que ele contém o conhecimento dos Vedas e se considera o corpo sonoro do Ilimitado, Śābda Brahman.” … “o Oṁ é o mundo inteiro. O passado, o presente, o futuro: tudo é o mantra Oṁ”

Pisaka: semelhante ao Rakshasa, mas considerado uma representação ainda mais acurada do mal.

prana: respiração, energia vital, embora exista PRANANA e VATA para dizer respiração (desambiguação).

Pranayama: “exercício respiratório feito com acompanhamento mental de mantra.”

prasana: sentido do gosto ou a língua.

Rakshasa: criatura devoradora de humanos.

Sadhya: aquilo que pode ser realizado via esforço sincero, disciplina e a prática espiritual. Na hierarquia védica, trata-se da segunda existência mais louvável (calcada nos méritos no mundo dos fenômenos, na ação propriamente dita), ultrapassável apenas pelo completo desapego à existência e fusão com Brahman.

Sapinda: num sentido geral, parentes mais próximos. No sentido mais puro da época das Leis, parentes até sétimo grau a que está aplicado o tabu do incesto. No sentido legal indiano até a década de 1950, estende-se até terceira ou quinta geração (dependendo do sexo do cônjuge), remontando para o radical da árvore genealógica (antepassados). Os filhos do casal são de primeiro grau. Os netos, de segundo, etc. Sapindas, em suma, não podem se casar entre si.

sat: ser, verdade, realidade.

Smriti: “‘memória’ [não consta das citações, mas coloquei à guisa complementar] Toda a produção literária posterior aos textos revelados do Shruti (a partir de 500 a.C. até o século V d.C.: o Vedánga (Membros do Veda: fonética, gramática, métrica, etimologia, astronomia e ritual), os Ágamas, os Puránas, o Manuvadharmashástra (Leis de Manu), as Upanishads tardias, et coetera.”

Snataka: estudante iniciado no Veda

svah (ou swa): o si-mesmo, a alma.

Treta: prata ou segunda era.

vak: falar, palavra.

yama: ato, exercício, atividade, o que decorre da ação ou KARMA. Num sentido mais estrito: controle, refreamento, isto é, a conduta ou postura do indivíduo visando conscientemente à liberação. As escolas clássicas do yoga dizem haver 5 yamas-base.

yana = yajña: sacrifício;

ritual do fogo;

prática de Yoga.

Yoga: união com o Um através da respiração e do progressivo desmascaramento dos conceitos humanos.

Alguns esclarecimentos do glossário foram obtidos via https://www.yoga.pro.br/glossario-sanscrito-525-verbetes-pedro-kupfer/.

Samskara são os outros, teria dito Sartre.

[post 700] EARLY CHINESE RELIGION: Part One: Shang through Han (1250 BC – 220 AD)

LAGERWEY, J. & KALINOWSKI, M. (org.)

EXTREMAMENTE CONSOLADOR:“For help in financing translations and preparation of the manuscript, we are indebted to the Centre de recherche sur les civilisations chinoise, japonaise et tibétaine. A great debt is also owed our translators, some of whom received only token remuneration and some none at all: John Kieschnick, Regina Llamas, Margaret McIntosh, Sabine Wilms, Didier Davin and John Lagerwey. The same is true of Kimberly Powers, who contributed far more than the hours paid in order to bring the bibliography and index as close to perfection as possible.”

The present work covers primarily the period from 1250BC on, when written materials first become available.”

INTRODUCTION

After Kong Qiu (Confucius; 551–479 BC) and his disciples, defenders of traditional values and of a humanism based on education, ritual practice and moral amelioration, various schools of thought and wisdom developed and engaged in ongoing debates in the princely courts of the 5th to 3rd centuries BC.”

The pantheon Wu-ding sacrificed to included such <nature> gods as River and Mountain, as well as Di (Lord), a god distinguished from all others by the fact that, like the Shang king, he <ordered> (ling), and by the fact he was not sacrificed to even though his powers would seem to have been extensive”

Relying on the work of anthropologists and linguists, Kern underlines the <striking overlap between the language of poetry, the aesthetics of ritual and the ideology of memory> as expressed in these hymns.”

The parallel with the Pentateuch and the Psalms as described by Artur Weiser is also striking: <The cult of the feast of Yahweh, the heart of which was the revelation of God at Sinai, was the native soil on which the tradition of the Heilsgeschichte concerning the Exodus, the revelation at Sinai, and the conquest of the land was formed and cultivated.> Through the ritual repetition of salvation history at the annual feast, it <became a new ‘event’. The congregation attending the feast experienced this as something which happened in its presence, and thereby participated in the assurance and realization of salvation which was the real purpose of the festival.> See Artur Weiser, The Psalms: a commentary, tr. Herbert Hartwell (London, 1962), p. 26, n. 2, and p. 28.”

With the appropriation of the Annals by Confucius or his disciples, history writing bifurcates into <sacred> and <secular> traditions. Entries in the Annals were now understood as messages addressed not to the ancestors but to living contemporaries, and their stylistic particularities were interpreted as a politico-ethical commentary on the course of events. The Annals rapidly acquired the status of a canonical text, and the first commentarial traditions appeared. In the Zuo commentary, history became a mirror aimed at supplying members of the educated elite with a working knowledge of past events”

In the Shang, the word wu referred at once to a divine figure, a kind of sacrifice and a person with a special status or function. The wu could also be used as a sacrificial victim. For the early Zhou we have no information, but the Rites of Zhou include a <chief shaman> in charge of male (xi) and female shamans (wu) who perform a wide range of rituals, including exorcisms, sacrifices and rain dances. Lin cites Warring States and Han texts that show the involvement of shamans in healing, divining, fortune-telling and black magic of various kinds.”

O comentário do Zuo narra um conselheiro que pergunta a seu duque como expor uma <mulher tola> – sua maneira de se referir a uma wu – ao sol poderia ser útil para terminar uma estiagem. Xunzi se refere a xamãs machos e fêmeas, respectivamente, como <aleijados> e <corcundas>, sugerindo que fossem inatamente anormais ou desprezíveis. Han os ataca com ainda mais virulência. Para ele, os wu são figuras traiçoeiras e semeadoras de <práticas sinistras> (zuodao). Mas o retrato mais revelador da precipitação de seu status é transmitido por uma estória contida num dos capítulos iniciais do Zhuangzi. Liezi, discípulo de um mestre do Dao, encontra um xamã que crê ser ainda mais poderoso que o seu mestre. Este, ao tomar conhecimento do fato, convida o estranho para ter seu caráter mapeado por vários dias seguidas, em sua casa. Num processo [anti?]terapêutico que lembra a psicanálise, o mestre faz o xamã conhecer a si mesmo um pouco melhor a cada dia. Dá-se uma espécie de lavagem cerebral. O xamã não vê o Dao/Tao, mas apenas o que o mestre o revela, com cálculo. No último dia, o que o mestre o ensina é tão horripilante que o xamã foge para longe sem dar que Liezi pudesse reencontrá-lo. Humilhado e vencido, Liezi vai para casa e, pelos próximos três anos, toma o lugar de sua mulher no fogão e alimenta os porcos como se fossem gente.”[???]

the literati of the ancient world had given precedence to the king over

the self, and valued subjection over subjectivity”

one’s basic vital energy (qi)”

vital essence (jing)”

Eleve seu ki para acreditar em Marx

Nem materialismo nem História

O que importa são as esferas do átomo

DEMOcitizen

Só depende de você o autocontrole

superpleonasmo

Ser herói não é uma condição heróica.

A serena indiferença do Sábio às contingências do mundo exterior é louvada como o privilégio dos homens mutilados e amputados [castrados? História do eunuco? Toda a Academia descende dessa raça mística?]. Qualquer amputação é uma bênção: golpe de sorte que liberta.”

Nem Montesquieu, do alto de suas convicções, poderia negar que basta ao habitante da zona mais tórrida, simiesco e concupiscente que é, cortar fora o próprio bilau para se converter como que por milagre no nórdico mais glacial: o clima não tem poder sobre a engenhosidade do eunuco, cujo sangue não corre atrás de interesses “impuros”. E qualquer babuíno, por fortuna, pode ser um brâmane (um sem-pau).

O eunuco está livre para fazer política, isto é, intrigas.

UM PROBLEMA DE ENERGIA:“There is <no Cartesian opposition of mind and matter,> and intentionality, so central to Western reflection on the self as an <autonomous agent,> is irrelevant to the Chinese discovery of self as <a purely vital activity.>

Para o bem ou para o mal, eu sou tão poderoso que o suicídio constituiria uma impossibilidade automática enquanto questão contemporânea (é um problema cuja solução pertence a um futuro que, momentaneamente, posso chamar de longínquo).

Seria um estoque, um todo de potência armazenado, no “nada” do meu entorno, que não encontraria destinação e não poderia ser simplesmente “evacuado” da realidade. Isto só seria possível mediante uma boa explosão atômica que tragasse tudo ao seu redor (meu mundo, meus lugares, minhas pessoas).

Assim como não é possível forçar uma máquina emperrada a seguir o movimento, seguir existindo.

<White mind> is the title of a chapter in the Guanzi and refers to growing <closer to the spirit world> through self-cultivation. In general, whiteness and brightness refer to the spirit world, as in the terms <bright spirits> (mingshen) and <Hall of Light> (Mingtang).”

One of the earliest medical classics, the Suwen (Plain questions), <proposes that in general all disease originates from the changes of the six qi and that physicians must observe the disease mechanisms and not violate the principles of the movements of the six qi.> Contemporaries, says the Suwen, <have lost compliance with the four seasons and go against what is appropriate in the cold or in summer heat.> Ghosts and demons do not disappear altogether from the medical classics, but they are seen above all as the cause of <withdrawal> [abstinência] and <mania,> that is, psychological illness. Even strange dreams are explained in physiological terms, as the result of fear caused by lack of blood and qi in the heart that leads to dispersal of the spirit when asleep.”

the tales of Yao and Shun, two emperors of high antiquity said to have transferred power to virtuous ministers rather than to their sons, show how the <end of kin-based empire brought into conflict heredity and talent.>”

the word Dao refers to absolute generality that is infinite extensiveness (…) Being without definition, it does nothing and, without doing anything, there is nothing that is not done.”Levi

Described as having four faces and being the <unique man,> the Yellow Emperor embodies sovereignty over space-time by virtue of his occupation of the center, that is, his <domination of the four directions from a strategic point which does not belong to ordinary space>: like Heaven in the archaic sacrificial system and Dao in the new philosophical system, the center is transcendent.”

Confucius [is] <the most important mythic figure of all, prototype of the worthy scholar who fails to find a worthy ruler to employ him.>”

In this new supreme cult, the Yellow Emperor was shifted to the southwest, corresponding to the <middle> of the year, and Taiyi took his place in the center.”

The bureaucratic empire simply could not be built on ancestor worship, not even of the <purely symbolic> kind the Ru sought to impose on the Son of Heaven: it required worship of an abstract, impersonal and universal kind that only the new qi-based cosmology and calendrical astrology could provide. It is this radical and ongoing transformation of state religion in the Han that explains why, as Fu-shih Lin shows, the wu, who still enjoyed official positions under the chamberlain for ceremonials in the Western Han, were in the Eastern Han shifted into the domestic treasury, <in charge of the small sacrificial rites of the palace>: the old, anthropomorphic religion was dead.”

It is not surprising that immortals and hermits, both associated with the mountains and wild areas just beyond the city and clearly distinguished from the state-sponsored exemplars on the sacrificial registers, became local benefactors and the deities of cults devoted exclusively to the well-being of a specific town or small region. In the stories, the recurring theme of tensions with kings and high officials likewise expresses the particularist, local nature of many of these cults.” Lewis

a religious culture is unveiled in which sacrificial goods are quantified in terms of tribute or conscript labor, a society where status was defined in terms of ritual expenditure and where piety to the spirit world was translated into a detailed complex of material symbolism ranging from the measurement and value of ritual jades to the color and flavor associated with the cuisine offered up to the spirit world and shared in ritual banquets.” Sterckx

The Discussions, which recounts the court debate of 81 BC over the establishment of state monopolies in salt and iron, reveals a fundamental contradiction between the emerging state market economy and its theoretical ritual framework.”

Shall we sacrifice one hundred Qiang people (a nomadic enemy tribe) and one hundred sets of sheep and pigs to (High King) Tang, Great Ancestors Jia and Ding, and Grandfather Yi?”

sacrificial provisions rank first among nine types of tributary goods to be collected by the feudal state.”

While Mozi [creator of the Moists credo] called for simplicity in funerals and mocked the rival Ru as funeral specialists primarily attracted by the food they could eat while performing, Guanzi thought lavish funerals were good for the economy. Starting in the Warring States era, lists of grave goods were meticulously compiled and inserted in the grave. <Spirit artifacts> came to be mass produced: according to Sterckx, a kiln [fornalha] near Chang’an could fire 8000 items at once.”

Do the <daybooks> (rishu) discovered in such numbers in Qin and early Han tombs represent a religion common to all, or should we speak of an <elite common religion>? Mu-chou Poo and Liu Tseng-kuei draw heavily on these new sources, and both authors agree that they are, to cite Liu’s conclusion, <the complex product of popular belief and the theory of interaction between heaven and humans.> That is, they very clearly belong to their times, when widely shared—and inevitably elite—theories of the mutual influence (ganying) of humans and nature required of people that they adapt their behavior to the natural cycles of seasons and months, but also ensured that, without the help of any religious specialists, people could have a very real impact on their fate. Liu therefore concludes that <people needed only to master its rules in order to enjoy space to act and to choose whether to go toward or to avoid. They could even use methods that converted the inauspicious into the auspicious.>”

The Red Emperor (Lord), who is probably identical to the Fiery Emperor mentioned by Lewis and Kalinowski, is a god in charge of punishment, so on days when he <approaches> —descends to earth—people should stay home and avoid purposeful activities. Seven days before the annual sacrifice to all gods in the eighth month, people should not visit families who were in mourning or where a child had just been born. There were taboos on pronouncing the word <death> or <to die,> and graves were called <homes for ten thousand years.> Avoidance of the death date and name of the deceased were already generalized, and this at once ensured the divine status of the dead and kept them at a distance: <The living belong to Chang’an, the dead to Taishan.>”

It would seem, then, that, contrary to the popular image, Han festivals were not at all about carnival-like joy for a good year. Seen through the lens of the taboos, it was about being careful to the utmost lest one commit a fault. Festivals were times of crisis, and the taboos were rules for getting through the narrows. Not only did people worship the gods with sacrifices at this time, they often avoided disaster by not going outdoors and did their best not to disturb the yin, yang and five agent energies. This is reminiscent of the way the Han handled natural catastrophes. For example, on the two solstices, officials did not handle public work and military movements were halted.”

The discovery of tens of thousands of Qin and Han tombs and the painstaking work of archaeologists on these tombs has contributed substantially to our understanding of the importance of the funerary culture of the early empires. As Michèle Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens puts it, <We may say that the tombs, their décor and their furnishings together constitute a compendium of the cosmological beliefs, the conceptions and the rites linked to death, but also of the myths, divinities and demons that peopled the Han imaginary world.> Like the study of political institutions, that of funerary culture identifies the last century of Western Han as a major turning point, with the appearance of the custom of burying husband and wife in the same tomb and the emergence of the house-tomb—purely symbolic until the 2nd century BC—as the universal mode of sepulture. What the latter implied in religious terms was the primacy of tomb over ancestral temple and of the individual over the clan: what more telling illustration could be found of the dramatic changes that had occurred in Chinese society?—the collapse of Zhou rites and music gave way not just to a bureaucratic empire ruled by a mystified Son of Heaven, but also to a world of individuals whose memory could be perpetuated as had been, in the past, that of founder ancestors like Houji or sage kings like Yu. This is, therefore, the time to refer to the invention of the biography by Sima Qian (ca. 145–90 BC) which, according to Yuri Pines, <epitomizes a change of mentality from the lineage-oriented to an individual-oriented notion of continuity and immortality.> To Sima Qian, who in his autobiography compares himself to Confucius, it was also about the righting of injustice: the historian, by his judgments, could reverse the injustices of history. In sum, the new literary genre conjoined concerns about justice and immortality, ethics and <survival.>”

Like Taiyi in the Han, this Lord of Heaven is linked to the Big Dipper, which on occasion serves as his chariot. The prevalence of Xiwangmu (west) in the company of her rather unimpressive <mate,>Dongwanggong (east), in 2nd century AD tombs is likewise a reflection of the rising impact of cosmological thinking.”

One of the more interesting features of these steles [monólitos] is the genealogies they contain, which usually mention a distant first ancestor, then jump to ego’s near ascendants”

By <alternative forms of knowledge>Espesset means the so-called chenwei <weft> [tramas, entrelaçados] or <apocryphal> texts, but also the sudden appearance of revealed texts like the Taiping jing (Scripture of Great Peace).”

They are at once reflections of a bureaucratic empire in which clan solidarity and ancestor worship had at least in part given way to the worship of immortals and sage kings and of the <eschatological preoccupations> generated by the gradual disintegration of the empire in the 2nd century AD.”

Shennong bencao jing (Materia medica of the Divine Farmer)

Ghost infixation is a disease that was passed on from a dead person to a living person through contagion by hidden corpse qi, in severe cases to the point of killing off entire households.”

inherited burden (chengfu)”

First, the traditions of moral introspection that had been developed in the self-cultivation texts had provided an opening for a sense of guilt. Second, the ancestors had become individualized along with the rest of society in the Warring States. Third, ancestors were no longer the charismatic founders of states, they were the recently dead of local families. But what the ancestors had lost in political they had gained in psychological power because, the process of interiorization continuing to do its work, it had led to the discovery of the self as a place where ancestral dramas also continued to play themselves out to their inevitable conclusions: justice in the form of retribution (bao) was inevitable.”

The art of delivery from infixation, fundamentally different from acumoxa and medicinal therapy, consisted in presenting petitions to confess one’s own and one’s ancestors’ sins … (Infixation disease) was all the more threatening to people because the family was at its core, and the disease attacked and spread within the household.”

Many of the chapters here, but especially those of Eno, Kern, Cook, Levi and Li enable us to give a nuanced historical gradation and, above all, to see early Chinese ancestor worship for what it was: an expression of political power and legitimacy that was by definition sumptuary and therefore emphatically not an integral part of some kind of universal, unchanging Chinese religion.”

The third point worth underlining is the notion of <religion> itself that this book, with its multiplicity of disciplinary approaches, assumes, namely, that religion is more about the structuring values and practices of a given society than about the beliefs of individuals. The place allotted the individual is in any case of necessity small for the early period of Chinese history, for want of sources. Here, it is only in the chapters of Graziani and Csikszentmihàlyi on self-cultivation that, timidly, the individual practitioner appears—and we learn that the aim of such individual practice is to interiorize traditional ritual attitudes or to become a sovereign subject in union with an impersonal Dao.”

We have already mentioned how Li Jianmin’s article points toward the disjointed future that will be the subject of the next two volumes. This reminds us that the larger project is less about some stable system we might call <early Chinese religion> than it is about the periodic collapse of such systems and how, from the disassembled fragments of the old something radically new is laboriously constructed, thus providing a social and psychological foundation for the next phase of political integration. In the pages above, we have isolated rationalization and interiorization as the two fundamental strategies of the practice of reconstruction. We apply them here to our analysis of the central period of historical change covered by these volumes: the Warring States. The two volumes to come will apply them to the next period of political disarray, the Six Dynasties.”

The most determinedly historical/material approaches are quite logically those of the archaeologists, for the discipline of archaeology consists in constant training in patience, in not rushing to judgment, in trying to let new materials speak for themselves as much as possible rather than forcing them into a pre-existent theory. Given the ever-growing impact of archaeology on the field of ancient China studies, it should hardly come as a surprise that this same prudential attitude oft en characterizes essays that use the new manuscript materials. It is to this necessary prudence that we have spoken above in our methodological introduction. On the other end of the scale are chapters by authors like Kominami and Levi: the first makes use of a traditional philological approach that reads texts of widely different

periods as part of a single <book>; the second makes use of recent anthropologically inspired studies of sacrifice in ancient Greece to read texts such as the Rites of Zhou that all agree are late idealizations but that Levi parses anew in order to find his sociological way back into the heart of early Zhou ancestral sacrifice. Whether or not the audacious conclusions of these two authors win widespread acceptance, there can be no doubt but that their ideas merit the debates they will inevitably occasion.”

SHANG AND WESTERN ZHOU (1250–771BC)

SHANG STATE RELIGION AND THE PANTHEON OF THE ORACLE TEXTS

*

ROBERT ENO

the oracle texts are virtually the only written legacy of any Chinese era before the armies of the Zhou brought the Shang dynasty to an end about 1046 BC. (…) These dates continue to provoke strong debate among scholars, and no proposed dates for China prior to 841 BC may yet be considered authoritative.”

China came late to writing, and the Shang, which established dynastic power about 1600 BC, was preceded by a range of cultures, known through the archaeological record. During the 3rd millennium BC, some of these exhibit a scale of material distinctiveness, urbanization and social complexity that suggests development toward state formation and regional civilization.”

Xiaoneng Yang – New perspectives in China’s past: Chinese archaeology in the 20th century, 2004 (artigo “Urban revolution in the late prehistoric China”, pp. 99-143).

When we look to the oracle texts for information about China’s religious past, we must bear in mind that the Shang may be only one of many ancestors of Chinese civilization.”

It is tempting to view the Liangzhu culture, with its broad regional reach over territories that seem subject to political coordination from a series of central places, as a <civilization>, in Norman Yoffee’s sense of an ideology and culture for which the sustaining of a state is its principal raison d’être (Myths of the archaic state: evolution of the earliest cities, states, and civilizations [Cambridge, Eng., 2004], p. 17).”

Liangzhu culture disappears from the archaeological record quite suddenly, and the successor culture that comes to occupy the Yangzi delta region exhibits none of the advanced features of the Liangzhu polity. Virtually simultaneous, the established Longsha culture that had spread over the 3rd millennium from Shandong through the Central Plain left the Shandong region, directly north of the Liangzhu cultural horizon, to be replaced by a culture exhibiting far fewer features of development toward state structure.”

The field of oracle bone studies tends to be highly specialized, in part because reading the texts requires specialized training and the volume of texts to be explored is very large, but also because the Shang art of divination by bone and shell involved many facets, each subject to elucidation by modern technical scholarship.”

Dong was also the author of the first systematic overview of the texts, organizing them chronologically and building structures to allow systematic analysis in his 1945 work, Yin lipu (…) In the West, the indispensable tool that has educated scholars in the field has been David Keightley’s 1978 monograph, Sources of Shang history: the oracle bone inscriptions of Bronze Age China.”

the dominant position in the early China field from the second quarter of the 20th century was occupied by a school of thought known as yigu, or <doubting antiquity,> characterizing a skeptical view holding that most received accounts of the distant past were in fact post-Qin fabrications or deliberate distortions, serving various interests of their authors or of the imperial state.

In recent decades, accelerating during the 1990s and the current decade, archaeologists have found in pre-imperial tombs dated as early as the 4th century BC caches of texts that match received versions that the yigu approach had maintained to be of much later date. The cumulative force of these discoveries has been to raise the credibility of attempts to interpret archaeologically recovered evidence in terms of the historical outlines drawn in received texts. The 1995 publication by Li Xueqin signaled that the skeptical methodology of mid-20th century scholarship was no longer a dominant trend in China.” “Li Xueqin, Zouchu yigu shidai (Shenyang, 1995). Li’s book is basically a collection of previously published studies, but the lead essay, which shares the title of the book, constitutes a manifesto rejecting as passé the methodologies of the yigu approach. This paradigm shift, if it may be so termed, has had varying impact outside of China, and some scholars in the West remain wary of correlations between archaeological evidence and the testimony of received texts. For a pronounced example, see Robert Bagley, <Shang archaeology,> in Cambridge history, pp. 124–231.”

the impact on the field of the Chinese government’s commissioning of the research as a government-sponsored project, involving scores of scholars under deadline to produce an absolute chronology within a short time frame, and the acrimonious debate that has ensued over the specific chronology that the project adopted.”

Since the 1970s and accelerating in recent years, the archaeological recovery of a very large corpus of Warring States and early Han manuscripts written on bamboo, silk and wood, has created increasing interest in paleographic studies, and this has benefited the field of oracle bone studies, where new materials have not been frequently added to the existing corpus, and also Zhou bronze studies, where new inscriptions continue to be published in great numbers. The recent translation into English of Qiu Xigui’s massive 1988 text on paleographic principles and

methods, Wenzixue gaiyaois a reflection of this trend”

Oracle texts exist as inscriptions on <oracle bones,> ox scapulae and turtle shells that were used for divinatory purposes. Virtually all known Shang inscribed oracle bones have been excavated from a region near Anyang, in northeast Henan, which was the site of the last capital of the Shang state, generally referred to as Yinxu, occupied as the royal central place from about 1300 BC until the Zhou conquest.” “The shape of the cracks or the sounds made in cracking constituted the data elicited by the diviners. Subsequently, a trained scribe carved on the obverse (and sometimes the reverse) a notation of the issue divined (known as the <charge>).”

(I) a preface, including a date and the name of the individual presiding over the divination act; (II) the charge, that is, the topic of divination; following the charge, there sometimes may be a record of (III) the king’s prognostication, and in a subset of these cases, (IV) a verification of the ultimate outcome of events (if this element is present, the king’s foreknowledge is as a rule confirmed); finally, (V) a postface, noting the time when the divination was made (month of the year or year of the king’s reign) and, if the divination was made at a place remote from the capital, (VI) a notation of that place, may end the inscription. The vast majority of oracle texts conform to this template, although very few include all of them.”

Não é que eles tenham um talento fora de série para escrever verdadeiros calhamaços em superfícies microscópicas – uma adivinhação é muito mais sucinta do que parece, mesmo se dividindo em tantas seções:

Cracking on (gui)hai¹ day, Zheng divined/

about whether the coming week would have no disaster.²/

The King prognosticated saying, <There will be disaster.>/

On the week’s renshen day a disaster occurred at the Zhong [encampment./

Fourth Month. (HJ 5807)”

¹ Último dia da semana do ciclo sexagenário chinês – intuível de acordo com a data prescrita para predições para semanas subsecutivas, por mais que os caracteres para gui estivessem perdidos na inscrição.

²“Current practice in China tends to employ the question form [Will there be any disaster during the upcoming week?], while in the West, statements are more usual”

The possibility exists that divination by scapulimancy [vide glossário no começo] involved complex liturgical formulas, such as those preserved in texts dating from the Warring States era, that were not represented in the <bureaucratic> notation of the oracle texts”

NADA SUI GENERIS: “there existed a general rule that scheduled cult was offered to ancestors on the days of the week corresponding to their temple names.”

Keightley – Shang divination and metaphysics (1988)

The periodization of oracle texts reveals substantial changes over the period from the reign of the earliest ruler to have bones inscribed, Wuding (r. ca. 1250–1192), to that of the last Shang king, Di-xin (r. ca. 1075–1046), known in later texts by his personal name Zhou.

The term <pantheon> is misleading if it is construed in parallel to, say, the Greek or Egyptian examples, which include a relatively fixed dramatis super-personae, predictably deployed in myth and art as well as worshipped in cult. Such a Chinese panoply may be suggested by myths recorded in much later documents, but not by the oracle texts. In this context, the term <pantheon> refers only to an inventory of significant spirits implied by oracle text references.”

Pantheon members in category (A) were ancestors of the Shang royal house whose spirit tablets stood on the altars of the Zi clan temple complex at the Shang ritual center. For us, the best-known individual among them would be the king that the oracle texts call Da-yi and whom later received texts call Cheng Tang, the leader known for his overthrow of the Xia ruling house, establishing Shang dynastic control sometime about 1600 BC. (…) But Cheng Tang was not the founder of the lineage association to which all Shang kings belonged. The lineage was established six generations earlier by an ancestor known in the oracle texts as Shang-jia” “Shang-jia and the five succeeding first-born clan leaders form the earliest stratum of what may be called the core lineage.” “Although the oracle texts indicate that worship of pre-dynastic and dynastic kings shared many features, and, in particular, that Shang-jia was a focus of lineage cult, the other Pre-dynastic Kings are treated as relatively minor figures.”

According to the Shiji, the founder of the Zi lineage was Xie, who was seven generations senior to Shang-jia (Zhonghua shuju, ed., 1. 91–92). However, judging from the oracle texts, ancestors prior to Shang-jia do not seem to have been represented within the temple shrine complex. It may be that the Shang ruling house saw itself as a branch of a larger descent group possessing the Zi lineage name (xing), of which Shang-jia was the founder.”

As we see from (2), Pre-dynastic Kings could influence weather and crops, but this seems not to be true for dynastic kings and royal consorts. All ancestors could, however, affect the king’s person and outcomes of events in the human sphere.”

<Former Lords>: Some figures in this group are, indeed, clearly historical, the most prominent example being Yi Yin, known through later texts as the chief minister to the dynastic founder Cheng Tang.”

ZOOCORNO: “According to the Shiji account, Ku’s secondary consort gave birth to Xie, the Shang lineage founder, after swallowing the egg of a dark bird.”

Melhor o primeiro mortal duma província do que um deus-súdito (segundo no “Olimpo”).

By far, the most prominent figures in this sector of the pantheon are the Powers He, or the River Power, and Yue, or the Mountain Power. These are generally interpreted to denote the Yellow River and Mt. Song (Songshan), the major peak in the central Henan region of the Yellow River Valley, in the vicinity of the capitals of the Shang state prior to the move to Anyang ca. 1300 BC, roughly 50 years before the earliest oracle texts.”

The parallel sequencing of the three Powers suggests the possibility of an imagined descent line that extends back to Natural Powers, passes down through the Former Lords, and ends in the core royal lineage.”

There is evidence to support the inclusion in this group of a Sun Power, an Earth Power, Powers of the Cardinal Directions, Cloud and Wind Powers, and a number of others. However, there is so sharp a drop off in the volume of inscriptions, compared to the River and Mountain Powers, and the ambiguities of text interpretation are so plentiful, that it is possible to argue that no other phenomena of nature may have been conceived as Powers possessed of responsiveness and intent, or that membership of other Nature Powers in the pantheon may have been transient and unstable.”

On the primary interpretation offered here, the rising and setting sun (or more likely a single Sun Power at rising and setting) is receiving cult. But it is equally possible that the ritual is to be done at sunrise and sunset, with the object unspecified (not unusual)”

The well-known myth that in high antiquity there were ten suns, nine of which were shot from the sky by <Archer Yi,> invites association with the Shang calendar of the ten-day week, denoted by cyclical signs corresponding to ancestral cult schedules. Sarah Allan(*) has argued that Shang ancestors were <totemically identified with one of the ten suns,> and that the history of the lineage was expressed through this myth.”

(*) Shape of the turtle, p. 56.

Keightley – Graphs, words, and meanings: three reference works for Shang oracle-bone studies, with an excursus on the religious role of the Day or Sun (artigo)

______. – The ancestral landscape

The graph for the soil, tu, is often interpreted by scholars as representing an Earth Power. Again, the evidence is characterized by ambiguities. In almost all cases of the occurrence of tu, the graph may be interpreted without reference to a Power, as referring to territory or as representing the term she, which would denote, by analogy with later practice, the major outdoor sacrificial altar at the Shang capital site.”

Shang building foundations and interior sites are studded with pits in which animal and human victims were buried in sacrifice; whether the intended objects of sacrifice were spirits of these places, or whether these deaths were understood as general rites of sanctification is difficult to determine.” Era pra escoar a água da chuva…

Estrelas não eram endeusadas.

The term Di is a part of all later religious traditions in China. It is used broadly as both a generic term for high spirits and earthly rulers. The distinctive role of supreme spirit is often signaled in later texts by the term shangdi (High Di), but in the oracle texts this usage is rarely seen.”

the number of texts that point toward a model of a bureaucratized pantheon is far too small to support any strong claim for it as a feature of Shang religious imagination (<Was there a high god Ti in Shang religion?>Early China 15, 1990, p. 4).”

REDEFININDO A MARRA DE JEOVÁ: “Di, or Tian, was too remote for living humans to sacrifice to directly. Instead, an intermediary, such as an ancestral ruler, was necessary to convey to Di the offerings of the living.”

a substantial number take the position that the term Di is an alternative way of denoting the first ancestor of the Shang, Ku, who is referred to in later texts as Di Ku.”

The astronomical significance of the alignment of major structures at the Shang complex at Anyang has been argued in great detail in a series of articles by the archaeologist Shi Zhangru, published in the Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica (BIHP). For his hypothesis that the gaitian cosmological model influential in later eras is an artifact of Shang astronomy, see <Du ge jia shi Qiheng tu, shuo gaitian shuo qiyuan xinli chugao>” “Pankenier notes that the true Celestial Pole lies in a region of the sky that is vacant of significant stars—<Pole Stars> are simply those nearest to this vacant apex—and suggests that for the sophisticated observers of the Shang, the location of the true pole was of critical importance. He illustrates how the oracle text graph for Di can be projected on the north polar region of the ancient sky in such a way that its extreme points correspond with significant visible stars, while the intersection of linear axes at the center will map to the vacant Celestial Pole.”

My own research has suggested a different direction for interpreting the status of Di in Shang religion. I have focused on the unusual distance that seems to exist between Di and living humans in the oracle texts, and explained it with reference to features of ancient written Chinese that provide no distinctions among singular, collective and generic nouns. My proposal is that the term di is used as a generic or collective term, assignable to any one Power or denoting groups of Powers, or all Powers, collectively, and that the Shang pantheon thus does not, in fact, possess an apex uniting its various segments.”

This accounts for the use of the term generically to designate the deceased father of a king ruling as his immediate heir. It also suggests that the collective term may not include Powers that are not related to the core Shang lineage, descending from Shang-jia, or perhaps from the extended lineage, including figures such as Kui and Wang-hai.”

The[re are] inscriptions (…) [that] are an obstacle to acceptance of the hypothesis of di as a collective term.” Cf. Michael J. Puett, To become a god: cosmology, sacrifice, and self-divinization in early China, Cambridge, Mass., 2002.

in matters of state, such as ensuring good harvests and success in war, the king held a monopoly on oracular privilege.”

in the case of the king’s prognostications, verifications in the Huayuanzhuang corpus confirm the Prince’s power to foretell, though they are rarely recorded.”

it is only in the Early Era that we see the full pantheon active in the inscriptions. For example, by rough count, Di appears in Later Era texts with about one-seventh the frequency of the Early Era and the proportion for the River Power is comparable. By Period V, these Powers have virtually disappeared from the pantheon, as visible in the oracle texts.”

Given that Period I texts account for almost 60 percent of the corpus recovered to date, while representing, at most, 30 percent of the duration of the oracle text era, it seems reasonable to view Wu-ding as a ruler with an unusually heightened concern about the spirit world, and one likely to encourage an expansive view of its population and of the king’s responsibilities in relation to it.”

Keightley – History of Religions 17.3–4 (1978)

______. – The making of the ancestors [tendências weberianas de análise (a burocracia do Estado chinês)]

If we associate bureaucracy with activities that require complete predictability and hierarchical structures, and that stipulate in writing certain types of expectations, the oracle texts certainly evidence these in increasing degrees. The taxonomic impulse seems to grow throughout the corpus.” But: “Hierarchy without functional distinction and impersonality that assigns all importance to ascriptive features may in many ways be inimical to bureaucracy, using that term strictly.”

The most celebrated example of subordinates to Di, the <Five Ministers of Di,> or <Five Great Ministers of Di,> appear on no more than three bones datable to Period I and one datable to Period III. Other inscriptions directly suggesting Powers subordinate to Di are equally rare; for example, the much quoted designation <Di’s Envoy Wind> appears only once. The notion that Di acted as the chief executive of the ancestral sector of the pantheon is also not well documented. Its chief support is Di’s appearance in a single inscription set, discussed earlier, where he is the apparent senior

figure in a hierarchical rite of hosting. Given these problems, the only hierarchy that we may assert to have clear definition in the oracle texts, becoming more profound as the corpus evolves, is the age-based hierarchy of the ancestral pantheon. While this type of hierarchy may be impersonal, in the sense that in the oracle texts we sense no idiosyncratic character features among the ancestors, it is deeply personal in that it is based entirely on ascriptive traits of lineage association, typical of kinship-based patrimonial organization and antithetical to the social impersonality that distinguished bureaucratic organization.”

Powers controlling natural phenomena include Di, Nature Powers, Former Lords, Pre-dynastic Kings, and even in one case, the Dynastic King Da-yi, whose reach beyond an expected role may reflect the force of the state founder’s personal charisma.”

It is certainly true that when Wu-ding’s tooth ached, only ancestors heard the report, and we might conclude that when the oracle texts worry about whether the River Power may <harm the King,> they are concerned with the king’s state interests, rather than his physical person.”

questioning here whether the pantheon exhibits proto-bureaucratic features is not to dispute Keightley’s assertion that divination practice itself reflects the emergence of preconditions for bureaucratic state structures, which seems profoundly correct.”

LEIS RUDIMENTARES DE PRESCRIÇÃO DE DOCUMENTOS NA ARQUIVOLOGIA ORIENTAL! OS “70 ANOS” RITUAIS DOS CASCOS E OSSOS:“Zhang Guoshi proposes that the untidy <filing> method adopted for these materials—burial in pits—was the point at which their creators consigned them to the spirits in a gesture of sanctification”

The question of when writing emerges is an unsettled one. In 1993, publication of an inscribed shard from the Longshan site of Dinggong in Shandong Province seemed to confirm a mature system of writing about a millennium earlier than the oracle texts (though one that bore no clear relation to Shang script); however, Cao Dingyun has convincingly demonstrated that this was very likely a fraud (<Shandong Zouping Dinggong yizhi ‘Longshan taowen’ bian wei>, Zhongyuan wenwu 1996.2, 32–38).”

In Pankenier’s view, a Grand Conjunction of all 5 visible planets in 1059 BC formed a <text> that the Zhou subjects of the Shang interpreted as the shift of political legitimacy licensing them to prepare to overthrow the Shang royal house. Pankenier illustrates how the entire, puzzling Shiji account of the ultimate conquest of the Shang by King Wu of the Zhou can be unpacked in terms of observations of the motion of the planets against a

stellar field interpreted as a geographical analogue to China, an astrological template well attested from the Warring States era on. Pankenier further demonstrates how the dates that the Zhushu jinian gives for the founding of the Shang suggest that a similarly extraordinary, though somewhat different, planetary conjunction, occurring in 1576 BC, was the impetus for Cheng Tang’s overthrow of the Xia Dynasty. If Pankenier is correct, few aspects of religious ideology could be considered more central to state religion in the Shang than these astronomical issues.

Pankenier notes that Grand Conjunctions occur at intervals of approximately five centuries, and are thus, for cultures observant of the sky, likely to be associated with portentous events.”

Bronze was the most advanced and costly technology of the time, and the Shang chose to invest a very high proportion of its most precious natural and human resources in this ritual industry, in service to the dead, who were nourished from these vessels.”

Robert Bagley, building on the theories of Max Loehr, argues strongly that the animal motifs on Shang bronzes evolved from purely artistic imperatives, and that they carry no specific religious significance (Shang ritual bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler collection [Cambridge, Mass., 1987], pp. 21–22). The success of Loehr’s analysis of stylistic evolution in predicting the dates of excavated vessels, and its function in discouraging literal correspondences between imagery and myth, command respect. However, I do not think that it is necessary to reason from the cogency of stylistic evolution that religious factors must be excluded.”

Kwang-Chih Chang – Art, myth, and ritual: the path to political authority in ancient China (Cambridge, Mass., 1983)

Ken’ichi Takashima suggests that diviners understood oracle bones to be inhabited by a supernatural force, min: <the numen of the bone,> that rendered them efficacious and whose action was detectable to diviners and the king, as recorded in the king’s prognostications or diviner marginalia (<Towards a more rigorous methodology of deciphering oracle-bone inscriptions>)”

See also Victor Mair’s argument that wu of the late 2nd millennium BC represented an Indo-European presence in China, and should be understood in terms of practices associated with magi (<Old Sinitic myag,

Old Persian maguš, and English ‘magician,>Early China15 [1990], pp. 27–

47).”

Wu Hung – Monumentality in early Chinese art and architecture (Stanford, 1995)

Robert Eno – The Confucian creation of Heaven: philosophy and the defense of ritual mastery, 1990

Space does not permit a more detailed analysis of the role of dance in the oracle text corpus, and the degree to which oracle texts may support the validity of Childs-Johnson’s theory of the relation of mask dance to animal imagery and, perhaps, to the way in which the Shang conceptualized and encountered members of the pantheon in a performance context, remains to be tested.”

Cracking [with the boys!] on guisi day (the day of) performance of an yi-rite at the shrine of Wenwu Di-yi; divining about whether the king, by performing a shao-sacrifice to Cheng Tang by means of an exorcism by cauldron using two female captive victims, and libation of the blood of three rams and three pigs, will in this way be correct.”

While the Shang lineage and temple systems were ordered according to the cyclical-stem [ciclo da árvore genealógica] system, which organized both the ancestral pantheon by temple designation and the sacrificial schedule by corresponding day, the Zhou organized their lineages according to a system of alternating generations known as zhao-mu.” “We occasionally find the familiar figure of Di, but the term seems to be fused with the new high Power, Tian, who is mentioned with considerable frequency. Former Lords and Nature Powers have disappeared.”

(on problems with dating, see Edward L. Shaughnessy, Sources of Western Zhou history: inscribed bronze vessels [Berkeley, 1991], p. 242, n. 51).”

But we need to bear in mind that Zhou bronze inscriptions are not comparable to the oracle texts. They are not religious divinations; their primary purpose is to commemorate political and personal events leading to some reward for the vessel owner. They are not state documents; the men who commissioned these texts were members of a disparate elite class. Most had no lineage ties to the royal Ji lineage of the Zhou, and many seem to have been far removed from state power, both in rank and in geographical proximity. Ultimately, comparison of Shang and Zhou pantheons on the basis of recovered contemporary textual sources is simply not currently a feasible project.

Tian has taken on the role of ethical guardian, rewarding and punishing rulers according to the quality of their stewardship of the state. The relationship of the ruler to the High Power has now added to worship the fulfillment of an imperative to govern according to moral standards.”

On the stability of the early Western Zhou, see Shaughnessy, <Western Zhou history,> Cambridge history, p. 318.” “On the fengjian system, see Hsu and Linduff, Western Chou civilization, 147–85. On the term fengjian as distinct from <feudalism,> see Li Feng, <Feudalism and Western Zhou China: an analytical criticism,> Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 63.1 (2003), pp. 115–44. The geopolitical dynamics of Zhou state building is elucidated with great clarity in Li Feng, Landscape and power in early China: the crisis and fall of the Western Zhou, 1045–771 B.C. (Cambridge, Eng., 2006).”

Conclusion

The Confucian Analectsteaches us that knowledge is clarity about what things you know and what things you don’t, and in the case of Shang state religion, this is a difficult distinction to sustain. Based on the traditional narrative of history, we can understand the Shang as ancestral to later eras of Chinese culture and bring those expectations to our primary body of recovered contemporary data, the late Shang oracle texts. But archaeology has complicated our understanding of the cultural milieu surrounding the Shang state, and of the nature of that state itself, and this calls for increasing caution when interpreting Shang evidence in terms of cultural features typical of subsequent eras.”

SHANG AND ZHOU FUNERAL PRACTICES

ALAIN THOTE (Trad. Margareth McIntosh)

Further readings:

Colin Renfrew, Archaeology: theories, methods and practice (London, 1991).

Ian Morris, Death-ritual and social structure in classical antiquity (Cambridge, 1992).

Alain Testart, La servitude volontaire: essai sur le rôle des fidélités personnelles dans la genèse du pouvoir, 2 vols (Paris, 2004).

Generally, the practices associated with death are interpreted in terms of social rank, prestige or wealth, rather than from a religious point of view. (…) Also, if the rites associated with death include gestures, words, songs and various material manifestations and, as such, form an essential part of the religion of the times, the archaeological approach has only the data from the material culture to go on, that is, the arrangement and content of isolated tombs and cemeteries. With these reservations, in the case of ancient China the data gathered during the excavations are exceptionally rich. They show that during the Bronze Age (about 1500–300 BC) the shape and content of the tombs show significant continuity. At the same time, certain periods were marked by great changes, even discontinuities in the transmission of burial practices. It is these periods which will retain our attention because, through the archaeological data, it is in them that the relation which men have entertained with death is more clearly evident.”

Another example of the continuity of funeral customs, as the practice was carried on till the beginning of the empire, is a small object placed in the dead person’s mouth in two tombs at Fuquanshan. One of them was in carnelian, the other in jade. The vessels, which probably contained food offerings, were placed at the head and foot of the deceased. Near the dead person or on his body were found jade axe blades, some of which were hafted at the moment of burial. Their presence may be interpreted in various ways, all non exclusive. The weapons symbolized without any doubt the deceased’s status as warrior, as later on in the Bronze Age. They also materialized the prestige of a man capable of concentrating in his hands considerable wealth. Objects in jade, a material difficult to carve, require an exceptionally long time to make, and therefore indicate marked social inequalities characterizing a highly hierarchical organization. The idea the weapons served to protect the corpse, in a real or symbolic way, may also be envisaged. But in this case, what was the purpose of the protection? Was it against evil spirits?” “Jade did represent the noblest material and was therefore used for body ornaments and prestige (or symbolic) weapons, as well as for the ritual objects that accompanied the dead (bi disks, cong cylinders).” “When their original disposition has not been disturbed, they are still found in the places no doubt then considered as vital as, in the tombs of Chu royal members of the 4th century BC, at the top of the skull, all along the head and the hips, on his or her sexual organ, and on the feet.”

Oriented north-south, give or take a few degrees, the pits were square or rectangular and provided with two opposing ramps or, for the largest, with four sloping ramps producing a cruciform complex.” “The length of tomb 1217 was about 120 meters from its northern to southern end, while the more <modest> tomb at Wuguancun had a total length of about 45 meters. The shaft, about ten meters deep, had nearly vertical walls pierced by the ramps. Not all the ramps go all the way down to the bottom level of the shaft, as their first function was probably to perform the rites which preceded the closing of the tomb.”

Other victims were executed while the pit and access ramps were filled in, and then around the tomb as well. In the single royal necropolis of Anyang there were more than one thousand sacrificial pits and additional burials outside the main tombs. The sacrifices were made either during the funeral or at regular intervals after the closing of the tomb. With all these sacrificial pits and burials, death was present all around the votive temple and the royal tomb.”

If we compare the position of the humans sacrificed on the roof of the outer coffin with the ritual bronzes inside this coffin, we see that the human victims are concentrated directly above the bronzes.”

Cinnabar has a bright red color and may be associated with the sacred. In the Shang period, it was not yet a medicine for immortality as it would be during the Han period.”

109 ritual bronzes were inscribed with the name of Fu Hao and therefore cast in her lifetime, whereas several other vessels were given to her at the time of her death. The furnishings comprised personal goods accumulated, or rather collected, during the deceased’s life and, no doubt, objects offered at the time of the funeral.”

The social pyramid

Members of the society at all levels seem to have been involved in the funerals of their leaders, particularly their king. The investment in time, labor and material goods for the building of the tombs and the supply of their furnishings is simply not quantifiable. For a single royal tomb, thousands of foremen, specialized craftsmen, workers, and slaves were mobilized for years. Moreover, as the Shang community was patrilinear, the difference in the treatment of kings and their wives was considerable. It can be measured in the size and form of the tomb, in the wealth of its furnishings, and in the number of human victims who accompanied the deceased. Although a queen such as Fu Hao enjoyed great prestige, the luxury of her tomb, one of the wealthiest of Chinese antiquity, is nothing in comparison to the tomb of a king.”

The records in the oracle inscriptions concerning Fu Hao’s life and deeds are testimony to her role as a general of the armies involved in campaigns against countries that the Shang considered their dependencies but had rebelled against their master. She is also known for possibly having given birth to one king of the succeeding generation. See Robert L. Thorp, China in the early Bronze Age: Shang civilization (Philadelphia, 2005), p. 137.

Vessels for a kind of beer dominated in the Shang period: according to type, they served to store the beverage (hu, pou, you, lei, fou), to pour it (gong or he, ladles [concha de sopa]), perhaps to heat it, or to drink it (jia, jue, gu).” “In fact, it is difficult to separate the pourers by their form, since some of them were used to hold water for ablutions and others to dilute water with beverages. In the same way, the exact function of each container is not always clear.”

They were often placed pell-mell [aleatoriamente] in the same pit, without any grave goods; sometimes their skeletons were found incomplete. They were propitiatory victims, chosen among the prisoners of war according to Shang oracle bone inscriptions, and doubtless also from among persons at the bottom of the social pyramid. Human offerings to the deceased were in no way different from the offerings of animals (birds, elephants, dogs, etc.), also sacrificed by hundreds throughout the royal necropolis.”

Possibly, like the owners of the sacrificial burials surrounding the main tomb the persons of the second category followed their master of their own free will, with the promise of a life in the next world similar to the one they enjoyed on earth and out of fidelity. They are not offerings in the proper sense, because these people have not been <offered> by one person to another (or to a god). There was neither change of owner nor conveyance of one person to another. The word <sacrifice> to qualify the act that enabled the individuals to accompany in death the person whom they served is no doubt inappropriate. Thus here in death the social relations which had existed in life between the tomb’s owner and his personnel were perpetuated for eternity.”

In particular, as of writing, no Zhou [dinastia sucedânea da Shang] royal tomb has been discovered, and this limitation probably influences our analysis of the tombs of this period.”

the rulers’ tombs seem to have had comparable proportions from one principality to another, as if standards were followed by these lords, or else were imposed on them.”

Lothar von Falkenhausen – Chinese society in the age of Confucius (1000–250 BC): the archaeological evidence (Los Angeles, 2006)

These ramps and also the area situated above the guo contained several wheels of dismantled chariots, and even one whole chariot. In many cases, near the tombs there were pits containing sacrificed horses and chariots and, occasionally, the charioteer. The horses were killed in two ways: either a large number was buried alive (up to 45 horses), or they were killed before being carefully put in the pits.”

if the head is turned toward the north, it is to let the soul go to the dwelling of the dead.”

Lacking raw material, the artisans did not hesitate to carve the plaques again independently of their previous decoration, for the presence of jade inside the coffin was considered essential for prophylactic reasons.”

The repetition of similar vessels gives these sets a far more imposing aspect, allowing immediate evaluation of the wealth and status of a prince. According to Jessica Rawson, these changes indicate innovations in the ceremonies held in front of gatherings that were more numerous than before. Finally, sets of bells and musical stones are included, and these pieces are also subject to variation in accord with the social position of their owner.”

Several vessels bear inscriptions, but they make up only a very small part of the sets of bronzes, no doubt less than 1 percent. (…) One formula appears frequently, either in isolation or to conclude a text: <May my sons and the sons of my sons (all my descendants) forever preserve these vessels

and use them eternally (for worship).”

the vessels deposited in the tombs are often the same ones (and in many cases part of) the deceased used in his own lifetime to sacrifice to his dead father and to his ancestors, and thus to communicate with them.”

In 771, following a revolt which ended with the assassination of the king, the court had to leave hurriedly the capital near modern-day Xi’an (Shaanxi) to take refuge in the secondary capital located near Luoyang (Henan). Royal power, greatly weakened by these events, was never again able to control the princes who had previously been (almost) completely subordinate to the king. Archaeological evidence reveals the growing independence of the lords in two converging ways. In the evolution of burial customs, changes, slow at first, became manifest during the course of the 6th century BC. Burials in the principalities then offered the elites an occasion to display their power, at times in an extravagant way.”

This tomb has two ramps, of a total length of around 280 meters. It contained 166 human victims, both accompaniers and sacrificial victims. The first were put in coffins of different types of wood, placed more or less near the prince, probably according to the place they occupied in his suite during their lifetime, while the others were buried without a coffin. The tomb was 24 meters in depth. Composed of compartments with communicating doors in the fashion of a dwelling for the living, the guo is complex. This is the first evidence of such an internal organization, but as the tomb has been robbed several times, we cannot know if the distribution of the furnishings between the compartments followed an arrangement which already suggested a dwelling.”

Some of them, on the model known as <catacomb-tomb,> were composed of shafts whose bottom was dug out laterally so as to form a chamber closed by a low wall of unfired adobe bricks, wood or branches. The body of the deceased rested inside with burial objects, deposited at his head in most cases. The custom of burying a dog in a waist pit under the coffin of the deceased has been attested in Qin, as in several other sites of the same period in north China. The prevailing orientation for the deceased’s head is the west.”

Many of the dead are lying on their backs, legs folded to the left or right side. This is a specific characteristic of a large number of Qin burials, a fact that is explained in various ways. Whatever the reason, this is a cultural marker related to very ancient practices widespread in Qinghai and Gansu and, farther afield, in central Asia. This custom continued until the late 3rd century, as exemplified in tomb 11 at Shuihudi, Yunmeng county, Hubei, dated to 217BC. It may be linked to religious beliefs. A folded leg posture could frighten away evil spirits according to an almanac discovered at Shuihudi.”

Falkenhausen – Mortuary behavior

As for the earthenware vessels imitating ritual bronze vessels, they developed in the Chu area in larger proportions than in any other place, and earlier, from the 8th century BC on. The production of pots specifically for burial and fired at a lower temperature so that they were unusable in daily life appeared much earlier in China, but they did not occur in such numbers as in the Chu kingdom and the Qin principality during the Eastern Zhou period. Also, the imitations of bronze vessels in Chu are often of high quality. By contrast, the relatively low quality of the burial objects is a characteristic trait of the Qin. The ritual bronze vessels, like the ritual jades found in Qin tombs are among the less well worked of the Zhou period, made in an awkward style. Several of the elements just mentioned seem to indicate that Qin people tended to reserve for the dead objects necessarily different from those of the living, either cheap substitutes or models of real objects.”

Of vast dimensions (around 140 square meters), the guo was composed of 4 compartments (large enough to be considered as chambers, which is not generally the case elsewhere in the Chu kingdom) arranged in an irregular layout: to the east, the chamber where the deceased reposed, in two nested coffins; in the center, a chamber containing the ritual vessels and a set of musical instruments used during the ceremonies; to the west, a chamber holding the coffins of 13 women; to the north, a small chamber containing weapons, two enormous bronze jars, and the inventories of the chariots which composed the cortege and carried the gifts of the relatives of the deceased and princes and officers close to him at the time of the funeral. (…) 8 coffins containing the remains of young women, no doubt servants or musicians, and, finally, a dog’s coffin placed close to that of the deceased (in earlier tombs, dogs were found buried in sacrificial pits). On a symbolic level, this chamber seems to have represented his private apartments, whereas the central chamber was used for rituals and symbolized his official life. The northern chamber formed a kind of armory, with everything necessary for a warlord of this period. The western chamber probably contained the household staff of the deceased (perhaps in charge of the ritual ensemble or the musical instruments of the central chamber). The 4 rooms communicated with each other, at least symbolically, because the openings were very small (about 40cm wide and high). The idea of communication within the tomb is also suggested by the paintings on the double coffin, since on the sides of the inner coffin a window and two doors were represented, and the larger coffin had on one side a small opening of the same size as the openings between the chambers.”

The idea that a man had two souls hun and po seems to have appeared in the 4th century BC or even before.”

For the location of cemeteries or isolated tombs, the Chu people chose a hill or a terrace, an elevated area, as opposed to the plain, often swampy and reserved for crops. Besides these practical reasons, there were perhaps other reasons, religious or symbolic, for the phenomenon is characteristic of the entire Chu cultural area. The tombs are characterized by the presence of an outer coffin of limited dimensions (around 9m × 7m for the largest), carefully constructed with thick and solid beams.”

The number of compartments, between one and six, is proportional to the size of the tomb, and seems to be related to the status of the deceased, as is his coffin, which may be contained in one or two other nested coffins placed in the central compartment of the guo.”

In the largest Chu tombs, the orientation to the east prevails, whereas most of the deceased of medium-sized and small tombs were oriented to the south.”

In effect, we see the decline of the ritual bronzes in two different ways. On the one hand, in the 4th century BC in Chu, not only do they no longer carry inscriptions, they are often badly cast, not smoothed after the cast, even unusable. On the other hand, the use of earthenware replicas of ritual vessels increased greatly in the Chu kingdom (this phenomenon existed also in the other kingdoms and principalities, but in lesser proportions). While the ritual ensembles no longer played their previous leading role among the burial objects, new and different categories of objects, related to earthly life, were present in the tomb: furniture (beds, low tables, arm and back rests, lamps, gaming tables), luxurious tableware (separate from the ritual utensils), personal effects (combs, hairpieces, hairpins, mirrors, fans, shoes, clothes), sets of writing utensils, bamboo slips, and always, following a centuries-old custom, weapons. In the choice of objects various functions appear: the conduct of war, grooming [assepsia e adorno], entertainment, the pleasures of the table, rites which the deceased should follow during his lifetime. While the ritual sets composed of substitutes of low quality are only symbolically present, the other objects are of ostentatious luxury.”

In the arrangement of the tomb, as in its contents, the material comfort of the deceased was thereafter assured. Beyond the conformism inherent in the social classes to which the deceased belonged, the choices made for the composition of the burial furnishings seem to be in accordance with the personal destiny of the deceased, and not only with the social position he occupied in his lifetime.”

At the same time, the protection of the tomb aimed for efficacy, and the measures of a magical character were no longer expressed by animal or human sacrifice but by the presence of sculptures of monster guardians of the tombs, the zhenmushou [representadas abaixo], whose function was to ward off the serpents which would come and feed off the corpse. Perhaps the living sought also in this way to protect themselves from the dead, to dissuade them from coming back to torment the living.”

BRONZE INSCRIPTIONS, THE SHIJING AND THE SHANGSHU:

THE EVOLUTION OF THE ANCESTRAL SACRIFICE DURING THE WESTERN ZHOU

MARTIN KERN

even the earliest texts reflect linguistic and intellectual developments that, when compared to the data available from bronze inscriptions, postdate the early Western Zhou reigns. Thus, these texts were either partially updated or wholly created not by the sage rulers of the early Western Zhou but by their distant, late-Western or early Eastern Zhou descendants who commemorated them. In the case of the Documents, this is true not only for those speeches that have long been recognized as postdating the Western Zhou—for example, King Wu’s (1049/45–1043 BC) <Exhortation at Mu> (Mu shi), purportedly delivered at dawn before the decisive battle against the Shang, but clearly a post-Western Zhou text—but also for the 12 speeches that have been generally accepted as the core Documents chapters from the reign of King Cheng (1042/35–1006 BC), including the regency of the Duke of Zhou (1042–1036 BC)¹. In other words, all our transmitted sources that speak about the early Western Zhou are likely later idealizations that arose in times of dynastic decline and from a pronounced sense of loss and deficiency: first in the middle and later stages of the Western Zhou, that is, after King Zhao’s (r. 977/75–957 BC) disastrous campaign south; and second in the time of Confucius (551–479 BC) and the following half millennium of the Warring States and the early imperial period.

¹ The argument for the authenticity of these speeches is outlined in Herlee G. Creel, The origins of statecraft in China, vol. 1, The Western Chou empire (Chicago, 1970), pp. 447–63, and re-iterated in Shaughnessy, <Shang shu (Shu ching),> in Early Chinese texts, ed. Michael Loewe (Berkeley, 1993), p. 379. However, Kai Vogelsang, <Inscriptions and proclamations: on the authenticity of the ‘gao’ chapters in the Book of documents,> Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 74 (2002), pp. 138–209, has raised serious doubts about Creel’s conclusions; instead, his sophisticated and detailed study (and recent works by others cited there, including by He Dingsheng and Vassilij M. Kryukov) suggests a late Western Zhou or early Chunqiu date for the early layers of both the Songs and the Documents. A similar argument is advanced in Kern [eu mesmo], <The performance of writing in Western Zhou China,> in The poetics of grammar and the metaphysics of sound and sign, eds. Sergio La Porta and David Shulman (Leiden, 2007), pp. 109–76.”

Baxter, “Zhou and Han phonology in the Shijing,” in Studies in the historical phonology of Asian languages, eds. William G. Boltz and Michael C. Shapiro (Amsterdam, 1991)

In general, the case of the speeches is more problematic than that of the hymns. While the Songs were largely stable in their archaic wording since at least the late 4th century BC, regardless of their high degree of graphic variants in early manuscripts and profound differences in interpretation¹, the text of the Documents was still much in flux far into Han times. However, despite these editorial interventions, the early layers of the received Songs and Documents display an archaic diction in lexical choices and ideology that in general fits well with the epigraphic evidence from late (but not early) Western Zhou and early Springs and Autumns (Chunqiu) period (722–486 BC) bronze inscriptions.

¹ Because of the basic monosyllabic nature of the classical Chinese language and its large numbers of homophones, this is not to say that those who in the early period occasionally wrote down parts of the Songs necessarily agreed in every case on the word behind the many different graphs that could be used to write it (…) see Kern, <Excavated manuscripts and their Socratic pleasures: newly discovered challenges in reading the ‘Airs of the States,’> Études Asiatiques/Asiatische Studien 61.3 (2007), 775–93. However, textual ambiguity was a far more serious problem with the <Airs of the States> (Guofeng) section of the Songs than with the ritual hymns related to the ancestral sacrifice.

Untouched by later editorial change, the bronze texts provide not only the best linguistic, historical and ideological standards against which the Songs and the Documents have to be measured and dated; they also provide pristine contemporaneous evidence for the Western Zhou ancestral sacrifice itself. While their information about specific ritual procedures is not nearly as detailed as in the hymns and speeches (to say nothing of the much later elaborations in the ritual classics and other texts), they nevertheless open a window into some very specific evidence of court ceremony, present us with the very artifacts that were used for sacrificial offerings, and allow us to chronologically stratify important historical developments in Western Zhou ritual practice and ideology between the early (ca. 1045–957 BC), middle (956–858 BC) and late (857–771 BC) periods of the dynasty. Especially the last point is critically important, as it helps us to rethink some of the central tenets of Western Zhou religion. To raise some specific examples, none of them trivial: in the early hymns and speeches from the Songs and the Documents—and far more so in later sources—the interrelated notions of <Son of Heaven> (tianzi) and <Mandate of Heaven> (tianming) appear as singularly central and critical to the political legitimacy and religious underpinnings of early Western Zhou rule. Neither term, however, appears with any frequency in early Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, that is, during the reigns of kings Wu, Cheng, Kang (1005/3–978 BC), and Zhao.”

The commemoration of origin, and with it of the religious legitimacy of the entire dynasty, created an ideal past as a parallel reality to an actual experience of loss and decay. When Confucius and his followers began to enshrine the ideal past in an ideal body of texts—later called the Five Classics(Wu jing), with the Songs and the Documents at its historical core—they unknowingly preserved not the cultural, political and religious expression of the early Western Zhou but only its subsequent, and already highly idealized, commemoration.”

I disagree with Maspero (and Shaughnessy) on the—to my mind anachronistic—idea of individual literary authors or even a <solitary poet> (Shaughnessy) at the Western Zhou royal court; instead, I see the hymns, speeches and inscriptions as the work of ritual specialists who composed these texts in an institutional framework.”

Western Zhou bronze inscriptions mentioning military affairs record only victories; and while the famous Shi Qiang-pan inscription of ca. 900 BC praises King Zhao for having subdued the southern people of Chu and Jing, other historical sources inform us that the royal expedition south suffered a crushing defeat that destroyed the Zhou army and even left the king dead. The fact that a royal scribe of highest rank was granted a wide and shallow water basin inscribed with a text that was as prominently displayed as it was historically inaccurate merely two generations after King Zhao’s death shows that the true question answered by the inscribed narrative was not, <What has happened?> but, <What do we wish to remember?> (…) In both hymns and speeches, this perspective is consistently emphasized through the intense use of first and second person pronouns.”

by its nature of <multi-media happenings> that involved converging patterns of song, music, dance, fragrance, speech, material artifacts and sacrificial offerings, the sacrifice embodied the cultural practices of elite life” “And finally, the ancestral sacrifice was directly connected to other ritual, social and political activities, among them banquets and ceremonies of administrative appointment. In these combined functions, the ancestral sacrifice was at the very center of Western Zhou social, religious and political activities.”

Falkenhausen, Ritual music in Bronze Age China: an archaeological perspective (PhD diss., Harvard University, 1988)

the role of the impersonator (shi), in which an adolescent member of the family served as the medium for the ancestral spirits”

<may sons of sons, grandsons of grandsons, forever treasure and use [this sacrificial vessel]>Xu Zhongshu, <Jinwen guci shili>, Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology 6.1 (1936), 1–44, has estimated that 70–80% of all bronze inscriptions end with this formula.”

While circumstantial evidence strongly suggests the presence of writing in administrative, economic, legal and other pragmatic contexts, this writing was not preserved in the ways the inscriptions (through durable material) and the hymns and speeches (through tradition) were. Phrased the other way around, without the institution of the ancestral sacrifice, none of the earliest sources would have come into existence or have been transmitted the way they were.”

Warring States and early imperial texts contain elaborate descriptions of the temple and refer to it primarily as miao (temple) or zongmiao (lineage temple); the three ritual classics in particular provide extensive information about its multi-layered architecture in conjunction with the rituals performed within it.”

Archaeologists and art historians have attempted to interpret excavated building foundations as those of large-scale temple complexes. In another step, these interpretations have led to complex drawings of the presumed—and long lost—temple architecture above ground, complete with courtyards and roofed buildings of multiple chambers.” “Impressive and inspiring as these reconstructions are, they tend to draw on an extremely diverse body of far later sources and are difficult to substantiate from the available early evidence. To reconstruct above-ground architecture from building foundations is bold, and nothing in these foundations of pounded earth proves that the building they supported was indeed an ancestral temple.” “Furthermore, the ritual classics—none of which predate the late Warring States period—are not reliable descriptions of buildings and accounts of religious practices from more than half a millennium earlier; instead, they must be understood as composite, diachronic and normative idealizations from those who imagined an age long gone by. None of the early layers of the Songs and Documents provides any description of an ancestral temple, nor does a single Western Zhou bronze inscription, and even the term miao appears just once in the entire 12 early chapters of the Documents, in only three of the <Major court hymns,> and in only one of the <Eulogies of Zhou>—<Clear temple> (Qing miao, Mao 266), the paradigmatic sacrificial hymn purportedly in praise of King Wen. Of the mere 23 inscriptions in the Jinwen yinde that mention miao, 20 are from the middle and late Western Zhou periods, and 19 of them follow the same formula as in, for example, the late Western Zhou Da Ke-ding tripod: <The king was in (the capital) Ancestral Zhou. At dawn, the king entered the miao of (his ancestor, King) Mu.> This brief remark is followed not by an account of his sacrifice in the temple but by an extensive description of an appointment ceremony in which the king commanded a subject to take up a certain position and bestowed on him the insignia for the task.”

the temple was also the site of administrative and diplomatic activities; or more precisely, the same location functioned as both temple and administrative office.”

The 31 <Eulogies of Zhou> are very short pieces—20 of them less than 50 characters long—and are believed to be the sacrificial hymns through which the Western Zhou rulers addressed their ancestors, the early kings from King Wen to King Kang. In addition, the 31 <Major court hymns> provide the master narrative of early Zhou history and culture; presumably performed at royal banquets, they also contain a certain number of references to the sacrifices, and so do a small group of songs from the 74 <Minor court hymns>. While all the <Court hymns> are distinguished by their regular tetrasyllabic meter, orderly rhymes, stanzaic divisions [Divisão em estrofes], overall length and extensive narrative structure, many of the <Eulogies of Zhou> are notably lacking in these features and for this reason have been understood—rightly or wrongly—as genuinely archaic.”

It is the Mandate of Heaven,

How majestic and not ending!

Ah, greatly illustrious—

How pure the virtuous power of King Wen!

[His] fi ne blessings flow to us in abundance,

May we receive them!

[He who] grandly gives us favors is King Wen—

[His] distant descendants will strengthen them.”

Mao 267

The brilliant and cultured [ancestral] lords and rulers

Have bestowed [on us] these blessings and favors.

[Their] kindness to us has been without limits—

Sons and grandsons will preserve it.

There are no fiefs [feudos] that are not in your land,

It is the king who shall be honoring them.

Remember these great accomplishments [of the past],

Continuing and extending, may [you] revere them as august.

Truly valorous [the king] is indeed as a man,

In all four quarters, may [you] follow him.

Greatly illustrious is indeed [his] virtuous power.

The hundred lords, may they regard it as [their] model—

Oh, the former kings are not forgotten.”

Mao 269

There are blind musicians, there are blind musicians,

They are in the courtyard of the Zhou temple.

We have set up the boards, we have set up the vertical posts for bells

[and drums,

With raised flanges¹, planted feathers,

The small responding and introducing drums, the large suspended

[drums,

The little hand drums, chime stones, rattles, and clappers—

All prepared and now played.

The panpipes [flauta de Pã] and flutes are all raised—

Huang-huang is their sound.

Solemn and concordant their harmonious tune—

The former ancestors, these are listening!

Our guests the ancestors have arrived,

For long they observe this performance.”

Mao 280

¹ Espécie de roldana, disco de metal aparafusável, mesma nomenclatura que no Português

The bells and drums go huang-huang,

The chime stones and flutes go jiang-jiang;

The blessings sent down are xiang-xiang.

The blessings sent down are jian-jian,

The awe-inspiring demeanor is fan-fan.

The spirits, they are drunk, they are satiated—

Blessings and fortune come in return!”

Mao 274

Here, an important performative element of the sacrificial hymns becomes visible, namely, their euphonic qualities that contribute to the overall aesthetic experience of the ritual performance. Not only does <Strong and valorous> array 5 reduplicatives in a row, in each line occupying 2 out of 4 characters, the lines also constitute 2 rhyme sequences that in the translation are separated by the line space (huang-jiang-xiang versus jian-fan (<return>)-fan).”

Falkenhausen – Suspended music: chime bells in the culture of Bronze Age China (Berkeley, 1993)

Jenny F. So (ed.) – Music in the age of Confucius (Washington, 2000)

Kern – Shi jing songs as performance texts: a case study of “Chu ci” (“Thorny caltrop”), Early China 25 (2000)

Those who are coming are yong-yong (harmonious),

As they arrive, they are su-su (solemn)

Assisting are the lords and princes,

The Son of Heaven is mu-mu (majestic).

Ah, as we offer the large bull

Assist me in setting forth the sacrifice!

Come, o!, my august father,

Comfort me, the sacrificing son!

(…)

Having regaled the brilliant father,

I also regale the cultured mother.”

Mao 282

Bernhard Karlgren, ‘Legends and cults in ancient China’, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 18 (1946), 199–365; Wolfram Eberhard, Review of Karlgren, ‘Legends and cults’, in Artibus Asiae IX (1946), 355–64.

B. ______, Glosses on the Book of odes (Stockholm, 1964)

Unlike the latter, the <Major court hymns> are very extensive pieces—some of them several hundred characters long—that present the broad foundational narrative of the origin and early development of Zhou civilization. While it is unclear whether or not any of these hymns were performed in the ancestral sacrifice, their grand narrative of the Zhou must have pervaded the sacrifice as well as other ritual performances at the Zhou court.”

Wang, From ritual to allegory, pp. 73–114, compares the narrative of King Wen as told in the <Major court hymns> to the epics of early Greece.”

It is not merely here what we have here;

it is not merely now what is now;

since ancient times, it is like this”

The richest account of the Zhou ancestral sacrifice comes from the <Minor court hymn>Thorny caltrop that deserves to be quoted in full. The hymn comprises 72 tetrasyllabic lines divided into 6 stanzas of equal length. Every stanza except the 5th begins with a new rhyme, and additional rhyme changes occur in stanzas four, five and six. In the following, I indicate the rhymes in square brackets (…) changes of rhyme indicate actual shifts of voices in the ritual communication among the participants, or shifts in the direction or perspective of speech.” “This construction suggests not a genuine performance text sung in the ancestral sacrifice but a more complex textual artifact: a versified commemorative narrative that aims to preserve the authentic expressions of an earlier sacrifice while also providing guidance for an audience, certainly postdating the Western Zhou, that was no longer familiar with the original sacrificial practice.”

Stanza 1:

[Invoker addressing the impersonator(s) of the ancestor(s) on behalf of the descendant:]

Thorny, thorny is the caltrop—

So we remove its prickles. [A]

Since times of old, what have we done?

We plant the panicled millet, the glutinous millet: [A]

Our panicled millet is abundant, abundant,

Our glutinous millet is orderly, orderly. [A]

Our granaries being full,

Our sheaves are in hundreds of thousands. [A]

With them, we make ale and food: [A]

To offer, to sacrifice, [A]

To assuage, to provision, [A]

To pray for radiant blessings! [A]

Stanza 2:

[Invoker addressing the descendant:]

Dignified, dignified, processional, processional—[B]

You have purified your oxen and sheep, [B]

Proceeding to the winter sacrifice, the autumn sacrifice. [B]

Some flay, some boil, [B]

Some arrange, some present. [B]

The invoker sacrifices inside the temple gate, [B]

The sacrificial service is greatly shining. [B]

The ancestors, these you make to return, [B]

The divine protectors, these you feast. [B]

The offering descendant shall have benison! [B]

He will be requited with great blessings—

Ten thousand years longevity without limit! [B]

Stanza 3:

[Invoker addressing the descendant:]

The furnace managers are attentive, attentive, [C]

Making the sacrificial stands grand and magnificent: [C]

Some meat is roasted, some is broiled. [C]

The noble wives are solemn, solemn, [C]

Making the plates grand and numerous. [C]

With those who are guests, with those who are visitors, [C]

Presentations and toasts are exchanged. [C]

Rites and ceremony are perfectly to the rule, [C]

Laughter and talk are perfectly measured. [C]

The divine protector, he is led to arrive, [C]

He will requite you with great blessings—

Ten thousand years longevity will be your reward! [C]

Stanza 4:

[Principal descendant:]

We are greatly reverential, [D]

Form and rites are without transgression. [D]

[Narrative comment]

The officiating invoker invokes the spirits’ announcement,

He goes and presents it to the offering descendant:

[Invoker addressing the descendant on behalf of the ancestors:]

You have made fragrant and aromatic the offering sacrifice, [A]

The spirits enjoy the drink and food; [A]

They predict for you a hundred blessings. [A]

According to the proper quantities, according to the proper rules, [A]

You have brought sacrificial grain, you have brought glutinous millet, [A]

You have put them in baskets, you have arranged them. [A]

Forever the spirits bestow on you the utmost, [A]

This ten-thousandfold, this hundred-thousandfold! [A]

Stanza 5:

[Principal descendant (?):]

Rites and ceremony are completed, [A]

Bells and drums have given their warning. [A]

[Narrative comment]:

The offering descendant goes to his place,

The officiating invoker delivers the announcement:

[Invoker addressing the impersonator(s) of the ancestor(s) on behalf of the descendant:]

The spirits are all drunk— [E]

The august impersonators may now rise!” [E]

[Narrative comment]:

Drums and bells escort the impersonators away;

And so the divine protector returns. [F]

The many attendants and the noble wives

Clear and remove the dishes without delay. [F]

The many fathers and the brothers

All together banquet among themselves. [F]

Stanza 6:

[Narrative comment]:

The musicians all come in to perform, [G]

To secure the subsequent fortune. [G]

[Invoker addressing the descendant:]

Your viands have been set forth, [B]

Without resentment, all are happy! [B]

[Male clan members addressing the descendant:]

We are drunk, we are satiated; [H]

young and old, we bow our heads. [H]

The spirits have enjoyed the drink and food,

They cause you, the lord, to live long! [H]

[Invoker addressing the descendant:]

Greatly compliant, greatly timely

is how you have completed the rites. [I]

Sons of sons, grandsons of grandsons,

Let them not fail to continue these rites! [I]”

It shows the ancestral sacrifice as a communal affair where members of the family, guests, and ritual officials fulfilled their prescribed roles, including the impersonator(s)—one or more young members of the family—that, once inebriated, spoke in the tongues representing the ancestral spirits.” “<Thorny caltrop>encapsulates not any particular performance but the blueprint and essence of all such performances. By contrast, bronze inscriptions frequently do name their patrons and also the ritual officials in the appointment ceremonies. The act of having a bronze vessel cast reflected the merits of a particular individual for whom it apparently was important to historicize the ceremony by referring to the appointment ceremony not merely as a royal institution but to one particular instantiation of that institution, complete with the names of those present—a phenomenon that reflects a strong concern with the continuity of memory over future generations but perhaps also the contractual dimensions of a royal appointment.”

the <AXAY> [rhyme] structure is almost exclusively confined to the ritual hymns in the Book of songs (compared to the <Airs of the states> in the same anthology)—especially the <Major court hymns>—and so is the intensity with which the reduplicatives follow upon one another.”

August indeed!” – stanza 8

The engines of assault were strong, strong,

the walls of Chong were high, high.

Captives to be questioned came in procession, procession,

Cut-off ears were presented calmly, calmly.

These he offered at the war sacrifice, these he offered at the conquest

[sacrifice.

These he brought forward, these he appended.

Within the four quarters, there was none who affronted him.

The engines of assault were powerful, powerful,

The walls of Chong were towering, towering.

These he attacked, these he assailed,

These he put to an end, these he exterminated.

Within the four quarters, there was none who opposed him.”

W.A.H.C. Dobson – The language of the Book of songs (Toronto, 1968)

UM SOFTWARE SINCRETISTA “CRIOU” A RELIGIÃO CHINESA (LÉVI-STRAUSS GARGALHA NO SUBTERRÂNEO):“They are intertwined and overlap; they appear in recursive loops or parallel linear structures; they create a dense and multi-layered texture that resonates between lines, stanzas and whole songs. Their rich, tangible language embodies the Zhou institutions of cultural memory— sacrifice and banquet—and expresses cultural coherence, genealogical reproduction and political authority.

The features of the <Eulogies> and <Court hymns,> and the ways in which they blend language and performance, are not unique to Zhou China but have been identified and analyzed by anthropologists and linguists in other cultures as well. According to these studies, there is a striking overlap between the language of poetry, the aesthetics of ritual, and the ideology of memory. Stanley J. Tambiah has offered a useful description of ritual as

a culturally constructed system of symbolic communication. It is constituted of patterned and ordered sequences of words and acts, often expressed in multiple media, whose content and arrangement are characterized in varying degree by formality (conventionality), stereotypy (rigidity), condensation (fusion), and redundancy (repetition). [Culture, thought, and social action: an anthropological perspective (Cambridge, 1985), p. 128.]

O SOFRIMENTO DE QUEM ESTÁ “FOR A DO TEMPO”: “It can be taken as general knowledge that poetic formation serves primarily the mnemotechnical purpose of putting identity-securing knowledge into a durable form. We are by now equally familiar with the fact that this knowledge is usually performed in the form of a multi-media staging which embeds the linguistic text undetachably in voice, body, miming, gesture, dance, rhythm, and ritual act . . . By the regularity of their recurrence, feasts and rites grant the imparting and transmission of identity-securing knowledge and hence the reproduction of cultural identity. Ritual repetition secures the coherence of the group in space and time.”Assmann, Das kulturelle Gedächtnis: Schrift , Erinnerung und politische Identität in frühen Hochkulturen (Munich, 1992), pp. 56–57 (my translation [Kern]); see also pp. 143–44.”

Maurice Bloch has characterized ritual speech as <formalized> and <impoverished language,> as the <language of traditional authority> where <many of the options at all levels of language are abandoned so that choice of form, of style, of words and of syntax is less than in ordinary language.>Bloch holds that <religion uses forms of communication which do not have propositional force> and that in a song, <no argument or reasoning can be communicated . . . You cannot argue with a song.>B. – Symbols, song, dance and features of articulation

David Schaberg, Song and the historical imagination in early China, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 59 (1999);

______, Foundations of Chinese historiography: literary representation in Zuo Zhuan and Guoyu (Harvard University, 1996)

Kern, The poetry of Han historiography, Early Medieval China 10–11.1 (2004)

Through remembrance, history turns into myth. By this, it does not become unreal but, on the contrary and only then, reality in the sense of a continual normative and formative force.” Assmann – Das kulturelle Gedächtnis

In particular, religious celebrations of founding myths, such as the commemoration of the Israelite exodus in the Passover, are often performed in communal feasts. Here, the identity of the commemorating group is affirmed through reference to its shared past, and its collective identity is communicated in a ceremonial setting where remembrance <coagulates into texts, dances, images, and rites>.”

In short, linguistic evidence, historical context and conceptual considerations on the nature and practice of cultural memory all converge in the argument for, at the earliest, a mid- or late Western Zhou date for the 12 speeches, and for their genuine place in the sacrifices and banquets of royal commemoration and political identity.” “The 12 speeches do not use rhyme but show a preference for rhythmic patterns, repetitions of various kinds, frequent exclamations like <Alas!> at the beginning of a paragraph, catalogues (as in lists of dignitaries and functionaries) and the regular use of fixed formulae such as <I, the small child> that are also familiar from bronze inscriptions.” “As no pronoun (or explicit subject) is required in classical Chinese, their heavy use—a feature typical of liturgical speech—is a conscious stylistic choice that adds rhythm, intensity and a rhetorical emphasis on personality to the speech.” “See Wheelock, <The problem of ritual language>, p. 50: <One of the first things that strikes one about liturgical utterances is the heavy usage of pronouns, adverbs, ellipses and the like that make reference to the immediate environment of the speaker and depend upon that context for their meaning.>”

The king said:

I declare to you, the many officers of Yin:

Now, that I, indeed, have not killed you;

I, indeed, will give this command once again.

Now I make a great city in this place of Luo.

I, indeed, across the four quarters have none whom I reject.

And indeed it is you, the many officers,

Who should rush to submit and hasten to serve us—

Be greatly obedient!

You, then, may have your land!

You, then, may be tranquil in your duties and dwellings.

If you can be reverential,

Heaven, indeed, will favor and pity you.

If you cannot be reverential,

You not only will not have your land—

I also will apply the punishments of Heaven

To you as persons.

Now you indeed shall dwell in your city,

perpetuate your residence.

You, then, will have duties, will have years in this place of Luo.

Your small children will then prosper,

Following your being moved here.”

Longer inscriptions only gradually emerged in early Western Zhou times and became increasingly frequent over the middle and later periods of the dynasty. At the same time, their placement in the bronze vessels changed over time: initially hidden deep inside the vessel and hence not visible for the human eye or at least very hard to discern, the inscriptions became not only longer over time but also more prominently placed.”

While bells are known already from late third millennium BC and musical chime-bells were already used during the late Shang period, the yongzhong musical bells, originally not part of the northern (including royal) ritual culture, were adopted from the south” “when sets of vessels and bells were inscribed, they all carried identical inscriptions; bronze bells were now introduced to the ensemble of ritual artifacts, adding the element of music to the ceremonies; minute detail in ornament was replaced by larger patterns that oft en included bold, even coarse, wave bands; and the calligraphy of bronze inscriptions became increasingly regular and symmetrically arranged. Altogether, an overall uniformity of design was imposed across the entire range of bronze ritual paraphernalia, and their increased size, larger ornament and arrangement in sets suggest a shift from a more private ritual of the ancestral sacrifice to one with larger numbers of participants perhaps standing at some distance.”

away from <dionysian> rituals centered upon dynamic, even frenzied movement, to a new kind of far more formalized ceremonies of <apollonian> character, in which it was the paraphernalia themselves, and their orderly display, that commanded the principal attention of the participants.” Falkenh.

K.C. Chang, The animal in Shang and Chou bronze art, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 41 (1981)

______. Art, myth, and ritual: the path to political authority in ancient China (Cambridge, 1983)

J. Rawson, Late Shang bronze design: meaning and purpose IN: Roderick (ed.) – The problem of meaning in early Chinese ritual bronzes, Whitfield (London, 1993)

while early Western Zhou bronzes seem to have varied from decade to decade and those of middle Western Zhou at least by quality of surface design, the late Western Zhou period bronzes are rigidly uniform. There seems to have been little variety either from owner to owner or from place to place over the hundred years of their use. A strong centralized control of ritual seems to have been in place . . . In the same way, inscriptions seem unvarying, as though a single model for the range of expression, for the contents, and for the shapes of the characters was in force . . . these characters seem closely dependent on early written forms and thus suggest an element of deliberate archaism. Other suggestions of archaism are seen in some vessel shapes . . . It would appear that this interest in the past was twofold, first in the reproduction of ancient shapes of vessel and character type, and second in the collection of older bronzes . . . Where the vessels (found in hoards [aos montes]) are late and fall into the sets just mentioned, the inscriptions are beautifully written but stereotyped in content.” Rawson – Western Zhou archaeology

Rawson – Statesmen or barbarians

As the appointment ceremony inscriptions show, the inscription was the final result of an elaborate, multi-step ceremony in which a high dignitary reported to the Zhou king, then received the royal command in a ceremony held in the courtyard of the royal ancestral temple, and finally was granted the right to have a vessel—inscribed or not—cast, most likely in the royal workshop. Having received the vessel, he was entitled to use it in his own ancestral sacrifices. If inscribed, the vessel text could be as short as noting its patron and his dedication (<I have made this vessel>); next, it could include a prayer for blessings to express the ritual use of the artifact. Further extended, it could provide an account of the patron’s merits that was probably based either on his report to the king or on the king’s appointment in response.” “The most complete versions of the ceremony (or perhaps a series of ceremonies) can be found in the magnificent inscriptions of 373 characters on the Qiu-pan water basin that is further related to other lengthy inscriptions, including those on two separate series of Qiu-ding tripods from 786 and 785 BC, that were all found in 2003 in Yangjiacun (Mei xian, Shaanxi).”

The bronze inscriptions of mid- and late Western Zhou times show conscious efforts toward poetic form. Especially in the wake of the ritual reforms, a greater number of inscriptions were guided by the same principles of rhyme and meter familiar from the Songs. The great majority of Western Zhou inscriptions include just a few graphs, but the two longest known bronze texts so far come close to 500 characters, and others contain from several dozen to 200–300 characters. All these more extensive texts fall into the range of length of the transmitted hymns. While rhyme and tetrasyllabic meter occur already among the earliest Western Zhou inscriptions, these features become increasingly regular from the periods of kings Gong and Yi onward, as do the calligraphy and overall visual layout (linear arrangement, spacing between graphs, etc.) of the inscriptions.”

The oral performance of inscribed texts is not unusual elsewhere; for the ancient Greek example, see Rosalind Thomas, Literacy and orality in ancient Greece (Cambridge, 1995)

The ephemeral nature of performance became eternalized in the continuous existence of a repertoire of texts that finally transcended any particular occasion. Both hymns and inscriptions commemorated the ancestors as much as their own sacrificial ritual to serve them. Raising and answering a question like <Truly—our sacrifices are like what?> (<Thorny caltrop>), the hymnic text was the voice through which the ritual performance interpreted itself. Hymns and inscriptions contained, however abbreviated, what must not fall into oblivion: the order of culture, as embodied in the order of the sacrifice.”

Truly—our sacrifices, what are they like?

Some hull (he grain, some scoop it;

Some sift it, some tread it.

Washing it, we hear it swish, swish;

Distilling it, we see it steam, steam.

Now we consult, now we consider;

We take southern-wood to sacrifice the fat,

We take a ram to flay it.

Now we roast, now we broil;

To give rise to the following year.

We load the wooden trenchers,

The wooden trenchers, the earthenware platters.

As the fragrance begins to rise,

The Lord on High is tranquil and delighted.

How good the fragrance is indeed!

Lord Millet [?] founded the sacrifice—

Luckily, without fault or offense,

It has reached the present day.”

RITUALS FOR THE EARTH

KOMINAMI ICHIRÔ (Trad. Didier Davin)

But why revere not Earth itself but a clod of earth placed on it? According to the Baihu tong (Comprehensive discussions of the White Tiger Hall) of Ban Gu, in the section on the ritual dedicated to the gods of the earth and cereals, sheji, the reason given is as follows:

The land is vast, and it would be impossible to express reverence to all the land. There are many kinds of cereal, and it would be impossible to sacrifice to them all. That is why earth is formed into a mound to erect a she, so that Earth can be worshiped (to sacrifice to it is to show veneration). Millet [painço, mileto] being the foremost of cereals, millet is set up and sacrifices made.

Chen Li – Baihu tong shuzheng, 1994.

In ancient times the grand astrologer (taishi) observed the earth as it changed with the seasons. When the yang energy fills the world, the energy inside the earth thunders forth. When the constellation Auspices of agriculture appears in the south in the morning and the sun and the moon enter the constellation of the Celestial temple, the veins of the earth open up. Nine days before (the first day of spring when the ritual to Great Earth is celebrated), the grand astrologer reports to (the officer of) Millet: <From now to the first day of the second month, the yang energy will rise up and the moisture in the earth start to be active. If there is neither activity nor transformation, the veins will be obstructed and the cereals will not grow.>

(…)

The king then ordered the minister of education (situ) to warn 􀝹 the nobles, the hundred officers, and the common people, and the minister of works (sikong) to prepare the altars of the ceremonial rice field, and to order the grand officer of agriculture to verify that all tools were ready.”

Guoyu – Zhouyu shang, 1939.

At the beginning of the spring the king of Zhou himself executed a simulation of plowing in order to open up work in the fields for his subjects.”

To determine how widespread the idea of Earth as a mother goddess was in ancient China, in relation to the vitality of the earth and according to the idea the Great Earth is itself the body of a goddess, is certainly a subject for research to resolve. However, that the idea of the earth as the body of a goddess—or a primitive giant—may have existed can be also deduced from the legend of Pangu separating earth and sky, in which everything in the universe comes from the body of Pangu. The 45th chapter of the Taiping jing (Scripture of Great Peace)and the first chapter of the Bowu zhi (Extensive investigation of things) both view the surface of the earth as its skin and warn against digging deep into its flesh.”

The duty of the grand minister of education is to be in charge of the maps of the land and the census of the population so as to help the king bring peace to the state . . .”

Rites of Zhou

Plant for the Great she a pine tree [pinheiro], for the she of the east a cypress [cipreste], for the she of the south a birch [bétula], for the she of the west a chestnut [castanheiro], and for the she of the north a locust [alfarrobeira].”

Shangshu (Book of documents)

Regarding the theory linking the ritual of the she and the cult of the copses [bosques], see Édouard Chavannes, Le dieu du sol dans la Chine antique, Le T’ai-chan: essai de monographie d’un culte chinois (Paris, 1910)

This text is precious because it tells us that officials who cannot use a wooden votive tablet [tábua] used as substitute a bundle of silk or a bunch of reeds, which served as a receptacle for the divinity. The she made from the clump of trees is the zou of tied reeds on a bigger scale, and the clump is likewise a receptacle for the divinity, its brushy sharp point probably serving to invite them.”

In the 5th month of the year 705, a decree ordered the establishment of a Great she in the eastern capital. The imperial secretary of the office of rites, Zhu Qinming, asked the scholars and officers of rites: <In the Rites of Zhou the emblem/tablet of the field is the most appropriate tree of the region. Why now use a stone as the emblem/altar of the Great she?> The vice minister of the chamberlain of ceremonials Wei Shuxia, the director of studies Guo Shanyun, and the erudites of the chamberlain for ceremonials Zhang Zhaixian and Yin Zhizhang submitted a discussion: <In the Sanli yizong (Fundamental ideas of the three books of rites) of Cui Ling’en it is said that the use of a stone for the god of the she is because, among all things belonging to earth, stone is the most solid. Also, in the Lüshi chunqiu it is said that, in the rites of the Yin people, a stone was used for the she, and in the Hou Weishu (History of the Latter Wei) it is said that in the 4th month of the year 443 the stone emblem/altar of the Great she was moved to the palace of the earth god (shegong). Thus there are clear and ancient statements to the effect that the she tablet/emblem was made of stone. In the Rites of Zhou the trees of the various regions are also used as emblem of the fields because it is referring not to the Great she but to that of the common people. Moreover, examination of the emblem/altar of the ancient she reveals it was 1 foot 6 inches in height and 1 foot 7 inches wide on the 4 sides.

The matter was confided to the scholars and the officers of rites, that they discuss the system. Wei Shuxia and the other officers of the rites again submitted a discussion which said: <There is no regulation in the ritual texts about the size of the she emblem/altar. But when the Son of Heaven goes to war, the she tablet is transported in a carriage, and this is called the ‘rites of the earth god’. If the votive tablet of the earth god can be thus transported, it is clear that it must not be too heavy.”

Tang huiyao

Many bones of humans and dogs were found around the stone, all buried with the head facing the stones. The humans bones were buried in a crouched position, the head down, and most of them had the hands tied behind the back. This was not the site of a simple graveyard but of a ritual in which, it is supposed, humans and dogs were sacrificed. Furthermore, the bones of the sacrificed victims were excavated in two separate layers of the early Yinxu period and the last Yinxu period, so we know this ritual site was used for a long period.

There is still some doubt as to whether these two vestiges of altars centered on a stone are directly linked to the she with an altar of stone. But we can certainly not ignore the fact they are both located in northern Jiangsu, and that they may be related to the she altar of the Eastern tribal area, culturally different from the Central Plains.”

The king, for all the people, erected an altar (she) to (the spirit of) the ground called the Great she, and one for himself called the Lord’s she. A feudal prince, for all his people, erected one called the State she, and one for himself called the she of the Prince. Great officers and all below them in association erected such a she, called the Appointed she.”

Tradução do Livro dos ritos, in: An encylopedia of ancient ceremonial usages, religious creeds, and social institutions, James Legge, vol. 2

The basic part of the ritual is supposed to have been determined even before the structure of the state was constituted, that is to say back in the Neolithic period when agricultural society emerged. If there is no major error in this supposition, the essence of the ritual of the she was less what the state had decreed than what was inherited from popular rituals of the she.

We can also see that the earth god ritual concerned all people, regardless of class, in the following description found in the chapter <Jingshen xun> of the Huainanzi: <At the she of remote country places, people beat vases and drum on pitchers to accompany their harmonious singing, and they consider that music.>”

The famous episode in the biography of Chen Ping in the Shiji (Records of the historian), where Chen Ping, who was prefect, divided the ritual meat equally at the she ritual in his prefecture and was praised by the ancients for that, reveals the fact that equality was indeed the fundamental rule.”

This popular ritual of the she occurred twice a year, no doubt ever since antiquity, in spring and autumn. In spring the prayer for a good crop was made to the she, and in autumn gratitude for the harvest was expressed to the she. As the chapter <Yueling> (Monthly ordinances) of the Liji says: <That month (the 2nd month of the lunar calendar) the fortunate day is chosen, and orders are given to the people to sacrifice at their altars to the spirit of the ground.>”

(w)ors(hip)

In such-and-such a year and month, on the day of the new moon, the head of the she So-and-so, together with all the people of the she, announces (gao) clearly to the god of the she: It is you who supports and nourishes the people and makes all things grow. It is now the second (eighth) month, an auspicious day, and, in accord with the standard rite, we reverently off er the special sacrificial victim, clear wine and cereals, which with great deference we present to the god of the she. May you enjoy these offerings.”

Tongdian

I would like to focus henceforth on the tradition that led the Shang people—those who created the Shang dynasty—to call their most important base <Bo> and ask why a <Bo> can be found in every place.”

The group forming the core of the Shang moved to different places before the advent of the Shang dynasty, and even after the founding of the dynasty they moved the capital several times. According to received texts, from the ancient ancestor of the Shang Qi to King Tang, the Shang clan changed their base eight times, and after King Tang had founded the dynasty, they changed five more times the site of the capital, which was finally fixed by Pangeng near Yinxu.”

WHEREVER I MAY ROAM: ”Why did the people of the Shang clan change so frequently the site of their capital? The notes in the Pangeng chapter of the Shangshu explain that the lower and middle region of the Yellow River has an alkaline soil in which, after a certain period of use, the salt rose from the underground water, and it ceased to be suitable for agriculture. This is why the Shang had to change places continually. The problem of underground water was certainly one of the reasons, but, more fundamentally, we may speculate that the repetition of the change of base was a necessary element of the basic features of the tribal group that the Shang was at this time. Moreover, one can see that the characteristics of this tribe were taken over by the Zhou. At least until the middle of the Western Zhou, the Zhou were mainly acting as a tribal group which needed repeatedly to move from place to place.”

the people of the Shang (and of the Zhou as well) would establish their seat, not in the center of already secured territory, from which they then expanded their domination to the peripheral regions, but on the front lines, where they fought with other tribes to expand their sphere of power.” “Thus, through their military power the Shang eliminated other tribes, and by the building of military bases one after the other they expanded their territorial domination. These military bases were probably often called shi. In the oracular inscriptions of Yinxu, as in texts inscribed on bronzes from the first years of the Western Zhou, we can see many places called Such-and-such a shi. Among them, the most important place is called jingshi, a word which will later mean the central city of a state.” “To establish a she on a specific site and celebrate a ritual to this she was a way of confirming the possession of this land in a religious way.”

When Wu set out to slay the Yin, what was he so anxious about?

When he carried the corpse [the tablet representing the cadaver] into battle, what was he pressed by?”

Chuci (Songs of The South)

If you obey orders well during battle, you will be rewarded by the ancestors [zu]. If you disobey orders, you will be executed before the she

Book of documents

Tanto zu quanto she eram placas de madeira ou pedra (no caso da she encimadas por porções de terra do solo natal, caso as tropas estivessem longe – não-raro a terra era confinada num bambu, que também tinha conotação sagrada e se referia à she) representando almas de reis mortos (convertidas em divinas) e os Deuses do panteão chinês em si, diante dos quais eram ministradas as honras e as punições letais. “When the Shang militarily eliminated another tribe and obtained a new territory, the clod of earth that was carried with the army was mixed with local earth and a new she was built. By mixing the earth of the homeland with the earth of the new land, through some sort of contagious magic, the earth of the new land acquired the same stability and vitality as that from the homeland. If this measure of contagious magic was not used, a new land, even a militarily occupied one, remained a chaotic and sterile wasteland for the members of the Shang clan.”

Purificar a Lua com a bandeira americana.

The Great she was established in the center of the country (the capital). The earth platform of the Great she was made of blue earth on the east, red on the south, white on the west, black on the north, and of yellow earth in the center. When a lord received an assignment, he dug some earth from the side corresponding to the direction of the assigned country, covered it with the yellow earth, and wrapped it in white reeds. This constituted the <enfeoffment [uma investidura, um tributo pago pelo senhor para estabelecer o ‘contrato’ de vassalagem] of the she>. That is why it was said he had received the <lineage earth> of the royal court of the Zhou.” “However, in more ancient times, in the case of military expansion of territory, even if 5 colors of earth were not used, the religious method of the transportation of a clod of earth from the homeland and the establishment of a she with it was used.”

It is worth noting that in the Forbidden City of present-day Beijing, one can still see the platform of a sheji made in the Ming–Qing era. According to the rules of the Rites of Zhou, the shrine to the ancestors should have been built to the east side (left) and the sheji to the west (right) of the palace. The actual site of the sheji is in the Zhongshan park, but its platform is still one with 5 colors. It is hard to see when the weather is dry, but after the rain the colors of the earth of the 5 elements on the 4 sides and top of the platform is very clear.”

Muda a aristocracia, a tradição permanece: “Because the main portion of the population of Lu was linked to the boshe, Yang Hu made his alliance with them at the boshe. We may suppose that, while the zhoushe was a new she linked to the occupation of the Zhou court, the boshe had a somewhat different character, as the institution of the ancient religion. The fact that the boshe was a particular type of she containing ancient elements is typically expressed by the fact that human sacrifices were executed there.”

In the Zuozhuan, it is the prisoners of war who are sacrificed to the boshe as an offering to the god. According to the passage, this was <the first time> a human being was sacrificed, and we may suppose it was not the last. The second item is similar, except that it involves the offering not of ordinary prisoners of war but the ruler of the defeated state himself to the boshe.”

What is the diff erence between <meeting> (hui) and <making a covenant> (meng)? The viscount arrived late at the meeting (that is, too late to join the covenant). On the day jiyou, the lord of Zhulou captured the viscount of Zeng and used him for a sacrifice. Where did he use him? He used him at the she. How did he use him at the she? He hit him on the nose to make him bleed, and so bloodied the she.”

Gongyang zhuan

the Gongyang zhuan explains that the sacrificial blood was just a nosebleed, but as the professor Naba Toshisada has pointed out, the sacrifice to the she using the blood of the nose is the later, simplified ritual, and there is no doubt that, originally, the victim was killed and his blood left to empty out on the she.”

The Shang people carried a clod of earth called botu from one battlefield to the next and, when they won new territories, settled their military base there and used the botu to build a boshe at its center. The first religious activity at this new boshe was the sacrifice of the former owner of the land defeated during the acquisition of the invaded territory. Considering the fact that this rite was later simplified, with a nosebleed replacing the blood of the victim, it seems likely that the action of pouring the blood of the former lord on the she itself was the main part of the victory ritual. By this ritual procedure, the change of ownership of a defined region was religiously confirmed.” Nascimento da política e culto à terra no sentido mais mundano do termo (o déspota de Deleuze): antes, quando apenas pequenos animais eram sacrificados, a prece era por muitas chuvas e boas colheitas (protoestado agrário).

The fact she and zu (ancestor) are phonetically related has already been noted in earlier studies. In consequence, we may suppose that if, in the first period the Shang carried only the clod of earth called botu from battle to battle and used it to make their boshe, they must have carried separately the tablets of their ancestors. Thus the she was not just a place for rituals to the earth god but, the further we go back in time, the more it was a general ritual installation with different functions.”

6th month, day xinchou, a fire occurred at the pushe. What is the pushe? It is the she of a fallen state. The she is a mound of earth (feng). What does it mean there was a catastrophe on it? The she of the extinguished state has a roof on it. A roof is built on top of it, and firewood placed under it.”

Gongyang zhuan

The Great she of the Son of Heaven must receive the frost, dew, wind, and rain, so as to be in communication with the energies of the earth and sky. That is why on the she of a state that has perished a roof is built so that it cannot receive the yang energies of the heavens. A window on the north side of the pushe allows light to enter from the yin direction.”

Book of Rites

In the 6th month, on a xinwei day, the 1st of the moon, when an eclipse of the sun occurred, the drums were beaten and a sacrifice made at the she. Why? As a way of imploring the yin, a red thread was tied around the she. One explanation says this was to threaten the she, another that there was a risk that someone, in the darkness (of the eclipse), infringe the limits of the she.”

Gongyang commentary

human actions can have an eff ect on natural phenomena like eclipses. There is no doubt that beating drums and offering sacrifices were actions made to give energy to the declining sun. Tying a red thread around the perimeter of the she can be understood as an attempt to make the red energy reach the sun through the she. When people wanted to exert a magic influence on the celestial world, they did so via the she.”

In Chinese mythology, in a distant past, Yu made the land safe for people to live on by conquering the big flood that had covered the entire world. There are many texts mentioning this flood control by Yu; for example, the chapter <Yugong> of the Book of documents, which relates the creation of the 9 provinces and the determination of the tribute owed by each province. It begins with the following expression: <Yu spread the earth (futu). Following the mountains, he cut down trees and fixed the lofty mountains and major rivers.> The Weikong zhuan interprets this paragraph as follows:

When the flood was overflowing, Yu went to each of the nine provinces and secured their earth. When he went through a mountain forest, he cut down the trees and opened a road. The lofty mountains are the 5 great mountains, and the major rivers are the 4 great rivers. In each of them he set the procedure that must be followed for the rituals.

PROMETEU DESACORRENTADO (PORQUE MORTO E RESSUSCITADO): ZEUS ARREPENDIDO

Yu and Gun first spread the earth (butu) and secured all nine provinces . . . When the flooding waters engulfed the heavens, Gun stole the living earth (xirang) from Di [O Deus Supremo] and sought with it to dike the flood. Because he acted without waiting for a mandate from Di, Di ordered (ling) Zhurong to kill Gun in the vicinity of Feather (Mountain). Gun came back to life in Yu, andDi then mandated Yu to complete the task of spreading the earth (butu) so as to secure the nine provinces.”

Yu scattered the earth, pacified the world, labored mightily on behalf of the people, and found Yi, Gaotao, Hengge, and Zhicheng to serve as his assistants.”

Xunzi

In all likelihood, this expression has its origin in a fixed verse form of the epic narration of Yu’s labors, and even when the original meaning of this fixed verse form had became obscure, it was still used as an ancient expression inherited from the past. On the basis of the Classic of mountains and seas, where Gun starts to spread the earth and Yu completes the task, we may hypothesize that the term originally meant the use of <living earth> (xirang) from the sky. Another term for <living earth> is xitu. Both terms refer to an earth that possesses vitality and can expand spontaneously.”

AS POÇAS DE JUSENKYO

In all, the abysmal swamps composed of vast stretches of water measuring several hundred meters in depth covered 200,033,550 leagues [mais de 1 trilhão de km!(*)] and included nine abysses. Then Yu stopped up the flooding waters with living earth that he formed into the eminent mountains.”

Huainanzi

(*) O engraçado é que, segundo consta, o volume oficial do planeta Terra é de cerca de 1 trilhão de quilômetros cúbicos!

The xitu is never exhausted: the more it is dug the more abundant it becomes. That is why the flooding waters could be stopped up by it.”

Gao You commentary

When the owl and the turtle (taught him the flood control method by) pulling [and holding in the mouth,

Why did Gun not follow what they said?

And if he almost accomplished the work according to his will,

Why did the High Lord (Di) punish him?

Long he lay cast off on Feather Mountain.

Why did he not rot for three years?

Lord Yu came forth from the belly of Gun.

How was he transformed?

Yu inherited the same tradition

And carried on the work of his father.

Why was it that though he continued the work already begun,

His plan was a different one?

How did he fill the flood waters up

Where they were most deep?

How did he set bounds

To the Nine Lands of the earth?

What did the winged dragon trace on the ground?

Where did the seas and rivers flow?

What did Gun labour on,

And what did Yu accomplish?”

Songs of the South (tr. Hawkes)

Here the fact that the task of containing the flood was started by the father Gun and completed by the son Yu is pointed out. While Gun, sacrificing himself, stole the living earth treasured by Di, the High Lord, Yu then spread it everywhere and, by the power of proliferation of the living earth, succeeded in restraining the flood. If we schematize this legend from the point of view of vitality, the vitality of the sky, by the intermediary of the living earth, was transmitted to earth, and this vitality overwhelmed the forces antagonistic to life in the form of a flood and vanquished the chaos on the surface of the earth. The legendary motif of the sacrifice of Gun, which made possible the transmission of the vitality of the sky to earth, is inseparable from the sacrificial ritual that is the background of this legend.”

In Polynesian mythology, it was the work of a bird to bring the earth over the primitive sea on which people can live. In what is generally called underwater mythology, a bird dove into the primitive sea and came up holding in his mouth a clod of earth from the bottom of the sea. Many legends explain that this earth expanded and became the actual earth.”

At the summit of the world there is the Kunlun mountain, and Xu Zheng, in the Changli, says that the summit of the Kunlun mountain corresponds to the Great Bear constellation. Mount Kunlun, on the vast earth, is the nearest point to the sky, and its summit reaches the sky. There earth and sky meet. If someone climbed to the top of Mount Kunlun, he would have entered the world of the sky.” “We may say that Kunlun mountain is a she representing the entire earth, and the she of the different regions are miniature Kunluns for each area.” “Yu spread the xirang everywhere he went and so governed the whole earth. When the various peoples, from the Shang to the Zhou, carried a clod of earth from their homeland and spread it via the she in the new territories they acquired through conquest, thereby making it possible to reside in those territories, they were engaging in a practice whose background was the mythical conception of flood control by Yu.”

EASTERN ZHOU (770-256BC)

ANCESTOR WORSHIP DURING THE EASTERN ZHOU

*

CONSTANCE A. COOK

Although all deities, no matter how historic, could wield potential harm, local courts by the end of the Eastern Zhou period had become much more concerned with interpreting natural omens produced by Sky and Earth by way of mathematical equations of natural forces, such as time, yin, yang, directions, elements, mountains, rivers, clouds, stars, comets, sounds, and so forth.”

These arguments for tradition faced intensifying attacks by elite groups who questioned the efficacy of Zhou-style rituals at the same time that the system of ancestor worship was crumbling. The sphere of ancestral influence was narrowing to the lives of their immediate descendants. It was precisely at this same time that the Bronze Age—marked by the production of bronze sacrificial and burial vessels for ancestor creation and worship, a system that had peaked under the Zhou—was also coming to an end.”

The state of Zheng moved the Zhou treasures around when they relocated the heirs in new or rebuilt sections of Chengzhou. Qin, which at that time occupied the ancestral Zhou region, absconded [sumiu] with the treasures altogether.”

The Chu challenge dismissed the Zhou idea that the wang had to be empowered by the highest Sky power named Tian (or Shangdi).” “Early titles, such as wang and di, which were once limited to living hegemonic rulers or to their deified ancestors, were used by the lower elite as well. The title wang, besides being the title for a king, was used as an epithet for a deceased grandfather (wangfu) or deceased grandmother (wangmu). The title di was applied to a royal spirit but also to living <emperors>.

This mix-up in the use of epitaphs for the living and the dead reflects the elite search for divinity and power as it ultimately moved away from a focus on the ascendance of an ancestral god toward the transcendence of oneself within a natural order (vd. Puett, To become a god). This move mirrored the failure of the ancestors to hand down a sustainable, <unchanging> (bu yi) heavenly mandate for political control over land.”

While ancestral treasures and lineage records were melted down, burned or redistributed, occasionally the larger state would re-feng the destroyed state so that the people could carry on sacrifices to certain powerful founder or nature deities—many unheard of during the period of Zhou hegemony.”

For the translation of the title gong as <patriarch,> it is important to understand the history of the term. As Falkenhausen has pointed out the title gong was an <appellation of (a) venerated ancestor> and <later also (a) title for the ruler of a polity, sometimes translated as ‘Duke’> (Chinese society, p. 528). By the Eastern Zhou period, the title was hundreds of years old. In bronze inscriptions, we find the title generally applied to the deceased leader of an elite lineage group who was also a past ruler or even a founder ancestor. There is no clear relationship of the many gong found in Eastern Zhou texts to the Zhou king. This is no doubt due to the fact that gong was first a kinship rank (higher than <elder>bo) and second a political title. For a discussion of when gong might be applied instead of wang for a local ruler, as in the case of Chu, see Cook, Myth and authenticity: deciphering the Chu Gong Ni bell inscription, Journal of the American Oriental Society 113.4 (1993), 539–50, p. 546. By the end of the Eastern Zhou period, the term was also applied to venerated individuals or officials, such as the trinity of gong, defined variously as high officers in the early Zhou, of pre-historic dynasties, or even of Taiyi in the sky (in which case, the trinity were stars) depending on which text one followed. In this chapter, keeping with the author’s effort to avoid the use of titles linked to Western styles of government, the English title <duke> is avoided. The title <patriarch,> which in English can equally be applied to a family head, a founder, and a leader is used instead.”

A feng could be set up only in summer, and not in winter months, so as not to harm the earth.”

In a world composed of qi, the hierarchy supporting enactment of ancestor worship was meaningless. During the Warring States period, ancestors devolved into manifestations of qi, rather than acting as agents of Tian, and retained power only over their descendants and their homes.”

Mencius (ca. 382–300 BC) explained that the zongmiao of each state was where the records (dianji) of their first patriarch’s feng by the Zhou king or Son of Heaven (tianzi) were safeguarded. It was the site where the family ceremonial <vessels> (qi) were stored. War, neglect, and the intrusion of other ritual systems destroyed the link between ancestor worship, the shrine for this worship, and the stability of the political realm. The archaic use of bronze sacrificial vessels in the shrines to <announce> lineage changes was expensive, unwieldy, and no longer relevant.”

Archaeologists can only attest to the building of shrines and mausoleums in royal burial grounds outside of the cities. Pictorial representations of sacrifices on the surfaces of bronze vessels show simple tiered buildings within an area with trees and featuring scenes of toasting, tasting, or serving from ritual vessels, and of music and dance performances, archery, and other rituals.”

Lewis, The construction of space in early China (Albany, 2006)

The manufacturing of sacrificial artifacts, considered one of the first responsibilities of people with land, was tied to a network of elite alliances as well as access to mining and production centers, such as Houma, in the northern section of the middle Yellow river valley (location of the Jin state) or to Tonglüshan in the middle Yangzi river valley (location of Jin’s rival, the powerful Chu state). The political disruption of old alliances and local control over manufacturing centers altered the traditional economy for sacrificial bronze production.”

During the Warring States period, the musical performances patterned after the sage kings were transformed by the Ruists into personal practices of self-cultivation. The use of music, body movement, and imitation allowed the acolyte to achieve a similar level of sainthood.”

Unlike a male heir, this princess was exhorted to pattern herself after King Wen’s mother (a Zhou saint and possible fertility goddess of Ji lineage women such as the princess) to receive divine aid; her dance involved a sashaying (youyou) style of weiyi performance while her face bore a numinous glow to the beat indicative of ancestral presence (mumu), the same rhythmic tones used at the beginning of Zhou-style inscriptions when invoking the presence of the former kings or ancestors. From this set of inscriptions, we discover that elite women, like elite men, were also trained to perform during founder ancestor ceremonies.

it was clearly hazardous for an outsider to participate in a non-Zhou or Shang-style di ceremony, in this case that of the Lu and Song people (particularly in this case because, as the full passage tells us, the Jin army harbored nefarious intentions against Song).”

For a definition of ghost or gui as spirits of animate and inanimate objects, see Mu-choo Poo, The concept of ghost in ancient Chinese religion, in Religion and Chinese society, ed., John Lagerwey, vol. 1.”

In Eastern Zhou texts, <Mulberry Woods> [Bosques de Amora] is both the name of a holy site and a dance. As a site for worship in Song, the Mozi text claims that it was equivalent to other sites (famous for hunting and fertility rituals), such as the sheji in Qi, the <Cloud Dream> (Yunmeng) wetlands in Chu, and the <Possessing Ancestors> (Youzu ) brush of Yan.”

Zhuangzi (ca. 365–285 BC) ironically compared the skilled movements of the Mulberry Woods dance to the movements of the hands, shoulders, knees, and feet of a master butcher while slaughtering an ox as an illustration of the self perfection achieved by following the dao.” Cf. Scott Cook, Zhuang Zi and his carving of the Confucian ox

Some characters may have been dressed as founder ancestors with natural forms such as horned animals or bird figures, and other characters may have represented suns, rivers, trees or other spirits worshipped along with the founder ancestors since Shang times.”

For a study of early dances, see Dallas McCurley, Performing patterns: numinous relations in Shang and Zhou China, The Drama Review 49.3 (2005)

a bureaucracy of ancestral spirits who, like their earthly descendants, had to constantly jockey for power and status based on the types of sacrifice or symbolic tributes paid them. On a more mundane level, it seems that the Biyang people, by accepting the Huo tribute, also took charge of the ancestral spirits of the Huo people and that the two sets of ancestral spirits were joined to make a more powerful pantheon which was then taken over and controlled by Jin.”

The graph representing the Yi people in bronze inscriptions was written the same as <corpse> (shi) no doubt symbolic of their use in Zhou human sacrifice.”

O PAN-TEÃO ONDE VALE LITERALMENTE DE TUDO: “The Yu-people performed the di sacrifice (1) to the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) and the suburban sacrifice (jiao) (2) to Ku; they took Zhuanxu as local branch lineage founder (zu) (3) and Yao as ancestral founder (zong) (4). The Xia-people likewise presented the di (1) to the Yellow Emperor but the suburban sacrifice (2) to Gun; they also took Zhuanxu as local lineage founder (3) but Yu as ancestral founder (4). The Yin people presented di (1) to Ku and the suburban sacrifice (2) to Ming; they took Qi as their local lineage founder (3) and Tang as ancestral founder (4). The Zhou people presented di (1) to Ku and the suburban sacrifice to Ji (2); they took King Wen as local lineage founder (3) and King Wu as the ancestral founder (4). Huangdi ((1), op. cit.) may have been a progenitor spirit local (3) to the northeast. He was first mentioned in a bronze inscription as a founder ancestor (4) by a member of the Tian lineage after they took over Qi in the 4th century BC (see Doty, The bronze inscriptions of Ch’i, vol. 2, p. 632. See also the discussions by Li Ling, Kaogu faxian yu shenhua chuanshuo, pp. 126–31 and You Shen, Chunqiu yiji qi yiqian, pp. 41–2). Reference to the suburban sacrifice (2) for progenitor Ji begs the question of what happened to this agricultural god (besides being turned into the generic Shennong). The only hint might reside in the mention in the <Chunguan zongbo 3> section of the Zhouli regarding the di-like musical performance (1) (flutes, drums, songs) for the <field ancestor> (tianzu) and possibly related to spring plowing (Shisanjing zhushu, vol. 3, p. 368).”

For an outline and discussion of the varied <legend sets> of different founder sage kings, see Sarah Allan, The heir and the sage (San Francisco, 1981).”

The general term <death> (si) was applied to commoners and animals. A king or Zhou-style <Son of Heaven> (tianzi) <collapsed (like a mountain)> (peng), whereas a regional ruler (hou) and his wife both fell with a <thudding sound> (as with the noise of a group of insects suddenly taking off or of dirt being thrown into a hole) (hong).¹ The next two stages for affirming rank involved first the funeral and then the mourning—the performance style of either stage represented an adherence either to a Zhou-style belief structure, as advocated by the Ruists, or to local customs, including a style that did not involve social rank or display, as advocated by Moists. In either case, there seems to have been a pervasive belief that it took about 25 months or <three years> for the aspect of the deceased that could become an ancestor with adequate mortuary ritual to settle into the next world or to begin influencing the human world.²

¹ Curiously, someone complained that if music is not performed during the period of mourning, the entire process was also at risk of <collapse> (see <Yanghuo>, Lunyu zhengyi, in Zhuzi jicheng vol. 1, p. 380). The reduplicated descriptive honghong occurs in these two contexts in the Shijing (Maoshi zhengyi, in Shisanjing zhushu vol. 2, pp. 36, 188, 548). General terms for <life>, on the other hand, did not seem to reflect different ranks. We find that life (sheng) was also an <embodiment> (wu), and <death> (si) simply the lack thereof, <nothing> (wang). The word connoting physical body (shen) was also used to imply self-consciousness or <oneself>.

² Also in Mozi is the notation that only family with three years worth of subsistence could afford to recognize a child (as their own and worth raising); see the discussion by Anne Kinney, Infant abandonment in early China, Early China 18 (1993), p. 117. Xunzi explained that all beings (wu) born between Heaven and Earth with blood and breath (qi) had awareness and the ability to feel loss at the death of a loved one, but that humans had more and therefore the need for more elaborate rituals of grieving (Knoblock, Xunzi, vol. 3, p. 69; Xunzi jijie, in Zhuzi jicheng vol. 2, p. 247).”

According to some late ritual texts, the send-off ceremony for the deceased was a kind of wake which occurred at midnight before the burial and involved drinking, feasting, singing and other entertainment, during which the heirs, by contrast, were to make a show of grief and restraint. They were silent, wore rough un-hemmed and undyed sackcloth gowns, and ate unrefined rice and gruel.”

Men of the hemmed-gown groups included the highest ranks of society, tianzi, wang, zhufu, who all required three-year mourning periods. While in mourning, they could not attend any ceremonies of other members in their group, suggesting that the association of the mourner with the death of a powerful member of society could jeopardize the auspicious nature of those ceremonies. This was also the case for the next rank of elites, but to a lesser degree, suggesting that the power of the spirit was directly correlated to his social rank in life. The next rank consisted of the many youths of the same generation as the heir in the main and collateral elite lineage lines, the shi and their pengyou. They mourned only 9 months. The mortuary cults around a powerful wife or mother were simply <lighter> (qing) versions of their husbands’.”

Xunzi disapproved of the increasing tendency toward shortened mourning periods and also the excessive displays of grief (especially for financial gain).”

Criticism or support of the system became a rhetorical device defining the debate between the camps of Ruist and Mozi followers. Mozi argued against the elaborate funeral and mortuary rituals central to the Ruist practice. For him, it was a waste of resources spent on the preservation of the corpses of the elite and key to what he saw as their corrupt hierarchical identities. Their tombs and burial grounds—replete with shrines, sacred gardens and mausoleum parks—were physical testimonies of power. He advocated quick disposal of the corpse with a minimum of fuss; one that did not involve physical preservation.” “Mozi complained about the false nature of these rich funeral displays of <righteous decorum> (yi) . He noted that such displays were claimed by Ruists to be <humane> (ren) acts because they could be observed (guan) by the <10.000 peoples> (wanmin). The observation of ceremonies served as a social model or moral lesson for the audience. Mozi noted that these fake performers of <filial piety> claimed to draw their inspiration from their high ancestors who in turn had followed their own <way of the former kings,> thus falsely elevating themselves by links to sage-king founders.”

The local and immigrant non-elite people lived outside the city walls in the <suburbs.> The elite inside the city referred to the main shrines for a wife’s natal lineage and home as <outer main ancestral shrines> (waizong) [mulheres como periferia da casta]. The dead were buried outside the city walls, often at some distance from the living. Regions outside the state’s borders were infested with the ghosts of vanquished peoples, such as those of the Four Regions exterminated by the Zhou.”

Confúcio coincide com a época da “portabilidade dos túmulos e ícones sagrados” que representavam esses mesmos túmulos: já não era tabu retirá-los de seu templo mortuário original, onde foi realizado o ritual do enterro e consagração do espírito ancestral. Prática que se tornou controversa e uma faca de dois gumes, pois a superstição ainda fazia os guerreiros que lutavam pela elite “herege” considerarem estar perdendo a proteção das deidades ao deslocá-las em batalha.A verdade é que era um beco sem-saída: fora das fronteiras da cidade, os súditos só poderiam ser prejudicados, sem seus espíritos protetores, ainda que sob a forma de vedetes-simulacros, ou sucumbir à ação maligna de espíritos de inimigos mortos. Portanto, a restauração confuciana, que pretendia reinstaurar a harmonia, durante os períodos de guerra entre grandes províncias, apenas recrudesceu a decadência: deuses portáteis, meros mascotes arbitrários, seriam, ainda, deuses?

BARAFUNDA ILIMITADA OU FORJANDO AS PRÓPRIAS CADEIAS: “While traveling was particularly dangerous and required all sorts of protective rituals, Warring States period divination texts and almanacs illustrate the dangers of ordinary life, where the slightest cough or fever might be the result of a mischievous demon or ghost. When diviners inquired about the source of an illness, they used a combination of oracle bone and stalk divination as diagnostic tools. To effect a cure, ritualists offered a range of meat sacrifices, jades and finished cloth garments or cap ornaments to a pantheon of human and natural spirits. In the records of divination and sacrifice, ancestral spirits might be named or simply referred to in general categories, such as <human harm> (renhai) or <luminous ancestors> (mingzu). The named ancestral spirits included mythical founder spirits, ancient kings, the former king at the head of a branch lineage and recently deceased ancestors. Of these groups, the recently deceased, which went back as far as four generations, were considered, along with the earth and sky deities, as the most likely sources of curses (sui). Particularly dangerous were those, such as parents, for whom mourning rituals had not yet been completed. Also dangerous were ghosts of those who had died young or violently, belonged to an in-law’s family, <wandered> (you) due to lack of a proper burial, or were hungry. Improper displays of respect and sacrifices to ancestor spirits caused <blame> (jiu), from which descendants had to be released (jie) with gifts of food, drink, precious objects and performances to make them happy (xi).”

While we find that ancestor worship and mortuary ritual continued to form the basis of all social and political relationships in ancient China, the lack of a clear relationship via a single Son of Heaven combined with general socio-political disruption led to increased disaffection from Zhou-style or elite traditions. Most significantly, the public worship of royal ancestors, such as the Zhou founder kings, disappeared from the bronze inscription corpus. Local courts continued the mimetic ceremony of ancestor worship at di ceremonies—the occasions for the display of skills by the elite young who were undergoing a change of status through political advancement or marriage—but the founder ancestors worshipped were more often legendary figures, some reaching back to a pre-Zhou history.”

A divindade deixava de pertencer a um passado remoto imemorial para se tornar o sábio doutrinador (o próprio Confúcio é o protótipo por excelência); e, no caso extremo dos Daoístas, o espírito das divindades supremas era incorporado ao próprio corpo por vias ascéticas. Cada monge era um panteão de deuses. Assim se dissolvia a China Antiga dos cultos grandiloqüentes que sempre remontavam a ramos primordiais de uma intrincadíssima árvore genealógica, perdida na poeira das oficinas abandonadas não mais ocupadas pelos escrivãos ou sacerdotes da monarquia, tornados antiquados e desnecessários. Desburocratização de um Estado fossilizado pela reverência aos ante-antepassados e florescência dum novo estado das coisas, menos burocratizado mas também menos transcendental, político, centrado no comando de uma intelligentsia incipiente (os legisladores diretamente subordinados aos novos imperadores que ganharam as guerras de conquista).

RITUAL AND RITUAL TEXTS IN EARLY CHINA

*

MU-CHOU POO

Actions, emotions, sounds, color, even odor, though important during ritual performance, are often difficult to recapture with written words. Ritual texts, or texts describing ritual in various ways, are thus the most important testimony available to study rituals. Myth, whatever its relationship with ritual, may appear in a fragmentary state in ritual texts and may occasionally provide some insight into the formation of certain religious ideas or customs. Archaeological reports, on the other hand, may provide partial evidence of funerary or temple rituals often left unmentioned in written texts.”

Mu-chou Poo, Wine and wine offering in the religion of ancient Egypt (London, 1995)

The use of fire torches indicates that fire was considered auspicious and righteous. What is to be noticed is that the evil spirits were basically not destroyed but expelled. The spell specifically states that <if you do not leave at once, those who stay behind will become their (the deities’) food.> When the evil spirits were driven out, the expression used is <they (the Exorcist and the twelve animal-deities) send the pestilences forth out of the Meridional Gate.> Thus although destructive threats were uttered in the spell, the aim of this exorcistic ritual was not to destroy the evil spirits but only to send them out of the human sphere. Implicitly, this means that the evil spirits would be able to come back the following year, so that another exorcism had to be performed. The cosmological assumption behind this exorcistic act, therefore, is quite interesting: the evil spirits, though malevolent and dangerous toward human beings, were part of the cosmic order. They could be expelled from the human sphere, yet there seems to be no way to destroy them once and for all. Thus yearly, or periodically, there arises the need to expel them.”

During the meng-ritual, the parties engaged in the covenant first dug a pit in the ground, then sacrificed a bull, a horse, or a sheep in the pit, cut off its left ear and placed it on a plate, and poured the blood into a vessel. The covenant or contract was then pronounced, and the participants each drunk from the vessel as a token of a binding alliance. The covenant text was then buried together with the sacrifice, and the participants each kept a copy for their own record.”

To secure a covenant, self-curses (shi) were often pronounced by the participants to ensure their faithfulness regarding the covenant. Therefore the term mengshi (covenant and curse) was often employed in situations involving the establishment of covenants and their securing with curses. In other words, a meng by its nature contains a shi, though not vice versa.”

Thus the body of the covenant text usually consists of two sections: the first states the pact, or what behavior is expected of the participants henceforth, and the second is a shi, which is an invocation of the deities and ancestors asking them to witness the act and to keep an eye on those who would violate the covenant.”

Similar to the nuo-exorcism, the meng-covenant can also be performed in a private situation as a form of oath-taking. One example is the meng between Duke Zhuang of Lu and Lady Mengren. The mutual oath was taken with the exchange of blood by cutting the arms of the two participants. When blood flowed from the wound, the two arms were entwined so as to form a binding pact.” “Here it might be useful to trace the meaning of blood in the context of ancient Chinese religious ideas.”

A oferenda mais honorífica não é dispor o gosto mas venerar o aroma (qi) (…) Havia oferendas de sangue, de carne crua e de carne cozida. Todas por causa de seu cheiro”

Liji zhushu

In either case the binding force of blood in the meng-covenant does not seem to have been adequately expressed by the term qi. There is also the idea that blood smeared on various objects could serve as a kind of exorcistic protection. In such cases, blood is seen as possessing a certain sacred power that could ward off evil spirits. In fact, an unresolved issue is whether the participants of the meng-covenant drank the blood, or merely smeared the blood on the mouth, as an act of sanctification.”

For the religious significance of blood, mainly as representing life force or soul substance, and the blood-brotherhood or inter-commingling of blood-life, see H.W. Robinson, Blood, in Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics, ed. James Hastings (New York, 1926), vol. 2, pp. 714–19; Jean-Paul Roux, Blood, in The encyclopaedia of religion, ed. Lindsay Jones (New York, 2005), vol. 2, pp. 254–56.

When the meng-covenant lost its appeal as an effective assurance of alliance, especially in the political arena, a form of secular justice based on military force had to be enforced to ensure the smooth enforcement of a political alliance. The secularization of political affairs, of course, was a gradual process and did not replace the entire belief system, which we continue to encounter in other areas of human activities, as well as, in changed form, in the political sphere.”

To suggest that a deity for human fertility was honored in a ritual that sought agricultural success is logically not impossible, since the ancient Mesopotamians also had similar religious festivals linking human fecundity with agricultural fertility.”

Thorkild Jacobsen, The treasure of darkness: a history of Mesopotamian religion (New Haven, 1976)

Derk Bodde, Festivals in classical China

Beginning from the bottom of the tomb pit, animals such as dogs were buried in the so-called yaokeng or <waist pit> [parte da metade inferior]. After the coffins and caskets were installed, if it was a royal tomb, human sacrifice was performed, and the heads and beheaded bodies of the victims were buried on the steps of the ramps.”

The death of a member of a social group provided an opportunity for the surviving members to rehearse the social network. As the Confucian scholar Xunzi put it, <Music is performed to unite and create unity, ritual is performed to divide and make distinctions>.”

it is also clear that the Rites and ceremonies is not a field report and that its content is the result of much editing and numerous transmissions and, above all, ideological embellishments. When we look at actual practice, deviations from the <norm> as described in the Rites and ceremonies seem

to be the rule.”

James L. Watson, The structure of Chinese funerary rites: elementary forms, ritual sequence, and the primacy of performance, in Death ritual in late imperial and modern China, eds. James L. Watson and Evelyn Rawski (Berkeley, 1988)

Funerary rituals are performed not only for those who died of natural causes, but also for those who died an untimely death, such as on the battlefield, which would require different rituals. A text found in a tomb from Jiudian, Hubei province, dating to the late 4th century BC, seems to be a model text for praying to the deity Wuyi, who is referred to as being assigned by the Lord on High (Shangdi) to take charge of the war dead, to enable such a person to return home to receive food offerings from his family.”

quando o fantasma tem um lugar a que retornar, não causará nenhum prejuízo”

Zuozhuan

As legend has it, Yu, the successor of the wise emperor Shun and founder of the Xia dynasty, the first dynasty in Chinese traditional history (though yet to be substantiated by modern historians), was skilled in hydraulic engineering and so spent most of his life in the countryside trying to divert water into channels to prevent floods. Three times he passed his home but did not enter the house to see his newly wedded wife. This famous story has been told time and again in Chinese history as evidence of the Great Yu’s devotion to his work—people first, so to speak. He is endlessly praised by the Chinese as a national hero.”

His poor wife must have suffered a lot from his absence, should the legend be true, since Great Yu apparently did not care much about her personal needs, as he was serving a <greater cause>. Greater or not, the result is what we see in the minds of the common people whose wisdom has created the passages in the daybook. Do not marry your daughter on the day that Yu got married, as this will bring bad luck to your daughter: she will be separated from her husband, for example, and suffer exactly what Yu’s wife had suffered. One should not travel on the same (sexagesimally defined) day as Yu left home, for he never returned home. Positively or negatively, the legend of Yu was closely associated with rituals and beliefs related to travel.”

The duke of Zheng ordered that 100 soldiers off r a pig and 25 soldiers a dog and chicken, in order to cast a curse against the one who shot Ying Kaoshu.”

Toward the end of the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han, a case of witchcraft broke out, involving numerous officials and royal relatives and ending in the tragic death of the heir apparent. The ignition point of the incident was allegedly the act of cursing against the emperor by discontented royal relatives, and many court women were involved. The method used was the burial of small wooden figurines accompanied by spells cast by shamans. The exact content of the spell, however, remains unknown. Apparently here again the act required no assistance from any deities or demons, though the actions of the wu-shamans always involved dubious relations with evil ghosts and spirits.”

Donald Harper, A Chinese demonography of the third century B.C.

What ghosts detest are namely: reclining in a crouch, sitting like a winnowing basket, linked steps, and standing on one foot.” “O que os fantasmas abominam são o seguinte: a postura de agachar-se, sentar-se como se fosse peneirar, dar passos concatenados [conforme a liturgia de Yu], equilibrar-se numa perna só.”

D. Harper – Spellbinding

When without cause a ghost attacks a person and does not desist—this is the Stabbing Demon. Make a bow from peach wood; make arrows from non-fruiting jujube wood [da tamareira], and feather them with chicken feathers. When it appears, shoot it. Then it will desist.

When without cause a ghost lodges in a person’s home—this is the mound ghost [fantasma da colina abandonada, destroços ou túmulos]. Take earth from an old abandoned mound and make imitation [sic] people and dogs with it. Set them on the outside wall, one person and one dog every 5 paces, and encircle the home. When the ghost comes, scatter ashes, strike a winnowing basket, and screech [guiche] at it. Then it stops.

When a ghost continually causes a person to have foul dreams, and after waking they cannot be divined—this is the Master of Diagrams. Make a mulberry-wood staff [cajado da amoreira] and prop it inside the doorway, and turn a cookpot [panela] upside down outside the doorway. Then it will not come.” Idem

There are plants such as jujube wood, peach wood, mulberry wood, woolly grass, reeds, and bamboo; animal parts that include foxtails or cattails; objects with an offensive smell, such as feces of dogs and pigs; inanimate substances such as sand, ashes, yellow soil, white stone, water, and fire; and finally there are man-made objects such as arrows, drums, bells, swords, and shoes. Usually the actions taken are quite simple, yet sometimes the text only says something like <search for it and get rid of it,> without specifying the exact method to be used to get rid of the demons. There are also examples where the exorcistic ritual consists of only actions, such as <unbind the hair and rush past it,> without the use of any instruments or objects. The use of fire and the sounding of the drum, in particular, reminds us of what happened during the nuo-exorcism.”

The sitting posture that resembles a winnowing basket is seen as an offensive position, the classic reference being Confucius’ reprimanding of Yuan Rang’s sitting thus.”

The mentality behind this is quite revealing. If the ritual acts themselves—including the use of certain objects and the performance of certain bodily actions—were powerful and efficacious and the human performer only a neutral agent that brought the sacred or powerful objects and actions together, there should be no direct relationship between the ritual act and the performer. In other words, the exorcistic rituals are understood as purely technical actions much like using medicine to cure a disease. In fact, in the <medical> texts found in the early Han period, i.e., the Mawangduisilk manuscript Wushi’er bingfang (Recipes for 52 ailments), exorcistic acts and spells are placed together with herbal recipes.”

…and leave without looking back.” <Orfismo> corriqueiro nas fórmulas rituais…

Donald Harper, Early Chinese medical literature: the Mawangdui medical manuscripts (London, 1998)

The recipe for healing a tooth: Present oneself before the eastern wall, make 3 Yu-steps, and say: <Hao! I dare to implore the lord of the eastern wall. So-and-so is ill because of a decayed tooth. If you can heal so-and-so, I promise to offer a cow and a calf: a fine pair.>

In this cosmology things work according to pre-set rules: every divine being has its proper domain of power, and every evil spirit has its weakness and thus can be exorcised. Human beings suffer attack from the evil spirits and obtain protection from the divine beings; they can also solve their own problems by performing proper rituals. The key is to have the necessary knowledge about what objects to choose and what actions to take. Morality, in this context, does not come into play, since one’s rescue comes from ritual knowledge, not moral behavior. The performance of rituals and sacrifices, moreover, also implies a desire to negotiate with the divine spirits.” “There was a separation of one’s moral self from the outside world, since the technical know-how one needs to perform the rituals and consult the texts was not conditioned by one’s moral behavior.”

The concept of the Mandate of Heaven depended on an idea of morality, as the Mandate was bestowed on morally just rulers. (…) Confucians, Taoists, Moists, and Legalists were all masters of their own moral philosophy. Yet their philosophy is often penetrated by the amoral cosmology described here.” “How or whether this amoral cosmology is transformed in the Daoist, Buddhist, and so-called popular religions, how personal piety and devotion to the gods are intertwined with or influenced by this underlying mentality, moreover, can be very significant, for here may lie the heart of Chinese religious sentiment that instructs or informs all forms of religious belief in the subsequent eras.”

CHINESE HISTORY WRITING BETWEEN THE SACRED AND THE SECULAR

*

YURI PINES

the first of the so-called <official histories>, the Shiji (Records of the historian).”

Apparently, the scribes kept day-to-day records during the campaign, and at its successful conclusion they decided (perhaps in consultation with the lord of Jin, the vessel’s donor) what portion of their records was to be inscribed on the bells.”

Appeals to history in early Chinese philosophy and rhetoric”, Journal of Chinese Philosophy

All the features found in inscriptions, namely the meticulous dating, the abundance of technical details, formulaic language, selective recording and what seem like attempts to influence the future through properly recording the past, are evident in the genre of the state annals, of which the Chunqiu of the state of Lu is the only surviving representative.”

Like the bronze inscriptions, the annals concealed unpleasant news: thus the assassination of a Lu ruler or heir is invariably reported as the slain lord merely <passing away> (hong), while the heir is said to have <died> (zu). Similarly, it was taboo (hui) for the annals to publish occasions when the lord of Lu was detained or otherwise humiliated by foreign powers. Also, when in 517 [BC] rebellious ministers expelled Lord Zhao (r. 541–510), the Chunqiu laconically recorded: <Ninth month; on (the day) jihai, the lord left for Qi.>”

The Chunqiu is extraordinarily careful in its choice of words. Thus, it uniformly refers to foreign dignitaries according to their ranks within the Zhou original hierarchy, stubbornly refusing to recognize the ritual <upgrading> of powerful rulers of such states as Chu, Wu, Yue and Qin from their original bo (earl) or zi (viscount) to the gong (duke) and wang (king) rank. Careful use of other terms, names and appellations convey the Chunqiu’s”

The Han scholar, Huan Tan (ca. 20 BC–56 AD) exclaimed: <If the (Chunqiu) classic lacked the (Zuo) commentary, the sage would close the door and ponder over it for ten years, and even then he would not understand it!>

Courageous Dong Hu was praised as a model scribe by Confucius (551–479) himself—precisely because he understood that the function of the annals is not to record events as such, but to present a ritually correct judgment of the rulers and their ministers. This judgment could have severe consequences for the culprit. Several Zuo anecdotes attest to the annals’ legal importance.”

the Qi potentate, Cui Zhu, had no less than two scribes killed in order to prevent them recording that he had assassinated Lord Zhuang (r. 553–548), but the scribes’ persistence left him no option but to accept this damage to his name (Zuo, Xiang 25, p. 1099).”

The phrase <if spirits and deities exist>, became widespread in the second half of the Chunqiu period, as suggested by the Zuozhuan (Zuo, Xuan 4, p. 680; Xiang 10, p. 977; Xiang 14, p. 1013; Xiang 20, p. 1055; Zhao 27, p. 1487). This conditional clause reflects growing doubts as to the deities’ existence, reflected also in the later part of the Zuo (see Pines, Foundations of Confucian thought: intellectual life in the Chunqiu period

I shall return to the story of the retroactive manipulation of the records later; here it is important to assess the power of the annals to influence political reality. While not all Chunqiu statesmen were as concerned with their image <on the ce tablets of the overlords> as Ning Zhi, it is highly likely that Ning Zhi’s reaction was precisely the one sought by the annals’ compilers. Through their staunch preference for ritual reality over historical facts, and through their judgment of political actors, the court scribes and their employers hoped to preserve the deteriorating ritual order intact. Thus, the Chunqiu was not merely a means of communicating with the ancestors, but a creation—or re-creation—of reality as it should be, an alternative to the chaotic events of the real world. Perhaps this is why Confucius chose to publish the Chunqiu, turning thereby the Lu annals into one of the most revered canonical texts in Chinese history.”

when Confucius (or members of his entourage) published the Chunqiu, in effect re-addressing it from the spirits to living contemporaries, they radically altered the function of the text. This may have caused Confucius to doubt whether this action itself was in accord with ritual norms, as is reflected in his putative saying: <I will be understood only because of the Chunqiu; I will be condemned only because of the Chunqiu.>” “The extant evidence does not allow a decisive answer as to whether or not Confucius (or his followers) modified the original text of the Lu annals, but it is highly likely that he was the text’s publisher.” “Almost immediately, the terse [rusticismo] text of the Lu annals acquired commentaries, which have become indispensable to its readers ever since. Two of these commentaries, namely, the Zuo and the Gongyang zhuan, may be representative of the bifurcation of Chinese historiography between the bureaucratic account of events aimed at political education of the elite and the perpetuation of ritual reality at the expense of the facts.

The Zuozhuan was composed between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. It incorporates various historical sources from major Chunqiu states, including materials that appear as auxiliary notes used by the scribes for the compilation of the annals, as well as more detailed narrative histories prepared by the scribes separately from the annals. Elsewhere I have suggested that these <scribal records> (shiji), being addressed to members of the educated elite rather than to the deities, reflect an alternative historiographic tradition to that of the court annals”

First, far from being a dry ritualistic account, the Zuo presents history complexly, with explicit emphasis on cause-and-effect relations; not incidentally one of the most wide-spread terms in the text is gu (<therefore>), which appears over 600 times. Second, the Zuo is markedly devoid of the formulaic language so characteristic of the Chunqiu. Thus, for example, there is no traceable correlation between the appellations it employs and its author’s evaluation of the protagonists; nor does the text employ other hidden formulae to deliver <praise and blame>; this is done in a more straightforward way. Third, in terms of language, the Zuo does not steadfastly observe ritual conventions; hence, it frequently refers to the rulers of Chu, Wu and Yue as <kings>—much to the dismay of later Confucian purists. Fourth, there are no traces of taboos in the Zuo, and as far as I can tell, the text shows no clear political biases. It conceals neither defeats nor misdeeds of domestic and foreign rulers and dignitaries, as it mercilessly reveals their treachery, folly and cruelty.” “Ideologically, the author obviously believes in the moral and ritually correct universe of the Chunqiu; but he delivers his ideological message neither through the Chunqiu-like subtleties nor through a tendentious arrangement of materials as in the later dynastic histories. Rather, ideological goals are served through a variety of interpretative techniques, such as moralizing speeches, long- and short-term predictions, commentaries by the narrator and by Confucius, and the like.”

This emphasis on detailed information is probably the single most important feature of the Zuo. Not a single pre-imperial text can even remotely match it in terms of precision of the historical data involved.”

This abundant information is often presented in an almost raw form, with minimal interpretation, which at times results in narratives that go against the moral messages enunciated in other parts, indicating that ruthless and immoral statesmen can attain political success. Some of the later readers of the Zuo were visibly annoyed by this occasional moral void in a canonical text.”

If the Zuozhuan approach represents a <secular> trend in traditional historiography, the Gongyang zhuan may be the clearest representative of a new quasi-religious approach, the adherents of which identified the Chunqiu itself as a sacred text that can magically influence the world. The Gongyang zhuan, which has been extensively studied by Joachim Gentz, to whom I am indebted for much of the following analysis, was composed in the second half of the Warring States period (Zhanguo, 453–221), approximately a century or more after the Zuo.”

For the massive abuse of historical narratives and the diminishing appeal of historical argumentation in political debates, see Pines, Speeches and the question of authenticity in ancient Chinese historical records, in: Historical truth

Why did the superior man (Confucius) make the Chunqiu? To eradicate generations of disorder and return to the right there is nothing like the Chunqiu. Yet we cannot know anymore whether it was made for this purpose or because superior men liked to speak of the Way of Yao and Shun. And was it not in the end perhaps the delight that he would be recognized (in the same way) as Yao (recognized) Shun? To obtain the (hidden) meaning of the Chunqiu in order to await for later sages—it was also this in which the superior man was delighted when making (the Chunqiu).”

The Gongyang authors assume that the Chunqiu comprises two layers: the initial Lu court annals, and the modifications by Confucius. The first layer is a factual skeleton of the text to which Confucius added the <flesh>, namely, specific wording through which the events should be properly understood and analyzed.” “the Gongyang zhuan does not always succeed in offering a coherent exegesis and is time and again forced to invent new rules . . . and even rules that deviate from deviation rules.” Gentz

The Gongyang zhuan’s method of exegesis is revealing. It is based on a somewhat cabbalistic assumption that the Chunqiu text is sacrosanct and infallible, not a single word of which is misplaced or miswritten due to authorial oversight, but rather hides the Sage’s message. To preserve this assumption in light of obvious flaws in the Chunqiu records, the Gongyang masters perform remarkable intellectual acrobatics.”

Yuri Pines, Beasts or humans: pre-imperial origins of sino-barbarian dichotomy, in: Mongols, Turks and others, eds. Reuven Amitai and Michal Biran (Leiden, 2004).

Chunqiu entry from the year 566 [BC]:

Winter, the 12th month. (Our) lord (de Wei) assembled with the marquis of Jin, the duke of Song, the marquis of Chen, the marquis of Wei, the earl of Cao, the viscount of Ju, and the viscount of Zhu at Wei. Earl Kunwan of Zheng was going to the assembly. He did not meet the overlords; on the day bingxuhe died at (the town of) Cao.

This record conceals an instance of regicide: Lord Xi of Zheng (r. 570–566) did not merely <die> but was assassinated. Why did the Chunqiu conceal this fact? The two commentaries offer entirely different explanations. The Zuo explains:

When Earl Xi of Zheng was still heir-apparent, in the 16th year of Lord Cheng [of Lu, i.e., 575], he traveled together with Zi Han (a leading Zheng noble) [1] to Jin, and mistreated him. Later he traveled with Zi Feng (another leading noble) [2] to Chu and again mistreated him. In the 1st year of his rule, he attended the court of Jin; Zi Feng wanted to complain to Jin and to depose the lord, but Zi Han stopped him. On the eve of the meeting at Wei, Zi Si (another leading Zheng noble) [3] acted as chancellor, and (the lord Xi of Zheng) again mistreated him. (The lord’s) servant [4] remonstrated but was not heeded [protestou mas foi ignorado]; when he remonstrated again, the lord (Xi of Zheng) killed him. When the lord arrived at Cao, Zi Si[o terceiro nobre humilhado da história] dispatched bandits who killed Lord Xi at night; while (Zi Si) informed the overlords that the lord died of high fever.

The Gongyang zhuan presents an entirely different version:

Why was it written <died at Cao>? (Cao) is a Zheng town. When an overlord dies within his domain, the location is not recorded: why was the location recorded here?—To conceal the matter?—What to conceal?—(The

lord) was murdered.Who murdered him?His nobles murdered him.Why is it not said that his nobles murdered him?—It is a taboo for the

Central States.—Why is it a taboo for the Central States?—The earl of

Zheng was en route to meet the overlords at Wei; his nobles remonstrated,

saying: <It is not good to return to the Central States; it is better to follow

Chu.>The earl of Zheng said: <Unacceptable.> His nobles said: <If you

consider the Central States righteous, then what about them invading us

during the mourning period? If you consider them powerful, then they

are no match for Chu.> Then they murdered (the lord).—Why then was

the name of the earl of Zheng, Kunwan, recorded? He was wounded and

was on the way back; he did not arrive at his lodging and died.—But he

did not meet the overlords; why is it written that he went to the assembly?—To fulfill his will.

Both texts agree about the basic fact: the lord of Zheng was murdered by his underlings en route to the inter-state assembly at Wei; thus the Chunqiu record is obviously misleading. The Zuozhuan explains that this record reflects a deliberately wrong report by the Zheng chancellor, a major culprit. The Lu scribes (and probably scribes of other northern states) went along with this lie in order not to alienate an important ally (and the Zheng leaders duly respected this by reconfirming their alliance with the northerners a few months later). That the lord of Zheng was an intolerable ruler whose cruelty and folly brought about this miserable end should not absolve the murderers of their responsibility: after all the aforementioned Zhao Dun was also justified in his plot against Lord Ling of Jin, but nonetheless the paragon [paradigm] of upright historians, Dong Hu, considered Zhao Dun guilty of regicide. The concealment of a similar event in the state of Zheng is therefore morally and ritually wrong and can be explained only by analyzing political circumstances.

This explanation is unacceptable to the Gongyang (as well as the parallel Guliang zhuan) authors. To justify the false record they invent a fascinating explanation: the Chunqiu concealed the crime as a matter of taboo. While taboo regulations should not apply to the non-Lu rulers, in this case the record was modified out of respect to Lord Xi’s putative [alegado(a)] commitment to the cause of the <Central States> against the state of Chu. It is almost needless to state that this explanation is groundless. While Zheng frequently shifted its alliances, there are no indications that Lord Xi was a supporter of the northern states, or that his ministers leaned toward Chu; the fact that Zheng continued its alliance with Jin after the assassination of Lord Xi suggests that this explanation is wrong. More substantially, treating the state of Chu as the Other of the <Central States> is anachronistic: this conceptualization of Chu is a product of the middle Warring States period and does not reflect the conditions when the Chunqiu was compiled. The Gongyang authors go to great lengths to preserve the integrity and infallibility of the text upon which they comment.

[ARES BÍBLICOS] This example will suffice to show how reverence for the Chunqiu required the authors of the Gongyang zhuan to invent or twist the facts to fit in with preconceived ideas. This reflects a general attitude of the authors toward history. The latter is important insofar as it serves as a foundation for Confucius’ putative judgments in the Chunqiu, but in the final account it is subordinate to ritual considerations.What really happened matters very little; the true message of the Chunqiu is what ought to have happened. The Gongyang zhuan creates an imagined state of affairs in which there is a unified world ruled by a powerful Son of Heaven, who is served by the overlords and their nobles, with the latter being the ruler’s minor executives and not powerful political actors. This picture, which the authors read into the Chunqiu, is completely at odds with the realities of the eponymous period (722–453), and depicts not the actual but the ideal state of affairs.”

The Gongyang zhuan marks therefore both the apex and the dead end of religious historiography. Its advent in the early Han might therefore have contributed decisively toward what Li Wai-yee identifies as the <anti-historical tendency in Han thought>. Th is a-historicism is what eventually diminished the importance of the Gongyang zhuan in the later historiographical tradition, as it was overshadowed by the rival commentary, the Zuozhuan.”

it is interesting to try to locate the Shiji, the fountainhead of Chinese official histories, within the sides of this divide. Recently, Michael Nylan has made several interesting observations with regard to possible religious motives in the Shiji. According to her interpretation, by compiling his universal history, Sima Qian tried to act out his filial obligation to his father, Tan, and to attain a kind of personal immortality in addition to addressing such a religiously significant topic as relations between Heaven and Man.¹ My focus will be different from Nylan’s, though. In what follows, I shall address the relation of the Shiji to the Chunqiu traditions outlined above, and then explore possible religious aspects of the genre of biographies invented by Sima Qian.”

¹ “See Nylan, Sima Qian: a true historian?, Early China 23–24 (1998–99)”

The 12 <Chronicles>(the number of which might have been patterned after the 12 lords of Lu surveyed in the Chunqiu) deal with the rulers who supposedly governed All under Heaven; the <Hereditary houses> deal with the high nobility; while the <Arrayed biographies> focus on particularly noteworthy individuals of lesser rank.” “For detailed analyses of the structure of the Shiji, see Grant Hardy, Worlds of bronze and bamboo: Sima Qian’s conquest of history (New York, 1999), pp. 27–60; Lewis, Writing and authority, pp. 309–13.”

Much to the dismay of later ideologues of dynastic legitimacy, he placed accounts of the pre-dynastic state of Qin and of the Han competitor, Xiang Yu (d. 202) in the <imperial> section, while the story of the peasant rebel, Chen She (d. 208), appears among the <Hereditary houses>. This obvious violation of the ritually sanctioned hierarchical norms discloses the major difference between the Shiji and the Chunqiu. While in the latter, ritual order mattered much more than historical setting, for Sima Qian the actual power of certain individuals or groups was compelling enough to make him deviate from the norms of social hierarchy. In the final account, the <secular> historian in Sima Qian overwhelms the <religious> one.”

I would like to focus on the genre of biographies, which is one of Sima Qian’s important innovations. Prior to the Shiji there is no evidence for the existence of a biographic genre at all. Although its seeds can be traced to the inscription of the donor’s achievements or pedigree on bronze vessels, or to the collection of anecdotes about and sayings of important historical personalities that circulated in the Warring States period, prior to Sima Qian no attempt was made to systematically present biographies. Sima Qian’s invention of this genre—if he really did it—became one of his lasting contributions to Chinese historiography.”

Boyi and Shuqi, two morally impeccable persons who died of starvation, enable Sima Qian to question more generally Heaven’s justice. By providing examples of righteous men, like Confucius’s disciple Yan Yuan, who died prematurely, and of arch-villains, like Robber Zhi, who enjoyed a good life, Sima Qian asks in despair: <So, what is called ‘the Way of Heaven’: is it right or is it wrong?>. Questioning Heaven’s justice and lamenting one’s fate was a common topos in Warring States discourse, the prevalent answer being that the superior man will cultivate his virtue whatever the external circumstances.”

The superior man detests that after he passes away his name will not be mentioned.” Confúcio

Clouds follow the dragon; wind follows the tiger; the sage rises and myriad creatures eye him.” Yijing

establishing one’s name may serve as a sort of compensation for Heaven’s injustice. In Durrant’s words, <the historian thereby becomes the savior, those attached to him are saved, living on through the power of his writing brush>.¹ Indeed, by preserving one’s name for posterity, the historian corrects Heaven’s wrongdoing, providing a sort of immortality for those who failed to fulfill their aspirations in life. An after-life in a historical text becomes a compensation for underappreciation or failure in life.”

¹ The cloudy mirror

I, Bao, heard: <The best is to establish virtue; second to it is to establish merits; ¹ next is to establish words.>Zuo

¹“The difference between establishing <virtue> (de) and <merit> (gong ), may be in the degree of political achievement; establishing de could pertain in certain early Zhou contexts to establishing a new dynasty or at least a new regional polity (for these early usages of de, see Kominami Ichirō, Tenmei to toku, Tōhō gakuhō 64 (1992), 1–59). Merit could pertain to a more modest achievement, such as those for which meritorious ancestors of the noble lineages received their ranks. As for <establishing words>, this may well refer to the tradition of preserving ideologically important speeches of leading statesmen.”

The coexisting ideas of a bureaucratically organized netherworld, of the tomb as a dwelling for the soul and of the <paradise> of the Spirit Mother of the West (Xiwangmu) might have been insufficiently compelling to satisfy the elites’ need of positive retribution in the afterlife.”

To paraphrase Grant Hardy, Sima Qian’s magnum opus became eventually as imperishable as bronze and stone, which were singled out as proper media for commemoration by the Warring States thinkers. By the 1st century AD, with the increasing circulation of the Shiji, a new commemorative genre ensued, that of stone steles erected on the tombs of the elite. The similarity in the structure of the epitaphs and the Shiji biographies may not be incidental.”

DIVINERS AND ASTROLOGERS UNDER THE EASTERN ZHOU. TRANSMITTED TEXTS AND RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

*

MARC KALINOWSKI (trans. Margaret McIntosh)

It now appears that, under the Shang, osteo-pyromancy was the first of the mantic arts, indissolubly linked to the religious beliefs and practices of the upper levels of society.

Another equally important discovery was that of the numerical signs inscribed on the pyromantic media of the Shang and, in greater quantity still, on those of the Western Zhou (ca. 1050–771). These <numerograms> composed of 6 figures one above the other and usually grouped 2-by-2, have been identified as the ancestors of the hexagrams of the Book of changes (Yijing). Also referred to as the Changes of Zhou (Zhouyi), this eminent classic compiled between the 9th and the 7th centuries BC, originally without glosses or commentaries, was a collection of oracles connected to a set of 64 mantic diagrams (the hexagrams), made up of 6 units (the monograms) represented in the received versions of the text by straight or broken lines symbolizing the yang-odd and the yin-even.”

A cleromantic process [a divinização da sorte – o número que for sorteado foi comandado pelos deuses] of casting wooden sticks or, as tradition would have it, yarrow stalks, allowed the diviner to draw by lot a numerical device in order to obtain the oracle corresponding to the request submitted by the consultant.”

NOVA ERA: EARLY CHINESE RELIGION IN A NUTSHELL

Chinese historiographers divide the 6 centuries which separate the Western Zhou from the early empires into 2 periods. The first is that of Spring and Autumn (770–482 BC), when the increasingly vast domains and principalities that resulted from the incorporation of territories formerly under the sphere of influence of the Zhou kings began to rival each other for the exercise of hegemonic power. During the second period, that of the Warring States (481–222 BC), territorial units became large and independent states with, at their head, powerful lords seconded by numerous high dignitaries, magistrates, and local functionaries. It is to one of them, King Zheng of Qin, that the privilege of unifying the realm fell when, at the end of a war of conquest without precedent, he took the title of First Emperor (Shihuang) 26 years after his accession to power in 246 BC.” “From the end of the Spring and Autumn period the first speculations on the nature of man and his place in society appear. Following Kong Qiu (Confucius, 551–479) and his disciples, defenders of traditional values and of a humanism founded on education as well as ritual and moral improvement, different currents of wisdom and thought gradually took shape, leading to ardent debates in the princely courts of the 5th to 3rd centuries BC.”

the diviners and astrologers depended on a ministry of cults composed of 70 major and minor officers and a total of 3,673 functionaries or petty officials. Among the major officers, alongside those in charge of rites and sacrifices—the grand master of music (dayue) and the grand invocator (dazhu)—are listed the grand diviner (dabu) and the grand scribe (dashi ). The grand diviner was responsible for divination by turtle and by the Changes (the yarrow stalk method), as well as for the interpretation of dreams. His functions consisted in writing the proposals to be divined and presiding over oracular consultations. He also played a role in the rites and royal sacrifices, in ceremonies of enthronement and investiture, the moving of the capital, military campaigns, and funeral rites. Seven minor officers assisted him in these duties: 4 for pyromancy alone, including the one who made the prognostications, wrote them down, archived them and, at the end of the year, kept an account of the oracles, verified or not; the 3 otherstook care respectively of the drawing of the yarrow stalks before the burning of the turtle plastrons, of the interpretation and exorcism of dreams, and of the examination and conjuration of the prodigies which had appeared in the land. The grand scribe, for his part, was responsible for the conservation of official documents and charts and the composition of administrative acts and their archiving. It was also his duty to establish the calendar for the seasonal activities of government and assist the diviners in the choice of days propitious for the holding of regular worship. In this framework he carried out his predictive functions with the help of two minor officers, one in charge of observations and calculation of the movements of the stars, the other of recording celestial irregularities, meteorological phenomena, and omens of good or bad fortune.

Hans Bielenstein, The bureaucracy of Han times (Cambridge, Eng., 1980)

Anne Cheng, Étude sur le confucianisme Han. L’élaboration d’une tradition exégétique sur les classiques (Paris, 1985)

Our principal source of information on the activities of the pre-imperial diviners and astrologers remains without contest the Zuo commentary (Zuozhuan, hereafter Commentary). The work is closely related to the Annals (Chunqiu), the celebrated collection of annals of the state of Lu traditionally attributed to Confucius, which reports in brief and ritualized form the events which took place in Lu and elsewhere between 722 and 479, the year of the Master’s death.”

The themes submitted for divination principally concerned war (25 cases) and, in decreasing order, succession struggles and the choice of high officials (6 cases), illness (4), marriage (3) and changes of capital or residence (3).”

An anecdote reports a case of the theft of a turtle between members of the same lineage.”

King Ling at a former time had asked the turtle whether he might possibly (verb shang) get the whole kingdom; and when the answer was unfavorable, he cast the shell from him, railed at Heaven, and said, <This small thing you will not give me, but I will take it for myself.> The people were distressed by his insatiable ambition, and joined in the insurrection against him as eagerly as if they had been going home.”

A first consultation by turtle is made and interpretation of the oracle confided to 3 scribes, whose predictions agree in suggesting to the hesitant minister not to undertake anything against Song. As if the avalanche of arguments presented by the scribes was insufficient, a second consultation takes place, this time by casting yarrow stalks and with the intervention of a counselor who is not a diviner, and his prognosis confirms the preceding results. The effect of the episode on the narrative process is weak because the minister simply follows the unanimous opinion expressed by the 4 interpreters. It might be said that, in such cases, the divinatory consultation has no other function than to accentuate the importance of the [political] decision to be taken”

The prince of Lu, who had the cowardice to wish that the prince of Qi die of sickness rather than to face him in battle, died himself in the month following the prediction.”

for military matters, it was the head of the armies and not the prime minister that had the traditional privilege of consulting the turtle.”

the predictions always consist in determining the name of the spirit or demon causing the consultant’s illness.” “in the Commentary, there is always someone who questions in one way or another the ability to harm the spirit identified by the diviner, and this has the effect of preventing the holding of the prescribed sacrifices.”

Provavelmente vem da adivinhação oriental por arremesso e coleta de ramos de gravetos nossa consagrada expressão “quebrar um galho”. Vem daí também o jogo da vareta?

The interest aroused by the accounts of yarrow stalk divination in the Commentary has been greater than for the other forms of mantic arts it describes. This is due in part to the fascination exerted by the Book of changes over Chinese culture in general and to its canonical status comparable to that of the books of Songs and Documents.”

In the first instance, the independence of the yarrow method compared with that of the turtle is attested from the very beginning of the Commentary and consequently covers the entire Spring and Autumn period. Nevertheless, the two methods remain complementary, as can be seen in the cases of consultations in common in periods 1 (3 cases) and 2 (2 cases). Second, the casting of the stalks is also associated with the Changes from the beginning, since the first account, dated 672BC (Zhuang 22.1), begins with the phrase, <A scribe of Zhou cast the yarrow using the Changes of Zhou.> This formulation and its variations appear no less than 8 times in the text.”

the practice of yarrow stalk divination spread beyond the specialized circles of court diviners and was little by little secularized by becoming accessible to the consultants themselves.” A Mãe Diná que não pesca, mas ensina a pescar: Pague uma módica taxa e aprenda a prever o seu próprio futuro daqui pra frente, oportunidade única!; Seja independente: aprenda seu próprio destino sem incomodar os outros!, etc.

The scribe was not in favor of the marriage and made a series of clairvoyant predictions which anticipated everything that would happen to the princely family of Jin following the defeat of Han. Returning to the present time of the narrative, a conversation takes place between Prince Hui and his minister concerning the scribe’s predictions. The wise minister blames his master for the carelessness with which he made his dead father bear the responsibility for the defeat instead of acknowledging his own mistakes. Criticism of the prince’s irresponsibility in the face of the events which were to come is accompanied by criticism of the prediction itself which, we are told, was useless because it anticipated the course of events but could not change any of the predictions:

Previously, Prince Xian of Jin (father of Prince Hui) consulted the yarrow concerning the marriage of his daughter Bo Ji to Prince Mu of Qin, and obtained hexagram Kui’s line in hexagram Guimei.¹ Scribe Su made the following prediction: <Unlucky! For the verse says: ‘The young wife cuts the lamb’s throat and no blood runs, the young girl offers her basket which remains empty, the neighbor to the west (Qin) reproaches us but there is no one to respond’ . . . It will not be propitious (in the future) to undertake a military campaign. Defeat will take place on the hill (of Han) where the ancestors of Jin repose. The marriage of the young girl will bring discord and solitude, the enemy will draw his bow and a nephew (son of Prince Hui) will be exiled near his aunt (Bo Ji) . . .Ou muito me engano ou temos aqui exemplos edipianos “clássicos” (ou, ironicamente, antigos, “quase totêmicos”): a garganta do Carneiro sem sangue representando a falta de ejaculação (cabeça = prepúcio) e, consequentemente, a ausência de filhos no casamento (a cesta vazia sendo sua barriga estéril).

¹ Os chineses chamam de sexta linha, mas seria a primeira na nossa perspectiva de leitura (a mais ao topo).

The turtle creates images, the yarrow generates numbers. Things must take form before images can reveal themselves. In the process of their revelation, the images cause a proliferation from which the numbers are born. The mistakes of your late father were not produced by the numbers of the yarrow! Followed or not, the prediction of Scribe Su would have changed nothing.” Xi 15.4a

To return without knowing where to go, this is called a blind return.”

Seus dias estão contados! – disse o averbador para o funcionário.

Miss Fortune the unlucky lady

Your sickness is without cure. I would say that it is the result of an excessive frequentation of women. The illnesses caused by women are like bewitchments. Neither evil spirits nor diet is involved here. Your spirit is altered only by the effect of your deliriums (…) The written form of the word gu (‘bewitchment’) represents a swarm of insects above a bowl of food, just as the vermin who escape from a dish of spoiled cereals are also called gu. In the Changes of Zhou, the hexagram entitled Bewitchment (Gu) has images of the wind which topples the mountain and of a man lost because of a woman.”

The dreamers hardly differ from the consultants of turtle and yarrow, except that there are more women among them.” Me pergunto como seriam os sonhos de um eunuco.

Li Wai-yee, “Dreams of interpretation in early Chinese historical and philosophical writings,” in: Dream cultures: explorations in the comparative history of dreaming, eds. David Schulman and Guy G. Stromsa (Oxford, 1999)

More evocative still are the dreams in which a divinity, an ancestor or a ghost speaks directly to the dreamer, threatening him with all manner of harm and demanding he make offerings to them in exchange for some kind of favor.”

The interpretations are quite rare, short, and rarely raise a contradictory debate. Dreamers hesitated, moreover, to communicate their dreams, for fear of seeing them come true.”

Most interpreters of omens are technicians: a diviner, two music masters and, above all, scribes and astrologers. Unlike the specialists of turtle and yarrow, they are designated by name, and some of them are among the most often quoted figures of the Zuozhuan in the field of astrology and divination.” “The treatment of prodigies in the Commentary is often accompanied by reflections on the principles which govern the science of omens. The authors of these discourses attempt to reconcile natural explanations with the tradition which holds prodigies to be in resonance with the course of events and to appear in response to human and social disorders”

Zhuang 14.2: “Previously, two serpents were seen fighting at the southern gate of the Zheng capital, one coming from inside and the other from outside. The serpent from the inside was killed. Six years went by and Prince Li returned home [from exile]. The prince of Lu asked his counselor Shen Xu: <Do omens exist after all?> He heard the reply: <When someone fears something, his vital force heats up and affects his surroundings. It is men who cause omens to appear. If a person has committed no fault, they will not appear of their own. Inversely, they will come if a person’s conduct departs from established rules of proper conduct. It is in this sense that the omens exist.>

the scribe had in fact the same opinion as the narrator, but rather than show a skepticism which could have been interpreted as a mark of impiety, he preferred not to go against the prince’s convictions and instead used the talents suited to his status as royal scribe. The exactitude of his predictions is not at any time in doubt and the interest of the account resides precisely in the manner in which the figures of naturalist, skeptic and diviner are reunited in the same character”

Xi 16.1: “In the springtime, five stones fell from heaven onto the state of Song and six herons [garças] flew backwards across the capital. In the first case, it was actually a rain of stars, and in the other, an illusion produced by the wind. Prince Xiang questioned Shu Xing, an inner scribe of the king of Zhou who was visiting Song, on the significance of these prodigies and on whether they were omens of good or bad fortune. The scribe answered: <This year there will be grand funerals in Lu and next year revolts will break out in Qi. You yourself, my lord, will soon try to exert your power over the princes of neighboring countries, but you will not be able to do so.> He retired and declared to his entourage: <The prince’s question was badly put. These prodigies are caused by natural changes of yin and yang. In no way are they omens of good or bad fortune. These depend upon men themselves. As the prince posed his question badly, I didn’t dare to contradict him.>

The celestial phenomena involved in the accounts can be reduced to 3 types. The first is solar eclipses, which were considered particularly unfavorable and dangerous events.”

The prince is astounded by the accuracy of the counselor’s predictions, but the counselor questions the efficacy of astrology and credits his success to chance, invoking the irregularity of celestial movements, the uncertainty of the course of events, and the inconstancy of human decisions:

Zhao 7.4, 7.14: “The prince of Jin asked [his wise counselor] Shi Wenbo: <Who will suffer because of this eclipse?> The counselor replied: <Its evil effects will be felt first by the state of Wei, then, in lesser measure, by that of Lu.><Why?> asked the prince. <The eclipse started over the territory of Wu and then, leaving it, entered that of Lu,> continued Wenbo. <Misfortune will strike first at Wei, surely at the prince himself, and then it will spread naturally to Lu, where it may affect the minister> . . .

[The predicted events having taken place,] the prince confided to Wenbo: <Everything announced in your reply to my question has come true. Could it always be so?> The counselor replied: <No! Celestial phenomena vary unceasingly, the intentions of men are unequal, the chain of events is never regular, and the conduct of government does not follow unchanging rules. From the same beginning follow different ends. How can that which was true once be always true!>

Léopold de Saussure, Les origines de l’astronomie chinoise (Paris, 1930)

The narrator’s attention is focused on the return of correlated events each time the planet comes back to occupy the same position within the 12 Jupiter mansions. In the following example, which takes place in 531BC, the prediction of the assassination of the prince of Cai is based explicitly on the fact that he himself killed his father 12 years before (in 543). Although the narrator does not mention it explicitly, this is also true of the second prediction since the king of Chu, who will die 2 years later (in 529), had had his predecessor assassinated while Jupiter was in the same mansion (in 541)”

Calendrical art is also the subject of numerous remarks and digressions. Their aim is generally to indicate errors of calculation, as when Confucius, having observed that Antares was still visible in the first month of winter, criticized Lu calendarists for having allowed the astronomical year to become separate from the civil calendar.”

There are also cases of divination by music and two others by the study of facial features. The art of predicting the destiny of people by examining their physical traits gained in importance under the early empires, so the first instances mentioned in the Commentary are not uninteresting.”

Th ere is no place for pompous imprecatory predictions from inspired prophets: the interpretations always rely on sign analysis and deductive reasoning. Th e most daring—those where the predictive inspiration of the interpreters is given full rein—at most take the form of what one could call a “reasonable trance”. Th e shamans themselves, when explaining dreams, speak the same language as the scribes and diviners. Th e principal function of the divinatory arts is to predict the future, whether it be near, as in predictions concerning a decision to be taken regarding a litigious situation, or far, as in predictions concerning the destiny of a person or a state. Th is predictive dimension serves the narrator mainly for the narrative eff ects which can be introduced into the account of events, but also for the portrayal of conversations and debates in which the protagonists themselves question the utility of divination. Finally, the “public” of the mantic arts is restricted to the ruling elites. Here, too, the interest of the narrator lies in the social eff ects of divination, the reactions of the consultants who follow or contest the predictions, hesitate, or show wisdom or impiety.”

Other accounts show that some diviners enjoyed a status comparable to high officials. The function was hereditary, and it happened that a father and his son officiated together during the same consultation. In one account the prince of Teng, during a quarrel with another prince of the same rank over relative position, finally won the argument when he claimed to be descended from a line of diviners which went back to the Western Zhou.”

When a conflict is apparent between a diviner and a counselor, preference always goes to the latter.” “This faculty of foreknowledge is not presented in the texts as coming from some sort of intuition or divine inspiration, but from careful observation of human behavior and moral standards. In this sense, the criticism introduced by the speeches of the counselors shows a tendency towards a rationalized practice of divination. Claudia Moatti, La raison de Rome. Naissance de l’esprit critique à la fin de

la République (Paris, 1997), p. 178, notes similar developments in Rome at the end of the Republic: <What is at work in the distinction between divination and religion, is in fact the work of Reason over tradition.>”

In the light of the archaeological contexts in which the divination records were discovered, consultation of the oracles seems to have been widespread above all among the noble lineages and high officials of the kingdom. By contrast, the hemerological miscellanies from Jiudian and the majority of the daybooks [livros de ritos e sacrifícios] from the Qin and Han tombs belonged to magistrates of more modest rank or to local administrators.”

Marc Kalinowski, “Fonctionnalité calendaire dans les cosmogonies anciennes de la Chine,”Études chinoises 23 (2004)

It is interesting to note that in the divinations concerning illness—where the religious context is most apparent—the rites for elimination of curses proposed by the diviners are always contested, as if there was a determination openly displayed here by the narrator to encourage the abandonment of these practices.” “The negative bias with regard to sacrificial practices which is evident in all these texts was largely shared by the educated elite of the 4th century and, as Henri Maspero has shown, is a reflection of the impact of the religious crisis caused by the slow disintegration of the political regime created by the Western Zhou and the resultant decline of the lineage and territorial cults which assured its cohesion.” “the emphasis on the predictive function of divination is a clear indicator of a change in the very understanding of mantic activity, the finality of which is no longer to gain the goodwill of the ancestors and the gods or implore their favors by rites of prayer and offerings, but to banish doubts, legitimize decisions and, in the final analysis, to use the future as they used the past. It is, incidentally, in the Commentary that the first stirrings of a philosophical approach to the idea of individual fate may be found. The accounts of predictions contained in the work will serve as a point of reference in later debates on historical determinism and the predictability of future events and human destiny.”

Sun Xiaochun & Jacob Kistemaker, The Chinese sky under the Han. Constellating stars and society (Leiden, 1997)

THE IMAGE AND STATUS OF SHAMANS IN ANCIENT CHINA

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FU-SHIH LIN (trans. John Lagerwey & Mu-chou Poo)

But today’s shamans are thoroughly benighted: where is their luminous intelligence? What laws do they follow? Orthodox gods do not descend. Befuddled by illicit ghosts, they covet material goods and so cheat gods and men and cause this Way to be extinguished. How distressing!” Zhouli, Shisanjing zhushu Apud Taibei, 1981.

The word <hills> refers to the unfortunate dead, but people don’t like to use the word <unfortunate dead>. When shamans and invocators identify this god as Lishan (Shennong), are they not in error?”

At the end of the Eastern Han shamans were no longer capable of ordering <orthodox gods> (zhengshen) to descend or possess them. That is, the orthodox gods did not descend for them, and they only sacrificed to the ghosts of the unfortunate dead, who had become the focus of <illicit cults> (yinsi) outside the state <register of sacrifices> (sidian).”

from what time did the shamans who had enjoyed such high respect lose their status? How can we determine this? Second, is the collapse of their status due to their loss of technical competence and their moral corruption? If so, what factors led to this situation? (…) Indeed, already at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century, shamanism had attracted the attention of the academic world, although it was not until the last 10 to 20 years that this interest came to be widely shared.”

Early studies relied almost entirely on the written records. But as archaeological materials have grown daily more abundant, studies based on iconography and sacrificial vessels have been made.”

Some studies have looked at shamanism from a different perspective, such as that of gender and female shamanism, for example. Others have explained the character wu itself, or have analyzed myths and legendary persons connected with shamanism, or have analyzed the relationship between shamanism and Daoism.”

scholars have not come to any consensus on the role played by shamans in the formation of ancient Chinese society and civilization, nor on their social and political status. By using both textual and archaeological materials and the results of previous studies, selecting those which are the most credible, this chapter will analyze the social image of shamans in early Chinese society and try to discover the reasons for the changes in their social and political status from the pre-Qin through the Han.”

Then came the decadence of Shaohao, when the Nine Li disrupted government; people and gods commingled, and things no longer stayed true to category. Everyone made sacrifice, there were shamans (wu) and scribes (shi) in every family, and there was no sincerity. Although people exhausted themselves in sacrifice, they had no well-being. Sacrifices were not measured, and gods and people occupied the same positions. People recklessly made sworn alliances that were utterly without authority. The gods imitated the people and had no measure in their behavior. Good things did not descend, and there was nothing to offer in sacrifice. Catastrophes multiplied, and no one lived out his life. When Zhuanxu received the Mandate, he ordered the southern rector Zhong to take charge of heaven in order to organize the gods, and he ordered the northern rector Li to take charge of earth in order to organize the people. He made all return to the ancient norm, when there was no mutual intrusion. This is what is meant by <breaking off communication between earth and heaven> [a good thing].”Discourses of the states

most scholars do agree that Guan Shefu is describing 3 phases in the development of religion in ancient China. Be that as it may, Guan Shefu’s answer is an excellent expression of the increasingly mature and ever-more dominant humanistic mentality of the late Spring and Autumn period.”

Because the people had many diseases, the Yellow Emperor appointed Shaman Xian to bathe and fast in order to open the 9 orifices, to beat the drum and strike the bell so as to excite the heart and exercise the body, to make steps in order to stir up the energies of yin and yang, and to drink ale and eat scallions in order to remove blockages in the 5 viscera. Because he beat the drum and hollered in order to drive out pestilence and the drought demon, the people, in their ignorance, thought it was the drought demon who was causing trouble.”

<…there are old perverse energies which linger without breaking out. Then the mind has something it hates, and then again something it desires. Within, his blood and energy are in disorder, and yin and yang attack each other. It comes out of nowhere and is invisible and inaudible, so it seems it is ghosts or gods.> The Yellow Emperor said: <Then why do you just use incantations?>Qibo replied: <The shamans of old, because they knew how each form of illness triumphed, knew ahead of time where the illness would come from, so an incantation sufficed.>”

Sima Qian is here giving the names of all the great specialists of astrology in the pre-Qin period. Among them, we find Shaman Xian as the representative of the Shang dynasty. Indeed, from the Han through the Tang, Shaman Xian was the name of a major book on astral divination cited and studied by astrologers.”

Victor Mair, tr., Wandering on the Way: early Taoist tales and parables of Chuang Tzu (New York, 1994)

To rely on myths and legends to prove that shamans were a part of the ruling class in ancient China may not be sufficient to convince people. But for the Shang and Zhou, we have fairly complete evidence. In the Shang, the word wu appears frequently in the oracle bones. Written in the bones, it has 6 different meanings: divination; a kind of sacrifice, like the <oriented sacrifice> (fangsi) or the <sacrifice from afar> (wangsi); the name of a state; a place name; the name of a god; a person with a special status or function (referred to below as a shaman).”

It is worth noting that the Shang could, on occasion, use the shaman as sacrificial victim. Because of this, some scholars speculate that their status was low, but others think, on the contrary, that this is proof for the idea of a shaman-king. In short, we have no real way of knowing whether the shaman in the oracle bones was, as many scholars think, the king or a central member of the ruling class, or whether he was someone of low estate and plebeian functions. Still, in a society and a ruling class where gods and ghosts were worshipped, where everything required asking the gods and divining, and where great significance was attached to sacrifice and exorcism, it seems not very credible that the shaman was of little importance.”

At the very least, it seems certain that, throughout the Zhou dynasty, there must have been shaman officials and official shamans in the feudal system. By <shaman officials> I mean officials who were in charge of shamanic affairs, and by <official shamans> I mean they were a part of the <official structure>, or that in the ruling circles there were shamans who had particular functions and responsibilities.”

Is the maker of arrows really more unfeeling than the maker of armour? The maker of arrows is afraid lest he should fail to harm people, whereas the maker of armour is afraid lest they should be harmed. The case is similar with the shaman and the coffin-maker. For this reason one cannot be too careful in the choice of one’s calling. Shamans wish to save people with incantations, while coffin makers, when they make caskets, want to sell them as quickly as possible, so it is in their interest that people die.”

In the time of Marquis Wen of Wei, Ximen Bao was prefect of Ye. When he went to Ye, he met with the elders and asked them what the people suffered from. The elders said: <They suffer from having to provide a wife for the Lord of the River. That is why they are poor.> When Bao asked why, they said: <The district elder (sanlao) and inspector (tingyuan) tax the people yearly and collect from them millions. They use 200,000 to 300,000 to find a wife for the Lord of the River, and the rest of the money they divide between themselves and the shamans and invocators. The shamans look for and then betroth a pretty girl from a low-class family, saying she will become the wife of the Lord of the River. They wash her, make new clothes of silk for her, and then have her retire to fast. On the banks of the river they prepare a fasting palace, with a curtain of red silk within which the girl is placed. For 10-odd days they provide her beef and ale. They make her up with powder and prepare for her a wedding bed which, having had her to sit on it, they set afloat on the river. At first it floats, but after some distance, it sinks. Families with pretty daughters, fearing lest they be taken for the Lord of the River, flee afar with their daughters. As this has gone on for a long time, the city has grown ever emptier and poorer. The people have a saying: ‘If we do not find a wife for the Lord of the River, his waters will inundate us, and we will drown.’>

(…)

Bao looked at her and said to the district elder, the shamans, and the local elders: <This woman is not pretty. Let the chief shaman enter and report to the Lord of the River that we must search out a prettier girl, whom we will escort later.> Then he had his clerks and soldiers pick up the chief shaman and throw her in the river. Some time thereafter, he said: <How is it the shaman is taking so long? Let one of her disciples go get her!> They threw a disciple in the river. After another while, he said: <Why is the disciple taking so long? Let another disciple go fetch her!> When they had thrown a second and then a third disciple into the river, Ximen Bao said: <The shaman’s disciples are all women and are incapable of making the report. Let the district elder go make the report.> They threw the district elder in the water. Ximen Bao stood by looking at the river for a long while, reverently waiting. The local elders and clerks looking on from the side were all terrified. Ximen Bao turned to them and said: <The shaman and the district elder have not come back. What shall we do?> (…) The clerks and people of Ye were all terrified, but from that time on no one dared bring up the idea of finding a bride for the Lord of the River.”

The first person in the record to have looked down on shamans or to have expressed his doubts about their techniques would seem to be the grand officer of Lu, Zang Wenzhong (Duke Xi 21, 639 BC):

<Put in good repair your walls, the inner and the outer; lessen your food; be sparing in all your expenditure. Be in earnest to be economical, and encourage people to help one another—this is the most important preparation. What have the shaman and the deformed person to do with the matter? If Heaven wish to put them to death, it had better not have given them life. If they can really produce drought, to burn them will increase the calamity.> The duke followed his advice; and that year the scarcity was not very great.”

The fact this scripture speaks of a foolish woman means this is a latter-day shaman. This is no longer the shaman whose spirit was focused.”

The way of Heaven is distant, that of humans near. How can we know what we cannot reach? How does Zao know the way of Heaven? Given how much he talks, is it surprising he is credible on occasion?” Zuozhuan

<How wrong my lord is! Kings in antiquity relied on the solidity of their virtue to bring peace to the world and on the capaciousness of their actions to embrace the multitudes. The feudal lords honored them as their overlord, and the people adhered to them as to their own parents. That is why heaven and earth were in harmony and the 4 seasons came in order and why the stars, the sun, and the moon followed their circuits without disorder. Solid virtue and capacious actions make one the mate of heaven, in the image of the seasons, and then one becomes the sovereign of sovereigns and the lord of the bright spirits. In antiquity, lords did not act carelessly and multiply sacrifices, nor take their own person lightly and rely on shamans. With a government in disorder and behavior that is vulgar, do you think to seek out the luminous virtue of the Five Emperors? Do you think that by spurning the worthy and employing shamans you can seek sovereignty for your person? Merit with regard to the people is not easily won, nor does good fortune descend readily: do you not think it will be difficult to become the sovereign of sovereigns? Alas! Your position is loft y but your theories are lowly.> (…) <That you believed him and are at fault domestically is a lack of knowledge; to send him away to another feudal lord abroad is a lack of humanity. Please have the shaman of Chu go east and Yukuan imprisoned.> The duke consented.” Yanzi chunqiu

Making music is wrong! How do we know that this is so? The proof is found among the books of the former kings, in Tang’s Code of Punishment, where it says: <Constant dancing in the palace—this is the way

of shamans! As a punishment, gentlemen shall be fined two measures of silk.” Mozi xiangu

Shamans, invocators, astrologers, and observers of ethers must make positive statements to the people and report their prayers to the defenders. The defenders know only that they have prayed. The shamans and observers of ethers must not foolishly make negative statements that frighten the people. Those who do must be judged without mercy” Antes Tartufos que Padres.

If the enemy comes from the east, meet him at the eastern altar. The altar is 8 feet high, and the hall has 8 sealed entries. 8 persons aged 80 preside over the sacrifice with green flags. There are 8 green gods 8 feet tall, 8 crossbows that let the arrows fly 8 times. Vestments must also be green, and the sacrificial victim a cock . . . Relocate (inside the city) the houses and various important sites of worship that are outside the city. When the numinous shamans pray there, supply the sacrificial victims.”

While defending the city against an enemy, then, shamans must be fully controlled and utilized, to pray to the gods, help calm the people and excite the army’s ardor. (…) In a time when wars were frequent, Mo’s ideas were probably welcome to leaders and the military class.” “Mozi repeatedly attacked the idea that there were no ghosts and told many <ghost stories> in order to prove their existence.”

The techniques of black magic in which shamans excelled were much feared, and there was worry shamans could use these techniques to deceive the good people and disrupt the political order. For these reasons, some advocated forbidding them. When the <black magic calamity> broke out during the reign of Han Wudi and led to official action, a basic change occurred in the political and social standing of shamans.”

Although their rank and salary is not recorded, given the fact their office of sacrifices belonged in the Western Han to the chamberlain for ceremonials (outer court, officials of the court), their salary and rank must have been like that of 600 bushel officials. In the Eastern Han, their salary was still 600 bushels, but they were transferred to the domestic treasury (inner court, palace officials). This transfer suggests the role of the shamans in state sacrifices was even less important than in the Western Han.”

Craftsmen, doctors, shamans, diviners, invocators, and other specialists, as well as merchants and shopkeepers, whether living in the merchants’ quarter, in residential neighborhoods, or in hostels, had each to report his business to the office of the local magistrate. Their capital having been set aside, their profit was calculated and divided into 11 parts, with one part going for tribute. Those who dared not to report or did not report in accord with the facts had everything confiscated and had to do labor service for the magistrate for a year.”

The most important paths to officialdom in the Han were being the son of an official, purchase of office, being the disciple of an academician, special summons, selection after scrutiny and examinations. Recommendation categories included <worthy and excellent>, <straightforward and upright> and many more. Of these various paths to officialdom, the most common in the early Western Han were being the son of an official and purchase of office. From the mid-Han on, it gradually became recommendations for <knowledge of the Classics> (jingshu), <special summons> (pizhao) and being <filial and incorrupt> (xiaolian). In the Eastern Han, annual recommendations for this last category were the most important, followed by special summons and being the son of an official.”

In the Eastern Han, literati became the core of the bureaucracy, together with scribes. Once this was the case, the literati came naturally to have considerable power to manipulate recommendations. Whether it involved examinations or special summons, the literati systematically chose their own kind and rejected others. Under these circumstances, whatever was not in accord with what the Confucian Classics and theories required came to be viewed as <heterodox> and was rejected or attacked, or at the very least looked down on.”

It is popular to prettify fabrications and act falsely and serve as shaman and invocator for the people in order to earn some pay . . . Some become rich through their profession, which is why lazy people study with them and there are shamans on every street and invocators in every ward.”

Being proud and discoursing unreasonably is one incurable disease, looking lightly on one’s person while valuing wealth is a second, and incapacity to adapt to food and clothing a third. When yin and yang come forth together and the energies of the viscera are unstable, this is the fourth incurable disease; being weak but unable to take medicine is the fifth; and trusting shamans rather than physicians is the sixth. Whoever has one of these problems is most difficult to cure.” Shiji

The phrase <shamans drumming> is commented on by Li Kui as referring to <wild talk>: <wild talk harms truth; it is worse than saying nothing.> Thus <shamans drumming> is a metaphor for wild and empty theories, and is tantamount to criticizing shamans for being untrue and useless.”

People nowadays believe in sacrifices . . . Rather than improving their behavior, they enrich their incantations. Rather than being respectful to those above, they fear ghosts. Death and calamity they attribute to demonic attack, saying the curse has not yet entirely succeeded. When afflicted by a demonic attack, they sacrifice. When calamities pile up, they attribute it to the fact they were not reverent in their sacrifices. As for exorcisms, they are of no use; sacrifices are of no help; and shamans and invocators are powerless.” Wang Chong, Lunheng

If to cure illness, real ginseng was needed but one takes radish instead, or if ophiopogon was needed but one takes steamed millet instead—if one does not know what the real thing is and compounds and eats the fake drug instead, the sickness will grow worse. Not knowing one has been cheated, one says the recipe was no good and drugs are of no use in curing the illness. Th en one rejects drugs and dares not drink them but instead goes looking for a shaman, even if the result is death.” Wang Fu, Qianfu lun

Nowadays, many women have abandoned domestic chores and have stopped caring for silkworms and weaving to learn how to shamanize and invoke, to play the drums and dance in the service of the gods. Thus do they cheat the little people and confuse them”

The concepts of yin, yang and the five agents were quite current in the Han, so we may suspect that it was because Gong Chong’s book was full of <sayings of the shamans> that the authorities considered it mad. Later, under Huandi (r. 147–67), Xiang Kai presented the book again, and again it was not accepted. According to Fan Ye’s account, in the year 166, because <the eunuchs dominated at court and punishments were excessive, heir-apparents died one aft er the other, and catastrophes and bizarre events occurred in number,> Xiang Kai sent in a memorial in which he again promotes the Taiping qingling shu, saying it can enable the emperor to <make the country flourish and ensure many heirs.> But the chancellor memorialized as follows:

Xiang Kai uses unorthodox words to speak of important matters. His analyses break the law and contravene classical knowledge (jingyi). He relies falsely on the stars and the gods to invent ideas that fit his personal fancies, and he misleads the sovereign with lies. Please hand him over to the police, have him officially charged with a crime and sent to the Luoyang prison.

Shamans and invocators who invoke the ghosts and gods in order to terrorize ignorant people were all to be tried and convicted. Anyone who butchered an ox was to be punished immediately . . . The practices subsequently ceased.”

But what worried the rulers most was perhaps the fact that shamans could cheat and confuse the people and engender panic, doubt and disorder. From the point of view of intellectuals or officials, not only could shamanic activities waste the people’s wealth and mislead them with regard to their health, they could also be the cause of crowds gathering and causing trouble, disturbing the public order or even threatening the government. Nor was this worry utterly without foundation, because from the time of the Wang Mang interregnum (9–23 AD) to the end of the Eastern Han, there were many incidents of <perverse bandits> (yaozei) revolting, among them cases in which shamans participated in or led the organizations.”

Apart from outright violence and revolt, it was shamanic curses (zhuzu), black magic (wugu), and erotic charms (meidao) that were perceived as threats it was difficult to protect against.”

there was a technique of transferring a curse that was current at the court and among the people. Its basic idea was to use incantations to transfer a misfortune incurred by someone onto another person. The Balanced assessments of Wang Chong provides an example: <Shaman Xian knew how to use incantations to transfer a person’s illness and cure their misfortune.> At the very latest, from the Qin dynasty on the court had an officer who specialized in this kind of <curse transfer> (yanji).”

After Wudi’s death, Xu, like every other prince, had an opportunity to succeed to the throne. Hence, regardless of who was on the throne, Xu had shamans curse and make sacrifices, in the hope that, if the emperor died, he might succeed him. This is a classic example of how the Han feudal princes used shamanic curses to try and seize power.”

Regardless of whether Liu Yun and his queen really had employed the shaman Fu Gong and the concubine Hehuan to curse Aidi, the emperor and his courtiers believed the emperor’s illness to be the result of black magic. So when the finger was pointed at Liu Yun, the accusation was readily believed. Moreover, Liu Yun really had employed shamans.”

There is also so-called <black magic>. Because of the name of this technique, scholars have long misunderstood it to involve <poisoning> of the kind that was current in the southwest border regions during the Wei and the Jin. That these are not identical methods may be seen from the law code drawn up by Cui Hao on behalf of Shizu (r. 424–51) around the year 430:

In cases of poisoning, both the men and women involved were to be beheaded and their homes burned down. In cases of black magic, a goat was attached to their back, and they were drowned in a pit.

Wugu involves incantations, while gudu involves actual poison, usually derived from insects or snakes.”

During the reign of Wudi, in the years 92–90 BC, a series of cases of black magic occurred in the context of a wide-reaching political struggle. Wudi’s biography in the Hanshu gives a detailed account of the events, which caused the death of several tens of thousands of people. The persons involved included the empress, the heir apparent, princesses, the prime minister and the famous general Li Guangli. It is fair to say that few other political incidents in the Han dynasty involved such highly placed individuals.”

black magic is in fact not very different from cursing. It just adds the burial of puppets.”

He arbitrarily arrested and interrogated the culprits, using a red hot iron to cauterize them and forcing them to submit. People then falsely accused each other of the crime of witchcraft, and officials arbitrarily charged people with the crime of treason. Several tens of thousands were implicated and put to death.”

For months now I have been eating once a day: how could I listen to music? . . .”

Finally, there is <the way of seduction> (meidao). Some think this refers to the arts of the bedroom (fangzhong shu), others that it is female black magic which <could cause someone to lose favor and meet misfortune, or gain favor and fortune.> These two explanations are not in complete contradiction, but what really counts is that the nucleus here, too, is incantations”

Jealous, she strangled over 40 concubines and broke off and stole the arms and legs of firstborns to use in the way of seduction. Someone reported this in a memorial to the throne, and the judgment was execution in the marketplace.”

Empress Dou was highly favored, but because the Song sisters were both favored by the emperor and the elder Madame Song’s son Qing was heir apparent, Empress Dou was full of hate and plotted with her mother, Lady of Biyang, to ensnare Madame Song . . . Later, in the gate of the side courts they intercepted a letter written by Madame Song. It said: <I am ill and would like to have fresh rabbit; let family members go get one.> They then falsely accused her of wishing to engage in black magic cursing, with the rabbit being the means to do it. Day and night they slandered her until the emperor gradually distanced himself from mother and child.”

Once the imperial system had come into being, shamans fell into the lower classes and found it very difficult to recover their former glory.”

THE SUBJECT AND THE SOVEREIGN: EXPLORING THE SELF IN EARLY CHINESE SELF-CULTIVATION

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ROMAIN GRAZIANI

The essence of classical metaphysics revolves around the question: how is true knowledge possible? Plato’s concept of psyche, Aristotles’ noos, Descartes’ res cogitans, or Kant’s transcendental subject were all posited in order to answer this fundamental question of true knowledge.”

Contrasting with the theoretical question of knowledge, the way of ethics explores the construction—but, as we will see below, also the dissolution— of the self.” Subestimação da filosofia de Platão.

Many texts pertaining to the so-called philosophical traditions have been read over the course of the past decades in the light of new material discovered in tombs. These materials confirm and strengthen the ties between philosophical speculation and concrete practices. It should be noted that in many cases manuscripts found in tombs have a higher degree of technicality than the transmitted texts from the same period.”

Mark Csikszentmihàlyi, Material virtue. Ethics and the body in early China

Historians also keep reminding us that an absolute beginning is never to be found anywhere. There is certainly a prehistory of self-cultivation practices in archaic China, or during the Spring and Autumn period. Unfortunately, what we know about it is most incomplete.” “Furthermore, the meaning of many key terms is often hard to interpret and remains subject to conflicting interpretations by modern scholars.”

The thorough study of all these contextual features is a Herculean undertaking which would require far more than a single monograph. But we must admit at the outset that far too little is known about the uses of these texts or the extent of their influence on society.”

For a general overview, accessible to non-specialists, of the reasons for this disregard and the importance of archeological discoveries in recent decades as well as questions pertaining to labeling philosophical schools, see the work of Harold Roth, Original Tao: <Inward training> (Nei-yeh) and the foundations of Taoist mysticism (New York, 1999); see in particular the introduction and chap. 5.”

Self-cultivation is furthermore an expression that may appear vague and too broad. Linguistically, it has, however, precise counterparts in primary sources, with a set of equivalent expressions using the term xiu (to care for, to work on, to cultivate) and/or yang (to nourish, to nurture), in combination with shen (the self, or the body), xin (the heart/mind) or xing (the physical <form> or appearance). In its more general aspect, or if we try to take stock of its variable forms, self-cultivation consists of voluntary, personal, self-initiated practices that aim at moral achievement, cognitive enlightenment, vital flourishing, long life or immortality but also, and not infrequently, undisputed political domination. From a more negative standpoint, we can view the development of these practices in the context of kingdoms plagued by wars and daily violence, in an atmosphere of threats and dangers where the need to preserve oneself from natural catastrophes and political violence became a prominent concern. Self-cultivation is not so much focused on a theoretical doctrine as on the realization of a certain way of life and takes into account components of human experience of universal significance: hunger, disease, desire, death, the need for physical security and peace of mind, or the grounds for virtuous action. Some, like the various authors of the Zhuangzi, conceived ways not to fear death, disease or physical accidents; others sought ways to avoid death by a process of transformation leading to the production of a body impervious to decay and extinction.(*) Such attitudes, partly derived from ancient religious behavior, significantly patterned the development of Daoism during the Han dynasty.

(*) A practice later called shijie <liberation from the dead body,> documented among others in the Biographies of arrayed immortals (Liexian zhuan), it is also called qing shen <lightening the body.>”

They imply a constant effort of the will until natural spontaneity takes over partial ways of responding and acting. Self-cultivation thus presupposes without explicitly stating it a deep faith in human moral liberty and in the possibility of perfecting oneself. (…) Many of these texts are, above all, concerned with a form of asceticism which bears a certain similarity to Stoicism(*) though it must be noted that beyond this distant similarity, the Greek and Chinese approaches remain fundamentally distinct and rely on diverging assumptions.

(*) Both aspire to a spiritual sovereignty freed from individuality, identify the principle of the genesis of all things with a material element, the original cosmic breath, in the perspective of a dynamic conception of nature, and locate the organ of thought in the breast.”

A simple clod of earth never loses the Way” Shen Dao

This almost transcendent norm serves to express the possibility in everyone to gain an enlightened or ecstatic apprehension of the world, in a way that has often been seen by modern scholars as a religious or mystical experience. One of our working hypotheses, which finds its more manifest confirmation in Han Feizi’s Daoist-rooted doctrine, is that each consistent conception of the sage elaborated in a given society develops in direct interaction with a certain view of rulership, and that the manner in which the full grasp of one’s inner self is described displays similar features to the optimal efficiency of political power. In other words, the way a man is supposed to experience full possession of his inner reality and to fully develop his nature offers a paradigm which influences and is in turn influenced by the shaping of the political landscape and the nature of kingship. This is obviously the case in early China, and we shall first focus on the way the inner self was discovered, described and debated by early literati. We will explore the psycho-physiological discourses at the heart of the representations of human life in order to understand the development of a theory of sovereignty that played a pivotal role in the ideological creation of imperial China during the Warring States.”

If meditative practice stands at the core of the most interesting early sources of self-cultivation, we should note that meditation can take many forms according to the various textual traditions. Some resemble Hellenistic and Roman practices such as, in the Confucian tradition, the habit of a daily recounting of one’s behavior to others.”

I continue to use the term Daoism as a pragmatic a posteriori but historically-rooted category, to refer not to an organized school of thought but to authors, texts, milieus and tendencies of the 4th and 3rd centuries BC that all have an air de famille. All consider the Way as a foundational ontological category, as the source of ultimate enlightenment, in opposition to a form of knowledge defined by learning and study, which accepts the paramount value of speech. Daoist discourse is furthermore associated with practices of the self aspiring to vitality, longevity and meditative trance, often discussed in terms of qi, jing and shen, leaving out of primary consideration the patterns of behavior dictated by the sages of the past. No strict borders separate these masters, disciples and textual lineages from the entourage of other circles such as doctors, diviners and magicians. The category <Huang-Lao,> the famous <philosophical football> as Mark E. Lewis astutely puts it in Writing and authority in early China (Albany, 1997), denotes in this chapter texts and authors assuming most of these patterns, but with a strong emphasis on political and administrative concerns rooted in Daoist cosmology.”

In the Zhuangzi, meditation on several key images—concerning the formation and dissolution of things, the alternation of life and death, the underlying unity of all beings, the cosmic contemplation of the vastness surrounding us—triggers the powers of imagination and highlights the insignificance of human existence in the immensity of space and time. Such principles must always be at hand so that they can serve in every circumstance of human life, as exemplified by the facetious character Master Si in chapter 6 <Dazong shi>, who restates them in an extravagant but serene manner on his deathbed.”

Evidence for gymnastic practices in the Warring States is rather scarce, but we have more records for the Qin and Han thanks to recent archeological finds, first in Mawangdui, with the text on bamboo slips <Ten questions> (Shiwen) and a silk manuscript with 44 illustrations of gymnastic movements performed by all kinds of male and female persons of different age, social status and attire, some subtitled with the therapeutical indication associated with the movement performed. In Zhangjiashan (northern Chu), an excavated tomb revealed a <Document of gymnastics> (Yinshu) that comments on gymnastic movements and which we can reasonably date to the beginning of the 2nd century BC. On the tomb site of Fuyang in modern Anhui, dated 165 BC, bamboo slips were found that mention gymnastic practices dealing with the circulation of vital breath. The archeological site of Shuihudi at Yunmeng in modern Hubei also revealed a manuscript in the same vein. While we shall not comment on such practices attested for the Han period, I have little doubt that they already existed in the Warring States. For a detailed analysis and references, see Catherine Despeux, <La gymnastique dao yin dans la Chine ancienne,> in: Études chinoises, 23 (2004), 45–81, and Livia Kohn, <Yoga and Daoyin,> in: L. Kohn ed., Daoist body cultivation. Traditional models and contemporary practices (Magdalena, NM, 2006).”

We shall leave here out of consideration the debate on the authorship of the numerous chapters of the Guanzi. For a survey of this debate, see Allyn W. Rickett, Guanzi. Political, economic, and philosophical essays from early China, vol. 2 (Princeton, 1998), and for the <Xinshu> chapters in particular, Romain Graziani, <De la regence du monde a la souverainete interieure. Une etude des quatre chapitres de ‘L’art de l’esprit’ du ‘Guanzi,’> PhD dissertation (University Paris 7, 2001).”

The first text, <Inward training> (Neiye), which may be considered a, if not the, foundational text of Daoist thought, begins with a discussion of vital energy (qi), the fundamental substance of the universe and constitutive principle of all reality. We can find in this text the principal topics of self-cultivation that will later be developed in Daoist and Confucian schools: 1) the care for one’s life and body (sensory organs, hair, skin, bones and sinews [tendões]); 2) the search for the optimal development of cognitive and perceptive power, where knowledge is not conceived as a positive content of concrete information about objects, but as an optimal alertness of the senses; 3) the cultivation of inner dispositions (attention, quietness, good mood) tied to the study of forms of behavior and external conduct (ritual, poetry and music as regulators of emotions such as anger, worry or excitement); 4) rules for eating and drinking that extend the ideal of the regulation of qi to other specialized organs in the body; 5) returning to one’s inborn nature and the consequent obtainment of a good and pacified heart (shanxin anchu); 6) the ability to speak and act in such a way that all things of their own accord fall into step (as in the Analects, we find elements of magical thought in the asserted ability of the sage to command assent and get things done by his mere charisma and virtue); 7) last, and most importantly, the development of an art of ruling conceived as the natural extension of self-cultivated potency over the world. This point is virtually present in the <Neiye> and in Laozi 8, and fully developed in the <Xinshu shang> and in the <Baixin>, as well as in the <Shuyan>.”

The functions shared between the 9 apertures are divided like the responsibilities incumbent on officials. If the mind keeps with the spontaneous course of nature, the 9 orifices follow the natural principles”

Ainda muito dependentes da CABEÇA. Not quite there!

PARI PASSU HERODOTUS: “These conceptions date from the period when ideas on human physiology began to proliferate in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Phenomena which appear as heterogeneous—streams of thought, bodily strength, physical violence, states of mind, moods or emotions—all stem from one fundamental source, vital energy.”

qi is at once the individual’s vitality, vigor, dynamism, breath, mood and the entirety of his sensory experiences; it is also his aggressiveness as well as his inspiration, sensual desire and mental acumen. (…) Qi is inside and outside the body, and self-cultivation practices work on the best way to regulate and harmonize the intake and outfl ow of this energy.”

The oldest meaning of qi, long before it was defi ned in a cosmological context as the universal fluid, either in its active (yang) or passive (yin) form, was very similar to the Greek word pneuma (wind, breath, air).”

Paul Unschuld has noted that Hippocratic medicine in the 4th century BC in Greece made reference in its inquiries into pathogenic agents in the expression phusai ek ton perittomaston (Φυσαι εκ των περιττματων), which describes precisely the elements which are appropriate to qi, more specifically the fumes which rise from food”

In the Biblical tradition, Yahweh models man with clay and then instills the <breath of life> into his creature’s nostrils; analogous myths were developed in Egypt, Sumer and Greece.”

For a detailed study of the notion of breath in European philosophical and religious traditions, see Gérard Verbeke, L’évolution de la doctrine du pneuma, du stoïcisme à Saint Augustin (Paris, 1945); for a medical approach to the notion of pneuma in the Hellenistic world, see also Armelle Debru, Le corps respirant. La pensée physiologique chez Galien (Leiden, New York, 1996).”

Qi is indeed matter that is always in motion—a principle of motion. In petty men, the qi moves in a chaotic way up and down the body, for they have only deviant qi (xie qi), while the sage, enjoying a regular qi (zheng qi) can follow a straight path.”

MAIS PERTO DA LEI DO ÁTOMO COMO CONCEBIDO NO SÉCULO XX: “The mind-matter coupling of the Cartesian tradition is replaced by another, more relative complementarity, which considers the breath of life as either gross or refined, rough or subtle.”

S. Kuriyama, The expressiveness of the body and the divergence of Greek and Chinese medicine (New York, 2002).

While the term shen originally referred to the manes of the dead, heavenly ancestors, and divinities in a religious context, it gradually came to signify spiritual energy in self-cultivation texts.”

The sage and the cloud are formed by the same essence. This remains the most concise expression of the fundamental substratum of all things and of the continuity between matter and mind. A <material> substance stores in itself a form of energy that can be transformed into something entirely spiritual by proper mental acumen. It is imaginable that Xun Kuang, who on a number of occasions uses the expression Art of the mind (Xinshu) and who spent some of his formative years studying at the Jixia academy, to which he returned for a decade in his maturity as a renowned scholar, around 275–265 BC [quanta precisão!], is harking back to the foundational text, Inward training.”

But how, then, shall we understand the mind? The term xin in Chinese designates a single organ for functions which are generally divided in Western culture between the heart and the mind. It refers to that organ, or rather that sense, through which we conceive and feel at the same time, and pertains as much to the realm of meaning as of emotion. The first consequence of this apparent unity is that the exploration of the self almost never leads to the formulation of an inner conflict (as between reason and feeling, desire and will, the animal and the reasonable parts within us), for xin is as much the faculty which decides as the organ which conforms, as much the command center as the seat of affects.”

We find in early texts persons confronted with contradictory choices, as between filial piety and loyalty [?], but not facing the psychological complexity of inner division between diverging faculties, such as reason and sensibility, rightful moral perception and weakness of the will or impotency in action, such as the attitude epitomized by Mede in Ovid’s Metamorphoses which was to inspire Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Romans: Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor [Vejo as coisas melhores e as aprovo, mas sigo as piores.]

The character facing such a dilemma may even commit suicide so as not to endure the shame and humiliation of not living up to his moral standard, but we never witness the typically Greek tragic essence of one’s inner multiplicity, of rebellious and conflicting feelings, or correct action performed with a sense of frustration (enkrateia in Greek), or the doing of an incorrect thing in spite of good feelings and a knowledge of good principles (akrasia, weakness of the will).” O que você fez foi o que você quis fazer stricto sensu.


ULTRA-REASONING (
KIREN):“This inner task is devoid of references to evil, contamination or fault, and instead focuses on failure or excess. This way of thinking defines a form of self-cultivation in which there is neither a moralistic tone nor the hint of a potential subject.”

CONTRA STIRNER & TUDO QUE VEIO DEPOIS:“ipseity—such as the active reflection upon oneself, the assertive remembrance of one’s thoughts and deeds, the history of one’s emotions, the search for one’s identity, the process of filtering certain representations—are all systematically absent from Daoist self-cultivation texts in the Warring States. The key elements of self-cultivation lend themselves more to a disappearance of the self than to an ipseity.” “Nothing corresponds to the ontological concept of the individual, understood as singular and unique (hic), nor to the psychological concept of the individual as characterized by self-awareness”

Published in 1980, the excavated text Wuxing is a manuscript on silk found amidst a set of other texts on bamboo and silk in the outer coffin of tomb 3 at Mawangdui, Hunan, sealed in 168 BC and found in 1973. In 1993 an older version of the Wuxing, without the partial commentary found at Mawangdui, was found in a tomb near the site of Guodian in modern Hubei province. (…) According to Csikszentmihàlyi, the Wuxing predates the Mencius, and the Mencius predates the commentary to the Wuxing. Since the commentary of this text was probably composed and recopied between 207 and 195 BC, and given the fact the medium on which it was inscribed (long bamboo slips and silk) was a precious one, we may assume it was a quite important text transmitted and discussed throughout the 3rd century”

we seem to always remain in a world where language stands at the periphery of the sage’s concern, as if the world of wisdom in China were fundamentally non-discursive and non-dialectical, and that seems as much the case for the period of the Warring States as for subsequent periods. The extrinsic role of language—when it is not rejected outright as a hindrance—is flagrant in most philosophical texts portraying the sage, whether they be from Ru or from Daoist traditions.”

Confucius’s reticence to speak is well-known and was subtly analyzed by Jean Levi in his biography Confucius (Paris, 2002). One might also make reference in this case to the story of wheelwright Pian [construtor de rodas] in the Zhuangzi, chapter <Tian dao>, who professes to Duke Huan his scorn of writings from the past. For him books are no more than the dregs of the men of old (ZZJS, 13.490–491).”

Nor shall we be able to silence the recurring reproaches and objections raised against Chinese philosophical texts by most Western philosophers, whose analytical minds cannot help but see Chinese texts as fraught with contradictions, deficient in logical rigor, vague to the point of obscurity, and lacking in clear definitions and demonstrations. If early Chinese texts were produced in radically different conditions from those of modern times, it is not only because of the material factor of the medium used to write, which entails its own constraints, but because texts are never really freed from the constraints of orality. Many self-cultivation texts that we label today as philosophical, like the <Art of the mind>, may have been only notes on lectures of the master, or instructions for collective meditation. Even when duly composed, the general movement of thought in these texts, their rhythm, their tempo and temporality, develop according to the standards of oral speech. This is a major constraint, which certainly accounts for many of the features regarded as logical deficiencies in ancient Chinese thought. A text often unfolds according to associations of ideas without any systematic rigor, it eludes and resumes ideas at will instead of exposing them one by one—all features that are typical of speech, even if in written notes it was always possible to optimize the composition, add introductory parts, conclusions, or transitions.”

When someone transcends his own individuality in a superior principle, he is outside language, in the silent processes of the natural order, never in something akin to the Greek logos. The superior form of intelligence or knowledge is an alertness of the sensory apparatus, a faculty of seeing and hearing, far from the conception of thought as an inner and silent dialogue between the mind and itself. Chinese self-cultivation texts are much more inclined to emphasize the limits of language, the weakness of argumentation and the impossibility of imparting the ultimate experience of the spiritual forces that animate the world and which may rest ephemerally within our corporeal form when the latter is made as pure as a sacrificial vessel.”

Marthe Nussbaum, The therapy of desire. Theory and practice in Hellenistic ethics (Princeton, N.J., 1994).

From the standpoint of classical Western philosophy, self-cultivation is merely an art of wisdom or a form of mysticism, in great part because of its non-discursive view of reality.”

He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.”

The great Way has no name. The great debate does not speak”

How can we account for the advocacy of a minimal use of language and the mistrust of speech in early Chinese texts and more particularly in self-cultivation milieus? Underlying some critical statements against language, in the Laozi and the Zhuangzi, we may sense a kind of sociological intuition that language internalizes society’s preferences and traditional values at the expense of a full grasp of things as they genuinely are. From this well-known perspective, language is an instrument in the inculcation of beliefs and behavioral norms, and it accounts for the dichotomies according to which we face the outward world.”

This effort to reconcile the ideas of Daoism with the demands of personal study, noble efforts and a desire to act for the sake of others without reserve, even to the extent of neglecting one’s health and accelerating one’s demise, is nonetheless somewhat paradoxical in a chapter on self-cultivation.”

<The Huainanzi is anxious to dismiss the impression that through wuwei it is recommending disengagement and motionlessness.> Griet Vankeerberghen. What is advocated is selfless agency and not passivity in action.”

The self is regarded as something negative, as a <human construct that bears no relation to the agent’s true nature.>”

Comparing the mind to a mirror implies that external happenings merely graze the surface of the body and never find a way inside. The mirror-like perceptiveness of the mind is not beclouded nor jaundiced by inner moods.” Melhor ser uma esfera maciça de chumbo

reflecting everything without ever being affected by what it reflects.” O que parece o ato da esponja que se tornou descartável, não retentora de nada novo. Velha.

Thinking the thin inking of the inner king of Beijin.

If my mind is regulated, my senses are as well;

If my mind is peaceful, my senses are as well.

What regulates them is the mind;

What appeases them is the mind.

The mind harbors another mind:

Inside the mind there is still another mind.

For this mind within the mind

Thought precedes words.

After thought, dispositions appear;

After dispositions come words.”

When speculation gains in subtlety, clairvoyance increasingly declines (GZJS 13.38.344)”

The almost obsessive reiterations in the <Art of the mind> of the benefits of stillness and peace of mind, the repeated urging to dispel affections and reflections and revert to a state of emptiness, remind us that the <mind within the mind> can only be fully attained by calming our tendency to constantly worry and busy ourselves, to dissipate our focus on the present and rush headlong into the blinding and deafening world of things.”

vacuity is the beginning of all things” (GZJS 13.36.330)

Here we are taking up the concept of intentionality in the phenomenological sense of the word as defined by the Austrian philosopher Franz Brentano (1838–1917), the professor of Husserl and the father of phenomenology (cf. Psychologie von empirischen Standpunkt, Hamburg, 1874 and 1911). It is to Brentano that we owe our modern and now classic formulation of intentionality. This definition would inspire the first phenomenological analyses of Husserl as well as the works of Alexius Meinong and Kasimir Twardowski on the representation of mental objects. It is, of course, this modern meaning of intentionality to which we are referring when we speak of the end of intentional life in order to attain calm in the <Inward training>. Intentionality does not simply have a volitional meaning but makes reference to consciousness of any object, any tension of the mind toward an object of representation. Husserl would then make of intentionality the distinctive property of mental phenomena as opposed to physical phenomena. In the texts of self-cultivation, the mind which lets go of the intentional order and turns its attention toward its very grasping is not a second internal consciousness within the act of grasping physical phenomena (its primary object), nor is it a thinking consciousness which envisions the phenomenal self. It is a fundamental mind which discovers itself as a purely vital activity without any reference to the self.”

we all know a contrario as a universal component of human experience that the increase of fatigue, hunger, weariness, or sensitivity to cold are the natural outcomes of an inconsiderate outflow of qi, caused by strong emotions, strenuous motions or emission of semen.”

If Confucius was said to keep spirits at bay, and if the chapter Chu yu B of the Discourses of the states (Guoyu) attempted to maintain a strict separation through ritual between humans and spirits, the <Inward training> is probably the first text to voice the possibility for humans to equal the divine efficacy of spirits”

The arrival of shen is often associated, in early texts, with a quasi divine clairvoyance or even the magical protection of a force which inhabits us momentarily, that of the ancestor or the dead parent, the spirit of which is hosted by the body”

When one has refined the material principle of one’s activity, one may see clearly through the natural processes and enjoy the same acuity as formless and free-floating beings do. This idea first presented in the <Art of the mind> will gain popularity in texts imbued with Daoist thought and will challenge the traditional monopoly of court diviners and shamans over the spiritual world. The <Inward training> contends that man can avail himself of the powers that defi ne spirits while depriving ritual specialists of their prerogatives and getting rid of the superstition they deliberately maintain.

To summarize Michael Puett’s analysis, these crucial statements in the <Inward training> undoubtedly contributed to a new definition of human beings and of the nature of spirits, as well as to a new understanding of the relations between the two. It provided the matrix for the ongoing debate in the Warring States and the Han on the possibility of self-divinization and therefore deeply shook the religious and political structure advocated by the Ru tradition. It also challenged the Mohist school, which explicitly denied the possibility of humans gaining power from the divine realm.”

The unexpected arrival of the spirit resembles more a sudden intrusion than a calculated effect. Th e contact with invisible powers, even if they become more or less immanent to the human form, is described in terms which recall the Zhou ancestral cults or the spirit’s visitation in the body of a medium who goes into trance.”

The ecstatic trance, the loss of consciousness, and the wandering of the soul do not define here the ultimate spiritual experiences. The powers of the sage are defined according to concurrent paradigms, first that of the center, of a clear vision and internal control. It is this trait which distinguishes the form of self-cultivation promoted by Jixia scholars in the regional culture of Qi from the southern literary culture of Chu adumbrated in the Songs of the South and the Zhuangzi.”

Whereas Western moral philosophy has mainly accounted for recurrent failures in action and irrational behavior by the weakness of the will, many early Chinese texts on self-cultivation, primarily the Zhuangzi, stand for a philosophical position that explains our frustrations and failures by an excess of the will.”

Elster Jon, Sour grapes. Studies in the subversion of rationality (Cambridge,

1983).

The sage can only enjoy in an intermittent way a divine state that ghosts and daemons enjoy permanently. Spiritual energy emerges from within, but the independence and unpredictability of its manifestation, and the intermittent state of mind it sets into motion suggest that it might be understood as if it were an external force.”

When in today’s world a painter declares that he was inspired after a long period of apathy, or if he lightheartedly confesses that he was visited by the muses overnight, he does not claim an attachment to the ancient belief in divine beings which entered the body, possessed it and expressed themselves through the artistic medium. And yet, when we replace outdated terms like muse or daimon with those of inspiration or grace, we continue to speak of this momentary transformation of perceptive powers, of this experience of intensification of the presence of things, as a state caused by something external, as if it came from the outside, as an event.”

But why did Jixia scholars like the authors of the Wuxing and thinkers like Mencius try so hard to associate the sage with a specific external appearance, radiant, sleek, and bright, along the lines of contemporary theories of music and medicine? Contrast this with Socrates’s ugly physical appearance, which is the sanctuary of a beautiful, invisible soul, maliciously discussed by Montaigne in Essais III.12 <De la physionomie>. Such a clear-cut contrast between the look of the body and the nature of the soul cannot be conceived in the self-cultivation texts we examine—aside from Zhuangzi—for ideological reasons and also as a consequence of the continuity between the material body and the inner spirit.”

The shaman was preferably described as a deformed or monstrous being: he is either a midget or a hunchback, as if his physical defectiveness or his infirmity were that which allowed for a <spiritual surplus>.”

The ritual and historical texts also speak of the blind musicians who played an important part at sacrificial rituals, presumably including rain-dances.”

Physical deformity becomes suspect, and is associated with the outcast and shameful condition of amputated men punished by the almighty law.”

Marcel Granet, Danses et légendes de la Chine ancienne (Paris, 1994 repr.)

We know that if Kui appears most frequently as the music master of the wise emperors of the past Shun and sometimes Yao, he is also evoked in other textual sources as a strange one-footed creature. The moral imperative of holding fast to the integrity of the body sanctified by the Confucians was exploited by the Legalists, whose systematized policy of penal mutilation strengthened the ties between outlaws and cripples: every immoral person must become deformed and incomplete. By the complementarity of moral self-cultivation and penal policy, the former producing complete and radiant bodies, the latter mutilated and crippled ones, both Confucianism and Legalism play on the same keyboard of aesthetic values albeit in a different mode.”

The rhetorical confl ation of moral excellence and a physical appearance graced with luster and sleekness seems to have irked the authors of the Zhuangzi more than anyone else. The Zhuangzi not only derides the vanity of technical exercises performed by self-cultivation adepts and the assertive search of immortality that were to become the core of Daoist practices. It also distills its black irony against Confucian self-cultivation, which assumes a necessary tie between moral integrity and physical completeness, and conceives of physical appearance as the radiant expression of inner flourishing, the natural outcome of refined vital breath and essence.”

On the political significance of the deformed bodies and amputated outlaws in the Zhuangzi, see Albert Galvany, <Pensar desde la exclusion: monstruos y seres extraordinarios en le Zhuangzi,> PhD dissertation (University of Granada, 2007).”

The aforementioned chapter portrays among others a character of uncommon ugliness, Ai Taituo, maliciously qualified as e, <ugly, unhealthy, sick, abhorrent>, who nonetheless attracts, fascinates, and seduces anyone who gets acquainted with him. From his person emanates a charismatic aura which makes women fall madly in love with him, to such an extent that they beg their husbands’ permission to leave, for they had rather be one among the many concubines of such a man than the official spouse of another.”

The man who has had his feet cut off in punishment discards his fancy clothes because praise and blame no longer touch him. The chained convict climbs the highest peak without fear because he has abandoned all thought of life and death. These two are submissive and unashamed because they have forgotten other men, and by forgetting other men they have become men of Heaven.”

Indeed I have an idiotic mind, so bare and blank! People are clear and clever, I alone appear confused! People are perceptive and penetrating, I alone am dull and dumb!”

The irony of the Zhuangzi’s lampoons against the pretense of imposing a universal moral and aesthetic norm on human beings, along with an ideologically corresponding form of self-cultivation, can still be savored today as a superb exercise of self-liberation against a refi ned form of political tyranny of the body.”

the Zhuangzi is an exception in many regards, and the way selfcultivation

is viewed or reinvented in its chapters would need a separate study (there is, for instance, the rehabilitation of menial tasks and the valorization of playful activities such as the divine butchering of an ox by the virtuoso cook Ding, the prodigious mental askesis performed by a hunchback from Chu in catching cicadas on a stick or the mystical design of a bell-rack by carpenter Qing).”

Zhuang Zhou and those who continued his writings generally think in terms of living fi gures and do not conceive of wisdom or philosophy without casting a specific character for each particular episode. The sage, in his various guises and multiple manifestations, is always present in the Zhuangzi. We are constantly confronted with him as he acts, speaks, or even blunders before us; these concrete images speak to us as equal human beings, and not as philosophers in search of wisdom or contenders for power.”

We would be wrong to see in the move toward internal pacification a quietist philosophy solely occupied with the search for internal calm and a return to emptiness. If the sage empties his mind of all the inclinations likely to influence him, it is in order to prepare himself for the reception of the spiritual energy which bestows power, mastery and knowledge. Th is power of the mind never serves as a means to know things in themselves, or to contemplate a supreme transcendent being; it is a means to rule, subjugate and grasp the world. The sociological conditions surrounding the practice of speculative thought in ancient China, the prevalence of public forms of writing situated at the crossroads between religious practices and political authority, the fact that most literati rose from social classes which were below that of the high nobility and aspired to the position of minister or high-ranking civil servant (when they were not already part of the sovereign’s intimate circle) might each in their own way account for the omnipresence of the theme of kingship among the learned.”

The king remained the privileged figure of the accomplished man in the Daoist tradition of self-cultivation. This tradition, combining with the Confucian moral reminiscence of the wise sovereigns’ heyday, contributed mightily to the Legalist rethinking of the acquisition and preservation of absolute power concentrated solely in the hands of the king.

Between the noble nostalgia of a golden age where virtuous emperors governed by civilizing their peoples and the messianic dream of restoring unity <under heaven> through the quasi divine powers of the One Man, these philosophical currents redirected the demands of individual self-perfection toward a form of sovereignty and a focus on royal omnipotence. It is in this way that the reflections on self-cultivation never gained their independence, as if the literati of the ancient world had given precedence to the king over the self, and valued subjection over subjectivity.”

ETHICS AND SELFCULTIVATION PRACTICE IN EARLY CHINA

*

MARK CSIKSZENTMIHÀLYI

Yet despite the fact we have all come across cultural parallels that would seem to allow the use of etic categories, the subjectivity inherent in the process of translating between emic and etic categories render such comparative projects suspect in the eyes of many. Indeed, the distinction between these two categories was popularized by cultural anthropologists who drew an analogy between their field and that of linguistics, and its use generally assumes access to native informants whose testimony provides the basis for the emic categories and who test their connection to etic ones. While each passing year witnesses an increase in the textual resources available to students of premodern China, it is safe to speculate that access to native informants will remain in the domain of science fiction for some time to come. Still, it is worth visiting this issue at the outset of a study concerning early China that is predicated on the connection between two terms that do not have unambiguous counterparts in the language of early China: ethics and self-cultivation practice.”

of the different aspects of the contemporary study of morality, certain aspects are more germane to the study of early China than others.”

One reason for the modern turn away from ‘virtue ethics’ theories is that the actual nature of intention is diffi cult to determine for the observer, and even at times for the actor. At a time when the vocabulary of contemporary moral theory includes notions like weakness of will, self-alienation and suspicion, it may be difficult to imagine how ancients could have believed that intentions were transparent enough to be evaluated.”

This essay argues that the vocabulary of ritual performance provided a resource for just such a test of the sincerity of intentions, and that this vocabulary should as a result be seen as an integral part of not only early Chinese moral psychology, but also cultivation practice—here defined as practice or training that alters the actor’s dispositions.”

The domain of this study is the set of pre-imperial texts that focus on 3 types of self-cultivation: 1) those in the ethical discourse that trained readers to develop virtues such as ren (benevolence) and yi (righteousness), 2) those in the physical cultivation discourse that trained readers to strengthen their qi and lengthen their lives, and 3) those in the spiritual cultivation discourse that trained readers to communicate with tian (Heaven, the cosmos) and the spirits in order to receive their blessings.”

“’Virtue ethics’ refers to a theory of morality that emphasizes individual character, in contrast to approaches that emphasize duties (deontology) or the consequences of actions (consequentialism). In Virtue ethics and consequentialism in early Chinese philosophy, Bryan Van Norden argues that early theorists writing in the tradition of Kongzi (he calls this tradition ‘Ruism’) is a virtue ethic, using a definition that has four elements:

(1) an account of what a ‘flourishing’ human life is like, (2) an account of what virtues contribute to leading such a life, (3) an account of how one acquires those virtues, and (4) a philosophical anthropology that explains what humans are like, such that they can acquire those virtues so as to flourish in that kind of life.”

Joel Kupperman, Character (New York, 1991)

When Hu Shi (1891–1962) described his theory of the 3 progressive states of ritual in his 1918 Zhongguo zhexue shi dagang (An outline history of Chinese philosophy), Émile Durkheim’s Elementary forms of religious life had been in print for a scant 6 years. Both works grew out of the background of 19th century evolutionary accounts of religion. Perhaps because of that, they both describe how ceremonies with symbolic importance in a specific religious context gain significance for the broader society as their components become indexed to the values of the collective. This connection between personal ritual performance and social norms is the first of two that are sometimes drawn between ritual practice and moral action, which I will call the ‘social’ ritual-ethical connection.”

Hu described ritual as starting as religious ceremony, (I) going through a stage in which the rules of the ceremony were acknowledged as customary across the society, (II) and ending when rules became aligned with moral principles and thus became subject to modification. (III) Behind this scheme is a commonly accepted early 20th century formula: societies move from (primitive) religion to (civilized) philosophy.”

Herbert Fingarette, Confucius—the secular as sacred (New York, 1972)

So if you think an old embankment dam is useless and destroy it, that will certainly result in flooding and loss, just as if you think the old rites are obsolete and get rid of them, that will certainly result in chaos and disaster.” Confucius

When a lesser person is impoverished, he or she becomes constrained, and when rich, becomes proud. Constraints lead to stealing while pride leads to disorderly behavior. The regulations and patterns of ritual were created based on human affective dispositions, in order to serve as an embankment dam for the people.” Book of Rites

This function of the rites does not construct dispositions, but rather blocks outside factors that might result in their construction. Specifically, wealth leads to a level of satiety that leads to pride, while poverty results in stealing.”

Although the blockage or prevention of disorderly behavior benefits society and gives the individual cognitive space, this is no more than one part or an initial stage of that development.

If participation in ritual limits desires, how does it create dispositions that change behavior? In part by creating new attitudes that filter or replace desires, creating the basis for the development of virtuous dispositions.”

If we were to describe morality as the presence of virtuous dispositions, the innate impulse to reverence would be ‘pre-moral’ because it requires cultivation to be turned into the virtue of ritual propriety. This developmental model is also found in the excavated Wuxing text, which identifies reverence as a stage in the development of ritual propriety.”

?, Reverence: renewing a forgotten virtue (Oxford and New York, 2001)

The gentleman is awed by three things. He is awed by tian’s mandate, he is awed by great people, and he is awed by the words of the sages. A lesser person does not recognize tian’s mandate and so is not in awe of it, he is improperly familiar with great people, and he deprecates the words of the sages.” Lunyu jishi (Beijing, 1996)

It has never happened that a person has reached sincerity but has not moved others. There has never been an insincere person who was able to move others.” Mengzi zhengyi (Beijing, 1996)

Here the efficacy of ritual in producing authentic action may no longer be explained solely as the result of the ‘social’ ritual-ethical connection, but is also a matter of a connection on the level of the individual. Hu Shi’s evolutionary scheme has no place for this phenomenon, because here the relationship between performance and good actions is not created gradually on the level of society, but rather is a physical, material transformation in the body of the individual. A robust account of the relationship between moral action and ritual practice must take into account both its social and individual aspects. This dual aspect is also present for other practices that adopted features of the structure of moral self-cultivation practice.”

It is, of course, possible to view early sexual techniques as teleologically neutral ‘technologies’ that might be used to multiple ends from ensuring off spring to longevity, pleasure, or controlling desires.”

The Cambridge history of ancient China, from the origins of civilization to 221 BC, eds Michael Loewe and Edward Shaughnessy (Cambridge, 1999).

The reduction of desires on the part of the ruler is apparently the ethical justification for the clan’s political authority.” Uma espécie de ‘concentrar toda a libido no exercício do poder’.

Taken together, these references to Pengzu’s methods for reducing desire and cultivating essence are rather different in their immediate goals, but are both programs that promise to adjust the body so that it occupies a new place in the body politic or transforms the body.”

Peter Brown, The body and society: men, women, and sexual renunciation in early Christianity

Sometimes Mars remains in the Heart celestial palace indicating a drought or calamity but not the death of the lord. But since Ziwei did not know this, he saw it as a sign of the disaster of death. He believed the commonplace that ‘reaching sincerity’ stimulated (gan) Mars to lodge among particular stars. It was by coincidence that it left this position on its own, and Duke Jing, on his own, did not die. The world then said that Ziwei’s words were borne out, and that Duke Jing’s sincerity had moved Heaven.” Huang Hui, ed., Lunheng jiaoshi, 4 vols (Beijing, 1990)

Once one communicates with Heaven then one can move the nature of water, wood and stone. How much the more so someone made of blood and qi? For all those who work at persuasion and governing, nothing is as good as sincerity.” Chen Qiyou, ed., Lüshi chunqiu xin jiaoshi

Correspondences such as those between ethical categories and the body were an important part of physiology outside of China, too. The system of the Greek physician Galen (129–200) related the 3 systems based in the liver and veins, heart and arteries, and brain and nerves to the soul’s nutritive, vital and sensitive spirits, respectively. Like correspondences were an important part of Medieval and Renaissance medicine”

O. Tempkin, Galenism: rise and decline of a medical philosophy (Ithaca, 1973).

Wayne Meeks, The origins of Christian morality (New Haven, 1993), p. 131. Some contend that an important difference between the Christian and the early Chinese picture is the presence of a naturalized Heaven in China. But this also appears at times in the Christian tradition. John Philoponus, a 6th century Alexandrian Christian, attacked the prevalent idea that the heavens were divine, and argued that both the heavens and the earth were equally divine creations.”

It is striking that ritual is central to Ruism yet almost absent from the Aristotelean and Platonistic versions of virtue ethics.” Van Norden

THE MITHOLOGY OF EARLY CHINA

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MARK EDWARD LEWIS

This chapter surveys early Chinese ‘mythology’, a vexed term which will require a brief discussion prior to the body of the work. Th is is a topic that did not exist prior to the 20th century, because the very notion of a ‘mythology’ did not emerge within China, but was imported from the West. Only under the impact of Western social sciences did the Chinese become convinced that they, too, had a mythology and then begin the search to recover it. Consequently, many of the studies of the topic have begun with the assertion that the singular lack of early Chinese myths is a phenomenon that requires explanation, even while producing massive articles and books that sort through substantial amounts of material.”

The systematic study of Chinese mythology, or perhaps we should say its invention, began with the critical assault on accounts of the Golden Age of the sage kings in high antiquity. These accounts, elaborated in the Eastern Zhou and early imperial periods, had served as the model of an idealized ancient world that underpinned the imperial system. The attack on this tradition had begun with Qing dynasty textual criticism, which demonstrated that several of the classics and related texts were later forgeries.”

The full assault on the glorification of antiquity began with the group around Gu Jiegang (1893–1980) who produced the multi-volume Critiques of ancient history (Gushi bian) between 1926 and 1941. Inspired by Hu Shi’s call to use the vernacular language and associated popular culture as a means of creating a strong Chinese nation, Gu Jiegang had begun his career in association with the Folklore Movement. However, he approached folklore from a historical point of view, hoping to use materials gathered in the countryside to critically re-think the Chinese past in order to assist its future. This early turn to folklore, while not crucial to Gu’s work, is of significance for the history of myth studies in China.”

Arguing through detailed textual criticism that all the texts which provided the basis for Chinese accounts of high antiquity were written after the fall of the Western Zhou (771 BC), he drew two crucial conclusions. First, the entire history of China’s high antiquity was spurious. Second, and more important both for him and us, while the ‘fraudulent’ texts told us nothing about the truth of the ancient past, they were invaluable as sources for the periods that produced them. By working through the sequence in which the texts emerged, and the issues with which they dealt, the critical historian could shed new light on the concerns, values and conduct of the intellectuals of the Warring States and early empires. On the basis of these insights the contributors to Critiques systematically dismantled the genealogy of the early sage kings and the assorted stories dealing with their deeds.”

Lawrence Schneider, Ku Chieh-kang and China’s new history: nationalism and the quest for alternative traditions (Berkeley, 1971), ch. 4–5.

Hung Chang-tai, Going to the people: Chinese intellectuals and folk literature (Cambridge, Mass., 1985).

Thus one of Gu’s great discoveries was that the later a text was composed, the earlier was the supposed career of its leading figure, and the more detailed and fabulous were the narratives. The later genealogy of the sage kings began with the Yellow Emperor, passed through Yao and Shun, to be followed by Yu the flood-tamer and finally the kings of the Shang and the Zhou. However, the earliest texts, such as the Book of songs (Shijing), mentioned only Yu, while Yao and Shun were not mentioned until the later chapters of the Book of documents (Shangshu), and the Yellow Emperor was not mentioned until texts from the late Warring States. Second, and more important, in the earlier texts Yu appeared as a powerful spirit, while over time he was progressively humanized. (One must note here that Gu’s argument hinged on the exclusion of less canonical works from the later period, such as the Classic of mountains and seas [Shanhai jing].) This led Gu and his followers to hypothesize that the early sage kings had originally been gods or powerful spirits, frequently attributed to specific regional and even non-Han traditions, who had been transformed into humans by rationalist scholars seeking ancient precedents for their own intellectual programs. These ideas were given their most thorough elaboration in Yang Kuan’s monumental Introduction to the ancient history of China (Zhongguo shanggu shi daolun), which, as the final volume of the Critiques, reworked virtually the entirety of China’s accounts of its high antiquity into tales—often regional in origin—of assorted nature deities and animal spirits.”

Even as the authors of the Critiques were unmasking a world of ancient regional gods and myths hidden by the intellectual programs of the early Confucians, a handful of leading Western scholars were developing similar lines of argument. In his ‘Légendes mythologiques dans le Chou King’, Henri Maspero used modern ethnographic accounts of myths collected in France’s Southeast Asian colonies to argue that the accounts of Yao, Shun and Yu were derived from early creation myths in which the sage kings had originally figured as gods. Two years later Marcel Granet published Danses et légendes de la Chine ancienne, which remains in many ways the single most brilliant work written on Chinese myth.”

Subsequent studies in China, the West and Japan have become empirically much richer, but in terms of providing insight into early China or its myths they have gone little beyond these pioneers. In 1942 Wolfram Eberhard published the 2 volumes of Lokalkulturen im alten China. With an approach stemming largely from the traditions of folklore, he collected textual and modern versions of tales which he assembled into clusters based on their regional distribution. In this way he sought to reconstruct the diverse ethnic and regional cultures which had combined to form China. However, his decision to bring together versions from across the full sweep of Chinese history renders the work of limited utility for the study of early myths.”

First, modern ethnological studies had invalidated the old argument of Euhemerus that gods were originally human heroes. Second, the date at which a story is first recorded cannot be treated as the date of its origin. Long-existent traditions may be set down relatively late.”

With the exception of a brief but useful essay by Derk Bodde—which sketches the problems in studying early Chinese myths, cites his leading predecessors and studies the major etiological myths—all subsequent overarching works on Chinese mythology are compendia of varying thoroughness.”

Finally, Anne Birrell has likewise done a translation of the Mountains and seas and a thematically organized compendium of Chinese myths.” Cf. Anne Birrell, Chinese mythology: an introduction (Baltimore, 1993).

One point that unites all approaches to Chinese myth is the conviction that those who transmitted them to us were attempting to hide or eliminate them. In the case of Gu Jiegang and his followers this was part of a conscious political critique of the imperial heritage grounded in the tales of the sage kings. By showing how these were inventions of rationalizing Confucians, the Critiques group created the possibility of recasting tales of early China as a ‘national’ mythology in the manner that had become essential to nationalisms in Europe. However, it is notable that they did not actually attempt such a national mythology, which was left to the Marxist social historians and the Guomindang.”

On myths and nationalism in Europe, see George S. Williamson, The longing for myth in modern Germany: religion and aesthetic culture from romanticism to Nietzsche (Chicago, 2004).”

they all agreed that the texts of the Warring States and early empires were fundamentally duplicitous. These arguments are weak for three reasons.”

the super-human or non-human aspects of the major characters remain

apparent.”

the belief that the limited number of accounts dealing with gods results from censorship hinges on taking the Greek and South Asian cases—where the distinction between gods and men is fixed and fundamental—as definitive of ‘mythology’. (…) Claims by Western scholars, such as Bodde, that myths necessarily pertain to gods are not useful in the Chinese case.”

Finally, the supposed skepticism about spirits and divinities that many scholars have attributed to early Chinese intellectuals is not visible in the texts which have been recently excavated, nor is it visible in the received literary record if carefully read. If the Warring States and early imperial writers had been truly rationalist or skeptical, the elaborate reconstructions of 20th-century mythographers would have been impossible.

Consequently, I will adopt a diff erent approach. Since our earliest usable stories date from the Eastern Zhou, primarily from the Warring States and later, I will read those stories as evidence of the attitudes of the people of that period. In doing so, I do not reject the recent attempts of certain scholars to work out traces of a Shang mythology on the basis of echoes of later mythic texts found in the oracle bones and bronze décor. However, the nature of the Shang sources means that such arguments are at best suggestive, so I will not deal with any tentatively reconstructed mythology of the Shang period. Since the Eastern Zhou sources are biased toward literati concerns, the stories will serve as evidence of the commitments and dilemmas of the literati. In addition, scattered evidence on local cults, ideas of the less intellectually committed members of the elite as suggested in tomb art and cults pertaining to workers will also be discussed.”

The impossibility of any ‘substantial’ definition of myth has been pointed out in recent years by scholars who have shown that myths are not a distinctive mode or genre of narrative that can be distinguished from other stories by any substantive trait or linguistic mark. Such scholars have usually concluded that the category ‘myth’is an illusion or a modern construct used to deride certain stories in the service of some rival program that claims to transcend ‘primitive’myths, e.g., philosophy, dogmatic religion, science or history. Rival intellectual programs, such as Gnosticism or some forms of Romanticism, embraced the same hypostasized concept of ‘myth’ as a weapon against the all-encompassing claims of dogma, reason or modernity.”

Walter Burkert, Structure and history in Greek mythology and ritual (Berkeley, 1979); Georges Dumezil, The destiny of the warrior, trans. Alf Hiltebeitel (Chicago, 1970); G.S. Kirk, Myth: its meaning and functions in ancient and other cultures (Berkeley, 1970). On the importance of myth’s being ‘anonymous’ and ‘traditional’, see Claude Lévi-Strauss, The raw and the cooked, trans. J. Weightman & D. Weightman (New York, 1970), p. 18.”

Marcel Detienne, L’Invention de la mythologie (Paris, 1981), esp. ch. 7, ‘Le mythe introuvable’; Ivan Strenski, Four theories of myth in twentieth-century history: Cassirer, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, and Malinowski (Iowa City, 1987); Robert Elwood, The politics of myth: a study of C.J. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell (Albany, 1999); Bruce Lincoln, Theorizing myth: narrative, ideology, and scholarship (Chicago, 1999); Andrew Von Hendy, The modern construction of myth (Bloomington, 2002); Richard Terdiman, Present past: modernity and memory crisis (Ithaca, 1993); Hans Blumenberg, Work on myth, trans. Robert M. Wallace (Cambridge, Mass., 1985), Part II, ch. 2–3.”

Luc Brisson, How philosophers saved myths: allegorical interpretations of classical mythology, trans. Catherine Tihanyi (Chicago, 2004). On the pivotal role of the allegorical reading in preserving classical myths, see also Von Hendy, The modern construction of myth (op. cit.), ch. 1.”

While the theory of a category of stories called ‘myths’ was not formulated until Plato created it as a negative term to valorize his own definition of ‘philosophy’, Edmunds shows how an incipient category already operated in the writings of Pindar, Aristophanes and Herodotus.”

Second, even the critics who coined ‘myth’ as a negative term to set off the glories of their own programs elaborated their own myths. Plato’s use of stories about the afterlife, Atlantis, the origins of the world and other clearly ‘mythic’ themes has been the object of considerable study. The traditional myths condemned by Plato were in turn interpreted as poetic truths by Aristotle, or as veridical allegories by the Hellenistic philosophers. The apostle Paul contrasted the ‘godless and silly myths’ of the Greeks with the Christian logos (adopting Plato’s categories), Clement of Alexandria and Irenaeus denounced classical mythology as demonic, and the rejection of Gnosticism hinged in part on its reliance on an elaborate mythology. Nevertheless, elaborate tales spun out from the New Testament and, later, lives of saints formed a ‘Christian mythology’ as analyzed by scholars of the Enlightenment and the early Romantic movement.” Cf. Williamson, The longing for myth in modern Germany, chs. 1, 4.

Nevertheless science elaborated mythic accounts of its own heroic origins, e.g., the misrepresented trial of Galileo. As Kurt Hübner (Die Wahrheit des Mythos, Munich, 1985) has shown, the tale of science supplanting myth is only one version of numerous mythicizing accounts of the end of mythology. Finally, whereas historians from the time of Thucydides have defined themselves against myth, and modern positivist historiography made the supplanting of earlier myths one of its chief tasks, increasing numbers of modern historians have incorporated myths into their work, making studying the work of mythology a central topic of their research.” Cf. Joseph Mali, Mythistory: the making of a modern historiography (Chicago, 2003).

Hans Blumenberg’s Work on myth (Arbeit am Mythos). As the title indicates, this book elaborates its theory of mythology in terms of what is done with the stories, rather than some quality of the stories themselves. Blumenberg applies to myth the same sort of ideas as those used for literature in the ‘reception’ theories elaborated by Ingarden, Iser and Jauss, in which the assumptions and rules of reading provided by the audience re-shape the meaning of the text. The primary difference is that unlike literature, where new readings are applied to a fixed text, in the case of a myth the story itself is adapted and rewritten as the concerns of its tellers and audience change. It is for this reason that myths are ‘stories that are distinguished by a high degree of constancy in their narrative core’ but by an equally pronounced capacity for variation. It is these correlate attributes that allow myths to be transmitted over centuries (…) This combination helps account for the power of myths, which, as Blumenberg argues, are the product of a ‘Darwinism of words’ in which stories that seize attention and help people cope with their world are selected for repetition, and in which these same stories are adapted over time to changing circumstances. For useful evaluations of the book, see the ‘Translator’s introduction’ and Von Hendy, The modern construction of myth, pp. 320–26. Blumenberg demonstrates this capacity of myths to evolve by devoting the second half of his book to a study of the myth of Prometheus from its earliest appearance in Hesiod to its 20th-century versions in Kafka and Gide.

This variability of myths, in which new versions are constantly elaborated to gloss or supplant old ones, also helps to explain why mythology is routinely theorized by those who claim to refute it, only to fashion new myths in their own turn. As Lowell Edmunds has pointed out, even before ‘myth’ was theoretically formulated by Plato as a negative category, the term was oft en applied to stories which the author rejected in favor of another version or tale. Thus in Aristophanes’s Wasps Bdelycleon tells his father not to tell ‘myths [mythoi]’ about supernatural creatures, but ‘stories of the human kind’. Likewise Pindar prefaces his version of the story of Pelops by repudiating a version of the myth that he claims was started by ‘malicious neighbors’ of Pelops’ family.”

the repeated theorization of mythology as a target of criticism is not a proof of the illusory character of the category, but rather of its mode of generation and perpetuation.”

Thus the aforementioned absolute condemnation of killing in the Decalogue also condemns rulers who engage in wars and punish criminals. While some rigorous religious thinkers accepted this, others reconciled the contradictory rejection of killing and support of political rulers with analogies which served as miniature, nested myths. Thus Augustine suggested that a state was a bandit gang with justice, while Luther identified rulers as ‘God’s hangmen’.”

For a brief summation of Lévi-Strauss’s methods as potentially applied to Chinese myths, see Sarah Allan, The heir and the sage: dynastic legend in early China (San Francisco, 1981), pp. 13–24. On the manner in which Lévi-Strauss’s approach to myth denies their character as narratives, in an attempt to turn them into charts, see Von Hendy, The modern construction of myth, pp. 240–50.”

Any argument, such as that of Schelling in 1857, that myth has its own autonomy as a mode of thought ultimately depends on the elaboration of some theory that sets myths apart as a distinctive form of thought or language. In the absence of such a theory, to posit myth as an autonomous realm with its own order is incoherent, and explanations of stories in one culture by reference to those from another which is not historically related are illusory.” Mas e os arquétipos universais? Poderia o ponto em comum ser nós: o que vemos de semelhante entre a mitologia hindu e a mitologia grega, por exemplo?

Birrell explicitly rejects any single disciplinary or theoretical approach that would distinguish myths, while at the same time arguing that myths form an autonomous intellectual sphere where a myth in one culture is best explained in light of one from another. As an example of the weakness of this approach, I would cite her discussion of Chang O on p. 11 (op. cit.).”

In fact, if one considers the numerous recurring early Chinese stories in which women like Chang O either bestow the arts of immortality on men or take them away, looks at the role of goddesses in the realms of immortality and the tomb, and reflects on the image of sex as a battleground for the energies that will prolong life, the traditional approach to Chang O reveals major aspects of Chinese culture. [not of a trickster] Furthermore, comparison of these stories with such major Greek myths as those of Medea (who uses the lure of immortality to take away life) or Meleager and his mother, as well as Indian myths on sexual relations and immortality, would draw the Chang O myths into a major and insightful comparative endeavor. By contrast, to simply attach to her the rubric ‘trickster’, a term almost as emptied through overuse as ‘hero’, tells us virtually nothing.”

First, it is important to note that although modern scholars state that the early Chinese treated the sage kings as human beings, this was not entirely true. During the Warring States and early empires the idea became widespread, if not universal, that the sage kings and dynastic founders—including the Han founder, about whom even the moderately skeptical Sima Qian recorded that he was sired by a dragon—were in fact the off spring of powerful spirits, dragons or forces of nature sired on human women. This assumption shows that the sage kings were not in any sense simply human. They were rather semi-divine beings, who marked the interface between the human world and the spirits. This clear distinction between the sage and the ordinary human led many people of the period to assert that the sage kings had no emotions or did not dream. The idea that Confucius was a prophet who had foretold the rise of the Han and its institutional form was part of the same complex of ideas.”

As ‘charter myths’, these tales of the deeds and creations of ancient sage kings provided a sacred prototype for the usage and institutions of their own day. They off ered a means of representing a complex social reality, formulating its principles in vivid and dramatic terms and refl ecting on its inherent tensions. Some of these stories were reworked or reinterpreted versions of earlier tales; others were original creations which due to their aptness or power became widely known and frequently cited, but they all formed a common repertoire of stories that provided both etiologies and models for social action.”

the invention of tools became a hallmark of the sage kings denied to lesser beings.”

In his defeat of Chiyou and other rivals, the Yellow Emperor provided a model for the creation of a stable political order based on organized violence. In yielding the throne to the most capable, Yao and Shun set a distinctive public rule apart from the claims of kinship and inheritance, provided a mythic charter for the claims of officials against the ruler, and offered a rationalization and model for the practice of changing dynasties. In taming the flood, Yu defined the nature of an ordered human geography, provided a mythical prototype for the irrigation and water control projects of the Warring States period, and established links between the cultivation of the body and the establishment of political order.”

(SEMPRE BOM A AUTOCITAÇÃO!) Mark Edward Lewis, The flood myths of early China (Albany, 2006)

Deborah Porter, From deluge to discourse: myth, history, and the generation of Chinese fiction (Albany, 1996)

However, the scattered references to the work of the sage kings lack the systematic character suggested here. The sage kings did not arise together in a pantheon of mutual opposition and complementarity, with the diverse spheres of the human and natural worlds parceled out among their patrons. As discussed above, modern scholars of myth generally agree that the sage kings were partially humanized transformations of earlier, supernatural beings who figured in shamanic rituals, cosmogonic myths or tales of the origins of tribes and clans. The sage kings arose independently in various regions or among different peoples, and they were drawn into a single pantheon—or, rather, a ‘genealogy’—through the centuries-long process of amalgamation and assimilation that created the Chinese empire. Consequently, the feats or attributes of one can occasionally be attributed to another. However, the divisions between the works and characters of the different sage kings are generally consistent.”

Sima Qian observed that scholars had spoken of the Five Emperors from of old, but the Book of documents preserved by the Confucians recorded nothing prior to Yao. While the ‘myriad schools’ spoke of the Yellow Emperor, their writings were ‘neither proper nor in accord with reason’, and even the discussions of the Yellow Emperor attributed to Confucius were not transmitted by the Confucians of Sima Qian’s day.”

A.C. Graham, ‘The nung-chia <school of the tillers> and origins of peasant utopianism in China’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 42 (1979), 66–100.

For the mythology of the sage kings was a history of the emergence of humankind out of a savage state of nature, an emergence achieved through the powers of supremely able rulers who served as prototypes for political actors in the Warring States. Underlying the tales about the sage kings was the belief that in the earliest times people had not been distinguished from animals. They lived intermixed with animals in the wilds, went naked or wore animal skins, built nests in trees or dwelt in caves, and ate wild plants or raw meat. The fundamental work of the sage kings was to create a distinctive human world by separating people from animals. This work had three basic aspects: the physical separation, the transformation of the material conditions of existence through inventing tools and technological processes, and the introduction of a specifically human code of conduct. These aspects were united in the overarching image of ‘separation’ or ‘distinction’: physical separation, the distinctions of correct perception and the social divisions of superior and subordinate that uniquely characterized man. Through the drawing of lines and the introduction of appropriate divisions, the sage kings created the human world out of physical and moral chaos. On the relations between men and animals as an issue in early China, see Roel Sterckx, The animal and the daemon in early China (Albany, 2002).”

The fundamental text of the Mohist school tells of a primal ‘Humpty Dumpty’ world in which each man used the terms of moral judgment in whatever manner he chose. This moral and linguistic chaos shattered all social bonds and reduced humanity to the level of birds and beasts. (…) The major Daoist texts also described a ‘state of nature’ in which men were mixed with animals, and they attributed the subsequent separation to the former rulers. They disagreed with the other schools only in that they celebrated the primal unity and treated the separation as a decline.”

Perhaps because they assigned the highest importance to the authority of the past and the careers of former rulers, the Confucians presented the most detailed versions of the creation of human society out of a primal chaos.”

Shun commanded Yi to take fire and set the mountains and highlands ablaze, so the animals fled and hid. Yu then channeled the 9 rivers and led them, rippling and swirling, to the sea . . . Hou Ji taught the people husbandry, the planting and reaping of the five grains. The five grains ripened, and the people thrived.”

In the time of Yao the waters reversed their course and overflowed the Middle Kingdoms so that snakes and dragons dwelt there. The people had no fixed dwellings, so those in lower regions made nests in trees, while those in higher ones lived in mountain caves . . . Yao had Yu impose order on it. Yu dredged out the land and channeled the rivers to the sea. He expelled the snakes and dragons to the grassy swamps. The movement of the water outward from the land formed the Jiang, Huai, Han, and Yellow rivers. As the dangers were removed to the distant regions, the harm of the snakes and dragons vanished. Only then were people able to obtain level land to dwell on.

When Yao and Shun died, the Way of the sages declined, and violent rulers arose in succession. They destroyed houses to make them into pools and ponds, so the people had no place to rest. They eliminated agricultural fields to make them into gardens and orchards, so the people had no clothes or food. Heterodox doctrines and violent conduct also arose. Since pools, ponds, gardens, orchards, and marshes were numerous, the birds and wild animals arrived. When it reached the time of King Zhou (of Shang), the whole world was again chaotic. The Duke of Zhou assisted King Wu to execute Zhou. He attacked Yin (Shang) and after 3 years punished its ruler. He expelled Feilian to the edge of the sea and executed him. He destroyed 50 states. He drove out the tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, and elephants to distant lands, and the whole world was happy . . .” EVER AFTER!

The generations degenerated and the Way declined. Heterodox theories and violent conduct again arose. There were ministers who assassinated their rulers and sons who killed their fathers. Confucius was afraid, so he wrote the Spring and Autumn annals. This is the task of the Son of Heaven. Therefore Confucius said, ‘Will those who appreciate me do it only through the Annals? Will those who regard me as a criminal do it only because of the Annals?’ A sage king does not now arise, the feudal lords are unrestrained, and unemployed scholars engage in wild criticism. The words of Yang Zhu and Mo Di fill the world. All discourse in the world that does not tend toward Yang tends toward Mo. Master Yang’s advocacy of being for oneself means having no ruler. Master Mo’s advocacy of caring equally for all means having no father. To have no ruler and no father means to be a bird or beast. Gongming Yi said, ‘If the ruler’s kitchens have fat meat and his stables sleek horses, while the people appear hungry and there are bodies of those who have starved in the fields, this is leading the animals to eat people.’ If the Way of Yang and Mo does not cease and the Way of Confucius does not become well-known, then heterodox theories and slanderous people will block up the teachings of humanity and duty. If the teachings of humanity and duty are blocked up, then you will lead the animals to eat people, and people will also eat one another. For this reason, I am afraid. I study the former sages, block Yang and Mo, and reject excessive phrases, so that heterodox theories cannot arise . . . (…) Confucius completed the Annals, and rebellious ministers and criminal sons became afraid [what?]” Mengzi zhengyi

In this schema the fl ood, and the primal chaos with which it is linked, stand for all the criminality, bad government and intellectual deviance that threatened the social order.”

One consequence of the idea that humanity was created through a historical separation from the animal world was that the fundamental distinction between men and animals was not biological but technological and, above all, moral. Man was an animal with a particular ensemble of productive skills and social relations, and should he lose them he would return to his animal state.”

If you carry out duty then you are a man; if you abandon it then you are a beast.”

If people became people solely through a set of technologies and teachings created by former kings and maintained by present rulers, then subjects were human only through submission to their masters. Without the controls and institutions imposed by the elite, the common people were nothing but beasts.”

Thus the state can be re-introduced only in conjunction with the merchants and an urban-based world, which expresses the actual urban-based nature of the Warring States and early imperial polity, but which contradicts the explicit political and intellectual hostility to merchants.”

Texts of the period contrast the two in that the Husbandman ruled without force—no hunting, punishments or warfare—while the Yellow Emperor was the first to introduce both punishments and warfare as the foundations of the state. Thus, the myths of the Yellow Emperor resolve the challenge of the stateless world of the Divine Husbandman; as the texts of the period note, the Husbandman (or his descendants) could not stop violence, because they themselves lacked the instruments of force.”

According to the Records of the historian (Shiji), whose author still had access to Qin chronicles, the Yellow Emperor first received sacrifice from Qin state in the 5th century BC in association with a deity known as the Fiery Emperor (Yandi). Several stories, as well as the personal name of the Yellow Emperor, indicate that he was a dragon spirit who acted as a deity of the storm, while the associated Fiery Emperor was a spirit of drought. Stories of battles between these deities, and of their use of ‘natural’ weapons of water and fire, show their early ritual links to combat.”

The Zhou state had been dominated by a warrior aristocracy whose violence in the forms of hunting, warfare, and sacrifice had been both the expression and mainstay of their power. The mythic negation of martial prowess, in the figure of Chiyou, expressed the political elimination and philosophical rejection of this aristocracy. At the same time, the innovations of the Yellow Emperor—his reliance on discipline that transformed beasts into soldiers, his employment of revealed texts that embodied the commander’s art, and his subsuming of political violence to natural pattern through calendrical rituals—gave mythic origins to the elements of the new style of warfare that had emerged. These included the reliance on infantry armies composed of peasants, the emergence of military specialists who were masters of new doctrines and technologies, and the incorporation of these armies and specialists into a state order defined by the semi-divine ruler and his ritual performances. The tales of the origins of a proper law based on celestial pattern likewise provided a mythic sanction for the legal codes that had become fundamental to the political order.”

Combat was the duty of peasants, and the carrying out of legal punishments was performed by designated torturers or executioners. Command of armies or the adjudication of cases was performed by servants of the ruler trained in specific skills and arts. Finally, the ruler himself was the guarantor of links to Heaven or the natural world which guaranteed the correctness of state-sanctioned violence, but himself played no part in it. (This excludes his role as an occasional sacrificer, the violent character of which was steadily suppressed.)”

Throughout the early imperial period, and indeed the rest of Chinese history, the claims of licit violence were perpetually undercut. One of the most dramatic cases of this was the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven, in which a violent rebel, if successful, was supposed to be magically transformed into the chosen one of Heaven. However, the denunciations as criminals of the ‘sage’ founders of the Shang and Zhou in the Master Han Fei (Han Feizi) and related texts show that the fact of rebellion could never be fully suppressed or ignored.” “Criticisms of officials’ use of the law are frequent, but a handy compendium is Shiji 122, the ‘Biographies of the harsh officials’. On amnesties, see Brian McKnight, The quality of mercy: amnesties and traditional Chinese justice (Honolulu, 1981), ch. 2

All the intellectual traditions of early China agreed that a truly successful ruler would eliminate the need for warfare, whether through his rigorous enforcement of laws or the transforming power of his life-giving moral charisma. Th us any recourse to war meant that the ruler had failed. Similarly, actual performance of combat by the decent and obedient subjects of the empire was repeatedly called into question, and the Han government gradually transferred all combat roles to barbarians, convicts and volunteers drawn from bullies and troublemakers. Cf. Mark Edward Lewis, ‘The Han abolition of universal military service’, in Warfare in Chinese history, ed. Hans Van de Ven (Cambridge, 2000).”

While the details vary, what became the standard versions assert that Yao and Shun had immoral sons who were not fi t to receive the throne, so they yielded it to the best man in the kingdom. In the case of Yao, this meant leaving the throne to Shun, while Shun yielded the throne to Yu. In some versions Shun and Yu had proven their worth by decades of work as ministers, and in some texts Yao had eff ectively adopted Shun by giving the latter his two daughters in marriage. In other versions the ruler first offered the throne to a figure who declined out of modesty, or because he was a hermit who regarded world rulership as a fatal trap. In some cases the ultimate recipient of the throne was first set up as regent, so his assumption of the throne contrasts with figures such as the Duke of Zhou, who served as regents only to yield the throne to the true heir, sometimes after being accused of harboring rebellious thoughts.”

While the moral condemnation of a ‘bad last ruler’ was one political option for justifying the establishment of a new dynasty, and is often treated by Western scholars as though it were a universal recourse, in reality the Chinese of the early imperial period preferred to stage a peaceful yielding of the throne modeled on myths that condemned the hereditary principle. Cf. Howard Wechsler, Offerings of jade and silk: ritual and symbol in the legitimation of the T’ang dynasty (New Haven, 1985).”

While such an explicit challenge to the emperor could never actually be written, the glorification of ministers in these myths did encourage a vaulting sense of literati entitlement. The perpetual frustration of this mythically-sanctioned greatness manifested itself at the levels of the individual, in the endless works of literature bemoaning the ruler’s failure to appreciate the author and of the literati group as a whole, in the perpetual shifts of power away from the formal bureaucracy to an inner court, and the consequent shedding of ink and blood elicited by some officials’ refusal to accept the objective limits of their own position.

A final negative corollary of these myths of yielding the throne was the mythic elaboration of the idea that the sage kings were bad fathers and sons. Given that the sage kings had to yield the throne to an official because of the moral failings of their sons, they were clearly bad fathers.”

These ideas were elaborated in tales pertaining to Yao, Shun, and Yu in which each of them had a morally deficient father and in turn spawned degenerate sons. Indeed the writers of the period argued that since they were the sons of such morally exemplary parents, the wicked sons of the sage kings had to be the greatest villains that ever lived.”

The superiority of drainage to blocking [the curses of water!] also provided a standard image for regulating the world through the use of its own internal tendencies, as opposed to trying to impose order by the application of external force.”

In the most common forms of the latter version, order was restored through exiling a group of 4 named malefactors to the 4 edges of the earth, where they became forces for order. Such accounts of the flood and its suppression provided a mythic prototype for the classic model of the world structured as a fixed center ringed by the 4 cardinal directions.” “One notable feature of the accounts of expulsions was that the 4 malefactors were identified as the offspring or descendants of earlier rulers. While this in part indicated the belief that a new regime had to expel the polluting traces of earlier rulers, it also indicates the key role of father-son relations in accounts of the flood.” “Not only did Yu surpass his father, but, in many accounts, his father was executed prior to Yu’s appointment. Moreover, accounts of Yu’s toils in the flood often emphasize how he neglected his own wife and children in the decades that he devoted to his work.”

Several early literary sources spoke of offspring who were destined to destroy their families and, consequently, should be killed. These offspring fell into 2 categories: those who had an animal nature and hence were alien to their own families, and those who were too close a duplication of their parents. It is the latter category that is particularly important for the stories of the sage kings’ families as prototypes for the tensions of Chinese kinship.” “Thus the wicked Gu Sou, who repeatedly attempted to murder his son Shun, was a spirit of music as was Shun himself. In the next generation, the irremediably wicked Shang Jun fi gures in several texts as an agricultural deity, a role also assigned to Shun. Gun and Yu likewise share many attributes as snake or dragon spirits (…) Indeed, in a few accounts Yu is directly born from Gun’s body.”

The threat of a son who is identical to his father manifests itself primarily in the question of succession and inheritance. In the process of becoming a father, the son transforms his own father into a dead ancestor. Furthermore, to the extent that the father-son relationship was imagined in terms of an authority parallel to that of a ruler and his ministers, which had become a cliché in Chinese political thought, the son’s inducing the death of his father in the act of becoming an adult took on the trappings of rebellion or regicide. It is these problems generated in the conflation of household and state authority that are elaborated within the mythology of Yu through linking his actions as world fashioner, ruler and father.”

Specifically, several texts recount that Yu was born from a stone, or in a place named for a stone. In other versions his mother was inseminated by a magical stone or meteor. Other texts tell how Yu’s son Qi was also born from a stone, or rather a mother—in some texts identified with Nüwa—who had been transformed into a stone.”

Some tell how his body lost its hair and nails, reverting to a fishlike condition which may well reflect his origins in an aquatic deity. Others speak of his being lamed, or reduced to a strange, hobbling gait. This latter was reproduced in the Pace of Yu’ (Yubu) which became a central element in ritual procedures associated with 2 of the spatial realms with which Yu’s work is linked: the ordering of the world and the formation of the body. In the former context, the Pace of Yu was employed in rituals to protect travelers, often those whose journeys entailed moving through mountains in a manner that recapitulated Yu’s structuring of the world. In the latter context, the Pace was used in rituals to cure a variety of ailments and thus restore the body to proper order.”

Although the sage kings were the most prominent figures in the myths of the period found in texts, images from tombs provide a very different pantheon of spiritual powers. While one could devote a monograph to the images in Han tombs, and the identifi cations of the figures depicted, I will here focus on only a few of the most important figures: Chiyou, Nüwa, Fuxi and the Queen Mother of the West. These figures are notable in that, with the possible exception of Chiyou, they are much more prominent in the tomb art of the period than in the texts. They are also significant in that the most important of them—Nüwa and the Queen Mother—are women. The significance of this will be discussed below.”

Chiyou served as the mythic prototype for the exorcist, who imitated him by wearing animal skins and four eyes and carrying a weapon with which to ward off evil influences. One of the exorcist’s roles was to clear the road of evil influences in order to protect travelers, a role also assigned to Chiyou in a prayer from the period.”

The second major figure I will discuss is Nüwa, who figures in tomb art only together with her consort Fuxi, where the 2 appear as half-human, half-snake beings whose snake-like lower bodies intertwine. In this form they constitute a primal couple that joins together in sexual union to generate and maintain the world. In later accounts they are described as a sibling pair, which is also found in tales throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific, whose incestuous mating re-populated the world after the human race had been destroyed by the flood. While it is uncertain that such stories existed in early times, or even that the couple was specifically involved in tales of the flood, their images in Han art show how they were related to the themes of the flood myth.”

It is notable in this regard that the Chinese underworld was imagined as a realm of water known as the ‘Yellow Springs’. In these ways the conjoined images of Nüwa and Fuxi produced a spatial order structured in both the vertical and horizontal dimensions, an order that was generated within the sexual act that conventionally produced the human body.”

Versions of the same stones also appear in accounts of metallurgy where the casting of swords is treated as a sexual process that parallels the generation of a body, and may even incorporate bodily parts.” Correlato ao mito de Amaterasu.

Nüwa also restores the world to an even level by placing it on 4 giant tortoise legs. She thus not only uses bodily parts to restore the world, but also turns the world into one vast tortoise body with the shell equivalent to the sky, the plastron to the 5 regions that make up the earth and the legs to support it.”

Fuxi, for his part, has a distinct mythological role in texts which has no clear relation to his generative and structuring function within the tomb. In the full-blown sequence of sage kings that took shape by the beginning of the empire, he was described as the creator of the role of king, whose key mythological inventions were the trigrams of the Book of changes, and by extension of writing and mathematics. All the other inventions of the sage kings existed in nuce within the potent symbols of the trigrams, which as generative forces in their own right produced the entirety of human civilization.”

The last mythic figure who plays a prominent role in Han tomb art, indeed the most prominent role, is the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu).” “Although they vary in accounts of her appearance and powers, she is most commonly described as an eternal goddess living on a mountain at the western edge of the world. She has animal aspects or assistants, controls certain astral phenomena and is the mistress of arts related to immortality. These accounts suggest that she was a cosmic deity associated with death, which was linked to the west. More notably, she appears in Han historical records as the patron deity of a mass movement that arose in 3 BC in response to a major drought in the northeast.”

Her iconography includes her distinctive headdress, her animal attendants (dragon and tiger as a seat, hare grinding the elixirs of immortality, the toad in the moon, the crow in the sun, the nine-tailed fox), a cosmic tree or pillar, Mt. Kunlun and, sometimes, the game/divination device liubo. Her image is found throughout China, indicating that her cult was widespread, if not universal. In the art of both the shrines and tombs she is often located in a paradise which appears to be the ultimate goal of the departed, and she or her assistants may guide them.”

For a briefer study in English, see the chapter by Michèle Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens in Volume Two.”

In post-Han fiction and prose the Queen Mother emerged in a whole set of elaborate accounts in which she appears to an earthly ruler, notably King Mu or Emperor Wu of the Han, and either bestows immortality upon him, or ultimately fails to do so. In this way the Queen Mother mythically served as the highest of the female divinities who bestowed the arts of sexuality and immortality on earthly men, figures who were briefly cited above in the myths of the Yellow Emperor as patron of the arts of the body. The stories of her meetings with earthly rulers might also be related to a broader set of astral myths on key meetings in the sky, a set which includes the tales of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.”

WHY WOMEN? “This has several explanations. First, the tombs represent the beliefs and interests of a broader segment of the population than do the texts, which were limited to a highly literate minority. While still elite products, the tomb art was produced for many people of no literary pretensions. Second, the tomb and shrine art preserves a religious character which is hidden in the tales of the sage kings, and female deities played a crucial role throughout the history of Chinese religion. Third, the tomb was constructed as the earthly equivalent of the household, as a dwelling place for the deceased. Consequently, it reflected both the physical and social structure of the household, in which women played a much more important role than in the lineage or the state.”

While myth and history are often presented as contradictory methods of narrating the past, it is also conventional to think of much of our own approach to the historical past as myth. Thus the 15–21 September 2007 issue of The Economist states that Margaret Thatcher ‘is now entering the phase of myth, with all its distortions’ (see p. 72). The use of the word ‘Munich’ as a code for appeasement has likewise entered the realm of myth. [???] In a not entirely serious variation on Lévi-Strauss’ theory of myth as the play of structural oppositions, E.R. Leach noted that conventional knowledge about Henry VIII and Elizabeth I focused on the contrast between the father with 6 wives, who indulged in the pleasures of the flesh, and his virgin daughter. A classic American historical myth is the tale of the first Thanksgiving feast, celebrated when friendly Native Americans helped the settlers avoid famine. This imaginative reworking of an actual event not only served as the charter for a national holiday invented centuries later, but also communicated a whole set of falsifying ideological messages about relations with the natives, the priority of the northern colonies over the southern (records of harvest festivals in Virginia antedate those in New England), and the absence of a debt to England (where harvest festivals had been celebrated for centuries).”

Any reader of later Chinese history, poetry or literature encounters numerous cases of such early historical figures who have become iconic tokens for talking about certain ideas or problems. Here I will only examine a few particularly important cases, and also a few cases of historical figures who became deities in later imperial China.”

char[ac]ter

Confucius himself was the single most important mythic historical figure of Chinese antiquity. Around the earliest collections of his remarks gathered by his friends or disciples, there gradually developed an elaborate body of anecdotes that were preserved in what became the Analects (Lunyu) and later parts of the Book of Rites (Liji). As he became a more eminent figure, the authors of the Master Zhuang likewise began to write stories in which Confucius was instructed in Daoism’s truths by Lao Dan, or in which Confucius testified to his own disciples about his inferiority to the true Daoist sages.”

In these stories by Sima Qian, Confucius emerged as the prototype of the worthy scholar who fails to find a worthy ruler to employ him, and so must ultimately confine his activities to the textual realm of ‘empty words’. As the ‘uncrowned king’ who had magically predicted the rise and institutional form of the Han, he even rose to the rank of a near divinity, but ultimately sank back into the role of the model teacher, whose state-sponsored cult provided ritualized consolation to all those who had aspired to worldly greatness but had to settle for teaching children and youths.”

This replacement of local water spirits, goddesses and the ghosts of drowned women with historical figures from the literary records indicates one of the most important functions of turning people into gods in Chinese civilization. In the cases of both Wu Zixu and Qu Yuan, the deification of these historical humans permitted the incorporation of illicit local cults and customs into the ritual repertoire of the elite. As the imperial system and its adherents penetrated into the south, or any frontier region, the beliefs and practices of the local people could be made acceptable to the political center by converting wild, often non-human, gods into canonical figures from Chinese historical sources. By telling new stories about the local gods, i.e., by Sinicizing their myths, alien and threatening beings could be converted into benign spiritual agents of the imperial order. Such absorption into China through the rewriting of myths could well have been actively supported by local elites seeking the heightened status of ties to the imperial court.”

Local mythology took at least four forms. First, there were tales of local nature divinities: dragons, tigers, snakes, mountains, strange rocks, springs, trees and so on. Second, there were stories of local heroes or people held to be remarkable in the community or region. Third, there were tales of the local activities of the ancient sage kings or other sanctioned figures from the imperial center to whom were assigned achievements in a given locality, presumably by members of the local elite with a strong literary background. Fourth, there were tales of immortals who, often linked to notable local mountains, became emblematic figures of tensions between localities and the court. I will discuss each of these in turn.”

One version of the story appears in the Discourses of the states (Guoyu), probably from the late 4th century BC. It tells how Confucius identified a giant bone discovered at Guiji as that of the giant Fangfeng who was executed for arriving late to Yu’s assembly. This story is significant, because texts dating back to Ren Fang’s (AD 460–508) Record of strange phenomena (Shuyi ji) describe an active cult to Fangfeng in the Hangzhou Bay region.”

Li Bing was an actual man, a Qin administrator who in the 3rd century BC had built the great Dujiangyan water diversion and irrigation system that had turned the Chengdu plain into one of the most productive regions in China. However, as early as the Han he had become a legendary being who was depicted in sculpture, received regular offerings in a temple and figured as the hero of a set of tales in which he tamed the river by defeating its god in armed combat.” “The theme of taming floods by defeating hostile gods of nature developed even further in Sichuan in stories of a local god, Erlang, who was eventually identified as the son of Li Bing and received sacrifices together with him. In the later versions of these stories, which are preserved in local histories, as well as oral tales collected in this century, it is Erlang who discovers the wicked dragon that causes the floods in Sichuan, defeats the miscreant in combat and imprisons him in a deep pond beneath a stone pillar. Li Bing, the hero of the earlier tales, plays no role in these later versions.”

This story insists on the local nature of the cult. Tang benefited his own town, but was menaced and forced to flee by a provincial governor. After departing he continued to bless his own locality, granting it good fortune not found elsewhere. The list of donors on the back of the stele names 15 people, two of whom are from Tang Gongfang’s home town, and the rest from a neighboring district. These appear to be local notables, many of whom had served as local magistrates or minor officials, and the rest are described as ‘retired scholars’. None of them appears in any literary source, which indicates that they did not make a career in the higher levels of the imperial government.”

Unlike the Iron Ancestor, we are fortunate to have an account of the origins of this spirit. According to the ritual text for eliminating lacquer poisoning that is preserved in the Recipes for 52 ailments (Wushi’er bingfang) discovered at Mawangdui, the Lacquer King [Rei de Laca] was sent to earth by the Lord of Heaven (Tiandi) to help artisans apply lacquer to weapons and armor. However, he rebelled against his divine master and caused a rash [erupção] to appear on the craft smen’s skin. To heal the disease, the shaman-doctor smeared pig, chicken or rat feces on a statue of the Lacquer King, hit it with his shoe, threatened to stab it or had the victim spit on it 7 times (14 in the case of a woman). These constituted either modes of exorcism (for which the use of animal feces was routine) or forms of punishment that would force the deity to cease his attacks on the skin of the worker.” “However, he is also held responsible for a contradiction in the process of producing lacquer, which was an essential and valuable product but which caused a form of contact dermatitis in those who fashioned it. Thus he is described as both rebel and servant, in the manner of Chiyou, who simultaneously introduces a useful technology and the harm associated with it.”

Apart from the numerous historical figures who had entered the realm of myth, I have also omitted, for example, tales of the origin of the world or humanity. I have done so because there are few such tales, and they play a minor role in early Chinese mythology. In fact, the tales of the separation of Heaven and earth, the closest that we possess to an account of a physical creation among the surviving stories from the period, primarily deal with the origins of sacrifice, social hierarchy and the politicized hierarchy of substances in the human body. The only story of the creation of the human race, a late Eastern Han account of the work of Nüwa, is primarily a myth of the origins of social classes, and only secondarily of the physical creation of mankind. Thus even the tales of physical origins become primarily extensions of the myths of the sage kings, i.e., accounts of the institutions and practices that constitute human society.” MINHA TEORIA: Quanto mais antigo, mais longe do começo!

Several anthologists of myth have assembled the few accounts of origins, fleshed out with lengthy commentaries, at the beginning of their collections. See Birrell, Chinese mythology, pp. 23–39; Rémi Mathieu, Anthologie des mythes et legendes de la Chine ancienne (Paris, 1989), pp. 27–41. In his essay on Chinese myth, Bodde discusses no myths except those of origins, including the flood. See Bodde, ‘Myths of ancient China’, pp. 382–403.”

RITUAL PRACTICES FOR CONSTRUCTING TERRESTRIAL SPACE (WARRING STATES-EARLY HAN)

*

VERA DOROFEEVA-LICHTMANN

The groundbreaking study of early Chinese city planning is the famous book by Paul Wheatley, whose comparative approach favored its recognition in various studies in the history of city planning and cosmological conceptions far beyond sinology (The pivot of the four quarters, 1971). Wheatley pinpoints the prominence of centrality and cardinally-oriented axiality in Shang and Western Zhou cities and concludes that the ancient Chinese city served as a cosmo-magical symbol.”

Nancy Steinhardt (…) argues that the notion of a single tradition of Chinese city planning is too simplistic (Chinese imperial city planning, 1990).”

According to the Rites of Zhou, the capital city is a square with a side of 9 li, 3 gates on each side, and 9 north-south and 9 east-west avenues.”

The Hall of Light (Mingtang) occupies a special place among the ideal constructions of state importance described in a series of texts dating from the 4th century BC through the 2nd century AD. These descriptions are further discussed, often with <graphic representations> (tu) of the Mingtang, in later Chinese scholarship.”

Not surprisingly, the Hall of Light has long attracted research interest and has become an integral part of studies in Chinese cosmology and city planning.”

Two representations of the Mingtang are singled out in the Chinese cultural traditions: the 5-chamber Mingtang and the 9-chamber Mingtang, associated primarily with the <Kaogong ji> and the <Mingtang> chapter of the Da Dai liji (Book of rites of the Elder Dai), respectively. Both models are also conceived in relation to the temporal-spatial system of the <Yueling> (<Monthly ordinances>) chapter of the Liji (Book of rites).” “Compilation of the Da Dai liji is attributed to Dai De (1st century BC), but it most likely did not appear earlier than the beginning of the 2nd century AD.” “The <Monthly ordinances> describes the annual circulation of the Zhou ruler in the Hall of Light which, according to this text, consists of 13 temporal-spatial units: 12 months corresponding to 12 peripheral divisions of space arranged according to the 4 cardinal directions/seasons, plus the additional month corresponding to the center. The 13 units of the <Yueling> representation of the Mingtang can be inscribed both into a 5-chamber and a 9-chamber frame.”

William Edward Soothill, The Hall of Light: a study of early Chinese kingship (London, 1951);

Laurence Sickman & Alexander Soper, The art and architecture of China (Harmondsworth, 1956)

One of the earliest surviving representations of the 5-chamber and the 9-chamber Mingtang is found in the Sanli tu (Graphic representations of the three ritual (classics), by Nie Chongyi (fl. mid-10th century). Despite the huge time span between these representations and the textual sources they are derived from, there is some evidence that the representations continue an earlier scholarly tradition that can be traced back at least to the Han dynasty. They have apparent structural similarities with the ground-plan of a construction discovered in Chang’an excavations and considered to be the Hall of Light of Wang Mang (r. AD 9–23), especially the emphasis on the diagonal dimensions.”

The Nine Provinces are symbolically represented as a 3 × 3 square grid, with the length of a side of each square being 1,000 li.” “The Nine Provinces and 5 concentric zones are orderly and hierarchically structured representations of the world—the civilized world and the whole world respectively—and may therefore be referred to as global schemes or cosmograms. (…) Structures generated through these constraints necessarily have regular form and are organized as a set of hierarchically interrelated positions. E.g., the central position has a higher value than a peripheral one, the eastern position than the western (…) The Nine Provinces and five concentric zones serve as the 2 model cosmograms representing the two basic patterns for mapping terrestrial space: the square grid and the nest of concentric squares.”

Nicola di Cosmo and Don Wyatt (eds.), Political frontiers, ethnic boundaries, and human geographies in Chinese history, London, 2003.

The regular form of the cosmograms serves, first of all, to symbolize the primary aim of statecraft as conceived in ancient China, that is, maintaining hierarchical order, balance and harmony in the world. It is for this reason that cosmograms are so systematically imprinted on the architectural symbols of power in China. For the same reason the interest in orderly structures of space and rituals and instruments serving to obtain such structures increased during the formative period of Chinese empire.”

Variações de um mesmo cosmograma (a hierarquia 1-9 não muda).

To summarize, cosmograms are instrumental in conveying conceptions of space dominated by closely interrelated political and religious meanings. In order to match these meanings, real topography could be, and in fact should be corrected or even considerably transformed.” “real topography is sacrifi ced for cosmological harmony, and topographically accurate maps are more the exception than the rule.” “Cosmograms and maps are not distinguished on the terminological level, both being designated by the term tu, <graphic representation>.”

John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel, trans., The Annals of Lü Buwei: a complete translation and study (Stanford, 2000)

The schematic structure of the concentric zones is easily derived from the concept of the symbolic squareness of the earth and the units of its division characteristic of the Chinese cosmographical tradition.”

Locating a province simply at a cardinally-oriented point, e.g., <in the south>, is an attribute of a 3 × 3 square grid, its 9 squares corresponding to the 8 cardinal directions and the center. Five of the <Youshi lan> provinces and 6 of the <Zhifang shi> provinces [divisões imperiais mais antigas] refer to the cardinally-oriented squares of the grid (…) Four of these provinces have the same cardinally-oriented positions in both accounts: Qing to the east, Yang to the southeast, Jing to the south and Yong to the west. The 5th cardinally-oriented province found in both lists, but new with respect to the <Yugong> (You), is located in the north in the <Youshi lan> and in the northeast in the <Zhifang shi>.”

a province located in the eastern area can be ascribed eastern, northeastern, or northwestern positions, even if this deviates slightly from its real location.”

Yugong (Shangshu) initial set

1. Ji

2. Yan

3. Qing

4.

5. Yang

6. Jing

7. Yu

8. Liang

9. Yong

Youshi lan (Lüshi chunqiu) (difference in 1 name)

10. (+ You, no lugar de Liang)

Shidi (Erya) (difference in 1 name)

11. (+ Ying, no lugar de Qing)

Zhifang shi (Zhouli) (difference in 1 name)

12. (+ Bing, no lugar de )

In total, there are 12 names of provinces (associated with the 12 provinces established by Shun).”

I argue that the schematic attributes are already present in this description of the Nine Provinces, but are given in an implicit and more sophisticated way, whereas the straightforward references to schematic representation (cardinal directions, the length of the grid’s square) are characteristic of later terrestrial descriptions composed under the impact of imperial ideology, which required they be explicit and direct in this respect.”

In particular, one can see from this map that the major structural problem for <squeezing> the Nine Provinces as they are described in the <Yugong> into the rigid form of the 3 × 3 grid is that there are too many provinces in the east and too few in the west. In order to bring the provinces into conformity with the grid framework, some shifts in their topographical locations are necessary. Th eir arrangement according to the nine celestial palaces solves this problem by keeping to more or less real topographical locations of the provinces in the north and accepting distortions and shifts in the south. The arrangement according to the Great One does the exact opposite.”

(*) “The earliest surviving maps of landmarks enumerated in the <Yugong> date from the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). The maps are either engraved on stone steles or block-printed. No earlier maps related to the <Yugong> have been found so far. The so-called references to such maps in ancient texts, e.g., the Yugong tu (Hou Hanshu [Beijing, 1973], p. 2465), cannot be regarded as absolute proof of their existence, due to the ambiguity of the character tu that, apart from <map>, stands for a wide range of <graphic representations>—schemes, drawings, pictures, tables, spatial textual layouts—in sum, <toutes les représentations graphiques quelles qu’elles soient>; see Édouard Chavannes, ‘Les deux plus anciens spécimens de la cartographie chinoise’, Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême Orient 3 (1903), p. 236. In other words, references of this kind do not allow one to determine what specific type of <graphic representation> is designated. For a recent comprehensive survey of tu-related studies, see Francesca Bray, ‘Introduction: the powers of tu,’ in Graphics and text, pp. 1–78.”

(*) “Although these maps are done about one and a half millennia later than the <Yugong>, they are still the product of a continuous Chinese cartographic tradition. The latter differs markedly from modern Western cartography not only in the code of representation, but also in its goals and functions. I make some general observations on this issue, supplied with references to studies in the history of Chinese cartography, in Dorofeeva-Lichtmann [autora corrente], ‘Mapping a <spiritual> landscape’ , pp. 38–43.”

[Fragment of] Map 1. Yugong jiuzhou shanchuan zhi tu (Map of the Nine Provinces, the (nine itineraries marked by) mountains and the (nine) river [itineraries) of the <Tribute of Yu>)

Note: The itineraries marked by mountains are shown in the map by dotted lines.”

Comparação com um mapa de escala moderna.

Two of these characteristics—fields and revenue—are especially noteworthy for the purely formal way in which they are defined. They play the role of criteria which enable one to evaluate and compare the provinces according to a nonary scale. The scale consists of 3 main classes: upper, middle and lower, each divided into 3 sub-classes, e.g., the superior class is shangshang (upper-upper class), one degree lower is shangzhong (middleupper class), etc. In this respect fields and revenue differ markedly from other characteristics of a more descriptive kind, e.g., <its soil is white and mouldy> (Ji province).”

This map shows that Yu fi rst regulated those provinces that are closest to the sea in the east. Pursuing his work of regulation, he first descended along the sea from the north to the south, then turned to the center, and finally put in order the 2 western provinces, the farthest from the sea (this order is accentuated by arrows I have added to the map). This order seems to be determined by the need to drain an excess of water in the basins of the Yellow and Yangzi rivers, which requires first clearing out the territories close to the sea in the east and then moving west along the river courses. Therefore, Yu’s regulation of the Nine Provinces, according to the <Yugong>, combines the characteristics of the tour and draining the waters of the flood.”

Yu’s territory [centro] comprises the region around the Zhou capital Chengzhou/Luoyi, which became the major capital after the loss of the Zhou domain in the west around the Wei river in 771 BC and is firmly associated with the center in all extant sources up to the Former Han in which the foundation and location of the Zhou capital is discussed.”

The set of the <Youshi lan>, which is the most similar to the <Yugong> with respect to the names of the provinces (it differs in one name only), is also quite similar, though not completely identical, as regards sequence. The central province Yu is shifted here to the first place, and the new province You (located, according to this text, in the north) is added at the end of the list. This sequence is particularly interesting for its accentuation of the center, especially evident since Yu is associated here with Zhou. The emphasis on the center reflects the imperial ambitions of the Lüshi chunqiu, but also means that this sequence is not influenced by the idea of draining.

In the <Shidi>, the northern province Ji recovers the initial place it occupied in the <Yugong>. The 2 provinces whose names differ from the <Yugong> set are placed at the end. Apart from this, the sequence of provinces in the <Shidi> account is considerably different and gives the impression the provinces were tossed up in the air: after Yu province comes Yong, the last in the <Yugong> and the 8th in the <Youshi lan>, then Yang and Jing, both of which in the <Yugong> and the <Youshi lan> precede Yong, and then Yan and Xu that in the <Yugong> precede Yang and Jing.”

The sequence of provinces in the <Zhifang shi> representing the Western Zhou is even more different, but its general direction is quite clear: it starts from the southeastern and southern positions and ends in the north, which is quite unexpected in a representation of the Zhou administrative system.”

In sum, none of the sequences is completely independent from that of the <Yugong>, as can be seen from the fact the new provinces are placed at the end of the lists. The necessity of respecting this rule inevitably poses problems in working out the logic of the sequence of the provinces. By comparison, the sequence of provinces in the <Dixing xun>, radically different in its names from the <Yugong> group, is remarkably regular. It also makes a smooth tour, starting in the south and moving counter-clockwise, that is, just the opposite of the <Yugong> sequence.”

An itinerary by land is marked by two to four mountains, as a route from mountain to mountain. The nine land itineraries are marked by 27 mountains. All the itineraries are delineated from west to east, and the general sequence of the itineraries is from north to south. Among a total of nine itineraries, six marked by 20 mountains are situated in the Yellow river basin, while only three itineraries marked by seven mountains are in the Yangzi basin, a refl ection of the marginal status of the Yangzi basin in the <Yugong>.” “each of these two groups of itineraries is introduced by the character <delineate> (dao), implying that it was Yu who founded them.”

the river itineraries are delineated in a more detailed way. Apart from their initial and final points, quite a number of details are provided along the way: confluences with other rivers or changing of the river’s name; mountains and other geographical objects passed by; and, in many cases and on different parts of an itinerary, its direction with respect to the 4 cardinal directions.”

Chemla, Karine & Guo Shuchun, trans., Le classique mathématique de la Chine ancienne et ses commentaires (Paris, 2004).

The Shanhai jing is the largest among the terrestrial descriptions that have survived from ancient China (ca. 30,000 characters). Its aim is to provide a consistent, complete and detailed picture of the entire inhabited world. Yet, despite its pretension to comprehensiveness, it has never outweighed the much shorter and more concise <Yugong>.”

The most substantial point of difference between the <Yugong> and the Shanhai jing versions of Yu’s deeds, although not formulated directly, are the spirits, completely absent in the former and the key element of the organization of space in the latter. This led me to the conclusion that the focus of the Shanhai jing on local spirits is at least one of the main reasons for its negative evaluation. But it is not as simple as it may seem at first glance, because the local spirits are not completely excluded from either imperial practice or from the officially recognized texts. On the contrary, sacrifices to mountains and rivers were the core constituent element of the so-called royal <tours of inspection> (xunshou) that became an especially important ritual for rulership with the foundation of the empire, under the Qin and the Former Han dynasties. ”

Shun’s tour of inspection, that consisted in performing sacrifices to the local spirits inscribed in a cardinally-oriented spatial framework on the one hand and establishing the proper sites of landmarks and a regular administrative division of the civilized world by Yu on the other, are, in effect, typologically similar world-making practices, both aimed at ordering terrestrial space. Yet they are sharply distinguished in the Shangshu, and this distinction is also respected in the dynastic histories.”

The <administrative> version of Yu’s deeds appears marginal when compared with a broad range of sources that represent the <spiritual> version. Yet, it is the administrative version that became recognized in the imperial histories conveying the official conception of space regulation. § One of the reasons for choosing the administrative version and banning spirits from the story of such a key figure of Chinese official ideology as Yu the Great is the cautious attitude to spirits in Confucianism. Spirits are, indeed, an issue that is rather avoided by Confucius who <respected demons and spirits, but kept them at a distance> (Lunyu 11.6).”

The already mentioned omission of Shun’s name in Ban Gu’s introduction to the <Yugong> seems to be done in order to avoid any possible association of the concept of <terrestrial organization> with the spirits.”

THE RITE, THE NORM AND THE DAO: PHILOSOPHY OF SACRIFICE AND TRANSCENDENCE OF POWER IN ANCIENT CHINA

*

JEAN LEVI (trans. John Lagerwey)

According to his biographer, Sima Qian, Confucius resigned from his position as minister of justice not when the sovereign, occupied by the beauties sent him by the kingdom of Qi in order to separate him from the sage, neglected to attend the council of ministers, but when he forgot to give the dignitaries their share of meat after the great suburban sacrifice to Heaven.”

The word zuo, which refers especially to gifts of meat, is glossed by the word <good fortune> (fu). The distribution of sacrificial meat is sometimes referred to as <distributing good fortune> or <distributing beneficial meat>; the character which refers to the distributed parts, shan, is composed of the meat radical and a character meaning <beneficial, good>. Not only does the ritualist refer to this practice, he codifies it. The rite of the distribution of shares is embedded in its own ceremonial sequence. Used together with the word lu to refer to official positions in archaic Chinese, the character fu represents a sacrificial vase. By metonymic derivation, it came to mean the portion of meat in the vessel given by the king to his courtiers and then, by extension, the material advantages that these gifts implied, as well as the benediction of the gods they brought. As for the word zuo, it has the verbal sense of giving a territory or a fief. All of these terms must be understood in the context of a system of gifts and counter-gifts made through the mediation of the gods or the ancestors. Thus the expression <meat-eaters> is not an idle one. It refers to a system of the distribution of symbolic goods and noble office whose key is the sacrificial practice that decides who belongs to the ruling circle.”

The more individual ancestors to whom he had the right to sacrifice, the higher was his rank. Thus the king had 7 rooms in his ancestor temple, in which he honored his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, the kings Wen and Wu, and the first ancestor, Houji, Lord Millet, founder of the Zhou people. A feudal prince had but 5 rooms, a great officer 4, and a gentleman 1.”

the word used to designate rank: jue. The term originally designates a bird-shaped cup that served as a libation cup in sacrificial—primarily funeral—ceremonies. Aristocratic titles correspond to the hierarchy of the gods and are a function of the gods whom one has the right to honor. A doubly nested hierarchy is deployed in this manner: a vertical hierarchy of the gods to whom one sacrifi ces on the one hand and the geographic extent of the fief over which one has authority on the other.”

The Son of Heaven is in charge of the entire empire because he belongs to the eldest lineage segment of all the feudal lords, who are members of junior lineage branches that at a given moment separated off from the trunk of the dynastic genealogical tree.”

Such is, broadly sketched, the organization of the Zhou royalty, at least as it reveals itself in sources which are not anterior to the Spring and Autumn period (770–482 BC).”

In a word, it seems to me that neither the functioning of Zhou society nor the later development of the Chinese state can be made sense of without reference to the sacrifice to Heaven, be it as a hypothetically necessary event. I shall therefore concentrate my analysis on it.

Because of the singular character of the sacrifice to Heaven that he alone may accomplish, the sovereign distinguishes himself from the feudal lords not quantitatively but qualitatively. If the princes of Lu, exceptionally, may also perform this ritual, it is because of the special ties of their ancestor, the Duke of Zhou, to the dynastic house and because of the services he rendered, for not only was he the brother of the founding king, Wu, but he himself was virtually king when he served as regent of King Cheng, still a young child when his father died.”

The sacrifice to Heaven is a solemn sacrifi ce which in principle requires neither special apparatus nor pomp. It must at the same time strike the imagination by its atmosphere of dignity, an atmosphere derived not from the wealth or the number of the victims and the vessels, but from the gravity and the seriousness with which it is accomplished. Such as we can see it through later rituals, the sacrifice to Heaven was the occasion for a mise en scène whereby was rendered visible, by means of ritual language, the very principles which govern the natural and the social order.

It is a solar sacrifice that marks the victory of the principle of generation and life over the yin forces of decline and death. As such, it takes place either aft er the winter solstice or at the spring equinox. Commentators debate this point because the ritual texts say only, in ambiguous fashion, that it is done <when the days become longer>, a phrase which could refer either to the time when days begin to become longer—the winter solstice—or when the days become longer than the nights, at the spring equinox.”

It is thus an act of thanksgiving to the sun as the light of day that generates light and life and provides food. Th at is why it is done in the southern suburb and why the sacrificial victim is red.”

King Wu is said to have made the sacrifi ce to Heaven on a xin day immediately after defeating the Yin on the Muye plain. This makes of the Zhou a solar dynasty, yang, bearer of life and source of fecundity. Its ancestor is Houji, god of the harvest, and its solar and fi ery nature are marked by the presages of the red bird and the appearance of flames when King Wen ascended the throne. The cycle of the seasons is indistinguishable from that of history. The Zhou victory, regardless of whether it occurred at the time of the solstice or of the equinox, appears as the social expression of the victory of light and the forces of life over darkness and the season of death. Th anks to this ritual, history is invested with a cosmic or, even better, calendrical charge.”

a single red bullock (in reality, 2), but a perfect one. Innocent and pure, the victim must be very young: <Of the bullocks used in sacrifi cing to Heaven and Earth, the horns were (not larger than) a cocoon or a chestnut.> (Liji) The animal, selected at birth and raised in a special corral, is chosen by divination and nourished in special fashion for at least three months. The culinary preparations, too, are very simple, at least as regards the part offered the gods: the burned, the raw and the boiled. The vessels used were also of the simplest: earthenware.

The simplicity of the sacrifice as such was in marked contrast with the precautions and decorum of the preliminary ceremonies.”

The young bullock for Heaven was killed by arrows shot by the king himself, and the blood was collected and presented as a fi rst offering. Then the bullock was placed on a pyre lit by means of a mirror and committed to the flames. This was followed by a ritual pantomime which exalted the merits of Heaven and gave thanks to Houji for having invented agriculture and created the suburban sacrifice. Once the victim had been entirely consumed by the flames and all leftovers had disappeared, the ashes were swept and a second off ering made according to the protocol of the great sacrifices to the royal ancestors. The second bullock was attached to a pole. The king cut off a clump of hair with a rattle knife and drew some blood in order by sound and smell to attract the attention of the souls of the ancestors. He handed these to the invocator, who deposited them in front of the tablet of the deceased in order to show him the animal was perfect within and without. The bullock was then killed by arrow and cut up. His entrails were extracted, as well as his lungs, the heart, the tongue, and the liver. Th e fat of the intestines was burned with artemesia and millet [painço, milho-miúdo] so as to attract the spirits in heaven with the appetizing odor. The liver was prepared by the king and served with the heart and the tongue to the representative of the deceased, called a shi, corpse. The head—the noble part—was presented before the tablet. The blood, seat of the vital energy, qi and the organs—lungs, heart and liver, likewise filled with vital energy—were the first to be tasted. These ritual traits and the interpretation given them are not unlike Greek notions relating to the splanchna, which played a fundamental role in the economy of the sacrifice, and also like the Dogon idea of nyama, even though the idea here was not to regenerate the sacrificer but to nourish the vital force of the ancestors. Next, the flesh of the victim was prepared by the cooks and presented in the first place to the representative of the ancestor in the form of raw meat not yet de-boned, of de-boned raw meat, of boiled meat (yan), and of well-cooked meat (ren or shu) because, according to the ritual specialists, <how could they know whether the spirit enjoyed it?>. Other specialists, more certain, say that raw meat is the portion meant for distant and prestigious ancestors, while the boiled meat is for more recent ancestors, those who are more <human>. Between the various offerings of meat accompanied by different kinds of millet, there were a great number of libations of ale and liquors, and the cups circulated among the participants according to a strict protocol.

By means of fasting, purification, divination, proclamations to the living and the dead, processions, ritual throat-slitting, spilled blood, consummation on the pyre, sacrifi cial cooking, feasting, dynastic dances and hymns to the glory of the gods, the ceremony for Heaven brilliantly expresses the meaning of the sacrifice as it was understood by the Zhou.”

The blood, a hyperbolic form of the raw, is offered to the supreme god, and the victim offered this god is entirely consumed by the flames.”

If the similarity of the victims seems to associate the Lord on High (Shangdi) and Lord Millet, a certain number of ritual traits as regards the treatment of the two animals in fact distinguishes them.”

In a certain sense, the living and the souls of the dead are but 2 aspects of the same procedure from which Heaven is excluded and which therefore qualifies it as the only truly divine factor. The ancestors are human beings who have lived, and the living are potential dead persons, that is, waiting to become gods if only they receive sacrifices. The dead, for their part, by virtue of the protection they provide their lineage, cause the family to multiply by watching over the fecundity over their descendants. The living thereby contribute to the survival of the dead, just as the ancestors guarantee that of the living who, when they are dead in turn, will have a numerous posterity. Celebrating the ancestors in fact confirms and justifies human mortality. The sacrifice reveals that the eternal nature of the souls has as its counterpart the ephemeral, perishable nature of humans.” “Ancestors, however prestigious, have a divine career which is dependent on the fortunes of the family which continues to ensure their sacrifices.” “Moreover, after a certain number of generations, they lose all individuality and are absorbed into the collective and anonymous mass of the distant ancestors. Ancestors are never more than intercessors with regard to the great gods of natural forces, especially Shangdi, the supreme god who reigns in heaven. Th ey are prisoners of time.”

By contrast, things are wholly different as regards the Lord on High. If he requires sacrifices, if he feeds on the smoke of the sweet-smelling fat offered him by the Son of Heaven, he depends on the existence of no lineage. It is he who controls the mandate and distributes it to those families which reveal themselves most apt to embody his virtue. The Xia were replaced by the Shang, who were in turn overthrown by the Zhou.”

Families know glory and decline, and sacrifices to the ancestors begin and end, but he is forever master of the game. He is identical with destiny, the fixed pivot around which turns the wheel of time, with its phases of ascension and decline”

Having doubled itself in the great sacrifice to the supreme ancestor, the worship of Heaven ends with a general distribution of food that at once creates solidarity and marks distinctions, in such a manner as to furnish the model for both the cosmic order and the functioning of society. Even though it would seem to be but an appendix of the sacrificial ritual as such, the distribution of the leftovers is fundamental.”

Heaven receives no leftovers but also gives none. It is the source of all leftovers, but no leftovers return to Heaven nor emanate from it. The food Heaven receives involves no leftovers and is foreign to the law of leftovers because it is indivisible: the smoke is no more divided than is the stream of red blood that flows from the open wound of the cutthroat of the bullock. Even if, during solemn oaths, the contracting parties smear their lips with the blood of the sacrificed victim collected in a cup, this involves reciprocal sharing and not the distribution from top to bottom that creates a hierarchy. This is also the case with the ceremony of the division of incense in modern popular religion, in which the burning of incense may be considered a distant reminiscence of the holocaust of the animal victim on the mound of the god of Heaven. This division creates an affiliation, not a subordination. Heaven, as it were, is on equal footing with the leftovers. Both belong to non-being: it is its disappearance that makes the leftover an active principle; it is its absence or evanescence which marks Heaven’s transcendence. By virtue of being outside the common norm, Heaven determines the ontic specificity of each being or, to use more consensual terminology, Heaven’s norm, li, is the cause or, if one prefers, the pretext of distribution without itself being involved, just as the leftovers in their cascading descent determine, in the sacrifice, the place and name of one and all. Th us Heaven is at once the absent and the central element of the ceremony. The relationship of Heaven to the leftovers is identical to that which, later on and in another context, will link the Dao and the De, the Way and its efficacious manifestation or Virtue.”

The Chinese system of leftovers is at once similar to and radically different from the Indian category of uchista. The ontological status of the leftover as inseparable from the notion of debt is primary in the Brahmanic religion. (…) It is the remainder of the sum still owed aft er each act that sets in motion the process of actions without end, of which the sacrifice is at once the exemplary and exacerbated expression, a sequence of acts which determines the order of the world, the dharma. It is in this sense that Jacques Derrida, theorizing the results of Charles Malamoud’s study of the sacrifice, is right in creating the category of <remainder of the rest>. According to Derrida, there is something in the remainder that cannot be determined and that it is the function of the sacrifi ce to dispense with. Indian sacrificial culture is understood as aiming to control the divisions of the remainders—their cutting up and sharing—by subjecting them to an order which is at once sacrificial, hierarchical, and ontological. It aims at enclosing the remainder in its limits as <leftover> and transforming it into something identical to itself in spite of the fact that it is by nature something outside itself insofar as it only exists with respect to another outside itself from which it is inseparable. Not only is every remainder a leftover of something, it is the something of the remainder. Sacrifice in this context becomes nothing but the rationalization of the leftover, its ontological domestication as it were, founding an economy in which a hierarchy is created on the basis of the self-identity of the <master>, whether he be the sacrificer, the god, or the Fathers (that is, the dead djiva).

In the sacrifice to Heaven and to the ancestors, there is a distribution of the remainders such that there is nothing left over.” Ótimo trocadilho.

At the very least, the leftover is not theorized as such, on the contrary: it is diluted in the course of its descent from the summit of the hierarchy to the bottom where, at a given moment, it disappears. But if it disappears, it does not remain without a remainder, that is, an effect. It leaves a trace which is worth more than itself: the recognition of a debt and the creation of a duty linking the subordinate to his superior in gratitude for the gift received. It is thus not the leftover as such that is conceptualized by the exegetes in the Chinese representation of the sacrifice but its transformation into a moral imperative which abolishes it in its essence. This notion of the obligation of reciprocity, bao, becomes, in the discourse on the sacrifice built up by Confucian ritual specialists from the 5th–4th centuries BC on, the raison d’être of the sacrifice: one presents offerings in order to show his recognition of the superior beings who give life and the means to sustain it. Liang Qichao, the great literatus of the end of the 19th century, expresses in its most synthetic form this concept of sacrifice as dictated by the moral duty of recognition and described in a great variety of manners in the Classics. According to Liang, the sacrifice in China, unlike that of the West which seeks to obtain the blessings of the gods, aims only at recognizing the virtue and merit of—and showing one’s gratitude to—everything in creation that has a benefi cial influence. With the following phrase he concludes his list of the entities and beings which, beginning with Heaven and ending with cats, deserve to receive sacrifices: <This single conception of pao (bao) penetrates the whole (institution) of sacrificial offerings.> This is a reinterpretation in ethical terms of the more fundamental phenomenon of the conversion of the leftover into an obligation of such a nature that it is virtually a categorical imperative, but an imperative which expresses itself in purely ritual form.” “In this sense, what matters is not so much the leftovers as the dynamics of their trajectory.”

After the loss of the Dao comes power, after the loss of power, charity, after the loss of charity, propriety, and after the loss of propriety, rites.” Daode jing (Book of the Way and its power)

Thus the Dao is to Being what Heaven is to the sacrifice: its power is the result of the fact that it is absent from the process it engenders.”

the Dao, source of all beings but itself pure nothingness and transcendence”

The authors of this period are constantly playing with the notions of recompense, power, gratitude and duty, a word game facilitated by the vastness of the semantic field of the word de, Virtue in the sense of being efficacious and also, by homophony with the word de [ideograma chinês é diferente], meaning gift or gain, success, results.”

Indeed, the process does not come to an end with the end of the left overs at the bottom of the social hierarchy. This sets off the inverse process which is at once invisible—on the ritual level, that is—and essential as regards the real production of a surplus that, fictitiously generated by the sacrifice, ascends from the bottom to the top and thus creates a perpetual cycle. The descent of blessings from on high down below also serves to hide the concrete process of the collection of wealth and its seizure, going from the bottom to the top, insofar as the sacrificial victims are the fruit of the labor of the humble, the first to produce and the last to receive.”

Politics, kinship and sacredness are all one thanks to the double articulation of the cults.” “It functions like a language which, because of the perfectly mastered manipulation of conventional signs, enables the creation of an illusion that the symbolic system is the exact replica of reality, that it can substitute for reality, and that it suffices to act on the symbolic system in order to have power over reality.”

While the territories of the fiefs in the old center of the country remained small and fragmented, vast kingdoms grew up on the periphery. Under the cover of ensuring the defense of the Zhou sovereigns against barbarian incursions, these new entities imposed their will on other princes. The ancient and venerable fiefs that constituted, with the royal domain of the Zhou itself, the heartland of ancient China came under the sway of the dominant power of the moment. With the development of these large outlying states, struggle between the kingdoms was exacerbated. The changes in the nature of the relations between the principalities impacted relations between the noble families within the various states. The princely lines were displaced by collateral branches that took over the management of affairs. With the development of the economy and the administration, the great officers acquired considerable weight. Cults and fiefs disappeared as the number of takeovers multiplied.”

Already in an episode in the Zuozhuan, one of the commentaries on the annals of the principality of Lu, the negative exclamation of Cao Gui, simple gentleman, about the <meat-eaters> whom he calls <idiots incapable of making a plan>, reveals the antagonism between the ancient noble class which still holds the reins of state because of its place in the cultic hierarchy and the new class which wants to play a role in the state on the basis of their personal qualities, be it competence or virtue.”

If at the beginning the king acts as the legitimate representative of the entire country and can play the role of mediator between the human community and the superior entities, once he has lost his power and prestige, the divinity and its worship lose all reason for existence. There is no longer any link between transcendence and society.”

In order to fill the void left by the disintegration of the cultic system, the departmentalization of territory will thus be accompanied by a new religious organization corresponding to a more abstract space and time.”

The notion of a universal order, of a deep structure (li) on which the metaphysical system of China was built, derived from this transformation of the religious space structured by the cults into bureaucratic entities. The principle of territorial structuring becomes central and, understood as the adequate form of the universal norm, becomes the source of the order that could take the place of the ancient Heaven of the Zhou.”

The question of classes of ever more inclusive sets of words leads to the Dao, insofar as the Dao is defined as the total absence of any limits which, in its absolute generality, can embrace all beings. This is what All-embracing Harmony says to Analytic Intelligence at the end of the first part of his discourse: [!]

The creation contains more than 10,000 beings, and yet we use the phrase <10,000 beings> to refer to an infinity, in the same way we use the term <heaven and earth> to refer to what is most vast in the universe or <yin and yang> to refer to energies in general. The word Dao refers to absolute generality that is infinite extensiveness. If we remember that this expression is just a way of talking in order to give an idea of size, then it is perfectly legitimate to use it. But we cannot compare a heuristic term of this kind with categorizations that define an object. There is an abyss between the modes of referring to the Dao, which are always by default and the taxonomy we use in ordinary discourse, where we refer to such names as <dog> or <horse>.” Zhuangzi jishi

Even though each season has its own characteristics, Heaven favors none of them, so that the year may run its course. Each department has its own specific function, but the sovereign shows no preference for any of them. That is what brings order to a country. It is because he attaches equal importance to civil and military affairs that the action of the prince is well-rounded. Even though each of the 10,000 things obeys its own norm, the Dao shows no partiality. That is why it cannot be defined. Being without definition, it does nothing and, without doing anything, there is nothing that is not done. That is what is involved in the system of administrative circumscriptions.”

DO MENOS PARA O MAIS:“To this process of the inclusion of ever larger classes of things referred to by terms, which modern linguistics calls hyperonymy, there corresponds the inverse process of hyponymy, in which things are divided into ever smaller categories included in the larger categories that precede them, producing <minor distinctions in reference> (xiao bieming, to be compared with Analytic Intelligence).”

Anger is born of the blood and energy; aggressiveness expresses itself in the skin. If one does not allow anger to get out, it accumulates and forms an abscess. If you are ready to abandon the 4 emotions, like a dried up corpse, you will never allow yourself to get carried away. Thereupon, the Yellow Emperor abandoned the affairs of the empire and took refuge on Mount Bowang, where he stayed in meditation for 3 years in order to find himself.”

The founder of civilization and sovereignty. He has 4 faces, or 4 eyes. The Yellow Emperor was 4-faced because he sent 4 remarkable men to the 4 directions to organize the world”

For the Yellow Emperor is very intimate with the exorcists, beginning with his wife Momu, whose proverbial ugliness is said to be the basis of apotropaic practices insofar as her ugly face served as the model for the masks of sorcerers.”

(*) “On the relationship of the Yellow Emperor and his wife to exorcistic rituals, see Jean Levi, <Aspects du mythe du tigre dans la Chine ancienne>, PhD thesis (University of Paris 7, 1978)

O ROBESPIERRE CHINÊS: “It is no doubt to Shang Yang (executed in 338 BC) that fell the ambiguous privilege of elaborating the first theory of the manipulation of the masses and of being the first to apply it concretely, while Han Fei was the one who gave this theory its definitive formulation.”

A ruler can therefore act with the same certainty with regard to the future as a hydraulic engineer: he need only act in conformity with the infallible laws that guide the course of rivers and passions.”

Total social servitude can thereby be transformed, at its paroxysm, into its opposite, natural spontaneity. In order to be effi acious, to function as it were naturally, or rather, in order to constrain people to act spontaneously without recourse to punishments, the law must be excessive, and it then abolishes itself in its own cruelty. By a dialectical inversion borrowed from Daoist metaphysics, the use of punishment aims at the suppression thereof. The Law must be interiorized. It must become custom or, even better, tropism.¹ It then follows that the application of the decrees will be confided not to the highest ruling authorities but, on the contrary, delegated to the lowest level: by means of deliberations in the family, by collective responsibility and denunciation in the villages, it penetrates into every pore of social organization.”

¹ TROPISMO: “Desenvolvimento de um vegetal numa direção dada, sob a influência de uma excitação exterior (luz, gravidade etc.).”

Just as the Dao is at once the aggregate and the source of all norms without coinciding with them, the prince will be the source of all laws and rules by being beyond all norms and rules. Like the principle, the sovereign is unique and refers to himself as gu, <orphan, solitary one>. He is the One and is often called <the one man>; he is said to be du, <singular>, in his person—he can never be the equal of anyone—but also in his decisions, for he is always the only one who decides, duduan.” “The Dao in its singularity stands over against the diversity of phenomena marked by the seal of multiplicity insofar as even the two primary principles of yin and yang function as a pair of entities of the same nature. This makes it easy to understand why any infringement on royal prerogatives, however minor, must be punished severely. To be One and to control multiplicity, the prince must, in the face of multiplicity, fulfill his function as the One by never allowing himself to be caught up in multiplicity as a part of it, however eminent.” “Cloistered behind the high walls of his palace, he is hidden from the eyes of his subjects, whom he can neither encounter nor see. In no case can a monarch, if he wishes to keep his preeminence, rely on his 5 senses and plunge himself in the contemplation of objects. The sovereign must live in complete retirement, hidden deep within his palace, without ever taking any initiative.”

In the past, the Son of Heaven knew how to dress himself but allowed the attendant to do it for him. He knew how to walk, but he had a master of ceremonies go before him. He could speak, but a herald made his speeches. In this way he never said anything wrong and never made a mistake in etiquette.” Shenzi

The state apparatus produces a miniaturization of reality, and this does not in the least diminish its power but on the contrary confers on it a surplus of efficaciousness equal to that of the universe. The imperial system enables an unheard of extension of the fi eld of action of the sovereign at the same time that it reduces his domain of activity.”

The Legalist sovereign does not create a tyrannical reign of the arbitrary but, on the contrary, that of an irrepressible necessity achieved by the absolute and unhindered application of the law and which cannot be confused with the will of the prince.”

The foundation of the human being is the earth, the foundation of the earth its proper use, and the foundation of proper use the cycle of seasons. Appropriate use of the seasons depends on the people, the efficaciousness of the people on their capacity for work, and this capacity on the regulation thereof. Whoever understands soil types and how to plant at the right time, who sees to it the people are used in such a way their strength is spared, will contribute to the increase in wealth. If, in addition, taxes and duties are moderate, the people will live well and, because they enjoy abundance, they will have a sense of shame. Having a sense of shame, the laws and edicts will become for them customary, with the result there will be no need to use punishments and prison terms.” Mawangdui

Such a system has no place for rights. Rights are entirely useless because the law is but the automatic application of the cosmic law. In like manner, there can be no discussion or contesting of the decrees of the prince by the people. They are above—or prior to—praise. The laws of nature, by virtue of their apodictic nature, cannot be judged negatively or positively.”

Like the Dao, the sovereign must be empty—pure nothingness: he is empty of all desire, all thought and all intentionality. It is because he is entirely opaque to his subjects—who, on the contrary, are transparent to him—that he can extend his domination over the world.”

Thanks to the Law, thanks also to the techniques of manipulation that free him from dependence on his own talents, the sovereign dominates his subjects. He knows everything of their least thought, their least act. The control of others comes to him from his clairvoyance. Even though he is the target of all eyes, he can manipulate others because he can see through them and control their every act thanks to his techniques of espionage, of anonymous accusation, and of police investigation. He knows everything that happens in the most distant corner of his territory, for the eyes of his subjects are his eyes, their ears his ears, their brain his brain. He overturns their relative strengths and is no longer an isolated individual subject to the pressure of the united masses but, over against the mass of individuals isolated and separated from each other, he is in charge of the faculties of the entire people.” “Centralizing all information, collecting all secrets, he enjoys a truly divine penetration. Gifted with absolute clairvoyance, everything is transparent for him. But this transparence is the result of systematic dissimulation. The subject is transparent. The master is impenetrable and hidden. Without outlines, undefined, he cannot be grasped, while the thousand eyes he has stolen from his servants leave nothing in the dark.”

As much as his capacity to see, his invisibility is his strength. It is but the dark and negative side of the light he sheds. The sovereign who is the equal of the gods penetrates because he is obscure. This divine perspicacity (shen) makes him as mysterious as the souls of the dead, who act in the shadows, invisible, having an impact that is as terrifying as the origin is hidden to the view of mortals.”

Thus the prince, if he wishes to dominate, must be careful never to display to others anything but the polished mirror of the unconditioned, happy to reflect images without ever giving anything of himself, because he is nothing. This mirror, the prince can present it insofar as he has withdrawn from the world of forms.”

Indecipherable like the Dao, the norm of all norms, the master of men acts without anyone knowing it. Impenetrable, indeterminate, he is like chaos, the most accomplished form of the Dao, its first manifestation from which the cosmos emerged.”

The politico-mystical texts from the tradition of the Yellow Emperor referred to above bring this aspect of Legalism especially to the fore. But it is also present in Han Fei, whose inspiration derives from the many earlier texts of self-cultivation. The source of this literature lies in the conceptions of the balance of the sovereign’s humors and energies thanks to the cook, whose job it is to harmonize the 5 flavors. The <Neiye>, Inward training, one of the chapters of the Guanzi which is entirely devoted to self-cultivation, develops the idea that sovereign power is but the socialized—and therefore partial—expression of the global and universal energy, the qi, the <energy> which circulates between heaven and earth just as it irrigates the body.”

DE DRAGON BALL A STAR WARS: “Power then expresses itself in the radiant deployment of the <Force> gained by the regulation and concentration of the influx of vital energies.”

Good and bad fortune follow the same path. No one knows where they come from. The only way to know them is to be empty, undefined. For in the emptiness of non possession, as soon as an atom forms, there are shapes and names. As soon as there are shapes and names, black and white are distinct. (…) He who is infinitely sereneis a sage; he who focuses on the public good is infinitely alert; he who is infinitely alert is the observer of the universe.” Mawangdui

Thus does the imperial fi gure correspond to an ontological necessity. Like the Dao, which deploys itself both on the numenal and fenomenal planes, this figure has a double aspect, at once biological and cosmological.”

What most differentiates the Confucian system of regulation from the mode of state control advocated by the Legalists is no doubt its diffuse character. In this sense, it is truly totalitarian and achieves an <immanentization> of transcendence which makes the latter perhaps even more efficient.”

Rites which can be spread among the lowest levels of society only by means of institutions like village and township schools and by ceremonies led by the authorities such as the banquets for elders or, later, under the Han, the worship of Confucius, go together with a strict management of the people, caught up in a network of surveillance that is all the more terrible in that it is interiorized and seems, because of its virtually choreographic character, almost debonair and avuncular.”

The most accomplished form of government in the world of the literati is pedagogy, a pedagogy which makes its impact by means of edifying acts. Confucian morality is spread by means of models: paragons of virtue, sages of antiquity, masters. But these various models which each must imitate are but the reproduction of the unique model incarnate in the emperor, for he is the mediator between Heaven and men”

The place of this translation of the natural into the social is the Mingtang, or Hall of Light. The Mingtang is a building meant to be a replica of the cosmos, with its roof round like the heavens and its base square like the earth and containing 4 oriented facades for each of the directions around a central room. Each of the 4 sides was divided into 3 rooms. Thus did it represent the totality of the spatio-temporal universe, with its 5 directions and 12 months.” “From the appropriate room, dressed in a robe of the season’s color and carrying its emblems, the Son of Heaven proclaimed the nature of government and the appropriate music, flavors, meats, sacrifices and rites. The circulation of the sovereign, by the mere fact of his route, wove a fabric of seasons converted into a liturgical norm. The regularity of the natural cycle was subordinated to the carrying out of a ceremony that revealed a social order identified with the structure of the cosmos because the cosmos had itself been hypostasized as liturgy by the royal act.”

O TRIPLO LI QUE CRIA O 4º LI: “The rite, li, which can be defined by a play on words as li, to walk in the right way so as to reveal the deep structure of things, li, is thus the socialized expression of the natural norm.”

EXPRESSÃO SOCIAL DAS NORMAS DA NATUREZA = RITO + O CAMINHO CORRETO + COISA

(LI³ = LI + LI + LI)

As a matter of fact, no one knows whether the Mingtang is an ancient institution, nor even whether such a building was ever built before the Han dynasty. Some specialists suspect that no Mingtang was ever built before the usurpation of Wang Mang, at the beginning of our era. Léon Vandermeersch (La voie royale), however, in his well-informed study of the institutions of the archaic royalty, believes he can trace back its creation to the very beginning of the Zhou, under the regency of the Duke of Zhou, to be precise, when it substituted for the [? – substituiu ou foi substituído?] ancestor temple which had itself always functioned as royal palace and hall of deliberations of the council, because the Duke, as regent, was not allowed to preside in the temple lest he transgress royal prerogatives. But his proof for this hypothesis is slight. Such as it is described in the texts of the Warring States, the Hall of Light bears all the hallmarks of a ritual utopia. Nonetheless, what is important is less the reality of the institution as such or of the building containing it than the driving force of the ideological structuring revealed by the fantastic discourse concerning this dreamed-of architecture.”

Then, with Confucius, rites take on a personal and ethical coloration before they become the subject of general skepticism in the Warring States period, until Xunzi restores to them their letters patent by making of them the cardinal principle of life in society and by raising them to the rank of cosmic norm. But it must be said that this apotheosis and this resurrection owe much to their contamination by the concept of law developed by the Legalists. This does not mean a return to Zhou rituality, but on the contrary confirms its definitive disappearance. The rites are reborn from the observation that a new order had to be founded since, with Xunzi, the rite is no longer anything but a pure instrument for the structuring of the cosmos, an instrument stripped of any charge of religious emotion, even if this emotion was very controlled during the Spring and Autumn period.”

The body of the emperor is invested with no magic power. Nor is it the seat of a mysterious force, nor yet does it participate in an Elsewhere haunted by powers who govern life and death. It simply shares in the charisma of a state apparatus which has a sacred dimension.”

* * *

HANDBOOK OF ORIENTAL STUDIES

SECTION FOUR

CHINA

edited by

STEPHEN F. TEISER, MARTIN KERN AND TIMOTHY BROOK

VOLUME 21-1”

Será esta a série que contém todos os Early Chinese Religion studies?! Não fica muito claro (título à p. 711 do PDF)

Part One: Shang through Han (1250 BC – 220 AD)

VOLUME TWO”

(Aqui estamos quase na metade física do livro. Abre-se como que uma nova folha de rosto e detalhes de registro do livro, como se se trata-se de outro exemplar físico, mas continuando o índice do 1º volume, conforme segue:)

Cover illustration: Detail of the inner coffin of Zeng Hou Yi discovered at Suizhou Leigudun (Hubei), painting and lacquer on wood, ca. 433 BC. Rights reserved. Provincial museum of Hubei (Wuhan).

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Early Chinese religion / edited by John Lagerwey and Marc Kalinowski.

p. cm. — (Handbook of oriental studies. Section four, China, ISSN 0169-9520 ; v. 21)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-90-04-16835-0 (v. 1 : hardback : alk. paper) 1. China—Religion—History. I. Lagerwey, John. II. Kalinowski, Marc.

BL1803.E27 2008

299.5’10931–dc22

2008035404

ISSN: 0169- 9520

ISBN Set: 978 90 04 16835 0

ISBN Volume Two: 978 90 04 17209 8

Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. ¯\_()_/¯

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910,

Danvers, MA 01923, USA.

Fees are subject to change.

printed in the netherlands

À disposição para cobrança. Este material é mesmo para uso interno e pessoal, já que absolutamente NINGUÉM lê meu blog!

Volume One – sem título (todos os artigos anteriores)

Volume Two – QIN AND HAN (221 BC–220 AD) (os que seguem)

COMBINING THE GHOSTS AND SPIRITS, CENTERING THE REALM:

MORTUARY RITUAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN THE RITUAL COMPENDIA OF EARLY CHINA

*

MICHAEL PUETT

The Liji 禮記 (Book of rites), Yili 儀禮 (Rites and ceremonies) and Zhouli 周禮 (Rites of Zhou) would become, in later Chinese history, the 3 most significant classics from early China for defining ritual behavior.”

The Liji

The Liji is, by far, the most disparate of the three ritual compendia. It consists of distinct texts, dating from the 4th through 2nd centuries BC, which were compiled in the Western Han as chapters of a single work.”

The Ziyi 緇衣, one of the texts later made into a chapter of the Liji, was discovered in 1995 in a tomb at Guodian, sealed roughly in 300 BC.”

(*) “For a study of how the Ziyi was transformed into a chapter of what would ultimately come to be seen as one of the classics, see Edward Shaughnessy, Rewriting early Chinese texts (Albany, 2006), pp. 63–130.”

As we will see, the entire corpus of the Liji would ultimately come to be associated with Confucius.”

The general view one finds in several of the chapters is of a constructionist vision of ritual. Rituals are presented as inventions of earlier human sages. Prior to these inventions, humans were selfish, supporting only themselves or at most only those members of their own immediate family, and they failed to see themselves as linked to other families or as linked to the larger cosmos. Th e sages, however, were able to recognize certain patterns within the cosmos and within human dispositions that could be used as models for patterning humanity in a more general way, constructing a world in which distinct families came to be linked together to create a larger community, and in which that community came to be linked to the larger cosmos.”

Practitioners thus come to see ghosts as ancestors and see the ruler as both father and mother, as well as the Son of Heaven. Thus, in what was once a world of competing families, in a cosmos perceived to be at best indifferent to humanity and perhaps governed by capricious spirits, rituals create a world in which humans come to think of the entire cosmos as a family.”

When happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy have not yet emerged, this is called centrality. When they have emerged, and all are centered and modulated, this is called harmony.”

The center is defined as that which precedes humans being pulled in situations by different emotions. Once these emotions have emerged, they need to be modulated by a centering process equivalent to what existed prior to their emergence—a modulation that is then termed harmony. The implication of this argument is that the danger for humans is to be pulled by their emotions in diff erent situations, and humans must endlessly attempt to center and harmonize themselves. Since there is no pre-given set of rituals to defi ne the actions of the practitioner, the goal here is clearly one of self-cultivation: through cultivation, one becomes able, in any given situation, to be centered and harmonized.”

—encerramento provisório—

[ARQUIVO] DIÁRIO DE UMA VIAGEM A FORTALEZA

Originalmente publicado em 10 de janeiro de 2010. Escrito entre 30 de janeiro e 1º de fevereiro de 2008.

30/01/2008

Talvez também sob influência de meu pessimismo contumaz, das minhas mais recentes leituras (num prazo de dois anos) e do desprezo que sinto por interlocutores de pensamento vil é que apresento este fragmento. É necessário deixar claro que o “interlocutor vil” em questão é um magnata cearense de nome Pelé, sem embargo, não conservo a mínima vergonha de meus antecedentes familiares (ele vem a ser meu tio-primo), resquício algum de racismo regional (vulgo xenofobia) ou aversão por cidadãos financeiramente afortunados. O que não tolero é a incapacidade dos ricos em complementar sua educação socratizando-se um pouco que seja – para ser mais atual-televisivo: vestindo as sandálias da humildade. Tampouco apresento, então, a essa altura, qualquer desprezo pela nomenclatura do maior atleta da História deste universo! É só um codinome, e ter chegado a ele tem lá seu método… Seu erro, meu algoz, foi ter aberto a boca demais! Isso e apenas isso…

Eu, tão lento para apreender opiniões concisas acerca de terceiros, descrevê-lo-ia como um sujeito de mediano para bom no entender político, no que dependesse de nosso primeiro encontro. Mas, de segunda, afirmo: és um parvo, um paspalho! Das coisas da vida, da essência invisível, do mundinho paralelo, do faz-de-conta de que I. falou tu nada entendes! Como aquele povaréu de Tianguá, só há uma coisa que mova sua vida: o dinheiro. É inútil encobrir teus anseios com esta capa, homúnculo! Para essas futilidades se é sempre competente, se desejável. De resto você não passa de um velhaco com alma de menino – não, nada de “puro”… Apenas parece distante do olhar filosófico e próximo demais do seu útero-sol, padece de um complexo de Édipo mal-resolvido. Por tabela, é um amoral inconsciente. E não são estas bestas (ou burros de carga) da igreja os mais perigosos? A filha, N., não pode julgá-lo porque não o conhece. Olha para cima ao divisá-lo – aliás, como toda e qualquer Electra. Eu não sofro desse problema, incontornável na terra (não-física) do cabresto, onde ser de elite não significa muito, no meu mundo de (não-)valores.

Sua infantil presunção de que, assim se julga e não esconde nem por um minuto à mesa, se trata de um homem culto quase me comove. Porque homens cultos não podem afirmar a juventude como único período de erro. Sua concepção assoberbada da vida, neste ponto, só já não me assustava pelas prévias revelações de seu caráter fascista.

No momento troco poucas frases com meu tio – menos pretensioso e de raciocínio mais ligeiro que o de Pelé, o pseudo-mecenas da família Ferreira. Mas tais balbuciações já se afiguram como material suficiente, meu caro “Maluco Beleza das Metamorfoses Ambulantes”, para tecer o único elogio à pessoa aqui em evidência: seu correr na praia – ou caminhada, já que é um frágil, mesmo – é meu escrever. Sim, que falta me faz descascá-lo, debulhá-lo nestas folhas como insípido feijão que vem a ser! Enquanto isso (já não sei mais se falo dele ou para você – de você ou para ele; com você ou 2ª pessoa, com tu ou a terceira), nosso nobre magnata precisa de seu retiro existencial bi-semanal. Pode me enganar, vou fingir que no pacote não está inclusa aquela masturbadela na água quentinha do nascer do sol – coisas bem-aceitas para um cara casado que enfrenta a crise da meia-idade.

Mas o papo, comigo, raras vezes esteve ou foi tão prosaico. Parece (ou mais do que parece) que peguei uma raiva excessiva do sujeito. É que realmente usar Darwin para a raça humana é chumbo grosso… E um indivíduo, ou menos, ente, que se auto-define como conhecer e interessado em buscar mais conhecimento, tolerante, bom ouvinte, reflexivo, sempre aberto a novas quebras de paradigmas (e que não sabe por certo o que representa um sintagma, p.ex.), não pode ter 10% do utilitarismo neo-yuppie (ops, embaralhei dois nomes) apresentado na pior festa que freqüentei desde que boêmio sou (o churrasco do enterro e da fossa). Se foi uma ocasião ruim é por dois (e entrelaçados) motivos: não bebi o suficiente e você (de novo minha mistura pronominal, já não dou um dedo mínimo) estava presente. (Mesmo Dostoievsky mistura pessoas na conjugação.)

O que depõe a meu favor neste cenário de aparente sordidez é que, se não bebi e não usufruí dos dotes das convidadas como mais desejaria (além dos regalos alimentícios), ao menos posso lembrar de cada ato falho seu (do Pelé!) sem a mínima distorção. O caro colega, deixe-me ver, acredita no bem e no mal. Nunca ouvira falar de Nietzsche. E nem que o Raul é um dos brasileiros mais escutados e idolatrados fora de palco de todos os últimos 400 anos. O que pode ser mais ridículo que um homem que acredita no diploma universitário como sinônimo de credibilidade irrefutável? Nem Descartes e Kant juntos!

31/01/08

(fim do 1º mês de um ano de até agora agonia gástrica)

Sabe o que é bastante interessante também?”

O quê?

Que em virtude de meu atual patamar…”

Vá às favas, com todo o respeito que seu ar grisalho merece mas que as ligações neurais comprometem!

Eu sob a mais crônica das diarréias certamente tenho, ainda, um pensamento mais ajustado e coerente que o seu! [Neste ponto decidi-me pelo emprego definitivo da interpelação direta, num misto de falta de vontade de escrever “fascista” a cada duas linhas e de excesso de disposição de fantasiar uma repulsa à la genro-sogro – explicando melhor: gosto da alternativa impossível em que sou um desafiante jovem, apontando o dedo de maneira não-acovardada para a cara do tolo pai de uma princesinha metida a roqueira… Em termos mais breves: meus devaneios com o corpo, o sorriso, a ginga e a burrice da distante prima N. — infelizmente distante em vários sentidos – parecem tornar Pelé alguém mais custoso de engolir, até porque a filha já é comida o suficiente]

01/02/08

Torcendo para escapar do Inferno…

#offtopic MEGADETH et al. (A luz no fim do túnel)

(comentando execuções aleatórias no meu MP3 player.)

  1. Train of Consequences

A estória de um assaltante de trem cargueiro e a moral por trás de seus atos me convocam novamente a uma série de questionamentos de natureza recente: o bem, o mal, os subjugados a eles e os acima dos valores. Minha opinião não é escutada por ninguém que não eu mesmo. A teoria dos grupos de influência não precisa ser lembrada aqui porque considero as pessoas suficientemente autônomas para escolherem seus veículos de comunicação, interlocutores e ações por si próprias. Eu sou apenas mais um canal, uma fonte informativa, integrante de um todo mais complexo ou descartável.

Figuras como Deus são ambíguas, duais. E representações como o diabo ou o ladrão são consideradas “puras” no sentido da essência. Mas hoje ouço falar tão pouco no diabo! Ninguém razoável e com mais de 6 anos realmente acredita em uma forma de vida (ou de morte) parecida, pois já incorporou as lições fundamentais do processo de socialização: o mal está no homem, que ejeta os direitos humanos não por outro motivo que a necessidade de controlar seus sórdidos e irrefreáveis (doutro modo) impulsos.

Fazer o certo e fazer o errado. Ser sacana e ter peso na consciência. Receber o castigo merecido. Essas discussões estão enredadas ao passado. Na situação da sociedade dos jogos ou niilista o único valor de si é aquele percebido por si mesmo, imortalizado em alguma imagem auto-louvável. O ladrão de cargas dilapida todas as vidas dos passageiros e trabalhadores do trem ao pilhar seus pertences. Conquanto não se é um deles, seus atos variam da aprovação à indiferença, em cujo trajeto mora a inveja. Às vezes penso como a vida do roubo é fácil: um sujeito se apropriou do meu televisor e do meu micro sem executar nenhuma transação financeira. Usou da violência, da imprevisibilidade física. Mas o complicado é cogitar-se pondo em prática esse “fácil”. Por que eles podem e eu não posso? Questões de berço (não literalmente, mas de uma ótica fatalista – há os furtadores provenientes de berços de ouro maciço).

  1. Killing Yourself to Live (Black Sabbath)

O ano deve ser um dos da irreversível crise do welfare state. “This is not the way the world was meant” e “Take a look around, what do you see? Pain, suffering and misery”. Além, claro, do título da música. Um ambiente de insegurança suportável graças às benesses teatrais da liquidez do dinheiro. Só o que almejo é o mesmo lar doce lar alheio, e com menos papel-moeda. O montante suficiente, que seja.

A onda de violência obriga o indivíduo a desconfiar de todos e se ver seguro – se possível – apenas dentro de seus próprios portões, ou jaula, a dita propriedade privada, capaz de resguardar até certo ponto todos os outros, tudo que já perdeu sua liquidez e não é mais pertencente a nada nem ninguém. Nem ao capital estrangeiro.

  1. Gears of War

Se a cultura não fosse a simples negação da natureza e respeitasse mais os princípios de sua Mãe o ser humano, além de cagar novas vidas e impor-lhes o ônus do trabalho, não fabricaria um arsenal nuclear, terminando, com tal atitude, por mais desestabilizar que “ajudar” (não precisa ser ajudada) sua biosfera. Uma mente tão corrupta olha a Terra com bons olhos só enquanto não coleciona as prometidas colônias espaciais que permitirão nossa continuidade. Vã continuidade. Viagem modorrenta. Muito curioso esse desenvolvimento, no sentido cíclico mesmo. Nada de linhas retas ascendentes. As marchas da guerra [ou equipamentos, armas] não pensam na preservação da espécie. Não há a menor garantia de que uma hora a rachadura não abra de vez. É um empreendimento de incomensurável risco, bem ao gosto do modo de produção ocidental e… está caduco dizer ocidental. No passado foram os muçulmanos, depois os soviéticos, japoneses… Agora qualquer olhos-puxados. O mundo. A família acabou. O Eu a engoliu juntamente com tudo. Os co(o)rporativistas ainda carregam aqueles livros debaixo do braço, mas, tal qual qualquer imbecil adaptado ou jogado de lado, só aguardam uma brecha para aparecer. Cada um com sua colossal melancia, preocupados que estão todos em se mostrar. Saldo final: não há um singular juiz. Os tecnicistas criaram um monstro que pode reduzir toda a filosofia ao nada instantaneamente… É… venceram!

* * *

Esses boletins sonoros estão me agradando e podem “intervir” na programação futura (Filosofia – Chauí).¹ Terei cerca de cem possibilidades extras…

¹ Este foi um presente de um primo distante do meu pai pelo qual sou muito grato, especialmente dado meu momento desarticulado em terras estranhas e possuído pelas terríveis marcas da saudade (do quê é que não sei, mas tenho certeza que é a parte de maior desamparo no anthropological blues). Neste preciso momento o amigo atencioso está em seus últimos minutos de praia e já vai retornar a seu meio. Eu não. Acrescento que, para saldar honrosamente meu débito, devo reler esses fragmentos ao chegar em casa e cumprir com o combinado: enviar-lhe por e-mail as ementas solicitadas da área de sociologia da UnB. a Mesmo que seu presente – e o meu futuro – não lhe – me – tenha custado nada, considero a necessidade dessa troca para a continuidade sem turbulências do cotidiano; afinal, humanos, culturalmente, vivem se devendo favores.

a Aposto que me esqueci disso!

Uma de minhas maiores vontades momentâneas é tomar uma cerveja gelada, não obstante meu sistema digestório-excretor precisar de um tempo até se restabelecer. Consolar-me-ei em pensar – e só pensar – no dia em que serei auto-sustentável e terei um novo lar – ainda que eu esteja pensando no aluguel: enquanto se pagar em dia, é todo seu. A independência… Uma cerveja gelada é um pedaço disso, por isso a quero tanto. Porém, conforme venho tentando me ensinar ultimamente, em lembretes mentais esporádicos, vive-se um dia de cada vez e, exilado, é-se plenamente impotente, o inverso de plenipotente. Um exílio implica em um outro exílio ao fim do primeiro, pois a terra natal terá mudado, eu mesmo terei, e será necessária uma readaptação ao local e aos afazeres de origem. E em verdade desconheço se poderei fazê-los todos, esses afazeres. Depende muito das circunstâncias. Ainda assim, ainda se puder, teimosamente deles prorrogarei minha licença, em prol de um só: as leituras atrasadas, que só parecem se agigantar enquanto os prazos encolhem e se tornam onerosos. Pelo menos já me livrei da autofobia e, no horizonte, nem o amor eu vejo. Agora bastam as músicas e as renovações, transferências, trancamentos e reda(reden)ções…

QUIMERA – Suriman Carreira (ed. Clube de Autores) – recenseado.

INSPIRADOS X APÓCRIFOS: “Nos primórdios do cristianismo eram 315 evangelhos, mas a Igreja admitiu apenas 4 (os já conhecidos, que formam o Novo Testamento). Isto ocorreu no concílio de Nicéia, aos 325 d.C., 1º concílio ecumênico da Igreja, convocado pelo imperador Constantino. Trezentos bispos, homens comuns, mas sedentos de poder, reuniram-se como se fossem detentores da verdade e decidiram que apenas os evangelhos de Mateus, Marcos, Lucas e João eram verdadeiros.”

A princípio, os hebreus respaldaram-se apenas na mitologia sumeriana (…) posteriormente sincretizaram [sua mitologia] com o zoroastrismo persa, absorvendo principalmente o dualismo e a escatologia zoroástrica, durante o cativeiro da Babilônia. Ao se fazer um estudo comparativo, constata-se a intensa influência das mitologias mesopotâmicas e do zoroastrismo nas escrituras hebraicas e, por conseguinte, na Bíblia”

As passagens bíblicas existentes no Gênesis, inerentes à criação do mundo, refletem claramente a intensa influência do épico da criação Enuma Elish. (…) Enuma Elish é o mito babilônio da Criação, descoberto por Austen Henry Layard, em 1849 (de forma fragmentada em tábuas de argila), nas ruínas da biblioteca de Assurbanipal, em Nínive (Mossul, Iraque), e publicado por George Smith, em 1876.”

O livro mais antigo da Bíblia é o de Jó, datando entre 500 a 400 a.C.”

não há lógica em Deus referir-se a Ele mesmo no plural para dizer que criará o homem à Sua imagem e semelhança.”

Edom significa vermelho, segundo nome de Esaú, irmão gêmeo de Jacó, considerado o pai dos edomitas; a terra dos edomitas”

O ARQUÉTIPO DAS BRUXAS

Lilith laylah, layl (noite, hebraico); lil (vento/ar) + lulti (lascívia, sumério); lulu (libertinagem, sumério)

A exclusão de Lilith do texto bíblico ocorreu de maneira gradual, e bem anteriormente à tradução da versão Vulgata (…) feita por São Jerônimo, em latim, usada pela I. Católica durante muitos séculos e fonte de diversas traduções das quais derivam as Bíblias atuais). Roberto Sicuteri, autor do livro Lilith, a Lua Negra, confirma que é na época da transposição da versão jeovística da Bíblia (séc. X a.C.)¹ para a versão sacerdotal (587-538 a.C.) que a lenda de Lilith teria sido eliminada, entretanto, ainda restam pequenos resquícios desta tradição em fragmentos deste texto, à exemplo (sic) do Livro de Isaías.”

¹ Não bate com a datação do Livro de Jó dada acima.

Lilith também é um demônio feminino da mitologia babilônica (…) que habitava lugares desertos. A Cabala faz referência à (sic) Lilith como a 1ª mulher de Adão, mas, em outro trecho, também é tida como a serpente que induziu Eva a comer o fruto proibido (Patai 81:455f).”

EVA POTRANQUINHA DO SENHOR: “Lilith não aceitava ficar por baixo nas relações sexuais e Adão recusava-se em inverter as posições. Isto foi o estopim para desencadear uma grande altercação entre o casal primordial, à qual (sic) gerou uma imensa indisposição, que culminou na separação.”

…onde se tornou a noiva de Samael/Asmodeus/Leviatã, o senhor das forças do mal do sitra achra (‘outro lado’…) (…) um dos príncipes de Lúcifer” “Lilith acasala-se (sic) com os demônios, parindo cem (…) diariamente, cujos machos são denominados Lilim, ou Liliotes, ou Linilins, e as fêmeas Liliths (o termo Lilim aparece no Targum Jerushalami, a bênção sacerdotal dos Números 6:26

Lilith [em esculturas babilônicas] ostenta um tipo de gorro ou chapéu escalonado, adornado com enfeites laterais e um disco solar no topo, caracterizando-a como uma deusa (e não como um demônio)”

Lilith aparece também no épico babilônico de Gilgamesh (o lendário rei sumério), em aproximadamente 2 mil a.C., como uma prostituta vampira que era incapaz de procriar e cujos seios estavam secos.” “Muitos acreditam também que há uma relação entre Lilith e Inanna, deusa suméria da guerra, da fertilidade e do prazer sexual.” “Em seus templos [de Inanna] se praticava a prostituição sagrada e suas sacerdotisas eram conhecidas como Nu-gig.” “Também não é incomum que se confunda Lilith com Ishtar ou até mesmo com Ísis, pela ligação destas com a morte. Vale dizer que as deusas Inanna dos sumérios, Asterote dos filisteus, Ísis dos egípcios, Ishtar dos acádios e posteriormente dos babilônios, Astarte dos fenícios e Ostara (Easter), a deusa da fertilidade e da primavera na mitologia nórdica, são cognatas.”

Quando a lua nova chegava, costumava-se dizer que a deusa estava com as regras.” Literalmente? Genealogia do termo regras para se referir ao mênstruo na faculdade de legislar sobre…?

Entre 3 mil e 2,5 mil a.C., quando os sumerianos passaram a ter contatos com culturas patriarcais, ocorre a passagem da concepção religiosa matriarcal para a patriarcal, então os templos dedicados à deusa foram postos abaixo e as práticas sexuais foram reprimidas e se tornaram parte da sombra, o poder da mulher foi identificado com o mal e o demônio (mas o politeísmo foi mantido, diga-se de passagem).” “A deusa passou a ser denominada como <a Grande Abominação>” “A deusa de Israel chamava-se Asherah (ou Aserá), esposa de Yahweh. Para a maioria das pessoas que lêem a Bíblia, a idéia de um único Deus de Israel, Yahweh, parece ser clara. No entanto, descobertas arqueológicas das últimas décadas vêm demonstrando que nem sempre foi assim.” Vou explicar ao longo das passagens por que esse “cientificismo” do autor depõe contra ele, e não a favor.

Pesquisas destacam [fonte???] a época do profeta Elias como o período histórico em que se começa a falar da exclusividade do Deus de Israel, principalmente no embate com o deus Baal e no processo de sincretismo, onde Yahweh incorpora as características de Baal.” Interessante.

processo de diabolização de outras divindades”

Num primeiro momento, a divindade Yahweh teria sido um elemento religioso que veio de fora do contexto cananeu. Nesta época, possivelmente era o Deus El que ocupava o trono do panteão divino.”

Haroldo Reimer aponta 5 fases do desenvolvimento do monoteísmo no Antigo Israel, a saber: a 1ª fase seria marcada pelo sincretismo entre El e Yahweh, no qual El é uma divindade cananéia cujas características são de Criador da terra e pai dos deuses (analogamente, o sumeriano deus Apsu também era o progenitor dos deuses, diga-se de passagem); a 2ª fase, por volta do séc. IX a.C., seria marcada pelos conflitos com o deus Baal. Baal era filho de El, cuja característica principal era a fertilidade; [nenhum deus pode ser eunuco!] a 3ª fase estaria na ênfase da adoração exclusiva de Yahweh. O profeta Oséias, no séc. VIII a.C., equipara a idolatria à adoração de outras divindades. [?] Neste período, acontece a reforma de Ezequias (II Reis 18:4), que mostra a remoção dos lugares altos e a destruição da serpente de bronze, Neustã. Reforma legitimada legalmente através do Código da Aliança (Êx. 20:22-23 e 29); A 4ª fase remete à época de dominação assíria, com a reforma de Josias (II Reis 22 e 23), justificada legalmente pelo Código Deuteronômico, englobando uma série de medidas visando a (sic) exclusividade de Yahweh e sua centralidade em Jerusalém. (…) A 5ª fase seria marcada pelo monoteísmo absoluto e estaria relacionada com o período do exílio. Gên. 1 afirma o poder criacional de Yahweh diante do domínio babilônico ancorado na fidelidade à divindade Marduk (a influência da mitologia babilônica).”

Conforme a pesquisadora Monika Ottermann, que traça o panorama da presença da deusa em Israel, da Idade do Bronze à Idade do Ferro, no Oriente Médio, datando a Idade do Bronze Médio entre 1800 a 1500 a.C., a representação da deusa é caracterizada como ‘Deusa-Nua’, destacando o triângulo púbico, emergindo também representações em forma de ramos ou pequenas árvores estilizadas, combinação que vem a ser denominada ‘Deusa-Árvore’. Os ramos, árvore ou pequenas árvores, brotando com suas raízes no triângulo púbico, simboliza a busca pela vida (…) (vale dizer que o hexagrama judaico, conhecido como estrela de Davi, símbolo do Estado de Israel, é formado por 2 triângulos opostos e sobrepostos” Ou seja: SEXO!

Vários selos ou impressões de selos que associam símbolos astrais com árvores estilizadas foram encontrados na Palestina e na Transjordânia, o que reforça interpretações sobre a existência de um culto à deusa Asherah ao lado de Yahweh.”

No âmbito da mitologia grega, Lilith é associada à deusa Hécate – analogamente, <a mulher escarlate> do Apocalipse –, uma deusa que guarda as portas do inferno montada em um enorme cão de 3 cabeças”

Sol Invictus (Sol Invicto, em latim [não diga!]), também conhecido pelo nome completo, Deus Sol Invicto, era um título religioso aplicado a 3 divindades distintas durante o Império Romano tardio.” Mitra Marte

Correção: Não se trata do império romano tardio, posto que muito anterior à cristianização.

Mitra significava amigo no idioma falado na Índia védica. Já no persa avéstico, tinha o significado de contrato. Atualmente, usa-se esta última semasiologia,¹ e existem diversas grafias para Mitra: Mihr [amor], Meher, Meitros, etc.

¹ “Linguística Estudo semântico que consiste em partir do signo linguístico para a determinação do conceito (por opos. a onomasiologia).”

onomasiologia: “Estudo semântico que consiste em buscar, a partir do conceito, os signos linguísticos, a expressão que lhe corresponde (por opos. a semasiologia).”

A deusa Anahita (Anihata, Anahira) era uma virgem imaculada, era a mãe de Mitra, era considerada a mãe de deus e a deidade feminina do fogo, dentro do panteão de deuses avésticos.”

Mitra (…) foi despojado de sua soberania e todos os seus poderes e atributos foram atribuídos a Ahura-Mazda.”

HaShatan HaSatan Satã

A Síndrome de Estocolmo aplicada em grande escala a um povo se chama Síndrome Babilônica.

Os soldados macedônios, com suas esposas e filhos persas, levaram o culto [de] Mitra à Macedônia e à Grécia.”

Mitrídates, o Grande – 120 a 63 a.C., o último persa de sua estirpe, derrotado por Roma em 66. Chamado em Montesquieu, Espírito das Leis (Jean Melville) de Mitríades.

Na época, existiam 2 escolas rabínicas. Cada uma com pontos de vista diferentes. Uma seguia os ensinamentos de Hilel, o ancião, e a outra os ensinamentos de Shamai. Beit Hilel e Beit Shamai eram os nomes das escolas. Hilel e Shamai foram 2 renomados eruditos judeus. Hilel era uma pessoa amável, simples, próxima às camadas mais modestas da sociedade, e suas máximas breves refletem sua generosidade, piedade e amor à humanidade. Shamai era extremamente íntegro e mais rígido e irascível. Yeshua deve ter estudado na escola de Hilel.”

Aquele que tenta engrandecer seu nome o destrói; aquele que não aumenta seu conhecimento o diminui; e aquele que não estuda, merece morrer.”

Hilel

Conta-se que [quem conta?], quando Herodes apareceu na sala do Sinédrio, rodeado pela guarda real, totalmente armados, (sic) o silêncio reinava. Podia-se sentir o sentimento (sic) de intimidação naquela sala, quando, (sic) apenas Shamai, sem medo, levantou-se para falar contra ele.”

Em suma, a escola Beit Hilel pendia ao judaísmo essênio, que era mais uma filosofia de vida do que uma religião. Já a escola Beit Shamai tinha um perfil notoriamente farisaico, o que a aproximava do judaísmo dominante.” A história do farisaísmo e a história da religião se confundem.

Em função de Sua Missão neste orbe, os pais de Yeshua foram previamente selecionados em razão de seus genes, [Genes? Deus veio do século XX numa máquina do tempo, como uma espécie de John Connor?] conduta moral e, obviamente, evolução espiritual.”

O CARPINTEIRO QUE NÃO CARPIA, POIS TINHA MUITOS LIVROS QUE LER: “Certamente, Yeshua estudou o hinduísmo, o zoroastrismo, o budismo, filosofias, mitologias e crenças gregas, egípcias, etc. Tudo isso, Ele (sic) deve ter feito durante os Seus (sic) anos de vida oculta.”

A Igreja Católica não aceita Jesus como rabino porque um rabino deve ser casado, principalmente no séc. I, e isto vai contra o celibato. Outras questões: se Jesus fôra casado, quem fôra a Sua (sic) esposa? Maria Madalena? Jesus teve filhos? A vida do Mestre é um mistério total. Ele mesmo não deixara nada escrito por razões óbvias. [?] O importante era Sua Mensagem. (sic) Ele não tencionava criar religião alguma.” Ora, se o importante era sua mensagem, ele deveria ter deixado escritos. Mas se ele não pretendia deixar escritos, por razões óbvias, tampouco poderia esperar semear alguma coisa, religião ou não! Paroxismo.

O libertador que os sacerdotes esperavam era diferente. Esperavam um messias que entrasse em conluio com eles, ocupasse o trono de Davi e promovesse a união do povo de Israel para deflagrar uma insurreição contra Roma”

Estar na fé implica o indivíduo freqüentar assiduamente o templo ou igreja, participar dos rituais, ler e crer na bíblia e nas pregações, sem duvidar de nada.”

Trechos que foram criados pelos antigos líderes judaicos-hebreus (muito antes de Cristo) para sustentar o judaísmo, que os mantinha na opulência e no poder, p.ex.: ‘Trazei todos os dízimos à casa do Tesouro, para que haja mantimento na minha casa; e provai-me nisto, diz o Senhor dos Exércitos, se eu não vos abrir as janelas do céu e não derramar sobre vós bênção sem medida’ (Malaquias 3:10)”

FILHOS DE LEVI QUERIA DIZER O CENTRÃO DE ARTHUR LIRA? “Aos filhos de Levi, dei todos os dízimos em Israel por herança, pelo serviço que prestam, serviço da tenda da congregação. E nunca mais os filhos de Israel [os populares] se chegarão à tenda da congregação, para que não levem sobre si o pecado e morram. Mas os levitas farão o serviço da tenda da congregação e responderão por suas faltas; estatuto perpétuo é este para todas as vossas gerações. [Porém, quando o dízimo é secreto, não há apuração de faltas] E não terão eles nenhuma herança no meio dos filhos de Israel. [não terão trabalho honesto, viverão do roubo do povo] Porque os dízimos dos filhos de Israel, que apresentam ao Senhor em oferta, dei-os por herança aos levitas…” Números 18:21-23 – Números, esse pessoal gosta muito de númeRo$!

No entanto, nada do que alguém dedicar irremissivelmente ao Senhor, de tudo o que tem, seja homem, ou animal, ou campo da sua herança, se poderá vender, nem resgatar; toda coisa assim consagrada será santíssima ao Senhor” Levítico 27:28 Extremamente ambíguo!

MERCADORES DA FÉ: “Os atuais finórios de Deus utilizam muito os supracitados versículos do capítulo 18 do livro de Números para se colocarem na mesma posição dos levitas judeus, transferindo a eles uma incumbência textualmente aplicada tão-somente aos levitas, mas literalmente incabível aos missionários da cristandade, pois não encontra respaldo no Novo Testamento” “A isto se deu o nome de teologia da prosperidade, principal característica das religiões neopentecostais.”

a cultura sumeriana formou a hebraica.” Nomeadamente a doutrina do povo eleito.

Os Evangelhos Sinóticos foram escritos por volta dos anos 50. O evangelho de João foi escrito aproximadamente no ano 90, portanto, apesar de serem cópias de cópias de outras cópias, assim como o de João também, os evangelhos de Marcos, Mateus e Lucas são mais confiáveis do que o de João, por serem mais contemporâneos a Jesus, ou seja, estão mais próximos do Jesus histórico na linha temporal.”

NÃO EXISTE IGREJA SEM FÉ, MAS EXISTE FÉ SEM IGREJA: “Dentre os Evangelhos Sinóticos, somente Marcos 16:16 menciona a salvação apenas pela fé, entretanto, a maioria dos estudiosos bíblicos afirma que Marcos 16:16 é um versículo espúrio no evangelho segundo Marcos, pois destoa totalmente dos demais escritos atribuídos ao evangelista e, principalmente, porque o trecho em questão não consta nos primeiros manuscritos do evangelho de Marcos.”

MANUAL DE COMO SER ANTICRISTÃO NO SÉCULO XXI

Suriman ataca da forma errada: expondo contradições entre escritos bíblicos. Mas eu diria que se não houvesse qualquer contradição esse grande livro (ou livro grande) seria muito menos amado! Não é expondo contradições que se combaterá os cristãos de todos os tempos e lugares. Uma estratégia melhor seria, p.ex., denunciar o livro sagrado como muito estreito e linear. Um Deus onisciente e onipresente deveria poder ser capaz de mais nuances, matizes, perspectivas e contradições – as que vemos são muito poucas, mambembes, astutas no pior sentido de pobreza argumentativa, quase que evidenciam um pragmatismo, uma racionalidade temporã, de mercadores da fé, um livro ESCRITO ATRAVÉS DE DEUS por mãos humanas que nada tem de divino, é chão e abjeto, parece um manual de economia! Por isso é que é uma fraude, e esse Deus não existe ou foi incrivelmente traído pelos descendentes de seus profetas e sacerdotes, que conseguiram apagar todos os traços do Evangelho Original e até calar a boca de seu Filho, que Era Ele Mesmo. Ou seja, um deus fraco; e deuses não são fracos. Ou apenas um Deus satânico – mas cuidado, isso é muito popular entre os cristãos que hoje já não sentem necessidade sequer de simular o ascetismo! Pois Ele quer o mal; e nosso objetivo não é mais atacar o livro, que o deixa claro, mas, com poder político, não deixar qualquer traço ou tolerância dessas práticas más!

Paulo encoraja a soberba e a megalomania, elitizando o cristianismo, fazendo um jogo perigoso, que fomenta discriminações, preconceitos, discórdias e até pelejas, opondo-se ao amor universal pregado por Jesus, e contrariando outros trechos que afirmam que Deus não faz acepção de pessoas, como, p.ex., em Romanos 2:11, que é uma epístola dele mesmo, por sinal.”

No hinduísmo, um avatar é uma manifestação corporal de um ser imortal, por vezes até do Ser Supremo. Deriva do sânscrito Avatara, que significa <descida>, normalmente denotando (sic – conotando) uma religião das encarnações de Vishnu (tais como Krishna), que muitos hinduístas reverenciam como divindade.”

A 1ª semelhança encontrada pelos tradutores das tábuas em escrita cuneiforme é a mais impressionante. Foi a mola propulsora de toda a discussão sobre a veracidade dos textos bíblicos, pois a descrição do dilúvio não só é a mais bem-conservada tábua de toda a epopéia, mas a mais rica em detalhes e semelhanças com a descrição no Gênesis. Além do quê, outras narrativas do dilúvio foram encontradas em forma de poemas isolados e com outros personagens, como as tábuas de Atra-Hasis, a Epopéia de Erra, os textos do rei Ziusudra (Utnapishtim).”

Ea (deus da água doce e da sabedoria, patrono das artes e protetor da humanidade na mitologia acadiana e babilônica; denominado Enki na mitologia suméria) avisa Utnapishtim em um sonho das intenções de Enlil e orienta-o a como sobreviver à catástrofe que estaria por vir [extinção do homem?]: <põe abaixo tua casa e constrói um barco….>

Eu carreguei o interior da nave com tudo o que eu tinha de ouro e de coisas vivas. Minha família, meus parentes, os animais do campo – os domesticados e os selvagens – e todos os artesãos.” O que seria do mundo sem os artesãos! Até o detalhe do corvo que foi solto e encontrou, finalmente, terra firme após 6 dias de dilúvio foi copiado pelo VT de Gilgamesh!

Enlil, furioso com Ea por ter permitido que um humano sobrevivesse e conhece[sse] o segredo dos deuses, viu-se sem alternativa que não a de transformar Utnapishtim em um imortal, para que sua maldição de que nenhum mortal sobrevivesse se completasse.”

Gilgamesh então mergulha no oceano e obtém a planta da juventude eterna. Mas não se alimenta dela a tempo, decidindo levá-la consigo para Uruk e compartilhá-la com os anciãos do povo. “Gilgamesh é surpreendido por uma serpente marinha que lhe rouba a flor, perdendo para sempre o segredo da imortalidade”

fruto – serpente – mortalidade (terra)

fruto – serpente – imortalidade (água)

Gilgamesh então ficou desolado e abatido, pois além de fracassar em sua missão perdera para sempre o irmão Enkidu, restando-lhe apenas, melancolicamente, esperar o dia de sua morte chegar.”

O Mito de Dilmum (o casal divino Enki e Nintu).

Os sumérios foram, provavelmente, os primeiros a habitar o sul da Mesopotâmia. A região foi ocupada em 5 mil a.C. (…) ali [se] constru[íram] as primeiras cidades de que a humanidade tem conhecimento, como Ur, Uruk e Lagash. As cidades foram erigidas sobre colinas.”

No início do 2º milênio a.C. a região da Mesop. constitui-se em um grande e unificado império que tinha como centro administrativo a cidade da Babilônia, situada nas margens do rio Eufrates. Os amoritas, povos semitas provenientes da Arábia, edificaram o Primeiro Império Babilônico. Este povo é conhecido também como <antigos babilônicos>, o que os diferencia dos caldeus, fundadores do II Império Bab., denominados NEOBABILÔNICOS.”

De origem semita, os assírios viviam do pastoreio e habitavam as margens do rio Tigre.” “conquistaram (…) o Egito. O centro adm. do império assírio era Nínive.”

os [também semitas] caldeus foram os principais responsáveis pela derrota dos assírios e pela organização do novo império babil. Nabucodonosor foi o soberano mais conhecido dos caldeus. (…) governou por 60 anos e após sua morte os persas dominaram o novo imp. bab.” Ao todo, em somente 7 décadas construíram os lendários Jardins Suspensos e a Torre de Babel.

Uma etnia tão fratricida realmente precisava inventar um Deus vingador-Deus do amor (no fim é indiferente, desde que unisse as “tribos”). Para o leigo que lê a bíblia, entretanto, monarcas como Nabucodonosor passam como governantes dos gentios, cem por cento pagãos, sem qualquer relação com a árvore genealógica hebraica.

Apesar de matemática, astronomia e medicina altamente desenvolvidas, a principal realização cultural dos sumérios foi a escrita fonética. “Quem decifrou a escrita cuneiforme foi Henry C. Rawlinson.”

Anterior ao Código de Hamurabi [por muito tempo considerada a lei mais antiga da humanidade] tem-se o o Cód. de Ur-Nammu, descoberto em 1952 pelo assiriólogo (…) Samuel Noah Kromer.”

Sargão I é o 1º monarca da história a manter um exército de prontidão.”

Apesar de terem preservado a maior parte da cultura suméria, os amoritas introduziram seu idioma semítico, um ancestral do hebreu na região” Neste idioma é escrita a Epopéia gilgameshiana.

1750 a.C.: (…) os cassitas, um povo não-semítico, conquista a maior parte da Mesop.”

o historiador e lingüista Zecharia Sitchin, especialista em traduções de tabletes cuneiformes, revela que[,] para os sumérios e babilônios os Anunnaki eram, literalmente, astronautas extraterrestres que aterrissaram na região onde se situa o Iraque, há aproximadamente 450 mil anos, em missão de mineração, que se estendeu do Oriente-Médio à África.” Eridu, considerada a cidade mais antiga do mundo, teria sido fundada por esses curiosos E.T.s! “…com o objetivo de obter ouro em quantidade suficiente para sanar os problemas no ecossistema de seu planeta natal, Nibiru.” Ah, o homem! Por que um povo capaz de se teletransportar precisaria de OURO?! Péssima base literária!

Segundo os sumérios, o trab. de mineração ficou comprometido por rebilões entre os Anunnaki, o que levou Enki e Ninti, brilhantes cientistas, a interferir no ritmo evolutivo do tipo humanóide simiesco que habitava o planeta. Através de experiências de engenharia genética, foi obtido o protótipo do Homo sapiens, chamado pelos sum. de Adapa/Adamu.” E daqui pra frente só piora! Mas como série estilo Arquivo X seria sensacional!

a cada 3600 anos [curiosamente coincidindo com o sistema matemático sexagesimal babilônico, que coisa!] o planeta Nibiru completa um período orbital em torno do Sol [qual sol?] e, durante sua aproximação da Terra, diversos cataclismos se sucedem. Os Anunnaki então aproveitariam essa <janela cósmica> para retornarem à Terra.” Prefiro o lore de One Piece!

Nibiru/Marduk, 10º planeta (tendo Plutão como 9º) do sistema solar ou talvez o 6º ou 7º planeta da estrela anã-marrom que seria a suposta irmã gêmea do nosso Sol.” U-A-U!

Nibiru é um planeta do s.s. citado no poema Enuma Elish (Batalha Celeste)¹ e associado ao deus Marduk (…) Os sumérios descreviam nosso sistema solar como um conjunto de 12 corpos celestes significativos” Claro que também corresponderia ao sistema duodecimal criado para a medição do tempo!

¹ Narração da criação do planeta Terra por Marduk.

Marduk (…) era filho de uma relação incestuosa entre Enki e Ninhursag. Foi pai de Dumuzi (o bíblico Tamuz), correspondente ao deus egípcio Osíris. Sua consorte era Sarpanitu.” “foi o vencedor do monstro Tiamat, que personifica o caos primordial; divide-o em 2 partes, com as quais forma o céu e a terra.”

Intertestamentário é o período de tempo que abrange 400 anos entre 397 e 6 a.C.. Trata-se do período situado entre o V. e o N. Testamento.” Hiato Malaquias-Mateus.

De acordo com o Livro dos Jubileus, Sete casou-se com sua irmã mais jovem Azura e teve vários filhos, entre os quais Enos. [que não sofria de azia]” “É importante esclarecer que Sete é também o nome de um personagem jaredita do Livro de Éter (um dos livros que compõem o Livro de Mórmon). § Alguns estudiosos do séc. XIX identificam Sete com Shitti, um epíteto do deus Marduque”

Algumas religiões e crenças, culturalmente atrasadas, encorajam seus seguidores à prática do suicídio.” São tantas coisas erradas na frase que mal saberia por onde começar…

Eostre, Ostara ou Ostera é a deusa da fertilidade e do renascimento na mitologia anglo-saxã, na mitologia nórdica e mitologia germânica. A primavera, lebres e ovos coloridos eram os símbolos da fertilidade e renovação a ela associados.” Páscoa vem do latim pache, passagem, originalmente transição entre estações (fim do inverno no hemisfério norte). Mas também “Deusa da Aurora” no Alto Alemão ou simplesmente sol nascente em outras raízes anglo-saxãs.

Eos, Deusa do Amanhecer na mitologia grega.” // Astarte // Ishtar

Varuna é um deus indiano da criação. Possivelmente é a mais augusta divindade do panteão védico.” “Varuna tentou impedir o nascimento de Indra, mas foi impossível” Varuna foi então rebaixado de Zeus hindu para mero deus da noite e dos oceanos. Nenhum olimpo é uma liga, i.e., há sempre rebaixamento e ascensão de semi-deuses e heróis correndo por fora!

A principal coletânea da mitologia persa é o Shahnameh de Ferdowsi, escrito há mil anos. A obra de Ferdowsi tem por base as histórias e personagens do zoroastrismo e do masdeísmo, não apenas o Avesta, mas também o Bundahishn e o Denkard. Segundo a crença, o sexo era predominante, assim como o amor verdadeiro. [?!] O primeiro beijo (…) era fundamental…” Bem, continua sendo entre nós… “Já a 1ª relação sexual deveria ser presenciada pelos pais.” Isto sim está fora da cartilha!

A mitologia persa é ao mesmo tempo muito próxima e diferente da mitologia hindu. Elas são próximas, porque os iranianos são um povo indo-europeu cuja língua tem grande semelhança com o sânscrito e foram um povo que estabeleceu constantes relações com os arianos da Índia. E são diferentes, pois a religião dos antigos persas adquiriu um aspecto mais moral que mitológico.”

Ahura Mazda é o criador de outras 6 ou 7 divindades supremas, os Amesha Spenta, que reinam, cada um, sobre uma parte da criação”

Subordinados dos Amesha Spenta:

I. Mitra, o mestre do espaço livre;

II. Tistrya, o deus das trovoadas;

III. Verethraghna, o deus da vitória;

IV. Os Izeds.

Angra Mainyu perdeu sua identidade zoroastrista e masdeísta original na posterior literatura persa, sendo finalmente descrito como um Dev ou div, celestial ou radiante [um gigante com o corpo manchado e 2 chifres].”

Somente após a reforma religiosa de Zaratustra o termo dev foi associado com demônios. Mesmo assim os persas que habitavam a região ao sul do mar Cáspio continuaram a adorar os devs e resistiram à pressão para aceitar o zoroastrismo e as lendas em torno dos devs sobreviveram até os dias atuais. P.ex., a lenda do Dev-e Sepid (Dev branco) de Mazandaran.”

A personagem mais importante nos épicos persas é Rostam. Sua contraparte é Zahhak, um símbolo do despotismo que foi finalmente derrotado por Kaveh, que liderou um levante popular contra ele.” “A serpente, como em muitas outras mitologias, representava o mal” “os pássaros, em especial, eram sinal de boa sorte.”

Peri (avéstico Pairika), considerada uma mulher bonita porém má na mitologia mais antiga, tornou-se gradualmente menos má e mais bonita até transformar-se em um símbolo de beleza no período islâmico similar aos houri – espécie de anjos – do Paraíso. Entretanto, outra mulher má, Patiareh, atualmente simboliza a prostituição.”

a reconstrução da história da Índia Védica é baseada no estudo dos Vedas (…) associado às informações arqueológicas.” “muito do que se sabe da época é baseado no Rig Veda – o mais antigo texto sânscrito escrito e preservado. Acredita-se que estas e outras narrativas épicas, como o Ramayana e o Mahabharata, se originam neste período, a partir da tradição oral” era de mistura cultural. A cultura ariana foi aos poucos se mesclando à cultura indiana local. A partir de 200 a.C. este processo se completou e o que conhecemos como cultura indiana tomou sua forma geral.”

A ordem social reflete a presença dos árias [brâmanes] no poder e, com isso, a supremacia dos sacerdotes [sempre um mal!] se consolidou no sistema de castas.” Em breve, THE LAWS OF MANU no Seclusão.

Os chamados impuros ou párias não pertenciam a nenhuma casta [<quinta casta>]. Eram nascidos de uma união de pessoas de castas diferentes [superficial: não procede – apenas se forem provindos de união não-sancionada – e desde que um brâmane tenha pelo menos 4 esposas a 4ª pode até ser uma Sudra] ou de expulsos de suas castas por terem violado as leis. Não podiam viver nas cidades, ler os livros sagrados [falso: nem mesmo os shatriya podem ler o Veda!] e banhar-se nas águas do Ganges.”

Ahura Mazda deriva de ashura, senhor, deus menor hindu. E no entanto os outros deuses são devas, que na etimologia seriam aproximados de dev, demônio. Ou seja: Índia e Zoroastrismo são essencialmente opostos (pode-se dizer que uma religião é a outra de ponta-cabeça). E no entanto estas duas religiões são um contraste absoluto com as noções hebraicas – formando-se um triângulo de oposição entre macro-religiões, a dos judeus a mais contrária e refratária às outras crenças.

Sempre imaginei que Maniqueísmo e Mazdeísmo ou Masdeísmo (o Zoroastrismo, enfim) fossem sinônimos. O que não quadra é a informação seguinte: “Maniqueísmo, filosofia religiosa sincrética e dualística ensinada pelo profeta persa Mani (ou Manes), combinando elementos do Zoroastrismo, Cristianismo e Gnosticismo” O mais curioso é que Mani é muito próximo de Manu, autor de um dos códigos de lei mais antigos, inscrito no hinduísmo e obedecendo aos Vedas. E manes também é uma nomenclatura para determinada classe de divindades importantes na ritualística bramânica.

Zoroastrismo (doutrina mais pura) > Masdeísmo (refundação “decadente”)

Ísis, a deusa do amor e da mágica, tornou-se a deusa-mãe do Egito.” E ainda: médica, casamenteira (inscrito em amor e magia) e incentivadora da agricultura, patrona da harmonia e das festas, além de governante no sentido sócio-político, ao lado de seu marido Osíris. Podemos portanto chamá-la sem equívoco de Deusa da Cultura Egípcia, ou Embaixadora do Egito enquanto civilização. Teria originado o Rio Nilo. Por diversos acontecimentos da mitologia, é associada à árvore do tamarindo. Por último, Ísis também é a deusa da Morte ou da transição da vida terrena para a próxima vida, tendo criado o ritual do embalsamento.

MITOS & ARQUÉTIPOS

Nas odisséias de Ísis e inúmeros outros deuses de outras mitologias há sempre uma cena arquetípica: a deusa (sempre uma mulher), disfarçada, se torna ama de um príncipe recém-nascido, filho do rei do local. A ele se afeiçoa e deseja presenteá-lo com a imortalidade mediante um ritual que, visto pelos olhos de um leigo, parece um homicídio hediondo, geralmente envolvendo as labaredas do fogo. Sempre, no momento de ser consumada a imortalidade, o ritual é interrompido por alguma testemunha do palácio e o príncipe nunca obtém a imortalidade. A estória de Zigfried e Aquiles é uma variante deste arquétipo, excluindo elementos como “príncipe ainda bebê” e a ama, que se converte noutra figura feminina, como a mãe de Aquiles, que o segura pelos calcanhares e o banha em águas que concedem a imortalidade – dando-lhe uma imortalidade parcial ou condicionada, destinada a ser vencida quando um guerreiro atinge seu ponto fraco, única parte mortal do corpo, o calcanhar-de-Aquiles.

No mito de Osíris há outra alusão a um ser assexuado ou hermafrodita, tema de inúmeros mitos, como o de Platão n’O Banquete, conotando uma suposta perfeição ou transcendência em relação à condição limitada dos dois sexos, fundindo todas as suas qualidades num ser Uno. Osíris fôra retalhado em inúmeros pedaços e pelos dons de Ísis e sua irmã voltou à vida, com todas as suas partes reconectadas, exceto a genitália, que havia sido devorada por um peixe do Nilo. Nasce o ser perfeito e assexual – e o que eu comentei acima de “nenhum deus pode ser hermafrodita”, cai por terra!

Hórus é o filho de Ísis e Osíris. Como a ressurreição de Osíris pôde ser apenas temporária, já que ele possuía o corpo mas sua alma já havia partido, Hórus foi concebido numa “atípica lua-de-mel” entre Ísis e o deus morto-vivo, que finalmente foi embalsamado e partiu de maneira pacífica ao Outro Mundo. Tal circunstância torna Hórus divindade dual, tanto da Vida quanto da Morte, e sua aparência reflete sua capacidade espiritual: meio-homem, meio-falcão.

Set, deus-cobra, arqui-inimigo de Hórus, Osíris e Ísis, entrou em combate com o filho do casal: este embate entre falcão e serpente é outro arquétipo. Nietzsche utiliza tal simbologia em seu próprio Zaratustra (o que podemos considerar o mesmo que: a superação de todas as religiões monoteístas após a morte de Deus, ainda que usando velhos nomes e velhos símbolos), em que Zaratustra é secundado por dois discípulos, uma serpente e um falcão [na verdade, águia], falantes. Como Zaratustra anuncia aquilo que virá muito além do bem e do mal, a serpente e o falcão não são mais, respectivamente, representantes nem do mal nem do bem.

Sobre Ísis (bom tropo para usar em um RPG): “Suas habilidades mágicas melhoraram muito quando ela tirou proveito da velhice de a fim de enganá-lo, fazendo-o revelar seu nome e, assim, dando a ela acesso a um pouco de seu poder.”

A VIRGEM MARIA EGÍPCIA: “Do morto e castrado Osíris, Ísis extraiu por conta própria a semente viva. E muitas vezes foi retratada em pinturas ou esculturas com o divino filho, Hórus, sobre o joelho.”

Osíris mandava no mundo dos mortos, seu falo perdido para sempre nas águas do Nilo, onde dele corria um fluxo interminável de sêmen, fertilizando os extraordinários campos do Egito todos os anos quando o rio transbordava.” “Osíris, o deus do sangue, julgava o malfeitor olhando dentro do coração do mesmo.” Isso não o impediu de cair numa simplória armadilha de Set.

Bellenus é o deus celta do Sol.” “Era um dos principais deuses da mitologia celta, mas era uma divindade mais regional, adorada principalmente no norte da Itália e na costa mediterrânea da Gália.”

Na antiga religião, antes da Igreja destruir este culto e transformá-lo no que se conhece como <bruxaria>, os camponeses iam para os bosques de carvalhos à noite e acendiam enormes fogueiras para a deusa, o que tornou esta festividade conhecida como As Fogueiras de Beltane.” Origem de nossa festa junina, cristianizada.

Mabon (pronuncia-se mêibon) é também conhecido como Equinócio de Outono ou Lar da Colheita ou Festival da Segunda Colheita. Dia sagrado no paganismo, em especial na religião wicca. (…) corresponde a (…) 20 de março no hemisfério sul e (…) 22 de setembro no hemisfério norte”

o ano-novo pagão (Samhain – pronuncia-se sou-en)” etimologia: samh, verão + fuin, fim. “É uma época de quilíbrio, onde o dia e a noite têm a mesma duração.”

O nome Mabon veio de um deus celta (também conhecido como Angus), o deus do amor.”

Lughnasadh (pronuncia-se lusaná) é também conhecido como Lammas ou Festival da Primeira Colheita. (…) Celebrado dia 2 de fevereiro no hemisfério sul”

O nome lusaná tem suas raízes em uma festa agrícola típica dos célticos. (…) em honra ao deus (…) do Sol: Lugh

Já o nome Lammas significa <A Massa de Lugh>, que representa o alimento (geralmente pão ou bolo ou qualquer outra massa) feito com grãos, que representam a colheita”

coven (grupo de bruxos)” ui ui ui!

Mani: a deusa brasileira da mandioca, alva como a lua!

grande parte da tradição do Halloween, do dia de todos os santos e do dia dos finados pode ser associada ao Samhain.” “Alguns autores acham que não existe nenhuma evidência que relacione o Samhain com o culto dos mortos e que esta crença se popularizou no séc. XIX.” “Era também a época em que o Sidhe (nome celta para duende) deixava antever o outro mundo.” Origem ainda do espantalho ou do Jack o’Lantern.

MITO <TEBAIDO> (+1 ARQUÉTIPO PARA A LISTA…): “A religião mitraica dos magos tem uma lenda como a maçonaria. [?] É a seguinte: Mitra (Luz) (…) nasceu da <rocha generativa>, [a pedra do gênesis de Raul Seixas?] debaixo da sombra de uma árvore sagrada. Uns pastores foram testemunhas (…) Viram-no sair da rocha, com a cabeça adornada (…) armado de um cutelo e levando uma tocha para iluminar as trevas” Pedra do tempo; quem tem teto de vidro que atire o primeiro dente!

Os pontos em comum entre a mitologia maga e a vida de Cristo segundo os evangelhos saltam à vista.” Com toda a certeza.

O mitraísmo – religião da moda no Império Romano – cultuava Mitra e a supracitada mitologia não poderia ficar de fora. Provavelmente os líderes da embrionária Igreja Católica optaram pela absorção da mitologia dos magos, amalgamando-a com a história de Jesus para adaptar o cristianismo às crenças romanas e, deste modo, torná-lo aprazível aos mitraístas, facilitando a conversão.”

Na tentativa de consolidar a totalidade do Imp. Romano sob o seu domínio, Licínio o Breve [imperador da banda oriental] marchou contra Constantino. Como parte de seu esforço para ganhar a lealdade de suas legiões, L. dispensou o exército e o serviço civil da política de tolerância do Edito de Milão, [que cessou a perseguição aos cristãos] permitindo-lhes sua expulsão. Alguns perderam propriedades e outros a vida. § Constantino venceu a guerra em 324 d.C.”

Em relação ao Antigo Testamento, o problema só foi definitivamente resolvido em 1546 (no Concílio de Trento), sendo incluídos o Livro da Sabedoria, atribuído a Salomão, o Eclesiastes ou Sirac, as Odes de Salomão, o Tobit ou Livro de Tobias, os Livros dos Macabeus e ainda outros.”

LINHA DO TEMPO (somente inseri os mais relevantes)

ANO – nº romano do Concílio – local – principais resultados

325 – IV – Nicéia – Apostasia do Arianismo; Fundação da Igreja Católica.

432 – VI – Éfeso – Apostasia do Nestorianismo.

451 – VII – Calcedônia – Apostasia do Monofisitismo.

553 – VIII – Constantinopla – Apostasia do resiliente Nestorianismo!

681 – IX – Constantinopla – Apostasia do Monotelitismo.

767 – X – Nicéia – permite a veneração de imagens [destruição do cristianismo primitivo, na opinião de muitos protestantes…]

(Entre 867 e 1064 – incontáveis cismas, mas o principal, entre a Romana e a Ortodoxa.)

869 – XI – Constantinopla – primeira trégua provisória Ocid. x Or.

1123 – XII – Latrão – Apostasia do Valdensismo e Albigensismo.

1139 – XIII Latrão – idem [!]

(Seguiriam mais dois em Latrão para o mesmo fim, o segundo em 1215 – XV Concílio.)

Daqui em diante não importa o número, os concílios são cada vez mais estapafúrdios, se já não o eram o bastante…

1431 – Concílio da Reforma (Basiléia, Ferrara, Florenza e Lausana)

1517 – real surgimento das Igrejas Protestantes (conclusão do processo de cisma iniciado quase um século antes). (Trento)

1545 – Contra-Reforma (Trento)

1870 – A grande besteira e heresia da infalibilidade papal, que duraria muito pouco tempo para uma religião milenar! (Vaticano)

1962 – “Concílio da modernização”, para fisgar os beatlemaníacos e afins!

O judaísmo era para ser uma filosofia de vida e não uma religião (assim como o cristianismo deveria[, e o hinduísmo logrou]).”

RECAPITULAÇÃO:

  • Essênios: judeus mais ortodoxos (anti-fariseus).

  • A partir dos cismas com os essênios, tudo é história política.

  • Os essênios eram vegetarianos e nunca sacrificaram animais a Javé. Não havia quase nenhuma lei religiosa entre eles.

Os hebreus (<descendentes do patriarca bíblico Éber>) é o nome dado ao povo que viveu na região do Oriente Médio a partir do II milênio a.C., e que daria origem aos povos semitas como os árabes e os israelitas, antepassados históricos e espirituais dos atuais judeus e muçulmanos.” “Os hebreus permaneceram por 3 séculos na Palestina, até a ocorrência de uma violenta seca que abalou a região.” Não me admira inventarem a estória de Noé depois de tamanho trauma.

No regresso à Palestina, após a escravidão egípcia e a morte de Moisés, assim era a demografia (principais etnias):

  • hebreus

  • cananeus

  • filisteus

Começa o Estado judeu.

A teoria de que os altos impostos derrubaram o reinado de Salomão (ancaps aprovam!).

Dominação assíria-babilônica da etnia já dividida em dois reinos (patética decadência).

Alexandre, o Grande bem que tentou mais uma vez separar o que jamais deveria ter sido novamente reunido (judeus e Palestina), mas depois de sua morte o ciclo seguiria…

palestinos, descedentes dos antigos filisteusGostaria de saber como essa palavra foi virar uma crítica da erudição acadêmica!

Suriman destaca os versículos sobre holocausto animal: Gênesis 8; Êxodo 18; Êxodo 29; Levítico 1, Levítico 4; Levítico 4; Números 6; Números 7; Números 8.

Espírito Santo, do hebraico Ruach Ha Kodesh. Suriman defende que a única razão d’<O> Espírito Santo (seria apenas ‘um espírito santo’) ter adquirido tamanha importância no credo cristão se deveu a um erro de tradução de Jerônimo. Depois cita o mesmo fenômeno como “jogada de mestre por parte da Igreja”. Ou é jogada de mestre ou é erro não-intencional de um tradutor honesto! Nem a Igreja é tão “inteligente” nem Jerônimo, patrono dos tradutores, era tão burro.

CITANDO O MIDRASH: “o Espírito Santo foi concebido como sendo por vezes um homem e outras uma mulher.” Aí está a drag queen do “pastor” André (indo pra) Vala***.

O Talmude também “enche” o saco com “aparições” do Espírito Santo ao longo da ZZZzzzhis…, perdão, da zzzhistória.

qualquer um que ensine a Torah em público partilha do E.S.” Virou um diplominha à la Direito pelo UniCEUB. Hahaha!

A visão judaica retrata, na idiossincrasia deles, a sintonia com o PAI e, conseqüentemente, com o Cosmo.” Quem é esse PAI, e esse Cosmo?! Qual a religião do autor?! Não me diga que é espírita?

EQUAÇÃO DA FÉ

(Torah + Neviim + Ctuvim) = Tanach = Antigo Testamento

hoje a maior parte dos estudiosos são unânimes [ou são unânimes ou são a maior parte… os dois não dá!] em concordar que Moisés não é o autor do texto que possuímos” Ó!

Talmude = Torá oral (que virou livro, duh)

Torah = Pentateuco, para todos os efeitos

Chumash (os 5): Bereshit, Shemot, Vayicra, Bamidbar, Devarim

O conteúdo do Tanakh é equivalente ao A.T., porém com outra divisão.”

Neviim = livros dos profetas, juízes, reis, etc. (História de Israel, haha)

Ctuvim = resíduo salomônico, Jó, Eclesiastes, Crônicas (senta que lá vem MAIS história…) etc.

Maomé não escreveu o Alcorão.” U-a-u!!!

Sufismo (os hereges místicos do maometismo, necessários, conforme toda religião monoteísta ensina): desdobramento em Cabala e Gnose.

POEMA DO ASSIM

ZAratustra: início e fim, A a Z.

choro-riso-choro

dança-reza-dança

sim-sala-bim

coisa ZAntiga ZAgora voltam às modaz.

Zaratustra se perguntava na infância: quem estipulou o valor dos valores?

Zaratustra, nascido de uma virgem…” Porra, variem um pouco o arquétipo!!!

Dos 20 aos 30, Z. viveu quase sempre isolado, habitando no alto de uma montanha, em cavernas sagradas.” “Em outros relatos, teria ido ao deserto, onde fôra tentado pelo diabo…” Dá até preguiça de digitar

Após 7 anos de solidão completa…” Ué, não eram 10?

Em dez anos de pregação (30-40 anos) teve somente um crente: seu primo.”

Ninguém o escutava. Ninguém o entendia.”

É preciso aprender a colher desprezo onde esperas carinho! Depois garfas esses malditos – tudo tem sua hora…

Com 40 anos realizou milagres…” Poxa vida, até então era só um homem comum. Plot twist nota zero!

Aos 77 anos ele teria morrido assassinado enquanto rezava no templo”

Em seu sentido mais abrangente, o gnosticismo significa <a crença na salvação pelo conhecimento> (Joan O’Grady).”

COSMOVISÃO DUALISTA

A tentativa de conciliar Jeová, o deus mau, com o do Novo Testamento.

Principais “patronos”: Marcião (marcionismo); Valentim (valentinismo ou valencionismo), Nestor (nestorianismo). Nenhum desses escapou de ser perseguido pela igreja…

Aeons, Pleroma, Demiurgo, décimo terceiro aeon, …

Pelo menos reconhece-se que a era cristã é decadente!

Os escritos joaninos são do final do 1º séc., quando nasceu o gnosticismo.” O mais ‘malvado’ dos escritores do NT.

Um rip-off do hinduísmo, em minha modesta expertise… Tanto que a maneira como os gnósticos se expressam é muito similar à minha interpretação dos Vedas: “Assim, os primeiros cristãos sabiam que 2 tipos de pessoas se achegariam ao cristianismo, um tipo sem o toque pneumático [e que tal torque? haha], e, portanto, incapaz de aproximar-se da salvação pelo conhecimento e pela sabedoria dos Mistérios, mas possuindo apenas capacidade de assimilar pela fé o lado superficial da Lei; o outro tipo, tocado pelo dom pneumático, pela centalha-espírito, que possuiria plena capacidade de assimilar os conhecimentos e a sabedoria dos Mistérios divinos e descer ao nível do profundo e espiritual da Lei, podendo gozar de completa iluminação e redenção.” Trecho de Orígenes, De Principiis

Trocando em miúdos, há duas religiões neste mundo: a dos superiores e a dos inferiores. Ou o que é mais: há a existência esotérica (Filosofia transcendental) e a exotérica (tudo o mais, filosofia ou qualquer outra coisa). “Outro patamar”… O princípio ecumênico do brâmane “em toda cultura posterior”…

Aspectos esotéricos da doutrina de Cristo: mais esotéricos do que a própria ortodoxia; mais ortodoxos do que os (maus) ortodoxos! Ver ainda mais sobre: naasenos ou ofitas; perates; sethianos; docéticos; carpocráticos; basilidianos (Basílio).

(mais conhecidos em negrito) “Com o passar do tempo, os herdeiros da tradição gnóstica e maniqueísta foram mudando de nome. Podemos indicar o aparecimento dos seguintes grupos: entre os sécs. III e IX: Euchites, Magistri Comacini, Artífices Dionisianos, Nestorianos (DV), e Eutychianos; no séc. X: Paulicianos e Bogomilos; no séc. XI: Cátharos, Patarini, Cavaleiros de Rodes, Cavaleiros de Malta, Místicos Escolásticos; [!!!] no séc. XII: Albigenses, Cavaleiros Templários, Hermetistas; no séc. XIII: a Fraternidade dos Winklers, os Beghards e Beguinen, os Irmãos do Livre Espírito, os Lollards, e os Trovadores; no séc. XIV: os Hesychastas, os Amigos de Deus, os Rosa-cruzes (Johann Valentin Andrea), os Fraticelli; no séc. XV: os Fraters Lucis, a Academia Platônica, a Sociedade Alquímica, a Sociedade da Trolha [!], os Irmãos da Boêmia (Unitas Fratrum); no séc. XVI: A Ordem de Cristo (derivada dos Templários), os Filósofos do Fogo, a Militia Crucífera Evangélica e os Ministérios dos Mestres Herméticos; no séc. XVII: os Irmãos Asiáticos (Irmãos Iniciados de São João Evangelista da Ásia), a Academia di Secreti e os Quietistas; no séc. XVIII: os Martinistas;no séc. XIX: a Sociedade Teosófica.” Teosofia é uma palavra que cheira mal…

Paulicianos como alguns dos mais persistentes e perseguidos dentre todos…

Pouco material chegou até os dias de hoje; a maioria dos personagens e suas doutrinas só pôde ser conhecida por meio dos criticos do gnosticismo. A maior polêmica contra os gnósticos apareceu no período patrístico [proto-Escolástica], com os escritos apologéticos de Irineu (130-200), Tertuliano (160-225)¹ e Hipólito (170-236).”

¹ Um dos primeiros posts do Seclusão: https://seclusao.art.blog/2017/01/30/patience-tertullian/.

Por isso a descoberta da Biblioteca de Nag Hammadi em 1945 foi de suma importância, visto que seu conteúdo é eminentemente gnóstico. O achado impulsionou as pesquisas sobre o assunto na 2ª metade do XX. Estes manuscritos totalizavam 52 textos, em 13 códices de papiro, escritos em copta. (…) 3 obras pertencentes ao Corpus Hermeticum [Códice Askew, Códice Bruce e Códice de Berlim] e 1 tradução parcial da República de Platão.”

No séc. XX, Jung pesquisou profundamente as doutrinas gnósticas, inclusive ajudando no trabalho de organização da Biblioteca de Nag Hammadi, e fez uma ligação entre os mitos gnósticos e os arquétipos do inconsciente coletivo. Escreve[u] o livro Sete sermões aos mortos sob o pseudônimo de Basilides de Alexandria, onde coloca a sua visão gnóstica em 7 textos no formato dos evangelhos.” Não sabia disso! Googlando, só encontrei um documento de 11 páginas…

Ironicamente, a-gnósticos assume uma conotação extremamente pejorativa se levarmos os gnósticos em consideração!

Nesse ramo não existe clero nem sistema de graus, sendo uma metodologia de trabalho interior.” Mas só faltava mesmo essa! Chega de clero em tudo e qualquer coisa, até nas doutrinas anticlericais!

A magia hermética passou por um renascimento no séc. XIX europeu, quando foi praticada por nomes como os envolvidos na Ordem Hermética do Amanhecer Dourado [haha] e Eliphas Levi. No séc. XX foi estudada por Franz Bardon.”

Nem tudo que é hermético é hermético (haha).

Caibalion, livro-síntese do hermetismo do século XIX.

9 9 9

O que está em cima é como o que está embaixo. E o que está embaixo é como o que está em cima.”

…God is satan deep below, satan is God high above

In the end it’s all the same…

Mercyful Fate, 9

6 6 6

Muitos historiadores consideram os Vedas os textos sobreviventes mais antigos.” Coincidência ou destino? Não há começo ou fim para a sabedoria. A vida seria um erro sem… os Vedas?!

O autor nada sabe sobre o bramanismo. Mero conhecimento linear de wikipedia!

* * *

Pode-se chamar de tradição algo que sequer monta a 70 anos (‘religião’ wicca)? Vários artigos ainda em uso do capitalismo (valor transcendental = 0) têm mais tradição do que isto!

Os dados que temos nos mostram que a maioria dos wiccanos dos dias de hoje são solitários, i.e., não participam de nenhum coven.” Hahaha! Incel ideology.

O tal do Perispírito encerra com chave de bosta a obra (engano meu, ainda havia muitas páginas desgostosas, vide abaixo). O mais chucro sobre esse “pessoal” é que eles querem transformar suas crenças sobre reencarnação e plano astral em ciência, i.e., ficam buscando sem descanso uma ratificação empírica. O cúmulo da idiotia. Assim como Nietzsche afirma que o sono é o parente mais próximo da morte, aquele que não pára de falar sobre reencarnação é o mais covarde dos acovardados diante da morte. Fale de vida ou da própria morte, ou então não fale nada – falar em reencarnar é atestar sua insignificância e falta de propósito corrente (tudo o que importa valorar).

Volto a afirmar, se já não o fiz neste blog: numa hierarquia das religiões, eu sempre posicionarei o Espiritismo no degrau mais baixo de todos. A degradação da degradação de uma degradação de uma crença original. A pior das quimeras.

Pergunto-me, aliás, quanto do texto foi redigido efetivamente pelo autor e o quanto não foi recortado diretamente de enciclopédias públicas virtuais… 70% do livro são platitudes… Como eu retirei o equivalente a 30 páginas de meras “platitudes”? Ora, um dos meus hobbies confessos é acumular conhecimentos “chatos”, superficiais, bidimensionais, sou um leitor habitual da Wikipédia, é claro! Mas afora as curios, não há qualquer valor metafísico nestas páginas!

Algumas fontes [dentro da sua cabeça] afirmam que Platão ensinava a reencarnação aos seus iniciados e a metempsicose aos leigos.”

Atenção, ainda há algumas páginas para exibição das tendências sádicas do autor!

No Liber Sententiarum Inquisitiones (Livro das Sentenças da Inquisição) o padre dominicano Bernardo Gui (Bernardus Guidonis, 1261-1331) descreveu vários métodos para obter confissões dos acusados, inclusive o enfraquecimento das forças físicas do prisioneiro.”

Roda do despedaçamento: uma roda onde o acusado era amarrado na parte externa. … Dama-de-Ferro … a 1ª ref. confiável de uma execução com a D-F data de 14/08/1515. A vítima era um falsificador de moedas”

Berço de Judas: peça metálica em forma de pirâmide sustentada por hastes. A vítima, sustentada por correntes, é colocada ‘sentada’ sobre a ponta da pirâmide. O afrouxamento gradual ou brusco da corrente manejada pelo executor fazia com que o peso do corpo pressionasse e ferisse o ânus, a vagina, o cóccix ou o saco escrotal.”

Potro … Na legislação espanhola havia uma lei que regulamentava um nº máx. de 5 voltas na manivela para que, caso a vítima fosse considerada inocente, não sofresse seqüelas irreversíveis. Mesmo assim, era comum que os carrascos, incitados pelos interrogadores, excedessem muito esse limite e a vítima tivesse a carne e os ossos esmagados.” Nem Hitler pensaria em criar um Código Penal dos Campos de Concentração. Talvez estejamos aqui diante do ápice da maldade humana…

A decapitação pela espada, por exigir uma técnica apurada do executor e ser mais suave que outros métodos, era, geralmente, reservada aos nobres.” Como filosofar com a espada!

O cadáver ficava exposto até que se desintegrasse.” Alguma dúvida de por que a Peste Negra quase exterminou o “píncaro da civilização” dos sujismundos europeus?

Cremação … Para garantir que morresse queimada e não asfixiada pela fumaça, a vítima era vestida com uma camisola embebida em enxofre” A banalidade do mal.

Hoje a Igreja ainda pode emitir um admonitum: uma advertência para o fiel, em determinados casos. É o atual modus agendi da Igreja para declarar que uma obra literária é nociva à fé. Parece inverossímil, mas o caso citado a seguir é contemporâneo (final do séc. XX). Este absurdo medieval aconteceu com o frei Leonardo Boff, um teólogo militante dos direitos humanos desde 1972. Cada livro que ele publicava era objeto de análise do Santo Ofício. Trata-se de fato recente. Ele sentou na mesma cadeira na qual sentaram Galileu Galilei e Giordano Bruno, entre outros. Lugar no qual eram e continuam sendo julgados os inquiridos, no Palácio do Vaticano, onde está tudo exatamente como antes, inclusiva [na arquitetura] a famosa Sala de Torturas.”

FREI BETTO: [O processo] até piorou, porque atualmente, depois do estabelecimento da infalibilidade do papa, nenhum réu pode ter direito à defesa; não se pode partir do princípio de que a autoridade eclesiástica errou. (…)

BOFF: (…)

FREI BETTO: Não pode pedir perdão?

BOFF: Não.

BETTO: Não pode se defender, constituir advogado…

BOFF: Não pode. Aliás, existe advogado, mas você não conhece. Você tem um adv. chamado advocatus pro autore, que não conhece, que com os cardeais faz o adv. do diabo, toma a minha defesa, mas não pode conversar comigo.

BETTO: Você pode falar ali?

BOFF: Não, só responder. E você (…) não sabe quem são os acusadores. Só conhece algumas perguntas; o cardeal é que tem todo o material, extenso, que é o documentário dele.”

AUTOR OTIMISTA! “Não obstante, graças à era da informação, aos poucos as pessoas estão se libertando desses grilhões e passando a pensar por conta própria, sem medo de questionar e nem de pesquisar.” “Só permanece na ignorância quem quer.” Kardecismo liberal: nojento! Com certeza apóia o homeschooling… Mirar diretamente o sol é o mesmo que a cegueira, senhor. Isso que eu chamo de tunnel vision: mesmo pessoas obscurantistas se crêem iluminadores em nossos tempos mesquinhos…

BLIOGRAFIA (alguns livros que me parecerem interessantes da seção final…)

4 livros de Kardec, malíssimo, malíssimo sinal!…

É, nenhuma das leituras me pareceu fundamental! Vade retro.

HENFIL NA CHINA (antes da Coca-Cola): releitura, 14 anos depois.

Postado originalmente em 10 de agosto de 2009 no extinto xtudotudo6.zip.net sob o título “TRANSCENDER-15”. Adaptado e atualizado.

18ª edição, 1987.

P. 13: “Eu ia me perguntando: qual é o objetivo da Europa? Revolucionar o mundo? Não mais. A busca da felicidade? Nenhum traço. Justiça social? Não me consta. L’amour? Nenhum indício. Então, para que vive a Europa? Para consumir até perder o sabor e aí precisar experimentar as próprias fezes como forma de excitar os sentidos anestesiados? Parti de Paris numa terça-feira, 19 de julho, sentindo cheiro de cocô. Tudo limpo. Sem mosquito. Mas tava lá o cheiro de cocô espiritual. Mas que fazem palácios, jardins e igrejas lindos, fazem.”

Ao contrário do governo brasileiro, o chinês preserva cada um dos traços culturais das etnias minoritárias.

P. 47: “Saio da França, chego na China e vejo o cocô adubando grande parte da agricultura chinesa. O cocô aqui trabalha duro em vez de ficar em orgias alienadas como na Europa.”

Notas engraçadas (ok, quase todas): o vaso chinês e o ato “de cócoras e sem encostar”: não é para o Henfil!

A China não se afigurava então como eminente poluidora!

Há sempre a briga pela maior produtividade – ainda que travestida ou “infantilizada”. Criam-se a tristeza e a fadiga típicas de sociedades industriais terceirizadas – não há escape, tudo integra a religião do progresso!

Henfil apareceu em um momento marcante para 900 milhões de pessoas: o relaxamento do regime, a Revolução Cultural.¹ Aspectos inflexíveis começavam a se liquefazer. 1977: faz um ano que Mao morreu. Quer-se escapar do revisionismo (ortodoxia à la Stalin) do Bando dos Quatro,² de dentro do qual a viúva de Tsé-tung³ exala seu fel.

¹ “Mao declared the Revolution over in 1969, but the Revolution’s active phase would last until at least 1971, when Lin Biao,a accused of a botched coup against Mao, fled and died in a plane crash. In 1972, the Gang of Four [vide ²] rose to power and the Cultural Revolution continued until Mao’s death and the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution

aLin Biao (Chinese: 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese politician and Marshal of the People’s Republic of China who was pivotal in the Communist victory during the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeast China from 1946 to 1949. Lin was the general who commanded the decisive Liaoshen and Pingjin Campaigns, in which he co-led the Manchurian Field Army to victory and led the People’s Liberation Army into Beijing. He crossed the Yangtze River in 1949, decisively defeated the Kuomintang and took control of the coastal provinces in Southeast China. He ranked 3rd among the Ten Marshals. Zhu De and Peng Dehuai were considered senior to Lin, and Lin ranked directly ahead of He Long and Liu Bocheng.” “Lin became more active in politics when named one of the co-serving Vice Chairmen of the Chinese Communist Party in 1958. He held the 3 responsibilities of Vice Premier, Vice Chairman and Minister of National Defense from 1959 onwards. To date, Lin is the longest serving Minister of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China. Lin became instrumental in creating the foundations for Mao Zedong’s cult of personality in the early 1960s, and was rewarded for his service in the Cultural Revolution by being named Mao’s designated successor as the sole Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, from 1966 until his death. § Lin died on 13 September 1971, when a Hawker Siddeley Trident he was aboard crashed in Öndörkhaan in Mongolia. The exact events of this incident have been a source of speculation ever since.” “Since the late 1970s, Lin and the wife of Mao, Jiang Qing, [vide ³] (along with the other members of the Gang of Four) have been labeled the 2 major ‘counter-revolutionary forces’ of the Cultural Revolution, receiving official blame from the Chinese government for the worst excesses of that period.” “The findings of Lin’s attempt to contact the Kuomintang supported earlier rumors from inside China that Lin was secretly negotiating with Chiang’s government in order to restore the Kuomintang government in mainland China in return for a high position in the new government. The claims of Lin’s contact with the Kuomintang have never been formally confirmed nor denied by either the governments in Beijing or Taipei.”

² “The Gang of Four (simplified Chinese: 四人帮; traditional Chinese: 四人幫; pinyin: Sì rén bāng) was a Maoist political faction composed of 4 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang’s leading figure was Jiang Qing (Mao Zedong’s last wife). The other members were Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen.”

³ Jiang Qing (19 March 1914 – 14 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). She was the 4th wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party and Paramount leader of China. She used the stage name Lan Ping (藍蘋) during her acting career (which ended in 1938), and was known by many other names. Jiang was best known for playing a major role in the Cultural Revolution and for forming the radical political alliance known as the ‘Gang of Four’.” “At the height of the Cultural Revolution, Jiang held significant influence in the affairs of state, particularly in the realm of culture and the arts, and was idolized in propaganda posters as the ‘Great Flagbearer of the Proletarian Revolution’. In 1969, Jiang gained a seat on the Politburo. Before Mao’s death, the Gang of Four controlled many of China’s political institutions, including the media and propaganda. However, Jiang, deriving most of her political legitimacy from Mao, often found herself at odds with other top leaders. § Mao’s death in 1976 dealt a significant blow to Jiang’s political fortunes. She was arrested in October 1976 by Hua Guofengb and his allies, and was subsequently condemned by party authorities. Since then, Jiang has been officially branded as having been part of the ‘Lin Biao and Jiang Qing Counter-Revolutionary Cliques’ (林彪江青反革命集), to which most of the blame for the damage and devastation caused by the Cultural Revolution was assigned. Though she was initially sentenced to death, her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1983. After being released for medical treatment, Jiang died by suicide in May 1991.”

b “In the struggle between Hua Guofeng’s and Deng Xiaoping’s followers, a new term emerged, pointing to Hua’s 4 closest collaborators, Wang Dongxing, Wu De, Ji Dengkui and Chen Xilian. In 1980, they were charged with ‘grave errors’ in the struggle against the Gang of Four and demoted from the Political Bureau to mere Central Committee membership.”

Jiang Qing

Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, 1964. “The most popular versions were printed in small sizes that could be easily carried and were bound in bright red covers, thus commonly becoming known internationally as the ‘Little Red Book’.”

Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China, 1981. Vd. em

https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/resolution-certain-questions-history-our-party-founding-peoples-republic-china

(*) “The Five Black Categories (Chinese: 黑五; pinyin: Hēiwǔlèi) were classifications of political identity defined during the period of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) in the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong, who ordained that people in these groups should be considered enemies of the Revolution. The groups were:

Landlords (地主; dìzhǔ)

Rich farmers (; fùnóng)

Counter-revolutionaries (反革命; fǎngémìng)

Bad influencers (‘bad elements’) (坏分子; huàifènzǐ)

Right-wingers (右派; yòupài)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Black_Categories

(*) “During the Cultural Revolution the Nine Black Categories were landlords, rich farmers, anti-revolutionaries, bad influences, right-wingers, traitors, spies, capitalist roaders and intellectuals. While often attributed to Mao Zedong, in 1977 Deng Xiaoping argued that it was the Gang of Four who came up with the phrase and that Mao himself saw intellectuals as having some value in society.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinking_Old_Ninth

* * *

P. 88: a excelente idéia dos feriados rotativos!

P. 92: “A China jamais, é o que sinto aqui, partirá para uma invasão no exterior. O perigo amarelo não existe.” Brilhante vislumbre à la dialética de Arrighi. Associação geo-econômica onde a expansão política é desprezada (anti-imperialismo): o que importa é a consolidação interna. Mais: “Nenhum outro povo é citado em nada, a não ser os russos que deverão (eles repetem isso toda hora) invadir a China mais dia menos dia”. A União Soviética é um gêmeo americano (para os líderes chineses de então). Os japoneses, outros. “Mas o que são 20, 30, 100 anos de comunismo para um homem de 20 mil anos? Minutos, talvez.”

Picles, capítulo das pp. 91-4: reflexões interessantíssimas e contraste com o american way. Gostaria de saber se todos lá, hoje (2009), ainda lêem o discutem saborosamente Marx…

P. 93: “Não há advogados na China.”

P. 94: os chineses tentavam a reforma urbana de Dahl, esvaziando as cidades e dispersando seu povo.

Corroborando Simmel (p. 100): “não há prostituição de forma alguma. Não fique em dúvidas. Há prostituição entre os índios?”. Para Henfil, o “problema sexual” chinês não é nenhum problema! Nós, os ocidentais, é que somos peritos em fundar dilemas insolúveis por meio de contrastes anti-naturais.

P. 113, sobre a punição ideológica: “O crime na China, realmente, não compensa.”

Como estão hoje os abrigos subterrâneos, as réplicas impecáveis de Pequim a 4, 8, 15m do piso das cidades? R (já em 2009): Esvaziados, mas conservados para o turismo.

Júlio Verne, As Atribulações de um Chinês na China

https://www.amazon.com.br/Atribula%C3%A7%C3%B5es-Chin%C3%AAs-China-Viagens-Maravilhosas-ebook/dp/B00H8CD1OU

Dazibaos, os fanzines chineses. “Longas seqüências de discussão eram postadas e apreciadas nos muros, como ocorre nas comunidades virtuais de hoje. (…) Em 1978, um dos mais importantes documentos da história chinesa, chamado A quinta modernização, foi um Dazibao. Ele proclamava a democracia como o último dos elementos necessários ao completo sucesso da revolução chinesa. Foi copiado e distribuído por todo o país, sob os auspícios do governo.” Em http://sinografia.blogspot.com/2011/04/o-que-e-dazibao.html#:~:text=Traduzindo%20literalmente%20do%20chin%C3%AAs%2C%20%C3%A9,feito%20artesanalmente%20ou%20a%20m%C3%A3o.

Inflação e impostos congelados. Como a China mudaria em três (duas) [2009] décadas!

A China de Mao é o lugar (extinto) onde a auto-suficiência está acima de tudo.

P. 156: “Sincera, cândida, ingênua, simples e comovente. As 5 palavras que mais usei para definir tudo na China.”

P. 163: “É bom saber que, ao contrário da Rússia e do Ocidente cristão, não se usa o choque elétrico na China.”

P. 164: “Nunca vi nada mais ‘católico’ que a China Comunista”

Quem É. U. A.nti-Cristo?

A diferença entre Stalin e Mao, ou entre a União Soviética e a China, era que o chinês era camponês, e o russo, burocrata alienado do povo e imerso nas relações de poder.

Cabelos longos na China: remetem à época imperial.

P. 204: “Talvez, na hora do pau, os camponeses resistam à tão temida ocupação estrangeira, mas os operários de fábricas como a de relógios vão é se identificar com os invasores estrangeiros. Eles já se identificam no comportamento. Dois autômatos, sejam eles chineses ou suíços, se beijam, sim senhor.”

P. 213: a “universidade parlamento”.

O pouco contato que eles têm pode ter ajudado a construção de um socialismo puro, mas poderá, no futuro, criar grandes danos quando o ‘civilizado’ chegar com suas gripes. Esta pureza chinesa não preocupa?” Terrível prenúncio da Covid!

A propaganda (não falo aqui da mídia – aliás, também da mídia!) ideológica – desde Pequim – é terrível, asfixiante [como tem de ser. P.S. 2023]. Talvez fosse, mas Henfil a sublinha na reta final do livro, quando está em Shangai. À página 225 explica o porquê: são seus anticorpos burgueses e a saudade da pátria entrando em ação!

P. 229: premonição sobre a poluição e a capacidade produtiva crescentes – competitividade e burocracia são males necessários na guerra do Capital.

P. 235: os camponeses cozinham com “biogás”: o próprio cocô vaporizado!

P. 247: fica evidente como está enraizada a noção de progresso, mesmo em culturas tão diferentes… A vontade para se atingir um fim, qualquer que ele seja…

P. 254: não pode haver arte medíocre.

Pp. 268-0: famílias que viviam em barcos e eram proibidas de aportar nas margens do rio! Os “favelados aquáticos”.

A terceira idade na China é uma fase digna da vida.

Cantão (Guangzhou), um bolsão de miséria: ainda que estejam extintos os tais “favelados aquosos”…

Atualização: “…the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about 120 km north-northwest of Hong Kong and 145 km north of Macau, Guangzhou has a history of over 2,200 years and was a major terminus of the maritime Silk Road; it continues to serve as a major port and transportation hub as well as being one of China’s 3 largest cities. … For a long time, the only Chinese port accessible to most foreign traders, Guangzhou was captured by the British during the First Opium War. No longer enjoying a monopoly after the war, it lost trade to other ports such as Hong Kong and Shanghai, but continued to serve as a major trans-shipment port. Due to a high urban population and large volumes of port traffic, Guangzhou is classified as a Large-Port Megacity, the largest type of port-city in the world. … Guangzhou is at the heart of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area, the most-populous built-up metropolitan area in the world, which extends into the neighboring cities of Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen and part of Jiangmen, Huizhou, Zhuhai and Macau, forming the largest urban agglomeration on Earth with approximately 65 million residents and part of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone. … In the late 1990s and early 2000s, nationals of sub-Saharan Africa who had initially settled in the Middle East and Southeast Asia moved in unprecedented numbers to Guangzhou in response to the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis. The domestic migrant population from other provinces of China in Guangzhou was 40% of the city’s total population in 2008. Guangzhou has one of the most expensive real estate markets in China. … For 3 consecutive years (2013–2015), Forbes ranked Guangzhou as the best commercial city in mainland China. Guangzhou is highly ranked as an Alpha- (global first-tier) city together with San Francisco and Stockholm. It is a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region and ranks 21st globally in the 2020 Global Financial Centres Index. As an important international city, Guangzhou has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable being the 2010 Asian Games, the 2010 Asian Para Games, and the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The city hosts 65 foreign representatives, making it the 3rd major city to host more foreign representatives than any other city in China after Beijing and Shanghai. As of 2020, Guangzhou ranks 10th in the world and 5th in China (after Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen) for the number of billionaire residents by the Hurun Global Rich List. … and is home to many of China’s most prestigious universities, including Sun Yat-sen University, South China University of Technology, Jinan University, South China Normal University, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou University, Southern Medical University, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. … The English name ‘Canton’ derived from Portuguese Cantão or Cidade de Cantão, a blend of dialectical pronunciations of Guangdong (e.g., Cantonese Gwong2-dung1). Although it originally and chiefly applied to the walled city, it was occasionally conflated with Guangdong by some authors.” “Amid the closing months before total Communist victory, Guangzhou briefly served as the capital of the Republican government. Guangzhou was captured on 14 October 1949. Amid a massive exodus to Hong Kong and Macau, defeated Nationalist forces blew up the Haizhu Bridge across the Pearl River in retreat. The Cultural Revolution had a large effect on the city, with much of its temples, churches and other monuments destroyed during this chaotic period. § The People’s Republic of China initiated building projects including new housing on the banks of the Pearl River to adjust the city’s boat people to life on land. Since the 1980s, the city’s close proximity to Hong Kong and Shenzhen and its ties to overseas Chinese made it one of the first beneficiaries of China’s opening up under Deng Xiaoping. Beneficial tax reforms in the 1990s also helped the city’s industrialization and economic development.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou

O banco que não é banco: vigia para que não ocorra o ciclo D-M-D’ (lucro).

Gostaria de saber em que pé anda a autonomia das comunas e lavouras camponesas na China das Olimpíadas! (2009)

P. 301: “É impossível utilizar a Rússia”

A QUARTA TEORIA POLÍTICA. Ou “Nunca assuma que entendeu Platão” – Alexandr Dugin

A QUARTA TEORIA POLÍTICA. Ou “Nunca assuma que entendeu Platão” – Alexandr Dugin

Observação inicial: a edição encontrável na internet em português precisa urgentemente de um revisor! Eu mesmo ‘melhorei’ muitas e muitas aspas abaixo. Às vezes demarquei minha intervenção com colchetes, às vezes não…

É significativo que o livro Contra o Liberalismo, pelo bem-sucedido intelectual francês Alain de Benoist, que também é publicado em russo pela editora Amphora, possui como subtítulo Em direção à Quarta Teoria Política.”

PRESSUPOSTO MUITO RASO E POBRE: “E se para alguém essa é uma questão de liberdade de escolha, a realização da vontade política, que sempre pode ser dirigida tanto a uma asserção e sua negação, então – para a Rússia – essa é uma questão de vida e morte, a eterna questão de Hamlet. Se a Rússia decidir ‘ser’, então isso significa automaticamente a criação de uma Quarta Teoria Política. Do contrário, para a Rússia resta apenas a opção de ‘não-ser’ e então deixar o palco histórico e mundial, e se dissolver no mundo global, nem criado nem governado por nós.”

Se, nos séculos anteriores, religião, dinastias, Estados, classes e Estados-nações desempenharam um enorme papel na vida de pessoas e sociedades, então, no século XX, a política passou a um reino puramente ideológico, tendo redesenhado o mapa do mundo, de etnias e civilizações de uma nova maneira.”

Todas as ideologias políticas, tendo alcançado o pico de sua distribuição e influência no século XX[,] foram o produto da nova Era Moderna, incorporando o espírito da modernidade, ainda que de diferentes modos e mesmo através de diferentes símbolos.”

A primeira teoria política é o liberalismo. Ele emergiu primeiro, tão cedo quanto o século XVIII[,] e acabou sendo a ideologia mais estável e bem-sucedida, tendo finalmente prevalecido sobre seus rivais nessa batalha histórica.”

…o desejo dos conservadores de liderar uma revolução ao invés de resistir a ela, levando sua sociedade na direção oposta, i.e. Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, etc.” Quem foram?

(*) “Arthur Wilhelm Ernst Victor Moeller van den Bruck (23 April 1876 – 30 May 1925) was a German cultural historian, philosopher and writer best known for his controversial 1923 book Das Dritte Reich (The Third Reich), which promoted German nationalism and strongly influenced the Conservative Revolutionary movement and then the Nazi Party, despite his open opposition and numerous criticisms of Adolf Hitler.” <Neocon> da época!

(**) “Merezhkovsky became a 9-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in literature, which he came closest to winning in 1933. However, because he was close to the Nazis, he has been virtually forgotten after World War II.”

Conclusão: a princípio, não nos interessam.

O fascismo emergiu depois das outras grandes teorias políticas e desapareceu antes delas. A aliança da primeira teoria política com a segunda teoria política, bem como os equívocos geopolíticos suicidas de Hitler, o derrubaram no meio do caminho.” E no entanto Hitler não era o fascismo.

DUGIN E SEU ÍMPETO DE ESCREVER UM ROMANCE (B): “Portanto, esse fantasma vampiresco sangrento, tinindo com uma aura de ‘maldade global’, é atraente aos gostos decadentes da pós-modernidade, ainda amedrontando a humanidade em grande medida.”

So far, so Fukuyama… So What?

Ele não era tão dogmático quanto o marxismo, mas não era menos filosófico, gracioso e refinado. Ideologicamente ele se opunha ao marxismo e ao fascismo, não apenas empreendendo uma guerra tecnológica pela sobrevivência, mas também defendendo seu direito de monopolizar sua própria imagem do futuro.” Até aí, nenhuma diferença em relação aos outros dois.

BOLSONARISMO: “…e a ideologia dos ‘direitos humanos’ se torna amplamente aceita, ao menos em teoria e é praticamente compulsória.” E ao menos em teoria é na prática compulsória. Vivas a Dugin ou a seu péssimo tradutor!

governo mundial” “globalismo”

grande narrativa”

identidade…até mesmo de gênero”

O ‘fim da história’ de Fukuyama chega, a economia na forma do mercado capitalista global substitui a política, e estados e nações são dissolvidas no caldeirão da globalização mundial.” “economia como destino”

A necessidade da Quarta Teoria Política deriva dessa avaliação.” Muitíssimo conveniente.

O filósofo francês Alain de Benoist chama isso de ‘la gouvernance’, ou ‘microgerenciamento’.”

Alguns poderiam argüir que os liberais mentem quando falam sobre o ‘fim da ideologia’ (este foi o tema [do] meu debate com o filósofo Aleksandr Zinoviev)” Não, eles realmente acreditam nisso.

Zinoviev: só mais um “russo propagado e ‘amado’ pelo Ocidente por ser contrário à URSS: “…was one of the symbols of the rebirth of philosophical thought in the Soviet Union. After the publication in the West of the screening book Yawning Heights, which brought Zinoviev world fame, in 1978 he was expelled from the country and deprived of Soviet citizenship. He returned to Russia in 1999. [and died in 2006]Yawning books…

ideologia fato existencial

virtualidade”

Ó, fez o dever de casa! leu Baudrillard!

ver a resenha do período soviético como uma versão ‘escatológica’ especial da sociedade tradicional por Mikhail S. Agurskii ou Sergei Kara-MurzaContemporâneos sem muita relevância.

Esse [quarto] ponto de partida é possível (…) porque ele emerge do livre-arbítrio do homem, de seu espírito, ao invés de um processo histórico impessoal.” Eu conto ou vocês contam?

Também leu Nietzsche, mas não sabe dar meio passo além (atrás sabe muitos): “Porém, essa essência é algo completamente novo, previamente desconhecido e apenas deduzido intuitiva e fragmentariamente durante as fases primitivas da história e do conflito ideológicos.”

é impossível determinar onde a Direita e a Esquerda estão localizadas em relação ao pós-liberalismo. Há apenas duas posições: conformidade (o centro) e dissenso (a periferia). Ambas as posições são globais.”

A pedra que os construtores rejeitaram veio a tornar-se pedra angular” (Marcos 12:10) Hahaha! A Bíblia, é sério isso?!

O DESAFIO FANTASMA: O INIMIGO AGORA É TODOS: “A Quarta Teoria Política lida com a nova reencarnação de um velho inimigo. Ela desafia o liberalismo, muito como a segunda e terceira teorias políticas do passado, mas ela o faz sob novas condições.”

Teoricamente, o fim da história poderia ter sido diferente: um ‘Reich planetário’, se os nazistas tivessem vencido, ou o ‘comunismo global’, se os comunistas estivessem certos.” Um filósofo juvenil. Eu poderia ter escrito isso 15 anos atrás, e nem por isso me orgulharia da ‘obra’…

Alexandre Kojève¹ foi um dos primeiros a prev[ê-lo]; suas idéias foram depois reproduzidas por Francis Fukuyama.”

¹ “Although not an orthodox Marxist, Kojève was known as an influential and idiosyncratic interpreter of Hegel, reading him through the lens of both Karl Marx and Martin Heidegger. The well-known end of history thesis advanced the idea that ideological history in a limited sense had ended with the French Revolution and the regime of Napoleon and that there was no longer a need for violent struggle to establish the ‘rational supremacy of the regime of rights and equal recognition’.” Principais obras: Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit, Outline of a Phenomenology of Right, Carl Schmitt and Alexandre Kojève Correspondence, ‘Colonialism from a European Perspective’, Essai d’une histoire raisonée de la philosophie païenne, Kant, Le concept, Le temps et le discours.

Por essa razão, a questão da modernidade, e, incidentalmente da modernização, pode ser removida da agenda. Agora a batalha pela pós-modernidade começa.” “A ditadura das idéias é substituída pela ditadura das coisas, senhas de login e códigos de barra.” Muh…

Nós devemos apenas averiguar a localização desses novos pontos vulneráveis no sistema global e decifrar suas senhas de login de modo à hackear seu sistema.” Ele NÃO disse isso!…

Em qualquer caso, primeiro e mais importante, nós devemos entender a pós-modernidade e a nova situação não menos profundamente do que Marx entendeu a estrutura do capitalismo industrial.” Hm, boa sorte…

A segunda e terceira teorias políticas são inaceitáveis como pontos de partida para resistir ao liberalismo” Se você diz…

Perdendo, elas provaram que não pertenciam ao espírito da modernidade, o qual, por sua vez, levou à matrix pós-liberal.” Hahaha

Fazer uma leitura cruzada delas seria muito mais produtivo: ‘Marx através de uma perspectiva positiva da Direita’ ou ‘Evola através de uma perspectiva positiva da Esquerda’.” Você chegou demasiado tarde à moda dos crossovers… Isso já cheira à naftalina.

Essa fascinante iniciativa ‘nacional-bolchevique’, no espírito de Nikolai V. Ustrialov ou Ernst Niekisch, não é suficiente por si mesma.” O sufixo da segunda palavra está errado!

Esse exercício metodológico é útil como um aquecimento antes de começar uma elaboração completa da Quarta Teoria Política.” Sinto lhe dizer, mas este jogo você irá perder…

A Tradição (religião, hierarquia, família) e seus valores foram sobrepujados na aurora da modernidade.” Mesmo? Porque não parece…

Em verdade, todas as três teorias políticas foram concebidas como construções ideológicas artificiais por pessoas que compreenderam, de vários modos, ‘a morte de Deus’ (Friedrich Nietzsche), o ‘desencanto do mundo’ (Max Weber) e o ‘fim do sagrado’.” Aqui o autor se contradiz ferozmente: duas dessas teorias nasceram antes de Deus morrer… A única realmente órfã foi o fascismo.

Em qualquer caso, a era da perseguição à Tradição acabou, ainda que, seguindo a lógica do pós-liberalismo, isso provavelmente levará à criação de uma nova pseudo-religião global, baseada nos restos de cultos sincréticos disparatados, no ecumenismo caótico desenfreado e na ‘tolerância’.”

Agora é seguro instituir como programa político aquilo que foi banido pela modernidade.” Agora é seguro sair de seu quarto, seus papais não estão mais bravos…

Não é por acaso que os heróis da pós-modernidade são ‘aberrações’ e ‘monstros’, ‘travestis’ e ‘degenerados’ – essa é a lei do estilo.” Hahaha

Agora esta não é simplesmente uma metáfora capaz de mobilizar as massas, mas um fato religioso – o fato do Apocalipse.” “Se nós rejeitamos a idéia de progresso inerente à modernidade (que como nós vimos, acabou), então tudo que é antigo ganha valor e credibilidade simplesmente por ser antigo. ‘Antigo’ significa bom e quanto mais antigo – melhor.” É um niilista de capciosa má-fé que mergulha rápido em suas conclusões, com medo de tropeçar pelo caminho.

E[,] finalmente, nós podemos identificar a mais profunda – ontológica! [!] – fundação para a Quarta Teoria Política. Aqui, nós devemos prestar atenção não apenas em teólogos e mitologias, mas também na experiência filosófica reflexiva de um pensador particular que fez uma tentativa única de construir uma ontologia fundamental – o estudo mais resumido, [?] paradoxal, profundo e penetrante do Ser. Eu estou me referindo à (sic)¹ Martin Heidegger.”

¹ Um adolescente deve ter traduzido essa obra!

Uma breve descrição do conceito de Heidegger [breve, e portanto mutilada] é como segue. Na aurora do pensamento filosófico, as pessoas (mais especificamente, os europeus e, ainda mais especificamente, os gregos), [e não qualquer grego – só os filósofos, a nata da nata] levantaram a questão do Ser como ponto focal de seu pensamento. Mas, pela sua tematização, elas se arriscaram a se confundir [?] pelas nuances do relacionamento complicado entre Ser e pensamento, [caberia melhor: ser e aparência; idéia e devir, etc.] entre puro Ser (Seyn) e sua expressão na existência – um ser (Seiende), entre Ser-no-mundo (Dasein – ser-aí) e Ser-em-si (Sein). [não explica as 3 categorias – não explica porque, a seguir, Platão…] Essa falha […falhou – falhou mesmo? Ou simplesmente se deu conta e chegou ao limite possível?] já ocorreu no ensinamento de Heráclito sobre a physis e o logos. [Tampouco explica no que consistiria a falha de Her. nem detalha a natureza e a razão em Her., para não dizer em outros pré-socráticos mais importantes] Logo,” QUE LOGO, QUE NADA! Você não pode resumir 2 milênios de Ontologia em um parágrafo mesquinho. Mas ele procede a esse tipo de “se …isso e aquilo… então forçosamente e inequivocamente …isso…”, infantilmente, ao longo de toda a obra. Vá mais devagar, respire!

O Um Parmenídeo é exatamente a explicitação desse problema dualista inextricável. A via da opinião e a via da Verdade, interdependentes, embora não simetricamente. Isso Dugin passa por alto…

Logo, ela é óbvia na obra de Parmênides¹ e, finalmente, em Platão, que colocou as idéias entre o homem e a existência [difiro – grosso modo, a idéia é “deus”, enquanto o máximo, mas alcançável pelo homem, daí a problemática da palavra, que remete qualquer leitor moderno simplesmente a um Deus onipotente, em 1º lugar… A idéia não está entre, está acima, e a existência tampouco está separada do homem, como este é um contínuo com a própria idéia, que só existe por ele e para ele enquanto ele flui no tempo, a idéia sendo o que existe eternamente nesta passagem do tempo, sempre perdido mas sempre passível de ser recuperado…] e que definiu a verdade como sua correspondência, a teoria referencial do conhecimento, essa falha alcançou sua culminação.”²

¹ A falha é óbvia em Parmênides! Quem teve estatura até hoje para entender Parmênides? Apostaria que não um Dugin. Onde estão os esboços e rascunhos mais longos de onde Dugin tirou esse resumo prensado de desenvolvimentos tão complicados?

² De modo algum. A teoria referencial do conhecimento seria como Aristóteles apreendeu (mal) a filosofia de seu mestre. Em Platão há o Absoluto, deus é a medida de todas as coisas, não se trata de um reflexo, ou melhor, de uma protoforma, cujo reflexo imperfeito, o conhecimento, está relegado a se desenvolver em bases mais baixas e segregadas.

Isso deu origem a uma alienação que eventualmente levou ao ‘pensamento calculista’ (das rechnende Denken) e então ao desenvolvimento da tecnologia.” Se isso está em Heidegger, não foi desenvolvido nas obras que eu li. Mas não se pode culpar Platão por Descartes (‘calculista’) e sucessores…

Pouco a pouco, o homem perdeu de vistas o puro Ser e entrou no caminho do niilismo. A essência da tecnologia (baseada no relacionamento-técnico-com-o-mundo) expressa esse niilismo continuamente cumulativo. Na Nova Era, essa tendência alcança seu pináculo – o desenvolvimento técnico (Gestell) finalmente substitui o Ser e coroa o ‘Nada’. Heidegger odiava amargamente o liberalismo, o considerando uma expressão da ‘fonte calculista’ que reside no coração do ‘niilismo ocidental’.” Ok. Nada tenho a objetar nesta sentença. Porém, até aí ainda podemos imaginar um Heidegger – e um Nietzsche – marxistas…

A pós-modernidade, que Heidegger não viveu para ver, é, em todos os sentidos, o esquecimento último do Ser, é aquela ‘meia-noite’, quando o Nada (niilismo) começa a escorrer de todas as rachaduras.” Heidegger não viveu para ver, mas Nietzsche viu em vida (um dos grandes paradoxos de nosso bem-posicionado filósofo do séc. XIX).

Porém essa filosofia não era desesperançosamente pessimista. Ele acreditava que o próprio Nada é o outro lado do puro Ser, o qual – de modo tão paradoxal! – lembra a humanidade de sua existência.” Sim, basta ler Nie.

Se nós decifrarmos corretamente a lógica [nada aristotélica] por trás do desdobramento do Ser, então a humanidade pensante [Quem é a humanidade pensante? Uma, duas, três pessoas? O governo russo?] poderá salvar a si mesma com máxima rapidez no momento de maior risco.” A paz mundial rapidamente pactuada após a II Guerra por meio da proliferação de armas nucleares não teria sido uma rápida solução num momento de maior risco (holocausto nuclear)? E no entanto como explicar que a pós-modernidade é um fenômeno posterior a esse impasse resolvido? Enfim, o problema é que já pode ter passado muito da “meia-noite”…

Heidegger usa um termo especial, ‘Ereignis’ – o ‘Evento’, para descrever esse retorno súbito do Ser. Ele ocorre exatamente à meia-noite da noite do mundo – no momento mais escuro da história. O próprio Heidegger constantemente vacilava quanto a esse ponto já ter sido alcançado ou – ‘ainda não’. O eterno ‘ainda não’…” Como todos nós, demasiadamente humanos e filósofos.

A filosofia de Heidegger pode provar ser aquele eixo central conectando tudo ao seu redor – das segunda e terceira teorias políticas reinterpretadas ao retorno da teologia e da mitologia.” Um salto súbito, sem dúvida, bem duginiano…

Assim, no coração da Quarta Teoria Política, em seu centro magnético, está a trajetória da Ereignis (o ‘Evento’) iminente, que incorporará o retorno triunfante do Ser no exato momento em que a humanidade o esquece de uma vez por todas a ponto de que seus últimos traços desaparecem.” O advento do EVENTO não é algo hegeliano, ideal, fatídico. Não adianta ser supersticioso e otimista quanto a isso. Marx e Nietzsche não foram. Isso é Cristianismo, i.e., o Deus obsoleto está vivo demais nessa crença da iminência fatal…

Primeiro, o Estado global e o governo mundial estão gradualmente abolindo todos os Estados-nações em geral.” Não existe Estado global ou governo mundial. Hipóstase. O Estado-nação segue soberano. Para alegria do autor, um deles se chama Rússia. Só um bobo-da-côrte em aula de introdução ao pós-modernismo poderia comprar a idéia inversa.

Mais importante é o fato de que a totalidade da história russa é um argumento dialético com o Ocidente e contra a cultura ocidental, a luta pela defesa de nossa própria (muitas vezes apenas intuitivamente compreendida) verdade russa, nossa própria ideia messiânica e nossa própria versão do ‘fim da história’” A existência desse livro em um idioma não-russo é a maior das contradições. Será que a verdade russa não é exatamente a verdade platônica que quem não nasceu para entender Platão se nega (metaforicamente, claro, já que disso não é capaz, não adianta querer) a intuir?

As mentes russas mais brilhantes viram claramente que o Ocidente estava se dirigindo para o abismo.” Me parece que o ser-russo não é exatamente uma nacionalidade

Dugin acertadamente contesta que a Rússia se tornou o paraíso do neoliberalismo nos anos 90.

A atual crise econômica global é apenas o começo. O pior ainda está por vir. A inércia dos processos pós-liberais é tamanha que uma mudança de curso é impossível: para salvar o Ocidente, a ‘tecnologia emancipada’ irrestrita (Oswald Spengler) buscará por meios tecnológicos mais eficientes, porém meramente técnicos.”

a economia globalista e as estruturas da sociedade pós-industrial tornam a noite da humanidade mais e mais negra.” Mas afinal não havíamos chegado à meia-noite, ó poeta?

NOITES BRANCAS: “Ela é tão negra, na verdade, que nós gradualmente esquecemos que está de noite. ‘O que é luz?’ se perguntam as pessoas[,] jamais a tendo visto.” É isso o que acontece com quem não sabe que não sabe Platão, e volta ao início do conto da caverna…

É claro que a Rússia precisa seguir um caminho diferente. O seu próprio. Aqui está a questão e o paradoxo. Escapar da lógica da pós-modernidade em um ‘único país’ não será tão simples.” Será impossível, adolescente.

Nessa situação, o futuro da Rússia depende diretamente de nossos esforços para desenvolver a Quarta Teoria Política.” Claro. A minha idéia. A idéia que eu criei. Fichtiano!

É difícil dizer como o processo de desenvolver essa teoria acabará.”

Uma coisa é clara: não pode ser um esforço individual ou um que seja restrito a um pequeno grupo de pessoas.” Então já começou muitíssimo mal.

O esforço deve ser compartilhado e coletivo. Dessa maneira, os representantes de outras culturas e povos (tanto na Europa como na Ásia) poderão verdadeiramente nos ajudar, já que eles sentem a tensão escatológica do momento presente de um jeito igualmente agudo e estão tão desesperadamente procurando por um caminho para fora do beco sem-saída global.” Dugin comete um erro crasso: distinguir neoliberalismo de Europa. Distinguir Estados Unidos da América de Europa. União indissolúvel.

É importante lutar contra o liberalismo aqui e agora; é importante identificar suas vulnerabilidades; é importante forjar uma visão de mundo alternativa – mas o futuro está em nossas mãos e é aberto ao invés de pré-determinado.” Vejo que me leu ali em cima!

Wallerstein, em vários graus, é um mecanicista, como qualquer marxista, enquanto de Benoist é um organicista e holista, como qualquer (verdadeiro) conservador.” Palavras ao vento significando nada.

O último item ao qual eu gostaria de chamar atenção em relação às ideias de Alain de Benoist e sua relevância é a compreensão do conceito do ‘Quarto Nomos da Terra’ de Carl Schmitt – isto é, o relacionamento entre ciência política e ‘teologia política’ com geopolítica e o novo modelo da organização política do espaço.” Carl Schmitt, nazista (terceira teoria política). Conservador. E liberal. Todo liberal é conservador. Todo conservador é liberal ou produto a longo prazo do liberalismo (fascismo).

Eu realmente não compreendo por que certas pessoas, quando confrontadas com o conceito de ‘Quarta Teoria Política’, não correm imediatamente para abrir uma garrafa de champagne e não começam a dançar e se regozijar, celebrando a revelação de um novo horizonte.” Não era pra rir? Tem certeza? Isso já está mais chulo que Bukowski.

Em certo sentido, o liberalismo incorpora tudo que estava no passado. A ‘Quarta Teoria Política’ é o nome para uma descoberta, para um novo começo.” “Conservador”! Aquele que não sabe sequer nomear sua doutrina deveria saber quanto vale sua doutrina.

Os comunistas ‘não passaram’ também. Agora, o que resta é que os liberais ‘não passem’ e ‘eles não passarão!’ (No pasarán!).” Mas que porcaria eu estou lendo?

Ainda de menos (sic) úteis são as sombras escuras do Terceiro Reich, seus ‘cadáveres independentes’,(*) inspirando apenas a brutal juventude punk¹ e os sonhos perturbadores e pervertidos de adeptos do sadomasoquismo.

(*) Nota da Tradução: O autor usa a palavra nezalezhnye em referência à revolução laranja na Ucrânia e às simpatias nazistas entre certos ucranianos do oeste.” Sim, os ucranianos são uma bosta, mas era para eles serem russos, não era? Onde está o pan-eslavismo? Curiosamente, o Donbass está mais a leste

¹ Não estudou movimentos sociais. Confunde punk com oi!. Isso para um autor de mentalidade púbere é tanto mais imperdoável…

Conseqüentemente, nós [nós quem?] sugerimos avançar de modo a sairmos da fase niilista da ‘Quarta Teoria Política’ [então a própria QTP tem sua fase adolescente? onde a noite é mais e mais escura, etc.?] em direção à positividade.” De qual tipo? Coachismo quântico ou o bom e velho Comte?

O sujeito histórico da segunda teoria política é a classe. A estrutura de classes da sociedade e a contradição entre a classe exploradora e a classe explorada são o núcleo da visão da história dramática dos comunistas. História é luta de classes. A política é sua expressão. O proletariado é um sujeito histórico dialético, que é chamado a se libertar da dominação da burguesia e a construir uma sociedade sobre novas fundações. Um indivíduo singular é concebido aqui como parte de uma totalidade de classe e adquire existência social apenas no processo de aquisição de consciência de classe.” Finalmente um bom parágrafo!

No fascismo, tudo é baseado na versão direitista do hegelianismo, já que o próprio Hegel considerava o Estado Prussiano como o ápice do desenvolvimento histórico no qual o espírito subjetivo era aperfeiçoado. Giovanni Gentile,¹ um proponente do hegelianismo, aplicou esse conceito à Itália fascista.”

¹ “Described by himself and by Benito Mussolini as the ‘philosopher of Fascism’, he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for Italian Fascism, and ghostwrote part of The Doctrine of Fascism (1932) with Mussolini.”

raça + nação = ração

Coloquemos tudo aquilo que sabemos sobre o sujeito histórico fora da estrutura das ideologias clássicas, realizando o método husserliano de epoché e tentemos definir empiricamente aquele ‘mundo vital’, que abrirá (sic) diante de nós”

Se nós considerarmos a história política no estilo da ‘Escola dos Annales’ (método de Fernand de Braudel), então nós temos a chance de descobrir uma imagem um tanto polifônica, expandindo nosso entendimento do assunto.” Vamos reinterpretar César com as fontes que temos agora?

…na área das hipóteses exóticas de Deleuze e Guattari sobre o rizoma, um ‘corpo sem órgãos’, ‘micropolítica’, etc.[,] ou sobre o horizonte da proto-história com Baudrillard e Derrida (texto, desconstrução, ‘différance’, etc.). Eles nos oferecem novas (dessa vez, totalmente não-conservadoras) capacidades. Portanto,”

Se o sujeito é Dasein, então a ‘Quarta Teoria Política’ constituiria uma estrutura ontológica fundamental que é desenvolvida sobre a base da antropologia existencial.” Se…então. Onde eu enfio o nome que invento no meio. Se Mario é Zelda, então eu sou Pikachu.

Naturalmente, este é apenas um esboço apressado das áreas de interesse na nova ciência política.” Naturalmente você deveria melhorar seu livro mais uns 20 anos para que ele ao menos merecesse se acomodar em prateleiras de livrarias.

começando a partir de certo ponto, o desenvolvimento da ‘Quarta Teoria Política’ ganhará características razoavelmente científicas e racionais, as quais, por agora, mal são discerníveis por trás da energia de intuições inovadoras e da super tarefa (sic) revolucionária [conservadora!] de destruir as velhas ideologias.” Espera, você não era o inimigo da técnica e da ideologia do progresso?

o antissemitismo de Hitler e a doutrina de que os eslavos são ‘sub-humanos’ e devem ser colonizados é o que levou a Alemanha a entrar em guerra contra a URSS (pelo que nós pagamos com milhões de vidas), bem como ao próprio fato de que os próprios alemães perderam sua liberdade política e o direito de participar na história política por um longo tempo (senão para sempre) (agora resta para elas apenas a economia e, na melhor das hipóteses, a ecologia).” A pura verdade. Mas não creio que o alemão de hoje se ressinta disso.

O racismo hitlerista, porém, é apenas um tipo de racismo – esse tipo de racismo é o mais óbvio, direto, biológico e, portanto, o mais repulsivo. Há outras formas de racismo – racismo cultural (afirmar que há culturas superiores e inferiores), civilizacional (dividir os povos entre aqueles civilizados e os insuficientemente civilizados), tecnológico (ver o desenvolvimento tecnológico como o principal critério de valor societário), social (afirmar, no espírito da doutrina protestante de predestinação, que os ricos são melhores e superiores quando comparados com os pobres), racismo econômico (em cuja base toda a humanidade é hierarquizada segundo regiões de bem-estar material) e racismo evolucionário (para o qual é axiomático que a sociedade humana é o resultado de um desenvolvimento biológico, na qual (sic) os processos básicos de evolução das espécies – sobrevivência dos mais aptos, seleção natural, etc. – continuam hoje).” Alargou demais o escopo. Não existe racismo econômico quando quem tem capital é muçulmano, etc. Não ter dinheiro não se liga à raça (fora da causalidade racista que torna a raça discriminada pobre). Racismo cultural/civilizacional ou tecnológico internacional é xenofobia. Quando há discriminação tecnológica entre pares de uma mesma comunidade, trata-se de luta de classes, nada que ver com racismo. Já o racismo ‘evolucionário’ descrito acima foi um mélange de luta de classes com racismo ortodoxo (exatamente o hitlerismo). Sequer precisou citar cizânias religiosas, porque todas elas podem ser explicadas com base em xenofobia, racismo clássico e luta de classes.

Assim, o próprio politicamente correto e suas normas são transformados em uma disciplina totalitária de exclusões políticas, puramente racistas.” Papo de racista envergonhado.

Até mesmo africanos sofrem acusações de fascismo.” Ora, ora, mas é racista alegar que só o homem branco é capaz de chafurdar na lama e propagar as maiores burrices! Quer-se dizer que o negro não pode aprender um método com um branco, no fundo! E reproduzi-lo a posteriori no próprio país, o que sem dúvida muitos tiranos africanos fizeram.

Os tipos mais novos de racismo são o glamour, a moda e seguir as últimas tendências informacionais.” Isso se chama capitalismo!

A asserção de que o presente é melhor e mais gratificante do que o passado e a garantia de que o futuro será ainda melhor do que o presente representa a discriminação do passado e do presente, a humilhação daqueles que vivem no passado e um insulto à honra e dignidade das prévias gerações, e um certo tipo de violação dos ‘direitos dos mortos’.” Para um combatente anti-direitos humanos, é bem chiliquento! Racismo contra o tempo!?! Chega!!!!…

Nós não temos preconceito quanto aos mortos, ou não viveríamos em torno de Deus.

A globalização então não é nada mais que um modelo de etnocentrismo euro-ocidental, ou melhor, anglo-saxão, globalmente distribuído, o qual é a manifestação mais pura da ideologia racista.” Uau, demorou 74 páginas!

Como uma de suas características essenciais, a ‘Quarta Teoria Política’ rejeita todas as formas e variedades de racismo e todas as formas de hierarquização normativa de sociedades com base em fundamentos étnicos, religiosos, sociais, tecnológicos, econômicos ou culturais.” Isso é que é uma aldeia global!

Esse tipo de tentativa é não[-]científico e anti-humano.” ENTÃO é um direito humano buscar progressivamente o seu fim? LOGO, pare de me confundir, seu canalha! Sempre lembrando que é o não-superior povo russo que tem a missão de liderar a nova humanidade rumo à redenção! O russo não é melhor nem pior, ele é diferente… Ponto de vista glamouroso e na moda.

se o antirracismo diretamente atinge a ideologia do nacional-socialismo (i.e., a terceira teoria política), então ele também indiretamente alcança o comunismo, com seu ódio de classeÉ uma big mula mesmo… Seria o liberalóide um racista quando chama o comunista de comedor de criancinhas? Anti-pedofilia é racismo também (a raça das crianças!)??!?

Sem o racismo, o nacional-socialismo não é mais nacional-socialismo – seja teórica ou praticamente – ele é neutralizado e descontaminado. Nós podemos agora proceder sem medo de objetivamente analisá-lo em busca daquelas idéias que podem ser integradas na ‘Quarta Teoria Política’.” Entendi. Sua salvaguarda para ser homofóbico e misógino (que, obviamente, não são racismos – o estranho é até mesmo Dugin concordar, depois de ver racismo até em objetos inanimados transparentes)!

Primeiro e mais importante, as idéias comunistas do materialismo histórico e a noção do progresso unidirecional são inaplicáveis a nossos propósitos.” 1) Explique materialismo histórico; 2) Onde e quando progresso unidirecional é aplicado por autores marxistas?

O reducionismo materialista e o determinismo econômico compreendem o aspecto mais repulsivo do marxismo.” Quando o que mais repugna numa doutrina é o que nela não existe, contra o que ela mesma luta, já se sabe o que ser, fazer e seguir: tal doutrina.

Na prática, ele se expressou pela destruição da herança espiritual e religiosa daqueles países e sociedades nos quais o marxismo venceu historicamente.” Até hoje um total de zero países. O país que mais destruiu sua própria herança teológico-espiritual foram os Estados Unidos da América. Os anglo-saxões, como você reconheceu mais acima!

Um desprezo arrogante pelo passado…” Como em sua tese da meia-noite e da Nova Era Pluriversal!

…e a idéia de classe como o único sujeito histórico” – no capitalismo!

A crítica potencial do marxismo é extremamente útil e aplicável.” Principalmente para a Casa Branca. Ou dizer isso é racismo?

O marxismo que podemos aceitar é o marxismo sociológico-mítico.” O marxismo existente na sua própria cabeça de charlatão.

A primeira e mais proeminente contradição é a previsão não cumprida de Marx sobre o tipo de sociedades que são as mais aptas para as revoluções socialistas. Ele estava confiante de que essas ocorreriam nos países industrializados europeus com elevado nível de manufatura e um alto percentual de proletariado urbano.” Não leu Marx. Marx afirmou que a Inglaterra reunia as condições para a revolução socialista em uma das infinitas passagens de sua obra. Quantas frases contraditórias e picadas eu já não contrapus, colocando Dugin contra Dugin, e vencendo-o, em exíguas 83 páginas de letra grande?

Tais revoluções eram excluídas de ocorrer em países agrários e países com o modo asiático de produção devido a sua falta de desenvolvimento.” Falso. O modo asiático de produção foi reconhecido como ‘ainda desconhecido pelo Ocidente’ e ‘inclassificável até o presente momento’ por Marx e seus sucedâneos. Marx avaliava socraticamente a epistemologia revolucionária: eu sei que nada sei, sei que nos faltam dados. A humildade do sábio – o antípoda de Dugin.

No século XX, tudo ocorreu exatamente ao contrário.” O axioma dourado de todo liberal ao “refutar” o socialismo.

o proletariado se dissolveu na classe média e desapareceu dentro da sociedade de consumo contrariamente às expectativas e projeções.” Da Internacional Comunista, que pensava impossível uma revolução meramente nacional se contrapor ao mundo inteiro. Portanto, quem nutria falsas expectativas e projeções eram os dirigentes soviéticos encastelados em seu Capitalismo de Estado sempre na defensiva num cenário de uma pré-Guerra Nuclear.

…a obra de Alain de Benoist Contra o Liberalismo: Em Direção à Quarta Teoria Política, à qual eu continuo me referindo constantemente e conscientemente em minha explicação.” Seu livro é um mero apenso ao do seu mestre.

A neurose e os medos localizados no núcleo patogênico da filosofia liberal são vistos claramente em A Sociedade Aberta e seus Inimigos, uma obra pelo clássico do neoliberalismo, Karl Popper. Ele comparou o fascismo e o comunismo precisamente com base no fato de que ambas as ideologias integram o indivíduo em uma comunidade supraindividual, em um todo, em uma totalidade, o que Popper imediatamente qualificou como ‘totalitarismo’.” Nada que feda mais a big tech!

Em qualquer caso, a ‘Quarta Teoria Política’ pode interpretar as fobias de Popper (que o levaram, e a seus seguidores, a conclusões anedóticas – bastantes reveladoras são suas críticas patéticas a Hegel no espírito de relações públicas negativas e as acusações de fascismo dirigidas a Platão e Aristóteles!) a seu favor.” Popper é de fato um grande doente.

A ‘Quarta Teoria Política’ deveria ser a teoria da liberdade absoluta, mas não como no marxismo, na qual ela coincide com necessidade absoluta (essa correlação nega a liberdade em sua própria essência).” Como ‘nega’? Liberdade absoluta e necessidade absoluta são sinônimas.

Tendo deixado os limites da individualidade, o homem pode ser esmagado pelos elementos da vida, pelo caos perigoso. Ele pode querer estabelecer ordem. E isso está inteiramente em seu direito – o direito de um grande homem (‘homo maximus’) – um homem real de Ser e Tempo.” Um facho puro e simples.

É claro, na maioria das vezes, o homem tende para a existência ‘inautêntica’ do Dasein, tentando se esquivar da questão, para sucumbir à fofoca (Gerede) e à auto-zombaria. O Dasein liberado pode não escolher o caminho para o Ser, pode se ocultar em um esconderijo, pode, novamente, desarrumar o mundo com suas alucinações e medos, suas preocupações e intenções. Escolher o Dasein pode corromper a própria ‘Quarta Teoria Política’, transformando-a em uma auto-paródia.” Portanto…

Este é um risco, mas Ser é um risco, também.” “Porém, apenas o multiplicador de liberdade fará da escolha do Ser autêntico uma realidade – apenas então as apostas serão verdadeiramente grandes, quando o perigo for infinito.” Melhor deixar isso com o capitalismo; ele está se saindo muito bem destruindo a Terra e tornando nossa extinção cem por cento certa, virtual e infinitamente iminente. Como jovens e brutais punks!

a ‘Quarta Teoria Política’ não deve se apressar de modo a se tornar um conjunto de axiomas básicos. Talvez seja mais importante deixar algumas coisas por dizer, encontradas em expectativas e insinuações, em alegações e premonições.” Em mil anos você volta…

enraizado na visão de mundo científica, societária, política e social das ciências humanas e naturais dos séculos XVIII e XIX, quando a idéia de progresso, desenvolvimento e crescimento foi tomada como um ‘axioma’ que não estava sujeito à dúvida.”

A liberal americana Ayn Rand (Greenspan foi um de seus maiores admiradores) criou toda uma filosofia (‘Objetivismo’) baseada na seguinte ideia brusca: se alguém for rico, então ele é bom. Ela alcançou os limites da idéia weberiana sobre a origem do capitalismo na ética protestante e disse que o <rico> é sempre e necessariamente o <bom>” “Pessoas como Greenspan e o atual presidente da Reserva Federal Americana, Bernanke, são ‘objetivistas’ – isto é, aqueles que interpretam a modernização, o progresso, o crescimento econômico e o desenvolvimento seguindo a veia liberal.”

Nietzsche era um evolucionista e acreditava que, com base na lógica do desenvolvimento das espécies, o homem seria substituído pelo Super-Homem” Idiota.

O cientista americano Gregory Bateson, um teórico da etnossociologia, cibernética e ecologia, psicanalista e lingüista, descreveu o processo monotônico em seu livro Mente e Natureza.” Por que não cita apenas Bateson? Qual meu interesse em saber sua profissão, formação ou nacionalidade?

Bateson concluiu que quando esse processo ocorre na natureza ele imediatamente destrói a espécie; se estivermos falando de um aparato artificial, ele quebra (explode, entra em colapso)” “Resolver o problema dos processos monotônicos foi o principal objetivo que surgiu no desenvolvimento dos motores a vapor. Acontece que a sutileza mais importante nos motores a vapor é o feedback de retransmissão. Quando o processo alcança velocidade de cruzeiro, é necessário reiniciar o abastecimento de combustível, senão o processo monotônico tem início, tudo começa a ressonar e a velocidade do motor se eleva causando sua explosão. Foi precisamente essa solução de evitar o processo monotônico na mecânica que foi o principal problema teórico, matemático, físico e de engenharia durante a primeira fase da industrialização.”

DIVERGÊNCIAS QUANTO À CLASSIFICAÇÃO <SOCIÓLOGO>: “Émile Durkheim, Pitirim Sorokin e Georges Gurvitch,¹ os maiores sociólogos do século XX, os classicistas do pensamento sociológico, [?] afirmavam que o progresso social não existe, em contraste aos sociólogos do século XIX, como Auguste Comte ou Herbert Spencer.” O único sociólogo do séc. XIX foi Marx. Os outros estão muito abaixo da crítica, ainda que em si ‘sociólogo’ nem seja uma denominação elogiosa.

¹ Nunca os li. Sorokin: tentar Sociological Theories of Today (1966). Gurvitch: arriscar The Social Frameworks of Knowledge (1972).

Em relação a estudos culturais e filosofia, Nikolai Danilevsky, Oswald Spengler, Carl Schmitt, Ernst Jünger, Martin Heidegger e Arnold Toynbee demonstraram que todos

os processos na história da filosofia e na história da cultura são fenômenos cíclicos.”

Logo que afirmemos que a cultura americana ou russa é melhor do que a dos chukchi ou dos habitantes do norte do Cáucaso nós agimos como racistas.”

No fim, mesmo Nietzsche incorporou sua idéia da vontade de poder no conceito de eterno retorno.” Uau, como você é esperto, Dugin Jones!

O liberalismo é uma ideologia igualmente ultrapassada, cruel e misantrópica como as outras duas.” Falsas simetrias tampouco são signos de qualquer “avanço”, mesmo o avanço do puro anel…

Inevitavelmente, todas as 3 teorias foram baseadas na filosofia de Hegel. Depois de Hegel, o significado da história tornou-se o fato de que o Espírito Absoluto apartou-se de si mesmo, enfatizando-se na substância, a qual se externalizou na história, dialeticamente, até se transformar na sociedade iluminada, na monarquia esclarecida.” Carroça na frente dos bois. Quem veio primeiro, Luís XIV ou Georg Wilhelm Friedrich?

Na estrutura do nacional-socialismo, o hegelianismo foi externalizado no conceito do Reich Final” “A Quarta Teoria Política descarta completamente a ideia de irreversibilidade da história.” Defina irreversibilidade.

UM GRANDE NADA: “Nós podemos definir muitos pré-conceitos com relação à reversibilidade do tempo e Dasein/Traiectum, por isso podemos definir vários conceitos políticos do tempo e cada um deles pode ser conectado em um atual projeto político, de acordo com os princípios da Quarta Teoria Política.”

Husserl propôs estudar o tempo com o exemplo da música. A consciência de ouvir uma peça musical não é baseada na estrita identificação das notas soando em um momento concreto e discreto. Ouvir música é algo diferente de ouvir uma nota que soa agora, no presente. A consciência da música é acessada relembrando as notas passadas também, que estão se dissolvendo pouco a pouco no nada, mas sua ressonância, o eco, continua na consciência e dá à frase musical o senso estético.” “Clio e Polímnia são irmãs. Essa lembrança é necessária para dar ao presente o sentido. A anamnese de Platão tinha a mesma função.”

Isso é o novum – incompreensão espontânea do que está acontecendo.”

Esse curto-circuito faz com que todo tipo de dualidades surjam – as lógicas e as temporais. A necessidade de parar esse trauma é manifesto na criação do tempo, a articulação dos três momentos do tempo. O tempo é necessário para ocultar o presente, que é a experiência traumática da autorreferência da consciência pura. A intencionalidade e os juízos lógicos estão ambos enraizados nessa evasão da consciência em relação à dor do vazio presente no qual a consciência se apresenta a si mesma.” “A tensão é imediatamente aliviada pela expansão em todos os tipos imagináveis de dualidades que constituem as texturas dos processos contínuos.” “A consciência constitui o tempo correndo do insuportável encontro consigo. Mas esse encontro é inevitável, então o presente e sua alta precisão de percepção existencial nascem.”

Se uma mente adormece a realidade carece do gosto da existência presente. Ela está completamente imersa no contínuo e ininterrupto sonho.” Sim, e daí? Por que isso implica num livro de teoria política? Isso é curso didático de ontologia existencialista!

O objeto não tem futuro. A terra, os animais, as pedras, as máquinas, não têm futuro.” “Sem a consciência autorreferente não pode haver tempo.” “O tempo é a identidade final do homem.” “Se falta o futuro, o sujeito não terá o espaço de se evadir, de fugir do encontro impossível consigo mesmo, do curto-circuito mencionado acima. O momento congelado do presente sem o futuro é o da morte.” “A crônica dessa fuga é o sentido da história.” “O futuro faz sentido. Ele possui sentido mesmo antes de se tornar presente.” “se ele não acontecer, ele também é algo carregado com sentido, e auxílio para explicar o que se passa.” “A profecia não-realizada possui exatamente a mesma importância que a realizada.” “A história não é apenas a memória do passado. Ela também é a explicação do presente e a experiência do futuro. Quando nós compreendemos bem a história e sua lógica, nós podemos facilmente adivinhar o que seguirá, o que vai acontecer, que nota [musical] será a próxima.” “O poder do trauma afasta a atenção e o mundo vital até a periferia, que se tornou o círculo-tempo com o futuro se tornando passado, e daí em diante eternamente.” “Há o tempo tomado como a espera perpétua de algo por vir. É o tempo messiânico quiliástico. [milenarista]

As histórias de diferentes sociedades são distintas. Exatamente como distintas são as peças, os músicos, os compositores, os instrumentos, o gênero musical e os tipos de notações. É por isso que a humanidade como um todo não pode ter um futuro. Ela não tem futuro. O futuro da humanidade é bastante desprovido de sentido porque carece completamente do valor semântico, do sentido.” Também não existe ‘povo russo’ algum.

O fato de que cada povo, cada cultura, cada sociedade possui sua própria história transforma o tempo em um fenômeno local. Cada sociedade possui sua própria temporalidade. Todos os momentos dela são diferentes – passado, presente e futuro.”

É duvidoso que uma sociedade seja capaz de compreender outra sociedade no mesmo nível em que ela é compreendida por seus próprios membros. Tal possibilidade pressupõe a existência da meta-sociedade, a sociedade ‘Deus’, que poderia operar com as máximas profundezas da consciência da mesma maneira que a consciência opera com a atenção, com a noesis, com a intencionalidade, com a lógica e o tempo, e finalmente com o mundo. Obviamente, a sociedade ocidental é particularmente marcada por tal abordagem etnocêntrica e pretensão universalista enraizadas no passado racista e colonialista. Mas no século XX foi certamente provado que isso é completamente infundado e falso. Os estruturalistas, os sociólogos, os antropólogos culturais, os pós-modernistas, os fenomenologistas, os lingüistas, os existencialistas e daí em diante ofertaram argumentos convincentes demonstrando a natureza interior de tal atitude enraizada na vontade de poder e na imposição paranóica de sua própria identidade sobre a do outro. É a doença chamada racismo ocidental.”

O passado, o presente e o futuro das sociedades históricas não podem ser expostos por qualquer meta-cultura: elas jazem fundo demais e são defendidas dos olhos estrangeiros pelo poder destrutivo do momento autorreferencial, pela coragem da máxima tensão.” “O fim da história é o encerramento lógico do universalismo. O fim da história é a abolição do futuro. A história prossegue e alcança seu estado terminal. Não há mais espaço para continuar. Então com o futuro toda a estrutura do tempo é abolida – não apenas o futuro, mas também o passado e o presente. Como isso pode ser possível? Nós poderíamos compará-lo com o toque simultâneo de todas as notas, sons e melodias existentes, o que nos dará cacofonia, bater e ranger de dentes. Ao mesmo tempo, provocará silêncio absoluto, surdez e acidez.” “o curto-circuito crescerá exponencialmente sem possibilidade de ser dissipado.”

De modo a prevenir a ignição e o golpe potencializado pelo encerramento da perspectiva temporal e lógica do alívio, o mundo global tentará aprisionar a consciência nas redes e na virtualidade, na qual ela poderia fugir da pressão interna

do autoencontro sem problemas. Se tiver sucesso, o novo mundo do reino das máquinas será criado.” Nada garante essa tão fetichizada autonomia e prevalência da Técnica. Parece o relato de uma outra cultura sobre o Ocidente, mas essa é a perspectiva ocidental sobre o próprio declínio.

Ao invés de fogo nós teremos eletricidade. Algumas pessoas acreditam que Fukuyama já é um robô.” Fukuyama é menos que um robô: irrelevante. É como um canal de notícias: não teve, não tem e não terá qualquer papel.

O futuro comum não é futuro. A globalidade cancela o tempo. A globalidade cancela a subjetividade transcendental de Husserl ou o Dasein de Heidegger. Não há mais tempo, nem ser.” Não havendo diferenças de tempo entre os seres, não há Ser.

O tempo durará e o mundo como a experiência do presenciamento real será apoiado pela estrutura da subjetividade profunda.”

a formalização no Estado nacional reflete correta e exaustivamente a estrutura do sujeito transcendental como criador de história? Será o tempo histórico futuro necessariamente nacional (como na modernidade), ou ele encontrará novos caminhos? Ou talvez ele retorne às formas pré-modernas?” Só se pode concordar com a sentença duginiana de que “o tempo é reversível” se com isso ele quer dizer coisas como: Hobbes é reversívil.

As civilizações são comunidades culturais e religiosas – e não nacionais. Nós poderíamos imaginar o passo para trás – na direção pré-nacional (integração islâmica); o passo para frente – na direção pós-nacional (União Europeia ou União Eurasiática)” Já acreditei que UE significasse algo distinto ou paralelo a “Estado-nação”; hoje, não mais. O –asiática de União Eurasiática tem incomensuravelmente mais peso que o Eur-.

…ou poderíamos tolerar a civilização na forma do Estado Nacional (como com a Índia, China ou Turquia).” Errado pensar que a China é um Estado como todo outro Estado moderno, ou que sempre será. Nivelar a situação do imenso país do hinduísmo e um território europeu “alienígena” como o turco é outra temeridade ou desonestidade intelectual. Tanto quanto estereotipar o homem russo e chamar esse tratado de neofascista, vendo que não é, mas também vendo que nada tem de tratado político.

Quando alguém está vivo ele pode mudar não apenas o futuro, mas também o passado. O gesto ou movimento significativo realizado no presente acrescentará novo sentido ao passado. Apenas após uma morte resoluta o passado de alguém se torna propriedade de outro. (…) Assim a história é música e obra da Musa.”

Diferença não significa automaticamente choque e conflito. A história conhece a guerra. A história também conhece a paz. Guerra e paz existiram sempre. Guerra e paz sempre existirão. Eles servem para reviver a tensão, o estresse do presente. Elas liberam e subjugam o horror e a morte.”

A segunda opção é a globalização. Ela cancela o futuro. Ela demanda a chegada do pós-humano.” Blá-blá-blá… Sabemos que isso não existe. Mesmo o supra-homem é demasiadamente humano perto do “pós-humano literal” como o Ocidente necrosado o quereria imaginar.

Ao invés do tempo, seus duplos aparecem. Os duplos do passado, presente e futuro.” O verdadeiro inverno nuclear.

O bloqueio do sujeito transcendental lhe permite mudar o passado do mesmo modo que se coloca um vídeo alternativo no tocador. Uma versão alternativa da sociedade poderia ser carregada como prequela.”

Era uma vez eu e meu duplo. Bebemos e vimos quatro de nós.

NÃO FUGIU DA LUTA DE CLASSES: “Lidar com o presente é um pouco mais complicado e sofisticado. Para removê-lo, nós devemos não apenas bloquear a subjetividade transcendental, nós devemos erradicá-la. [irreversível?] Isso presume a transição do humano ao pós-humano.”

Vamos assumir que a multipolaridade desapareceu, a história terminou e o projeto da globalização tornou-se uma realidade. Como será organizado o exorcismo final da subjetividade transcendental? Como será implementada ‘a decisão final’ sobre a abolição de Dasein? Antes de tudo, enquanto a sociedade e o homem estiverem presentes, eles devem tomar essa decisão em relação a si mesmos. É impossível fazer apelo a um outro alguém o qual poderia ser culpado por isso ou elogiado. A referência ao outro é aceitável somente quando nós temos o mesmo. Se nós estamos perdendo qualquer identidade, nós não iremos mais ter a alteridade. Então o fim da história é feito por nós e sobre nós mesmos e ninguém mais.”

Assim, com a figura do outro sendo excluída resta explicar como o homem pode realizar o último gesto de autodissolução e como ele pode transferir as iniciativas de existência para o mundo pós-humano, que desaparecerão imediatamente após o último homem – não haverá mais testemunhas.” Só se a existência for um erro. E até onde sabemos, via lógica da essência da existência, Schopenhauer estava errado. O otimismo supremo do pessimismo filosófico é que a “realidade vence”, i.e., o último homem é sempre passageiro.

A globalização e o fim da história não podem ser reduzidos à vontade de alguém que teria sido diferente daquele (sic) que é a fonte do tempo. Pelo menos nos limites de (sic) filosofia imanente.” A tradução nunca ajuda!

nas profundezas da subjetividade transcendental, há outra camada que Husserl não cavou. Husserl estava convicto de que aquela descoberta feita por ele era a última. (…) Tinha [de] haver outra dimensão (…)

Nós podemos designá-la como o Sujeito Radical. Se a subjetividade transcendental de Husserl constitui a realidade através da experiência da manifestação autorreferencial, o Sujeito Radical deve ser encontrado não no caminho para fora, mas sim no caminho para dentro.

Ele se mostra apenas no momento da máxima catástrofe histórica, na drástica experiência do curto-circuito que dura por um momento mais longo e mais poderoso do que é possível suportar.”

Para ele, o tempo – em todas as formas e configurações – não é nada mais do que uma armadilha, o truque, o artificial, atrasando a real decisão. Para o Sujeito Radical[,] não somente a virtualidade e a rede, mas a [própria] realidade já é a prisão, o campo de concentração, o sofrimento, a tortura. O levo (sic) cochilo da história é algo contrário à condição na qual ele poderia ser, completar a si mesmo, se tornar.”

O Sujeito Radical é incompatível como todos os tipos de tempo. Ele veementemente demanda o anti-tempo, baseado no fogo exaltado da eternidade transfigurada na luz radical. Quando todo mundo se foi, restarão somente aqueles que não puderam ir.” “em essência nós simplesmente lidamos com uma versão atualizada e continuada do universalismo ocidental que foi transmitido desde o Império Romano, ao cristianismo medieval, à modernidade com o Iluminismo e [à] colonização, até o atual pós-modernismo e ultra-individualismo.”

A duradoura aliança entre os EUA e a Arábia Saudita representa o exemplo perfeito desse realismo na política externa na prática.”

A economia política chinesa está tentando reestabelecer sua independência da hegemonia global dos EUA e pode tornar-se o principal fator de competição econômica. Rússia, Irã, Venezuela e alguns outros países relativamente independentes que controlam grandes reservas dos recursos naturais remanescentes do mundo colocam um limite sobre a influência econômica americana. A economia da União Européia e o potencial econômico japonês representam dois possíveis pólos de competição econômica para os EUA dentro do esquema econômico-estratégico do Ocidente.” Pode esquecer!

Os neocons proclamando o Novo Século Americano estão otimistas em relação ao futuro Império Americano, porém no caso deles é óbvio que eles têm uma clara, se não necessariamente realista, visão de um futuro domínio americano. Nesse caso a ordem mundial será uma Ordem Imperial Americana baseada na geopolítica unipolar. Pelo menos teoricamente ela tem um ponto redentor: é clara e honesta sobre seus objetivos e intenções.”

Mais nebulosa ainda é a visão extrema de governança global prevista pelos promotores da globalização acelerada. Parece ser possível para efetivamente derrubar a ordem existente dos Estados-nações soberanos, mas em muitos casos isso somente irá abrir a porta para conflitos mais arcaicos, locais, de forças religiosas ou étnicas.”

1. Aqueles Estados que tentam adaptar suas sociedades aos padrões ocidentais e manter relações amigáveis com o Ocidente e os EUA, mas tentam evitar a dessoberanização direta e total; incluindo Índia, Turquia, Brasil e até certo ponto Rússia e Cazaquistão;

2. Aqueles Estados que estão prontos para cooperar com os EUA, mas sob a condição de não-interferência em seus negócios domésticos, como Arábia Saudita e Paquistão;

3. Aqueles Estados que, enquanto cooperam com os EUA, estritamente observam a particularidade de suas sociedades pela filtragem permanente do que é compatível na cultura ocidental com suas culturas domésticas e o que não é, e, ao mesmo tempo, tentando usar os dividendos recebidos por essa cooperação para fortalecer sua independência nacional, como a China e, às vezes, Rússia; (A Rússia é secundária nessa nova geopolítica, pois a China tem maiores condições de ser estritamente deste terceiro grupo.)

4. Aqueles Estados que tentam se opor aos EUA diretamente, rejeitando os valores ocidentais, a unipolaridade e hegemonia ocidental e americana, incluindo Irã, Venezuela [meu máximo respeito] e Coréia do Norte.”

Suas posições podem ser definidas como reativas. Essa estratégia de oposição reativa, variando da rejeição à adaptação, algumas vezes é efetiva, outras não.”

o sistema vestfaliano de Estado soberano”

Outro desses projetos pode ser definido como o plano neo-socialista transnacional representado na esquerda sul-americana e pessoalmente por Hugo Chávez. Este é uma nova edição da crítica marxista do capitalismo, fortalecida pela emoção nacionalista e, em alguns casos, como com os zapatistas e na Bolívia, por sentimentos étnicos ou críticas ecológicas ambientalistas. Alguns regimes árabes, como até há pouco tempo a Jamahiriya árabe líbia sob Qaddafi, podem ser consideradas na mesma linha. (…) A transição liderada pelos EUA e pelo Ocidente é vista por esse grupo como uma encarnação do imperialismo clássico criticado por Lênin.”

Os Estados-nações carecem de visão e ideologia, e os movimentos carecem de infra-estrutura e recursos suficientes para colocar suas idéias em prática. Se em alguma circunstância fosse possível superar essa fenda, levando em consideração o crescente peso demográfico, econômico e estratégico do mundo não-ocidental ou ‘o Resto’, uma alternativa para a transição liderada pelos EUA e pelo Ocidente poderia obter forma realista e ser considerada”

A diferença entre essas duas categorias é que o conceito político do homem é o conceito do homem ‘como tal’, que está instalado em nós pelo Estado ou pelo sistema político, enquanto o homem político é um meio particular, proposto para correlacionar com esse Estado.” “Nós acreditamos que somos causa sui e somente então encontramos a nós mesmos na esfera política.”

BOOMER DUGIN: “Uma discoteca contemporânea, o caos, pode ser considerada uma metáfora para essa trans-individualidade. É possível distinguir entre pares, figuras, passos, expressões, sexos durante a quadrilha ou ainda na dança de rock ‘n’ roll, que é a recente modernidade. [Logo fará 100 anos, o que quer que se chame de ‘dança de roque & rola’… diante dum cenário de esvaziamento das artes e de tecnologias e estéticas que se super-impõem na velocidade da luz, considero um século – ou pouco mais de 70 anos, vá lá – uma verdadeira eternidade…] Mas em uma discoteca há criaturas de sexo incerto, aparência indefinida e identidade vazia, com um lento e regular balançar ao tato da música.” A homofobia é um valor completamente globalista, completamente ianque e ocidental! Não se pode ser localista sem ser homossexual, já diziam os gregos, os verdadeiros universalistas! Se, não obstante, Dugin falou do caos de maneira positiva (o que fica complicado, pois não vejo como identidade vazia pode ser olhada com bons olhos…), o que fará com mais clareza na parte final da obra, digamos que sua metáfora patentemente leiga não foi das mais felizes…

assim a antropologia política, empregando essa ou aquela constituição do indivíduo, se dissipa e se dispersa no espaço da poeira rizomática.” “para denunciar ativamente a política, a vontade política é necessária. Isso revela que a pós-modernidade está carregada de significado político. E que está carregada com uma obsessão epistemológica e imperiosa pelo significado político da apolitização. Isto é, não é pura entropia da estrutura política, é um contra-projeto revolucionário, um esquema teórico da pós-antropologia política.” = Foucault; ou seja, muito aquém do que se espera de um autor contemporâneo…

o soldado político [noção de 1930, provavelmente de Schmitt (implícito no texto)] difere do comum pelo fato de que ele mata e morre pela política. Sua matança e morte pessoal se tornam um elemento existencial da manifestação da Política, assim, para ele, a Política adquire uma dimensão existencial. O político, diferente do soldado político, trata da Política, mas não mata ou morre por ela.”

As palavras de Nietzsche podem ilustrar seu papel na história do século XX: ‘Hoje, no século XIX, as pessoas fazem guerras por recursos e valores materiais, mas prevejo um tempo em que estarão matando por ideais’. Quando é este tempo? Está no século XX.” Mais uma interpretação errônea de Nietzsche. Ele nunca escreveu sobre pequena-política. O McCarthismo, poder-se-ia pensar, é uma guerra ideológica anti-comunista – mas nada disso existiria se não fossem os poços de petróleo e as armas nucleares… Então ainda estamos muito longe da consumação desse tempo. O século XX foi um tanto superestimado por Dugin.

Nós acreditamos que ao nível (sic) da antropologia política esse soldado político está confrontando o andróide pós-humano rizomático.” Basta trocar ‘nós’ por ‘não’ e temos uma sentença impecável.

E seu espaço antropológico está sendo ocupado [pós-modernos e seus gerúndios improfícuos…] por uma nova personalidade, uma personalidade muito astuta e suspeita, que não é o soldado político, mas, ao mesmo tempo, não está relacionado (sic) ao sub-indivíduo twitteiro sibilante e rizomático. Essa personalidade é o simulacro do homem político. É algo que imita o soldado político, do mesmo modo que a pós-modernidade imita a modernidade. (…) Isso é o porquê temos esse fenômeno do fascismo contemporâneo, que é um excelente ilustrador dessa condição.” HAHAHAHAHA! Ler isso num livro é surreal – é como estar lendo um comentário de internet. Estou cercado de sub-indivíduos!

Todo pedaço do fascismo, que constituiu a estrutura do soldado político, se perdeu depois de 1945. Cada e todo fascista declarado depois de 1945 é um simulacro. Os medos dos liberais, tomando a forma dos fascistas, são uma completa paródia, eles não diferem tanto das massas decompostas e semi-dissolvidas.”

É tanto a aflição fantasmagórica, a qual Baudrillard deu, (sic) descrevendo o mundo com categorias pós-históricas radicais, quanto o sentimento de que não estamos satisfeitos com esse invólucro, [deleuziano] com essa perspectiva pós-antropológica.” “Tendo trazido a questão da antropologia, devemos procurar uma solução e ao mesmo tempo reconhecer essa pós-antropologia, que é não esperar o vindouro vir e sim considerar que está-aí.”

a teologia política pressupõe a existência do telos político, que pode ser feito por humanos, como o Leviatã de Hobbes, [uma péssima solução – além disso teologia e teleologia são duas coisas diferentes, embora se pareçam, admitamos] ou por não-humanos, como o modelo católico do ‘imperium’, que estava próximo ao coração de Schmitt.”

É impossível falar sobre antropologia política enquanto se descreve o modelo pós-antropológico da política atual.” “nós observamos epistemas paradigmáticos que são empurrados e promovidos do mesmo modo como foram em quadros da política clássica. Eles permanecem aqui, estão ficando[,] e isso significa que a Política em seu sentido mais amplo está-aí, não é apenas que nem mesmo o homem ou sequer Deus estejam lá [fora do alcance da política moderna, agora que foi suplantada pela política pós-moderna].”

NEM DEUS NEM O SOCIUS (HOMEM) – corpo sem-órgãos ou humanista, ou outro modelo qualquer –, MAS SEMIDEUSES (avaliadores de valores):[minha] Angelopoliteia (política angelical), que é uma modificação da teologia política para a angeologia política. O que queremos dizer é que a esfera da Política está começando a ser controlada por e está começando a aterrar em confronto[s] das [entre as] entidades supra-humanas.” “Realmente há um centro de comando na pós-política, há atores, há decisões, mas eles estão todos desumanizados na pós-modernidade, estão além dos quadros da antropologia.”

DESTINO VS. ATOR POLÍTICO: “O resto não dependerá do homem[;] (…) será uma guerra de anjos, guerra de deuses, um confronto de entidades, não-amarradas pelas leis e padrões históricos e econômicos, que não se identificam com certas elites políticas nem religiões.” Porém, o mesmo poder-se-ia dizer do materialismo histórico radicalmente interpretado. Somos vontades não-livres.

A angeologia política deve ser pensada como uma metáfora que é também científica e racional.” Dugin não é muito bom com metáforas!

O anjo é o gênio? Não considerado como indivíduo superior, mas como o espírito aconselhador socrático, que intervém em momentos-chave? Enfim, demonologia política seria uma nomenclatura cem vezes mais interessante…

COMING FULL CIRCLE (PLATÃO-MARX): “Não há uma palavra como ‘coisa’ em grego e isso é muito importante, porque significa que o conceito de realidade é também ausente.” “existem as palavras gregas pragma, existente e prática para o latim res. Pragma é a ação e o objeto ao mesmo tempo. § É muito interessante: a totalidade da metafísica grega evolui entre ‘teoria’ como contemplação e ‘ação’ (praxis)[,] mantendo distância da grave subjetividade latina, ‘coisificação’ escondida no termo res.”

Se ampliarmos à (sic) mencionada dualidade do gráfico supracitado nos depararíamos com o modelo guénoniano de ‘princípio-manifestação’.” René Guénon: autor relativamente desconhecido. E no entanto o que se pesquisa sobre ele não é nada auspicioso (esotérico; leitura benquista por O. de Carvalho, o câncer do Brasil, etc.)… Não existem coisas como ‘dogmas’ em metafísica, noção que nos é apresentada como sendo dele, já num primeiro resumo sobre sua obra – a não ser para os charlatães; estes definem seus dogmas tão arbitrária quanto convenientemente a fim de se tornarem best-sellers imerecidos… Se é que devemos estudar as obras de alguém antes de julgá-lo com propriedade, porém, valeria a pena, a quem interessar possa, tendo tempo, checar esta sua 1ª obra (em que pese ser um ocidental, portanto devemos ser duplamente céticos quanto à possibilidade de um westerner compreender profundamente como os orientais compreendem eles mesmos sua própria metafísca – o interesse está muito mais no tema que no escritor): “In 1921, Guénon published his first book: an Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines [procurar a versão francesa]. His goal, as he writes it, is an attempt at presenting to westerners eastern metaphysics and spirituality as they are understood and thought by easterners themselves, while pointing at what René Guénon describes as all the erroneous interpretations and misunderstandings of western orientalism and “neospiritualism’ (for the latter, notably the proponents of Madame Blavatsky’s Theosophy). Right from that time, he presents a rigorous understanding, not only of Hindu doctrines, but also of eastern metaphysics in general.” “For all his intellectual skills might be, it seems unlikely that he succeeded just by himself or with the help of a few books in getting the profound and enlightening understanding of the Vêdânta he seems to have acquired by the age of 23.” As últimas aspas são de David Bisson. Muito suspeito, realmente!

Vamos relembrar a definição grega original de mito: mito é uma história contada durante o ritual. A dualidade mito e ritual é um dos itens básicos tanto da história da religião quanto da antropologia social e é amplamente discutida. Então vamos para a filosofia e vemos¹ mentalidade-atividade (esse par de termos é muito semelhante a teoria-prática). E finalmente, a tecnologia é bastante simples [?] – esta é a dualidade do projeto e sua realização.”

¹ “vamos para a filosofia e vemos” é uma construção frasal de oitava série em português. Creio nunca ser demais expor a ruindade desse ‘escritor’. Será que apenas russos com português como 2ª língua no campo da tradução se interessam por Dugin?

<A> TAREFA: “Não é por acaso que falamos sobre Dasein como o assunto da teoria política. Dasein é o exemplo sugerido e proposto por H. como uma aspiração para superar o dualismo sujeito-objeto” “O personagem principal do Dasein é ser ‘entre’.” Todo esse ‘tempo’ de livro e só agora faz esse tipo de observação…

Não devemos usar o sistema de dualismo político clássico, a topografia cientifica tanto nova como do tempo de Aristóteles,¹ ao falar sobre a Quarta Teoria Política e presumir este fato de que o sujeito e o núcleo, o exemplo básico do pólo da Quarta Teoria Politica[,] é Dasein.” Porque seria e não seria ao mesmo tempo.

¹ O pensamento lógico deve ser superado… logicamente.

Heidegger disse que se queremos compreender o Dasein devemos perceber e formar a ontologia fundamental, que seria não perder contato com as raízes ônticas do Dasein [o ‘metafísico banal’, o presente] e não ascender ou sublimar (cedo ou tarde) a qualquer coisa relacionada com a construção filosófica geral de 2 mil anos atrás (se seguirmos o caminho de Platão ou os mais recentes filósofos pré-socráticos até Nietzsche) em que o tempo moderno se baseia.” “Do ponto de vista da análise do Dasein, ambos, sujeito e objeto, são construções ontológicas, crescidas a partir do ‘entre’, inzwischen ôntico.”

Porém, há um grande problema: implicaria que a praxis marxiana não é já esse entre entre teoria-prática, o ‘-’ do dualismo. Dugin ejeta a praxis para sinonímia de prática stricto sensu, prática revolucionária, e nesse ponto erra sua exegese de Marx, pois o subestima.

Ao contrário do Hegelianismo, do Marxismo, teoria comunicacional e toda estrutura moderna, em princípio não estamos interessados em qualquer coisa sobre a linha entre teoria e prática.” “a questão da prioridade tanto da consciência como da matéria durante o período soviético é completamente idiota.” Se se dá primazia a alguma, sim; mas não há primazia, o resto é revisionismo. Dugin age como o mais idiota da escola dos liberais, que ele mesmo já criticou e ainda criticará neste livro, como Popper, o bruxo farsesco de Hollywood (alusão a Harry Potter), mais para bufão ou ‘clown da côrte pós-moderna’,¹ ao ‘refutar’ Marx via discurso sonambúlico ‘socialismo <<<real>>> na URSS fracassou’, etc.

¹ Acho que, mesmo sem ser espetacular, sou muito melhor com metáforas que nosso querido autor russo!

DO NADA… “Assim, devemos adiar tais itens como espírito e dimensão divina, e avançar em direção ao caos e outros itens orientados profunda e verticalmente.” E como sempre, Nietzsche é citado perto da palavra caos. Como fica claro no trecho sublinhado, Dugin quer de alguma forma ver a sociedade se tornar aquela discoteca cheia de identidades vazias dançando rockabilly ou o que quer que o valha…

O “MARX” DE MARX (não funciona): “O que é a Quarta Prática Política? É uma contemplação. O que é a manifestação da Quarta Prática Política? É um princípio a ser revelado.” Dugin pensa criar algo novo, e não retroagir a Hegel, ao estipular o seguinte, após o historicamente dado: Hegel – Marx (inversão de Hegel) – Dugin (inversão de Marx). Falácia primária. Quer fugir também de Weber (gaiola de ferro) ao remar de volta ao Alemão clássico (herdeiro ao mesmo tempo do Romantismo e do zero absoluto do romantismo em Kant): “É um princípio de atitude mágica [anti-burocrática, anti-cristã, anti-moderna] para o próprio mundo baseado na idéia de que o imaginável é o único com o que nos deparamos e tudo com que nos deparamos não é nada mais que um pensamento. Que tipo de pensamento é este? O pensamento puro.” Abstração kant-hegeliana. Espero não ler elogios à alquimia nas próximas páginas, cof, cof…

tínhamos aniquilado quaisquer outros espaços antes de declararmos, não na consumação, mas logo no início, antes de declararmos num contexto pré-ontológico.” O mundo já foi conquistado (Heidegger). Só há uma geopolítica do zero em 2000.

DESTRUINDO COM O MARTELO, &C, &C… “Esse monte de sucata que tem se manifestado não é acidental e possui uma lógica profunda. Metafísica Primordial, primordialidade expressa nas técnicas, modernas e pós-modernas.” “ou nossa luta política é soteriológica [redentora] e escatológica [pós-apocalíptica, pós-escatológica, já que o apocalipse já aconteceu na Política do século XX] ou não faz sentido.”

A virtualidade [reino da mentira, distopia pós-modernista] é mais próxima do modelo mais-que-original da Quarta Teoria e Prática Política que qualquer outro elemento.” E aqui, de novo, Dugin sabe mentir ao criticar Nietzsche parecendo que não o compreendeu e usando sempre seus expedientes, sem crédito, dentre os quais, agora fica evidente, o saber mentir (“maneira divina de pensar”, Vontade de Potência, paradoxo da árvore que quanto mais cresce no firmamento mais enterra suas raízes no ‘maléfico’ do subsolo, etc.).

Podemos dizer que o rizoma de Deleuze é uma paródia pós-moderna e pós-estruturalista do Dasein de Heidegger.” “Porém, prestemos atenção ao fato de como faz o pós-modernismo para resolver o problema invertendo a ordem da coluna, através da atração para a superfície, sendo esta a idéia principal que vemos em Deleuze. Lembremo-nos de sua interpretação do ‘corpo sem órgãos’ de Artaud, da sua interpretação da necessidade da destruição, do nivelamento das estruturas e sua interpretação da capa epidérmica do homem (a pele) como base para uma tela onde as imagens são projetadas.” UMA BOLA DE CARNE QUE ATROPELARÁ O CAPITAL.

Deleuze disse: ‘Libertem o Homo demens!’.” “Aí vem a ‘máquina de desejo’, o processo rizomático, com ideias iônicas e temporalmente crônicas. Esta demência pós-moderna é muito parecida com a Quarta Teoria Política” Esquizodaseinanalyse de novo? Ou esquizod’a[sei]nalyse

Finalmente, quero dizer que o fim dos tempos e o significado escatológico da política não vão acontecer sozinhos, [ó!] vamos esperar pelo fim em vão. O fim nunca virá se esperarmos por ele e ele nunca virá se não o fizermos.” Porém, como já enunciado, ele será feito. Ele nos fará fazer.

Este é um grande arsenal do assim chamado (…) ‘noch nicht’.” De novo (estou ficando repetitivo): tirando conhecimento de Marx e Nietzsche. O problema de qualquer leitor ‘não-iniciado’ é que tomará os dizeres ao pé-da-letra. Devemos avisá-los de que nenhum botão vermelho será pressionado.

Inclusive anteriormente ao Cristianismo [a sociedade proto-européia] era também patriarcal, até nos tempos imemoriais que foram estudados no mediterrâneo por Bachofen no seu O Direito Materno.” De acordo.

Assim, nas sociedades arcaicas, somente quem sofreu a iniciação pode ser considerado como um homem, caso contrário este alguém não possui sexo social, ou seja, um gênero[;] e é privado das funções sociais masculinas (casamento, participação na caça e ritual).” Mas nessas tribos patriarcais não ter sexo é o mesmo que ser mulher, objetificado(a).

em algumas sociedades escravistas, os escravos não eram identificados com homens, eles usavam roupas de mulher.”

Para Dugin, o liberalismo é mais machista até que o fascismo.

a mulher de negócios é uma mulher que manifesta qualidade masculina, feminina – cidadã, uma mulher – branca.” A mulher negra: a última barreira.

Logo, o feminismo liberal, ou a aspiração de dar à mulher liberdade, significa identificar a mulher com o homem e equalizá-los social e politicamente, isto é, representar socialmente a mulher como um homem.” “Uma mulher que se senta ao volante é um homem ou uma caricatura de homem.”

O conceito de igualdade de gênero da segunda teoria política [socialismo] se diferencia qualitativamente da compreensão de igualdade da primeira teoria política. [liberalismo] O feminismo, o igualitarismo de gênero no marxismo, acredita que ambos, homens e mulheres, serão envolvidos na [nova] ideologia (…) como uma questão de fato, deixa de ser homens e mulheres que constituem o padrão e o imperativo de gênero do liberalismo.”

O filósofo neomarxista húngaro [Meszaros? Por que não citá-lo?] disse que ‘o proletariado é aquilo em que sujeito e objeto são os mesmos’. [correto] Partindo de tal formulação, marxistas consistentes [o que seria um marxista inconsistente?] clamam pela insanidade, [!] por uma esquizofrenia, por uma esquizo-revolucionária (sic) (Deleuze).” Não misture alhos com bugalhos.

o indiferenciado reino do trabalho, onde não há diferença qualitativa entre a ‘boa cozinheira’, o marinheiro ou o herói masculino. Vladimir Lênin uma vez disse: ‘Sob o socialismo, qualquer boa cozinheira poderia com a mesma facilidade governar um Estado’.” E Hannah Arendt acha isso ruim!

A boa cozinheira à copa não torna. Lugar de mulher é onde ela quiser.

O marxismo oferece algo ainda mais baixo, onde nada sobra das hierarquias de gênero e estratégias.” Estragou tudo, sr. Dugin!

O fascismo aceita o conhecido modelo dos citadinos, brancos, europeus, sensatos, ricos e o exalta. Se o liberalismo aceita este modelo como norma, o fascismo começa a preencher o homem com propriedades adicionais. Ele não deve ser um simples branco nórdico, não apenas racional, mas unicamente racional (da forma como somente os germânicos possuem racionalidade).” “Além disso, a masculinidade é exaltada e as mulheres eram incitadas a se envolver com KKK: Kinder, Kirchen, küchen.

Se virmos razão, riqueza, responsabilidade, cidade, pele branca, sacamos uma arma e atiramos. Este homem precisa morrer, ele não tem chance de sobreviver, pois é fechado num impasse histórico moderno, ele reproduz hierarquias pequenas e não pode ir além de suas próprias fronteiras.”

Atributos positivos do homem, para além do paradigma moderno: não-adulto. O sujeito da Quarta Teoria Política é um macho não-adulto. [péssimo, ainda como metáfora] Por exemplo, Le Grand Jeu (nome do grupo literário próximo ao surrealismo) de Gilbert-Lecomte e René Daumal, que se ofereceram para construir uma vida sem amadurecimento, para permanecerem crianças brincando. Isto pode ser considerado como um convite para desenvolver os princípios de gênero da Quarta Teoria Política” E que foi deles com essa dadaíce toda?

Aqui usamos da antropologia social e da etnologia de Lévi-Strauss, isto é, a partir da análise das experiências de muitas sociedade[s] não-brancas. Além disso, a loucura: são todas formas de transgressão intelectual, a prática da insanidade voluntária de Friedrich Hölderlin e Nietzsche até Bataille, Artaud.” Aqui há um mal-entendido e fetichização. Não há loucura voluntária. Isso até o limitado Deleuze sabia. Doido é o Dugin. Quando não inventa demais, Dugin se mostra um antropólogo razoável.

RED NECKS NOT ALLOWED: “Em geral, não-branco, insano, não-urbano ou inserido em uma paisagem. Por exemplo, o ecologista, o representante de uma comunidade, isto é, uma pessoa que não rompeu com a natureza, como Redfield em seu The Folk Society [jornal].”

A Quarta Teoria Política pode ser dirigida ao ser andrógino, e este gênero é o andrógino? Talvez, mas somente se não o projetamos nos óbvios modelos andróginos de divisão de sexo como metades.”

Quem é Gilbert Durand? Só aparecem prováveis homônimos não-relacionados no google…

Agora estamos no momento de uma reextensão e ruptura final de um gênero. Etapas dessa ruptura são o feminismo, o homossexualismo e a operação de mudança de sexo.” Não! Armadilha neoliberal… E tradutor incauto com isso de –ismo… Dugin fala tanto de raiz, cita a raiz do termo grego, radicula, mas ignora o feminismo radical… Trocando as bolas não se muda o jogo: é necessário refundá-las (profundo…)!

Esqueçam esse maldito triângulo edipiano re-re-reencarnado chamado Artaud-Foucault-Deleuze!

Elementos do fascismo na pós-modernidade são representados pela prática do BDSM.” Sim, essa frase apareceu sem qualquer transição ou contexto!

A BOMBA A-SSEXUAL

Contra a bomba de H.idrogênio, a bomba de Estrogênio…

Plantar uma sexualidade vegetal em vez de minas…

Este é o momento mais perigoso da filosofia da liberdade que começa a retirar a liberdade de dizer ‘não’ sob os auspícios da absolutização da liberdade.”

Uma máquina de corte é o argumento absoluto dos defensores do progresso.” Agora entendi a obsessão de Deleuze com ela! “Tudo poderia ser compreendido, mas uma vida sem uma máquina de corte? Esta é uma afirmação verdadeiramente não-científica: uma vida sem uma máquina de corte é impossível. Não há vida. A vida é uma máquina de corte. Este é o poder do argumento liberal em operação que se manifesta com seu lado totalitário.” HAHAHA

Isso [o grande engano sobre o ideal de liberdade] deve ser buscado não na época em que Descartes, Nietzsche ou o século XX emergiram, mas em algum lugar da filosofia pré-socrática. Heidegger viu esse momento no conceito de physis e na desvelação (sic) suficiente do estudo platônico das Idéias.” Engraçado que há algumas páginas prescrevia “parar de se preocupar com o passado de dois milênios de filosofia continental e focar no presente, no ser-aí atrás da compreensão do Dasein (o que pode até ser verdade – pun intended –, mas repetido centenas de vezes por Heidegger & sucedâneos sem qualquer indicação ou descoberta mais exata e que avance a questão já cheira a filosofia de boteco).

IRONIAS TRÁGICAS NO REINO DA CULTURA

Para Dugin, o comunismo submergiu – eia, enterro sempiterno! O conservadorismo, tradicionalismo, seja lá que nome rupestre e bucólico se dê a essa doença nostálgica, também submergiu… mas não há problema em ressuscitar esse cadáver, nenhum problema, basta querer! Os socialistas, pelo visto, não querem com a força materialista devida! Para D., aliás, os fundamentalistas islâmicos, que cavaram tão fundo que acharam petróleo, devem ter realmente encontrado a origem ontológica de todos os problemas, numa conversa com os japoneses do outro lado do túnel, digo, do poço! Agora, deixando de esquizopoetizar, é deveras trágico que os muçulmanos, que ajudaram a salvar a sabedoria antiga para que renascera entre os ocidentais, hoje sejam seus principais adversários ideológicos, pelo menos na acepção explosiva do termo (não se trata de piada ou jogo de palavras, já que a oposição chinesa é mais resignada e petrificada, durará mil anos se for preciso).

O sobrinho-neto de Jacob Burckhardt é um branco suíço neo-alquimista pseudo-polímata idiota!

Louis Pauwels e Jacques Bergier, os autores de O Amanhecer dos Mágicos escreveram: ‘O fascismo é guénonismo¹ com mais essas divisões’.”

¹ Triste (vide acima os wikia sobre Guénon). O gnosticismo e o esoterismo da antropologia da religião mediana costumam ser apenas peneiras que falham ao ocultar o sol nazi que ilumina a cena por trás.

Em um dos congressos em Roma dedicados ao vigésimo aniversário da morte de Evola, eu dei uma palestra, ‘Evola – visto da sinistra’ (Evola – uma visão desde a esquerda) na qual eu sugeri examinar Evola desde posições esquerdistas (ainda que

ele se considerasse de direita, até mesmo de extrema-direita).” Parabéns pra você! (DV) Apropriações de Evola pelo campo democrático me dão náusea.

Outra coisa que me chama a atenção: Dugin falar tanto da televisão, em termos quase que bourdieusianos, num livro da década passada! O tiktok vaporizou o campeão olímpico de zapping! Gex é um atleta de elite perto do millennial padrão. Cavando rumo ao abismo, não se pode imaginar nada mais raso: depois disso, começarão a devorar enciclopédias em mosteiros – tem de haver um ponto de inflexão em que o buraco negro começa a vomitar matéria!

Eu realmente não imagino Putin meia hora com Dugin – ou 15 minutos LENDO Dugin…

Velhos crentes parecem ‘retardados’ para nós, mas eles não o são. Eles são diferentes, eles agem dentro de outro tópico.” HAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

Eles são tão retardados que reagirão em 2050.

Lévy-Bruhl: more like Lévy-BRUH

bruhromance, o livro secreto de Bachofengshui

A MANDO DA CIA: “Primeiro, Fukuyama pensou que a política havia desaparecido e que ela estava prestes a ser substituída pelo ‘mercado global’, no qual não haverá nações, Estados, etnias, culturas ou religiões. Mas então ele decidiu que seria melhor desacelerar um pouco e implementar a pós-modernidade mais calmamente, sem revoluções. Porque revoluções podem estar acompanhadas por algo indesejável que poderia atrapalhar o plano do ‘fim da história’. Então Fukuyama começou a escrever que era necessário fortalecer os Estados-nação momentaneamente – este é o conservadorismo liberal.”

primeiro o filósofo inglês Edmund Burke simpatizava com o Iluminismo, mas após a Revolução Francesa ele o rejeitou e desenvolveu uma teoria conservadora liberal com uma crítica frontal da revolução e das esquerdas.” E hoje sabemos que ele era ignaro em relação à França.

Eles podem até mesmo gritar em algum momento: parem! Vendo o que a pós-modernidade está trazendo [mais sintaxe horrorosa…]¹ e olhando duramente para o rizoma de Deleuze, eles se sentem como se estivessem no lugar errado.² Ademais, eles temem que uma desconstrução acelerada da modernidade, despontando na pós-modernidade, possa libertar a pré-modernidade.”

¹ Experimentasse um: Ao ver o que a pós-modernidade traz, com dureza no olhar… Enfim, não se pode chamar um “tradutor em tempo real” de tradutor, ainda mais se ele tem todo o tempo do mundo para revisar o texto, diferente do tradutor oral em evento ao vivo!

² Nem sempre uma tradução precisa ser mais longa que o trecho original (o que não tenho como comparar, pois não sei russo): sentem-se no lugar errado, mais uma sugestão para o tradutor deste trabalho, se um dia puder ler-me e incorporar algumas lições! Ah, é uma profusão de eles, eles, eles… Aqui D. está falando dos liberais, para contextualizar.

Por exemplo, o liberal Habermas (An Unfinished Project?, 1992), outrora da esquerda,¹ diz que se ‘nós não salvarmos um rígido espírito do iluminismo agora, uma fidelidade aos ideais do sujeito livre, uma liberação moral, se não segurarmos a humanidade na margem, não apenas cairemos no caos, mas também voltaremos à sombra da tradição, cujo meio de enfrentamento é a própria modernidade’.”

¹ Os desistentes da esquerda são os piores dentre os reacionários.

Normalmente, conservadores liberais não fazem uma análise da correlação entre liberalismo e comunismo como a que fizemos, e assim eles continuam a temer o comunismo.” “Mas alguns liberais efetivamente crêem hoje que ‘os comunistas perderam terreno apenas temporariamente’ e ainda podem retornar. Extrapolando medos equivocados, o anticomunismo contemporâneo cria quimeras, fantasmas, simulacros em um grau ainda maior que o antifascismo contemporâneo.”

É HOLLYWOOD, E, AFINAL, ELES APRENDEM VENDO (E FAZENDO) FILMES DE TERROR: “Mas o conservadorismo liberal, em regra, é alheio a essa ironia [Che Guevara em outdoors, etc.] e não está inclinado a zombar de ‘vermelhos’ ou ‘marrons’. A razão disso é que o conservadorismo liberal teme a relativização do logos na pós-modernidade, ao mesmo tempo estando incerto de que o inimigo foi completamente destruído. Ele sonha que um cadáver estirado ainda se move e é por isso que ele não recomenda chegar muito perto, zombar e brincar com ele.” Vejo nesse ‘homem’ liberal a característica dadaísta acima: os “machos não-adultos” na arte, agora na política e economia…

UMA ETIQUETA MUITO FROUXA (E PORTANTO INSERVÍVEL): “Outros pensadores que pertencem a essa escola [‘conservadorismo revolucionário’, hahaha!]¹ são: Martin Heidegger, os irmãos Ernst & Friedrich Jünger, Carl Schmitt, Oswald Spengler, Werner Sombart, Othmar Spann, Friedrich Hielscher, Ernst Niekisch e toda uma plêiade de autores, principalmente alemães. Algumas vezes, eles são chamados de ‘os dissidentes do nacional-socialismo’² (…) Muitos deles participaram em atividades antifascistas subterrâneas e ajudaram judeus a fugir. [que bom! redimiram-se na vida privada, pelo menos…] Particularmente, Friedrich Hielscher, um conservador revolucionário de primeira linha³ e apoiador do renascimento nacional alemão[,] ajudou o famoso filósofo judeu Martin Buber a escapar.”

¹ Outros oxímoros para rir: reacionarismo avant-garde, vanguardismo gradual, radicais moderados.

² A mais pura coincidência!

³ Esse tipo de expressão devia ser banido do léxico.

Uma Play AD de autores.

Um termo geral na filosofia heideggeriana descrevendo a essência do crescente domínio da técnica é Ge-stell, isto é[,] a construção de modelos cada vez mais alienantes e niilistas.” “Mas se um homem acentua a realidade objetiva como um ‘universal’ (koinon) apenas sobre o que existe (idéia de physis), ele perde [de] vista o nada que o lembra de si mesmo, levando a filosofia ao niilismo – através do Ge-Stell.”

nothing to worry about…

No devido tempo essa lógica foi seguida por um grupo de surrealistas-dadaístas (Arthur Cravan, Jacques Rigaut, Julien Torma, Jacques Vaché) que glorificaram o suicídio. Mas os críticos [corretamente] consideravam isso uma bazófia vazia. Em dado momento eles cometeram suicídio publicamente, o que provou que arte e surrealismo eram algo tão grande para eles que por isso eles deram a vida.” L’art pour l’art = shit. E Dugin criticava o “soldado da política” previamente, lembram-se?

Aqui podemos nos lembrar de Kirillov de Os Possuídos de Dostoyevsky (título original russo ‘Besy – Бесы’) para quem o suicídio se tornou uma expressão da liberdade completa que foi revelada após a ‘morte de Deus’.” E devemos lembrar que Kirillov era um tolo!

Há mais uma orientação – o assim chamado conservadorismo de esquerda ou social-conservadorismo. Um típico representante seu é Georges Sorel (Reflexões sobre a Violência, 1906).” Dugin hipostasia centenas de categorias… Sorel é apenas um reacionário!

O conservadorismo de esquerda é próximo ao nacional-bolchevismo russo de Nikolay Ustryalov.” “o nacional-socialismo de esquerda de Strasser” Ih… que foi que eu falei?! É com esse tipo de taxonomia irresponsável que os think tanks neofascistas ianques assolaram as economias frágeis e periféricas em sua estratégia de fake news, a ponto de gente com resíduos de miolos na cabeça passarem a se perguntar (os que afirmam taxativamente não passam de isentos de qualquer resquício de miolo na cabeça) ‘nazismo era de esquerda?’. Porque quando apólogos do nazismo começam a vincular o nazismo à esquerda apenas por questões de marketing (já que o nazismo é crime na democracia saudável) significa que uma tentativa de golpe de Estado está em curso (‘acuse-os daquilo que você é/faz’).

Essa orientação está sendo desenvolvida hoje por Andrey Isaev. No outro polo da ‘Rússia Unida’, está o conservadorismo liberal de Pligin.”

eurasianistas de esquerda” Quanto mais se multiplicam os nomes, mais irrelevantes são (se não forem PERIGOSOS). Se com isso se quer dizer os pró-China e anti-imperialismo ianque, que gostariam de ver uma aliança “ilimitada” entre China e Rússia para que o mundo volte à multipolaridade, poderiam simplesmente chamá-los de “neo-comunistas”, ou defensores da causa do “comunismo 2.0” ou, francamente, Realpolitik, pois disso depende hoje, dependerá amanhã e sempre dependeu o próprio resfriamento nuclear e nossa simples sobrevivência.

SALADA DE FRUTAS PODRES: “A única coisa que não é aceitável para eurasianistas – é o conservadorismo liberal.” Diria que sentariam na mesma mesa que eu, pois da forma como Putin descreve essa ‘corrente’, são os social-democratas russos, muito distintos dos tais nacional-bolcheviques. Uma rara (?) instância em que um binômio de duas palavras deletérias (conservadorismo e liberalismo) é muito mais benquisto que um binômio aparentemente maniqueísta ou até benigno-neutro, como temos a impressão diante das palavras isoladas “nacionalismo” (soviético, por exemplo) e bolchevismo (que perde toda conotação positiva quando inscrito ‘para inglês ver’ em movimentos neofascistas, da mesma forma e usando a mesma estratégia do ‘nacional-socialismo’, que, inexoravelmente de direita desde que foi elaborado até os fins dos tempos, nada mais é do que nazismo e totalitarismo, com um nome criado para roubar os eleitores do forte partido comunista alemão e fragmentar a classe operária com a máquina de propaganda do Führer).

Este é um caráter específico do eurasianismo: ele considera a cultura ocidental como um fenômeno local e temporário.”

Coincidência nenhuma que o primeiro entre os autores russos que se referiu ao livro de Guénon Oriente e Ocidente tenha sido o eurasianista N.N. Alekseev.” Um europeu escreve sobre o Oriente. Um eurasianista então se interessa pelo tema – uau, que inusitado!

neoeurasianismo” Chega de neo- isso, neo- aquilo! Aposente o prefixo! E novamente: o problema está no uso indiscriminado. Mas para resumir essa citação na obra, Dugin dirá que neoeurasianismo = eurasianismo + Heidegger. E o mais engraçado (vide logo abaixo) é que Heidegger é na verdade anterior aos que Dugin chamará de autores eurasianistas (neodaseinismo?).

neœurasianismo

neopósestruturalismœurasiano!…

Periódicos eurasianos são publicados hoje na Itália, França, Turquia.” Isso é pouco, muito pouco.

Um distanciamento da cultura ocidental permite determinar uma distância se devendo ao fato de que é possível compreender toda a modernidade e dizer a tudo um ‘não’ fundamental.” Tudo ainda a primeira fase do Zaratustra de Nie. – ou a fase do camelo.

Aqui deve ser relembrado que os eurasianistas, os fundadores da fonologia e os maiores representantes da lingüística estrutural, Roman Jakobson(*) e Nikolay Trubetzkoy,(**) foram os mentores de Lévi-Strauss e ensinaram a ele as técnicas de análise estrutural.” Mas em que sentido eram eurasianistas? Na própria lingüística? O que quereria dizer?

(*) Role of linguistic indications in the comparative mythology – VII”

(**) “The Legacy of Genghis Khan” Autores que viveram e produziram depois da morte de Heidegger.

Assim, uma cadeia intelectual pode ser retraçada – eurasianismoestruturalismo-neoeurasianismo.”

E uma vez que estamos em um período de transição incompleta – há uma grande confusão de termos: [não use isso para justificar tanto neologismo] alguns interpretam os termos básicos de acordo com seu sentido histórico original, alguns já olham para o futuro, sentindo a necessidade de mudanças semânticas (que ainda não chegaram), alguns sonham (e podem se aproximar do futuro ou simplesmente entregar-se a alucinações individualistas irrelevantes), alguns estão simplesmente confusos.” Outros ‘ficam inventando’ (como diria o tradutor espúrio) nominhos e sinônimos que não levam a lugar algum, mas servem para passar o tempo.

Oswald Spengler em seu famoso livro O Declínio do Ocidente, opôs civilização e cultura, considerando a última como uma expressão do espírito vital orgânico da humanidade e a primeira como o esfriamento desse espírito nas formas mecânicas e tecnológicas. Para Spengler, a civilização é produto da morte cultural. No entanto, essa observação espirituosa, que interpreta corretamente algumas características da civilização ocidental, não recebeu aceitação universal e mais freqüentemente os termos civilização e cultura são usados como sinônimos.” O bom artista é o sujeito incivilizado. Finalmente uma ocasião em que faz diferença, neste livro, distinguir dois termos “parecidos”! Pena que encerra o parágrafo com chave-de-bosta: “De qualquer forma, cada pesquisador pode ter sua própria opinião.” Não é bem assim, não, amigo! O Dasein é a prova mais concreta disso: ele independe de opiniões… Ele institui toda e qualquer opinião, e não é aquilo que eu, você nem Heidegger necessariamente quer. E a cultura é o reino do Dasein.

Mas depois de Nietzsche, o assim chamados ‘filósofo da suspeita’, esse axioma otimista foi questionado.” “Na crítica pós-moderna do otimismo histórico, o universalismo e o historicismo adquiriram um caráter sistemático e criaram os pré-requisitos doutrinais para uma total revisão do aparato conceitual da Filosofia Ocidental. A revisão em si mesma não foi plenamente implementada, mas o que foi feito (Lévi-Strauss, Barthes, Ricoeur, Foucault, Deleuze, Derrida, etc.) já é suficiente para assegurar a impossibilidade de usar o Dicionário da Modernidade sem sua completa e meticulosa desconstrução.”

Ricoeur, generalizando a tese do filósofo da suspeita[,] mostra o seguinte quadro: homem e sociedade consistem em um componente racional-consciente (o que Bultmanu chamou de querigma e Marx de superestrutura) e um componente inconsciente (de fato a ‘estrutura’ no sentido estruturalista, a infra-estrutura, vontade de poder).” “Marx considerou as ‘forças produtivas’ e ‘relações produtivas’ como inconscientes.” É por isso que Marx é Marx.

Isso explica a grande diferença entre a prática histórica das nações e sociedades, cheias de guerras, violência, crueldade, desordens mentais; e a intenção de uma existência harmoniosa, pacífica e iluminada sob a sombra do progresso e do desenvolvimento. § Assim, a tradição crítica, o estruturalismo e a filosofia do pós-modernismo forçaram a mudança de uma interpretação predominantemente diacrônica [dividida em estágios] da civilização, que era norma no séc. XIX e continuou a prevalecer, [em menor medida, no século XX] para [um]a [interpretação predominantemente] sincrônica.” “Podemos agora imaginar a ‘civilização’ como o numerador e ‘selvageria-e-barbárie’ como o denominador da fração condicional.”

À primeira vista, o universalismo inclusivo parece ser uma completa antítese do particularismo exclusivo que é comum nas comunidades tribais e de clãs do período ‘pré-civilizado’. Mas, historicamente, a alegação de universalidade da civilização – ecumene e assim, singular – constantemente se depara com o fato de que, além dos povos bárbaros, além das fronteiras dessa civilização, existiam outras civilizações com sua própria e excelente versão de universalismo.” “A origem da palavra bárbaro é uma descrição de alguém cuja fala não faz sentido e é uma coleção de sons animalescos. (…) as tribos eslavas, por sinal, eram chamadas os ‘germanos’ ou ‘burros’, pois não sabiam a língua russa.”

Chegou-se ao ponto [na Pérsia antiga] das conexões endógamas absolutas e da normalização do incesto – [tudo para] o espírito solar dos Iranianos (Ahura Mazda) não ser profanado pela mistura com os filhos de Angra Manyu [diabo].”

Tribos são baseadas na iniciação, durante a qual o neófito é informado sobre a base da mitologia tribal. No nível da civilização, a mesma função é realizada pelas instituições religiosas e em tempos mais recentes por um sistema de educação universal, claramente ideológico.” “Parece que, atualmente, apenas conservadores opõem civilização e barbárie, presos no Nouveau Compte acrítico, ou nas pesquisas de Bentham.” Não faltam esquerdistas ‘formadores de opinião’ acusando ingenuamente tudo que nos é antagônico de ‘barbárie’ e proclamando amar a ‘ciência ocidental’.

Enfrentamos tal onda de ignorância acrítica quando reformistas liberais tentaram apresentar a história da Rússia como uma corrente contínua de persistência ante a barbárie. (…) o primeiro McDonald’s, bancos privados, filmes e bandas de rock na televisão soviética são percebidos como ‘objetos sagrados’.” O religioso não suporta que tenhamos vindo do macaco porque seu inconsciente sabe que é ainda “pior” (melhor, indiferente): SOMOS macacos.

Civilização no contexto do séc. XXI significa exatamente isso: uma área de influência enraizada e estável de algum estilo sociocultural, às vezes (mas não necessariamente) coincidente com as grandes religiões.”

Hoje observamos que pensar economicamente, falar sobre Estado nacional e interesses nacionais e, mais ainda, colocar no centro da análise atitudes classistas ou raciais[,] é cada vez menos aceito. Por outro lado, raramente qualquer discurso de um político é feito sem mencionar a palavra ‘civilização’ e certamente em todo texto analítico este termo é talvez o mais comum.”

Falar seriamente sobre raça não é provável depois da trágica história do fascismo europeu[; e a] análise de classe se tornou irrelevante depois do colapso do bloco soviético e da União Soviética.” Não foi por isso: se tornou irrelevante por causa da ascensão da classe média ocidental, ou seja, por conta do êxito soviético das décadas anteriores, não do seu fracasso. Como que “por coincidência” agora as classes médias de todos os países “democráticos” sofrem arrochos sem precedentes. Não há mais uma “ideologia inimiga” e a necessidade de demonstrar que ‘somos economicamente mais felizes’.

Pode parecer que o único paradigma da ciência política é o liberalismo. Isso criou a impressão de que as fronteiras dos Estados homogêneos, essencialmente liberal-democratas, não mais enfrentam nenhum outro sistema que possa alegar uma alternativa global (…) e logo seriam abolidas, para que fossem criados um governo global e um Estado mundial, uma economia de mercado homogênea, com democracia parlamentar (Parlamento Mundial), sistema liberal de valores e informação tecnológica e de infraestrutura comuns.” A incapacidade de exportar o Super Bowl por si só comprovaria o contrário para todos os liberalóides incrédulos que desejassem reduzir um grau em miopia…

ZIZEK VS. PETERSON 1990s EDITION: “O desenvolvimento dos anos 90 mostrou que Huntington estava mais perto da verdade e Fukuyama foi forçado a revisar suas visões [e reconhecer] que (…) se apressou.” “F. então fez a seguinte abordagem conceitual: ele propôs adiar o fim da história por tempo indefinido e fortalecer as estruturas sociopolíticas, que eram o núcleo da ideologia liberal em estágios anteriores.” Simples: nós também adiamos o advento do comunismo global! Enfim, cada espectro político tem a Rosa Luxemburgo que merece!

Para Thomas Burnett (e D. Bell [? Fringe??? hahaha]) ‘tecnologia é destino’ e ela incorpora a quintessência da civilização, entendida tecnicamente, quase como Spengler fez, mas com sentido positivo.” Seu cu sendo penetrado de modo inamistoso é o destino!

O próprio Fukuyama, analisando criticamente suas anteriores colocações otimistas, ocupa uma posição intermediária [perto do otimismo tecnológico do bonachão acima]Fukuyama é como um Reinaldo Azevedo? Foi ficando mais inteligente ou ‘menos vendido aos patrões’ com o tempo? A utopia fukuyamiana durou menos que o motor de um bom e velho Monza!

“‘Choque’ ou ‘diálogo’? – é uma questão secundária e o consenso principal de que ‘civilização’ é agora o principal sujeito da análise da política internacional[,] muito mais importante.” “Declarar a civilização como sujeito principal e atriz da política mundial é o curso ideológico mais promissor para aqueles que querem estimar o estado real das coisas na política mundial, para aqueles que buscam encontrar uma ferramenta adequada para generalizações da ciência política de uma nova era” “Civilização como conceito, interpretada no contexto filosófico contemporâneo, é o centro de uma nova ideologia. Essa ideologia pode ser definida com multipolaridade.” Good enough.

GRETA THUNBERG VS. GOLIAS II: “A oposição ao globalismo, que está se declarando em todos os níveis e todos os lugares do mundo, ainda não formou um sistema específico de crenças. E esta é a fraqueza do movimento antiglobalização – ele não é sistematizado, falta harmonia ideológica, nesse sistema elementos fragmentários e caóticos dominam e geralmente representam uma vaga mistura de anarquismo e esquerdismo irrelevante, ecologismo e até outras idéias mais extravagantes e marginais.” “Os 3 níveis [Jihad, tradicionalistas e países subdesenvolvidos] existentes de oposição ao globalismo e à hegemonia americana não podem liderar uma estratégia comum e uma ideologia coerente que uniria as várias e espalhadas forças, geralmente diferentes em tamanho.” “Conflitos e alianças são possíveis aqui. O mundo multipolar que surge nesse caso criará pré-requisitos reais para a continuidade da história política da humanidade, adotando uma diversidade regulatória de sistemas religiosos, econômicos, culturais, sociopolíticos e de valores.” “Fazer da civilização um sujeito na política mundial do séc. XXI permitirá a ‘globalização regional’ – uma união de países e nações pertencendo à mesma civilização. [entender civilização no sentido não-depreciativo aqui empregado simplesmente como cultura] Isso levará à vantagem da inclusão social, mas não com respeito a todos sem distinção, mas primeiramente àqueles que pertencem ao tipo comum da civilização. [todos os anti-imperialistas, anti-americanos]” “reconhecendo o direito dos europeus formarem uma nova entidade política [novas entidades políticas, pois a Europa é completamente fragmentária, caldeirão cultural – a revanche do colonialismo!] baseada em suas diferenças civilizacionais, é natural assumir processos similares na civilização islâmica, China, Eurásia, América Latina e África.”

O Grande Espaço é outro nome para o que chamamos de ‘civilização’ no seu sentido geopolítico, cultural e espacial.” “Em vários grandes espaços o fator de integração pode variar – em alguns será a religião, outros, uma origem étnica comum, outros uma forma cultural comum, em outros ainda o tipo sociopolítico ou a simples localização geográfica.”

Huntington identifica as seguintes [8 civilizações]: ocidental; confuciana (chinesa); japonesa; [tenho minhas dúvidas…] islâmica; hindu; eslavo-ortodoxa; latino-americana; e possivelmente a africana.”

Na civilização ocidental, Huntington inclui os Estados Unidos (com o Canadá) e a Europa. Historicamente isso é verdade, mas atualmente, de um ponto de vista geopolítico, eles formam na relação entre si dois ‘grandes espaços’ diferentes e seus interesses estratégicos, econômicos e até geopolíticos divergem mais e mais.” A Alemanha não soube ler a Guerra da OTAN-Ucrânia… Perdeu uma janela de oportunidade…

A Europa tem 2 identidades – ‘atlantista’ (que pode ser definida com a Europa e a América do Norte) e ‘continental’ (que tende, pelo contrário, a não ser somente o trampolim militar do ‘grande irmão’ norte-americano, mas a conduzir uma política independente e voltar a fazer da Europa um ator independente).

O euroatlantismo tem sua base no Reino Unido e nos países da Europa Oriental (direcionados pela russofobia) e o eurocontinentalismo tem sua base na França e Alemanha, com apoio da Espanha e Itália (a clássica Velha Europa).”

O mundo Islâmico (…) no entanto, é dividido em vários ‘grandes espaços’ – o ‘mundo Árabe’, a ‘zona continental do Islã’ (Irã, Afeganistão e Paquistão) e a região do Pacífico com influência muçulmana. Um lugar especial nessa situação pertence à África Muçulmana, assim como às crescentes comunidades muçulmanas na Europa e América.

É difícil estabelecer as fronteiras entre as zonas de influência das civilizações chinesa e japonesa no Pacífico, cuja identidade civilizacional continua [em] abert[o].

E claro, é difícil falar da consciência geral dos habitantes da África, ainda que [n]o futuro essa situação possa mudar, pois este processo tem pelo menos 2 precedentes históricos: a Liga das Nações Africanas e os ideais Pan-Africanos.

A reaproximação dos países latino-americanos é evidente, mas dada a pressão norte-americana nos últimos anos, não podemos falar em nenhum processo de integração ali.”

A fronteira ocidental da civilização eurasiana é em algum lugar ao leste da fronteira ocidental da Ucrânia, fazendo esse Estado ser frágil e insustentável.” Importantíssimo.

Não existirá padrão universal – nem material nem espiritual. Cada civilização finalmente proclamará que ela própria é uma medida das coisas. Em alguns lugares a medida será o homem, em outros – religião, em outros – ética, em outros – a matéria.”

O dia atual não dá oportunidade para falar de qualquer espaço estritamente definido para qualquer projeto esquerdista (social, socialista ou comunista), se comparado com o contraste da situação que por um século predominou no campo das ideias e projetos políticos.” Podemos chamar a primeira metade do século XXI de TROTSKISTA por excelência (“dividirmo-nos para sermos conquistados!”).

Primeiramente, ela foi causada pelo colapso da União Soviética e pela desintegração do campo socialista bem como pelo declínio de influência e prestígio do marxismo europeu” Como os idiotas reacionários que não entendem o niilismo, toma o efeito pela causa. É impressionante e aterrador, no pior dos sentidos, verificar que um russo tido como sábio, atuante em diversos campos das humanas, ainda que anti-propaganda ocidental, não se dê conta de que a reproduz nesses pontos mais cruciais! Está pavlovianamente condicionado a repetir, como um cão da CIA além-mar que o colapso da União Soviética isso e aquilo. Dispersar forças, causar dissensão nos tais blocos multipolares que almeja formar (chega a ser absurdo!), retardar, atrapalhar: faz tudo que o Ocidente quer e não espera que nem o melhor espião instalado na Rússia consiga!

Inicialmente, a filosofia da esquerda era considerada como sendo uma crítica fundamental, unificada e sistematizada do capitalismo liberal. Em meados do século XX um fenômeno como a crítica sistemática do projeto esquerdista emergiu (tanto dos liberais – Hayek, Popper, Aron, [a ‘bancada evangélica das ciências sociais’] etc. – quanto e dos neomarxistas e marxistas freudianos). Escolas filosóficas fizeram o mesmo à ideologia da esquerda que o projeto esquerdista fez ao capitalismo liberal 100-150 anos atrás.”

Desde a perspectiva da experiência histórica hodierna, há 3 tendências básicas na filosofia política esquerdista,¹ que ou continuam projetos ideológicos prévios em uma nova fase, ou reconsideram o passado, ou sugerem algo radicalmente novo.”

¹ O imbecil que traduziu isso fez para sacanear: “da esquerda” é a única opção não-pejorativa.

AS 3 TENDÊNCIAS DA ESQUERDA APUD DUGIN:

  • Vetero-gauchistes;

  • Nazbol; [ERRO CRASSO – DESCONSIDERAR EM UMA ANÁLISE SÉRIA]

  • Esquerda pós-moderna [deleuzianos]

Realmente estamos fodidos se acompanhados de nacionalistas e criptoliberais (o que os próprios liberais chamam de ‘identitários’, grosso modo)!

Faz ainda o desfavor de subdividir os “veteranos” (nome que não tem como não soar pejorativo também) em mais 4 ‘seitas’.

Pós-social-democratas (defensores da ‘Terceira Via’, segundo Giddens).” Isso faz um zero absoluto de sentido! Viuvinhas de Castro (no sentido de que ‘depois ele, nada será como antes’, ou seja, são apenas abutres deletérios, não veteranos clássicos)?! Como veremos mais adiante, é ainda pior do que isso, e o termo, que parece só um infeliz homônimo, realmente parece ter guiado neocons dos anos 90 (pós triunvirato do mal Reagan-Thatcher-Clinton): o herdeiro Tony Blair, o suposto criador do termo ‘terceira via’ para designar uma forma disfarçada de neoliberalismo, continuando a desmobilizar a classe trabalhadora, não instituindo o Estado do Bem-Estar, apenas que sem a mesma bala na agulha da administração da Donzela de Ferro para ferrar os britânicos populares. Bom, Giddens é inglês, devia ser o Dugin de Blair! Ou seja: o trabalhismo britânico pode ir para o inferno com seu ‘Lorde’ (título concedido a Giddens). O irônico é que, avatar da globalização (o termo neutro), ainda é considerado por D. um esquerdista, em flagrante contradição com suas invectivas antiglobalistas! Que intelectual de esquerda em sã consciência se declara pró-globalização? Alguém no poder, num país rico, é óbvio! (Portanto, pode estar à esquerda de alguns países na Europa, mas nada tem de esquerda.) Além de haver sido o braço forte de Blair, recebeu este prêmio: ‘Prémio Príncipe das Astúrias para as Ciências Sociais’. De sociólogos babacas com títulos honoríficos, já estamos cheios no Brasil, tendo um deles até ocupado o assento da presidência e retardado em mais algumas décadas qualquer colaboração regional interessante e geopoliticamente relevante com nossos vizinhos!

PÉSSIMO, PÉSSIMO, PÉSSIMO: “A inércia preserva sua existência nos países europeus, nos EUA e no Terceiro Mundo onde eles continuam a se apegar às fundações básicas da doutrina marxista. [quem dera!] Muitas vezes estando politicamente incorporados em partidos comunistas, eles professam sua ideologia relevante. [Se o Brasil tem um partido comunista funcional, será já demasiado! Quem seria capaz de apontá-lo?] Geralmente, estes marxistas ortodoxos mitigam suavemente (no espírito do eurocomunismo [nada aqui se assemelha a essa configuração muito específica, geo-histórica, européia!]) o radicalismo da doutrina marxista e rejeitam o apelo pelo levante social e pelo estabelecimento da ditadura do proletariado. [então não são ortodoxos, ó, Einstein!] O movimento trotskista (Quarta Internacional) provou ser a forma mais estável da Ortodoxia Marxista” Quem precisa de inimigos quando a Q.I. pode apunhalá-lo pelas costas? Triste afirmação a do último parágrafo. Quando o liberalismo revisionista é seriamente considerado como a raiz do marxismo atual, algo vai muito mal! E o mais irônico: Que tem a tal revolução permanente (conceito trotskista) a ver com uma suposta inércia (destacada acima)? Justamente nada; pulverizaram o marxismo.

Tipicamente, os seguidores mais ortodoxos de Marx podem ser encontrados nos países que não passaram por qualquer revolução proletária socialista” “Essa versão de Velhos Esquerdistas¹ rejeita a experiência soviética como um exagero histórico [não diria que rejeita – é menos radical do que isto] e não acreditam (sic) no sucesso das previsões marxistas. [segundo Dugin, sem base] Porém, ela continua a sustentar suas crenças como adesão a um ‘sentimento moral’ [nada como ser da minoria nutrida de caráter!] e a uma ‘tradição ideológica’ ao invés de realmente esperar uma revolta do proletariado (que parece não existir enquanto classe no mundo ocidental moderno – nesse sentido ela se fundiu com a pequena-burguesia).” Nada esperamos, realmente. Sabemos que não há condições materiais de realizá-la no cenário imperialista atual, antes de forjar as alianças multipolares de amplo alcance tão bem-enumeradas por D.

¹ Sempre detratando… É por isso que eu jamais deixo de detratar Dugin nessa análise quase parágrafo-a-parágrafo, em retaliação!

O principal defeito dos marxistas ortodoxos ocidentais é que eles continuam a usar termos da sociedade industrializada, [é verdade; porém os malefícios desse suposto atraso são superestimados] enquanto a sociedade euro-ocidental e particularmente a americana já passaram a uma nova fase – a fase da sociedade pós-industrial (de informação).¹ E ela não foi mencionada por nenhum dos clássicos marxistas,² exceto por uma vaga intuição do jovem Marx sobre ‘a dominação real do capital’. Esta – na ausência ou em caso da derrota das revoluções socialistas – pode substituir a ‘dominação formal do capital’, inerente à fase industrializada. Porém, os marxistas ortodoxos, via de regra, não têm interesse nessas menções fragmentárias.” E nem deviam. A única coisa fragmentária que vale a pena são os aforismos nietzschianos.

¹ É como dizer que se agora tudo que está na moda é o pós-estruturalismo, nunca devemos mexer com metafísica. Um comentário suicida do ‘conservador’ Dugin, que quer uma ‘revolução civilizatória tradicionalista’!!

² O “clássico”, por definição, não abordaria o pós-industrialismo!

Quase todos os aderentes dessa direção ideológica desconfiam de outras forças antiliberais, estão fechados para o diálogo e se degeneram em uma seita.” Hahahaha! Se o antifascismo é uma seita, eu quero ser carola! O ruim de Dugin é que ele parece estar descrevendo o PCO – ou melhor, ele ESTÁ descrevendo o PCO – enquanto tenta compreender amplos espectros sociais como a esquerda latino-americana, o lulismo, o petismo, o PSOLismo, os próprios sociais-democratas, que, todos, em maior ou menor medida, se uniram num pacto, demonstrando imensa capacidade de diálogo. Submetendo-se a alianças com o Centrão menos captado pelo bolsonarismo e até mesmo a antigos adversários e antíteses ideológicas como o Camarada Alckmin! Não é um feito pequeno de pé de página! Dugin, entretanto, perpassa-o com a profundidade de uma arraia…

Os social-democratas europeus são um pouco diferentes dos comunistas ortodoxos. Essa tendência política se separou do marxismo, e desde o tempo de Kautsky ela escolheu a via evolucionária ao invés da revolucionária, rejeitando o radicalismo e objetivando construir a influência da esquerda (justiça social, Estado de Bem-Estar Social – Estado-Providência e daí em diante)¹ por meios políticos e através de movimentos sindicais organizados.” Onde Dugin situaria o PT se ele estivesse na Europa – chamemos de menchevismo,² se se tratar, p.ex., de um petista anti-estalinista (o pior tipo). E parece que movimentos sindicais organizados já pressupõem a inclusão da esquerda daquele país no marxismo ortodoxo, em tempos de completa erosão da luta de classes!

¹ Desmontados a cada crise cíclica do Capital.

² MENCHEVISMO vs. TROTSKISMO E REVISIONISMO: O leitor mais crítico e desconfiado me perguntaria: Ora, e qual a diferença entre o menchevique do séc. XXI (partidos de esquerda do Terceiro Mundo da atualidade; partidos europeus da época do pós-guerra, antes da onda neoliberal) e o trotskista? É que nós não escondemos o que somos, somos sociais-democratas, a contragosto e como fato estratégico, por demasiado senso de realidade (não haverá uma revolução local enquanto os EUA derem as cartas no mundo – não diria nem que padecemos de falta de esperança ou ceticismo, somos apenas bons observadores, não pessimistas, mas sábios); os trotskistas só querem a continuação do que está aí, mas mesmo assim se chamam de bolcheviques mais autênticos que os soviéticos mais abnegados em sua época. E cá entre nós: quem não gosta de um Estado do Bem-Estar Social? O problema é que onde há uma Cuba, há Estados Unidos destruindo e boicotando tudo. A China (ou Eurásia) é sim uma boa-nova, no horizonte…

Os social-democratas defendem:

  • Imposto de renda progressivo (vs. liberais defendem uma alíquota proporcional);

  • Nacionalização dos grandes monopólios (vs. liberais – privatização); [isso por si só, na Venezuela, quase causa uma invasão direta norte-americana (diferente da ‘guerra de procuração dos 2 Vietnãs-satélites de EUA/URSS) – a primeira da História contra um país ‘comunista’ ou ‘claramente não-neoliberal’ – ainda mais quando falamos de monopólio de empresas petrolíferas!]

  • Atribuir maior responsabilidade ao Estado no setor privado;

  • Saúde, educação e aposentadoria gratuitas (vs. liberais – redução da intervenção do Estado na economia, saúde privada, educação privada e planos de aposentadoria privada). [os social-democratas representam minha visão de paraíso]

Ora, se eu não posso ter ainda os dedos, eu quero os anéis, um por um! Não vejo problema…

Os social-democratas tentam implementar essas demandas através de mecanismos eleitorais parlamentares e, se confrontados com situações críticas, através da mobilização de sindicatos e organizações públicas até a realização de greves. [ambos vêm se demonstrando ineficazes: parlamentos conservadores mesmo em governos de esquerda; desintegração dos direitos trabalhistas.]

É significativo que os social-democratas usem slogans libertários (não confundir com liberais!):

  • Legalização das drogas leves;

  • Proteção de minorias sexuais e étnicas e dos casamentos homossexuais;

  • Extensão dos direitos civis e liberdades individuais; [aborto, etc.]

  • Ecologia; [nome bonito e inofensivo para sobrevivência]

  • Mitigação da legislação (abolição da pena de morte), etc. [para casos irreversíveis de desumanização – bolsonarismo –, sou a favor da pena de morte]

Além disso, social-democratas clássicos normalmente defendem:

  • Progresso; [vago e inócuo]

  • Luta contra preconceitos arcaicos e religiosos;

  • Ciência e cultura. [Somente num país que nunca teve ciência – como nunca tivemos, não é possível exagerar nela – diferente da Alemanha do séc. XIX… Pulamos a parte da Ilustração quando conseguimos repeti-los em seu pior, o que vem depois: ascensão de um Hitler.]

São os defensores da Terceira Via que são renegados dos movimentos esquerdistas, de fato. E apenas ex-trotskistas vão mais longe do que isso (os trotskistas americanos – os principais teóricos neoconservadores; e os trotskistas europeus, por exemplo, Barroso, o presidente português da Comissão Européia), que mudaram suas visões do comunismo extremista e do socialismo revolucionário para uma igualmente radical defesa do liberalismo, do mercado e da desigualdade econômica.

O ‘Nacional-Esquerdismo’ deveria ser considerado um fenômeno muito especial. Diferentemente do marxismo ortodoxo e da social-democracia, essa tendência tem sido pouco explorada e sua interpretação correta é uma tarefa do futuro. O caso é que o próprio Nacional Esquerdismo (sic) quase nunca faz propaganda de sua idéia nacional, a oculta ou até abertamente a critica. Conseqüentemente, o estudo do discurso aberto ou direto do movimento, partidos e regimes nacional-comunistas são dificultados devido ao fato de que as teses discursadas ou correspondem com a realidade apenas parcialmente, ou de jeito algum.”

Nacional-comunistas se consideram ‘apenas comunistas’, ‘marxistas ortodoxos’, que seguem estritamente as ideias clássicas marxistas.” Achar que somente os países “não-preparados para o comunismo” efetivamente atingiram revoluções comunistas, como Dugin faz, é uma forma mal-disfarçada de acreditar no progresso e na linearidade da História: chegará o dia em que…, só deu errado porque…, nada até aqui comprova a tese do adversário…, todos os problemas serão resolvidos amanhã…, etc. Não há regras fixas e imutáveis. O pior é que Dugin tenta passar essa mesma mensagem seu livro inteiro e não percebe que recai em contradição. Cabe perguntar: para Dugin, China e Venezuela seriam nacional-comunistas? A China tenta reorganizar o mundo em frentes multipolares, como líder do movimento anti-imperialista; a Venezuela, sem forças para liderar, é no entanto agente ativo e colabora com o projeto político chinês. São realmente comunistas. O fato de não haver um comunismo mundial ou pelo menos entre os próprios vizinhos de ambas as nações em nada contraria essa classificação.

O nacional-comunismo predominou na URSS, na China comunista, na Coréia, no Vietnã, na Albânia, no Camboja e em um número de movimentos comunistas nos países do terceiro mundo – dos ‘Chiapas’ mexicanos e do ‘Sendero Luminoso’ peruano ao Partido dos Trabalhadores do Curdistão e ao socialismo islâmico.” “o nacional-socialismo anti-hitlerista de esquerda dos irmãos Strasser”

Evo Morales é o primeiro líder latino-americano de origem indígena” Até Dugin reconhece o óbvio pioneirismo desta façanha.

a China, nas condições atuais, mais e mais focando no componente nacional de seu modelo social e político, prova que esta base, transformada no tempo adequado e de modo delicado, pode permanecer competitiva mesmo após o triunfo global do capitalismo liberal. Por outro lado, a experiência da Venezuela e da Bolívia demonstra que os regimes nacional-comunistas aparecem hoje em dia e demonstram sua viabilidade mesmo diante de sérias pressões.” Conclusão: não existe nacional-comunismo, apenas comunismo do século XXI.

Ausência de conceitualização e racionalização do componente nacional em toda a idéia-complexo dos movimentos e ideologias Nacional-Comunistas (a maioria dos aderentes dessa direção ideológica se considera ‘apenas marxistas’ e ‘socialistas’)” Dugin não percebe que com bastante probabilidade isso significa tão-só que não existe esse tal <nacional-comunismo>, categoria forjada dentro de sua própria cabeça.

Algo que hoje deve corresponder quase completamente com a combinação de palavras ‘projeto da esquerda’ é chamado ‘neoesquerdismo’ ou ‘pós-modernismo’. Em todo o espectro de idéias esquerdistas no início do século XXI essa direção não apenas é a mais inteligente, mas também a mais pensada, intelectualmente regulada e sistematizada.” Caiu no conto de Washington. É a idéia mais pensada (não a mais sábia!) e a menos agida, digamos assim.

Através de Sartre, clássico dos ‘novos esquerdistas’, [!] Martin Heidegger e a problemática existencialista influenciaram profundamente o movimento esquerdista.” “No sentido filosófico, os ‘novos esquerdistas’ eram estruturalistas, porém, desde meados da década de 80 eles passaram ao ‘pós-estruturalismo’, desenvolvendo ainda mais esse impulso[,] filosófico e começaram a criticar suas próprias perspectivas das décadas de 60 e 70.” O círculo se fecha sem deixar herdeiros ou legado. O círculo estéril.

Os ‘novos esquerdistas’ reduziram todas as versões do deciframento da ‘infraestrutura’ ao esquema integrante, no qual o papel da ‘infraestrutura’ enquanto tal – independentemente da tendência filosófica específica – foi transferido para o conceito de ‘estrutura’.” “Os novos esquerdistas reencarnaram as idéias de Rousseau sobre um nobre selvagem e ofereceram um panorama da sociedade ideal, na qual não se pode encontrar exploração, alienação, mentira, supressão, exclusão, em analogia com grupos arcaicos praticantes da ‘economia da dádiva’.” “O livro de A. Negri e M. Hardt, Império, no qual as teses dos novos esquerdistas são simplificadas até a primitividade, pode ser considerado um manifesto político dessas tendências.” “O movimento antiglobalização como um todo é orientado por este projeto futuro. E eventos como o Foro de SP,¹ no qual os globalistas pela primeira vez tentaram definir uma estratégia geral, indicam que o projeto da Nova Esquerda tenta formar uma implementação política específica.” “…os protestos generalizados dos novos sindicatos, mais e mais reminiscentes do carnaval…” [?]

¹ Hahaha. Em outros termos, o tal Foro de SP, bode expiatório criado pela extrema-direita, é apenas um movimento da direita (ou Velha Direita, se o Neofascismo Antiglobalista for a Nova).

Ademais, o pós-modernismo como estilo de arte, o que se tornou corrente na arte ocidental moderna, expressa simplesmente esta filosofia política da ‘Nova Esquerda’, penetrando em nossa vida quotidiana através de pintura, designs e filmes de Tarantino e Rodriguez desprovidos de análise política e filosófica preliminar, deixando para trás uma escolha consciente e se impondo contra nossa vontade.” Quem disse que toda a arte pós-moderna é de esquerda?

Na prática, nós vemos que não há ‘velhos esquerdistas’ no sentido completo nesse país, bem como no tempo soviético. O grupo dos dissidentes soviéticos (Zinoviev, Shchedrovitsky, Medvedev) não conta, na medida em que eles não conseguiram desenvolver qualquer escola notável. [seria a quarta teoria política de D. uma ‘escola notável? e se for, este é um critério válido para estabelecê-la como preferível à ideologia destes dissidentes?]

Por outro lado, os nacional-comunistas representam uma camada social, psicológica e política ampla com o Partido Comunista da Federação Russa a sua frente. Como toda a história soviética – marcada [pela] vitória do socialismo (um garantido sinal de base arcaica) – é a história do nacional-esquerdismo inconsciente, essa tendência dificilmente é surpreendente.” Haja -ente, diria Heidegger.

o social-conservadorismo da Rússia Unida e de Putin”

Enquanto [isso,] os grupos marginais que imitam o neo-nazismo europeu e tentam usar ‘nacional-socialismo’ em seus nomes jamais foram ‘nacional-esquerdistas’, já que eles imitam (como resultado de uma inferioridade mental) [hahaha!] as bugigangas do regime hitlerista, continuam a brincar de soldados e assistem à série de TV Seventeen Moments of Spring,¹ admirando o uniforme negro de Bronevoy-Mueller. [hahahahaha!] O projeto do PNB (Partido Nacional-Bolchevique), o qual ia desenvolver em um autêntico Nacional-Esquerdismo russo [enfia essa nomenclatura na bunda!] baseado nas idéias de Ustrialov, Niekisch e dos eurasianistas de esquerda, infelizmente, ao fim da década de 90[,] havia degenerado em uma formação barulhenta e insignificante[;] e depois começou a servir a forças ultraliberais antirrussas ‘laranjas’, alimentadas pelo Ocidente (contradizendo objetivos fundamentais do ‘nacional-bolchevismo’, o qual é tanto em teoria como na prática um projeto consciente de esquerda… [acabou de afirmar que a história da Rússia é a história do nacional-esquerdismo inconsciente… como conciliar ambas as passagens, tão próximas no texto?])”

¹ “Seventeen Moments of Spring (Russian: Семнадцать мгновений весны, romanized: Semnadtsat’ mgnoveniy vesny) is a 1973 Soviet 12-part television series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the novel of the same title by Yulian Semyonov. The series portrays the exploits of Maxim Isaev, a Soviet spy operating in Nazi Germany under the name Max Otto von Stierlitz, portrayed by Vyacheslav Tikhonov. Stierlitz is planted in 1927, well before the Nazi takeover of pre-war Germany. He then enlists in the NSDAP and rises through the ranks, becoming an important Nazi counterintelligence officer. He recruits several agents from among dissident German intellectuals and persecuted clergy. Stierlitz discovers, and later schemes to disrupt, the secret negotiations between Karl Wolffa and Allen Dulles taking place in Switzerland, aimed at forging a separate peace between Germany and the western Allies. Meanwhile, the Gestapo under Heinrich Müllerb searches for the unidentified Soviet resident spy and his ring. The series is considered the most successful Soviet spy thriller ever made and is one of the most popular television series in Soviet history.” “Within the novel Semyonov mentions the phrase seventeen moments of spring in reference to the lyrics of a song sung by Marika Rökk, a popular star in Nazi Germany.” “Broadcast at 19:30 by the channel Programme One between 8 July and 24 August 1973, Seventeen Moments of Spring was immensely popular in the Soviet Union: Klaus Mehnert reported that during its original run, the estimated audience for each episode was between 50 and 80 million viewers, making it the most successful television show of its time. Ivan Zasursky described the series’ reception by the public: ‘during its first showing, city streets would empty. It was a larger-than-life hit, attracting greater audiences than hockey matches.’ Crime rates dropped significantly during the broadcasts; power stations had to increase production at the same time, since the activation of many television sets caused a surge in electricity consumption. Oleg Kharkhordin wrote that Seventeen Moments of Spring became a ‘cult’ series, and Richard Stites added it was ‘a television blockbuster’. According to his personal assistant Alexei Chernayev, Leonid Brezhnev was a devoted fan of Seventeen Moments of Spring, and watched the entire series some 20 times. Author Anthony Olcott claimed that it was rumored Brezhnev moved meetings of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in order not to miss episodes. Seventeen Moments of Spring remained highly popular after its first run in 1973. It was re-aired annually until the dissolution of the USSR, usually around Victory Day, and continued to be broadcast in Russian television afterwards. In 1983, a writer of the Paris-based Polish magazine Kultura described Seventeen Moments of Spring as ‘the most successful television production in the history of the Soviet Union’. In 1995, after another re-run, Russian commentator Divanov noted: ‘Just like 20 years before, city streets were empty during the showing … A drop in the crime level almost to zero was noted in cities, which testifies to the popularity of Seventeen Moments.’“Vladimir Putin told that his decision to join the organization was motivated by the spy thrillers of his childhood, among them Lioznova’s series.”

a “He escaped prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials, apparently as a result of his participation in Operation Sunrise. In 1962, Wolff was prosecuted in West Germany for the deportation of Italian Jews, and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for being an accessory to murder in 1964. He was released in 1971 due to his failing health, and died 13 years later.”

b “He was known as Gestapo Müller to distinguish him from another SS general named Heinrich Müller. (…) He was last seen in the Führerbunker in Berlin on 1 May 1945 and remains the most senior figure of the Nazi regime who was never captured or confirmed to have died.”

Project MKUltra (or MK-Ultra) was an illegal human experimentation program designed and undertaken by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), intended to develop procedures and identify drugs that could be used in interrogations to weaken individuals and force confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture. It began in 1953 and was halted in 1973. MKUltra used numerous methods to manipulate its subjects’ mental states and brain functions, such as the covert administration of high doses of psychoactive drugs (especially LSD) and other chemicals without the subjects’ consent, electroshocks, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, and other forms of torture.” “In areas under American control in the early 1950s in Europe and East Asia, mostly Japan, Germany and the Philippines, the CIA created secret detention centers so that the U.S. could avoid criminal prosecution. The CIA captured people suspected of being enemy agents and other people it deemed ‘expendable’ to undertake various types of torture and human experimentation on them. The prisoners were interrogated while being administered psychoactive drugs, electroshocked and subjected to extremes of temperature, sensory isolation and the like to develop a better understanding of how to destroy and to control human minds.” “In 1973, amid a government-wide panic caused by Watergate, CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MKUltra files destroyed. Pursuant to this order, most CIA documents regarding the project were destroyed, making a full investigation of MKUltra impossible. A cache of some 20,000 documents survived Helms’s purge, as they had been incorrectly stored in a financial records building and were discovered following a FOIA request in 1977. These documents were fully investigated during the Senate Hearings of 1977.”

The Bay of Pigs Invasion (Spanish: Invasión de Bahía de Cochinos, sometimes called Invasión de Playa Girón or Batalla de Playa Girón after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly financed and directed by the United States. It was aimed at overthrowing Fidel Castro’s communist government. The operation took place at the height of the Cold War, and its failure influenced relations between Cuba, the United States, and the Soviet Union.”

Novos esquerdistas e pós-modernistas estão quase ausentes no espectro político russo; o discurso filosófico pós-moderno é complicado demais para eles.” “Na arte russa – em particular em Vinzavod, na galeria Guelman, bem como nos filmes russos – tendências pós-modernas são claramente visíveis, e sua expressão artística é às vezes impressionante. Os livros de Sorokin ou Pelevin representam o pós-moderno em uma forma literária.” “A Rússia desempenha um papel de consumidor inativo, que não entende o sentido político e ideológico daquilo que automaticamente consome – seguindo a moda e tendências globais”

Niekisch, Hitler: Desastre para a Alemanha: “Niekisch confrontou o Nazismo e os nazistas, e previu mais cedo e mais precisamente do que outros quais seriam as consequências de seu domínio sanguinário para a Alemanha e para a humanidade.”

Nos casos extremos, os liberais apóiam não apenas a liberdade de aborto, mas até mesmo a liberdade de diferenciação sexual (apoiando os direitos de homossexuais, transexuais e daí em diante).”

Tal Estado-Nação (État-Nation) não possuía qualquer objetivo histórico comum, qualquer missão determinada. Ela (sic) concebia a si mesma como uma ‘corporação’ ou empresa estabelecida pelo acordo recíproco de seus participantes e que teoricamente pode ser dissolvida a partir das mesmas bases.”

Na metade do século XX o filósofo francês, hegeliano de origem russa, Alexander Kojève sugeriu que o ‘fim da história’ hegeliano marcaria uma revolução comunista mundial.”

crítico francês dos EUA, Hubert Vedrin, sugeriu que os EUA deveriam daí em diante ser chamados não de uma superpotência, mas de uma hiperpotência, enfatizando sua solidão e sua superioridade assimétrica.” “Não é simplesmente colonização ou uma nova forma de imperialismo, este é um programa de implementação total do único sistema ideológico, copiado da ideologia liberal americana.” “tanto amigos como inimigos estão sujeitos à reformatação, como estão aqueles que desejam permanecer neutros. Este é o sentido do ‘século americano’: o liberalismo, tendo derrotado seus inimigos formais, penetra completamente.”

E não é acidente que os neoconservadores emergiram do trotskismo.” “São precisamente os neoconservadores, determinando o tom da política americana contemporânea, que compreendem mais profundamente o sentido ideológico do destino dos ensinamentos políticos na alvorada do século XXI.”

O princípio da separação de poderes se transmuta na idéia de um referendo eletrônico constante”

até o último momento da queda da URSS, os líderes do liberalismo russo elogiavam o Partido Comunista, as idéias de Marx, o Socialismo Planificado, enquanto os oligarcas ‘ganhavam o pão’ no Comitê dos Komsomols ou serviam na KGB.”

Quando Putin chegou ao poder e tentou reverter o processo de desintegração da Rússia, ele não encontrou, em grande medida, nenhuma oposição ideológica. Ele foi desafiado por clãs econômicos concretos, em cujos interesses ele discerniu a mais ativa agência de influência, profundamente entrincheirada na espionagem a serviço do Ocidente.” “Mesmo figuras icônicas do liberalismo russo – Gaydar, Chubais, etc. – se comportaram como oportunistas banais: eles não davam a mínima para o conteúdo ideológico das reformas de Putin.” “Intuitivamente buscando preservar e consolidar a soberania russa, Putin entrou em conflito com o Ocidente liberal e seus planos de globalização, mas sem formar suas ações em uma ideologia alternativa. Isso ocorreu principalmente porque havia muito poucos liberais convictos na Rússia.” “Se as pessoas passam a agir como liberais apenas quando o liberalismo é permitido, está na moda, ou até mesmo é obrigatório, prontos diante da primeira dificuldade para repudiar esses princípios, esse ‘liberalismo’ não tem nenhuma relação com o tipo real. Parece que Khodorkovsky, o ‘ícone’ dos russos liberais contemporâneos, entendeu isso tendo passado algum tempo na prisão. Mas nisso, me parece, ele é uma exceção entre os liberais que permanecem livres.”

A revolução é um fato empírico. Isso significa que a revolução foi, é e será.” “Em anos recentes, um paternoster sociológico, que diz que a Rússia exauriu seu limite para a revolução, se tornou bastante relevante.” “O sentido da revolução se encontra na insatisfação com o que existe, e na declaração [de] que deve haver algo mais. A revolução é uma busca pela superação do que é presente nesse momento.” “Vive-se na revolução apenas; em outros tempos se está delirando, sonhando, se vive aguardando a revolução.” “Nós somos tentados a nos convencermos de que não houve Revolução de Outubro, esta última sendo chamada de uma reviravolta, uma conspiração, uma influência de ‘forças sombrias’, com instrumentos conspiratórios sendo utilizados, com tudo sendo traduzido ao plano dos modelos econômicos.” “Apenas o tempo revolucionário é um tempo realmente, porque não possui duração, já que é tempo de mudança, uma ruptura, um tempo de aparecimento do novo, um tempo de Ereignis. Segundo Heidegger, a noção de ‘Evento’ (Ereignis)é ruptura de rotina, um encontro com algo, que não havia sido. Essa é a essência antropológica, ontológica e temporal da revolução. É por isso que o tempo da revolução é o oposto de qualquer outro tempo, porque o homem se torna ele mesmo nesse tempo. No resto do tempo o homem está essencialmente adormecido aguardando pela revolução.” “Durante esse período onírico entre duas revoluções o homem considera sua identidade como positiva, isso quer dizer que ele começa a se associar não com a deficiência, mas com algo presente (com comida, bem-estar, cuidado, detalhes pequenos da realidade). (…) O homem não vive como parte de sua existência, ele está sendo substituído por das Man, e a existência humana genuína, o Dasein, está ausente.” “Assim, a revolução é empírica, ontológica e conceitual em sua natureza. Agora nós podemos abordar a perspectiva da revolução em seu aspecto tecnológico.”

Pareto incita a deixar de lado as questões relativas à teleologia da revolução e que o foco da atenção deve ser uma fórmula segundo a qual há duas categorias: aqueles que mandam e aqueles que obedecem (…) Segundo suas teses, a elite é um mestre sociológico, um tipo social, que só pode governar, e não pode se recusar a governar” “E muito de seu trabalho foi dedicado à descrição de como as elites liberais camuflam seus verdadeiros objetivos (governar e controlar) sob os nomes de democracia, direitos humanos e liberdade econômica.” Muito mais útil como analista que 80% da “esquerda”.

alguma parte da elite não possui o poder e ocupa seu lugar (a contra-elite), o qual não é legítimo. E segundo Pareto, tal elite, desprovida de acesso ao poder, porém, não é uma massa. (…) Tal elite constantemente sente que ela não está em seu lugar de direito.”

aquele que pertence à elite é o mais próximo à categoria do Mangelwesen [homem carente, condição humana] e assim ele é mais humano. Ele quer governar sobre outros, porque ele sente repulsa por si mesmo, ele é insuficiente para si mesmo, ele precisa se expressar de algum jeito, lançar sua figura sobre a sociedade, de outro modo sua vida é inteiramente insatisfatória. A massa, por sua vez, paga por sua vida

tranqüila e relativamente segura com seu status de escrava. E a elite é o mestre, que encara uma escolha entre morte e poder”

O segundo modo de lidar com a contra-elite, segundo Pareto, é ignorá-la completamente, dando atenção apenas à massa. Esse é o caminho para o suicídio da elite governante, porque a contra-elite, estando entre as massas, começa a transformá-la, e se agrega à anti-elite. A anti-elite, por sua vez, que é um complexo de pervertidos e desviados, começa a corromper as massas.” “O próximo passo é afastar as massas da elite com a ajuda de elementos anti-elite, e a tomada do lugar da elite pela contra-elite.”

A modernidade é um regime que disse ‘sim’ à revolução, que a tornou aceitável e casual.” “Mas se a revolução foi um ponto da modernidade, na pós-modernidade ela se torna impossível, na medida em que a própria modernidade se tornou impossível.” “Ela compreende bem que, de modo a prevenir a revolução, esta deve ser simulada.” “Nas condições atuais é muito difícil chegar ao fato de que o homem é um Mangelwesen, porque a fronteira entre o que está vazio e o que não está vazio, entre presença e ausência, hoje está diluída.”

E se a elite governante se posiciona como liberal, então a contra-elite terá que ser anti-liberal. Aqui, a plataforma mais apropriada será a ideologia de Louis Dumont e sua obra Ensaios sobre o Individualismo.

Nessa obra o autor insiste que a principal força de oposição ao liberalismo não é o marxismo, mas a sociologia (holista) como disciplina científica. Nos esquemas da sociologia (holista) uma tese sobre a primazia da sociedade em relação ao indivíduo possui um potencial revolucionário.”

Em relação [à contra-revolução], nós deveríamos prestar atenção à obra de Christopher Lasch – A Revolta das Elites. Se a versão anterior do padrão sociológico de Ortega y Gasset foi o fato de que na vanguarda da sociedade apareciam novos tipos sociais, que são incapazes de fazer história, então Lasch aponta que novas elites na verdade refletem o conteúdo e as principais qualidades e características das massas.” “Nossas novas elites consistem em pessoas comuns, de classe média, da pequena-burguesia, de pessoas com uma visão de mundo medíocre. Ademais, a elite moderna evita seus deveres elitistas e se torna um duplo simulacro.” “Quando há apenas uma instância para decidir quem está certo e quem está errado e quem deveria ser punido e quem não deveria, nós temos um tipo de ditadura global. Eu estou convencido de que isso não é aceitável.” “O Império Americano deve ser destruído. E em algum ponto, ele será.”

Espiritualmente, a globalização é a criação da Grande Paródia, o reino do Anticristo. E os Estados Unidos são o centro da sua expansão.” “Nossas idéias podem ser diferentes, mas nós temos uma característica muito forte em comum: o ódio pela realidade social atual.” Diferenças entre etnias não resultam em superioridade ou inferioridade. As diferenças devem ser aceitas e afirmadas sem nenhum tipo de sentimento ou consideração racista. Não existe uma medida comum ou universal para julgar diferentes grupos étnicos. Quando uma sociedade tenta julgar a outra, ela aplica os seus próprios critérios, portanto, comete violência intelectual.”

Se nós libertarmos o socialismo das suas características materialistas, [depreendo que no sentido chulo de morte do espírito e olvido da condição da natureza, que é per se mágica, ‘não-científica’] ateístas [avatar final do monoteísmo] e modernistas, [degenerescência ocidental] e se nós rejeitarmos o racismo e os nacionalismos doutrinários (…) nós chegamos a uma ideologia política completamente nova.” Marx + Nietzsche com um deus que saiba dançar.

Mas este é apenas o primeiro passo. A adição mecânica de profundamente revisadas versões das ideologias antiliberais do passado não nos dá um resultado final.” “Aí nós temos o Estado ideal platônico, a sociedade hierárquica medieval e as visões teológicas do sistema social e normativo (cristão, islâmico, budista, judeu ou hindu). Estas fontes pré-modernas são muito importantes para desenvolver a síntese”

nós devemos rejeitar categoricamente o anti-comunismo” “Ao mesmo tempo, nós devemos nos opor fortemente a qualquer tipo de confronto entre as várias crenças religiosas – muçulmanos contra cristãos, judeus contra muçulmanos, muçulmanos contra hindus, e daí em diante.” “Não é fácil formar uma aliança tão diversificada. Mas nós devemos tentar se quisermos derrotar o inimigo.”

O que é crucial considerar, é a autenticidade ou inautenticidade da existência do Dasein. A Quarta Teoria Política insiste na autenticidade da existência. Para que ela seja a antítese de qualquer forma de alienação – social, econômica, nacional, religiosa ou metafísica.” “Valores como justiça social, soberania nacional e espiritualidade tradicional podem nos servir como fundação.”

A importância do conceito de nous (intelecto), desenvolvido pelo filósofo grego Plotino, corresponde ao nosso ideal.” “O mundo futuro precisa ser noético de algum modo – multiplicidade e diversidade deveriam ser tomadas como riquezas e como tesouro, e não como razão para o conflito inevitável”

falar sobre a Pós-Modernidade é interessante, excitante e arriscado ao mesmo tempo. É um processo com um fim desconhecido e um sentido desconhecido. Ainda é possível afetar esse fim e esse sentido. A história (aparentemente) acabou e a pós-história está apenas ‘começando’, devemos procurar nela por um espaço de luta, ganhar este espaço e expandi-lo.”

[O pós-Estado] é uma espécie de república pirata localizada no ciberespaço. Ou um carnaval brasileiro, que substituiu a rotina.” “completos idiotas são designados como acadêmicos e membros correspondentes” “no centro das atenções, incluindo o debate político, estão os mais íntimos detalhes da vida pessoal” “senadores (anciãos [etimologia da palavra]) são eleitos recém-saídos das escolas (se, por exemplo, eles são parentes de figuras influentes)” “clemência com os criminosos aumentando, atribuição da culpa para a vítima, etc.”

Não existe mais ontem e amanhã, nem mesmo hoje. Existe apenas o agora. Agora são Google e Twitter, mas em um momento estes serão eventos pré-históricos, como o processador Lexicon ou PC286.” “Revoluções pelo Twitter no Mundo Árabe ou presidentes com iPads são claros sinais de pós-antropologia política e do fenômeno do Pós-Estado. A revolta das elites e a oscilação do nível de intensidade da consciência dos grupos dominantes estão ‘próximos de zero’. Um exemplo clássico é um estrategista político viciado em drogas.” O que achou dessa, Aécio?

O soldado político é o mediastino da antropologia política da Modernidade.” “Hoje não temos a chance de conhecer um soldado político, apenas podemos conhecer seu dublê, seu simulacro, seu impostor.”

MEDIASTINO Espaço compreendido entre os dois pulmões e dividido em duas partes pelas pregas das pleuras. (O mediastino anterior encerra o coração e o timo; o mediastino posterior contém o esôfago, a aorta e o canal torácico.).”

O drama dos últimos homens lutando contra pós-homens na oposição política. Heroicamente, tragicamente, poeticamente e irremediavelmente.” “Aqui está a dobra [double bind?] (Deleuze) da antropologia pós-moderna: um simulacro se encontra com um simulacro.”

O feminismo ultra-esquerdista (gauchisme) é um programa de liberação do sexo como uma forma de construção social hierárquica. Falamos aqui não da liberação da essência feminina, mas sobre superar o sexo como ele é. Se a atenção é presa em particulares de outro sexo (por Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva ou Luce Irigaray), isso é apenas para a relativização da masculinidade no caminho para a libertação. O

desejo não tem sexo. Liberdade é uma liberdade em relação ao sexo.”

A outra direção do ultraliberalismo é a loucura sadomaso nazi-satanista; exaltação da masculinidade burguesa em uma soberania sexual individualista do indivíduo atomizado. Estes são os ‘faça o que quiser’ e ‘com quem quiser’ adicionando uma compensação financeira [?] e um princípio de voluntariedade de Crowley.” Baboseira!

O ‘neo-nazi’ hoje é uma paródia patológica que vem do pasquim barato de Visconti (Os Malditos) ou da exploração tosca e mentalmente fraca no estilo de Recepcionista da Noite. [Eu acrescentaria Venus in Furs, um dos piores livros que já li, do próprio Masoch.] Na área do gênero ‘neo-nazi’ está sempre presente um atributo de entretenimento – clubes gays [estética dos motoqueiros] e decorações clássicas de sex shop.”

Heidegger, que estava no contexto do nazismo, mas representou um molde para a Quarta Teoria Política, viu o Machenschaft [techne, o fazer do homem, o mundo social do trabalho] também naquele. E rascunhou no sentido de superá-lo e recusá-lo. Existem passagens expressivas sobre o tema em Geschichte des Seyns [História do Ser].” “A idéia de Marx de ‘mudar o mundo’ é próxima à compreensão de Heidegger do conceito marxista em sua essência tecnológica.”

P. 419: sobre o clamor heideggeriano

Heidegger pensou muito no problema ‘noch nicht’. Estamos perto do ponto da grande meia-noite.” Heidegger e Dugin: meros plagiários do acabamento da filosofia continental (ontologia clássica – Platão-Nietzsche).

Se colocarmos a quarta prática política em superar a distância intransponível (paradoxo de Zenão sobre Aquiles e a tartaruga …) do ‘ainda não’, vamos ficar para sempre no labirinto do ‘fim dos tempos infinito’.”

P. 420: Morin e o “homo demens”

et passim: nomenclaturas abstrusas à Lacan…

Segundo Heidegger, a existência é finita. Seu último e mais alto mistério está nessa finitude. A finitude se manifesta em Ereignis. Ereignis é exatamente a factualidade da praxis.”

A partir do século XIX, com os filósofos europeus mais brilhantes e importantes como Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger e depois os pós-modernistas contemporâneos, o homem europeu começa a suspeitar que o logos estava se aproximando de seu fim.”

A filosofia européia foi baseada no princípio logocêntrico correspondente ao princípio de exclusão, a diferenciação, a diaresis grega.” Aristóteles repartiu as fatias do bolo para consumo em 2500 anos. A teoria acadêmica do caos é mais do mesmo (raspagem final do logos, últimos restos do bolo no prato). Caos primitivo: não confundir origem com o resto (Baudrillard).

Por um lado temos o conceito moderno de caos que representa a pós-ordem ou uma mistura de fragmentos contraditórios sem nenhuma unidade ou ordem, ligados entre eles por correspondências e conflitos pós-lógicos altamente sofisticados. Gilles Deleuze chamou esse fenômeno de sistema não-co-possível composto por uma multidão de mônadas (usando o conceito de mônada e co-possibilidade introduzido por Leibniz). Deleuze descreve a pós-modernidade como uma soma de fragmentos não-co-possíveis que podem coexistir. Isso não era possível na visão da realidade de Leibniz, baseada no princípio de co-possibilidade.”

As mônadas não-ordenadas e não-co-possíveis enxameando ao redor poderiam parecer caóticas, e nesse sentido [é que] usamos a palavra ‘caos’ no dia-a-dia.”

A visão épica da ascensão e queda do logos no curso do desenvolvimento da filosofia ocidental e na história ocidental foi exposta por Martin Heidegger, que argumentou que no contexto da cultura européia e ocidental o logos não é somente o mais importante princípio filosófico, mas também a base da atitude religiosa, formando o núcleo da Cristandade. Podemos também notar que o conceito de kalam ou intelecto está no centro da filosofia e teologia islâmica. O mesmo é válido para o Judaísmo (ao menos na visão do judeu Fílo [neoplatônico – fi-lo porque qui-lo!] e acima de tudo no Judaísmo Medieval e na Qabballah). Logo, na alta modernidade onde vivemos, assistimos a queda do logos acompanhada pela correspondente queda da cultura clássica greco-romana e das religiões monoteístas.” “Alguma coisa deu errado no início da história ocidental e Martin Heidegger vê esse ponto errado precisamente na afirmação da posição exclusivista do logos exclusivista (sic) no pensamento enquanto tal.” Heidegger comete o erro, entretanto, de localizar o erro grego em Platão ou antes, não em Aristóteles, o formalista. Lembremos que o Absoluto em Platão ainda nos salvará do niilismo e é nossa última salvaguarda ética nessa transição epocal. O jogo do ocultamento (paradoxo da representação) inicia propriamente com o discípulo incompetente, e não foi desmanchado até depois de Schopenhauer, o último filósofo da aletheia

A explosão desenfreada da técnica moderna é seu resultado lógico. Heidegger chama isso de Ge-stell e pensa que essa é a razão da catástrofe e aniquilação da humanidade, que inevitavelmente se aproxima.” Talvez esse Evento não possa mesmo ser evitado (dizimação da grande maioria da humanidade numa conjunção de desastre ‘natural’, hecatombe climática, agência prolongada do homem industrial e agência pontual do homem bélico). “O Outro Começo” ou “origem mais originária” em sucessão a uma Escatologia quase-integral.

ENCRUZILHADA DO DESTINO: “Então o Caos como algo que precede o logos e é abolido por ele e sua exclusividade foi manifestado e negado da mesma forma.”

Esse caminho onde a técnica encontra a ordem espiritual foi fundamentalmente explorado e estudado por Ernst Jünger, amigo de Martin Heidegger. O retorno ao classicismo acompanhado pelo apelo ao progresso técnico.” Isso não é solução, é aprochegar-se e acelerar rumo ao abismo. E de que vale a informação de que Jünger era amigo de Heidegger?

A segunda maneira é aceitar as tendências correntes e seguir a direção da Confusão envolvendo-se mais e mais na dissipação das estruturas, no pós-estruturalismo e tentar conseguir prazer no confortável deslizamento para o nada.Ainda bem que oferece uma alternativa… Porém na sentença seguinte nos decepciona drasticamente com uma falsa equivalência e demonstração de que optou pelo lado errado na birfurcação decisiva: “Essa é a posição escolhida por representantes da esquerda e liberais da pós-modernidade. É niilismo em estado puro – originalmente identificado por F. Nietzsche” Não que tenhamos de fato essa alternativa, para além do mero falatório

multitudes incalculáveis das flores de putrefação.” A última hora é a que mais demora, já disse Nie.

No entanto, podemos escolher uma terceira alternativa e tentar transcender as fronteiras do logosAhá! Topou com o muro de Deleuze no caminho…

atravessar as fronteiras do ser é ontologicamente impossível.” Inferno é vertigem. “Se insistirmos, no entanto, em fazer isso devemos apelar para o Caos no seu sentido original grego, como algo que precede o ser e a ordem, algo pré-ontológico.” “Então apenas o Caos pré-ontológico pode nos sugerir como ir além da armadilha da Pós-Modernidade. Ele foi posto de lado na criação da estrutura lógica do ser como fundamento. Agora é sua vez de vir para o jogo.”

A Modernidade matou a eternidade e a Pós-Modernidade está matando o tempo.” “É um tipo de labirinto sem saída, dobrado e torcido como a fita de Möbius. [a lógica não-euclidiana ainda é um epifenômeno da lógica euclidiana] O logos que era a garantia da retitude da ordem serve aqui para fornecer a curvatura, [a razão fomenta o ‘caos’, no sentido moderno: contra-razão; tragédia.] sendo usado para preservar a impassibilidade da fronteira ontológica com o nada contra eventuais transgressores.” Nenhuma fita de Ariadne poderia nos salvar, se A. é lógica. Uma A. & uma não-A.

E no entanto, da minha perspectiva, Dugin não entendeu que a segunda e a terceira maneira são idênticas. O deslizamento na fita de Möbius é o próprio deslizar ao nada. Não significa que é um destino inevitável e passivo, mas o homem agirá de modo a concretizá-lo, forçosamente (paradoxo lógico – por isso, bom sinal).

O logos considera a si próprio como o que é e como o que é igual a si próprio. Ele pode aceitar as diferenças dentro de si porque ele exclui o que é diferente de si fora de si. Assim a vontade de poder está atuando. A lei da soberania. Para além do logos, afirma o logos, não há nada. Então o logos excluindo tudo além de si próprio exclui o Caos. (…) o inclusivo Caos inclui também o que não é inclusivo como ele e mais do que aquilo que exclui o Caos. Então o Caos não percebe o logos como outro em relação a si próprio, ou como algo não-existente. O logos como o primeiro princípio da exclusão está incluído no Caos, presente nele, envolvido por ele e possui lugar garantido nele.” Resumo: o princípio da contradição inclui o princípio da não-contradição. Era da Grande Lógica.

Assim a mãe que carrega o bebê carrega consigo o que é uma parte dela e não é uma parte dela ao mesmo tempo.” Boa metáfora. Se bem que nesse caso seria a mãe que mata a criança, e mesmo assim continua fértil e negando-se a si mesma para reafirmar novos começos (novo paradoxo lógico-aristotélico). Isto é, a Mãe originária, que mantém a primazia. Pode-se evocar este enigma-solução como a resposta afirmativa (otimista, esperançosa) para o dilema da morte de Deus. Morte temporária (a base para afirmá-lo é o próprio princípio da finitude da existência) de um (tipo de) logos.

O Caos é o eterno nascimento do outro, ou seja, do logos.” “Então chegamos à figura do muito especial logos caótico, que é o logos completamente e absolutamente fresco, sendo eternamente revivido pelas águas do Caos. Esse logos caótico é ao mesmo tempo exclusivo [co-possível] (e é por isso que é propriamente logos) e inclusivo [não-co-possível] (sendo caótico). Trata-se da igualdade e da alteridade de forma diferente.”

Eu poderia sugerir, como exemplo, a filosofia do pensador japonês Kitaro Nishida, que construiu ‘a lógica do basho’ ou a ‘lógica dos lugares’ em vez da lógica aristotélica. Devemos explorar outras culturas além do Ocidente para tentar encontrar diferentes exemplos de filosofia inclusiva, religiões inclusivas e assim por diante.” O Ocidente não é global no senso estrito do termo, e é por isso que deslizar ao nada não é fatal como parece ser: no fundo, desliza-se ao Oriente. O problema do “rústico”: é possível uma coexistência da tecnologia tal como a modernidade a entende e a não-tecnologia. Não é necessária a abolição da tecnologia no sentido moderno (o que só pode ser uma repetição da história e regresso ao primitivo, de nossa perspectiva).

Em conclusão, gostaria de dizer que não é correto conceber o Caos como algo pertencente ao passado. O Caos é eterno, mas eternamente coexistindo com o tempo. Então o Caos é sempre absolutamente novo, fresco e espontâneo. Poderia ser considerado como uma fonte para qualquer tipo de invenção e novidade[,] porque a eternidade sempre tem em si mesma algo mais do que era, é ou vai ser no tempo.” Poderia dizer que o Caos inesgotável é a Idéia de Platão, de igual maneira.

A era astronômica que está chegando ao fim é a era da constelação de Peixes. O peixe na praia. O peixe agonizante. Então precisamos muito de água.” Disso eu não entendo. Noch nicht!

Apenas uma atitude completamente nova ante o pensamento, nova ontologia e nova gnosiologia podem salvar o logos fora da água, na praia, no deserto que cresce e cresce (como Nietzsche previu).”

A Europa tem sua atitude positiva particular para com seus vizinhos do sul e do leste. Em alguns casos os benefícios econômicos, os problemas de abastecimento de energia e de defesa comum não coincidem em nada com os americanos.” “Tal e como estão as coisas atualmente, nenhum país (exceto os Estados Unidos) pode darse ao luxo de defender sua soberania real contando apenas com seus próprios recursos internos. Nenhum deles poderia ser considerado como um pólo autônomo capaz de contrabalançar o poder atlantista.”

A EUROPA NÃO QUER, NÃO TEM FORÇA PARA ISSO: “Imaginamos esta Grande Europa como um poder geopolítico soberano, com sua própria identidade cultural, com suas próprias opções políticas e sociais (sobre a base dos princípios da tradição democrática européia), com seu próprio sistema de defesa (incluídas armas nucleares), com seu próprio aceso a recursos estratégicos e minerais (tomando suas

próprias decisões independentes sobre a paz ou guerra com outros países ou civilizações), todo o anterior em função de uma vontade européia comum e um procedimento democrático para a tomada de decisões.” Além disso, mesmo que tivesse a intenção, seu racismo e xenofobia impediriam a concretização desse projeto. A islamofobia, o envelhecimento, o problema da força de trabalho composta por imigrantes. Fazem parte do curto-circuito de decadência dos americanos, são a encarnação mesma do logos não-caótico, e se tornarão periferia ou mero “pólo concorrente” no mundo, mas não como Grande Europa, apenas como co-partícipes atlânticos, como Dugin já muito bem expôs. Trocando em miúdos, a “tradição democrática européia” é uma grande farsa. E eis porque a discordância mais decisiva entre mim e Dugin permanece sendo: o fascismo não é aliado; não só porque é somente uma transmutação esporádica do Capital, como porque a Alemanha, se tivesse direto acesso a armas nucleares, seria potencialmente inimiga da humanidade outra vez. Nisso, é bom que os EUA sejam seu freio armamentista.

CHASING LOLITA: How popular culture corrupted Nabokov’s little girl all over again – Graham Vickers, 2008.

Chasing Lolita, published on the 50th anniversary of Lolita’s American publication, is an essential contemporary companion to Vladimir Nabokov’s great novel. It establishes who Lolita really was back in 1958, explores her predecessors of all stripes, and examines the multitude of movies, theatrical shows, literary spin-offs, artifacts, fashion, art, photography, and tabloid excesses that have distorted her identity and stolen her name. It considers not just the ‘Lolita effect’ but shifting attitudes toward the always volatile mix of sex, children, and popular entertainment—from Victorian times to the present. And it also looks at some real-life cases of young girls who became the innocent victims of someone else’s obsession—unhappy sisters to one of the most affecting heroines in American fiction, and one of the most widely misunderstood.”

INTRODUCTION

The original spark of inspiration for this book was a little less ambitious. It came from a moment in a BBC television documentary that was originally broadcast to coincide with the release of the 1997 film version of Lolita. Adrian Lyne’s movie (the second of 2 film adaptations) had, to the surprise of many, enjoyed the willing consultative participation of Dmitri Nabokov, the author’s dauntingly accomplished son, a famously rigorous critic of any attempts to fool around with his father’s masterpiece.”

Nabokov I foi também um “lepidopterist”: especialista em borboletas e mariposas!

Lolita and her story were just one of these dazzling inventions, completed and put away in late 1953 and at once, in its author’s mind, displaced by the next pressing project.”

Fame is of assistance only to people who make their work, not celebrity status, the point of their endeavors. ‘It is Lolita, not I, who is famous’, Nabokov once said, when pressed, but her fame brought him wealth and independence, and if the suspicion remains that he would have preferred to have been rewarded earlier and more evenly for a lifetime of remarkable literary achievement, he was philosophical about the irony.

The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke defined fame as ‘the sum total of all the misunderstandings that can gather around one name’.”

1. THE REAL LIFE OF DOLORES HAZE: Just the facts

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. And none more so than Lolita, who [sic] he’ll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane, a silver-tongued¹ poet or a pervert, a tortured soul or a monster—or is he all of these!

¹ [Persuasivo, eloqüente.]

The above summary—either supplied by the publisher or staffers at the amazon.co.uk Web site on which it appears, promoting a Penguin Modern Classics edition of the novel—illustrates the difficulty of synopsizing the plot of Lolita. The book does not lend itself to literal précis. Most attempts to summarize it make it sound melodramatic or even absurd.”

The colorful memoir is prefaced with a straitlaced introduction by the fictitious John Ray Jr., who claims to be its appointed editor. The novel’s action takes place in various U.S. locations in the late 1940s and early 1950s and presents Humbert and Lolita’s story exclusively from Humbert’s point of view and in his own often florid literary language.

So far, so good. It is when we come to summarize the book’s nature and texture that this infinitely subtle, allusive, comic, and grotesque love story defeats us. A black comedy about a middle-aged man’s obsession with a young girl is the line most frequently taken by movie listings journalists whom space compels to encapsulate the plot of either of the two film versions of Lolita in around a dozen words. Such doomed exercises recall a sketch from the cult 1970s comedy TV series Monty Python’s Flying Circus where, in the setting of a televised competition, contestants are challenged to give a 15-second summary of Proust’s one-and-a-half-million word À la recherche du temps perdu.”

today, in the age of the sound bite, the elliptical impressionism of Humbert’s account leaves the heroine of Lolita even more susceptible to grotesque misinterpretations.”

The public, they reasoned, wanted cartoonish representatives of complicated things. Accordingly, in the popular imagination wild-haired Albert Einstein became the Wacky European Scientist, surly Marlon Brando the Mumbling Ambassador of Inarticulate Youth, pneumatic Marilyn Monroe the paradigmatic Hollywood Pinup, mad-eyed bald man Pablo Picasso the Famous Modern Artist, and so on. It was a kind of visual shorthand, and it was often accompanied by editorial to match. If this trend did not actually discourage serious debate about science, acting, stardom, and modern art, neither did it do much to promote it. In this breezy spirit Lolita would gradually exemplify the Sultry Teenage Temptress. It was a travesty from the start.

In the first place, Lolita was a 12-year-old child—not a teenager—when she first succumbed to the middle-aged man who subsequently narrated the saga of his infatuation with her. In the second place, she was not equipped, in any sense, to be an iconic temptress. The novel’s descriptions of her stress her physical appeal but only in relation to Humbert’s appetites.”

In short, far from being overt, Lolita’s sex appeal would have been elusive to all but a pedophile with a very specific shopping list of expectations. For Humbert, the first wave of desire for Lolita derived from her resemblance to a particular girl who obsessed him when he was 14 and whose loss, he fancies, froze his sexual ideal forever, just as a snapshot freezes its subject in time as well as space.”

It was not until a publicity poster appeared for Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film of Lolita that we first encounter a color photograph of an entirely bogus Lolita (Sue Lyon) wearing red heart-shaped sunglasses while licking a red lollipop (love and fellatio, get it?). Lolita’s sunglasses in Kubrick’s (black-and-white) film sport regular frames and at no point does she suck that kind of lollipop, so the poster makes false promises on every level. The same synthetic image subsequently graced many international paperback editions of the novel. Yet before Lolita’s first American publication in 1958, Nabokov had insisted that there should be no little girl at all on the book’s cover because he was in the business of writing about subjective rapture, not objective sexualization.”

A grande ironia é que eu tenho um exemplar de Pnin em português com a seguinte chamada de capa: do mesmo autor de Lolita!

Tensions between fact and fiction, real names and aliases, evocation and invention, description and advocacy, confession and fantasy not only run through Lolita from start to finish but also precede and postdate the novel in a sometimes extraordinary series of foreshadowings, overlaps, and echoes.”

2. CASEBOOKS AND FANTASIES: Dolores Haze’s oft-told tale

by casting himself alongside poets like Dante and Petrarch—not to mention Edgar Allan Poe—Humbert Humbert seeks somehow to glamorize his wretched appetites by implying that his perversion is one to which artists and visionaries are particularly susceptible.

When Humbert makes a passing reference to Dante’s ‘love’ for the child Beatrice, he is being entirely misleading, implying that Dante Alighieri was an adult when he met the 8-year-old Beatrice Portinari in 1274. Since Dante was only 9 at the time (and there is no historical record of an affair between the couple at any point anyway), this is a dishonest ploy, to say the least. His Francesco Petrarch reference is even less persuasive, asserting that Petrarch fell madly in love with Laureen when she was a fair-haired child of 12. The poet was 23 when he first became enamored of the mysterious Laura in Avignon’s Église de Sainte Claire during the spring of 1327. Although evocatively immortalized in Petrarch’s verse, historically speaking Laura remains an entirely unknown quantity. It is only some scholars’ guess that she was in reality one Laura de Noves, the wife of Hugues de Sade. And even if this were true, then she was not only already married but also a mere 6 years younger than Petrarch, making her 17 at the time of their meeting in that French church.” “Humbert is, however, quite right when he says that Virginia Clemm was only 13 when she married her 27-year-old cousin, the poet and mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe, in 1836.

Poe is something of an éminence grise always present in the shadows of Lolita. Humbert appropriates his first name as a decorative addition to his own when the fancy suits him (‘Edgar H. Humbert’ is how he signs in at the Enchanted Hunters Hotel).”

Poe’s 1849 poem Annabel Lee supplies the plot and the seaside imagery, as well as the girl’s name for young Humbert’s ill-fated affair with his half-English, half-Dutch Annabel in the fateful summer of 1923.” “In Poe’s poem Annabel finally succumbs to a fatal chill right there in their ‘kingdom by the sea’. Death also overtakes Humbert’s Annabel, but not until after they have parted, and not in the Riviera sun—not until 4 months later when she dies of typhus in Corfu.”

Neither the angels in Heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.” E.A.P.

Leaving Humbert’s own very selective literary and historical apologists to one side, we may, to use a Humbertian turn of phrase, ‘tom-peep’ into the lives of a few more proto-Lolitas. The sexual appetites of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who under the name of Lewis Carroll found lasting fame as the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, remain mired in ambiguity (the book was translated into Russian, incidentally, by a young Vladimir Nabokov, a daunting task for which he allegedly received the equivalent of $5).”

A verdadeira Alice Lidell, que não era loira, como muitos pensam.

Dodgson died a bachelor in 1898, his reputation intact, perhaps because his fondness for young children was more commonplace than we might like to think and existed in an ambiguous Victorian moral climate where even honest attempts to protect children were based upon a very formal concept of sexual purity. In his book Child-Loving: The Erotic Child and Victorian Culture, James R. Kincaid went so far as to link our contemporary cultural preoccupations with pedophilia back to 19th-century ‘child protection’ reforms that took the form of compulsory schooling, age of consent laws, and the formation of anticruelty societies.”

Early in the 20th century came one of Lolita’s almost forgotten progenitors. She was not famous at first and only attracted widespread attention in recent years—and then only because of the existence of her more famous successor. Heinz von Eschwege, a German author who wrote under the pen name of Heinz von Lichberg, invented his Lolita in 1916 in a short story of that name, which, in Carolyn Kunin’s English translation, runs to a little under 350 words. The coincidences beyond the title name are surprising, even though von Lichberg’s tale is very unlike Nabokov’s and his short but convoluted narrative resembles a set of those hollow Russian dolls that keep revealing ever smaller replicas of themselves stashed within. It begins with an account of a social gathering in Germany at which a professor tells the assembled company a story drawn from his own experience (or perhaps his reveries, he freely admits). This story is characterized by dreams and supernatural trans-generational coincidences. The German professor, traveling in Spain, is introduced to an Alicante innkeeper’s daughter called Lolita, who ‘by our northern standards . . . was terribly young. . . . Her body was boyishly slim and supple and her voice was full and dark. But there was something more than her beauty that attracted me—there was a strange mystery about her that troubled me often on those moonlit nights’. The couple have a sexual encounter and a brief affair and then part, but the story is really about the narrator’s strange nocturnal fantasies that began at home in southern Germany and, in the light of his subsequent meeting with Lolita, seem to have let him glimpse mysterious

events from the history of her family, the female line of which is apparently doomed to suffer madness and death shortly after giving birth. The story is essentially a curio, but its rediscovery naturally raised the question of whether or not Nabokov—who actually lived in the same Berlin district as von Eschwege in the mid-1930s—could have read it and been influenced by it, however subliminally.”

Dmitri Nabokov claims any influence is unlikely since his father hardly read German at all at the time. Even so it is eerie to think that Dolores Haze, conceived in Mexico, might have had a spiritual ancestor with Hispanic connections, a woman famous for her reputation for tempting men and someone for whom pregnancy would mean inevitable death.

Hindsight is a fine thing, and it is sometimes possible to see patterns and connections where none exist. The question of what, if anything, Nabokov owed to von Eschwege caused a literary stir when the first Lolita was unearthed and subsequently discussed in Michael Marr’s book The Two Lolitas. Marr, however, concluded that ‘nothing of what we admire in Nabokov’s Lolita is already to be found in the tale; the former is in no way deducible from the latter’.

A more questionable although undeniably fascinating claim of inspiration came from Charlie Chaplin’s biographer Joyce Milton, who maintained in her biography Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin that Chaplin’s 1924 marriage at the age of 35 to 16-year-old Lillita Grey was Nabokov’s real inspiration. The name ‘Lillita’ is certainly a temptation to rush to judgment (after one film appearance as Lillita McMurray, the young actress in question later variously appeared as Lita Grey and Lita Grey Chaplin).”

Curiosamente:

lilt (ENG) (subst. ou verbo) alto-astral, animado, eufórico.

It is hard to see any real parallels between Humbert and Chaplin, apart from their shared ‘Europeanness’ and the latter’s well-known fondness for very young girls, a tendency that, like Charles Dodgson, he seemed to always find convenient to believe was essentially innocent and nonsexual.”

Imagine this kind of thing: an old dog—but still in his prime, fiery, thirsting for happiness—gets to know a widow, and she has a daughter, still quite a little girl—you know what I mean—when nothing is formed yet, but already she has a way of walking that drives you out of your mind. A slip of a girl, very fair, pale, with blue under the eyes—and of course she doesn’t even look at the old goat. What to do? Well, not long thinking, he ups and marries the widow. Okay. They settle down the three of them. Here you can go on indefinitely—the temptation, the eternal torment, the itch, the mad hopes. And the upshot—a miscalculation. Time flies, he gets older, she blossoms out—and not a sausage. Just walks by and scorches you with a look of contempt. Eh? D’you feel here a kind of Dostoevskian tragedy?” Nabokov, Dar (The Gift)

Almost immediately after the completion of Dar, in Paris in the autumn of 1939, Nabokov wrote his Russian novella Volshebnik (The Enchanter), which uses the first part of the above narrative premise. Unpublished, the story was assumed lost after Nabokov and his family relocated to the United States in 1940 (in point of fact the author mistakenly recalled destroying it). Unexpectedly, Volshebnik resurfaced among some papers in February 1959, and its author, more often than not a man impatient with his own failings as a young artist, found himself not entirely displeased by the rediscovered piece.

I have reread Volshebnik with considerably more pleasure than I experienced when recalling it as a dead scrap during my work on Lolita, Nabokov wrote in a letter” “(It was not to appear until 1986, almost a decade after Vladimir Nabokov’s death, in a translation by his son, Dmitri.) The original Russian version was at last published in 1991, half a century after it was written. Unlike Lolita, Volshebnik is easily summarized: A middle-aged pedophile marries an ailing woman in order to be near her 12-year-old daughter. When the woman finally dies he takes the girl on a vacation, planning to establish a sexual relationship with her over time while dressing up this protracted seduction as a game of make-believe. In their hotel room, however, he is too impatient and fondles her once she goes to sleep. When she awakes and begins screaming, the man knows all is lost and runs panic-stricken from the hotel in suicidal search of ‘a torrent, a precipice, a railroad track’. A thundering, heavy vehicle obligingly supplies the deus ex machina and the story’s ending. Compared to the infinitely richer Lolita, Volshebnik seems a rather mechanical trifle and, although beautifully written and translated, does not make us care much about any of the participants in Nabokov’s miniature Dostoevskian tragedy. Only in the occasional fleeting detail does there seem to be any live connecting tissue to Lolita, as in the introduction of Volshebnik’s nameless nymphet (who incidentally shares Lolita’s pale gray eye color) in a park on roller skates. She is ‘leaning well-forward and rhythmically swinging her relaxed arms’

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 22—(AP)—A plump [rechonchuda] little girl of 13 told police today she accompanied a 52-year-old man on a 2-year tour of the country, in fear he would expose her as a shop-lifter.

The girl, Florence Sally Horner of Camden, N.J., was found here last night after she appealed to Eastern relatives ‘send the FBI for me, please?’

Her companion, Frank La Salle, an unemployed mechanic, was said by County Prosecutor Michael H. Cohen in Camden to be under indictment for her abduction.

Officers said the girl told them La Salle had forced her to submit to sexual relations.

The nice looking youngster, with light brown hair and blue-green eyes, attributed her troubles to a Club she joined in a Camden school. One of the requirements, she said, was that each member steal something from a 10-cent store.

She stole an article, she related, and La Salle happened to be watching her. She said he told her he was an FBI Agent; that ‘We have a place for girls like you.’

Sally said she went away with him, under his threat that unless she did, he would have her placed in a reform school.” Associated Press, 1950

Nabokov uses an even more devious documentary device when he has Humbert refer to and relate another true-life crime of the day, that of G. Edward Grammar, a 35-year-old New York office manager arraigned for murdering his wife and trying to make her death look like a car accident.”

A creative writer, Nabokov wrote in his own memoir, Strong Opinions, must study carefully the works of his rivals, including the Almighty.”

Automobiles, it turned out, were clearly bad news in the short, sad life of Sally Horner, because less than 2 years after her liberation from Frank LaSalle’s mobile prison, she was killed in an unrelated road accident.”

So Sally Horner’s case brought the 20th-century casebook history of real-life pedophilia up-to-date with the time frame of Lolita, even overtaking the action by a couple of years.”

The world’s news media still intermittently highlight certain such cases. A 10-year-old Japanese girl, Fusako Sano, was kidnapped and held captive by Nobuyuki Sato for 9 years, from

1990 to 2000. Teenager Tanya Kach, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was confined against her will at the home of 37-year-old Thomas Hose from 1996 to 2006.”

Natascha Kampusch, born in 1988 in Austria, grew up fatherless like Lolita even though her mother, Brigitta Sirny, did enjoy a fairly stable relationship with another man. When Natascha was 10 she was abducted while walking to school alone after an argument with her mother (shades of Charlotte Haze’s daily domestic battles with her daughter). Her abductor, Wolfgang Priklopil, imprisoned her in a small, secretly constructed room in his house for most of the 8 years of her confinement. Although she refused to discuss ‘personal or intimate details’ after she finally escaped in 2006, the tacit assumption is that Priklopil used her as a sex slave, and Kampusch did admit to a media advisor, although not in front of the TV cameras (hers was a very structured reintroduction to society), that Priklopil beat her badly from time to time. Perhaps of particular interest to those unimaginative souls who persist in seeing Lolita’s dull cooperation with Humbert’s exploitative regime as complicity pure and simple is the fact that Priklopil once took his prisoner on a skiing holiday in Vienna and would even take her shopping occasionally. The complexities of their enforced relationship are still not fully explained and may eventually yield some awkward truths, but in 2006 the case provided an eerie echo of both Sally and Lolita, neither of whom could ever have been guarded night and day, every day, but both of whom somehow lacked the spur or spirit to escape their captors until much later than they might have been expected to do. This phenomenon now has a name, courtesy of a 1973 bank siege at Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm, Sweden, in which the robbers held employees hostage from August 23 to August 28.”

Natascha Kampusch’s wild escape through suburban gardens and streets, during which she completely failed to interest anyone she met in her plight, has itself a dark Nabokovian tinge of farce”

3. A VERY 1950s SCANDAL: Hurricane Lolita

For a time, 20th-century America did have a written moral code, and although it was intended to control only the movies, it reflected much broader establishment concerns about the general threats posed by artists to society in general. It was the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930, better known as the Hays Code, named for ex-Republican politician and ex-postmaster general [president dos Correios] Will H. Hays, who was appointed the first president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association and therefore became the nominal father of the code. The Hays Code was bold enough to set down its guidelines and exclusion zones in full literal foolishness. Although it was in operation for only 30 years or so, the code neatly set out the establishment view of what was thought admissible to depict—at least on the screen—during the period leading up to and beyond the time of Lolita’s publication.”

Though regarding motion pictures primarily as entertainment without any explicit purpose of teaching or propaganda, producers know that the motion picture within its own field of entertainment may be directly responsible for spiritual or moral progress, for higher types of social life, and for much correct thinking.” Mais lendária que a mula sem-cabeça essa mitologia hollywoodiana ianque!

The sanctity of the institution of marriage and the home shall be upheld. Pictures shall not infer that low forms of sex relationship are the accepted or common thing.” Este é o mundo livre que venceria os comedores de criancinhas soviéticos!

Sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden”

Miscegenation (sex relationships between the white and black races) is forbidden.”

Children’s sex organs are never to be exposed.”

His moral reign, however, happened at a time when image was deemed less important than it is now; one parenthetically wonders whether saturnine [sardônico] 50s TV personality Ed Sullivan would even get a job reading the local news in front of today’s cameras.”

So Hays became the unlovely and unloved poster boy of a notorious code that was often booed when a summary of its principles appeared on the movie screen prior to the feature film—hardly the sign of a regulatory body in touch with the public.

The code was right about one thing, however: books, for whatever reason, were indeed somewhat ahead of movies in the frankness stakes, even if James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) did run into censorship trouble in the United States during its prepublication serialization in The Little Review magazine. The finished novel was duly banned from U.S. publication until the 1930s, when Random House finally engineered the importation of a French edition with the full knowledge that it would be seized by customs. It was, and the ensuing trial—United States v. One Book Called Ulysses¹—resulted in U.S. District Judge John M. Woolsey ruling that the book was not pornographic and so could not be classed as obscene.”

¹ Essa forma de batizar julgamentos em que o réu ENFRENTA O ESTADO NOMINALMENTE sempre me soou como a coisa mais babaca do sistema judicial gringo. E, voilà, o irlandês deu um direto na fuça do Tio Sam!

Scandalous writing of a less high-flown sort next tested the would-be book banners and came in the shape of Kathleen Winsor’s proto-bodice-ripper Forever Amber (1944), which immediately stimulated a popular appetite for erotic fiction. Her impressively researched book was set in Restoration England and concerned a female social climber with a pragmatic moral sense and an eye on bedding the king; it triggered several charges of pornography and calls for bans across America. The Massachusetts attorney general found in it 70 instances of sexual intercourse, 39 illegitimate pregnancies, 7 abortions, 10 descriptions of women undressing in front of men, and many ‘miscellaneous objectionable passages’, and so prosecuted.”

the Massachusetts Supreme Court eventually concluded that Winsor’s historical research was thorough and resulted in an honest portrayal of the mores of the time and place in which the book was set.”

In 1946, literary critic Edmund Wilson published his second book of fiction, Memoirs of Hecate County. Wilson was at the time a friend and supporter of Vladimir Nabokov, although eventually the two men of letters would fall out, partly over Wilson’s low opinion of Lolita. Published by Doubleday, Memoirs of Hecate County received good reviews and sold almost 60,000 copies before the Society for the Suppression of Vice [vice fuder!] brought suit against the publisher in July 1946, on the grounds of objecting to a number of frank but otherwise unexceptionable heterosexual sex scenes.”

Will H. Hays, who died in 1954, might well have entered his grave already spinning after learning that according to Kinsey and his team at their Institute of Sexual Research, sexual orientation was a far more complex issue than The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet¹ might have Middle America believe.”

¹ “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American television sitcom, which aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it continued its success, initially running simultaneously on radio and TV. It was the longest running live-action sitcom in television history until It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia replaced it on May 26, 2020, when that series got renewed for a 15th season. The series starred the entertainment duo of Ozzie Nelson and his wife, singer Harriet Nelson, and their sons, David and Ricky. Don DeFore had a recurring role as the Nelsons’ neighbor ‘Thorny’.”

Whatever the validity of Kinsey’s methods and statistics—and these were certainly controversial—the very fact that such taboos were being discussed openly seemed to cause as much outrage as the findings they unearthed. Surely America did not behave like this behind closed doors—and if it did, surely no one should ever talk about it so frankly.”

With its lively litany of social injustice, murder, adultery, and abortion, Peyton Place would remain on the New York Times’ best-seller list for over a year and seemed to mark an emphatic rejection of any hopes of art encouraging ‘correct thinking’. One episode in Metalious’ novel originally had a character named Selena Cross murder her father because he had been sexually abusing her for years. The real-life inspiration was 20-year-old Jane Glenn, a New Hampshire girl who, in 1947, confessed to the same crime—and to burying the corpse beneath a sheep pen with the help of her younger brother. Metalious’ editor changed Selena Cross’ victim to stepfather, feeling that murder was acceptable but incest was a vice too far. This assumption finds an echo in Humbert’s own moral prioritizing when he notes from his prison cell that, sitting in judgment on himself, he would dismiss the murder charge and give himself at least 30 years for rape.

Before the American public would be allowed to read these words and the rest of Lolita, Nabokov’s book would have to make its way through a maze of obstacles. When it had done so, it unleashed a scandal to overshadow all of its recent predecessors. Since it involved scholarly, retiring 59-old Vladimir Nabokov (a man whose substantial body of fiction contained no obscene words and bore eloquent testimony to his total indifference toward books with social or moral messages), it was somehow fitting that this chronicler of unexpected coincidences and unintended consequences should find himself at the center of an international uproar about morality, social responsibility, and obscenity. Nabokov had placed at the heart of his greatest novel something that Joyce had not touched upon and Hays had not even dared to articulate in order to forbid: pedophilia.

The journey toward scandal was slow and complex. Lolita’s first publishing house, the Paris-based Olympia Press, had been inherited by Maurice Girodias from his father, who had published Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn in the 1930s. Girodias junior, falling on hard times in 1953, resolved to make money by publishing, in English, every book he could acquire that had fallen foul of Anglo-American censorship. The censor’s thumbs down was his only criterion; good, bad, or indifferent, if it had been banned, Girodias wanted it. To be fair, Girodias had also published some respectable authors (including Lawrence Durrell, J.P. Donleavy, and Samuel Beckett) and at least one notable piece of erotica, L’histoire d’O by Anne Desclos (who wrote such books either anonymously or pseudonymously as Pauline Réage while enjoying rather a good reputation under another literary pseudonym, Dominique Aury). Nabokov, however, knew little of Girodias and was guided by his French agent and friends in Paris. Since Girodias had until recently owned another imprint, a prestigious art book subsidiary called Éditions du Chêne, this further seemed to enhance his reputation as a serious publisher. So when he offered to publish Lolita, Nabokov (who had already had the novel rejected by Viking, dubbed ‘pure pornography’ by Simon & Schuster, and further rejected by 3 more American publishers) jumped at the chance.”

The final 3 months of 1955 were stressful for the author, who, having just recovered from a serious bout of lumbago, was now having difficulty finding a publisher for his next novel, Pnin (or My Poor Pnin as it was titled at the time).”

In December of the same year the French Ministère de l’Intérieur banned 25 English-language Olympia titles, Lolita among them.” Mal tinham sido salvos dos nazistas e já andavam tão ingratos!!

The French press was immediately up in arms at what it saw as a betrayal of France’s traditional cultural freedom; it identified Nabokov’s book as the true cause of the blanket ban and, by January 57, had elevated the legal dispute into ‘l’affaire Lolita’.”

France’s highly regarded publishing house Gallimard arranged to publish a French-language edition, which would be very well received—a particular fan was Raymond Queneau, a longtime Gallimard employee whose own linguistically playful novel Zazie dans le métro (1959) would transpose something of Lolita’s nymphet feistiness to another little girl, this time in a Parisian setting.”

Lolita took off, selling 100,000 copies in 3 weeks. When Putnam’s took out an ad in the New York Times Book Review of August 21, there was no shortage of rave reviews to cite. Graham Greene, William Styron, and Lionel Trilling all praised it fulsomely, and even Dorothy Parker seemed to acknowledge that for once her tendency to deploy her vitriolic wit even when reviewing things she liked had no place here. ‘A fine book, a distinguished book—all right, then—a great book’, she wrote.”

“‘V. serenely indifferent’ was Véra Nabokov’s diary entry about her husband’s reaction to finally hitting the commercial jackpot after a lifetime of poorly paid literary toil.

Lolita was never prosecuted in the United States, a source of great satisfaction to Nabokov, who passionately loved his adopted homeland. Ironically, the many delays to publication had probably helped matters since the incremental efforts of many liberal-minded publishers had recently contributed to a more mature climate surrounding literary censorship.” “As soon as the Cincinnati Public Library banned it, Lolita immediately reached the top of the best-sellers list. When the Los Angeles Public Library was ‘exposed’ for circulating a copy, the only result was a boom in sales of the book in California. The Texas town of Lolita gravely debated whether it should change its name to Jackson, presumably in case it was mistaken for a little girl.” HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Again America was absorbing something controversial into its popular culture instead of subjecting it to a witch hunt. Mainstream comedians all had a Lolita gag, the unspoken basis of the joke being that Lolita was a dirty book.” Imagina o DE NÓBREGA mandando essa!

I’ve put off reading Lolita for 6 years, till she’s 18.”

Groucho Marx

All this playfulness marked the beginning of Lolita Haze’s disparagement; the advance guard of what would prove to be a legion of faux Lolitas would soon start to emerge. Perhaps the very first was the ponytailed little girl who, incredibly, on Halloween came to the Nabokovs’ door looking for treats while dressed (by her parents!) as Lolita; the famous name was spelled out on a sign she bore and—even more sinister, since it betrayed a detailed knowledge of the book—she carried a tennis racket. Nabokov was quite shocked. If only he had known what lay in store for his nymphet.” Esses pais são o que eu chamaria de the original pranksters!

Nabokov had sold the film rights of his book to James B. Harris and Stanley Kubrick, so now Lolita Haze and Humbert Humbert were about to make the fraught transition from what Hays had called ‘the cold page’ to embodiment by ‘apparently living people’. For a middle-aged actor to impersonate Humbert might be seen as no more than a risky professional challenge, but for a prepubescent girl to embody Lolita on-screen looked like a decidedly dangerous prospect. We may charitably assume that Nabokov’s otherwise absurd suggestion that a ‘dwarfess’ be hired to play Lolita was simply a comment designed to avert any charge of being implicated in the corrupting of a living, breathing child. He had no need to worry; others would take care of the corrupting. They had been doing it in Hollywood for years.”

4. LOLITA IN MOVIELAND 1: Little Victims and Little Princesses

As with Dickens’s Little Nell, Little Emily, and Little Dorrit, that emotionally loaded word ‘little’ was to feature frequently in the promotional screen name of many a child actress (Little Mary Pickford and Little Blanche Sweet, for example), as well as in the titles of their films (The Little Princess, Little Annie Rooney, The Poor Little Rich Girl, and so on). Usually helming these enterprises and guiding their young stars’ careers were 40-something men about whose sexual inclinations we are entitled to wonder.”

it was pointed out as long ago as 1920, in the movie magazine Photoplay, that the father of film D.W. Griffith seemed to have an ‘obsession with scenes in which women and girls are beaten or attacked’.” “As in the case of Alfred Hitchcock’s well-known obsessive tendency to put his ice-cool blonde heroines through the physical or emotional mill, it could be that Griffith’s fixation was nothing more than the public sublimation of dark fantasy. He is now best remembered for directing the sprawling epics Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), but Griffith also has the distinction of giving the movies their first recognizable prototype nymphet. To be sure, his version was a composite model, most often portrayed by Lillian Gish¹ and later played by actresses like Carol Dempster, Colleen Moore, and Mae Marsh, but it had been Griffith’s idea to create the character in the first place. He was certainly not alone in his interests.”

¹ Algum parentesco com Annabeth Gish? De qualquer maneira, Lillian viveu 100 anos (!) e começou a carreira de atriz já maior de idade. Dedicou ¾ de sua longa vida às telas!

In his Foolish Wives (1922), Stroheim’s character fakes love in order to try to seduce his maid, an ambassador’s wife, and a simpleminded 14-year-old girl (reenter the damaged little girl stereotype).”

In Queen Kelly, Stroheim directed like a man who knew that this might be his last film, and at one point Gloria Swanson had to cable Joe Kennedy, begging him to come and stop the ‘madman’ who was blowing the budget. Needless to say, Kennedy’s financial investment in the movie did not pay off, although it did allow his 32-year-old mistress to play convent girl Kelly, a lead part for which she was clearly far too old.”

Only one actress had miraculously spanned the entire life of the phenomenon, sustaining a little girl image that began under the guidance of D.W. Griffith in 1909 and served her well for the next 20 years. She was Gladys Marie Smith from Toronto, Canada, reinvented as Little Mary Pickford for the American movies, a highly durable nymphet who, professionally at least, would have laughed at Humbert’s age boundaries of 9 and 14.” “When her legions of loyal fans were asked by a movie magazine in 1925 whom Little Mary should play next, Alice in Wonderland and Heidi were among the top choices.” “Her protracted adult depiction of a childhood that she had never personally experienced now looks rather grotesque, and her performances come over as skillful but cloying [enjoativas] and arch [velhacas, com o perdão do trocadilho]. To her credit, Pickford did not think much of them herself (‘I can’t stand that sticky stuff’), and by the start of the 30s she knew it was all over. Her fans would simply not let her grow up. When she had the temerity to bob her hair in 1929 they had been outraged.”

By the 30s Dickensian waifs [magricelas dickensianas seria a tradução mais próxima] were on their way out. Adults impersonating children were also passé, but children impersonating adults were becoming very popular indeed. In This Is the Life (1935), 9-year-old Jane Withers mimicked Marlene Dietrich’s knowing top-hat-and-tails routine from Blonde Venus with disturbing skill.”

One scene in the movie Gold Diggers of 1933 features a midget, Billy Barty, disguised as a child of indeterminate sex, lasciviously raising a translucent curtain that has previously been displaying only the shapely silhouettes of scantily clad showgirls.”

The camp charm of a movie like 42nd Street (1933) is still enjoyable today, but our indulgent smile fades when the young ‘Chubby’ Chaney passionately kisses a cardboard cutout of Greta Garbo stationed in a movie theater lobby in a 1931 Our Gang two-reeler.”

It was Shirley Temple who set the standard, whether, at 5 years old, impersonating Marlene Dietrich (incredibly redubbed ‘Morelegs Sweettrick’) in Kid in Hollywood, a 1933 Baby Burlesk short, or matching top adult dancers step for step as she became a seasoned trouper of 8 years. Temple was not a nymphet, and neither were her contemporary child stars for that matter, but her precocity still posed an unsettling question about the sexual implications of the burlesque this particular baby was putting on. It was a matter that no one dared to raise in public until 1937.

Graham Greene’s infamous review of the 1937 Shirley Temple movie Wee Willie Winkie in the urbane but obscure British magazine Night and Day cast an intentional slur on a star Hollywood promoted as the embodiment of innocent cuteness. (…) He wrote that 9-year-old Temple displayed ‘a certain adroit coquetry which appealed to middle-aged men’.”

A swift libel suit by Twentieth Century Fox was successful and subsequently bankrupted the magazine, although it did little lasting harm to Greene, who swiftly decamped to Mexico, wrote The Power and the Glory, and, nearly 20 years later, became the first literary champion of a sensational American novel featuring a middle-aged man with a fatal taste for nymphets.

Greene’s trenchant observations about Temple’s sexualization were well founded but perhaps poorly targeted. Wee Willie Winkie was, after all, only one in a flood of similar films that adhered to a familiar convention, and it was perhaps selected for Greene’s critical attention simply because it was directed by John Ford, already regarded as a serious director. On the other hand, Greene already seemed familiar with Temple in Captain January, which boasted a less exalted directorial hand.

The child-star movies of the 30s can be partially excused because they were part of a general climate in which the sexual tensions between middle-aged men and much younger women or girls were broadly accepted as moral-free dramatic conventions of the time.”

The Major and the Minor (1942) was something of a wild card for the period, revisiting the silent cinema’s adult-imitating-a-child convention but this time seen through the caustic eye of Billy Wilder. Wilder was an Austrian expatriate who in many ways shared Stroheim’s dark perspective but usually managed to channel it into very funny if sometimes cruel satire. The Major and the Minor revolves around mid-western innocent Susan Applegate (Ginger Rogers), who needs to get home to Iowa from New York but cannot afford the train fare. Disguising herself as a 12-year-old in order to travel half price, she becomes involved with a short-sighted military man (Ray Milland) who finds himself strangely drawn to her. She feels the same, and the playing out of this apparently illicit romance lets Wilder have it both ways. The movie remains a very funny, out-of-time curio.

Otherwise, by the 1940s, the child-star syndrome had itself started to give way to a new type—adolescent girls who were sweet but not provocative, resourceful but not rebellious.” “Temple was the first to discover her babyish talent might not be automatically parlayed into puberty and beyond. She never really made it past 12 and was finished by the time she was a teenager. Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, and Deanna Durbin personified the older girl-child stereotype, more demure but certainly not without an appeal to middle-aged men” “Garland, meanwhile, brought a no-nonsense, clean-pinafore [vestido feminino] charm to many films spanning the 30s and 40s. She might have been the least sexy of that particular trio, but it was 14-year-old Garland upon whom MGM decided to bestow a crush for their 35-old leading man Clark Gable.” “Garland’s blossoming figure was strapped down and she was given diet pills, so starting her out on a lifetime of drug dependency that would end in despair and death at 47. Durbin tried to make the transition to adult actress without success, despite her considerable beauty, and her career did not last beyond the 1940s; she went on to enjoy a long life away from Hollywood. Only Taylor made the breakthrough to an adult career, leaving behind a veritable menagerie of costars—dogs, horses, cats—as well as those men of a certain age. She had always looked older than her years, and her beauty when young was legendary.”

With the sweeter adolescent girls taking over in the mainstream family entertainment movies, it was left to these shadowy crime movies to give house room to the occasional Lolita of the day, and those characters were usually one-offs—kid sisters or daughters whom circumstance and their own sex drive put on the horns of a moral dilemma that was usually not the main concern of the movie.”

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn started life in Hobart, Tasmania, and was something of an adventurer before he arrived in Hollywood by way of the provincial British stage in 1935. The 1940s proved to be Errol Flynn’s golden decade, and he appeared in a series of swashbuckling period movies that included The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Adventures of Don Juan while living the life of the Hollywood playboy to the hilt. Good-looking and with a rakish good humor, he enjoyed enormous success—indeed, it would be hard to find anyone who enjoyed it more. His taste for underage girls was well known around town and eventually well known in the world’s tabloids. Two teenagers, Peggy Satterlee and Betty Hansen, accused him of statutory rape in 1942, but Flynn was eventually acquitted after a 21-day trial. Wives came and went, but Flynn’s taste for young girls would continue unchallenged until the end of the 1940s, when he was again involved in a statutory rape case, this time of a 15-year-old girl. Again he was acquitted. Flynn never sought to disguise his tastes, and one of the things that had counted against him in the 42 rape case had been Peggy Satterlee’s evidence that he called her ‘J.B.’ (‘jail bait’) and ‘S.Q.Q.’ (‘San Quentin quail’)—proof, it was submitted, that he knew she was a juvenile. That time he got off because his accusers were eventually shown to be less than inexperienced before they met Flynn, further evidence that men could expect to get away with more than women in such matters.

It seemed the movies’ preoccupation with children and light family comedies was beginning to wane at the end of the 40s. It may have been due to nothing more than overexposure, or it may have been that the sobering experience of World War II—even if that experience was only tasted by some through the movie theater newsreels—had encouraged a taste for grittier fare than recycled Victorian dimples and ringlets.”

Then again, it may have been nothing more than that the postwar baby boom starting to populate America’s homes with large numbers of real children made movies starring unreal children seem suddenly less appealing.”

Marooned in a fairytale world of studio-funded special tutors and voice coaches, and rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest stars of the day, Gloria Jean gave her all to a style of sweet adolescent musical film fantasy that was in terminal decline but the production of which still represented the only reality she had ever known. She might have gotten a reality check from the star of the one bracing film she did appear in—Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941), where she played the niece of morose child hater W.C. Fields—but Gloria Jean had started too late, and when the end came it came abruptly. She moved into television and then into obscurity. Soon she was earning a living as a receptionist. The sweet-voiced little movie princesses had not made it into the next decade, and Gloria Jean had been the last one to leave, and it fell to her to turn out the light.”

5. LOLITA IN MOVIELAND 2: “Pedophilia is a hard sell”

From John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle it looked as if Monroe might progress toward a serious, if limited, acting career. Instead, about half of the 22 films she appeared in during the 50s helped to define her as the ultimate Hollywood sex goddess and one whose erotic charge was indivisible from what would become one of the decade’s chief preoccupations: childish feminine innocence wrapped up in an adult body.”

As Clive James once noted, European movie sirens like Greta Garbo and Sophia Loren might look as if they were unashamedly thinking about sex, but ‘Monroe looked as if sex was something that might easily happen to her while she was thinking about something else’.”

Ginger Rogers is terrific at metamorphosing into a kid, but a childish Monroe does not behave all that differently from the adult model that she was already refining in 1952 and that would soon become iconic.”

Monroe had the 50s version of the damaged little Victorian girl syndrome and projected it with an impersonation of mental vacuity, physical vulnerability, and a constant need for a father figure to look after her. Because hers was an image based on reality, Monroe was the one who caught the public’s imagination; in real life she was a little brighter than she pretended to be on-screen and she could throw off the perilously high heels when she got home, but the deep-seated need for a daddy was genuine and would be evidenced by the men she sought and occasionally married.”

Judy Holliday, who was to die young, reprised variants of Billie Dawn in a handful of less satisfactory films, but her signature performance as a not-so-dumb blonde still stands as a classic example of how to make a cliché live and breathe.”

A few movies tentatively tried to absorb rock ‘n’ roll, but apart from the diverting The Girl Can’t Help It (1956) they were almost without exception embarrassing demonstrations that mainstream movies and rebellious rock were worlds apart.”

The film’s notoriety (emblemized by an iconic still showing Baby Doll (Carroll Baker) wearing the short nightgown that would henceforth carry her name, sucking her thumb, and sleeping on a child’s crib with the slats down) was enough to prompt fainthearted Warner Bros. into withdrawing the film from national release during its pre-Christmas 1956 run. Half a century after the furor it caused, Baby Doll looks better than ever, an edgy mix of comedy and drama, adult sexual promise and adolescent teasing, shadows and sunlight, tragedy and farce, all presented in ravishing black-and-white cinematography.” “In an interesting footnote, when Pennsylvanian Carroll Baker made the trip to Mississippi to star in the film, she found that ‘baby doll’ was a universal form of address for young women there, a sobriquet that seemed to combine the familiar ‘baby’ with a built-in reminder of women’s essentially passive, not to say submissive, role.”

One can only wonder where the Catholic Legion of Decency and all the other right-wing moral guardians were when, in CinemaScope and with a G rating, Maurice Chevalier, a musical Humbert if ever there was one, celebrated the unripe appeal of Caron’s pubescent whore-in-training with his lasciviously delivered song Thank Heaven for Little Girls.”

The Bad Seed marks a groundbreaking Hollywood depiction of the darker side of a female child who uses her stereotypically cute looks and presumed innocence to deceive. Shirley Temple, after all, would never have played a pint-sized ax murderer.”

Made in the same year as the first movie version of Lolita, the original film version of Cape Fear, directed by J. Lee Thompson, featured Robert Mitchum as Max Cady, a vindictive ex-prisoner intent upon exacting revenge from the lawyer who helped to put him away for attacking a woman 8 and a half years before. It contained particularly graphic scenes of Cady attacking both his enemy’s wife and young daughter. (…) Thompson was a lifelong opponent of censorship and battled spiritedly with the American censor who sought to reduce the general violence and tone down Cady’s obvious intention to rape the lawyer’s teenage daughter. Thompson had originally wanted 16-year-old Hayley Mills to play the daughter (‘because she was a very sexual girl’), but ironically enough the very sexual girl was under contract to Disney. Thompson wound up with the rather more anodyne Lori Martin instead. Although far less forthright than Martin Scorsese’s 1991 version of the story (where the daughter actually appears to be aroused by stalker Cady and at one point shares an open-mouth kiss with him), Thompson’s film, aided by a superb Bernard Herrmann score, manages to suggest extreme menace where it cannot be explicit.” “At one point Cady snatches up an egg from a counter and violently crushes it in his fist, spraying yolk and white on his victim’s chest and shoulders and then smearing the mess with the palm of his hand. Not for the first time a determined director discovered that when the censor obliged oblique methods instead of obvious ones, the result could be just as disturbing.”

Everybody would be troubled by the one biggest—and certainly the longest-running—sex-with-a-minor Hollywood story to dominate the headlines since the passing of Errol Flynn. Started in 1977, it centered on film director Roman Polanski, and its reverberations still continue to be felt over 30 years later.” “In a piece of fatal bad timing, the family returned to Poland just before the Nazis invaded; his mother was to die in Auschwitz, his father barely survived another concentration camp, and the young Roman only just escaped the Jewish ghetto. With such a traumatic start to his life, the various tragedies that he was to encounter later are put into a salutary perspective. Even so, when, in 1969, his pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered in the most grotesque and sensational circumstances at their house in the Hollywood Hills, Polanski—who had been absent at the time—was totally devastated and entered a phase that saw him shuttling between the United States and Europe until, in 77, he met the 13-year-old Samantha Geimer.”

Perhaps the most revealing of Polanski’s Freudian movies is, however, one of the least known. Variously titled What? and (in a censored U.S. version) Diary of Forbidden Dreams, this 1972 film is nothing less than a loose erotic reworking of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in which young American tourist Nancy (Sydne Rome) has some very strange adventures of her own in an Italian coastal town. A disjointed film even before the censor got at it, What? transforms Alice’s rabbit hole into a strange villa peopled with nightmarish inhabitants, one of whom is a retired pimp played by Marcello Mastroianni. A scene in which he interrogates Nancy with all the logic of the Black Queen and then shackles her wrists to her ankles and whips her with a switch is the main reason this film never received a mainstream theatrical release and is still little seen; the handling of the scene is kinky and jokey, and its presence offers further evidence that Polanski’s sexual ideal was a young girl upon whom male dominance could be played out in ritualistic sex games.” Desculpem-me os criminologistas adiantados ou psicanalistas (esses sempre adiantados e sempre equivocados), mas não creio que se possa determinar condição psiquiátrica de perversão sádica e pedofílica via criações artísticas! Estamos em 2008 (data do livro) e isso deveria estar mais claro… Não há relação de causa-efeito entre Polanski diretor e Polanski estuprador, nem “raio X” da vida privada em seus filmes. Antes, como bem antecipou Vickers, o assassinato de sua primeira esposa, sim, foi macabro como uma ficção de mau gosto, esse o paralelo mais visível entre sétima arte e vida real.

Even Polanski’s late-blooming film noir masterpiece, Chinatown (1974), turns on the childhood sexual trauma of Faye Dunaway’s character, Evelyn Mulwray.” Um dos 10 maiores filmes da História. Ainda sobre o “reflexo da vida pessoal nas criações cinematográficas”, tem aquela piada sobre um matemático que lê um romance vanguardista e pergunta ao final: “Mas o que é que isso prova?”.

Once raped by her father (John Huston), she continues to protect the identity of a mysterious young girl called Katherine until, in response to a series of face slaps from Jack Nicholson’s exasperated private eye, she finally answers alternately, ‘My sister. My daughter. My sister. My daughter . . . she’s my sister and my daughter’.” Uma das cenas mais impactantes do cinema.

The implication of the film’s somber ending is that he now wants to gain control of Katherine, his daughter/granddaughter, in order to repeat the abuse” Desculpem o spoiler, mas ainda assim não perderão nada do senso trágico ao assistirem!

Polanski’s version was that Geimer’s mother had effectively entrapped him with a view to blackmail. Fearing that the plea bargain would not be honored, Polanski left the United States before trial, never to return. He is a French citizen, and France has no extradition agreement with the United States. He remains a European director who has never since set foot in the United States or any country that has extradition agreements with the United States.” Um ano depois deste livro, Polanski foi preso na Suíça, porém foi solto em cerca de 2 semanas diante de pendência documental e irregularidades por parte da justiça americana (source: Wikipédia!).

Preteen prostitution featured in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), with Jodie Foster causing a minor stir with her portrayal of 12-year-old whore Iris Steensma.”

Also in 1976, heavily disguised as a Hitchcockian thriller, came the ultimate daddy’s little girl movie, Brian de Palma’s Obsession. Paul Schrader’s tour de force script has a successful New Orleans businessman lose his wife and young daughter in a kidnapping when he refuses to pay the ransom and a police rescue attempt goes fatally wrong. Ten years later, he meets a girl in Italy who looks exactly like his dead wife. He becomes obsessed with her, they have an affair, and he makes plans to take her back to New Orleans and marry her. Eventually the whole Italian episode is revealed to be an elaborate revenge plan: the born-again wife is actually the daughter who, unknown to everyone, survived the kidnapping and is now intent on exacting revenge from her neglectful daddy. In a Freudian nightmare of a scene, the daughter/lover, played by Geneviève Bujold, is shown toggling between her two roles (high camera angle/low camera angle, little girl’s voice/woman’s voice) during the course of a single breathless walk along an airport corridor. In Schrader’s original script incest took place, but by the time the film was shot and edited, de Palma decided to fudge the issue.”

In 1978, Louis Malle directed Pretty Baby, an ambivalent soft-focus movie in which 13-year-old Brooke Shields went topless as child prostitute Violet in early 20th-century New Orleans. (…) It seems safe to assume that such a movie might not be made today. The photographer, Ernest J. Bellocq (played by Keith Carradine), evokes shades of Charles L. Dodgson and his photographic studies of little girls previously discussed.”

In the late 70s, Woody Allen was in the middle of one of his most productive periods of moviemaking. Critics sometimes argued that he kept making the same movie over and over again, a variable celebration of loves found and loves lost from the same neurotic New York perspective of an intellectual with doubts about everything, especially mothers, psychoanalysis, and Judaism. Even for the most skeptical critics however, Manhattan (1979) represented one of Allen’s most satisfying variants on the theme. With its sumptuous black-and-white photography, Allen’s love affair with New York City featured the usual character list of literati and well-heeled academics but this time introduced a new element, a 17-year-old girlfriend for Allen’s mid-40s character. This age discrepancy is a central concern of the movie, never better highlighted than in the scene where Allen, Diane Keaton, and Michael Murphy are walking down the street having a very pretentious discussion about art while the 17-year-old girlfriend, Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), tags along. ‘What do you do, Tracy?’ asks Keaton’s character suddenly, in the middle of talking about the latest profile she has been commissioned to write for an arts magazine.

I go to high school’, Tracy replies innocently.

Suppressing a smile, Keaton turns aside to Murphy and says in a barely audible undertone, ‘Somewhere Nabokov is smiling, if you know what I mean’.

No one was smiling when, 13 years later, Allen’s relationship with his girlfriend’s adopted daughter was revealed. Now the age difference was 35 years, and the good-natured, liberal Manhattan was suddenly looked at in a new light by a moralizing press and public. It remains, however, one of the few examples of an American movie—a comedy to boot—that takes an adult, bittersweet approach to such relationships.”

Adrian Lyne’s 1997 attempt to cinematize Lolita is discussed in detail later, but in the present context it is worth noting that the thoughtful adaptation written by Stephen Schiff was greeted by a reactionary response that shrieked disapproval long before the film was completed or, in some cases, even begun. It was symptomatic of a new unwillingness to address stories focusing on pedophilia that would persist into the next millennium. The news media’s increasingly emotive and sensationalist treatment of child abuse cases in the 90s had helped to create a popular mood of national outrage at not only any actual instances of pedophilia but also at any film, TV program, play, or book that dared to explore the topic. (…) The resulting film ‘censorship’ was less a case of official proscription, more an informal outcome of a mixture of moral cowardice and commercial timidity shown by movie producers and studio executives who feared that acknowledging child abuse in a movie would automatically result in catastrophic box office returns.”

A vengeful Lolita for the 21st century. In Hard Candy (Menina Má.com, 2005), Ellen Page plays Hayley Stark (a.k.a. thonggrrrl14) who has no intention of becoming the 14-year-old victim of the 32-year-old man who believes he is grooming her on the Internet.” Curiosamente, Ellen virou Elliot – teria algum fundo traumático em sua decisão? Foi Kitty Pride na trilogia X-Men agora clássica. W.: “Page publicly came out as a gay woman in February 2014 and subsequently as transgender in December 2020. In March 2021, Page became the first openly trans man to appear on the cover of Time magazine.”

The twist comes early, when Hayley encourages Jeff to take her back to his isolated bachelor pad where it is she who spikes his drink and then takes him prisoner before subjecting him to a regime of physical and psychological torture based on her conviction that he is a pedophile and a murderer.” “Canadian actress Ellen Page’s stunning metamorphosis from breathless young teen to self-assured psychopath in the space of a couple of hours surely draws a definitive line under those early movies in which youngsters were admired for successfully aping the manners and mannerisms of adults.”

“‘You used all the same phrases to talk about Goldfrapp as they use in the reviews on amazon.com’ Here is a pleasing inversion of Humbert’s aloof tendency to use arcane Eurocentric cultural references, a private lexical amusement arcade that is largely meaningless to Lolita but that identifies Humbert as a man of the world, in every sense.” Hard Candy’s inspiration apparently came from Japanese news reports of girls ambushing men seeking underage dates on the Internet. Their tactic and Hard Candy’s reductio ad absurdum of it looks, in the end, less like female empowerment and more like the sort of warfare that brings both parties down into the mud, so rendering them indistinguishable from one another.”

When Dolores Haze sentenced Humbert to death she did it not with a noose but by accident, through her complete indifference to his late-blooming love and by divulging Quilty’s identity. The melancholic scene where she waves homicidal Dad goodbye one last time from the step of her sad Coalmont home can have only one outcome. Yet Lolita was only ever carelessly, thoughtlessly unkind, whereas thonggrrrl14 (and that snarling spelling, if nothing else in Hard Candy, would surely have been enjoyed by wordsmith Nabokov) is a self-appointed vigilante with a solemn cause, exactly the kind of political character Lolita’s creator famously abhorred.”

6. ON THE ROAD: Lolita’s Moving Prison

Crucial to any understanding of Nabokov’s nymphet is one of the most exuberant parts of Nabokov’s novel: the year-long road trip. This 11,500 word-section comes at the middle of the book and marks the point of no return for Humbert. It also contains some of the novel’s most revealing details about Lolita herself, details that frequently emerge not in the course of one of Humbert’s typically solipsistic character assessments but very much in the margins of their 27,000 miles journey. [mais que a volta ao mundo!]”

On the move, Lolita will not be able to make regular friends (in whom she might confide and thus betray him), and there will be no schools, psychologists, or social workers. Instead there will just be a year in limbo, disguised as a vacation for a child who has recently lost her mother in tragic circumstances.”

It is perhaps tempting to think of this tour—in however debased a form—as being in the general spirit of the Great American Road Trip, that iconic celebration of freedom, optimism, and exploration expressed by driving across a geographically varied nation.” Com efeito, um dos maiores mitos ou lendas urbanas do conto de fadas americano.

As Lolita’s self-appointed jailer, Humbert is in his own way as much a prisoner of their odyssey as she is.”

Henry Miller’s dyspeptic tour of 40s America, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, amounts to little more than a litany of complaints about capitalism, mass media, rapacious industry, easy credit, misinformation, and what Miller called ‘the divorce between man and nature’.”

Humbert and Lolita’s tragedies are personal ones, not symbolic ones. Nabokov loved America and was distressed by those critics who saw malice or contempt in Humbert’s ironic observations about their ‘lovely, trustful, dreamy, enormous country’. Taylor Caldwell, for instance, praised Lolita but saw it as aiming its destructive fire at the ‘puerile materialistic and sickening fun of the perpetually adolescent American people’.

If Lolita’s road trip has any spiritual cousins, they can be found neither in the political invective of Miller’s prose nor in the morose beauty of Frank’s intentionally bleak photographs but rather in the canon of film noir, where it was almost always personal tragedies that provided the impetus.”

The widescreen color landscapes that would characterize the next generation of Hollywood road-movie fugitives—Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, or Thelma and Louise—were something different again.”

Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road was put together and published at approximately the same time as Nabokov’s Lolita. Both books were begun in 1950. Nabokov’s was completed by the start of 1954 while Kerouac’s would not be ready for press until 1957. Stylistically worlds apart, both novels ended up hitting the headlines in the United States at about the same time.”

Kerouac’s famous book conflated and lightly fictionalized the 1946-50 real-life road trips undertaken by the author and his inspirational buddy Neal Cassady. (By revealing coincidence, Cassady’s interest in an underage girl was one of the things that Kerouac’s circumspect Viking Press editor Malcolm Cowley chose to excise from the manuscript.) Recasting Kerouac as Sal Paradise and Cassady as Dean Moriarty, On the Road expressed in loose, spontaneous prose all the excitement and adventure inherent in breaking the taboos of the day through a series of wild automobile trips dedicated to unrestrained indulgence in sex, drugs, and experimental spirituality. Lolita, by contrast, featured not only elegantly structured prose (the kind Kerouac and Cassady considered sterile) but also a more strategically considered itinerary, one that was designed to divert and restrain a child while camouflaging the sort of taboo breaking that even On the Road’s editor balked at seeing in print.”

the motel cabins change, but the car always stays the same. Long after Lolita has left Humbert, it is in the recesses of the car that painful souvenirs will turn up unbidden: a 3-year-old bobby pin discovered in the depths of the glove compartment after he has found and lost Lolita for the last time filled Humbert with particularly acute pain.”

With no new vehicles to buy it was quite usual for 40s cars to put in uncommonly long service with one owner, gradually becoming familiar, battered, and even anthropomorphized extensions of their occupants.”

Despite Humbert’s bored lack of interest in the American popular music of the day, we learn, by inference, that Lolita favors Jo Stafford, Tony Bennett, Sammy Kaye, Peggy Lee, Guy Mitchell, and Patti Page. This mix does not sit particularly well with Humbert’s assertion that she likes ‘hot, sweet jazz’—these were, after all, mainstream pop musicians, several of whom had hits with smooth metropolitan versions of country songs. Although his loose grasp of genres is quite plausible, Humbert’s boredom with popular music is frustrating; it would somehow have been nice to learn that Lolita sings along to, say, Patti Page’s Confess, and surely even Humbert himself might have found amusing traces of Little Carmen in Peggy Lee’s cheerfully racist ditty Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me), another jukebox favorite of 1948. We are also told that Lo likes square dancing (no hot, sweet jazz there either), although it is far from clear how Humbert’s strict isolationist regime would allow her to participate in what at the time was essentially a couples community event usually organized by local dance clubs. Perhaps she simply admires square dancing as a spectator.”

Nothing will dispel Humbert’s fear that he will be found out. Even his enduring confidence in the anonymous privacy of the motel cabin proves misplaced when one night he discovers that their sexual activities must be clearly audible in the neighboring room from which there comes, too late, a clearly audible cough. Yet despite such reminders of the danger he courts, Humbert persists with their aimless tour as the seasons change and Lolita grows slowly more indifferent and then hostile toward him.”

Nabokov similarly listened to schoolgirl conversations on buses, pouncing on what, even to a man with his prodigious linguistic skills, must sometimes have sounded like a wildly exotic patois.”

As their Great American Road Trip draws to a close, Lolita is 13 years old, 8 pounds heavier, 2 inches taller, sexually active, reluctantly accomplished at trading physical favors for treats, and well established in the habit of crying herself to sleep on a nightly basis.”

7. TAKE ONE: “How did they ever make a film of Lolita?”

The 1962 film of Lolita was to give the world its first physical incarnation of Dolores Haze. There were some 800 applicants for the job, and sifting through them took producer James B. Harris and director Stanley Kubrick so long as to threaten to delay the start of shooting. Meanwhile, Vladimir Nabokov was vacillating about becoming involved in the reimagining of his own novel for the screen. Director Kubrick and producer Harris had bought the rights to the book from Nabokov for $150,000 (plus a share of the profits) in 1958, and their first attempt to get the author to write a screenplay had come in July 1959; it amounted to nothing. Although tempted, Nabokov turned them down after a discouraging meeting in Beverly Hills during which Kubrick’s concern about censorship—a concern that was in the end to handicap the film considerably—prompted his suggestion that the screenplay might somehow imply at the end of the story that Humbert and Lolita had been secretly married all along. It was an absurd and unworthy idea, but the author’s initial rejection of the screenwriting job stemmed not just from fears of this sort of compromise but from misgivings about his own role. A novelist, not a scenarist, Nabokov was the first to admit that he had comparatively little aptitude for writing for what he called the ‘talking’ screen.

I am no dramatist’, Nabokov conceded in the introduction to his eventually published screenplay, going on to say that if he were he would be a tyrant who demanded control of every single detail of the production, from costumes to sets.”

Despite declining the initial offer, in late 1959 the chronically insomniac author had subsequently been amused to find himself idly cinematizing certain scenes from his novel in ‘a small nocturnal illumination’. When, early in 60, a renewed and improved offer with the promise of a freer hand came from Harris and Kubrick, he accepted. His fee was to be US$40,000 plus an additional US$35,000 if he received sole credit for the script.

On March 1, 1960, Nabokov met with Kubrick at Universal City to map out some scenes in ‘an amiable battle of suggestion and counter-suggestion’. Then on March 9, both men met the frontrunner for the all-important role of Lolita. She came in the shape of 17-year-old actress Tuesday Weld. Nabokov called her ‘a graceful ingénue but not my idea of Lolita’. For once the novelist with a reputation for selecting the exact word to convey his precise shade of meaning had seemingly made a bad choice. Whatever else she was, Susan Ker Weld, initially nicknamed Tu-Tu, and later Tuesday, was not ingenuous. She was born in New York in 1943 and her father died when she was 3. Although the fascinatingly named Lothrop Motley Weld had come from a wealthy Boston family, his widow and 3 children were left with very little money after his death. Susan started working as a child model at an early age and soon became the family’s sole breadwinner. At 9 she suffered (she later claimed) a nervous breakdown, at 10 she began smoking and drinking, at 11 she started to have sex, at 12 she acted on TV, and at 13 she appeared in a small part in Hitchcock’s movie The Wrong Man. She then attempted suicide after embarking on a series of disastrous affairs with a series of much older men, including 44-year-old Frank Sinatra; she was 14 at the time of that relationship. Here—or so the cynic might think—was the perfect proto-Lolita, at 17 already so sexually experienced that she might safely be considered immune to any further corruption if she impersonated Nabokov’s nymphet. It turned out Weld herself felt much the same way but came to a different conclusion. ‘I didn’t have to play Lolita’, she claimed. ‘I was Lolita.’ So she turned Kubrick down, announced a move away from teen roles altogether, and went to study at the Actors Studio. She went on to have sexual liaisons with Elvis Presley, Albert Finney, Terence Stamp, George Hamilton, Gary Lockwood, and a number of other male actors considerably older than herself. Her movie career eventually turned out to be uneven and largely disappointing, even though she did earn some credit for appearing in a number of offbeat or risky movies. Among these were George Axelrod’s bracing satire of teen culture Lord Love a Duck (1966) and Noel Black’s chillingly effective Pretty Poison (1968), a kind of contemporary variant of Bonnie and Clyde in which Anthony Perkins’s lethal sociopath proves no match for Weld’s deceptively innocent-looking all-American high schooler. Eventually her career disintegrated, and despite a 1984 appearance in Serge Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, Tuesday Weld is most usually remembered as a feisty, gap-toothed, 1960s teen sex kitten, a living precursor of the popular Lolita stereotype. But what if she had played Lolita, one wonders? Would her own wild young life have fused with Lolita’s fictional one to inject some authentic whiff of sex and experience into the role? Or would things have turned out much the same as they eventually did in Kubrick’s film? We cannot know, but it seems a pity that this always-interesting actress was not the first to flesh out Lolita for the screen. She might have been good.”

Tuesday Weld

By September 25, 1960, the question of casting had been settled without any further consultation with Nabokov. On that date, at Kubrick’s Beverly Hills house, the director showed the author some photographs of Sue Lyon (‘a demure nymphet of 14 or so’ was Nabokov’s neutral verdict) whom, Kubrick assured him, could easily be made to look younger and grubbier for the part.” “After Kubrick cast her, Lyon issued a conventional kind of Hollywood press release with a few innocuous details about herself: she was ‘just an ordinary, typical sort of grown-up American girl’, she claimed, and playing Lolita, she felt certain, would not change her. As things turned out, it was an optimistic prediction. At 14, Sue Lyon had a pretty face and a shapely figure that combined to give her an intermittently adult look, albeit one so bland that Kubrick had felt the need to reassure Nabokov that this blonde teenager could somehow be dirtied up to resemble his tomboyish, chestnut-haired little girl. She never was, and in most scenes of the film she would look closer to 21 than 12.”

When exactly is Kubrick’s Lolita set? The 40s of the novel? Apparently not. The 50s? The early 60s? In terms of sexual behavior (and quite a lot of other things) these were very different decades, so it is extremely strange not to have the period clearly identified from the start. Kubrick’s film looks strangely adrift in both time and space. While the novel was happy to ‘fictionalize’ place-names as part of its conceit about protecting the innocent, the locales Nabokov created were all diligently observed, and in terms of geography and dates, the book is extremely precise and specific. Those scholars who have taken the trouble to deconstruct Humbert’s many schedules and itineraries have found the novel’s internal topography and calendar to be carefully planned”

In the course of the film it slowly emerges that Kubrick seems to have set the action about 10 years later than the novel—although deducing even this much requires some distracting detective work on the part of the audience.”

Lolita was shot in and around Elstree Studios a few miles north of London.” “This results in the complete absence of any authentic sense of place. In another pragmatic ploy, Kubrick cast an informal repertory of expatriate Canadian supporting actors (Cec Linder, Lois Maxwell, Jerry Stovin, Shirley Douglas, Isabelle Lucas) and so introduced accents that, while not those of old England, hardly suggested New England either. Of course, such practices were not uncommon in low-budget movies of the time, but they were more likely to be seen in modest British supporting features than a high-profile MGM production.”

The embossed legend on the cover of Humbert’s pivotal diary clearly reads ‘This Year’ instead of an actual year (1947, we are specifically told in the novel). Lolita’s begging letter to Humbert is dated with the month and day, yet it too omits the year. Again, this looks like an intentional ploy to be vague. No authentic contemporary popular music is featured at any point in the film, despite Lolita’s jukebox mania that Nabokov so lovingly addressed in the book—all that research into the names of late 40s pop singers. All we get is a rather syrupy Nelson Riddle score, a vapid song, specially written and best forgotten (There’s No You), and an insistent instrumental theme tune that rings out randomly from a radio, a band at the prom, and other places—music in a vacuum to match the ersatz locations. Inevitably, though, there are one or two period clues. Lolita plays with a hula hoop on the Ramsdale lawn (the hula hoop craze dates from 1957) and joins Charlotte and Humbert at a drive-in to watch the Hammer movie The Curse of Frankenstein, also 1957 vintage. [primeiro filme de horror a cores – mas obviamente preto e branco nos frames de Lolita…]”

The film opens with the book’s climax: Humbert’s tragicomic murder of Quilty. We do not know why this urbane English-sounding man (James Mason) has come to a stranger’s ornate and cluttered house to commit a murder, but commit it he does after a series of comic delaying tactics from his victim, played—overplayed, some would say—by Peter Sellers. Buying time, a drugged or drunk Quilty assumes the identity of Spartacus (a nod to Kubrick’s previous film) while wearing a dust sheet as a toga and orchestrates a surreal, one-sided Ping-Pong match. He goes on to approximate the twangy accent of the archetypal old Western sidekick—a Gabby Hayes or a Walter Brennan—to read aloud an accusatory poem that Humbert hands him. The poem is a parody of T.S. Eliot’s Ash Wednesday, and this arcane literary touch, lifted from the novel, surely sits uncomfortably in a mainstream movie. Quilty then puts on boxing gloves and immediately takes them off again when Humbert begins firing his pistol in an unintentional echo of the amateurish marksmanship in the Western movies that he, Charlotte, and Lolita once sat through. Quilty goes on to pretend to compose a song at the piano before making a run for it and finally gets fatally shot while cowering behind a large framed reproduction of an 18th-century portrait of a woman.” “A close-up of the bullet-riddled painting marks the end of a spirited opening sequence that nonetheless denies us any hint of the gory and surreal horror of Quilty’s death as depicted in the book. Nabokov portrays him as an assassinated tyrant, a fallen king who is ‘bleeding majestically’ in his slow retreat to the master bedroom, suddenly developing ‘a burst of royal purple’ where his ear had been. Here his death is, literally, stylized out of sight.”

Much has been omitted, some of it disastrously. We do not see or hear anything of Annabel Leigh, and we learn hardly anything at all about Humbert’s lifelong obsession with nymphets.”

Here she is at last: Lolita made flesh. What, contemporary audiences might have asked themselves, was all the fuss about? Sue Lyon simply looked like a slightly more sophisticated version of Sandra Dee, the blue-eyed blonde who, in her Gidget persona, was the epitome of naughty-but-nice late 50s teen sex appeal. Certainly Kubrick had a vested interest in making his Lolita look as old as possible on the grounds that a teenager was less likely to fall foul of the Production Code Authority than might an ostensible 12-year-old. In keeping with the general calculated vagueness of the film, however, Lolita’s age is never actually given at all on-screen.”

In response to its rhetorical tagline ‘How did they ever make a movie out of Lolita?’ the June 14, 1962, New York Times review supplied a neat and obvious answer: they didn’t. Instead, ‘they made a movie from a script in which the characters have the same names as the characters in the book, the plot bears a resemblance to the original and some of the incidents are vaguely similar’, Bosley Crowther wrote. ‘But the Lolita that Vladimir Nabokov wrote as a novel and the Lolita he wrote to be a film, directed by Stanley Kubrick, are two conspicuously different things’.”

In truth, Nabokov can hardly be said to have written the finished film’s screenplay at all, although he certainly wrote a screenplay, a version of which was eventually published in 1973.”

Knowing the difficulties Kubrick eventually experienced in faking a plausible Ramsdale in England, one can only smile at the alarm he must have felt upon being required by Nabokov’s prologue to simulate the following: the French Riviera, Paris, a voyage into New York Harbor (Humbert, ‘Dramatically Standing on a Liner’s Deck’, sees ‘The towers of New York looming in the autumnal mist’), and a nursing home, a library, and assorted exteriors for the retrospective parade of European nymphets. Kubrick’s solution was to cut the entire prologue and, after Quilty’s murder, begin the story in flashback with Humbert’s arrival at Charlotte’s house 4 years earlier.”

Nabokov, who regarded Kubrick as an artist, was initially very disappointed when he finally saw the movie that used only odd scraps of his screenplay (rumor has it that Kubrick and Calder Willingham cooked up the eventual screenplay between them, but Kubrick would never be drawn on the matter, and it was Nabokov who was nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay).”

Revisiting Lolita now, the viewer may find that Sue Lyon comes out of it rather well, delivering the best and least stagy performance, but the plaudits belatedly given to James Mason’s Humbert, Shelley Winters’s Charlotte, and Peter Sellers’s Quilty seem more generous than accurate. Winters was certainly in top form as the overbearing, sexually frustrated, culturally pretentious Charlotte, but in the end her character comes over as nothing more than a grotesque at whom it is easy to laugh but about whom it is hard to care. Mason, meanwhile, is forced to underplay Humbert with a good deal of dry comedy, as if taking part in a dark sitcom. In the end his Humbert comes over as a good-looking but ineffectual rogue who suffers from occasional bouts of bad temper as he seeks to seduce a pretty teenager while living in a decidedly tense domestic situation.” “Deprived of the novel’s inner voice and hamstrung by a timid script, the actor cannot begin to hint at take one Humbert’s haunted past, his eviscerating humor, his awful sexual obsession, his calculating cruelty.” “There is little doubt that Kubrick’s decision to give Quilty so much screen time and Sellers so little direction imbalances the film badly. A figure that should be a malign, shifting shadow keeps taking center stage and doing cabaret turns.”

He shot Killer’s Kiss himself on location in New York City in 1955, and although it obviously suffered from a very low budget and was forced to use largely unknown actors, most of whom were destined to stay that way, it does contain some fine visual material with bright, monochrome vérité footage of Times Square and dramatic waterfront skylines offsetting the mean warehouses and hotel room interiors. Kubrick explored film noir again in his next picture, the celebrated 1956 racetrack heist movie The Killing, and again seemed very much at home with it. It is a shame that he did not revisit the genre—even in a spirit of parody—for his treatment of Lolita, a novel that positively bristles with both literal and oblique references to such films”

Lyon’s brief 1950s TV apprenticeship seems to have prepared her well to give what is the film’s only truly unaffected performance.” “Ironically, it is in such automobile sequences that she seems closest to Nabokov’s Lolita—because it is those sequences that represent the film’s most conspicuous betrayal of the book after its denial of pedophilia. Incredibly, the novel’s epic road trip, that beautifully evoked yearlong, looping journey to nowhere that forms the centerpiece of the novel, is effectively omitted from the film altogether. Gone is the vast promise of the U.S. highways, the idiosyncrasies of the roadside lodgings, the elegant irony of a perpetually moving prison set in a limitless landscape, and the full rotation of the seasons through August 1947 to August 1948. It is replaced with two shorter trips, each with its own specific destination and each staged here in a series of static tableaux showing Lolita and Humbert sitting in their studio-bound car with only back-projected scenery for context. The first trip is from eastern summer camp to Idaho, where Beardsley College awaits them (the institution has been transplanted from its eastern location in the novel, presumably to enable this revised cinematic schedule); the second is from Beardsley to points south, in what Humbert believes to be a mutually agreed bid to escape to Mexico, although this trip has actually been surreptitiously proposed and stage-managed by Clare Quilty. Here, though, on Elstree’s virtual road, Sue Lyon’s Lolita is at her most plausible and sympathetic. The enclosure of the car, with both passengers in the shot, gives Lyon and Mason a chance to spark off each other at close quarters without distractions. Freed of those aging fashion accessories, Lyon even looks closer to her actual age as she sucks on a soda straw, chews gum, pulls faces, and alternates between bright acquiescence and whining protestation with a palette of expressions that ranges from diffuse prettiness to slack-mouthed vulgarity—probably a pretty good approximation of what Nabokov had in mind. But because we don’t fully grasp that Mason’s Humbert is a pedophile, we can only really see these scenes as conventional father/daughter sparring matches, not unlike those traditionally practiced on-screen by everyone from Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor to Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. This couple may be sharing motel bedrooms, but the audience might be forgiven for thinking that the most intimate thing that happens there is what was shown behind the film’s opening credits: Humbert solicitously painting Lolita’s toenails.

Stanley Kubrick’s perennial defense of the absence of sex in his Lolita was that in the early 60s censorship simply made it impossible to do justice to Nabokov’s theme. His justification, often repeated and paraphrased, was ‘because of all the pressure over the Production Code and the Catholic Legion of Decency at the time, I believe I didn’t sufficiently dramatize the erotic aspect of Humbert’s relationship with Lolita. If I could do the film over again, I would have stressed the erotic component of their relationship with the same weight Nabokov did’. Yet, as Elizabeth Power pointed out in her 1999 article ‘The Cinematic Art of Nympholepsy: Movie Star Culture as Loser Culture in Nabokov’s Lolita, ‘Other contemporary and even earlier films suggest that Kubrick’s placement of blame on censors is not particularly accurate or convincing’. It is true to say that, by the 1960s, pedophilia was very occasionally starting to be acknowledged in mainstream films. Samuel Fuller’s The Naked Kiss demonstrates the early difficulties of depicting it. A serious but wildly expressive filmmaker rarely given to understatement, Fuller has his heroine, reformed call girl Kelly (Constance Towers), discover her society fiancé molesting a little girl in his own home. The film deals with the moment of discovery so oddly that at first it is hard to understand what is going on. A little girl emerges from a corner of the living room and runs out dutifully as if to play. Only then do we see Kelly’s grim-faced fiancé also emerging from the shadows. We are left to infer what was going on from Kelly’s hysterical response, which involves clubbing and killing her intended with a heavy telephone. Awkwardly presented as the scene is, The Naked Kiss does at least try to address the hot issue head-on and, in doing so, is one of several films of the time to undermine Stanley Kubrick’s routine defense of the complete absence of sex in his Lolita by citing the censor as an immovable force. The Naked Kiss was made in 1963 and released in 1964. Two years later, Kubrick’s Lolita, actress Sue Lyon, would give a far sexier performance as a jailbait teen Charlotte Goodall to Richard Burton’s disgraced preacher in John Huston’s movie of Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana.”

Taking a broader view of Kubrick’s work, the director seemed to have a pathologically uneasy relationship with the forces of censorship, whether applied externally or, more usually, by himself. He effectively withdrew his own Fear and Desire (1953) from circulation by buying up all known prints. He blocked any rerelease of A Clockwork Orange (1971) in Britain after its initial showing there, allegedly because of fear of copycat crimes of violence; it was then not seen in Britain for 30 years and only reemerged after Kubrick’s death. Despite scant evidence of undue censorial interference with any of his work prior to Lolita, he seemed hamstrung by worry about the censor even before the screenplay was written. His line seems to have been not that the censor demanded cuts but that he himself did not venture to risk a confrontation. A difficult and complex man, Kubrick has been the subject of many studies, but the rest of his odd movie career lies outside the orbit of this book.” “In what Nabokov might have called a thoughtful Hegelian synthesis, Kubrick’s final movie, the disastrous Eyes Wide Shut, involved the elaborate replication of Manhattan streets on the lot at Elstree Studios. This time it was rather more persuasively done.”

Ten years later, Sue Lyon’s life was a mess. It emerged that even the innocuous press release she had issued on getting the part had been a lie—this normal American girl had come from a deeply troubled background. Now she claimed her mother had driven her father to suicide when she was just 10 months old. Penniless, they took in lodgers, one of whom tried to rape 8-year-old Sue at knifepoint. She first had sex at the age of 12, became a model, and at 17 entered into the first of 4 marriages. She was diagnosed as bipolar and put it all down to Lolita. Sue Lyon may have been dramatizing and transferring blame for her bad luck, bad judgment, or bad behavior, but then again she may not. In the days when she still talked about her Lolita experience at all she said, ‘I defy any pretty girl who is rocketed to world stardom at 15 in a sex-nymphet role to stay on the level path thereafter’. By the time Adrian Lyne’s film of Lolita came out in 1997, Lyon, it seems, could no longer even consider the dreaded name rationally. ‘I am appalled they should revive the film that caused my destruction as a person’, she told Reuters news agency in a by now rare public statement. Lyne’s film would be no revival, it would be a completely fresh cinema treatment of the novel, but Lyon was beyond such distinctions in her hatred of Lolita, the poisonous name of her nemesis.”

The book Zazie dans le métro, as mentioned in chapter 3, was written by Raymond Queneau, who greatly admired Nabokov’s Lolita and gave his own child heroine her looks as well as her mix of innocence and cheerful vulgarity. Visiting Paris, provincial Zazie wants nothing more than to ride the metro of the title, the city’s subway system, but it is immobilized by a strike. So she shakes off her dubious guardian, a female-impersonator uncle, and explores Paris on foot. The book makes playful use of phonetically spelled French slang, much of it vulgar, in an episodic, literary tale that Malle’s 1960 color movie recast as a fast-moving farce with silent movie gags and Road Runner references instead of the linguistic allusions. Malle cast young Catherine Demongeot as Zazie. Demongeot, it has to be said, would have made the perfect Lolita: 12 years old, chestnut hair, slangy speech, mischievous and rebellious, she is also sexually neutral in a way that means any middle-aged man shown to be attracted to her would be immediately identified by his singular craving and not excused as having a more conventional appetite for pretty young girls. Demongeot (who would jokily reprise her Zazie role in Jean-Luc Godard’s Une femme est une femme one year later) is perhaps the ideal screen Lolita who never was.”

It would be 35 years before the next movie of Lolita appeared. In that period the Lolita brand would take off in a giddying multiplicity of directions. Yet the enduring irony of Stanley Kubrick’s film was that it in no way added to the popular myth of Lolita as promiscuous seductive teen.”

A further irony: a complete absence of sex was one of the few criticisms that could not be leveled at Lolita’s next two incarnations, both of which would be on the stage. A legendary lyricist felt he could do justice to the story in a musical setting, and then one of America’s leading playwrights took it on himself to pay his own theatrical tribute to Nabokov’s heroine. Subsequently, each might have had grounds for joining with Sue Lyon in identifying Lolita as a force for evil.”

8. DRAMATIC ART: Lolita Center Stage

The novel Lolita, heavily dependent on a narrator’s internal monologue, does not seem to lend itself well to stage presentation—even less so than film presentation, which leaves open the possibility of voice-over. It does present one advantage over a film treatment, however: the cinema’s troubling demand that only a little girl can plausibly play Lolita is potentially eased.” “Without close-ups, a theatrical performance does not necessarily need a very young girl, just one who can play young; this freedom also makes the later depiction of a 17-year-old Lolita a lot easier.” “The first attempt to put Lolita onstage, however, did not take advantage of this option with regard to age. It was one misjudgment among many in what was to become a resounding commercial (if not an artistic) disaster. Helmed by talented people, this venture was doomed to fail before it began. It was Lolita, the musical.”

Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner was a Harvard-educated man, a student friend of John F. Kennedy who had progressed through Harvard’s Hasty Pudding musicals to become a writer of continuity scripts for the long-running NBC/CBS radio show Your Hit Parade.”

Nabokov had only been persuaded to give his approval to the project because, as in the case of Stanley Kubrick, he was always sympathetic to those whom he considered serious artists even when he knew little about their chosen medium. Nabokov had already demonstrated, with his elephantine screenplay for Lolita, that he had no real idea how films were written, let alone made; now his often-admitted lack of appreciation for music disqualified him from assessing anything but Lerner’s impressive track record of writing intelligent, literate musical books.”

Richard Burton turned down the role of Humbert, so British Shakespearean actor John Neville (much later of The X-Files [um dos velhos do círculo conspiratório do Smoking Man]) was cast in the key role.” “The reviews were so bad that producer Norman Twain closed immediately for a complete overhaul. Annette Ferra, the 15-year-old originally cast to play Lolita, was replaced. They would try out again in Boston, premiering at the Shubert Theatre on March 15, 1971, for an intended run of 3 weeks. The cast now included a new Lolita, 13-year-old Denise Nickerson.” “The revamped show won some qualified plaudits from the critics in Boston, mainly for Lerner’s lyrics and John Neville’s Humbert, a portrayal apparently distinguished not only by a good performance but also by a strong vocal contribution. Dorothy Loudon’s Charlotte was colorful enough to be sorely missed when she died at the end of the first act. The public, however, did not really miss her because they never came in the first place. Lolita, My Love closed after only 9 poorly attended performances and never made it to New York.” “The show lost $900,000.” “What remains of Lolita, My Love? The poor quality audio recording, probably taken from the soundboard during rehearsals, still exists.”

In the end, Lolita, My Love disappeared into the well-populated Hall of Shame of failed musicals, along with the now-legendary Carrie, a musical version of the Stephen King/Brian de Palma horror-fest that faithfully included the film version’s opening shower room scene in which Carrie is taunted for being terrified by the onset of her first period.”

Perhaps, after all, the show was as good as it could have been, but the faulty foundation upon which it was built was the assumption that the public was ready for a musical about a child molester. The presence of a 13-year-old leading lady probably made it an even more distasteful prospect for its presumed audience.”

A happy-ending footnote was that, in contrast to Sue Lyon’s experience, the Curse of Lolita did not ruin Denise Nickerson’s life; after a good run in film and TV (including a stint on The Brady Bunch), she moved to Colorado and became an accountant. In the same year Lolita, My Love flopped she also appeared in the film Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and was thus fondly remembered by a whole generation not as a sexualized child in a musical but as Violet Beauregarde, the gum-snapping kid who turns into a blueberry in Roald Dahl’s famous morality tale.”

Albee’s body of work already included The Zoo Story (1959), The American Dream (1961), and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), so his reputation seemed secure, and few had demurred when he was dubbed one of the few genuinely great living American dramatists.

Albee’s Lolita made its debut at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City on March 19, 1981, almost exactly 10 years to the day after Lolita, My Love folded in Boston.”

this time Lolita was played by 25-year-old Blanche Baker, whose mother, Carroll Baker—at about the same age—had played Tennessee Williams’s Baby Doll Meighan. [ver acima]”

Donald Sutherland, the Canadian movie star who had not acted on stage for 17 years but who could offer an approximation of the British accent he mastered during his extended 60s sojourn in London, was Humbert Humbert.”

it was a total disaster.”

Retracing the texture of an ephemeral event like a theatrical performance over a quarter of a century later is not an exact science. We have the reviews (in this case universally damning), but we cannot revisit what they were reviewing. We do, however, have Albee’s published play, presently included in volume 3 of his collected works. A caveat from the author suggests that, as with most of his plays, he has, in new collections, tweaked a few things with the benefit of hindsight. (This was a liberty upon which Nabokov would have frowned; once the piece was written, that was it as far as he was concerned—it was time to burn the rough drafts and alternative versions and move on.)

Its most daring device is that of introducing a detached authorial voice, embodied by the character of A Certain Gentleman who provides an ironic, Olympian commentary on the proceedings, often bantering with exasperated Humbert (who is given to complaining about the way the action is turning out and even the quality of the writing) and generally reminding the audience that this story has a puppeteer for an author. This is a strangely dated 60s device redolent of those fleetingly modish TV plays that would reveal the camera crew to remind the audience that it was watching a TV play, or new-wave movies like Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Mépris, where the mechanics of moviemaking self-consciously intrude at every turn.”

Humbert obliquely mocks the author’s decision to give Annabel a surname that so obviously evokes Poe’s doomed heroine; he finds the device of Charlotte coming upon Humbert’s incriminating diary corny.” Divertido.

The robe falls, Lolita is naked onstage, and her popular reputation as a brazen tramp is further advanced. The plot grinds on, more or less faithful to the letter of the novel but missing its bittersweet spirit entirely; fellatio and cunnilingus are simulated; the epic road trip (now meaninglessly inflated to 500 days) is included but can only be suggested by fragmented scenes in stylized motel rooms; Clare Quilty is represented in a manner that apes Peter Sellers’s disruptive chameleonic turns in Kubrick’s movie; Lolita leaves, Humbert grieves, and the play ends as does the book with Quilty’s murder and Lolita’s death in childbirth.”

“‘No one who saw the execrable production the play received on Broadway could penetrate through to the homage I was paying to Nabokov’, wrote Albee in a 2005 introduction to the play.”

(Blanche) Baker, chosen after a long talent hunt for prepubescent sexpots, is disappointing as Lolita. She begins as a little girl with a lollipop and swiftly becomes a brat with a staff sergeant’s mouth and no trace of dreamy allure.”

Albee, it seemed, was now yesterday’s man, a remnant of the 60s completely out of place in the new, Reaganite 1980s.” Stephen Bottoms

The film based on Albee’s play was never made, although the contract held good and Albee’s camp actually collected on Adrian Lyne’s 1997 film that bore absolutely no relation to Albee’s drama. The intended opera, slated to be co-written by Leonard Bernstein, also failed to materialize after the drubbing the play received. Eventually, however, another opera did surface, this time rather unexpectedly in the Swedish language. Having seen how Alan Jay Lerner and Edward Albee fared, one might have expected Rodion Schedrin to demur, but late in 1994 the Russian composer premiered his 4-hour opera of Lolita at Stockholm’s Royal Opera. Due to another wrangle with the Nabokov estate (Schedrin had written the libretto but neglected to secure the rights), it was not possible to perform it in Russian or English, so it was translated into Swedish. There were 8 Stockholm performances spread across December 1994 and January 1995, and critics found little to admire in Schedrin’s words or music, although soprano Lisa Gustaffson’s portrayal of Lolita was praised, as was the production in general and John Conklin’s boldly stylized stage design, replete with imaginative icons, symbols and logos of 50s America.”

These extreme examples of dramatic disaster would seem to suggest that no sane person would ever again try to put Lolita on the stage. Yet it is in the nature of theater to revive and rework past failures to see if it was the times or something more intrinsic that defeated them first time around.”

In 1999, the 100th anniversary of Nabokov’s birth, the International Theatre Workshop tackled it at Lower Manhattan’s Gene Frankel Theatre. In the opinion of Zembla, an admirable Web site for Nabokov fans, Russian director Slava Stepnov’s vision of Lolita here was ‘less about sex and pedophilia than . . . about being a slave to one’s own ego’.”

A 2003 Oxford University student version also produced for Edinburgh was adapted by Aidan Elliott and had Lolita ‘clambering all over Humbert with an offensive and almost comical lack of subtlety’ according to one critic.”

Dmitri Nabokov has praised a ‘truly fine’ Milan theatrical production of Lolita by Luigi Ronconi that was based not on Albee’s play but on Stephen Schiff’s screenplay for Adrian Lyne’s 1997 film.”

9. THE SPIRIT OF FREE ENTERPRISE: Every foul poster

Lolita, although too young to be socially aspirational in that particular way, does seem to have inherited her mother’s touching trust in the heady promises of lifestyle magazines and adds an insatiable consumer’s appetite for the dreams such magazines promote. America’s golden period of consumerism might still be 2 or 3 years in the future, but even during the relative austerity of the late 1940s, the constant allure of consumer goods and services is already a potent force in Lolita’s young life. Modern kids usually want the same toys, clothes, and gadgets that their friends have, but Lolita’s constrained circumstances meant that she did not even have friends for much of her meager childhood.”

Rachel Bowlby, in her essay ‘Lolita and the Poetry of Advertising’, writes: ‘It is Lolita who is the poetic reader, indifferent to things in themselves and entranced by the words that shape them into the image of a desire that consumption then perfectly satisfies. Appearing under the sign of <novelties and souvenirs>, anything can be transmuted . . . into an object of interest, worth attention.’

It all began with that 1962 movie poster featuring a stylized Lolita sucking a scarlet lollipop and peeping over the lenses of sunglasses equipped with red heart-shaped frames. Her flirty gaze is contained, top and bottom, by the out-of-focus horizontals of a car window frame (although these were sometimes airbrushed out in the innumerable variants used for international posters and paperback book covers). Fashion photographer Bert Stern, who took the picture, seems to have toyed with the idea of making Sue Lyon into an adolescent Marilyn Monroe, an aim more obvious in another color shot from the same sessions.”

At the time, Stern was already fascinated by Monroe, of whom he would soon take some 2,500 photographs in a 3-day session shortly before she died in 1962.”

heart-shaped glasses and other items were to become a loose trademark vaguely suggestive of very young, sexually available girls. In this way a counterfeit Lolita fashion was founded upon an accessory that had nothing whatever to do with the Lolita that Nabokov had realized in such precise detail and diligently accoutred with all those faded blue jeans, plaid shirts, tartan skirts, gingham frocks, and sneakers. Worse was to come.

Nabokov was still alive when, to his amused revulsion, life-size Lolita sex dolls first became available, fully equipped with the appropriate apertures. Now, in the 21st century, the Bratz range of sexy, Barbie-with-attitude dolls for girls is rarely discussed without some passing reference to Lolita.”

Both commentators took the view that targeting very young girls was mainly a commercial decision undertaken by companies who were running out of female teenage consumers and who saw not only an immediate impressionable preteen market to exploit but also a valuable recruitment platform for tomorrow’s teenage customers.”

It has also lent itself to fashion styles and trends as far removed from 40s Ramsdale as Mars or Venus.”

British artist Graham Ovenden’s series of Lolita paintings and prints from the mid-70s caused a minor scandal when they were first exhibited, but they were defended as art rather than pornography, just as Nabokov’s book had been—although in this case perhaps with less demonstrable justification. A vague adherence to certain locales of the novel (Lolita at the Lake, for example) and Ovenden’s obvious skill as a draftsman could not change the fact that his artfully undraped Lolita owed rather more to some Pre-Raphaelite erotic stereotype (long luxuriant hair, a fey self-absorption) than to Dolores Haze. Some of Ovenden’s other works, such as those depicting Lewis Carroll’s Alice or 5 seminude contemporary girl children only identified by their first names, seemed to reinforce a legitimate suspicion that a graphic talent and the fame of others were being used to legitimize a personal obsession. Another Briton, David Hamilton, also courted controversy in the 70s with his numerous soft-focus nude photographic studies of girls in their early teens. Despite a credible early career as a 60s fashion photographer for Vogue, Elle, and other upscale glossy magazines, Hamilton always remained a suspect cultural figure in the United States and Britain, and his reputation was not helped when he directed a clutch of soft-core porn movies of which Bilitis (1977) remains the best known.”

New York City–born photographer Jock Sturges has also faced repeated charges that his work was child pornography masquerading as fine art. In 1990, his studio was raided by the FBI, who confiscated much of his work and equipment. The offending images were of children of both sexes, most of whom were characterized by their nakedness, their physical beauty, and the kind of untroubled, eyes-straight-to-the-camera gaze that in itself seemed to be challenging and confrontational to the forces of conservatism.”

Many of his images were certainly of very young girls, and in their studied informality, it could be argued that they were hardly any less contrived than Charles Dodgson’s Victorian tableaux. The difference was that these were pictures of modern young girls who were growing up in a knowing culture of sophisticated magazines, movies, and TV commercials, the beneficiaries of late 20th-century health care and nutrition posing naked on the recognizable beaches of west coast America or France. Without the distancing effect of yesterday’s technology and dated visual manners—dubious excuses to be sure—to some this looked like conceited pornography. To others it was a celebration of the female body’s beauty at its most striking. After a year, that FBI raid resulted in a grand jury throwing out the child pornography case. The public trial of a photographer, who had been born in the year of Lolita’s Great Road Trip, had given a new generation, too young to remember the public outcries about Nabokov’s novel, a minor child pornography debate of its own.

Sally Mann’s photographs incited similar divisions in the late 80s, particularly with her second published collection of pictures, At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women.” “Occasionally cropping her subjects in ways that might invite the charge of fetishizing certain body parts, At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women seemed to up the ante by going out of its way to draw attention to the blurriness of the line between childhood and adulthood, innocence and experience, pornography and art. When her next collection turned the lens on her own children, it caused a new outcry. Immediate Family (1992) contained what Art in America critic Ken Johnson called ‘luminously beautiful black-and-white images of mysteriously elfin children’, while other observers considered it further evidence of Mann’s fondness for sexualizing children, now with a suspicion of incest thrown in.”

A fair-minded reviewer might have disentangled this cultural muddle, but Blundell (who does not let the fact that she never even read all of Lolita prevent her from offering the absurd assertion that its author concluded that the molestation of girls turns them into sexy, self-sufficient women) simply co-opts Mann’s images as an excuse to air her own feelings about child abuse. Her review is worth dwelling on only because it is typical of many responses to this particular subject. When it comes to discussions of child abuse, sociological or artistic, there always seems to be people for whom the very idea is so incendiary that they cannot wait to begin with their own moral conclusion and then work backward to try to make the facts support it. They always seem content never to have read the book or seen the movie or play that is central to the debate; moral certainty, it seems, makes the gathering of supporting evidence unnecessary.”

One of Lolita’s more high-profile instances of commercial fame has come from having her name adopted by a Japanese youth fashion. Lolita Fashion in general connotes a frilly fantasy in which Japanese teen or preteen girls dress in a wildly stylized approximation of Western Victorian or Edwardian girls, often complete with lacy parasol, teddy bear, and Little Bo Peep hat or frilly headdress—Alice Liddell on LSD. More famous still is the Lolita Fashion subcategory Elegant Lolita Gothic, usually shortened to Lolita Gothic, ELG, Loligoth or GothLoli. Extrapolating conclusions from all of this is inherently problematic, since delving into Japanese popular culture at all is fraught with pitfalls for most Western commentators. It seems even the most innocent assumptions about shared societal values cannot be made when it comes to Japan. In the present context it may be plausibly argued that Japan actually sanctions, or at least broadly tolerates, a national male obsession with schoolgirls. The sexual politics of the Japanese Gothic Lolita phenomenon is therefore something of a minefield.”

In Japan that look has been traditionally based on a school uniform of the sailor fuku style (white blouse, blue collar, red tie, short blue pleated skirt), although an auxiliary range of fetishized school outfits also exists in the various forms of navy blue one-piece swimsuits, gym clothes comprising tight white top and navy blue tights, and schoolgirl variants of traditional Japanese martial art clothing. On the face of it, this would seem to be comparable to American male fantasy fetishes for schoolgirl, Girl Scout, or cheerleader outfits. Yet in Japan the Lolita Gothic fashion phenomenon—which might at first be considered nothing more than another variant of the school-age girl fantasy—is also part of modern Japanese youth’s own fondness for Visual Kei and CosPlay, role-playing that uses elaborate costumes, hairstyles, and makeup to create fantasy personae.

Attracting boys as well as girls, Visual Kei finds a distant Western echo in the British glam rock era of the 70s, a movement that spawned David Bowie, Queen, and Roxy Music. It was mainly androgynous-looking males who dominated, but the symbiosis between the music and the elaborate theatrical costumes adopted by performers and fans alike seems to prefigure Visual Kei. Certainly there has been a Japanese rock music connection in the form of bands such as Rentrer en Soi and MUCC (ムック), who adopted role-model outfits to inspire their fans to imitate and compete.

By being part of the Visual Kei movement, Lolita Fashion and Lolita Gothic have therefore come to represent a particular form of self-expression for young Japanese girls that seems poised between the traditional role-playing of Kabuki and the elaborate sartorial confection of the geisha, which—at least in the form of oiran geisha—has clear associations with prostitution. So here is a stylized hybrid movement of rebellion and self-expression based on an image that seems to derive from a Japanese male erotic stereotype and is therefore overloaded with cultural and sexual references that leave journalists groping for plausible sound-bite descriptions. French maid meets Alice in Wonderland. Shirley Temple meets Morticia Addams. Victorian frills with glam rock platform shoes. Baby Doll as a Black Sabbath groupie. No words can quite do justice to the impact of Japanese Lolita Gothic, not least because it very much depends upon whom it is having an impact. Lolita Gothic has been adopted by young Japanese women whose slight physiques tend to evoke childlike or even doll-like associations—although these associations tend to exist mainly in the minds of Westerners.”

Gothic” Rei Ayanami do anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, exemplificando bem a descrição de Vickers: vão-se os cabelos azuis originais e o fan artwork toma conta da internet.

Courtney Love, in her early days with alternative rock band Hole, was occasionally hailed as the first bona fide American Loligoth, but despite her contrived look of depraved innocence, achieved through torn baby doll dresses and makeup that looked as if it had been applied by a 9-year-old with little mirror experience, Love was no elfin Japanese girl, so the overall effect came out rather differently.

Yet Lolita Gothic has been successfully exported through other media, ever since it seeped into the iconography of Japanese manga (comic and newspaper cartoons), anime (animation), and bishōjo (a type of video game¹ based on interaction with stylized young girls depicted in the styles of manga and anime).”

¹ O autor se equivocou, pois jogos são só uma parte do conceito. Wiki: “Although bishōjo is not a genre but a character design, series which predominantly feature such characters, such as harem anime and visual novels, are sometimes informally called bishōjo series. The characters and works referred to by the term bishōjo are typically intended to appeal to a male audience. [Sailor Moon – que carrega bishoujo no título original e é formalmente considerado shoujo anime – seria focado em homens ou mulheres?!] Since one of the main draws of these series is typically the art and the attractive female characters, the term is occasionally perceived negatively, as a genre which is solely dependent on the marketability of beautiful characters rather than the actual content or plot.

The word bishōjo is sometimes confused with the similar-sounding shōjo (‘girl’) demographic, but bishōjo refers to the gender and traits of the characters it describes, whereas shōjo refers to the gender and age of an audience demographic – manga publications, and sometimes anime, described as ‘shōjo’ are aimed at young female audiences.”

All of these media trade in variants of the Lolicon (and how Nabokov, the lover of portmanteau words, would have squirmed to hear that one),¹ the Lolicon being a sexually explicit graphic depiction of a stylized prepubescent girl character. The traditional Lolicon has huge eyes, a preteen physique, skimpy clothes, and some (usually) pastel accessories of childhood (hair in beribboned bunches and bangs, popsicles, toys, and so on).”

¹ Lolita + complex

Bishōjo, the video medium, has met with most resistance to export because of the overtly sexual and sometimes pornographic nature of the player’s possible interaction with the characters. Manga and anime, usually more mainstream, have therefore been the leading channels by which this particular life of Lolita has become well known outside of Japan.

What does the Loligoth phenomenon add to the sum of misunderstandings that have accumulated around Lolita’s name? If in Japan its resonances are singularly domestic, in the West it has perhaps vaguely reinforced the idea of Lolita as a proactive coconspirator in her own exploitation. The spectacle of young girls publicly affecting costumes that contrive to blend the childlike with the enticing—and doing it, however unconsciously, in Lolita’s name—only strengthens the general suspicion that somehow Dolores Haze was asking for it. It is an unworthy but widespread suspicion and one that finds its logical conclusion in the ultimate commercialization of Lolita’s name: the Internet trade in pornography where 3 trips of the tongue down the palate—Lo-Lee-Ta—signify the sexual exploitation of underage girls who are often coerced to simulate enjoyment of their ordeal.”

The world of Internet Lolitas is in fact a rather more complex one than it may seem at first glance. As with everything else, the Internet has complicated traditional perceptions of how information is delivered and received. In the pre-computer days when Lolita was first conjured into being in Nabokov’s neat hand on a series of index cards (an analog cut-and-paste system of the author’s own devising), trafficking in pornographic material of any sort was still a comparatively risky business for both supplier and consumer, involving shady bookshops, mail-order services, and the black market. As a movie like Hard Candy demonstrates, by 2006 Internet pornography had bred sophisticated new protocols involving grooming and impersonation, bringing with them new generations of clued-up children and adults as well as a highly efficient transglobal distribution channel so complex that policing it has been reduced to a series of high-profile law enforcement gestures rather than any real control.”

By the early 70s, much of Western Europe was taking a far more liberal attitude toward pornography, the trend being led by Denmark, which, in 1969, had legalized the production of all kinds of erotic material. The earliest child pornography movies were marketed under the name ‘Lolita’ and were made by a Copenhagen-based company called Color Climax. It is estimated that a minimum of 36 10-minute films were produced under this catchall title between 1971 and 1979. Pornographic magazine spin-offs drew upon these movies for still photographs. The ‘Lolita’ films featured young girls, typically between the ages of 7-11, being sexually abused mainly, but not exclusively, by men. Meanwhile, in the United States, the commercial production and distribution of child pornography also began to flourish in a parallel climate of (comparatively) lax national law enforcement, often with linkups to European producers, sharing material and sometimes even sending images from the United States to Europe for initial publication prior to importing the resulting magazines. Amsterdam became the hub of this publishing trade, and it featured material with names that included Lollitots, Lolita Color Specials, and Randy Lolitas.”

One of the more grotesque by-products of today’s Internet distribution of child pornography is that a large proportion of it actually dates from 20 or 30 years ago, those old movies and still images now having been digitized. (…) For those abused children who are still alive, those filmed episodes from their grim childhoods are still being efficiently cataloged and sold.”

Perhaps this is a good point at which to recall that in 1949 Quilty throws out adoring Lolita because she flatly refuses to participate in his pornographic movies. ‘I said no, I’m just not going to (blow) your beastly boys, because I want only you’, Lolita tells Humbert at their last meeting, explaining why Quilty dumped her.”

Of course, had Lolita’s name remained the fairly common Spanish diminutive it had been before Nabokov bestowed fantastic fame upon it, the pornographers would simply have found another generic label to identify their images of molested and beaten kids. But perhaps it is grimly fitting that those traders in abuse should have knocked off a name so mellifluous and rich in associations, since the theft is appropriate to the practice it describes: the stealing of childhoods to realize dark adult fantasies.”

10. TABLOIDS AND FACTOIDS: The Press and Lolita

Tabloids in the United States date from the launch of the New York Daily News in 1919, a paper today locked in rivalry with the New York Post, which, under the ownership of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, has taken on many of the characteristics of the famously cutthroat British tabloids.”

The Pall Mall Gazette was founded in London in February 1865 by Frederick Greenwood and George Smith and began as an interesting example of life imitating art. It was the actualization of a fictitious paper dreamed up by William Makepeace Thackeray for his 1850 novel The History of Pendennis. That novel explored Thackeray’s favorite theme of the green but ambitious youngster on the make, an idea he also used in Vanity Fair and The Luck of Barry Lyndon. The real-life Gazette’s original tone had been unashamedly elitist, fully in keeping with Thackeray’s editorial prescription (the Pall Mall Gazette would be ‘written by gentlemen for gentlemen’, Pall Mall being a London street famous for its exclusive gentlemen’s clubs). In 1880, however, the actual Gazette passed from conservative to liberal ownership, and between 1883 and 1889, under editor William Thomas Stead, it became a vigorous campaigning newspaper. The fully illustrated publication now covered human interest stories and became much more accessible, featuring banner headlines and short paragraphs. Traditionalists deplored what they saw as the degradation of news journalism, and there was particular resistance to Stead’s fondness for ‘the interview’, a journalistic innovation that, a rival complained, indiscriminately gave voice to any ‘politician, religionist, social reformer, man of science, artist, tradesman, rogue, (or) madman’ whose ramblings might offer titillation to readers.

Then in 1883 the Pall Mall Gazette published a series of articles on the subject of child prostitution, a practice that it labeled ‘the white slave trade’. Sales of the paper increased from 8,000 to 12,000. Two years later, Stead joined with Josephine Butler and Florence Booth of the Salvation Army for an exposé of child prostitution that was to represent the Gazette’s finest hour. In July 1885, Stead arranged the purchase, for a sum of around $8, of Eliza Armstrong, the 13-year-old daughter of a chimney sweep, in order to demonstrate how easy it was to procure young girls for prostitution. Stead then published an account of his investigations under the rather biblical title of ‘Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon’ and made it a Pall Mall Gazette extra. Although his motives were clearly benign and the purchase of the girl obviously an intrinsic part of the exposé, the editor, along with accomplices, was charged and briefly imprisoned for procurement. Even so, the storm of publicity he stirred up was instrumental in forcing a change in the law that same year, and the age of consent was raised from 13 to 16. It was a remarkable demonstration of the power of the popular press. Stead had, in effect, turned a patrician publication into a tabloid that not only attracted many more readers with its human interest stories and accessible layout but also demonstrated that it was not afraid to take on the establishment.” “Ironically, today’s traders in child pornography and prostitution have little to fear from the hollow cries of moral outrage about pedophilia from the pragmatic descendants of the Pall Mall Gazette. Current tabloid editors, both British and American, know a sensational story when they smell one and have long since mastered the art of pandering to the worst instincts of a prurient readership while piously sermonizing in the margins. Few editors are willing to go to prison for practicing what they preach.”

the boundary between factual reportage and titillating documentary-style fantasy was defined by the existence of publications like Real Confessions, Real Romances, and Crime Confessions; these were fact-derived entertainment.”

the word ‘factoid’ was coined by Norman Mailer in his 1973 Marilyn Monroe biography to denote a ‘fact’ that does not actually exist before being reported in a magazine or newspaper”

Post-Lolita, the newspapers found they had a new shorthand label—and they could not have wished for a better one. ‘Lolita’ was short, distinctive, easily pronounced, and rapidly acquired a meaning that was internationally understood—or rather misunderstood.” “This Lolita was a factoid, a fabrication presented by the print media as a fact, thus acquiring a bogus new reality of its own.”

At the time of this writing, half a century since the first American publication of Lolita, the world’s current number one female tennis star, at least as far as the press is concerned, is the California-based Russian Maria Yurievna Sharapova. No doubt Nabokov would have derived some enjoyment from the spectacle of a prodigiously talented expatriate Russian girl excelling at one of his favorite sports in his beloved adopted country, but he would also have groaned at the press epithets deemed suitable for someone whose only misdemeanor was to start out as a bratty-looking teenager: the red-hot Russian… the Lolita of women’s tennis… Lolita with a racket… and so on. Did Sharapova have a precursor? Indeed she did: fellow Russian Anna Kournikova was frequently dubbed the ‘Lobbing Lolita’ in the press, but her retirement from competition—as well as her more conventional type of beauty—meant that journalists soon sought a successor and found her in the sometimes petulant young Sharapova, whose occasional teen sulkiness combined with her lithe physique made her an even better expression of the Lolita fantasy cliché.”

That nymphet’s beauty lay less on her bones

Than in her name’s proclaimed two allophones.” Anthony Burgess

When I saw that Fox’s coverage was titled ‘Where Is Elizabeth Smart?’ my thought was well, you know, who killed Laura Palmer? It’s like Twin Peaks in that you have sort of a blonde vision of innocence, of maidenhood… it plays into the JonBenét story. Jon Benét was, you know, this sort of Lolita-ish beauty pageant contestant and what makes it even more sort of archetypal is that Elizabeth Smart played the harp. You can’t get more angelic than that.” James Wolcott, Vanity Fair

Gone are the days when tame TV movies like Lethal Lolita cannot include the scandalous details; HBO and the Internet can show pretty much anything.” “Kampusch (chapter 2) is turning her experience—and the notes she made in captivity—into what will surely be a best-seller.”

Since the whole business was clearly a farrago fueled by the imaginations of children who had been browbeaten by suggestible parents, the only verity upon which everyone could agree was that child abuse was a very bad thing and demanded extreme reactions, even when nothing had happened. This, of course, is the unwelcome outcome when real life fails to conform to the easy characterizations of pulp fiction or tabloid simplification.”

Nothing much changes. Lyne, however, was relentless in his efforts to bring Nabokov’s tale of infinite desire to the screen in a way that would, after Kubrick’s patchy misfire, do it some sort of justice.”

11. TAKE TWO: Once more, with feeling

The climate of public opinion toward any debate about pedophilia was now deeply hostile, far more so than in the 70s or 80s, let alone the early 60s. This was bad enough, but it was not all. Lyne’s first (and some would say his biggest) obstacle to making a distinguished movie of one of the 20th century’s greatest and most allusive novels was his own track record.”

O DIRETOR DE <FILMES DO CANAL TCM>: “Next came Flashdance (1984), an urban fairy tale about a dancing welder from Pittsburgh (Jennifer Beals) who Has a Dream. It was a hit and was followed by a trio of even more successful but rather shallow erotic movies: Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986), Fatal Attraction (1987), and Indecent Proposal (1993). Admittedly Jacob’s Ladder (1990) was in there too, and that was a very well-handled post-Vietnam psychological tour de force that in some ways foreshadowed M. Night Shyamalan’s hit of 1999, The Sixth Sense. Otherwise Lyne’s movie career seemed to be dogged by his roots in advertising—plenty of style but little substance.”

Approaching his 50th birthday, Lyne was therefore understandably inclined to take on the formidable challenge of Lolita, a literary work of art he had long adored and that was finally optioned to him in 1990, prior to the shooting of Indecent Proposal. It was to prove a case of excruciatingly bad timing.

At this time, the protracted McMartin Pre-School affair was reaching the end of its second and final trial, and Amy Fisher would soon make her first fateful visit to Joseph Buttafuoco’s car repair shop in Long Island, ensuring that Lolita’s name would stay in the headlines for years for all the wrong reasons.”

The independent U.S. production company Carolco Pictures, Inc. expressed interest in bankrolling the project. Carolco had enjoyed great success with the Rambo movies and Terminator 2 and also produced Alan Parker’s Angel Heart and Sir Richard Attenborough’s Chaplin. Lyne now wrote a 35-page outline titled ‘Preparatory Notes on Nabokov’s Novel’.”

Pinter had made a creditable screenwriting job of everything from The Last Tycoon and The French Lieutenant’s Woman to The Quiller Memorandum and The Handmaid’s Tale, so he might perhaps do Lolita proud. Unfortunately, Pinter was always virulently anti-American in his politics as well as socially subversive in his film adaptations, at least whenever he could get away with it. One suspects he did not much care for Nabokov anyway. Was Pinter, after all, the best man to render the greatest novel of an apolitical, pro-America, non-satirical writer for the screen?”

Charm was not really what was required, and even the proposed casting of Hugh Grant as a lightweight and too-young Humbert [Hugh tinha 30 anos em 1990] (a serious suggestion at one point) was not going to salvage an icy script characterization. Harold Pinter was out.”

Schiff too was asked if he could set the film in the present day, an absurd idea that he sensibly rebuffed, arguing that Lolita’s story was inseparable from the context of its time.

Nabokov set his novel in 1947’, Schiff later wrote, ‘a singular moment in American cultural history—years before the finny, funny 50s; before the invention of the great American teenager and the distinct consumer culture that sprang up to serve it.’ A pointless 10-year time lag had helped to rob Kubrick’s film of any authentic context, and a 40-year dislocation would surely have rendered Lolita’s plot, as written by Nabokov, entirely meaningless.”

Dominique Swain was another novice. Born in Malibu, California, in 1980, the same year Adrian Lyne made his Hollywood debut with Foxes, she had little acting experience before getting the part of Lolita. She had failed an audition for Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire (Kirsten Dunst eventually won the part of Claudia) and made a brief uncredited appearance in a film written by Ian McEwan and directed by Joseph Rubin, The Good Son (1993). Sporty, outgoing, artistic, and a straight-A high school student, Swain at 14 was an interesting-looking girl rather than a conventionally pretty one. She was clearly intelligent and seemingly undaunted by the audition process. In a riveting videotape of her audition for the part of Lolita, with Jeremy Irons playing Humbert, she is no showbiz show-off kid but still comes over as precociously witty and self-assured. At one point she mimics Lyne’s English accent, which, she suggests, is so much more sinister than an American one for delivering a line like ‘You murdered my mother’. If Swain’s physical development could have been arrested at the time of that audition, she would have been even better than she eventually was in the movie. But by the time they started shooting she was already looking older and more strapping and can actually be seen to be growing up during the film… albeit out of sequence due to the dislocated nature of shooting schedules. It hardly matters. After beating a reported 2,500 applicants to the part, Swain turned out to be the film’s undisputed success story. She would be a wonderful Lolita: rude, loud, childlike, touching, dreamy, goofy, cruel, sad, feisty, sexy, and funny. She would do it by channeling her own personality into the part and in this was expertly guided by Adrian Lyne, the father of two daughters. Dominique Swain actually seemed to thrive on a lack of acting experience. Not knowing how to do it right can, with careful guidance and good luck, sometimes have the benign opposite effect too—not knowing how to do it wrong. Journalist Stephen Schiff was already proof of this, having turned in the excellent script Lyne needed.”

Humbert’s eyes, no longer the distorting lenses through which everything is seen, now have to be shown on-screen, along with the rest of him. This was the fundamental, perhaps irresolvable problem of Lolita—this and finding an actor possessing both the skill and the nerve to play him. Unknown 14-year-old actresses have no established career to compromise, but middle-aged actors do. Jeremy Irons, being a well-respected if not exactly beloved actor in his homeland of Britain, first balked at the risk (and this despite Harold Pinter’s sweeping recommendation: ‘If you want an actor who isn’t afraid to look bad, get Jeremy Irons’).”

Irons’s personal challenge was immense: he had to perform in several sexually charged scenes with a 14-year-old girl who was constantly being attended on set by her mother, a tutor, and a body double. (…) No matter what the level of professionalism, an uneasy personal chemistry would ensue because it is hard for a 48-year-old man to play out violent arguments and sexual shenanigans with a high school girl.”

Melanie Griffith, a tinny-voiced actress not without her detractors, was cast as Charlotte Haze. This news was seen as another unpromising signal by many movie fans who were also admirers of the book, who were hoping for the best while fearing the worst. More positively Frank Langella, a fine and imposing actor, was cast as Quilty.”

On location in the South, Lyne said he frequently half expected some redneck sheriff to burst in at any moment to close down the proceedings before the movie was even shot. As for sexual impropriety, all due care was taken, some of it risible. When Swain sat on Irons’s lap, a cushion or board was placed between them. When it was necessary for Lolita to run a hand up Humbert’s thigh or vice versa, the body double took over. The weather, doing what weather does, delayed things. Melanie Griffith fell sick. The original cinematographer had to be replaced after shooting began. Jeremy Irons had real problems with some of the sex scenes. And the only person to sail through the experience with any degree of equanimity was Dominique Swain. Happy to be the center of attention and untroubled by the one aspect of things that troubled everybody else, she burst into tears only when Irons snapped at her for ill-advisedly telling him what to do.”

They wrapped in late 1995. They started editing in 1996. Then the real battles began.” “As bankruptcy loomed, Carolco sold Lolita to a big French corporation, Chargeurs, that had already acquired the movie production and distribution company Pathé back in 1992. Now, in 96, Chargeurs was demerging Pathé, an outfit for which, it was assumed, Lolita would be an ideal property. After the deal was done, Pathé’s optimism soon turned to concern (and Lyne’s hope to despair) when a new law, the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996, was enacted in the United States. Aimed at Internet pornographers who used computer graphics to simulate images of children having sex (even when no real children were involved), it threw up a potential killer obstacle to distributing the new Lolita at all in the United States. The reason was that the act proscribed any visual depiction that was ‘or appeared to be’ a child having explicit sex. This scattergun definition, although perhaps worthy in original intention, had huge potential ramifications for a wide range of mainstream media. An act that would retrospectively ban Volker Schlöndorff’s The Tin Drum (1979) outright or remove the Claire Danes/Leonardo DiCaprio bedroom scene from Romeo + Juliet (1996) looked likely to be challenged in the courts, but no one was eager to be the first challenger.”

Had we released Lolita in the ‘70s or ‘80s, Schiff said, I believe it would have easily made its way into distribution. But the culture has contracted since then. And even if it hasn’t, its gatekeepers believe it has.”

In a strange echo of what happened to Nabokov’s novel back in the 50s, Pathé effectively gave up on distributing it in the United States at all and looked to Europe. They perhaps hoped that a critical success there might kick-start its prospects on this side of the Atlantic. This seemed unlikely, despite the recent precedent of John Dahl’s The Last Seduction (1994), a cable TV movie that was shown on HBO and forgotten until it wowed European audiences in theaters, subsequently earning a U.S. theatrical release and rumors of a thwarted Academy Award nomination for star Linda Fiorentino (not permitted because the movie had premiered on TV) and becoming a neo-noir classic.

Adrian Lyne’s Lolita eventually premiered in Spain, at the 1997 San Sebastian Film Festival. It received mixed reviews and subsequently fared poorly in Spain. Italy loved it. In Germany it stirred up many public protests and was subsequently hard to see in that country. In Britain it received a certificate with no trouble whatsoever, something that stirred up tabloid outrage (Jeremy Irons was reported as saying he would leave the country if it were banned).”

In the end, the cable network Showtime bought the U.S. rights to the movie and broadcast it to any American household that subscribed to their channel in the summer of 1998. Despite limited screenings in New York, Los Angeles, and a few other cities, the movie—40 years after the novel was freely published—was to all intents and purposes banned from theatrical release in the United States, not by the censor but by the movie industry itself.”

He even adds a very Nabokovian touch that does not come from the book. When 13-year-old Humbert is preparing (alas, in vain) to possess Annabel in the long-lost world of the 1920s Riviera, he takes as a souvenir a bit of ribbon trim from the broderie anglaise of her long underpants. How many members of the movie audience recognize that ribbon when it reappears, unannounced, as a bookmark in middle-aged Humbert’s diary in Ramsdale? Perhaps as many as the number of readers who identify some of Humbert’s more arcane literary references in the novel. Everyone does not need to get the more obscure allusions, but it is nice if those references make artistic sense when they are spotted.

The film score and the featured music are particularly successful. Ennio Morricone’s score underpins the film’s shifting moods hauntingly, particularly in Humbert’s last desolate hours of freedom. Lolita’s enthusiastic if tuneless sing-along participation with contemporary novelty records on the radio—songs such as Louis Prima’s Civilization, Jack McVea’s Open the Door, Richard, and, perhaps most memorably, Tim-Tay-Shun (Jo Stafford’s redneck reworking of Temptation)—seem somehow even more fitting than the jukebox hits of mainstream crooners hinted at in the book.”

12. BLOOD SISTERS: Some responses to Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov finished writing Lolita on December 6, 1953. In France earlier that same year, Françoise Quoirez, the 18-year-old daughter of a wealthy Parisian industrialist, had just failed her examinations at the Sorbonne and subsequently spent the summer writing a novella. She decided to call it Bonjour Tristesse and herself Sagan after Princesse de Sagan in Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu. Her book was published in 1954. Its success was considerable and international, and by 1959 it had sold 850,000 copies in France alone.”

Françoise Sagan had cast herself as Cécile, a spoiled 17-year-old whose intimate relationship with her 40-year-old Don Juan of a father seemed to have all but one of the characteristics of an incestuous affair. On an extended summer vacation with him at a villa in the Riviera, she amuses herself by playing malicious cupid as Daddy juggles two women: an empty-headed young mistress whom he believes helps him cling to his vanishing youth and a more mature woman who perhaps ought to suit him better. As her father prepares to announce that he is at last taking the sensible course, Cécile, with a recently acquired summer boyfriend of her own, petulantly manipulates everyone like chess pieces, conspiring to make the woman her father now intends to marry believe that he is deceiving her. This causes the distraught woman to drive blindly from the villa to die in the kind of portentous road accident often featured in books like this. Cécile’s harsh discovery that her game has resulted in irreversible tragedy is presented as a moral awakening and a rite of passage rolled into one. She starts out sounding like an old child, winds up sounding like a young woman; the collateral damage is one dead body.”

Sagan’s book scandalized family-loving France because of the iconoclastic attitudes behind this story of a daddy’s girl for whom sex was a game and traditional notions of love and marriage represented nothing more than routine and boredom. Tame as it may seem now, Bonjour Tristesse also rang alarm bells because it was a precocious broadside from a member of a young generation whose growing cultural clout threatened to spread far beyond the realm of pop music and fashion. The intimate father-daughter relationship added an extra sense of illicit danger, but perhaps most shockingly of all, the book was written by an obviously experienced young girl who seemed to know a great deal about sex and power.”

Bonjour Tristesse and Lolita have almost nothing in common apart from having both made their debuts in the mid-50s and sharing any sociological similarities we may choose to infer from each. Their telling difference, though, is that Sagan’s narrator relates everything from a very young woman’s point of view, while Nabokov’s Humbert is a middle-aged male who allows his leading lady no real voice of her own. The controlling effect of Humbert’s oppressive viewpoint was to feature in 40 years of feminist discussion about Lolita, in which the most commonly recurring complaint was that we simply never get to hear the girl’s point of view—she is effectively gagged by the man in charge. The wider implications of this in a male-dominated society, for those who wanted to point them out, were resonant with accusation.”

In Pera’s book (Lo’s Diary), Dolores Schlegel, née Maze, does not perish in a remote Northwest territory but lives on into adulthood and actually turns up in person at a fictionalized Olympia Press in Paris, accompanied by deaf husband Dick, during a visit to the French capital. Working at this reconstituted Olympia is John Ray Jr., the original novel’s foreword writer to whom Dolores gives her own ‘childish’ diary as a corrective to Humbert’s version of things. Humbert’s ‘real’ name is now revealed as Humbert Guibert. ‘Maybe you’d take a look at my own impressions of that time’, she says, handing over the diary to the bemused Ray. ‘They’re definitely less literary’.” “Only in 1995 does he finally edit and publish it, whereupon we learn that Lolita, in Pera’s hands, certainly does have a voice, even if it sounds suspiciously like the voice of a 42-year-old Italian woman working in the same medium—but hardly at the same level—as Vladimir Nabokov.” “Any expectation that there might emerge a Lolita sympathetically informed by a perceptive feminist awareness seems doomed to disappointment. In short, Dolores Maze comes across as being gratuitously unpleasant even before Humbert gets his hooks into her.” “The book was written in Italian and translated into English by Anna Goldstein, but even making allowances for the inherent problems of translation, this Lolita’s thoughts are rendered in a vernacular considerably less authentic-sounding than Nabokov’s laboriously researched attempts to reproduce the speech patterns of American kids of the 1940s.”

Throughout, Lo’s Diary runs similarly dreary attempts to depict Lolita as a sexual punk for the postwar years, a crude proto-feminist given to expressing opinions like ‘You have to keep a firm hand on a man, just like a horse’, and a budding sadist who tortures her pet hamster to death, heaps unremitting abuse and hatred on her ‘Shitmom’ Isabel (as Charlotte is redubbed), and decides to ensnare Humbert Guibert as ‘Daddy 2’ from the moment they first meet in the garden of 341 Grassy Street.”

To readers very familiar with Lolita there is perhaps a certain morbid fun to be had in seeing which of the book’s scenes are revisited from the viewpoint of this newly vicious and venomous Lolita, but in the end Lo’s Diary comes over as a rather sterile conceit with a lifeless narrator working to an obscure purpose. It is a shame, because all those voices calling out for Lolita’s point of view might reasonably have expected something better”

“‘Is the innocence of one girl so important next to Alice in Wonderland? Does it matter if it wasn’t quote soooo wonderful for her? A hundred years of beautifully bound editions? Can anyone honestly say they would save the child and lose the book?’ This thought, intentionally or otherwise, reverses the sentiment of a 1925 Russian poem by Vladimir Nabokov, ‘The Mother’, that explored weeping Mary’s grief after the execution of Jesus.

What if her son had stayed home with her,

And carpentered and sung? What if those tears

Cost more than redemption?”

In recent years some women authors have brought particularly chilling insights and perspectives to sadly familiar scenarios featuring girl-child victims. A.M. Homes’s The End of Alice seems at its start to be promising some sort of evenhanded correspondence or dialog between a 19-year-old woman and an imprisoned male pedophile, but things soon turn out to be disturbingly otherwise.”

One of the most unexpected Lolita spinoffs, however, was neither a borrowing nor a variant; it was not even, strictly speaking, a fiction. It was a celebration in the form of a memoir in which fictional Western women—among them Elizabeth Bennet, Catherine Sloper, Daisy Buchanan, Emma Bovary, Daisy Miller, and Dolores Haze—were introduced to real Eastern women in a weekly discussion group surreptitiously held in the capital city of the Islamic Republic of Iran, right at the end of the 20th century.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books is Azar Nafisi’s account of an undercover book discussion group she organized for a handful of female students after resigning her teaching post at Iran’s University of Allameh Tabtabai. Born in the old Iran in the days of the shah but educated in England and the United States, Nafisi had returned to teach in her native country in the late 70s, just in time for the Iranian Revolution, the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini, and, among other things most unwelcome from her point of view, a sustained erosion of personal liberties that proved especially harsh for women. Nafisi was first fired from the University of Tehran in 1981 for refusing to wear the veil and ultimately given no option but to resign from Allameh Tabtabai by the ever more rigorous restrictions placed upon what she could teach there. Allameh Tabtabai still had a reputation as the country’s most liberal university at the time, but all things are comparative and she found the university regime intolerable. So the secretive book group was in effect a gift from an international academic to 7 of her brightest female students. It took place covertly on Thursday mornings at Nafisi’s home, a sanctuary where those young women could shed not only their outdoor robes and scarves to reveal a lively selection of jeans, T-shirts, and other informal items worn beneath but also divest themselves of any restrictions forbidding what they might discuss. They used the sessions, guided by Nafisi, to discuss the unique potency of literature, as well as comparing and contrasting the travails of some of fiction’s most memorable heroines with their own lives and straitened circumstances.”

If it seems strange for such an embattled group of women to have embraced a hard-to-get book that had inflamed public opinion even in comparatively liberal America, it was not quite as it seemed.” “In the Islamic Republic of Iran, where the age of consent had been summarily lowered from 18 to 9, the sense of shock about a middle-aged man having sex with a 12-year-old girl was, shall we say, considerably less potent than in most Western countries.”

To the most rebellious of her students, a young woman she calls Yassi, Nafisi explains that ‘the desperate truth of Lolita’s story is not the rape of a 12-year-old by a dirty old man, but the confiscation of one individual’s life by another’. She goes on to argue that, although we cannot know what Lolita’s life might have been like had Humbert not hijacked it, ‘the novel, the finished work, is hopeful, beautiful even, a defense not just of beauty but of life, ordinary everyday life, all the normal pleasures that Lolita, like Yassi, was deprived of’.

Philistines are ready-made souls in plastic bags.” Nabokov

Carol gave me a copy of Lolita instead of a sermon. And that is how I came to read it, in two rainy summer afternoons, when I was 12. And when I emerged tearfully from the bedroom, she just nodded and opened her arms, for I was a sensitive kid. ‘Poor, poor Humbert!’ I cried. ‘Lolita was so mean!’ Justine Brown, exemplificando, depois de adulta, o perigo de fazer pré-púberes lerem o livro para convencê-las do perigo dos predadores pedófilos – elas não entenderão, elas se situarão ao lado de Humbert, confundirão a relação abusiva com amor romântico, o amor hollywoodiano e, doravante, ocidental, e o propósito pedagógico-moral do adulto terá escorrido pelo ralo com esta criança.

Despite the young Justine Brown’s unexpected loyalties and Pia Pera’s dubious advocacy, Lolita Haze has usually found her most sympathetic champions in women. None of them has been more quietly persuasive than Vladimir Nabokov’s extraordinary wife and collaborator Véra. The acute accent on the e, by the way, was a rare instance of her own literary invention. She added it to help with the correct pronunciation of her name when the Nabokovs first moved to America—it is Vay-rah, not Veer-a. Otherwise, Véra Nabokov, née Slonim, a highly cultured Russian Jew, a great beauty with a sophisticated taste in literature and a talent for languages, wrote hardly anything but diaries and letters, dedicating her life to the role of uber-assistant to a husband whose legendary absentmindedness and impracticality in the real world contrasted comically with his genius at creating and organizing exquisitely detailed fantasy worlds.

Véra was an aristocratic woman who made a dramatic escape from Bolshevik Russia in 1920, eventually arriving in that émigrés’ favorite city, Berlin, where she was still to be found supporting husband Vladimir and young son Dmitri as late as 1938, a date whose resonance now makes this sound like an insanely risky dalliance for a Jewish woman. She was the life partner who battled with publishers when the Nabokovs lived in poverty and the one who beat off the unwanted fans when Lolita made her husband notorious. She was the steel-willed woman who carried the licensed handgun when they toured remote territories on entomological excursions. She was the practical one who drove their Oldsmobile in a mixed spirit of exhilaration and heroic martyrdom because Vladimir could not drive at all.”

I have upwards of 200,000 miles under my belt, but each time I get behind the wheel I hand my soul over to God.” Véra Nabokov

She typed everything Vladimir wrote. She delivered his lectures at Cornell when he was too ill to do it himself. Without her, there would have been no Lolita; many who knew the couple went so far as to say that without her, there would have been no Vladimir Nabokov.”

Véra not only enabled a great literary career, she literally saved Lolita’s life when she snatched the novel’s pages from a sacrificial bonfire started by her husband in the yard of a rented house in East Seneca Street in Ithaca. There were to be several subsequent bids at immolation by an author beset with what he saw as insurmountable doubts about his masterwork, but the first and most famous attempt had a witness, one of Nabokov’s own students, a senior named Dick Keegan who had surely been handed a poisoned chalice when he was recruited as his professor’s personal driving instructor. (This exercise was an unqualified disaster; it remains one of American literature’s great ironies that the man who created that magnificent road trip right in the center of that magnificent novel was always utterly unable to master the controls of an automobile.)”

Also, Vladimir had entertained vague ambitions to write a comic article for The New Yorker about the trials and tribulations of Lolita’s publication, so it is possible that Véra’s notes might have been designed to help inform that. Yet a more personal tone emerges in this rare instance of Véra seemingly writing as herself rather than as her husband’s coconspirator and administrative alter ego.”

I wish, wrote Véra, someone would notice the tender description of the child’s helplessness, her pathetic dependence upon the monstrous HH, and her heartrending courage all along, culminating in that squalid but essentially pure and healthy marriage, and her letter, and her dog. And that terrible expression on her face when she had been cheated by HH out of some little pleasure that had been promised. They all miss the fact that ‘the horrid little brat’ Lolita is essentially very good indeed—or she would not have straightened out after being crushed so terribly, and found a decent life with poor Dick more to her liking than the other kind.”

CONCLUSION

At the time of this writing a Bollywood movie, Nishabd (2007), has just been released. It is advertised as a remake of the 1962 Lolita, [por que um remake de um filme ruim do Kubrick, e não do filme de 97 ou, enfim, outra adaptação do livro?!] and rumor has it that Indian audiences have not warmed to the film. Another smile.”

Histoire de Melody Nelson was a themed album from French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg in 1971 and is generally accepted to have been inspired by Lolita. Melody is an androgynous 15-year-old red-haired girl whom Gainsbourg’s alter ego accidentally knocks off her bicycle with his Rolls-Royce. He takes her to a hotel to recover and promptly seduces her in one of its rococo bedrooms. Soon accident-prone Melody will die in a mystical plane crash over New Guinea, and, as Jean-François Brieu’s album liner notes rather colorfully put it, ‘Between these two blood lettings, she will be deflowered by the hero: a little trickle of hemoglobin, tribute paid to an initiation into pleasure’ (the translation from French is mine but the sanguinary imagery is Brieu’s). The sumptuous key track of the album, Ballade de Melody Nelson, was actually recorded before the other songs. It featured vocal interjections from Gainsbourg’s English girlfriend, Jane Birkin, who also impersonates Melody on the album sleeve—red wig, rouged cheeks, toy monkey clutched to her bare bosom, and crotch-hugging jeans. She also appeared with Gainsbourg in a 28-minute 1971 French TV special, Melody, directed by Jean- Christophe Averty. It promoted the album in what now looks like a narrative sequence of primitive music videos.”

Kitsch of the highest order, Melody the TV special manages to detract from, rather than add to, the drama of the songs.”

In 1975, Birkin would make her own cult album, Lolita Go Home, the title song being a cri de coeur from a nubile schoolgirl badmouthed by women and drooled over by men; it was co-written by Serge Gainsbourg and Philippe Labro. A year later Birkin would reincarnate a variant of Melody Nelson in Gainsbourg’s movie Je t’aime, moi n’en plus alongside Joe Dallesandro.”

“…Two: doesn’t discussing Lolita—doesn’t the very existence of the book—make pedophilia more socially acceptable?

The second question is so stupid that it does not really deserve an answer, since to confuse discussion with endorsement seems to suggest a complete absence of critical intelligence. It is also perhaps helpful to remember Alfred Hitchcock’s response when told that a serial killer had murdered for the 3rd time after seeing Psycho: ‘What movies did he see before the other two?’

Is it possible to depict circumstances and emotions that you have not personally experienced? Well, does anyone ask Hannibal Lecter’s creator Thomas Harris how many people he ate by way of injecting credibility into his blockbuster? Was Bret Easton Ellis only able to write American Psycho by means of strict empirical research? And what chance would Quentin Tarantino have of remaining at liberty if his films were assumed to be autobiographical? Need we ask? Need we answer? If you want to tell the truth, write a novel; if you want to tell a lie, write nonfiction.”

Writing a biography is a notoriously tricky and subjective business that never fails to offend someone. There can be few more diligently evenhanded biographers than Stacy Schiff, whose book Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) stands as an elegant example of the genre, yet Ms. Schiff (no relation to Adrian Lyne’s scriptwriter, although the name does seem to be a lucky one for Nabokovian projects) has said that ‘anyone who has ever taken a cat to a vet in a carrying case, and extracted the animal in a blur of claw and hackles and muscle, knows what it is to write about Mrs. Nabokov.’

Admittedly, the artist who created the original might have cause for regret to see his creation embellished by a contingent comprising largely hawkers, impresarios, and assorted opportunists, but the phantom creatures they all conjure are still bona fide inhabitants of the world of human imagination. Every time we choose to believe in one of them instead of the original, it surely tells us something about ourselves and our times. That too I found an interesting aspect of delving into the lives of Lolita: she has been corrupted in a variety of ways, but each corruption tells us something not about her but about us.

Happily, the ‘real’ Lolita can always be perfectly restored for anyone who cares to read or reread Nabokov’s novel. That experience is its own high reward as well as the most dependable antidote to the latest brazen, short-skirted, man-eating, teen mutant dreamed up and labeled with the L-word for screen, page, or stage.”

THE PERIPLUS OF HANNO – A voyage of discovery down the West African coast, by a Carthaginian admiral of the 5th century B.C., with explanatory passages quoted from numerous authors (trans. from the Greek by Wilfred H. Schoff), 1913.

To the Libyan regions of the earth beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which he dedicated also in the Temple of Baal, affixing this

1. It pleased the Carthaginians that Hanno should voyage outside the Pillars of Hercules, and found cities of the Libyphoenicians. And he set forth with 60 ships of 50 oars, and a multitude of men and women, to the number of 30,000, and with wheat and other provisions.

2. After passing through the Pillars we went on and sailed for 2 days’ journey beyond, where we founded the 1st city, which we called Thymiaterium; it lay in the midst of a great plain.

3. Sailing thence toward the west we came to Solois, a promontory of Libya, bristling with trees.

4. Having set up an alter here to Neptune, we proceeded again, going toward the east for half the day, until we reached a marsh lying no great way from the sea, thickly grown with tall reeds, Here also were elephants and other wild beasts feeding, in great numbers.

5. Going beyond the marsh a day’s journey, we settled cities by the sea, which we called Caricus Murus, Gytta, Acra, Melitta and Arambys.

6. Sailing thence we came to the Lixus, a great river flowing from Libya. By it a wandering people, the Lixitae, were pasturing their flocks; with whom we remained some time, becoming friends.

7. Above these folk lived unfriendly Aethiopians, dwelling in a land full of wild beasts, and shut off by great mountains, from which they say the Lixus flows, and on the mountains live men of various shapes, cave-dwellers, who, so the Lixitae say, are fleeter of foot than horses.

8. Taking interpreters from them, we sailed 12 days toward the south along a desert, turning thence toward the east one day’s sail. There, within the recess of a bay we found a small island, having a circuit of 15 stadia; which we settled and called it Cerne. From our journey we judged it to be situated opposite Carthage; for the voyage from Carthage to the Pillars and thence to Cerne was the same.

9. Thence, sailing by a great river whose name was Chretes, we came to a lake, which had 3 islands, larger than Cerne. Running a day’s sail beyond these, we came to the end of the lake, above which rose great mountains, peopled by savage men wearing skins of wild beasts, who threw stones at us and prevented us from landing from our ships.

10. Sailing thence, we came to another river, very great and broad, which was full of crocodiles and hippopotami. And then we turned about and went back to Cerne.

11. Thence we sailed toward the south 12 days, following the shore, which was peopled by Aethiopians who fled from us and would not wait. And their speech the Lixitae who were with us could not understand.

12. But on the last day we came to great wooded mountain. The wood of the trees was fragrant, and of various kinds.

13. Sailing around these mountains for 2 days, we came to an immense opening of the sea, from either side of which there was level ground island; from which at night we saw fire leaping up every side at intervals, now greater, now less.

14. Having taken in water there, we sailed along the shore for 5 days, until we came to a great bay, which our interpreters said was called Horn of the West. In it there was a large island, and within the island a lake of the sea, in which there was another island. Landing there during the day, we saw nothing but forests, but by night many burning fires, and we heard the sound of pipes and cymbals, and the noise of drums and a great uproar. Then fear possessed us, and the soothsayers commanded us to leave the island.

15. And then quickly sailing forth, we passed by a burning country full of fragrance, from which great torrents of fire flowed down to the sea. But the land could not be come at for the heat.

16. And we sailed along with all speed, being stricken by fear. After a journey of 4 days, we saw the land at night covered with flames. And in the midst there was one lofty fire, greater than the rest, which seemed to touch the stars. By day this was seen to be a very high mountain, called Chariot of the Gods.

17. Thence, sailing along by the fiery torrents for 3 days, we came to a bay called Horn of the South.

18. In the recess of this bay there was an island, like the former one, having a lake, in which there was another island, full of savage men. There were women, too, in even greater number. They had hairy bodies, and the interpreters called them Gorillae.¹ When we pursued them we were unable to take any of the men; for they all escaped, by climbing the steep places and defending themselves with stones; but we took 3 of the women, who bit and scratched their leaders, and would not follow us. [!!] So we killed them and flayed them, and brought their skins to Carthage. For we did not Voyage further, provisions failing us.

¹ Montesquieu comenta com muito humor no Espírito das Leis: os navegadores (ou o cronista!) pensaram haver se deparado com mulheres peludas, mas eram apenas primatas! Será o nome gorila, hoje utilizado, derivado dessa literatura?!

Toda essa expedição não foi além do contorno setentrional do continente africano!

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE VOYAGE OF HANNO

The Carthaginian colonies mentioned in this text can be identified only in the most general way with any existing settlement. They were destroyed and abandoned so many centuries ago that no traces are likely to remain, although the unsettled condition of the country, which has remained to the present time, has prevented any exploration of the interior or even of the coast itself.

§ 1. The Pillars of Hercules are, of course, the Straits of Gibraltar.

§ 2. The 1st city, called in the text Thymiaterium, is identified by Müller as Mehedia at the mouth of the Sbou River at about 34º 20’ N. The name of this city as we have it is a Greek corruption and to the eyes of various commentators suggests Dumathir – flat ground, or city of the plain. [Bolsominionlândia]

§ 3. The Promontory of Solois is probably the same as Cape Cantin at 32º 30’ N.

(…)

§ 5. The location of the 5 colonies mentioned in this paragraph is uncertain. Müller places the 1st at the ruins of Agouz, 32º 5’ at the mouth of the Tensift River. The 2nd perhaps at Mogador, 31º 30’. The 3rd at Agadir, 30º 25’. The 4th at the mouth of the Messa River, 30º 5’. The 5th, perhaps, at the mouth of the Gueder River, 29º 10’, or at Araouas, 29º.

§ 6. The Lixus River is quite certainly the modern Wadi Draa, emptying into the ocean at 28º 30’.

§ 8. The island of Cerne, lying in the recess of a bay, is identified with the modern Herne Island within the mouth of the Rio de Oro at about 23º 45’ N. The relative distances as mentioned in this paragraph from the Straits of Gibraltar to Carthage and to Herne Island respectively, are very nearly correct.

§ 9. The Chretes River Müller identifies with the modern St. Jean at 19º 25’, at the mouth of which the 3 islands exist as the text describes.

§ 10. The great river full of crocodiles and hippopotami is identified with the Senegal at about 16º 30’ N.

§§ 12 and 13. These great wooded mountains around which the expedition sailed, can be nothing but Cape Verde, and the immense opening of the sea is the mouth of the Gambia River at 13º 30’ N.

§ 14. The bay called Horn of the West reaches from 12º to 11º N. and the islands are the modern Bissagos.

§ 16. The high mountain called Chariot of the Gods, Müller identifies with Mt. Kakulima at 9º 30’ N.

§§ 17 and 18. The island enclosed within the bay called Horn of the South, it is now agreed by all commentators, is the modern Sherboro Sound in the British colony of Sierra Leone, about 7º 30’ N.

This identification of the places named in the text extends Hanno’s voyage about 29 degrees of latitude along the West African coast, or a total length outside of Gibraltar, following the direction of the shore line, of about 2600 miles.”

EDITIONS OF THE PERIPLUS OF HANNO

(From Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, I, 332-3)

The narrative of Hanno was certainly extant in Greek at an early period. It is cited in the work ascribed to Aristotle on Marvellous Narratives which belongs to the 3rd century; as well as by Mela, Pliny and many later writers; and Pliny expressly speaks of it as the source whence many Greek and Roman writers had derived their information, including, as he considered, many fables.”

The authenticity of the work may be considered as unquestionable. The internal evidence is conclusive upon that point. There is considerable doubt to the date of the voyage. On this point the narrative itself gives no information, [que belo diário de bordo!] and the name Hanno was very common at Carthage. (See Smith’s Dict. of Biog., Art. HANNO). But it has been generally agreed that this Hanno was either the father or the son of the Hamilcar who led the great Carthaginian expedition to Sicily in B.C. 480. In the former case the Periplus may be probably assigned to a date about 520; in the latter it must be brought down to about 470. This last view is that adopted by C. Müller in his edition of the Periplus (Geographi Graeci Minores, I, xxi-xxiv), where the whole subject is fully discussed; but as between him and his grandfather, the choice is hardly more than conjectural. M. Vivien de St. Martin prefers the date of 570, which had been previously adopted by Bougainville (Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions, xxviii, 287).

The Periplus of Hanno was 1st published at Basle in 1533 (as an appendix to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea), from a manuscript in the Heidelberg library (Cod. Pal. Graec., 398), the only one in which it is found. There have been numerous subsequent editions; of these the one by Falconer, 8vo, 1797, and Kluge, 8vo, Leipzig, 1829, are the most valuable. The treatise is also included in the editions of the Geographi Graeci Minores by Hudson, Gail and C. Müller. The valuable and elaborate commentary by the latest editor may be considered as in a great measure superseding all others. Besides all these editions, it has been made the subject of elaborate investigations by Gosselin, Bougainville, Major Rennell, Heeren, Ukert, Vivien de St. Martin and other geographical writers.” Cf. História da Geografia Antiga de Tozer (1897).

Indeed there are few ancient writings that have been the subject of more copious commentary in proportion to its very limited extent. The earliest of these commentaries, inserted by Ramusio in his collection of Voyages (Venice, 1550), is curious and interesting as being derived from Portuguese sources, who were in modern times the earliest explorers of these coasts.”

CARTHAGINIAN CHRONOLOGY

B.C. 2800 – Migration of the Phoenicians from the Persian Gulf to South Arabia and the Mediterranean, about Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean subject alternately to Babylon and Egypt.

1300 B.C. – Rise of Assyria, about Greek activity and extension of Israel.

circa 1183 B.C. – fall of Troy. [!]

1049-976 B.C. – Temporary weakness of both Assyria and Egypt makes possible the independence and alliance of Israel and Phoenicia.

~1000 B.C. – Phoenician colonies westward.

~868 B.C. – Founding of Carthage.

800-600 B.C. – At this period the Semitic commercial system centering in Mesopotamia, Phoenicia and Carthage controlled the trade of the world; continued expansion of Greece, and foundation of Greek colonies in Asia Minor and the Black Sea and westward in Italy, Sicily and Gaul.

753 B.C. – Founding of Rome [!]

650 B.C. – Decline of Assyria (…)

631 B.C. – Greek colony established at Cyrene in North Africa

(…)

606 B.C. – Fall of Nineveh

550 B.C. – Extension of Carthaginian dominions in Africa, Sicily and Sardinia.

549 B.C. – Defeat of the Carthaginians by the Greeks

548 B.C. – Fall of Babylon and rise of the Persian Empire

533 B.C. – War between Carthage and Syracuse for the possession of Sicily; Change of Carthaginian policy toward African tribes and enforcement of tribute.

528 B.C. – Rome under Etruscan kings extends its dominion in Italy

525 B.C. – Egypt conquered by the Persians

524 B.C. – Cyrene and Africa as far as the Carthaginian possessions conquered by the Persians

520 B.C. – Invasion of Italy by the Gauls

512 B.C. – Northern India conquered by the Persians

509 B.C. – Expulsion of the Tarquins and establishment of the Republic of Rome

(…)

490 B.C. – Marathon defeat [os gregos derrotam os persas]

480 B.C. – [Xerxes perde em duas frentes para os gregos na segunda guerra contra a confederação grega – Sicília e Salamina]

(…)

470 B.C. – Probable date of the Voyage of Hanno, marking the decline of Carthaginian supremacy in the northern Mediterranean and the movement to extend its trade westward by the Atlantic Ocean

390 B.C. – Invasion of Itlay by the Gauls, capture and destruction of Rome.

310 B.C. – [Romanos vencem os Etruscos]

(…)

275 B.C. – [Derrota de Pirro após invasão da Itália]

(…)

264-241 B.C. – [Primeiras Guerras Púnicas – Roma X Cartago – Cartago perde a Sicília]

218-201 B.C. – [Segundas Guerras Púnicas – Roma toma a Espanha, a Sardenha e a Córsega]

149-146 B.C. – [Terceiras Guerras Púnicas – derrota definitiva, Cartago é dizimada.]

A.D. 13 – [Roma consuma sua expansão de boa parte do mundo conhecido, controlando o Mediterrâneo – mesmo ano da morte de Augusto César]

THE “BURNING COUNTRY” OF §§14-16

Mungo Park (Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa. London, 1799: Chap. 20) thus describes the burning of the grass in the dry season in Senegambia:

The termination of the rainy season is likewise attended with violent tornadoes; after which the wind shifts to the northeast, and continues to blow from that quarter during the rest of the year. . . . The grass soon becomes dry and withered, the rivers subside very rapidly, and many of the trees shed their leaves. . . . This wind, in passing over the great desert of Sahara, acquires a very strong attraction for humidity, and parches up everything exposed to the current. . . . Whenever the grass is sufficiently dry, the Negroes set it on fire; but in Ludamar and other Moorish countries this practice is not allowed, for it is on the withered stubble that the Moors feed their cattle until the return of the rains. The burning of the grass in Manding exhibits a scene of terrific grandeur. In the middle of the night I could see the plains and mountains, as far as my eye could reach, variegated with lines of fire; and the light reflected on the sky made the heavens appear in a blaze. In the daytime pillars of smoke were seen in every direction; while the birds of prey were observed hovering round the conflagration and pouncing down upon the snakes, lizards and other reptiles, which attempted to escape from the flames. This annual burning is soon followed by a fresh and sweet verdure, and the country is thereby rendered more healthful and pleasant.” [!!!]

CARTHAGE AND THE CARTHAGINIANS (by BOSWORTH SMITH, 1877)

The land-locked sea, the eastern extremity of which washes the shores of Phoenicia proper, connecting as it does 3 continents, and abounding in deep gulfs, in fine harbors, and in fertile islands, seems to have been intended by nature for the early development of commerce and colonization. By robbing the ocean of half its mystery and more than half its terrors, it allured the timid mariner, even as the eagle does her young, from headland on to headland, or from islet to islet, till it became the highway of the nations of the ancient world; and the products of each of the countries whose shores it laves became the common property of all.” O único e verdadeiro mercantilismo!

Etruscos, os primeiros piratas.

Even Egypt, with her immemorial antiquity and her exclusive civilization, deigned to open an emporium at Naucratis (550 BC) for the ships and commerce of the Greeks, creatures of yesterday as they must have seemed in comparison with her.” Ecos do Timeu-Crítias.

But (…) it is to the Phoenicians that unquestionably belongs the foremost place. In the dimmest dawn of history, many centuries before the Greeks had set foot in Asia Minor or in Italy, before even they had settled down in secure possession of their own territories, we hear of Phoenician settlements in Asia Minor and in Greece itself, in Africa, in Macedon, and in Spain. There is hardly an island in the Mediterranean which has not preserved some traces of these early visitors (…) all have either yielded Phoenician coins and inscriptions, have retained Phoenician proper names and legends, or possess mines, long, perhaps, disused, but which worked as none but Phoenicians ever worked them.”

The rising African factory was known to its inhabitants by the name of Kirjath-Hadeschath, or New Town, to distinguish it from the much older settlement of Utica, of which it may have been, to some extent, an offshoot. The Greeks, when they came to know of its existence, called it Karchedon, and the Romans Carthago. The date of its foundation is uncertain; but the current tradition refers it to a period about 100 years before the founding of Rome.”

Her inhabitants cultivated friendly relations with the natives, looked upon themselves as tenants at will rather than owners of the soil, and, as such, cheerfully paid a rent to the African Berbers for the ground covered by their dwellings. Thus much, if thus much only, of truth is contained in the legend of Dido, which, adorned as it has been by the genius of Virgil, and resting in part on early local traditions, must always remain indissolubly bound up with the name of Carthage.

It was the instinct of self-preservation alone which, in the course of the 6th century, dictated a change of policy at Carthage, and transformed her peace-loving mercantile community into the war-like and conquering state, of which the whole of the western Mediterranean was so soon to feel the power. A people far less keen-sighted than the Phoenicians must have discerned that it was their very existence which was at sake; at all events, unless they were willing to be dislodged from Africa and Sicly and Spain, as they had already been dislodged by the flood of Hellenic colonization, they must alter their policy. Accordingly they joined hands with their inveterate enemies, the Etruscans, to prevent a threatened settlement of some exiled Phocaeans on the important island of Corsica. In Africa they took up arms to make the inhabitants of Cyrene feel that it was towards Egypt or the interior, not towards Carthage, that they must look for an extension of their boundaries; and in Sicily, by withdrawing half voluntarily from the eastern side of the island in which the Greeks had settled, they tightened their grip upon the western portion which, as being nearer to Carthage, was more important to them, and where the original Phoenician settlements of Panormus, Motye and Soloeis had been planted.

The result of this change of policy was that the western half of the Mediterranean became, with one exception, what the whole of it had once bidden fair to be – a Phoenician lake, in which no foreign merchantmen dared to show themselves.”

No promontory was so barren, no islet so insignificant, as to escape the jealous and ever watchful eye of the Carthaginians.”

theirs the tiny Elba, with its inexhaustible supply of metals”

The Nomadic tribes were beaten back beyond the river Triton into the country named, from the roving habits of its inhabitants, Numidia, or into the desert of Tripolis” “The agricultural tribes were forced to pay tribute to the conquerors for the right of cultivating their own soil or to shed their blood on the field of battle in the prosecution of further conquests from the tribes beyond.”

Utica alone, owing probably to her antiquity and to the semi-parental relation in which she stood to Carthage, was allowed to retain her walls and full equality of rights with the rising power; but Hippo Zarytus, and Adrumetum, the greater and the lesser Leptis, were compelled to pull down their walls and acknowledge the supremacy of the Carthaginian city.”

Os “Libyphoenicians” citados logo no 1º parágrafo do manuscrito nada mais são do que os descendentes da miscigenação dos fenícios e cartagineses comerciando desde sempre nessas regiões mais remotas e dos nativos. Espécies de ‘neo-brasileiros’, fazendo uma comparação grosseira com a situação da nossa colonização por Portugal.

equidistant from the Berbers on the one hand, and from the Carthaginians proper on the other, and composed of those who were neither wholly citizens nor yet wholly aliens, experienced the lot of most half castes, and were alternately trusted and feared, pampered and oppressed, loved and hated, by the ruling state.”

Havia dois supremos magistrados simultâneos de acordo com os comentários de Aristóteles, provavelmente em derivação da constituição de Tiro. Esse cargo seria o mesmo dos Shofetim (do hebraico), erroneamente traduzidos, segundo o autor, para Juízes em nossa tradição bíblica.

Ou seja: Amílcares e Hanons das linhagens cartaginesas eram os protótipos do que ficamos conhecendo como Gideões e Sansões do Livro dos Juízes; eram menos juízes propriamente ditos do que protetores (função executivo-legislativa) de seus respectivos Estados. Os gregos comparam tal instituição aos dois reis espartanos; os romanos, aos seus próprios cônsules. Nos tempos mais remotos este era um cargo vitalício, e não uma eleição de período curto. Nesse sentido eles parecem mais os sacerdotes religiosos de ambas as nações (Grécia e Roma).

Carthage was, beyond doubt, the richest city of antiquity. Her ships were to be found on all known seas, and there was probably no important product, animal, vegetable, or mineral, of the ancient world, which did not find its way into her harbours and pass through the hands of her citizens. Her commercial policy was not more far-sighted or more liberal than has been that of other commercial stated, even till very modern times.” Liberal, rsrs.

Colônia nunca será metrópole, como empregado nunca será patrão e servo jamais será senhor.

But the most important factor in the history of a people – especially if it be a Semitic people – is its religion. The religion of the Carthaginians was what their race, their language and their history would lead us to expect. It was, with slight modification, the religion of the Canaanites, the religion, that is, which, in spite of the purer Monotheism of the Hebrews and the higher teaching of their prophets, so long exercised a fatal fascination over the great bulk of the Hebrew race. The Phoenician religion has been defined to be ‘a deification of the powers of Nature, which naturally developed into an adoration of the objects in which those powers seemed most active.’ Of this adoration the Sun and Moon were the primary objects. The Sun can either create or destroy, he can give life or take it away. The Moon is his consort; she can neither create nor destroy, but she can receive and develop, and, as the queen of night, she presides alike over its stillness and its orgies. Each of these ruling deities, Baal-Moloch or the Sun-god and the horned Astarte or the crescent Moon worshipped at Carthage, it would seem, under the name of Tanith, would thus have an ennobling as well as a degrading, a more cheerful as well as a more gloomy aspect. Unfortunately, it was the gloomy and debasing side of their worship which tended to predominate alike in Phoenicia proper and in the greatest of the Phoenician colonies.

But there was one of these inferior gods who stood in such a peculiar relation to Carthage, and whose worship seems to have been so much more genial and so much more spiritual than the rest, that we are fain to dwell upon it as a foil to what has preceded. This god was Melcarth, that is Melech-Kirjath, or the king of the city; he is called by the Greeks ‘the Phoenician Hercules’, and his name itself has passed, with a slight alteration, into Greek mythology as Melicertes. The city of which he was preeminently the god was Tyre.”

At Carthage Melcarth had not even a temple. The whole city was his temple, and he refused to be localized in any particular part of it. He received, there is a reason to believe, no sacrifices of blood; and was his comparatively pure and spiritual worship which, as we see repeatedly in Carthaginian history, formed a chief link in the chain that bound the parent to the various daughter-cities scattered over the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean.”

Hamilcar is he whom Melcarth protects; Hasdrubal is he whose help is in Baal; Hannibal, the Hanniel of the Bible, the grace of Baal; and so on with Bomilcar, Himilco, Ethbaal, Maherbal, Adherbal, and Mastanabal.”

If we know little of the rich, how much less do we know of the poor of Carthage and her dependencies? The city population, with the exception—a large exception doubtless —of those engaged in commerce, well contented, as it would seem, like the Romans under the Empire, if nothing deprived them of their bread and their amusement, went on eating and marrying and multiplying until their numbers became excessive, and then they were shipped of by the prudence of their rulers to found colonies in other parts of Africa or in Spain.” Tão divertido que haja racistas na Europa, esse “depósito” de civilizações tão mais antigas!

To so vast an extent did Carthage carry out the modern principle of relieving herself of a superfluous population and at the same time of extending her empire, by colonization, that, on one occasion, the admiral Hanno, whose ‘Periplus’ still remains, was dispatched with sixty ships of war of fifty oars each, and with a total of not less than 30,000 half-caste emigrants on board, [provado pelo fato de o cronista citar ‘mulheres’ a bordo, o que mostra que não era apenas uma expedição conquistadora ou meramente exploradora] for the purpose of founding colonies on the shores of the ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules.” Ironia terem voltado apenas com a pele de três macacas!

But the document recording this voyage is of an interest so unique, being the one relic of Carthaginian literature which has come down to us entire, that we must dwell for a moment on its contents. It was posted up by the admiral himself, as a thank-offering, in the temple of Baal, on his return from his adventurous voyage, the first attempt, made by the Phoenicians to reach the equator from the northwest of Africa. It is preserved to us in a Greek translation only, the work probably of some inquisitive Greek traveller, some nameless Herodotus who went wandering over the world like his matchless fellow-countryman, his note-book always in his hand, and always jotting down everything that was of interest to himself, or might be of importance to posterity.”

There was in Libya—so the Carthaginians told Herodotus—beyond the Pillars of Hercules, an inhabited region where they used to unload their cargoes, and leave them on the beach. After they had returned to their ships and kindled a fire there, the natives seeing the rising column of smoke, ventured down to the beach, and depositing by the merchandise what they considered to be its equivalent in gold, withdrew in their turn to their homes. Once more the Carthaginians disembarked, and if they were satisfied with the gold they found, they carried it off with them, and the dumb bargain was complete. If not, they returned a second time to their ships to give the natives the chance of offering more. The law of honor was strictly observed by both parties; for neither would the Carthaginians touch the gold till it amounted, in their opinion, to the full value of the merchandise; nor would the natives touch the merchandise till the Carthaginians had clinched the transaction by carrying off the gold.

This strange story, long looked upon as fabulous, has, like many other strange stories in Herodotus, been proved by the concurrent testimony of modern travelers to be an accurate account of the dumb trade which still exists in many parts of Africa, and which traversing even the Great Desert, brings the Marroquin into close commercial relations with the Negro, and supplies the great Mohammedan kingdoms of the Soudan with the products of the Mediterranean. It proves also that the gold-fields of the Niger, so imperfectly known to us even now, were well known to the Carthaginians, and that the gold-dust with which the natives of Ashanti lately purchased the retreat of the European invader was the recognized medium of exchange in the days of the father of history.”

The taxes paid by the natives sometimes amounted to a half of their whole produce, and among the Phoenician dependent cities themselves we know that the lesser Leptis alone paid into the Carthaginian treasury the sum of a talent daily. The tribute levied on the conquered Africans was paid in kind, as is the case with the rayahs of Turkey to the present day, and its apportionment and collection were doubtless liable to the same abuses and gave rise to the same enormities as those of which Europe has lately heard so much. Hence arose that universal disaffection, or rather that deadly hatred, on the part of her foreign subjects, and even of the Phoenician dependencies, towards Carthage on which every invader of Africa could safely count as his surest support. Hence the ease with which Agathocles, with his small army of 15,000 men, could overrun the open country, and the monotonous uniformity with which he entered, one after another, 200 towns, which Carthaginian jealousy had deprived of their walls, hardly needing to strike a blow. Hence, too, the horrors of the revolt of the outraged Libyan mercenaries, supported as it was by the free-will contributions of their golden ornaments by the Libyan women, who hated their oppressors as perhaps women only can, and which is known in history by the name of the ‘War without Truce’, or the ‘Inexpiable War’.

It must, however, he borne in mind that the inherent differences of manners, language, and race between the natives of Africa and the Phoenician incomer were so great; the African was so unimpressible, and the Phoenician was so little disposed to understand, or to assimilate himself to his surroundings, that even if the Carthaginian government had been conducted with any equity, and the taxes levied with a moderation which we know was far from being the case, a gulf profound and impassable must probably have always separated the two peoples. This was the fundamental, the ineradicable weakness of the Carthaginian Empire, and in the long run outbalanced all the advantages obtained for her by her natives, her ports and her well-stocked treasury”

Men are we, and must grieve when e’en the name

Of that which once was great has passed away.

But if under the conditions of ancient society, and the savagery of the warfare which is tolerated, there was an unavoidable necessity for either Rome or Carthage to perish utterly, we must admit, in spite of the sympathy which the brilliancy of the Carthaginian civilization, the heroism of Hamilcar and Hannibal, and the tragic catastrophe itself call forth, that it was well for the human race that the blow fell on Carthage rather than on Rome. A universal Carthaginian empire could have done for the world, as far as we can see, nothing comparable to that which the Roman universal empire did for it. It would not have melted down national antipathies, it would not have given a common literature or language, it would not have prepared the way for a higher civilization and an infinitely purer religion. Still less would it have built up that majestic fabric of law which forms the basis of the legislation of all the states of Modern Europe and America.” Certamente depois do século XIX nós já não temos o cacife de fazer afirmações tão decisórias!

PHOENICIANS AND CARTHAGINIANS

O pai confinado e sua descendência aventureira…

The Phoenicians for some centuries confined their navigation within the limits of the Mediterranean, the Propontis, and the Euxine, land-locked seas, which are tideless and far less rough than the open ocean. But before the time of Solomon they had passed the Pillars of Hercules and affronted the dangers of the Atlantic. Their frail and small vessels, scarcely bigger than modern fishing-smacks, proceeded southwards along the West African coast, as far as the tract watered by the Gambia and Senegal, while northwards they coasted along Spain, braved the heavy seas of the Bay of Biscay, and passing Cape Finisterre, ventured across the mouth of the English Channel to the Cassiterides. Singularly, from the West African shore, they boldly steered for the Fortunate Islands (the Canaries), visible from certain elevated points of the coast, though at 170 miles distance. Whether they proceeded further, in the south to the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape Verde Islands, in the north to the coast of Holland, and across the German Ocean to the Baltic, we regard as uncertain. It is possible that from time to time some of the more adventurous of their traders may have reached thus far; but their regular, settled and established navigation did not, we believe, extend beyond the Scilly Islands and coast of Cornwall to the northwest, and to the southwest Cape Non and the Canaries.”

It appears from the famous chapter Ezekiel 27, which describes the richness and greatness of Tyre in the 6th century B.C, that almost the whole of Western Asia was penetrated by the Phoenician caravans, and laid under contribution to increase the wealth of the Phoenician trader.”

Translating this glorious burst of poetry into prose, we find the following countries mentioned as carrying on an active trade with the Phoenician metropolis: Northern Syria, Syria of Damascus, Judah and the land of Israel, Egypt, Arabia, Babylonia, Assyria, Upper Mesopotamia, Armenia, Central Asia Minor, Ionia, Cyprus, Hellas or Greece, and Spain.—G. Rawlinson, History of Phoenicia, ch. 9.”

the rise of the Greek maritime settlements banished their commerce to a great degree from the Aegean Sea, and embarrassed it even in the more westerly waters.”

And as neither Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians or Indians addressed themselves to a sea-faring life, so it seems that both the importation and the distribution of the products of India and Arabia into Western Asia and Europe were performed by the Idumaean Arabs between Petra and the Red Sea—by the Arabs of Gerrha on the Persian Gulf, joined as they were in later times by a body of Chaldaean exiles from Babylonia—-and by the more enterprising Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon in these two seas as well as in the Mediterranean.—G. Grote, History of Greece, pt. 2, ch. 18.”

The goods with which the Carthaginian merchants traded with the African tribes were doubtless such as those which civilized nations have always used in their dealings with savages. Cheap finery, gaudily colored clothes, and arms of inferior quality, would probably be their staple. Salt, too, would be an important article. . . . The articles which they would receive in exchange for their goods are easily enumerated. In the first place comes . . . gold. Carthage seems to have had always at hand an abundant supply of the precious metal for use, whether as money or as plate. Next to gold would come slaves. . . . Ivory must have been another article of Carthaginian trade, though we hear little about it. The Greeks used it extensively in art. . . . Precious stones seem to have been another article which the savages gave in exchange for the goods they coveted. . . . Perhaps we may add dates to the list of articles obtained from the interior. The European trade dealt, of course, partly with the things already mentioned, and partly with other articles for which the Carthaginian merchants acted as carriers, so to speak, from one part of the Mediterranean to another. Lipara, and the other volcanic islands near the extremity of Italy, produced resin; Agrigentum, and possibly other cities of Sicily, traded in sulphur brought down from the region of Etna; wine was produced in many of the Mediterranean countries. Wax and honey were the staple goods of Corsica. Corsican slaves, too, were highly valued. The iron of Elba, the fruit and the cattle of the Balearic islands, and to go further, the tin and copper of Britain, and even amber from the Baltic, were articles of Carthaginian commerce. Trade was carried on not only with the dwellers on the coast, but with inland tribes. Thus goods were transported across Spain to the interior of Gaul, the jealousy of Massilia (Marseilles) not permitting the Carthaginians to have any trading stations on the northern coast of that country.—A.J. Church & A. Filman, The Story of Carthage, pt. 3, ch. 3.”

THE DOMINION OF CARTHAGE

All our positive information, scanty as it is, about Carthage and her institutions, relates to the fourth, third and second centuries B.C.; yet it may be held to justify presumptive conclusions as to the fifth century B.C., especially in reference to the general system pursued. The maximum of her power was attained before her first war with Rome, which began in 364 B.C.; the first and second Punic wars both of them greatly reduced her strength and dominion. Yet in spite of such reduction we learn that about 150 B.C. shortly before the third Punic war, which ended in the capture and depopulation of the city, not less than 700,000 were computed in it, as occupants of a fortified circumference of above 20 miles, covering a peninsula with its isthmus. Upon this isthmus its citadel Byrsa was situated, surrounded by a triple wall of its own, and crowned at its summit by a magnificent temple of Esculapius [deus da medicina, de origem grega]. The numerous population is the more remarkable, since Utica (a considerable city, colonized from Phoenicia more anciently than even Carthage itself, and always independent of the Carthaginians, though in the condition of an inferior and discontented ally) was within the distance of 7 miles of Carthage on the one side, and Tunis seemingly not much further off on the other. Even at that time, too, the Carthaginians are said to have possessed 300 tributary cities in Libya. Yet this was but a small fraction of the prodigious empire which had belonged to them certainly in the fourth century B.C., and in all probability also between 480-410 B.C.”

A chosen division of 2,500 citizens, men of wealth and family, formed what was called the Sacred Band of Carthage, distinguished for their bravery in the field as well as for the splendour of their arms, and the gold and silver plate which formed part of their baggage.” Longe de ser uma potência militarista, ao menos no que tange à infantaria…

We shall find these citizen troops occasionally employed on service in Sicily; but most part of the Carthaginian army consists of Gauls, Iberians, Libyans, etc., a mingled host got together for the occasion, discordant in language as well as in customs.—G. Grote, History of Greece, pt. 2, ch. 81.”

THE NEGRITOS (THE HAIRY PEOPLE OF §18)

We have seen that the African pygmies probably reached Europe during the Stone Ages, and were certainly frequent visitors at the Courts of the Pharaohs. At present they are all denizens of the woodlands, everywhere keeping to the shelter of the Welle, Ituri, Ruwenzori, Congo, and Ogoway forests within the tropics. To this may be due the fact that they are not black but of a yellowish colour, with reddish-brown woolly head, somewhat hairy body, and extremely low stature ranging from 3 ft. (Lugard) to perhaps 4 ft. 6 in. at most.” Tudo isso me parece muito fabuloso para ainda ser crível na historiografia contemporânea!

The hirsuteness and dwarfish size were already noticed 2,500 years ago by the Carthaginian Admiral Hanno, to whom we owe the term gorilla applied by him, not to the anthropoid ape so named by Du Chaillu, but to certain hairy little people seen by him on the west coast—probably the ancestors of the dwarfs still surviving in the Ogoway district.

Here they are called Abongo and Obongo, and elsewhere are known by different names—Tikitiki, Akka, or Wochua in the Welle region, Dume in Gallaland, Wandorobo in Masailand, Batwa south of the Congo, and many others. Dr. Ludwig Wolf connects the Batwa both with the northern Akka and the southern Bushmen, all being the scattered fragments of a primeval dwarfish race to be regarded as the true aborigines of equatorial Africa. They live exclusively by the chase and the preparation of palm-wine, hence are regarded by their Bantu friends as benevolent little people whose special mission is to provide the surrounding tribes with game and palm-wine in exchange for manioc, maize, and bananas. Many are distinguished by sharp powers of observation, amazing talent for mimicry, and a good memory. Junker describes the comic ways and nimble action of an Akka who imitated with marvelous fidelity the peculiarities of persons he had once seen—Moslems at prayer, Emin Pasha with his ‘four eyes’ (spectacles), another in a towering rage, storming and abusing everybody, and Junker himself, ‘whom he took off to the life, rehearsing down to the minutest details, and with surprising accuracy, my anthropometric performance when measuring his body at Rumbek 4 years before.’—A.H. Keane, The World’s Peoples, 148-9.”

The cranes go up as far as the lakes above Egypt, where the Nile originates; there the pygmies are living; and this is not a fable, but pure truth; men and horses are, as they say, of small stature, and live in grottoes.” Aristóteles

2,600 years ago his ancestors captured the 5 young Nassamonian explorers, and made merry with them at their villages on the banks of the Niger. Even as long as 4,000 ago they were known as pygmies, and the famous battle between them and the storks was rendered into song. On every map since Hecatseus’ time, 500 years B.C, they have been located in the region of the Mountains of the Moon. When Mesu led the children of Jacob out of Goshen, they reigned over Darkest Africa undisputed lords: they are there yet, while countless dynasties of Egypt and Assyria, Persia, Greece and Rome, have flourished for comparatively brief periods, and expired. And these little people have roamed far and wide during the elapsed centuries. From the Niger banks, with successive waves of larger migrants, they have come hither to pitch their leafy huts in the unknown recesses of the forest. Their kinsmen are known as Bushmen in Cape Colony, as Watwa in the basin of the Lulungu, as Akka in Monbuttu, as Balia by the Mabode, as Wambutti in the Ihuru basin, and as Batwa under the shadows of the Lunae Montes.” H.M. Stanley, In Darkest Africa, Vol. 2

PEDOPHILIA AND ADULT-CHILD SEX: A Philosophical Analysis – Stephen Kershnar

INTRODUCTION

Parents value diversity in schools as a way of teaching their children how to interact with people from different racial and ethnic groups. The more diverse the high school, the more students self-segregate by race within the school and the fewer interracial friends they have. That is, more diversity leads to more racial division.” “People assume that racism has to be learned. There is evidence that babies prefer interactions with people of their own race and pre-school children have striking racial preferences. A plausible explanation of this is that there is a genetic preference toward members of the same race. F.E. Aboud, Children and Prejudice (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1989).”

One in a million children is abducted. On average, if one wanted her child to be kidnapped and held overnight by a stranger, she’d have to leave the child outside and unattended for 750,000 years. That is a 5% of the rate of drowning and a 2,5% of the risk of a fatal car accident.”

Even commonly believed dangers turn out to be false. Despite urban myths about poisoned candies and apples with razor blades, no child has ever been killed or seriously injured by Halloween treats.”

Consider concern for ritual or satanic abuse. In the 80s and early 90s, there were many stories and discussions in the media of ritual or satanic abuse of children. There were high-profile prosecutions in California, Minnesota, and Nebraska in the 80s. The most famous was the outrageous McMartin preschool case that was the focus of two different CBS 60 Minutes stories. The concern for such abuse was so widespread that it was respectfully discussed in a number of major magazines and television news shows. It was respectfully discussed in professional psychiatric and psychological journals. It also was the focus of a number of fiction and non-fiction books. The notion that satanic or ritual child abuse took place was a myth and the trials turned out to be witch hunts. A 1994 National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect–sponsored study of allegations of ritualistic sexual abuse found not a single case of group-organized sexual abuse.” “This led to debunking articles in high-profile magazines such as New Yorker, Harper’s, National Review, Vanity Fair, Redbook, Mother Jones, Village Voice, and Playboy.”

SÓ ACONTECE MERDA QUANDO FREUD VOLTA À MODA: “In the 80s, the use of recovered memories to discover sexual abuse of children grew rapidly. More than 20 states changed their laws to better allow the treatment to be used in prosecutions. Later, experts strongly criticized this treatment as unreliable and eventually this criticism was covered in mainstream periodicals such as The New York Times, Time, and Newsweek; news programs such as ABC’s 20/20 and Primetime Live; and a number of books. (…) The treatment eventually looked absurd as patients ‘recovered’ memories of being abducted by alien beings and UFOs.”

Positive and neutral responses to adult-child sex. A significant number of the boy and girl participants in adult-child sex have positive or neutral responses to it, although many had a negative response as well. In discussions of it in the major media, or even around the watercooler, [papos informais, ‘conversa de bebedouro’!] as far as I can tell, this fact about it never comes up.”

Contrary to popular belief, Levine states that the vast majority of criminal-pedophiles do not ravage small children. Rather, they look at child pornography. They’re not even true pedophiles in that their desired objects are adolescents. They are hebephiles.”

If studies about childhood sexuality are strongly counterintuitive and most of us do not have much experience with childhood sexuality (nor have we heard many first-hand accounts), then we do not have much specialized knowledge about children’s sexuality.”

In chapter 1, I argue that a pedophile(*) is a person who has frequent and intense pedophilic desires(**) concerning individuals who appear to be in a pre-pubescent stage. This analysis excludes those who sexually desire children who look like adults and includes those who sexually desire those who are not children but look like them. This definition has several advantages over the clinical definition found in the fourth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, although the latter’s defects might be the price for an operational definition. This definition allows non-pedophiles to have infrequent or weak pedophilic desires.

(*) A person has pedophilia if and only if he has relatively frequent and intense pedophilic desires.

(**) A pedophilic desire is an inclination in an adult to have sex with a child.”

There are several reasons to believe that pedophilia has an evolutionary explanation.” “If a feature is widespread and persists over evolutionary development, then it probably has some connection or compatibility with fitness-enhancing genes, however indirect. All conditions are present to some degree, although there is less evidence for pedophilia being widespread in our culture than its occurring across humans in other cultures and times and in apes. In the end, there is evidence against its being a dysfunction, but it is not strong.” Todos os termos nesse livro são frouxos e abstratos: several reasons, widespread, probably, indirect, to some degree, not strong… Como são quantitativa e qualitativamente essas palavras? Jamais saberemos.

1. PEDOPHILIA AND ADULT-CHILD SEX

Pedophilic desires are distinct from hebephilia, which is the desire to have sex with pubescent individuals (roughly, ages 13 to 16). The boundaries here are not clear because there is some evidence that men find youthful women to be sexually attractive (roughly age 17) and there is some evidence that many prefer youthful women to women of other ages. Such women are just outside the ordinary range for hebephilic desires and in some cases might not be distinguishable. Because of the widespread nature of this desire and because a similar pattern is found among other primates, it is likely that the desire for young fertile females is at least in part genetic.”

One study found 99% of child molesters are men.” Finalmente algo mais concreto!

a child might be defined in physical (specifically pre-pubescent stage), mental, or chronological terms. For the purposes of pedophilia, a child should be defined in physical terms. Consider a 7-year-old who due to a genetic abnormality looks and sounds like a curvaceous 20-year-old. We would not label an adult a pedophile just because he is attracted to her. The same is true if she also has the mental ability of a 7-year-old. Nor would we think that an adult is a pedophile just because he is attracted to a developmentally disabled (retarded) 20-year-old, even if the woman has the mental age of a 7-year-old.”

Next consider a 20-year-old who due to a genetic abnormality looks and sounds like a 7-year-old. We would think that someone is a pedophile if he is attracted to her and he has relatively frequent and intense similar desires. An interesting portrayal of a woman who appears much younger is found in a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode (8×2, 2006) that focuses on a woman with Turner syndrome.”

Under the DSM-IV-TR 302.2, the specific criteria for pedophilia are the following.

1. Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger);

2. The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty;

3. The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in the first criterion.”

Unlike the 2nd condition, my definition is compatible with the notion that a pedophile might have neither acted on his pedophilic desires nor does it cause him distress or interpersonal difficulty, and this seems intuitively correct. One can imagine a pedophile who fantasizes about having sex with children but does not act on it for moral reasons or because he fears the harsh punishment that would follow were he caught. Similarly, one can imagine a pedophile, perhaps with a psychopathic personality, for whom the desires cause neither distress nor interpersonal difficulty. We can further imagine a psychopath who has the desire but does not act on it for fear of punishment and yet does not suffer distress or interpersonal difficulty.”

my definition does not allow for mere fantasies with regard to adult-child sex. The fantasy condition is too broad because not all fantasies are sexual and because a fantasy might not involve or be connected to the subject being sexually aroused by adult-child sex. For example, it is at least possible that a person fantasizes about watching adult-child sex with his gay lover because the lover enjoys it and it leads to great sex between the lover and the person having the fantasy.”

Lastly, the 5-year difference is irrelevant. It is possible that a 20-year-old looks and sounds like a 7-year-old. Another 20-year-old who was attracted to her would be a pedophile even though he would not satisfy the 5-years-older requirement. The 16-years-or-older requirement depends on whether individuals become adults at 16. If this is mistaken, then this minimum age requirement is also mistaken.

Consider, for example, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), which portrays a prostitute having sex with a young towel boy at a brothel. If the actress playing the prostitute had sex with the boy to make the film more realistic but did not desire him, then this would not have been an instance of pedophilic or hebephilic sex because of the absence of desire.

This account does not require that pedophiles be more aroused by children than adults or that they prefer sex with children rather than adults. That is, it does not require pedophilia to be a primary sexual orientation. Sexual preference for children over adults is required for pedophilia if it is viewed as a type of sexual orientation. The idea here is that our interest is in assessing people who are often sexually aroused by children regardless of what else arouses them.”

For the purposes of this publication the term ‘pedophile’ when used will be defined as a significantly older individual who prefers to have sex with individuals legally considered children. Pedophiles are individuals whose erotic imagery and sexual fantasies focus on children. They do not settle for child victims, but, in fact, clearly prefer to have sex with children. The law, not puberty, will determine who is a child.

The above definition, which comes from the U.S. Department of Justice, has a practical purpose (law enforcement) that likely explains its adoption. This definition makes it arbitrary how the state should define ‘child’. Were the State to define Asian women in their 20s as children, adults who have sexual relations with them would be pedophiles. Also, if the law were to change, then a person could go from being a pedophile to not being one without any change in his intrinsic properties. Both results are absurd.”

Genital contact is not necessary for sex because of the possibility of parallel sexual acts. Consider, for example, cybersex.”

2. PEDOPHILIA AND MENTAL DISORDER

In this chapter, I argue that pedophilia is not a mental disorder. Before looking at the argument, we might consider why this issue matters. The moral status of an act is independent of whether it springs from a disorder. For example, a hypochondriac who steals medicine to treat himself acts wrongly even if the theft was motivated in part by his hypochondria.” Comparação esdrúxula. Atos sexuais pedófilos continuam sendo crime, “pedofilia” continua sendo distúrbio psiquiátrico e impune se se atém à imaginação do paciente.

If pedophilia is a disorder, then it is likely permissible to encourage pedophiles to get treatment for it, assuming effective treatment is available.” Seria bom, né!

Fourth, if pedophilia is a disorder, then we should try to eradicate its causes or ameliorate its effects.” Um pouco mais difícil que a alternativa acima…

(…)

Abandonei por ser uma leitura fraca. Nada de “philosophical analysis”: texto jurídico-formal enfadonho…