Villain hitting
Encyclopedia
Villain hitting, Da Siu Yan (打小人) or demon exorcising is a folk sorcery
popular in the Guangdong
area of China
and Hong Kong
. Its purpose is to curse one's enemies using magic. Villain hitting is often considered a humble career, and the ceremony is often performed by older ladies.
Dualism
is mainstream in the traditional Chinese world view
, and many different kinds of folk sorcery beliefs derive from this view. The concept of Villain (小人) and Gui Ren comes as a result of this yin and yang
world view.
is the most popular date. According to some folklore, Jingzhe is the date when the whole of creation is awakened by thunder. As a result, different kinds of foul spirits including byakko
and villains become active. Consequently, villain hitting on this day serves to prevent those harmful to others.
and Wan Chai
is a popular place for villain hitting. There are many villain hitters here especially on Jingzhe
.
. Retrieved 12 June 2006.Villain hitting中國文化中心古代詛咒術「打小人」解構打小人 文化廣場
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
popular in the Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
area of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. Its purpose is to curse one's enemies using magic. Villain hitting is often considered a humble career, and the ceremony is often performed by older ladies.
Villain
The concept of "villain" is divided into two types: specific villain and general villain.Specific Villain
Specific villains are individuals cursed by the villain hitter due to the hatred of their enemies who employ the hitter. A villain could be a famous person hated by the public such as a politician or could be personally known to their enemy, such as when the request is to curse a love rival.General Villain
Villain hitters may help their clients curse a general villain: a group of people potentially harmful to the clients.Dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
is mainstream in the traditional Chinese world view
World view
A comprehensive world view is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the entirety of the individual or society's knowledge and point-of-view, including natural philosophy; fundamental, existential, and normative postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and...
, and many different kinds of folk sorcery beliefs derive from this view. The concept of Villain (小人) and Gui Ren comes as a result of this yin and yang
Yin and yang
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...
world view.
Date
The period for villain hitting is different among temples, but JingzheJingzhe
Jīngzhé or Keichitsu is the 3rd of 24 solar terms in the traditional East Asian calendars. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 345° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 360°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial...
is the most popular date. According to some folklore, Jingzhe is the date when the whole of creation is awakened by thunder. As a result, different kinds of foul spirits including byakko
Byakko
Byakko may refer to:* White Tiger , one of the divisions in the sky in traditional Chinese astronomy* Byakko , an anthropomorphic white tiger demon character in YuYu Hakusho...
and villains become active. Consequently, villain hitting on this day serves to prevent those harmful to others.
Location
Villain hitting is often done in gloomy places such as somewhere under an overpass. In Hong Kong, the Canal Road Flyover between Causeway BayCauseway Bay
Causeway Bay is a heavily built-up area of Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, located on the Hong Kong Island, and covering parts of Wan Chai and Eastern districts. The Chinese name is also romanized as Tung Lo Wan as in Tung Lo Wan Road...
and Wan Chai
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...
is a popular place for villain hitting. There are many villain hitters here especially on Jingzhe
Jingzhe
Jīngzhé or Keichitsu is the 3rd of 24 solar terms in the traditional East Asian calendars. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 345° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 360°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial...
.
Ceremony
Receiving orders from clients, villain hitters require human-shaped papers with or without some information of specific people. As part of the ceremony, they beat the papers with shoes or other implements. The whole ceremony of villain hitting is divided into 8 parts:- Sacrifice to divinities ：Worship deities by IncenseIncenseIncense is composed of aromatic biotic materials, which release fragrant smoke when burned. The term "incense" refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces. It is used in religious ceremonies, ritual purification, aromatherapy, meditation, for creating a mood, and for...
and CandleCandleA candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
. - Report ：Write down the name and the date of birth of the client on the FuluFuluFulu is a term for Daoist practitioners in the past who could draw and write supernatural talismans, Fu , Shenfu which they believed functioned as summons or instructions to deities, spirits, or as tools of exorcism, as medicinal potions for ailments...
. If the client request to hit a specific villain, then write down or put the name, date of birth, photo or clothings of the specific villain on the villain paper. - Villain hitting ：Make use of a varieties of symbolic object such as the shoe of clients or the villain hitter or other religious symbolic weapon like incense sticks to hit or hurt the villain paper. Villain paper can also replaced by other derivative such as man paper, woman paper, five ghost paper etc.
- Sacrifice to Bái HǔWhite Tiger (Chinese constellation)The White Tiger is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the White Tiger of the West , and is known as Baihu in Chinese, Byakko in Japanese, Baekho in Korean and Bạch Hổ in Vietnamese...
：The hitter have to make sacrifice to Bái Hǔ if they want to hit villain on JingzheJingzheJīngzhé or Keichitsu is the 3rd of 24 solar terms in the traditional East Asian calendars. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 345° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 360°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial...
. Use a yellow paper tiger to represent Bái Hǔ, there are black stripes on the paper tiger and a pair of shape tooth in its mouth. During the sacrifice a small piece of pork is soaked by blood of pig and then put inside the mouth of the paper tiger (to feed Bái Hǔ). Bái Hǔ won't hurt others after being full. Sometimes they will also smear a greasy pork on Bái Hǔ's mouth to make its mouth full of oil and unable to open its mouth to hurt people. In some regional sacrifice the villain would burn the paper tiger or cut off its head after making sacrifice to it. - Reconciliation
- Pray for blessings ：Use a red Gui Ren paper to pray for blessings and help from Gui Ren.
- Treasure Burning ：Burn the paper-made-treasure to worship the spirits。
- Zhi Jiao (or so-called "cup hitting"
[ 打杯] )：Zhi Jiao, to cast two crescent-shaped wooden piece to undergo the Zhi Jiao ceremony.
External links
"Speaking on Jingzhi (驚螫之談)". Hong Kong Mystery Exploration Society. Retrieved 11 June 2006. Villain hitting report, by Chinese Civilization Centre, City University of Hong KongCity University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong is a comprehensive research university in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. It has achieved fast growth in recent years and received international recognition for its academic achievements...
. Retrieved 12 June 2006.Villain hitting中國文化中心古代詛咒術「打小人」解構打小人 文化廣場
- The Hong Kong Agent a film by Robert Iolini. Watch episode "Pay-As-You-Go Shamanic Mobile Service Centre: Divine Intervention #3"