The Shi ‘Corpse/Personator’ Ceremony in Early China by Michael Carr
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Reflections Ch. 13 - The Shi 'Corpse/Personator' Ceremony in Early China
Fascinating
Michael Carr's depth of knowledge on ancient Chinese customs and linguistics is quite impressive. I found it very interesting to see similar evidence for bicamerality in early China as Jaynes found in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and the transition to consciousness documented linguistically. I've always thought it was somewhat absurd that Jaynes's theory was criticized by some for being "ethnocentric." Thanks to Dr. Carr, I think that criticism can safely be put to rest.
I agree. There is so much evidence relevant to the bicameral theory that he raises. Not just the personator ceremony itself and the linguistic evidence of a changing mentality, but the dual burials, burials of the dead with food, two different words for 'dead' (recently dead — i.e. still 'heard' — and long dead), the large-eyed masks that may have been worn by personators or propped up on poles and used to induce hallucinations, etc.