View source for Tongji (spirit medium)

{{short description|Chinese folk religious practitioner}}
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[[File:DSC 025 (14360191198).jpg|thumb|A ''tongji'' at a temple religious ceremony in Taiwan.]]
{{Chinese folk religion}}
{{Anthropology of religion}}
[[File:Tong2ji1.jpg|thumb|[[Chinese characters]] for ''tongji'']]
'''Tongji''' ({{zh|c=童乩|p=''tóngjī''|w=''t'ung-chi''|l=youth diviner}}; [[Taiwanese Romanization System|Tâi-lô]]: tâng-ki) or '''Jitong''' ({{zh|c=乩童|p=''jītóng''|w=''chi-t'ung''|l=divining youth}}) is a [[Chinese folk religion|Chinese folk]] religious practitioner, usually translated as a "[[spirit medium]]", "[[oracle]]", or "[[shaman]]".

''Tong'' (Vietnamese: ʔdoŋ; Mon: doŋ) has an Austroasiatic [[Stratum_(linguistics)|substrate]] which means 'to dance
under daemonic possession' is represented phonologically by the character {{linktext|lang=zh|童}} "child; youth; boy servant" and ''ji'' {{linktext|lang=zh|乩}} means "to divine" (cf. ''[[Fuji (planchette writing)|fuji]]'' {{lang|zh|扶乩}} "divination; planchette writing").  Regional variants include [[Hokkien]] ''tâng-ki'' {{lang|zh|童乩}} and [[Canton dialect|Cantonese]] ''gei-tung'' {{lang|zh|乩童}} or ''san-daa'' {{lang|zh|神打}}.

A ''tongji'' or ''jitong'' is a person believed to have been chosen by a particular [[shen (Chinese religion)|shen]] (chinese deity) or spirit as the earthly vehicle for divine expression.  The Chinese differentiate a ''[[wu (shaman)|wu]]'' {{lang|zh|巫}} "shaman; healer; spirit medium" who gains control of forces in the spirit world versus a ''tongji'' who appears to be entirely under the control of forces in the spirit world.

==External links and references==
{{Commons category|Tongji}}

* Andersen, Poul. 2008. "''Tâng-ki'' (or ''jitong'') {{lang|zh|童乩}} (or {{lang|zh|乩童}}) spirit-medium", in ''The Encyclopedia of Taoism'', ed. by Fabrizio Pregadio, pp. 964-966. Routledge.
* Elliott, Alan J. A. 1955. ''Chinese Spirit Medium Cults in Singapore''. Monographs on Social Anthropology, No. 14. Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science.
* Groot, Jan Jakob Maria. 1892-1910. [https://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/groot_jjm_de/religious_system_of_china/religious_system.html ''The Religious System of China: Its Ancient Forms, Evolution, History and Present Aspect, Manners, Customs and Social Institutions Connected Therewith'']. 6 volumes. Brill Publishers.
* Jordan, David K. 1976. [http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/scriptorium/firsttrance/FirstTrance.html "A Medium's First Trance"], ''Anthropology: Perspective on Humanity'', ed. by Marc J. Swartz and David K. Jordan. John Wiley & Sons.
* Jordan, David K. 1977. [http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/scriptorium/medium-main.html "How to Become a Chinese Spirit Medium"].
* Jordan, David K. 1999. [http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/scriptorium/gga/ggamain.html  ''Gods, Ghosts, & Ancestors: Folk Religion in a Taiwanese village'']. 3rd edition.  Department of Anthropology, UCSD.
* Myers, John T. 1974. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721092033/http://elearn9.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/history/sites/elearn9.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk.history/files/2%20A%20Chinese%20spirit-medium%20temple%20in%20Kwun%20Tong.pdf ''A Chinese Spirit-medium Temple in Kwun Tong: A Preliminary Report'']. Social Research Centre, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
* Myers, John T. 1975. [https://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4401299.pdf "A Hong Kong Spirit-medium Temple"], ''Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 15:16-27.
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[[Category:Anthropology of religion]]
[[Category:Asian shamanism]]
[[Category:Practices in Chinese folk religion]]
[[Category:Shamanism in China]]
[[Category:Indigenous spirituality]]


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