Citation: Winkelman, Michael James. 2023. Chinese Wu, Ritualists and Shamans: An Ethnological Analysis. Religions 14: 852. hps://doi.org/ 10.3390/rel14070852 Academic Editors: Thomas Michael and Feng Qu Received: 13 April 2023 Revised: 17 June 2023 Accepted: 25 June 2023 Published: 29 June 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Swiꜩerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Aribution (CC BY) license (hps:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). religions Article Chinese Wu, Ritualists and Shamans: An Ethnological Analysis Michael James Winkelman School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA; michaeljwinkelman@gmail.com Abstract: The relationship of wu (巫) to shamanism is problematic, with virtually all mentions of historical and contemporary Chinese wu ritualists translated into English as shaman. Ethnological research is presented to illustrate cross‑cultural paerns of shamans and other ritualists, providing an etic framework for empirical assessments of resemblances of Chinese ritualists to shamans. This etic framework is further validated with assessments of the relationship of the features with bio‑ genetic bases of ritual, altered states of consciousness, innate intelligences and endogenous healing processes. Key characteristics of the various types of wu and other Chinese ritualists are reviewed and compared with ethnological models of the paerns of ritualists found cross‑culturally to illus‑ trate their similarities and contrasts. These comparisons illustrate the resemblances of pre‑historic and commoner wu to shamans but additionally illustrate the resemblances of most types of wu to other ritualist types, not shamans. Across Chinese history, wu underwent transformative changes into different types of ritualists, including priests, healers, mediums and sorcerers/witches. A review of contemporary reports on alleged shamans in China also illustrates that only some correspond to the characteristics of shamans found in cross‑cultural research and foraging societies. The similar‑ ities of most types of wu ritualists to other types of ritualists found cross‑culturally illustrate the greater accuracy of translating wu as “ritualist” or “religious ritualist.” Keywords: wu; shaman; ethnological analogy; priests; mediums; healers; witch; China; evolution of Chinese religion; sociocultural evolution of religion 1. Introduction: What Is the Wu? The term wu (巫) has been widely applied to ritualists of China’s past and present (Boileau 2002; Cai 2014; Hopkins 1945; Lin 2009; Michael 2015; Qu 2018; Schafer 1951; Sukhu 2012; Xing and Murray 2018; Fu 2022). The spectrum of wu ritualists ranges from presumed archaic practices that persisted as Chinese society transformed from matriarchy to patriarchy, then to tribal chiefs and ancient kings, and eventually a wide range of histor‑ ical and contemporary ritualists, including mediums and ancestor worship priests. What‑ ever the original manifestations and meanings of wu were, by the Warring States period (fifth to third centuries BCE), wu was widely applied to very different forms of ritualists and virtually all subsequent forms of Chinese religious activity (Michael 2015; Williams 2020). Following Eliade’s (1951/1964) seminal book Shamanism, the term shaman began to be applied to the translation of wu into English (Michael 2015). Even earlier, Hopkins (1945) and Schafer (1951) translated wu into English as shaman, but they also used the terms wizard and witch for wu. The increasing practice of Chinese scholars translating wu as shaman following Eliade’s (1951/1964) seminal book was without critical assessments of whether it was appropriate (see von Falkenhausen 1995; Keightley 1998; Boileau 2002; Williams 2020 for critiques). Boileau addresses the consequences of such problematic uses of the term shaman that lack clear references to established features of shamans and used vague definitions that fail to differentiate shamans from virtually any religious ritualist. This widespread practice of translation of wu as shaman is surprising considering Eliade’s explicit rejection of such equivalence (Eliade 1964, pp. 450–54). Eliade discussed Religions 2023, 14, 852. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070852 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions