Shamanism Theory and the Early Chinese Wu Thomas Michael* This article undertakes a reexamination of shamanism in early China, an issue that centers on a religious title (wu) that is consistently mentioned in virtually every major text from the period. For roughly the last fifty years, sinologists have vigorously argued the appropriateness of identify- ing these wu as shamans. In an effort to bring a deeper degree of clarity to this issue, Parts 1 and 2 of the article explore certain findings from the field of modern shaman studies that can open up new ways of thinking about the wu. Part 3 examines the ways in which sinologists have approached the wu and attempts to show how modern shaman theory can allow us to better situate our thinking on this issue. Part 4 offers a brief case study of one early Chinese text and considers how modern shaman theory can shed new light on our interpretation of the wu. APPROACHES TO THE SHAMAN, SHAMANISM, AND THE WU WU 巫 IS A TITLE THAT REFERS TO A VERY UNUSUAL TYPE OF PERSON found throughout Chinese history and represents one of the earliest envisioned religious figures present from the very beginnings of Chinese civilization. The term is first found on Shang dynasty (1554– 1046 BCE) oracle bone inscriptions dating from before the first millenni- um BCE, centuries before the earliest textual histories describing them *Thomas Michael, Department of Religion, Boston University, 145 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215, USA. E-mail: maike966@gmail.com. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, September 2015, Vol. 83, No. 3, pp. 649–696 doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfv034 Advance Access publication on July 5, 2015 © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the American Academy of Religion. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com by guest on August 23, 2015 http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/ Downloaded from