In the Yi creation epic Hnewo Teyy, the hero who shoots the suns, Zhyge Alu was born at the dragon hour on the dragon day of the dragon month in the dragon year, the son of a dragon and an eagle, and has supernatural strength and special abilities to bring down magic and suppress ghosts, and is particularly fond of working for others' sake to root out harm and persevere on the rightful road.  Every Nuosu household has stories and myths of him; women and children know them too.  And in the spirit pictures drawn by bimo, his form dominates the structure of the picture; they use strong, simple lines to capture his magical powers and his strange and divine efforts in the suppression of ghosts.  This is his picture as frequently seen in bimo ritual texts and in the spirit tablets used in their ceremonies.  It was drawn by the eminent bimo Qubi Shomo.

Zhyge Alu is often accompanied by his two primary supernatural helpers, the magic peacock Shuotnievoplie and the python Bbahxa.

A diagrammatical Illustration:

1) In the middle  is Zhyge Alu, with a copper helm on his head, copper spear, arrow, and net in his hand, with his head touching the sun and moon and his feet astride the great earth.  He cuts a majestic and imposing spirit figure; in myth he is a great god who governs all extraordinary events in the human world.  He is also the spiritual aid of bimo in their rituals to cure leprosy and to cast spells on ghosts and enemies alike. 

At the bottom is Zhyge Alu's nine-winged flying horse Symu Ddurndi, whose name means "long heavenly wings"; it is said that he spends three days in heaven, three days on earth, and three days in the air, that he can transform himself into clouds, thunder, rain or snow.  Zhyge Alu rides this horse to subdue ghosts and demons in heaven and earth.

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Drinking the blood of the serpent ghosts

This painting depicts the Nuosu magic peacock (Shuotnyie Voplie), the supernatural helper of the culture hero Zhyge Alu. It is painted  on  paper with a handmade bamboo brush dipped with rosin ink and then mounted into a scroll.

In a Nuosu scripture, it is said that the peacock lives in a place called Ziziezha. It often stands by the Yimo Lake, flies in the Mt. Hemudiche, and passes upon the Heshy. It eats the stems of the poisonous yellow cogongrass and drinks the water of Amohenuo River.

People who hear the sound of the peacock would be deaf. Those who eat its gall and meat would die in a sudden moment. However, if the peacock were invited to one's house, the peacock could expel leprosy and swallow the evil. This painting is usually used with the paintings of Zhyge Alu and Bbahxa Arrysse in the associated rituals.

Translation of the inscription on the painting:


See:
"Mountain Patterns" By Stevan Harrell, Bamo Qubumo and Ma Erzi. 2000. Fig 8.7 pg 63.

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A subdued enemy becomes a helper
The Nuosu ritual painting of the magical python Bbahxa Ayuosse or Bbahxa Arrysse, one of the supernatural helpers of the Nuosu hero Zhyge Alu.

In the Nuosu epic "Hnewo Teyy", it is stated that Zhyge Alu transformed into a dragon, dove into the ocean and fought with the ferocious python Bbahxa Ayuosse. At last, Zhyge subdued the python and the python became his helper.

According to scholars' research, the python is probably a crocodile-like animal that used to live in the water. Later on, the image of the python gradually changes into a dragon.

One of the Nuosu scriptures describes that "the magical python Ayuosse lives at the bottom of the Henuo Sea, stands at the top of a high mountain, and drinks the water of Amoheni. It appears in one's house only in response to the priest's call. It detects leprosy and swallows the leper ghost; it searches tuberculosis and swallows the tuberculosis ghost; it searches frogs and swallows snakes. The magical python Ayuosse breaks off every stubborn disease with a sword, eradicating all kinds of epidemics!"

This painting is usually used with the painting of Zhyge Alu in associated rituals.

How to arrange a ritual
This  bimo painting illustrates the overall layout and rules of the ritual of Jienuosha, a counter-spell ceremony.

In Nuosu folk belief, Jiegujienuo is a kind of ghost that causes dizziness, slowness in action, dementia and anxiety. If one is injured, bleeding, in a coma, feeling dizzy, or  has blurred vision from  an accident, it is considered that he is under the evil influence of a ghost. Therefore, it is necessary to exorcize the ghosts and prevent the harms in the future by hiring a priest to conduct the Jiegujienuosha ritual.

The sacred sticks, referred to as kiemobbur in the Nuosu language, are small sticks erected by a bimo at the ritual site, representing  the configurations, directions, routes and locations of spirits or ghosts. Each ritual has its corresponding layout of  sacred sticks.

The ancient ceremonial copper bell recently excavated in Meigu County,  believed by some to be a ritual implement used by the great Nuosu priest Ashy Lazhe, is also carved with the illustration of the sacred sticks in relief.

For a larger ceremony, thousands of sacred sticks are erected on the sacrificial site in a specific order. The paintings that record the layout of the ritual are called kiemo.

The bimo's written commentary can be seen in the lower-left portion of the painting. 

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