Concerning traces of the rite of blood-covenanting in China, where
there are to be found fewest resemblances to the primitive customs of
the Asiatic Semites, Dr. Yung Wing, the eminent Chinese educationalist
and diplomat, gives me the following illustration: “In the year 1674,
when Kănhi was Emperor, of the present dynasty, we find that the
Buddhist priests of Shanlin Monastery in Fuhkin Province had rebelled
against the authorities on account of persecution. In their encounters
with the troops, they fought against great odds, and were finally
defeated and scattered in different provinces, where they organized
centres of the Triad Society, which claims an antiquity dated as far
back as the Freemasons of the West. Five of these priests fled to the
province of Hakwong, and there, Chin Kinnan, a member of the Hanlin
College, who was degraded from office by his enemies, joined them; and
it is said that they drank blood, and took the oath of brotherhood, to
stand by each other in life or death.”
Along the southwestern border of the Chinese Empire, in Burmah, this
rite of blood-friendship is still practiced; as may be seen from
illustrations of it, which are given in the Appendix of this work.
In his History of Madagascar, the Rev. William Ellis, tells of this
rite as he observed it in that island, and as he learned of it from
Borneo. He says:
“Another popular engagement in use among the Malagasy is that of
forming brotherhoods, which though not peculiar to them, is one of
the most remarkable usages of the country.... Its object is to cement
two individuals in the bonds of most sacred friendship.... More than
two may thus associate, if they please; but the practice is usually
limited to that number, and rarely embraces more than three or four
individuals. It is called _fatridá_, _i. e._, ‘dead blood,’ either
because the oath is taken over the blood of a fowl killed for the
occasion, or because a small portion of blood is drawn from each
individual, when thus pledging friendship, and drunk by those to
whom friendship is pledged, with execrations of vengeance on each
other in case of violating the sacred oath. To obtain the blood, a
slight incision is made in the skin covering the centre of the bosom,
significantly called _ambavafo_, ‘the mouth of the heart.’ Allusion is
made to this, in the formula of this tragi-comical ceremony.
“When two or more persons have agreed on forming this bond of
fraternity, a suitable place and hour are determined upon, and some
gunpowder and a ball are brought, together with a small quantity of
ginger, a spear, and two particular kinds of grass. A fowl also is
procured; its head is nearly cut off; and it is left in this state to
continue bleeding during the ceremony.[74]
“The parties then pronounce a long form of imprecation, and [a]
mutual vow, to this effect:--‘Should either of us prove disloyal to
the sovereign, or unfaithful to each other,[75] then perish the day,
and perish the night.[76] Awful is that, solemn is that, which we
are now both about to perform! O the mouth of the heart!--this is to
be cut, and we shall drink each other’s blood. O this ball! O this
powder! O this ginger! O this fowl weltering in its blood!--it shall be
killed, it shall be put to excruciating agonies,--it shall be killed
by us, it shall be speared at this corner of the hearth (Alakaforo
or Adimizam, S. W.) And whoever would seek to kill or injure us, to
injure our wives, or our children, to waste our money or our property;
or if either of us should seek to do what would not be approved of
by the king or by the people; should one of us deceive the other by
making that which is unjust appear just; should one accuse the other
falsely; should either of us with our wives and children be lost and
reduced to slavery, (forbid that such should be our lot!)--then, that
good may arise out of evil, we follow this custom of the people; and
we do it for the purpose of assisting one another with our families,
if lost in slavery, by whatever property either of us may possess; for
our wives are as one to us, and each other’s children as his own,[77]
and our riches as common property. O the mouth of the heart! O the
ball! O the powder! O the ginger! O this miserable fowl weltering in
its blood!--thy liver do we eat, thy liver do we eat. And should
either of us retract from the terms of this oath, let him instantly
become a fool, let him instantly become blind, let this covenant
prove a curse to him: let him not be a human being: let there be no
heir to inherit after him, but let him be reduced, and float with the
water never to see its source; let him never obtain; what is out of
doors, may it never enter; and what is within may it never go out;
the little obtained, may he be deprived of it;[78] and let him never
obtain justice from the sovereign nor from the people! But if we keep
and observe this covenant, let these things bear witness.[79] O mouth
of the heart! (repeating as before),--may this cause us to live long
and happy with our wives and our children; may we be approved by the
sovereign, and beloved by the people; may we get money, may we obtain
property, cattle, &c.; may we marry wives, (_vady kely_); may we have
good robes, and wear a good piece of cloth on our bodies;[80] since,
amidst our toils and labor, these are the things we seek after.[81] And
this we do that we may with all fidelity assist each other to the last.’
“The incision is then made, as already mentioned; a small quantity of
blood [is] extracted and drank by the covenanting parties respectively,
[they] saying as they take it, ‘These are our last words, We will
be like rice and water;[82] in town they do not separate, and in
the fields they do not forsake one another; we will be as the right
and left hand of the body; if one be injured, the other necessarily
sympathizes and suffers with it.’”[83]
Speaking of the terms and the influence of this covenant, in
Madagascar, Mr. Ellis says, that while absolute community of all
worldly possessions is not a literal fact on the part of these
blood-friends, “the engagement involves a sort of moral obligation
for one to assist the other in every extremity.” “However devoid of
meaning,” he adds, “some part of the ceremony of forming [this]
brotherhood may appear, and whatever indications of barbarity of
feeling may appear in others, it is less exceptionable than many [of
the rites] that prevail among the people.... So far as those who have
resided in the country have observed its effects, they appear almost
invariably to have been safe to the community, and beneficial to the
individuals by whom the compact was formed.”
Yet again, this covenant of blood-friendship is found in different
parts of Borneo. In the days of Mr. Ellis, the Rev. W. Medhurst,
a missionary of the London Missionary Society, in Java, described
it, in reporting a visit made to the Dayaks of Borneo, by one of
his assistants together with a missionary of the Rhenish Missionary
Society.[84]
Telling of the kindly greeting given to these visitors at a place
called Golong, he says that the natives wished “to establish a
fraternal agreement with the missionaries, on condition that the latter
should teach them the ways of God. The travelers replied, that if the
Dayaks became the disciples of Christ, they would be constituted the
brethren of Christ without any formal compact. The Dayaks, however,
insisted that the travelers should enter into a compact [with them],
according to the custom of the country, by means of blood. The
missionaries were startled at this, thinking that the Dayaks meant to
murder them, and committed themselves to their Heavenly Father, praying
that, whether living or dying, they might lie at the feet of their
Saviour. It appears, however, that it is the custom of the Dayaks, when
they enter into a covenant, to draw a little blood from the arms of the
covenanting parties, and, having mixed it with water, each to drink,
in this way, the blood of the other.
“Mr. Barenstein [one of the missionaries] having consented [for both]
to the ceremony, they all took off their coats, and two officers came
forward with small knives, to take a little blood out of the arm of
each of them [the two missionaries and two Dayak chiefs]. This being
mixed together in four glasses of water, they drank, severally, each
from the glass of the other; after which they joined hands and kissed.
The people then came forward, and made obeisance to the missionaries,
as the friends of the Dayak King, crying out with loud voices, ‘Let us
be friends and brethren forever; and may God help the Dayaks to obtain
the knowledge of God from the missionaries!’ The two chiefs then said,
‘Brethren, be not afraid to dwell with us; for we will do you no harm;
and if others wish to hurt you, we will defend you with our life’s
blood, and die ourselves ere you be slain. God be witness, and this
whole assembly be witness, that this is true.’ Whereupon the whole
company shouted, _Balaak!_ or ‘Good,’ ‘Be it so.’”
Yet another method of observing this rite, is reported from among
the Kayans of Borneo; quite a different people from the Dayaks. Its
description is from the narrative of Mr. Spenser St. John, as follows:
“Siñgauding [a Kayan chief] sent on board to request me to become his
brother, by going through the sacred custom of imbibing each other’s
blood. I say imbibing, because it is either mixed with water and drunk,
or else is placed within a native cigar, and drawn in with the smoke. I
agreed to do so, and the following day was fixed for the ceremony. It
is called _Berbiang_ by the Kayans; _Bersabibah_, by the Borneans [the
Dayaks]. I landed with our party of Malays, and after a preliminary
talk, to allow the population to assemble, the affair commenced....
Stripping my left arm, Kum Lia took a small piece of wood, shaped like
a knife-blade, and, slightly piercing the skin, brought blood to the
surface; this he carefully scraped off. Then one of my Malays drew
blood in the same way from Siñgauding; and, a small cigarette being
produced, the blood on the wooden blade was spread on the tobacco. A
chief then arose, and, walking to an open place, looked forth upon the
river, and invoked their god and all the spirits of good and evil to
be witness of this tie of brotherhood. The cigarette [blood-stained]
was then lighted, and each of us took several puffs [receiving each
other’s blood by inhalation], and the ceremony was over.”[85] This
is a new method of smoking the “pipe of peace”--or, the cigarette of
inter-union! Borneo, indeed, furnishes many illustrations of primitive
customs, both social and religious.
One of the latest and most venturesome explorers of North Borneo was
the gallant and lamented Frank Hatton, a son of the widely known
international journalist, Joseph Hatton. In a sketch of his son’s
life-work, the father says[86]: “His was the first white foot in
many of the hitherto unknown villages of Borneo; in him many of the
wild tribes saw the first white man.... Speaking the language of the
natives, and possessing that special faculty of kindly firmness so
necessary to the efficient control of uncivilized peoples, he journeyed
through the strange land not only unmolested, but frequently carrying
away tokens of native affection. Several powerful chiefs made him their
‘blood-brother’; and here and there the tribes prayed to him as if he
were a god.” It would seem from the description of Mr. Hatton, that, in
some instances, in Borneo, the blood-covenanting is by the substitute
blood of a fowl held by the two parties to the covenant, while its head
is cut off by a third person; without any drinking of each other’s
blood by those who enter into the covenant. Yet however this may be,
the other method still prevails there.
Another recent traveler in the Malay Archipelago, who, also, is a
trained and careful observer, tells of this rite, as he found it in
Timor, and other islands of that region, among a people who represent
the Malays, the Papuan, and the Polynesian races. His description is:
“The ceremony of blood-brotherhood, ... or the swearing of eternal
friendship, is of an interesting nature, and is celebrated often by
fearful orgies [excesses of the communion idea], especially when
friendship is being made between families, or tribes, or kingdoms. The
ceremony is the same in substance whether between two individuals, or
[between] large companies. The contracting parties slash their arms,
and collect the blood into a bamboo, into which _kanipa_ (coarse gin)
or _laru_ (palm wine) is poured. Having provided themselves with a
small fig-tree (_halik_) they adjourn to some retired spot, taking with
them the sword and spear from the _Luli_ chamber [the sacred room] of
their own houses if between private individuals, or from the _Uma-Luli_
of their _suku_ [the sacred building of their village] if between large
companies. Planting there the fig-tree, flanked by the sacred sword and
spear, they hang on it a bamboo-receptacle, into which--after pledging
each other in a portion of the mixed blood and gin--the remainder [of
that mixture] is poured. Then each swears, ‘If I be false, and be not a
true friend, may my blood issue from my mouth, ears, nose, as it does
from this bamboo!’--the bottom of the receptacle being pricked at the
same moment, to allow the blood and gin to escape. The [blood-stained]
tree remains and grows as a witness of their contract.”
Of the close and binding nature of this blood-compact, among the
Timorese, the observer goes on to say: “It is one of their most sacred
oaths, and [is] almost never, I am told, violated; at least between
individuals.” As to its limitless force and scope, he adds: “One
brother [one of these brother-friends in the covenant of blood] coming
to another brother’s house, is in every respect regarded as free [to
do as he pleases], and [is] as much at home as its owner. Nothing
is withheld from him; even his friend’s wife is not denied him, and
a child born of such a union would be recognized by the husband as
_his_; [for are not--as _they_ reason--these brother-friends of _one
blood_--of one and the same life?]”[87]
The covenant of blood-friendship has been noted also among the native
races of both North and South America. A writer of three centuries
ago, told of it as among the aborigines of Yucatan. “When the Indians
of Pontonchan,” he said, “receive new friends [covenant in a new
friendship] ... as a proof of [their] friendship, they [mutually,
each], in the sight of the friend, draw some blood ... from the tongue,
hand, or arm, or from some other part [of the body].”[88] And this
ceremony is said to have formed “a compact for life.”[89]
In Brazil, the Indians were said to have a rite of brotherhood so close
and sacred that, as in the case of the Bed´ween beyond the Jordan,[90]
its covenanting parties were counted as of one blood; so that marriage
between those thus linked would be deemed incestuous. “There was a word
in their language to express a friend who was loved like a brother; it
is written _Atourrassap_ [‘erroneously, beyond a doubt,’ adds Southey,
‘because their speech is without the _r_’]. They who called each other
by this name, had all things in common; the tie was held to be as
sacred as that of consanguinity, and one could not marry the daughter
or sister of the other.”[91]
A similar tie of adopted brotherhood, or of close and sacred
friendship, is recognized among the North American Indians. Writing
of the Dakotas, or the Sioux, Dr. Riggs, the veteran missionary and
scholar, says: “Where one Dakota takes another as his _koda_, i. e.,
god, or friend, [Think of that, for sacredness of union--‘god, or
friend’!] they become brothers in each other’s families, and are, as
such, of course unable to intermarry.”[92] And Burton, the famous
traveler, who made this same tribe a study, says of the Dakotas: “They
are fond of adoption, and of making brotherhoods like the Africans
[Burton is familiar with the customs of African tribes]; and so strong
is the tie that marriage with the sister of an adopted brother is
within the prohibited degree.”[93]
Among the people of the Society Islands, and perhaps also among those
of other South Sea Islands, the term _tayo_ is applied to an attached
personal friend, in a peculiar relation of intimacy. The formal
ceremony of brotherhood, whereby one becomes the tayo of another,
in these islands, I have not found described; but the closeness and
sacredness of the relation, as it is held by many of the natives, would
seem to indicate the inter-mingling of blood in the covenanting, now
or in former times. The early missionaries to those islands, speaking
of the prevalent unchastity there, make this exception: “If a person
is a tayo of the husband, he must indulge in no liberties with the
sisters or the daughters, because they are considered as _his own_
sisters or daughters; and incest is held in abhorrence by them; nor
will any temptations engage them to violate this bond of purity. The
wife, however, is excepted, and considered as common property for the
tayo.[94] Lieutenant Corner [a still earlier voyager] also added,
that a tayoship formed between different sexes put the most solemn
barrier against all personal liberties.”[95] Here is evidenced that
same view of the absolute oneness of nature through a oneness of blood,
which shows itself among the Semites of Syria,[96] among the Malays of
Timor,[97] and among the Indians of America.[98]
And so this close and sacred covenant relation, this rite of
blood-friendship, this inter-oneness of life by an inter-oneness
of blood, shows itself in the primitive East, and in the wild and
pre-historic West; in the frozen North, as in the torrid South. Its
traces are everywhere. It is of old, and it is of to-day; as universal
and as full of meaning as life itself.
It will be observed that we have already noted proofs of the
independent existence of this rite of blood-brotherhood, or
blood-friendship, among the three great primitive divisions of the
race--the Semitic, the Hamitic, and the Japhetic; and this in Asia,
Africa, Europe, America, and the Islands of the Sea; again, among the
five modern and more popular divisions of the human family: Caucasian,
Mongolian, Ethiopian, Malay, and American. This fact in itself would
seem to point to a common origin of its various manifestations, in the
early Oriental home of the now scattered peoples of the world. Many
references to this rite, in the pages of classic literature, seem to
have the same indicative bearing, as to its nature and primitive source.