A CHINESE YAO-MINORITY PASSPORT CHARTER, GUO SHAN BANG.

19th Century.

Comprising of a mixture of figurative images and calligraphy interspersed with large circular seals, ink on cloth, 550 x 53cm.

十九世紀 瑤族《過山榜》

Yao manuscripts, guo shan bang, are a kind of ‘charters’ and literally translate as ‘passport for crossing the mountain’. They are considered to be the single most important Yao document, reserved for leaders, and described by the anthropologist Horleifur Jonsson as ‘a rare prestige object which enables a leader to take off with followers to a new domain. As such, the scroll makes a leader out of whoever has a copy of it.’

The text is a copy of a charter issued under the Southern Sung emperor Lizong in 1260 confirming twelve Yao clans in the possession of their lands and recalls the legend of their divine ancestor, Panhu.

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