This word compounds tong童 "child; youth; boy servant" and ji乩 "to divine" (cf. fuji扶乩 "divination; planchette writing"). Regional variants include
Hokkientâng-ki童乩 and
Cantonesegei-tung乩童 or san-daa神打.
A tongji or jitong is a person believed to have been chosen by a particular
shen (chinese deity) or spirit as the earthly vehicle for divine expression. The Chinese differentiate a wu巫 "shaman; healer; spirit medium" who gains control of forces in the spirit world versus a tongji who appears to be entirely under the control of forces in the spirit world.
Andersen, Poul. 2008. "Tâng-ki (or jitong) 童乩 (or 乩童) spirit-medium", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, ed. by Fabrizio Pregadio, pp. 964-966. Routledge.
Elliott, Alan J. A. 1955. Chinese Spirit Medium Cults in Singapore. Monographs on Social Anthropology, No. 14. Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science.
This word compounds tong童 "child; youth; boy servant" and ji乩 "to divine" (cf. fuji扶乩 "divination; planchette writing"). Regional variants include
Hokkientâng-ki童乩 and
Cantonesegei-tung乩童 or san-daa神打.
A tongji or jitong is a person believed to have been chosen by a particular
shen (chinese deity) or spirit as the earthly vehicle for divine expression. The Chinese differentiate a wu巫 "shaman; healer; spirit medium" who gains control of forces in the spirit world versus a tongji who appears to be entirely under the control of forces in the spirit world.
Andersen, Poul. 2008. "Tâng-ki (or jitong) 童乩 (or 乩童) spirit-medium", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, ed. by Fabrizio Pregadio, pp. 964-966. Routledge.
Elliott, Alan J. A. 1955. Chinese Spirit Medium Cults in Singapore. Monographs on Social Anthropology, No. 14. Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science.