Ethnic views of the Tungus-Manchu ethnic groups of the south of the Far East of Russia on the nature and society

Abstract

A characteristic feature of the spiritual culture of the Peoples of the Amur region and Primorye is the identity of animistic representations. In the ethnic ideas of the Tungus-Manchurians, nature and society traced the idea that all nature is alive, that every object has a soul with which a person who does not separate himself from the outside world has to be reckoned with, otherwise you can incur the wrath of a spirit , and not only evil, but even good. Therefore, all small ethnic groups in the region believe in the existence of different souls, the owners of Nature, who help People or punish them for their wrongdoings. At the same time, the punishment for the crime against the relatives was carried not by the person who committed it, but by the sons, daughters or grandchildren of this person. Punishment for a big crime was determined by the owners of the taiga, water and fire. Death in water or fire was considered the most severe punishment, as the aborigines believed that the souls of the drowned and burned people did not return to the earth and did not reappear in the family from which they had gone to the other world. That is why the indigenous Peoples of the region treated with reverence all owners of nature and the animal world, worshiped the owner of fire, treated with respect the owner of the sea (water, river) and the family spirit - the guardian of the house.