religion

Most Derung population believes in Christianity. Surprisingly, local people told me almost every village would have a church. On weekend, villagers would always go to the church to do their services.
According to researchers, Christianity was first introduced to Derung people in 1935 by the Morse family. People from four villages accepted Christ and six churches were built.

Here is one photo I took at a church in one of Derung villages.

In addition, Derung people also have their own religion. They respect nature and believes everything has spirit. Driven by such idea, they generally believe in the existence of ghosts. They believe the destiny of one person is determined by the ghosts. The ceremonial activities of ancestor worship have not been discovered so far, and there is no any form of worship of any idol. However, they do have wizards and believes in divination.
The wizard has two kinds of "South Musa" 南木萨 and "Ultra" 乌. In the past, the head of the family or the head of the village served as these roles. According to locals, "Nan Mu Sa" was chosen by the ghosts, who would have special eyes and can interact with ghosts who can cure diseases and eliminate disasters. Ultra, on the other hand, can predict misfortune that will occur in a certain place.

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