Title and Sacrifice (Seven Saints and Seven Empresses)

The Goddess of Seven Stars is more widely distributed, especially in southern Fujian and Hakka. It is also common in other places, such as the Seven-Star Shengniang Temple in Hainan.

There is a nursery rhyme "Seven Stars Valley" in Hakka dialect in Meizhou, Guangdong. There are many seven immortals temples and seven sacred palaces in Hakka area, most of which are dedicated to seven-star aunts.

Hakkas also have the custom of "worshipping Qi", but the reason is completely different: According to legend, there are seven empresses with seven stars, and since the departure of Weaver Girl, there are only six left. Because there is no fixed temple to offer sacrifices, they are the "idle gods" in this deity, and generally wander in the wild (that is, wander around). According to legend, seven-star mother can catch children, so if her character is low, she will be given a deed to keep her safe. Hakka people don't have to use the "Seven Niangs Pavilion" when offering sacrifices to Seven Niangs. Instead, they used a printed "seven-mother picture" and pressed it with a censer. Parents who ask for a seven-star bride for their children will surely hold a cup and say, "Red (white) flowers have a certain surname, and because of their poor health, they are easily frightened. Now, I will be your wife and take your wife with me. If you meet him later, don't touch him casually. If allowed, please give him a drink. " Until the seven-star mother allowed the "holy grail"

There are Guqi temples in Changting, Shanghang, Yongding and other places in western Fujian, and the locals worship her as a heroic god who guards the countryside. "Changting County Records": In the Song Dynasty, there were seven goddesses, called seven goddesses. Temples are built in both urban and rural areas of the county. Their temples are called seven sages or grandmothers' temples, and some temples have seven small gods. There are many temples in Hakka settlements. During the light years of the Qing Dynasty, some people mistook Mrs. Huili for the Seven Goddess, because Mrs. Huili was originally named Shen Qiniang.

Reconstruct the official records of Taiwan Province Province;

Tanabata is called Qiao Festival. The home is the weaver girl, called the seven-star mother. Paper paste color pavilion, prepare pollen, fragrant fruit, wine grain, three animals, seven duck eggs and seven bowls of rice at night, and order Taoist priests to offer them;

Yuan Lizhi:

On the 7th, Qi's birthday, every family arranged sacrifices, pollen and fruits in the atrium to show their wishes. There is a convenient meeting.

There are different legends about the belief of seven mothers in Minnan and Hakka ethnic groups. According to Minnan legend, the sisters of the Weaver Girl are very sympathetic to the Queen Mother's separation of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and secretly wish their two children safe and healthy growth. As a result, the statement that Qi is a child protector was exhibited. In order to let God bless their children, parents give them to Qi as adopted sons or daughters, which is called "keepsake".

There are seven-star empresses in Dongyue Temple and Tianhou Temple in Quanzhou, southern Fujian. More detailed information needs to be found.

In other places, we have seen the Notre Dame of Huiguang, the descendants of Notre Dame in Deguang Temple, the invisible Notre Dame, the blessed and kind Notre Dame found, the Notre Dame in childbirth, the Shundu Notre Dame in childbirth, the Notre Dame nurse in childbirth, and the guidance teenagers of Notre Dame infants.

Seven Saints, mainly found in Chaozhou, Guangdong, are also found in other places, and sometimes confused with Chen Jinggu.

Shantou Chaoyang heping town Qisheng Ancient Temple has the inscription of Qisheng Ancient Temple:

Qisheng Temple, one of the Eight Peace Temples, was built in the years of Song Xuan and Bing Shen. When the founder of Song Dafeng built the Peace Bridge, which was famous far and near, and was named the Lady of Seven Saints by Jade, he traveled here, and the founder taught the believers in eight castles and five townships to welcome guests and build temples to punish them. The eighth day of April is an auspicious day and is regarded as the local mother. The inscription in front of the palace made' civil servants get off the sedan chair and military officers get off the saddle' to protect the country and the people. God's grace is powerful and awesome. When the Japanese invaders trampled on our tide, the ancient temple was burned down, and all people were uneasy, and they wanted to revive it, but they could do nothing. In this prosperous time, Jing Yun has new opportunities. Mr Yu Hesheng is a descendant of the Menglin family. He worships these holy places and donates money to build temples. Virtue is heavy, and incense lasts forever. (9

In addition, the inscription "The Birthday of the Lady of the Seven Saints" recorded the birthplace and birthday of the Lady of the Seven Saints in detail, and made her birthday accurate to the hour:

Aunt Chen: A native of Qingzhou, Shandong Province, was born on the seventh day of July. Ermulin: Ying Tianfu, a native of Nanjing, was born on the second day of April. Sanmuzhang:1February 15 was born in Quanzhou, Fujian. Simu Li: a native of Fengcheng in the south of the Yangtze River, was born in the fifth day of May. Wu: A native of Guilin, Guangxi, 19 10 was born on September 9. Guan: Huguang Jingzhou, born on 19 13 September 13. Lan: Henan Kaifeng, born at noon on March 3. Benefit the world. ( 10)

Seven ladies are sisters. They are called aunt, second mother, third mother, fourth mother, fifth mother, sixth mother and seventh mother. Among them, aunt Mrs. Chen is from Qingzhou, Shandong Province. Wei Xin was born on the seventh day of July. The owner of the thirty-three high-rise cave in Yufeng is Mrs. Shun Zhengqing. Mrs. Lin, the second mother, was born in Yingtianfu, Nanjing on the second day of April, and Mrs. Yu Fengju lives in Gengshui. The third mother, Mrs. Zhang, is from Quanzhou, Fujian. She was born in Gui You1February 5th. When the jade seal meets the mountain, it seems that the sun and the moon are well informed and sensitive to Mrs. Qingming; Li Furen, the fourth mother, was born in Fengcheng County, south of the Yangtze River. The decree is now a powerful and clear cloud, madam. Mrs. Wu, a native of Guilin, Guangxi, was born in early September in Yihai, and the jade phoenix fairy soldiers recorded Mrs. Fuqing Shun in the morning; Mrs. Liu Muguan, born in Jingzhou Prefecture, Huguang on September 15, 2001, Mrs. Yu Feng was well-informed in the universe and wiped out Mrs. Guangji Qingde; The seventh mother, Mrs. Lan, was born at noon on the third day of March in the year of Ding Chou, and was sealed in the south of the river. Under Yu Feng's rule, all officials supported the brave soldiers and horses to play the role of the magistrate's wife.

In the temple, Qi Niang doesn't rank first with her aunt, but five mothers, aunts, two mothers, three mothers, four mothers, six mothers and seven mothers rank first. It is said that among the seven wives, the fifth mother is the most powerful, so she sits on the throne. In the temple, everyone except Wu Ma is wearing military uniforms. The enlightenment day of the seven ladies is on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. It can be seen that these seven ladies are real people. Although they were separated by one year, they became Taoist priests on the same day. Moreover, they were all capable people when they were alive, and they continued to bless the people after they became monks, so that they could get a "jade seal" to change their positions.

In the old days, there were eight social leaders in Heping Shangzhai, seven of whom were responsible for the Christmas sacrifices of seven ladies, namely, Qiaotou Aunt, Martang Du Bao, Ma San Mo Lin Bao, Sima Li Bao, Wu Ma Kong Bao, Liu Ma Cai Yingbao and Ma Qi Xu Caibao. The other is called Hebao, who is in charge of the sacred jade mat when the Seventh Lady travels.

Chaozhou Raoping Fushan Qisheng Temple

In Chaoshan folk belief system, there are fewer goddesses. As far as influence is concerned, Mazu is the most prominent, followed by Empress Dowager Cixi and Lady Seven Saints. (3) The belief of the Lady of the Seven Saints is distributed in Chaoan, Raoping, Chaoyang, Chenghai, Fengshun, Jiaoling and other places in Chaozhou.

What value does the official text give to the belief in the Seven Saints? At present, the earliest record of the belief in the Seven Saints in local chronicles is Jieyang County Records in Yongzheng period: "Qiniang Temple is located in Dong Xi, the Huangzhai where China carved statues, and the land is leased to the temple to pay incense." (14) Miscellaneous Notes recorded miracles. The Seven Saints made great contributions to the general Guo Cheng's successful suppression of bandits, and Guo became a temple sacrifice, so the belief of the Seven Saints began to spread throughout Chaozhou.

It shows that Guojian Temple is the starting point of the belief in the Seven Sages in Chaozhou Prefecture: "Seven oracles: In the last years of Jiajing, Yamaguchi Su and Liu ran wild in Lantian Valley, and their company commander Guo Cheng took them to see seven women crossing the water, telling them where the thieves were and giving them a day to suppress them. Houping thief, as he said, Xuan Shi set up a temple on the beach to worship it. "

Since then, other local chronicles have followed this way of discourse description. Qianlong's Chaozhou Fu Zhi records: "Qiniang Temple, on Dengwuzhai Mountain, is the general town of Guo. According to legend, in the last years of Jiajing, Tu Kousu and Liu gathered in Lantian Valley, and the company commander Guo Cheng received them. When I arrived at the small beach, I saw seven women crossing the water, told me where the thief's nest was and gave the date of the crackdown. As he said, the Houping thief built a temple for him and is still worshipped by the people, also known as the Seven Holy Temples. " ( 16)

It is worth noting that the official records listed the Seven Saints Temple in Haiyang County as a sacrificial ceremony.

The discourse description of the newly revised Fengshun County Chronicle revised in the Republic of China remained basically unchanged, and the records of believers were added: "The hunters of the Seven Mothers worship it, so there are many Seven Mothers palaces in the villages near the mountain, also called the Seven Immortals, and all the beasts they get have to be sacrificed, and the worship of the Seven Mothers and Seven Immortals actually began in Guo Cheng." (25) Here, it is once again recognized that the belief in the Seven Saints in Chaozhou House originated from Guocheng Temple, many of which are Orion, and all income must be sacrificed to the Seven Saints' Lady. Many villages along the mountain have set up the Seven Niang Palace, indicating that the local development of this belief has been continuous and relatively stable.

There is a saying that Seven Sisters turned into the Meishan God in the "Jingmei Mountain" of the Tujia "Maogusi" dance in western Hunan (The Origin of Nuo Opera Art edited by Kang Bao), but the origin time of this legend is unknown, which is close to the belief of "Seven Ladies". According to: At present, there are still seven ancient temples in Xikou Village, Linxi Town, Xiangqiao District, Guangdong Province, which are dedicated to more than ten gods, including Mazu, including seven ladies, who are the reincarnation of the seven fairies in folklore.

The Hakka culture in Xiafang Village, Ninghua County, Fujian Province also has seven saints' beliefs. According to scholars' judgment, it was formed in the middle and late Ming Dynasty at the latest, but the local people's understanding of the Seven Saints is not in the category of the Seven Monsters of Meishan in the Romance of the Gods [19]. It is difficult to judge its relationship with the goddess Meishan in western Hunan.

In fact, as far as Meishan local culture is concerned, male images symbolized by hunting gods and ghosts and gods occupy a dominant position, while Guangzhou and Fujian worship female gods represented by Mazu. Before finding conclusive evidence, we cannot rashly assume that the Seven Saints of Guangdong and Fujian originated in Meishan, Hunan. Can only say that the interaction between them is positive.

Similarly, before there is conclusive evidence, the seven saints of Meishan in Erlang's words cannot be equated with the gods of Meishan religion. We can only say that Jiro Kaishanbaojuan, Journey to the West and Shen Fengyi Yan wrote the Seven Saints of Meishan as "Seven Saints of Meishan", which may be influenced by Meishan religion.