Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - The 24 Solar Terms - Ancient history of China (including myths)
Ancient history of China (including myths)
Keywords: China ancient myth/historization/track
Editor Qiu Lei.
Notes about words not stored in fonts:
@ ① The original words are counting the right and adding the tiger.
@ (2) The original word is Xinjiang soil.
@ ③ The original word is big left plus hundred right plus hundred.
@ ④ The original word is female right plus the original word.
@ ⑤ The original word is the right half of Majiaguan irrigation.
@ ⑥ The original word is Bug Right Plus Joe.
@ ⑦ The original words are Bai You Gao Jia.
@ 8 The original word is Tian Youjia Temple.
Anyone who knows China's ancient myths is lamenting the loss and extinction of ancient myths. Tracing back to the source, it is mostly because of the change of Confucianism and the historicization of historians. Therefore, Confucius and Sima Qian are regarded as "knife-wielding" people, who trample out China's myths. Nevertheless, this theory is not fair. Although Confucius didn't talk about "strangeness, strength, chaos and divinity", Sima Qian also wrote Biography of Five Emperors according to myths and legends. However, Confucius was not the initiator of bringing myth into the historical system of China, and Sima Qian was not the "culprit". The roots are clear, and it's been a long time. The primitive myths in ancient China are far from forming a unified system of gods. The comprehensive identification of the ancestor God and God is a major feature of ancient mythology, which contains the original thinking of China primitive human beings' "harmony between man and nature" and "harmony between man and God", and also constitutes a great opportunity for the historization of China mythology. Zhou people's view of heaven and the historical records of ancient books such as Shangshu, Zuozhuan and Guoyu gradually integrated myths, legends and history. Confucius, Mencius and Mozi are only the promoters of this long-term plastic movement, and Sima Qian is only a summative figure.
The historical process of ancient myths in China has experienced a long history of more than 1000 years from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Western Han Dynasty, which reflects the formation process of Chinese national consciousness and has had a far-reaching impact on China's traditional cultural concepts.
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First, God and Ancestor God-the concept of primitive lineage
As far back as1700,000 years ago, perhaps earlier, our ancestors had lived as "people" on the land of China, and after a long period of ignorance and barbarism, they gradually turned on the light of civilization. During the vast period of the flood, primitive ancestors lived and struggled in their respective areas, which was irrelevant to each other. They tell their own stories and the achievements of the heroic ancestors of the clan or tribe from generation to generation in the form of word of mouth. Although these ancient stories were transformed, forgotten or integrated with the legends between tribes in the process of tribal conquest, integration and migration, they will never forget their ancestors. The deeds of the ancestors also condensed the story of a tribe, which is an ancient myth and legend. It is by relying on these primitive myths that we can vaguely distinguish the origins of different clans and their blood relationship.
The lasting memory of the concept of bloodline constitutes the unique style of China's ancient mythology, which makes the ancestor gods and gods in China's ancient mythology merge into one, and the personality and godhead merge into one. Because there are many clans and tribes, each tribe has its own ancestor god and central god. So in China's primitive myth system, we can't find a supreme god who can command all the gods in myths and legends, so we can never write a complete fairy tale like "Greek myths and legends", which is innate and can be fabricated by people in uncivilized times with pen and ink.
When we open the most abundant preserved primitive myth "Shan Hai Jing", we seem to see an ancient genealogical file in "Hai Jing" and "Huang Jing", which records the tribal history handed down from a lineage:
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Di Jun was born in, born in. Having sex with Liang and giving birth to Fan Yu is the beginning of a ship. Fan Yusheng, Xi Zhong, Xi Zhongsheng, Ji Guang and Ji Guang started from wood. (Hai Neijing)
There is a country of seclusion, the emperor gives birth to the swallow dragon, the swallow dragon gives birth to seclusion, and the four friends give birth to a man without a wife; Think of women, not husbands. (Yedongjing)
The wife of Emperor Yan, the son of Chishui, listened to the banquet, and Yan Jusheng lived in festivals and operas. Zhu Rong was born as a traditional Chinese opera instrument, and Zhu Rong was born as a worker when he fell into the river. * * * Industrial and biological instruments, the first part of the instrument was overturned, and it was a complex soil that reached the river. * * * Workers are born in the afterlife, and the afterlife is born in choking. Choke for ten years, the flood is terrible. (Hai Neijing)
When the Yellow Emperor married Leizu, he gave birth to Chang Yi. When Chang Yi fell on the water in the Korean Wave, the Korean Wave bowed its head relative to its ears and its face was covered with beaks. Take the brain as A Nv and give birth to Emperor Zhuan Xu. (Hai Neijing)
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The Yellow Emperor gave birth to a wonderful dragon, and the wonderful dragon gave birth to me, which made my life clear and the white dog gave birth. White dogs have meat and dogs. (Wild Classic)
Emperor Shun gave birth to drama, and drama shook the people. (Yedongjing)
Such things can be seen everywhere, so we can't repeat them one by one. Although some clans migrate for various reasons and have different surnames, they can remember the great gods of their ancestors and tribes. Because of this bloodline concept, the ancestor gods in primitive mythology also have the status of gods, so the Emperor, the Yellow Emperor and Yan Di are both gods and ancestor gods. This "root" consciousness with the concept of consanguinity as the core has been deeply integrated into the cultural psychology of the Chinese nation. It not only influenced the historian culture for more than 3,000 years, but also influenced the traditional political concept and patriarchal clan system.
In the war in prehistoric times, various tribes finally rushed out of a powerful Xia tribe and established the first "country" on the land of China, which was passed down from generation to generation and maintained a "home world" for hundreds of years. Yin destroyed Xia instead, changed its system and enslaved its people, but the only thing that did not change was Xia's bloodline inheritance system. After the demise of the Xia Dynasty, this ethnic group from the eastern tribes claimed to be a "superior" ethnic group, pushing their ancestors to the position of supreme god, and emperors in all previous dynasties were prefixed with the word "emperor" and regarded as a living god between heaven and earth. Shangshu Pan Geng said, "I will remember Raul before God". Regard ancestors as gods. There is another saying: "God will restore my great-grandfather's virtue and surpass my family." "God", that is, its ancestors, will bless the Yin nationality to restore its "great-grandfather" character and ability, and make the Yin royal family regain invincible power. It can be seen that in the eyes of Yin people, God is their ancestor, so in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there appeared a high-impedance monarch, who is the god in myths and legends. It is precisely because of this bloodline consciousness that Yin people believe that they are fearless with the protection of gods (ancestors). When King Xibowen expanded his territory and threatened the interests of the Yin people, Zhou Wang was not afraid, claiming that "I was born in heaven!" (Note: Shangshu Xibo Qili. Believe in your ancestor-God will never help others.
Second, Zhou people's view of heaven-Taoism's supplement to bloodline
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The gods that the Yin people relied on did not make the Yin people's country last forever, and the Zhou people finally replaced it with "Di Zi". The Zhou people who established the political power were unconvinced and could not accept the Yin people's claim, so they created the concept of "fate" and reformed the theory of "Di Zi". In Zhou literature, although the word "emperor" is sometimes used interchangeably, most of them are called "heaven". In this regard, Mr. Liu Qi @ ② once made a statistic. It is said that there are five letters in the imperial edict, Zi Cai, Jun @ ③, Todos and Duo Fang, and * * * used the word "Tian" 1 2 times, but Oracle Bone Inscriptions used the word "Tian" 17 times and "Di" in Zhouyi. The word "Tian" was used 106 times, and the word "Di" was used 38 times. Moreover, the word "heaven" is more than the word "emperor" in bronze inscriptions. (Note: The Continuation of Ancient History, China Social Sciences Press, 199 1, p. 26 1-262. )
According to statistics, Zhou people used the word "heaven" far more than the word "emperor". Compared with the Yin people in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the word "Emperor" is the supreme god, which is a great change.
The change of "Heaven" instead of "Emperor" in the Zhou Dynasty is another important opportunity for the historization of ancient myths in China. At first, although Zhou people also recalled that their ancestor Hou Ji was born by Jiang @), they once said that "the king of Wen descended, and the son of heaven was around." (Note: The Book of Songs Daya Wang Wen. However, in the intentional transformation of the day after tomorrow, the Yin people's "god" is getting farther and farther away from real life, while the illusory "fate" has entered the Zhou people's cultural system. Here, we can't see the deity hero. The ancestor gods of ancient tribes (including Hou Ji) have become flesh-and-blood and virtuous human ancestors from head to toe, leaving only a little tail.
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The concept of "Tiande" of Zhou people not only transformed the ancient myths from form to content, but also supplemented the moral concept on the basis of the concept of Yin people's bloodline, which influenced the political thought and historian psychology of feudal society for thousands of years, and was also the pioneer of the myth culture shaping movement in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
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Confucius once had a unique opinion on the differences between Yin and Zhou cultures, saying: "Yin people respect God, lead the people to cure ghosts, punish ghosts first before ceremony, then reward ghosts, and respect ghosts without relatives." ..... Zhou people salute, ghosts and gods stay at a respectful distance from sb. They are close and loyal, and their rewards and punishments are among the nobles and are not respected by their relatives. " (Note: Book of Rites. ) can be described as a hit. From respecting God and dealing with ghosts to being close to the people and staying away from God, it is the promotion of humanistic spirit, but it is the sadness at the end of the myth.
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Third, the theory of abdication came into being-the gods abdicated
The relative stability of the Western Zhou Dynasty was not as long as people thought before the Zhou Dynasty, and the heirs did not follow the ancient saying that their ancestors were close to Suntech. With the passage of time, the conquest of the world by the two kings Wen and Wu and the Duke of Zhou will go away. Since the Five Overlords, the governors have been fighting with each other, making the Lord of Zhou exist in name only. Therefore, in the soil of Zhou people's view of natural virtue, the idea of "surrender theory" was bred, which triggered the myth transformation movement in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
The advocates of "the theory of abdication" should be Confucianism and Mohism, and their ideological basis should be the theory of "Shang Xian". Although the views of the two schools on "Shang Xian" are qualitatively different, they both advocate the rule of virtue, which is consistent. Although the original intention of the two factions was to hope that Shang Xian would use virtue to calm social disputes, they all contained dissatisfaction with the inability to rule since the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
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The theory of abdication reflects the requirements of reforming the political system of the family since three generations, and advocates that those who have virtue win the world, those who have no virtue lose the world, and respect the virtuous and respect the king. Those who are tyrannical and heartless can be punished and killed, and those who are virtuous should put the world first, be impartial, not take the world for themselves, and choose those who can. In order to make their theory work in the world, they turned their eyes to obscure ancient times and fabricated absurd stories about the fall of Yao, Shun and Yu, so as to deceive the world and convince people. This is what later generations called "Tuogu restructuring".
In order to be true, the characters in the ancient myths and legends they wrote can't appear as gods, but as real people with secular desires, so the gods in the mythical world have changed their faces and dressed up to sit on the throne of human emperors. The Yellow Emperor no longer has four faces, nor is he a warrior hero who can command and drive away animals in mythology (note: see Liezi Yellow Emperor). )。 In order to cooperate with the theory of abdication, people fabricated Yao Shun's works Yao Dian and Hao Tao Mo. In Yaodian, all the gods in ancient mythology became sages and bowed down as ministers. He Jun's wife, born more than ten days ago, became the official of Yao's "calendar is like the sun, the moon and the stars, and he is the beast of the East China Sea".
All the transformable deities have been transformed, while a large number of other deities, large and small, which are not transformed or insignificant, have been expelled from the orthodox cultural circle. Even an ancient great god like Emperor Jun never boarded the "Elegant Hall", and his deeds can only be seen in stories like Shan Hai Jing. In this way, the long and mysterious myth era was transformed into a credible history at hand, and the myth disappeared from the orthodox cultural circle.
In the myth transformation movement in this period, people vigorously publicized and praised Yao, Shun and Yu.
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The praise of Yao, Shun and Yu is, in the final analysis, advocating the theory of abdication. In fact, Yao, Shun and Yu are still prehistoric times in China. Shun Duan of the Dongyi tribe and Yu, who rose in the midwest, are not of the same race, and the fictional Yao doesn't know where he is from. Yao, Shun and Yu all belong to the Yellow Emperor, and they were forced out by later generations. In primitive society, the bloody struggle for territory and political power was clearly reflected in ancient myths. We can never imagine that a tribal leader would willingly give up his rights and land to other tribes at that time, which can prove the absurdity of the so-called abdication theory. Therefore, in pre-Qin books, we can often see Yao, Shun and Yu holding bloody butcher knives. When fighting for rights. Zhu Shuyun said, "Shun imprisoned Yao, then suppressed him, so that he could not see his father." Everything is done by Han Feizi says, "Shun Liyao, Yu Lishun." Qu Yuan's Tian Wen said, "After enlightenment, I will benefit from it ...". These statements, which are different from those of Confucianism and Mohism, give us a vague feeling of swords and shadows.
Zen says that beauty is beautiful, but it is always an illusion. In the long feudal society, it can only exist as a political ideal, but it does not help the world. As a result, the mythical god only entered the system of human king, which directly led to the historization of myth.
Fourth, the fusion of myths-the formation of the five emperors system
While Confucianism and Mohism advocated the theory of abdication, as a reaction to this traditional concept, the original concept of bloodline flourished again in academic circles, so the system of five emperors gradually formed during this period. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Five Emperors system based on the concept of consanguinity was quite different from the single lineage inheritance belief that businessmen believed in, but a brand-new and huge family system was formed by re-integrating, processing and sorting out the original myths and legends.
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The formation of the Five Emperors system not only made the original chaotic mythical world single at once, but also made the distant legendary history much closer to the contemporary people, as if telling the world a true but not distant family history: once upon a time, a parent gave birth to several children scattered on the land of China, which gave birth to Chinese descendants, who took turns to be parents and commanded all the people from the same ancestor. From time to time, other families make trouble, but they are either eliminated, driven far away or surrendered. Today, the descendants of this family still rule the world.
By examining the data of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, we can clearly see the process of this integration.
In "The People of China the Day After Tomorrow", the long history of the Chinese nation is relished: since Pangu created the world, three emperors and five emperors have come to this day. It includes all the myths and legends of the Chinese nation since its birth. The myth of Pangu's opening heaven came out late, and the word "Huang San" didn't appear until the end of the Warring States Period. Even the theory of "Five Emperors" is a product of the Warring States period. Before the early Warring States period, there were many mythical emperors, not limited to five; Books and records do not contain the names of the five emperors, let alone their order. Until the middle and late Warring States period, the name of "Five Emperors" was found in books of various schools. Xunzi outlined: "The oath is not as good as the five emperors, the alliance is not as good as the three kings, and the proton is not as good as the fifth uncle." "Guanzi Zheng Shi": "The merits of the husband, five emperors and three kings made him famous for later generations." "Warring States Policy Qin Ce I": "Uncle Wang Wu, the five emperors of ancient times, is wise and often wants to sit and do it, but his environment can't." However, although people like to call them "five emperors", the names of "five emperors" are different and have great randomness. The Outline of Xunzi talks about the Five Emperors, but On Soldiers says: "The four Emperors and the two kings are all benevolent soldiers in the world." Yao, Shun, Yu and Tang are the four emperors, not the Yellow Emperor. Before the conclusion of "Five Emperors and Three Kings", The Warring States Policy Qin Ce I stated: "In the past, Shennong cut to make up for it, Huangdi cut Zhuolu and bird Chiyou, Yao cut @ According to its meaning, Shennong, Huangdi, Yao, Shun and Yu are the five emperors, while Tang, Wen and Wu are the three kings and the representatives of the five tyrants. "Guanzi Zheng Shi" said five emperors, while the extravagant article said: "Therefore, Shennong, the eighth emperor of the book, has no position and cannot be used together. "And the ancient emperor is eight, but I only know that there is no Shennong, but I don't know which eight-way' Eight Emperors' refers to. Judging from these materials; The "Five Emperors" were undecided in the middle of the Warring States Period. Xu Zeng said in the book "Legendary Times of China Ancient History": "It is more important to pay attention to the concept of the Five Emperors first, and then find out the names of the Five Emperors to enrich it." (Note: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1985, p. 204. This statement shows that the theory of "Five Emperors" has been formed and fixed one after another, not advocated by one person, but applied worldwide. However, Xu's "Five Emperors" theory is also debatable. It can only be said that during the Warring States period, everyone had their own "five emperors", which were not unified. It was not until the end of the Warring States that the names of the five ancient emperors were finally established.
Huangdi, the son of Shaodian, is also known as Xuanyuan. Zhuan Xu, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor and the son of Changyi, was called Levin. ..... Di Ku, ... Xuan Taosun, son of @ ⑥ Pole, also known as. ... the son of Emperor Yao ... Gao Xin, also known as Fang Xun. Shun Di, the grandson of Niu and the son of Zhuan Xu, also known as Zhong Hua.
The "imperial system" further clarified the lineage between the five emperors, and Yao was the descendant of the lineage. Zhuan Xu and Heshun are the first-line descendants of Changyi, the son of the Yellow Emperor. So it formed such a pedigree of five emperors:
┌ Changyi → Zhuan Xu → @ ⑥ Niu → Shun
Huangdi →
Xuantao → @ ⑥ Pole → Di Ku → Yao.
The compilation of this pedigree was completed in the late Warring States period, which was the result of the fusion of myths in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. This system of five emperors, which embodies the concept of bloodline in history, makes the mythical gods who were both gods and gods in ancient times completely lose their divinity and aura and become out-and-out human emperors.
Among many ancient gods, heroes and ancestors, why did you choose these five? Xu thinks that the above-mentioned secular five emperors are "the result of serving Qilu scholars" (Note: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1985, p. 206. )。 This statement is quite insightful. However, we believe that apart from Qi and Lu, they were also influenced by the cultural and political situation at that time. Because of the strength of Chu and the spread of Chu culture to the Central Plains, Zhuan Xu, the ancestor of Chu, also entered the five emperors system. Yan Di, a famous emperor in ancient mythology, was replaced by Tian because of the strong country of his descendants, but did not enter the system of five emperors. Tai @ ⑦ and all the important gods and heroes in the Oriental Dongyi Group were excluded, and only Di Jun, the ancestor of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, was accepted as the incarnation. Yao Shun was highly respected by Confucianism and Mohism in the Spring and Autumn Period, and became a model of ancient wise masters and sages in the Warring States Period, and naturally became the chosen object.
When oriental scholars compiled the Five Emperors system, Qin people who lived far away in Xixiang gradually formed another Five Emperors system in their cultural field. Qin people won their surnames and thought they came from Shao Hao Group in the East. Therefore, at the beginning of "Historical Records", Qin Yun "xianggong" regarded himself as the God of Shao Hao, became the West @ ⑧, and became the emperor in the temple. "Later, Di Qing, Yan Di and the Yellow Emperor were worshipped, thus establishing the solid cultural status of Shao Hao, Yan Di and the Yellow Emperor. At the end of the Warring States Period, Zhuan Xu was added to Lv Chunqiu compiled by Qin, which formed another emperor system corresponding to the Eastern Five Emperors system. "Lv Chunqiu Twelve Ji" cloud:
Meng Chun's moon, ... its emperor Tai @ ⑦, its god Gou Mang.
Xia Mengyue, ... his emperor Yan Di and his god Zhu Rong.
The midsummer moon, ... its emperor, Huangdi, is the afterlife of its god.
The moon in Qiu Meng, ... its emperor Shao Hao, its god Ru Shou.
Meng Dong's moon, ... its emperor Zhuan Xu, its god announces.
This lineage should have been influenced by the lineage before the Five Emperors of Soochow, so Zhuan Xu was chosen among the Five Emperors of Soochow, and the Five Emperors were matched with the Five Emperors, which made the secularized Five Emperors "proud" again and turned the same lineage of the Five Emperors of Soochow into a separatist situation of decentralized governance.
Fifth, Sima Qian's choice-the completion of myth historization
During the Warring States period, the Five Emperors system in the East reflected people's dissatisfaction with the separatist regime of governors since the Spring and Autumn Period. In order to eliminate the hatred and hostility between countries, the human pedigree with the Yellow Emperor as its ancestor was fabricated to show that there is one family in the world. The five emperors system of Qin people's divide and rule completely runs counter to this purpose. I don't know whether the Qin people deliberately opposed Taiwan Province or created public opinion to destroy the Six Kingdoms. Although some gods of the Five Emperors were restored, they were originally religious and should not be regarded as the revival of myths. Especially after being transformed into five elements, the characteristics of myth have disappeared.
Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty, as a historian, described the history from ancient times to the Western Han Dynasty in Historical Records, and wrote the "Twelve Chronicles", the first of which was the Chronicle of the Five Emperors, in which he chose the system of Huangdi, Zhuan Xu, Di Ku and Yaoshun written in the Five Emperors' Virtue, and pushed the civilization era of China straight to the Huangdi period. In The Complete Book of Five Emperors, Sima Qian mixed materials provided by pre-Qin works such as Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu and Shiben, but mainly inherited Shangshu, Wudide and Xidi. His own reasonable creation fully enriched the origins, achievements and family backgrounds of Huangdi, Zhuan Xu, Yao and Shun. The pedigree of the five emperors is roughly like this:
Xuantao → @ ⑥ ⑥ → Di Ku → Zhi and Yao.
Huangdi →
└ Changyi → Zhuan Xu → Qiong Chan → Shun
The compilation of Chronicle of the Five Emperors thoroughly historized ancient myths, leaving no trace of myths and legends, and affirmed that China's human history was handed down from the Yellow Emperor. The inheritance of the Five Emperors is based on the concept of bloodline, but it also has the choice of virtue, which is the fusion of bloodline and orthodoxy. It established the national consciousness of the Chinese nation with the Yellow Emperor as its ancestor, reflected the cultural psychology of the unification of the Han Empire, and marked the completion of the historization of ancient China myths.
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