What can ward off evil spirits in ancient legends of China?

Chickens and dogs are domestic animals, but in ancient concepts, their origins are comparable to ordinary animals. Shu Wei's "The Fight in Spring and Qiu Yun" says that "Yu Hengxing is scattered into a chicken", while "The Spring and Autumn Examination of Justice" says that "dogs are born of quarrelling". Such gifts are related to people using some parts of them as magic weapons.

Have a direct connection. As a magic weapon to ward off evil spirits, dog blood has been recorded in history books. Qin Shihuang's four lessons of killing dogs and preventing fierceness are one example. Since then, killing dogs and smearing blood on the door has always been one of the basic ways for the people to eliminate ominous or resist evil. Folk beliefs also believe that dog blood and chicken head are the easiest way to solve evil spirits, especially chicken head and black dog blood. If you encounter a "demon" who uses magic, such as cutting paper into horses and scattering beans into soldiers, you can also use it.

Sprinkle dog blood and break its magic. In folklore, chicken blood and dog blood are also commonly used together to hate evil spirits.

Third: adzuki bean

The ancients called bean silence, but according to the further analysis of Guangya and other books, there is a difference between bean silence and adzuki bean name. Black beans, soybeans and mung beans all belong to soybeans, such as red beans, mung beans, white beans and peas. In China's traditional folk customs, beans that are regarded as magical and effective are adzuki beans. In addition, soybeans are also useful "shed beans" in local Buddhist beliefs and customs.

The magic of adzuki bean lies in fighting and avoiding epidemic first. Such as "Miscellaneous Five Elements Book" cloud; "Often in the first month, is also very effective for monarch disease. On the seventh day of the first month and the seventh day of July, the man swallowed seven red beans and the woman swallowed fourteen. After not getting sick, the disease is not contagious. " Obviously, this kind of adzuki bean operation, which sometimes pays attention to the conditions of distinguishing between men and women, is not a medical concept. Another example is "Guangji Year", which says: "On the day of autumn, ten red beans are swallowed by autumn water to stop red and white dysentery." The principle is the same. There is also a saying that adzuki bean hates ghosts. "Miscellanies at the Age of Years" said: "* * * There was a bad talent in the Gong family who died of the plague ghost in winter and was afraid of adzuki beans, which he hated every day." In the past, we knew that eating red beans was limited to the solstice in winter, and Zheng Dan, Yuanxiao, Qixi and beginning of autumn all had eye-catching and epidemic prevention effects. It turned out that "epidemic ghosts" were most afraid of. This legend is not only popular in China, but also spread to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. Even today, there are widespread acts of "scattering beans to exorcise ghosts" in folk customs there, but their ways of exorcising ghosts are different.

Second: mahogany

Peach wood is also called "fairy wood". It is the most widely used material to ward off evil spirits and create ghosts. Peach trees have such magical power, which is rooted in the mysterious concept that peach trees are afraid of ghosts. In the recording and interpretation of ancient documents, the basis of this concept can be roughly divided into three categories. Because it has nothing to do with the theme, I won't go into details. This passage mainly tells the way to play the role of peach trees in exorcising evil spirits and killing ghosts:

1) peach board. Also known as "peach version", "peach symbol" and "peach symbol board", they are used in pairs. The image of the Shen Tu brothers (legendary exorcists) is painted on the board to suppress the evil soul. Of course, as we all know, it has gradually evolved into the present "Spring Festival couplets" and "couplets".

2) peach seal. Also known as the "Peach Seal", it is a button carved from peach wood and painted with red, blue and Huang San colors. Black and white, spells to ward off evil spirits, and perforated buttons. During the Dragon Boat Festival, you only need to tie the peach seal on the door or between the curtains with colorful ornaments to drive away evil spirits and ghosts.

3) Peach service. Ornamental objects made of mahogany are melon-shaped, multi-edged, engraved with inscriptions, and the content is mostly to pray for soil disaster. The usage method is to wear it on the body in the first month of the summer calendar. According to History of Han Poetry, this custom was popular in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the later mahogany system was its legacy.

4) Ren Tao. Also known as "peach stalk" and "peach puppet", it is an aversion to victory carved with peach stalks. Shaped like a human figure, the size is arbitrary. The way to use it is to stand by the door on New Year's Eve in the summer calendar or ward off evil spirits in Zheng Dan. According to the records in Zhuangzi and Warring States Policy, this custom was popular in the Warring States Period. Ren Tao is also used in the folk custom of building houses in some areas. The solution is to open a small hole between the door wall or the beam and column and let a small group of people in. In the past, people thought it could ward off evil spirits and keep the house stable.

5) peach pit. Intercepting the branches of peach trees without treatment is a ready-made ghost. "Zhuangzi" said that when a child puts a stick in front of his house and is not afraid to enter the house, the ghost will be scared away. In addition, the ancients also bathed with peach branches, thinking that they could ward off evil spirits.

6) Pink bow. Also known as "peach arc", it is made of peach wood and used in combination with an arrow-shaped object made of thorns to celebrate victory. Zuozhuan? 6? 1 Zhao Gong recorded the ceremony of "peach-arc arrow to eliminate its disaster" for four years, and the meaning of "disaster" seems to be broader than the concept of ghost.

7) peaches □. The magic weapon made of peach branches and ears of grain looks like a broom. Zuo Zhuan, The Book of Rites and Zhou Li all contain ominous records of hot peach blossom. There are two occasions in front of peaches: mourning and killing animals to get blood. The ancients thought that things about the dead were always associated with ghosts and the like. Before hanging the dead, it is necessary to use town objects to ensure that the living are not infringed, and Tao Qian has the right to kill ghosts. Killing a sacrifice, taking blood and swearing, but also afraid of ominous, Taofeng plays the role of being removed. In ancient times, most of the people who picked peaches before holding them were officials such as Wu Shi, but later they gradually became a tool of Taoism before picking peaches, that is, the predecessor of blowing dust.

8) Taojian. This should be the most familiar usage. It is a magic weapon of "catching ghosts" or "splitting ghosts" made of peach wood, which is used in conjunction with "peach seal" and reed rope. This is already in the hands of the Taoist priest with a bull's nose, but the righteousness comes from the ancient people's belief in the power of peach wood to kill ghosts.

9) Peach soup. In the story of Jingchu's avoiding evil spirits, there is a description of drinking Taoyuan on the first day of the first month. Whether to cook the fields with peaches, peach gum or peach wood has not been tested. In addition, there is a way to take a bath in Taoyuan to solve the mystery of ghosts in the folk magic of banning the disintegration of black beads.

First: bronze mirror

Among many magic weapons, the bronze mirror has the strongest exorcism ability.

In ancient China, people used bronze mirrors for a long time. Bronze mirrors are not only utensils and handicrafts, but also magic weapons with multiple functions. Where does the magic of bronze mirrors come from? Most of the explanations of the ancients were related to their makers.

The magical function of the bronze mirror is that it can "observe the original shape of the demon chief" at first. For example, Ge Hong's "Bao Pu Zi" said that everything in the world has been refined for a long time and has the ability to deceive people by pretending to be human beings. "But they can't change their true shape in the mirror." As soon as they saw the bronze mirror, they showed their true colors and quickly slipped away. Based on this principle, a first-class magician should first use a mirror as a magic weapon to see through monsters when engaging in activities such as catching ghosts and demons. At that time, when the mirror first appeared, the monster ran away. Along this line of thinking, the magic mirror has become a widely used forbidden article. For example, the back or chest of ancient warrior armor is embedded with a "protective mirror". Copper mirror material, on the one hand, has the function of resisting the invasion of weapons such as knives and arrows, on the other hand, it can play a role in scaring many ghosts and monsters. For another example, the custom of putting a small round mirror in the middle of the top of the gate is very popular in many areas of China. Even today, this ancient forbidden object with exorcism significance often appears in modern-style buildings, but the material of the mirror has changed from cooked copper to glass.

For another example, in traditional wedding customs, bronze mirrors are the most commonly used tools to ward off evil spirits. The bride, wearing a new dress with a bronze mirror, got into a sedan chair and went to her husband's house. Before the sedan chair enters the husband's house, the full-time staff should carefully "search" it up and down, left and right in the sedan chair with a bronze mirror; A big bronze mirror is absolutely indispensable in the bridal chamber used for the fusion of rulers. In addition, bronze mirrors are also used in folk funeral activities. People put bronze mirrors on the top of the tomb or at the four corners of the coffin bed. These arrangements are all for exorcism.