China's "Monkey" Culture: Folklore, Classics and Idioms.

Once, I visited the ancient village of Tarbu in Qiuyun Mountain and saw a monkey on the kang of a farmer's house. Of course, it's a stone monkey. I am curious. Why put a stone monkey on the kang? I knew it was tied to a child when I asked. Farmers work hard, and housewives have to take care of their children and do housework. I was afraid that the child would fall on the kang, so I tied it to the stone monkey. Then why is it tied to the stone monkey, not to Shi Hu? Comparatively speaking, tigers are more powerful than monkeys! When I was in doubt, my master enthusiastically told me that although the tiger was the king of all animals and much more powerful than the monkey, he regarded the monkey as a god. It is said that once a tiger was proudly cruising in the mountains with a group of animals and accidentally fell into the hunter's net. The tiger struggled desperately, but it just couldn't earn it. All the wild animals watched the king fall into the trap, and none of them could save him. At the critical moment, the monkey climbed to the top of the tree, untied the rope and set the tiger free. From then on, the tiger was grateful and respectful to the monkey. Once the tiger has something to go out, it entrusts the management of all animals to the monkey, so it is known as "there is no tiger in the mountain, and the monkey is called the king". For this reason, it is more reliable to entrust the child to the monkey. Look, how noble the monkeys are among people!

Protecting baby monkeys is just a sign that people love monkeys. In fact, similar love can be seen everywhere. You can see "escort monkeys" on the dock. In the 1970s, there were wooden stakes tied to the boat at the ferry crossing in Sanmenxia area of the Yellow River, and the top of the wooden stakes were carved with greedy monkeys. People say that monkeys are good at swimming and can escort. Where do monkeys come from? Come to think of it, didn't you sneak into the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea to get the treasure? On the horse-tied piles in rural areas, you can see "monkeys avoid plague" This custom is very popular. In the villages around Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu, especially in front of big houses, there are horse nails carved with stone monkeys. On the birthday celebration, you can see "peach-holding monkeys", some of which are paintings and some are sculptures. The reason is that monkeys like to eat peaches, and once won a flat peach for their birthday. Let the monkeys offer peaches and enjoy the same treatment as the immortals. It's really rich or expensive and good luck.

In short, since the monkey entered the Journey to the West, he has become a miraculous fairy, so he can face the monkey face to face everywhere on the kang, on the wall, on the dock and at the trough. Even, because the Monkey King surrendered to the Dragon King, and the Dragon King was able to sow sex and rain, some people prayed for rain with monkeys on their backs in case of drought. Of course, many people put monkeys on the stage of drama. Water curtain cave, An Tianhui, Huaguo Mountain, Huoyun Cave, Huoshan Mountain and the Heavenly Palace are all monkey shows, all of which can win public applause. The most brilliant TV series are Journey to the West, Heaven and Earth, Yuyu Qionglou, Fairy and Monster, and the battle between good and evil, which makes people see things in a blur and can put aside all their troubles.

Writing this, it is enough to see that monkeys have been deeply rooted in people's hearts, almost everywhere, and can completely stop writing. But wait a minute, there is still an important stone carving that has not appeared, that is, the three stone monkeys. There are three stone monkeys in Shandong, one is blindfolded, the other is covering his ears, and the other is covering his mouth, which means "see no evil, don't listen if you are indecent, don't speak if you are indecent". Isn't this "three noes" written by Confucius in The Analects? Yan Yuanzhong's famous sentence? No wonder it is popular in Shandong. If you sculpt an upright monkey again, symbolizing "if you don't move, you will be yourself", it will more perfectly reflect the sage's words. But these three points are really crucial and should be engraved. Mankind has entered the Internet era, and information is pouring in like water in Qian Jiangchao. If you don't distinguish between light and heavy, go with the flow, I am afraid that not only will you not fall into a quagmire, but you will go in the opposite direction. Even if I suddenly turn around and get lost, I don't know how many wonderful times I missed.

Thirdly, not being a monkey has raised the monkey culture to a new height.

In the era when New Year pictures are popular, the pictures of monkeys are people's first choice. Relatives and friends will give each other pictures of monkeys on New Year's Day. Because monkeys and Hou have the same pronunciation, they congratulate them on their promotion. A monkey climbs a maple tree to hang a seal, which is "sealing the Hou to hang a seal"; The monkey riding a horse is "immediately sealed"; If the monkey is not riding a horse, but riding on the back of another monkey, so much the better. If nine monkeys climb on a pine tree, it will exist forever and prolong its life. Nine monkeys are "long" and pine trees represent evergreen. If a monkey crouches on a peach tree with his arms bent over his ears, just like a pair of bats, that is longevity.

Monkeys in cultural classics

Did everything wrong? There is a story about a prickly monkey in the book On Foreign Storage. The story says that the prince of Yan likes the technique of kit kat, and a patriotic person likes it very much, claiming that he can carve a female monkey on a thorn tip. The prince was very happy and let him enjoy five times the salary. At that time, Fiona Fang's six miles was riding, and five miles was Fiona Fang's thirty miles, which was enough for him to eat spicy food. But the prince is not stupid. He has to watch this unique stunt with his own eyes. I don't know, that fellow is smart, and immediately said, it's okay to read it. The prince will not enter the palace for half a year, but also fast, drink no wine and eat no meat. Even if it is time to fast, you can only see it when the rain stops and the sun rises and it is half bright and half dark. I didn't expect the prickly monkey to be so mysterious that the prince was confused.

Fortunately, there was someone outside one day. Monkeys are clever, and there are more clever than this. Zheng told the prince that the spiny monkey should use a knife. The spiny monkey is so small that the knife must be smaller. Your majesty doesn't need to look at his sculpture, just look at his small knife. The prince was very happy. He called the monkey carver and said he wanted to see his knife. The man lied about going home to get it, but since then, Huang Hezhen has no news and fled.

Although Han Feizi wrote about monkeys here, it was only the background, and the monkeys didn't even have a chance to show their faces. And Zhuangzi writes about monkeys, which makes people explicit and humorous. An old man in the state of Song liked monkeys very much. He fed several monkeys. Monkeys eat all day, have no purpose, and devote themselves to breeding offspring. Monkeys give birth to monkeys, and several of them form a large group. Now the old man is in a hurry, and there is not so much food for the monkeys! In the past, he fed acorns to monkeys. Now he wants to limit it, so he kindly discusses with the monkeys, can he eat three in the morning and four at night? The monkeys were very angry and protested loudly. The old man was silent for a while, then announced, "Well, eat four in the morning and three in the evening. Are you satisfied? " Monkeys are all happy, and a difficult task ends in happiness.

But Zhuangzi is not as wordy as I am, and he is not tired of telling stories. "The Theory of Everything" said: "It was criticized by the public and said that it was' three transgressions and four times'." All the snipers are angry. Said,' but it's four times and three times. Everyone is very happy. There is nothing difficult to understand here, but "Fuguo" means to divide oak chestnuts. After reading this story, I have to admire Zhuangzi's wisdom. Zhuangzi created an old man with wisdom, and the old man fooled the monkey with wisdom. Fooling a monkey does not mean that the monkey is stupid, but also feels naive and pitiful.

Perhaps because of this, Zhuangzi frequently asked monkeys to perform what he wanted to say. A group of monkeys appeared in Xu Wugui, and one of them was very beautiful. Unfortunately, this beautiful monkey died tragically by the arrow. The king of Wu crossed the river to hunt, and the monkeys scattered. Only one monkey can not only walk, but also jump. The reason why this monkey dares to do this is because it has unique skills and jumps on the branches like shoes. Seeing so many people coming, I want to show off. The prince of Wu bent his bow and arrow, missed one shot, missed two shots and missed another shot. He was very angry and ordered his followers to shoot arrows together. Arrows are raining, how can monkeys escape and cling to trees and die? The tragic death of the monkey is unbearable. Fortunately, the tragic death of the monkey was not Zhuangzi's original intention, but he used the monkey to warn the world. When the king of Wu saw that the monkey was dead, he turned to his friend Yan and said, "This is a good idea. Punish him for being clever and let him die!" Oh, I can't be proud of you! "That is to say, this monkey was punished and put to death because of its dexterity and contempt for me. Take this as a warning and never look down on others! Yan doesn't doubt that he got the message, pragmatic and low-key. Three years later, the whole country praised him.

Cute monkeys have been living models to remind people to wake up since ancient times!

Monkeys in idioms and allegorical sayings

China has many words, like dense forests. Monkeys have been attached to people for a long time, bringing countless joys and feelings to everyone, so there are countless monkeys living in words. Only idioms about monkeys can be hung here. If it is not enough, post some xiehouyu to share with you.

Speaking of idioms, the first one to jump out is to set an example for others. This idiom contains a story. A juggling monkey got a clever monkey. Dance when you hear drums, and tumble when you hear gongs, which makes people laugh. This fellow is petty, loses his temper, still squats, and the gongs and drums ring again, just like the autumn wind. The host shouted at him, ignored him, and even blinked, dismissing him. Although the master was angry, he didn't have the heart to hit it. Suddenly I had a brainwave, caught a rooster and put it in front of the monkey, beating gongs and drums. The rooster did not experience this scene, huddled up and dared not move. The master's sword fell, and the rooster bled to death. Blood spattered on the spot, the monkey was afraid, who dared to lose his temper again? As soon as he heard the drum, he danced and listened to the gong rolling, which was very clever. This is an example, and the idioms derived from it are: killing chickens to teach monkeys, killing chickens to scare monkeys, killing chickens to scare monkeys and so on. Although the words are different, they have the same meaning.

Then it appeared: bathing the monkey and winning the crown. This idiom is deeply rooted, "Historical Records? According to Xiang Yu's chronicle, Xiang Yu's soldiers entered Xianyang, slaughtered Zi Ying, the surrendered king of Qin, and set fire to Qin Gong. The raging fire never went out in March, and it was unprecedented. Then, all the treasures and beautiful women returned to the East. Someone advised Xiang Yu: "Guanzhong is cut off by mountains and rivers, and the land is rich and fertile, but it can dominate." Xiang Yu looked at the broken ruins and said, "wealth does not return to his hometown, just like returning home with clothes on, who knows!" "Xiang Yu wants to return to his hometown and show off this arrogant power. Disappointed, the persuader sighed, "People say that Chu people take bathing monkeys as their crown, and it really happens. "It is hidden in the historical depths of the rise and fall of the Qin and Han Dynasties. After reading this story, I understand that I am mocking those ignorant and superficial people. Later, it was extended to people like puppets, or people who took refuge in evil forces to steal power. Idioms with different words but the same meaning are: bathing the monkey crown, dressing and bathing the monkey, dressing and bathing the monkey and so on.

This idiom is the year of the monkey and the month of the horse, which means there is no future. But why is monkey year, horse month synonymous with the distant future? This should start with the traditional trunk and branch calendar and the Chinese zodiac. The trunk and branches are heavenly stems and earthly branches. The sky is as dry as a trunk, and the ground is like a branch. What is involved here is the earthly branch and the zodiac. There are 12 earthly branches, and 12 zodiac signs, exactly the same. The collocation is rat, ugly cow, silver tiger, hairy rabbit, dragon, snake, afternoon horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig, corresponding to year, month and day. The cycle order of the earthly branches and the zodiac corresponding to the year, month and day is eternal, and the month and day are fixed except for the annual differences. For example, in May, grass grows and warblers fly, and people cheer for horses, which belongs to the month of the horse. May is horse month every year. Horses and earthly branches are collocated at noon, and the hours range from 1 1 to 13. These two hours every day are horse hours, which are often called noon. However, it takes 12 cycles to come back once every 20 16 years, which happens to be the year of the monkey. May of the lunar calendar is the month of the horse, and a "Year of the Monkey" is coming. It's really a long way to go, as long as you work hard, you will make great achievements!

There are many idioms related to monkeys, which cannot be explained one by one, but can only be said by touching them. Monkeys play with arrows, describing that they like to show off their cleverness and are gullible; Sharp-billed monkey face, describing ugly and vulgar appearance; Playing tricks on monkeys is a metaphor for being naughty; Xuanhe crowned monkey is a metaphor for excessive use of toilets and superficial; The frightened ape got rid of the rabbit and described it as frightened and ran away in a hurry; A macaque riding a cow is a metaphor for slow promotion. ...

The most pleasing thing is the monkey-related allegorical saying, which is not only popular, but also humorous. Try it, monkey ass-kick red; Monkeys pull plows-top cows; The monkey took a stick-Hulun; The Monkey King made trouble in the Heavenly Palace-a big fight; Monkeys wear gloves-all hands and feet; The monkey climbed to the top of the high flagpole; Monkeys stand upside down-tail up; Monkeys climb bamboo poles-jump up and down; Monkeys flew away by rocket ... there are countless monkeys. For a long time, monkeys have been the image ambassadors of China people's spiritual and cultural world.