What are the unique skills of ancient magicians in China?

In recent years, there has been a magic show every Spring Festival Evening. Magic was called "magic" in ancient times and "magic" among the people. This is one of the most traditional forms of entertainment in China. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, magicians from China had appeared in black and pink.

Magic shows appeared in the "country of supporting buildings" in the Zhou Dynasty.

"Notes" recorded the magician's "spitting clouds and spitting fire" and "strangers in the mouth".

China is one of the cradles of magic. When did magic begin? According to the statement in the Collection of Notes written by Qin Wangjia sixteen countries ago, it appeared in the ancient Zhou Dynasty: "Seven years. In the south of the south, there is a country that helps Lou. He is fickle and easy to change his clothes. The big one is in the fog of Yun Qi, while the small one is in the slightest, wearing golden feathers, spitting clouds and spitting fire, and bulging like thunder. Or become a rhinoceros, an elephant, a lion, a dragon, a snake, a dog, a horse, or a tiger or a stranger's mouth ... "From this passage, we can see that Fulou people are good at magic tricks, and the common modern" fireworks "(spitting clouds and spitting fire) and" turning into a living person "(a stranger in the mouth) have all been used.

However, The Collection of Notebook Novels has always been classified as "Notebook Novels", and it is obviously impossible for Wang Jia in the 4th century AD to record the events in BC 10 century, so Zhou Chengwang's "magical record" of seven years is questionable. But from the analysis of modern archaeological findings, Wang Jia's notes are not nonsense. At least in the Han Dynasty, this kind of magic show was quite mature.

A magic performance of "spitting fire" was found on a Han stone unearthed in Liucun, Jiaxiang, Shandong. Coincidentally, there is the same magic show on the stone relief unearthed from Qimu Pagoda in Dengfeng, Henan Province. Therefore, the things recorded in the Notes on the Collection are not "fabricated" like the authors of modern magic novels, which is well-founded.

Magic was listed as one of the "hundred plays" in Qin and Han Dynasties.

"Miscellanies of Xijing" records that Huang Gong "painted the land as a river and pinched the soil as a stone"

According to the Records of Collected Notes, the "Kingdom of Tolou" can be regarded as the "magical town" in ancient China. Does such a place really exist? According to textual research, Fulou Kingdom no longer exists, which is equivalent to Huizhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen in Lingnan today. It was called "Tielou" in the Spring and Autumn Period, "Luo Fu" in the Han Dynasty and "Boluo" in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and there is still a Boluo. Some people say that China's traditional magic of "spitting fire" was introduced from the western regions, which is obviously inappropriate, because Fulou people have already performed it.

If the magic recorded in Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio is somewhat mythical, then after the Qin and Han Dynasties, the written records about magic are much more reliable. For example, Ode to Xijing, written by Zhang Heng, a famous scientist in the Eastern Han Dynasty, recorded the magic performance in the Han Emperor's era (94-125).

At that time, the magic show had been included in the program of "large-scale cultural performances" (100). The "Duke Huang of the East China Sea" mentioned in Xijing Fu is a skilled magician. He can operate large-scale magic with extremely high skills, using "magic" and "lifting clouds" when performing; Draw the land into a river, and the scene immediately "flows through the path"

Although the magic performed by Huanggong was very complicated, the magician was able to perform more at that time. This kind of magic is mentioned in Xin's Miscellanies of Xijing: "King Huainan is a good alchemist. Alchemists observe with skill. One picture is a river and the soil is a rock. It's cold and summer, rainy and foggy. "

Archaeological findings show that artists in the Han Dynasty can also perform horrible "heart-piercing" magic, and a portrait stone unearthed in Xiaotangshan, Shandong Province is painted with "heart-piercing man".

Large-scale magic shows prevailed in Hui Yuan in the Tang Dynasty.

"Literature General Examination" records that "the fish and dragons played for three days until dusk."

In ancient times, there was one of the most popular large-scale programs, The Legend of the Dragon, which was dedicated to the royal family. Besides many magic shows, there are other acrobatic performances.

Fish Dragon Eyeful also wrote "Fish Dragon Eyeful", which was originally two programs of "Fish Dragon" and "Eyeful" and often performed together, hence the name. During the performance, people play big fish and behemoths, which is actually a magical animal performance: the behemoth first turned into a huge flounder, and then turned into a big yellow dragon. ...

In the Tang Dynasty, the popular variety show "Hundred Dramas" in the court was quite popular. Every year, on the first day of the first month, in the "Hui Yuan" (similar to the Spring Festival Evening now), there is often a large-scale magic show called "Fish Dragon Full of Flame". "A General Examination of Literature and Folk Music" said: "The old system in the Tang Dynasty was peaceful. Third, when you are two years old, you must hold a banquet for the Prime Minister and the Hundred Kings in the Shengchun Temple, prepare nine songs of Shao and Yu, and set up a Dragon Opera, which lasts for three days until dusk. "

In the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the old-fashioned magic such as "breathing fire" and "swallowing knives", magic such as "hiding narrow" became popular. This magical way of playing is also recorded in the General Examination of Literature: "It is too narrow to hide, so that the viewer can't see it." A lot of magic is to "change" things, while hiding is to "change" things.

Because magic is magical, some people regard it as "strange art". For example, many "strange techniques" recorded by the strange novelist in the Tang Dynasty are magic. During the Yuanhe period in Tang Xianzong, Wang Qiong, a warlock in Jianghuai, "tasted Duan Junxiu's house, invited guests to take tiles, painted tortoise shells and conceived them." . Take it out later. It's a turtle. Put it in the courtyard, walk along the wall, and then it becomes a tile. "

The "escape technique" of "being good at hiding" appeared in the pre-Qin period.

"Searching for God" records that in order to avoid Cao Cao's assassination, Zuo Ci "entered the wall, but Huo Ran disappeared."

Wang Qiong's "painting turtles" is actually the same principle as the modern magic "changing living things" that a man named Zuo Ci was already playing at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zuo Ci was a super magician in ancient China, a native of Lujiang, Anhui, who could perform many kinds of magic. According to Gan Bao's Search for God, Zuo Ci was once invited to attend a banquet of Cao Cao. Cao Cao wanted to try his hand and said to the guests with a smile, "Be prepared for today's high meeting." One of the few, Wu Songjiang perch is a cockroach. "

Knowing that Cao Cao was testing him, Zuo Ci said it was easy to get a fish. He had a copper coin filled with water. "Catch a bass from the plate with bamboo bait at once." Cao Cao became suspicious and said, "One fish is not as good as two." So Zuo Ci fished in the dish again. Soon, he caught another bass, which was "more than three feet high" and "everyone was surprised".

Zuo Ci can also conjure up wine and meat, turn wine glasses into birds, and make Cao Cao feel that his magic is too powerful, that he is a threat, and that he wants to assassinate him. Results Zuo Ci "helpless into the wall, Huo Ran". Zuo Ci's escape method is an "escape technique" that modern magicians also like to perform.

"Escape" is also a local magic in China, which appeared as early as the pre-Qin period. According to the article "Zhong Qi and beginning of spring" in Liu Xiang's Lienv Debate Biography, Zhong Lichun, a famous ugly woman in ancient times, was good at hiding and was called "good at hiding". Qi Xuanwang once told her that he liked invisibility very much and wanted to see it. Words not to say that finish, Zhong Lichun disappeared.

Qian Xiaoguo once offered "descendants" to Qin Shihuang.

The Book of Jin records that monks in the western regions "hold daggers and give injections, which is different from regular food".

During the Han and Wei Dynasties, besides Zuo Ci, there was a magician named Guangxu in the State of Wu, who often practiced illusion.

Guangxu is good at "planting trees" and can sow, raise seedlings and bear fruit at the same time. Tang Daoshi's Fa Zhu Yuan Lin records that Guangxu "begged from the city people, and his master was very generous. Then start from Suozi, dig and plant. The matter between ancient times and ancient times was born, the matter between Russia and China was circulated, and the matter between Russia and China became a reality, and the people paid attention to it. Zicheng, take it and eat it, because it is for the viewer. "

Around the tenth century BC, many magicians from the western regions came to the Central Plains and called them "human changes". Liezi Zhou Muwang said, "People who nationalized the Western Pole have come, going through fire and water, and wearing away stones ..." In the first year of Qin Shihuang, the country of the Western Regions was dedicated to a painter named Yi. According to the illusion in Tai Ping Guang Ji and the Chronicle of the Prince, I am actually a magic master. I'm full of painters, and I can draw it by spraying it on the ground.

Some monks in the western regions use magic to make their companions obey. According to the Records of Jin Shu Yi Wen Zhi, Kumarajiva, a monk in the Western Regions at that time, was able to "swallow needles": he filled a bowl with needles and "raised a dagger and an injection needle in front of all the monks in the temple, which was different from regular food". With this trick, "monks are ashamed to serve."

The ancients were also keen on magic "revealing secrets"

"Tai Ping Guang Ji" recorded that Hou Yuan was "not a god" and was beheaded.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the "reduction techniques" in magic were also mature, such as "broken tongue reunion", "shredded reduction" and "burning paper reduction". Cui Hong's "The Spring and Autumn Period of Sixteen Countries: A Record of the Northern Liang Dynasty" records that there was a westerner who could "swallow a knife and chew fire". When he performed Broken Tongue, he cut his tongue with a knife in front of the audience, bleeding profusely. Then put half a tongue in a container and pass it on to the audience for inspection. But after the broken tongue was put back in the mouth, it was quickly attached, "spit out the tongue again for the viewer."

However, even the best magic is fake. Like modern people, the ancients were keen on cracking magic. For example, the magician's best "spitting fire" in the western regions was broken by the Central Plains people. "Search Ji Shen" reveals: "When he spits fire, he first puts the medicine in a container, takes a piece of fire, mixes it with millet, blows repeatedly, opens his mouth, and the fire is full. Because he took it for cooking, it was also fire. "

The ancients also cracked magic in other ways. "Illusion in Taiping Guang Ji" records that there was a Taoist priest in Qingcheng in the Five Dynasties who could "conjure" a lady who raped her and confuse the rich children. After the master of Houshu was arrested, he sent someone to throw pig's blood and dog's blood on him and break his skill. Of course, such a crack is not credible.

In ancient times, once you missed a magic show, it was not only a matter of discredit, but also a matter of losing your life. In the Tang Dynasty, a man named Hou Yuan was beheaded because his magic was invalid. This is the so-called "skill is not god, so it is cut in the array" in Taiping Guangji. The above-mentioned magic masters "Huang Gong" and "Miscellanies of Xijing" recorded: "Huang Gong hated it with a red knife and was killed by a tiger because of his poor skills."

The magic after the Tang and Song Dynasties is even more varied, and all the magic that readers can see now appeared at that time. Although the props are modernized, the magic principle is still a set of ancient people. According to the Beijing Evening News.