Most proverbs are easy to understand, after all, they are the essence summed up by the ancient working people. However, this proverb we are going to say today is not difficult to understand literally, and it is also very easy to understand, but the meaning behind it is not clear, and it is also quoted by many fantasy novel and film and television works, which is even more mysterious! This proverb is "Better live in a wild grave than in an ancient temple". Why did the ancients summarize such a proverb?
In ancient times, when people died in a large area due to famine, war, plague and other reasons, there would be many barren graves, which generally appeared in sparsely populated wilderness. Even in broad daylight, it gives people a creepy feeling, so stay away at night. Then why did the ancients stay further away from the ancient temple?
Let's talk about the travel of the ancients first. The traffic was very inconvenient at that time. It was not easy for the ancients to travel far. Unlike modern society, with cars, high-speed trains, airplanes and even cash, there is only one mobile phone. There are countless hotels and restaurants in the destination! But the ancients had no means of transportation when they went out, and their travel speed was very slow. They passed some remote places, not to mention the inn, and even a family could not be seen. In this case, a picnic is inevitable.
So when there is no way out, the ancient temple can at least shelter from the wind and rain. In fact, the ancients didn't want to live in it for several reasons.
First, because most of these ancient temples have long been abandoned, they are in disrepair and are very easy to collapse. For safety reasons, the ancients would not enter the ancient temple, no matter day or night!
Secondly, because the ancients were superstitious, they thought that these dilapidated ancient temples were easy to attract unclean things. In the novel Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio in the Qing Dynasty, many stories took place in ancient temples, so the ancients stayed away from these ancient temples! Even in today's film and television works and novels, as long as there is a dilapidated old temple, paranormal will definitely happen!
The third reason is that the ancient temple itself is terrible. The creaking doors and windows and the dilapidated Buddha statues under the night lights give people a gloomy feeling. If there weren't so many people walking together, the ancients wouldn't dare to stay!
Fourth, ancient robbers were rampant and public security was poor. These ancient temples can easily become a gathering place for robbers. They specially select passers-by, ranging from being robbed of tolls and valuables to being killed by the sword. The ancients usually went out for business and carried a lot of gold, silver, jewelry or trading items with them, so they were extremely taboo to stay in the ancient temple!
Therefore, the ancients summed up a proverb that "it is better to spend the night in an ancient temple than in a deserted grave", which is probably the reason. In fact, what this proverb wants to express is: when you go out, you must pay attention to safety! These proverbs are the crystallization of the wisdom of our ancestors, and many of them are extremely applicable in modern society. If we read more proverbs, we will find that they are of great help and inspiration to our life and work!