Erlang God, commonly known as Yang Erlang, is the son of Xian Fan. This story is contained in Jiro Bao Juan of the Ming Dynasty. In the popular folk story of "Erlang God saved his mother by splitting a mountain", Erlang God is the only son born of the marriage of the jade emperor's three daughters and three princesses (or the jade emperor's sister) and the lower bound Yang Tianyou.
Under the background of immigration policy in the early Ming Dynasty, Jiro belief spread to the northwest. The belief in Erlang God, which originated from the ancient Shu culture, has been favored by people of all ethnic groups in their native land, and has become the most well-known "Erlang God" since the Ming and Qing Dynasties by virtue of the power of ghost novels.
For the sixth time, Journey to the West called him "the true king of Erlang God, a saint, living in Guanjiangkou, Guanzhou". The Romance of Gods named him Yang Jian, who was Ding Yu's apprentice. As early as the early Northern Song Dynasty, the theory of "Yang Erlang" had been circulated among the people. For example, there is a saying in "Living in a secluded place" that an uncle and nephew of Lu was "on the land with Yang Erlang" on the tower, and Yang Erlang was called a man of god, "going in and out like the wind in vain".
Sichuan is the hometown of Qiang people and Miao people. The ancestors of the Miao people first lived in the northwest of China. They have always maintained the custom of "brushing their foreheads to the sky", that is, carving marks on their foreheads with a knife, and then painting ink on the wounds to make them grow into the meat, forming a permanent mark that looks like an upright eye, the so-called "eye of the sky"
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Miao people spread from Longnan to North Sichuan and Xikang. There are not only many temples of Erlang God in this area, but also many people who are famous for Erlang God, the most famous of which is Erlang Mountain in Xikang. After the Tang Dynasty, the Miao people gradually merged with the Han and Tibetan nationalities, and the three-eyed ancestor God of the Miao people became a member of the Taoist deity system and became the Erlang God widely worshipped by folk beliefs. The Tsing Yi gods in Gansu and Tibet are also three-eyed, and I'm afraid many of them are related to the integration of Tibet and Tibet.
There is another clue that can trace its origin. In Pingding Town, Shanxi Province, there is an inscription by King Zhao You in the third year of the Southern Song Dynasty. The inscription reads: "Fu Zhao Hui Ling is the king, a native of Shu, a descendant of the emperor and a congenital god." Emperor Xiang is a god, and Erlang is a descendant of the god. The people regard the Jade Emperor as a god, and Erlang is the nephew (or grandson) of the Jade Emperor (the god), all from the saying that Zhao Hui was crowned king in the Song Dynasty.
The Folk Heritage of Erlang God
Erlang God is a widely influential example of popular belief in China. Since ancient times, Guankou, Sichuan Province has been regarded as the authentic sacrificial place of Erlang, and there is the Erwang Temple standing on the east bank of Minjiang River in Dujiangyan. Correspondingly, the worship of Erlang is also the most prosperous among the people in Sichuan. All kinds of traditional folk behaviors, such as exorcising evil spirits, eliminating evil spirits, controlling floods, and seasonal competitions, should invite Erlang.
A large number of legends about Jiro have been integrated into various dramas, even affecting place names and mountain names. Such as Erlangguan in Rongchang District, Erlang Mountain Park in Wansheng, Chongqing, Erlang Mountain in Suide, Shaanxi, Erlang Mountain in Shenmu, Erlang Mountain Scenic Area in Chang 'an District, xi 'an, Shaanxi, Erlang Mountain in Ansai County, Yan 'an City, Gansu Province, etc.
The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Erlang God.