Nowadays, the reason why people love Yellow River carp is not only because of its desirable flavor, but also because Yellow River carp is a creation and accumulation of historical culture. Therefore, the Yellow River carp culture occupies an important position in social sciences and humanities research.
"A guest came from afar and left me a pair of carp. I called my son to cook the carp, and there was a ruler in the book." This is a poem by Cai Yong, a poet of the Han Dynasty. It is not only poetic and sentimental, but also a tribute to the Yellow River. Carp praise.
Yellow River carp is also called red carp, yellow carp, black carp, etc., and is a member of the family Cyprinidae. Carp is a beautiful aquatic animal. Its body is flat and tall. It is covered with shining golden scales and holds a golden-red tail. It swims around in the water with straight eyebrows and eyes, swaying three times. It is graceful and unique. Interesting.
The Yellow River carp culture highlights many interesting stories and legends. For thousands of years, people have made up many interesting stories and legends around the Yellow River carp. It is precisely because our people love carp that the legend of "carp jumping over the dragon's gate" has been passed down to this day. Longmen, also known as Yumen, is located 30 kilometers north of Hancheng, Shaanxi Province, spanning the east and west banks of the Yellow River. The book "San Qin Ji" says: "Below the Dragon Gate, there are yellow carp every year in the spring. They come from the sea and all the states to fight for it. The number of people who climb the Dragon Gate in one year does not reach seventy-two. When they first climb the Dragon Gate, there are Clouds and rain followed, and the fire from the sky burned its tail, turning it into a dragon. "In ancient my country, passing the Jinshi examination was called climbing the dragon gate, which means rapid advancement, smooth career, and success. "The carp jumps over the dragon's gate" is often used to describe people and things that have changed their status and situation after hard work. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, every time before the Spring Festival, people always want to buy New Year pictures of a boy and a carp in the Yellow River. The boy and the carp are regarded as a symbol of "abundant auspiciousness". Fish in New Year pictures and auspicious pictures Every Spring Festival, Chinese people like to put up various New Year pictures and auspicious pictures in their homes to celebrate the festival in a prosperous and lively way. Many New Year pictures and auspicious pictures use fish as the theme. The relationship between fish and humans is very close. In the long-term historical development, people have formed some concepts about fish, which are reflected in folk customs and art in various forms. As early as the Neolithic Age, the Pisces pattern appeared on my country's painted pottery, and in subsequent generations there were Pisces bottles, Pisces, etc. In ancient Chinese buildings or household decorations, you can often see a picture of eight treasures, one of which is the jade fish (Pisces), which means good luck. The fish among the eight treasures on Taoist buildings is goldfish, which means "sturdiness and liveliness, freedom from bad calamities". There are also pictures of Pisces playing in the water on the window paper of the bridal chamber in Chinese folk weddings, which represent reconciliation between husband and wife, prosperity of offspring, and long-lasting wealth and happiness. Fish is a homophonic word for "yu", so fish symbolizes wealth and affluence. Fish often appear in the New Year pictures and auspicious pictures that are widely circulated in my country. Most of the fish in New Year pictures and auspicious pictures are carp and goldfish. Because "carp" and "profit" are homophonic to "gold", which means wealth, they are often associated with business and are used to symbolize benefits and making money in business.
The legend of Carp Goddess Temple. Once upon a time, there was a Carp Goddess Temple near Shigudu in Guixi City. Because the temple was located on the edge of the harbor, it was also called the Fish Harbor Temple. Talking about the Carp Goddess Temple, there is such a legend: When Li Shimin was the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he greatly respected Shintoism. The palace and the people respected the gods and ghosts. They said that respecting the gods could stabilize the country, protect the people, bring good weather and good harvests. For a time, there were earth temples in every village, mountain temples in the mountains, and high schools, temples, divisions, and societies were everywhere. One year, a Confucian scholar surnamed Wang came to Beijing to take an examination. He bought a lively red carp at the market and planned to cook it after staying at night. When he came to a red stone ridge near Shigudu, suddenly there were dark clouds and thunder and lightning. At this moment, Wang Rusheng was in a hurry to defecate, so he had to put his luggage and carp on the ground. But before he had finished his stool, the rain was already pouring down. Wang Rusheng stood up quickly, packed up his luggage and ran away. But he forgot the red carp on the red stone ridge. After the rain, the sky cleared up. The local land guard passed by to watch the water and saw a red carp jumping there. He mistakenly thought it was coming from the sky. He thought, no wonder dark clouds suddenly appeared and heavy rain poured down. It turned out that the Carp Queen came down to earth! The land guard When he returned to the village, he told the story vividly, and then raised funds to build a temple, set up a throne for the Carp Lady, and enshrine her. In this way, the Carp Goddess Temple was built on the bare red stone ridge. Besides, Confucian Wang went to Beijing to take the exam, was named on the gold medal list, and was named the Inspector of the Eight Prefectures. Once, he returned to his hometown to take some time off, and came to Shigudu, Guixi. When the patrolman got off his sedan chair and took the ferry, he looked up and saw a temple on the Hongshi Ridge.
Inside and outside the temple, there are crowds of people, cigarette smoke is lingering, and firecrackers are heard. He was so strange. At this time, the patrolman sent a message to the high school in a sedan chair. When he raised the curtain of the sedan chair and looked at the scene, he suddenly remembered that when he passed by here on his way to Beijing to take the exam, he had left a red carp here to avoid the storm. Entering the temple, we saw a horizontal plaque on the platform engraved with four large gold characters "Carp Lady". The front of the altar was also covered with a curtain. At this time, someone had brought tea. The patrol minister did not accept it, but approached the altar. He raised the curtain and saw a dried red carp, so he left the altar. Asking for pen and ink from the temple people and writing on the walls the worship of gods and ghosts in the world is the work of humans. It was originally a live carp, but turned into an empress carp with the name of the Eight Prefectures patrol written on it.