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Analysis:
The origin of Naihe Bridge:
The bridge can connect to gods, immortals, and heaven, and it can also connect to ghosts, underworld, and hell. From the perspective of folk culture, bridges and their symbolism are even more commonly used by people to establish connections or form transitions and mediations between humans and ghosts, life and death.
In contrast to "myths" and "fairy tales", there is another unique type of "ghost tales" in Chinese folk word-of-mouth literature. Although we often use the phrase "a bunch of lies" to describe what someone says is absurd or unbelievable, the repeated appearance of "bridge" in folk "ghost stories" is not accidental. In our opinion, it is not absurd. . In Chinese folk belief, "ghosts" are a type of negative supernatural beings caused by death. Among the many myths spread throughout China, bridges are often haunted by ghosts, especially the ghosts of drowned people.
The ghosts of those who died in the water or fell into the water from the bridge are always looking for substitutes for themselves on the top and bottom of the bridge or at the left and right ends of the bridge so that they can be reincarnated. In this sense, the bridge is not only the place where the ghosts of the dead leave the underworld and reincarnate into the underworld, but also the place where the new dead continue to emerge from the underworld to the underworld. The alternation and transformation of life and death are realized with the bridge as the intermediary. of. In Japan, there is also a saying that the ghosts or resentful spirits of the wronged dead wander on the bridge, often distorting the bridge planks and causing people to fall into the water during the "Bridge Call".
Some kind-hearted water ghosts who cannot bear to drag people into the water and serve as substitutes, although they cannot be reincarnated as humans immediately in the ghost stories, can often be promoted in the underworld, or in the end they can always impress the underworld king, and even win the favor of the underworld king. Authorized to be reincarnated as a human being.
There is a lie titled "Lu Atang", which says that there was originally a Lujia Bridge on the Lianqi River in Baoshan. The south of the bridge was the Lujiazhai and the north of the bridge was the Tangjiazhai. People with both surnames took advantage of this. bridge, so the two parties agreed to take turns repairing the bridge in March every year. One year, when the Lu family was building a bridge, unfortunately a man fell into the water and became a water ghost. In March of the next year, the water ghost dragged the Tang family's bridge builder into the water as a substitute, reincarnating himself back to the earthly world. From then on, when the bridge was being repaired in March every year, someone always fell into the water and died. People were afraid and did not dare to repair it, causing the bridge to become abandoned. Later, a man named Lu Atang, who married into the Lu family from the Tang family, volunteered to be the scapegoat so that everyone could build the bridge with peace of mind. After Lu Atang became a water ghost, he not only couldn't bear to drag others into the water, but also protected the bridge builders under the bridge. As a result, he received drink offerings and sexual offerings from the Lu and Tang surnames. Later, anyone passing by this bridge had to bow their hands at the end of the bridge to show respect for Lu Atang before crossing the bridge. When the bridge is being built every year in March, the incense offered to Lu Atang becomes more prosperous, and finally disturbs the "land" of the Lu and Tang families.
After the Earth God went to heaven to sue the Jade Emperor, the Jade Emperor named Lu Atang the bridge god of Luqiao and gave him a ghost-killing stick. From then on, Lujiaqiao became safer, even if someone fell into the water, they would not drown, because after Lu Atang was named the Bridge God, he devoted himself to eliminating harm for the people. Sometimes, people are driven away by ghosts, but as long as they run to the bridge, they will be protected by the bridge god Lu Atang.
From this lie, we can not only see the connection between life and death, but also the connection between the Jade Emperor and the King of Hell, the connection between the "Human Pillar" and the Bridge God, As well as the connection formed by the bridge between people of the two surnames, etc.
Interestingly, in some ghost stories about bridges, there are often scenes of female ghosts giving birth to babies in the underworld, and begging for food for the babies on the bridge or at the head of the bridge. One of the stories says that the baby was named Qiao and later won the top prize. In addition, there is even a rumor that the King of Hell ordered his trusted assistant Yin Cai to control the problem of water ghosts and ordered him to build floating bridges for people to atone for his sins.
The folk belief of Naihe Bridge has a long history in China. "Xuan Shi Zhi" written by Zhang Du of the Tang Dynasty mentioned that Naihe came from the underworld. In ancient China, there has always been the concept that there is a river separating the underworld from the underworld, and the souls of the dead must use bridges to cross over.
Duan Chengshi of the Tang Dynasty wrote "Youyang Miscellaneous" mentioned the underworld, and said: "... there is water flowing east and west,... a bridge is decorated with gold and jade, cross the north of the bridge, and enter a city,... it is suspected to be the underworld." "The traditional Chinese concept of the underworld later coincided with the Buddhist concepts of hell and reincarnation, and gradually formed the common belief of Naihe and Naihe Bridge that is now very popular among the people. Around the Southern Song Dynasty, folk underworld legends gradually determined that the ghost capital of the underworld was Fengdu County in Sichuan Province. Since then, successive dynasties have built ghost mansions in Fengdu, including the often-said Yin and Yang Realm and Naihe Bridge. The Naihe Bridge in Fengdu Ghost Mansion is probably the most famous bridge in China.
According to the "Survey on Religious Customs in Fengdu" published by the anthropologist Mr. Wei Huilin in 1935, in Fengdu Ghost Mansion, through the mountain gate is the Main Hall, and in front of the hall there is a stone arch bridge called As Naihe Bridge, a stone pool under the bridge is the Blood River Pool. The east end of the Naihe Bridge is the Ksitigarbha Hall, and the west end is the Blood River General Hall. It is said that the Naihe River is the first pass for ghosts to pass. In order to echo this kind of "nonsense", Zhu Chun, King of Shu Xian in the Ming Dynasty, built three continuous-arch stone bridges in Pingdu Mountain, Fengdu, and called them Naihe Bridge. It is said that in the old days, before crossing the Naihe Bridge here, pilgrims would first burn incense and turn paper into paper to pray for God's blessing. The monks in the temple often deliberately applied tung oil on the bluestone bridge surface, causing people crossing the bridge to slip. , scared half to death, so that you can get more money for incense.
Regarding the Naihe Bridge in Fengdu, Sichuan, there are two bridge couplets:
Accumulate virtue and practice, and the Naihe Bridge is easy to cross.
Greed and commit sins, and the Sharp Knife Mountain is difficult. Escape
Cross the Naihe Bridge in three steps, and you will know whether you are good or evil
Walk through the gold and silver roads in one breath, and I will give you good fortune and fortune
In Fengdu, the ghost mansion Among the literary descriptions of the underworld, in addition to Meng Bisheng's "Jin Ping Mei", there is another ghost story about the Ming Dynasty celebrity Wang Shizhen's visit to the underworld. The tea pavilion in the underworld only gives tea to those who cross the bridge in the ghost town, but not to the underworld. People who cross the bridge into the ghost town drink. Wang Shizhen came to the bridge, but saw seven-colored waves under the bridge, which were unpredictable. He thought this was probably the disaster of lust. Grandma Wang made tea from the water under the bridge and let the reincarnated ghosts eat it, which would make them obsessed with lust and lose their conscience. ...The "bridge" in this lie may be another way of saying Naihe Bridge.
There are many myths about Naihe Bridge in various parts of China. It may be said that there is the Naihe River in the underworld, and there is a bridge on the river called the Naihe Bridge; or it is said that on the way to the underworld there is a "blood pool", "bloody pool", or "blood river pool", and there is a bridge on the pool called the Naihe Bridge. According to Gu Yanwu's "Shandong Archaeological Records", people even identified Naihe and Naihe Bridge as a real river near Tai'an, Shandong.