Different from today, the ancient door-sticking gods were not dispensable occasions, but had corresponding rules and systems. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Qing Dynasty, every year at the turn of the old and the new, the door god painting should be framed and hung for about 40 days, and then handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for collection and careful custody. Door-keeper does not belong to the three major religions of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, and has neither been officially recognized nor included in the ranks of official national sacrifices. Why did the imperial government of the Qing dynasty formulate detailed specifications for this? Tracing back to the source, there was a similar situation as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the book Biography of Official Names in the Han Dynasty, we can see that it is officially stipulated that the cost of worshipping the door gods is included in a single expenditure, and the offerings are rich and expensive.
Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties: The ancient gatekeeper once had a tiger.
Why did the ancients attach so much importance to door gods? How did the door god originate and develop? To understand the reason, we should start with the special view of the door in ancient times. According to the superstition of primitive ancestors, storms, diseases and plagues in nature are often caused by some evil gods and ghosts. In order to gain a sense of security, the easiest way is to weave firewood foil with grass or branches and put it in the hole, and set up a real door to create a safe and warm little world for yourself. Later, because of a simple door, in the fifth century BC, when the architectural format of China was basically complete, two doors that could be opened and closed appeared. Ancient geomantic theory compared home to a person's nose and mouth, which is closely related to fate and must not be taken lightly. Therefore, the most important thing in building a house in ancient times was to set up a door. In the old carpenter's shop, there is a proverb: it is better to build a door than to build ten graves, which means that there are many rules and taboos in setting up a household in Anmen. Besides doing it by hand, we should also burn incense and paper, and pray that the door is closed to prevent evil spirits from sneaking into the house.
It is not enough to have a closed door. Evil spirits are invisible and intangible. For the sake of safety, ghosts and gods must be appeased so that they will not disturb the world. In the ruins of Shang Palace more than 3000 years ago, archaeologists dug many deep pits for burying bones, especially near the door. Most of them are young people, and weapons such as spears and shields are often scattered around them. It is inferred that they were probably the guards at that time, and were sacrificed as sacrifices at the Anmen ceremony at that time: scaring away the ghosts underground with blood, or offering the living to evil gods for protection. The function of this ceremony is similar to the foundation laying ceremony of today's architecture. With the progress of civilization, the number of bloody killing ceremonies in front of the door has decreased, and more witchcraft-colored ways have begun to appear. Building a dragon statue on the roof, hanging evil spirits under the eaves, and painting a portrait of a god beast on the door are not only indispensable structural components of ancient buildings, but also spiritual protection. Under the call of the times, the god in charge of the portal was born.
The word "gatekeeper" was first seen in the Book of Rites. According to Zheng Xuan's book: "When food is released, it is also a door god." The Book of Rites and the Moon Order also records that "the moon worships the door in autumn dreams". The Book of Rites reflects various civilized etiquette in the pre-Qin period. At that time, the emperor was above everything else. The so-called "family" drew pictures not only in the hall, but also on the door. What's the painting? According to Zhou Gongdan's Historical Records of Li Zhou's Local Officials, historical events "lived in Humen and ruled the DPRK". The teacher's home is the official name of the Zhou Dynasty, and it is in charge of the three virtues and three lines. Humen is the gate of Tao, and it is the place where Zhou Tianzi works and manages politics every day. Painting tigers in such an important place not only shows the majesty of the emperor and scares the people, but also has the original vulgar meaning of using tigers to prevent insects and animals.
Han dynasty: the ancestor of the door god is tea base.
According to the literature, the paintings of the door gods in the Zhou Dynasty are not necessarily symmetrical, nor do they necessarily constitute artistic appreciation value, but only for "courage". In fact, from the Zhou Dynasty, from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty, the image of the door god is more symbolic and abstract. There is no specific figure except a bronze man standing at the palace gate in the Qin Dynasty. It was not until after the Eastern Han Dynasty that a personalized keeper was born. This is the top goalkeepers, Shen Tu and Lei Yu. However, exploring their origins is an ancient symbol of evil souls.
Tea is the name of a herbal medicine recorded in the Book of Songs. According to the dictionary of traditional Chinese medicine, it is bitter in taste, clear in medicinal properties, and has the function of resolving phlegm and dredging collaterals. According to ancient literature, hanging tea and grass on the door to ward off evil spirits has been a folk custom since the Xia Dynasty. This may be because of the pungent smell of tea grass, which makes many insects stay away. This gives people an illusion that hanging tea grass at the door can avoid the plague and prevent all diseases from attacking. Therefore, people put the word "God" in front of tea, and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it evolved into the keeper Shen Tu.
Another goalkeeper, Lei Yu, is a bit strange. It is said that it originated from an ugly crustacean-snail. Some researchers believe that the word ray is pictographic, that is, the shape of three snails on the ground. If tea is a sacred grass that is invulnerable to all insects, there are still some reasons for being deified, compared with snails. However, it was this ugly snail that inspired an outstanding ancient engineer. According to legend, when Luban built the city gate, he thought it was inconvenient to switch it after closing the door, so he planned to start perfecting it. Looking around for inspiration, I saw several snails foraging in the puddle. At the first sign of trouble, I get into the snail's shell and close the door. Although its body is soft, the power of closing the door is amazing. Inspired by this, Lu Ban created the first pair of bedding heads to close the door.
The truth of this story is hard to verify, but it has a long history to borrow snails to symbolize the closed door. In the ruins of a Shang Dynasty tomb palace, a large number of snail shells were found near the gate. Some studies believe that this is a defensive witchcraft to ensure that the tomb door is closed and the tomb is safe. In people's daily life at that time, Lei Yu was also a common symbol hanging at the door to ward off evil spirits. The specific shape is to string snail shells and hang them in front of the door.
The sacred land of Xia Dynasty, Lei Yu of Shang Dynasty and Humen of Zhou Dynasty met another custom to ward off evil spirits, which brought an opportunity for ancient artifacts to grow into adults. The medical book "Fifty-two Faces" unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb records the method of inserting peach branches above the door to exorcise ghosts at that time, and some exquisite dolls carved from peach wood are hung in front of the door. In ancient times, mahogany was known as "ghost-fearing wood". The belief of peach wood in exorcising evil spirits has a long history, mostly related to the portal. Dozens of mahogany dolls have been unearthed in Mawangdui. Experts believe that their function is to exorcise ghosts and evil spirits, and to bless the tomb owner to live a long life in the world of the dead. This is the physical evidence of the custom of hanging peach trees recorded in the documents of the Western Han Dynasty. A myth in the Eastern Han Dynasty combined these magical artifacts, and finally shaped the images of the oldest door gods, shentu and Lei Yu.
According to legend, the world is a mixture of people and ghosts, and * * * lives in one place, so people are harassed by ghosts and are miserable. So the Yellow Emperor stepped forward to expel evil spirits and save all people from the mire. His method is to separate people from ghosts. Humans live in the center of the earth with beautiful scenery and fertile land, while evil spirits are exiled to the surrounding mountains, valleys and deep, and there is no vegetation. There is only one passage between the two worlds, which is located in the northeast of a big peach tree in Dushuo Mountain for the Yellow Emperor to escort evil spirits. This passage is the only passage for evil spirits to reach heaven on earth, so it is called "the gate of hell". There are two gods under the tree, Tea and Lei Yu. They guard, read and guide all kinds of ghosts day and night. Once an evil spirit tries to invade the world, Er Shen immediately catches it with a reed rope and feeds it to Erhu.
This myth first appeared in Wang Chong, a scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty. His book Lun Heng Ding Gui quoted the story in Shan Hai Jing. Later, all the books in the Eastern Han Dynasty were recorded, and some contents were added. For example, the plot of the golden rooster crowing peach trees has been added to the book "Reengineering the Integration of Weft Books"; Ying Shao's "vulgar meaning" refers to two brothers, shentu and Lei Yu, but they are inseparable.
The task of guarding the gate of hell is so arduous, and the Yellow Emperor trusts the Temple Mount so much. Draw a portrait of Er Shen on the folk portal to ward off evil spirits, which is perfect. Shen Tu and Lei Yu's legendary road to the gods can be called the opening masterpiece of colorful goalkeeper culture in later generations.
Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties: a military commander, a door god, and a lotus flower.
Today, the rabbit and Lei Yu in the door gods' paintings are mostly in the shape of golden helmets and shining armor. But judging from the portraits handed down from the Han Dynasty, Er Shen was a cloth statue at that time, with a reed rope and a wide robe and big sleeves. So when did they put on their armor and become Wu Shen? This should also start from the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. The rubbings of the door gods of the Northern Wei tombs unearthed in Luoyang show us the image of the door gods of the military commanders who were dressed in fine armor at that time: wearing heavy armor with leaves, two round goggles on the chest, kicking soap boots, holding a shield in the left hand and a halberd in the right hand, with a high nose and a square face, thick eyebrows and a short beard, which is very powerful. According to textual research, the pattern on the armor of a military commander is not fiction, but an advanced combat equipment at that time, called Mingguang Armor. The two protective glasses on the chest need to be polished into mirror brightness by water milling process. In actual combat, it can not only protect the heart, but also reflect the sunlight, so that the enemy loses its combat effectiveness because of dizziness. This kind of armor was extremely expensive, and only generals prepared it at that time.
It is quite puzzling that this kind of armor was actually invented as early as the Three Kingdoms period, when the gods were already popular. Why don't they see the image of wearing armor? Some people speculate that this may be more about highlighting the spirit of ghosts and gods in the Eastern Han Dynasty and later, thinking that only the gods with quaint images are strong enough; In the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba people were more pragmatic. In the war years, ancient immortals were too ethereal, and armed generals were more realistic and could bring themselves a real sense of security.
But it is not enough to have excellent equipment. God must be detached and free from vulgarity in order to gain people's trust. Buddhism was introduced into China from the Han Dynasty, and it became considerable in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Many elements of Buddhism have infiltrated into local art, adding brand-new magic to the ancient door gods.
From the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Northern Qi Dynasty, emperors of all dynasties dug a large number of Buddhist grottoes, and carved the images of heavenly kings and strong men at the door to protect buddhas and bodhisattvas. These stone carvings are gorgeous and exquisite, all of which show the superb artistic level that painters and professional craftsmen could reach at that time.
There is no so-called "door god" in Buddhism, only the protector, which is a god lower than Buddha, Bodhisattva and Lohan. According to Buddhist scriptures, dharma protectors are all superb in martial arts, and their duty is to protect buddhas and bodhisattvas. Many of them are ghosts who once wandered the rivers and lakes, but after listening to the Buddha's lecture, they were greatly influenced, gained full consciousness and vowed to devote themselves to Buddhism. They like to listen to people chanting. No matter whether men or women are high or low, as long as they recite the scriptures devoutly, the protector will come to earth and protect him from infringement.
The introduction of Buddhism's identity as protector has brought a brand-new connotation to the ancient door-god culture. In the mural of the tomb door in the late Northern and Southern Dynasties unearthed in Dengxian County, Henan Province, two military commanders are wearing helmets and holding swords, guarding the tomb door, full of lofty sentiments, and there is a flying above the figure, which is already painted by a door god with Buddhist influence. In the above painting of the door god of the general with bright armor, the lotus in front of the general fills the picture, which adds a touch of Buddhist sacredness to it. This is the first Buddhist modeling element in the door god painting.
Tang dynasty: civilian military commanders have many tricks.
In the Tang Dynasty, Buddhist art became more sinicized, and there were many kinds of gatekeeper paintings on temple pagodas, some of which were made by famous artists, such as Duan's Miscellanies of Youyang and Zhang Yanyuan's Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties, which recorded the gatekeeper painters and contents on Chang 'an and Luoyang pagodas. Draw beads on the gate to press your hair, and step on the devil's medicine fork (there is holy tea on the base). Next to it is often a pair of embroidered long skirts, handing over the door gods of ladies. This is the beginning of the pattern of door gods painting warriors at the gate and fairies at the inner room. In addition, the door of the kitchen should be painted with "God holds delicious food", and the door of the warehouse should also be painted with the door painting of "holding the vase of heaven and pouring all its treasures". It is said that Buddhism is a kind of practice that gives up one's life and forgets one's death, so why should it be guarded by a door god? This kind of door-god painting dispelled the original meaning of Sakyamuni's abdication to become a Buddha, but it bred secular thoughts such as food, gold and silver jewelry pouring into the warehouse.
But the biggest change is the distribution of the roles of the two generals. In the Northern Wei Dynasty, the generals' door gods were almost the same, with upright hair and beard, eyeing up their eyes, while in the Tang Dynasty, the door gods were a military commander with armor and helmet and a civilian with a hairpin crown. One is violent, the other is gentle, imitating the scene where the emperor commanded the civil servants to stand in different classes. This pattern is a great innovation of door-keeper painting in Tang Dynasty. It's very aesthetic, and it's full of rhythm, richer and more attractive.
However, in the capital of the Tang Dynasty, the style of their own gates cannot be arbitrary. The government has strict regulations on this. Big red is a very noble color. Even the houses of princes and nobles must be approved by the emperor before they can be used, otherwise it will lead to death. Yellow is the special color of the gate of the Prime Minister's residence. As for ordinary people's homes, just paint them black. There are also scoring rules for painted decorations on doors. What graphics and colors are used, such as the colored paintings of modern civilian military commanders, are absolutely not allowed to be posted on the door. Therefore, all kinds of exorcism handed down from the Han Dynasty are still popular in the Tang Dynasty. The red wooden board still bears the function of guarding the door, and another mysterious painting symbol has become popular.
By the Tang Dynasty, the tiger painting on the door of the Han Dynasty had inherited and changed, that is, when painting a tiger, the word "Zi" was written on its forehead, which was called "the name of ghosts and gods in the underworld, which could stop malaria furuncle". This custom was first seen in Duan's Miscellaneous Notes of Youyang, and it is said that there were several roles in expelling epidemic in ancient times, "Ren Tao, Wei Suo, Cang Er and Hu". Xanthium sibiricum seems to be a plant. Because it is written vertically, Duan thinks that Cang Er is an up-and-down structure and its pronunciation is gradual. It is a statement that later generations spread the word "Cang" wrongly and gradually wrote it. Zhang Xu's Xuanshizhi explained again: "Pei gradually lived in Yishui and was good at seeing ghosts in caves. When Taoist Li Jun met Yi, he wrote a letter to Duke Cui of Boling, saying, "It's no use being a ghost now. At that time, the ruling and opposition parties gradually heard about it, but they did not judge the so-called, but actually wrote their own words on the door to create a special place. "As Zhang Xu said, people mistook Pei, who made ghosts, for Pei's ears and wrote a book on the tiger's head, thus creating a new kind of goalkeeper painting.
In ancient times, shentu and his two brothers hunted ghosts and fed tigers. In the Tang Dynasty, a keeper, Zhong Kui, was added, which saved the plot of feeding tigers. From then on, the door god painting of ugly people appeared. The original author is the great painter Wu Daozi. There is no such thing as Zhong Kui, because Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, traveled to Mount Li and fell ill in bed with insomnia. In his dreams, there are always children crying and suffering. One day, when I was upset, I suddenly saw a GREAT GHOST falling from the sky, tearing apart the children one by one with his feet, and then catching a child. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty hurried forward to thank him and found that GREAT GHOST was the ugly scholar Zhong Kui who was disqualified from the palace examination a few days ago because of his ugly appearance. Zhong Kui explained: The Jade Emperor sympathized with his injustice and appointed him as a full-time cloak officer for catching ghosts in Yin and Yang. Tang Xuanzong made a counter-offer to Wu Daozi, told him his dream and asked Wu Daozi to paint him. Wu Daozi "If you see it, make a plan for progress." . Looking up for a long time, I caressed him and said,' This is your dream and mine, why not?' "
The above records began in Shen Kuo's Meng Qian Bi Tan in the Song Dynasty. According to Shen Kuo's words, Zhong Kui in old Wu Daozi is forbidden, and the inscription on the front is from the Tang Dynasty. Zhong Kui in Tang Dynasty wrote for the purpose of "year-end exile" and told the world. In the Song Dynasty, block printing was not only banned in the middle of the year, but also given to court officials, and was printed and sold in large quantities by the people, creating the most unusual door god.
Zhong Kui, who is neither a monk nor a Taoist, nor an official nor a civilian, is ragged, hideous and full of something congenial, but he is loved by painters and painters of all ages. Painters who try to paint Zhong Kui are mostly honest people or have a rough life. Like the oppressed folk painters, they used Zhong Kui to swear to get rid of the hatred of evil spirits in the world and draw Zhong Kui to vent their anger.
Song Dynasty: Zhao acceded to the throne.
The Northern Song Dynasty ended the situation of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the characters lived in stability and the production gradually improved, especially the development of papermaking and printing, which made the door god paintings begin to be printed in large quantities and spread throughout the country. In Dream of Tokyo, Father Meng introduced the most desirable city life in the world at that time, and described the life of the nobles and the lower class people in Kaifeng City of the Capital of Song Dynasty. There are packed bookstores and theaters, crowded teahouses and hotels, fresh melons and fruits at four o'clock, and various popular folk festivals and customs. "/kloc-On the first day of the Lunar New Year in October and February, the door gods and Zhong Xu were printed and sold in the street ..." This shows that in China in the tenth century, folk engraving printing of door gods has become very common and deeply loved by working people.
At this time, the third emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty created a pair of door gods: Zhao Yun and Wu Zixu. One of these two men was a white horse general in the Three Kingdoms period, and the other was a loyal minister who died tragically in the Warring States period. How did they come together to become guardians? This also starts with a story told by a storyteller in the Song Dynasty.
A sacrificial ceremony was held in Wu Temple. A minister told me that Wu Zixu whipped the body of the king of Chu, and Zhao Yun also publicly reprimanded the wife of the master Liu Bei. All these are outrageous frauds. It is not appropriate for two people to enjoy incense sacrifice in Wu Temple.
On reflection, Song Zhenzong said that although they have this shortcoming, they are also a generation of heroes. As a compromise, the statues of the two were removed and placed at the gate of the Wu Temple for sacrifice. This may mislead the media in the capital of song dynasty at that time, thinking that the emperor added them as the door gods of Wu temple. Folks began to follow suit one after another, so these two unrelated ancient heroes joined hands to join the door gods.
For the paper painting shop in the capital of song dynasty, the door god painting at the end of the year is a big event with huge potential market. Theoretically, there are as many doors as there are people, and there should be a door god painting on each door. Of course, this is just the wishful thinking of the owner of the painting shop, because the competition is fierce. During the Northern Song Dynasty, commerce was developed and there were many shops, but painting and lettering were time-consuming and laborious. There are thousands of them as soon as they are printed, and if they can't be sold, the loss is not small. The mass commodity nature of the door god painting makes it a mirror reflecting the people's life in the Song Dynasty, which has a strong color of the times. If you want to become a best seller, you must have the most attractive selling point and grasp the popular vane. In the first year of Jingkang in the Northern Song Dynasty, a special general was popular among the residents of Bianliang. It is not Zhong Xu, the goddess of protection in Buddhism, but the general of the northern enemy Jin Guo. At that time, it was recorded in the literature: "There are many door gods, wearing tiger helmets, and the palace doors are decorated with mud gold."
This year coincided with the year before the Jingkang Rebellion. Border crossings are often in a state of emergency, and soldiers are often outnumbered, which is a great blow to Song Jun. The progress of the war is a topic of concern to the citizens of the capital of song dynasty. This kind of nomad caters to the focus of attention at present, so the sales volume is excellent. Many years later, a man of insight in the Southern Song Dynasty recalled this ominous sign in those days and cried bitterly, saying that "the tiger-headed man is a traitor, and the gold ornaments are even more under the door", which is indeed a harbinger of national subjugation.
Door God in Yuan Dynasty: Four Newly Added Children in Restaurant
The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were Mongols, who lived in tents on the vault, and there were few written materials about the door gods. But there were many restaurants in the Yuan Dynasty, which was related to the fact that the emperor was a heavy drinker. Hotels are usually decorated with gorgeous pictures of door gods to attract those who drink and drink well. "A Record of the Jin Dynasty: Analysis of Legacy" records: "In the wine trough, the paintings of the four sons under the door are spring, spring, spring and spring. Protect it with red paint ... and paint Han Zhongli and Tang as doorways ... "The four sons were nobles who valued money and drank hospitably during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, so they painted red paint railings at the door to protect them. After Lv Dongbin became immortal, the "Three Drunken Yueyang Tower" was undoubtedly Brewmaster. Zhong Liquan met Lv Dongbin in a hotel. Doesn't he drink? After the Yuan Dynasty established a metropolis, countless domestic and foreign businessmen came to Beijing to do business, but few of them knew Chinese characters, so they didn't know what the businessmen on the street were selling. In fact, it is the first step for the goalkeeper to increase the subject matter and play an advertising role to draw the immortal figures such as quadruplets and Lv Dongbin Han Zhongli on the door head and forehead.
Because Genghis Khan believed in Quanzhen religion, the rulers of Yuan Dynasty admired Taoism to the utmost, and Taoist views increased. Carve gods at the mountain gate, follow the example of Buddhist temples, and add two statues of Qinglong and White Tiger. Qinglong and Baihu are "the four spirits of heaven are in the square", Qinglong and Baihu are in the east and west, and the Taoist gate is in the south, so the two spirits are door gods. Er Shen's name can be found in Yao's Private Records of Changshu in the Ming Dynasty: "There are two gods at the entrance to Taoist Temple, the left is the god of Qinglong, and the white tiger is the god of guards". Up to now, the remnants of the murals of the dragon white tiger gate god can still be seen in the area around Guanshanmen, an ancient road in the Yuan Dynasty in Hongdong, Shanxi. As for the source of Meng Zhang and prison soldiers, it may be the same as that of Shen Tu and Lei Yu. They are all drawn up by people, and there is no definite basis.
Ming dynasty: historical celebrities are full of doors.
In the early Ming Dynasty, social development was stable, the economy was prosperous, the scene of industrial and commercial development was far better than that of the previous dynasty, and drawing and printing also advanced by leaps and bounds. At that time, on New Year's Eve, people used the door gods to decorate New Year pictures and welcome the Spring Festival, which not only beautified people's homes and added folk culture, but also influenced literature and other arts, resulting in new works with the theme of door gods.
One of the characteristics of the paintings of door gods in the Ming Dynasty is that ancient celebrities took office, such as Zhao Zixu in the former dynasty and Sun Simiao, the drug king in the Tang Dynasty. Among them, Weichi Gong is the most famous, enjoying a good reputation all over the country. In the New Year pictures carved in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, according to the records of Weichi Gong and Qin in The Journey to the West, they were dressed neatly: "Wearing golden helmets, they shone brilliantly, wearing armor and dragons, protecting their hearts and reflecting auspicious clouds, and lions embraced them and embroidered colorful clouds. This one is afraid of stars, and that one is floating around in the moonlight. He used to be a hero and an old minister, but he was only a servant for thousands of years and a door god for generations. " Why did they become door gods? Is it because of their martial arts chinese odyssey, or do they happen to be officials with the DPRK and have close personal relationships? To find out the true story of the first God in the world, we need to start with the unique image of Li Shimin in Tang Taizong.
Emperor Taizong was a wise emperor. He not only built his own country, but also initiated the rule of chastity, which was praised by later generations. He is a model of a wise emperor, but in folk stories, Emperor Taizong is also the biggest trouble. He killed too many people in order to conquer the world. In order to seize the throne, he even killed his own brother and coerced his father Tang Gaozu to abdicate. These are recorded in historical books and cannot be perfunctory. Many stories of Emperor Taizong were born from this hard injury. The earliest version of this story even appeared decades after the death of Wu Zetian. Emperor Taizong, who was found in Dunhuang, went to the underworld to write a book, which is the core of the story. He paid close attention to the killing of his brother, met Yan, and was repeatedly questioned by the judge. Finally, he was put back to death, in exchange for the throne being ordered by heaven, creating a prosperous time for the benefit of all people. At this time, in the story outline of the Tang Dynasty, there were no door gods like Qin Qiong and Weichi Gong. In the folk stories of Song and Yuan Dynasties, Qin Qiong and Weichi Gong were added as door gods.
In the Ming Dynasty, the story of the two generals became like this: Emperor Taizong once suffered from a strange disease. At night, he always dreamed that ghosts were climbing beams and bricks in the palace, which kept him awake for several days. Seeing that Emperor Taizong's face was gloomy and his clothes were getting wider, two old ministers volunteered to stand guard for the emperor. When the veteran was on duty, the ghost was shocked and Taizong was able to sleep. After three days of night shift, Emperor Taizong felt sorry for his two old ministers, so he asked Master Danqing to draw detailed portraits of the two generals and hang them at the door of the bedroom. Ghosts can't tell the difference between true and false when they see it, and they dare not enter the door to harass.
Although Tang Taizong's merits and demerits offset each other, in the eyes of ordinary people, killing his brother and threatening his father is an indelible knot in any case. Therefore, this generation of wise kings often become emperors tortured by conscience in storytellers' stories, and are constantly harassed by ghosts, making him the object most in need of protection. Qin Qiong and Weichi Gong happened to have the glorious experience of the savior on the battlefield, which makes the story of the ghost-catching savior at Gongmen more convincing.
Another reason for choosing them is the inherent law of the door god painting art, a black face, a white face, a violent temperament and a gentle, which is a classic paradigm formed since the Tang Dynasty. In history, Weichi Gong was a semi-final stationed in the Western Regions, so he was a general with a face like the bottom of a pot, a garlic head and a nose, leopard eyes and eyebrows, and a full face of beard. Qin Qiong's evaluation of people in real history is not good, but in novels such as Sui and Tang Dynasties, his personality is generous and gentle, quite like a general with a white face like Liu Bei, which is really appropriate.
The story of the emperor always attracts the audience, not to mention the fragile emperor. A generation of conservative and tortured wise kings, two famous founding fathers, one black and one white, are excellent partners. The legendary course of Qin Qiong Weichi Gong being elected as the best goalkeeper is another classic of God-making movement.
There are many themes about door gods in Ming Dynasty operas. For example, in the zaju "The Gatekeeper", the author used the Chinese New Year to change the customs of the gatekeeper. The gist of this plot is simple. The new goalkeeper came, but the old goalkeeper refused to step aside. Zhong Xu, Chef Jun, Hehe, Zi Gu and other gods tried to persuade him. Finally, he had to ask the nine-day supervisor to send the old goalkeeper away. On the one hand, comedy satirizes those officials who are greedy for power and refuse to give way, on the other hand, it also reflects that the paintings of door gods are torn to pieces and turned to ashes every year, and there is no god at all. At this point, it can be said that the custom of worshipping the portal has gradually disappeared.
Qing dynasty: door gods should also keep up with the trend
After the Qing soldiers entered the customs, Emperor Taizong and Huang Taiji actively absorbed Chinese culture. By the time of Kangxi, the customs in the palace followed the Ming system. The Qing Dynasty is a prosperous period of folk art, which is reflected in the door-keeper paintings on wooden boards, that is, there are many workshops, high output and many varieties of door-keeper paintings. There are no brothers in the paintings of door gods in Qing dynasty, and they are mainly historical novel characters, and the form is different from that of previous generals holding melons and axes. According to Liu Jixing's textual research, the folk gods also include the Taoist priests burning lanterns in the Romance of the Gods, Sun Juan in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Han Xin in Xiao He in the Western Han Dynasty, Wu in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wen Jiao in the Jin Dynasty, Xie, an archer of the founding fathers of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Bodang, Jin Lan's good friend, Jiao Zan in the Northern Song Dynasty, Yue Fei Han Shizhong, an anti-gold hero, and Huarong and Wang Bo in likui jy in the Water Margin. The characters in the above historical novels are all door gods in pairs, all belonging to the same dynasty, and all have corresponding storylines. In addition, there have been scenes in which women become door gods, such as "Drum Songs of Three Tang Dynasties and Southern Tang Dynasties", Mu, Qin Liangyu and so on.
Door gods are different all over the country. For example, the door gods worshipped by Henan people are Zhao Yun and Ma Chao of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period. Hebei people worship Ma Chao and Ma Dai, while northwest Hebei worships Xue and Gaisu. Shaanxi people worship Sun Bin and Pang Juan, Taihe Yang. And stationed in Hanzhong area are mostly two idiots, Meng Liang and Jiao Zan. The most interesting thing is that the door gods worshipped in Miyun area in the north of Beijing are actually husband and wife-Yang Zongbao and Mu.
After the mid-Qing Dynasty, the development of drama provided strong content support for the door god painting. At that time, drama was the highest art, and drama stars were sought after by many fans like today's movie stars. After the door god's painting art did not fall behind, he also joined this special fashion chase. At that time, painting shops often hired famous painters with high salaries, paying special attention to major theaters in Beijing. Once a famous artist performs a new play, draw the wonderful scenes and send them back to the painting shop for printing. In a few days, people can buy the latest drama door gods in the market, and the operation process is very similar to today's entertainment news reports. Therefore, the Buddhist monks in the late Qing Dynasty said in the Year of Yanjing: "Door gods all hold swords, or they are called Shen Tu and Lei Yu, or Qin Qiong and Jingdezhen, but they are not. But call it a door god. "