Myths and legends
The magic weapon, also known as Tianlu, Exorcism, Bai Jie and * * *, is a kind of god beast in ancient myths and legends of China. Its dragon head, horse body and feet are like lions. It has gray fur and can fly. Fierce and mighty, responsible for patrolling the sky to prevent monsters, plagues and diseases from disturbing the heaven.
In ancient times, people used to call the brave the name of the army. Legend has it that the brave man broke the dogma, and the jade emperor punished him for only eating money from all directions, swallowing everything without diarrhea, making a fortune and not getting in, which was extraordinary. After the story spread, this animal was regarded as making money. Many people in China wear brave jade products, which is the story.
Appearance and morphology
A brave man is like a tiger and leopard, with a dragon-shaped head and tail, a golden color like jade, a pair of wings on his shoulders that can't be unfolded, a corner on his head and a backward tilt.
Many people think that the fearless animal now is the giant panda. According to Records of the Five Emperors, more than 4,000 years ago, the Yellow Emperor tamed animals such as tigers, leopards and brave pandas, and defeated Emperor Yan in Hanquan (now Zhuolu County, Hebei Province).
There is also a saying that there were two kinds of magic in ancient times, namely, single-horn magic and double-horn magic. Some people say that one-horn magic and two-horn magic distinguish men (for magic) and women (for magic), while others say that there is one-horn magic.
Divide men and women
Legend has it that raccoons are a fierce beast, but this beast is divided into male and female, the male is called raccoon and the female is called raccoon. In ancient times, this beast was divided into one horn or two horns. One horn was called "Tianlu" and the other two horns were called "evil spirits". Most of the shapes are mainly two corners. In ancient times, it was also used to refer to brave soldiers. In the Beijing Opera "Lost Street Pavilion, Empty City Plan, Chop Ma Su", Zhuge Liang once wrote a lyric "Each is his own master", and "courage" means hero.
In the south, some people call it a "monster" or "four unlike". In China, there is a tradition of decorating "God beast". Like dragons, phoenixes and unicorns, mythical animals are considered to bring happiness and good luck.
Look at modeling
Monsters are mythical animals, so there is no real image to be based on, and they can only be imagined by painters and artists, so the images of monsters are different and varied. After the change of dynasty, the mythical animals were relatively uniform in shape, such as short wings, double horns, curly tail and mane, which were often connected with the chest or back, with prominent eyes and fangs.
The more popular shape is that there are one or two horns on the head, long manes are rolled all over the body, some have wings and curly tail hair. Jade carvings are generally prone, some with jade money in their mouths and some lying on jade money. People like to tie jade money in their mouths with red lines, or tie ropes to the tails of animals to play with.
The moral of god beast
According to records, it is shaped like a lion with wings, and ancient fabrics, military flags, hooks, printed buttons and bell buttons are often used as decorations to ward off evil spirits.
history
There is a record in Hanshu Biography of the Western Regions: "Mount Wu is divided into peach, lion and rhinoceros". Meng Kang said, "Peach blossoms bloom, and a day's fuba is like a deer's tail. One horn is called Tianlu, and the other two horns are called Evil God. " Fighting evil is fighting.
According to ancient records, the brave is a beast, one of the five auspicious beasts in ancient times (except dragon, phoenix, turtle and unicorn), and is called lucky beast. The brave was once the totem of two ancient clans. Legend has it that he helped the Emperor Yanhuang to fight, and was named "Tianlu Beast", which means to be blessed by God. It is designed for the emperor to protect treasures, and it is also a symbol of the royal family. It is called "Dibao". It is also called "exorcism" because it specializes in eating wild animals to ward off evil spirits. Ancient China Feng Shui masters believed that the brave were auspicious beasts who turned disasters into blessings.
However, some ancient poets used the word "brave" to express bravery. The wife of Xu Junbao, a poetess in the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote a poem "The Prosperity of Korean Merchants in Man Ting", in which she said that "once the sword and soldiers are raised together, millions of brave people" is said to be a fierce beast, referring to Yuan Bing. The entries in Xinhua Dictionary are as follows: ① A fierce beast in ancient books; (2) metaphor brave army. It can be seen that animals are not necessarily wild animals.
Two kinds of beasts in ancient books. "Yizhoushu Zhou Zhu": "The mountain is deep, is tiger and leopard desirable?" Historical Records of the Five Emperors: "Xuanyuan, teach bears?" Tiger, fighting with Emperor Yan in the wild of Hanquan. "Sima Zhen Suoyin:" These six beasts can teach war. "Liaodong people call it a white bear. Male, female, so the ancients repeatedly cited it. "
Duolian is used to describe a brave soldier. "Wang Tombstone" said: "General, you must not be arrogant. After writing the poem Chronicle in Qing Dynasty, he said, "Take a thief unprepared and walk bravely at night." Liu Yazi's "Reading History" No.7: "The greenwood family has a family, and the children are upper class. "
If there is a wild animal in front of you, you will carry it. -"Book of Rites Quli"
It is a metaphor for brave troops and brave soldiers.
Ming and Liu straightened out the "Send Yuan Huanzhong (the son of Yuan Huanzhong) the salary of Governor Ning Yuan": "The time spent with him is different.
The south bank is mostly brave, and there are more stone lions on the north bank. The stone lions on both sides of the main entrance of most banks in the north are left and right, and the male lion opens his mouth and looks at the believers coming and going; The lioness keeps her mouth shut to protect her children, which shows the characteristics of traditional society that men are superior to women and perform their duties.
The written record "Yizhoushu Zhou Zhu": "The mountain is deep, what is the tiger and leopard?
Historical Records of the Five Emperors: "Xuanyuan, teach bears?" Tiger, fighting with Emperor Yan in the wild of Hanquan. "
Sima Zhen's Suoyin: "These six beasts can teach war."
Tsui Hark's Animals: "It looks like a tiger, or it looks like a bear, and its fur is gray." Liaodong people call it the white bear. Men say women are jealous, so the ancients cited it again. " [2]
Biography of Yuan-The brave are the first.
"Wang Tombstone" said: "General, don't be arrogant."
The second wedge of Wang Shifu's "The West Chamber" in Yuan Dynasty: "Yang Wei and a million people sit on the edge."
Ming and Liu settled the matter of "sending Yuan Huanzhong (son) to the governor Ningyuan for reimbursement": "It's different if you make fun."
The poem at the end of Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms: "Cao Cao is autocratic in the Prime Minister's Office, handsome and elegant; Threatened by the emperor, the princes always led the Middle Town. "
After writing a poem "Chronicle" in the Qing Dynasty, he said, "Take a thief unprepared and walk bravely at night."
Liu Yazi's seventh "Reading History": "The greenwood family has a home, and the children are upper class."
Legendary allusion
Zhou Wuwang
Warrior is a beast of the Western Regions who lived in Tibet and Kangding, Sichuan, N years ago, with strong fighting capacity. When Jiang Ziya helped cut Zhou, he met a brave warrior on the March, but no one knew it at that time. Jiang Ziya thought it looked fierce, so he tried to subdue it and treat it as his own mount. Take it to fight and win again and again. Seeing this brave and magical animal, I gave it an official title "Cloud". At this time, Jiang Ziya found that this animal ate an amazing amount every day, but never defecated. Its only excretory system is to secrete a little sweat from the fur of the whole body. Animals from all directions rushed to eat after smelling this strange smell, and all of them were eaten by cockroaches.
Zhu Yuanzhang
After Zhu Yuanzhang made Nanjing his capital, he dug up a pair of god beasts from the ground, and the god beasts were the nine princes of the Dragon King, so he ordered people to build a god beast temple next to Linggu Temple for worship. After Zhu Yuanzhang made Nanjing his capital, he built the Zhongshan Gate, but the national treasury was short of money. Prime Minister Liu Bowen (also a Feng Shui master) suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang use magic to make money. Zhu Yuanzhang obeyed and put the world's largest magic knife at the gate. As a result, the gentry of the two rivers donated money one after another to make great efforts to build the country. Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply touched by the grand occasion and praised: Daming's subjects are so loyal that the country will last forever.
Qianlong
Magic, also known as exorcism, is a psychic beast in ancient legends of China. "Little Erya Yan Guang" said: "Divide by points." As the name implies, people hope to use its magic to drive away evil and get rid of ominous. "Urgent Articles": "Shoot evil spirits, destroy the group of fierce." Tang Yanshi drum note: "archery to ward off evil spirits is the name of a beast." ..... to ward off evil spirits, words can ward off evil spirits. " The earliest images of the brave can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, most of which are winged quadrupeds, and their shapes may have originated in West Asia. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, animal images became more abstract and decorative. As can be seen from the existing stone carvings and jade carvings, their shapes are extremely curvy, well-organized, with their heads held high, their mouths open and their tongues stuck out, and they are magnificent.
From the Tang Dynasty, the image of the brave rarely appeared, but in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, because the emperor Qianlong was too old, he had an extraordinary fascination and love for ancient jade. We can see the imperial year and poems carved by Emperor Qianlong himself from several pieces of ancient jade and brave warriors hidden in the court at that time, which shows that we attach importance to and love it.
There is a brave Yu Pei of Han Dynasty in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. It is wrapped in clear paste, cooked once and engraved with imperial poems on its chest. It is equipped with a double-layer rosewood seat, the upper layer is engraved with the words "Qianlong Imperial Play", and the lower layer is engraved with the same imperial poem as the chest, which shows that it was once the favorite collection of Emperor Qianlong. Another piece of jade from the Han Dynasty is now in the Palace Museum, engraved with the poem "Two Years of Qianlong". While appreciating and praising the antiquities, Emperor Qianlong also ordered craftsmen to make new "antique" artifacts with reference to the images of god beasts in the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties.