The Story and Folklore of the Zodiac Pig

A pig gives birth to nine babies, even a mother gives birth to ten babies. Fan-shaped ears, long nose, nest-shaped nostrils and chubby body are the most striking features of pigs, which make people unforgettable.

As early as 6000 years ago, pigs have been domesticated by humans. How did humans raise pigs at that time? From the word "home", you can know a little. Above "home" is "rice" (min) and below is "tapir" (sh). Tapirs are houses, but tapirs are pigs.

Isn't the house a room with the pig? Of course not. The structure of "home" from top to bottom is like a two-story house, with people living on the upper floor and pigs on the lower floor. Legend has it that at the earliest time, humans lived in natural caves, or directly dug a hole in the ground to live (the caves in the north developed from here). This is called cave dwelling, and it is often attacked by wild animals. Nest people teach people to build houses in trees, just like birds build nests to avoid wild animals. It is a progress for human beings to move from burrowing to nesting, but there will still be wild animals attacking human beings. At this time, the pigs raised under the house played a very important role. Once a wild animal attacks, the pig will definitely be regarded as prey, and it will bark to remind and protect people living in trees. If people can't catch their prey, they can also eat the pigs raised there. Therefore, raising pigs at that time had two meanings: one was to remind and protect human beings from wild animals; The second is to provide food for human beings.

Some people will ask curiously: Is the tapir at home a boar or a sow? This is really a difficult problem. Learn about pigs first, and then answer this question.

360 lines, one line leads to the champion. All walks of life have their own gods. For example, tramps worship Guan Gong, winemakers worship Du Kang, weavers worship Huang Daopo, and carpenters worship Lu Ban? Who worships pigs? Jiang Ziya, the god of pigsty, of course.

Anyone familiar with the list of gods knows that Jiang Ziya is a god. Will he deify himself into a pigsty god? Of course not! But just right, let's start from the beginning.

With the help of Jiang Ziya, Zhou Wuwang destroyed Shang Zhouwang. In order not to let the souls of the dead loyal ministers, dutiful sons and immortals wander around helpless, Yuan Shi Tian Zun (Jiang Ziya's master) ordered Jiang Ziya to seal the gods in accordance with the past. Jiang Ziya was ordered to secretly reserve the throne of Dongyue the Great for himself, and after his death, he went to Dongyue Temple to be worshipped by people, in charge of good or bad luck on earth.

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On the altar, Jiang Ziya was deified one by one. Because there were too many gods to seal, Jiang Ziya was careless at the moment, and even leaked the news of the Shang Dynasty. Huang found himself on the list, and he found angrily:

"Strategist! Everyone is closed. Why am I the only one who didn't seal it? "

At this time, there were only two gods, Emperor Dongyue and Zhu Lan.

Jiang Ziya suddenly realized that he was wrong and said, "Don't worry, I have reserved the throne of Dongyue Emperor for you."

Hearing this, Huang was filled with joy and asked, "Counselor! Such a good god gave it to me. What about yourself? "

Jiang Ziya said with a wry smile, "I only have one pigsty god left. I call myself the god of pigsty. "

The ecliptic said, "This is a small ancestral temple. There are not many incense sticks to collect all year round? "

Jiang Ziya certainly knew that Pig Pen God was not fat, but bitter, because no one burned incense to worship Pig Pen God on weekdays, but the fragrance on New Year's Eve was the best in the world. He said: "Every New Year's Eve, I collect all the people who burn incense and paper in the world, quite a lot."

Legend has it that Jiang Ziya sealed 365 gods, one a day, to bless the world.

Jiang Ziya can become a god, so he is a god.

In my hometown, when I dig the foundation to build a house, I will write the rune of "Tai Gong Wang is here, all free from sin" on a red note, and then stick it on the trees and walls around the house to ensure safety. Even anything, as long as you write a rune like "Jiang Taigong is here, ghosts and gods are free from punishment", you can save the day. Of course, these are all customs. But we can guess that Jiang Ziya is just a part-time god of pigsty, and he is in charge of many other things.

Besides Jiang Ziya, the god of pigsty, the goddess Ma Shi is also the patron saint of pigs.

According to legend, before the Ming Dynasty, Dakui in Jingning, Zhejiang Province could not raise pigs, so local people seldom raised pigs. There was a businessman in the Ming Dynasty who didn't know how to do it. He rushed forty-nine piglets to sell here and went to nine villages and thirteen villages, but none of them were sold. The merchant had no choice but to urge the pig back. On the way back, when I passed the Maxian Palace, a little pig suddenly ran in and disappeared. The merchants looked everywhere, but they couldn't find it. The local villagers helped find it together, but they still couldn't find it. Not a pig was sold, but a pig was lost. The businessman sat on the ground and cried sadly. The villagers sympathized with him and paid for the remaining 48 piglets.

A miracle happened. By the end of the year, every pig raised by the villagers had grown fat and strong. Everyone was surprised and happy, scrambling to tell the news. At first, because the lost pig disappeared in the fairy palace of the horse, people thought that the queen of the horse appeared and blessed their pigs.

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In order to thank Ma Shi, the villagers decided to choose a good day to hold the "Pig Catch Festival" in the autumn harvest season every year. During the festival, the troupe will be invited to perform at Ma Xian Palace for seven days and seven nights. On the last day, pigs were killed, sacrifices were made, and the Queen Horse was sacrificed. These villagers are all She people. Now, the "Pig Grab Festival" has become a unique traditional festival of Dakui She nationality.

In the final analysis, the appearance of the pig pen god is the worship of pigs.

This kind of worship, in the long history, has produced a classic image, that is, pig eight quit. There is the only Bajie Temple in China in Xizhuang, Yunnan! Pig Bajie, also known as Wuneng, is the second disciple of Tang Priest. It was Tian Peng, the marshal of the Jade Emperor. He was expelled from heaven for molesting Chang 'e and reincarnated. However, he was reincarnated by mistake, and his face was similar to that of a pig. He can change his mind and walk on clouds. His weapon is a nine-toothed rake. He is gentle, simple, honest and strong, but he is lazy, loves to take advantage of petty advantages, covets women's feelings, is often fascinated by the beauty of monsters, and can't tell himself from his enemies. He listens to his brother and is loyal to his master. He made great contributions to Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures and achieved positive results. He was named "the messenger of the altar" by the Tathagata.

Pig Bajie is a comedy character. Every time the TV series "Romance of the Gods" is broadcast, as long as he appears, the audience will laugh. One of the most interesting scenes is pig eight quit carrying his wife. The heavier it gets, the daughter-in-law turns out

The Monkey King has changed into a woman! What a piggyback daughter-in-law-thankless.

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There is a saying that the Buddhist scriptures of Tang Priest touched the Jade Emperor. In order to carry forward the spirit of Buddhist scriptures, the Jade Emperor chose several disciples of Tang Priest as zodiac animals. As Friar Sand is a monster, it is not suitable to queue up with animals, so he only chose the Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Bai.

But there is another way to say that pigs become the zodiac. In ancient times, there was a king who was rich, but had no children, and he was sad all day. Finally, the old man came, and the family was happy and had a big banquet. Relatives and friends came, and so did non-relatives, such as the fortune teller. He walked up to the child and boasted affectionately:

"Oh, what a blessing! This child has a broad forehead, a big face, wheels in his ears, a full heaven, and is fat in vain. He will be a rich man in the future. "

Just listen to the pleasantries and scenes told by fortune tellers, but the Wangs always talk about them! The fat man knew from an early age that he was destined to be rich or expensive when he grew up! Since it's all destiny takes a hand, why bother to work hard? It's too difficult. So, he stretched out his hand, made a living, didn't study, didn't work, and idled around?

Everyone takes a different road, but one thing is the same. If you want to live a good life, you must rely on your own efforts! If you don't work hard, even if the pie falls from the sky, you may not catch it. That fat boy has been lazy since he was a child. When he was seventeen, his parents died and his family fortune declined, but he still lived a life of spending money like water. As a result, only three years later, he also went to die.

When I met Yan, I complained to Yan that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. How could I starve to death at home? Yan took him to the Heavenly Palace and asked the Jade Emperor to explain. The Jade Emperor summoned the kitchen god on earth and asked him, "How can a man with a rich face starve to death?" Kitchen God told the Jade Emperor what the fat boy had done. Hearing this, the Jade Emperor was furious and said, "Although your fate is good, you are lazy. Now you are punished for being reborn as a pig and an animal. "

With a wave of the jade emperor's hand, the fat boy was brought to earth by the gods and reincarnated as a pig. This is really "whatever you have, you should give it to him, so that he will have more;" If you don't have it, even what he has will be taken away. "

Coincidentally, at that time, when God was choosing the zodiac, he heard "being an animal" as "being an animal" (the pronunciation of the two is very close in dialect). Although the fat boy was reincarnated as a pig, he was lucky to be an animal symbol.

Pigs have a pair of big ears. They eat, sleep, eat and live a carefree life. For thousands of years, people who work hard have been idle for half a day, while pigs have been idle almost all the time. How happy they are! So people gradually formed a kind of knowledge: fat head and big ears are a symbol of happiness.

There are several famous big ears in history: Laozi Lao Dan, "Yong" means long and big ears; Jin Wengong Zhong Er, Zhong Er means big ears; Emperor Liu Bei of Zhaolie, with his ears hanging over his shoulders, could see his ears with his eyes. They are all big ears, but are they all blessed? It's really hard to say Therefore, big ears are a blessing and a wish of people.

In ancient times, pigs had many names, such as, Tang Ang,, Black-faced Wolf and Black Lord. The emperor of the Han Dynasty was born as Bi. When Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty was seven years old, he said, "A coward is a complete coward." So it was renamed "car". "Car" means to understand and understand the car, and it also reflects the traditional concept that people regard pigs as gods.

Pigs are the treasure of the family, but feces are the gold of the earth. Pigs had a very high status in ancient times and were endowed with many meanings and symbols. Legend has it that the Big Dipper is made up of seven pigs.

Some people say that pigs are not as suspicious, timid and obedient as horses, cows and sheep; Not as reckless and fearless as a goat; Not as hostile as a goose, not as condescending as a cat, nor as flattering as a dog.

The Ming emperor surnamed Zhu, and Zhu is homophonic with pigs. Zhu Houzhao, a pig in the Ming Dynasty, thought that raising pigs and killing pigs were all for the emperor, so he made an imperial edict in 15 19: People were forbidden to raise pigs. As a result, when the ancestors of heaven and earth were sacrificed, even the pigs for sacrifice could not be found. Later, after being persuaded by ministers, Zhu Houzhao felt that he had gone too far and cancelled this ridiculous ban.

Pigs are also used to swear, such as "Pig Head Three". In fact, "pig head three" is the Tibetan suffix of "pig head three sacrifices" (three sacrifices: sacrifices at the time of sacrifice, from right to left, cow head, sheep head and pig head, and the word "sacrifice" is hidden. It is a contradiction that pigs are praised to the sky and seen in the end! It's all psychological.

Back to the original question: Is the tapir at home a boar or a sow?

It should be a sow. Because sows can give birth to piglets, people will raise more and more pigs. Where's the boar? It will run down from the tree to find the sow.

Finally, say a custom. "Pig" is homophonic with "Zhu", and "title" is homophonic with "hoof". After eating pig's trotters, you can write the title in calligraphy-winning the scholar, general. Wish is beautiful, do you believe it will come true?

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Text: Lu Shengzuo

Extended reading:

Everything has a story.

Related question and answer: What is the auspicious zodiac of pigs? Trinity: Trinity is a kind of "combination of Ming and Ming" and a combination of three zodiac signs. Liuhe: Liuhe is a "coincidence" that secretly helps your noble people. Pig: it should be: sheep, rabbits and tigers are lucky, five things are prosperous, rich and glorious, and children and grandchildren are rich and glorious. Description: porcupine and Yin tiger are six in one, preferably a tiger. Secondly, it is not combined with wool rabbits, so it should also belong to rabbits and sheep. What does the zodiac mean: 1, which means disagreement, easy conflict and mutual conflict. 2. Harmony Trinity represents harmony, harmony, easy communication and common prosperity. 3. Punishing each other represents disagreement and punishing each other.