What is a water ghost like?

"Water Ghost", commonly known as "water monkey", is a kind of monster lurking in the water in China folklore. It is said to be a kind of ghost transformed from the ghost of a drowning person. You have to drown a person instead. When entering the water, there is no way to bind the chicken. It often changes various objects in the water to attract people, and takes the opportunity to drag people into the water and drown them.

In addition, there are water ghosts called "river children" in Japan:

Legend has it that the "river boy" lives in rivers or ponds all over Japan. According to the research data of folklore scholar Junichiro Ishikawa, the legend of river children is widely distributed, including northeast Japan, central Japan, Feng Jingen, Kansai Ishikawa and other places. Toyama Prefecture, China Prefecture, Shikoku Prefecture, Kitakyushu Prefecture and Kyushu Saga Prefecture? Miyazaki Prefecture, Amami Islands and Okinawa Prefecture have different appellations for river children according to different dialects. The common ground is "children living in rivers", so they are called "kappa". It turns out that the river boy is an elf in the water and is regarded as a river god worshipped by people. There is also a saying that the river boy is the messenger of the water god, which is transformed from the frost falling from the water god.

First, for Hetongdu,

The legend of the river boy originated from the upper reaches of the Yellow River valley in China. It was called "Water Tiger" in ancient times, also known as "Hebo". In the early Warring States period, in this place, Ye County, Wei State. Every year when the rainy season comes, the river surges and floods, often taking away many lives and property. Local witches collude with officials to collect money under the pretext of "Hebo marries" and must sacrifice young women to please Hebo. It was not until a new magistrate named Ximen Bao came to Yexian County that the superstition of "Hebo marries" was broken. Later mentioned "Hebo Married", naturally reminiscent of the typical story of outwitting tyranny.

After "Hebo" spread to Japan, it became a well-known "river boy". It is said that there was a leader named Jiuqianfang who led Tang and his family from China to the ball mill in Kyushu and lived in Yunxian Hot Spring. He often leads his men to appear in the village, causing a lot of trouble. Because he has a Machamp who can only lead a horse to the river, no one in the village can beat him. Katou Kiyomasa, the Duke of Kumamoto, who knew about it, went on the rampage, and used the ape, the boy's most hated ape, to severely teach the boy a lesson, because it harmed others and himself. From then on, the river boy had to live in Tsukawa, Kumamoto Prefecture. Later, he became the emissary of the shrine, the branch of which was located on the Chiyu River in Edo, and Ma's mansion (His Highness kurume) later moved to Nijo Castle.

It is said that in order to defeat 9,000 square meters, Katou Kiyomasa took the river boy to the Hell Valley, which spewed sulfur gas. He not only poisoned the river, but also threw hot stones into the pool. Finally, he gathered the mountain apes that he hated the most and began to attack. Because of the hot sulfur, the water on the head gradually disappeared. With magic, he finally gave in easily and had to beg the duke to let him go and ensure that he would never hurt this place again. (Note: Katou Kiyomasa was the military commander in the Japanese Antu Taoshan era. When he was a child, he was transported with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. When he fought Shibata Katsuie to the death, he showed superb martial arts. He defected to Tokugawa Ieyasu in the initial battle and became a city in kumamoto castle after the war. He is famous for his bravery and castle architecture. )

Second, the theory of humanity of river children

Legend has it that in the Edo period, Zuo Shiwulang, an ancient bamboo field fan, and a flying parallel craftsman of the R generation spread a spell when building shrines, temples or cities, wrote down the names of people on a piece of paper, and then stuffed the paper into a gap in the wood or a human figure made of grass (that is, a doll). This action is called "calling the soul", and it is said that architecture will call it "calling the soul". After the completion, the unused human figures will be thrown into the river, and then these cursed human figures will become river children, chaotic everywhere, posing a threat to people and animals. In addition, Abe Seiming, who is famous as a teacher of Yin and Yang, helped him perform his works with paper figures attached to God. Later, some people were afraid of God, so Abe Harumi had to seal God under a bridge in Kyoto. It is said that the river children are descendants of these gods.

Just like a master of Yin and Yang directs the gods, if a magician handles the names, hair or clothes of the victims, it can make people sick and even die. And you can steal the essence of his soul and make it serve you. There was another witchcraft incident in China in the Qing Dynasty: in order to build a bridge project in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, it was necessary to drive a wooden stake into the bottom of the river, so masons borrowed the names of living people to write it on a piece of paper, stuck it on the top of the wooden stake as the bridge foundation, and then knocked it down with a mallet, which would add some spiritual strength to the impact of the sledgehammer. Because it is difficult to hit the bottom of the river with wooden stakes, there are many rumors that if spiritualism is used, the pier can be stable and lasting, which has caused great panic among the people in the south of the Yangtze River. Everyone was worried about himself and vowed to put the wizard to death. During the Qianlong period, local officials made great efforts to suppress the disturbing panic. (For reference, please refer to the timely publication of Call for the Soul.)

Characteristics of river children

Whole body: the height is about 60 cm to 1 m, and the weight is only about 45 kg. It belongs to a thin body, looks like a child aged 3 to 10, and looks like a human and an ape. It stinks and has mucus, which is not easy to catch. It is said that the river children seen in some places are covered in hair.

Hands and feet: The arms can move flexibly from left to right. It will grow back after being cut off, which is very regenerative. The broken arm can be made into a specific medicine for traumatic injury. ) hands and feet look like people, but they are particularly slender. Usually it can be used for paddling, but only four fingers can be retracted into the turtle shell.

Head: long hair, with a disc-shaped depression in the center of the head. When it is filled with water, energy will disappear. Some people say his head is red, others say it is dark blue.

Eyes: The eyes are round, luminous and sharp.

Nose: The nose is as prominent as a dog and has a keen sense of smell.

Mouth: it looks like a human mouth, and some look like a bird's mouth. There are four fangs on the top and bottom of the mouth, which can tear food very quickly.

Tortoise shell: carrying a shell like a turtle's back on its back.

Ass: It is said that there are three assholes. I wonder what they are used for.

The image of the water god is accepted by many local beliefs. Later, people no longer believed in the water god, and gradually evolved into the image of the monster river boy that we are familiar with now. Although there are some differences in appearance among the river children distributed all over Japan, their common feature is that there is a plate full of water on their heads. If the water in the plate disappears, their magic will disappear. It is said that he tong also likes to find someone to wrestle with or steal someone's ass. He is a monster who likes playing pranks. The river boy is about one meter tall, almost as tall as a child. He has a beak on his face and a carapace on his back. It is a dark green protective color and very hard. It can be said that he is invulnerable. With webbed fingers, he can swim in the water at an amazing speed. It is said that an elderly river boy can have magical power and can use telepathy to gain insight into people's thoughts.

He Tong in China Ancient Books

To China people, the river boy is like a water ghost. According to the records in the ancient book Youming Road, this creature is called "water bug", also known as "bug" or "watery". It is naked and has different lengths, eyes, ears, tongue and lips. It wears a pot on its head, and it receives water for three to five feet, so be brave when it loses water. As a result of Japanese folklore research, the creature should be a Japanese river boy. Yanagita Kunio, a Japanese folklorist, once wrote an article about introducing a river boy pony (the legend of a river boy pulling a horse into the river) in Tan Ji, saying that it looks like a blue-black monkey with legs like duck feet and a concave head like a dish. No matter in the water or on the land, as long as the water in the plate does not dry up, fighting with people or horses will produce infinite power, so there is a Japanese proverb to describe catastrophe.

River children in Japanese literature

Through the wonderful pen of Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Hetong (published in 1927) is no longer a terrible water ghost image, but a humorous figure, which can lead people into the magical utopia world. This story is about a madman who recalls what he saw and heard in Hetong country, borrows the madman's eyes, pulls the reader away from reality, and examines the world we are in from the perspective of a third party, thus forcing us to reflect on our present life. The novel describes the appearance of river children in great detail: they carry a plate on their heads and often let frogs jump or climb trees to see people. The body is slightly transparent and can change color with the environment (it feels like a tree frog or a rain frog). In the land of river children, all ideas are mocking people in real society, who even know human beings better than themselves. Once you master their unique language, accept their strange ideas and leave this utopia, you will immediately fall into the predicament of extreme disgust for human beings. In the last chapter of the novel, the protagonist finally returns to the world. Because he can't adapt to human life, he is treated as a madman. If coming to Kawaguchi symbolizes the rise of human consciousness and spiritual strength, then returning to the human world is tantamount to an act of self-indulgence, which will eventually lead to tragedy, because such people are doomed to be unable to survive in the real world. Perhaps this is the main reason why Ryunosuke Akutagawa finally chose to commit suicide to end his life.

Discovery of river boy's mummy

Most of the places where river children's mummies were found were in Kyushu. In particular, a mummy of a river boy collected by Matsuura Winery in Imari City, Saga Prefecture is the most famous, with a body length of about 40 cm, which is exactly the same as that described by Mr. Yanagita Kunio. Looks like an ape, with a dish-shaped depression on the top of his head, and looks like a monster. But after verification by the TV station, this mummy specimen should be mostly fake. In addition, Zuiryuji in Osaka also has photos of mummy specimens of river children, but refused to be interviewed by the outside world. In addition, Huang Yingjiu, who is located in Fujimi, Kyoto, claimed to be committed to promoting the culture of river children. In fact, it is a publicity stunt, using the pattern of the river boy as a trademark. There is a local river boy library near Yueguiguan Dacang Memorial Hall, but there are no river boy specimens in it. What a pity! Is the river boy a variation of some creature? It is still an unsolved mystery in biology.