Fortune-teller said Kuixing

Why did ancient literati believe Lord Kuixing? Which god do scholars worship?

There were many gods worshipped in ancient China, and the situation was complicated. Take the Han nationality as an example. In addition to many gods in nature worship, totem worship and ancestor worship in primitive times, there are also some main admirers in different periods and social classes. The objects of worship are some gods left over from primitive times, and some new gods created in different times. Generally speaking, the ruling class mainly worships gods and mother earth, while the people worship all kinds of gods closely related to their lives. For example, the ancient literati believed in a god named "Lord Kuixing" and superstitious that "Lord Kuixing" would dominate the examination; If the scholar worships the statue or portrait of "Lord Kuixing" at home, he will be blessed by him, and he will succeed in the exam and become a top student in high school.

According to folklore, before Kuixing became a god, his face was pockmarked, lame and ugly. Many of Zhang Hui's ancient novels describe him even more horribly: red hair, blue face, jagged teeth, full of tendons and pimples, only one leg and two round eyes. What a monster! Some statues of Kuixing are very ferocious, with a pair of horns on their heads. They stepped on the fish with their right foot, limped and kicked the stars with their left foot, and held the pen in their right hand, posing as champions. However, some Kuixing statues are gentle in shape, and they do not portray him as a ghost, but as an ugly person. Then, how did the "Lord Kuixing" worshipped by ancient literati come into being and form? On this point, there are different views in the world.

There is a saying that when Kuixing was studying in high school, the emperor saw that he was so ugly, lame and pockmarked and asked him why there were so many spots on his face. Kuixing replied, "Pockmarked face is full of stars." The emperor asked him why he was lame. Kuixing replied, "Hop on one foot." Kuixing's quick answer pleased the emperor, so he ordered Kuixing to become the champion. As a result, scholars all over the world dedicated Master Kuixing to Qingyuan No.1 Middle School for posting, in order to make a fortune and make himself a top student in high school. If so, it would be a little comedy. Another story is just the opposite. This is a tragic story: Kuixing passed the Jinshi exam, but when he entered the palace for the exam, the emperor suddenly saw that he was too ugly to be the top scholar. Of course kuixing can't stand it. He threw himself into the river in a rage, but was rescued by a anglerfish and rose to the top of the world. Since then, ancient students have regarded Kuixing as a god and helped them gain fame, because happiness comes from sadness.

Some scholars point out that the above statement is legendary and unreliable, and further think that "Lord Kuixing" may be related to Zhong Kui. Zhong Kui is a story character in ancient legends of China. According to Shen Kuo, a famous scientist in the Song Dynasty, during the period of Meng Qian Bitan, it is said that when Emperor Tang Ming was ill, he dreamed that GREAT GHOST had caught a baby to eat. On this issue, he claimed to be Zhong Kui, who missed the military action before his death and was determined to destroy Uber in the world after his death. When the emperor woke up, he ordered the painter Wu Daozi to draw a portrait. According to Shen Kuo's Biography of Meng Qian in Song Dynasty, the story of Zhong Kui and Kuixing is very similar: Zhong Kui was interviewed in Jindian, and the emperor didn't like his ugliness, so he didn't win the first prize. He was so angry that he bumped his head against the pillar on the golden platform and committed suicide. He fell into the underworld and was named "Marshal Pinggui" by Yan Luowang. In the eyes of the people in China, especially the literati, Zhong Kui was called "Kuixing", and he also dominated the ancient imperial examination and became the top scholar. According to textual research, the superstition that Kuixing dominated the examination began in Song Dynasty, and it is also credible that Zhong Kui was called the God of Bible Reading in Tang and Song Dynasties.

Some scholars pointed out that Zhong Kui was not a master of imperial examinations, but a fake "number one scholar". He was called "Kuixing" because he lived in Ursa Major and Beidou after becoming a god, so he was called "Kuixing". So, how did the god "Lord Kuixing" come from? Strictly speaking, this is the mistake of Beidou Kuixing as a Kuixing. Gu, a famous scholar in Qing Dynasty, said in Article 32 of Kuixing Volume: "I don't know when Kuixing will be admired by modern people. Kuixing is the residence of the article, so a temple was built to worship it. We should not be like Xiao Wei, but turn Xiao Wei into Xiao Wei. You can't fight for ghosts like Xiao Wei. " It can be seen that Kuixing said this Kuixing. The series "Xiao Jingwei's Help to God" in Han Yushan's Book Collection says: "Wen." Song Jun's note: "Kuixing bends like calligraphy and painting." Qing Hengzi's "Insect Sound" also said, "Fu Kui presided over the article without a solution, like a ghost, there is a struggle next to it, and the interests are lost. However, those who see the world's top stars often become a mere formality, which can be described by the fact that I still feel the harmonious heartbeat of the sacred unicorn. This belief is true. " It turns out that the first star of the Big Dipper, the Kuixing in the Twenty-eight Nights, had the legend of "Su Kui's Essays" in ancient times. Later, I don't know how to change it to Kuixing. Maybe it's homophonic. Then someone visualized Kuixing. According to the word Kuixing, a ferocious ghost with pockmarked face was created, and its feet became shorter and shorter. "For a long time, Kuixing has always been regarded as the home of articles, because the image of Kuixing is curved. Its idol is a ghost standing on the top of a rock, with one foot leaning back, a bucket in one hand and a pen in the other, symbolizing that the name of a famous scholar is circled on the gold medal list. Folk use "kuixing, taking the lead" as a metaphor for success in the examination room, which is famous on the list. What's more, he chose July 7th as Kuixing's birthday. Therefore, ancient literati would worship Kuixing on July 7th every year, even on the Mid-Autumn Festival in August and the Double Ninth Festival in September, in order to be blessed by the gods.

Some scholars believe that "Lord Kuixing" is not a "god" who exercises power to write the number one scholar. The appearance of "Kuixing" may be related to the way in which the results of imperial examinations are announced. The top five senior high school students are called "five kui". At that time, when the test scores were filled in, one was removed, one was sung, and one was filled in, starting from the sixth place to the tenth place "Sun Shan". And then reveal the top five. The top five students in this high school are called "the top five". When you fill in "five kui", start with the fifth place and fill in the first place, that is, the number one. This "top five" and "top one" will also remind people of 28 Kuixing, mistaking Kuixing for Kuixing, thus ridiculously creating a Kuixing master.

No matter what kind of statement makes sense, "Lord Kuixing" is undoubtedly a trick played by some scholars who are keen on fame in the imperial examination. Ancient literati tried to go to Beijing, and there were countless respondents, but after all, there was only one person in the middle, so everyone wanted to seek the help of the gods and help them gain fame and fortune. This not only reflects the hardships of taking the exam, but also shows the pedantry and helplessness of ancient scholars.