What are the advantages of worshipping fox spirits?

Animal worship in agricultural society

There is no animal more mysterious than a fox in the world. Its appearance, activity characteristics and interaction with human beings always make people look at foxes with awe. In China, our ancestors thought it might be a good thing or a disaster to see a fox as a sign. If the fox runs home, the whole family is deified and allowed to move freely. When others see the fox, they will immediately put their hands together, worship and pray for the fox spirit to bless peace. It is said that enlightened fox spirits know how to be psychic and can cure diseases or eliminate disasters for others. In the traditional agricultural society, there are quite a few believers, and many villages have temples specially built for foxes. If someone asks for it and it works, a red banner must be hung in the temple to pray for the fox spirit, otherwise it will choose to make trouble in the middle of the night, otherwise it will be called "fox spirit" or "fox evil".

Take the fox home as a wife.

In Japanese folktales, the fox is one of the common monsters. As early as the ninth century AD, the legend of the fox demon was recorded in the Japanese paranormal. It is said that a man met a beautiful woman in the wilderness, married her, and gave birth to a child in Daye County (present-day Gifu County) of MINO County. I didn't expect his wife to be a fox. One day, after showing his true colors, he barked like a dog and returned to the wilderness. The husband still called out to the fox and said, "Please don't forget me!" " ! The child still needs your care, come back to sleep quickly! "The last sentence" hurry back to sleep! In the local dialect, it is pronounced kitune, which is similar to the pronunciation of fox in Japanese. It is said that the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character "fox" comes from this.

◆ The Legend of Fox Possession

Foxes like to haunt people's places and interact with people frequently. But in folk stories or fairy tales, foxes often play a clever and cunning role. For example, I cheated the owner of a fish shop to eat delicious fresh fish, used other animals for my own benefit, or thought I should never be fooled by a fox, but I was fooled by a fox. Like Kenji Miyazawa, I have written similar fairy tales.

It is said that in Shimane Prefecture, there is a monster called "human fox hug" (smaller than ordinary foxes, similar to weasels, often appearing in houses), also called "fox messenger". If someone hates it for no reason, it will be attached to that person. Once possessed by this fox, it will be over, and words and deeds will become surly and abnormal. It's not that simple to handle. But no matter what you ask, people possessed by foxes can answer like a flood. For example, ask "Where are you from?" The fox replied, "I come from the garrison of Yamaguchi Taro. Then he asked, "Then why did you come here? "Answer:" Because I want to avenge my master! " The questioner told the fox, "but I didn't come here, so I'd better leave as soon as possible!" The fox who stayed wanted to make a deal: "You can go back, but you have to promise me." The man asked again, "What requirements? The fox answered him quickly: "I want to eat red bean rice, tofu soup and snapper sauce." "Say that finish still dripping saliva, looks like greed.

So he had to provide rich food according to the fox's request, and the possessed person devoured it with relish, but the man's eating was really ugly, just like the fox's eating. After a hearty meal, he even put down his cruel words unsatisfied: "If you don't give me the land to which this house belongs, I will take this man's life at once!" At this point, the people around him immediately suppressed the person who was possessed by the virus and said, "OK, now I will kill you with acupuncture!" " Then, I looked back and forth on the man's face and smeared it on the place where there was a lump. The possessed man immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "I'll leave at once, please spare me!" However, the other party ignored it accordingly and just burned it on the face two or three times with a needle. The possessed person must escape from the window. After struggling for a while, he suddenly fell down and fainted. When he woke up, the possessed fox had disappeared.

◆ About the origin of "eyebrow salivation"

The Japanese often refer to "suspicious things" or "incredible things" as "eyebrow salivation". This means that the superstition of spitting on eyebrows is related to "foxes". In this part, we can refer to some sayings in Han Zhen's book: In the world, it is meaningful to wipe saliva on your eyebrows when you meet foxes and ghosts. When the 56th emperor of Qing Dynasty was young, Zhong Rengong worked as a bodyguard. Emperors usually hate monsters like foxes. One day he was playing in the south yard, and the fox passed by and immediately followed the grass. Seeing this situation, Zhong Rengong, who was standing by, said half jokingly, "Your Majesty, please allow me to subdue the devil according to your imperial virtue. I don't know what will happen? " So the emperor, who was only eight years old, mistook "enchantment" for "caressing eyebrows" and caressed them with his fingers to escape. Later generations put their saliva on their eyebrows whenever they encounter ghosts to ward off evil spirits and spread false information. This is the origin of "eyebrow salivation"

◆ Foxes will also become other monsters.

In addition, foxes will disguise themselves as other monsters to make trouble. In the story of Taiping Hundred Stories, a woman left a wooden bucket full of rice in a wholesale shop she met in Fuji, Kyoto, but a fox who claimed to be Zhentian Mountain appeared from the wooden bucket. It looked like a big bald monk with a long neck. Since then, this family's residence has often urinated and defecated everywhere, making it dirty and the owner miserable. So she expressed her hope to send him away and supply red bean rice and delicious oil tofu for three days in a row. So foxes sometimes have a whim and become other monsters to play pranks on the earth.

◆ Fox fire is a ghost fire?

According to the record of the snow spectrum in North Vietnam, the fox spits fire. But, look carefully, it is the gas exhaled by the fox that burns in the air. There are different opinions about fox fire. For example, Wen Qi Thought Record records opinions from all over the world. When the fox started the fire with the horse bone in his mouth, the local saying in Mino is to light the horse's toenails and let the fox start the fire. People who see "fox fire" at night are likely to get lost when walking, or lose something, and even some people will become foxes. There is really no better way to explain all kinds of incredible phenomena except foxes.

Japanese belief in foxes

The Japanese think that if they put on new sandals when the sun goes down, they will become foxes. This superstition is widely circulated all over Japan. Therefore, whether it is slippers or leather shoes, if you want to wear new shoes, you must choose in the morning and you can't wear new shoes at night. If you have to wear them, remember to coat the soles with 10% coal ash or ink until they are dry. In addition, the Mi Lian shrine dedicated to the fox spirit is quite popular all over Japan, so the fox spirit is also called Mi Lian God, and is regarded as a god who prays for prosperous business (good luck). Just like our land temple here, it can be seen everywhere. Originally, the fox fairy had the characteristics of a god of agriculture, and farmers always prayed for a bumper harvest of grain. Among them, the most famous is the Inada Literature Society in Kyoto, which is the base camp of the Japanese Inada Shrine. In addition to the lovely fox statues, there are thousands of the most distinctive torii. The horse painting here (a small wooden board for wishing, with words of blessing written on it, is hung on a special frame for horse painting to achieve the wish) is a lovely fox shape. You can also draw a beard for it and pray for the fox spirit to fulfill your wish. In addition, there is a kind of bean skin sushi in Japanese cuisine, which tastes sour and sweet. It may be made of vinegar and sugar. It's called Daohe Sushi. Why is it called "Daohe Sushi"? Because it is said that foxes like tofu skin, they take it in the name of Milian.

The meaning of harvest, the saying that eating Milian sushi will bring good luck, will spread like wildfire.

The famous fox Tamamo no Mae.

In the Romance of Gods, da ji was transformed by a fox from Kyubi no Youko, and there is also a legend of a fox from Kyubi no Youko in Japan. Tamamo no Mae, a talented woman favored by the emperor's bird feathers, is good at charm, grasping the essence of the emperor and making her ill in bed. Later, Yin and Yang teacher Abe Taicheng saw that she was a thousand-year-old fox in Tianzhu and subdued her with a trick. As a result, the fox's resentment turned into a killing stone, and everyone who accidentally met would die. Only when monks recite scriptures can a fox become a Buddha. The story that the fox still turned into a monster after death became a bridge often quoted by legendary novelists later.

◆ Mind code for marrying others.

Influenced by China's Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, foxes are often endowed with personalized images because of their cleverness and familiarity with human nature. Some young, beautiful and attractive women are often called "foxes", which is actually an alternative representation of ancient women's lust. Similar to the story of marrying a fox mentioned above, there are many different versions of the story circulating in Japan. The general pattern is that after the husband knows that his wife is a fox, every busy farming period, the fox wife will go home to help him harvest. Often the rice harvest of this man's family is particularly good, and the story still retains the fox's character as a god of agriculture. In the film "Dream" directed by Akira Kurosawa, the first paragraph describes the story of a little boy who met a fox in the forest on a rainy day and got married. I heard that foxes don't like being seen, so the fox's wedding procession didn't walk a few steps, so it was strange and interesting to suddenly look back to see if anyone was following. If given the chance, they might as well rent it. In fact, behind the story of intermarriage between foxes and humans, the hidden fact is the marriage taboo beyond the class system. For example, Ge Ye tells the mystery of the birth of Yin and Yang teacher Abe Harumi in Xintai Wife. In fact, Abe's father should have married a street performer with low status. With the legend of Ge Ye, it has been consolidated.

This paper introduces the position of Abe Harumi in people's minds.