Myth story about black Xuanwu

Myths and legends

The earliest legend about the origin of Xuanwu comes from Xia Dynasty. According to legend, the father of Yu, the founder of Xia Dynasty in China, is called.

Xuanwu fighting method

"Gun", the word Xuanming, can also be called Xuanwu, which helped Shun to control water before the famous Dayu. Because it only uses blocking instead of dredging, it has not succeeded despite the help of the gods. Generally speaking, guns are the embodiment of turtles, while Tu Shanshi, a Xia clan, thinks snakes are his ancestors. After Xuanwu was regarded as a god by Taoism, there was a saying that turtles and snakes were in harmony.

In ancient mythology of China, the four great beasts were Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu. Xuanwu, also called Xuanming, is a combination of tortoise and snake. It is the water god, living in Beihai, and the tortoise lives long. Xuan Ming has become a symbol of immortality, and the underworld is also in the north, so it is the god of the north. Qinglong and Baihu palm in all directions, Suzaku Xuanwu follows Yin and Yang, Xuanwu can ask divination in the underworld. Therefore, Xuanwu is different from the other three spirits. It is called "Zhenwu Emperor" and is the god worshipped by Taoism.

According to legend, the prince of King Gu Jingle came from a mighty family and traveled to the East China Sea. He was given a sword by the gods and went to Wudang Mountain in Hubei Province to practice. After 42 years of success, it rose during the day and became the Xuanwu king of Weizhen North. However, the word "Xuan" was taboo in the Song Dynasty, so it was renamed Zhenwu. It is also said that Xuanwu itself is a big turtle in the North Sea. This turtle was once used as a pillar to support the whole Penglai Fairy Mountain. Because of its profound spiritual awareness, after years of listening and listening, it finally came to fruition. Therefore, there are many turtles carrying monuments in the imperial mausoleum, which is a metaphor for Xuanwu.

In addition, Xuanwu is also called Xuanming, so it is also called Beiming. Xuanwu, like other three souls, is also derived from the 28 stars in the world: bucket, ox, female, air, danger, house and wall. In ancient times, there were three interpretations of Xuanwu: (1) "Xuanwu" was a turtle. "Book of Rites Quli (I)" says: "Zhu bird before the trip and then Xuanwu." (2) Basaltic tortoise and snake. Supplement to Hong Xingzu's Biography of Chu Ci: "Xuanwu is called tortoise and snake. Located in the north, it is called Xuan. He has scales, so he is martial. " (3) Xuanwu is a combination of snakes, and turtles and snakes make love. [2]

Historical hearsay

It is often said by later generations that during the reign of Yang Di, the Jade Emperor became one of his three souls, Empress Lezheng, tired of the world, abandoned Wudang Mountain for practice, and successfully ascended to heaven, defended the north and lived in Xuanwu, posthumous title.

Xuanwu changed its name to Zhenwu to avoid the taboo of Zhao Xianzu. Song Zhenzong instructed his minions to realize the myth that "the gobbledygook keeps falling". During this period, countless Cao Zhi, Jiahe and Ruishou were worshipped all over the country, which set off a rare frenzy of worshipping Taoism. A few years later, under the guise of dreaming that the God man passed on the jade emperor's life, Zhenzong claimed that Emperor Xuanyuan was the ancestor of Zhao, thus creating Zhao, who saved the emperor by God, and announced the matter to the world, respecting the Yellow Emperor as the "holy father", respecting him as the "emperor who saved nine days by God" and respecting the holy grandmother as the "queen of Yuan". Since then, Taoism has another god, Zhao, second only to the Jade Emperor. [3]

2 appearance and morphology editing

In ancient times, people thought snakes were witty, clever and good at collecting money, and popular belief believed that dreaming snakes predicted money; However, the turtle has hard armor on its abdomen and back, and its head, tail and limbs can be retracted into the armor, so it is hungry and thirsty, and its life span is very long. People use turtles for divination and scorpions for divination, which are collectively called tortoise divination. The texture on the turtle's back is called tortoise inscription. When divining, the tortoise shell is burnt and cracked lines are seen, indicating good or bad luck. [4]

3 god beast implication editor

Northern water god

God of the North

"Journey to the Songs of the South" notes: "Xuanwu, the name of the North God". "Historical Records" says: "Gong Bei is in danger because of his propaganda." Rebuilding the Six Rivers Map of the Weft Book Integration Volume: "North Hei Di, famous for Ye Guangji, is good at Xuanwu".

Guangdong water god

According to the theory of yin-yang and five elements, the north belongs to water, so the northern god is the water god. Wuyi's "Nine Sentences of Zhang Huai" said: "Turtles are water gods". Wang Liangchuan in the later Han Dynasty: "Xuanwu, the name of water god". "Rebuilding the Integration of Weft Books" Volume 6 "River Map": "The residence of the seven gods in the north actually started from fighting, and the town in the north dominated the storm". Everything needs rain to grow, and water can put out fires, so the water god attribute of Xuanwu is quite popular among the people.

turtle

Vision and faith.

Qu Dajun's "Guangdong New Language" states: "There are many Zhenwu palaces in Guangdong, and Bukkoji in the South China Sea is the largest, which is called Rizu Temple. It's like wearing hair without a crown and clothes of an emperor to build Xu Anqi. A Jin sword stands in front of it, and a turtle and a snake are tied around it. According to Gaitianguan's book, Hei Di and Gong Bei were also the masters of Xuanwu Gate or the founders of Han Temple. Cantonese worship Chi Di and Hei Di, Hei Di is in the North Pole, and Ming Dynasty is in the South. Nane is aquatic in the Arctic, with the Arctic as the source and Nane as the commission. People who worship Chi Di regard it as the committee for refining water, while those who worship Hei Di regard it as the water source. Guangdong is also a country with solid water, and people's livelihood is in brine tide, and it is longer than low tide. It is considered as the advantage of Chi Di that it will not change with the election of dumpling houses, but I don't know that this is the advantage of Hei Di. It's a pity that the family is ruined and the family has a wish. Although the ceremony is not suitable, Cantonese people also report it. " (Volume 6 Zhenwu) It can be seen that Xuanwu is the allusion of the water god. [5]

God of reproduction

In ancient China, great divine power was always compared with the phenomenon of the sympathetic evolution of all things, and the reproductive divine power was worshipped. The snake itself is a symbol of reproduction. Xuanwu appeared in the shape of tortoise and snake, which was regarded by the ancients as a symbol of male and female mating and reproduction. Jiuyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty (born around A.D. 12 1 year) also explained that Yin and Yang must cooperate with each other with the example of tortoise and snake correcting mistakes: "Guan Guan Sui and dove are in Hezhou. A beautiful and virtuous woman is a good spouse of a gentleman. Males are not alone, nor are females. Xuanwu tortoise and snake help each other in the first place. After all, it's embarrassing. " [6]

turtle

God of life

In ancient times, the tortoise was a symbol of longevity and immortality, which could guide the movement of Qi. Biography of Qiuci in Historical Records said: "The old people in the south used turtles to support their beds. In their twenties, the old man died and moved to the bed, but the turtle did not die. Turtles can guide qi. " "Bao Puzi" contains: Chengyang hunted when he was frugal, fell into an empty tomb, and was hungry and cold. I saw a chinemys reevesii in the tomb, counted it, turned around, swerved, swallowed, squatted or leaned back. Thrift is also called the tortoise can guide, but it tries to do what the tortoise does, so it is no longer hungry. "In addition, the first night of Gong Bei's seven nights of Xuanwu is also called Nandou." The Star Classic says: "There are six stars in the south, and the emperor's life span is also the prime minister's position. "Gambao of Jin Dynasty (born around 3 16) quoted Guan Ju as saying:" Nandou is reborn, Beidou is dead again ". Fighting in the south can prolong life. This is very attractive to emperors, bureaucrats and ordinary people who pursue immortality. [7]

One of the four spirits

In ancient China, the stars in the sky were divided into seven star zones, namely "Three Walls" and "Four Elephants". The so-called "wall" is

turtle

It means "city wall". "Three Walls" is the "Wei Zi Wall", symbolizing the palace; "Taiweiyuan" symbolizes the administrative organization; The "sky wall" symbolizes the bustling market. These three walls are arranged in a triangle around Polaris. There are four elephants around the three walls: East Black Dragon, West White Tiger, South Suzaku and North Xuanwu. That is to say, the stars in the east are like dragons, the stars in the west are like tigers, the stars in the south are like big birds, and the stars in the north are like turtles and snakes. As the earth revolves around the sun, the stars in the sky change with the seasons. Every evening at the turn of winter and spring, the black dragon appears; At the turn of spring and summer, Xuanwu rose; At the turn of summer and autumn, white tigers emerge; At the turn of autumn and winter, Suzaku rises.

Xuanwu, like other three souls, is also derived from the 28 stars in the world: bucket, ox, female, air, danger, house and wall. In ancient times, people explained Xuanwu in this way. Xuanwu' is a tortoise. "。 Volume 44 of Emperor Tai Shang Ru Zhai Yi calls North Xuanwu Star Jun: "Dou Su Tian Miao Xing Jun, Niu Su Tian Ji Xing Jun, Female Su Tian Nv Jun, Xu Su Tian Qing Xing Jun, Su Su Tian Qian Xing Jun, Su Su Su Tian Qi Xing Jun, Su Bi Shi Tianxing Jun". As for its image, Jiao Tong's Essentials of Daomen has seven clouds: "North Xuanwu, Taiyin Metaplasia, and Virtual Danger. "At the same time, Taoism also uses it in alchemy. For example, Volume 72 of Yun Qi Tanabata quoted the Dan of the Four Gods in ancient books and records as saying: "Xuanwu is the black mercury in northern China, which can be soft and firm. "The Classic says: Good is like water. Non-lead, non-tin, non-stone and the like, water is Hedong Shenshui, born before heaven and earth, so medicine can't be abandoned temporarily, and it can support everything, so it is called Xuanwu. The value of Xuanwu was promoted and personified in the Song Dynasty, which was inseparable from the help of the emperors in the Song Dynasty. In the early Song Dynasty, Zhenwu and Tian Peng were legendary generals in heaven. In the first year of Tianxi, something happened in the military camp. In "The Original" for seven years:' Someone saw a snake in the camp, and the sergeant built a real martial arts school because of it. In April of the following year, the spring was inexhaustible, and the sick people drank more. When Zhenzong heard this, he wrote a letter and built a landscape there, named it' Xiangyuan'. This is probably the earliest Zhenwu Temple in China. [8]

4 Legend allusions editor

Guide practice

"Xuan Apocalypse" Volume 1 records such a story:

Xuan Di read wholeheartedly, thinking it was the boundless Tao of Yuan Junjiao, the son of Jade Qing. Told: "I can swim across the East China Sea, with mountains under my wings, and hover 50,000 miles from the stem." . Water flowed out of the earthquake palace. With Tai Chi, a mountain is born. It should be clear that there are 72 peaks and 36 rocks in Tai 'an and Huangya, which are extremely windy. Children can go into the mountains and choose peaks. People who rush to the purple sky live there. They are harmonious. After the promotion, at the age of 500, I was in heaven. When I robbed Han Long for the second time, I was really fine. After all, I recovered. I am the assistant minister of the Three Realms, the next great sage, and I am famous for robbery. I live in harmony with the sky, the earth, the sun and the moon and have achieved fruitful results. After telling this story, Yuan Jun rose to the clouds and left.

This story can also be found in the third volume of "Tai Shang Huang said that Tian Xuansheng reached Zhenwu's original biography of the magical classics". As can be seen from its plot, our "teacher" is called "Zi". According to Taoist address habits, the high-standard female fairy is called "Yuan Jun", which shows that Zi Yuanjun is a woman. The writing of Tian Xuan Apocalypse adds the attribute of "Jade Qing Sage" before Zi Yuan Jun, which not only shows Zi Yuan Jun's position in Taoist fairyland, but also shows that she is a fairy in heaven. This "Yuan Jun" is regarded as a "saint", which shows its prominent position, and she lives in an environment of "Jade Qing", so it seems to belong to a big family under the jurisdiction of the original Buddha. From a rational point of view, the story of Xuan Di's apprentice is of course a manifestation of belief psychology, and it is difficult for us ordinary mortals to find out Xuan Di's student status from the Graduate School of Shenxian University in Qing Yu Scenic Area. However, this information at least provides useful clues for us to trace back how Xuanwu belief merged with Dandao vein system in the popular process. There is a classic in the Taoist scriptures called Zi Yuan Jun's Method of Teaching Taoism and Transmitting Mind (hereinafter referred to as Mind Method), and its title is Shen Xian Yin Zhu. Since it is a "note", it shows that its scriptures existed before Yin Changsheng. According to Daomen, the immortal Yin Zhenren is also called Yin Zhenjun or Ying Zhenjun.

According to Ge Hong's Biography of Immortals, Yin Changsheng was the great-grandfather of Yin Empress (88- 105 reigned) in the Eastern Han Dynasty. He came out of the rich gate and became a good fairy. When he heard that Ma became a fairy, he left home and converted to his gate. He followed him around day and night and worked hard as a servant for more than 20 years. It is said that more than ten people who studied Taoism with Yin Changsheng went home because they could not bear to learn Taoism, except for Yin Changsheng, who did not change his original intention and held ceremonies more frequently. He gained the trust of A?vagho?a, brought him to Qingcheng Mountain as an alchemist in the first year of Guangyuan (122), and built an altar next to the tripod to teach Taiqing Shendan Sutra.

Yin Changsheng returned to China from another division, and made alchemy medicine according to the prescription of single crystal, and refined more than 100,000 Jin of gold, which was widely used by the world. After serving Dan, his family lived for 300 years, and then he died. Judging from Yin Changsheng's life story, he is obviously a master of foreign alchemy and should belong to foreign alchemists. However, in the book "Heart Method" and "Yin Zhenren's Notes", there are many criticisms of foreign orders. For example: "Immortals should not make wrong intentions, and they will turn into yellow medicine by mistake." This is to warn people not to mechanically understand the drugs in the immortal scriptures as products such as refining gold and silver and taking medicine abroad. In addition, Heart Law also criticized things like "lack of food", "persuasion" and "guidance", and regarded these things as deviant, obviously standing on the position of Neidan School.

As far as the development of the history of Taoist thought is concerned, although the thought of Inner Dan existed in Wei Boyang's Book of Changes in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was not clearly stated at that time, and it was not regarded as the opposite operation mode of Outer Dan. It was not until the end of the Tang Dynasty that the Inner Dan School, represented by Zhong Liquan and Lv Dongbin, began to oppose taking the outer Dan and paid attention to the cultivation of the inner Dan. In the mid-Song Dynasty, Zhang Boduan inherited the Taoist method of Zhongwan, and refused to eat and have a rest by ancestral inner alchemy. Some ideas in Heart Method are quite consistent with Nanzong at that time, so its annotations should be published later, probably Nanzong's works. This allows us to see the evolution of the secret method of Dan Dao from inside and outside to inside and outside Dan. However, even so, we can still find that "Xuanwu" plays an irreplaceable role in Dandao. When discussing how to cultivate the mind in order to bring the "Three Danes" back to life, the mind method talks about "getting up in the morning and tying the rope as evidence". This "Tianyi" is the symbol conversion of Xuanwu, because the method of "Heluo" is like counting, Tianyi lives in the north, where the water is. The Apocalypse of Tian Xuan said that Yuan Jun, the son of Yuan Jun, was called Xuan Di's "returning to the standard", which is not contrary to the meaning of "Tianyi" in the psychological method.

Taoist image

"Heart Method" has the article "When three things start, you must obey the rules". Its interpreter said, "The Trinity has to go to the Three Immortals, and each one has his own soul to keep one law. As far as medicine is concerned, the method of four qi, bones and muscles is the same as that of the same flesh and blood, without losing its essence. Don't let it get angry when it loses its yin and yang at the beginning of each month. Judging from the method of counting ninety-nine days, this trinity method is not an internal trinity method. It takes twelve months, the fire is controlled at twelve o'clock, twelve people, just like gossip and five elements. " The statement about "Trinity" comes from Laozi's Tao Te Ching, which says that "Tao gives birth to one, two, three and everything." The letter three is one. This "one" is a very important concept in Taoism. Ge Hong's "Bao Puzi's Inner Chapter: The Truth of the Earth" says: "The Tao begins with one, and you have no husband and wife, so you live in one place, so it is like heaven and earth, so it is called the Trinity." The sky is high and the clouds are light, the ground is flat, people live, and the gods. "Visible, the so-called" trinity "is divided into three, two into one. As far as Jiugong Bagua is concerned, the five elements are born together, rotating at four o'clock and returning to the original. This "one" is still the position of Xuanwu.

5 History editing

Wang Liangchuan in the later Han Dynasty: "The name of Xuanwu Water God." "Fu on a Red Maid" says: "Wang Liang is the Lord of Xuanwu." Li Xian's Note: "Xuanwu, the God of the North, the tortoise and the snake are one." According to Xuanwu, the true Emperor of Taoism, the Song Dynasty was taboo, and the mysterious was changed to the true. Later, the Taoist worshiped Zhenwu, and the tortoise and snake were placed next to it. Tang Duanshicheng's "Youyang Miscellaneous Zhi Nuo Gorge": "Taoist Zhu once traveled to Taihe Lushan for eight years and suddenly saw a pile of cotton. That is the legendary supernatural change.

6 later generations influence editing

Guishan sheshan

Taoism personifies Xuanwu as a Zhenwu Emperor and worships him. On both sides of the image, there are many images of turtles and snakes. Emperor Xuanwu's Dojo is in Wudang, Hubei, so Wuhan holds Guishan and Sheshan across the river. [9]

Totem system

Turtles and snakes were regarded as sacred animals in ancient China, symbolizing longevity. Before the Han Dynasty, nobles wore jade turtles. In Japan, influenced by ancient China, turtle patterns are often used to name and make badges.

The ancients divided twenty-eight lodgings into four groups, namely, seven lodgings in East Black Dragon, seven lodgings in North Xuanwu, seven lodgings in West White Tiger and seven lodgings in South Suzaku. This is a reflection of the totem worship of our ancestors in ancient astronomy. The ancestors regarded the dragon as the length of the scale worm, the phoenix as the king of all birds, the tiger as the length of all beasts, and the turtle as the king of worms, which were collectively called the four spirits. As early as the primitive society, the four spirits have appeared in different tribes as a form of totem worship. On the bronzes of Shang Dynasty, there are often family emblems with these animals as clan names, which is a reflection of totem worship.

From the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to the beginning of the Warring States Period, dragons, phoenixes, tigers and turtles were regarded as "four-sided beasts" and became gods in charge and protection of the four sides. The four spirits are the whole worship representing four directions, and the product of the combination of totem worship, auspicious worship and spiritual worship of ancestors. Among them, the dragon and phoenix totem is a symbol of the magnificent national integration of the Chinese nation, while the turtle and tiger may be a unique totem creatively created according to the thrilling war.

What needs to be added is that before the Han Dynasty, Xuanwu was just an image of a turtle. After the Han dynasty, Xuanwu's bricks, murals, brick carvings and tomb stone carvings also added the image of snakes on the basis of turtles. This is because people find that turtles among turtles (also known as spirit turtles and snake turtles) like to eat snakes by nature and often make enemies with snakes. Therefore, the simple tortoise was changed to the image of tortoise and snake entangled and fighting at both ends, in order to highlight Xuanwu's brave spirit of eating snakes and eliminating evil. At the same time, the entanglement of turtles and snakes shows a mysterious cultural world of China. The ancestor of Xuanwu, Tui Huangdi, Fuxi or Jiang Ziya, is another totem. [ 10]

Kang Zeng, a young scholar, demonstrated in Textual Research on China Myth that Xuanwu is the embodiment of the mysterious snake turtle, and the mysterious snake is the body of the leading phoenix-winged python; Wu the tortoise is the dragon's head and the unicorn's tail. They are the evolution of the ancient god beast Teng snake and tortoise totem, and also the fusion of the northern national dragon totem and tortoise totem. The dragon and snake are an organic whole, and the tortoise is evolution, which is the predecessor or nickname of the son of the dragon. The combination of tortoise and snake is the expression of reproductive culture, and it is also the wisdom crystallization of the evolution of dragon and tortoise totem by working people in China thousands of years ago.