Fairy tales about fire

Vulcan is one of the Vulcan folk beliefs in China mythology, and all ethnic groups in China have the custom of offering sacrifices to Vulcan. However, the image and origin of Vulcan recorded in the ancient history of Han nationality and legends of various nationalities are very different, and there are also many differences in related beliefs and folk customs. Even on the key question of why Vulcan worship originated, experts and scholars have different opinions, and they are still arguing endlessly, and there is no unified statement.

Vulcan is an ancient woman among the people who believe in Shamanism in northern China. She is called Vulcan mother, Vulcan woman, Vulcan girl and Vulcan spirit. For example, according to the legend of the Oroqen people, a woman got up in the morning to keep warm, and she violated Vulcan by playing with a fire. No matter where her family moved, there was no fire. Later, she confessed to Vulcan mother-in-law and was forgiven. When she went home to light a fire, it caught fire. According to Mr. Wu Bingan, the sacred and inviolable principle of Vulcan embodied in this legend not only runs through the production customs of hunting and grazing of some ethnic groups in the north, but also runs through all aspects of daily life. For example, under normal circumstances, it is absolutely forbidden to step on fire, ride on fire, cross fire, speak ill of fire and insult fire directly. While respecting the benefits of fire to human beings, people regard fires in forests and grasslands, patients with fever, children with nightmares and other diseases as the result of Vulcan's anger. The more they respect it, the more they are afraid of its punishment and revenge. Therefore, Vulcan is more often revered and sacrificed than other natural gods (The Mysterious Shaman World, published by Shanghai Branch of Sanlian Bookstore, 1989).

According to Manchu myths and legends, the young hero Toa stole a fire gourd from the skyfire vault. He cut a hole in the stone, then put the fire into the stone one by one, and brought it back to the world, telling people that you can get fire from it by knocking on the stone. In this way, there will be fire on the earth. Since then, people worship Toah as Vulcan, and besides offering sacrifices in the Spring and Autumn Period, a grand ceremony to greet Vulcan is held every New Year's Eve (ibid.).

The worship of Vulcan by southwest minorities is different from the personification of Vulcan by northern minorities. Most of them regard the burning flame as the incarnation of Vulcan (or the symbol of Vulcan, such as Guozhuang Stone and Tang Huozao), and regard it as the patron saint who gives fire and wealth and makes the family flourish.

The worship of Vulcan in Han nationality also has the difference of "genre". In terms of image and origin, Zhu Rong is generally regarded as Vulcan. According to legend, he was originally a descendant of Zhuan Xu, whose real name was Li, also known as Li. When Di Ku (the legendary leader of ancient tribes) was in power, his official residence was in full swing and very active, and he could blend into the world. Di Ku was called "Zhu Rong" and became an official of Vulcan after his death. According to legend, Dayu's father Gun stole the land of the Emperor of Heaven, and the Emperor ordered Zhu Rong to kill Gun in the feather suburb (Shan Hai Jing Hai Nei Jing); When Tang Cheng attacked Xia Jie, the Emperor of Heaven ordered Zhu Rong to send fire to the city (Mozi, not attacking) to help Tang Cheng destroy the summer. In the folklore of later generations, Zhu Rong often appeared as a woman and was called "Mrs. Zhu Rong". In addition, there is a saying that or Sui is regarded as Vulcan. For example, the ancient Sui Stone Man drilled wood to make fire, which made mankind enter the stage of cooked food. Later generations respected him as Vulcan, also known as the true fire king, and sacrificed regularly. There are also some areas where Vulcan worship has no specific origin, or it is called the Southern Fire Emperor or the Mother of Fire, and so on. In different historical periods and regions, the date and behavior of offering sacrifices to Vulcan are different. As in the past, Vulcan sacrifices were held in summer, which was inherited from Han and Jin Dynasties. This tradition is continued by offering sacrifices to stoves in summer. For another example, Sichuan and other places take the eighth day of April in the summer calendar as the "birthday" of Vulcan, where literati, farmers, workers and businessmen burn incense to worship God or perform entertainment. In southern Shandong, the seventh day of the first month is the day of offering sacrifices to Vulcan, and there is a custom of organizing Vulcan meetings among the people. In addition to worshipping the temple of fire, all members have to eat dinner twice. In addition, Vulcan looks fierce, with three heads and six arms, and is equipped with hot wheels, fire gourd, fire seal, fire sword, fire bow and other firearms, resembling the abnormal condition of "Nezha" in myths and legends.

Similar to various folk beliefs, modern scholars have different views on the origin and development of traditional Vulcan worship. Some people think that the burning flame or fire pit is regarded as the incarnation or symbol of Vulcan in some parts of southwest China. Together with related ceremonies, sacrifices and taboos, it is the original form of Vulcan worship, which contains the conceptual connotation of reflecting people's dual understanding of the role of fire, thus more maintaining the original style of human worship of natural forces in ancient times. As for Vulcan, such as Yan Di, Sui Man and Zhu Rong, they are personalized Vulcan created after the Warring States Period. Others, such as the king of true fire and the mother of fire, were all invented by later generations.

Some people disagree with this statement. They believe that among the ancestors of the Chinese nation, there is a clan that worships Vulcan and the stars named after fire in the sky. This is Yan Di's family, whose ancestor is Zhu Rong. The name of Yan Di clan is Gao Xin, and the word "Xin" means "salary", which is like analyzing wood with an axe. If you get paid, you can get fire, so the original meaning should be the nickname of Vulcan. Also Xin Tong's voice, "Shuo Wen": "Jiao, Sheng." From the beginning, Yao Sheng. "Thus, the ancient pronunciation of Xin word is reading Yao. The so-called Yandi family is actually the famous "Emperor Yao" among ancient emperors. He also participated in Shen Yan and Yan Di (Wang Yi's Songs of the South: A Journey), Yan Di Ji became a fire master because of his career in fire (Zuo Qiuming's seventeen years of Zuo Zhao's official career), Yan Di drilled a fire (Guan Zi's Light and Heavy Articles) and Yan Di died as a stove. And Yan Di's first name is Vulcan. From the perspective of taking Mount Tai as the world, Yan Di's activity area is relatively located in the southwest, which leads to the statement that Yan Di "lives in the south and dominates the summer" in Volume 9 of Elementary School (He Xin's Origin of the Gods, Sanlian Bookstore, 1986). Accordingly, there are traces of historical development in ancient legends with Yan Di and Zhu Rong as Vulcan, and in folk beliefs with Vulcan as the "Southern Fire Emperor" and offering sacrifices in summer.

Others believe that the folk Vulcan belief originated from the early people's worship of Mars (that is, the heart). In Zuo Zhuan, Emperor Yan said "watching the fire" actually refers to determining the season by observing the movement and changes of Mars. Zhu Rong's "Huozheng" is an official position dedicated to observing the change of Mars operation to determine the seasons. In addition, 869 volumes of "A Scene of Peace" quoted "Autopsy": "People look up at the stars (that is, their hearts stay) and look down at five trees, thinking it is fire." This statement that the invention of fire is attributed to the observation of the heart is a mistake of putting the cart before the horse. Because humans first invented the use of fire, and then named the "heart" with "fire" (called Mars), it can be seen that the guiding role of stars in agriculture is as important as fire in human life. It can be seen that the fire of Mars has nothing to do with the burning fire source. Due to the misunderstanding of later generations, the concept of Vulcan has changed from the worship of stars to the worship of fire and the worship of Vulcan of Emperor Yan, Sui Man and Zhu Rong. The fundamental difference between this theory and He Xin's theory is that he thinks that the "fire" worshipped by Yan Di clan contains two meanings: the fire of nature and the fire of stars. This theory holds that the worship of the fire of nature comes from the misunderstanding of later generations.

Scholars also have different views on some phenomena related to Vulcan worship. For example, some people think that Vulcan worship is closely related to the worship of the sun, the moon and light, while others think that Vulcan worship and sun worship are different gods. Some people have noticed that there is a prominent feminization phenomenon in the image of Vulcan, thinking that it contains primitive worship factors, while others think that this phenomenon is unfair, and so on.

Zhu Rong, whose real name is Li for short, is also known as Li. According to legend, when I was at home, I served as a fire official in Xiongjia (now Xinzheng) market, which can show the light of heaven and earth, grow soft grains and trees, and transform them with fire for the benefit of the people. Di Ku's name was Zhu Rong, and later generations honored him as Vulcan. Some people say that Zhu Rong is Huang San, one of the three emperors and five emperors in ancient times.

In Greek mythology, Vulcan is hephaestus, one of the twelve main gods of Greece, and the famous Roman Vulcan is the son of Zeus and Hera. He is the ugliest god and lame, but he married the most beautiful goddess Aphrodite. He is the blacksmith of Vulcan and the gods. He has high skill and made many famous weapons, tools and works of art ... Apollo's Japanese cars, eros's golden arrows and silver arrows were all cast by him. trait

In Greek mythology, human beings were created by Prometheus. He also served as a teacher of human beings, teaching them everything that is useful to people and can make them satisfied and happy. Similarly, people thanked him and rewarded him with love and loyalty. But Zeus, the highest god, asked human beings to worship him, so human beings must give him the best things. Prometheus offended Zeus, the defender of mankind.

As his punishment, Zeus refused to give people the last thing they needed to complete their civilization-fire. But Prometheus thought of a way to steal the fire with a long fennel branch and bring it to mankind when the burning sun car passed by.

So Zeus was furious. He sent someone to take Prometheus to Caucasus Mountain, and tied him to a steep cliff with a chain that never stopped making money, so that he could never sleep and his tired knees could not bend. A diamond nail was nailed to his undulating chest. He endured hunger, wind and sun. In addition, Zeus sent an eagle to peck Prometheus' liver every day, but the eaten liver grew back. In this way, day after day, year after year. Until a hero named Herakles saved him, he endured this indescribable pain and suffering.

Now we often compare Prometheus to a man who would rather sacrifice himself.

1936, an exciting torch relay ceremony was held for the first time in Olympic history. The torch passed through seven countries, namely Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Germany, with a total distance of 3,050 kilometers, and * * * 33 1 person participated in the torch relay. All the cities through which the torch passed held grand welcoming ceremonies and set up special altars to light the torch. This massive torch relay was a great success, which not only aroused the enthusiasm of the whole world for the Olympics and spread the Olympic spirit, but also set an example for the subsequent Olympic Games.

The flame originated from ancient Greek myths and legends. According to legend, Prometheus, the ancient Greek god, stole fire from Zeus and brought it to the world to save the hungry and cold mankind. In ancient Greece, before every Olympic Games, people would light the flame in front of the temple of Hera. After the founding of the modern Olympic Games, this tradition was not followed at first. Until the 7th Antwerp Olympic Games in 1920, in order to mourn the people who died in World War I, the organizers lit the torch symbolizing peace in the main venue, but neither the torch relay nor the fire was collected from ancient Olympia. 1934, the International Olympic Committee decided that during the Olympic Games, from the opening to the closing, the Olympic flame must be burned in the main venue, and the flame must be collected from Olympia, the ancient Olympic site in Greece, and transmitted to the host city by torch relay. Since then, the torch relay has become an essential ceremony for every Olympic Games.

Prometheus

Prometheus is one of the titans. In the war between Zeus and the giant, he sided with the new Olympus God. He made the first man from clay. Athena endowed this man with soul and sacred life. Prometheus also spent a lot of time and energy to create fire and gave it to mankind. Fire makes man the spirit of all things. After that, the first joint meeting of God and Man was held. This meeting will decide which part of roasted animals should be given to God and which part should be given to human beings. Prometheus cut a cow and divided it into two parts: he put the meat under the skin and the bone under the fat. Because he knew that selfish Zeus loved to eat fat. Zeus saw through his trick. Prometheus favored human beings, which made Zeus very unhappy. Therefore, he arbitrarily took fire away from human beings. However, Prometheus managed to steal the skyfire and secretly brought it to mankind. Zeus was very angry at his reckless disobedience. He asked other mountain gods to lock Prometheus on a rock in Caucasus Mountain. A hungry eagle pecks at his liver every day, and his liver always grows back. His pain will last for 30 thousand years And he resolutely faced suffering and never lost courage in front of Zeus. Finally, Hercules restored the friendship between Prometheus and Zeus, found the golden apple and killed the eagle, thus saving the old friend of mankind.

Prometheus hymn

who is it? Let the long night jump the flame of hope?

who is it? Let the wild times bathe in the dawn of civilization?

who is it? Willing to break the dogma and save mankind in from the mire?

who is it? Tortured with no regrets?

Ah! Giant, you have brought fire to mankind.

Emit light and heat,

Send a new era to mankind!

Even if god deliberately opposes you-

The mountain is steep, and the chain is added.

The hot sun is like fire, and the rainstorm is like a note-

But heavy chains can only lock your body,

But how can you lock that open and selfless heart!

Is it just a matter of kindling?

No, you gave it to us.

It is an endless spiritual fire!

Brave, strong, caring and selfless.

This is you-Prometheus!

The goddess of wisdom finally betrayed Prometheus.

The specific content of myth

The prophet Prometheus came to the land of the sea under the blue sky.

At that time, the ground was covered with flowers and weeds, and all kinds of animals were scattered all over the floor. Birds build nests in trees and sing in the air. It's just that there are no humans who rule the earth yet. Prometheus wants to awaken the seeds of human life buried in the soil, so that they can make the earth more full of vitality.

So, with a smile on his face, he walked thoughtfully to a river, grabbed a mass of mud from the river bank, poured some water on it with his hand, turned it into mud with suitable hardness, and then made a man out of mud in the image of God. The little clay figurine was very popular with him, so he was very happy to make many similar clay figurines. After rubbing, he looked at these lifeless bodies and fell into a long meditation. How can we bring them back to life?

Prometheus is a god who is good at creation and invention. He absorbed good or evil characteristics from all kinds of animals, such as lion's bravery, dog's loyalty and intelligence, horse's diligence, eagle's foresight, bear's strength, pigeon's meekness, fox's cunning, rabbit's timidity and wolf's greed, and then integrated these characteristics and injected his own part into everyone's chest. In this way, they can move like animals However, they are only half-life, because they still lack the aura of the God who created them.

Among the gods, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is a friend of Prometheus. She was surprised to see what Prometheus had done on Mount Olympus. When she found Prometheus looking helplessly at his creation, she hurried down from Olympus and blew the energetic breath of God into their mouths. Therefore, they gain wisdom and reason, which makes them become real people.

This is how people are created. They got up from the ground and ran around like children, looking at trees, weeds, flowers and animals in surprise. Like children, I don't know how to think. They see these objects, but they don't know how to identify them. They hear the sound of running water and blowing wind, the howling of wild animals and the singing of birds, but they can't understand all this. They don't know how to use their hands and strength. They live in dark caves because they don't know how to make tools or how to build houses with fallen trees and stones. They don't know how to explain the movement of the stars, nor how to divide the four seasons according to the laws of nature and make use of them. They don't know how to farm and harvest. Like children, they need help with everything.

Prometheus was very willing to help them. He acted as their teacher. They learned to count and write from him. Under his guidance, they observed the movements of the sun, the moon and the stars, built houses and cultivated fields with cows and horses. Through hard-working hands, they built sailing boats sailing on the sea. He showed them the underground treasure, and they found gold, silver, copper and iron. According to his guidance, they tried to make all kinds of drugs, using oil and wine to treat diseases and wounds. Finally, Prometheus also taught human beings to predict the future and interpret dreams, and divined according to the flight of birds and the internal organs of animals. In short, he taught them everything that is useful to human beings and can make them satisfied and happy. People also thanked him and rewarded him with love and loyalty.

Zeus and other gods who live on Mount Olympus are the masters of the universe. They soon noticed the human beings created by Prometheus. They demand that human beings worship them and obey them. In exchange, they can protect human beings and their property and wish them a bumper harvest in their work. In a gathering of gods and men, they discussed the obligations and rights of both sides. Prometheus, as a defender of mankind, also attended the party. He wants to protect mankind and prevent the gods from asking too much for their help and increasing the burden on mankind. Finally, the two sides reached an agreement on their respective obligations. However, human beings should give the best things to the gods. This time, Prometheus slaughtered a strong bull on behalf of mankind to worship the gods. In order to test the god's omniscient ability, he came up with a plan to chop the cow into pieces and divide it into two piles: pile the meat, viscera and fat into a pile and cover it with cowhide; Pile the bones into another pile and skillfully wrap them in sheep fat. This pile looks bigger. Then, he asked Zeus to choose the one he liked from the two piles.

Zeus, who knows everything, saw through his scam at a glance, but pretended not to know. He has long been dissatisfied with Prometheus' behavior and always wants to find fault with him to punish him. So he stretched out his hands to get the pile. When he opened the white sheep fat and saw the stripped bones, it seemed that he had been cheated, and he flew into a rage: "Well, you evil god, you have made such a deception!" " You will be punished for this! "

Say that finish, Zeus and his entourage, driving the thunder and lightning, angrily returned to Olympus. As the first punishment for Prometheus' mischief, Zeus refused to give mankind the last thing they needed to complete their civilization-fire. But the witty Prometheus immediately thought of a remedy. He broke off a long fennel branch and lifted it into the sky. When the sun god drove a burning solar car through the air, Prometheus put fennel branches into the flame and guided them, and then quickly landed on the earth with this burning flame. There, he lit the first pile of firewood with kindling, and the fire went up into the sky.

Zeus saw flames rising from the ground in the sky. The fire lit up the earth and people danced around it. He knew that Skyfire had been stolen, and his heart ached. In order to offset the benefits of fire to mankind, he came up with a more vicious way to harm all mankind. He ordered his son hephaestus, who is famous for his cleverness, to create a beautiful girl. The beauty of this girl is incomparable, which makes all the gods marvel. Athena gradually lost her affection for Prometheus because she was jealous of him. She personally dressed the girl in a beautiful white dress, hung a veil to cover her face, put on a corolla made of flowers and tied a golden hair band; Hermes, an angel of God, presented this charming girl with confusing language skills. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, endowed her with infinite charm. This beautiful girl is called Pandora, which means "the woman who is given everything".

Zeus handed Pandora a box in which every god gave her a gift that was harmful to mankind. Then Zeus asked Hermes to take her to a place where man and god were in harmony. They were very surprised to see this beautiful girl, because human beings have never seen such a woman. Pandora took the box to look for Prometheus' younger brother, the stupid Epimetheus, and gave him a gift from Zeus. Prometheus once warned his brother not to accept gifts from the ruler of the holy mountain of Olympus, in case he waited for revenge. But as soon as Epimetheus saw Pandora, she was fascinated by her beautiful appearance and beautiful language and completely forgot her brother's warning. Without warning, he stretched out his hands and prepared to pick up the box. At this moment, Pandora suddenly opened the lid of the box, and a large group of disasters hidden inside flew out at once. They are silent and invisible, and cover the whole earth in a blink of an eye.

Since then, various diseases and disasters such as fever, plague and sudden death have wandered around the earth day and night. They came quietly because Zeus didn't give them a sound. Prometheus, the rescuer and doctor of mankind, saw that his creation was attacked by disaster and tortured by disease, and suddenly died for no reason. He was so sad that he almost fainted.

However, Zeus, the ruler of Olympus, refused to stop there. He also wants to get back at the creator of mankind and kill him. He gave Prometheus to hephaestus and his two servants, Kratos (strong) and Biya (violent). They took him to Caucasus Mountain and tied him firmly to the steep cliff with an endless chain. In fact, hephaestus didn't want to carry out his father's orders because he liked and respected Prometheus very much. While performing his cruel executioner's task, he murmured sympathy and asked Prometheus to forgive him. However, his two servants who jumped out of hell laughed at him for being soft-hearted because they hated Prometheus, the son of light.

Unfortunately, Prometheus was tied to a steep cliff and hung straight there, never sleeping again. His tired knees could not bend because his hands, arms, shoulders and legs were firmly bound by chains, and a diamond nail was nailed to his undulating chest. He endured hunger, thirst, heat and cold. Except for the wind and rain, Zeus sent his eagle to peck the liver of the bound person every day. But the eaten liver will grow back soon. In this way, day after day, year after year, Prometheus endured indescribable pain and suffering for the sake of human happiness for a long time.

Thirty years later, a hero named Hercules came here to look for golden apples. Seeing the descendants of God tied to the cliff, a giant eagle was pecking at his liver, and the archer who shot the evil eagle with his bow and arrow immediately put down the bag. Then he opened the chain and rescued Prometheus. Zeus flew into a rage when he learned that. In order to appease Zeus' anger, Hercules turned Long Xing Centauri into Prometheus' body double. Kay Long Xing was accidentally injured by Hercules' poisoned arrow, and the wound never healed. The pain was unbearable, but he was willing to sacrifice himself and give his eternal rights to Prometheus.

However, Zeus still wanted Prometheus to wear an iron ring on his wrist forever with a Caucasian stone attached to it. In this way, Zeus can boast that his enemy is still tied to the mountain.

Another translation: Prometheus brothers (former translation)

Three knowable endings of Prometheus:

I, Hercules, untied the chain and took Prometheus away.

Kay Long Xing voluntarily gave up immortality, not Prometheus.

In order to maintain the verdict, Zeus made Prometheus wear an iron ring forever.

Three knowable identities of Prometheus:

Descendants of my older generation of gods.

Ⅱ Athena's friend.

Three. Defenders of mankind.

Prometheus' three knowable languages;

The gods should not make mankind bear too heavy an obligation because they have the responsibility to protect.

II Noble Zeus, the greatest of the eternal gods, please choose your favorite!

Don't accept Zeus's gift on Mount Olympus, lest mankind suffer disaster.

Prometheus said:

"As long as a person is aware of the inevitable and irresistible forces, he will certainly endure everything that is doomed."

Prometheus predicted:

"The new marriage will corrupt and destroy the masters of the gods."