What is the important position of crows in Qing Dynasty?

Someone feeds the crow:

There are Soren in Shenyang Forbidden City and Beijing Forbidden City. In winter, someone puts food in the iron bucket at the top to feed the crows.

Manchu worshiped crows earlier. The worship of crows is an ancient belief. Many ethnic groups in ancient China once worshipped crows. In ancient mythology, there was a myth that a warrior with three legs ate the Queen Mother, and the crow was called "Wu Shen". Divination with crows is a manifestation of ancient people's worship of crows. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the custom of crow divination was popular. Later, there was even a book "The Crow Classic of Yin and Yang Bureau" devoted to crow divination. In the story of Li nationality's "raising cattle", crows can save people, and in the myth of Pumi nationality's "Flood from heaven", crows can predict disasters. The worship of crows is related to the mode of production. The earliest worship of crows should have originated during hunting. Crows can help hunters find dead animals and get food. At the same time, some ethnic groups have the custom of worshipping black, and crows are loved for their black feathers. Later, the image of crow went to its opposite side, mainly because of the change of production mode, most ethnic groups changed from hunting to farming, and the omnivorous and stealing habits of crow disgusted them. Especially when people are far away from the jungle and have more advanced means to get food, they no longer need crows to find food. At this time, the carrion of the crow makes it a sign of mourning. Manchu people no longer use fishing and hunting production methods, but when the aesthetics of crows in other ethnic groups have fundamentally changed, Manchu people still worship and worship crows. Here, the legend that crows once saved their ancestors played a very important role in preserving Manchu's sacrifice and worship of crows.

In the legend with people as the hero, crows and magpies landed on Manchu emperors or heroes, thus avoiding the eyes and ears of the enemy. Crow magpie was therefore favored by the emperor and the Manchu people. The crow magpie in this kind of image is not personified, and its rescue action is direct. In this image, the most widely known is the legend that a crow saved Xiao Han (Nurhachi) from escaping. Han Xiao was chased by Ming soldiers and was about to catch up. A flock of crows covered him. Seeing a flock of crows in the distance, the Ming army concluded that the place was empty and chased forward. The crow saved Han Xiao's life.

Crow saves Huang taiji;

In the origin of Zhaoling, a group of crows also surrounded Huang Taiji and rescued him from extreme danger. From then on, Huang Taiji regarded crows as sacred objects, which not only did not hurt people, but also kept crows in the northeast corner of Shengjing.

The official history of Manchuria, a document in the Qing Dynasty, records a love myth of the Roche family: after generations of Bukuri lived in harmony, "their descendants rebelled tyrannically." In June, they attacked Erdoli and killed all their descendants. One of the children, Fancha, escaped and went to the wilderness. After the soldiers chase him, there will be a god who lives on the magpie's head, and it is the principle of Kubinashi magpie's habitat to suspect the pursuer. The descendants of Manchuria all regard magpies as gods, so they don't harm people. "

Raven carrion;

In addition, the Manchu worship of crows is also related to the carrion of crows. The ancestors of Manchu lived a life of fishing and hunting. At that time, productivity was low and it was impossible to catch prey often. Crows like to eat the corpses of wild animals. People get unexpected food where crows gather, and over time, crows are gradually regarded as gods. Crows are regarded as sacred objects among primitive fishing and hunting peoples in Northeast Asia and the northwest coast of North America across the sea, which proves that crow worship is closely related to fishing and hunting peoples.

In Manchu folklore, the image of the crow's savior is related to its carrion. The crow landed on Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, surrounded them, gave the enemy an illusion of death, and saved them. Nurhachi ordered the crows to be fed on Soren's pole. In front of Qingning Palace in Shenyang Forbidden City stands a Soren pole, which is more than ten feet high and has a bowl-shaped object at the top. The wooden pole is placed on the white marble base. In the sacrificial ceremony, the shaman put grain and pig viscera at the top of the sacred pillar to feed crows and magpies; Huang taiji, on the other hand, forbids anyone to hurt crows and wait for crows. "Historical Sites of the Three Northeast Provinces" contains: "On the open space west of Shengjing Palace, you must feed the crows. It's time for crows to gather, fly, perch, peck, comb their feathers, flap their wings, fly dumb and make millions. The roof of the palace is almost full. " Here, the spirituality of the crow is endowed by the "accidental" savior of the crow. It is no longer the original animal worship. For the rescued emperor, it was because of his accidental rescue that he took action to thank the crow. For the descendants of the Manchu dynasty, it is precisely because the crow saved the Manchu emperor (and ancestors) that they are grateful to the crow. Both are an act of gratitude. Crows and magpies are the same. There are many variations on the legend of Nurhachi. Among them, it is said that magpies stood on Xiaohan's head and were used by the Ming army as stakes to escape. This is similar to the legend of magpie saving tea recorded in Qing dynasty literature. However, why did crows and magpies save people and not other birds? The reason is related to the animal worship of crows and magpies by primitive Manchu.

Crow is a royal lucky bird, which is loved by Xinjue Roche. Of course, this also has its own reasons. Legend has it that a long time ago, three fairies descended from the sky and bathed in a beautiful lake under Changbai Mountain in the northeast. The fairies played and chased in the lake, stirring up layers of waves. At this time, a black crow put a red fruit on the clothes of the little fairy Buddha Cullen and flew away. The color of the red fruit was so bright that Buddha Cullen couldn't put it down and put it in his mouth. Just when I was about to get dressed, I didn't expect the red fruit to swallow into my throat and roll into my stomach. Foucault immediately felt that she was pregnant and could not fly with her two sisters. Soon she gave birth to a son. The child was born with language ability, strange behavior and unusual appearance. He was the ancestor of the Qing emperor Aisingiorro Bukuri. After several generations, the descendants of Bukuri Yongshun were so autocratic that their subordinates rebelled and killed all his descendants. One of them, a boy named Fancha, fled to the wilderness, but behind him, the sound of horses' hooves and dust were flying, and the pursuers had arrived. Seeing the boy give in easily, a crow landed on the child's head. The pursuers suspected that the child was a stake and brought the horse back. In this way, the child was saved and his descendants made a fortune. When his descendants spread to the Qing emperor Nurhachi. The crow saved his family again. When Nuerhachi led the troops to conquer the ministries of Jurchen, nine military forces gathered in one place and attacked Nuerhachi, the Qing emperor, in three ways. The situation is very critical. After Dazu got this information, he immediately sent Wu Lichun to the East to visit the military forces of the nine countries. When Wulikan reached the top of the mountain about 100 mile, suddenly a group of crows kept barking in front of him. Wu Likan returned to the horse to avoid it, and then went forward, and the crow came at him again, blocking his way. Wu Likan turned his horse's head and went back to the camp to tell Mao about it. Taizu said, "You can swim Hunhe River from Zaka." Wu Lingbing was in front, and at night he reached the bank of Hunhe River, only to see the enemy soldiers' campfires on the north bank as dense as stars. Wulita immediately flew to Taizu: "The enemy soldiers have arrived!" Mao said, "People say Ye will come in a few days. It really came true today. " Crow became the patron saint of the Qing emperor Nurhachi out of helplessness. After the Qing Dynasty unified China, there was a crow on the statue of ancestor worship in Kunning Palace in the Forbidden City. Emperors all worshipped it and regarded crows as divine birds that blessed the Qing Dynasty.