Ziweishan allusions

In ancient China mythology, there are countless legends or allusions about the moon.

WU GANG laurel tree: According to legend, the laurel tree in front of Guanghan Palace on the moon grows luxuriantly, reaching more than 500 feet. There is a man who often cuts, but after each cut, the cut place closes immediately. For thousands of years, this laurel tree can never be cut down. It is said that the person who cut down trees was WU GANG, a native of Xihe in Han Dynasty. He used to practice in heaven with the immortal, but when he made a mistake, the immortal demoted him to the moon palace, and * * did this futile work as punishment. In Li Bai's poems, there is a record that "if you want to be in the middle of the month, you will pay for the cold."

Zhu Yuanzhang Uprising and Moon Cakes: Eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival is said to have started in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, the broad masses of the people in the Central Plains could not bear the cruel rule of the ruling class in the Yuan Dynasty and rose up against the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang joined forces with various resistance forces to prepare for the uprising. However, the officers and men of the imperial court searched very closely and it was very difficult to pass on the news. Liu Bowen, a military strategist, came up with a plan and ordered his men to hide a note with the words "Uprising on the 15th of August" in the cake, and then sent people to the uprising troops in various places to inform them to respond to the uprising on 15th of August. On the day of the uprising, all the rebels responded together, such as a single spark can start a prairie fire. The uprising succeeded. Later, Xu Da captured the capital of the Yuan Dynasty. When the news came, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy. He quickly sent a message to let all the soldiers have fun with the people in the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, and gave the "moon cakes" secretly sent at the time of the war as seasonal cakes to the ministers. Since then, the production of "moon cakes" has become more and more elaborate, and there are more and more varieties, such as dishes, which have also become good gifts. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the custom of eating moon cakes spread among the people.

The Moon Myth of Bunun Nationality

In Archaean, there were two suns in the sky, which shone on the earth in turn, resulting in no distinction between day and night. Hot weather brings great inconvenience to human life. A couple worked hard in the farmland, putting the sleeping baby firmly beside the stone pile in the shade of the tree and covering it with palm leaves. Unexpectedly, he was still burned alive by the cruel sun and turned into a lizard hiding in the crack of the stone pile. The father was very angry when he knew it, and vowed to shoot down the sun to avenge his children. Before embarking on the journey, my father planted an orange tree in front of his house and set out for the place where the sun rose, ready to seal it before the sun took off. My father, who was an accurate marksman, really hit one eye of the sun, and the light of the sun suddenly disappeared into the moon. The moon closed its eyes and reached out to grab people at random. Father escaped through his fingers because his palm was too big. Because one sun was shot on the moon and the other sun dared not take off to shine on the earth, the earth was dark and everyone could not go out to work, let alone find food. Life was very difficult. If people have to go out, they must first throw stones, and judge whether the road or the abyss lies ahead by the sound of the stones falling to the ground. A mountain Qiang who was out foraging was hit in the head by a stone thrown by someone, bleeding profusely. The mountain Qiang was in pain and gave an angry roar. At this moment, something strange happened. The hidden sun was scared away by the roar of Shanqiang, which made the sky shine on the earth again, and people resumed their normal lives, but Shanqiang left a beautiful scar on his forehead. Later, the moon taught the father who shot at the sun all kinds of rituals and taboos, such as: don't be greedy for sweets when hunting and sowing sacrifices, otherwise you will starve or miss your prey; The child's sacrifice should be held at the full moon, otherwise the child will get sick and die. After my father returned to the tribe, he began to teach his people how to deal with sacrifices. When everyone has learned all the sacrificial ceremonies, the orange tree has grown into a big tree. Therefore, several communities of Bunun nationality will use orange leaves as sacrificial vessels when performing sacrificial ceremonies.

The Moon Legend of Ami People

The moon in aboriginal oral literature is simply an individual with a fresh breath of life; In Ami mythology, the sun and the moon are a couple, and they often visit the gods who descended from the sky as human ancestors.

Another Ami myth is that the moon taught the surviving brothers and sisters how to get close to each other before giving birth to normal children, because the brothers and sisters listened to the advice of the sun and got married, but gave birth to some strange creatures; The moon told them, "Because you are brother and sister, you shouldn't get married, so you should dig a hole in the mat and put it between you so that you can have good children." Later, the brother and sister really gave birth to four children, that is, the ancestors of mankind;

There is also a story about a girl who is often abused by her stepmother. She would rather go to heaven in order not to let everyone get justice for her. Five days later, everyone saw the girl on the moon.

Another Ami legend mentioned that the two brothers and sisters did not feel happy dancing because they comforted their father in the spirit of heaven after finishing their mother's explanation; Three people jumped and gradually entered the ground. They said with one voice, "We have done everything we should. Tonight, the moon is my brother, tomorrow morning, the sun in the eastern sky is my brother, and the shining stars in the dark sky are my sisters. We will always benefit mankind. Bye, mom. These plots clearly show that these peoples believe that the sun, moon and stars are man-made.

The Moon Legend of Atayal People

Many nationalities regard the moon as the result of shooting the sun. For example, the Atayal moon story.

The story tells that there were two suns from the day before yesterday, and there was no difference between day and night, so human life was extremely bitter. So, three young people took their babies on a distant journey to shoot the sun, and once the babies on their backs were all adults, they arrived at the place to shoot the sun. One person shoots an arrow and hits the sun. The sun bleeds, so it loses light and heat and becomes the moon. Shadow is the mark of arrow wound. The myth of the Zou nationality is similar to this. Furthermore, the red stones seen on the ground are all stained with the blood of the sun. The stories of some ethnic groups have undergone some changes. The content is that there used to be only the moon, but it didn't appear every day. Besides, there are shadows on the moon. Every night, the earth is dark and vegetation can't grow, which makes people feel extremely inconvenient. So they sent two young soldiers to shoot at the moon. Decades later, one of them shot an arrow at the moon and removed the shadow, and the earth was normal.

Romani Legend-Children of the Moon

Once upon a time, there was a gypsy woman who had been married to her husband for many years and had no children. One night, she prayed to the moon to give her a child. Soon after, she got pregnant as she wished. However, when the child was born, they found that his eyes were gray and his skin was silver, not black skin and dark brown eyes. The gypsy was very angry and thought that his wife had betrayed him and wanted to kill the child.

The gypsy woman couldn't bear it, took the child to the mountain and abandoned him. The moon has taken care of the child since then. When the moon is full, it is the child who behaves well, and when the moon becomes a new moon, it is the child who cries. The moon made him a cradle to make him stop crying.

Ancient Greek mythology

The name of the goddess of the moon is themis. She is the twin sister of Apollo, the sun god, and the goddess of hunting. The astronomical symbol of the moon is like a crescent moon, symbolizing the bow of Artemis. Indian civilization regards the moon as the nectar of immortality; Egyptian civilization imagined the moon as a kind god; The two river basins regard the moon as the god in charge of the cycle of life and death; In addition, there are legends about the moon in ancient Rome, such as Diana.