The origin of Zhenwu Emperor and his clergy?

Whether in Taoist immortal system or folk belief, Zhenwu Emperor should be the most influential except the founding Buddha, Four Emperors and other celestial gods. Especially in the Ming Dynasty, the official belief in him exceeded the level of all immortals, and Zhenwu Temple was built on a large scale. People are familiar with Wudang Mountain, the holy place of Taoism, and its main hall is dedicated to Zhenwu Emperor. Why is Zhenwu Emperor so valued? What's his background? What are the clergy? Let's talk.

Zhenwu Emperor is called "the true and innocent martial spirit should help the holy emperor", and is called "Zhenwu Demon Emperor" among the people, sometimes called "Tian Xuan God". According to such gods, we can know that Zhenwu Emperor should be in charge of "military affairs". In Taoist books and folklore about Zhenwu the Great, his official status is one of the "Four Saints of the Arctic". It is the four generals of Wei Zi's great emperor in Zhongtian and the North Pole. But as far as the whole Taoist immortal system is concerned, Emperor Gouchen is the emperor who ruled the Three Realms, and Emperor Zhenwu is mainly the image of Wu Shen and the clergy, such as playing magic and guarding. So he was also the host of the war under Emperor Gou Chen. Because the belief in Zhenwu Emperor was so fanatical that it surpassed the belief in Wei Zi and Gou Jian, I think it can be said that he is the religious unity of the two.

So how did Zhenwu's "martial arts" priesthood come from? This also needs to start from his origin. The first argument is that he is the eighty-second incarnation of the old gentleman, which improves his status. The second origin is sorted out from the name "Xuanwu". As we know, the ancient belief in immortals originated from the worship of stars. The whole starry sky is divided into 28 stars, and every seven stars are in one direction, forming four animal images, which are called "four elephants". These are the familiar East Qinglong, West White Tiger, South Suzaku and North Xuanwu. These four images were deified in later generations. Xuanwu is the god of the north and actually the source of "Zhenwu". For example, in the Tang Dynasty, it was named the God of the North, and "Xuanwu God should be the true king".

What happened from Xuanwu to Zhenwu? That was the stereotype of the Taoist immortal system in the Song Dynasty (the Song Dynasty recognized the names and titles of many immortals), which led to the name of Zhenwu. Regarding the change of this name, the Ming and Qing Dynasties' Collection of Words to Explain the Truth said that the real name of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was Zhao, and the true king of Dragon and Tiger was recognized as the holy father because he was also "Zhao Xuantan"; At that time, in order to avoid taboo, Xuanwu was changed to Zhenwu. For example, when Song Zhenzong was appointed as the real Wuling, the real Wuling should be a real monarch. Later dynasties took Zhenwu as the standard. In the Ming Dynasty, due to political needs, it is said that Judy, the prince of Yan, got help from Zhenwu Emperor in the process of seizing the throne. After Judy ascended the throne as Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty, she was renamed as "God of Naive Takeda Xuan in Arctic Town" again, and ordered Yamen to build Zhenwu Temple to worship the statue of Emperor Zhenwu, followed by Wudang Mountain Dojo.

After briefly introducing the origin of Zhenwu Emperor, let's review "Wuzhi". The so-called "Xuanwu" in the four elephants is actually a combination of a turtle and a snake. A turtle looks like a shield and a snake looks like a sword. This is what a military commander who is ready to attack and defend can hold. According to legend, the god of "the demon emperor (founder)" said that it was because he had vowed to get rid of the demons in the world; In addition, in the Taoist system, after being ranked as the "Four Saints of the Arctic", his duty is to "subdue the monsters in the Three Realms and capture the ghosts and gods in Du Feng, so that the evil spirits in the Three Realms dare not harm the living beings and break the evil spirits". For the legendary story of Zhenwu the Great, you can read the novel Travel Notes in the North.