folklore

1. Legend of the Old Man under the Moon There was a man named Wei Gu in the Tang Dynasty who once traveled to Song Cheng and stayed in Nandian.

One night, Wei Gu was wandering in the street and saw an old man sitting on the floor in the moonlight, turning over a big, thick book, while his body was knitted with a big cloth bag full of red ropes.

Wei Gu went over and asked him curiously, Uncle, what are you reading?

The old man replied: this is a book that records the marriage between men and women in the world.

After listening to this, Gu Wei became more curious and then asked, "What is the red rope in your bag for?" ?

The old man smiled and said to Wei Gu, These red ropes are used to tie husband and wife's feet. Whether men and women live far apart or far apart, as long as I tie these red ropes to their feet, they must make up and become husband and wife.

Hearing this, Wei Gu naturally didn't believe it, thinking that the old man was joking with him, but he was still full of curiosity about this strange old man. When he wanted to ask him some questions, the old man stood up, took his book and bag and walked to the rice market. Wei Gu followed him.

When they arrived at the rice market, they saw a blind woman and a little girl about three years old coming face to face. The old man said to Wei Gu: The little girl in the blind girl's hand is still your future wife.

Wei Gu was very angry when he heard this. He thought the old man was joking with him, so he asked Ganu to kill the little girl to see if he would become his wife in the future.

The domestic slave ran forward, stabbed the girl and ran away at once. When Wei Gu tried to get back at the old man, he was gone.

Time flies. Fourteen years have passed in an instant. At this time, Wei Guyi found a satisfactory object and was about to get married. The other party is the apple of Wang Tai, the secretariat of Xiangzhou. He is beautiful, but he has no scars. Wei Gu felt very strange, so he asked his father-in-law: Why is there a scar on his eyebrows?

Xiangzhou secretariat said after listening: irritating. Fourteen years ago, one day in Song Cheng, nanny Chen carried him through the rice market. A fanatic stabbed her for no reason. Fortunately, her life was not in danger, leaving only this scar. What a great misfortune!

Wei Gu listened, paused, and the past 14 years ago quickly came to his mind. He thought, is he the little girl who ordered the servant to assassinate him? So he asked nervously, is that nanny blind?

Wang Tai was very interested in her son-in-law's expression, and asked him some strange things, so he asked him, Yes, she is blind, but how can you understand?

Wei Gu confirmed all these times, and he was really surprised. For a moment, he couldn't answer. It took a long time to calm down, and then he told the whole story of meeting the old man under the moon in Song Cheng fourteen years ago.

Wang Tai was also surprised.

Wei Gu realized that what the old man said under the moon was not a joke. Their marriage was really decided by God.

Therefore, the couple cherish this marriage more and live a loving life.

It soon spread to Song Cheng, where the local people changed Nandian into an engagement shop to commemorate the appearance of the elderly under the moon.

Because of the spread of this story, everyone believes that the combination of men and women is tied by the old man under the moon with a red rope, so later generations call the matchmaker the old man under the moon, referred to as the old man under the moon for short.

2. The origin of Guanyin

There are three records about the origin of the name Guanyin Bodhisattva:

First of all, it is named after the sadness of the past. "Compassion for China" means that the Buddha got a treasure in ancient times because of his great compassion: a good person, you see all sentient beings in the sky have three evils, have great compassion, want to break all sentient beings' troubles, want to make all sentient beings safe and happy, and be a good person. Now, you should be the word Guanyin.

The second is named after egoism. The Shurangama Sutra Ear Root Tong Yuan refers to the self-report of the Bodhisattva. Before the Ganges sand robbery, Guanyin came as a teacher and entered Zhengding. Guanyin came to lament that I am good at Tong Yuan's practice. At the conference, I was awarded the name of Guanyin.

Third, it is named after fruit altruism. "Hokkekyo Pumenpin" refers to the reason why the Muni Buddha in the frontier is a bodhisattva, so what is the name of Guanyin? Solution to the problem of the Infinite Bodhisattva: If a good person has infinite beings in Zimo and hears that he is a Guanyin Bodhisattva, he will be relieved. He will be named with all his heart, and Guanyin Bodhisattva will immediately watch his voice.

Master Tang Xuan's "Records of the Western Regions of Datang" has three volumes: (A Tielu Ji beheaded Luo at a low temperature), which is comfortable. The words in Sanskrit are repeated, and nothing is said, but a tie is low in Lu Zhi. Opinion? , the wet cut, translation yue? Is it comfortable? . The old translation into the voice of the world, or the voice of the world, or the concept of comfort of the world is also wrong. Later scholars generally believe that the old translation is correct by comparing classics or textual research on the original code; Especially from the perspective of Buddhism, the two versions complement each other, reflecting the realm of Bodhisattva's sorrow and wisdom:

First, it is different from the key point: Guanyin means that it is unlucky for all beings in the world to encounter disasters. If you call the name of the Bodhisattva wholeheartedly, the Bodhisattva can see everything and immediately seek the sound to feel it, so that it can be happy. This is a name from sadness. Observing freedom means that the Bodhisattva practices according to the ground, observes wisdom with Prajna, goes deep into the ear, reflects self-nature, and is not affected by the external sound environment. Therefore, the Bodhisattva's view is round and comfortable, which makes him famous for his wisdom.

Second, from the theory of harmony: Guanyin observes all the voices in the world with the wisdom of observation. It is not ignorance, but smelling self-nature, which is wise and meaningful. It is sad to see freedom because I know the suffering of all beings and save it at will with great magical powers.

Specifically, the concept is the wonderful wisdom and consistency of the subject; The world sound is the realm of the object, which is different from before and after. As far as self-interest is concerned, the seal stone can refer to the smell of bodhisattva; As far as its fruit is altruistic, the voice of the world refers to the thoughts and prayers of all sentient beings. In a word, every name has a double meaning of sadness, wisdom and cause and effect. This is in line with the basic principles of Bodhisattva Taoism. The virtue of self-interest is for altruism; Doing altruistic business is for dignity and self-interest.

3. Ancient myths and legends in China: Shennong tasted a hundred herbs.

Shennong was born in a cave in Lieshan Mountain. It is said that Shennong has a transparent body and two horns on his head, that is, a bull's head. Because of his special appearance, hard work and courage, he was promoted to tribal leader when he grew up. Because his tribe lives in the hot south, it is called Yandi, and everyone calls him Yandi. Once, when he saw a bird holding a seed, he invented grain agriculture. Because of these outstanding contributions, everyone also called him Shennong.

Seeing that people were sick, he went to Tiandi Garden to get herbs. When he was given a whip on the same day, Shennong took the whip all the way from Duguang to Lieshan. Shennong tasted a hundred herbs and was poisoned many times, thanks to tea detoxification. Because he vowed to taste all the grass, and finally died because he tasted the grass. In order to commemorate his kindness and achievements, people regarded him as the God of the King of Medicine, and built the Temple of the King of Medicine, offering sacrifices in four seasons. At the junction of Sichuan, Hubei and Shaanxi in China, it is said that Shennong tasted a hundred herbs, which is called Shennongjia Mountain Area.

4. The Legend of New Year's Eve

In our country, people have the habit of keeping watch on New Year's Eve. Watching the new year begins with eating New Year's Eve dinner. This New Year's Eve dinner should be eaten slowly. From the time when lanterns are lit, some families eat it until late at night. According to the Chronicle of Jingchu in the Song Dynasty, at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a custom of New Year's Eve.

The custom of observing the old age not only includes the feeling of farewell and nostalgia for the fleeting time, but also expresses the perfect expectation for the coming New Year. The ancients wrote in a poem "Shousui": I was invited to Shousui Arong's family, and the candle was red with green yarn; Thirty-six years have passed, and I cherish the years since this night. It is human nature to cherish the years, so Su Shi, a great poet, wrote a famous sentence, "Shousui": There will be no years next year, and I am worried about waste; Try your best today, young people can still boast! This shows the benefits of keeping old on New Year's Eve.

Keeping old at the age of 30, commonly known as endure the year. Why is it called endure the year? There is an interesting story spread from generation to generation among the people: in Archaean, there was a fierce monster scattered in the deep mountains and forests, and people called them "Nian". Nian's appearance is ferocious and his nature is ferocious. He specializes in eating birds, animals and insects, and changes his taste every day, from kowtowing insects to living people, which makes people talk about "Nian". Slowly, people mastered the activity law of "Year". It turns out that it goes to places where people live to taste fresh food every 365 days, and the haunt time is after dark. When the rooster crowed at dawn, they returned to the mountains. After calculating the date of the ravages in 2008, men and women regarded this terrible night as New Year's Eve and came up with a whole set of methods for New Year's Eve: every family prepared the New Year's Eve dinner in advance, turned off the stove, tied up all the chicken coops and cowsheds, and then sealed their homes and hid in the house for New Year's Eve dinner. Because this meal has ominous significance, it is very rich, except for inviting the whole family to have dinner together. After dinner, no one dared to sleep, so they sat together and got up the courage to chat.

It's getting dark, and I escaped from the deep forest in and touched the village where people live together. I saw every household's door closed, sesame stalks piled in front of it, but there was no one in the street. After turning for more than half a night, I found nothing, so I had to chew sesame stalks to satisfy my hunger. After a while, the rooster crowed, and these cruel and stupid monsters went back. Those who survived New Year's Eve were overjoyed. They want to thank the ancestors of heaven and earth for their blessing, congratulate each other on not being eaten by Nian, and open the door to set off firecrackers to greet their neighbors and relatives. When people meet each other, they bow to congratulate each other and are glad that they have not been eaten by Nian beast. After many years, nothing happened, and people relaxed their vigilance against Nian beast. On the evening of 30th one year, Nian beast suddenly fled to a village in the south of the Yangtze River. A village was almost eaten up by Nian beast, and only a pair of newly-married couples in red curtains were safe and sound. There are also some childish people who lit a pile of bamboo and played in the yard. The flame was red, and the bamboo exploded after burning. Nian Beast turned around here and ran away in fear when he saw the flame. From then on, people understand that Nian beast is afraid of red, light and noise. At the end of each year, every household sticks red paper, wears red robes, hangs red lights, beats gongs and drums, and sets off firecrackers, so that Nian Beasts dare not come again. In the Book of Songs, there are records about the light of the court. The so-called court meteor is a torch made of bamboo poles and the like. After the bamboo pole burns, the air in the bamboo joint expands, and the bamboo cavity bursts and crackles, which is the origin of firecrackers. But in some places, villagers don't know.

Nian beast is afraid of red and is often eaten by Nian beast. After that, it was uploaded to Wei Zi in the next day. In order to save people, he is determined to destroy Nian beast. One year the beast came out, knocked it down with a fireball and chained it to a stone pillar with a thick chain. From then on, every New Year, people always burn incense and ask Zixing to come down to keep safe.

This phenomenon has gradually become the custom of New Year greetings in China, which is rich in information. The usual order is: first worship heaven and earth, then worship ancestors, then worship Gaotang, and then go out to visit relatives and friends. There are also various kinds of rituals, such as paying homage to the maiden's family on the first day, paying homage to the Yue family on the second day, and paying homage to relatives on the third day, until the fifteenth day of the first month.

5. Ancient myths and legends in China: Fuxi painted hexagrams.

According to legend, gossip was painted by Fuxi. In the age of human ignorance, life was hard and difficult, and at this time, an epoch-making great figure-Fuxi was born in the clan tribe in the upper reaches of Weishui River. He led the tribe to work hard, breaking bamboo, continuing bamboo, flying soil and eating meat, but still hungry and cold.

He was at a loss, at a loss. In my spare time, I often sit at the top of Guatai Mountain and think hard about the mystery of the universe. Look up at the changes of the sun, moon and stars, look down at the laws of mountains and rivers, constantly reflect on yourself, chase the years and months, rain or shine. Perhaps his sincerity touched the world. One day, a wonderful fantasy appeared before his eyes. After a loud noise, Ma Longshan on the other side of the Weihe River was suddenly enlightened, only to see that Ma Long flew out and fluttered down the river, landing straight on the flying stone in the middle of the river. It is clear and shiny. At this time, the distraction stone also turned into three-dimensional Tai Chi, which was intertwined with Yin and Yang and radiant. This situation suddenly shocked Fuxi's mind, and Tai Chi was deeply reflected in his consciousness. He suddenly became angry and completely penetrated the password of the unity of man and nature; It turns out that heaven and earth are so simple and clear-only yin and yang. In order to let people enjoy the benefits of nature from generation to generation, he turned the sacred thought into the simplest symbol, one representing yang and the other representing yin, and arranged it in all directions as gossip. Fuxi's paintings opened the sky, opened the floodgates of people's rational thinking, and sent people struggling in suffering to the other side of happiness, thus winning people's eternal memory and respect.