Legend of the origin of Tianchuan Festival

About the origin of Tianchuan Festival, most of the materials in the Eastern Jin Dynasty came from the legend that the goddess filled the sky. The name of Nu Wa first appeared in the book "Tian Wen of Chu Ci" written in the Warring States Period: "Nu Wa has a body, who made it?" The myth of the goddess mending the sky comes from Huainanzi written by Liu An, king of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty, and his disciples. The book "Reading Ghost Training" records: "In the past, the four poles were abolished, Kyushu was cracked, the sky was not covered, the ground was incomplete, and it was a fire?" (65533333) Wild animals eat people, while birds prey on the old and the weak. So Nu Wa refined five-color stones to make up the sky, broken claws and four poles, killed the black dragon to help Jizhou, and accumulated reed ash to stop lewd water. " The mythologist Yuan Ke pointed out: "The goddess fills the sky, and its purpose is nothing more than water control." "Accumulated Reed Ash" has clearly stated "Stop lascivious water". The rest:' broken foot' and' killing black dragon' are monsters who make waves and chase waves during floods; The' stone' used in' refining stones to make up the sky' is also necessary for floods. "(Yuan Ke's Dictionary of China Myths and Legends" Nuwa Article ",Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, 1985, p. 44) In a sense, water control lies in treating the water that" wears the sky ",so refining stones to make up the sky. Han people use pancakes to make up the sky, which is a witchcraft behavior that simulates Nu Wa's refining stones to make up the sky.

The date of Tianchuan Festival is consistent with the theme of the myth of the goddess mending the sky. Ye Chunsheng pointed out: "The test day is a rainy day in the twenty-four solar terms, usually on February 19 in the solar calendar and from January 19 to 23 in the first lunar month. It is a day when water is generated every day, and it rains most of the time, so it is called rainy day. This is an explanation of ancient science for the underdevelopment of meteorology. " (Ye Chunsheng's A General Examination of the Four Seasons in Guangzhou, published in Lingnan Literature and History No.2, 1984) The date of "rain" in the 24 solar terms is the same, and "the day of crossing the sky" is established as an explanation for the natural phenomenon that it began to rain during the "rain" period. The myth of the goddess mending the sky reveals that the ancients attributed the rain to the sky leakage. Therefore, the myth of goddess mending the sky to control water must be combined with people's understanding of "rain" solar terms, which is the origin of festivals. There are also data to support the author's view. The "Shaanxi Ansai County Records" compiled during the Republic of China recorded: "On the 20th, every family ate pancakes, which was called mending the sky. On the night of the 23rd, fires were lit in all the courtyards, and water was poured on the fire, which was called "Lian Gan". When the water of the cloth (that is, the rag) is drenched on the fire, it will evaporate immediately and replace the water with fire. Although it is different from putting pancakes on the house as a symbol of mending the sky, it has the same effect and purpose. The custom of "refining dry" belongs to Nu Wa's sympathetic witchcraft behavior of "refining five-color stones to make up the sky". The Sky Wear Festival combines the legend of the goddess mending the sky and people's understanding of the "rain" solar terms.