Who is Pixiu, the ninth son of the dragon? (Talk about the evolution of Pixiu, the ninth son of the dragon)
Pixiu is an auspicious animal in ancient China. Although it looks ugly, it is a symbol of wealth. In many shopping malls and homes today, models of Pixiu are placed, which symbolizes wealth. In fact, Pixiu played many roles in ancient times: in early legends, it was the totem of primitive tribes. In the war era, it was the god of war that symbolized war and was invincible. People often use the word "Pixiu" to represent the entire army; "Pixiu" has some different names in the south and the north. The southerners call it "Pixiu", while the northerners call it "warping evil spirits". From the literal meaning, "warming evil spirits" means to drive away evil things and protect the peace of a place. Therefore, Pixiu also plays the role of a protector. The reason why Pixiu became an auspicious beast that symbolizes wealth has some far-reaching historical origins, which is closely related to the continuous development of business in later generations. Today we will start with the different images of Pixiu in each historical stage and discuss it. How it gradually evolved into a mascot symbolizing wealth. 1. "The dragon gave birth to nine sons, each with his own differences." What does the legendary Pixiu look like and what is its origin?
The Chinese nation has been a nation with rich imagination since ancient times. They are good at adding more fantasy and rare animals to various fictional myths to enrich their inner world and satisfy their outer desires at the same time. , is a kind of beautiful sustenance. With the development of the times, they integrated heaven, earth, people, and harmony, and added the "assistance" of various mythical beasts to achieve a spiritual world of "harmony between heaven and man". Pixiu is the product of the continuous development of the human spiritual world. .
Regarding the image of Pixiu, before it was "deified", people generally classified it as a beast such as tiger and leopard. It is also known as dragon, phoenix, unicorn and divine turtle. They are the five great mythical beasts in ancient times, and among these mythical beasts, except for the gentle turtle, the other mythical beasts are all ferocious in temperament. Guo Pu once said: "Pixiu is like a leopard." Lu Ji, a famous scholar during the Three Kingdoms period, once commented on "The Book of Songs" and concluded based on various inferences: "Pixiu has the name of fox rather than a type of fox, and its skin resembles that of a fox. "It looks like a leopard, and the leopard also belongs to the tiger genus, but its shape is different from the tiger." He believes that Pixiu is a raptor with a fur like a fox and a body like a tiger and leopard.
"The Birth of Pixiu" writes: "Three generations of artifacts, Xia, Shang and Zhou, the dragon gave birth to nine sons named Pixiu." From then on, Pixiu changed from an ordinary beast to a "descendant of the dragon". The image of Pixiu has also changed from a tiger and leopard to a more ferocious ancient mythical beast. According to legend, Pixiu has gathered twenty-six shapes and forty-nine incarnations, integrating the images of all rare and exotic beasts. Through various myths and legends, With the evolution and processing of folk art, Pixiu has such an image: It has a dragon head, a horse body, a unicorn toe, and an appearance that in today's words is "a mouth full of fangs." His body is like a lion, with long chins growing out of it. It has a beard and wings on both sides of its body. Its fur is gray and white, and it often flies around in the sky. Its sideburns are connected to its chest and back. It has one most prominent feature: a big mouth and no anus.
Legend has it that Pixiu once helped Emperor Yan fight against the emperor, so he was named the "Tianlu Beast." Since it was a royal canonization, it was also called the "Emperor Treasure," and because he often drove away ferocious beasts. and evil things, also known as "warming away evil spirits." However, as the son of the Dragon King and a meritorious official of the emperor, he became greedy for pleasure after receiving the canonization. He ate gold, silver and jewels, so he was covered in jewels. It sparkled with gold wherever he went. Because he ate too much, he once couldn't help but defecate in front of the emperor. The emperor was furious at his unseemly behavior and ordered people to whip it with a whip and seal its mouth. Anus, so Pixiu has the image characteristic of "big mouth but no anus". 2. Pixiu: The spiritual belief of early humans
As a highly deified beast, the image of Pixiu has been constantly changing, gradually forming sitting, squatting and lying postures. At the same time, in the process of evolution, It also represents people’s different beliefs.
1. The totem god of primitive tribes
The Chinese like to use birds, animals, fish and insects as their totems. In an ancient tomb in Puyang, Henan Province more than 5,000 years ago, experts They unearthed a dragon totem made of shells, which is probably the earliest totem culture discovered so far in Chinese history. "Shang Shu·Yu Gong" says: "Niaoyi skin clothing, birdi flower clothing", indicating that in ancient times Human beings use birds as totems, and their clothing is also decorated with bird patterns. "The Book of Songs. Ode to Shang" states: "The Black Bird of Destiny came down to give birth to Shang, and its residence is Yin. The earth is full of light." "Historical Records. The Benji of Qin" also records: "Before the Qin Dynasty, the descendants of Emperor Zhuanxu, Sun Yue Nuxiu, The black bird dies and the female cultivator swallows it, which brings about a great cause of giving birth to children...the descendants are either in China or in Yi and Di, and the body of the bird is said by people." It can be seen that in Chinese totem culture, animal totems dominated by birds occupy a large area. In part, by analogy, Pixiu is a beast such as tiger and leopard, and it naturally occupies a place in Chinese totem culture.
The Chinese call themselves "descendants of Yan and Huang," because five thousand years ago, the emperor defeated Emperor Yan and unified the various tribes in China. Although Emperor Yan was defeated, his excellent qualities have not been erased. When people respected the emperor as the ancestor of Chinese humanity, they did not forget Emperor Yan, so they called themselves descendants of Yan and Huang. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor was the son of Shaodian, the leader of the Xiong clan, also known as Xuanyuan.
"Historical Records. The Chronicles of the Emperor" records: The emperor once taught and led six beasts: tiger, leopard, Pi, Xiu, bear, and Zong to defeat Emperor Yan and unify the tribes in the south. The reason why "Pixiu" and "Pixiu" came into being is because the animal Pixiu is divided into genders. The male is called "Pixi" and the female is called "Pixiu". In order to make this animal more mythical, people , so the two were combined together and called Pixiu. People are also debating endlessly about the story of these six beasts participating in the battle. Some scholars believe that it is true that these six beasts participated in the war between Yan and Huang. Others believe that the beasts are difficult to tame. Maybe the Yellow Emperor led them to the war just to play a role. The role of intimidation was that it was Huangdi's army that actually fought. As for why Pixiu also participated in the war with Huangdi, it was probably because Huangdi was the leader of the Xiong clan, and Pixiu was a beast closely related to tigers and wolves, so he naturally obeyed the orders of Xiong clan, and "Pixiu" and "Xiu" should also be the representative of their respective totems.
2. The product of the war era: Pixiu shines
Since the Yellow Emperor unified all the tribes in China, the war began to subside and people lived a peaceful life again. This is their Believe in and worship Pixiu as the protector of the tribe. However, wars will never subside. With the development of society, people began to have class consciousness, primitive clan communes began to disintegrate, and private ownership economies emerged. Therefore, tribes competed for wealth and made themselves stronger, so Frequent wars began, and the "God of War Pixiu" came into being. There is a record in "Book of Rites: Qu Li": "If there is a scholar in front, he will carry the tiger skin; if there is a beast in front, he will carry the brave." This shows that people carry the brave on the chariot, with soldiers in front and brave behind. With such a huge thing, the enemy must be frightened when they see it, and they will not dare to fight easily. There are also legends that hanging a Pixiu skin on a chariot can also deter enemies. It can be seen that Pixiu, an ancient mythical beast, gives people an invisible pressure whether it actually appears or not. It is a well-deserved god of war. It can make the enemy become frightened and flee without fighting.
The famous Peking Opera "Lost Street Pavilion" tells the classic scene in which Ma Su loses his place in the street pavilion and Zhuge Liang tears and kills Ma Su. There is this sentence in it: "The two countries are fighting each other. "Master Pixiu." What is the purpose of this? It turns out that because of the name of Pixiu, the god of war, people directly use the word Pixiu to represent the army. For example, a hundred thousand troops can also be called one hundred thousand Pixiu. There is a saying in Wang Shifu's "The Romance of the West Chamber": "Xianwei dominates millions of braves, and sits on the border." In addition, there are also "The braves are constantly growing, and thousands of horses and clouds follow." Open. Many people use "Pixiu" to refer to troops with strict military discipline and heroic combat. It can be seen that Pixiu, as the invincible god of war, has always had a god-like status in the ancient army.
It's just that in the wars of the late feudal dynasty, people have used Pixiu as a tool to exchange benefits. They commanded "one hundred thousand Pixiu". Their ultimate goal was not to protect their families and the country, but to promote themselves and make a fortune, and obtain hereditary supremacy. Therefore, in the feudal dynasty that gradually became corrupt in the later period, Pixiu also lost its original meaning as the god of war due to the relaxation of the military system. 3. The loyal patron saint
As a totem in ancient times, Pixiu has already played the role of a patron saint. People believe that Pixiu can not only protect the people of his tribe, but also keep diseases away and drive away monsters and monsters. It has many protective functions. Because Pixiu is also called to ward off evil spirits, many nobles will give their close servants the name "warp evil spirits" in order to protect themselves. For example, in the TV series "The Great Military Advisor Sima Yi: The Tiger Roars and the Dragon Roars", Emperor Wei Ming Cao Rui gave his father Cao Pi the name "Pixiu". Zhen Ji, her dead mother, was extremely frightened by her indifferent behavior and attitude, so she named the eunuch around her to ward off evil spirits. She used the ward off evil names to protect herself from harm and pray for blessings from the gods. Because Pixiu is a mythical beast that the emperor personally awarded, many Pixiu were placed in the palaces of the past dynasties, symbolizing the majesty of the royal family and protecting the royal property. Also because Pixiu can drive away evil things, after the death of emperors and dignitaries, they would place two Pixiu next to their tombs to protect them from entering the Paradise after death and not be disturbed by the outside world. 4. The ultimate transformation: the symbol of wealth
The Chinese have always been masters of making money, and it was the Chinese who invented the word "businessman". As the saying goes, "Three hundred and sixty practices will lead to the number one scholar." People who want to pass the imperial examination and enter the official career will worship the sage Confucius as their teacher; and those who like martial arts hope that they can pass the Five Levels like Guan Gong. The six generals therefore worshiped the idol Guan Yunchang; as for business people, their most admired should be Tao Zhugong Fan Li. After leaving King Goujian of Yue, he traveled around the world and accumulated countless wealth. He was the ancestor of commerce. In addition to worshiping the real Fan Li, businessmen also worshiped Pi Xiu. Just like literati worshiped "The Analects of Confucius" and warriors worshiped the Qinglong Yanyue Sword. Businessmen believed that Pi Xiu ate gold and silver jewelry and was full of jewels, which would definitely bring them a steady stream of wealth. .
Merchants have been the mainstay of social and economic development since ancient times. Although the basic national policy of "emphasis on agriculture and suppression of business" has been implemented in ancient times, without merchants, the entire country's economic lifeline would simply rely on agriculture. It doesn’t make sense. In fact, the thinking of ancient people and modern people is the same. As long as you have money, you will naturally have status. Although money is not everything, you can accomplish many things with money. Therefore, the mascot Pixiu will certainly not escape their notice, because not only can Pixiu not go in and out, but it can retain wealth, and in Feng Shui legends, the five elements of Pixiu belong to fire, and fire can beat gold. According to the " Principle of "mutual generation and mutual restraint": Pixiu can both attract and keep wealth. It is the first choice mascot for businessmen to pray for wealth. After the founding of New China, the pattern of Pixiu also became the symbol of banks. It can be seen that even the country favors this mascot and hopes that through the protection of Pixiu, China will accumulate more wealth and become a super economic power.
Pixiu is called the "Tianlu beast," and this title has the feeling of "good fortune, wealth, and longevity." People believe that this kind of title can attract wealth and gain promotion. Because of Pixiu's gaffe in front of the emperor, the emperor sealed his anus, so he could only go in but not out, which also meant that his wealth was not exposed and all gold, silver and jewelry were not lost. Of course, he would be crazily sought after by people. In this In an era when money is relatively important, people certainly hope to have more and more money. Therefore, this characteristic of Pixiu is widely used in various shops and homes, implying a wide range of financial resources. In addition, there are male and female Pixiu. The male is equivalent to a man and is responsible for attracting wealth. The female is equivalent to a woman and is responsible for keeping money. Therefore, it is best to place a male and a female Pixiu at home to achieve the functions of attracting and keeping money. Dual purpose. There are also people who have always followed the principle of "Pixiu's butt cannot be touched". They believe that once they do so, they will lose wealth or be detrimental to their career; at the same time, they cannot touch its mouth, because it relies on its big mouth to eat. He has bought countless gold, silver and jewels, but once he touches his mouth, he will lose his spirituality and wealth will no longer come to him. Although it is just a joke, it is enough to prove people's recognition that Pixiu can amass wealth. It can be said that "if a family has Pixiu, money will never end."
” Summary
After thousands of years of transformation, Pixiu went from the original totem to the god of war, then from the god of war to the patron saint, and finally transformed into the god of wealth who protects money. In fact, he has adapted to the situation. With the changes of the times, it flexibly changes its identity according to the needs of each era, and eventually becomes a mascot symbolizing wealth. This is the meaning given to it by our era. This lovely mascot has been advancing with the times from beginning to end. .