The historical origin and symbol of snakes

The historical origin and symbol of snakes belong to chordates and reptiles. The body is slender and divided into three parts: head, trunk and tail. So, do you know the historical origin and symbol of snakes? Let's take a look at them together.

The historical origin and symbol of snakes 1 In ancient China, snakes symbolized gods, dragons, wealth and good luck. In addition, there are various legends about snakes, from which we can see that the ancients worshipped snakes and even regarded them as guardians of their families.

In ancient times, China people attached great importance to snakes and even regarded them as gods. When making idols, they will set up human bodies and snake tails, such as Nvwa 、 Fuxi. So many old people think it is a good thing to have snakes at home, and some even regard snakes as pets.

What does a snake stand for in China?

Dragon is an animal that does not exist in the world, but its image is very close to that of snake, because dragon itself is derived from snake. In ancient times, people worshipped snakes and perfected dragons according to their images. Over time, snakes have become the representative of dragons, and many people will call them dragons.

In ancient geomantic omen, snakes were considered lucky animals. As the saying goes, snakes will not enter the promised land anywhere. When we build a house in the sun or in the shade, we will see snakes on the ground, which shows that the feng shui here is very good and very suitable for building a house. In the future, we will be rich and lucky.

In western mythology, snakes are not lucky animals, on the contrary, they symbolize cunning and evil. In Snake, the representative of cunning and evil deceived Adam and Eve into swallowing the forbidden fruit, and was finally punished by God. Therefore, westerners don't like snakes very much. Few people will be happy after seeing them, because they think snakes are evil, which means that they may encounter unfortunate things today, and they will be unlucky in terms of wealth and so on.

The symbolic meanings of snakes are Art Nouveau movement, witchcraft of life and death, reproductive worship, lust temptation, wisdom to create wealth, kingship to protect gods and ancestral totem.

1. In ancient times, people divided snakes into domestic snakes and wild snakes. In some places, it is considered a good sign to have a domestic snake at home. Abroad, the ancient Egyptians believed that snakes were the protector of the monarch. Pharaoh shaped the image of cobra with gold and precious stones and decorated it as a crown as a symbol of imperial power. BC. The European ambassador carved the images of two snakes on his crutch.

Second, snakes were once sacred objects that were praised and worshipped in ancient times. Dragon, the largest "sacred object" in China, is a totem product of snakes. The earliest dragon was like a big snake, so was the word "dragon" seen in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Fuxi and Nu Wa, who are "people in loess", are both "snake gods" in ancient belief.

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The most insidious

Indonesia captured a python with a length of 14.85 meters, which belongs to a native species of reticulated python in Southeast Asia. So far, this python is the largest python in the world. The name of this big snake is "osmanthus". Although the name sounds gentle, it is said that once the big mouth of Osmanthus fragrans is opened, it is very scary and can easily swallow a whole person.

Previously, the world's longest snake recorded and recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records was a reticulated python, with a length of10.23m, which was shot in Indonesia in 19 12.

Anacondas living in the jungles of South America can grow to more than 9 meters, big enough to swallow an adult! So it is a dangerous animal. Turning over the world record, it still attracts a heated debate about who will take the crown of the world serpent. The snake king won the Amazon boa constrictor called its whole body size and weight. Moreover, the snake king is also an Asian reticulated python, the longest of which is 14.85 meters, which is the one captured in Indonesia.

The historical origin and symbol of snakes II. In ancient China, snakes were regarded as a symbol of harvest or offspring, especially in the ancient culture of southwest or south China.

The earliest stone snake is a round carved stone snake unearthed from the site of ancient Shu people in the late Shang Dynasty. At least four pieces were found in Jinsha Site in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The stone snake has a triangular head, round eyes and a mouth painted red. Its body is "S"-shaped. It is considered as a sacrifice or a prop related to primitive religion.

Bronzes in southern China are often decorated with snake patterns. For example, the bronze statue unearthed in Gongcheng, Guangxi in the Spring and Autumn Period has a vivid continuous pattern of double snake fighting frogs. Later, some ancient peoples living in southwest China often used snakes as a symbol of harvest or the earth. For example, snake-shaped cultural relics are often unearthed in ancient Dian tombs excavated in Shizhai Mountain in Jinning, Yunnan and Lijiashan in Jiangchuan.

There are bronze shovels with snake heads as handles and bronze swords with snakes as handles. The head of the handle is a snake head with an open mouth, which is very vivid. As for a large number of bronze buttons with birds and beasts as the theme unearthed, there are many long snakes decorated with winding coils. There are also snakes in the three-dimensional group carvings on the bronze shell storage cover, which show sacrificial ceremonies and prayers for the New Year.

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Snakes in Egypt and India: Symbols of Divinity and Eternity

In ancient Egypt and Indian mythology, snakes are not evil incarnations as in stories, but often symbols of divinity.

In Egyptian mythology, the patron saint of upper Egypt is the vulture goddess Neherbert, and the patron saint of lower Egypt is the cobra goddess Wadgit. Vulture and cobra symbols often appear on the crowns or headscarves of Egyptian pharaohs, symbolizing the unity of upper and lower Egyptian kingship. On the forehead of Pharaoh Tutankhamun's gold mask, there are signs of cobra and vulture.

Cobra symbols are also common in the headdresses of Egyptian gods and goddesses. Snakes are the earliest animals to reappear after the Nile flood, and are endowed with great magic. They are also considered as the creation of hades and the power of creation. In the creation myth of Egyptian Ba Shen, four goddesses are snake heads and four male gods are frog heads. Their pairing represents the reproductive nature of primitive oceans.

The cosmic phase of the sun god Amon is snake-shaped, autophagic and autogenous. Snakes wrap around the universe, biting their tails, constantly devouring themselves from day to night, and constantly regenerating at dawn, symbolizing the constant death and resurrection of all things in the universe and renewing the cycle. The Indian snake god is commonly known as Naga (snake), but the Chinese translation of Buddhist scriptures is misinterpreted as "dragon", and Naga is also listed as one of the "eight dragons" to protect Buddha.

In ancient Indian Buddhist and Hindu sculptures, the image of Naga is usually a snake with a head and five or seven cobra heads, which looks like a halo or canopy. Maha Lipram's giant rock relief "Ganges Descent" (about 670 AD) in South India is a typical example.

Coincidentally, snakes also play an important role in Indian creation myths. Vishnu, the great Hindu god, slept on the serpent ananta before he created the universe. The serpent represents the vast state of the original materials of creation, coiled like a bed, made a raft with Vishnu and floated on the primitive ocean, and the multi-headed cobra hood formed a canopy above the Great God.

In Indian mythology, the serpent is also a symbol of eternity, especially when it holds its tail in its mouth. Vishnu woke up to create the world, fell asleep again after the world was destroyed, and re-created the universe after waking up. The universe is constantly updating and circulating, and the snake is always his creative partner.

The historical origin and symbol of snakes 3 snakes appeared on the earth much earlier than people. More than 3 billion years ago, the most primitive creatures began to appear on the ground. After a long evolution, biological species changed from simple to complex, from low to advanced, from aquatic to terrestrial. About 340 million years ago, real terrestrial vertebrates appeared. They were reptiles.

With the passage of time, there are more and more such animals, and the species and quantity have reached the peak. They are active in water and on the ground.

Snake culture is an important part of China culture. In the wild times, the snake dragging its tail was the enemy of human survival. "Nothing else?" "Without it" means "without a snake", which is equivalent to the modern oral greeting "How are you?" .

No snakes, no harm, the years are quiet. So it seems that the ancients used "nothing?" Say hello to each other. It's real. In ancient times, people believed in the snake god and respected "snake" as the ancestor god.

Fuxi Nuwa in the creation legend is the image of a snake with a head and a body. According to the records in Shan Hai Jing Hai Nei Jing, in ancient times, people also regarded Xuanyuan, the head of the Five Emperors, as the totem of four snakes circling the clouds.

Abroad, the ancient Egyptians believed that snakes were the protector of the monarch. Pharaoh shaped the image of cobra with gold and precious stones and decorated it on the crown as a symbol of imperial power. In BC, the ambassadors of European countries carved the images of two snakes on crutches, and the snakes became the symbol of the country and authority.

The snake is the hair of Medusa, a banshee in ancient Greek mythology, and also the "Quetzalcoatl God" who brought rainy season in Mayan culture. In many cultures around the world, snakes are worshipped for their mysterious and spiritual characteristics.