A brief introduction to ancient Chinese folk customs and culture reflected in the Hong Kong Chronicles
Foreword
Speaking of the most popular domestic horror game in 2020, it must be "Hong Kong Horror". "Hong Kong Horror" is a game based on Hong Kong developed by Ghostpie Studio. The old neighborhood of Kowloon Walled City is the background of the story, and the game uses ancient Chinese folk customs as horror elements. The story incorporates a large number of local urban legends in Hong Kong. At the same time, some scenes in the game should pay tribute to many famous Hong Kong ghost films, such as "The Devil Jumps Over the Wall" and so on.
The story of the game mainly tells the story of a ghost-detection program team who went to the Kowloon Walled City ruins to record a special program during the Meng Lan Yu Festival. As a result, a large number of people disappeared before the recording started. Our players have to play "Ah" "Le" is going to find a missing friend. In the process of searching, he also discovered many unknown secrets.
Okay, I briefly introduced the game. Let’s start the text. Because the author doesn’t know much about Hong Kong’s architectural features and unique living habits, so in this article we mainly introduce the China reflected in the game. Traditional folklore or culture.
Kowloon Walled City
Because it is the background of the game, I think it is necessary to introduce it separately. The history of Kowloon Walled City can be traced back to the Song Dynasty. Today we usually refer to it as A walled city located in today's Kowloon City during Hong Kong's colonial era was demolished in 1993 and has now been converted into a park. The entire park was built according to Jiangnan garden standards and is divided into eight different scenic spots in four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Scenic spots include Yaoshan Tower, Liuyi Terrace, Guibi Stone, Children's Garden, etc. In the Guangyin Courtyard, there is a "Picture of Five Fortunes and Longevity Cranes" made of fragments of beer bottles, bowls, plates and remaining garden building materials.
(Park location)
Menglan Yu Festival
In the game,
Sacrifice blood to Menglan, through the beginning and the end of the game From the old lady's quotations, we can know that the protagonist and his group came to Kowloon Walled City on the day of the Meng Lan Meng Festival, and encountered a series of strange things.
The Menglan Yue Festival is also called the Ghost Festival or the Ghost Festival in China. It falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month every year. In a strict sense, the Menglan Yue Festival and the Ghost Festival are different in concept. The Yu originated from Buddhism, and the Hungry Ghost Festival originated from the local Taoism, but now due to the blending of some cultures, we often think of them as one festival. There are two sources of the Menglan Meng Festival. One is that the Menglan Meng Festival originated from a story in "Explanation of the Scriptures": a man named Mulian, after his mother died, "was among the hungry ghosts and could not sleep all year round." Food". So Mulian asked the Buddha for help, and the Buddha asked him to do the Menglan Basin Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. Because of his filial piety, Mulian followed the Buddha's instructions, and his mother also "got food". Because he appreciated his filial piety, the Buddha The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is designated as the Menglan Meng Festival. Another explanation is given in "Explanatory Notes". It was also Mu Lian who wanted to save his mother. The Buddha asked him to do good deeds and save the souls of the dead, so the Menglan Meng Festival was established. Because they are both legends, the truth or falsehood is not important. What is important is that the two legends express the same meaning. They both warn people to honor their relatives and pay tribute to their deceased relatives. It means to express gratitude to parents for their nurturing and loving kindness.
On this day, in many areas, wine, food and paper money are prepared to pay homage to the deceased to show their memory of their ancestors. At the same time, it is said that this night is the time when the yin and yang worlds communicate, and the deceased will come to the yang world to visit their hometown and relatives.
Qi Men Dun Jia
In the game, according to the clues on the broken pages collected by the players, it can be inferred that there was a man named Qin Ye who learned the art of Qi Men Dun Jia. Then he used magic to kill a whole city, perhaps to resurrect a famous prostitute who jumped to her death.
The Art of Qimen has always been a relatively magical Yishu in traditional Chinese culture. It ranks among the three arts of Qimen, Liuren and Taiyi
, and is played by the player. The protagonist uses a "ghost compass". To be precise, it should be a "Feng Shui compass".
In ancient times, the compass used by the ancients in our country was mainly a Feng Shui detection tool. The ancients believed that the "magnetic field" was regular and could be measured. The compass was mainly composed of a magnetic needle located in the center of the disk. It is composed of a series of concentric circles. Each concentric circle has its own different meaning, referring to the stars in the sky, everything on the earth represented by the five elements, the heavenly stems and the earthly branches, etc. The ancient Chinese first applied the compass to navigation, seemingly Superstitious systems actually reflect the ancients’ understanding of world geography, and they also have certain reference significance for the present.
Postscript
Generally speaking, the game "Hong Kong Strange Records" is a relatively conscientious work. Although there are some minor flaws in the gameplay, its contribution to ancient Chinese culture The integration of horror elements into the game is worthy of praise. If you are used to Western horror, you can actually make excellent horror games with Eastern folklore themes. Finally, I hope that domestic games can flourish and get better and better!