Japanese deep mountain geomantic omen
Photo: 1984 Song of Naraku Mountain, including all Japanese film awards of that year.
What is even more shocking is that this cruel folk custom of "abandoning the old" is not fiction, but real ancient Japanese history.
One,
There is a famous "Yishe Mountain" in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, which means "Abandoning Mother Mountain" in Japanese.
Nagano area in ancient Japan was very poor. The old man is old, and in order to reduce the family burden, he is abandoned by his children to die in the deep mountains and forests. In fact, the folklore and ballads about "abandoning the mother mountain" and "abandoning the old mountain" are found all over Japan except Hokkaido.
From ancient times to the present, Japanese literary products with the theme of "abandoning the old" have been enduring in fairy tales, ballads, rhymes, novels and dramas.
There is a story of "abandoning the old mountain" in the Collection of Ancient and Modern Harmony Songs in Heian Period (10 century). It is said that a mother was over 60 years old, and her son tricked her into abandoning her in the mountains. However, when she saw the bright moonlight, her conscience was uneasy, and she sang a peace song: "My heart is hard to calm down, seeing this abandoned old mountain covered by moonlight." Finally, I carried the old man down the mountain and continued to hold him.
Modern Japanese scholars have analyzed the reasons why Japan abandoned the old customs in ancient times. There are two reasons. First, Japan is poor in natural resources and has many disasters. Due to famine, food shortage, war and immigration, the elderly have become a burden and burden for families. In order to survive, the problem of abandoning the elderly arises. Secondly, since ancient times, the Japanese have a simple concept of Shinto, believing that everything has its birth and death, and "abandoning the old" does not violate Japanese morality, but conforms to nature and benefits the community.
Second,
In addition to Japan, ancient Korea and India also had the custom of abandoning the old.
During the Koryo period (the Koryo dynasty corresponds to China's Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms, Song and Yuan Dynasties), there was a national law that when an old man reached the age of 60, his son abandoned the old man, put a cane chair on his back and buried him after his death, which was called "Koryo burial". In the 1960s, there was a Korean film with the same name, which was about this cruel custom.
In Korean folktales, King Koryo finally abolished this law which violated human relations because of a China emperor.
The story goes like this: a dutiful son didn't want to abandon his mother, so he secretly hid her in a cave and gave her food every day. At this time, the emperor of China gave King Koryo a difficult problem: how to twist the ash into straw rope? If you can't answer, you may be despised and attacked. The king and ministers of South Korea racked their brains and couldn't help it, so they mobilized the people of the whole country to answer.
The dutiful son told his mother about it, and the mother smiled: Son, after rubbing rice into straw rope, put it on the ground and burn it. Isn't gray the shape of straw rope? The son then offered a plan to the king of South Korea, and Wang Daxi of South Korea asked him why he was so wise. The son admitted that it was his hidden mother's idea. King Koryo was deeply moved and realized that the old man was a treasure, so he ordered the abolition of "Koryo burial".
Third,
Similar to North Korea's story that "the old man solved a difficult problem and touched the king", there is also an article in the Buddhist story that "abandoned the fate of the old country", except that the country was ancient India, not abandoned but buried alive, and many problems became, all of which were answered by the old man one by one.
Compared with other Asian countries, China was rich in ancient products, and the contradiction of providing for the aged was not prominent, especially its civilization was far superior. Filial piety in Confucianism is deeply rooted in the hearts of China people. Filial piety in most dynasties is a crime and will be imprisoned. The phenomenon of "abandoning the old" only exists in a few poor areas, such as Yunxian County, Hubei Province, where a large number of "abandoned old caves" have been found.
Today, the ancient habit of abandoning the old has long been eradicated. Japan's pension service industry is leading the world, with an average life expectancy of 83 years, ranking first in the world, and it is one of the most suitable countries in the world. South Korea and North Korea, on the other hand, respect the elderly very much, and the 60 th birthday of the elderly will celebrate the "Flower Festival".
The long process from "abandoning mother mountain" to providing for the aged, from "Koryo burial" to "Flower Festival" is a great progress of human material civilization.
Who can say that a filial child like the weak can repay his mother's love like the sunshine in spring? May the history of Yong Cheng be abandoned, and may every parent in the world live a long and healthy life.