Why can cinnabar ward off evil spirits?
Cinnabar is not scarce and the price is not high. From ancient times to the present, it can be regarded as a sacred treasure from dignitaries to ordinary people. Cinnabar is really beautiful. Whether as a pigment or as an ornament, it can be pleasing to the eye. Among them, its crimson color is also a big reason why China people like it. In fact, having said so much, it is far from its preciousness. What is precious about it? Well, I'm afraid everyone knows it can ward off evil spirits!
Why can cinnabar ward off evil spirits? First, we need to know what "evil" is. Evil is evil, it is wrong, and wrong is abnormal. Taoism calls this phenomenon middle evil, middle demon or ghost possession. For example, according to an old legend, you shouldn't sleep with the window open late at night. If you do this, you will be troubled by demons and ghosts. This is the Taoist saying. Traditional Chinese medicine regards it as a moderate cold or stroke, which means because of the invasion of cool wind and wet dew at night. Whether it is pathogenic factor, pathogenic factor or apoplexy, the symptoms of human body are cold limbs, insomnia, fear, epilepsy, madness, irritability and nervousness. From this perspective, evil is actually a disease, a neuropsychiatric disease. Chinese medicine has long found that cinnabar has special sedative, hypnotic and anticonvulsant effects. Therefore, cinnabar is the first choice to treat this kind of disease in the prescription of traditional Chinese medicine. This should be why people use cinnabar to ward off evil spirits.
Cinnabar is produced all over the world, especially in Chenzhou, Hunan and Tongren, Guizhou. The main chemical component of cinnabar is mercury sulfide. The color is generally bright red, tasteless and metallic. The fracture of cinnabar is half-shell, its Mohs hardness is between 2 and 3, and its specific gravity is about 8, which is about ten times that of water. Most powder cinnabar sold in pharmacies is specially screened, while most cinnabar ornaments sold in the market are sand powder castings. The red cinnabar ornaments are quite auspicious.
Although cinnabar is a mineral to ward off evil spirits, it is still toxic because it contains mercury. So take the medicine according to the doctor's advice.