What are the Feng Shui legends and stories about peach trees to ward off evil spirits?
Peach wood is also called "Dragon Wood" and "Ghost Wood". It is said that Kuafu chased the sun before he died and threw Shenmu into Taolin. Therefore, mahogany has become the most widely used exorcism material, which plays an extremely important role in China folk culture and beliefs. Peach wood is delicate and fragrant. The earliest Spring Festival couplets in China were all made of mahogany boards, also known as Fu Tao. For thousands of years, mahogany is said to ward off evil spirits and is called Shenmu.
Feicheng, located at the west foot of Mount Tai, has the largest peach garden in the world and has been cultivated for thousands of years. It is said that peach branches in the southeast have the effect of eliminating disasters and avoiding evil spirits. The theory of recording the evil spirits of peach branches in Southeast China has a long history. Etymology: "In ancient times, candidates for carving peach trees with peach branches stood in the house to ward off evil spirits". People also believe that mahogany products can ward off evil spirits. In the Han dynasty, the carved peach seal was hung on the portal, which was called peach seal. Peach, on the other hand, means longevity. Give the old people a birthday and give them a plate of longevity peaches to show that they wish them a long and healthy life. The reason why peach trees and their products have such magical power lies in the mysterious concept that peach trees are afraid of ghosts. In people's inner world, it means to wish peace and good luck.
ancient times
People who carve peach trees with branches in the southeast stand in the house to ward off evil spirits. In the Han dynasty, the carved peach seal was hung on the portal, which was called "peach seal" ... The book of the later Han Dynasty, the peach seal was six inches square and three inches long, and the five-color book was applied to the portal; Carving peach symbols in Song Dynasty; On the ancient gate, there are two red wooden boards engraved with the name of the door god, which means to suppress evil.
at present
In Southeast Asian countries, peach swords are kept indoors to ward off evil spirits. Peaceful Magnolia: Peach is the essence of five trees, and evil spirits were suppressed in ancient times. This fairy wood is also the essence of peach wood in the gate of hell, which has created hundreds of ghosts. So this peach wooden sword is used to suppress evil spirits, and this kind of magic is also used. Putting peach branches in the door, boys are not afraid, ghosts are afraid, so they are also called fairy wood and hero wood.
besides
In ancient mythology, Kuafu chased the sun and died of thirst. After his death, he became a peach tree. Describing peach trees as heroes chasing the sun is probably one of the reasons for believing that peach trees can create ghosts to ward off evil spirits. There are thousands of tree species in the world. Peach trees are visually weak and dark red, full of luster and firm and elastic. They are good tools for fighting or self-defense. These characteristics may be the original basis of the legend of peach trees.
Ancient Chinese mythology
According to legend, there is a ghost world with a mountain in it. There is a big peach tree covering three thousand miles on the mountain, and there is a golden rooster on the top of the tree. Whenever the golden rooster crows in the morning, the ghost who travels at night will rush back to the ghost domain. The Gate of Ghost Domain is located in the northeast of Peach Tree District. There are two gods standing by the door, named Shen Tu and Lei Yu. If the ghost does something unnatural at night, Shen Tu and Lei Yu will immediately find it, catch it, tie it up with a rope made of Miscanthus and give it to the tiger. So all the ghosts in the world are afraid of Shen Tu and Lei Yu. So people carved them into peach trees and put them at their doorsteps to ward off evil spirits and prevent harm. Later, people simply carved the names of Shen Tu and Lei Yu on the mahogany board, thinking that this could also eliminate disasters. This kind of red board was later called "Fu Tao".
Song dynasty
People began to write couplets on mahogany boards, one of which did not lose the meaning of killing evil spirits, the other expressed good wishes, and the third decorated the portal for beauty. They also write couplets on red paper symbolizing happiness and good luck, and stick them on both sides of doors and windows during the Spring Festival to express people's good wishes for good luck in the coming year.
"Thousands of families trade new peaches for old ones every day." Peach trees have been used to ward off evil spirits for a long time. When did it originate and start? There is no way to be elegant!
The legend of peach wood treating ghosts is rich and colorful, "Huainanzi? Interpretation said: "Yi died in Taokou". Xu Shen's note in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Peach mouth is a big stick, and peach wood is used to kill foreigners, so ghosts are afraid of peaches from now on. Yi is famous for his excellent shooting. Xue Yi, after learning, turned around, killed the teacher from behind, raised a mahogany stick and smashed it on the back of Yi's head. After Yi died, he became an official in charge of ghosts in the world. The ancients associated peach trees with evil spirits, which was related to this myth. Imagine that the mahogany stick can kill, let alone cure, the shackles that command all ghosts.
in addition
In the fourth year of Zhao Gong (538 BC), Zuo Zhuan recorded a mysterious power of mahogany: "The ancients hid ice in the north every day, and ... they hid it in the dark to enjoy the cool; It also comes out, and the peach arc is a thorn to eliminate its disaster. " In winter, the ancients hid ice cubes in the ice bank of the deep mountain canyon. When storing ice, black male animals and black millet are used to sacrifice to the cold god, and when taking ice, a bow made of peach wood and an arrow made of thorns are used for disaster relief ceremony.
Peach is the essence of five trees, so those who suppress evil spirits are also. Li Shizhen once wrote in>, "Peach tastes pungent and evil, but it is disgusting."
Legend has it that the Antarctic immortal who dominates the calculation of human life always holds a huge peach in his palm, so peaches are also said to ward off evil spirits and prolong life. Xiantao in the hands of Antarctic fairy Weng is said to be a fat peach produced in ancient fat countries.
The ancient fat country, namely Feicheng City, Shandong Province, was named after the fat people scattered here during the Western Zhou Dynasty. At that time, the fat man moved from the East China Sea. Peach blossom tree, the treasure of Dushuo Mountain in the East China Sea, has also been transplanted to the fat country by fat people. Hanshu? Geography "contains:" Taishan County has Feicheng County, and the so-called' fat country' in Britain and Shao is also. "According to the 17th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (A.D. 189 1)"? Preface "contains:" Feicheng ancient fat country also entered Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period, which is the land of Qi County. Taishan county belongs to Korea. "
Feicheng has a long history of planting peaches. According to Zuo Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Period, in 17, Qi was at war with Lu, and the Qi army was divided into two ways, which surrounded the two wings of Lu: one was the mansion and the other was the peach, that is, the Qi people surrounded the northern wall of Lu. /kloc-in 0/3, Duke Xiang of Lu, the border of Lu had reached Changqing area of Jinan, so the "peach" surrounded by Qi people should be Feicheng in the south of Changqing (as evidenced by the Great Wall of Qi in the north of Feicheng), which shows that peach trees had been planted in this place at that time. Zuo Qiuming, the author of Zuo Zhuan, is from Feicheng, which further proves that Feicheng means "peach" and "peach" means Feicheng.
Feicheng peach trees ward off evil spirits.
It turns out that in the west of Laofeicheng County, there is a mountain called Taotao Mountain, between Taoshan and Xiaotaishan. The top of the mountain is surrounded by cliffs dug into the sky, majestic and steep, stretching for dozens of miles. Seventy-two caves are scattered like flowers, and there are monsters in these seventy-two caves. Whenever night falls, the 72-hole monster comes out of the hole and rushes into Feicheng, where the monster dances wildly, making waves, harming the people and wasting his life. This story spread to Dushuo Mountain in the East China Sea. Hearing this, Shen Tu and Lei Yu were furious. They soon came to Feicheng, used local materials, broke peach branches as weapons, killed the monster, wounded him and ran away. The monster who narrowly escaped was scared out of her wits when she saw the peach branches. Because the East China Sea and Feicheng are northwest-southeast, when Shen Yuer went to Feicheng, the broken peach branches faced southeast, so the peach branches facing southeast had aura. Since then, local people have broken peach branches facing southeast, or hung them indoors with swords, or carved peach symbols and hung them on beams and doors. Demons and ghosts fled with the wind and never dared to approach them again. The custom of "Decorating Ren Tao on New Year's Eve" ... "Kwai to ward off evil spirits" in Hanshu Yi Tong is actually an explanation of Er Shen's depression and using Feicheng peach wood to ward off evil spirits. According to records, the theory of peach wood to ward off evil spirits has a long history. "Ci Yuan" contains: In ancient times, Taomu people stood in the house to ward off evil spirits. In the Han dynasty, the carved peach seal was hung on the door, which was called the peach seal. "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty" "A midsummer moon, everything is prosperous, and the summer solstice is full of yin, and I am afraid of things" ... The peach seal is six inches long and three inches square, and the five colors are like the law, so that it can be applied to the portal. In the Song Dynasty, statues of Shen Tu and Lei Yu were carved or their names were only written on two door panels, which were also called "Fu Tao" or "Door God" and "... all ghosts are afraid of them". It can be seen that only peach trees can ward off evil spirits, and only peach trees in Feicheng are the real "demon-reducing trees". There are different legends about peach wood to ward off evil spirits, but peach wood is a symbol of good luck and peace after all.
Related legends
According to ancient records, peaches are big and excellent, and those with sweet and beautiful taste are produced in a fertile country, which is called fat peaches, also known as Buddha peaches. It has been cultivated for thousands of years, and it is a tribute of the royal family in past dynasties, and its reputation is spread far and wide at home and abroad.
Feicheng peach wood, dense and delicate in quality and fragrant in body, is a sacred object to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters, and won the favor of Taoist alchemists.
Taomu exorcism may originate from the legend of Houyi. According to ancient records, Hou Yi was killed by a peach stick and was named Zongbu God after his death. This nerve is often under a peach tree, holding a tiger, and every ghost has to check it out. The Sect God heard that if it is an evil ghost, it will be eaten by the tiger.
There is a legend about Kuafu. According to legend, Kuafu died of hunger and thirst after chasing the sun. Before he died, he threw his staff into a piece of Denglin, that is, Taolin, in order to let the people chasing the sun eat sweet and delicious peaches in the future. Because Kuafu is closely related to the sun, ghosts are afraid of peach trees. There are many kinds of mahogany handicrafts, which have developed into mahogany three-dimensional carving, plane carving, hollow carving, line carving, mahogany sword, mahogany wishful, mahogany tong, Maitreya, longevity and other mahogany products. There are more than 3000 varieties of peach swords alone.