Causes of the Leizhou Stone Dog
Leizhou Stone Dog is the product of the fusion of multi-ethnic folk culture under the social history and regional natural conditions of Leizhou, with a strong color of Han folk beliefs. It is based on totem worship, thunder god, and thunder ancestor beliefs as its cultural heritage, and is deeply influenced by Chu-Han culture, Taoist culture, Buddhist culture, and Feng Shui. , complex and wide range of uses. Leizhou Peninsula is one of the two most famous minefields in the world and the hometown of the "Thunder King of the World".
As a result, the worship of the God of Thunder became the folk custom of the ancestors of Leizhou. At the same time, because Gulei Prefecture is the place where the Li, Li, Wei, Tong, Miao and Li people of the Guyue tribe live together, the Baiyue tribes all have their own worship totems. The Li people use raccoons (wild cats) as their totems, the Tong and Miao people use cats as their totems, and the Wei people first use Panhu as their totems, and then dogs as their totems. With the continuous changes in social life, Baiyue people continue to live together. Under the interaction of Leizhou's special natural conditions and diverse social, ethnic and folk cultures, they have experienced the process of retaining, interpreting and integrating their original totem worship. . The worship of the God of Thunder by the ancient Yue people, Li people, and Li people, and the worship of the dog totem by the Wei people and children, gradually became the totems recognized by the ancestors of the Baiyue people in Leizhou in their production and life. Dog totem worship Naturally, it became the source of Leizhou stone dog culture.
With the development of social history and the integration of folk culture, Leizhou Stone Dog is constantly adding new connotations. Originating from the legend of the "nine-eared divine dog" in the Chen Taijian period of the Southern Dynasty (569-582), the birth of Chen Wenyu, the God of Thunder or Thunder Patriarch, is closely linked to the auspiciousness of the dog's ears. This undoubtedly laid the foundation for the extensiveness of Leizhou stone dog culture. . Legend has it that during the Chen Taijian period in the Southern Dynasties, a hunter named Chen in Leizhou, who had no children, had a strange dog with nine ears. The ears had spiritual intelligence. Every time he went hunting, his dog's ears were divined. If one ear moved, he would catch a beast. The number of the dog's ears moves accordingly. One day, the dog's nine ears moved together. Chen thought that there would be a big harvest today. During the hunt, the nine-eared dog barked around a jungle thorny area. Chen was surprised. After cutting down the wood, she found a huge egg. After taking it home, A thunderstorm broke out, and a man emerged from the egg, with the words "Thunder" and "zhou" written on his left and right hands. The villagers thought it was a thunder species, a god. The Chen family named him Chen Wenyu. Later, Chen Wenyu became the governor of Leizhou. After his death, he was worshiped as the God of Thunder or Leizu by the people of Leizhou. Dogs can be auspicious to announce the birth of a baby, which actually reflects the desire of Leizhou ancestors to pray for reproduction, reproduction and development, that is, fertility worship. Because dogs have strong reproductive capabilities and the aura of "announcement of good news and the birth of a precious child", among the Leizhou stone dogs, there are also stone dogs with large genitals carved as spiritual objects to pray for blessings, reproduction and development.
From the Tang and Five Dynasties to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, many Han Chinese and Southern Fujian people from the Central Plains moved south to Linghai to Leizhou to avoid war. The ethnic religions they brought were integrated with Leizhou's folk religion and culture, making Leizhou's culture Gradually diversified. The religious color is more intense, especially influenced by Taoist culture, Buddhist culture and Feng Shui. Taoist talismans such as "Imperative Stone Gandang", "Bagua Diagram", "Lucky and Treasure", "Emperor", "Taishan Stone Gandang" and other Taoist talismans to exorcise evil spirits and suppress demons are combined with the folklore function of Leizhou Stone Dog to present good luck and good news. The stone dog gradually evolved into a guardian spirit and was endowed with new historical, cultural and folk connotations. Stone dogs were originally only placed at the entrance or in front of ancestral temples, but gradually developed to be placed at the entrance of villages, roadsides, and alleys to guard hillsides, rivers, cemeteries, etc. Wherever people thought there were ferocious elephants, stone dogs were placed to suppress them. Some stone dogs that are influenced by Buddhist culture in plastic arts and mixed with lion shapes also have this effect. Different geographical locations where stone dogs are placed have different social and folk customary functions.
Although Gulei Prefecture belongs to the Nanhuang region, it has been a Tongsheng sect for a long time. Although the Leizhou stone dog is the guardian spirit that wards off evil spirits and suppresses demons, it rarely has a sinister image and is mostly smiling. This is undoubtedly a manifestation of the cultural heritage of Leizhou people advocating virtue and etiquette.
The cultural background of the Leizhou Stone Dog is complex and diverse, with rich connotations and wide uses. The above briefly explains the main cultural background and uses of the Leizhou Stone Dog.
In addition, there are also stone dogs that are influenced by the Taoist theory of telepathy and are used as rain-seeking animals. There are also stone dogs that have their teeth or legs knocked out for stealing food. There are also stone dogs that are believed to have spirituality and will pick up girls when they see them. People were afraid of their tails, so they would damage the genitals of stone dogs that molested women. There was also the custom of sprinkling lime water on the stone dogs when the bride got married... Due to space limitations, I will not go into detail one by one.