Warding off evil spirits refers to a kind of sacred beast in ancient legends, shaped like a lion, with horns on its head and wings on its body, which has the effect of praying for blessings and warding off evil spirits. Meng Kang's note in the Book of Han and the Tale of the Western Regions: "One horn is either a heavenly deer, and two horns is either a demon." "To ward off evil spirits can eliminate the evil beasts, and they are called divine beasts." "Hurry up": "Shoot the charm to ward off evil and eliminate the group of murderers". Yan Shigu's ancient note: "Shooting charms and warding off evil spirits are the names of gods and beasts." ”
After investigation, it turned out that this kind of evil beast was collectively called Fu Ba, and one horn was "Tianlu" (deer); The second corner is "to ward off evil spirits"; Hornless is called "Fu Pull". In fact, Fu Ba is Tao Ba, which should be collectively called "warding off evil spirits", and there are three kinds of subdivisions:
Ward off evil spirits: winged lions and tigers (some winged lion paths are called "ward off evil spirits")
Tianlu: Tianlu (an auspicious animal such as the Kirin)
Taopa: Fupa or Fuba (a divine beast from the antelope)
From the analysis of several pieces of jade unearthed during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, we can probably know that the jade ward off evil spirits in this period has the following situations and characteristics:
1. The two pieces of jade excavated from the Western Han Tombs in this period are the earliest relics known in scientific excavations so far, indicating that the use of jade as a tool to ward off evil spirits began at the latest in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty.
2, this period of jade to ward off evil, its production methods in addition to some of the decoration of the utensils with the pattern technique, as far as the mainstream is concerned, are made of round carving method, and its utensils are mainly used for suppressing evil, utensils, practical utensils and other three kinds of uses.
3. Although none of the forms of jade to ward off evil spirits in this period are the same, they have many common characteristics, which are the comprehensive head and body, or the horns of the two-horned beast, whiskers, wings, and tiger claws, which fully demonstrate its fierce and extraordinary, magical and mighty power.
4. The reason why there are double horns and single horns in this period of jade to ward off evil spirits may be two reasons: one may represent different divine beasts, such as ancient texts, saying that the double horned one is to ward off evil spirits, and the one-horned one is peach and so on. Some books, on the other hand, are completely at odds with the foregoing, calling the one-horned one the one who casts out evil spirits, while the two-horned one is another divine beast. Another possibility is that the unicorn or double horn is not a different divine beast but is related to the early and late generations of this period, such as in the various instruments recorded here, the older one is generally a single horn, and the later one is a double horn. Therefore, what exactly is appropriate is only to be confirmed by more scientific data in the future, and until the exact reasons for this are fully understood, this is temporarily called warding off evil spirits.
In the Qing Dynasty period, the jade to ward off evil cults appeared in a new form, and all the double horns, sheep whiskers, and beasts of prey were preserved, knowing that it had a relationship of continuation and inheritance with the early period. At the same time, there is a significant change and difference that the jade of this period is to ward off evil spirits, no wings between the abdomen, a tooth-like ridge on the back, hoofed feet, and rarely a one-horned person. The jade of this period was basically made of high-quality anticipation, emphasizing the smooth surface polishing and smoothing, which was convenient for preserving the original jade skin color, but the overall magic was no longer the simple elegance and might of the Han Wei and Jin dynasties.
First, the characteristics of the Han Dynasty jade to ward off evil spirits
There are many imaginary animals in ancient Chinese legends, and many of the gods and monsters in jade have evolved from legends. Warding off evil spirits is a monster that is highly revered by people and appears more in sculptures, and its manufacture is often influenced by a variety of animal shapes.
Second, several fine works of museums and galleries to ward off evil spirits
The National Palace Museum in Taipei collects Han Dynasty jade to ward off evil spirits
The Palace Museum in Beijing collects han dynasty green and white jade to ward off evil spirits
The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, USA, collects Eastern Han jade to ward off evil spirits
The Han tombs in the northern suburbs of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, unearthed Eastern Han jade to ward off evil spirits
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