The story of the Seven Saints of Meishan is depicted in both the Journey to the West and the Fengshen Yanyi, and the fifth time in the Journey to the West says that the Erlang God "cursed the Eight Monsters and became famous, and the Seven Holy Deeds of Meishan were righteously knotted", and the Seven Saints here refer to "Kang, Zhang, Yao, Li Sitai, Guo Jia, and Zhi Jian'er Generals"[1] and the Erlang God himself. With the exception of the God Erlang, none of the names of the Six Saints are found in his book.
Meishan Seven Sacred Figures
Press: The way of worship in Chinese temples, the main god stands in the center, next to the gods dressed by civil and military officials, and the six saints are immediately equipped with the gods of Erlang.
During the Song Dynasty, Li Bing's second son was the erlang god[2], and the Song Hui Zhi Zhi Manuscript Li Er Zhu Ancestral Temple recorded: "In September of the third year of Xuanhe, he was also enfeoffed as Lady Zhangshun, and guo sheren in the temple was made the Marquis of Weiji. "Guo Sheren is the one who is equipped with the god Erlang, whose real name is unknown, and in later dramas, it may be called "Guo Zhizhi"[3], or "Guo Yazhi"[4], or "Various Tooth Zhi" [5], and the so-called "Guo Jia and Zhi jian" should be the two people who analyze the name of Guo Zhizhi into two people, and "A" is the general falsehood of the word "pledge".
The "Seven Monsters of Meishan" in the "Fengshen Yanyi" refers to the seven demon immortals of Yuan Hong, Wu Long, Chang Hao, Jin Dasheng, Dai Li, Zhu Zizhen and Yang Xian, who are based on apes, centipedes, snakes, cattle, dogs, pigs, and sheep, and are roughly derived from the seven great sages in Journey to the West - monkeys, cattle, jiao, peng, lion camels, macaques, and marmosets.
The reasons for the two can be seen everywhere: Yuan Hong, as an ape spirit, has seventy-two changes, the same as the monkey king Sun Wukong; his identity is the organizer of the Seven Monsters of Meishan, and Sun Wukong is the organizer of the Seven Great Sages; Yang Jian has changed several times when he captures the Seven Monsters, taking the principle of being compatible with the prototype of the Meishan Monster, which is the same as the change in fighting method when he captured Sun Wukong; after capturing Yuan Hong, the ape regenerates its head, which is the same as after capturing Sun Wukong.
Chen Huiguan paints Goku vs. Erlang God
Yang Jian was assisted by Nuwa when he captured the Seven Monsters of Meishan, and Guanyin when the Erlang God captured Sun Wukong. The ape spirit Yuan Hong and the niu jing Jin Dasheng in the "Fengshen Yanyi" were personally surrendered by Nuwa, and in "Journey to the West", sun wukong and the bull demon king both used the power of the heavenly court and Buddhism at the same time. In addition, the plot of Shan He Shejitu trapping Yuan Hong and the Five Elements Mountain trapping Sun Wukong and the six-eared macaque trapped by Bowl Bowl in the following text are also very similar.
However, although the "Journey to the West" was written before the "Fengshen Yanyi", the degree of literati participation in the final draft of the "Fengshen Yanyi" was far lower than that of the "Journey to the West", so it retained the original face of some legends and is unknown, and it cannot be adapted from the conclusion that the story of the Seven Monsters of Meishan is adapted from the story of Erlang God's surrender to Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West".
The story of the Seven Saints of Meishan actually has its origins. Yuan Ke's "Dictionary of Chinese Myths and Legends" "Seven Saints of Meishan" quotes the "Guan Zhi Wenzheng": "Erlang likes to hunt, and beheads jiao at the behest of his father, and his friends seven people really help him, and the seven saints of Meishan are passed down from generation to generation." ”[6]
The GuanZhi Wenzheng was written by Ye Dazheng and Luo Junsheng in the twenty-second year of the Republic of China (1933), which is based on the Qing Dynasty Liu Yuan's "Li Gong's Father's And Son's Notes on Governing Water", which is found in the second volume of Liu's "Miscellaneous Works of Huai Xuan": "Erlang is a taoist who inherits the gong family's learning and is young and yingshao, and likes to tame and hunt, and beheads jiao at the behest of his father." Seven of his friends have helped him, and the hereditary 'Seven Saints of Meishan' - it is said that he has contributed to the people, so he is sacred. [7] However, this article is a folk legend that records Li Bingzhi's capital Jiangyan, and there is no ancient literature as a basis.
"Journey to the West Miscellaneous Drama Tri-Fold"
The earliest known document of the Seven Saints of Meishan is the Yuan Dynasty miscellaneous drama "Journey to the West" written by Yang Jingxian, in which Li Jing ordered Nezha and the Seven Saints of Meishan to search the mountain to arrest Sun Xing, and the Erlang God was not among them.
In the sixteenth fold of the play, "Thin Dogs, Poultry and Pigs", Erlang Shen narrated himself: "Guo Press straight put the soap eagle, and the golden-headed slave led the thin dog." Guo Zhizhi was not among the Seven Saints of Meishan.
The miscellaneous drama Guankou Erlang Chopping Jianjiao [8] written in the Ming Dynasty also has the appearance of the Seven Saints of Meishan, but does not say its surname and name, only in the rankings of Great Sage and Second Sage, of which Erlang God's subordinates write Guo Ya Zhi and Slave Boy, Tooth and Pressure are the same sound of the turn, that is, Xiao Wei and Slave are both called servants.
The "Golden Head Slave" refers to the small squatters or soldiers of the ethnic minorities in the northeast, the "Book of Tang And Li Converse" calls Li Kuangwei the "Golden Head King", Li Kuangwei is the Fanyang Jiedushi, the Old Five Dynasties History says that the Khitan had a general Golden Head King[9], and the Southern Song Dynasty Wei Wei Weng "Send zheng Shilang Sichuan System Rhymes to cover the characters" has a sentence: "The golden head slave strangled Xi Qin, and the Yinzhou terracotta army Chong Lan Hui." "To use this allusion.
Wang Hui of the Song Dynasty has a volume of "Searching for Mountains", and at the end there is a poem inscribed by the Song Dynasty Ye Sen: "Qingyuan Zhenjun Yan is like jade, and the jade crown is embroidered with a cage." The seat looked fierce, and came to recruit Lin Yu of the Water Heng School. Tattooed brocade column of heroes, holding a bow and holding a golden head slave. ”
Liu Jiji painted Erlang Zhenjun
It can be seen that at least in the Song Dynasty, the golden head slave was already a relative of the Erlang god, and the myths of Guo Zhizhi, the golden head slave and the seven saints of Meishan at the time of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties were also widely accepted, but unlike the "Journey to the West" and the "Fengshen Yanyi", at this time the legend of the Erlang god: (1) "Meishan" is written as "Meishan", (2) The Erlang god is not among the seven saints, (3) the seven saints are not strange, (4) the Erlang god has Guo Presszhi and the golden head slave as subordinates, but neither is among the seven saints of Meishan.
In the meta-miscellaneous drama "Erlang Shen Drunken Shooting Lock Magic Mirror"[10], Erlang Shen's self-description mentions the origin of the Seven Saints: "There is a cold source erhe in Jiazhou, and there is a jianjiao in Hanoi, which stirs up winds and waves and harms the people. Jiazhou father and elder, report to my god. I personally took the sword into the water, beheaded its Jian Jiao, lifted the first rank of the Jian Jiao in my left hand, and came out of the water with the sword in my right hand, and saw seven people worship and descend to the ground, which is the Seven Saints of Meishan." The Ming Dynasty Wanli Dao Tibetan Edition of the Book of Searching gods also says: "The Sui Emperor knew his sages and became the Taishou of Jiazhou... Yu held the blade in his right hand and the jiao's head in his left hand, and came out in waves. From time to time, there are seven people who enter the water, that is, the Seven Saints are also. ”
It can be seen that the so-called Seven Saints of Meishan were originally assisted by Zhao Yu in controlling the water. Jiazhou is in present-day Meishan City, and zhao Yu, the god of erlang in the "Guankou Erlang Chopping Jianjiao", also describes himself as "Guanbai Jiazhou Taishou", which is the same as the identity of Zhao Yu in history.
According to Zhao Yu in the Book of Sui and the Two Books of Tang, wang yu of the Song Dynasty said in the Records of the Dragon City[11]: "Zhao Yu, the late Sui Dynasty Bai Jiazhou Taishou", so the person who helped him to control the water should also be known as the person of Meishan.
"Erlang Kaishan Treasure Scroll"
In the creation of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the story of the Erlang God took place in Meishan rather than Meishan, and it was not until the "Erlang Kaishan Treasure Scroll" during the Ming Jiajing period that it was written that "the Seven Noble Beings of Meishan, returning to the Master to worship the brothers", which gave rise to the term "Seven Saints of Meishan".
Most scholars regard the "Seven Saints of Meishan" as the gods of Meishan Sect. According to the following: Meishan Sect originated in Meishan, Central Hunan Province, spanning shaoyang, Yiyang, Loudi, Xinhua, Anhua, Huaihua and other cities and counties in Hunan, and was believed by the local Yao people.[12]
However, the old images of the Seven Saints of Meishan are all water gods, and the gods of the Meishan Sect are the gods of the underworld. For example, the Guangxi Yao "Book of The Opening Altar": "One soul steps on the boundary of Meishan, and the second soul steps on the Naihe Bridge", and the Yao master sings in the "Meishan Song": "The fairy boy and the jade girl lead the head, and the Meishan Dharma Lord protects each other." The "Song of Meishan" is also the process of returning to the Ten Caves of Meishan after the death of the chanter.[13]
In addition, he is also a hunting god, such as Zhang Zhao Erlang in the Meishan God[14], but none of them have anything to do with the water god. Moreover, the Yao people have ten halls and thirty-six caves[15], there are Meishan god Zhang Zhao Erlang and Zhang Yuanbai, Liu Wenda, Zhong Shigui, Shi Yan a total of seventy-two people to learn the Taoist doctrine [16], and there are Zhongyuan Festival to forgive the thirty-six sins, thirty-six volumes of Daofa, etc.[ 17], all of which are related to the number of thirty-six, and the number of the seven saints does not match this.
Seven Holy Temples
In the "Jingmei Mountain" of the "Maogusi" dance of the Xiangxi Tujia family, there is a saying that the seven sisters were transformed into meishan gods[18], but the origin of this legend is unknown, and it is close to the "seven ladies" belief in Hakka culture.
Press: There is still an ancient temple of seven saints in Xikou Village, Phosphorus Town, Xiangqiao District, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, dedicated to more than ten gods, including Mazu, during which there are seven ladies with worship, which is the reincarnation of the seven fairies in folklore.
Xiafang Village, Ninghua County, Fujian Province, which is also a Hakka culture, also has a belief in the Seven Saints, which according to scholars judge has been formed at least in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, but the local people's understanding of the Seven Saints does not fall out of the category of the Seven Monsters of Meishan in the "Fengshen Yanyi" [19].
There is also a local legend that the so-called "Seven Saints" were originally seven masks, originally belonging to a person with the surname Weng, who picked them up in Hunan. The mask is the symbol of the puppet play, Hunan is the origin of the legend of the Meishan god, originally belonged to the Weng clan, should be the innuendo of Weng Zhong, so it is said that the Hakka family's Seven Holy Faith originated in Meishan, Hunan.
Comic strip "Seven Monsters of Meishan"
However, this statement is not supported by local literature, so it is difficult to judge its relationship with the goddess Meishan. In fact, as far as the local culture of Meishan is concerned, the male image symbolized by the god hunting and the god of the underworld dominates, while the Hakka culture worships the female gods represented by Mazu, so before finding solid evidence, it cannot be hastily assumed that the seven saints in Hakka culture originated from Meishan in Hunan, and it can only be said that the interaction between the two is certain.
Similarly, before there is no conclusive evidence, it is not possible to equate the Seven Saints of Meishan in the myth of the Erlang God with the gods in the Meishan Sect, and it can only be said that the "Erlang Kaishan Treasure Scroll" and the "Journey to the West" and the "Fengshen Yanyi" will write the "Seven Saints of Meishan" as "The Seven Saints of Meishan", perhaps influenced by the Meishan Sect.
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exegesis:
[1] This is from the Shitokudo-do Ben.
[2] Zhu Zi Yu Class, Volume III: "The Erlang Temple in Shuzhong Was originally built by Li Bing because of his meritorious service in driving away from the pile. Many spirit monsters have come out now, but it is his second son who has come out. ”
[3] See Yuan Dynasty Yang Jingxian's Journey to the West miscellaneous drama.
[4] Ming's miscellaneous drama "Jiro Cho Chi Chi Chiu" (寛口二郎斩健蛟).
[5] Ming Jiajing's Erlang Kaishan Treasure Scroll.
[6] Yuan Ke: A Dictionary of Chinese Myths and Legends, Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, June 1985, p. 346.
[7] The Complete Book of Huaixuan (Supplement), vol. 9, Sichuan Publishing Group Bashu Book Society, September 2006, 1st edition, p. 3388, the original book has no punctuation, and was added by the citator.
[8] The full text of this drama can be found in Pan Shuxian and Luo Jianyong, chief editors of Zeng Xiaojuan, and Zeng Xiaojuan, editor-in-chief of this volume: "Dujiangyan Literature Integration Historical Documents Volume (Literature Volume)", Bashu Book Society, April 2018 edition, pp. 897-912.
[9] The Old Five Dynasties History, Jin Shu, Shaodi Ji II.
[10] Regarding the time when this play was written, Wang Jilie's "Outline of the Orphan Yuanming Miscellaneous Drama" examines: "'Erlang Shen Drunken Shooting Lock Magic Mirror", written by Yuan Ren, the name is unknown. There are also two books in the garden: one inscribed and one copied. See The Lonely Yuanming Miscellaneous Drama, Vol. 1, China Drama Publishing House, January 1958 Edition, p. 13.
[11] This book, written by Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty, was actually written by Wang Hao of the Song Dynasty.
[12] There are many such articles, but the more complete exposition can refer to Zhang Zehong's "Meishan Religion of Ethnic Minorities in Southern China", edited by Zhan Shixiao, "A Century of Daoist Essence Integration, No. 10, Daoist Bypass", Volume IV, Shanghai Science and Technology Literature Publishing House, March 2018 Edition, p. 164.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Zhang Zhao Erlang, also known as Zhang Wulang, is an important deity of Meishan Religion, and there are many discussions in this theological community, and a more complete introduction to his image as a hunting god can be found in Zhao Yanqiu's article "Meishan God - The Hunting God of Guoshan Yao", Journal of Guangxi University for Nationalities (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), No. 4, 1994, pp. 32-37.
[15] Zhang Zehong, "Meishan Religion of Ethnic Minorities in Southern China."
[16] The Song of Zhang Zhao Erlang, see Zheng Dehong et al., eds., Yaoren Jingshu, Yuelu Book Society, September 2000 edition, p. 201.
[17] From "Three Yuans and Three Pin Songs" and "Tianshi Songs", see Zheng Dehong et al., selected by Zheng Dehong and others: "Yaoren Jingshu", Yuelu Book Society, September 2000 edition, p. 201.
[18] Kang Baocheng, ed., The Origin of The Art of PuppetRy, Guangdong Higher Education Press, May 2011, p. 290.
[19] "The Clan Society of Xiafang and the Worship of the Seven Saints of Meishan", see Yang Yanjie, "Into the Hakka Historical Field: Local Society and Cultural Traditions", Guangdong People's Publishing House, June 2018 edition, pp. 26-65.
[20] Ibid., pp. 33, 34.