As we all know, "Journey to the West" is China's first romantic chapter back to the body of the long magic novel, which appears a lot of demons and ghosts. And it was the appearance of these demons and ghosts that constituted the disaster of Tang Monk. Tang Monk passed many tests and finally obtained the True Scriptures. But when you watch Journey to the West, I don't know if you have found that among the many demons and ghosts, there are no cat demons, why is this? Listen to the editor to give you a slow talk.
Although "Journey to the West" is written about the Story of the Tang Dynasty, the author Wu Cheng'en is a Ming Dynasty man. In the book, he satirized some social phenomena of the Ming Dynasty, but he could only use the method of irony and did not dare to openly confront the imperial court. During Wu Cheng'en's period, it was mainly the Jiajing Emperor who ruled the Ming Dynasty. This emperor, who was wise in the early stage and fainted in the later period, was an out-and-out cat slave. No matter how bold Wu Cheng'en was, he did not dare to touch the moldy head of the emperor of the dynasty. So to what extent did the Jiajing Emperor like cats? Let's move on.
In the later period of his reign, the Jiajing Emperor was obsessed with alchemy, so he triggered the change of the Palace of Nongyin and was almost strangled to death by the palace women. After this incident, he no longer trusted anyone and moved to live outside the palace. But the empty palace was inhabited by him alone. Even if there is supreme power, it is inevitable that the heart will feel empty and lonely. In the long run, the Jiajing Emperor had a tendency to be depressed. But the Jiajing Emperor was a very good-looking person, how could others see that there was something wrong with his psychology? In order to relieve his loneliness, the Jiajing Emperor raised a cat named "Frost Eyebrow".
According to relevant historical records, Frost Brow is a lion cat with slightly blue hair, and only the eyebrows are as white as snow on the whole body. Therefore, the Jiajing Emperor named it "Frost Eyebrow". According to the Ming Dynasty Shen Bang's "Miscellaneous Records of The Wanjue", Frost Mei "fled in the face of the eye, and called his name to the point of being in the form of a dance." Such an understanding imperial cat gradually warmed Jiajing's cold heart. And the frost eyebrow has also become Jiajing's "fart worm", where Jiajing goes, it will go.
In order to reward Frost Brow's loyalty, Jiajing renamed it "Dragon". Have you ever heard of snakes called "little dragons", this cat can also become a dragon? It can be seen that Jiajing treats Frost Mei as his own child. When Frost Mei died, Jia Jing was heartbroken, and ordered that Frost Mei be buried in a golden coffin, and the mausoleum of Frost Mei was built on Wanshou Mountain, and the name "Dragon Tomb" was also given. At the same time, he also ordered the civil officials to write sacrifices for Frost Brow. Because the rebbe waiter said a sentence of "turning a lion into a dragon", which made Jiajing Longyan very happy, so this brother has been officially prosperous ever since.
Except, of course, for frosted eyebrows. The Jiajing Emperor also raised a lot of cats in the palace, and arranged special eunuchs to serve these "cat masters". Some of the favored cats also had their own names and titles, and the chief eunuch who served these cats was given the title of "cat steward". It can be seen how much Jiajing has spoiled cats. If Wu Cheng'en wrote a cat demon in "Journey to the West", let alone whether the novel can be published, I am afraid that he will still suffer the disaster of killing.
References: Journey to the West, Miscellaneous Records of Wanju, History of the Ming Dynasty