In China's mythological system, "god" usually refers to the "ghost god" who has made meritorious achievements before his death and is canonized by the people or rulers after death. "Baopuzi" contains a river god named "Bingyi". It is said that this person was once a civilian official under the Emperor of Heaven, because he drowned while crossing the river, so the Emperor of Heaven sealed the soul of Bingyi as the god of the Yellow River and let him manage the rivers in the Central Plains.
Since it is from the records of mythology and the superstition of the self-fiction, in ancient times, when we did not pay attention to the scientific concept of development, many people believed in it.
It is said that two thousand years ago, the flooding in Yidi was serious, and Ximen Leopard was sent by Wei Wenhou to the county seat to control the flood. After Ximen Leopard came to the local area, he found that the local area was dilapidated and sparsely populated, and most of the young people chose to leave their hometowns, leaving only some widows and elderly people. Ximen Leopard found a smoking grandfather on the side of the road to inquire about the people's feelings, and found that the original desolate place was not the fault of flooding.
The old master said: The three elders of Yecheng (a kind of half-official and half-citizen status between the squires and their staff) must hold a marriage ceremony for Hebo every year, and before the ceremony is held, they will collect millions of dollars from the people of the county, and also ask the people to hand over the young girls who have not left the cabinet to sacrifice to the river god. Originally, there were frequent floods in this area, the harvest was not good, and the people had to bear huge "marriage expenses" and the risk of girls being sacrificed alive, so families with conditions moved out of Yecheng to make a living.
After listening to the old man's words, Ximen Leopard nodded.
In the next few days, Ximen Leopard took office and confirmed the old man's statement from the squire. Subsequently, Ximen Leopard publicly said that he would personally attend the marriage of the river god this year.
Leaders want to participate in local folk ceremonies, which is undoubtedly a good thing for the "three elders". In their view, the people of Yecheng are unwilling to obediently pay money every year, and even the newly appointed county orders must participate in it. Therefore, under the guise of Ximen Leopard, the three elders knocked on the door door to visit door to door, and collected twice as much "marriage fee" as in previous years.
On the day of "Hebo marrying", Ximen Leopard did appear at the scene. When the common people heard that the county order that had just taken office and the local squire snakes and rats were in a nest, they intensified their efforts to squeeze the people's fat and people's ointment, and their hatred was so itchy that their teeth were itching. Ximen Leopard came to the palanquin casually, lifted the curtain and looked at the girl inside. The young girl naturally knew that she was about to be sunk in the river, and she had already cried tears.
Ximen Leopard patted his thigh and said to the crowd, "Oops! Do you worship the river god like this every year? No wonder the floods have been incessant in recent years, you see this girl looks so ugly, the river god will definitely be angry! ”
The witch who came with the three elders did not know what medicine was sold in the gourd of Ximen Leopard, and said, "Lord, this is already the most beautiful girl in the county, if you don't let her marry the river god, then where should you go to find the girl?" ”
Ximen Leopard said, "No, no, your vision is too bad, the bride must be personally selected by me!" Well, witch, you are responsible for telling lord river gods and asking him to give the old man a few days of grace, and I Will definitely pick a girl who satisfies him. ”
After saying that, Ximen Leopard waved a big hand, and several officials stepped forward to tie up the witch and throw her into the Zhanghe River. The water of the Zhanghe River was turbulent, and the witch only floated on the surface of the river a few times, and then sank into the center of the river and disappeared.
The common people looked at each other, while the three elders and the disciples of the witch were whispering, and no one knew which one the official master was going to sing. Ximen Leopard stood by the river and waited for a while, and said, "This witch has been doing things badly, and she has not returned after going for so long, how can this be good?" ”
Ximen Leopard swept his eyes to the witch's disciples and said, "Well, you disciples go down to see if your master has conveyed my words to Lord River God." ”
After speaking, the official messenger of the Heart Understanding Society immediately pushed a witch disciple into the river. It didn't take long for all three of the witch's disciples to be thrown away.
Ximen Leopard looked at the rushing river and continued, "It seems that these guys are all waste, and things are not reliable!" I see that the three elderly things are high, and it must be safe to do things, and you old people may wish to go down and report to the river god. ”
After saying that, Ximen Leopard personally walked into the crowd and made a gesture to catch the three elders.
At this point, even the most stupid people could understand Ximen Leopard's intentions, and the Third Elder and those who had received black money knelt on the ground, prostrated to Ximen Leopard like garlic, and explained the truth: "My lord, Hebo's marriage is all fake, we are just trying to cheat money!" Adults, spare the little ones! ”
Ximen Leopard saw several people confessing, immediately asked the left and right to take them down, and searched out the people's fat and people's ointment from their homes, and used the money to build twelve diversion canals, completely solving the flood problem of the Zhanghe River.
The above story is included in the "History of History and Funny Biography".
From this point of view, as early as the Han Dynasty, people at the time already clearly knew that the so-called Hebo was just a fictitious artificial god. Ironically, there are still people who believe in the products of these strange and chaotic gods to this day.
Chu Shaosun commented on this: "Ximen Leopard governs Ye, and the people dare not deceive. Therefore, Ximen Leopard is a famous order, famous in the world, Zeliu in the future, and there is no end to it, which can be described as a non-virtuous doctor! ”
The Ximen Leopard Temple is a typical example of believing in science and opposing superstition. Therefore, in ancient times, there was a saying of "three noes" that "the son of Zheng is born and governs, and the people cannot be deceived; the son governs the single father, and the people cannot bear to be deceived; Ximen Leopard governs Yi, and the people dare not deceive." ”
Resources:
["History of History, Funny Column Biography", "Beitang Shuqi, Shibu 4, Fengnei"]