The Tang Dynasty was a historical period in which China's legendary novels achieved major development, and a large number of outstanding works with relatively complete art forms and relatively broad social life content emerged. The Tang Dynasty was also an era in which the worship of folk gods flourished, and this worship formed an important part of the folk culture of the Tang Dynasty. In such literary works, the protagonist often has a real person, a history of origin, and appears in a vivid and realistic literary image. This type of work can be roughly divided into two situations: one is that some works were originally anecdotes and strange things that were circulated in the folk, and later sorted out and recorded by the scriptures; The other is inspired by folk mythical stories of cults, using these materials to recreate legendary fiction works by literati. The legendary novel about Di Renjie belongs to the former situation, a literary creation in the complete sense of the theme of his deeds, which was still a matter of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The emergence of this situation is a true reflection of the strange stories and strange stories of Di Renjie widely circulated among the tang dynasty people. Because Di Renjie was a clean and upright official, loved the people like a son, gave relief to disasters and famines, reduced taxes, developed production, and did a great deal of good deeds for the people, and did not fear ghosts and gods, burned obscene shrines, and opposed evil and harming people, these acts of his were deeply admired by the broad masses of the people, and when his deeds were integrated with the folk culture of the time, a legend of his divine color was produced. Judging from the legends about Di Renjie that have been handed down, they can be roughly divided into four categories: the first type of situation reflects the love and admiration of the people when he was a magistrate. The second type of situation reflects his defiance of ghosts and gods, the burning of obscene shrines, and so on. The third category is stories about fatalistic themes. The fourth category is the legendary story about Di Renjie's descendants. These works are introduced as follows:
Wang Renyu's "Yutang Gossip" contains:
Weizhou Nanguo Di Renjie Temple, that is, the Ancestral Hall of Life. In the Tianhou Dynasty, Ren Jie was the assassin of Wei Prefecture, had good governance, and the officials built a shrine for it. And into the dynasty, the daughters of the Wei people, every month at the beginning of the month, are all dedicated to the shrine. Renjie Fang Dynasty, is the day also drunk. Then Tiansu knew that Ren Jie did not drink alcohol at the beginning, and he questioned it, and he was right. The Queen of Heaven makes an inquiry, but faith.
This is a legend with a completely real background, Di Renjie served as the assassin of Weizhou and the people of Weizhou built a shrine for him, which is located in the south of Weizhou City, all of which is true. In the Tang Dynasty, every month Shuo (the first day of the first month) Wang (fifteenth day) to hold a great pilgrimage, all nine pins or above in the Capital Wenwu officials must enter the palace to participate in the court, Di Renjie as a major courtier naturally can not be an exception. The story says that at the first (first day of the first month) of the month, Di Renjie was drunk and found by Wu Zetian, and from the perspective of time, the two coincided, indicating that the creator of the story was familiar with the imperial court system, which was the result of the literati's collation and processing. The main plot of the story is quite mysterious, which seems unbelievable today, but it is true and credible to people at that time. This story is a tribute to Di Renjie's extraordinary political achievements, reflecting the nostalgia of the vast number of people for this sage ruler.
The most legendary works about Di Renjie still reflect his fearlessness of ghosts and gods, and the stories of opposing obscenity and vulgarity, although the plots are different and the backgrounds are quite different, but the themes they reflect are completely consistent. Here are a few examples:
Then tianshi, Di Renjie was the assassin of Ningzhou. His house is fierce, and he stabbed more than ten generations of the deceased. (Ren) Jie's early arrival, the official Bai Guan has been fierce for a long time, and there has been no one who dares to live, and the hazel is ruined, and it is no longer possible to live, please give up him. (Ren) Jie Said: "Thorn Shi does not give up the main house, why not give up!" Destiny to blockade, dwell in no doubt. For several nights, strange and strange, invincible. (Ren) Jie angrily said: "I am the history of thorns, this is my house, Ruqu I am straight, what is not aware of the division, but with evil and righteousness!" If you are a god, listen to the Ming Sect and the Ming Sect: Ming, bright and righteous; Teach, i.e. command. If it is a ghost, how dare it be related! I have no fear of the heart of Ru, but I am a kaleidoscope. If they want to see each other, why don't they give up the Lord with courtesy?" Si Su, a man with a crown in front of him said: "So-and-so is a certain court official, under the west tree of the funeral hall steps, and his body is worn by the roots of the tree, and the pain is unbearable." A few years ago, many desires to be self-explanatory, and his people died, and the path was not reached, so that now. So that Juncheng can be reburied, how dare he extend it to this point. "Words are gone. Tomorrow, [Ren Jie] issued the order, and the result was the word: This word is for the sake of reburial, and it will never be done ever since.
It's also a true story set in the background. In the early years of Wu Zetian's reign, Di Renjie was sent from Du Zhilangzhong to Ningzhou to serve as an assassin. Here he appeased the tribes, restrained the officials, eliminated the accumulated maladies, developed production, and the local people erected monuments and engraved inscriptions to praise their virtue. It is in this context that this story takes place, and it reflects the actual problem of funerary customs in ancient times. Since ancient times, China has attached great importance to the choice of burial places, and the Tang people believe that whether the burial place is properly chosen or not is directly related to the misfortune and safety of future generations, so they attach great importance to this issue.
At that time, there were already so-called burial masters who specialized in people's relationship with the earth, looking at feng shui, and setting the direction of the tomb, and when there were funerals in the homes of high-ranking officials and nobles, they often asked the burial master to choose a cemetery. The ghosts of the ningzhou official houses were pierced by tree roots because of improper burial places, and naturally there was no tranquility, and the official houses became murderous houses. The concept of murder houses arose long before the Tang Dynasty and became more popular in the Tang Dynasty, which can be confirmed by the large number of stories about the murder houses collected in the Taiping Guangji. This concept exists not only in China, but also in many countries around the world. In China, there are many sayings about murderous houses, except for those caused by ghosts and gods, improper home sites, incorrect doors, no way to build, and no taboos, all of which may form murderous houses.
All this seems to be unreasonable today, but at that time it had a special reason and rationality for its existence, and it was reverently believed and obeyed by people; in the final analysis, these are all manifestations of folk life in the historical period and cannot be simply completely denied. This story gives a very vivid portrayal of Di Renjie's image of not being afraid of ghosts and gods, emphasizing the principle that evil does not suppress righteousness, and is actually a praise for Di Renjie in the real official arena who does not compromise with the evil forces. This story is from the "Guangyi Ji", the author Dai Fu was a person of the Suzong and Daizong periods, at this time it was seventy or eighty years since Di Renjie's death, he was not afraid of ghosts and gods, and the deeds of burning the obscene shrine were already well known to the people of the world, so it is not difficult to understand that this story has him as the protagonist.
The Guangyi Ji also tells a story about Di Renjie, the full text of which is as follows:
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, Di Renjie burned the Jiangling Shrine to oversee the imperial history. As far as Duanzhou, there are barbarian gods, and Renjie wants to burn them. Those who make people enter the temple will die, and Renjie will raise those who can burn them, and reward them with thousands of dollars. When two people came out to apply, Ren Jie asked what was the use of reciprocation? Ren Yun: "May it be fulfilled." "Edict: A kind of order ordered by the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, it was a government decree formulated by Shangshu Province according to the spirit of book making. RenJie took it with him, and his people held on to it, and when they reached the temple, they had an edict, and because they opened it and entered it, they proclaimed it, and the gods did not move again, so they burned it. Later, Ren Jie also went to Bian Prefecture and met the ghost: "After serving the emperor, there was a barbarian god who served the emperor, and Yun was burned down and often wanted revenge." Renjie asked, "What happened?" Seeing the Ghost Cloud: "The Attendant FangSutai Auxiliary Tai, as well as more than twenty followers of the Ghost God, what can he do?" For a long time, its gods were still in Lingnan. ”
This story describes an experience when Di Renjie was ordered to go south to Inspect Jiangnan in the fourth year of the Imperial Palace (688) and burn a large number of obscene shrines, so it is not correct for the story to say that this happened during the time of Emperor Gaozong, and should be during the time of Wu Zetian. At that time, Di Renjie's official position was that of the Inspector of Jiangnan, not of Inspector Yushi, and his status was much higher than that of Inspector Yushi. Dai Fu, the author of the Guangyi Chronicle, was from the Imperial Examination and would not be unfamiliar with the system and history of this dynasty, and the reason why he still wrote it this way was because it was nothing more than anecdote, not a history of faith, and there was no need to deliberately correct it.
There is also a story that says:
More than ten miles west of the Tang Dynasty, there was a large locust, struck by earthquake and thunder, several inches in the middle, and the thunder was sandwiched between the trees, roaring like thunder. When Di Renjie was the governor of the capital, the guests looked at each other and wanted to go where they wanted, and everyone was invincible, and no one dared to enter. Ren Jie single-handedly rode forward and pressed to ask. Naiyun: "The tree has a dragon, and I am chased away by it, and the fall is unbearable, and it is caught in the tree." If you are a savior, repay the virtue with kindness. Ren Jie ordered the sawman to break the tree, and Fang came out. After that, Ji Ji first reported his life.
Dai Prefecture (代州, in modern Dai County, Shanxi). In his lifetime, Cha Di Renjie did not see the record of him serving as the governor here, probably because he was a native of Hedong (Shanxi) and was known for not being afraid of ghosts and gods, so people at that time added this story to his head. The god of wind, rain, thunder and lightning is the most worshipped natural god by the ancient people of our country, and the Tang people are no exception, but they seem to be more favorable to Lei Gong (god), and they are more reverent, in addition to his natural attributes, the Tang people believe that Lei Gong is jealous of evil like a vendetta, full of justice, able to punish the wicked or filial piety, these qualities are the fundamental reasons why people fear Lei Gong.
Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty novels, there are a large number of stories of Lei Gong killing the wicked and adulterous, and li Shidao's fate of killing evil people and adulterers is not spared, and the "Xuanmu Zhi" records that Pinglu Jiedu made Li Shidao plot against him, built a palace, was struck by lightning and fell, and "left no embers", and Li Shidao finally could not escape the fate of being killed. Because people at that time gave Lei Gong these qualities, Lei Gong naturally seemed to people to be the god of justice, the so-called righteous god and good god. Such a god needs someone to save him, so what kind of person can play this role? Obviously, the adulterer must be a man of integrity, jealousy, a person with a character similar to Lei Gong and a high reputation, so that he can be matched with a god of justice like Lei Gong. And because Lei Gong has a strong personality and is feared by people, the person who assumes this role must be bold and not afraid of the gods, and Di Renjie just has these two conditions, so the creator of the story chose him. From this point, we can see the psychological activities of the ancient people in the process of creating culture, and at the same time, we can also see Di Renjie's lofty status in the minds of the Tang people and people's admiration for him.
The Tang Dynasty Lü Daosheng's "Book of Destiny" records a story of Di Renjie, which is quite fatalistic, in order to fully reflect the image of Di Renjie in the legend of the Tang Dynasty, it is still recorded in its entirety as follows:
Tang Di Renjie's debasement, passing through Bian Prefecture, wanted to stay for half a day to heal the disease, and Kaifeng County ordered Huo Xianke to chase him out of the border that day. Di Gong was very famous. And Hui was the prime minister, Huo was already LangZhong, and Di wanted to slander him without success. Then the Mandate of Heaven chooses the imperial history of Zhongcheng, and all those who have undertaken the will twice have forgotten. Later, the heavens asked again, and Di Gong was right against the pawn, and there was no way to respond to the order, but he remembered Huo Xianke, so he played it, and en-controlled to get rid of YuShi Zhongcheng. Hou Di Gong said to Huo Yue: "A certain person hated the Gong at the beginning, but now he recommends the Gong, but he knows his fate, is it because of the people?"
Huo Xianke's feud with Di Renjie was entirely for political reasons. Di Renjie was an official, not with the kings of the Wu clan, and was deeply jealous of Zhu Wu, Huo Xian could turn to Wu Chengsi, and naturally would not be polite to Di Renjie. In the first year of longevity (692), Di Renjie was framed by the Ku officials and demoted from the position of prime minister to the rank of Pengze County, at that time Huo Xianke was already in the imperial history, and was instructed by Wu Chengsi to kowtow to the upper temple, demanding that Di Renjie be executed, but he did not succeed. Therefore, the relationship between the two is like water and fire, and Huo Xian can be despised, cruel, and is one of the famous cool officials in the Wu Zetian period, killing countless people, how could such a person Di Renjie recommend him to an important position? Besides, Yu Shizhong was an official of law enforcement, and his power was quite heavy, so wouldn't Di Renjie have recommended him to take up this important post, wouldn't he have added wings to the tiger? With Di Renjie's character, he would rather be willing to do what he wants than do such a thing that is despised by a righteous gentleman. Di Renjie served as chancellor twice in his lifetime, the first time in the second year of Tianzhi (691), and the following year he was demoted, during which time Huo Xianke was appointed as the imperial attendant in the palace. The second worship was in the first year of Shengong (697), when Huo Xianke was already a midshipman in the imperial history. Therefore, Huo Xianke's appointment as an official had nothing to do with Di Renjie, and it was likely that it was the result of Wu Chengsi and others recommending it, and the account of the Book of Destiny was not credible.
The concept of fatalism has a long history in China, not in the Tang Dynasty, but was more widely popular in the Tang Dynasty. The stories collected in the "Book of Destiny" are all to promote this concept, the original book is a total of 10 volumes, which have been destroyed, and then supplemented by Lu Daosheng into 3 volumes, and the "Taiping Guangji" alone contains 62 stories in the book, which has a great impact on future generations. The Book of Destiny preaches that everything encountered in the course of life is predestined by fate and can be changed by non-human beings, even if it is like the political enemies of Di Renjie and Huo Xianke, when the fate is destined for Huo Xianke to be the imperial history of Zhongcheng, Di Renjie, although he is in a high position and has a high position of authority, cannot stop it, and even acts as a recommender who promotes this matter. Therefore, the negative effect of this concept is obvious, and it has had a very bad impact on society and people's thinking, which is not conducive to the development of society and the spirit of encouraging people to work hard.
The tang dynasty legend's account of the activities of Di Renjie's descendants can be found in Kang Biao's "Drama Discussion Record", which is a rare masterpiece with a long length, a tortuous plot and vividness, and the full text is as follows:
Tang Huichangzhong, the northern capital of Jinyang Ling Di Weiqian, after Ren Jie, the shouguan Qing Ke, not afraid of the strong. Belonging to the Yi realm Ofyang, since the spring and summer, hundreds of miles of fields, all consumed, praying at the Jin Temple, slightly unobstructed. Sometimes there are Guo Tianshi, that is, witches of the state, who attack spells less and more are tired of winning. The envoys of the supervising army were taken to the capital country, and because of the noble cause, they entered and exited the palace, so they gave the Heavenly Master number and returned to the mainland. "If you get the Heavenly Master to the Jin Temple, you won't have enough to worry about." "But humble to the manager, it was very difficult at first, and then he urged, and the commander went to the manager himself. The witch is the only one who has the chariot, the lid, and the humble who controls the horse. When they go to the shrine, they set up offerings and fold them in the courtyard. The next day, yu Wei said modestly: "I have asked for rain for the upper realm of Erfei Fu, and I have been ordered by the Emperor of Heaven, and I will be sincere, and three days of rain should be enough." "It is gathered by the four suburban priests. There is no sign at the end of the term. It is also said: "When disasters are revived, the good is ordered by the county to be virtuous." I prayed to heaven for seven days. ”
But humility leads to sin, and the more respectful it is. It didn't work, but suddenly wanted to enter the state. "The Celestial Master has come for all the surnames, and he has begged for the heart to pray." "Sincere prayer: Sincere prayer. Paradoxically: scolding; Paradox: Tongbo, paradoxical, discolored by anger. "Mediocre officials, I don't know the way of heaven, I won't let it rain when the sky is right, so I will be left to do it again?" Nai Xie Yue: "Don't dare to annoy the Heavenly Master even more, but let the ming be enlightened." "So the precepts are left and right: the admonition that night." I have been humiliated by the witches, how can I be an official again!" Jie Dan has some fingers, and Ru and other salty whiskers are reciprocal. Right and wrong, likes and dislikes, give them to themselves. "Xiao Xiao, when the door is not open, Guo has been strictly decorated to ride, and Di Jiu is provided, and nothing is done." Guo Nai sat in the hall, and he was very arrogant, but he said, "The witch of the left path, the demon has been confused for a long time, and when she dies on this day, she dares to return to her word." "Left and right, whipped twenty in front of the gods, thrown into the drifting water." There is a mountain behind the temple, which is ten feet high, and the incense is set up on the table, and all the officials are released, and the wat is erected on it. So the city was horrified, and Yunyi killed the Heavenly Master with his staff. The race is chaotic, and the viewer is like a block. When the sand and gravel flowed, suddenly a cloud appeared, as big as a car cover, first covered with humble standing, the four suburbs of the clouds would meet, thunder and vibration, sweet rain and heavy rain, the wilderness was all turbulent. Thousands of soldiers descended from the mountains. The state will be a witch killer, and at first it will be angry, and it will be sincere, deeply sighing, and listing its affairs.
The edict praises Yiyun: "But the humble drama Yi Liangcai, the loyal minister Hua Zhen loyal, seeing the heavens and the strength, will be the people of the people, when they are invited to pray at the Jin Temple, and the class is thrown into the County of Yi." Exposure of the fear of mountain pepper, things and other burning bodies; The oil cloud of the sky, the same as the scissor claw oil cloud: the abbreviation of the allusion to "oil is a cloud". "Mencius Liang Hui Wang Shang": "The sky is full of clouds, and it is raining." Zhao Qi's note: "Oil, the appearance of Xingyun." ”。 Thus the dry winds were submerged, and the ganze swirled. Hao Tianyu supervised Ke Cheng, and gave his intentions to forget to praise the good. Specially awarded Zhu Fu, The Bronze Medal of Glory. Don't replace the name of the order, but show the special achievements. More impressive. It was half a million.
The Tang people still believed in witchcraft, alchemists, and the like, even the emperor was no exception, and the Old Book of Tang Records records that in April of the fifteenth year of Zhenyuan (799), Emperor Dezong ordered the shaman to cast a spell to pray for rain. Although Di Weiqian was a clean and honest official, he could not get rid of the influence of this concept, and when he saw that the drought was serious, he first went to the JinCi Temple to pray, but it was ineffective, and then when he heard that Guo Tianshi's sorcery was magical, he personally went to the Jiedu envoy to make an invitation, and after repeated requests, the Jiedu envoy agreed to come forward and ask the Tianshi to go to the Jinci Temple to pray for rain. Then he wrote about how pious and courteous Di Weiqian was. When the first prayer for rain failed, he blamed himself, "The more respectful it is." It was not until the witch had completely failed to pray for rain and was anxious to slip away that Di Weiqian fully woke up and was determined to put the deceitful witch to death.
The work spends so much ink on the front to render how Di Weiqian prayerfully asks for rain, on the one hand, it shows the image of a good official who is worried about the people, on the other hand, it also plays a foreshadowing role in the subsequent execution of witches, making the whole story appear more ups and downs. Although Di Weiqian believed in witchcraft like most people at that time, his difference was that once he found out that he had been deceived, he was able to quickly realize it and take immediate and decisive measures. To a certain extent, this story exposes the unreliability and incompetence of witchcraft, and celebrates the glorious image of Di Wei's humble and worried country and people. At the same time, di Renjie was praised, and the first sentence of the story pointed out that Di Weiqian was Di Renjie, and at the end, he used the emperor's edict to mention again that Di Weiqian was "a loyal servant of Hua Gui, who saw the heavens and the heavens, and would lay down the people" Yunyun, which meant that Di Weiqian inherited his ancestors' style of caring for the people's livelihood, so that he could take decisive measures, and at the same time praise Di Weiqian, he praised Di Renjie.
From a folk culture point of view, this story has two significances worth noting. First, judging from the main content of the story, it is obviously influenced by the story of Ximen Leopard's "ruling The Empire" during the Warring States period. In his edict praising Di Weiqian for this point, the emperor explicitly compared his action with Ximen Leopard's achievements, which was referred to by the phrase "like throwing a witch into Yi County". The original intention of the emperor's edict was to compare Di Weiqian with the ancient sage Ximen Leopard, intending to praise Di Weiqian, but inadvertently pointed out the cultural origin of this story. To be sure, Ximen Leopard encountered a local witch with no political background, and Ximen Leopard was the highest local governor, and he did not take any risks in executing wizards. This time, however, Di Weiqian was different, the witch he faced had the title of Heavenly Master given by the emperor, the support of eunuchs who had great power in the dynasty, and the support of local envoys, so Di Weiqian's move was very risky, and he did not dare to make a move without a certain courage. Second, the story is related to the primitive concept of "sacrifice."
The allusion to the "scissor claw" mentioned in the emperor's edict refers to the story of the ancient times when Shang Tang asked for rain and cut (cut) the nail claw to pray to Sanglin. The edict compares Di Weiqian's whipping of a witch and throwing her into the water to a Shang Tang cutting claw, which in fact means acknowledging that the witch was used as a sacrifice to the heavens. It shows that the Tang people's activities of seeking rain through witchcraft have a deep connection with ancient myths and legends, so that we can feel the subtle influence of ancient folk culture and its inseparable karmic relationship with legendary literature.
Through the above introduction, it can be clearly seen that the image of Di Renjie in the legend of the Tang Dynasty is not contrary to Di Renjie in social life, and due to the use of literary techniques, Di Renjie's personality is more distinct and the image is more perfect. This is a literary recreation of the celebrities they admire from the perspective of folk culture on the basis of respecting the archetypes of characters. Although these creations are still preliminary, and they have not been freed from the influence of the form of strange events and anecdotes, they must have opened the way for the literary creation of Di Renjie as the theme for later generations, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties.