If you come to Xi'an, anyone can tell you a few pieces of history and legend, which is definitely not a sense of self-superiority, it is really because of Xi'an's thick history and cultural accumulation, here a wall and a tile, a street and an alley, there are too many stories, it is difficult to think about it.
Taibai Road in Xi'an, from the southwest city corner in the north to the Zhangba East Road in the southwest, is about 7,000 meters long. The name of this road has a long historical origin with The Taibai Mountain.
"WeiShu Geographical Chronicle": "Meiyang (present-day Fufeng County) has Taibai Mountain. "Its winter and summer snow, looking at it, hence the name." Or: "At the beginning, Venus fell to the west of GuiFeng, and its refinement was transformed into white jade ruomei jade, and sometimes there was purple qi covering it, so it was called Taibai Mountain." ”
"Sui Shu Geographical Chronicle" "Mei has Taibai Mountain".
Tang "Six Classics": "The famous mountain of Guannei Province is taibai. ”
First, the legend of Taibai Mountain
The locals of Xi'an used to refer to the part of the mountain range south of the city of Xi'an as "Zhongnan Mountain" or "Nanshan", which is part of the Qinling Mountains. The name "Qinling" originates from the Qin culture of the Qin people, and in the Qin culture, there is a god who is the White Emperor Shaohao, and the ancient Qin people regarded him as the ancestor.
The ancestor of the Qin people
Legend has it that a long time ago, the immortal Taibai Venus and the beautiful empress dowager of the Heavenly Palace fell in love with each other, and after free love, they gave birth to a son, Shao Hao, who used the bird as a totem, established a state, and became the leader himself. He is the ancestor of the Qin people.
For more than 400 years from The Duke of Qin Xianggong to the Duke of Qin Xiang, the Qin people spent no less than a quarter of their time every day to sacrifice their ancestors, the White Emperor, which shows the reverence of the Qin people for their ancestors. In their lives, the White Emperor was supreme.
Taibai Mountain
As the main peak of the Qin Mountains, the Taibai Mountains, the Qin people believe that it is the birthplace of well-being, and they sacrifice the mountains as their ancestors, the White Emperor. Therefore, from the beginning of the Qin people, Mount Taibai was a god-like existence.
After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the sacrifices of Taibai Mountain and the ancestor White Emperor began to be folk, and people built Taibai Ancestral Hall and Taibai Temple on and under the Qinling Mountains to pray to the gods and bless their well-being and well-being.
In the ancient society dominated by farming, the source of food was the land, and with the rain, there was a abundance of food, so praying to the mountain god to say good things to the rain god and let the rain god rain to the earth became the main demand of the people.
Rain God
In today's Baoji territory, there are also many Taibai Temples, through archaeological discoveries, the ancient Taibai Temple in the stone stele, inscriptions recorded: "Taibai Mountain for Yongzhou Giant Mountain", "Taibai Mountain prays for rain", "WenGong zuo Ancestral White Emperor ... wait.
From these stone inscriptions, it can be seen that the miracle of the Taibai Temple originated from the Qin people 'fū zhì '鄜' (fū zhì "鄜" is a place name in present-day Luochuan County, Shaanxi; "畤" means the place where the Emperor of Heaven was sacrificed. The god Lord Taibai is the White Emperor Shaohao.
2. Taibai Mountain and Taibai Venus
"Notes on the Water Classics": "Taiyi Mountain, also known as Taibai Mountain, in Wugong County, went to Chang'an for two hundred miles, and I don't know its height geometry." ”
---- Northern Wei. Li Daoyuan
At the time of The Han Dynasty, there were already records of Taibai Mountain and Taibai Temple, but they did not appear in the history books of the Geography of the Han Dynasty. The Book of Han and Geography calls this mountain Taiyi Mountain.
Legend has it that the origin of the word "Taiyi" is related to Taoism, and Taiyi, or "Taiji", is a term in ancient astrology. Taoists believe that there are twenty-eight stars, of which the Big Dipper rotates around the Celestial Pole Star, and the brightest star in the Celestial Pole Star is the Emperor Star, that is, Taiyi.
Ancient stargazing
Mount Taiyi is the brightest (whitest) mountain. Therefore, the Taoists called Taibai Mountain, also known as Taiyi Mountain. According to legend, Taiyi Zhenren cultivated here, and the name of the mountain also has some meaning of taking the name of the immortal. In fact, Taiyi Zhenren only exists in literary works.
"Poetry, Xiaoya, Dadong" records: "There is Qiming in the east and Chang Gung in the west." "Qiming, Chang Gung are all Venus also."
"Tianguan Zhan" Yun: "Taibai, the essence of Western gold, the son of the White Emperor, the Shanggong, the elephant of the great general."
Twenty-eight stars in ancient books
The legend of Taibai Venus is related to the brightest star at night, and the Taibai Venus in folklore is the White Emperor, who is a dancing teenager with a beautiful appearance and a jade tree facing the wind, not only is he strong and strong, but he is also jealous and hateful, and the people respond to their needs and are never soft on the evil forces. Who doesn't like such a fairy?
"Record of Differences": "The essence of Venus fell to the west of the South Gui Peak, and its refinement turned into white stone, shaped like beautiful jade, and sometimes covered with purple qi, hence the name"
Just like the growth of human beings, human beings have developed to a certain stage, and they have higher requirements for their own growth, representing the various immortals of spiritual sustenance, and with people's needs, there has been a change in the image, and Taibai Venus has become an old man with a fairy wind Dao bone, holding dust in his hand, riding the clouds, and his temper has become sleek and accidents, which can be seen from "Journey to the West".
Too platinum star
After all, literary works are related to the historical era of the time and the ideology of people. What remains unchanged is the record of the snowy beauty of Taibai Mountain since ancient times.
"Notes on the Water Classic": "The Taibai Mountains are connected to the Wugong Mountain in the south, and the mountains are the most beautiful, with snow in winter and summer. "--Northern Wei. Li Daoyuan
The snow on the top of Taibai Mountain does not melt all year round, and even in the middle of summer, it is still snowy and silvery, and the scenery is particularly spectacular.
Too white snow and a sea of clouds
In the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the weather is fine, and if you are lucky enough, travel about 30 kilometers southwest on the outskirts of Xi'an, and look south to see the dazzling white of the mountain top in the distance. The summer heat in Xi'an is unbearable, and the coolness of the white snow is enough to dissipate the heat in the heart.
The jade crumbs on the white jade mountain are cold, and the pine wind blows on the Lang Jiao. The clouds are deep where the monks lie down, and in May they are covered with cold here.
Qing Dynasty--Zhu Jiyi's Eight Views of Guanzhong
Third, the ancient emperor's white feelings
Like ordinary people, the ancient emperors had greater expectations for The Taibai Mountains. During the Western Han Dynasty, the feudal emperor built the Taibai Ancestral Hall on The Taibai Mountain, mainly praying for rain and praying to the gods and immortals to bless the people and the country to be rich and strong, and the country and mountains to be stable.
"Book of Han and Astronomical Chronicles": "Taibai Jingtian is the revolution of the world, and the king of the people."
This record in the Book of Han is highly consistent with the astrologers' understanding of Venus, and ancient astrologers believed that as long as Venus appeared at a special time and region, it was a symbol of "changing the heavens" and a precursor to the change of dynasties.
Ancient emperors not only hoped to make the foundation evergreen through the protection of the gods, but also hoped to eliminate disasters and avoid disasters through god's guidance. Atheists may think it is nonsense, but Tang Taizong Li Shimin is convinced of it.
Li Yuanxian Mausoleum in Sanyuan County, Shaanxi
Before Tang Gaozu Li Yuan (Li Shimin's father) became emperor, his position was Assassin History. One day, a man named Shi Shiliang showed him his face, and after seeing it, he was amazed one after another and told Li Yuan: "Your bones are amazing, you will be the lord of a country, may you love yourself, and you must not forget what I said."
As a result, Li Yuan had a lofty goal, he continued to work hard to forge ahead, his power became larger and larger, and at the same time, he also verified the results of his efforts. He had three sons, and Li Yuan often taught his sons to be enterprising, so under such family education, three excellent sons appeared, and Li Yuan did not know at that time that his family education also laid the groundwork for the subsequent coup.
In 618, Li Yuan became emperor as Shi Shiliang said, but his three sons were unconscious, fighting openly and secretly, and dismantling each other, during which a strange celestial phenomenon appeared.
In 626 (the first day of June in the ninth year of WuDe), tens of thousands of Turkic soldiers and horses were stationed south of the Yellow River and surrounded Wucheng (around Wuyuan). On the same day, a strange celestial phenomenon appeared in the sky, and Taibai Venus appeared in the south in broad daylight, so Taishi Ling Fu Yi quietly told Li Yuan, "Taibai sees Qin, and the King of Qin should have the world."
This matter was known to Li Shimin, and Li Shimin remembered the celestial phenomenon that appeared at noon in Taibai. Sure enough, after the change of Xuanwu Gate, Li Shimin sat on the throne.
The Change of Xuanwu Gate (Xi'an Daming Palace Ruins Park)
In fact, the phenomenon of seeing Venus during the day is now well documented, and ancient people did not have more astronomical knowledge, so they regarded it as a vision. Li Shimin believed very much in astrology, and there is a history to check.
In the Old Book of Tang, it is recorded: Zhenguan Chu, Taibai Frequent Daytime, Taishi Zhanyue: "Female Sanchang." And there was a rumor: "When there is a valkyrie." "Taizong is evil.
It is not known whether the celestial sign is connected to the fortune of sheji, and Wu Zetian has indeed become the only empress in Chinese history. Is it a coincidence or another mystery?
Except for Tang Taizong, other rulers still could not get rid of the influence of the Taibai Mountain sacrifice culture on their own dynasty.
Too white mountain view
During the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the long period of no rainfall in the central and western parts of The Guan, the weather was dry, and the people faced severe agricultural difficulties, Li Zhaoyuan (gou), then the prefect of Fengxiang, led the people of the city to worship at Mount Taibai and pray for the gods to give life; and in the Tang Dynasty, every year on the eighth day of April, the imperial court would send emissaries to Mount Taibai to get water, and then pour into the altar in the Taibai Temple, in order to send nectar from the sky, nourish all things, and harvest grain.
Cixi Zhu Batch's World First Warehouse (Dali County, Shaanxi)
Later, because Chang'an City was too far from Taibai Mountain, the mountain road was not easy to walk and extremely inconvenient, so a Taibai Temple was built in the southwest corner of Xi'an to facilitate sacrifice.
In 1900 (the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu), Shaanxi suffered a major drought, when Empress Dowager Cixi was taking refuge in Shaanxi, so she twice allocated silver money to build the Taibai Temple, which shows the importance that the rulers attached to the Taibai Temple at that time.
After the founding of New China, Xi'an called the location of the Taibai Temple the "Cross of the Taibai Temple", because of this temple, the nearly seven-kilometer-long road southwest of Xi'an City was called "Taibai Road".
Good stories can be seen everywhere in Xi'an City. With the course of history, the glory of the emperors has returned to dust, but on the echo wall of history, there are still the footprints of human progress, bit by bit, which are looked up to by future generations.
precisely:
Taibai Temple on Taibai Road,
Search for the ancient road on the Taibai Mountain.
The emperors will compete with each other for sacrifice,
The ancient mystery was speechless and laughed.