The early Chinese anti-epidemic myth not only shows the many experiences accumulated by the ancestors in the process of fighting large infectious diseases, but also reflects the process of their growing confidence in defeating the plague. The anti-epidemic experience and wisdom of our ancestors can become a valuable spiritual wealth that inspires us in our fight against the epidemic.
[Tael, Hook, Hook, (犭戾): The source of the plague is animals]
How do infectious diseases occur? In the early anti-epidemic myths, the ancestors described it as spreading by elves such as heels, hooks, and dragons. Many early anti-epidemic myths are preserved in the ancient book "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
The Zhongshan Jing records the myth of the tael: a bird called "tael" inhabits the mountains of Fuzhou. Whenever the heel birds are infested, a great plague occurs. The Dongshan Sutra records the myth of the hook and the hook: there is a (stone) mountain, and there is a bird called the hook in the mountain. Legend has it that wherever the hook appeared, there would be an outbreak of plague. Another mountain is inhabited by a beast called a moth. It enters the water and the water dries up. As it passes through the meadow, the grass will die. Wherever it appears, plague reigns. The Zhongshan Sutra also contains the myth of (犭戾): "Twenty miles to the southeast, the mountain of Lema." And the beast, its shape is like a beast, red like a dan fire, its name is known as (犭戾), see its country plague. ”
The above four myths of plague transmission record the early human understanding of the emergence and spread of plague: the source of large-scale human infectious diseases is animals. The prototypes of the four plague-transmitting elves, the tael, the hook, the scorpion, and the plague-spreading elves, are all animals, the tassel is a combination of an owl and a wild boar, the hook is a combination of a wild duck and a mouse, the is a combination of a bison and a snake, and the wolf is like a hedgehog. We believe that the elves that spread the plague are imagined to be not accidental in these wild animals, but that the ancestors discovered in the long process of hunting that these wild animals have a relatively direct relationship with the spread of the plague. The myth of the genie spreading diseases by the ancestors was actually a reminder to future generations that they should be careful when contacting these wild animals. Perhaps the meaning of the mythological expression is more tortuous, and posterity did not receive these signals.
跂 Heel
Hook
cockroach
(犭戾)
The plague god was an earlier priesthood of the West Queen Mother, who at that time was not yet a dignified fairy that we are familiar with in later generations, but an image of a half-human and half-beast. The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Western Mountain Sutra says: The Queen Mother of the West looks like a human, but has the tail of a leopard and the teeth of a tiger. The Queen Mother of the West "is the god of the power of the heavens and the five cruelties", and the so-called "power of the heavens" is the plague that descends from heaven. The myth of the Queen Mother of the West managing the plague is quite rich: first, it shows that the ancestors had the consciousness of trying to fight the plague, secondly, it also reflects the initial confidence of the ancestors to win the battle against the plague, and third, the myth of managing the plague also shows the social management wisdom of the ancestors, who tried to manage the emergence and spread of the plague.
[The emergence of the myth of exorcism made the ancestors' sense of autonomy clear]
The ancestors of the late primitive society already had some primary countermeasures and medical means in the face of epidemics, such as the myth of Shennong tasting hundred herbs, which reflects the process of the ancestors exploring the treatment of epidemics with plants. In this context, the myth of china's early anti-epidemic has been further developed, and the myth of the green cultivated bird that resists the plague has emerged.
The "Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Zhongshan" tells the myth of the Qinggeng bird against the epidemic: there is a bird in the Yanli Mountain that often chirps "Qinggeng, Qinggeng", this bird is called Qinggeng, which can resist the plague. Guo Pu also noticed the function of the Green Cultivator Bird in resisting the epidemic, and compared it with the Tumble Heel Bird that descended from the disaster: "Qing Ploughing Resists the Epidemic, and the Tumble Heel Descends the Disaster." Instead of things, each comes with qi. See then civil counseling, actually a vector. "They are all birds, but they have the opposite function because of the difference in fertilization.
Green farming
At least four kinds of plague-spreading elves are recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Judging from the different appearances and habits of these elves, they can be regarded as representatives of different infectious diseases. The narrative of Qinggeng only fighting with the heel shows that the ancestors' understanding of some infectious diseases has been relatively deep, and they may have mastered the more symptomatic specific treatment methods.
The myth of the Green Cultivator Bird Epidemic evolved into the myth and belief of the "Ling magpie annunciation" in later generations. The reason for this change is, on the one hand, because the prototype of the green cultivating bird is a magpie, and on the other hand, it lies in the auspicious connotation represented by the myth of the successful victory of the green cultivating bird to restore peace to the world.
The Qinggeng Royal Epidemic shows the initial efforts of the ancestors in the prevention and control of the plague. But it was not until the myth of expulsion of the plague that the ancestors' sense of autonomy in the prevention and control of the plague gradually became clear.
The earliest myth of expulsion of the plague ghost should be the myth of the three sons of the plague. Wang Chong of the Han Dynasty told the myth of expelling the plague in the "Treatise on Balance and Dismissal": The ancient Emperor Huan had three sons who died prematurely at birth, and after their death they became plague ghosts who spread the plague. One of them is "living in the river for the abuse of ghosts". The second one is "Ju Ruo Shui is a ray". The third is "between the corners of Europe, the main epidemic patient". Therefore, at the end of each year, the official ceremony of expelling the epidemic ghosts is held to send the old, welcome the new, and Najib. Folk imitation has given rise to the custom of exorcising ghosts and chasing away epidemics. Both Cai Yong's "Dictatorship" and Gan Bao's "Search for God" both say that the third plague ghost living in the house often made children sick.
In the myth of the three sons of the emperor, we have clearly seen the manifestation of human strength in the process of fighting the epidemic. For example, the anti-epidemic warrior Fang Xiangshi is generally played by a middle-level and low-level military attaché, and this role is the representative of human strength. In addition, the myth has a threefold connotation worth paying attention to: First, the plot of the plague spread by the ghost of human death shows that the ancestors may have realized the human-to-human transmission characteristics of the plague. Second, the plot of both the sadist and the ghost living in the water shows that the ancestors found a pattern of infectious diseases in humid places such as rivers and rivers in the process of dealing with the plague for a long time. Third, the plague ghost incarnated by one of the three sons of the emperor likes to hide in the human world, which shows that the ancestors also realized that children were susceptible to various infectious diseases.
【The progress of medical means determines the balance of power between the plague and humans】
According to legend, the plague exorcism ceremony was founded by the Yellow Emperor, the common ancestor of the Chinese nation. Volume 530 of the Taiping Imperial Records records a myth about the Yellow Emperor's founding of the plague exorcism ceremony: when you asked the people to hold a ceremony to expel the plague, the reason for beating the drum and shouting. Xiong Huang replied: "Qianshou has many diseases, and the Yellow Emperor's clan has established a witch and salt, so that Qianshou bathes and fasts to pass through the nine tricks; the drum vibrates the duo to move his heart; the labor form tends to step forward to send out the yin and yang qi; and the drinking of onions is drunk to pass through the five viscera." The husband beat the drum and shouted, and expelled the ghost from the epidemic, and the head did not know, thinking that the ghost was also. ”
This dialogue between You Kai and Xiong Huang really cuts to the essence of the myth of exorcism. Most exorcisms— bathing and fasting, beating the drum, and walking in the shape of labor—can achieve the purpose of strengthening the mind, thereby improving the individual's resistance. Drinking onions can directly kill viruses that enter the body to some extent. These methods of preventing plague have been passed down from generation to generation in a mythical manner and have benefited many people.
The "Chronicle of the Jingchu Years" says: On the first day of the first lunar month, the first thing the people do when they get up is to burn bamboo tubes in front of their houses to drive away the "evil ghosts of the mountains." This shows that winter is a period of frequent infectious diseases manifested as colds and fevers, and the plot of scaring away mountain ghosts by burning bamboo may seem absurd, but may reflect the shallow cognition of the ancestors in killing the virus.
In the process of fighting various epidemics, the practice of the ancestors to defeat the plague increased, and the accumulated treatment experience became more and more, which was reflected in the myth of expulsion of the plague ghost, which was manifested as the myth of the plague ghost offering the method of avoiding the plague.
In the Song Dynasty's Yi JianZhi, a myth of Guan Shumi exorcising plague ghosts was recorded: Guan Shumi once saw several "vicious-looking" plague ghosts on the morning of the first day of the first lunar month. Not only was he not afraid of these plagues, but he rebuked them loudly. Under the interrogation of the Privy Council, the plague ghost honestly confessed: "I wait for the plague ghost, on the first day of the year, when I am sick in the human world", and told some mysteries to avoid the plague. We have contacted the aforementioned myths of the Three Sons of the Plague and the Myth of the Mountain, and found that although these myths have different plots, they have a relatively similar understanding of the time when the plague broke out at the end of the year and the beginning of the year.
Later, there was even a myth that ordinary people were fighting the plague ghosts with their bare hands. "Zi Bu Shu" records a myth entitled "Plague Ghost": In the twenty-first year of Qianlong, Xu Yishen, a Huzhou native, found a duster of chicken feathers that kept spinning for no reason in his study on the night of the moon. This feather duster is actually a plague ghost. The plague ghost begged Xu Yi to stretch it back. To this end, it also offered a cure for the plague. This anti-plague prescription was later taken by Zhao Wenshan, the prefect of Suzhou, to treat people infected with the plague with this recipe, and there was no one who could not be saved. The myth describes in detail the content of the plague avoidance formula offered by the plague ghost, and its ingredients include chinese medicines such as thunder pills, flying gold, alum, rhubarb, etc. The plot is actually a manifestation of the great development of traditional medicine, indicating that medicine at that time had clear diagnosis and treatment methods and many prescriptions for many epidemics. The biggest difference between this myth and the above articles is that the balance of power between the plague and the human has undergone a complete change, the strong is the human, the weak is the plague, and the objective reason lies in the progress of medical means.
[Zhao Gongming: From the god of plague to the god of good and finally became the god of wealth]
The belief in the plague god Zhao Gongming was already produced in the pre-Qin period, and the myth of Jing Gongmeng Da Li recorded in the Zuo Zhuan is the beginning of Zhao Gongming's becoming a plague god. By the Jin Dynasty, this myth and belief had become quite popular, and the plague god Zhao Gongming at this time had two sides, which could spread the plague and take people's lives, and could also save the disease. For example, the "Zhao GongmingFu Sansa Rescue Wang You" in volume 5 of the "Search for God" records the plot of Zhao Gongming Fu Sanzuo giving Wang You more than ten red pens that can prevent plague.
Plague god Zhao Gongming
Around the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the plague gods gradually expanded and expanded to the later "five plague gods". During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the "myth of the five plagues" was gradually enriched, and the "Three Sects of Origins and Streams Searching for Gods" specifically recorded that the five plague gods were Zhang Yuanbo, the god of spring plague, Liu Yuanda, the god of summer plague, Zhao Gongming, the god of autumn plague, Zhong Shigui, the god of winter plague, and Shi Wenye, the god of plague in charge. Among them, the arrangement of the corresponding relationship between the plague god and the four seasons reflects the objective cognition of the ancestors that the plague may break out in all four seasons. In order to pray for the protection of the plague god, Emperor Wen of Sui built a shrine for the plague god, so that the plague god sacrifice entered the official worship system.
In the long-term process of fighting the epidemic, the ancestors have a relatively in-depth understanding of the pathogenic principle of infectious diseases. This is also reflected in the evolution of the plague myth. For example, in the "Complete Biography of Liexian", the five plague gods were increased to "eight ghost marshals" and performed their duties, "Liu Yuanda led the ghost to perform miscellaneous diseases, Zhang Yuanbo to perform the plague, Zhao Gongming to have diarrhea, Zhong Shiji to have sores, Shi Wenye to have cold diarrhea, Fan Juqing to be sour, Yao Gongbo to perform five poisons, and Li Gongzhong to be crazy and red-eyed." ”
Later, Zhao Gongming and the plague god personality gradually drifted apart, from the plague spreading the plague god of autumn plague to a multi-functional good god, by the Ming Dynasty's "Fengshen Yanyi", Zhao Gongming has become a relatively clear god of wealth.
Zhao Gongming's change from the god of plague to the god of wealth has profound significance. On the one hand, it reflects the positive dialectical thinking of the ancestors in the face of the plague. The outbreak of the plague is already a very bad thing, but if human beings can find ways to prevent the plague and cure the disease, the plague can also be subdued. This kind of thinking is reflected in mythology as the plot of transforming the plague god of the world into a good god who benefits the human world; on the other hand, the disappearance of Zhao Gongming's plague god function in the Ming Dynasty represents the gradual realization of the ancestors that the experience and knowledge of prevention and treatment accumulated in the long-term anti-epidemic process are more reliable than praying to the gods and worshiping the Buddha, which is the inevitable result of the ancestors' scientific fight against the epidemic.
(The author is an expert in the research project of "Chinese Creation Myth" and the director of the Folklore Research Office of the Institute of Literature of shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, this article was originally published in Wenhui Think Tank on the Tao, February 27, 2020)
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Author: Bi Xuling
Editor: Chen Yu
Editor-in-Charge: Yang Yiqi
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.