01
In the well-known book "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong's four masters and apprentices took the scriptures from the Western Heavens and passed by the Flame Mountain, and needed to borrow a banana fan to extinguish the fire. Princess Tiefan, the lord of the Flame Mountain, has always hated Sun Wukong because the red child was taken away by Guanyin. So as soon as he came, the Iron Fan Princess did not give him a good look.
Whether it is Wu Cheng'en's original work or the drama version of "Journey to the West", princess Tiefan and Sun Wukong have a vendetta because of the red child, which is beyond doubt.
However, in the mythological system of relatively early miscellaneous dramas, the Iron Fan Princess is actually a "single girl" in the immortal world, and does not have the son of the Red Child.
She had a vendetta against Sun Wukong only because when Sun Wukong came to borrow a fan, his words were light and thin, which offended her.
Since Princess Tiefan was not originally the birth mother of the red child, who was his mother?
02
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, in Yang Jingxian's "Journey to the West Miscellaneous Drama", the Iron Fan Princess had nothing to do with the Red Child.
In the miscellaneous drama, Princess Tiefan was originally a god in charge of the wind god in the heavenly court, and because of the conflict with the Queen Mother, she was demoted to the mortal world and lived alone in the Iron Hammer Mountain. She had never been related to the Bull Demon King, let alone given birth to a red child.
The red child, on the other hand, appeared earlier in this miscellaneous drama.
The red child, also known as "Ai Nu'er", in the miscellaneous drama Ai Nu'er wanted to eat the meat of Tang monks, and abducted Tang monks on the way to take the scriptures, and the Buddha covered the child with a bowl and imprisoned him. Knowing that her son had been captured, Ainuo'er's mother, The Devil Mother, came to the rescue.
The devil's mother came, but she couldn't open the Buddha's bowl, so she had to take refuge in the Buddha's door in order to save her son.
Speaking of the devil's mother, everyone may not be familiar with it, and may wonder, in our mythological system, we rarely hear this figure? In fact, the image of the devil's mother, as well as the story of the "devil's mother revealing the bowl", are all passed down from India.
03
Devil Mother, also known as Harija in Sanskrit, Goliti, Koritha, also known as Joyful Mother, Meritorious Heaven, etc., was originally an evil god. The ghost mother looks like a night fork, so it is also called the Luocha ghost mother and the Luocha woman.
Legend has it that in ancient Times, there was a Buddha born in Wangshe City, five hundred people went to worship, and on the way they met a pregnant woman, who followed five hundred people to go with them, but suddenly miscarried halfway through.
Five hundred people did not help him, and abandoned him halfway, and the woman died with hatred, and at the time of death, she swore a poisoned oath: in the next life, she will join the city of Wangshe and eat all the children in the city.
Later, indeed, she fulfilled the poisonous oath, and she reincarnated in the city and captured the children in the city for food.
According to legend, in the relevant records of the Jin Dynasty, the devil's mother had thousands of children and always stole other people's children to eat, so someone asked the Buddha for help, and the Buddha stole her children. When the devil's mother found that the child was missing, she ran to the Buddha to make trouble and ask for the child, and finally the devil's mother was enlightened by the Buddha and chose to take refuge.
By the Tang Dynasty, the legend of "Devil Mother Unveiling the Bowl" has been relatively full, and even fixed, and there are many vivid ancient paintings with this as the theme; During the Song and Yuan dynasties, this story was widely circulated in miscellaneous dramas.
04
In the early days, people created the demon image of the devil mother, presumably out of fear and anxiety.
Ancient living standards are low, children are easy to die, people out of fear of children lost, early death, there is such an image of eating children, as a "rational explanation" for the loss of children.
Later, with the rise of Buddhism, external demons and ghosts were absorbed by Buddhism, and the devil's mother was also incorporated into the Buddhist god system and became the protector god beside the Buddha.
In the original "Journey to the West" Guanyin collection of the red child, the devil's mother also appeared once in a rare time.
Here is a quote from Professor Zhao Yulong's detailed discovery - Sun Wukong could not resist the Red Child's Samadhi True Fire, went to the South China Sea to ask guanyin for help, and there were 24 ways of the heavens to greet Wukong, one of which was "Devil Mother Heavens" to speak.
At this time, the image of the devil's mother was already a Buddhist protector.
In the later evolution and development, the devil's mother was not only the good patron saint under the Buddha's door, but also because she had a thousand sons, and the ancient multi-character symbolized many blessings, and the original "demon" ghost mother's image gradually changed into a son Guanyin.
Author: Our team has a falling moon
Reference: Zhao Yulong's "Red Child's Mother Has another "Ghost?" "Also <西游记>appeared in the Hundred Returns", Yang Jingxian's "Journey to the West Miscellaneous Drama"