preface
The pre-Qin period has formed the basic plot of the myth of Chi You that has been passed down in later generations, such as the Rebellion of Chi You, the Yellow Emperor fighting Chi You, the Yellow Emperor fighting Chi You, the Emperor Zhuo Chen, Zuo Bing, and the Qi You Banner, etc., of which the Battle of Huang Qi is the core, and its mythological source is in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
1. Research on the origin and significance
The Classic of Mountains and Seas better preserves the original appearance of the myth of the Battle of the Huangqi and reflects the ritual prototype of this myth. This battle is fought between the Yellow Emperor, a symbol of the defender of natural order, and Chi You, a symbol of the destroyer of natural order.
This struggle of antagonistic forces was also manifested in a contest between the two natural factors of water and drought, which were most important for the farming people, Ying Long and Nu Wei, as regulators of water and drought, became assistants to the Yellow Emperor who maintained natural order, while Fengbo and Rain Shi sided with Chi You as tyrannical and uncontrolled natural forces.
The battle of the yellow chicks in the Classic of Mountains and Seas is entirely a natural myth, embodying the struggle between defenders of natural order and saboteurs.
The Warring States and Two Han Dynasties were important periods in which the mythology of Chiyou changed, represented by the remarks of Zhuzi, reflecting a more conscious fiction and commentary on it. When Zhuzi talks about the myth of Chiyou, out of the need for their own theoretical construction, they often do not expand too much into the specific plot, but mostly only describe the synopsis, thus forming a differentiated narrative.
The evolution of the myth of Chiyu was also deeply affected by the social and historical situation at that time, and it was the continuous staging of real war events, ideological reflection and discussion, and the construction of different groups that gradually separated the myth of Chiyu war from its ritual archetype.
Constantly moving towards historicization and politicization, it eventually became a distinct political myth, and the main image of Chi You also became a traitor against the Yellow Emperor as an emperor.
Along with the general trend of unification at the end of the Warring States period, the myth of Chiyu also moved towards integration. Represented by the Five Emperors, the story of the battle between Chi You and the Yellow Emperor was determined as a contest between the orthodox Son of Heaven and the rebels.
However, this process did not eliminate the contradictions in the mythological plots of Chiyu, but left a template for later narratives to play. During the Two Han Dynasty, the official sacrifice to Chiyou also turned from prosperity to decline, and although there were occasional pre-war sacrifices to Chiyou in later generations, the overall trend of decreasing the sacrifices and records of Chiyou at the official level.
On the other hand, the historicization of the myth of Chiyu is mainly the result of the evolution of the upper culture, and its natural and ritual properties have been preserved to a certain extent among the people.
In the folk narrative, Chiu is not only enriched in image, but also in the storyline, and the copper-headed and iron-fronted horn play continues its ritual background, playing a greater role as a god of war and a soldier's military and repellent function.
Influenced by folk religion and belief, different characters such as Queen Mother of the West, Guan Gong and others participate in the plot of the battle with Chi You. The folk and official then developed interrelated but distinct narratives of Chiyu, which cut into the study of mythology with a specific character.
It is possible to observe the context of the evolution of this myth from a macro perspective, and it is also possible to examine in detail the subtle changes in its occurrence and interaction with different elements. The study of mythological figures in antiquity also complements the study of ancient history.
When it comes to the image of Chi You, he is not only a tribal leader and Miao ancestor as a historical figure, but also a soldier and war god as a mythological figure. The mixed identity makes the interpretation of Chi You itself contradictory, and the intertwining with the deeds of the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor also makes Chi You occupy a special position in Chinese history.
The myth of Chiu has rich historical and cultural connotations, and the research on the myth of Chiyou by predecessors often focuses on the scope of historical research. Since Sima Qian's "Five Emperors" made a systematic and historical description of the Huang Yan Qian War, the image of Chi You as the son of a chaotic minister has been determined in ancient history.
However, later Han documents show that in the people, the image of Chi You was not completely fixed, in fact, with the decline of the official record of Chi You in later generations, the image and storyline of Chi You under the folk account became richer.
Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, the myth of Chiyou has been mixed with the state, intellectuals and national narratives, and has become an important symbol for the Miao people to explore their own historical memory and cultural identity.
Until contemporary times, under the background of intangible cultural heritage protection and local cultural resource development, the myth of Chiu has further evolved. At the same time, with the development of ancient history, especially the rediscovery of the content related to Chiu in the excavated documents, new opportunities and angles have emerged to re-explore the connotation of the myth of Chiyou in ancient times.
The interpretation of the myth of Chiu from ancient times to the present involves many complex issues, and the interpretation of the archetype of the myth of Chiu is still inconclusive, on the other hand, based on the information seen so far, it seems that it is still difficult to restore the myth of Chiyou to real history.
Generally speaking, Chi You Yan is related to the ancient history research movement in the early stage of the national awakening, influenced by the national politics, history and culture of this period, and is also closely related to the rise of different disciplines at that time.
The continuous development of scientific research such as archaeology, folklore, mythology, ethnology, history and other studies has injected new vitality and provided resources for the myth of Chiyou itself, and has jointly explained the significance of the myth of Chiyou in ancient Chinese history and ethnic pattern from different perspectives.
The predecessors have accumulated many achievements in the study of Chiu, but at the same time, there is still room for further excavation in the discussion of literature, mythological prototypes, etc., and there are still some misunderstandings and even blind spots about Chiyou in the collation and interpretation of relevant mythological texts.
In view of this, this paper attempts to first comprehensively comb and analyze the important texts of Chiyou myths and legends in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, and sort out the general appearance of Chiyou myths and legends at that time.
On this basis, this paper traces the prototype of the Chiyou myth and explores the textual flow and image changes that occurred in the context of the Qianyou myth in the context of the Two Han Dynasty.
The evolution of the Qianyou myths and texts recorded in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties is full of differences and contradictions, which can be attributed to the complex relationship between myths and ancient history.
Wang Guowei talked about ancient history, pointing out that during this period, legends and historical facts were originally mixed, or historical facts were modified, but it is undeniable that this must contain "the land of historical facts", and the study of Chiu You in the past was mainly focused on the historical perspective.
This is first reflected in the discussion of Chiu's identity, especially Chiyu's ethnic identity. In the 30s of the 20th century, Meng Wentong proposed the "Taikoo Three Ethnic Lines Theory", which divided Chiyou into Jianghan ethnic groups in the southern region, and analyzed the accounts of Chiu's identity in successive documents.
On the other hand, the mixed records of the identity of the disciples of Chiu in history are not one person, but passed down from generation to generation, and occasionally heroic figures emerge, and there are different records.
In the 40s, Xu Xusheng demonstrated the theory of the three groups of tribes in ancient China, in which Chiyou was classified as the Dongyi group, and the tribal location was roughly in the southern part of Shanxi.
Zhang Fuxiang supported Xu Xusheng's view in the book "Dongyi Cultural Examination" and further demonstrated the meaning of "Jiu Li". Montessori and Xu's research certainly has certain shortcomings.
However, it provided a lot of support for later ethnic research, and Xu Xusheng's ethnic classification of the three groups, as well as the angle of studying through the combination of blood, name, region, etc., was also concerned by later scholars, and attributing Chi You to Dongyi was also the mainstream view of later generations.
2. Research Review
In addition to being regarded as Dongyi, the idea that Yichiu belongs to the southern ethnic group is also more important, especially the connection between Yichiyou and the Miao is more discussed.
Yang Zhiqiang pointed out that in the process of the name "Miao" going from the general term of the non-Han ethnic group in the south to the formation of modern ethnic groups, highlighting the identity of the Miao ethnic group has become a very important content. This attempt was carried out partly from the perspective of determining the identity of Chiu's ancestor and affirming Chiyou's historical achievements.
In the 50s of the 20th century, a survey of the social history of ethnic minorities was carried out throughout the country, and in this investigation activity, the songs, customs, history and legends of some Miao localities were gradually revealed.
There were also considerable achievements in excavating related myths and legends, and at the same time, in parallel with the confirmation of the identity of ethnic minorities, the identification of the Miao ethnic group was also realized.
A number of myths and legends that were later thought to be associated with Chiu were gradually revealed. In the 80s, with the further development of ethnology and anthropology, the investigation and collation of folk oral traditions and customs continued to advance, and Miao scholars themselves began a revival movement out of enthusiasm for exploring their own national culture.
This process is not only to continue to excavate folk materials related to Chi You, but also to refute the stigmatized writing of Chi You in the past, trace the origin of the Miao ethnic group, prove the relationship between Chi You and the Miao people, and further emphasize that Chi You and Yan Huang are the ancestors of China.
Under the influence of this thinking, most of the representative Miao historical documents published in the 80s and 90s regarded Chi You as the ancestor. The Miao scholar Tian Yulong compiled and annotated the "Selected Materials of Chi You Yan You", which not only contains historical documents, but also collects Miao folk Qi You narratives, which is of great significance for the study of Miao Chi You mythology.
When Tang Chunfang discussed the historical merits and status of Chi You as the ancestor of Miao, he pointed out that the Miao people have always regarded Chi as the most noble ancestor or king. Cao Cuiyun believes in the article "Looking at the Traces of Ancient Miao History and Culture from the Miao Language" that part of the Chiyou clique, which was defeated by the Yellow Emperor, established the Kingdom of Li in the north, and partly returned to the south as the ancestors of the Miao people.
The origin and migration of the Miao people is already difficult, and linking the modern Miao people with the ancient history and legendary Chi You inevitably leads to some questions, such as the fact that the ancestral status of Chi You is not actually highlighted in the early survey literature, and some scholars have dialectically identified the evidence of the connection between the identity of Chi You and the Miao people.
In this sense, by focusing on the construction process of Chi You being traced as the ancestor of the Miao people, it can be found that this behavior is not only an attempt to establish a blood relationship, but also a tracing of self-identity and ethnic memory within the nation, out of the discussion of blood relationship, but in fact obtains the meaning beyond blood relationship, and promotes integration and communication within the nation.
It can be found that this behavior is at the same time as establishing a blood relationship. The discussion of the Miao ethnic origin and the relationship between Chi You in modern times is largely related to the influence of the dynastic change and the establishment of a new era on the narrative of national history in the late Qing Republic.
From the perspective of the times, the modern nation-state ideology of the "Republic of Six Ethnic Groups" and Western studies since the late Qing Dynasty have jointly influenced the attitude and research of the people of the time towards the country and history, and some scholars have begun to regard Chi You as the ancestor of the Miao people.
Especially later, Miao scholars studied ethnic history and customs in more depth, and this act itself also continuously strengthened the historical memory and cultural identity of Chi You as the ancestor of the Miao people, and the important position of Chi You in ancient history came to a large extent from his war deeds with Huang Yan, which is also the focus of Chi You's research.
summary
Much of the study of this war event focuses on the discussion of the Battle of Zhuolu as a prehistoric tribal war. For example, Xia Zengyou believed that Chi You was originally the king of Jiuli, and that the Battle of Zhuolu was a war that took place in the Zhuolu region of Hebei.
In this war, the Zhuxia people living in the Yellow River Valley successfully resisted the invasion of the peoples of the Yangtze River basin in the north, and Chi You defeated Emperor Yu after this battle, and later called himself Yan Emperor according to the custom of inheriting the name, which seems to reconcile the phenomenon in ancient texts of including Chi You in the surname Yandi Jiang.