Fengshen is actually a big political show

Author | Dong Kexin

If you can insist on reading the novel "Romance of Fengshen in its entirety" in its entirety, and endure the rambling, repetitive, and monotonous language, the story of Fengshen is actually very interesting.

The main line of the martial king felling, in fact, the immortals fight, it seems that the tall gods, but the supreme leader to recruit workers for himself, the immortals do not want 996 ah, so, all the fights lost, so they were forced to float to the fengshen platform to get an errand for themselves.

In this way, it was very surprising but no longer surprising that King Wu actually did not want to cut down at all. Before he died, King Wen of Zhou specially told King Wu that you must not go against the grain and commit trouble, listen to the encouragement and encouragement of the people around you, run to attack the king who chopped my son Bo Yikao, make him into a meatloaf for me to eat, and imprisoned me for 7 years.

Ji Fa played by Yu Shi in the movie "Feng Shen"

King Wu really listened to his father, so although he was named King Wu, this uprising trip seemed to have nothing to do with King Wu, and the whole process was Jiang Ziya and a group of immortals in the name of returning to Zhou and sealing gods, and dragging King Wu step by step to the capital of the Shang Dynasty.

King Wu himself repeatedly expressed his unwillingness to fight, and he wanted to go home, constantly discussing with Shang's father along the way: "Let's go back, go back and live a peaceful life." "Jiang Ziya's mouth is diligent, and he even coaxed and lied to King Wu, and then he didn't bother to cheat if he deceived him, the leader said yours, I replied with a "okay", and it was okay.

The climax of the felling journey was the fight between the two factions and three sects and the immortals, so that Yuan Shi Tianzun, Taishang Laojun, Tongtian Sect Lord and their teacher Hongjun Laozu all came forward, and what happened to mortals, of course, King Wu only shivered. So we even saw this scene in the book: Jiang Ziya won the battle and went back to congratulate King Wu, who said carefully: "I think there are many immortals there, and I dare not send people to greet them." ”

The human character is a trick, and the specific executor of this consecration, Kunlun Mountain Immortal Class, and its main obstacle maker, Penglai Island, are the real protagonists. This fengshen universe imagined by the human world is also highly isomorphic with the human world; There are power struggles in the world, ideological warfare, bureaucratic politics, and departmental struggles in the real political world, and the immortal world has played more than enough.

Who holds the destiny of heaven

Fengshen is the core thread of this story. Because everything started with Haotian God's intention to seal the gods.

And the so-called consecration of gods means that after the creation of the world, wind, fire, thunder, weddings and funerals, eating and toileting, and all specific affairs must have special commissioners to dock and manage, which is equivalent to setting up a bureaucratic system in the heavenly realm.

Being a god means having an establishment, having job responsibilities, being subject to the rules and regulations of the Heavenly Court, and no longer being at ease like an immortal. For immortals, Shinto is inferior to Immortal Dao, and those who can cultivate immortals to achieve positive results do not want to be gods.

Stills from the movie "Fengsheng"

And since no one is willing to take the initiative to be God, then everyone negotiates to solve the problem through an agreement and each with a small head. Therefore, the two major factions in the world of sealing gods, Penglai Island, led by the leader of the Tongtian Sect, and Kunlun Mountain, the leader of the sect, signed the list of gods, and the Jade Void Palace of Kunlun Mountain was responsible for the specific task of sealing gods.

The specific way is to destroy merchants and collect the dead as gods along the way.

For the completion of political tasks, two aspects are important, one is to ensure a stable organization, and the other is the unity of consciousness.

Jiang Ziya organized the felling team, from the request of Master Yuan Shi Tianzun, he himself has no results in cultivating immortals for 40 years, has no military talent, and cannot see how powerful the force value and how wise he is, mainly backed by the tough Jade Void Palace.

Above Jiang Ziya, there were more than a dozen senior brothers, including the elder-level disciple Burning Lantern Daoist, Antarctic Immortal Weng, Lei Zhenzi's master Yun Zhongzi, and the main disciple Twelve Golden Immortals. Nezha's master Taiyi Zhenren, Yang Jian's master Yuding Zhenren, King Jun's eldest son Yin Jiao's master Guangchengzi, second son Yin Hong's master Chi Chengzi, Jinzha's master Manjushri Guangfa Tianzun, Muzha's master Puxian Zhenren, and Tuxingsun's master Fear Liusun, are all within the twelve golden immortals. As long as Jiang Ziya sits in the tent, his senior brothers and brothers, who are in the same door, will take the initiative to come to the door one by one to help, and when they encounter difficult passes, opponents who cannot be defeated, they will also run back to their hometown in Kunlun Mountain at any time for help.

Jiang Ziya, played by Huang Bo in the movie "Feng Shen"

Jiang Ziya himself mainly relies on two things, one is to beat the whip, and the other is to constantly declare the destiny of heaven in himself, emphasizing the nobility and justice of the cause he is engaged in. With the whip, there is the true power to absorb the immortals, and if you master the Mandate of Heaven, you have the support of legitimacy.

This set of Mandate of Heaven words, not only when Ziya strengthens the team and attacks the enemy, it is very slippery, but even Nezha, who mainly fights a "my life depends on me", before fighting and subduing the opponent, will also say "why should you violate the Mandate of Heaven".

Under the Mandate of Heaven, Daji, who confuses the king of chaos, is actually the same as Jiang Ziya, who represents the division of justice, and the work goal is the same, but the department and division of labor are different.

But destiny is not entirely equivalent to ideology, it has two layers, ideology is only the smaller one. Beyond that, destiny is some kind of supernatural order that is higher than ideology.

Stills from the movie "Fengsheng"

Shang Ren will die because of the Mandate of Heaven; Zhou Wu destroyed Shang instead, and had to survive for eight hundred years, because of the Mandate of Heaven; Jiang Ziya died seven times, and came back from the dead again and again, because of the Mandate of Heaven; The general Huang Tianhua under the Ziya tent was rescued in battle, because the Mandate of Heaven was not completed, and the second death was not saved, also because according to the Mandate of Heaven he deserved to die. It seems that everything has to be subject to this mysterious force.

What matters is not what the Mandate is, but who holds the power to interpret it. In "Romance of the Gods", Jiang Ziya and the Jade Void Palace monopolized the right to interpret the Mandate of Heaven.

Therefore, the congregation has always grasped psychological superiority by preaching their moral superiority. Once people are convinced that they are right, they will be confident and strong. Nezha appeared, naughty and foolish, lawless, constantly beating people to death, Taiyi Zhenren was completely unrestrained, and also arched the fire, because they thought they had a great cause in them, and others had to give in. Nezha accidentally killed the boy of the sect master Shiji Niangniang with an arrow, and Shiji Niangniang ran to ask for an explanation, and Taiyi Zhenren was also the right spokesperson, and even Shiji Niangniang was killed.

The power of ideas shaped by Manifest Destiny is greater than force. Not only does it make the people in it excited and motivated, but it also binds everyone on the team to submit to a word, a goal, including the leader King Wu.

Stills from the movie "Fengsheng"

King Wu was both the initiator of the logging operation and had to follow its logic. When King Wu needs to take the lead and commit danger, Jiang Ziya's reason is "It's okay, you are the destiny of heaven, and you have your own blessings."

With the blessing of the Mandate of Heaven, the interpretation of justice, which represents justice, is also a bit deceitful and ruthless. Jiang Ziya killed decisively, delaying his own people to complete the task, and he was not merciless in execution. On the contrary, the villain intercepted the sect, seemed to be soft-hearted, and there was still true love in the three realms, and the soldiers and horses who captured Jiang Ziya were rarely killed immediately, but they were all locked up first.

Therefore, the war losses of the truncated teachings are also much higher than those of the expounded teachings.

The soft underbelly of destiny

It was precisely because the leader of the Sect Intercept Sect, the Tongtian Sect Leader, knew that sealing gods was not a good thing, and he was worried about the death and injury of his disciples, so he also specially posted a notice to publicize it, telling his disciples that the sealing of gods was about to begin, you should stay at home obediently, and don't run outside if you have nothing to do.

But unexpectedly, the Intercept Sect still fought with the Interpretation Sect, and later the Tongtian Sect Lord himself ended up and joined this immortal war.

The question is, the Sect Intercept was originally a signatory to the God Sealing List, and it recognized and agreed to the God Sealing Action, so how did it become the main opposition force on Jiang Ziya's road?

Stills from the movie "Fengsheng"

Because just causes are often exclusive. The cause of justice is united by shared ideas that are highly political because they are to be extended to common action and subordinate to specific political goals.

And politics is about separating between friend and foe. If you and I do not stand together, it is easy to become my opposite.

Looking at the path of opposition among the sectarians, there are three main situations.

One is that Wen Taishi, who firmly defends the Shang Dynasty, turns the tide of the building, and although tens of millions of people go to it, he will naturally become the number one hostile force of Jiang Ziya and the teachings. He is the real "retrograde" in the world of fengsheng, what is feared by the destiny of heaven, he is fiercely loyal, until he dies in battle to consecrate the god, and the soul does not forget to float to the dynasty song first, and finally advise the king again.

There is also a kind of help out of friendship. Many of the losses of the Sect are composed of this, and they were not originally the guardians of the Shang Dynasty, but only because their Taoist friends were killed and injured, and the sisters had a deep brotherhood, they came to support. But this also means that the opposition between interpretation and truncation is gradually expanding.

The last is because of the exposition condensed by the self-confidence of the Mandate of Heaven, which regards itself as superior and does not take others into account, which makes the believers feel that their dignity is offended, their living space is compressed, and they must rise up to defend themselves and fight back.

The large-scale escalation in the later stage of the Battle of the Gods is because of this.

Stills from the movie "Fengsheng"

This incident stemmed from Guang Chengzi killing the Fire Spirit Virgin, an important disciple of the Intercept Sect, and was chased and beaten by everyone in the Intercept Sect. Seeing that he couldn't beat the other party, Guang Chengzi directly went to Penglai Island to find the master of the Tongtian Sect to complain: "Your disciples blocked Jiang Ziya from fulfilling the mandate of heaven, and also injured several people, I came to help on the order of my teacher, repeatedly persuaded, she still didn't listen, I had to make a move, accidentally ended her life, now your disciples don't let me go, what do you think?" ”

The Tongtian Sect Lord supported Guang Chengzi at first, and also soothed: "You and Jiang Ziya said that he has a whip, and if I teach the disciples to stop him, let him beat." I have long told them that you should stay at home, don't run around, and those who do not listen to the advice are to blame. ”

Guangchengzi got a satisfactory answer and left happily, but the disciples, who had already held their stomachs, did not agree.

"Your Tongtian Sect Lord is kind and generous, saying that 'red flowers, white lotus leaves, the three religions are the same', but people explain the teachings to us like this, they always scold us as sideways, bully us with the Mandate of Heaven, and even say that the Sect Master you are a bird and beast, how can this work?"

When the Tongtian Sect Lord heard this, it exploded this time. You can kill my disciples, but you can't insult my dignity. What is the destiny of heaven, let me use all the power of the sect to subdue you, so that you do not dare not face me squarely.

Therefore, later, the Lord of the Tongtian Sect set up the Immortal Array and the Ten Thousand Immortal Array, vowing to compete with the Interpretation Sect, even if he was "flattened" by Lao Tzu who was riding a green bull.

Stills from the movie "Fengsheng"

Of course, although the interpretation of the Mandate of Heaven holds the final power of interpretation, it does not mean that it is invulnerable. Because Destiny has to emphasize over and over again, it is difficult to truly unify thoughts, and it is easy to be vulnerable in the face of human nature.

Shen Gongbao's anti-Yin Jiao and Yin Hong shows the fragility of the discourse consensus. Yin Jiao and Yin Hong, because King Shun forced their biological mother Empress Jiang to death, and also wanted to kill themselves, hurriedly fled from Chaoge, and when their lives were at stake, they were rescued by Guangchengzi and Chi Chengzi, respectively, and practiced on the mountain. In their practice, they accepted what Master said about the Mandate of Heaven in Zhou, and they were willing to join the army.

As a result, when the two went down the mountain to Jiang Ziya, they met Shengong Leopard, and after being persuaded by his three words, they quickly changed their hearts and turned to Zhou. Shen Gongbao's reasons for persuading them are mainly two, one is to move people with family affection, after all, King Feng is your biological father, how can there be a son who kills his father back; Then there is Eli moving people, after you succeed, you can reorganize your business and be the Son of Heaven.

These two people really listened quickly, compared to the ethereal destiny, family affection and interests, they were truly close to themselves.

Shen Gongbao, played by Xia Yu in the movie "Feng Shen"

And Shen Gongbao, who went out of the same door as Jiang Ziya and was a senior brother, but became a firm anti-Jiang force within the sect, mainly because he thought that he was despised by Jiang Ziya and hurt his self-esteem, and he didn't care about the so-called destiny of heaven, and he was bent on tripping up his senior brother.

Those disciples who wandered outside the core team of Felling were easy targets for him to rebel. Tu Xingsun was originally a disciple of Fear Liusun among the twelve Golden Immortals, but he didn't know what his master and team were doing, and was plucked by Shengong Leopard, so he ran to the enemy camp until he was angrily dragged back by Fear Liusun.

The divine realm is like the world

The Immortal Battle of the Ten Thousand Immortal Array is the climax of the Feng Shen, the two factions and three sects, all the masters and immortals have appeared, and the Intercept Sect has also dispatched all its disciples in the five mountains, three mountains and four seas, and it is impossible not to marvel when he sees the opposite side of the teaching.

This posture of gambling on each other also cuts off the leeway for themselves to retreat. Once the real fight starts, of course, both sides lose.

The final way to end this endgame was for the higher authority and the common teacher of the two factions, Hongjun Laozu, to come forward, reprimand, and go back to each house. Since then, the immortals of Kunlun Mountain and Penglai Island have stopped, and the home field has been left to Jiang Ziya's small team of felling.

However, after experiencing this journey of exterminating commerce, both the Xuan and Jie factions were greatly damaged, and the immortals who participated either died and suffered heavy injuries, or broke through a thousand years of cultivation and had to start all over again. Only the distant Western Sect Fisherman has profited and adopted many children. Even the twelve golden immortals later joined the Buddhist sect, Manjushri Guangfa Tianzun, Puxian Zhenren, and Cihang Daoist, turned around and became Manjushri, Puxian Bodhisattva, and Guanyin Bodhisattva respectively, and the fear of Liusun became the Fear of Staying Buddha.

Stills from the movie "Fengsheng"

Laughing behind their backs without saying a word were Haotian God and Nuwa Niangniang. They all successfully achieved their goals, the former fulfilled the requirement of being a god, and the latter used the hands of Daji and Jiang Ziya to get rid of the blasphemous king, and also conveniently ended Daji, which caused public resentment, and gave himself a good name. And the human leader King Wu is no longer a free rider tool, and has regained the prestige of the king. After the achievement, Jiang Ziya was sent back to the fiefdom by King Wu's sentence "Master Shang's father is old and inconvenient to be in the dynasty", and he went to the fiefdom.

Jiang Ziya, who lived a quiet life, may have a different feeling when he replays all this.

Although destiny can envelop ideas, it cannot envelop interests. The world may have some kind of overall welfare, but the interests of different groups and individuals tend to take precedence in actual behavior.

As a classical Chinese mythology, the very interesting thing about the story of Fengshen is that the heavenly god realm is not a place of innocence. People don't want to be God, and if they are God, they are not necessarily good people. In "Romance of the Gods", a very funny scene is that Fei Lian and Evil Lai, two traitors, saw that the general trend of King Feng had passed, and turned to King Wu, but was recognized by Jiang Ziya at a glance and arrested.

Jiang Ziya in the 2006 version of "List of Gods"

While carrying the two of them to behead, Jiang Ziya shouted: "Quickly lead their souls to be sealed in front of the altar!" "It was simply to kill them for the sake of sealing the gods. And when counting their crimes, he also forgot to read the statement that the destiny of heaven returned to Zhou and the merchants would die, on the grounds that the two of them "ruined into Tang Sheji and died with remnants."

Such a sealed immortal is neither loved nor respected, but it is even more annoying.

This is very similar to the gods who lived on Mount Olympus in Greek mythology, the gods on high, illegitimate incest, fighting fiercely, more than mortals. The war between Greece and Troy was also a fight between the gods through the hands of people. The war broke out because of the jealousy and possessiveness of Zeus' wife Hera, the goddess of wisdom Athena, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.

Hera and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, sided with Greece, while Ares, the god of war, and Apollo, the god of long-range shooting, sided with Troy. Whoever Athena gives strength is infinitely powerful and powerful, and with the blessing of her divine power, mortals also gain the confidence that they can beat the immortals. Ares, who was beaten and crying, would run to his father Zeus for comfort, and the wronged Athena would also run to his father Zeus for judgment. And Zeus, dissatisfied with his wife Hera, did not dare to quarrel openly, so he secretly balanced between his daughter and his wife.

These gods, who have good and evil, seven emotions and six desires, and are more like people, are really much more interesting than gods who can only make people love and fear.

The pictures in the article are partly from Visual China and partly from the Internet

Edit | Xiangyu

Typesetting | Fifi

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