In the novel "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong returned from learning art from Bodhi Patriarch, and in order to find a satisfactory weapon, he went to the Dragon Palace of the East China Sea to ask for it. Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East China Sea, successively recommended weapons such as machetes, nine-strand forks, and Fang Tian's halberd, but Sun Wukong did not like them. Finally, at the suggestion of the dragon woman, the dragon king put Dayu to control the water "a stator of the shallow depth of the river and the sea", "it is an iron pillar, about two feet thick and more than two feet long" - "Dinghai Shen Needle" recommended to the monkey, this is the famous weapon of Sun Monkey - "Ruyi Golden Hoop Stick". So, the question here is why, Dayu's "Tianhe Dingdi Shenzhen Iron" will be in the East China Sea? What role can the "Dinghai Divine Needle" play in the East China Sea? Today let's talk about the mystery behind this!
The dragon king's feared "Dinghai God Needle"
After Sun Wukong got the "Tianhe Dingdi Shenzhen Iron", he held a golden hoop stick to make trouble in the Dragon Palace, and the Dragon King of the East China Sea said: "That piece of iron, hold some and die, knock some and die; Scratch your skin and rub your tendons! According to the original words of the Dragon King, this iron rod is but" When Dayu ruled the water, a stator in the shallow depth of the river and the sea was a piece of divine iron, what use could it be?"
Shenlongze was born by the common people, and the evil dragon made waves
In the legend, the dragon is a kind of magical animal that is good at change, can make clouds and rain, and benefit all things, and is the head of the four spirits in ancient times, and the ancients respected the dragon as the god of water. Legend has it that Dayu ruled the water, and there was a dragon with his tail to draw the ground into a river channel to channel the flood. The ancients believed that wherever there was water, no matter the rivers, lakes and seas, there were dragon kings stationed there. The ancient folk worship of the dragon is essentially the worship of water, which is closely related to people's survival. Water is both good and bad. The rain is abundant, and the river water flows peacefully, which is conducive to people's production and life, and the torrential rain is not stopped, and the flood is cross-flowing, which threatens the survival of the ancients. As a result, the dragon in charge of the water in mythology also has a distinction between good and evil, such as Zhu Guozhen's "Yongbu Sketch" in the Ming Dynasty, which said, "If there is a divine dragon, there must be a poisonous dragon and a strange dragon." "The dragon rains and rains on the people, and the evil dragon floods and brings disaster to the people. "Yuanjian Class Letter" volume 437 quotes "Farewell" cloud "Shenlong, the one who raises clouds and causes rain in the world." ...... Dilong, the decisive river opens the reader. This is a reflection of this division.
Shentie Town Jiaolong
Because the ancients believed that the flood and famine were caused by the dragon king's anger and disaster to the world, in order to restrain the dragon's reckless behavior and prevent it from harming the world, the dragon was afraid of iron. Pei Quan of the Tang Dynasty in "Legend Xiao Kuang" has the saying that "the dragon is afraid of iron", and the Ming Lu Ruoteng's "Essays on Island Dwelling" is "subdued" and "Jiaolong is afraid of iron", and Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "The dragon is rough and fierce...... Fear of iron, so the town water patients use iron. "We can see the ancient custom of using iron pillars, iron chains, and iron oxen to control water all over the country.
Sichuan Guan County Lidui Fulongguan Iron Pillar and Iron Chain, Song Fan Chengda said in "Lidui Poem Preface" that Li Bing "locked the evil dragon". The iron pillar and iron chain of the iron pillar view of Nanchang in Jiangxi, "Nanchang Mansion Chronicle" said that Xu Tianshi (Xu Xun) locked the dragon with the diamond iron chain method, and left the verse "Iron Pillar Town Hongzhou, ten thousand years will never be collected". The iron chain of Yuwang lock Jiaojing in Yu County, Henan Province, is said to be the dragon of Yu lock. Jiangsu Yancheng Iron Pillar Gang Iron Pillar, "Ji Sheng" said that "there are many dragons in the coast, and they are afraid of iron, so they are the town." ”
Why is the Dragon King afraid of Shentie?
One saying, such as "Feng's Wenjian Ji", believes: "Gold and iron taste pungent, Xin can harm the eyes, and the dragon protects its eyes and avoids it." That is to say: iron can brighten the blind dragon's eyes, and in order to protect his eyes, the dragon saw Jin Tie walking around.
But the more popular saying is explained according to the Five Elements Doctrine. The five elements of the dragon belong to wood, and the five elements of iron belong to gold. Therefore, "covering the Jiao with iron is the way of gold and wood, and the dragon is afraid of iron, and the same is true of Jiao, which is all wood, so it is made of gold." Specifically, the five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, and the corresponding five insects are scales, feathers, beetles, hair, and mediums. Scales belong to wood, according to the record of "Da Dai Li Ji Yi Benming", "there are three hundred and sixty insects with scales, and the dragon is long." "Jiao is a wood. According to the principle of the five elements, gold can overcome wood, and metal has a deterrent and subduing effect on Jiaolong. Moreover, the iron man Jin is also the mother of water, and the son does not dare to fight with the mother, so the dragon is afraid of it. The golden hoop stick is also an iron pillar in the sea, and it seems that the golden hoop stick is not only used to "fix the shallow depth of the river and the sea", but also to suppress the dragon.
Why is the Dinghai God Needle in the East China Sea?
As I said earlier, according to the theory of the five elements, the twenty-eight constellations are divided into four images, the east is the green dragon and the seven houses, the east belongs to the wood, and the dragon king of the East China Sea corresponds to the wood and the east among the four seas, and the location is the most suitable. Moreover, the east is the place where the sun rises, and the lord grows all things, so it is respectful, and the dragon king of the four seas and the dragon king of the Middle East Sea is the boss, and this Dinghaishen needle iron is the most suitable place in the East China Sea!