Text: Humility talks about the style of writing
Editor|Humility talks about the style of writing
In "Journey to the West", Li Jing served the Jade Emperor and was in charge of 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals, and the imposing marshal of the heavenly court. In "The Romance of the Gods", he is a world-famous general who takes the position of the chief soldier of Chentangguan and assists Jiang Ziya in cutting down the gods and ascending to the altar.
In fact, he is not a mythical figure, not only in history, but also in history, highly admired, he is the famous Tang Dynasty general Li Jing.
The change of man and god ——— discuss the evolution of Li Jing's image in the Tang Dynasty
Li Jing, the word pharmacist, was a native of Sanyuan, Yongzhou (now Sanyuan County, Shaanxi). He was born in Sui, once entered the official office, and when he was young, he was praised by the famous Sui general Han Baohu as "the one who can talk about Sun and Wu's art" because he learned the art of war and was good at strategy.
In the first year of Wude, Li Tang Dynasty Sui, Li Jing transferred to Tang Zuo. During the reign of Gaozu, he led his troops to fight against Xue (rail) Qin, Wang (Shichong) Zheng, and Xiao (milling) Liang, eliminating all separatist forces for the Tang Dynasty, unifying the world, and making great achievements.
To the Taizong Dynasty, he was ordered to conquer the Turks in the north, attack Tuyuhun in the west, and fight Goguryeo in the east.
The most commendable thing is that in the third year of Zhenguan, Li Jing was not afraid of the Eastern Turkic Khanate, the overlord of Mobei, and personally led 3,000 horsemen to attack the Eastern Turkic Jieli Khan at night, and the result was a complete victory, not only capturing the Khan and destroying his regime, but also making the Tang Dynasty "Shock Beidi", Zhuyi surrendered, and completely eliminated the northern border troubles that had plagued the Tang Dynasty for many years.
Li Jing's military exploits are extensive, quite valued, Gao Zuzanzhi said, "the ancient famous generals Han, Bai, Wei, Huo, how can they also be reached", Taizong also called it "ancient and modern" famous generals. As a result, Li Jing was promoted to the rank of knight and was famous all over the world. In the twenty-third year of Zhenguan, Li Jing died of illness, the government and the opposition were shocked, and Taizong mourned.
In order to show his merits, Taizong ordered Li Jing to accompany the burial of Zhaoling, and repair the shape of the iron mountain and the stone mountain to build the sealed soil on its tomb, so as to record its efforts to extinguish the Turks and Tuyuhun, and at the same time chase its nickname as "Jingwu".
The so-called "Jingwu", that is, those who want the world to carry out the military are all following their actions and following their traces, which can be seen from the high evaluation of Taizong.
Soon, Taizong "edicted Tuhua Jing and Zhaojun Wang Xiaogong and other twenty-four people in Lingyan Pavilion" to pay tribute. In the Tang Dynasty, Lingyan Pavilion was a special place for the Son of Heaven to commend and commemorate meritorious heroes, and it was the highest level of national memorial building.
When Xuanzong, he entered Li Jing as the "Ten Philosophers of Wucheng", representing the good generals of the past dynasties to sit on the side of King Wucheng of Taigong, "the festival is compared with the king of Wenxuan", and the enjoyment of the sacrifice in the year of the country is enjoyed.
Under the impetus of the royal family, the government and the opposition respected it, and the people began to spontaneously sacrifice behavior, and Li Jing was gradually deified in the process.
According to history, in the treasure calendar, when the single in the capital of the protector of the house single in Zhang Weiqing, in the shadow of the black mountain is the north of today's Yin Mountain, meet Li Weigong Temple, see "the temple is ruined" and "Wei Gong is in the state-owned great honor", so the statue of Li Jing moved to the military city, the result of the night dream, Li Jing incarnated as a "long black clothes" person to thank the dream "I have lived in the Weigong Temple for a long time, and the son is fortunate to move me in the military city." ”
It is not difficult to see from this story that even in such a remote place, there is a Li Jing temple for people to worship, which shows that Li Jing's status in people's hearts is high, and this temple has been built for a long time, indicating that people began to worship Li Jing spontaneously very early. At the same time, Li Jing was gradually given miracles.
The Buddhist origin of Li Jing's image
In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755 years), the Anshi Rebellion broke out, due to the Tang Dynasty's long-term peace, the corruption of the government, the slack of armament, and the rebels had been planning for a long time, the soldiers were full of food, and the incident happened suddenly, under the fierce offensive of the rebels, the Tang army lost its ground, and was defeated for thousands of miles, as a result, the two capitals were lost, and Xuanzong was forced to hunt in embarrassment.
After that, although the Tang Dynasty mobilized the power of the world to quell the rebellion, the victory or defeat of the Tang army was uncertain, and the defeat was repeated, and the soldiers were in trouble for seven years. During this period, the economy withered, social unrest, and human life were devastated, and the world hoped that the rebellion would be put to an end and the country would return to peace and tranquility.
In the second year of Baoying (763), although the Anshi Rebellion had ended, the Tang Dynasty's internal feudal towns and eunuch dictatorship had become a trend, especially Tubo took advantage of the Tang army's eastward transfer to quell the rebellion and the empty border to invade on a large scale.
Tubo occupied Hexi, according to Longyou, attacked the Western Regions, the horses were swift and the troops were strong, and the troops approached the hinterland of the Tang Dynasty, and even captured the Tang capital Chang'an in 763, which once put the Tang Dynasty in danger.
In the face of the Tibetan offensive, although Tang tried his best to resist, he was still trapped in a lack of troops, a lack of good generals, and was tired of coping, and it was difficult to change the declining situation. In the face of the predicament of the Tang Dynasty, people looked forward to the appearance of famous generals to lead the Tang army to quell the rebellion and reproduce the scene of peace and security in the Tang Dynasty.
Under such circumstances, Li Jing, a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty, was constantly mentioned, especially after his heroic deeds of destroying the northern Turks were praised by people, people strongly hoped that a general like Li Jing would appear, and also hoped that Li Jing would manifest his spirit and help Tang repel the enemy army with his divine power.
At the same time, people continued to seek the help of the Buddha, and the belief in Bishaman, as the guardian of Buddhism, flourished, and people began to worship King Bishamen frequently, hoping that he would bless the stability of the north. King Bishamen, also known as King Duowen, is one of the four protectors of the Buddha in Buddhism, guarding the north.
According to the Maha Vedasamat Naye Deva Drinking Rajadharani, King Vishamana "holds the solemn armor of the Seven Jewels Vajra in his hand, holds the pagoda in his left hand, and steps on the three yaksha ghosts under his feet." ”
According to Bukong's translation of "Bishamen Orbital Instrument": "Tang Tianbao Yuanzai (742), Dashi, Kang five countries besieged Anxi City. On February 11 of the same year, there were soldiers who came to the rescue of ,......, and his entourage, saying: 'Your Majesty, why don't you ask the divine soldiers of the northern Bishamen Heavenly King to help?' The sage said, 'How can I get it?' ’
One line said: 'Summoning Hu Seng Daguangzhi (not empty) is to please.' ’…… Daguang Zhi said: "Your Majesty carried the incense burner into the dojo, and Your Majesty asked the Northern Heavenly King to save him. 'Rush into the dojo, please. "Not empty to specialize in its law, calm the chaos, "Xingtang Temple Bishamen Heavenly King Record" contains "in Kaiyuan, then the image of Xuanzong in the flag seal".
It can be seen that the prestige of King Bishamen was already very high at that time. The northern land of Ansinai mentioned in the legend written by Bukong, because most of Li Jing's military exploits were established in the north and were related to the Turkic, Tuyuhun and other ethnic minorities, so people could not help but associate this legend with the famous northern general Li Jing, and gradually mixed the two.
Taoist interpretation of Li Jing's image
Li Jing and King Bishamen intersected in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, but when exactly the two images began to merge, due to the lack of historical records, it is impossible to test. However, from the images drawn by the parties and the archaeological data, the two have been linked.
Moreover, according to the archaeological materials, the statues of Bishamen seen in the Mogao Grottoes in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties are mostly wearing armor, holding pagodas in their hands, and wearing earrings in their ears, which are no different from the image of "Tota Li Tianwang" that we know now. By the Song Dynasty, Li Jing's association with King Bishamen gradually strengthened, and he began to have a place in Taoist mythology.
On the one hand, the Song Dynasty admired literature and suppressed military force, the army was weak, and the border was full of troubles. People were in dire straits, and although they pinned their hopes on the imperial court, the actual situation was not optimistic, so they prayed for the appearance of a famous general to end the trouble, and at the same time prayed for the protection of the gods and men to eliminate the crisis. Under these circumstances, Li Jing's status continued to rise, and the people built ancestral temples and prayed and sacrificed, hoping to use his power to quell the war.
"Seven Signatures of the Cloud Pipe" contains Li Jingmiao's "place of true descent". On the other hand, with the development of the economy and the development of market literature in the Song Dynasty, Li Jing's image is no longer "imaginary", but a more concrete image.
According to the note of "Xuanyuan Benji": "The art of war is called Xuannu tactics." Wei Gong Li Jing used the Nine Heavens Xuannu Law is also" Li Jing mastered the immortal law here, and "Su Dongpo's Complete Works" contains "Li Jingshu, the immortal of the Nine Clouds and Nine Xia", and bluntly said that Li Jing is an immortal.
After the rapid development of the Song Dynasty, in the Yuan Dynasty, the names of Li Jing "Tota Li Tianwang" and Bishamen Tianwang were mixed and combined, especially in Taoist mythology. The economic development and social stability of the Yuan Dynasty, especially the emergence and development of Yuan Zaqu, had a significant impact on the concretization of Li Jing's image.
The fusion of Li Jing's image and folk beliefs
Under the influence of the Miscellaneous Romance, the once word-of-mouth gods were moved to the stage, and under this influence, the public began to accept the image of Tota Li Tianwang displayed on the stage on a large scale, and its prototype Li Jing was rarely mentioned.
The novels of the Yuan Dynasty had a greater impact on the evolution of Li Jing's image, according to the "Later Collection of Spring and Autumn Peaceful Tales of the Seven Kingdoms of Le Yi Tuqi", "Dugujiao fought alone with four generals, and five horses fought with melee, such as the Black Evil True Martial Sage Saint Fight, and Bishamen Tota Li Tianwang", here the two are no longer distinguished separately, but combined into one called "Bishamen Tota Li Tianwang".
By the time of the Ming Dynasty, King Tota Li had been separated from history and enjoyed a place in the immortal system, and he was completely separated from King Bishamen and existed independently.
For example, "The Romance of the Gods" contains, "Li Jing fought Luo Xuan, and the halberd and sword intersected, like a tiger and a wolf." Li Jing sacrificed the golden pagoda for thirty-three days, and shouted: "Luo Xuan! Today you will not be able to escape this! "Journey to the West" contains Sun Wukong making trouble in the Heavenly Palace, and the Jade Emperor was furious, so he named Tota Li Tianwang as the generalissimo of demon subjugation, and the third prince of Nezha as the god of the Three Altars of the Sea Society, leading the heavenly soldiers and generals, and went to Huaguo Mountain to catch the demon monkey.
In addition to the development of the novel, the Ming Dynasty government also crowned Li Jing with the title of god. "Tongzhi Huzhou Mansion Chronicles" cloud, Hong Wuchu said: "Tang General Li Weigong God", which further consolidated the status of Tota Li Tianwang in folk beliefs.
The evolution of Li Jing's image is not only the result of the development of the convergence of the three religions, but also the manifestation of the typical characteristics of traditional Chinese folk beliefs. The evolution of this image reflects the unique process of China's multicultural integration.
The integration and development of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism and the dissolution of Buddhism by folk beliefs enabled Li Jing to "coexist" in Buddhism and Taoism. In the early days, Li Jing was the embodiment of the protector of Buddhism and was responsible for guarding the Buddhist gate. But over time, folk beliefs began to transform it, giving it the color of Taoist deities.
It can be said that the image of Tota Li Tianwang is not disobedient in the eyes of the common people, especially after the continuous transformation and development of mythological novels after the Song Dynasty, Tota Li Tianwang has become a Taoist deity. According to folklore, he held the Nine Palladium Divine Iron to suppress the evil demons of the eight directions, and was an important deity to protect the people of Limin.
This phenomenon of combining Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism actually reflects the unique trajectory of the development of Chinese culture. In China, various cultural ideas are not opposed to each other, but tend to complement each other and coexist. After Buddhism was introduced to China, it was quickly assimilated into a part of China's native culture, and interpenetrated with Taoism and Confucianism.
epilogue
The transformation of Li Jing's image is a vivid portrayal of this cultural blend. In the minds of the common people, there is no distinction between the high and the low, and it is a natural process to learn from and absorb each other. Therefore, Li Jing's transformation from a Buddhist protector to a Taoist deity actually conforms to this trend of cultural development.
In addition to the combination of the three religions, traditional Chinese folk beliefs also played an important role in shaping Li Jing's image. Chinese folk beliefs have a long history and contain rich images of gods and Buddhas. The general public has a limited understanding of the sacred and profound concepts of Buddhism, and prefers easy-to-understand folk beliefs. Therefore, the common people assimilated Li Jing into a powerful deity around him, giving him the characteristics of a concretized godhead.
In general, the evolution of Li Jing's image embodies the diverse characteristics of traditional Chinese culture, and shows the cultural self-confidence of the Chinese nation to be inclusive, open, and learn from others' strengths. In the process, the combination of the three religions set the tone, and the folk beliefs breathed life into it, and the two complemented each other, and finally gave birth to the unique image of the Tota Li Heavenly King.