In the third year of Emperor Goji (644), a wonderful new religion arose in The Eastern Kingdom that regarded insects as gods. The third year of Emperor Goji was the year before the Reform of Daiwa. At that time, Su I Ezo and Su I entered the deer father and son above the emperor, took power, and King's Landing Asuka. A year before that, Su I's father and son attacked and committed suicide, the eldest brother of Prince Shengde, and then Su I's father and son ascended to the peak of glory and wealth.
First, what exactly is the "perpetual worm"?
Since Su I Mazi, the position of emperor has been occupied by the Su I clan and has always held the leading position in state politics. However, in the fourth year of Emperor Goji (645), Su I entered the palace's Great Pole Hall and was assassinated by the eldest brother Ofe and The Middle Minister Kamakura and others, and then Su I Ezo also committed suicide, and the heyday of the Su I clan came to an end. At a time of political turmoil in Kyoto, the neighboring Tokoku believed in insects from the common people to the upper classes. The Nihon Shoki also records that: "In the autumn and July of the third year of the Emperor's reign, the People's Department of the Eastern Kingdom did not exhaust the riverside to persuade the people in the village to sacrifice insects, and this person was always a god. Those who sacrifice this god will be rich and live. Witches and others were deceived by the words of the gods, and the gods of the world were sacrificed, and the poor were rich. There are still fewer old people. The meaning of this passage is that as long as you worship this insect called the "eternal god", you can not only obtain glory and wealth, but also return to old age and childhood. Therefore, this wonderful religion developed rapidly, and people poured out their wealth to join this religion, and after catching the worms of the world, they made good offerings and celebrated with songs and dances in order to achieve immortality. Eventually, this new religion became popular in Kyoto, and many people lost their homes and did not benefit, but suffered heavy losses. As a result, Qin Hesheng arrested and punished The Great Shengbu, who advocated the gods of the everlasting world, and since then, the momentum of this peculiar religion has been suppressed. At that time, the Kyoto people sang a song: "Even if you hear that this is a god among gods, Taiqin punishes the gods of the world." "Tai Qin refers to Qin Hesheng. The meaning of this sentence is that Qin Hesheng was worshipped as a god among gods, and he punished the god of the eternal world. From the end of the sixth century to the first half of the seventh century, Qin Hesheng developed and expanded his power in the area of Taiqin, the western suburb of present-day Kyoto, making the family a powerful foreign clan. He was famous for his rise from Prince Shengde and for building the Temple of Beegang (Guanglong Temple). So, what exactly is this "perennial worm"?
What about bugs? This insect is often found in orange trees or man peppers (mountain peppers). It is more than four inches long and as big as a finger. The color is green with black spots, and it looks like a silkworm. --Nihon Shoki, vol. 24 Looking at it this way, there is no doubt that the "Tsukishi worm" is the larvae of the butterfly. Among our common butterflies, citrus butterflies, black butterflies and meishu butterflies are all plants with citrus such as goji oranges and mandarin oranges or mountain peppers as host plants. Among them, the larvae of the citrus butterfly (one of the most common butterflies) are green and have black markings on the body. When Dahua was renovated, it is unknown why people worshipped the larvae of the butterfly as a deity.
Second, the pattern of the butterfly and the home pattern of the butterfly
Butterflies, because of their beautiful posture and elegant elegance when flying, have been loved and sought after by Japanese people since ancient times. And because butterflies dance among the flowers and fly around to absorb the nectar, people always associate them with the flowers. In China's Tang Dynasty, the combination of butterflies and peonies was given the meaning of wealth. This idea was also introduced to Japan and became a pattern symbolizing the beauty of wealth under the dynastic culture. To this day, butterflies and peonies can still be seen on Japanese "Hanaza" (also known as flower cards). There is a saying in Japanese called "butterfly よ花よ (と育てた娘)", which refers to the rich and noble family holding their daughters like butterflies and flowers in their hands. Butterfly motifs as art crafts are scattered in the royal collections of Shosoin. Although many were influenced by the aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty, after entering the Heian period, these crafts gradually showed a tendency to be weathered.
For example, the back of the "Washi Mirror" uses a butterfly image as a large number of patterns. After entering the 12th century, butterflies appeared as lacquer crafts, and butterfly images can be seen on The Lotus Tang Grass Painting Prayer Box, a national treasure of Japan, and the "Flower Butterfly Painted Prayer Bead Box", an important cultural property. In addition, butterfly motifs are widely used in metal ornaments for ox carts, metal decorations for armor, and clothing for public or samurai families. During the Kamakura period, the butterfly was also regarded as a symbol of auspiciousness, so the butterfly motifs on the Japanese national treasure "Cage Hand" (hidden in Kasuga Taisha Shrine) and the "Butterfly Screw Tungsten Painted Handbox" (hidden in the Hatayama Memorial Hall) are also known to the public for their beautiful meanings. As we all know, the family pattern of the Ping family is "butterfly pattern". According to the Records of the Rise and Fall of Genpei, the metal decoration of the armor of the Genrai Dynasty was also embellished with butterfly patterns, so the butterfly patterns were not exclusive to the Ping clan. Subsequently, the families who claimed to be after the Ping clan were good to use the butterfly pattern, and over time the butterfly pattern was fixed to become the family pattern of the Ping clan. During the Sengoku period, Oda Nobunaga, who had the ambition to dominate the world, suddenly began to call himself The Hira clan and began to use butterfly patterns. Based on the concept that genpei's clan took turns in ruling the government, after the Ashikaga clan, a descendant of Genji, Oda Nobunaga wanted to be able to take over power as a descendant of the Hei clan.
Three, Zhuang Zhou Dream Butterfly and Butterfly Dance
The Japanese name "butterfly" can also be written as "butterfly". In ancient times, it was also written "butterfly". The story of "Zhuang Zhou Mengdi" in "Zhuangzi Qiwu Theory" is widely circulated in Japan. In the past, Zhuang Zhoumeng was Hu Di. Lifelike Hu Di also, self-metaphorically suitable for Zhi and, do not know Zhou also. If you are aware, then you will be aware of it. I don't know if Zhou's dream is Hu Di and? Hu Die's Dream for Zhou and? Zhou and Hu Di, then there will be a difference. This is called materialization. The story is about Zhuang Zhou having a dream of becoming a butterfly, and when he wakes up, he begins to wonder whether he has become a butterfly in his dream, or whether the butterfly has just become himself in the dream. The story of "Zhuang Zhou Mengdi" is a metaphor for the intermingling of dreams and reality, and even beyond the difference between the two, it also refers to the illusion of life.
There is a dance music called "Hu Di" in Gagaku and Dance Music, also known as "Hu Di Le" or "Butterfly". It is a four-person "children's dance", in which four children wear a heavenly crown decorated with begonia flowers, wear a kimono skirt and tunic printed with a butterfly pattern, and have decorations modeled on the wings of butterflies on their backs, and dance with a begonia flower in their right hand. The dances of children dressed as butterflies are cute and beautiful. It is said that this butterfly dance was performed in the sixth year of The Heian Period (906) or the eighth year of Theoki (908), when Emperor Uta watched the children perform sumo, composed by the musician Fujiwara Tadabo and choreographed by Prince Tunshi. Prince Tunshi was the son of Emperor Utakami, Zenyaku, and a pipa master. Fujiwara Tadanobo and Prince Tunshi are also said to have joined forces to create "Yanki."
Music", this dance music also shows the butterfly flying lightly through the dancers, who dance their arms while rotating in a circle on the stage. In addition, the dance music opposite "Hu Butterfly" is "Jialing Frequency", which is danced by four children like the Butterfly Child Dance. They wear crowns on their heads, but with bird wings on their backs. In previous Buddhist festivals, the Butterfly Dance was often performed alongside Kalingpin. The Butterfly Dance and the Kalingi Dance also appear in the "Hu Butterfly" chapter of The Tale of Genji, which indicates that the author Zi Shibu has enjoyed this very cute dance many times.
Fourth, the large purple butterfly and the frozen butterfly
Japan's national butterfly is the great purple butterfly, but this does not mean that the great purple butterfly has been the representative of the Japanese butterfly since ancient times. It was actually designated as the national butterfly in 1957. The great purple butterfly is not an endemic species of Japan, it is distributed in parts of the Korean Peninsula and China, and is the largest of the close relatives of the "Standing Feather Butterfly" (Butterfly) family produced in Japan, and it is also one of the few large butterflies in the world. Every year, the great purple butterfly spreads its wings and flies in the summer.
In recent years, whether it is a large purple butterfly or a flax butterfly or a vermilion butterfly, it is almost completely invisible in the suburbs of the city. Even though there are still a few simple trees in the park, the fallen leaves are always swept away, so the butterflies' larvae cannot overwinter here. Some of the butterflies also overwinter in adult form. The vermilion butterfly is one of them. In winter, they will hibernate quietly in places such as the holes of old trees, and when they wake up in the spring, they will lay eggs and end their lives. And even in the cold winter, on a sunny and sunny day, there will be butterflies flying, making people think that spring has arrived for a moment. These butterflies are called "winter butterflies" or "frozen butterflies", but they have hardly been seen in recent years.
Conclusion: The Beliefs of the Japanese people formed by the "Constant Worm"
The larvae of the butterfly undergo repeated peeling and metamorphosis into pupae, and finally transform into beautiful butterflies flying in the air. Perhaps at that time, people saw the mysterious appearance of butterflies coming back from the dead, felt the wonder of their final perfect transformation and flight into the sky, and pinned their wishes for resurrection and great wealth on the little larvae. Therefore, the everlasting god is closely related to the Taoist belief in the pursuit of immortality and wealth.
bibliography:
The Tale of Genji
Nihon Shoki
ManyoShu