<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > Zhu Wencan Zhu Fan</h1>
1. Legends about Fuxi and Nüwa
As early as 65 million years ago, snakes have appeared on the earth, snakes are a general term for footless reptiles, belonging to the order Scaly. All snakes are carnivores. They did not become extinct like the dinosaurs, but thrived in nature's cruel elimination laws with strong vitality. In ancient times, there were five species of giant snakes on the earth, namely the Vonabi snake, the Indian ancient rift snake, the Madsunna snake, the Titan python and the elephant-devouring snake, of which the titan python, which lived 58 million years ago, is the largest snake among them. According to 28 fossil specimens found in the Cerrejon coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia in 2002, the titan python weighs more than 1 ton, the thickest part of the body can reach more than 1 meter, and the longest can reach more than 15 meters.
The symbolism of the snake is more than almost any other animal. It is generally believed that the big snake is a python and the big python is a cockroach. Snakes were known as small dragons in ancient China. The earliest known record of snakes is found in the "History of the Three Emperors", which says that Fuxi and Nüwa, the two humanistic ancestors of the Chinese nation, were "snake-bodied human heads". Wang Chong of the Western Han Dynasty said in the "On Balance": "The dragon may resemble a snake, and the snake may resemble a dragon." Zheng Xuan's annotation to the Shang Shu Da Biography Yun: "Dragons, insects (snakes) are born in the yuan, walk in the invisible, and swim in the heavens." It is heavenly. Snakes, dragons and the like, or dragons without horns, are known as snakes. The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Hai Nei yun: "In the southwest there is a Baguo, Taisheng Xianwu, Xianwusheng Multiplied, Multiplied By Li Sheng, And Houzhao is the beginning of the Ba people." "Lü Shi Chunqiu Li Chun Ji" Yun: "Its Emperor Tai"; Gao Luan "Tai, Fu Xi Clan." "Therefore, the Langzhong Ba people are the descendants of Fuxi." The Supplementary History of the Three Emperors Benji Yun: "The mother of the Taiyu Xi clan, HuaXu; the great man who walked in Lei Ze, and gave birth to the blister Xi;" "Shan Hai Jing" Yun: "There is a thunder god in Lei Ze, a dragon body and a human head"; and the Supplementary History of the Three Emperors Benji says that Fu Xi is "the head of the snake body and the head of the person, and has holy virtues." "In ancient times, dragons and snakes were not distinguished, the Ba character was like a snake, and the Ba people took the snake as a totem, so the Ba people were all dragons." The Chronicle of Langzhong County states that "Taifu Xi wu Huaxu, living in Huaxu Zhizhu, was pregnant for ten years and was born in Qiuyi." The "Famous Places in Shuzhong" points out that the Fuxi brothers and sisters were from Langzhong, Sichuan, and were born in the "Qiuyi" on the side of the Jialing River in Langzhong City, and the "Qiuyi" is Pengchi, also known as Nanchi, and the South Pond is in the qiliba in the south of present-day Langzhong City.
Figure (1) Folk collectors of snake-headed jade objects
The "History of the Road" says: "Nuwa, the sister of Fuxi (Xi). Lu Tong's poem "Friendship with Strangers" reads, "Nuwa was originally a Fuxi woman." "Wenxuan Lu Lingguang Temple Endowment" Yun: "Fuxi scale body, Nüwa snake body", Yan Huaxu's children are all dragon clan; in the group of statues in northern Sichuan, Fuxi Nüwa is the head of the people, and the two intersect with the body of a snake. The "Records of Famous Places in Shu" quotes the "Xuezhai Zhanbi" Yun: "Zizhou (in Shu) dug up the Han monument, there are Fuxi Cangjing, the initial industry, the painting of the gua knot rope, the Li Hai Nei and other words"; the so-called "initial manufacturing industry", of course, refers to the matter of Fu Xi painting gua and knotting rope in Bashu. It shows that the origin of the Bashu civilization was earlier than that of the Central Plains, and the reverence of posterity for the creation and invention of Fuxi. "Imperial Map Essentials" Yun: "Fuxi silkworm, Xiling clan silkworm breeding"; the "transformation of breeding", "transformation of life" also, that is, the meaning of pregnancy. Fuxi found the mulberry silkworm in the "Far Away Things". In ancient Egyptian mythology, the protector of Upper Egypt was Nehbet, the goddess of vultures, and the protector of Lower Egypt was Vadgit, the goddess of cobras. On the crown and turban of the Egyptian pharaohs, the vulture and cobra symbols often appear, symbolizing the kingship that unified upper and lower Egypt. On the forehead of the golden mask of Pharaoh Tutanhamon, the symbols of cobras and vultures are decorated. The cobra symbol is also commonly found on the headdresses of Egyptian gods and goddesses. The serpent was the first animal to reappear after the Nile Flood receded, endowed with great magic and is also considered to be the creation and creation power of the underworld. In the ancient Egyptian creation myth of the eight gods, the four goddesses were all snake-headed humans, and the four male gods were frog-headed humans. They are paired with each other and represent the reproductive nature of the primordial ocean. The cosmic phase of the sun god Amun takes on the form of a snake, self-devouring, coiled around the universe and biting its tail. Every day from day to night, it continues to devour itself, and the dawn continues to regenerate from itself. Symbolizes the continuous death and resurrection of everything in the universe, a cycle of renewal. The envoys of European countries in the BC carved the image of two snakes on crutches as a scepter dedicated to envoys in international exchanges, and the snake became a symbol of state and authority.
In ancient Greece and Rome, myths and legends about snakes were also pervasive. Unlike the human snake-tailed Fuxi and Nuwa, people here are more accustomed to using figurative snakes to express "emotions". The serpent represents the cycle of strength, wisdom and life, and is regarded as a guardian of the soul and a symbol of healing. Of course, as a seductive animal, it is sometimes used as a symbol of revenge and strength. The statue of young Hercules fighting with a snake from the Capitoline Museum in Italy tells a great story. Hercules was the son of the main god Zeus and the mortal Archmene, and Zeus's wife, Hera, out of jealousy, sent two poisonous snakes to the palace to kill Hercules, but the young Hercules had unparalleled divine power and strangled the two large snakes one by one. These snakes, which can defeat and control their mysterious powers, are naturally admirable. Snakes also possess mysterious healing powers and powerful reproductive abilities, as well as the embodiment of wisdom and divine power. The serpent common in Western mythology has a special symbolic meaning, representing an eternal cycle, both the power to revive the dead and the symbol of evil and treachery. It can be seen that snakes have derived multiple meanings in Western culture. We know that the "snake emblem" as a symbol of medicine originated in Greece. Ascrepo was a great physician of ancient Greece, who held a scepter coiled around it and traveled in all directions to heal and save people. Out of reverence for the divine doctor and the spirit snake, later generations used the "snake circumnavigating the cane" as a medical symbol. In modern times, the United States, britain, Canada, Germany and the United Nations World Health Organization have all used the "snake emblem" as a medical symbol. In the early 1950s, the emblem of the Chinese Medical Association in China also had the "snake emblem" on it.
Figure (2) Folk collection of ancient Shu culture jade
According to reports, as early as 1953, scientists found that the structure of a basic genetic material of living things is the structural form of double helix, which is very similar to the shape of fuxi and nüwa tails. At the end of the 20th century, research on life sciences further discovered that the basic genetics of humans are also double helix structures.
2. The ancestors of ancient Shu liked snakes and revered snakes
The changeable climate, complex terrain, lush vegetation and abundant water sources, and unique natural resources of the ancient Shu country have made the ancient Shu region a paradise for animals and plants to inhabit and reproduce. In the continuous contact with nature, people's understanding of various animals is also reflected in the ancient Shu civilization, and the quiet, mysterious and fierce snake figure runs through the early civilization of the ancient Shu region and is everywhere. The Commentaries say: "Ba, the worm also, or the eater elephant it (snake). The "Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Southern Classic of Hai Nei" records: "The snake eats elephants, and at the age of three, it comes out of its bones." "The snake that can swallow the elephant is very large." The oracle bone of the word Shu is also snake-shaped. According to research, the meaning of the word "Shu" is "human head snake body", which means the place where the snake totem clan is entrenched. The snake-shaped cultural relics from the Sanxingdui of Guanghan in Sichuan and the Jinsha ruins in Chengdu and folk collections, in their simple and vivid shape, hide the ritual code of the ancient Shu period, telling people how the snake helped our ancestors to communicate with heaven and earth and dialogue with the "gods".
Guanghan Sanxingdui unearthed 10 bronze snake-shaped vessels, most of which are S-shaped, curved, and the head is slightly high. The head has ears and long eyes, and the eyeballs are rounded and raised, and the tail is rolled up. The body of the snake is decorated with diamond-shaped clouds, feathers, cirrus, and some abdomen is decorated with scales. The bronze serpentine has a simple body, with its tail upturned and rolled forward, and its body is decorated with diamond patterns and scales, and hollowed out knife-shaped feathers are carved on the top of the head and back ridge, implying that it has the ability to fly. Judging from the burial environment of its excavation, the snake is one of the important props held by the ancient Shu Kingdom in the Sanxingdui culture period, and the snake's neck and abdomen are cast with ring buttons, which is speculated to be hung on some kind of object as a sacred object.
About 3,000 years ago, the ruling center of the ancient Shu state was transferred from Guanghan Sanxingdui to Chengdu. There are more than ten stone snakes excavated from the Jinsha site in Chengdu, all of which are three-dimensional circular sculptures with vivid shapes. The head of the stone snake rises high, the flat mouth is wide open, and the inside is coated with bright cinnabar. The two colors of red and black outline the rounded eyes, the middle part of the eye is coated with white paint, and the back jaw of the snake is symmetrically drawn with cinnabar to draw two stripes of ornaments rolled up to the top of the head. Ancient Shu craftsmen skillfully used red cinnabar and black pigments according to the texture of the stone itself, so that the five features of the snake were rendered in layers. The red snake letter, rolled up to the top of the head, firmly grasped the characteristics of the poisonous snake's imminent attack, portraying a mysterious and ferocious nature. In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC - 256 BC), snake patterns also appeared frequently on ancient Shu weapons and seals. On a piece of bronze on display in the exhibition hall of the Chengdu Museum, there is a pattern of a god holding a snake. The carrier of the snake pattern gradually shifted from sacrificial and ceremonial vessels to weapons, tools and ornaments. It can be seen that people's worship and fascination with snakes is still continuing.
The magnificent jade snakes of ancient Shu culture collected by Sichuan folk attract people's eyes to the depths of the mysterious ancient Shu ancestors who loved and respected snakes. Among the jade snakes of the ancient Shu culture collected by the people, the longest snake is more than 1 meter, and the short one is more than 20 centimeters. The shape of the snake has a straight snake, a curly snake, and a closed-mouth snake. There are also snakes that open their mouths to swallow rats, snakes that spit out letters. What is even more eye-catching is that there is a vivid and vivid double snake play bead pattern. Of course, there are also utensils decorated with snake heads, and there are jade zhangs with snake bodies as handles. As for a large number of jade tools with bird and beast figures as the theme, they are decorated with long snakes that are entangled in the song. Some storage vessels that represent scenes such as sacrifices and new year prayers are also covered with snakes. Especially in a set of jade objects of the 12 zodiac signs, the snake that rises above has become a symbol of noble status and authority. In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is recorded: "The snake eats elephants, and at the age of three comes out of its bones, and the gentleman obeys it, and has no heart disease." As early as the Jin Dynasty, Guo Pu talked about "the snake eats elephants, and eats deer with pythons." In the records of the Five Dynasties of "Yutang Gossip", there are also examples of pythons devouring deer in qutang gorges. Studies have shown that the length of the python in the literature is equivalent to 15-30 meters, and the circumference is 1.2-2.4 meters. In modern times, records or reports of pythons eating domestic pigs, goats, and calves can also be seen repeatedly.
Figure (3) Folk collection of ancient Shu culture jade
From the perspective of animal structure, the mandible structure of the python is special, and it is entirely possible to swallow the baby elephant. Related to this, many ivory has been found in many pre-Qin archaeological sites in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River, such as in the Daxi cultural site. Later studies also found that during the Tang and Song dynasties, Nanzhou and Qinzhou also produced ivory. Rhinoceros also entered Wanzhou in the Song Dynasty. Obviously, in the pre-Qin period, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River were densely forested, the biological communities in the forest were well preserved, primitive, and there were many kinds of wild animals and large numbers, which provided enough survival shelter and lower food chain support for Asian elephants and pythons. Therefore, in the process of the ancient Shu ancestors competing with nature, they were often threatened by various fierce birds and beasts. "Han Feizi Wuyin once recounted, "In the ancient world, there were few people and many animals, and the people were invincible to animals, animals, insects and snakes." It shows that snakes that often poison humans are feared. The I Ching says: "The bend of the inchworm, in order to believe in (God), the sting of the dragon and the snake, to survive also." "For the ancient Shu ancestors, the snake was an awesome mysterious spell. According to the depiction of the Classic of Mountains and Seas: a snake in the mouth of Jiang Liang, a snake in the left ear of the dragon, a snake in the hands of the rain master's concubine, two snakes wrapped around the body of the god Yu'er, a snake on the head of the god of the Cave Garden, and so on. These depictions, in the folk collection of ancient Shu culture jade, have vivid and vivid artistic reproduction. Folk collection of many exquisitely carved ancient Shu culture jade snakes. The snake lines of this type of shape are smooth and round, the composition is concise, and the overall image is full of three-dimensional sense and strong dynamics. A snake with long sharp teeth engraved on the jade plate, spitting out letters in its mouth, and covering its body from both sides of the mid-ridge with large scales, and curling its body around it, forming a mysterious and solemn atmosphere. An ancient Shu warrior held a snake with protruding eyes, a thick body, bent downward in the middle, with scales on its body and a rolled tail. The samurai are engraved with ancient Shu characters. There is also a large, realistic jade snake with diamond-shaped patterns and scales on its body, and hollowed-out knife-shaped feathers on the top and back, which may indicate that it has a flying function. Kneeling on the side of the snake ancient Shu culture jade people flat head, big ears, wide mouth, clothes and pants embossed ornaments. The snake shape in his hand has smooth and rounded lines, concise composition, and the overall image is full of three-dimensional sense and strong dynamics. A philosopher said that every ancient work of art will vividly reflect the true face of society at that time, and has a non-negligible reference effect for future generations to study the social conditions, production and life, food, clothing, housing and transportation at that time. There are a large number of round carvings of human heads and snake bodies in the ancient Shu culture jade. They are similar and different, from the top of the head, some wear crowns, some have coiled hair, some have bald heads, and some have flat tops. From the neck, it is mostly pointed and droopy, but also has flat edges. From the ear part, most of them have ornaments, solid, and holes in the earlobes. From the cheek part, the curve extends from the wings of the nose to the sides, and the deep concave orbits and eyes are expressed in an exaggerated way. The mouths are represented by two straight lines, reinforcing the majesty of the gods. What is particularly striking is that the neck of the ancient Shu people with round carvings is like a silkworm body, the body is slender, wearing a floral tunic with placket trim, connected to the waist, wearing a miniskirt that resembles modern fashion, under the short skirt, is a thick and plump, curved snake body. Recently, I read the history books and learned that the earliest record of Nüwa was the "Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Great Wilderness of the West Classic": "There are ten gods, known as the intestines of Nüwa, who are transformed into gods, in the wilderness of Chestnut And Broad, and everywhere in the crosswalk." Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty commented: "Nuwa, the ancient goddess and the emperor, the human face snake body, changes seventy times in a day." His belly is incarnated as a god. During the Warring States period, Qu Yuan wrote in the Chu Ci Tianwen: "Nuwa has a body, who is the craftsman?" Wang Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty commented: "Nuwa, the human head and snake body." The Han Dynasty Wang Yanshou's "Lu Ling Guang Dian Fu" also said: "Fu Xi scale body, Nuwa snake body." "It seems that since at least since the Han Dynasty, people have thought that Nüwa is a human-headed snake body. The image of Fuxi and Nüwa", the image of the "human head and snake body", which was left over by word of mouth by the ancestors in the era when there was no writing, has always made people wonder, is there really such a legend in the ancient times? Folk collections of ancient Shu culture Fuxi and Nüwa jade carvings support their legendary images.
Figure (4) Folk collection of ancient Shu culture jade
In the jade statues of the ancient Shu culture, the left is Nuwa, holding the moon in her hand, and there are laurel trees and toads in the moon. On the right is Fuxi, holding the sun in his hand, and there are three-legged crows in the day. Fuxi Nuwa is a human-headed snake body, two tails intersecting, wearing a crown hat on her head, wearing a wide-sleeved robe, and the belt is fluttering. This looks like a simple painting, but in fact it hides too many ancient legends. First of all, the three-legged crow in the painting is also called chi wu. In the "Huainan zi spirit chapter", it is said: "There is a day in the day." The Eastern Han Dynasty Gao Temptation commentary: "Squat, Yu squat also." It is called a three-legged crow. In other words, the three-legged crow is a sacred bird crouching in the sun, a symbol of the sun. The symbols of the moon are the toad and the laurel tree. Therefore, the moon is called "Toad Palace" in the hereafter. Secondly, we must say fuxi. Fu Xi (伏羲), courtesy name Mi Xi (宓羲), 庖牺, Bao Xi (包牺), and Fu Xi (伏戏), was written in the "Records of History" and was honored as Emperor Xi. Wang Jia of the Eastern Jin Dynasty wrote in the Book of Collected Remains: "... See also a god, a snake body and a human face, a diagram of Yu Bagua, listed on the gold plate. The serpent-like human god, that is, the Xi Emperor also. Sima Zhen of the Tang Dynasty wrote in the Supplementary History of the Three Emperors: "The snake body is the head of the human body, and there is holy virtue... Therefore, it is known as the Mi Xi clan. Later, the imperial court merged Fuxi with gods such as Taihao and Qingdi and called it "Taihao Fuxi".
In 1942, the Sackler Museum of Art in the United States collected the book "Creation" excavated in the Changsha Bullet Depot and more than 2300 years ago in the middle and late Warring States period. The text on the book proves that Fuxi and Nüwa originated from Huazhu. Fuxi and Nuwa married and had four sons. These four sons are regarded as four gods that transcend time and space, and the four gods are separated from each other, turning the heavens and the earth, dividing the four hours, the sun and the moon, and the morning and night. Kyushu was divided into three days and four poles. This Genesis is less mythical than the Biblical book of Genesis. It can be seen that Fuxi and Nüwa created astronomy and calendars, and Nüwa created man and created the human order, they are the ancestors of man, not the Creator. As early as four or five thousand years ago, the skilled craftsmen of the ancient Shu Kingdom, with superb skills, great patience and perseverance, carved into groups and sets of exquisite snake-body human-faced jade tools, indicating that the ancient Shu Kingdom already had a certain scale of jade and workshops, and jade tools were widely used to worship gods and worship the heavens and the earth. It also reveals the ancient Shu culture jade stone snake body human face, with a strong religious sacrifice color of the ceremonial supplies, is a ceremonial instrument dedicated to the gods.
The ancient Shu culture snake-type jade ceremonial vessels are exquisite in craftsmanship and have a wide variety of types, which is enough to prove that the ancient Shu ancestors liked snakes and revered snakes. And a system of sacrificial offerings of snakes has been formed. According to Morgan's Ancient Society, among the American Indians, there were 9 tribes with snake clans, and some even used rattlesnakes as clan totems. The Wallenbergers in Australia regularly perform a ritual of snake totem worship. Those who participate in this ritual paint all over their bodies, dress up as snakes, imitate the movement of snakes, twist their bodies, and sing and dance, singing the history and power of snakes, in order to pray for the blessings of the snake god. Snake totem worship also existed in china's primitive society. In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there is a saying that "gonggong clan snake body zhufa". Among the many records of snakes in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there are three more common modes: the person who wields two snakes by hand, the place where the snakes are derived, and the monsters of water and drought are invited. As a creature that has a close relationship with water, snakes tend to live by water, and even have the ability to perceive changes in the groundwater level. The appearance of the snake contained in the Classic of Mountains and Seas and the relationship between water and drought may be a kind of observation of daily life. In some places, the serpent itself is the god who rules over the water. In the flooded ancient Shu Kingdom era, people were deeply affected by floods, and snakes were called symbols of floods and rainwater, and then became the so-called gods. At the same time, we can also look at the reason why snakes were worshipped by the ancient Shu ancestors from another perspective. According to research, the snake symbolizes pornography, sexuality and sexuality. It is said that the health of the human body and the natural attraction of the two sexes are caused by the action of snakes. The word "serpent" in Genesis originally means "the lord of the tongue", which means the "color heart" in consciousness and the expression of the color heart. The circle formed by the coiled snake represents the female genitalia, just like the circle or oval symbol of Xuanmu, but also symbolizes the intercourse between the sexes. According to the Lu Shi Hou Ji I note quoted in the BaoZhu Ji: The emperor daughter traveled in the abyss of Huaxu, felt the snake and became pregnant, and became a for thirteen years, and the prolific snake was also the thing that ancient humans worshiped and longed for out of the need for survival and reproduction. Four or five thousand years ago, there were many forests and swamps in the territory of the ancient Shu Kingdom, and there were all kinds of snakes living there.
Figure (5) Folk collection of ancient Shu culture jade
Many of these snakes are non-venomous, and those snakes are often deadly and highly venomous, and even today, if rescue is not timely, it can cause many disasters and accidents, and even kill people. But danger does not necessarily lead entirely to hatred. When survival becomes difficult, the worship of divine power and the appeal to nature naturally become a natural choice. In ancient Shu society, women's social status mainly came from fertility. Snakes are oviparous.
The snake's ability to survive, adapt, and reproduce was valued and worshipped by the ancestors of the ancient Shu, and was regarded as the guardian deity, the god of blessing the harvest, the god of motherhood, the god of helping new life and reproduction, the god of the underworld, and the god of power. The functions of these gods ran through the entire process of reproduction, survival, safety, and death of the ancient Shu ancestors. And nuwa's snake body has this kind of association and sustenance. Why is the ancient Shu culture jade Fuxi and Nüwa, both human heads and snake bodies? We know that the Sphinx of ancient Egypt had a sphinx at the bottom and a human head on top. Because thinking and reason are a manifestation of human nature. The "head of man" actually represents the rational level of man. The snake body represents the level of instinct, representing that man has not yet departed from the animal side. As a result, the ancient Shu culture jade Fuxi and Nüwa are human heads and snake bodies, which very vividly and interestingly show the two sides of human beings, and people have both a human side and an animal side. For Fuxi is a god-man born after the intercourse of gods and women. Therefore, Fuxi can also build a tree on the ladder to ascend to the heavens.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Hai Nei records: "Within the South China Sea, between the black water and the green water, there is a wood named Jianmu, and the great one has passed. The "jianmu" mentioned here is used by the gods to ascend to heaven. Therefore, "Jianmu is in Duguang, and the emperors are from top to bottom." There is no scene in the middle of the day, there is no sound, and the heavens and the earth are also covered. And "Da Hao Ye Passed", which means that the ancestor Fuxi can also climb the edge and build wood like a god, going up and down between heaven and earth and the gods and men. Volume IX of the Taiping Imperial Records quotes the "Records of the Year of the Prince" as saying: Fuxi "sat on the square altar, listened to the breath of the eight winds, and drew gossip." Some scholars believe that Bagua reflects the ancient ancestors' initial understanding of the natural world and human social phenomena, and ancient writing, divination and many cultural sources are all related to Gossip. Therefore, Fuxi's "painting gossip" is actually to say that the patrilineal farming culture at the time of Fuxi has reached a fairly high level.
Can we speculate that every ruler of the ancient Shu kingdom would associate his throne with God, declare himself an incarnation of God or the Son of God, and demand the worship and absolute obedience of the common people? For the ruler's command is God's will, with supreme authority. Therefore, the ruler must find something powerful to symbolize his power, which can both deter and kill hostile forces, protect the throne, and give the throne sacredness and authority, so the snake is chosen to play this role.
Third, the jade snake group reveals the characteristics of the era of the combination of witchcraft and politics in the ancient Shu state
In the process of opening up nature and struggling to survive, the ancient Shu people were often threatened by various fierce birds and beasts. The "giant snake" that prevailed in Shu land, with its rapid speed, huge strength and high poison between its teeth, was an invincible mysterious existence for the ancient Shu people. The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Overseas Western Classics records that "the Wuxian Kingdom is in the ugly north of the female ugly, the right hand is the green snake, the left hand is the red snake, and on the Ten Bosch Mountain, the group of witches is from top to bottom." Perhaps these wizards use people's worship and fear of snakes to snakes and play with snakes to become heroes in people's minds. The snake also became the assistant of the "god" and played an important role in the sacrifice activities.
(1) The jade snake group reflects the social needs of li tian and li di. The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Overseas Western Classics says: "In the enlightened west, there are phoenix emperors, birds, snakes, snakes, and red snakes." This shows that snakes may have played an important role in the sacrifice activities of the ancient Shu kingdom. At that time, the wizards used people's worship and fear of snakes to snakes and play with snakes, so the snake became a tool of the wizard to achieve the effect of shocking and controlling people's hearts. When the stone snakes at the Jinsha site in Chengdu were excavated, stone snakes and stone people moved out. It shows that the stone snake may be an important item in the witchcraft activities of the ancient Shu kingdom and play a relatively important role in religious sacrifice activities. The ancient Shu ancestors, who were in the era of the combination of witchcraft and politics and produced the privileged class, were very fond of jade, and they carried gifts with jade and sent jade with humanistic spirit. The ancient Shu culture snake jade stone tool group is both a sacrificial ceremonial vessel and a beautiful work of art. Because the ancestors believed that only beautiful artifacts could be used to communicate with God. It shows that the ancient Shu kingdom and the ceremonial jade of the era are not only the props, symbols of power and status of religious activities, but also the carrier of social concepts and play an important social role.
For example, a jade liren holding a snake in his hand, his face is majestic, his carving is simple and simple, and his crystal is lovely. The jade snake used for sacrifice is simple in shape, well-proportioned, and decorated with elaborate patterns, polished throughout, and crystal clear. The most mysterious is the relief snake ornament on the jade at the foot of the Yuli people, of which the image of Fuxi is the most representative: round eyes, wide nose, wide mouth, teeth exposed, shrugged shoulders, hands crossed waist, tail full and rounded.
As a Sichuan scholar said, the jade snakes of the ancient Shu culture all came from the hands of various specialized handicraft workers in the ancient Shu dynasty, and played the role of ceremonial instruments closely related to the development of civilization. These symbolic artifacts reflect the social needs of the ancient Shu state to use jade artifacts to worship the heavens and the land, and embody the belief and emotions given by agricultural and handicraft producers to their own carved works of art. Therefore, the ancient Shu culture jade snake group represents the ideology of the ancient Shu ancestors, symbolizing god, power, might, and power.
Figure (6) Folk collection of human snake tail jade
Another Sichuan scholar analyzed that the main channels for the ancient Shu kingdom to obtain jade did not rule out that the main channels included in-situ mining, tribute, trade, and plunder. The production of jade requires the cost of human, financial, material and organizational aspects, including jade control equipment, technical training, organizational management, command system, food supply, storage and storage, etc. No individual or social group could pay such a high price to possess and enjoy these valuables, except for the core ruler group of the ancient Shu state. And all these material fruits, together with all the spiritual fruits contained in them, were seized and possessed by the upper rulers of the ancient Shu kingdom. This shows that these handicraft workshops have become a production field directly controlled by the dignitaries of the ancient Shu kingdom.
(2) The crown style and clothing of the snake operator reflect the productivity and hierarchical concept of the ancient Shu state. In the art of carving, the jade snakes of the ancient Shu culture have continuous and grouped patterns of characters and storylines to express their rich and coherent spiritual world, including political concepts, ideologies, and values and world views. According to the physical objects currently in hand, there are nearly 10 forms of jade snake operators in the ancient Shu culture, and there are several differences in crown style, hair style and clothing between various styles.
First, analyze the crown style and hairstyle. The face of the ancient Shu culture jade snake operator is basically the same, and it is impossible to distinguish between men and women, nor can it distinguish between old and young, and the eyes are exaggerated, with a mysterious and serious look. From this characteristic, it can be seen that the snake operator mainly serves religious activities, and the only people who can show identity and rank are hairstyles and crown hats.
In addition to the flower-like crowns of the Da Li people, there are also those who wear elephant crowns, snake crowns, dragon crowns, flat hats, braided hair plates, and bundled hair with bamboo shoots. The king of the ancient Shu kingdom had both the wind of a king and the ritual of the main god, and was the priest who presided over the sacrifice. On a jade print of ancient Shu culture collected by the people, a liren with thick eyebrows and big eyes, dressed in a swallowtail robe, holding a live snake in his hand, and standing barefoot on a square seat, is estimated to be the king of a country that integrates the politics and religion of the ancient Shu kingdom, and is also the leader of the group of witches. The "flower-like crown" on his head looks like a blooming flower from a distance. In the middle of the crown is carved a sun emitting light and heat, illuminating the countless wings that seem to fly in the sky next to it. Another jade snake bearer is an ornament at the back of his head that slopes from the top left to the bottom right. The jade grass snake with braided hair coiled around the top of the head is very similar to wearing a twisted hat hoop, and the auricle is relatively round, with 3 perforations on it, which is very different from most heads with only one hole in the earlobe. The elephant crown jade snake handlers have their hair tied inside the crown, symbolizing the elephant's head as a whole. Middle of the top of the hat. Towering curled trunks, with broad elephant ears that are towering to the left and right; The left and right sides of the hat bulge out of the elephant's eyes, and from the side it is a pair of elephant heads that stretch forward. Second, analyze the clothing. As part of the etiquette, clothing was valued by the ancestors of the ancient Shu, and people of different ranks had different costumes, which were worn according to the rules and were not allowed to be made. Literature records that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Jinggong indulged in alcohol, drunkenly undressed, and Yanzi criticized him for being disrespectful. The Zuo Zhuan also says, "Liangfu purple-clad fox fur, to, qiu qiu, do not release the sword and eat, the prince makes people kill three sins." This shows the importance of clothing.
Figure (7) Folk collection of jade snakes that eat rats
Folk collectors have a large number of ancient Shu culture jade beads as well as jade bracelets, jade necklaces, and jade bracelets. Jade snake handlers also wear ear holes, and the wrists seem to wear ornaments. It can be seen that the ancestors of ancient Shu not only paid great attention to clothing, but also formed a set of their own clothing system. According to the literature, it can be seen that the costumes of the jade snake operators of the ancient Shu culture are completely consistent with the "left side of the vertebral knot" recorded in the "Shu King Benji". In the history of clothing, "衽" refers to the placket, and the left side means that the opening is facing the left.
Four or five thousand years ago, he held the sacred duties of military politics, sacrifice and prayer in the entire ancient Shu state, and had the supreme status of the ancient Shu culture Yuliren, wearing a special-shaped dragon pattern on the front and back of the placket, a graceful and luxurious royal dress, with his hands outstretched, surrounding the living dragon. Ancient texts record the use of dragon patterns as decorative patterns for clothes, which are first found in the "Shang Shu Yiji" chapter, that is, the emperor instructed Xia Yu to use 12 kinds of sun, moon, stars, mountains, dragons, insects, algae, fire, powder rice, Zong Yi, mochi, and huang, symbolizing the pattern of kingship and imperial virtue. Ancient Shu culture snake statues, slim waist, wearing a crown, wearing a three-piece dragon pattern dress, the overall matching of its clothing and ornamentation, tailoring structure, are clearly sculpted. The dresses are outlined with extremely well-proportioned lines, delicate and vivid and decorative.
Ancient Shu culture jade human head snake body, wide eyes and high nose, the face is portrayed very masculine. What sets them apart is that they have very obvious feminine features: a slim waist, rounded arms, a wide chest, prominent nipples, and only a miniskirt that has just reached the thighs, and a bow at the waist. There are flowing willow leaf-like streamers on the skirt. They were probably the first people in the world to wear silk. The ancient Shu ancestors who carved the bodies of these snakes seem to have listened extensively to the opinions of embroidery and brocade craftsmen, which made the clothing patterns of these snake operators so clear and vivid. The costumes of the jade snake operators of the ancient Shu culture include the left robe, the cardigan robe, the right long-sleeved short coat, and the calf nose pants, which are different. On the crown style, there are flower-like toothed high crowns, flat crowns, double-horned helmet-shaped crowns and other differences. In the ceremony, there are differences such as vertebral knots, braided hair, and bald heads. Whether from anthropology or from the ancient Chinese literature to the ancient peoples From the standard point of view, clothing, crowns, hair ornaments are the most important signs to distinguish ethnic groups.
Figure (8) Folk collectors of snake-tail jade, the overall image is full of three-dimensional and dynamic.
In terms of their clothing, crowns, and hairstyles, the group portraits of the jade and stone snake operators in the ancient Shu culture clearly show the mode of appropriation of the resources of the courtiers at all levels, as well as the collection of different ethnic groups.
(3) Convey the ruling system and mechanism of the ancient Shu state. The ancient Shu kingdom lasted for more than 2,000 years from 5,000 to 2,800 years ago. The continuity of space and the stability of time unquestionably show that the Sanxingdui site, as the capital of the Shu Kingdom, is the highest center of power. In recent years, many architectural relics have been found in the Sanxingdui area, the largest of which has a construction area of more than 200 square meters. Such a building may be a ceremonial building, rather than a general residence. The ceremonial architecture of this aristocratic society, according to the speculation of later generations, may be a place of worship for ancestors, or a place for worshiping gods and issuing decrees and holding important ceremonies.
We think from this that in the ancient Shu culture jade related to snakes, there are often birds, eagles, fish, dragons, tigers, chickens, cattle, sheep and other patterns. Can it be understood that they are the symbols of the various clans and tribes that come to participate in the sacrifices? The collection of various symbols shows that these ethnic groups participated in the assembly of the power classes of the ancient Shu state, and together formed the core of the huge ruling group of the ancient Shu state. Because the Taimiao, Mingtang and Taimu in the ancient Chinese literature are equivalent to the big houses in ethnology or archaeology, all the great ceremonies such as pilgrimage, ancestor worship, celebration, selection, pension, and teaching are held in the Mingtang. If this inference holds, then it can be seen that the sacrifices of that time had developed into patents of theocracy and royal power, and that the few who performed the duties of sacrifice had formed into a privileged class, a magnate above and in control of society. A large number of jade snakes of the ancient Shu culture with extremely peculiar and strange shapes show that many primitive belief concepts and primitive worship in the ancient Shu kingdom have become the spiritual ruling force that determines people's relationships and behaviors, and have been stabilized by various sacrificial artifacts and rituals to form a relatively complete primitive religious system. It shows that the ancient Shu civilization is a regional civilization with independent origins, clear veins and highly developed.
Conclusion
The large number, exquisite production, and rich connotation of the jade snakes of the ancient Shu culture show that the ancient Shu ancestors attached great importance to sacrifices, and the grandeur of the scenes, the high specifications, the importance of their status, and the intensity of their influence were rare among the artifacts of the ancient times. They constitute an important feature of the ancient Shu culture in terms of paying attention to plastic arts, absorbing multiculturalism, and strengthening spiritual concepts. The ancient Shu culture of jade snakes was heavily used in the ancient Shu state sacrifice activities, more than 1,000 years before the Central Plains and other regions. There is no doubt that the images of Fuxi and Nüwa in the Han Dynasty are likely to be the result of the influence of ancient Shu culture. From the incubation, origin and development of snake culture factors, it can be seen that the ancient Shu civilization is a strange flower with independent origin, independent development, unique characteristics and brilliant diversity. It proves the credibility of the "theory of the independent development of Bashu culture" and the "self-contained theory" of ancient Shu culture.