When it comes to Chinese sacred birds, most people will first think of the phoenix. Indeed, the phoenix and the dragon are both totems and mascots, and they are all shadows in both historical records and literary works. But it is worth noting that the phoenix and dragon in our understanding now, like each other, have been passed down and interpreted for thousands of years, in fact, their initial image is not as gorgeous as it is now.
For example, the phoenix, in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, is only recorded as: "There is a bird, its shape is like a chicken, five cai and wen, the name is called the Phoenix Emperor." "In the long history of the river, there is a bird that is more noble than the earliest phoenix, and it is legendary, it is Chongming.
Because there are two pupils in one eye, the legendary Heavy Eye Bird is also called the Heavy Eye Bird. It is said that its strength is very large, and it can even fight against beasts of prey and ward off disasters such as beasts and demons. There is an ancient Chinese custom called painting chickens in households, saying that every New Year's Day, it is necessary to paste a new year painting with chickens on the door, in order to turn away evil spirits. In fact, the "chicken" in this custom is not really a chicken, but a heavy bird. The origin of this custom can be traced back to Wang Jia's "Collected Remains" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
It is said that Yao reigned for seventy years, and the distant Gionatejin offered a bird named Chongming, which looked like a chicken but was much more noble than a chicken, and its chirping sound was as moving as a phoenix. Only at this time, the feathers of the Heavy Ming Bird did not seem to have grown completely, and it seemed a little ugly, so Yao asked the messenger if this was really a spirit bird? The messenger was sure that the Shigemei bird seemed to understand Yao's question at this time, so he flapped his wings and flew. It flew while chirping, attracting spirit birds such as phoenixes in the palace to dance with it. The guards standing outside the palace saw many birds flying in the air to the north, and reported to Shun in a panic.
Yao sent someone to investigate, and found that the people who flew away were all owls and the like, and they probably heard Shigeaki's cry and fled. Since then, within hundreds of miles of the Heavy Ming Bird, there has not been a single evil bird, which has to be amazing. Yao was very happy to see the bird's divine power, and asked how to raise the bird, and the messenger replied: "Usually it is outside and does not know what to eat." If a man feeds it, he must feed it with the anointing of Qiongyu. After hearing this, Yao sighed: "It is worthy of being a spirit bird, and like Luan Feng, you must not be trapped in the cage." And it needs qiong cream to raise, which is too luxurious, it is better to put the heavy light back into the forest, still as in the past. I think this spirit bird can also understand human nature and understand why we do this. "
The courtiers were deeply impressed, so they placed the Shigeaki Bird in the woods and let it go free. The Shigemei bird was indeed very humane as Yao said, always flying within a few hundred miles of the imperial capital, and all the jackals, wolves, tigers and leopards were either killed or driven away by it after fighting. The people in the vicinity were immediately safe and convenient. If there is something ominous in any family, as long as the bird is re-enlightened, the demons and evils will suddenly scatter and flee, turning the evil into good luck. Even in the depths of the mountains, as long as the cries of heavy birds are heard, the beasts of prey will panic and flee.
Unfortunately, the Bird flew away after living near the imperial capital for a while, and then came only a few times a year, then became once a year, and finally became once a few years. The people were eagerly awaiting, but no matter what, even placing Qiong's paste at the door could not attract Shigeaki. The anxious people came up with a method, they carved wood into the shape of a heavy bird, and the richer ones were poured with gold, and the statues were placed between the portals, which could also ward off evil spirits. Later, this custom changed from putting statues to stickers, and the heavy birds also became chickens.
The legend of ChungMei is not over, and it is said that Emperor Shun is the embodiment of Shigemei. There lived a blind man named Qiu Shu at the foot of the mountain, and one night he had a dream in which the bird flew in front of him and fed him food. After feeding, Shigeaki bird suddenly spat out that he was not leaving, and he wanted to be a son to Shu Shu. Xuan Shuo was very happy and was about to pick up Shigeaki. Just then, he woke up.
After waking up from the dream, the more he thought about it, the more strange he felt, so he told his wife the content of the dream, and the wife was not happy after listening to it, but said that she was thinking about it day and night and dreaming, and wanted her son to go crazy. He thought about it and thought it might be his own problem, but soon after, his wife was really pregnant.
After getting pregnant in October, the child fell to the ground and was a big fat boy. At this time, a heavy bird suddenly flew outside the door, flying and chirping for a long time. The neighbors all came out to see the liveliness, and when the bird flew away, the children in the house also opened their eyes, and this opening of the eyes showed extraordinary, he and the heavy bird were all eyes and eyes! Everyone said that this child must be born of a heavy bird. He was also very pleased. Later, sure enough, Shun not only became famous at a young age, but also later became Emperor Shun and became the object of admiration in later generations.
Does the Shigeaki bird really exist?
Perhaps like the phoenix, it is a beautiful sustenance in people's hearts, and Chongming represents light and auspiciousness, and it is also a symbol of Shundi Benevolence. The simple working people of ancient times looked forward to the flying of heavy birds, just like the Ming Emperors like Shun, and the so-called legends were concrete and exaggerated manifestations of beautiful visions. Thinking of it this way, who in the world does not expect the heavy bird to fly?