In ancient times, due to the limitations of various conditions, people's life expectancy was not very long, and the emperors of successive dynasties, in order to prolong their lives, were seeking the "art of immortality". Like the Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han that we are familiar with, they are all looking for a panacea, and even send special people to study things that can prolong life and longevity, so as to achieve the purpose of immortality.
In the ancient mythology of our country, there is such a wonderful substance, that is, "manna".
Book of Han and The Chronicle of Emperor Xuan: "Emperor Feng of Nai set Taishan, Chen Liu, Ganlu descended to Weiyang Palace... Blessed by Montgary, blessed with blessings, blessed with night and night, and proud of themselves. Therefore, the ancients believed that the fall of manna was a kind of Taiping Rui sign.
So, what is "manna"?
Manna, according to modern sources, is a perennial herb with the scientific name "manna seed" that can be used as a medicinal herb. Judging from the historical records, it is a kind of "heavenly wine" eaten by the gods.
According to legend, if ordinary people have the opportunity to taste this thing, they can increase their yang life by eight hundred years. As the saying goes, "long drought and manna", the folk regard "manna" as the most precious and cherished sacred object. In the imperial family that pursues immortality, it is natural that "manna" is a mysterious and mysterious bead. Almost every emperor has a long-term dream of spring and autumn, so most rulers have a fondness for such things as "manna".
During the reign of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty, the government was controlled by eunuchs, among whom the castrated Wang Shoucheng faction was the most influential. Tang Wenzong did not want Li To be in the hands of a group of eunuchs, so Tang Wenzong, with the help of his close courtiers, planned to secretly design to get rid of Wang Shoucheng. After some investigation, Tang Wenzong discovered that Qiu Shiliang, the right leader of the imperial court, and Wang Shoucheng had a feud with each other.
As the saying goes, the enemy of the enemy is the friend, and Tang Wenzong spared no effort to promote Qiu Shiliang and cultivate his own forces in the army. When the time was ripe, Emperor Wenzong of Tang transferred Wang Shoucheng to the Right God Army and stripped him of his military power. Subsequently, Tang Wenzong instructed other eunuchs to kill Wang Shoucheng with poisonous wine, and to kill his henchmen in one fell swoop, completely eliminating this castration party force.
Although Wang Shoucheng had been punished, the problem of eunuchs endangering the court had not yet been resolved. In particular, Qiu Shiliang, who had previously been supported by Emperor Wenzong of Tang, rose rapidly after the fall of Wang Shoucheng, and there were signs that wang Shoucheng would be replaced.
In this regard, Tang Wenzong formulated the next conspiracy, that is, the "change of manna".
One morning, han yue, a hundred officials of the civil and military forces who had just arrived at the great hall, hurriedly came to play the report, declaring: "Some nectar has been found on the pomegranate tree in zuo jinwu hall. "You must know that Ganlu is a xiangrui that is rare in a hundred years, and when he heard about this, all the officials of the wen and martial arts threw themselves into congratulations to Tang Wenzong.
Subsequently, Tang Wenzong pretended to leave the palace to personally inspect these heavenly nectars. In the process of going to Zuo Jinwu Hall, Tang Wenzong deliberately asked Qiu Shiliang to check it out first. Qiu Shiliang has been crawling and fighting in the conspiracy field for many years, so he has developed a very astute character. Originally, it was strange that something as a figment of ganlu appeared in Zuo Jinwu Hall, but now, Tang Wenzong let himself visit first, and it was obvious that there must be deception in it.
Qiu Shiliang cautiously came to Zuo Jinwu Hall and found that the great general Han Yue looked flustered, and the uneasiness in his heart increased by a few points. Just at this moment, a strong wind blew up the curtains around the hall, and Qiu Shiliang found that there were many heavily armed soldiers hiding behind the curtains. Seeing this, Qiu Shiliang suddenly realized, and immediately fled back to the palace with the eunuchs. At this time, Tang Wenzong had already ordered Jin Wuwei to kill the great hall and fight with the eunuchs.
Qiu Shiliang promptly dispatched a group of troops to take Tang Wenzong as a hostage, so as to negotiate with Jin Wuwei. Later, with the murder of Jin Wuwei, this "ganlu change" was also announced.
In fact, there are many stories related to the auspicious rui of "Ganlu", among which the more well-known is the "Ganlu Temple".
In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei borrowed the city of Jingzhou from Sun Wu due to strategic needs, and because Liu Bei refused to return it for a long time, Zhou Yu deceived Liu Bei into wu under the guise of Sun Quan's sister-in-law. After Zhou Yu carefully selected, in the end, the place where the plan was implemented was set as Ganlu Temple, because this incident has long been a well-known bridge section, so the author will not repeat it. In this story, what is the name of Ganlu Temple?
According to the author's review of relevant information, it was found that the temple was established in the first year of Eastern Wu Ganlu, hence the name. So, what exactly is "manna"? Why do countless people throughout the ages flock to this? In fact, we also have the opportunity to taste manna on weekdays, which is a plant that resembles a conch in appearance, is often pickled into pickles, and also has certain medicinal value.
Of course, this "manna" is not the "manna" in ancient mythology, and the effects of the two are far apart. According to historical records, the so-called "nectar" will only appear on plants in the early morning, and the "morning dew" we often say now is actually a thing. However, the ancients' knowledge was limited and their understanding of this natural phenomenon was not enough, so they made a joke that "a drop of nectar extended life for eight hundred years".
The Ming Dynasty scholar Du Hao also did relevant research and came to the following conclusion: "This place of many insects, the leaves will be more dewy, sweet, and the urine of insects." According to Du Ho's research, the so-called "manna" is actually the urine of the insect, which is really surprising. However, Du Ho's research, in fact, has no scientific reason. The reason why "morning dew" produces sweetness is often because it combines sweetens such as pollen during the condensation process.
Therefore, when eating, it will make people feel "sweet as food".
In the early years, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty built a seven-meter-high container in the imperial palace, called "Chenglu Pan". In the following millennium, emperors continued to emulate Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and build this plate to collect nectar. To this day, we can still see the "Chenglu Pan" built by the Qianlong Emperor in beihai park in the capital, which shows that until the Qing Dynasty, there were still rulers who were superstitious about the function of manna and were obsessed with it.
Resources:
["Compendium of Materia Medica, Shui Yi Ganlu", "History of Filial Piety", "Lotus Sutra and Herb Metaphor"]