It is the nature of children to be mischievous, but children still have to be properly restrained. Scolding hurts, so the mothers and grandmothers of the past generations have to find a set of words to scare their children.
For example, in foreign fairy tales, there are sayings such as "wolf grandmother", "witch", "witch". The more intelligent Chinese women "looked for" something that could make children obedient and obedient more than wolves and tigers.
Since it is aimed at children, this thing cannot be too eerie, such as ghosts, demons, murderers and the like, which are easy to leave a shadow on the child's young mind. And this thing that Chinese women are looking for happens to strike a perfect balance in terms of strength and protection.
Compared with many readers when they are young, they have been frightened by their grandmothers, grandmothers or mothers with "horse monkeys are coming". "Horse monkeys" are not only things that we were afraid and obedient when we were young, but even when our mother became a grandmother and used to discipline her grandson, it was also effective.
I once asked my mother what a "horse monkey" was, and my mother said that my grandmother said it; then I asked my grandmother, and my grandmother would also say that she listened to adults when she was a child. The pursuit of layers seems to be due to the strict attack and the long "genealogy", which cannot be exhausted to the root, and it seems that the grandmothers have inherited a "guanwa divine curse" for generations.
Whether adults or children, the most frightening thing is often not those things that can be concrete, such as poisonous snakes and beasts, they have specific images and habits, and it is precisely because they are familiar and concrete, people will not feel too afraid, and even know how to avoid encountering them, or how to subdue.
But the "horse monkey" is a mysterious existence that no one can say what it is. I remember when I was a child, whenever my grandmother used this "GuanWa Divine Curse" to subdue me, I would secretly wonder what the "horse monkey" really was.
There is a "monkey" in the word, I am afraid it is a kind of monkey, but the image of the monkey has been seen in pictures and television, not only is it not terrible, but it even makes people feel naughty and cute, but why are all children so afraid of it? That must not be a monkey.
And the pronunciation of northerners, when reading "horse monkey", sends "monkey", so the mind will imagine such a numb thing, it seems that there is a hobby of catching children, it is not a monkey or the like.
Moreover, most of the people or animals that are named "hemp" contain hints of ugly looks and even fierceness and temperament. For example, the northern dialect says that someone is a "maze fan", that is, that is, that the person is unreasonable in speaking and doing things, has no rules, is prone to short-circuit in the brain, is prone to impulsive behavior, and often has unexpected words and deeds.
Therefore, once the "divine curse" of "hemp (horse) monkey is coming" is sacrificed, most of the children will fall into a dreamless fantasy, panic and worry will soon come, and the children will stop the current mischief, and then obediently become obedient and act according to the instructions of the adults.
Later, when I read Mr. Lu Xun's "Twenty-Four Filial Pieties", I saw the sentence "More than the beast of the flood, it is very vast and very long-lasting, and it can turn all of China into a mahu, and all children die in his stomach", and the word "mahu" in it suddenly aroused my thinking about the "Guanwa Divine Curse".
Although there are differences in the pronunciation of northern and southern dialects, it is clear that "ma monkey" and "horse monkey" or "mahuzi" in the Beijing dialect are very close to "mahu", not to mention that the "species" with slight differences in pronunciation, all strangely point to "child".
Therefore, it can almost be asserted that the "ma monkey" in the "Guanwa Divine Curse" that the grandmothers have inherited from generation to generation is the "Mahu" in Lu Xun's article; at the same time, it can almost be asserted that this "Guanwa Divine Mantra" is not only passed down from generation to generation by the grandmothers in the north, but also the difference in pronunciation does not hinder its characteristics of being universal in the north and the south.
According to Mr. Lu Xun's confession in the article, this "Ma Hu" that can make children obedient and obedient, the allusion is first from the Tang Dynasty novel "Kaihe Ji", which is about Ma Shumou, who was responsible for opening the canal for the Sui Emperor during the Sui Dynasty.
Uncle Ma's plot to exploit the people and exhaust the people's strength, digging the canal has caused hundreds of people to die, miserable, and make the people's resentment boil, and he has a very cruel hobby - eating people, and he prefers to eat the meat of children. So that not only did the children at that time cry at night, a word of "Mahu is coming" can make them live in peace, and this sense of fear crossed the limitations of time and space, spread throughout the north and south of the river, and passed on to future generations of children.
Originally a historical event, but because this fear is too tragic and deep, it has become a cultural gene that is almost engraved in people's hearts.
Why Ma Shumou evolved into "Ma Hu" in the "Guan Wa Divine Curse", it is estimated that the people at that time were afraid of its power and cruelty, and naturally did not dare to call his name directly. As for why the word "Hu" is used, it is probably out of two possibilities:
First, although the surname examination records that the ma surname is derived from the surname Of Qi (han Dynasty surname scholar Ying Shao recorded in the "Surname": "Ma Shi, after Qi Dafu Ma Bao"), when ma Shumou came, it is estimated that he had a foreign ancestry, and traditionally people used to call the northern border areas and western regions "Hu people";
Second, because Uncle Ma's penchant is too perverted and cruel, people compare it with the "beard" who is not a villain and is inferior to the beast. "Beard" refers to both a man's beard and is synonymous with bandits and gangsters.
After such a layer of study, it was found that the colloquial language that was widely circulated among Chinese women in different eras and different levels of knowledge, and was used to scare and control children, had such a deep historical origin. The magic of culture, the more delicious the more delicious!
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