When the Western Han Dynasty became emperor, Huan Tan was a lang official in the middle of the dynasty, and he followed the emperor to go out to sacrifice, first to the foot of Mount Hua, where there was a Jiling Palace, which was built by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the name of the hall was Cunxian, which enshrined two gods: Prince Qiao and Chi Songzi.
Statue of Prince Joe
This is what Huan Tan wrote in "Immortal Endowment", Prince Qiao and Chi Songzi, both collectively known as Song Qiao, were the hottest pair of immortals before the Tang Dynasty, and often appeared together.
Ban Gu said in the "Xi Du Fu": "The group of Shu Song Qiao is a group of people who travel in the crowd of time. ”
Cao Pi wrote in "Furong Pond Zuo" that "who can get the immortals without Song Qiao".
Tao Yuanming also wrote: "There is Song Qiao in the world, and it is determined where it is now." ("Drinking Alone in the Rain").
Ji Kang also wrote: "Ride on the clouds to summon Song Qiao, breathe forever" ("Yong Huai").
In the Tang Dynasty, it was also customary to juxtapose the two, such as Qian Qi's sentence "If Song Qiao is here, he will no longer be drunk and flowing", bai Juyi has a connection: "Depending on the wine immortals to warm up, Song Qiao is drunk to the front." "Other poets have also been involved, and the list goes on.
However, at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, they only existed in poetry, becoming an allusion to the literati. In the Han Dynasty and even the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the two of them were well known. Everyday objects such as the mirror that love to engrave their names on the back, such as:
"Yuan Shi's mirror is really a great coincidence, there is the East Prince and the West Queen Mother... Immortals Qiao Chi Chanting Zi... Long live the thousand autumns and don't know old age..."
"Yuan's work is really a great coincidence, the Eastern Prince and the Western Queen Mother, the Green Dragon on the left and the White Tiger on the right, and the Mountain Man's Son Qiao Chi Rongzi, thousands of times over."
"The Work of the Yao Clan is really good, there are the Eastern Princes and The Queen Mother of the West, the Immortal Son Qiao Chi Songzi, and the Second Relative of Chang Bao, Xi Li's grandson Xi Ji."
"Zhang Shi's work is really coincidental, the immortal king Qiao Chi Songzi, the shi (lion) son to ward off evil spirits is rare, thirsty for jade springs hungry for dates, born like a golden stone heavenly protection."
……
Prince Joe and Akamatsuko on the bronze mirror
Regardless of whether the craftsmen with the surname Yuan or the craftsmen with the surname Liu, in addition to selling themselves and boasting about the good mirrors, they carved Prince Qiao and Chi Songzi on them, and then matched with an auspicious passage. These two immortals are simply the mascots of the mirror.
Who are they? What's the story?
First, Prince Joe
Prince Joe is not the surname of the king, the name of the king, Joe, the correct sentence should be the prince - Joe.
The Biography of Liexian came up and said, "Prince Qiao, Prince Jinye of Zhou Ling." "He was the crown prince of the Eastern Zhou Ling King, so his name should be Ji Jin." Since he was a child, he liked to blow pipes and followed the Taoist priest Gongsong Mountain on Fuqiu for thirty years. Then one day I suddenly informed my family that I was waiting for me on July 7 at Mt. On this day, he appeared in mid-air riding a white crane, frequently raising his hand to greet everyone. It's like an idol meeting a fan, and it's only after a few days that it drifts away.
Prince Joe takes the idol route
Nguyen Ju has a poem in the "Wing Huai Sixty-Five" as proof of this: "The prince is fifteen years old, and you yan Ilobin." ...... Seeing the Duke of Fuqiu, he raised his hand to thank the people at the time. ...... Flying and flying, waving and sour. However, in another Lefu poem, "Prince Joe", Prince Joe rides a deer, probably he changed his mount.
The story is mysterious, but as a prince, his original name was Ji Jin, shouldn't he be Prince Jin? - Yes, yes, he is sometimes called Prince Jin. Ruan Ju called him so in the "Yong Huai IV": "Chao is a beautiful teenager, and the twilight becomes an ugly old man." Since he is not a prince Jin, who can always be beautiful? ”
But what does this have to do with Joe? Why call him Prince Joe? The "Biography of the Immortals" probably did not know, did not explain at all, and was so confused.
The Eastern Han Dynasty's "Customs and Traditions" gave an explanation. Ji Jin asked Shi Kuang, "I heard that you can see the life expectancy of a person?" "Shi Kuang is a famous blind qinsheng, and it is estimated that he has not yet pierced his eyes. He said: "Your face is not good, your voice is also problematic, I'm afraid you won't live long." Prince Jin nodded, "I will die within three years, don't tell others, so as not to bring you misfortune." Later, ji jin died, and everyone suspected that he became an immortal after his death because he could predict his death, and everyone said "Prince Qiao Xian" - Qiao was promoted to an immortal. So it is referred to as Prince Joe - this bend is almost in time for the cross-talk "Pickpocket".
After death, it should be a corpse immortal, and the Taiping Guangji records a story in the "New Language of the World", saying that during the Warring States period, someone stole the tomb of Prince Qiao, and there was only a sword hanging in it, and the sword also emitted a burst of dragon groans. It seems that the sword has been solved.
But this contradicts the image of the flying immortal riding a crane in the Legend of the Immortals, if it makes sense, then he is also too yin refining, but after the ascension, he rides the white crane to show off. This is, of course, my brain supplement.
People in the Eastern Han Dynasty also make up their minds, and there is a magical person named Wang Qiao in "Customs and Customs". During the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he made a county order for Ye County. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the month, he came to the capital, and the emperor wondered why he did not have a car when he came, so he asked people to secretly observe. It turned out that every time he came, two blades flew in from the southeast. These people caught a net, and the result was a shoe.
This was not the most magical, and later a jade coffin fell from the sky in the county, and Wang Qiao said, "This is the Heavenly Emperor summoning me." "Bathe and change clothes, lie in the coffin." The jade coffin was then moved to the east of the city, and the earth flew on it to form a tomb - the whole process was automated. However, that night all the cattle in the county town were breathless, as if they had done heavy work--it turned out that the county commander had managed to take in the work.
Although there is a clear time and place in this account, it is obviously a folklore from the absurdity point of view, and the author finally says that this is probably the immortal prince Joe. It seems that The Heavenly Immortal Prince Qiao made a mistake and was relegated to the human world to come to the local immortals. Later, when he entered the jade coffin, it was dissociated again, too yin refining, and the second ascension to the heavens.
If this is the case, it is not difficult to understand the strange thing at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
On the night of the eighth day of the first lunar month in 136 AD, it was snowing heavily, and cries of grief came from his grave. Someone went to see it in the morning, and there were bird paw marks on the snow - this is probably the crane mentioned in the "Legend of the Immortals". Then someone, wearing a big hat and a single coat, came over with a bamboo stick, pointed to a woodcutter, and said, "I am Prince Joe, don't chop wood at my grave in the future." This is not my blind compilation, the event of the Eastern Han Dynasty Cai Yong "Immortal Prince Qiao Monument".
Prince Joe rides a crane
However, Cai Yong only said in the article that he was "a real person in the last world, who smelled his immortals for a long time, and did not know what generation he was interested in." He was a very old immortal, too old to be examined, and did not say that he had a relationship with Prince Ji Jin.
He was as old as those ancient gods, and Qu Yuan had a sentence in the Heavenly Question: "How does the big bird sing, and the husband loses his body?" Wang Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty explained that this big bird was Prince Qiao and told a story. Cui Wenzi and Prince Qiao Xuexian, probably to test this student, Prince Qiao turned into a white worm and gave him immortal medicine. As a result, Cui Wenzi was so frightened that he stabbed Nago. The white flea fell to the ground and turned into the corpse of Prince Joe. Cui Wenzi put the body of Prince Qiao in the house and built a broken seal. In a moment, the sound of birdsong came from inside the pot. Cui Wenzi opened it and saw a big bird, and the bird flew away.
This is probably the original image of Prince Joe, and this bird, I suspect, comes from the blue bird next to the Queen Mother of the West.
The "Internal Biography of Emperor Wu of Han" says that before the Queen Mother of the West came to see Emperor Wu of Han, she first sent a girl in green clothes to report it.
"(Emperor Wu of Han) suddenly saw a woman, dressed in green clothes, very beautiful. The emperor asked in amazement, and the woman said, "My son Dengye, the Jade Queen of the Palace, came from Kunshan to the Queen Mother." ’”
This green-robed girl is obviously the personification of the youth under the seat of the West Queen Mother, and this woman actually named Wang Zi Deng, and the other two disciples of the West Queen Mother are mentioned later: "Prince Tong, Prince Li" - it seems that the names of the West Queen Mother's subordinates are all taken this routine. Although the "Inner Biography of Han Wu" was written by people during the Wei and Jin dynasties, the author must have a history for naming the character so.
Prince Qiao is likely to be from the bird of the Queen Mother of the West, and its story is fused with the story of Prince Zhou Ling in circulation, becoming an immortal image. But whether it is Ye Xian's control of the sword, or the crane ride in Yichuan, or the preaching bird, there are birds in his stories, which is the core of his mythological stories.
2. Akamatsuko
Akamatsuko is not as complicated as Prince Joe, but it is not clear what he does, and it is certain that he has a lot of personal charm.
Qu Yuan wrote in "The Long Journey" that "smelling the clear dust of the red pine, I am willing to inherit the wind and leave it behind." "—I want to follow Akamatsuko in monasticism. In the "History", Zhang Liang wanted to retire from his achievements, so he said, "Willing to abandon human affairs and want to swim from Akamatsuko", and in the "Biography of the Immortals", Mozi also said that he wanted to follow Akamatsuko.
Red pine nuts in large fish begonias
Why does he have such a charm? Probably because he's a good teacher. The Biography of the Immortals says that Emperor Yan's younger daughter followed him to learn the Tao and became an immortal. Is it because of this that he can bring apprentices to the good news, everyone is willing to follow? The "Biography of the Immortals" also says that he was a rain master in the time of Shennong, who could follow the wind and rain up and down the heavens and the earth, and could also enter the fire and not die. He "often went to the Kunlun Mountains, often stopping in the stone chamber of the Queen Mother of the West." "I often go to the Queen Mother of the West to visit the door."
If I had previously speculated that Prince Qiao was a personified immortal of the Blue Bird, the Queen Mother of the West should have something in common between them.
However, the reason why the ancients held them both together was not so, And Wang Chong said in the "On Balance": "Qiao, the king of Akamatsu, is a good way to be an immortal, and he does not die in the world." "The two of them are able to save the world from dying.
In the "Warring States Policy", Cai Ze persuaded Fan Ju to let xian, saying: "Why don't you return to the seal at this time, let the sages teach it, and there will be the honesty of Boyi; the elder is Ying Hou, the world is called lonely, and there is Qiao and Song's life." It's a disaster! "Take Prince Qiao and Akamatsuko as representatives of longevity, people like Pengzu." In fact, in the Book of The Book unearthed by Mawangdui, Prince Qiao (but written about Prince Qiao's father) was discussing the path of eternal life (Fang Zhongshu) with Peng Zu.
Looking back at the story of Prince Qiao who delivered medicine to Cui Wenzi, who became a three-hundred-year-old alchemy expert in the "Biography of Liexian", his red pill and Huang Shan were very clever in saving lives and helping the injured. The apprentices are so powerful, as the master's prince Qiao will be able to make people immortal, and at the same time proficient in the art of the room, they can also make people happy and immortal. How can you not be snubbed by everyone?
In the Nineteen Ancient Poems, it is said that "the birth year is less than a hundred, and the thousand years of worry are always worried... Immortal Prince Joe, difficult to wait with the period. The "Lefu Poetry Collection" also said: "Since he is not the immortal prince Qiao, it is difficult to calculate the life expectancy." Although they were all disappointed tones, it just showed that there were many followers of Prince Qiao at that time, and what they were expecting was to extend their life, but he only taught Cui Wenzi an apprentice. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, so they complained
The reason why the two of them have this skill is because they studied under the West Queen Mother, after all, in ancient mythology, the West Queen Mother's immortal medicine is the most famous (for example, Yi please immortal medicine to the West Queen Mother). This is why in the mirror inscriptions of the Han Dynasty, the two of them always appeared together with the Eastern Prince and the Western Queen Mother.