Su Daji, possessed by the fox spirit
Speaking of foxes, many people may first think of the title of folk "fox spirit", but foxes have also played some different roles in history, and today Wen Shijun wants to introduce to you how foxes have become totems and auspicious spirits from ordinary animals, and how to demonize and finally develop into fox immortal beliefs.
1. Ancient Times: Totem
Cunning, witty, and spiritual, foxes have taken on the role of tribal totem in ancient times. The "History of the Five Emperors" records: "The emperor taught bears, cats, cats, cats, cats, and tigers to fight with the emperor in the wilderness of Hanquan. The six animals mentioned in this sentence are actually six tribes that use these animals as totems, of which the interpretation of "Qi" in "Erya" is the white fox, indicating that the fox was a member of the totem in ancient times.
arctic fox
The "Wu Yue Chunqiu Yue Wang Wuyu Biography" records such a story, saying that Dayu has not yet married a wife when he is 30 years old, and he is very worried that he will violate the laws of the time (at that time, the system was that men should marry their wives when they reached the age of thirty). At that time, Dayu Zhishui walked to Tushan (tushan, northwest of present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang), where a Tushan family lived.
Statue of Tu Shan Clan
Dayu said to the heavens, "If you agree to let me marry, I will definitely get a response from heaven." As soon as the words fell, a nine-tailed white fox appeared in front of Dayu. Dayu thought to himself, "White is the color of the clothes that our tribe reveres, and these nine tails are the symbol of the king." ”
Dayu once heard folk songs from the Tushan region, including the singing: "Sui Sui White Fox, Nine-tailed Mu Li (m áng)." My family is Jiayi, and the guests are kings. When you make a family, I build Pichang. On the occasion of heaven and man, Yuz will do it. "The gist is that whoever marries a girl from the Tushan family will prosper." Later, Dayu married a girl from the Tushan family.
In some myths and legends, the Tushan clan is the nine-tailed white fox, and in the story we just told, the tribal totem of the heroine Tushan clan is also the nine-tailed fox.
Nine-tailed white fox
2. Pre-Qin period: Xiangrui
In ancient times, foxes undertook part of the task of totems, and in the pre-Qin period, because the previous totem worship was still continuing, the fox gradually developed into a symbol of "auspicious Rui" in this period. In ancient times, auspiciousness was a sign of auspiciousness.
Nowadays, some costume dramas often appear in Xiangrui, which appears in both animal or plant states and celestial states, such as the Qilin, Jiahe and Jingxing that we are familiar with, which are the representatives of animals, plants and celestial phenomena respectively.
The creature of the fox was also a symbol of heavenly auspiciousness in the pre-Qin period, which is also expressed in some historical texts. For example, in the "Biography of Mu Tianzi", it is recorded: "Jia chen, the son of heaven hunted in the seepage, so he got a white fox and a fox to sacrifice to the Hezong." ”
Unicorn pattern
With the gradual advancement of the torrent of history, by the Han Dynasty, foxes began to be demonized, and at this time the "demon fox" was said to be "emerging". The earliest record of foxes being demonized is found in the Eastern Han Dynasty Xu Shen's "Explanation of Words and Characters". The book says, "Foxes, demon beasts, ghosts ride on them." The fox of this period changed the image of the previous totem and Xiangrui and transformed into the so-called "demon fox".
In the film and television drama, the demon fox looks like an adult
Foxes "degenerate" from spirit beasts to demon beasts, which are influenced by both witchcraft and other religious factors such as Buddhism and Taoism.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the theory of fox "demonization" became more and more prevalent, and at this time, foxes were no longer treated as xiangrui as before, but were regarded as "evil omens", a kind of demonic thing. Since then, he has also developed a series of zhiwei novels about fox charms.
There is a story in the "Miscellaneous Records of Xijing", "King Guangchuan of the Western Han Dynasty likes to dig graves, and when he excavated the grave of Luan Shu, he found that the coffin and burial goods had all decayed, and there was only one white fox, which saw that people came and fled at once. King Guangchuan sent someone to chase after him, but did not pursue it, but only stabbed the white fox's left foot with a halberd. That night, King Hirokawa dreamed of a man with a white beard and eyebrows saying to him, "Why did you stab me in the left foot?" The man finished speaking and then used his cane to knock King Guangchuan's left foot. King Hirokawa woke up to find that his left foot was swollen and sore, and it was not cured until his death.
1. Tang and Song Dynasties: Fox god worship
However, while people gradually "demonized" foxes, the people quietly rose up to worship the fox god. In the ancient book "Taiping Guangji", it is clearly written: "Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the people have been troubled by fox gods. There is also a folk proverb - "no fox charm, no village", which also shows the universality of fox god worship during this period.
Fox god worship
By the Song Dynasty, fox god worship continued to develop. The Chronicle of the Ruins of Fenjing says: "In the autumn of the seventh year of Xuanhe, a fox went straight into the forbidden place from Gengyue, sat on the imperial bed, and destroyed the temple of the fox king. From this, it can be seen that the fox temple has appeared in large numbers in the Song Dynasty, and has reached the point where it needs to be controlled by the authorities.
Fox Fairy Temple
2. Qing Dynasty: Fox immortal belief spread throughout the north
The worship of foxes in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties was still developing, and the belief in fox immortals was perfected in the Qing Dynasty. Fox fairy temples are also widely distributed in the northern region, and whether it is ordinary people or officials, they are very religious in believing in fox immortals, which is mainly reflected in the family to set up tablets for fox immortals, large and small festivals to worship fox immortals, daily worship of fox immortals for blessings and other activities.
The fox immortal belief was once very prosperous in northern China, occupying an important position in Chinese folk beliefs and having certain cultural significance. The fox has become one of the totems of primitive tribes from ordinary animals, and has been identified by people as xiangrui and demon fox, and finally developed into "fox fairy faith", and there are still many folk cultural values waiting for us to continue to explore.
Wang Wei, "The Archetype Of Chinese Fox Spirits", Pu Songling Research, No. 2, 2007.
Zhang Mu, "The Dislocation of Faith and Emotion: The Demonization of the Fox and the Rise of the Fox Immortal Faith", Cultural and Educational Materials, No. 21, 2013.
Yuan Ke: General Theory of Chinese Mythology, Sichuan People's Publishing House, 2019.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Dawn)
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