As a historical figure, what are the legends of Jiang Taigong? Why was the name of "Martial Saint" transferred from Jiang Taigong to Guan Yu's head? What kind of god is Jiang Taigong? Why is there a Jiang Taigong, there can be no taboos? Why is Jiang Taigong here, and the gods want to avoid it? Does The City God Grandpa have the City God Grandma, the Land Grandpa has the Land Grandma, and the Jiang Taigong has the "Jiang Tai Grandma"?
We often see the words "Jiang Taigong is here" on some folk buildings. Jiang Taigong is the Jiang Ziya we are familiar with, he was originally a historical figure who helped King Wu of Zhou to conquer the world. Legend has it that he was a descendant of Emperor Yan, surnamed Lü, famous, ziya, and flying bear, and people also called him Lü Shang or Jiang Shang. The history books call him Jiang Taigong, and the folk name is Jiang Ziya.
The bronze "Heavenly Death" records that after king Wu cut down the silk, he sacrificed to King Wen, and the minister Tianxia assisted King Wu in sacrifice, so he was rewarded. Scholar Yang Xiangkui believes that "heavenly death" is Jiang Shang, at the beginning of The Zhou Dynasty, "heaven" and "too" are not distinguished, and "heavenly death" means "too hopeful". Jiang Shang as a candidate for auxiliary sacrifice, it can be seen that his status is not ordinary. He is also mentioned in the Book of Poetry, "Wei Shi Shang Father, Shi Wei Ying Yang". "Shang Father" is said to be Jiang Shang. The Zhou people had a patriarchal system of managing the nobility, with Wang being the grand patriarch of the nobles with the surname Ji, and the King of Zhou being the suzerainty of the nobles with the same surname. For foreign surnames that are not Ji surnames, the Zhou royal family gave titles such as "Shang Father" and "Uncle" through marriage and other means, which was also included in the patriarchal system of Ji surnames.
Legend has it that Jiang Taigong fished with a straight hook on the shore of the Weishui River, "the willing one took the bait", and thus met king Wen of Zhou, who knew the goods. This kind of gathering of the wise lords is often talked about by future generations. In ancient times, there were many paintings that represented this scene, such as Dai Jin's "Fishing Map of Weibin" in the Ming Dynasty.
In the Ming Dynasty, Dai Jin painted a part of the "Weibin Fishing Map", which was collected by the "National Palace Museum" in Taipei. Taigong Jiang fished with a straight hook on the shore of the Weishui River, and was received by Corporal LiXian of King Wen of Zhou, expressing the wind and clouds of the Wise Lord.
Historically, Jiang Shang was the first generation of feudal lords of the State of Qi. Across Mount Tai, next to the State of Qi is the State of Lu. The Huainan Zi Qi Folk Training records that after the success of king Wu's cutting, the Duke of Zhou was sealed in Ludi, and Taigong Jiang was sealed in Qidi, and When Taigong Jiang asked Duke Zhou how he planned to govern Ludi, Duke Zhou said, "Kiss and respect." It means to be close to those who are close, to respect those who are respected, and to depend on one's own clan. Jiang Taigong said, "The state of Lu has since declined. Sure enough, later the State of Lu has always been a weak and small country, and the regime was controlled by the relatives and clans "Three Huans", and there was also a Lu Aigong. Zhou Gong asked Jiang Taigong how to govern Qidi, and Jiang Taigong said, "Raise the merits and make meritorious achievements." "Recommend the wise and honor the merits." Zhou Gong said, "There will be kings who rob and kill in the hereafter." "Later, the State of Qi was indeed very powerful, and the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons was the Duke of Qi Huan, but in the late Spring and Autumn Period, it was not the people of their own clan who were in power, but the outsider Tian Clan Daiqi, and the monarch was killed by Qing Dafu.
The "History of the Lu Zhou Gong Family" also records the story of Jiang Taigong as a historical figure, saying that when the State of Qi and the State of Lu were just sealed, Jiang Taigong and The Son of the Duke of Zhou used different routes to build their own country. It took three years for Bo Yan to complete the initial stability in the State of Lu, while it took Only five months for Taigong Jiang to govern the State of Qi. The long time used by the State of Lu was because Bo Bird insisted on using the Zhou Rite to govern the State of Lu and changed the local customs of the State of Lu. The short time used by the State of Qi was due to the fact that Taigong Jiang simplified the zhou system and governed the feudal state according to local customs, "simplifying the etiquette of its monarchs and courtiers, and following its customs." So the State of Qi retained a lot of primitive customs, and because of the sea, immortal witchcraft was extremely popular, so the State of Qi later produced a lot of Yin and Yang families, and later the deification of Jiang Taigong was probably related to the customs of the State of Qi.
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, Jiang Ziya had already been deified. The Book of History and Zen says that the Eight Gods will "or taigong since then", which means that Jiang Taigong can recruit divine generals. The Old Book of Tang and Li Lezhi quotes "Taigong Liutao" as saying that when King Wu was cutting down the silk, the snow was particularly heavy, and there were five cars and two horses to meet King Wu, and people felt very strange, because the ground was full of snow, but there was no mark where the car and the horse passed. Jiang Ziya knew that the people who came must be extraordinary, and when he pinched his fingers, it turned out that there were five divine generals.
Although Jiang Ziya has always been deified, it was not valued before the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang also disliked him, because after all, he participated in the "rebellion". Originally, before the Ming Dynasty, he was known as "Martial Saint" (many ancient military books were named Jiang Taigong), but because of the relationship between the ruling class, this title was moved to Guan Yu's head.
With the circulation of the "Fengshen Yanyi", Jiang Ziya's status gradually improved. Nie Shuyun's "On the List of Fengshen Gods" pointed out: "As one of the popular reading materials, the "Fengshen List" occupies its inexorable dominant position in china's old society. The note 'Jiang Taigong is here, the gods avoid' can be seen everywhere... The old Chinese novel has lost its meaning and become a historical and classic. "In the Ming Dynasty, there were many symbols related to Jiang Taigong, in addition to the portrait or statue holding the whip of the god, there were more text symbols such as "Jiang Taigong is here", "Jiang Taigong is here, there is no taboo", or "Jiang Taigong is here, the gods avoid" and "Jiang Taigong is here, the gods abdicate" and so on.
In the Qing Dynasty's "True Shape Diagram of the Fengshen Gods", Jiang Taigong held a whip to beat the gods.
Although Jiang Ziya did not seal himself as a god in the "Evolution of the Gods", the folk believe that Jiang Ziya once served as the "organization minister" of the divine world, could arrange the gods, and he also had a "whiplash", which could deter the fierce gods, and a small note with "Jiang Taigong is here" could ask Jiang Taigong to summon the gods to exorcise demons. The generation of the written symbol "Jiang Taigong is here" is related to the ancient people's name belief.
In the "Journey to the West", which was written a little earlier than the "Fengshen Yanyi", for the forty-fourth time, the three goblins of che chi guo killed the monks, and Sun Wukong rescued the monks, and sent a hair to each of them, telling them that as long as they encountered a crisis, "call a qi tian dasheng, I will come to protect you." "The monks said, 'Grandpa, if you go far and can't see you, and tell you that you shouldn't be, how can it be good?' The walker said, 'Just rest assured, you are thousands of miles away, and you can be safe.' The monks had the courage to twist their fists and quietly shout, 'Qi Tian Dasheng!' Only to see a Lei Gong standing in front of him, holding an iron rod, even if there are thousands of troops and horses, they can't get close. At this time, there were a hundred and ten people shouting in unison, and there were a hundred and ten great saints to protect them, and the monks prostrated their heads: 'Grandpa! Sure enough! The basis of the belief that "Jiang Taigong is here" is exactly the same as this.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, in addition to sticking door gods, folk would also paste the symbol "Jiang Taigong is here, there are no taboos" on furniture or doors and windows. "Jiang Taigong is here" can act as a protective god like the door god, while "Jiang Taigong is here, there is no taboo" is that people resort to Jiang Taigong for a specific purpose. "Jiang Taigong is here", monitoring the gods, deterring demons, if he or his family is careless in words and deeds, offending a god, "there is no taboo", Jiang Taigong can also go to say a love, so as not to cause trouble. Ancient superstition is more, the family enshrined more gods and immortals, taboos are more, which brings a lot of inconvenience to people's lives, "Jiang Taigong here, no taboos" The generation of this symbol actually reflects the ideals and wishes of the people to resist various taboos.
Late Qing Dynasty Zhou Peichun painting, Jiang Taigong. The inscription on the picture reads: "This is Jiang Taigong, and the workers are moved to provide for it." ”
We also often see symbols such as "Jiang Taigong is here, the gods abdicate" or "Jiang Taigong is here, the gods avoid". According to folklore, Jiang Ziya was destined not to be able to canonize the gods, but Yuan Shi Tianzun saw that he had good moral character, and finally sealed the gods, and allowed Jiang Ziya to travel to the gods. Equivalent to the Minister of Chincha, Jiang Ziya can travel to the places managed by all the gods, and Jiang Ziya is the boss when he gets there, and the original gods temporarily give way. Since the immortal Jiang Ziya could manage it, not to mention those demons and ghosts.
The generation of the symbol "Taigong is here, the gods avoid" seems to be related to the "Fengshen Yanyi" from the interpretation of folklore, in fact, the "identity" that Jiang Taigong can make the gods avoid is far earlier than the story of the "Fengshen Yanyi". The Eastern Jin Dynasty Ganbao "Search for God" records that the place where the daughter of Taishan passes will often have storms, but even if she is the daughter of the god of Taishan Mountain and has a noble status, she does not dare to pass through the city where Jiang Taigong is located, and with Jiang Taigong present, she does not dare to bring storms to this place.
Unlike the folk who imagined a city god grandmother for the city god grandfather, or imagined a land grandmother for the land master, the historical Jiang Taigong had a real wife. There is a saying that he is a "renunciation" of the State of Qi, which means a son-in-law who came to the door, and as a result, he was suspended. The Warring States Strategy, Qin Ce V, also says: "Tai Gong Wang, Qi Zhi Chasing Husband." In the "Fengshen Yanyi", Jiang Taigong's divorce from his wife is probably based on this, but the story is biased towards the satire of Jiang Taigong's wife: Jiang Taigong studied from yuan shi tianzun for forty years, came down the mountain at the age of seventy-two, married his brother Song Yiren as a matchmaker, and married Ma. Ma Shi, sixty-eight years old, very snobbish, at first Jiang Ziya had the support of the rich Man Song Yiren, she was more willing, and then felt that Jiang Ziya himself would not make the industry, too poor, proposed a divorce, Jiang Ziya tried to dissuade ineffective, and finally could only agree. When Jiang Ziya became famous, Ma Shi regretted it and committed suicide in shame. Jiang Ziya remembered her old feelings and sealed her as a broom star. Later, folk continued to interpret this story, saying that Jiang Ziya once said to this Ma clan who had been enshrined as a god: "You can't go to any blessed place." After the news spread, ordinary people who were afraid of being poor often posted the word "Fu" on the gate. Jiang Ziya stipulates that Ma Shi cannot go anywhere, which is actually a manifestation of the folk belief that Jiang Taigong can force the gods to "avoid".
In short, symbols such as "Jiang Taigong is here", "Jiang Taigong is here, there are no taboos", "Jiang Taigong is here, the gods avoid" and other symbols are related to the cultural belief of warding off evil and seeking good fortune. People believe that as long as the name of Jiang Taigong is mentioned, there will be an image of Jiang Taigong, and they can get the protection of Jiang Taigong. As long as Jiang Taigong is there, not only will all the gods and immortals give a face, but all the demons and ghosts will also retreat.
——Excerpt from "China in Symbols", published by Zhonghua Bookstore
Author: Zhao Yuntao
Editor: Jiang Chuting