Mermaids are generally considered to be legendary aquatic creatures, usually the appearance of mermaids is the upper body of a human body or monster, the lower body is a fish tail, the mermaids in European legends are very different in appearance and nature from Chinese and Japanese legends, and sometimes different from the appearance of "mermaids".
Western mermaids
The familiar image of the Western mermaid is derived from the beautiful mermaid Roleiley, often mentioned in German legends and poems. She would often appear on the banks of the Rhine when the sky was dark and unclear, and with her cold and poignant appearance and mournful and moving songs, she would confuse the passing boatmen, distract them and lose their direction, and finally sink to the bottom of the river.
The upper body of a Western mermaid is a human (mostly female) and the lower body is the body of a fish, which is the basic form. At that time, people probably misread it and regarded the mammals dugongs and manatees that live in the ocean today as monsters, so it was widely spread, but this claim has no basis in fact. However, in art, literature or painting, as a metaphorical symbol, this is more credible. Mermaids are mostly used to symbolize unfortunate things, such as the mermaid in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. In most literary works, the fate of the mermaid is very miserable, and in the end, they cannot get happiness. Incidentally, although the familiar mermaid sculpture has only one tail fin on the lower body, in ancient Western paintings, mermaids usually have two tail fins, which is quite incredible.
Japanese mermaids
In the 29th year of Emperor Tuiko (917 AD), he was captured by fishermen in Kagawa in Near Shiga Prefecture, and the Edo period also occurred, especially in the twelfth year of Kōsei (1800 AD), when a mermaid was caught in a river near Nishihori in Osaka, and most people saw it and caused a sensation. This mermaid, more than a meter tall, made a baby-like cry. Considering this matter, mermaids are also legendary espers, which can be regarded as quite mysterious fish families, which were called mud carp or hair fish at that time. In this regard, the Mermaid of Japanese and the Mermaid Goblin of Western legend are very different in shape and nature. Its posture is not necessarily very beautiful, but rather more strange. It appears near Wakasa Bay, Kyushu, and Shikoku, and appears on the seashore when a storm is approaching.
In the 13th-century "Collection of Ancient and Modern Writings", it is written that "the head is like an ape, with teeth as thin as a fish" and it looks like a monster. The aforementioned Talk of the People of the Nations records that "there is a human head, a chest with red folds of flesh like a chicken's crown, and a lower body in the shape of a fish." There is also a detailed and surprising record of "the head is like a human face, the eyebrows are complete, the skin is very white, the hair is red, there are hands between the red fins, and there are webs between the fingers, and the lower body is fish-shaped".
In addition, at the end of the Edo period, Western mermaid statues were imported into Japan, and the "Rokumo Shinshi" (1786) written by the Dutch scholar Otaki Genzawa attached a picture of a mermaid, the upper half of the human being is a human form, looking like a beautiful woman, the lower body is the shape of a fish, covered with scales and tails, the image of the mermaid in the minds of ordinary people is finally established here, and the book also records the mermaid bone, which can be used as a valuable treasure. There are also rumors that the mummy of the mermaid has been found, which shows that people at that time already believed that the mermaid was a living animal.
In the Meiji period, Nanbu Kumanan, a scholar of botany and folklore, wrote the ecology of marine animals such as "dugongs" and "manatees" into monographs and published them, so it is generally believed that mermaids are animals fantasized from these marine animals, but people in Okinawa still believe that mermaids really exist, and some people dare not catch "dugongs" and eat the meat of "dugongs" as a taboo, because they worship mermaids, and if they eat the meat of mermaids, they may bring bad luck.
The appearance and characteristics of mermaids
Toriyama Ishitsuguchi 'Past and Present' The Japanese established the image of the mermaid around the time of Edo from the West. Mainly based on Ann
The description in the famous "Mermaid Princess" story of the apprentice fairy tale gives posterity a clear impression of the mermaid's appearance. Until then, there was no clear record of what the mermaid looked like. In the past, even if they had witnessed the appearance of mermaids, they were only passed on by word of mouth, described in a vivid and vivid way, and rarely described in words. Roughly speaking, people believe that the mermaid is a legendary creature that lives in the sea, but no one can say exactly what it sees, so it is not so much that the mermaid looks as beautiful as described in fairy tales, but rather treats it as a monster.
Natsu-ed-out literature, a santine person, at all, is it a imitation of tithing? The 7th complete "Japan 书纪", the "deformed thing like a human", the photograph "deformed thing like a human" (the statue person one-man 异formable thing), "the one that it is not man or the fish" (already nonhuman Yayun).
The legend of the eight hundred bhikshunis
In the Edo period, mermaid bones could be used in medicine, but earlier, it was believed that eating mermaid meat would lead to immortality. According to the "Collection of Ancient and Modern Writings", mermaid meat is delicious and edible. However, there is a well-known legend of the 800 bhikshunis in Wakami Province (present-day Fukui Prefecture) that she ate mermaid meat and lived to be 800 years old, and at the Shrine of Aoi in Kohama City, there are also 800 bhikshuni statues that have been enshrined since the time of the Tokugawa shogunate.
It is said that in Wakami Kohama lived a man named Takahashi. One day he caught a mermaid and ate it. There are many different accounts of this part of the legend, and some people say that Takahashi accidentally crossed the other world by getting lost in the mountains or at sea, and brought back mermaid meat when he returned home. I thought that since I brought it back, I would try it, but everyone felt disgusted and did not dare to eat it, only the curious daughter ate the mermaid meat. As a result, she lived forever for hundreds of years, and finally felt the impermanence of the world, and traveled in various countries for nepal. It is said that she returned to her hometown in her later years, lived in a grass temple, and at this time lived for eight hundred years, and finally died of hunger strike in the cave of Mount Gose.
Chinese mermaids
In the oldest Chinese naturalist, the Classic of Mountains and Seas: The Southern Classic of Hai Nei, it is recorded that "the kingdom of Bo, the country of the ear, the country of carving, and the country of the North are all in the south of the water." Note: Away from the ear, the sagging order from its ear is ornamented, that is, dan'er also, in the Zhuya Haizhu; carved title, Tuo Ne its face, the painting body is scaled, that is, the fish people also. The appearance of the fish is a fish with a four-legged body, which later spread to Japan and became the most primitive image of the mermaid. There are also some descriptions in the Shan Hai Sutra that look like water creatures such as mountain pepperfish, giant salamander (baby fish), eels, and catfish, which look like human figures and are covered with scales, feeling closer to a mixture of humans and animals.
In the "History Of history volume 6 , Qin Shi Huang Benji No. 6" written by Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty, there is a record of "mermaids", which mentions: "The first emperor took the throne at the beginning of his reign, wore the Zhili Mountain, and the world, the disciples under the world sent more than 700,000 people, wore three springs, went down to the copper and made a coffin, and the palace viewed hundreds of officials and strange instruments and strange migration to Zang Manzhi." Let the craftsman make a crossbow arrow, and shoot it at those who are close. Mercury is used as a hundred rivers and seas, and the organic phase is instilled, with astronomy on the top and geography on the bottom. Take mermaid paste as a candle, and the degree of immortality will last a long time. ”
The "Collection of Interpretations" written by Pei Xiao during the Liu Song Dynasty quotes the ancient interpretation of "mermaids" as follows: "Xu Guangyue: 'Mermaids are like □, with four legs. "The sound of the fish is like a child's cry, it has four legs, it is shaped like a fish, it can cure cattle and come out of the water." 'Foreign Object Zhiyun:' The mermaid resembles a humanoid, with a long ruler. Inedible. Peel to mackerel, saw timber into. There is a small wear on the item, and the qi comes out of it. In the tomb of The First Emperor of Qin, mermaid paste is used as a candle, that is, this fish also. Out of the East China Sea, there is now Taizhou. 'Press: In the tomb of the present emperor with lacquer lamps, the fire will not be extinguished. (Press: □ is a missing word in ancient books. ）
"Fish" is the name of a fish species, in today's Yangmingshan National Park in Taiwan, there are still "seven star fish", "moon snake" and other species, the surface is slippery, like to inhabit rivers, ponds or swamps.
Legendary creatures resembling mermaids
Similar to mermaids are the half-fish, half-human sirens of Greek mythology. She always appeared on the stormy sea, singing poignant and moving songs on the shore, seducing sailors who traveled to and from the sea, so that the ship they were driving involuntarily sailed to the reef on the shore and smashed into pieces.
The Greek hero Odysseus, while sailing through the sea, accepted the advice of the witch Circe, had the crew tightly plug their ears to avoid hearing the seductive song, and tied himself tightly to the mast of the ship without plugging his ears, so as not to be deceived and mad.
In Japanese folklore, there is also a yokai that resembles a mermaid called Isohime. Her lower body is fish-shaped, much like a mermaid, but her face is very different. With its mouth cracked open to its ears, sharp teeth, and two antler-like horns on its head, it was a rather terrifying kraken. Hiding on the shore of the fierce wind and waves, as soon as someone approaches, they will take advantage of the wave attack and twist the human body from the beginning. Isohime is a yokai with a length of about twenty to thirty meters, so once she snips, no matter how powerful a man is, he can't resist.
Lingyu:
In the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", it is recorded that "Lingyu" "Classic of Mountains and Seas and Overseas Western Classics" this fertile wilderness... The Dragon Fish Tomb lives in its north and is shaped like a tanuki (carp). This passage refers to a creature called the dragon fish on the north side of a certain fertile land, which looks like a carp. "Mausoleum" means that you can live on land, indicating that this fish is amphibious. Some people think that he is the lingyu mentioned elsewhere in the book, and later everyone talks about the fish, which may also refer to this fish.
"Shan Hai Jing · Hai Nei North Classic" Lingyu human face, hands and siblings, fish body, in the sea. Described here in great detail, the lingyu is a half-human, half-fish posture, with a human face and hands and feet, unlike the mermaid whose lower body is a fishtail in Greek mythology.