Legend has it that carp jumps the dragon gate, as long as you jump the dragon gate, the fish can become a dragon and fly in the sky. This legend has been popular since ancient times, and the carp leaping dragon gate has also extended people's gold list titles, promotions and fortunes, promotions and salary increases, and other things that have soared.
(Qing Dynasty carp leaping dragon gate new year painting)
Even if it is a myth and legend, it cannot be completely fabricated, and there are naturally prototypes. There are five questions about this legend that you must understand:
1. Is there only "carp" jumping dragon gate, but what about other fish?
2. Where is the Gantry?
3. Why jump the dragon gate?
4. After jumping over the dragon gate, can the carp really become a dragon?
5. Why is Jackie Chan and not other animals?
In the Han Dynasty, a man surnamed Xin wrote a local chronicle of the land of the Three Qins, called the Book of the Three Qins, in which he said of such a thing:
Kawazu a dragon gate. The water is not dangerous, and the genus of fish and turtles cannot be on the top. The big fish in the river and the sea are thousands of thin dragon gates, and they are not allowed to go up, and the upper ones are dragons. Longmen Mountain is in the eastern boundary of the river... Every late spring, there are yellow carps that swim upstream, and the winner turns into a dragon.
This is the allusion to the "Fish Leaping Dragon Gate". The author said very clearly that the water danger of Hejin, whether it is a turtle or a big fish in the river and sea, cannot pass through. As long as you can pass, you can become a dragon.
Carp leaping dragon gate
This means that not only carp can jump the dragon gate, other turtles can also, the conditions for participation are not restricted, anyone can participate, but whether they can jump over it depends on their own skills.
Previously, Longmen Town, Gaoping District, Nanchong, Sichuan, has always been considered the legendary Dragon Gate of "Carp Leaping Dragon Gate". In fact, the dragon gate where the carp really jumped was at Yumen Gate, northwest of Hejin, Shanxi, and northeast of Hancheng, Shaanxi. This is where the Yellow River flows, because the cliffs on both sides of the river are towering and shaped like a heavenly que (the gate of the palace where the Son of Heaven lives), so it is called the Dragon Gate.
(In the "Que Lou Honor Guard Diagram", the three ques representing the Son of Heaven)
So why do yellow carp swim against the current and jump the dragon gate? For reproduction.
Every spring, this "yellow carp" swims back to the Longmen Cave and beats frequently in the two or three days before spawning. When they jump out of the water, because the blood-filled fins are red, thousands of red fish fins form a red light, which is the Longmen Red River, because the fish stretch for miles and have to jump for several days, so it is also called "Red River Three Days" and "Red River Three Miles".
The "yellow carp" is not actually a carp, but a sturgeon. Sturgeon is also called eel, and the ancients called the big carp also called the eel, so the carp and the sturgeon were confused.
Yellow carp
Jump over the dragon gate and really turn into a dragon at once? The answer is no.
In the "Book of Three Qins", the author, because he did not understand the principle of jumping and breeding of sturgeon, believed that the "Three Days of the Red River" was "the heavenly fire burned its tail from behind", that is, the carp wanted to become a dragon, and after jumping over the dragon gate, there would be a heavenly fire burning their tails, so there was a red light.
In 705 AD, the Tang Dynasty also appeared "burning tail feast", that is, the new Zhongjinshi invited the emperor to dinner, named "burning tail", taking "shenlong burning tail, straight up to the Qingyun Zhiyi".
Finally, why did carp jump over the gantry to become dragons and not other animals? This is mainly because of the dragon worship of the Han Dynasty.
(Han Dynasty Dragon Pattern Wadang)
Dragon worship has existed since primitive society and flourished after the Han Dynasty. For example, Liu Bang, the "Chronicle of History" said that his mother was pressed by a dragon in the wild, so she became pregnant and gave birth to Liu Bang.
Dragons can be seen on many objects in the Han Dynasty, whether they are tiles, pottery or gold stones.