Analysis of the "Yulong Dengtian" event: Why are the kings after Xia Qi no longer gods?

From the renunciation of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors to the family of three generations, Xia Qi is undoubtedly a figure who inherited the past and the future. His life and deeds are between the gods and the mortal kings. He can communicate with the emperor at the top, and quell the internal strife. And with the era of mythology being replaced by royal power, the power of the kings disappeared without warning. Except for the lineage of the gods, their performances are no different from ordinary people.

Looking through the pre-Qin classics, the legend of Xia Qi's "Dragon ascending to the sky" is almost the last time the emperor's supernatural power is revealed. What happened that year?

"Yulong" or even "Dengtian" is a myth.

The source of the story and the analysis of the characters

"There are two green snakes and two dragons, and the name is Xia Hou Kai. Open three men in the sky, get "Nine Debates" and " Below Nine Songs." - "Shan Hai Jing·Great Wild West Jing"

There is a towering altar in the picture of Naobu, and a strangely dressed wizard sings and dances on it. There were countless pious people crawling under the altar. Suddenly, the wizard jumped on two giant dragons and soared into the sky, becoming a guest of the Emperor of Heaven.

This person named Xia Houkai took the dragon to the sky and came back with two books (or music scores). The opening was originally Qi, but it was changed to avoid the taboo of Emperor Liu Qi of the Han Dynasty. Xia Hou is the clan and Xia is the name of the country. , Therefore Xiahoukai is Xiaqi.

▲The image of ancient witchcraft

"Yu" is a jade earring, used here as a verb, and the ears are hanging serpentine jade Qualitative earrings, there are 9 snake gods in the "Shanhai Jing", of which 5 are two green snakes, including Xia Houqi and Shebi Shi, and 3 sea gods in the west, south and north, which shows that this is a priesthood The standard configuration of personnel, Green Snake may be the patent of the Huangdi Tribal Alliance Witchcraft.

As for "riding two dragons", the author is noncommittal. They say yes, right? He is not the only one who regards advanced creatures like dragons as horses. "Cloud", Emperor Zhuanxu "ride the dragon to the four seas", Emperor Zhu "ride the dragon in spring and summer" etc. Even the official history "Twenty-Nine Years of Zuo Zhuan. Zhao Gong" also records that the Emperor gave Kong Jia "Chenglong, the river and the Han are two each, each with a male and a female."

"Nine Debates" and "Nine Songs" are the results of communication with God after ascending to heaven. These are not big problems. The real controversy lies in how he went up and how many times he went there.

"上三嫔于天" What exactly does

mean? First of all, it is the interpretation of the word "嫔". The Jin Guo Pu made the note "嫔, Fuya, Yan Xianxian beauty Yu Tiandi.", this It is wrong. It is not a serious matter to exchange music scores with beautiful women. Later in the Qing Dynasty Hao Yixing's "Shan Hai Jing Jian Shu" mentioned that "嫔" means "bin".

Xia Qi was a guest in the Heavenly Court, so he was able to come and go freely, but the latecomers did not have this ability. They were also "Long Yu Bintian". The latecomers could only go and never return, becoming a euphemism for the emperor's death. statement.

▲The Yellow Emperor of the Dragon Emperor

So what is the answer to "Shang San"? Did you go three times? "Shang San" is definitely different from "San Shang". If you choose the latter, you can omit the word "上". Therefore, Xia Qi's "Shang" should be something called "San".

"The Wilderness of Great Music, Xia Hou Qiyu here to dance "Nine Dynasties", riding two dragons, three layers of clouds, the left hand holds the ring, the right hand holds the ring, with jade Huang."--" "Overseas Western Classics"

The similar incidents recorded in "Overseas Western Classics" are generally the same as those recorded in the "Overseas Western Classics" when Xia Qi was a guest in the heavenly court and obtained the versions of "Nine Songs" and "Nine Debates". Long Shangtian, even the location is the same, it is likely to be different versions of the same thing.

▲天Round place-the world understood by the ancients

"The three layers of cloud cover" refers to the route to heaven. Song Yu mentioned "round sky like a cover" in "Da Yan Fu", and in "Zhou Ti" "The sky is overwhelmed", there are many such records. In ancient times, there was also the saying "Gaitian", which also came from the big circle of the sky. Therefore, the so-called "three layers of cloud cover" is the three layers of Yuntian.

The general idea of ​​the quotation is that Xia Houqi is in the field of great music to dance the feather dance ring and dance the dance of "Nine Dynasties", that is, with the help of the elves of things, the dance will rise to the gods, and ride the dragon to break through The triple cloud sky, reaching the heavenly court, is a routine used by ancient wizards to communicate with the gods through dancing shrouds.

"Driving two dragons and horses away, climbing Kunlun and looking around, the heart is flying and mighty."-"The Songs of the Chu·Nine Songs·Hebo"

" Broker the mountains and rivers, travel to Kunlun, arrange the gates, and fall into the sky."-"Huainanzi·Yuan Dao Xun"

It turns out that the sky passes through Kunlun Mountain. There are several floors in Kunlun Mountain. It's just a few floors up. By coincidence, this number is also three.

▲The Temple of Heaven is also two three-story, it is no coincidence

"Kunlun three-story, the name is Tianzhu, Shiwei The Spirit Mansion of the River."-"Shan Hai Jing Tu Zan"

Kunlun Qiu, or doubling, is the mountain of cool breeze, climbing on it without dying; or doubling, it is said Xuanpu, ascending is the spirit, which can make wind and rain; or doubled, it is the heaven, and ascending is the god, it is the residence of the emperor. "--"Huainanzi·Terrain Training"

Obviously Kunlun Mountain has three floors. "Huainanzi" believes that the third floor is the residence of the emperor, and "Shangsan" means going up to the third. This is exactly the same as Emperor Ku’s statement of retaining Kunlun Mountain as the only channel connecting the sky and the underground after the “Jedi Tiantong”.

To sum up, Xia Qi’s journey to the sky by the dragon and Kunlun Mountain to see the emperor is the "Shan Hai Jing" "The meaning of ".

inherited, "Yulong Dengtian" is a myth in every way, but strangely, there are also records of this matter in the history books, even quite similar.

The "Yulong Dengtian" incident in the annals of history

" Ten Years Emperor (Qi) patrolling, dancing "Nine Shao" in Tianmuzhiye. "--"Zhu Shu Ji Nian"

The ordinary "dance" will certainly not be seen in the annals of history. In "The Chronicles", Xia Qi's life is less than a hundred words. Obviously this is a memorable event. Grand event: After Xia Qi's hunting tour, a large-scale worship event was held in Tianmuzhiye.

The location of the "Yulong ascend to the sky" event, the original "Shan Hai Jing" also had "this day" Mu Zhiye, high two thousand tenacity, Kai Yande’s first song "Nine Tactics" records, that is, a "two thousand tenacity" mountain in the "Heavenly Muzhiye".

Except for not being able to go to heaven, the description of the location and events of the event in the history books is almost the same as the "Shan Hai Jing". It can be concluded that the two are the same event. It reads like "Feng Shen Yanyi" , One is the text of the annals of history, so why is there such a big deviation?

To know the answer, you need to start from the perspective of the former.

"Shan Hai Jing" author

Zhang Xuecheng in the Qing Dynasty once put forward the view that "the six classics are all history". Although "Shan Hai Jing" is no longer listed, there is no doubt that its "historical" attribute exists, and its uniqueness is that the characters all come from history. Deeds are full of mythology.

First of all, "Shan Hai Jing" is a geographical work mixed with history, and its time and geographical span is very large. Therefore, it is definitely not possible for individuals to complete in the backward ancient times. According to legend, Dayu It took more than 30 years to send three thousand people to collect geographic and biological information from all directions. It is not unreasonable to think about it..

Secondly, those who had the ability to write at that time must be priests or nobles of the dynasty, and they probably acted as the final editor and revision.

Third, many deeds and characters in "Shan Hai Jing" are designed in the official history, but the angle of expression is different. In the official history of a human war, the "Shan Hai Jing" is described as being later by the gods. In the struggle between the two, Feng Boyu Master and Nine Heavens Profound Girl appeared on the scene, and there were also Nu Wa and Xi Yang in water control.

Therefore, Sima Qian bluntly stated that its content "I dare not speak too much", thinking that it cannot be true history, and Lu Xun considered it "a book of witchcraft and alchemist", which should be infallible.

In this way, the grotesqueness of "Shanhaijing" and the straightforward simplicity of "Bamboo Books" are not difficult to understand. The world in the eyes of witches and historians, and How could it be the same?

For the rituals of sacrifice to heaven in the annals of history, Wu Hao insisted that Xia Qi went to the heaven to go around, and there was only one truth.

Sacrifice to the emperor is true

The image of Xia Qi described in the "Overseas Western Jing" as "riding two dragons and covering three layers of clouds. The left hand holds the 翳, the right hand holds the ring, and the image of Yuhuang" is actually similar to " The behaviors of the princes of Zhou people when they sacrifice to the sky recorded in the Book of Rites are very similar.

"When you enter the dance, the emperor will be in charge of the dance. The emperor will go to the east, and will be the chief leader. He will lead his officials and enjoy the corpse of the emperor. It is the sacrifice of the deceased emperor, and the world Music."-"Book of Rites. Jitong Chapter"

It can be seen that in ancient times, the monarchs needed to "do the dying" dance and "leap the emperor's corpse." Although the "Book of Rites" refers to the state of sacrifices during the "Nine Songs" of the Zhou Dynasty, in the last week of the ritual system, it was due to Shang and Shang due to Xia. This was a historical development. The ceremony is likely to be more systematic and standardized than the Xia Dynasty, but it can only be a transformation based on the sacrificial mode of previous generations.

and then combined with "Overseas Western Classics". Although Xia Qi described in "Overseas Western Classics", although he did not "hold the relationship," he "rides on two dragons...... The image of "the ring on the right hand, adoring Yuhuang" should be what he had dressed up in the sacrificial activities according to the sacrificial procedures of the time. Although the forms are different, the symbolic meanings between them may be different, but they are all for "entertaining God" and "happy corpse".

And the record of "The First Song of Kai Yan De "Nine Strokes"" in "The Great Wild West Classic", we learned that Xia Qi's sacrifice to the emperor is actually the beginning of the sacrifice of the emperor to the sky. Of course, the arrangement of the time of the Xia Dynasty's sacrifice to heaven may not be the same as that of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. It is always determined in the Spring and Autumn seasons, and its sacrifice methods may not be exactly the same as those of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. The scale, procedures, procedures, and contents may be very large. different.

▲ "Miyuezhuan Stills": The dance music comes from the sacrifice, and the witches generally act as the lead dancers, but not the main sacrifice

such behavior back then, The main task is to report to the gods, report their pastoral gains and losses, thank God for their protection, and pray for the continued blessings and blessings of God, and secondly use the name of God to issue government orders to rectify the problems found during the hunting tour. This simplicity "The unity of politics and religion" is one of the characteristics of ancient Chinese political culture.

Has Xia Qi gone to heaven?

"After the summer, the scriptures will be enlightened, and the flying dragon will reach the sky. Good luck."-"Gui Zang. Zheng Mu Jing"

"Gui Zang Jing" has long been lost, here It is a fragment passed down after being quoted by later generations, and it is also a record of divination that year. "Jian" means divination with grass, and the executor is Xia Qi. This sentence should be Xia Houqi's oracle after receiving the invitation from the Emperor of Heaven to ask about the good or bad of this trip, and this oracle is of course God's instruction.

In fact, the so-called oracles are conveyed by witches in all civilizations. From ancient times to the present, no one has had face-to-face communication with real gods, and it was naturally no exception at that time. So the picture of the imperial dragon climbing to the sky in the imagination has never appeared before. It is Xia Qi's primordial spirit that can really climb to the sky instead of the believers' witnesses. After all, the altar is towering into the clouds, and the believers are crawling on the ground , No one can see the truth of the above situation.

▲The first king of China

Xia Qi, as the chief priest, is the only person who can talk to the heavens, and thinks of the emperor in " The allusion that the theocratic regime was returned to the leader of the tribal alliance after the "Jedi Tiantong" shows that Xia Qi is both the king and the supreme coward of the kingdom. It is reasonable that he will be responsible for ascending to the sky and proclaiming the results of communication between the world and God.

However, he is the one who rides the dragon, and he is also the one who describes the scene of meeting with the emperor. It is him who brought back "Nine Songs" and "Nine Debates". No one knows what happened. Everyone believes. "Yulong ascends to the sky" is actually only Xia Qi's one-sided words.

And when the tradition of "resignation" was ended by Xia Qi and his sons, the divine power was about to "home the world". What followed was that the mythology of later generations was obviously dimmed.

God-like descendants of Yu Qi and mediocrity

"Yu marries Tushan, controls Hongshui, passes through the mountain, and turns into a bear. The Tushan clan saw it, and left in astonishment. , To the high mountains, turned into stones. Yu said, "My son!" The stone broke through the north and was born and enlightened."-"Huainanzi"

This story tells us: Xia Yu has the magical power of change God-man, and Xia Qi was born of the mating of man-god, so he was born with divine nature, and the previous three emperors and five emperors were more magical.

In the thinking of ancient Chinese people, such extraordinary and spiritual characters are heroes who can bring health and happiness to the present and future generations. It is reasonable for them to become kings. At the same time, the big men also need some birth visions and the blood of the gods to show their divinity. This can be confirmed by many myths and stories about the birth of ancient ancestors.

▲ Wuguan Rebellion: The first son rebellion in history. Once Pandora’s box was opened, it couldn’t close anymore

夏启 Reigning in the 15th year of the "Wu Guan Rebellion", the instigator was his own son. Later, the "Taikang Lost Country" and "Shaokang Zhongxing" incidents occurred one after another, and the Xia Dynasty was suspended for nearly half a century. It can be seen that the descendants of Xia Qi in "Yulong Dengtian" are ordinary people, because gods will not be shot down by mortals.

This is the difference between "resignation" and "home world". The former is hypocritical, but the most powerful and intelligent tribal leaders in the world at that time were able to ascend to the throne. They needed the will of the gods to maintain control, and then The guarantee of the ruler's rule comes from the kindness of the ancestors, the rebuilt political system and the legitimacy of the family.

In fact, the kings of the dynasty were busy with trivial government affairs or endless pleasures, and died of illness, court coups, or armed struggles. These are all attributes of mortals. Regarding the matter of dressing up as a god, it is neither pretending to be like nor just necessary. Instead of continuing to pretend to be gods, think about how to strengthen the rule.

▲ Dayu's flood control also pushed the Xiahous to the peak

In fact, whether it is Xia, Shang, and Wednesday generations will be far away The ancestors are admired as gods, or the self-proclaimed "son of the red emperor" by Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, are all just to explain why the king is the emperor.

Conclusion: The victor’s show off is nothing more than

Xia Qi’s dynasty was not built on the self-talking monarch power. The battle that year was actually a bloody one.

You Hu's prestige insults the five elements, neglects the sanzheng, and uses the heaven to suppressDestiny... ...use your life to reward your ancestors; if you use your life, you will kill you in the community, and if you give it, you will kill you. - "Shang Shu. Dry Oath"

This is the pre-war mobilization order issued by Xia Qi against the opposition forces headed by the Youhu clan. Its writing routine is the same as that of later generations. First, count the crimes and announce the rules. , The words are full of the dominance of "those who follow me prosper and those who oppose me perish". In the end, all the opposition forces on the bright side were driven out, and the new political system, the hereditary monarchy, took root in China's homeland.

Since you have won, it must be in line with God’s will. Therefore, the behavior of "Dancing "Nine Shao" in the Wild of Tianmu" is more like a show off of a winner. Rather than asking God for instructions.

"Yulong ascend to the sky" should be the last time the emperor exercises the obligation of great coquettish. After that, the divine power collected through "Jedi Tiantong" will be again delegated to the priests by the emperors. The difference from the previous "peoples and gods in the same position and the people blaspheming alliance" is that even if only the identity of the chief priest is retained, the final veto power is still firmly in the hands of the king.

I am respectful and honor the people's life, and use eternal land in Xinyi. To rush people wantonly, not to waste a conspiracy, to hang on to the spirit; if you dare to break the divination, use a great deal. - "Shang Shu. Pan Geng Xia"

This is the edict to the nobles after Pan Geng moved to Anyang. The subtext is that my will is the will of God, and my ancestors are also your ancestors King, the result of my divination is more accurate than what you asked your ancestors.

Regardless of divination, sacrifice, or omens, in fact, they can't hold back the will of the superior, and the government has always been above the divine power. The victor will attach the blood of the gods or the will of God. The legitimacy of the rule or the “will of God” for issuing government orders gradually formed a routine in later generations, such as the “auspicious” that can be seen everywhere in the annals of history.

PS: The next chapter will continue to tell about the legendary Xia Qi’s "Joy of Juntai". In this most important meal in ancient times, who will be the honored guest and whether it is a "Hongmen Banquet" "What?