Speaking of Hong Kong zombie movie , the first thing that comes to mind must be the arrogant one - Uncle Nine Lin Zhengying .
We all know that Uncle Jiu has two magic weapons for catching zombies, Bagua Mirror in his left hand, and Taomu Sword in his right hand.
Today let’s talk about the magic weapon to ward off evil, the peach wood sword. In the
movie, the peach wood sword can kill zombies. The reason is not how sharp the sword is, but because "peach wood" can exorcise ghosts and ward off evil spirits.
Moreover, anything related to peach trees are magic tools to ward off evil spirits, such as peach charms and peach figures... Even in Japan, "Momotaro" is a boy who can exorcise ghosts.
(Many Japanese cultures originate from my country)
Among the people, peach wood can drive away ghosts, mainly due to these three legends.
First, Shen Tu (shu) Yu Lei (lu) said
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas" records:
In the vast sea, there is the mountain of Dushuo. There is a large peach tree on it, which has a curve of three thousand miles. The northeast part of the forest is called the ghost gate, where all ghosts come and go. There are two gods on it, one is Shen Tu and the other is Yu Lei, who oversee and lead all ghosts. What
said is that in Canghai, there is a big mountain. There is a big peach tree on the mountain that can cover three thousand miles. To the northeast of the tree is the legendary ghost gate, where there are two gods, Shen Tu and Yu Lei.
These two gods specialize in ghost affairs. As long as the ghost does bad things, they will catch the ghost. Therefore, people carved their images on peach wood and placed them at the door to ward off evil spirits.
Second, Yi died with a peach stick.
In "Huainanzi's Compilation", there is such a passage:
Yi died with a peach tree. The ball, a big staff, was made of peach wood to kill Yi. Especially since then, ghosts are afraid of peaches.
The Yi here is Hou Yi, the sun-shooting hero we know well, and of course the one in Honor of Kings.
As for how Hou Yi died, according to Huainanzi, his apprentice Fengmeng smashed Hou Yi to death from behind with a big mahogany staff.
After Hou Yi died, he became the official in charge of all ghosts. Just imagine, the mahogany stick can even kill the ghost boss, so it is not a problem to use it to cure ghosts.
Third, Zhong Kui’s theory of exorcising ghosts.
Li Longji, well, he was the emperor who was obsessed with Yang Yuhuan. Once he dreamed of Zhong Kui and saw him killing ghosts with a wooden sword.
then asked, "How can a wooden sword kill ghosts?"
Zhong Kui replied, "This is made of peach wood, a sharp weapon for killing ghosts."
After waking up from the dream, Li Longji ordered people to draw Zhong Kui according to the dream came out, and from then on the sayings that Zhong Kui could ward off ghosts and the Taomu Sword warded off evil spirits were born.
However, there are gods in these three legends, and these gods are all stories made up by people. So the saying that the peach wood sword wards off evil spirits means that it existed before these gods were created.
So, what is the original reason for the folk belief that the peach wood sword can ward off evil spirits?
witchcraft.
1, origin
The origin of witchcraft is very early.
The earliest witchcraft in China was discovered in the ruins of shanshan cave in the Paleolithic age.
There are three complete human skeletons in the site. There are a lot of hematite powder scattered around the bones.
Experts believe that the ancients regarded these red powders as a symbol of blood. Sprinkling hematite powder on it can replenish the depleted blood of the deceased and resurrect him in another world.
This is the origin of ancient witchcraft - vermilion to ward off evil spirits.
2, classification
Witchcraft is divided into simulated witchcraft, contact witchcraft, and evil-proof witchcraft.
The biggest difference between the first two and the home of evil witchcraft is that whether they are simulating witchcraft or contacting witchcraft, the objects they perform witchcraft on can be imagined - they can be imitated and can be contacted.
However, the object of witchcraft to ward off evil spirits is unknowable and invisible. Therefore, to fight against evil spirits, it is necessary to use spiritual objects containing supernatural power to fight against them.
And this spiritual thing, is peach wood.
3. Why is
peach wood?
Through various literature records, we can find that in the primitive period, peach trees were spread all over the country. For the ancients, peach was one of the few wild fruits that could be used to satisfy hunger.
Because peach wood has a certain degree of toughness, it is often used for building houses and hunting, and all parts of the peach tree are medicinal materials that can treat many diseases.
All these things will make the ancients think that peach is a spiritual creature given to them by God to protect them.
Therefore, peach was considered by the ancients to be a spiritual creature containing supernatural energy and used to ward off evil spirits. In addition, the sword is the king of weapons. The peach wood sword composed of peach wood + sword is naturally the first weapon to ward off evil spirits.
