Chapter 3 Section 2 Skeleton Khan, Pig-headed Khan and Khan Eating Sheep

The origin of the Khitan nation is still controversial in academic circles.Some scholars believe that the Khitan are descendants of the Huns, while others believe that the Khitan are descendants of the Xianbei.But no matter how the Khitan nation originated, the early history of Khitan is mainly based on legends.So what other legends are there about the development of the Khitan nation? In the early legends of the Khitan people, there were several Khans behind the Qishou Khan, which were recorded in the "Khitan Kingdom Chronicles".So, what were the early khans like? The first khan was a skeleton.He usually hides in a tent and doesn't see anyone—how can he see people when he's a skeleton?Then scare the whole clan to death, so he can't see anyone.If there are important events in the clan, such as beheading a white horse or sacrificing a green bull, he needs to be the master, what should we do?As long as there is a sacrifice, he will come out of the tent, turn into a human form, and arrange major events in the clan.After the arrangements for major events in the clan were completed, he returned to the form of a skeleton and returned to the tent.Then one time, a rather stunned boy in the clan thought that our leader stayed in the tent all day, and no one had ever seen his real body. I should care about him and see what he looks like. I worship him so much, and I always look at him from a distance when tens of thousands of people gather, but I can't see clearly.So he secretly lifted the curtain of Khan's tent, but he didn't expect that Khan disappeared after he saw it.Khan's true form disappeared without a trace because it was seen by others.

After the skeleton Khan disappeared, the successor Khan grew a wild boar's head and wore wild boar skin. He never saw people all year round and hid in a tent.Sometimes, when he sacrificed a white horse or a green bull, he would turn into a human, and return to the tent after the work, just like the head and skin of a wild boar.Once, his wife didn't know whether it was to keep out the cold or the rain, and took away his pigskin.As soon as the pig skin was taken away, the pig-headed Khan disappeared and was never found again. How can there be no leaders?So everyone elected another leader.This leader is more interesting. He raised twenty sheep, ate nineteen of them every day, and kept one.Nineteen sheep were eaten today, and the sheep he left behind turned into twenty sheep the next day.

The above is the record of the early leaders of the Khitan nation in the "Khitan Kingdom Chronicles". Then historians began to study what these records showed, because legends would never be nonsense. The ancients had limited ability to understand, conquer and transform nature. The so-called myths and legends are actually people’s records of the history at that time, or It is said that people's understanding of the world at that time.First study the first khan - a skeleton, what does he explain?It shows that the production of the Khitan was backward, the life was primitive, there was no food, no clothing, no fixed place to live, and a large number of people died.The Khitan people are deeply engraved with this tragic history. Their ancestors were so miserable, so they depicted the first Khan as a skeleton.

Then the second Khan, he has a pig's head, what does this mean?It shows that the living style of the Khitan people at this time has transitioned to shooting and hunting, at least they can use bows and arrows.Human beings learned how to use bows and arrows is too great, it should be no less than the role of today's missiles.Before the invention of bows and arrows, the primitive ancestors went out to hunt, probably as prey most of the time, instead of hunting wild animals, they were eaten by wild animals.It is not difficult to imagine the result of fighting an elephant with rough stones.It is precisely because of the invention of the bow and arrow that people no longer need to fight with wild animals, but can eliminate wild animals from a long distance, so that human beings can reproduce smoothly.The Khitan people learned to use bows and arrows, they can hunt, and wild boars ate them.

What does it mean when it develops to eat sheep Khan?It shows that the Khitan people had animal husbandry.Why do you raise sheep?eat!Sheepskin can still be worn, and wool can also be used for weaving!This shows that the Khitan people have animal husbandry.So one sheep can become twenty.Of course, it can't be that fast - one day, twenty the next day. These early legends of the Khitan nationality just confirm the step-by-step development of this nation. The Khitan tribe was found in the official history of China, probably during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it was said that they were divided into eight tribes. The eight tribes belonged to each other and attacked each other, but sometimes they would be combined into one. Jiner, to harass the people of the Central Plains.Who did they harass?It harassed the Northern Qi Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, so it annoyed the emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty.Because at that time the Northern Qi Dynasty had just been established, and it happened to be about to kill people to build power, and you took the liberty of sending them to my door, harassing me, and you were sending them to death.Emperor Wenxuan of the Northern Qi Dynasty led a large army to the expedition and almost wiped out the Khitan nation.Legend has it that more than 100,000 captives were killed, and this nation was in danger of genocide.The Khitan was terrified. They submitted their petitions, proclaimed themselves ministers, paid tribute, and attached themselves to the Northern Qi.At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty had no way, the world was in chaos, and the princes rose together to compete for the Central Plains.For the northern peoples, the Sui Dynasty was beyond their reach, let alone now they are too busy to take care of themselves.At this time, on the northern Mongolian plateau, a powerful nation called Turks arose, and this nation conquered all the tribes on the plateau.When the Turks were in their heyday, they controlled the range from the sea in the east to the Ural Mountains in the west today. Basically, the entire northern part of Asia was the territory of the Turks.They conquered the Khitan, the Khitan was forced to submit to the Turks, and the whole family entered a period of diaspora - 10,000 households in a certain place, 4,000 households in a certain place, and 5,000 households in a certain place.The Sui Dynasty couldn't take care of it until the Li Tang Dynasty was established.