Chapter 11 Chapter 4 Humanized Nature

The exploration of the mysteries of the universe is not exclusive to people in a civilized society.As early as in primitive society, people have had a strong interest in it.Why the sky and the earth are separated, why there is day and night, why there are lightning, thunder, wind and rain, why there are different seasons of cold and warm... They all want to know the reason. "Creating a myth is a myth that explains how the heavens and the earth came into being, and how humans and all things came into being." Qu Yuan's poem begins with a series of similar questions: Excuse me, about the beginning of ancient times, who can teach it?At that time, the world was not divided, so what could be the basis for research?It was chaotic at that time, who can figure it out? (Original text: It is said that at the beginning of ancient times, who preached it? The upper and lower sides have not been formed, so how can we test it? Mingzhao is ignorant (meng Meng) dark, who can be the best?)

What is floating around, how can it be distinguished?Where does light come from bottomless darkness?Yin and yang are born from the fusion of qi, where do they come from?The canopy of the dome [qionglong poor dragon] has nine floors. Who manages it?How great is such a project, who is the original worker? (Original text: Feng Yi only has an image, how do you know it? Brightness and darkness, but what is the time? Yin and Yang are combined, what is the origin and transformation? There are nine layers in the circle, who can save it? What is the contribution of this, and who made it first?) It was impossible for Qu Yuan to understand mythology historically and scientifically as we do now, so he raised many questions.These questions indeed reveal that the primitive primitive people once created indomitable creation heroes.

According to the law of the development of mythology, there should be a female creation god first, then a consort god, and finally the male creation god will rule the world.Because when the Han nationality was formed, the mythological period had already passed away, and it was a patriarchal world. Goddesses had no status, and they were not forced to change their gender, so they had to be the wife of a certain male god.Therefore, in ancient Chinese books, that kind of pure creation goddess can no longer be found.During this period, even Nu Wa, the first ancestor of human beings, was not qualified to take on the heavy responsibility of creating the universe, but made great contributions to repairing the universe and consolidating the achievements of the creation of the universe. Both "Huainanzi·Lanmingxun" and "Liezi·Tangwen" have specific descriptions. Taken together, the content is:

In ancient times, the surroundings of the sky suddenly collapsed, and the land of Kyushu was cracked. The sky could not cover the earth, and the earth could not bear everything;Wild beasts devour human beings, and birds of prey prey on the old and the weak.So Nuwa forged five-color stones to mend the sky, and cut off the four feet of a big tortoise as a pillar to support the sky; in order to save all living beings in the Central Plains, she killed the black dragon and filled the flood with reed ash.The heavens are healed, the surroundings of the sky are stabilized, the floods dry up, the Central Plains are calm, the ferocious birds and beasts are dead, and the people of the people live in peace.She carried the earth on her back and embraced the blue sky, so that all the beasts, insects and snakes hid their claws and venomous stings [shishi], and had no intention of grabbing [shishi] people again.The merits and virtues of Nvwa really reach up to the nine heavens and go down to the underworld. They are famous for later generations and illuminate all things.

The myth of Nuwa's water control and mending the sky can be called magnificent and has far-reaching influence.In addition to the legends of Fuxi and Nuwa avoiding floods and getting married among the ethnic minorities in Southwest China, the Tibetans in Yunnan also have "Nuwa Empress Mending the Sky".This myth and legend almost incorporates the deeds of Nvwa who created man, made musical instruments, controlled water, and repaired the sky in ancient Chinese literature.After Nuwa's death, it is said that people built the Nuwa Palace for her.It seems that Nuwa has already become the ancestral goddess shared by all ethnic groups.

The real female cosmic god has been found in some ethnic groups, such as the legend of the Hani nationality, it is the golden fish girl who created the sky and the earth.She is extremely large, and she first lived in the foggy sea.With a shake of the scales, she first shook out the god of the sky from her neck, and then the god of the earth from her neck. They live in the sky and the earth made by the goldfish girl respectively.The Mongolian goddess of universe development in Xinjiang is called Medel.She often rides a white divine horse, galloping on the blue water.After the separation of the sky and the earth, because the earth was floating on the water, unstable and often shaking, the goddess sent a big tortoise to support the earth.When the tortoise is tired, it will shake the ground (earthquake) when it moves a little.The goddess is scheduled to visit the earth on the 15th of the first lunar month, April 15th, and July 15th every year.These three days are the festivals of the Mongols of the Oirat tribe, where cattle and sheep are slaughtered and sacrifices are held.The female universe god of the Yao nationality has a series of creation activities.But this kind of female cosmic god is rare even in ethnic areas.

The male and female gods who co-created the heaven and the earth are clearly a pair of conjugal gods in the creation myths of some ethnic minorities.For example, the famous story "Genesis" of the Naxi people says that it was Dongshen and Seshen who first arranged everything.Dongshen, male god; sex god, goddess.The Naxi people talk about "arranging", not "making".The Tiangong of the Achang people is Zhepama, and the earth mother is Zhemima.The male god created the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars, and the goddess wove the earth, rivers, lakes, mountains and rivers, and various creatures.

The records about the gods of male and female spouses in ancient Chinese books, because they have been philosophized to a certain extent, appear in the concept of yin and yang.For example, in ancient times when there was no heaven and earth, there was no form or form.Deep and dark, indistinguishable, unclear where is the doorway.The two gods of yin and yang came into being at the same time, and the heaven and earth are so vast that there is no end, and no one knows where the end is... It is the interaction of yin and yang that forms all things.The troublesome qi is the worm, and the elite qi is the human being. (See "Huainanzi Spiritual Training") The two gods of yin and yang are undoubtedly the two gods of male and female.

The vast majority of the great gods who opened up the universe that can be seen now are unique and supreme male gods. This alone is enough to prove that, on the whole, the myth of opening up is relatively late, and there are few works by matriarchal clans. dominant.The most famous creation god preserved in ancient times is Pangu.An ancient book records: In the beginning, the heaven and the earth were chaotic, like a big egg, and Pangu was born in it.After 18,000 years, the sky and the earth were separated, and the yang and clear things rose to become the sky (there is still a folk theory that the egg white rises to become the sky), and the turbid things sink to become the earth (the egg yolk is still the earth) .Pangu is in the middle of the sky and the earth, changing nine times a day ("nine" is an imaginary number, meaning many), his magic surpasses the sky, and his ability surpasses the earth.Every day the sky grew ten feet higher, the earth grew ten feet thicker, and Pan Gu grew ten feet taller every day.Eighteen thousand years passed in this way, the sky was already high, the earth was already very thick, and Pan Gu's body was also very long.When Pangu died, his head turned into four mountains, his eyes turned into the sun and the moon, the blood and fat on his body turned into rivers and seas, and the fine hair and hair on his body turned into vegetation.During the Qin and Han Dynasties, according to folklore, Pangu's head was Dongyue, his abdomen was Zhongyue, his left arm was Nanyue, his right arm was Beiyue, and his feet were Xiyue.The ancestors said that Pangu's tears turned into rivers, his breath was wind, his voice was thunder, and the pupils of his eyes turned into electricity.He also said that when he was happy it was sunny and when he was angry it was cloudy.Others say that his teeth and bones became metal and stone, his essence became pearls and jade, and his sweat was the rain that nourished the earth.All kinds of small insects parasitized on his body, felt the wind, and turned into people on the ground.In short, the universe is Pangu, and Pangu is the universe.Pangu was also a giant who grew up with the heaven and the earth.

This kind of imagination of primitive people would seem absurd to today's people.If you think about it carefully, it makes sense.First of all, primitive people have a strong overall concept and regard everything in the universe as a huge whole.They subjectively believe that this large body should be like a human being, with complete limbs, flexible facial features, and joy, anger, sorrow, and joy.After they humanized nature, they further imagined that the entire universe is a giant god—a giant.Secondly, when primitive people compare one thing with another, it is not a random comparison, and there are generally some similarities.Therefore, the bright eyes can turn into the sun and the moon, happy and sunny, and angry and cloudy.Thirdly, such profound and difficult problems must be based on a correspondingly developed ideology, so the God who opened up the universe cannot be an early one anyway.Pangu is usually regarded as a male god, which shows that it is at least the work of a patriarchal society.