Chapter 13 Chapter Five Attacks on Nature

The most famous archer in ancient Chinese myths and legends is Yi, and Yi and Chang'e in the moon are also married, so this myth and legend is widely spread.According to this legend, Lu Xun once recreated novels, and today's heroic deeds of Yi have been created into stage art.It shows that the myth of Yi is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It is said that Yi lived in a poor family. He made bows and arrows, and he was good at shooting.Someone said: "Yi is the best archer in the world." ("Xunzi Confucianism") After he adjusted his bow and arrow, he stood firm.When he holds the bow, he can see its height very accurately.He has a certain way of shooting, so he shoots and hits more. (See "Guanzi Situation Solution") Yi had very strict requirements on his shooting skills, and if he accidentally made a mistake, he would practice even more diligently.There is such a story that Yi often traveled north with his friend Wu He, and saw a small sparrow flying by, and Wu He asked Yi to shoot the sparrow.Yi asked, "Are you going to live or die?" Wu He asked Yi to shoot the bird's left eye, but Yi shot the little bird's right eye, deeply ashamed.From then on, he practiced his shooting skills diligently, and the result was "beyond the world". (See "Road History · Postscript Thirteen Parts") This is the early legend of Yi. At that time, Yi would work hard because a friend's unremarkable request was not met, which shows his strong enterprising spirit.

According to some legends, Yi was subordinate to Jun, the emperor of heaven in the east. Jun gave Yi a red bow and white arrows with ropes, and ordered Yi to go to the lower country to help the people below.As a god of archery, Yi really saved the danger of the people below. (See "Shan Hai Jing Hai Nei Jing") However, there are often many discrepancies in myths and legends, and future generations do not need to scrutinize them like historical facts.It is said that Yi was ordered by Jun to help and save people, while the current version of "Huainanzi" also says that he was ordered by Yao to eliminate harm for the people.There is nothing surprising about this happening.Because it relies on memory and oral transmission, and it is passed around, it is inevitable that there will be discrepancies.In addition, people's admiration for heroes has existed since ancient times, and they are willing to have a relationship with heroes.There is also a relatively common view in the academic circles that Jun, Ku, and Shun in myths and legends are different names for the same mythical figure and belong to the Dongyi family.And Shun is Yao's successor. Since Shun (Jun) can give orders to Yi, how do you know that Yao cannot order Yi?What's more, the activities of mythological characters often transcend the limitations of time and space.It is a joke to say that Guan Gong and Qin Qiong are together, and it is not surprising that Nuwa married her descendant Fuxi, and it is commonplace in the mythological world.It doesn't matter whether Yi is a subordinate of Yao or a subordinate of Jun, the key is what kind of heroic deeds Yi has.The most concentrated record of his achievements is "Huainanzi·Ben Jingxun".The original text is:

In the time of Yao, ten suns came out together.Burn crops, kill vegetation, and the people have nothing to eat.Jiao Jiao [yayu Yayu], chisel teeth, Jiuying, Dafeng, Fengxun [xixi], and snake repair are all harmful to the people.Yao made Yi Zhu chisel his teeth in the field of Chou (chou) Hua, killed nine infants on the fierce water, and sent (zhuo) strong winds to the lake of Qingqiu. He shot up for ten days and went down to kill Jiao Jiao. The snake is in the Dongting, and the bird is sealed in the mulberry forest.All the people were happy, and Yao was regarded as the Son of Heaven.So the world is wide and narrow, dangerous and easy, far and near, and there is a way.

Yi was ordered by Yao to shoot down 10 suns and six kinds of terrible beasts that endangered human beings.From then on, no matter whether it is a wide or narrow place, a steep or easy place, a far or near place, it will be unimpeded. There are two things that must be paid attention to here. One is that Yi was the one who did the meritorious service, but why everyone made Yao the emperor?The other is that all 10 suns in the sky were shot down, and the world would be pitch black. This is probably due to the negligence of the recorder.It is reasonable that Yi could only shoot down nine of the ten days.In fact, there was one sun left.Another ancient book says that in the time of Yao, 10 suns came out at the same time, and the grass and trees were all scorched. Yao ordered Yi to shoot for 10 days, and Yi shot down nine of them. It fell down, so there was only one sun left in the world. (Wang's note quotes the ancient version of "Huainanzi") Yi shot nine days and finally found the basis.So why are there crows in the sun?

A lot of information about Yangwu has been discovered now. There are portraits of Yangwu in the stone reliefs of the Han Dynasty in Nanyang, Henan and the silk paintings of the Han tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan.Wang Chong of the Han Dynasty said in "Lunheng·Shuo Ri Pian": "There are three-legged crows in the middle of the day." A three-legged crow stood inside the sun on the stone relief of the Han Dynasty; At the top of the tree, in the middle stood a big black crow.From the perspective of primitive natural science, in ancient my country, sunspots were called "black gas", "sunspot" or "black", and Yangwu is actually the mythization of sunspots.Because only Shenwu can soar high in the sky, it is also imagined that it has the possibility of entering the sun.The ancients said that Yi shot down the sun and at the same time shot off the feathers of the Yangwu, which seemed reasonable to them.

There is another question, birds are two-legged, why is the Yangwu three-legged.The three-legged crow is also called a bird in mythology. "Three" is a very sacred number in the ancient people's concept.For example, in the primitive religious relics of the Bai nationality, there is an ancient custom of enshrining three white stones as gods. The worship of the three white stones later evolved into a tripod for supporting cauldrons, which is sacred and inviolable.Many fire pits of ethnic minorities in the south have three-legged cauldrons, which cannot be moved arbitrarily or crossed.After the establishment of the country in the Central Plains, the tripod, the national heavy weapon as a symbol of power, also has three legs.The primitive ancestors regarded the sun as a big fireball and the source of fire, so the three-legged crow was also regarded as a fire bird.

There are so many types of birds that can fly in nature, why do crows enjoy this honor.Legend has it that in primitive society, crows were valued by people, who believed that crows told the truth and could report real information to people.At that time, people lacked food sources, and where there were crows, there must be dead animals.It is said that crows have a better sense of smell than hounds.Primitives could find meat by following the crows.Over time, the crow gave people an incomprehensible sense of mystery, and became a worshiped divine bird, even sitting on an equal footing with the sun god, or it itself was equal to the sun god.Therefore, the more primitive the nation is, the more myths there are about Chongwu.The more civilized it is, the lower the status of crows.Primitive people can connect the sun, crow, and three legs, at least they must have preliminary comprehensive ability and imagination.

Where did the nine suns shot down by Yi fall?It is said to have become Wojo.Wojiao, on the east side of the blue sea, is a large rock 40,000 miles wide and 40,000 miles thick. It is located under Baichuan, so it is also called Weilu. (See Episode 5 of "Valley of Splendid Ten Thousand Flowers") Yinwojiao was transformed by Jiuyang, which is very extraordinary.According to legend, the most powerful thing in the world is Wojiao in the East China Sea, where water from hundreds of rivers flows continuously.It is also said that Wojiao is a mountain, 30,000 miles south of the East China Sea, where the sea water will disappear once it is poured there.Therefore, the water flowing southeast is never full. (See Lu Xun's "Ancient Fiction Gou Shen" series "Xuan Zhong Ji") It shows that the creator of Yi's myths and legends was Dongyi who lived along the coast, and it was later spread to the Central Plains.

When talking about the story of Chang'e earlier, it was mentioned that Yi had an affair.It turns out that God Realm also has a "love triangle".Hebo, the god of the Yellow River, often caused floods to endanger people. Yi had the mission of saving the people below, so he shot Hebo's left eye.He Bo's wife is the God of Luoshui, also known as Luo Concubine, also known as Mi Concubine, a famous beauty in the God Realm.Cao Zhi of the Three Kingdoms described her as "as graceful as a frightened bird, as graceful as a dragon swimming. Looking at it from a distance, it is as bright as the sun rising into the morning glow; when observing it by force, it is burning like a flower out of green waves".It is fascinating to see from a distance.It is said that after Yi shot and wounded Hebo, he married Concubine Luo.Because of this, Yi was criticized by later generations, and even Qu Yuan didn't understand it, so he raised doubts about this matter: "The emperor surrendered Yi Yi, the grass-rooted Xia people, Hu shot Hebo, and his wife and concubine?" () It means that the Emperor of Heaven sent Yi to go down to relieve the suffering below. Why did he marry Concubine Luo after he shot He Bo?Later generations of literati also guessed that it was because of this incident that Chang'e was dissatisfied, so she ate the medicine and flew away to the moon.In fact, this is not the original intention of this myth.

During the heroic period, it was common for the victors to take female captives, including the chief's wife, as wives. In fact, polygamy already existed in the heroic period.The phenomenon of taking female captives as wives is generally reflected in the Greek Homeric epics and Chinese heroic epics.Yi is an ever-victorious hero, and He Bo is his defeated general. His wife was taken and refused to accept. Legend has it that he once went to the Emperor of Heaven to sue and demanded that Yi be killed.But the Emperor of Heaven said: "Why were you shot?" He Bo said: "When I turned into a white dragon and came out to play, he shot me." The Emperor of Heaven said: "If you are deeply committed to the duties of the gods, why did Yi violate you? You turned into a worm and beast, of course people want to shoot you, Yi did well, so what crime is there?" (See "Chu Songs Tianwen" Wang Yi's Note) Why did the Emperor of Heaven not only not sympathize with He Bo, but support Yi, He didn't say a word about Yi's behavior of plundering his wife.This is revealing the moral concept of the heroic period of military democracy.Neither Qu Yuan nor later generations understood this point, so some raised questions, and some used later generations' views on love and marriage to try to figure out the relationship between Yi and Luoshuishen.

This magical Yi had a tragic ending.First, the misfortune of family life, his official wife Heng'e (Chang'e) abandoned him after all.Yi felt lost and could no longer seek the medicine of immortality.Second, it is said that Yi taught archery very seriously.He took in a disciple named Pang Meng, who is also a famous archer in the world.After Pang Meng learned all Yi's skills, he thought that only Yi in the world could surpass him, so he murdered Yi. (See "Mencius · Li Louxia") It is also said that Yi was beaten to death by a peach stick. ("Huainanzi Interpretation and Training") Yi, as the god of shooting, entrusted people's ideals and wishes.Being a slayer hero is immortal.Because people missed him, they named him Zongbu God and worshiped him. Shooting the sun is a common theme in ancient national myths in hot regions.The ethnic minorities in the south of our country almost all have their own heroes who shoot the sun.Due to the slow history of some ethnic groups, the myths in this aspect retain more primitive, simple, and rough beauty.After Miluotuo, the great mother god of Bunuyao in Guangxi, created the heaven and earth, human beings and all things in the world, because the sun and moon she created did not obey the family rules, she fell in love without telling Miluotuo, and gave birth to 11 pairs of suns, The moon, there are 12 pairs of suns and moons grilling the earth, and the earth is scorched yellow.Miluo Tuo sent two sons to fight against the sun and the moon.As a result, the hair of the two sons was burnt and curled, their clothes were smoked, and they returned home in defeat.The second time they took the poisoned arrows and fought again.The sun and the moon show no weakness: "12 suns are 12 balls of fire, 12 moons are 12 discs of silver flames. 12 suns ride 12 heavenly horses, 12 moons ride 12 cloud donkeys." They are determined to burn each other to death. ash.Mi Luotuo personally supervised the battle, released tigers and leopards to capture the sun, and released poisonous snakes to bite the moon. The tenth son Sang Leye and the eleventh son Sang Leyi did not miss their arrows. There were 11 pairs of red smoke billowing and sparks all over the sky. The sun and the moon were shot, and the youngest pair was shot into the clouds, and it took three years to show its face and send light to the ground.Miluotuo stipulated that they are not allowed to be together anymore, and they can only look at each other from the east and west mountains at the end of the moon.After Sang Le also defeated Sang Leyi, he didn't go home on time, because he was afraid that the sun and the moon would not keep their promises, so he observed in the sky for another three years.When the twelfth brother found them, they were exhausted, their bodies were scorched, and they were as thin as moth flies.In order to preserve all things on the earth, the two brothers lost their human form and could no longer reproduce.In the end, following the instructions of his mother Miluotuo, he turned himself into a bee chrysalis and continued to benefit mankind. How human this pair of brothers shoot gods.Legend has it that Bunuyao commemorates them forever.