Chapter 27 Chapter Nine Early Immortal Legends

What is "immortal" can be explained from the composition of the word, "people" on the left and "mountain" on the right, that is to say, immortals, that is, people in deep mountains or high mountains.There are two other explanations for immortals in ancient times. The ancient characters for immortals are written as "immortal" or "□", which is the simplified "qian" today.It is also said that those who are old but not dead are called immortals.The combination of these three explanations means that immortals are people who live in old age and move into the mountains.Explain that the earliest fairyland is in the mountains.

At first, the ancients believed that to become an immortal, the soul should first be promoted, that is, to be cremated with firewood after death. This kind of cremation was called "Dengxia" by the ancients, which means that the death of a person is only the death of the body, and the soul can ride the fire to the sky to achieve the goal of eternal life.Legend has it that Ning Fengzi, an immortal, became immortal by using the "fire method".It is said that this person lived in the period of the Yellow Emperor and was in charge of firing pottery for the Yellow Emperor.Once a man of God came there and taught him how to handle fire, and the fire emitted smoke of five colors.This god-man passed the technology to Ning Fengzi, but Ning Fengzi burned himself in this way, and the smoke fluttered up and down.His bones were also recovered from the ashes.Everyone buried him on Ningbei Mountain and called him "Ning Fengzi", which means he was sealed in Ningbei Mountain. (See Volume 16 of "Biography of Lie Xian") Later, people were no longer satisfied with the ascension of their souls, and had higher yearnings. They hoped that their bodies could also ascend to heaven, so as to achieve the goal of eternal life.So there appeared methods such as taking longevity medicine, using spells, breathing qi, etc., to achieve the purpose of light body and soaring.

Human beings' fear of death and cherishing of life have sprouted embryos in primitive thinking.The belief in the immortality of the soul and the concept of transformation are both a means for the primitive ancestors to resist death, and on this basis, various imaginations of resurrection and elixir are born.For example, if a person wants to ascend to heaven and become an immortal, he must have wings, otherwise, no matter how light his body is, it may be difficult to take off.Therefore, the original ancestors imagined that the first fairy must be the fairy of feathers. "Shan Hai Jing · Overseas South Classic" records: "Yu Minguo...the man has a long head and self-produced feathers. One day, in the southeast of the lovebird, he is a man with long cheeks." "Lunheng" puts it more clearly: "...the immortal, the body It grows hair, its arms become wings, and when it walks in the clouds, it will increase in age, and it will never die for a thousand years." ("Intangible") "Chu Songs: Yuanyou" said: "The feathers are still living in Danqiu, leaving the old hometown of immortality." This feather People are flying immortals, and Danqiu refers to the place where day and night are always bright.Those who can fly to that place will not die.There are also records of "immortal people" and "immortal country" in "Overseas Southern Classic" and "Dahuang Southern Classic".These are all fairy tale embryos conceived in the mythical mother's womb.They can be regarded as part of the myth.It has nothing to do with the Taoist fairy tales of later generations.

In some ethnic minorities, a considerable number of "undead medicine" myths have also been found, which can further prove that the idea of ​​immortality in early fairy tales actually originated from mythology.For example, in the legend of the Naxi people, there was a young man named Chongren in ancient times, whose parents died of illness suddenly.He heard that on the top of the distant Lingshan Mountain, there is a kind of longevity grass, and at the foot of the mountain there is a spring of resurrection water.He went through a lot of hardships to find the longevity grass and the water of resurrection. However, on the way home, he was blocked by the devil, and the water of resurrection hidden in the horn of the yak was spilled, and finally failed to save his parents.But since then the sun, the moon, and the stars have become brighter, and everything on the earth has been full of vitality. It turns out that they have all been splashed with the resurrection water.According to the legend of the Miao nationality, there was a young man named Bang Xiangyou who stole the immortal fruit from the sky and was chopped up after his death. The pieces of his body immediately turned into everything on the ground.According to the Wa people, Ganoderma lucidum saved a critically ill girl from danger.According to the Lisu people, a woman was resurrected from a dead snake and found a kind of leaf for rubbing herself, which cured her paralyzed husband...