Chapter 23 Chapter 22 Who drew the totem murals in ancient times?

After walking forward for an unknown amount of time, a long and narrow corridor appeared in front of everyone's eyes. With a sound of 'chi', Huozhezi lit up a simple homemade kerosene lamp, and illuminated the dark corridor.Although the light is not very bright, it can still be seen clearly. This is an ancient passage that has obviously been artificially built. The stone steps extended downwards, but farther away, it was pitch black and could not be seen at all. "Er Ba Ye, it's pitch dark here, there's nothing unclean in there, right?" The three fat man poked his head and looked deeper into the corridor, muttering in a low voice. road.

"Shut your crow's mouth." I responded angrily, took two steps, and added, "Fatty, if you are afraid, just follow behind." "Twenty-eight, if you talk like this, you really look down on me, brother!" Seeing me making fun of him, the third fat man immediately turned serious, patted his chest vigorously with his hands, and put on a mighty pose: "You kid, don't you know my temperament, fat man? Lord, I was born in New China, grew up under the red flag, and is a descendant of the revolution. Didn’t Chairman Mao say that he wants to overthrow all monsters and monsters. Not to mention this small passage, even if it’s a dragon’s pond and a tiger’s lair, fat man If you want to break through, you will not change your face, and you will never embarrass us revolutionaries."

While speaking, this kid was going to force the hero to push me away and go to the first place, to show his fearless spirit of a revolutionary who regards death as home. "Where are these places? Don't argue any more. It's good for everyone to be careful! It's very evil from the moment you enter the cave. I guess this corridor is not a good place. If you touch any mechanism, it will be a disaster." ..." Old Wang's crippled voice resounded in the darkness, his tone was a bit weird, and the first time he heard it, the hairs on his body could not help but stand on end.

I don't know if it was because of Old Wang's weird laughter, or because what he said just now had an effect, but the third fat man withdrew his hand back knowingly, so fast that I almost staggered backwards. "Fuck! Fatty, don't be surprised if you want to come forward or not." I said angrily. The things I have encountered in the past few days are too unimaginable, almost one after another, and I can hardly breathe.Especially in the current tense atmosphere, any change can make people startled. "Hey, Mr. Erba, I'll leave it to you to do such small things as opening the road, and I'll take care of it, Mr. Fat. The great Chairman Mao taught us that there is no order in revolutionary work." The third fat man said shamelessly, still With a righteous look, I hate it so much that my teeth itch.

But being interrupted by him like this, the irritability in my heart also dissipated a lot unconsciously. "Go!" Dead Face walked forward, still taciturn as always, cherishing words like gold, and everyone rushed to follow. At the beginning, we were worried about whether there would be institutions set up by the ancients in the secret passage, so we were extra careful. Dead Face walked in the front indifferently, I was behind him, followed by Old Lame Wang, and the third fat man did what he said, and started to clean up the work. The four of them kept a certain distance apart in a tacit understanding, so that if they encountered any unexpected situation, they would still have time to react, so as not to end up with annihilation of the entire army.Not long after, when they reached the end of the stone steps, it suddenly became clear to them that there was a huge three-meter-high corridor wide enough for four horses to pass through again.

The lights turned, and the four walls were no longer black and dull stone walls, but were piled up with a very strange huge white stone. The walls are full of bright murals. I don’t know what kind of dye is used. Even after such a long time of erosion, the color is still as new without any peeling off. We are amazed.Of course, this may also have something to do with the fact that the tunnel is buried deep in the ground, has not seen the sun all year round, and has not suffered any damage or pollution from external forces. However, although the whole corridor is very deep and closed, but for some reason, the air circulation is exceptionally good. Portal of communication.Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but get excited again.

Walking in a dark and wide corridor, under the background of the lights, the first thing that catches our eyes is a huge white tiger.These tigers have different images, roaring in the mountains, drinking water by the river, lying down and meditating, or descending the mountain fiercely.There are big ones and small ones, each of them has a very realistic shape, as if it has a soul, as if it wants to break through the wall, and every hair is clearly visible. "Grandma, Er Ba Ye, this ancient man also has a brain problem, so many white worms are painted on the good wall, hehe, could it be that they run a tiger meat restaurant..." The three fat men stared at the white tiger picture on the wall After a long time, he suddenly laughed with a wicked sense of humor.

This time I didn't need to speak, the lame Wang interrupted him directly, cursing: "Can you be more serious, boy! Don't talk nonsense anymore, the white tiger here is the totem of the Ba people in ancient times, the Ba people Respecting the white tiger as their ancestors, the ancient Wu family is one of the branches of the Ba clan that migrated to the west of Hubei, so naturally they also regard this kind of fetish as their ancestors. You kid is talking nonsense in other people's territory, be careful to offend the gods..." The third fat man was obviously very upset at being yelled at by old cripple Wang, and wanted to talk again.Just looking at the gloomy environment around and the huge white tiger heads on the wall, it seemed that it was really cold, and I couldn't help shrinking my neck, and swallowed the words that came to my mouth, and muttered softly: "Fat The Lord is just talking, is there any need for this, just don't talk, I..."

Seeing the three fat guys chattering endlessly, I turned my head and gave him a look, which made the kid shut up. Wang Laozi said that as early as a long time ago, in the tombs of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period discovered in Sichuan, Hubei, Chongqing and other places, a large number of bronze weapons engraved with tiger head patterns, such as bronze swords, knives, and daggers, were unearthed.On these bronze weapons, there are staring tiger heads, with the tiger's mouth facing the handle, which is the evidence of the worship of the white tiger by the Ba people.

In ancient times, Ba Wuxiang, the ancestor of the Tujia nationality, was promoted as the chieftain of the tribe with five surnames, known as "Ganjun".He first lived in Zhongli Mountain in Wuluo, and later expanded to the east of Sichuan, controlled this area, and developed into a Ba clan in the age of Linjun.According to legend, after Lord Lin died, his soul turned into a white tiger, and his descendants enshrined it as a sacrifice. Therefore, Ba people worshiped the white tiger and took the white tiger as a totem. When I heard Wang Laizi say this, I immediately thought of the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" that I read when I was a child. Ancestral hall."I thought to myself, the Ba people in ancient times were indeed mysterious and weird. If there is anything weird in the future, maybe I can find some clues from the murals in front of me, at least I have a general understanding, so I walked along the corridor while borrowing Dim lights look at the murals on the corridor wall.

However, in the murals following the corridor, there is no tiger image anymore. The situation in the murals seems to reflect some ancient rituals and god worship of the Babu clan in ancient times. One of the murals tells that there are several people on a boat, all wearing bronze masks, squatting half sideways, and some stretch their hands and legs like oars, pushing slaves into the river continuously! And not far from the boat, in the depths of the turbulent old Yangtze River, there seems to be a blue fish ridge the size of a small house faintly exposed... This mythical image may reflect the religious activities of people offering sacrifices to the God of the Yangtze River. There is also a painting of a slightly raised black land in the middle of the huge Yangtze river bed, whose width is unknown, suddenly rising up, blocking the entire river bed, causing the river to burst its embankment and rushing down thousands of miles, causing a great flood. It was only when we took a closer look that we suddenly discovered that what was silted up in the river bed was not a black land at all, but an unimaginably large "giant tortoise". A huge head protruded from the center of the riverbed, with thick black scales on the neck, and a strangely long mouth, full of huge teeth... Looking at the monster that blocked the Yangtze River and caused floods to burst, and its huge white teeth, I couldn't help but gasped. According to my idea, the murals here are basically drawn in proportion. If you compare it with the size of a human, then this giant tortoise protruding from the bottom of the river bed is too big to imagine!I made a brief comparison just now, and found that for ordinary people of my stature, even if a dozen or so of them were piled up in a pile, it would probably only be enough for this giant beast to swallow in one gulp. It's just that in this world, is it really possible to have such a terrifying giant tortoise or giant turtle? There are also murals that depict a huge green-headed black snake coiled on a huge mountain peak. The mountain is covered with small black snakes. kowtow. Although I hang out in the old Beijing Liulichang since I was a child, I have heard many anecdotes from the north and south of the Yangtze River, and I have a little bit of knowledge about archaeology, but facing the images on the murals in the corridor in front of me, I really can’t grasp it. Quasi direction.However, Ba is a rather complicated concept. In the broadest sense, as a geographical name, Ba has a wide range of connotations.Because in ancient times, a large continuous area centered on eastern Sichuan and western Hubei, extending to southern Shaanxi in the north, central Guizhou and western Hubei in the south, was collectively called Ba, so the various ancient ethnic groups who lived and multiplied in this area in ancient times were also called Ba. It is commonly known as Ba, and concepts such as Ba people, Ba country, and Ba culture are derived from it. In this sense, the Linjunba people are just one of the clans that entered the patrilineal line earlier, and in the long ancient times before that, the various branches of the Ba people also developed the ability to treat fish, turtles, and even fish. The custom of worshiping snakes. It was only later that Lord Bashilin's power gradually developed and expanded.It was not until the same period in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that the white tiger totem gradually replaced the totems of other branches of the Ba people and became the ultimate belief of the Ba people of all branches.The underground underground river basin of the Yangtze River Basin we entered was originally the territory of the ancient Wu clan, one of the many branches of the Yuanguban tribe. Obviously, they still retain some totem worship of ancient times, which does not make people feel Accident. We continued on, watching as we walked, and finally stopped in front of a mural, the most striking of which was a huge ancient tree, standing on a thick forked branch at the top. A huge divine bird, and at the root of the tree under the golden claws of the divine bird, there is a divine dragon with its head up and its tail down. The three fat people said to me: "Hey, I only heard of double dragons playing with pearls before. I didn't expect that the ancient Ba people were also very interesting. They made a dragon and a phoenix... It's just that this tree can support the weight of the two of them." , is a problem." The lame Wang rolled his eyes at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense! This is the most mysterious dragon and phoenix fight in the Yangtze River basin in western Hubei. It is similar to the bronze sacred tree of nine birds and one dragon in ancient Shu. , it is Peng, and it is also Phoenix..." Hearing Mr. Wang's explanation, Dead Face didn't seem to care about it, and was indifferent, but I was deeply inspired and nodded secretly. The status of the most mysterious birds and dragons in the Yangtze River culture is most fully reflected in the murals handed down from the ancient Ba people.Before the Spring and Autumn Period, the main distribution area of ​​the Ba people was in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the southern part of the lower reaches of the Han River. The Cubans originally belonged to the Sanmiao Group, so the so-called "Miao Man" in history is actually the name of the Ba people in the ancient Central Plains. The Ba people have been warlike since ancient times, and most of them live in the south. The four seasons are humid, hot and rainy, with deep streams and dangerous gullies, and they are prolific in snakes and insects. Therefore, "Man" is also a species of snakes and insects.As early as the end of primitive society, the Ba people fought with the Central Plains people.After the Western Zhou Dynasty, the power of the Chu people rose rapidly in the south, and the Ba people were forced to move westward.This is the real reason why Bachu generations went to war in history.Documents and historical records often record the historical discourse of "Bachu generations attack each other". The mural in the corridor in front of me is "dragon and phoenix contending for the nest", which immediately made me have a certain association. You must know that in ancient China, "phoenix" was originally a totem worshiped by Chu people. The reverence of the snake has reached its peak, and as for the "snake", it can completely represent Ba.If we analyze from the historical background of this period of "Ba Chu's attack from generation to generation", what the murals in front of us want to show is undoubtedly the performance of the battle between the Chu people and the Ba people. However, this is just our own speculation. Many things on the Yangtze River are unimaginable and completely unreasonable.What is the true meaning of this dragon and phoenix totem that has been handed down since ancient times has not yet been answered. The third fat man was obviously skeptical about this, he chuckled and said, "It's not Fatty, I don't believe it, but if there were such a big bird in this world, wouldn't it have been caught and roasted a long time ago? You Think about it, according to the ratio of the people under the tree, this bird can't be as big as the sky. It would take tens of meters to spread its wings! Such a big body can fly in the sky, let alone a normal person, even if it is Blind people can also discover it, how could no one know it until now? So, let me just say, these are all bluffs, you educated young people just like to think about it, don't turn around and think about yourself..." Old lame Wang ignored the fat man's nonsense, glanced at the silent dead face beside him, and said, "Brother, what do you think of this matter?" Dead Face said: "There is some truth in what you said, but these are just murals after all, so they can't be taken as real. If you really want to use this to discover the secrets hidden in the ancient Wu family, it is basically impossible. The only The best way is to go in and have a look.” Hearing what Dead Face said, the three fat guys nodded vigorously, gave a thumbs up and said, "That's right, I still have the standard. Didn't a great man say that practice is the only criterion for testing the truth. Old man, you said we are What's the point of arguing here. If it's a mule or a horse, it's clear if you go in and have a look." Old lame Wang was too lazy to talk to him, and said with a smile, "I'm just expressing my feelings. After all, on the Yangtze River, what weird things don't happen? What's more, this channel communicates with the underground river of the Yangtze River, and it is painted like this. There are so many totems, presumably only the theocratic figures and core rulers of the Wu Clan could enter even at the beginning. We can find out today, and it is worthy of our narrow escape." This corridor is not too long, and it didn't take long, so we continued to walk forward.At the end of the corridor, there is actually a building on stilts. A huge, black stilted building!