What divine animals were there in ancient times? How were the four sacred animals born? Today, the editor of China story network will give you a detailed explanation~
We all know that the four sacred animals in ancient times were green dragon, white tiger, red Finch and Xuanwu. They can be seen in many movies and games. Of course, in addition to the four of them, there were many other divine animals in ancient times, such as unicorns. Qilin was considered as a auspicious animal by the ancients, and its status was not lower than that of the green dragon. In Yi Mao, Qilin was compared with the four spirits. “The presence and absence of a unicorn will bring good luck.” people with both ability and political integrity will also call it a unicorn. Therefore, in addition to the dragon and Phoenix among people, there is also such a saying about a unicorn among people.
In the ancient times, people’s scientific and technological development was relatively backward, so people had a strong fear of nature. In such a social environment, people have invented many totems and beliefs in order to seek spiritual sustenance.
In order to be more practical, people have developed some mythical characters and mythical animals that can protect themselves. At that time, the most famous were the four great spirit animals, among which the most familiar ones were the unicorn and the female cochlear pet Bai Yu (x ?)? The remaining two are the t é ng snake and shirazawa.
Kirin is a traditional auspicious animal in China. It is the offspring of jianma. Its ancestor is Ying long. The ancients often believed that the place where the unicorn appeared could bring people good luck. The male animal was a unicorn and the female animal was a Lin. it was said that it could live for two thousand years. It is precisely for this reason that the Kirin has a relatively high status in history. For example, it is recorded in the ninth book of rites, Li Yun that “the Lin, the Phoenix, the turtle and the dragon are the four spirits”. That is to say, the status of the Kirin can be comparable to that of the dragon.
Qilin is the grandson of Ying long, and its appearance is recorded in Huainanzi terrain training: “a young calf begets a Ying dragon, a Ying dragon begets a horse, a building horse begets a Qilin, a qilin begets a common beast, and a Mao begets a common beast.” There are many nationalities and surnames that regard Kirin as a totem and ancestor god, such as Zhou Tianzi.
Bai Yu (sound: X ?) In ancient myths and legends, it is the left protector of the female cochlea. It is said that after Pangu opened the world, the female cochlea felt extremely lonely, so she created human beings with earth. In this process, the female cochlea also created her own pet, which is the same as the snake god, namely the female white snake and the male flying snake. And when the female cochlea found that the five color stone was not enough, Bai Yu and tengshe stood up and filled the sky with their own bodies.
The t é ng snake belongs to the Xingguan of the northern seven constellations. In the south of the five stars of the father, it is composed of 22 stars. It is a fire negative totem. In Xunzi · persuasion, there is a certain introduction to the snake: “the snake flies without feet, and the flying squirrel is poor with five skills”. The book of mountains and seas · the book of Zhongshan also introduces that “there are many white snakes and flying snakes in the mountain of Chaisang” Guo Pu believes that the “white snake and flying snake” here are “flying snake, flying by fog”.
That is to say, although the snake has no feet, it is better than the multi skilled flying squirrel to soar through the clouds and walk in the air. It is precisely for this reason that Guo Pu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty thought that the snake was a “dragon”. In ancient legends, the snake and the tortoise were often called together, so it was also considered as a separate body of Xuanwu. There is also a rumor that Bai Suzhen and Bai Yu (x ?) With the daughter of t é ng snake.
Baize is also an auspicious animal in ancient Chinese myths and legends. It is said that Baize can speak human words, understand the feelings of all things, and know the appearance of all things in the world. Because Baize knows the names, shapes and exorcisms of all the ghosts in the world, it has been worshipped as a divine animal and auspicious omen to exorcise ghosts from a very early time.
When the Yellow Emperor was on a hunting tour, he met this kind of mythical animal on the coast of the East China Sea and asked it about ghosts and gods. Bai Ze told the Yellow Emperor about 11520 kinds of ghosts and gods. In this regard, it is recorded in Xuanyuan Benji: “the emperor toured the sea in the East, climbed the Huanshan mountain, and got the Baize divine animal on the seashore. He can speak and express the feelings of all things. Why is it that the spirits and spirits in the world have changed since ancient times? There are 1520 kinds of all things. Baize can speak. The emperor’s orders are written in pictures to show the world.”
From this, it is not difficult to see that in fact, the four divine animals are the embodiment of people’s expectations for a better life. People hope to live a happy life and have a guardian God in their own life. Therefore, the four divine animals came into being. Disclaimer: the above content is from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. If your original copyright is infringed, please inform us, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.