Is everyone familiar with the story of Hou Yi shooting the sun? Next, China story net will bring you relevant articles
Among the people, the story of “Hou Yi shooting at the sun” has been circulating. It says that at that time, ten suns appeared in the sky at the same time, scorching the earth, causing the crops to dry up and the people to suffer. So Hou Yi shot the sun with his bow. In an instant, nine of the ten suns were shot away, leaving only one.
This is an ancient myth, but in the Xia Dynasty, Hou Yi, the monarch of poor countries, also had good arrow skills. So, is this the story about him?
In fact, most of the myths and legends in China come from an ancient book, the book of mountains and seas. The appearance of the name “Yi” is related to an ancient figure in the book of mountains and seas.
Yi was the Minister of emperor Jun. in those days, Emperor Jun gave Yi “Tong Gong Su Zhu” and asked him to sympathize with the people. Dijun is the ancient emperor of heaven, only mentioned in the book of mountains and seas. According to this statement, “Yi” has two people in history:
First, Dayi;
First, Hou Yi;
Moreover, the former was many years earlier than the latter.
So, which of them has anything to do with the story of shooting the sun?
In ancient times, there was no saying of the sun. Sun was “sun”. From appearance and development of the this word, it was originally modeled on sun. Were there really ten suns in ancient times? According to the current common sense, if there were, the earth would have been baked before Dayi took out his bow.
So, why do folk stories of “shooting the sun” spread? Is it true that it is a fabrication of the book of mountains and seas?
This requires textual research on the true meaning of “Japan”.
There is another explanation for “day” in Shuowen. Of course, this is a later extended meaning, which refers to: season, time, etc. In the description of “shooting the sun” in the Shanhaijing · Dahuang Nanjing, there is a passage that says: there is a kingdom of Xihe between the sweet waters in the southeast and overseas. A woman named Xihe “bathed in Gan yuan on the day of Fang Ri” is emperor Jun’s wife and “born for ten days”.
According to the current understanding, would it not be Xihe’s “born ten days”?
Of course not.
The “day” here should mean something else, which is very vague. If you want to find the truth, you need to know who Xihe is. This book makes it clear that she is emperor Jun’s wife.
So who is di Jun?
If you can prefix your name with the word “emperor”, you can see that you were a leader at that time. Therefore, some people infer that emperor Jun is the Zhuanxu family of emperor Gaoyang. Why is there such a conclusion? Emperor Gaoyang once issued Zhuanxu calendar.
First, let’s briefly understand the ancient calendar.
It is an ancient quarter calendar, with 1/4 day of 365 as the length of the return year. It was really popularized in the period of Qinshihuang. In fact, in the ancient Chinese calendar, the “ten Heavenly Stems” and “twelve Earthly Branches” were combined in a fixed order, thus forming the “Gan Zhi discipline”. According to the unearthed oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the main function of the heavenly stems and Earthly Branches is to “remember the sun”.
Combined with the “ten days of life” in the book of mountains and seas, it seems that we can see some clues.
Therefore, some scholars pointed out that:
As early as the Xia Dynasty, “Gan Zhi” may have been produced, originated from “Sheng Shi Ri”, and already had the concept of decimal. Among them, the “twelve Earthly Branches” are derived from another wife of emperor Jun, Chang Xi, who said that “there are two out of ten birthdays”. For this allusion, see the description of “bathing in the moon” in the Shanhaijing · Dahuang western classic. “Emperor Jun’s wife, Changxi, was born on two out of ten moons, so she began to bathe.”
But how can the story of heavenly stems and earthly branches be related to “shooting the sun”?
Some people speculate that the implementation of the new calendar method was hindered greatly, so it was implicitly referred to by the folk as the story of “shooting the sun”.
According to Shi Ben at the end of the Warring States period, it is “Rongcheng as the calendar, and the big radius as the Jiazi.” Both of them were ministers of the Yellow Emperor, and Jiazi Jiri had been adopted since the Yellow Emperor. In this way, it has nothing to do with emperor Gaoyang. In fact, there has always been a great controversy over who created the heavenly stems and earthly branches. Even with Zhuanxu calendar, it only shows that the times of appearance coincide with each other, rather than directly draw a conclusion.
As for “shooting the sun”, at that time, it probably meant that in the war, Dayi helped his own leader destroy nine tribes of the other side. After all, at that time, the struggle between tribes was a common thing, and this “day” may refer to the other party’s totem, which has the shape of the sun. In addition, according to the description in the book, Dijun can give Dayi a “Tong bow”. He must be a military general, serving as emperor Jun’s front and rear horse. Therefore, “shooting the sun” has become a normal thing.
Later, the name “Hou Yi” became more popular, which should be related to his good riding and shooting skills. However, he has stolen other countries. At that time, Xia Qi’s son Taikang was unpopular. He was able to seize power, but he was also replaced by Han Zhuo. Perhaps in the folk view, those who can “shoot the sun” must not only have divine power, but also be a respected leader, which is in line with the logic of the story. Hou Yi seemed to be satisfied with both, which is probably the reason why he replaced Da Yi.
In addition, judging from their names, they both carry “Yi”, probably from the same tribe. However, the name “Hou Yi” has more status than “Da Yi”. Because, according to the honorific names of the ancients, in a certain period, “Hou” refers to those who honor the throne, such as Xia Houqi. In fact, both great Yi and Hou Yi have made certain contributions to the history of China. Otherwise, they would not have left so many traces in it, making it difficult to determine who is who. Disclaimer: the above content originates from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. Please inform us if your original copyright is infringed, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.