Antarctic Fairy

Antarctic Fairy

The Antarctic fairy is an immortal in ancient Chinese mythology. It is a name derived from classical novels and TV dramas. There is no immortal named by the Antarctic fairy in Taoist classics. The prototype is the Taoist "longevity old man". Perhaps because of the influence of the Ming Dynasty's novel Fengshen romance and modern TV and novels, people equate the old man with the "Antarctic Fairy". In ancient novels, its image is set as one of the hermeneutic disciples under the throne of the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, the master of the white crane boy. It is an old immortal who controls the life span of the human world in myths and legends. It is characterized by a large head with a protruding forehead, a long white beard, and a smiling old man. He rides a crane or deer, and wears an immortal peach on his walking stick. He often appears in a series of modern derivative works, such as Fengshenbang, journey to the West and the legend of the white snake.

Emperor Changsheng of Antarctica, also known as the king of jade halal, has the full name of "Gaoshang Shenxiao jade halal king". Emperor Changsheng of Antarctica governs Tianyuan shengtianzun and occupies the upper Shenxiao Yuqing mansion (Shenxiao Yufu for short). He is the eldest son of God and the head of Shenxiao jiuchen emperor. At the same time, he is also regarded as the fourth of the four emperors. He is in charge of longevity, misfortunes and blessings in the world. Christmas falls on the first day of may in the lunar calendar.

Literary image

The origin of the name

Antarctic fairy is mainly recorded in the Ming Dynasty's novel FengShenYanYi. He is one of the main disciples of yuanshitianzun, the leader of Hermeneutics (one of the fictional religions in the novel). His apprentice and mount "white crane boy" is the servant of yuanshitianzun, and also his apprentice. Sometimes he rides an immortal deer. The magic weapon is five fire and seven feather fan (not the one of the pure and empty moral kings) ）。 Although the description of his appearance is less, he has a very high status, and is superior to the twelve immortals of yuxu, and is second only to the light Taoist, the deputy leader of elucidation.

The name "Antarctic Fairy" only appears in the story of Fengshen romance, a novel of Ming Dynasty. In another novel Journey to the west, it is called "Antarctic old man star" and "Antarctic Star King".

The origin of myth

The archetype of the Antarctic fairy is based on the famous Taoist immortal "the Immortal Emperor of Antarctica". It is often called "the old man of longevity" in folk belief. It is the fourth of the six emperors in the heaven, and is mainly responsible for the life span.

With the spread of Fengshen romance, the mythical character of Antarctic fairy is well known by people. In addition, he often appears in some modern derivative works, such as the TV series Fengshen list and a series of related films and TV programs, so he is widely known and famous. In the Fengshen novels, he was called "the immortal of fortune" together with Yun zhongzi. He once helped to explain Daoism and fight against jiejiao (one of the fictional religions in the novels), and contributed to King Wu's cutting of Zhou. Because he took part in fewer battles, he did not encounter the fate of cutting off the top three flowers and destroying the five Qi in his chest in the Jiuqu Yellow River array, so his achievements and achievements were also few. He used to tease Shen Gongbao at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, and sent his apprentice Baihe boy to show his real body and take away his head. During the ten Jue battle, the Antarctic fairy also broke the red sand battle with his apprentice Baihe boy. "The Antarctic fairy fan the red sand with five fires and seven plumes, and once the red sand is gone, there is no trace. Zhang Tianjun picked up a bucket of red sand and looked down. The fairy man fanned the fan several times, and the sand disappeared. The Antarctic fairy said, "Zhang Shao, it's hard to escape this disaster." When Zhang Shao wanted to escape, he was sacrificed to Yu Ruyi by the white crane boy. He hit the back of Zhang Shao's heart and fell down. The white crane boy took up a sword and immediately dyed his skirt with blood. " Send Zhang Tianjun to fengshentai. In order to deal with the rebellious Yin Jiao, he borrowed the plain cloud flag from the gold mother of yaochi, helped Jiang Ziya collect the four flags, and successfully restrained the powerful magic weapon fantianyin of Yin Jiao. The magic power, root line, and savvy of the Antarctic fairy are all first-class. The overall strength of the Antarctic fairy is one level higher than that of the twelve Kunlun immortals, which is already the level of Daluo Jinxian.

historical origin

The eldest of the three stars of fortune, fortune and longevity is dressed up as a civilian, kind-hearted and amiable. But in ancient times, he was once a dignified star official with high status. How did the old man of longevity evolve from a dignified star official to the most amiable secular immortal? At first, the birthday star was not geriatrics. In Western astronomy, geriatrics was named alpha star in the constellation carina, which is located at about 50 degrees south latitude of the southern hemisphere. In fact, it is difficult to see in northern China. According to Sima Qian's tianguanshu in historical records, when the Qin Dynasty unified the world, it began to build a longevity temple in Xianyang, the capital, to honor the old Antarctic star. But the reason for worshiping him is quite different from today. The main idea is to see the birthday, the world is at peace; if not, there will be war. In the early works of astrology, it was also said that if the color of the old man's star was dimmer, or even completely disappeared, war would be predicted.

The peaceful and prosperous times in ancient China were indeed short and rare. Decades of chaos and governance. If we divide for a long time, we will get together. And this old man star is just a good symbol of this turbulent situation. But just symbolism is not enough. The ancients had a strong practical and utilitarian purpose in observing celestial phenomena and astrology. So what is the practical value of Antarctica? Perhaps it is his identity as an old man and his ability to carry an important ethical value, that is, respect for the elderly and filial piety.

During the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he once presided over a ceremony of offering sacrifices to the birthday star. He personally offered the offering and read out the sacrificial rites to show his respect. At the same time, a special banquet was also arranged. The participants were all ancient and rare old people. All over the world, as long as they are over 70 years old, no matter noble or common people, they are qualified to be guests of Emperor Han and Ming. After the feast, the emperor also presented wine and meat, rice and a handmade walking stick. This grand event was recorded in the annals of rites of the Han Dynasty. It was a great creation of the emperor of the Han and Ming Dynasties.

In the book of historical records, Fengchan book, Shouxing temple, Suoyin, Shouxing temple, Shouxing temple is built for the elderly in Antarctica. If you see it, the world will be in peace. Therefore, the temple prays for longevity: "song louyao's collection of roses, four portraits of Ye Chushi:" add pine and bamboo as Shouxing, I'm willing to die. " After the metaphor of longevity. Yuan Fanghui's "Tongjiang sequel" 20 "Wuxu birthday" poem: "guests every birthday, neighbors send birthday."

Respect for the elderly is the embodiment of good nature. It is no doubt a political show that emperor Hanming takes this opportunity to show his virtue of respecting the elderly. Not only advocated, Emperor Han and Ming also gave privileges to the elderly. The staff presented at the banquet is proof.

Documentation

Ancient star worship. Many names, but can be enduring, and popular is the longevity, the belief in longevity has been very common since ancient times. Sima Zhen Suoyin in the book of Fengchan in historical records said: "the birthday star is the old star of Antarctica. If you see it, the world will be safe. Therefore, the temple prays for happiness and longevity." "Er Ya Shi Tian" also said: "longevity, horn, Kang also." Jiao and Kang are the first two places of the twenty-eight places among the seven places of Oriental Canglong. Therefore, Guo Pu noted that the birthday star "has several Jiao and Kang" and "the length of the place is called Shou". According to Sima Qian's tianguanshu of historical records, there is a big star named "the old man of Antarctica" in langbidi of Xigong. The old star appears, public security, the old star disappears, soldiers rise. Zhang Shoujie, a scholar of Tang Dynasty, explained this. "The old man's one star is located in the south of Gu (southeast of Sirius), and the other is called the south pole, which accounts for the extension of life span. If you see it, the country will live a long life, so it is called longevity and prosperity, and the world will be peaceful. If you see it, people will worry about it. " Therefore, I am very concerned about the birthday. "Astronomy annals of the Han Dynasty" says: "old people in Antarctica often live in the southern suburbs at the autumnal equinox." "Yi Zhi of the later Han Dynasty" goes back: "in the mid autumn moon, when the year begins to be 70, the jade staff is used to nourish the porridge. 80, 90, there is a gift The old man was worshipped in the old temple in the south of the capital of the state. " So far, combining ancient astronomy with religion, we can find that birthday has two main meanings. First, it refers to a certain area of the sky, i.e. one of the twelve times, which is equivalent to Jiao and Kang er su in the twenty-eight constellations; second, it refers to the Antarctic old man star belonging to the Western Palace, and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has combined the activities of respecting the elderly with the stars of worshiping ancestors.

Among the twenty-eight places, the seven places in the East are Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei and Ji, forming the shape of Canglong. Among them, the two stars of Jiaosu, which are similar to sheep's horns, are called "horns", just like dragon's horns in the East Canglong night; the four stars of Kangsu, which lead Kangzhi up, are called "Kang", just like dragon's head in the East Canglong seven night. In modern astronomy, these two constellations are placed in the constellation Virgo, with the first-class bright star in the middle corner, which is very famous. It usually appears at low altitude in the evening of early May every year, and it is clear at seven o'clock. Antarctica is also a first-class bright star, and it is not easy to see in northern China because it is in the south of latitude 500. But in the south of the Yangtze River and Lingnan area, it is easy to see. It often appears prominently. In February, it is low in the South after 8 p.m. These are two different versions of the birthday star. In the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, the God of longevity was actually the very old man (Kang Su). However, according to the "Tongdian? Lisi", it is said that "chiyisuo set up a special longevity altar, which is suitable for sacrificing the Star Horn of the old man and the Kang Qisu." It can be seen that in the Tang Dynasty, the two were sacrificed together.

Since the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, the birthday star has been worshipped by the emperors of all dynasties. Until the Ming Dynasty, although the national worship was abolished, it was widely spread among the Chinese people. For example, in the Tanci of the Ming Dynasty, biography of the White Snake, later renamed Leifeng Pagoda, biography of Yiyao, and later biography of three immortals, the Antarctic fairy Weng appeared as a kind-hearted birthday star. After the adaptation of the legend of the white snake into a drama

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