Carp leaping to the dragon's gate(lǐ yú tiào lóng mén)

Carp leaping to the dragon's gate

According to ancient Chinese legend, the Yellow River carp leaping over the dragon's gate (< I > located in the present Luoyang City of Henan Province < / I > < I > Longmen Grottoes < / I > < I > where < / I >) will change into Jackie Chan. It is a metaphor for the success of Zhongju and promotion. It also refers to going against the current and working hard.

Legend content

A long time ago, before the Longmen river was cut open, the flow of water here was blocked by the Longmen Mountain, and a large lake was accumulated in the south of the mountain.

The carp living in the Yellow River want to go sightseeing when they hear that Longmen has a good scenery. They started from the Yellow River in Mengjin, Henan Province, passed through the Luo river and followed the Yi River to the place where Longmen water splashed. But there was no waterway on Longmen Mountain, so they had to gather at the foot of the north mountain of Longmen. "I have an idea. How about we jump over Longmen Mountain?" A big red carp said to everyone. "So high, how can you jump?" "If you don't jump well, you'll die!" My friends are not sure.

The red carp volunteered and said, "I'll jump first and have a try." From half a mile away, it used all its strength, just like an arrow leaving the string, jumped into the clouds all at once, driving the clouds and rain in the air forward. A sky fire came from behind and burned its tail. It endured the pain, continued to leap forward, and finally crossed the Longmen Mountain and fell into the lake in the south of the mountain. In the blink of an eye, it became a giant dragon.

Seeing this, the carp in the north of the mountain were scared to huddle together and did not dare to take the risk again.

At this time, suddenly, a huge dragon came down from the sky and said, "don't be afraid, I'm your partner, big red carp, because if I jump over the dragon's gate, I'll become a dragon. You should also jump bravely!"

After hearing these words, the carp were encouraged and began to jump to Longmen mountain one by one. But in addition to the individual jump into the dragon, most of them can't pass.

Those who can't jump and fall from the air will have a black scar on their forehead. To this day, the black scar still grows on the forehead of Yellow River carp.

Later, Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem specially for this event: "the three foot carp of the Yellow River, originally lived in Mengjin, but did not come back with any fish."

The origin of the story

The legend of fish leaping over the dragon's gate took place in the location of the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang. Li Bai's gift to Cui Shiyu: "the Yellow River's three foot carp originally lived in Mengjin, but it didn't become a dragon when it came back, so it was accompanied by ordinary fish." "Mengjin" in the poem is the county under the jurisdiction of Luoyang, which is adjacent to the Yellow River in the north.

It is said that after Yu opened the yique, the current was fast. The carp swimming in the Yellow River of Yujin went upstream along the water of Luo and Yi. When they reached the Longmen of yique, the waves were surging and they wanted to turn over. The one who jumps is a dragon, but the one who can't jump leaves a black scar on his forehead. Therefore, Li Bai, the great poet of Tang Dynasty, wrote in his poem to Cui Shiyu: "the three foot carp of the Yellow River originally lived in Mengjin, but it didn't become a dragon when he ordered it. He came back with all the fish."

Since then, people often describe some kind of crossing posture as "carp leaping over the dragon's gate", but they don't know that the fish growing in the Yi River, the famous one is Megalobrama, which looks like a boat and eats sweetly. Therefore, Yang Jiezhi of the Northern Wei Dynasty wrote in Luoyang Jialan Ji: "Luo carp, Megalobrama, is more expensive than cattle and sheep." Sima Guang's Longmen in Song Dynasty also said: "people have pity on the mountains, and the atmosphere is good. I sigh for the beauty of Yu Gong. If you don't know the time, the extreme eyes will be flooded. We are spared bream and carp

Longmen in the Yellow River Valley, 12 kilometers northwest of Hejin City, Shanxi Province, is now known as Yumenkou, which is also the source of "carp leaping Longmen".

It is said in ancient times that the Yellow River carp leaped over Longmen (12 kilometers northwest of Hejin City in Shanxi Province and 32 kilometers north of Hancheng City in Shaanxi Province), and it would change into Jackie Chan. "Yu Ya Shi Yu": it is said that the fish leaps over the dragon's gate and becomes a dragon, only carp is possible Li Yuan of Qing Dynasty: "carp Every year, the Yellow climbs the Longmen mountain against the current in the spring season, and the sky fire burns its tail behind it, then it turns into a dragon. " Later, "carp leaping from the dragon's gate" was used to describe the success of Zhongju and promotion. Later, it was used as a metaphor to go against the current. As the saying goes, "carp jump into the dragon's gate", this is a metaphor for carp's habit of diving. Carp and many other fish like diving. Different fish have different diving skills. Some fish jump very high, such as a fish called "TIAOYU", which can jump four to five meters above the water, can be said to be the "champion of high jump" among the fish. Carp can sometimes jump more than one meter out of the water.

Cause analysis

As the saying goes, "carp jump into the dragon's gate", this is a metaphor for carp's habit of diving. Carp and many other fish like diving. Different fish have different diving skills. Some fish jump very high, such as a fish called "TIAOYU", which can jump four to five meters above the water, can be said to be the "champion of high jump" among the fish. Carp can sometimes jump more than one meter out of the water.

Why do fish dive? According to the analysis of scientists, there are several reasons. Some are caused by changes in the surrounding environment, such as changes in the earth's magnetic field on the eve of the earthquake disaster, which threatens the fish sense; for example, in order to avoid the sudden attack of the enemy and cross the obstacles on the way; or by sudden threats and other reasons. The instinctive response of fish to survive.

Another reason is the physiological changes. When the fish is about to reproduce, some things that can stimulate the nerves are produced in the body, making it in an excited state, so it likes to jump.

Sturgeon to the dragon's gate is not to "jump Jackie Chan", but to reproduce. According to the book "Studies on biology and artificial propagation of Yangtze River sturgeon" written by Sichuan Yangtze River aquatic resources investigation group, sturgeon spawns "mostly in the upper reaches of rivers, where the water temperature is low, the flow velocity is large, the flow pattern is complex, and the river channel is wide and narrow with gravel sediment". The Longmen area at the junction of Shanxi Province and Shanxi Province has the above geomorphic characteristics, so it becomes an ideal place for sturgeon to gather and lay eggs.

"Longmen Red River" phenomenon is because the sturgeon before spawning male and female chase, often jump out of the water. Every spring, a large number of sturgeons swim back to Longmen cave to gather, and frequently jump two or three days before spawning. When the sturgeon jumped out of the water, its red and congested fins also came out of the water. At one time, thousands of big fish flipped on the river and looked red in the distance, so the scene of "Red River" appeared. Because of the abundance of fish, it can last for several miles and days, which forms the special phenomenon of "three days in the Red River" and "three miles in the Red River".

When a fish is fished out of the water, it will also jump and jump. The reason is that when a fish swims in the water, its muscles always stretch and contract, and only by shaking its head and tail can it move forward in the water. When it just left the water, it still did the same action as if it was in the water, but because it was not resisted by the water, the shaking action was particularly big. At this time, if it came into contact with solid objects such as the ground, the boat board and so on, it would jump and jump. In fact, modern science can solve the mystery of "carp leaping over the dragon's gate": the "carp" here is actually "tuna", or "Zhanyu", or "minnow" or "yellow croaker", that is, sturgeon. Sturgeon is a kind of river and sea migratory fish, with a body length of about two meters and a maximum length of more than five meters. Chinese sturgeon, Amur sturgeon and Yangtze sturgeon are rare animals in China. Because the ancient big carp was also named "Zhan", the ancients mixed "tuna Zhan" with big carp, and it was said that "carp leaped over the dragon's gate".

Bamboo annals is the work of the historian of Wei state in the late Warring States period. The record of "Longmen Red River" in the book shows that the myth of "carp leaping over Longmen" had not yet formed. The records of "fish turned into dragon" are mostly from the Han Dynasty classics, so the formation of fairy tales should be in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, and may be related to the strengthening of the concept of dragon worship in the early Han Dynasty.

Chinese PinYin : lǐ yú tiào lóng mén