It is said that peach wood has the function of suppressing evil spirits and exorcising ghosts. When the ancients bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, they painted the images of "shentu" and "Yu Lei" Er Shen on the mahogany board, and hung them at the door, in order to pray for blessings and eliminate disasters. Finally, in order to save trouble, people directly wrote the names of "shentu" and "Yu Lei" Er Shen on the mahogany board. This is the earliest peach symbol.
The origin of the peach symbol
According to legend, there is a big peach tree on Dushuo Mountain in the East China Sea. Its trunk bends and stretches for 3, miles, and its branches extend to the ghost gate in the northeast. Ghosts living in caves under the ghost gate go in and out through this gate every day. There are two gods under the tree: shentu (pronounced Shen Shu) and Yu Lei (pronounced Yu Law). As long as the two gods find evil spirits that harm people, they will tie them up with a net made of awn reeds and throw them to feed a tiger. Since the Zhou Dynasty, every New Year's Day, people used two mahogany boards six inches long and three inches wide to draw images of two gods or inscribed their names, and hung them on both sides of the gate or bedroom door to ward off evil spirits and pray for happiness. This is the peach symbol. Moreover, the ancients would draw the ghost-eating tiger on their second door, with a awn reed rope next to it, to ward off evil spirits and pray for happiness.
related customs of the ancients
When the ancients bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, they wrote the names of "shentu" and "Yu Lei" Er Shen on mahogany boards, or painted the image of Er Shen on paper, hung it, inlaid it or posted it on the door, in order to pray for good luck and eliminate disasters.
historical development
Ying Shao in the Eastern Han Dynasty said in "The Book of the Yellow Emperor": "In ancient times, two brothers lived under a peach tree on the Mount Shuodu, and ghosts jumped in, aided by reeds and ate tigers. Therefore, the county magistrate painted a picture of a tiger hanging from a reed on the door on New Year's Eve. " Taofu first wrote Er Shen's name or depicted images, and later evolved into auspicious words, and then developed into dual poems. This is the couplet before papermaking came into being. At the same time, it also shows that the custom of hanging peach symbols in the Spring Festival has prevailed at least in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Spring Festival couplets originated from peach symbols. "Taofu" is a rectangular mahogany board hanging on both sides of the gate in the Zhou Dynasty. According to the History of Etiquette in the Later Han Dynasty, the peach symbol is six inches long and three inches wide, and the words "shentu" and "Yu Lei" are written on the mahogany board. "On the first day of the first month, a peach symbol was made for the household, and it was named immortal wood, which was feared by all ghosts." Therefore, the Qing Dynasty's "Yanjing Shi Sui Ji" said: "Spring Festival couplets, that is, Taofu also."
In the Five Dynasties, couplets began to appear on peach symbols, replacing the names of shentu and Yu Lei, and people generally wrote some auspicious words on them. Two years after Song Taizu went to Germany, Meng Chang, the king of Shu, made the bachelor lucky in writing the inscription of Tao Fu Zhi Xi on New Year's Eve. The master of Shu was dissatisfied with the words written by the bachelor, that is, he wrote "New Year's Day, Qing Yu, and Jiajie, Changchun". Meng Chang's inscription changed the content and nature of the legendary Taofu, and changed the Taofu from the original peach wooden card to a special style of expressing some thoughts-couplet. Some experts think that Meng Chang's inscription is the first Spring Festival couplets in China.
In order to celebrate the founding of Nanjing, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, issued a decree on New Year's Eve that a picture of Spring Festival couplets should be posted on the doors of officials and scholars. This custom of turning "inscribed peach symbols" into posting Spring Festival couplets was popularized to the people's portal overnight by the official court giants. Early the next morning (New Year's Day), Zhu Yuanzhang traveled incognito, strolled the streets and enjoyed the Spring Festival couplets. When he found that a butcher's family didn't post Spring Festival couplets because they didn't have the money to buy paper, he ordered someone to get paper and ink, and now he wrote a couplet for the butcher: split the road between life and death with both hands, and cut off the root of right and wrong with one knife.
Legends
According to Shan Hai Jing, many years ago, there was a world of ghosts. There was a mountain with hundreds of ghosts haunting it, and there was a big peach tree covering 3, miles with a golden rooster at the top. Whenever the golden rooster crows in the morning, ghosts who do evil outside at night will rush back to the ghost town. Two brothers, shentu and Yu Lei, are miraculous and good at descending ghosts. They strictly restrict the activities of ghosts. Every year, they stand under a big tree to review all kinds of ghosts. When they see a fierce ghost that is harmful to people, they tie it up with a special "awn reed rope" that they can't get rid of, so that the gods and tigers who eat evil spirits can satisfy their hunger and kill pests for the people. However, shentu and Yu Lei's ability is limited, and they can't eliminate all the evil spirits in the world. It can't guarantee the safety of every household. So the Yellow Emperor announced an order to the whole country that on the eve of the Spring Festival, every household should carve the statues of shentu and Yulei with peach stalks and hang them in front of the door on New Year's Eve. At the same time, a reed rope is hung at the upper end of the gate, and a tiger is painted on the second door to avoid the intrusion of monsters. Later, people thought it was troublesome to carve wood, so they drew two statues directly on the mahogany, inscribed with the names of shentu and Yu Lei, and hung them on both sides of the door on New Year's Eve afternoon to suppress evil spirits and dispel ghosts. This was the original peach symbol.
Literary records
The custom of hanging peach symbols during the Spring Festival in ancient times is recorded in the works of many scholars. Bai Juyi's "Bai Li Liu Tie": "On the first day of the first month, a peach symbol was made, and the fairy wood was famous, which was feared by hundreds of ghosts." Wang Anshi's "January Day": "In the sound of firecrackers, one year old is removed, and the spring breeze warms people in Tu Su. Thousands of households always change new peaches for old ones. " The grand occasion of people hanging peach symbols during the ancient Spring Festival is obvious.
Tao Fu Spring Festival couplets Door God
Wang Anshi's well-known poem "Except for the Day" chants: "One year old is removed from the sound of firecrackers, and the spring breeze warms Tu Su; Thousands of households always change new peaches for old ones. " The widespread spread of this poem also makes the word Taofu almost well known. Replacing peach symbols is not only a must, but also Spring Festival couplets, door gods, New Year pictures and so on are inextricably linked with peach symbols, and become a necessity to get rid of the old and welcome the new on New Year's Eve.
let's start with the peach symbol. Since ancient times, people in China have thought that peach has the function of exorcism. In the pre-Qin period, peach broom (1), which is made of peach wood, has the magical power of exorcism. "Book of Rites Under the Tan Bow" says: "The monarch is in mourning, and the witch wishes the peach to hold the throne, which is also evil." In the twenty-ninth year of Xianggong in Zuo Zhuan, there are examples in this regard. "Zhou Li Xia Guan" said that the princes' alliance would cut off the cow's ear to get blood, and the peach blossom should be used as a town object. In the fourth year of Zuo Zhuan, Zhao Gong recorded that when taking ice, he had to use a bow made of peach wood and a spiny arrow to carry out the disaster removal ceremony. The predecessor of peach symbol is peach stalk and peach branch. The function of peach branches to ward off evil spirits can be found in Zhuangzi: "Put peach branches in households, even under ashes. The boy is not afraid to enter, but the ghost is afraid. " ("Art and Literature Gathering" Volume 86) Peach branches that are slightly processed have the same effect. The article "Huai Nan Zi Quan Yan" says: "Yi died of peach." In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Gao Youzhu said, "Oranges, big sticks, are made of peach wood to kill Yi. Since then, ghosts have been afraid of peaches." In this way, since the legendary era, the ancients had a special belief in peach wood. Due to the magical function of the peach stick, the Han Dynasty had a gift of "Wei Ji Tao Stick" to the public, Qing, generals, special princes and princes (The Book of the Later Han Dynasty Roars at Yi Zhi). Carving peaches into human figures is also a means adopted by the ancients to ward off evil spirits. "The Warring States Policy, Qi Ce III" said that when Meng Changjun planned to be a man of Qin, Su Qin told him the fable of clay figurines and peach stalks to stop him, among which the clay figurines said peach stalks: "Today, the son of Dong Guo Zhi Tao stalks, and he carved the son as a man." It can be seen that there were peach stalks that cut peach trees in the Warring States period. According to the Notes of the History of Etiquette in the Later Han Dynasty, The Classic of Mountains and Seas was set in Dushuo Mountain, and stood on shentu and Yu Lei who took the branches of big peaches as ghost gates, holding ghosts with reeds and feeding tigers. "The Yellow Emperor's method is like it, and when it is finished, it stands on the portal because of the peach stalk." In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Customs and Righteousness also quoted the Yellow Emperor's Book to tell this story, and said, "So the county officials decorated peach people with wax New Year's Eve, hung reeds and painted tigers on the door, which was a good thing before the effect." It can be seen that the custom of standing peach stalks (people) by the door has become popular on the eve of the twelfth lunar month in Han Dynasty. "The Story of Jingchu's Years Old" said after the New Year's Day's greeting: "Making a peach board is called fairy wood." It can be seen that the peach board appeared again in the Six Dynasties. (Author's press: The book's general edition is talking about pasting chicken. After hanging the reed rope, it says "inserting the peach symbol beside it", and the word "peach symbol" is wrong, so I don't take it. ) By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the word "peach symbol" appeared, and Han and E's Four Seasons Compilation clearly pointed out: "Fairy wood is the peach symbol of today." In other words, the peach symbol is the ancient Zhi Tao staff and peach stalk, and the word "symbol" more clearly expresses its exorcism. Since then, the usage of "Taofu" has prevailed in the Song Dynasty, and the poem "Except for Japan" quoted by Wang Anshi is an example.
Peach was originally considered as a plant to ward off evil spirits. The Jade Candle Collection quoted Canon of Art as saying that peach is the essence of five elements, which can resist evil spirits and control all kinds of ghosts, so it is made into a peach board (the essence of five elements cited in Canon of Art in Taiping Yulan is the essence of five trees, and the peach board is the stem of peach people). From peach branches, peach sticks to peach stalks, peaches have a process of personification, but also a process of deification. The appearance of peach board and peach symbol is the concentrated embodiment of the integration of the two processes, especially the transformation. Although there is no record of words and paintings on the Zhi Tao board in the Southern Dynasties or earlier, the peach board, which is a smooth thing, has only an evil spirit function as an attribute, and it must have another purpose. According to the fact that shentu and Yu Lei were painted on the peach board and their names were written in later literature, it can be inferred that there may be pictures or words or both when the peach board appears. What he wrote and painted should also be shentu and Yu Lei. At first, peach branches and stalks were different from shentu and Yu Lei, who possessed ghosts and gods. Once shentu and Yu Lei are painted on the peach board and their names are written, they will be integrated. Taofu is not only the original peach stalk, but also represents the peach board with graphics. There are differences and confusions between them. In the case of confusion, Taofu has become synonymous with shentu and Yu Lei.
The practice of painting shentu and Yu Lei with the same names on the mahogany board flourished in the Song Dynasty. After talking about the legend of Dushuo Mountain, Gao Cheng wrote in the Northern Song Dynasty, "Therefore, painting the gods on the board in this world is better than writing the book' Right Yu Lei, Left shentu', and setting up the door in January." The Miscellaneous Notes of the Year of the Northern Song Dynasty, which reflects the customs of the Northern Song Dynasty, also said that the gods were painted on the "Taofu", and Bai Ze belonged to the sister-in-law, and left Yulei and right shentu were written. Therefore, the peach board can be called a peach symbol. Pictures of shentu and Yu Lei, as peach symbols to ward off evil spirits, have been popular until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Ming Jiajing's "Tingzhou Mansion Records" said: "Peach symbols, newly painted peach symbols are placed on both sides of the household, and they look like tea and stand on the ground to hate evil spirits." There are many records of hanging peach symbols on New Year's Eve in local chronicles of Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The appearance of Spring Festival couplets. At least it can be traced back to the famous story of the inscription of Meng Yun Taoban, the master of Shu in the late Five Dynasties and early Song Dynasty. Zhang Tangying's Shu Kun (táo) Xun (wǜ) in Song Dynasty records that Meng chǎng (Ch m 4 ng) left Japan one year before the Song Dynasty (three years of Gande), which made Hanlin's bachelor fortunate to inscribe on the peach board of the bedroom door, so he personally wrote "New Year's Qing Yu, JiajieNo. Changchun". Sure enough, the Song Dynasty fell in the New Year, and Lu Yuqing became the magistrate of Chengdu, while Changchun was the title of Song Taizu's 13th birthday, which answered Meng Chang's question and became a precursor to the death of Shu. This story is also recorded in Volume I of Huang Xiufu's Mao Ting Hakka Dialect in Song Dynasty, and it is also said that "every year except the Japanese, each palace door is given a pair of Taofu, with the title of' Yuan Li Zhen'". It seems that it is a constant practice to inscribe the word "Peace for One Year". This story tells us that in addition to the peach boards and peach symbols used to fight evil, auspicious greetings can be written on them, which is an important change in the nature of peach symbols. In this regard, Han E's "Year of Hua Ji Li" at the end of the Tang Dynasty said that the peach board was set up to "celebrate" and can be used as a footnote.
The nature of peach charms in Song Dynasty is more obvious. The Miscellanies of Years Old in Northern Song Dynasty said: The peach charms are made of thin wooden boards that are two or three feet long and four or five inches big. In addition to drawing images, they "write spring words or books to pray, especially when they are years old". Writing spring words and greetings on rectangular peach boards has become a type of peach symbols. In the Southern Song Dynasty, when Emperor Gaozong revised Volume 13 of Records of Jiatai Meeting, he also said that "Taopai Book left shentu and right Yulei, or wrote other languages, and the door was set left and right". In addition to this record, Dream Liang Lu in the Southern Song Dynasty also sells "Spring Festival" in the market, and "Spring Festival" will be posted on New Year's Eve. It seems that "Spring Card" means "Spring Peach Card", which is a new peach symbol. Taofu also becomes two types.
Spring cards made of this kind of mahogany board generally became paper in the Ming Dynasty and were called "Spring Sticks". The change of production materials makes the spring post break away from the old system of peach symbols and become an ornament independent of peach symbols. Jiajing Fujian's "Tingzhou Mansion Records" recorded the peach symbol, and then wrote: "Spring Post: The doctor's furniture is written in five colors to be pasted between the doors or the pillars of the hall. Although the worker Jia also bought it, he posted it to see the meaning of getting rid of the old cloth." Spring posts also have names such as "Spring Couplet", "Spring Festival couplets" and "Door Couplets". Among them, the word "Spring Festival couplets" became a popular term in the Qing Dynasty, which has been used until today.
The place where the Spring Festival couplets are posted, quoted from Fujian Tingzhou Mansion Records, is said to be between doors or hall columns, which is not very specific. The records in the Ming Dynasty's "Month Today in a Broad Sense" are more detailed. It is said that on New Year's Eve, spring posts, column couplets and doorknobs were replaced, and the words Yichun, Blessing, Prayer and Longevity were pasted on the lintel of the hall. According to Qing Jia Lu, the contents of Spring Festival couplets are written in many languages, such as Qianjin, Baishun, Yichun, Diji, Yicai, Erxi, Jiasheng and Shize. The Ji language in the salty collection "Pajing" and the poems of the Tang and Song Dynasties are attached to it.
Door-keeper came into being in many ways, which was originally related to the ancient people's belief in five sacrifices. The entrance and exit of the Lord is closely related to people's lives. Under the primitive belief of animism, people sacrifice it to repay virtue. The ancients also thought that the portal was related to Yin and Yang. In The Book of Rites, there was a saying that the moon in Meng Chun worshipped the door and the moon in Yu Qiu worshipped the door. Zheng Xuan explained: Spring yang comes out, and it can be enshrined in households, which can be incorporated into yang qi, and autumn yin qi comes out, and it can be enshrined in doors, which can keep yin qi out. Kong Yingda in the Tang Dynasty said that the door is a person's entry and exit, and there is a god, while the door god is the god of yin. This is to distinguish doors from households as outer doors and inner doors, and both yin and yang have gods. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan commented on the word "Ming Shi Cai" in the Book of Rites: "Shi Cai, Li Men Shen also." It can be seen that the word door god existed in Han Dynasty. "The Chronicle of Jingchu's Age" records: "On the fifteenth day of the first month, make bean paste, add oil to it, and take the temple as the gateway." It shows the folk belief in the door god.
The belief in door gods has long been combined with peach stalks to ward off evil spirits and shentu and Yu Lei to catch ghosts. Shentu and Yu Lei were painted on the door, which was already seen in Cai Yong's Arbitrary Volume in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "In December, it is often removed by the night of wax first. It's to draw tea, lay foundations and hang reeds on the portal to guard against evil. " The record that shentu and Yu Lei are clearly regarded as door gods is Drawing Door Gods in Volume 5 of Guang Ji at the Age of Years: "The Story of Jingchu at the Age of Years: At the age of Dan, the door gods are painted in armor and held by two gods." According to Bao Yantang's secret book "A Record of the Age of Jingchu", it is painted that the two gods are attached to the left and right of the household, and left shentu. Right Yu lei However, after the Tang Dynasty, shentu and Yu Lei were replaced by generals, and the portraits of shentu and Yu Lei were called Taofu. For example, in the Song Dynasty, "Dream of China in Tokyo" recorded in December that "the door gods, Zhong Kui, peach boards and peach symbols are printed and sold in the streets for the night". "Dream Liang Lu" said that in addition to the night, every family "changed the door gods, hung Zhong Kui, nailed peach charms and posted spring cards". Door-keeper is something juxtaposed with Zhong Kui and Tao Fu. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the door gods were more developed, and there were "door gods of all classes" (Old Stories of Wulin). The biggest one is the "equal body door god" ("West Lake Old Man's Numerous Victory Records"), which is equal to that of adults. The local chronicles of the Ming and Qing dynasties also juxtaposed the door gods with peach symbols and spring posts, and clearly recorded the door gods at this time, which shows that the door gods are made of paper. There is also the folk custom of hanging the statue of Zhong Kui. For example, Wanli's Annals of Guizhou contains: "Hanging Zhong Kui on the door to suppress evil spirits", and Hongzhi's Records of Jiangle County in Fujian records: "Hanging Zhong Kui in the room." After the Song Dynasty, the above-mentioned records show that the keeper has different charms, that is, shentu and Yu Lei, and is also different from Zhong Kui.
The main reason for the emergence of the door god may be the deification of the ancient warriors guarding the door. In the summer of l978, when the tomb of Zeng Houyi was excavated in the early Warring States Period in Leidungu, Suixian County, Hubei Province, a humanoid monster with a double brother was painted on the left and right side plates of the inner coffin. when