Preface to the novel
Explanation of the name
The term "Dragon and the Eight Parts" comes from Buddhist scriptures. Many Mahayana Buddhist scriptures describe that when the Buddha preached to Bodhisattvas, monks, etc., there were often eight deities, dragons, and eight tribes involved in listening to the Dharma. For example, "Lotus Sutra: Devadatta": "Eight heavenly dragons, human beings and non-human beings, all saw the dragon girl becoming a Buddha from afar." "Non-humans" include eight kinds of Shinto monsters. Because they are headed by "Heaven" and "Dragon", they are called "Dragon and Eight Parts". The eight divisions are Luo, the seventh is Naluo, and the eight are Tingluojia.
"Heaven" refers to the gods. In Buddhism, the status of gods is not supreme, but they can enjoy greater and longer blessings than humans. Buddhism believes that all things are impermanent, and gods will die after their life span ends. Before the death of the god, there are five symptoms: dirty clothes, withered flowers on the head, body odor, sweating under the armpits, and displeasure (the fifth symptom may be said to be "Jade Separation"), which is the so-called "The five declines of heaven and man" are the greatest sorrow of the gods. Sakyamuni is the leader of the gods.
"Dragon" refers to God. The dragons in Buddhist scriptures are roughly the same as the dragons in Chinese legends, but they have no legs. Some large pythons are also called dragons. In fact, the Chinese people's concepts of dragons and dragon kings mainly come from Buddhist scriptures. There are five dragons, five dragons, seven dragon kings, eight dragon kings, etc. in the Buddhist scriptures. Ancient Indians respected dragons very much. They believed that dragons were the most powerful creatures in the water. Therefore, people with high virtues were respectfully called "dragon elephants", such as "Dragon Elephant". "Dragon and Elephant from the West" refers to eminent monks from the west. Ancient Indians believed that when it rained, dragons took water from the sky and sprinkled it on the earth. The Chinese also accept this view. The calendar records which dragons draw water indicate the amount of rainfall this year. Among the dragon kings, there was one named Shajieluo Dragon King. When he and his young daughter were eight years old, they went to the Vulture Mountain where Sakyamuni Muni preached the Dharma, and transformed into a man and appeared in the form of a Buddha. When she became a Buddha, she was seen by the eight gods and dragons.
"Yaksha" is a kind of ghost and god in Buddhist scriptures. There are nouns such as "Eight Great Yaksha Generals" and "Sixteen Great Yaksha Generals". The original meaning of "Yaksha" is the god who can eat ghosts, and it also means agility, bravery, lightness, secrets, etc. "Vimalakirti Sutra" notes: "Shi said: 'There are three kinds of yakshas: first, on the ground, second, in the void, and third, celestial yaksha.'" When we talk about "yaksha" now, we all refer to evil ghosts. But in the Buddhist scriptures, there are many yakshas who are good, and the mission of the eight yaksha generals is to "preserve the world of all living beings."
"Gandharva" is a kind of god who does not eat wine and meat, but only seeks aroma as nourishment. He is one of the gods of music who serves Emperor Shi. His body emits a strong fragrance. It also means "unpredictable" in Sanskrit. The magician is also called "Gandharva" and the mirage is called "Gandharva City". The scent and the music are elusive and elusive.
The Shinto of "Asura" is very special. The men are extremely ugly, while the women are extremely beautiful. King Asura often led his troops to fight with Emperor Shi, because Asura had beautiful women but no good food, and Emperor Shi had good food but no beautiful women. They were jealous and robbed each other. Every time there was a fierce battle, the world was turned upside down. We often call the battlefield that was brutally bombed and littered with corpses "Shura Field", which is why it comes from this. As a result of the war, King Asura was defeated. Once after his defeat, he went up to the world and had nowhere to escape, so he transformed into the lotus root and sneaked into the pores. King Asura is hot-tempered, stubborn and jealous. Sakyamuni preached the Dharma, talking about the "four foundations of mindfulness", and King Asura also preached the Dharma, talking about the "five foundations of mindfulness." Eighteen Taoist Grades". Most of the myths and stories in Buddhist scriptures are metaphors. King Asura has great power and ability, but he likes to do things such as "I don't believe in evil" and "the world is in chaos, the more chaotic the better". Asura is also very suspicious and ill. "Volume 35 of the Treatise on Great Wisdom": " Asuras often doubt the Buddha because their minds are not correct, saying that the Buddha helps the heavens. If the Buddha talks about the "five truths", he says that there are six kinds of truths, but does not say one; if he talks about the "four truths", he says that there are five truths, but does not explain them. One thing. "The five masses" are the basic concepts in Buddhism. When Asura listened to the Buddha's teaching, he was suspicious that the Buddha was favoring the emperor.
"Garuda." "It is a large bird with various solemn and precious colors on its wings and a large tumor on its head, which is a wish-fulfilling pearl. This bird sings sadly and feeds on dragons.
According to the ancient texts, Yue Fei is the reincarnation of the "Garuda", and Garuda is the Garuda. It eats one dragon and five hundred dragons every day. When it died, the dragons vomited poison and could no longer eat it, so they flew up and down seven times and flew to the top of the Diamond Wheel Mountain to die. Because it feeds on dragons (venomous snakes) all its life, it accumulates a lot of poisonous gas in its body, and it burns itself when it is about to die. After the physical body is burned away, only one heart remains, which is pure green and glazed color.
"Kinnara" means "human but not human" in Sanskrit. He has the same shape as a human, but has a horn on his head, so he is called "human but not human". He is good at singing and dancing and is the god of music of Emperor Shi. "Mohuraka" is the great python god with a human body and a snake head. This novel is named "The Eight Parts of the Heavenly Dragon" and tells the story of Dali Kingdom in Yunnan during the Northern Song Dynasty.
Dali is a Buddhist country. The emperors all believe in Buddhism and often give up the throne and become monks. This is a very strange phenomenon in the history of our country. According to historical records, among the emperors of Dali, Emperor Shengde, Emperor Xiaode, Emperor Xuanren, Emperor Zhenglian, and Emperor Shenzong all avoided their thrones and became monks. The Southern Emperor Duan Huangye written in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is the emperor of Dali. "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is from the era of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". The story of this book takes place during the reigns of Wuhu and Shaosheng, Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty, around 1094 AD.
The eight types of Shinto spirits in the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons each have their own unique personalities and supernatural powers. Although they are living beings outside the human world, they also have the joys and sorrows of this world. There are no Shinto spirits in this novel, but this Buddhist term is borrowed to symbolize some real-life characters, just like the nun Yaksha Sun Erniang and Moyun Golden Winged Ou Peng in "Water Margin".