The Myth of Mount Tai
Emperor Dongyue
Emperor Dongyue is the Taishan God worshiped by Taoism and inherited from folk customs. Mount Tai was called Dongyue in ancient times and has been worshiped by people since ancient times. Later, people personified it, gave it a surname and a taboo, and engaged it in marriage and children. The Weishu of the Han Dynasty states: "The king of Mount Tai in the East has a surname of Chang Long." Volume 397 of "Taiping Yulan" quotes Zhang Hua's "Natural History" as saying that the god of Mount Tai had a daughter and "married to the wife of the West Sea". "Book of Wei" Volume 52 "The Biography of Duan Chenggen" is also known as Taishan Shen Youzi and Duan Hui's classmate. Volume 18 of "Neng Gai Zhai Man Lu" by Wu Zeng of the Song Dynasty further stated that there were five Dongyue Youzi, "but the third son was granted the title of Wei Quan (or "Wei Xiong") General in the later Tang Dynasty, and was granted the title of Binling Marquis in this dynasty." The important thing is: Folks believe that Mount Tai is the destination of human souls after death, and the God of Mount Tai is the supreme master of ghosts in the underworld. This belief originated in the Western Han Dynasty. "The Deed of Filial Piety and Supporting Gods" written in Weishu of the Han Dynasty says: "The grandson of the Heavenly Emperor of Mount Tai is the master of summoning human souls." "The beginning of all things in the East depends on the length of the master's life." In modern times, "tomb certificates" unearthed from tombs of the Eastern Han Dynasty also stated that "living people belong to west Chang'an and dead people belong to east Taishan" and "life belongs to Chang'an and death belongs to Taishan. Death and life are in different places and cannot prevent each other (hindering)." words. In addition, there are many records in historical records about people who went to Mount Tai after their death to serve as the Lord of Taishan Prefecture, the Order of Taishan, and the recording of events in Mount Tai. "The Biography of Shen Qing" in Volume 37 of "Southern History" states that Shen Sengzhao was involved in the Taoism of the Heavenly Master when he was young, "and he recorded people's good and bad times at all times, which is quite true. Ziyun recorded things for Mount Tai, and they were included in Yousi. It must be Sengzhao." Signed. ”
For the purpose of establishing Shinto teachings, emperors of all dynasties on the one hand attached great importance to worshiping the God of Mount Tai, and even went to Mount Tai in person to offer Zen worship; on the other hand, they continued to worship the god of Mount Tai. Volume 83 of "Wenwen Tongkao" contains: In the 13th year of Kaiyuan of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (725), the God of Mount Tai was granted the title of King of Tianqi; in the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1008), the ceremony of ennobling Zen was completed, and the imperial edict was added to the title of King of Tianqi of Mount Tai as Ren. Sheng Tian Qi King; in the fifth year, the imperial edict was added to Dongyue, saying that he was the Holy Emperor of Tian Qi Ren. Volume 74 of "Tongkao of Xuwen": In the 28th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1291), Dongyue was ordered to be Qitian (or "Tianqi" - the author's note) Dasheng Rensheng Emperor. Taoism has also worshiped Mount Tai for a long time. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, "Dongxuan Lingbao Ancient True Shape Map of the Five Mountains" written under the name of Dongfang Shuo said: "Dongyue Taishan Lord leads a group of 5,900 gods. He governs life and death. He is also the commander-in-chief of hundreds of ghosts. He is also the person who worships Zongbo in the Blood Eater Temple." . The deceased who were worshiped by ghosts and evil spirits in the secular world will all return to Mount Tai to suffer punishment... The Lord of Mount Tai wears a green robe, wears a green green seven-title crown, wears the seal of the Tongyang Taiming, rides on a green dragon, and is greeted by officials. "In AC Taoist rituals, it is often prayed to as the earthly god in charge of ghosts. In the second volume of the Southern Song Dynasty's "Taomen Taishou", "Shen Dongyue Zhuang", there is "I would like to express my gratitude to the Holy Emperor Qiren of Dongyue Tian... The body performs the talisman's destiny, reports to the superiors, releases the souls of the dead and comes to the Dharma assembly, and the common people are so happy that they can be reborn." and other words. As the title of the Taishan God was promoted from king to emperor, the authority conferred on it by Taoism became more and more powerful. The "Dongyue Dasheng Treasure Confession" written about in the Ming Dynasty says: "Dongyue Tianqi Dasheng Rensheng Emperor, in accordance with nature, was born at the beginning of chaos, established from Yin and Yang, controlled the territory of that area, and was equal to the sky for a long time. ...Practice The Heavenly Order, Ziyin Division... knows the short and long span of human life, and sets up seventy-five divisions to weigh them. There are thirty-six mountains to punish evil, Yongsui State Society, and a large shelter for the people. "AE "Yuanshi Tianzun said to the east. "The Miaojing of Yue's Incarnation, Helping Life and Saving Death, Eradicating Crime, Resolving Wrong and Preserving Life" says: "Marshal Taishan has been conferring the title of Holy Emperor of Qi Renyuan on Dongyue Dashengtian for many dynasties. His Qi corresponds to Qingyang, his position is as high as the earthquake, he lives alone in the middle realm, and he controls all spirits. The power of good and evil in the world is the right and wrong of the underworld. The case is sentenced to seventy-two cao and the punishment is divided into thirty-six mountains. He punishes rape and punishes evil. He records death and injects life. He transforms into the four-day holy emperor of the four mountains and nurtures all living things in the world. ." AF has changed from the King of Yin who only cares about ghosts to a great god who "controls the power of good and evil in the world" and "determines death and life." In order to respect Emperor Dongyue, "The Encyclopedia of Searching Gods of Three Religions? Biography of Dongyue" even made up a bizarre genealogy, saying: "The descendants of the fifth generation of the Pangu family in the past were called the Hetian family, and the Hetian family (son) was called the Hetian family. Xubo's (son) is called Xuanying, and Xuanying's son is called Jinlun King. Shaohai's wife is called Milun Fairy. She was pregnant and gave birth to two sons. The first one was named Jin Chan, and the second one was named Jin Hong. The Jin Chan clan was also the Dong Hua Emperor. Tai Sui is the real person of Tai Hua, who holds the title of Six Heavenly Immortals. Therefore, he takes Sui as his surname and is taboo to worship him. Tai Sui was the capital of the supreme deity before the Five Dynasties, and today it is called Feng Gao. Emperor Yue became an ancient immortal in the "Six Records of Palm Immortals". This reflects the lofty status of Emperor Dongyue in Taoism.
In the old days, there were Dongyue temples everywhere, and most of them had Taoist priests offering incense. Legend has it that March 28 is the birthday of Emperor Dongyue. On that day, grand celebrations were held in temples all over the country. Mingtian Rucheng's "Xi Dynasty Joys" says: "March 28 is popularly said to be the birthday of the Holy Emperor Qitian of Dongyue. There are five palaces in Hangzhou, and the one on Wushan Mountain is the most prosperous. The ladies answered the game and burned incense, or offered flowers and fruits. , or chanting sutras to pray for longevity, or shackles to ward off sins. The sound of bells and drums is noisy. "Volume 17 of "Wanshu Miscellanies" written by Shen Bang of AH Ming Dynasty says: "(Wanping County, Shuntian Prefecture) There is an ancient temple in the east of the city. The temple is dedicated to Dongyue God, which is grand in scale and has gorgeous statues. It is built by imperial decree every year and has a temple to keep it. On the 28th day of the third month, it is known as the birth day of the god. Gold. Every year, people gather their neighbors for incense gatherings in their respective places. They collect a certain amount of money every month and set up drums and banners, wearing square-inch paper and armored horses, to welcome the people. The same is true for women's gatherings. On this day, travelers were blocking the road, and the sound of calling for Buddha shook the ground. There were people who worshiped at every step, saying that they were worshiping at the Xiang Temple. "Volume 3 of "Qing Jia Lu" by Gu Tieqing of the Qing Dynasty says: "On the 28th of March, it is Dongyue Tian. On the birthday of Holy Emperor Qi Ren, there is the Dongyue Emperor Hall in the Xuanmiao Temple. It is said that the gods govern the life and death of the people in the world, so the reward is especially pious. Maybe the son is dying because his parents are critically ill, which is called "longevity", or the words are reversed during the illness. People gather in front of the temple to pray for blessings, which is especially popular on birthdays. Although many people live in remote areas, there are many people living in Longdun. , there are games held in the temple, lanterns are played, hundreds of operas are performed, and people watch like crazy... It is customary for people to burn incense before the birthday, and most of the villagers call it the fragrance of straw sandals."
The first one is Dongyue<. /p>
There are countless famous mountains in the world, including Dongyue, which was founded by Pangu. Why did the emperors and all living beings in the past esteem Dongyue and Taishan alone? This starts with Pangu, the founder of the world. Legend has it that a long time ago, when the world was first formed and the heaven and the earth were just divided, a man named Pangu grew up between the sky and the earth. The sky rose ten feet every day, the earth became ten feet thicker every day, and Pangu also grew taller every day. One foot. Day after day, year after year, he lived upright like this. After a long period of eighteen thousand years, the sky was extremely high, the earth was extremely thick, and Pangu grew extremely tall. The air he breathed turned into wind, the sound of his breathing turned into thunder, and his eyes blinked. , flashes of blue light, this is lightning. When he is happy, the sky becomes bright and sunny, and when he is angry, the sky becomes cloudy and rainy. Later, Pangu slowly aged, and finally passed away. In an instant, the giant fell to the ground. His head became Dongyue, his belly became Zhongyue, his left arm became Nanyue, his right arm became Beiyue, his feet became Xiyue, his eyes became the sun and moon, and his hair It turned into vegetation, and the fat became rivers. Because Pangu created the world and created the world, later generations respected him as the ancestor of mankind, and his head became Mount Tai. Therefore, Mount Tai was called the supreme "No. 1 mountain in the world" and became the first of the five mountains.