“New God List: Yang Jian” may be the most discussed domestic animated film recently. However, everyone’s comments on the film are quite polarized. The main contradiction lies in whether the quality of the plot can match the better art special effects and soundtrack. There are also many people who said that they saw the obvious shadow of “Cowboy Bebop” in both the soundtrack and the way of performance in the fight.
However, this article does not discuss anything about the movie itself, but tries to dig out the history of Erlangshen. As a result, I really found out that the Erlangshen in history is not just Yang Jian alone.
Now the public’s impression of Erlang God
Now, everyone has basically equated Erlangshen with Yang Jian, and everyone’s impression of Yang Jian is mainly shaped by two works – “Journey to the West” and “Lotus Lantern”. There are some differences between Yang Jian in these two works:
In “Journey to the West”, he is arrogant and arrogant-although he is a nephew with the Jade Emperor and is a god, but he refuses to live in heaven, and lives alone in Guankou; when he needs his help to capture Sun Wukong, Guanyin sponsored him He also had to mention the sentence “Nai he listens to the tune but does not listen to the propaganda”. The word “Nai” shows that the rulers are a little helpless to his arrogance; and after he learned that many heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals can’t defeat Sun Wukong When he took it down, he only laughed and said, “Little Sage is here, and he must fight for a change”, completely ignoring the many defeated Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals.
His ability is very strong – in the struggle with Sun Wukong, he first fought three hundred rounds without distinction, and then began to reform. Even though Sun Wukong tried his best to change his abilities, he was finally seen through by Yang Jian’s heavenly eyes, and finally he was disheartened. He fled; on the way to the west to get the scriptures, Sun Wukong could not fight against the Qingniu Jing, and went to the heaven to ask for help. The emperor asked him to rescue the soldiers at will. After recalling his memories of making a big deal in the sky and fighting against the heavenly soldiers, he chose “to be his opponent”. Yang Jian is another strong proof of his ability.
He pays attention to brotherhood – Brother Meishan assisted him in controlling water and helping him to subdue demons. Therefore, they are inseparable, and there is no rank. They are called brothers, they accompany each other in battle, and they travel together when they are idle.
It can be said that “Journey to the West” has shaped Yang Jian into a very charming and human fairy image.
But “Lotus Lantern” is different. The Jade Emperor’s daughter, the Three Madonnas, secretly descended to the mortal world, married the mortal Liu Yanchang, and gave birth to a son, Chen Xiang. Erlang Shen was furious and suppressed the Three Virgins under Mount Hua. Later, Chenxiang learned the skills, fought Erlangshen, split Huashan to rescue her mother. In this story, Erlang Shen is not only a supporting role, but also an unpleasant, conformist spokesperson who actively maintains the order of heaven.
Research on the prototype of Erlangshen
The word “Erlang God” first appeared in “Jiaofang Ji” written by Tang Cui Lingqin. In the book, “Erlang God” was recorded as the title of the song. However, Erlang God is different from ordinary secular gods. He has different surnames in history. In different historical periods, he is even a different person!
The main ones are as follows: Li Bing, Erlang Dujian, Li Bing’s second son, Zhao Yu and Yang Jian. (There are other people in the data who are also considered to be Erlangshen, but they have little influence, so they are not listed here)
Li Bing
In the folk, there are not only the sayings that Li Bing and his son are collectively called Erlangshen, but also that Li Bing is regarded as Erlangshen, and Li Bing’s second son Li Erlang is regarded as Erlangshen. At different times, they were admired separately. Li Bing is the earliest of many Erlang God prototypes. In the beginning, during the Han Dynasty, he only served as the prefect of Shu, building water conservancy, controlling floods, and helping people avoid the threat of floods. After entering the Tang Dynasty, he gradually became deified and possessed the ability to transform. He could incarnate with the cow, fight with the god of the river, and become the protector of people.
Erlang Dujian
In the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced into China and began to spread rapidly, and Tantric Buddhism gradually formed and developed, which made the belief in Bishamon become widely spread. Dujian was the second son of the great king of Bishamon. He often led soldiers to patrol the border defense. He also rescued Anxi during the Tianbao period and helped Tang Minghuang out of harm’s way. Therefore, Dujian had a very profound social influence at that time. In “The Story of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty”, the King Zhai Sadana is the prototype of Erlang Dujian, and the golden retriever is the prototype of the roaring dog. But Dujian is a foreign object after all. After the religion he belongs to declines, the beliefs related to him also disappear. It can be said that he is the “limited” Erlang God in the Tang Dynasty.
Li Bing’s second son
Li Bing’s second son, Li Erlang, was pushed to the stage by the Song people, replacing Li Bing, who had already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, as Erlang’s god. In ancient times, in order to repay the blessings of the gods, people often reported to the imperial court to seal the gods: the people first submitted an application for the details of the gods to the local officials, and the local officials visited the people and verified the situation before reporting. Court approval. Therefore, it can be speculated that Li Bing’s second son was respected among the people long before the historical records were recorded, either because he assisted his father to control the water together, or because he had other achievements, which led people to submit the application for the imperial edict. After being officially recognized, there are more and more records about Li Bing’s second son, Li Erlang. And again, Li Bing’s influence was mainly limited to the Bashu area. After Li Bing’s second son was named Erlang God, by the Southern Song Dynasty, the belief in Erlang God had spread to southern Fujian and Southeast Asia.
Zhao Yu
The appearance of Zhao Yu also has obvious social characteristics. By the Song Dynasty, Taoism had surpassed Buddhism and became the most influential religion in China. Taoism needed to create a god for the people to worship. This god is Zhao Yu. Zhao Yu was a Taoist priest who later became the prefect of Jiazhou. At that time, there were dragons in the Shu River who harmed people, and the people complained endlessly. Zhao Yu fought with Jiaolong, and walked out with Jiaolong’s head in his left hand and a knife in his right hand. Since then, he has been regarded as a god by the locals. “. With the efforts of Taoists, Zhao Yu, the true monarch who controlled floods and slashed floods, gradually replaced the original position of Li’s father and son and became the most influential Erlang God in the Song Dynasty. The roaring dog also appeared here again.
Yang surname Erlang God
The record of Erlangshen Yang surnamed was first seen in “Tongyou Ji” in the “Taiping Guangji” volume. In the story, Yang Erlang is a god with the whereabouts of “like wind and rain”, with the ability to bring back to life, and the traditional Erlang God. Other than the name Erlang, there is no other similarity.
Mr. Hu Shi pointed out that Yang Erlang in “Journey to the West” was Yang Jian, a famous eunuch and traitor in history. In the Song Dynasty, treacherous officials such as Yang Jian and Tong Guan scoured the people everywhere. At the same time, the Song Dynasty was also the most prosperous period for the belief in Erlang God in history. Believers and women often went to Erlang Temple with a piece of soil to worship Erlang God. Therefore, the people who were oppressed by Yang Jian and had no way to do it took “Erlang God” as the posthumous title of the eunuch Yang Jian, and cursed him secretly in this way, and this name was also used by subsequent creators.
Some scholars also pointed out that the prototype of Erlang God was “Yang Nandang” of the Di people, and then gradually evolved into Yang Jian. Because the commonly used weapons of the Di people are ge, spear, halberd, etc., the commonly used halberd has the shape of three points and two blades, which happens to be very similar to the knife used by Erlang Shen. Moreover, the Di people often rode white horses and brought dogs with them when they hunted. Yang Nandang is a great hero of the Di people, and Yang Nandang will become Yang Jian, because the word “Jian” has the meaning of taking God’s blessing.
It can be seen that, unlike other Erlangs, there is more than one Erlang surnamed Yang, and the corresponding miracle stories are also different. So far, there is no clear evidence that which claim is the most reliable. There is still a lot of information to be studied, so let’s just take it as a story about listening to songs.
Summarize
It can be seen that the functions of Erlangshen are inseparable from water control and fighting. In addition to folk beliefs, the sparks from the collision of Buddhism and Taoism also gave birth to several “religious-specific” Erlang gods. The story of Erlang God in the movie continues, and the legend of Erlang God in history also needs to be excavated.
After reading so many historical stories, I finally ask you a question. Looking at the picture and talking, what kind of Xiugou do you think the roaring dog is?
This article is reprinted from: https://www.yystv.cn/p/9722
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