Just pretend to be dirty and ask for help from the gods.
Filling the viscera is a custom in traditional Chinese sacrificial rituals, which means filling the viscera for the statue when worshiping the gods.
Historically, in many traditional folk customs and religious religious occasions, statues of gods and Buddhas have been used, such as rituals and music ceremonies in royal palaces to worship heaven and ancestors, Buddha statues in temples and Taoist temples, and gods in homes to ward off evil spirits, attract wealth, and protect children.
, burial in tombs after death, etc.
The manufacturing process of statues of gods is complex, and the ceremony of consecrating gods is complicated. It is a delicate craft. In the early years, worshiping gods was a profession that allowed craftsmen to make a living.
Statues of gods are usually made of stone, clay, brass, wood, etc., and are carved and shaped by craftsmen. According to custom, the statue of gods at this time can only be regarded as a craft product, an empty shell, and it will not work if it is worshiped and eaten with incense.
It has to go through a consecration ceremony, including retreating from the Luban, pretending to be dirty, hanging up the robes and adding colors, inviting eminent monks and Taoists to perform rituals to invite the gods, and inviting the auras of the gods into the statues to be considered spiritual.
Among them, filling the internal organs refers to the process of filling the hollow interior of the statue with various magical instruments, scriptures, medicinal materials, treasures, spells, utensils... to give the statue internal organs and aura. There are many ways to do it, according to different religious schools.
, please invite different gods and gods, please ask different gentlemen, and the content of pretending to be dirty is also different.
For example, Taoist viscera decorations often include gold, silver, copper and iron, five-color grains and ropes, yellow talismans, mountain materials, Chinese medicine, bronze mirrors, scriptures, etc.; Buddhist viscera decorations often include Dharmakaya relics, five large Dharanis,
There are twelve medicinal essences, etc., and there is also a special book "Buddha Says the Statue Measurement Sutra" as the rules for statue making. In addition, there is also a lot of feudal superstitious folk customs and the culture of pretending to be dirty.
Because it is mostly related to the theory of cows, ghosts and snake gods, there are many related folklore stories among the people.
There is a record in "Song Bai Lei Chao" that during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, an ancient tomb was excavated in the Huaihe River construction site. Many bronze artifacts were unearthed in the tomb, among which a group of animal heads were the most "attractive"
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According to historical research, the animal head statues are made of bronze, with exquisite workmanship and high quality. A complete set of twelve statues were unearthed. According to the astronomical signs of the twelve earthly branches, they all have animal heads and human bodies, with different clothes and expressions.
According to the textual research on the auspicious patterns and emblems, it is at least a ritual vessel before the Han Dynasty. The specific dynasty and year are unknown.
At that time, during the Battle of Huashigang in the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was arrogant and extravagant, and was conquering strange things from all over the world. When he found out that this animal head statue was unearthed, he was so happy that he ordered the Suzhou Ying Bureau to transport it to Kaifeng to present it to the Holy Emperor. However, unexpectedly, he encountered soldiers and bandits during the transportation.
During the plunder, everything was stolen, the animal head statue was also lost, and its whereabouts are unknown.
Huizong was furious, and then he suppressed the bandits and many people from the Yingfeng Bureau came out to take the blame. These are posthumous events and have little to do with the story this time. I won't go into details. I will just talk about the stolen animal head statue. History books
At the end of the book, it was just mentioned as lost and ended hastily, with no other records.
However, history is long and vast, and official historical records are only a general chronology of major events, which is a drop in the bucket. There are countless more detailed stories that happened in every corner of China's rural cities and cities during that era, which still need to be verified and explored in unofficial histories and local folk rumors.
Although the stolen animal head statues are no longer recorded in official history, there are always stories circulating in the local area of Kaifeng, Henan. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some fragments of suspected bronze animal head statues were leaked in the local antique and cultural toys market. It is said that there were
The animal head part of the bronze Yinhu statue was bought at a high price by a salt merchant from Lianghuai and collected for collection.
I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but there are many rumors in the market that point to one thing. They say that the bronze animal heads of the Twelve Earthly Branches were filled with valuable artifacts and were filled with gold and silver treasures buried with them. They fell into the hands of bandits and were smashed open to collect the treasures.
After the stolen property was sold, the shell fragments of the animal head statues flowed into the antique market. The bandits who obtained the treasure had long since changed their identities, washed their hands in a golden basin, and became local tycoons with this windfall.
There are even some more mythical stories and myths spread among the people. The animal head statue was unearthed from a tomb and was an ancient sacrificial vessel. It was stained with unknown ghosts and dirt. Those who smashed the statues to steal them pretended to be dirty.
The greedy bandits are causing trouble.
There are also many local superstitions about gods and ghosts, such as the Tai Sui who eats the urine of a child at night, the donkey that has been dead for half a year crawling out to pull the millstone, and the old lady crying in the belly of the eldest daughter... They have all been linked to it, and feudalism
The gossips of ordinary people in the market are the best at bragging and the worst at spreading gossip, which has given rise to customs and superstitions in many places.
The rumors and rumors in these places are definitely not true, but they are not necessarily all false. There can be no waves without good wind and water, and trees cannot take root without soil. There are rumors like this about the bronze animal heads of the Twelve Earthly Branches pretending to be dirty. Then come to think of it.
There are also some opinions.
Therefore, after consulting relevant unofficial histories and local folklore rumors, the author compiled, summarized, polished, set up a stage, and wrote this story, "The Customary Lord".
The story of "The Lord" is based on the whereabouts of the stolen bronze animal head of the Twelve Earthly Branches, combined with various local folklore stories compiled by the author, and real historical events. Some are real events in history, and some are fictitious.
Some of the hearsay is artistic processing required for the wonderful story. Just say it and listen to it. Don't take it seriously, just enjoy the novelty.
There is no way to study the time and personnel in which the story took place, and there is no need to study it in detail. They are all fictional.
