Volume 5: Eight Immortals and Taoism Opening Notes
A travel friend once described the beauty of the scenery in Xianju like this: After seeing Xi Shi, I want to see Chang'e again, which is a man's nature; after walking through Huangshan, I want to go to Shenxianju again, which is a travel friend's nature. The scenery of Xianju is beautiful and mountainous.
There are many immortals in the cave, as well as the legend of the Eight Immortals. From 2002 to 2017, the author visited nearly a hundred Taoist priests and heard many stories about the Eight Immortals and Immortals from their mouths. Today I will introduce them here
Organized into a document for everyone to enjoy eating melon seeds in their free time.
Please explain, what is a Taoist priest? Taoist priests are a group of people who perform funerals and sing auspicious songs for others. They are not serious Taoist priests and do not have Taoist certificates. But the people recognize them and call them Taoist priests. Of course
When there is no business, they will also use Tao tubes as props to sing Tao Qing and beg. In addition to auspicious words, the content of Tao Qing also has many very interesting stories. The author is very interested in the content of Tao Qing, so I specially conducted interviews with them.
In order to follow up and visit, and sort out and reprocess the story of the Eight Immortals.
Taoqing, also known as "bamboo harp" and "fishing drum", is a variety of traditional Chinese folk art. It is a kind of "Taoist music" and "Taoist song" used by Taoist priests to express their emotions and preach. Most of the content promotes some karma and retribution that are close to people's lives.
It was sung in various places by traveling Taoist priests or Taoist artists. It has always been a gathering place for Taoist monks to practice. Its original name was Yong'an County. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, the emperor heard about this place.
There are many mountains, rivers and gods, so it was renamed Xianju. There are many Taoist priests in Xianju. Naturally, the related stories of cultivating immortals are sung in the form of Taoism. Especially after the Song Dynasty moved south, a large number of literati followed and poured into the south. Xianju is located deep in the mountains.
There were no wars in the country, and it became a paradise for literati to escape from the world, and Taoism flourished.
Maybe you have heard that the world's first book describing edible fungi, "Jipu", was written by Chen Renyu, a fairy in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was written in 1245 and is the earliest existing monograph on edible fungi in the world. This book The work mainly introduces the morphology and ecology of 11 kinds of edible fungi produced in Taizhou, Zhejiang, and conducts a detailed investigation and sorting of the types, properties, origins, etc. of edible fungi in the Song Dynasty, thereby enriching and perfecting my country's mushroom culture. This also It proves the penetration of Taoist culture into the lives of ordinary people in diet. Ganoderma lucidum is one of the sacred objects of Taoism. It is said that taking Ganoderma lucidum for thousands of years can make you become an immortal. Various mushrooms are used by Taoist priests to enhance spiritual cultivation because their shapes are similar to Ganoderma lucidum. It was first popular among the Taoist priests because it was a food that made people become immortals. Then it was sought after by dignitaries and nobles. It gradually entered the homes of ordinary people and was reflected in the Taoist sentiments of immortals.
Tourists who have been to Xianju have all eaten Xianju's eight bowls. Legend has it that the Eight Immortals fought with the Dragon King and were used to replenish their strength when they were tired. At that time, a serious tourist asked: "The story of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea happened in Shandong
Penglai, when they are tired, they have to go to a fairyland thousands of miles away to rest, eat a meal and then go thousands of miles away to continue fighting. This will make them even more exhausted." In the following story, I will explain the reason to you.
The beams, doors, windows and furniture in Xianju Village are all carved with patterns of the Eight Immortals and the Dark Eight Immortals. The table is called the Eight Immortals Table, and the jewelry box is called the Eight Immortals Box. There are countless attractions related to the Eight Immortals, which proves from a certain aspect.
The Eight Immortals and the Immortals have an indissoluble bond.
Historically, the story of the Eight Immortals has slowly faded out of sight due to campaigns to destroy the Four Olds, fight against superstition, etc. However, as a cultural phenomenon, I personally think it is necessary to organize and publicize it. Therefore, based on the collection of Lvxing in the past twenty years,
themes, organize them and run them through into a series of stories.