Why are there images of bird heads in myths of various countries?

Why are there images of bird heads in myths of various countries?

Nine-headed bird: formerly known as "ghost car", with ten necks and nine heads. It is said that its tenth head was shot off by a hunter ordered by Zhou Gongdan. The headless neck kept dripping blood. The ancients claimed that when the nine-headed bird flew by, it would blow out the lights and let the dog drive it away. Legend has it that the nine-headed bird has a pair of wings on each head, and as a result, 18 pairs of wings collide, which is useless. In addition, the nine-headed bird is also called "bird catcher", which preys on human children and likes to live in groups.

Ding Bird: Espeon in ancient China was also considered as the messenger of the sun. In ancient China, it was said that a bird with three legs lived in the sun, and people worshipped the sun. The bird with three legs was also worshipped as a symbol of good luck. It is said that there are ten three-legged birds that keep running in the sky, causing drought and burning pain on the ground. Emperor Yao ordered Hou Yi to shoot all the birds with three legs. As a result, Houyi shot down nine birds, leaving one. From then on, there was only one sun, and it set at night. Some people say that a three-legged bird is an elf who serves the Queen Mother of the West.

Immortal bird: This is the description of the immortal bird by Roman poet Ovid: "Most monsters are derived from other creatures, with one exception, they can regenerate, and Assyrians call them phoenixes." This immortal bird does not feed on flowers and fruits, but on frankincense. After 500 years of birth, it will fall on the oak branches at the top of palm trees to build a nest for itself, and then go out to collect spices such as cinnamon, Gan Song and myrrh, and put them in the nest and under its body. When it breathes its last breath, it will die quietly. At this time, a new immortal bird will fly out, and its life span is also 500 years. When the immortal bird is strong enough, it will raise its parents' nest from the tree, take it to Heliopolis, Egypt, and put it in the temple of the sun. This nest is its cradle and the grave of its parents. "As Ovid said, the records of fairy birds originated from Assyrians, but there are similar myths all over the world, such as Phoenix in China, Ho-oo in Japan, Firebird in Russia, Sunbird in Egypt (Benu), Yel in America and Anka in Arabia. These birds have the characteristics of coming back from the dead (life spans are 500 years, 540 years, 1000 years, 14 1 year, 1700 years and 12994), and they are closely related to the sun. The first person to mention the immortal bird was hesiod, a Greek poet in the 8th century BC, and the author of Divine Spectrum. The first person to describe the immortal bird in detail was the Greek historian Herodotus. He said: "I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I have seen it in the painting. Its feathers are partly golden yellow and partly bright red, which looks like a giant eagle. It also has a beautiful singing voice.

Aaron: In Philippine legend, naughty half-man, half-bird monsters live in the forest, with toes on their hands and fingers on their feet, and often hang upside down from branches. They are very friendly to people and have raised some famous heroes in Philippine legends.

Ba: In Egyptian mythology, a bird whose head represents the soul. The ancient Egyptians had a unique understanding of death. They divide people into two parts: Ka and Ba: Ka means "double" and stands for human body; Ba, on the other hand, is a monster with a head and a bird's body, representing an immortal soul. Egyptians made mummies because they believed that after 3000 years, the two parts of the dead would be reunited and reborn.

Griffin: In Greek mythology, a strange bird with a Gryphon head and big wings. According to records, the Griffin is bigger than eight lions and taller than a hundred eagles. It has long ears, a leopard's mouth and claws on its feet, which are as big as horns. According to Dante, the head of an eagle is golden and the body of a lion is white. Some people think that the Griffin represents the devil, while others think that it is a symbol of Christ.

Ju Peng: Actually, there are legends about Ju Peng all over the world. These huge caravans are very big and can carry elephants, camels or groups of children. For example, Simurgh in ancient Persia (a combination of the earth, the sea and the sky, living at the top of the tree of knowledge and witnessing the three major disasters in the world) and Baal Zukney in Hebrew (mentioned in the Talmud Sutra), which killed more than 300 trees and flooded more than 600 villages, Goluda in India, golden-winged birds with eagle heads in Indian mythology, and the national emblem of Indonesia). The most typical examples appear in Arabian Nights and The Travels of Marco Polo. There are four stories about giant Peng in Arabian Nights. Sinbad once described them as follows: "They have huge bodies and wide wings. If they spread their wings completely, they can cover the sun and the moon. "

Eagle Banshee: Also known as Sai Ren, a monster with a woman's face and a bird's body in Greek mythology, lives on the island and has a beautiful singing voice. It often lures passers-by with songs, causing the ship to hit the rocks and sink.

Strange bird in Lake Faross: A strange bird in Greek mythology that lives in Lake Faross in Addis Ababa. It is a symbol of "death" and "destruction". They have iron wings, iron mouths and iron claws Hard iron mouths can even peck through bronze shields, and quivering feathers will fly out like arrows. Hercules' sixth task is to drive away these strange birds. He started the strange birds with two large bronze cymbals given to him by Athena, and shot them down with a bow and arrow in his hand. The strange bird that fled in a hurry flew over the sea and headed for Area Island. There are also some records that regard the strange birds in Lake Sting fallows as man-eating birds.

Qizhi: A giant bird mentioned in the hymn book, similar to Giant Pengs, is said to be a divine bird created by God to protect other birds. In Judaism, this is a clean meal. It is said that the end of the world is coming, and Qizhi, Bessemer and Leviathan will become the food of saints together.

Dongfang Qinglong

There are many legends about dragons.

There are many stories about the origin of dragons, some of which were introduced from India, others were transformed from the stars in China. India itself is said by the dragon god, but the status of dragons in India is not high, and there is a real thing-python.

In the era when the Five Elements Theory prevailed, the story about Qinglong began to spread slowly. According to the Yin-Yang and Five Elements, the Five Elements assigned five colors to the Southeast and Northwest Middle Schools, and each color was equipped with a beast and a god. East is cyan, with dragons, west is white, with tigers, south is scarlet, north is black, with martial arts, and yellow is the central positive color.

Among the four gods, according to Shan Hai Jing,' Southern Zhurong is a beast with a face and rides two dragons.' ; In the west of Ru Shou, there is a snake in the left ear. You can ride two dragons. ; In the East, there is Ju Mang, who is a bird and a man, riding two dragons. ; In the north, Yu Jiang, with black hands and feet, rode two dragons. Interestingly, the dragons in Shan Hai Jing are all riding, while the snakes of the same kind with him are all being led or held or held or wrapped around their necks, which shows the difference between them. However, the five gods are different from the four gods, so I won't elaborate here. Suzaku, Xuanwu (black tortoise snake, martial arts means tortoise snake), Qinglong and Baihu represent the twenty-eight lodges in four directions respectively. The dragon is the seven lodges in the East-horn, clang, car, room, heart, tail and dustpan. These seven lodges are all dragon-shaped. As can be seen from their meanings, horns are the horns of dragons, and clanging is dragons.

There is still a part of the dragon's heart, which some people call' fire', which is related to sunny and rainy days, and because Qinglong is a wood, it is also the age of Jupiter. After the rise of Taoism, these four spirits were also given names to facilitate human beings to call them. Qinglong is called Meng Zhang, White Tiger is called prison soldier, Suzaku is called Lingguang, and Xuanwu is called Zhiming. In many dynasties, emperors took Qinglong as their national title, such as Wei Mingdi in the Three Kingdoms, and there were also records that the Xia Dynasty belonged to the Mude Dynasty, so he had'.

In China after ancient times, the male dragon had horns on his head; Double horns are called dragons, and single horns are called dumplings; Those with horns are poisonous snakes. In ancient times, there were often large and small Ssangyong in Yu Pei, and it was still called mother and son poisonous snakes. The status of dragons is much higher than that of India. Because it is sacred and supreme in the dragon, it is also a symbol of the emperor. It is also the representative of the east, and the five elements belong to wood. Because cyan belongs to wood, there is the saying of Zuo Qinglong and you Bai Hu.

Among the 28 stars, seven stars in the East-Jiao, Kang, Bian, Fang, Xin, Wei and Ji-are used among the stars. The ancients imagined them as Jackie Chan. Because it is located in the east, the five parties are colored according to the theory that the east is blue, so it is named' Qinglong'.

There is also a folk saying that dragons are lustful, that is, having sex with cows will give birth to unicorns, and having sex with pigs will give birth to elephants.

The so-called dragon gives birth to nine children, unlike the dragon. Here's the thing-

The eldest son is called prison cow: he loves music, so he often stands on the head of the piano. Such as Hu Qin of Han nationality and Qin Sang of Bai nationality. Ma Touqin in Mongolia may also be a variant of prison cattle.

The second son's name is Chipi: He loves to kill people, so he is often put on weapons to intimidate the enemy. At the same time, it is used in ceremonial ceremonies to appear more solemn.

The third son's name is Mo Chifeng: it is an animal-shaped dragon, which looks a bit like a dog. It is good at viewing, so it is often placed in the corner of the temple. It is said that it can deter demons and eliminate disasters.

The first Si Er is not old: people like to growl, so they put it on the clock, mostly the image of not old. It is said that it lives by the sea, but it is very afraid of whales. Once a whale attacks, it screams in fear. Therefore, people make the wooden pestle into the shape of a whale, which makes the bronze bell particularly loud.

The fifth son is a sister-in-law: shaped like a lion. It's imported, and it was introduced to China with Buddhism, so it's a bit like Buddha. It is so quiet and likes fireworks. Therefore, it is often placed on the Buddha's seat or incense burner to protect Buddhism.

Liuzi is a bully: also called tortoise, he looks like a tortoise. Legend has it that in ancient times, it often carried three mountains and five mountains to make waves. After being appeased by Yu Xia, he made many contributions to Yu Xia. After flood control became an attack, Yu Xia accepted its advantages and let it recover on its own. So China's stone tablets are mostly carried by it.

The seventh son is an armadillo: also known as the Charter, it looks like a tiger. According to legend, it upholds justice and can distinguish between right and wrong, so it is placed on the top and bottom of the prison gate, in the lobby and at the top of the sign of silence and avoidance when officials patrol, in order to maintain the awe-inspiring atmosphere of the court.

The eighth son is a burden: because he loves literature, he put it in two stone tablets.

Mozi is a kiss: also known as fish-shaped dragon, with a tail. According to legend, it was introduced from India with Buddhism around the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It's something from the Buddhist scriptures of the rain god, which can put out the fire. So the kiss was changed, so it was placed at both ends of the roof to eliminate disasters and put out fires.

Western white tiger

In Four Holy Beasts, China,

Another one that is often compared with dragons is the' White Tiger'; The tiger is the leader of all animals. Its strength and legendary ability to subdue ghosts make it a beast belonging to Yang, and it often goes out with dragons. The cloud follows the dragon and the wind follows the tiger' to become the best partner for subduing ghosts.

And the white tiger is also the god of war and war. The white tiger has many magical powers, such as avoiding evil, avoiding disasters, praying and punishing evil, promoting good, making a fortune, and tying the knot. And it is one of the four spirits, and of course it is also changed from the stars. Among these 28 stars, there are 7 in the west: osmium, building, stomach, ang, bi, Gou and Shen. Therefore, it is the representative of the west, and its whiteness is due to the west. The five elements belong to gold and the color is white. So it is called white tiger not because it is white, but because it comes from five elements.

In addition to the four spirits in Taoism, including dragons and white tigers, and even when Feng Shui masters explore cemeteries, the terrain protruding from the left and right sides in front of the terrain can be used as burial rooms, which have unique titles, called Zuo Qinglong and Right White Tiger, to take the meaning of their guards, and also have the same decoration in the court. The left and right pillars are painted with dragons and white tigers to suppress evil spirits. After the rise of Taoism, dragon and tiger were borrowed as Taoist alchemy terms, meaning "lead, mercury, fire, water, yin and yang" and so on. Taoist alchemy is divided into two parts: internal alchemy and external alchemy (I'm not sure). As far as Yin-Yang and Five Elements are concerned, Inner Dan means that dragons are born in fire, so the cloud' dragons are born in fire', while tigers are born in ridges and ridges belong to water, so the cloud' tigers are born in water'. After the two elements are combined, one yin and one yang are mutual. Another way of saying this is that sex belongs to wood, and wood represents the East. In divination, it is an earthquake, so it is a dragon. Love belongs to gold, gold represents the west, and the hexagrams are exchanged, which is golden white, so it is called white tiger. Gold can crush wood, so feelings are more harmful. If we use the true meaning of 28 to make it one, then it will be seamless, and the dragon and tiger will change from crouching tiger to Dan. In the human body, the liver is the dragon and the kidney is the tiger, while the external Dan still takes the meaning of yin and yang, with the dragon as the lead and the tiger as the mercury.

In the eyes of the ancients, the tiger is a terrible thing and a respectable thing. The terrible thing is that it will eat people and animals. Respectably, it can ward off evil spirits because of its great power. In some ancient books, such as Ying Shao's Custom Yi Tong. Sacrifice in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Draw a tiger on the door, ghosts dare not enter", "A tiger is a penis, and all animals are long. Can resist sharpness and eat ghosts. Today, people have to burn tiger skin to drink after they die. Beating its paws can also cure evil. This is also a fact. " The ancients also thought that the white tiger was an auspicious feeling:' virtue is a hundred birds and beasts.'

The original West Star gods were bears and owls, and later, because of the totem of the ancient Qiang people, when bears became dragons. When the Yellow Emperor developed eastward, the dragon totem was brought to the east and merged with the' Oriental Black Dragon Constellation', and Zhu Bird became the new home of the celestial phoenix totem when the south was unified, and eventually became a' dragon and phoenix' because of the integration of the two tribes. As an ancient totem, it is the East Phoenix and the West Dragon, and as an astrology, it is the East Black Dragon and the West Zhu Bird. After the Zhou Dynasty, the feudal system was formally established, and the five elements thought also became mature. The astronomical phenomena were re-divided, and the Zhu bird was placed in the south, where it was sacrificed with Zhu Rong Vulcan. The west worships the white tiger. In the tribal struggle and migration, the dragon in the northwest moved eastward, the phoenix in the east moved southward, and the tiger in the south moved northward, showing a great conceptual movement throughout the country. By the Han dynasty, the concept of five elements had become a unified thought, and with Xuanwu, the' God of the Four Sides' was completed.

"Ancient History of Tiangong" records, "Black Dragon in the East Palace, Zhu Bird in the South Palace, Fairy Pool in the West Palace, Gong Bei Xuanwu." This is not a white tiger, but a salty pool. Salty pond is the star of staple food. Mainly in autumn, because the grain is harvested in autumn, it is released in autumn. But it's not an animal. How can it be combined with dragons, birds and turtles into four spirits? In "Justice": "The three stars in Xianchi are among the five cars, and the sky hits the south, and the fish and birds also scream." Therefore, the song dynasty questioned:' black dragon, Zhu bird, Xuanwu, seven nights are considered together. As for Xianchi, don't be a star and stay away from 28 nights. There is another explanation for the salty pool, which is where the sun bathes. In Huai Nan Zi. Astronomy:' The sun rises in the valley, bathes in the salty pool and blows on the hibiscus, which is called morning light'. It can be seen that Xianchi was originally regarded as the sunrise place by Qiang people. Xianchi is also an alkali lake, which should be Minshan area or Shantou Lake in Qinghai. It can be proved that the astrology worshipped by primitive people does not have the concept of dragon and white tiger. The Book of Rites says:' Returning to the dragon in the face of the wind is called the Four Spirits.' Replace the salty pool that does not belong to animals with Kirin. Later generations have the habit of four spirits, four elephants and four tigers.

And because the White Tiger is a god of war and an axe, many brave generals are said to be famous white tigers, such as Luo Cheng and Xue and his son in the Tang Dynasty. In addition, the white tiger was absorbed and released by Taoism, deified and became the keeper of various temples.

Southern suzaku

Suzaku can also be said to be a phoenix or a mysterious bird. Suzaku is one of the four spirits.

Like the other three, it comes from the stars and is the general name of the seven nights in the south: well, ghost, willow, star, Zhang, wing and Qi. Think of it as Suzaku. Scarlet, like fire, the south belongs to fire, hence the name Phoenix. It also has the characteristics of being far from fire, also called fire phoenix, just like the immortal birds in the west.

According to ancient books, Phoenix is a beautiful bird, and its singing and manners are the king of birds. It can bring auspicious feelings to the world, and at the same time it has the special spirituality of' don't be an unripe phoenix tree, don't eat bamboo, and don't drink water from a spring'. Because it is the length of feather worm, it gradually becomes a pair with the legendary dragon with the length of scale worm.

There are many prototypes of Phoenix. Such as golden pheasants, peacocks, vultures, mandarin ducks, blackbirds (swallows), etc ... Some people say it is a Buddhist Dapeng golden winged bird. According to the phoenix myth, the phoenix has a chicken's head, a swallow's chin, a snake's neck, a fish's tail and five-color stripes. There are five kinds of phoenixes, divided by color: red for phoenixes, green for phoenixes, white for swans, and yellow for purples.

Xuanniao's statement comes from The Book of Songs. Ode to Shang Dynasty. Xuanniao said:' Destiny Xuanniao, born in Shang Dynasty, is rich in soil. The ancient emperor ordered martial arts soup, and appropriate sites were everywhere. "In the middle, the descendants of the Shang Dynasty said that their ancestor, Qi, was born by a mysterious bird and established a powerful Shang Dynasty. Therefore, the mysterious bird became the beginning of the merchant. " Historical records. Yin Benji also recorded this history: "Yin Qi's mother's name is Judy and she has a velvet daughter. She is the second princess of Di Ku, ................................................................................................................................. Besides Shang Dynasty, the origin of Qin, Manchu and Silla in Warring States is also related to the fairy swallowing the eggs of the mysterious birds. Whether it is a mysterious bird or a phoenix, with the development of Taoism, it evolved from birds, peacocks or pheasants ... to a fairy who is half human and half bird, and to pass on the art of war to a fairy who is completely human.

In Beijing, there were three temples dedicated to Xuan Nv, namely Jiutian Niangniang Temple and Xuan Nv Temple. There are also Xuan Nv temples in the north and south.

Northern Xuanwu

Xuanwu is a spiritual thing composed of turtles and snakes. Xuanwu originally meant Xuanming, and the ancient sounds of Wu and Ming are interlinked. Wu means black; Ghost means yin. At first, Xuan Ming described the turtle divination as follows: the turtle's back is black, and the turtle divination first invited the turtle to ask questions in the underworld, brought back the answers and showed them to the world in the form of divination. Therefore, the earliest Xuanwu is the tortoise. Since then, the meaning of Xuanming has been expanding. Turtles live in rivers, lakes and seas (including turtles), so Xuan Ming became a water god; The tortoise lives long, and Xuan Ming has become a symbol of immortality; It turned out that the underworld was in the north, and the divination of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty was' its divination will be in the north', so Xuan Ming became a northern god again.

Xuanwu, like other three spirits, is also derived from the 28 stars on earth: bucket, ox, female, air, danger, house and wall. However, people after ancient times have the following explanations for Xuanwu. Xuanwu' is a tortoise. "Book of Rites. "Quli Shang" says:' Zhu bird before departure, then Xuanwu ...'' Xuanwu' is a tortoise and snake. Supplementary Notes on Hong Xingzu's Songs of the South. Travel far:' Xuanwu is called tortoise and snake. Located in the north, it is called Xuan. With a scale, it is called martial arts. Xuanwu is a combination of snakes, turtles and snakes.

"Selected Works" Volume 15 Zhang Heng's "Four Fu Xuan" said: "Xuanwu leaves its shell, and the snake bends and corrects itself." Shan Li notes the cloud:' When a turtle meets a snake, it is called Xuanwu.' Wang Liangchuan in the History of the Later Han Dynasty: "Hong Fu Nv" says: "Wang Liang is the Lord of Xuanwu." Li Xian pointed out: "Wu Wu, the God of the North, is a combination of tortoise and snake." Xuanwu is the god of water and the god of the north. Wang Liangchuan in the later Han Dynasty: "Xuanwu is the name of the water god." "Rebuilding the Integration of Weft Books" Volume 6 "The Emperor of the River Map":' Born in Xuanwu, North China, ... The town is in the north, mainly due to wind and rain.

However, Xuanwu was upgraded to the "Zhenwu Emperor" in the north by later Taoist priests. Different from the other three spirits. Other green dragons and white tigers only became the gatekeepers of the mountain temple, and Zhu Bird became the Xuan Nv of another day.

Xuanwu gained value in the Song Dynasty and was personified. This is inseparable from the help of the emperors of the Song Dynasty. In the early Song Dynasty, Zhenwu and Tian Peng were legendary generals in heaven. In the first year of Tianxi, something happened in the military camp. In "The Original" for seven years:' Someone saw a snake in the camp, and the sergeant built a real martial arts school because of it. In April of the following year, the spring was inexhaustible, and the sick people drank more. When Zhenzong heard this, he wrote a letter and built a landscape there, named it' Xiangyuan'. This is probably the earliest Zhenwu Temple in China.

It is often said by later generations that during the reign of Yang Di, the Jade Emperor became one of his three souls, Empress Lezheng, tired of the world, abandoned Wudang Mountain for practice, and successfully ascended to heaven, defended the north and lived in Xuanwu, posthumous title.