The Myth and Legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl

The story of cowherd and weaver girl in eastern Guangxi

Welcome to Guidong, Hunan, the hometown of cowherd and weaver girl and the fairy summer resort!

Yuan Xian Bridge (Xianren Bridge) in eastern Guangxi-the place where cowherd and weaver girl meet on earth, and the place where modern couples make pilgrimage.

From Dongshui Village, Pule Township, Guidong County, Hunan Province, to Hongdong and Shangjing, the river flows up the river from "Ha Hou 'nao" to Xinzhuang Village, leaving many stone caves of different sizes, ranging from "grain buckets" to "grain baskets" in the local language, stretching for dozens of miles, which the locals call horseshoe prints.

According to legend, a long time ago, the west of Nanyang ("Nanyang City") was said to be Guiyang County in southern Hunan in the Western Jin Dynasty, and now Chenzhou City is referred to as "Nanyang City" for short. According to the Records of Guidong County, in the fourth year of Jiading in Song Dynasty (12 1 1), Yicheng and Lingling in Guiyang County (now Rucheng County) were located in Guidong County, and Shangyou Village was set up in the county (now in front of Zhaizhai). In the first year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1368), the county moved to the front of Fenghuang Mountain in the upper reaches of Weihe River. ), there was a clever and honest young man in Niujiazhuang, whose parents died early and had to live with his brother and sister-in-law. Sister-in-law Ma Shi is very vicious, often abusing him and forcing him to do a lot of work. One autumn, my sister-in-law forced him to herd cattle and gave him nine cows, but let him wait until he had ten cows. The Cowherd had no choice but to drive them out of the village.

The cowherd drove the cow to the mountains alone. On the mountain with deep grass and dense forest, he sat under the tree and was sad. He doesn't know when he can drive ten cows home. At this time, an old man with white hair and beard appeared in front of him and asked him why he was sad. When he learned what had happened to him, he smiled and said to him, "Don't be sad. There is a sick old cow in Funiu Mountain. You go and feed it well When the old cow is ready, just wait. " ("Funiu Mountain" is the "Stone Niu Shan" located at the junction of Zixing City and Guidong County. Shi Niu Shan, with an altitude of1238m, is a branch of Bamian Mountain, with a north-south trend. Zixing, one of the eight ancient scenic spots, was demoted to the next day because it violated heaven, so it was called "Funiu Mountain" in ancient times. )

The cowherd walked a long way over the mountains and finally found the sick old cow. Seeing that the old cow was very ill, he went to bundle the grass for the old cow. After feeding for three days in a row, the old cow looked up and told him that he was a great fairy in the sky, but he was sent to heaven because he broke his leg and could not move. His injury needs to be washed with toilet water for a month. Cowherd carefully took care of old Niu Yi for a month, picking flowers for the old cow during the day and sleeping next to him at night. When the old cow got well, the cowherd happily drove ten cows home.

After returning home, my sister-in-law is still not good to him. She hurt him several times and was saved by the old cow. Finally, my sister-in-law got angry and drove the cowherd out of the house. As long as the cowherd and the old cow are together, the cowherd secretly tears and doesn't know where he has gone.

The old cow looked at the homeless cowherd who was driven out of the house. He felt pity and told Cowherd that the place where he was demoted for violating heaven was the closest place to the sky, only three feet away from it. It is still the same, without any traces of artificial transformation. Millennium Hemlock Race Show and Millennium Ancient Road Fighting Insurance. Primitive forest, during the life of birds and animals; Because it is close to the sky, the climate there is cool. When the gods in the sky are hot and resistant to summer heat in the south, they will go down to places where they can enjoy the summer, bathe and enjoy the cool near the Weihe River, or play in the water every summer. They often see immortals playing chess at the top of the mountain and taking a bath in the river. It's a fairyland on earth, and life there will be better than here.

So the cowherd left the sad place with the old cow, waded through mountains and rivers, came to the place where the old cow said it was three feet and three meters away from the sky, and lived in a place called Niushiping (now also called Niushiping). (that is, Bamian Mountain in Guidong, Hunan Province, there is a cloud in ancient times: Bamian Mountain is three feet and three meters long, and people have to bend over when riding a horse. The existing scenic spot has the Eight Immortals Chess at an altitude of more than 800 meters, which is the highest county in Hunan Province, with a cool climate in summer and sleeping at night. It is a good place for summer vacation and has the reputation of a natural air-conditioned city. No wonder the immortals came down here to enjoy the summer, hehe. )

One day, the heat was unbearable, and the Weaver Maid and the fairies went down to the world to enjoy the cool and took a bath in the Weihe River. With the help of the old cow, the cowherd got to know the Weaver Girl, and they hit it off. Later, the Weaver Maid and the fairies returned to China and missed the Cowherd day and night, so they rode a white Tianma and secretly came to the world. In order not to let the jade emperor find out, they took the cowherd from Niushiping along the Weihe River.

Crossing the Niutang boundary in eastern Guangxi, there is no road and it is difficult to move forward. After living by the Weihe River all night, the old cow was tired. The cowherd accompanied the old cow to take a bath by the Weihe River, and the place where they took a bath was rolled out of a big pond by the old cow. The locals later called this place Datang, and now it is called Datang Township. The place where they live by the Weihe River is called Niu Nan Qian, that is, (now also called Niulan Qian, located by the Weihe River in Pule Township),

After entering Dongshui Village, because the terrain of Dongshui Village is higher than that of Weihe River, Weihe River does not flow into Dongshui Village. The mountain is high, the white horse hoof is old and the cow hoof is old, and there is no waterway to go. When you are injured, you leave footprints, and the weaver girl sees her heart broken and tears flow into a river, which is today's Dongshui River. Originally, there was no water in Dongshui Village, because the water should flow from west to east. People have been starving for years. Since the tears of the weaver girl turned into water, the local people no longer have to worry about the water problem and live a well-fed life. It is precisely because the river in Dongshui Village evolved from the tears of Weaver Girl that the water can flow from east to east. Seen from a height, the water flows backwards, leaving an eternal story that "the water in eastern Guangxi flows eastward and the water in eastern Guangxi flows eastward", which is also the name of Dongshui Village.

After many hardships, the Weaver Girl finally settled down in Qingshidong, a very remote Xinzhuang village, and became the wife of the Cowherd. When I first arrived here, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were strangers and lacked everything. Cowherd had to dig bamboo shoots, fern roots and yellow fungus up the mountain every day to satisfy his hunger. The ingenious weaver girl baked inexhaustible bamboo shoots into dried bamboo shoots, processed fern roots into fern starch, and dried yellow ears into dried yellow ears, which solved the problem of food, but lacked tea and oil. So the Weaver Girl called the Cowherd to drive the local people to plant two kinds of tea trees, small leaf and big leaf, all the year round on the misty mountain of Yun Qi. The leaves with big and thick leaves can't be eaten, but their fruits can produce oil. Locals call this kind of tea tree Mu Zi tree, and the oil it produces is called sub-wood oil, that is, tea tree oil. That kind of tea with small leaves is very tender and can be soaked and drunk. It is delicious and refreshing. Cowherd likes it very much. That is, Wuyun Tea in Dida Township, now also called Linglong Tea;

After the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl got married, the man plowed and the Weaver Girl wove, and the Weaver Girl drew a sacred field in another mysterious cave far away from the Qingshi Cave. Cowherd rides a white horse, and takes the old cow there to farm every morning. When he is hungry at noon, he makes a fire and cooks in the cave. When cooking, the cave is often foggy, and the locals later named the cave "Blue Hole Flying Smoke". In the evening, after returning home, I took a break on the way to Dongshui Village. Now the place where the white horse rests is also called "Five Horses Return to the Nest". The cowherd sowed rice, such as river fairy rice and coix seed, which the Weaver Girl brought from the sky, and cultivated it year after year, and harvested it year after year.

One year, it was too hot to stand, and a golden dragon came down from the sky to enjoy the cool with all the immortals. Suddenly, Jinlong felt extremely cool. When it sneezed, it turned into a flood, causing the Qingshan River in Bamian Mountain to flow backwards. The flood roared down with sediment and flooded the fertile land on the Weihe River. When the local people wanted to cry, Cowherd took a white horse and an old cow to the Weihe River to help the local people. In order to remember this incident, the local people named the place where the Qingshan River overflowed as "Qingshan" and "Dashui", and named the place where the Cowherd cultivated sand as "Shatian", which is now shatian town in eastern Guangxi. After getting into trouble, Jinlong dared not return to heaven, ashamed of the local people, and voluntarily stayed on earth to be the patron saint of Weihe River. Since then, the Weihe River has stopped flooding, and the local people named a village on the edge of the Weihe River as Longtou Village, which means that the dragon sees the head and does not see the tail.

Weaver girl also distributed the worms brought from the sky to everyone, and taught them to spin silk and weave bright silks and satins.

Weaver Girl also mobilized local people to widely plant mulberry trees and raise worms to obtain silk. Cowherd takes ribbon home every day to knit for Weaver Girl. In order to thank the weaver girl for spinning silk for the worm, the locals respectfully call the worm "silkworm", which is why the spinning worm is named silkworm. To commemorate the Weaver Maid's silk weaving for the insects, the local people named the place Sidu, which is now Sidu in eastern Guangxi, and called the sacred field cultivated by Cowherd "Xianshichang". Xianren Shichang Cave has become a famous tourist attraction in eastern Guangxi. Up to now, if

The weaver girl took the newly spun cloth to a stream to rinse, but when she saw the white light shining and carefree appearance, the locals thought it was golden dragon, and they were all surprised. They looked at it one by one, only to know that the Weaver Girl was bleaching the cloth. One by one, after the Weaver Girl went to China, the stream where she bleached the cloth formed a waterfall more than 100 meters high. Later, to commemorate the story of the Weaver Girl, people called this stream Longxi. The local name is Fang Xin, which is now Fangxin Township.

In this way, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl work at sunrise, rest at sunset, give birth to two children, a man and a woman, and live a happy life of self-sufficiency. But the good times didn't last long, and it was soon known to the Emperor of Heaven that the heavenly queen herself came down to earth and forcibly brought the Weaver Girl back to heaven, and the loving couple separated from each other.

Cowherd can't go to heaven, or the old cow tells him that he will become a tree after his death, grow fruit for his descendants, and make shoes with his skin, so that he can go to heaven. After saying this, the old cow died. After his death, the cowherd buried the old cow in a high mountain in eastern Guangxi, which is now Niuxian Mountain in eastern Guangxi. There used to be a Niuxian Temple, which was in disrepair for a long time, leaving only ruins. Strangely, when local hunters hunt in Niuxian Mountain, they can't catch their prey, which seems to be protected by the gods and is called a hunting forbidden area by hunters.

The cowherd did as the old cow said. There is a tree in front of the old cow's grave, which is full of fruits. The locals call it Niu Guo. Cowherd put on shoes made of cowhide, took dry food mainly made of yellow rice (mainly made of yellow rice, mainly made of rice, mainly made of rice, mainly made of rice, mainly made of rice, mainly made of rice, mainly made of rice) and took the children to heaven together. It is said that the Empress Dowager pulled out the golden hairpin on her head with a wave of her hand, with too much force. The golden hairpin fell to the east and was inserted at the top of the Yang tip in Huangdong Township, Guidong County. There are three peaks on the top of the mountain, named after the Queen Mother plucked the golden hairpin from her head. It was originally called Weaver Girl Yunnan. It is said that Zhang Sanfeng, the grandfather of Wu Tangmen, has also been here. And carved the word "phoenix" on the stone. The place where the golden hairpin fell to the east and a golden light crossed is now called Dongluo Township.

Their unswerving love touched the king of birds-Phoenix, which brought birds together and lived in the habitat of Phoenix (that is, Phoenix Mountain next to Guidong County, where there is still a small phoenix, a Millennium Gu Song that needs four people to hug, dubbed the king of Pinus massoniana in China, which is also one of the famous scenic spots in Guidong, called "Fengling Gu Song"). Later, people called this gathering of hundreds of birds the Phoenix Club, and all the birds discussed how to help the cowherd fly to the sky to chase the Weaver Girl. At this time, the magpie who grew up in Acacia Spring bravely stood up and tearfully asked Phoenix to help Cowherd. Phoenix was moved by the spirit of helping others and agreed to the magpie's request. So thousands of magpies flew in and built a magpie bridge to let the cowherd and the weaver girl walk on the magpies.

The Jade Emperor was furious, thinking that the white horse brought the Weaver Maid down to earth without permission, which violated the dogma and reduced the daytime horse to an ordinary horse and left it on earth. Therefore, the mountain where Xianrenqiao is located is also called baimashan. There is a spring on Baima Mountain that will last for thousands of years. It is the sad tears left by the Weaver Girl when she was brought back to heaven by the heavenly soldiers. It is also the true love that Baima found on earth, which is today's acacia spring. The legumes that grow next to them become acacia beans. Because this native locust bean is big and patterned, the locals call it locust bean. It is said that the great poet Wang Wei was very moved after hearing the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. He only knew that Sophora japonica beans grew in the south, but he didn't know that it was the Sophora japonica beans grown in Guidong, a remote mountainous area in the south, which made the world think that another kind of beans in the south was also the Sophora japonica beans in the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, leaving:

A group of love birds in the tree were moved by the earth-shattering love of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. Among them, the bird that drank Acacia Spring became the famous love birds in eastern Guangxi. Birds flying high take the cowherd into the sky on July 7 every year, like building a stone bridge on earth, so that the cowherd and the weaver girl can date in the sky. In order to commemorate this sad love story, the locals call this bird magpie every year.

When the Weaver Girl went to heaven, she was worried that the cows of Baima and Cowherd had no grass to eat, so Lei Gong put a mountain fire on the top of Baima Mountain and burned the trees on the top of the mountain, so that the mountain was covered with grass needed by Baima and Cowherd's cows. So up to now, every once in a while, a mountain fire will happen inexplicably. . . .

Cowherd and Weaver Girl meet for a long time in the sky. The yearning for a better life on earth and for my two children is increasing day by day. They asked the queen mother to let her down to see the children. The queen mother felt sorry for this, but they could not continue to live together. However, out of kinship, it is reasonable to see children every year. So according to the method of bridging magpies, she ordered Erlang God to split the mountain next to the bluestone cave where Cowherd and Weaver Girl lived. Erlang God moved another boulder, spanning the north and south. The stone bridge is wide at both ends and narrow in the middle, and the bridge deck is slightly inclined to prevent them from passing through the middle of the bridge and block the way home for Weaver Girl. It is said that now, people who have the courage to walk this bridge, regardless of gender, have not found a partner yet. After walking this bridge, they will find a beautiful marriage. Men and women who are going to get married will walk this bridge hand in hand, and they will be happily married for a hundred years. Men and women whose feelings have broken can cross the bridge hand in hand, or go around for the second time and so on. Whether it's so magical or not, you won't know until you experience it yourself. . . . .

So every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet at the Magpie Bridge in the sky in the middle of the night, and the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet at the Stone Bridge in the middle of the night, which is now the Yuan Xian Bridge. Up to now, two stones, one high and one short, have stood by the bridge next to the bluestone cave where the cowherd and the weaver girl live. Legend has it that the two children of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are called "looking at the stars" or "looking at the stone" by the locals. They look at each other eagerly every day, watching.

Because the Weaver Girl went down to earth privately in pursuit of beautiful love, the bridge where the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl dated on earth was called Yuan Xian Bridge, and now it is also called Xianren Bridge. The cave where she lived is called Qingsi Cave, and now it is also called Qingshi Cave. In order to commemorate the cave where the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl lived, the local people called the wedding room of the bride and groom the bridal chamber, which is also the origin of the bridal chamber.

Because birds came back from all directions to build bridges, a Millennium Bird Path was formed in eastern Guangxi. Birds rush to the bridge, and the locals call this place Qiaotou, and the mountain where birds pass is called Niaoling (now Qiaotou Town, East Guangxi).

The local people in Xinzhuang village peek at the Weaver Girl and collect flowers and new makeup, which is more beautiful when dating. In ancient times, putting on makeup was called putting on makeup, and removing makeup was called putting on makeup, so there were three names of Xinzhuang, Shangzhuang and Xiazhuang.

It is said that many men and women in love have come to Yuan Xian Bridge to pledge their eternal love for the sake of sacred love, regardless of the hardships of climbing mountains and wading. Some people even scoop a bowl of acacia water from the acacia spring and give it to their secret admirers, so that everyone is happy.

The weaver girl went south to live in Hunan for love, so there was a saying that the Hunan girl was affectionate. For the story of Lugu River, people in Guidong call a big river where the Weaver Maiden descended to bathe in the world Lugu River, and a tributary of Lugu River is called Niulang River (living in front of the village in Guidong, hereinafter referred to as Niujiang), which means that this never-ending river will make the love story between heaven and earth close for a hundred years and be sung forever. ...................

Later, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, it is said that when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Magpie Bridge, the girls will come to the flowers and the moon, look up at the stars and look for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl on both sides of the Milky Way, hoping to see their annual meeting, and pray to God that they will be as ingenious as the Weaver Girl and that they will have a happy marriage, thus forming China's Valentine's Day.

Postscript: Because the myths and legends of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in Guidong have a history of thousands of years, and now young people don't like listening to stories, the myths and legends of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in Guidong are gradually forgotten, and only a few people in the older generation can vaguely remember them, but they are not complete. Coupled with the changes in place names, such as Xidu renamed Sidu and Niushiping renamed Niushiping. Yunxiu, the Weaver Girl, was renamed Yunxiu Jade Girl, and Longxi Bleaching Cloth was renamed Longxi Waterfall. Yuan Xian Bridge was renamed Xianren Bridge, and so on. Gradually, even the locals in Guidong gradually forgot, and some even completely forgot this beautiful legend, which is a very regrettable thing where the legend happened.

Today, the author collected many allusions and place names by interviewing many people of the older generation. Welcome many friends to continue to discuss and please correct me. * * * Work together to improve them. There is only one purpose, so that the beautiful legend that happened in eastern Guangxi can continue to spread and carry forward.

Ps:

1. Place names related to Cowherd and Weaver Girl in Guidong: "Nanyang City", Niushiping (now also called Niushiping), Niutang Street in Zhaiqian Township of Datang Township, Niunanqian in Dongshui Village of Pule Township of Dida Township, "Qingshan Township", "Dashui Village", shatian town, Longtou Village and (Sidu).

2. The mountains related to the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in Guidong: Bamian Mountain, Phoenix Mountain, Niaoling Mountain, Yun Qi Mountain, Shi Yang Aoshan, baimashan, Niudu Fairy Mountain and Funiu Mountain, which are located in Shixing City, bordering Guidong County.

3. Water related to Cowherd and Weaver Girl in Guidong: Suijiang, Dongshui, Longxi, Dashui and Niujiang.

4. Scenic spots related to the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in Guidong: Bamianshan Nature Reserve in Guidong, Hunan Province, a natural air-conditioned city-Guidong County, "Fengling Gu Song", Eight Immortals Chess, East Water Flowing, Horseshoe prints, Five Horses Returning to the Nest, "Bidong Flying Smoke" and "Fairy Stone Field". (Longxi Floating Cloth) Longxi Waterfall, Niuxian Temple, (.

5. Native products related to Cowherd and Weaver Girl in Guidong: Ganoderma lucidum, Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo biloba), Niu Guo in Guidong, Dahe fresh rice, Coicis Semen, Dahe glutinous rice, acacia, acacia beans (peas), dried bamboo shoots (magnolia slices), bracken, bracken powder, dried auricularia and seed oil (coconut oil).

6. The nouns related to Cowherd and Weaver Girl in Guidong: the origin of bridal chamber, the origin of "silkworm", the origin of Hunan women's amorous feelings, and the origin of love birds magpie.

7. Guidong Cowherd and Weaver Girl Song. . .

8. Poems by the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid in Guidong: in the collection. . . . .