Why do you have to use a banana fan to blow out the Flame Mountain? How many banana fans are there in Journey to the West?

Why do you have to use a banana fan to blow out the Flame Mountain? How many banana fans are there in Journey to the West?

As everyone knows after seeing The Journey to the West, four Tang Priests and apprentices were stranded after passing through the Flame Mountain. At that time, the fire in the Flame Mountain had to be blown out by the banana fan of Princess Iron Fan. So why do you have to use a banana fan for the fire in Flame Mountain? Next, China, I will tell you the secret.

The Journey to the West has been circulating for so many years, among which important figures, such as the Monkey King, Tang Priest and Sand Monk, are a mixture of many literary images. In fact, there is more than one prototype of Flame Mountain.

fire depression and spontaneous combustion in coalfields

the first prototype of the story of the flaming mountain should be the fire depression in the Tang Dynasty Sanzang's Poems on Learning from the Scriptures.

There is a story of the Flame Mountain in the story of the Journey to the West in the early Song Dynasty, The Poems of the Three Monks in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it was not called a flaming mountain, but a flaming depression. The original text was very simple:

Suddenly, there was a wildfire, and it was full of smoke, so I couldn't go. Then he took a photo of the alms bowl and called out "Heavenly King". When the fire went out, the seven people crossed this depression.

The way this "Flame Mountain" passes through is also very simple, that is, holding a alms bowl (this alms bowl was given by the Great Brahman, not by Emperor Taizong), shouting at the heavenly king and the fire went out.

Some scholars have pointed out that one of the prototypes of the Flame Mountain in the Journey to the West probably came from spontaneous combustion in the coalfield. The underground coal seam in Xinjiang belongs to Jurassic coal-bearing stratum, which has shallow burial, high sulfur content and low ignition point, so it is particularly prone to spontaneous combustion (well, this paragraph is copied from Du Niang). For example, the spontaneous combustion of Shanshan coalfield in Xinjiang has been burning for hundreds of years. This phenomenon has been regarded as a new thing since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. For example, Chen Cheng's poem "The Flame Mountain" in Ming Dynasty:

A piece of smoke is red, and the burning flames want to burn away. Spring is not half as muddy as summer, who knows that there is Zhu Rong in the west?

In fact, in the Poems of the Three Monks in the Tang Dynasty, this place is called Huolei 'ao, which is obviously an "ao" rather than a mountain. This is the characteristic of coalfields, not mountains.

The Flame Mountain and the Banana Fan

The second prototype of the story of the Flame Mountain should come from The Classic of Mountains and Seas and Li Daoyuan's Notes on Water Classics in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Classic of Mountains and Seas, in particular, is very interesting. Let's go from far to near August 18th.

Although The Journey to the West writes about fantasy, many place names in it have some origins, such as "Black Water River" which was visited eight days ago.

The name Blackwater is very old, because Dayu mentioned this name when he was controlling water: "Guiding Blackwater, as for Three Dangers." Shan Hai Jing also said that "black water is there", but the academic circles have been discussing where this black water is since the Han Dynasty, and have been discussing it for more than 2, years now, and there is no definite statement. There are as many as 13 kinds!

Let's take a look at Shan Hai Jing, and we will find a particularly interesting phenomenon. This is the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Classic of Western Hills and the Four Classics of Western Times:

The first of the Four Classics of Western Times is called Yinshan, and the cloudy water flows out, and the west flows to Luo (hereinafter referred to as Laoshan and Bashu Mountain, etc.) ...

It is also called Mountain No.18 in the north. Its wood is painted □. The water flows out, while the east flows into the river.

It's 22 miles to the north, and it's called Yushan. Sound in. Its yin is full of iron, its yang is full of copper, and its beasts are full of white wolves and white tigers ... (hereinafter referred to as White Mountain and Shenshou Mountain, etc.)

It is also called the mountain where birds and mice share the same cave in the west 22 miles.

three hundred and sixty miles southwest is called the mountain of loneliness. The sun has gone into the mountains, and there are many danmu on it.

The mountain system of The Classic of Mountains and Seas is roughly centered on the Central Plains and arranged in the east, west, north and south, but this range is too large, so it divides into many "secondary classics" in every direction, and a "secondary classics" is a mountain system. The "Four Classics of the Western Times" here is the fourth mountain system of the Western Mountain Classics. Judging from the frequent appearances of "river water" (that is, the Yellow River), "Weishui" and "Luoshui" in the Four Classics of the West, the trend of this mountain system (of course, it is the direction in the author's mind, not necessarily the actual trend) is from Shaanxi to Gansu and even Xinjiang.

Hong Haier's "No.1 Mountain" actually appeared here! This is the eighth seat of the "Western Times and Four Classics"! (The first seven are Yinshan Mountain, Laoshan Mountain, Bafu Mountain, Shenshan Mountain, Bird Mountain, Shangshen Mountain and Zhuci Mountain.) You know, the name "No.1 Mountain" is very unusual. At most, there is a "large mountain" (in Linzhou, Henan Province, the source of Qihe River. This name ...), "Wuhao Mountain" (now Wuxiangling in Nanning), directly called "No.Mountain", except The Journey to the West, seems to be the only one named Shan Hai Jing.

However, the matter is not over yet. Take a walk to the west, and you will reach the "Mountain with Birds and Rats". The so-called "Blackwater" is just around here. People in the Han Dynasty commented on Shangshu and Chuci, saying: "Three dangerous mountains are in the west of birds and rats, and black water is in the south." This "black water" seems to have been visited by Zhou Muwang, and the Biography of Mu Tianzi also left a lot of records of black water (see Tang Hong's A Probe into the Ambiguity of Tian Wen and Black Water).

If you walk further west, you will reach the "Mountain of Crash", which is the so-called sunset mountain. When it comes to the sunset mountain, we can't help but think that when we were in the Flame Mountain, Pig Bajie discussed the topic of this sunset country. Let's put this aside for a while. However, there is a more surprising record in ancient books.

the rugged mountain is in Xihai County, and there are stones in the north, which are red and white. When two stones hit each other, the water will be moist, and when they are beaten endlessly, the fire will come out, and all the rocks will burn, and the inflammation (that is, "flame", flame) will last for several tens of feet. There is a big black wind coming out of the quicksand, and it is extinguished. Its stone is as good as ever.

Isn't this the prototype of the Flame Mountain? The fire was put out by the strong wind fanned by Princess Iron Fan and Banana Fan. And this banana fan, the book has repeatedly said that it is a "pure Yin treasure fan", "a natural treasure, is the essence of the lunar leaf, so it can extinguish the fire. If you fan someone, you have to float 84 thousand miles to rest in the evil wind. " Isn't the "big black wind" here the prototype of "evil wind"

Besides, the "big black wind" here is a very obvious Buddhist vocabulary, such as the Buddhist Samadha Sutra:

When I was young, I naturally had a black hair in my heart. There is a big black wind at its hair end. Its four colors of wind are rooted at will. Such as whirling wind. Shaped like smoke and flame. Its wind blows all the water.

there is a big black wind. You should know that it is difficult for Fengshen. (Su Xi Di Jie Luo Jing)

So what is the "whirlwind"? Xuanlan is a Sanskrit transliteration, which is also translated as "Suilan", "Pilan" and "Pilan Po", meaning storm and fierce wind. When this storm rises, it can destroy the world. It can also regenerate the world.

Note that the wife of "Bilan" cannot be separated from the word Bilan! Just like Shiva and Shiva, they are not two old women. According to Buddhist scriptures, she is one of the ten Rogue. That is to say, Rogue is not a person's name, but a generic name. Luo Cha is the general name of cannibal. One of the women, called Rogue. In Buddhist scriptures, there are ten Rogue who guard Hokkekyo, and the second one is called Pilan Po.

According to the Fahua Ten Luo Cha Law, her image is:

She is shaped like a dragon king and a full moon. As to the sea. The right hand holds the wind and cloud. Put the rosary in your left hand. The clothes are green.

This Rogue named Pilanpo is a wind god, and there is no problem.

But strangely, just because The Journey to the West called Princess Iron Fan Rogue doesn't mean which Rogue she is. In the time of Huanghuaguan centipede essence, there was another "Pilan Po". However, it is very puzzling why this Pilan woman, regardless of the wind, handed over the business of wind management to Princess Tiefan and went to weizi Thousand Flowers Cave to be the mother of the Pleiadian star officer. This problem, the existing information is very scarce, it is difficult to explain. Only a cerebellar hole can be temporarily opened for you to fill:

According to the Charcoal Sutra of Buildings, the big black wind is the driving force for the creation of the universe. After the destruction of the universe, after a long period of silence, there will be a big black wind blowing, blowing away the sea water, and lifting the sun sinking on the seabed and placing it on the solar path. From then on, the sun will orbit. The original text is:

there should be a big black wind in the law. Blowing into the sea at a depth of 336 Wan Li. Take the sun, the moon and the battlements. On the side of Mount Sumi. 1.68 million Li. Guo Daozhong in Sun Moon City. Use is karma. There are sun and moon in the world.

This stalk, another masterpiece of Buddhism, Fayuan Zhulin, is written as follows:

There was a big black storm and the sea rose for a long time afterwards. It's 84 thousand deep, and it's blown by ten days to make two coats. The Sun Palace is located in the middle of Mount Sumi. Forty-two thousand people go to the ground from Xunan Ri Road Middle School.

The "Sun-Moon Castle" or "Sun Palace" here refers to the Buddhist "Sun Palace", the palace of the son of heaven. As for why Wan Li is said to be 336 in front and 84, in the back, in fact, it's exactly the same when one is converted into 4 Li from ten days. Because Buddhism believes that the center of the world is Mount Sumi, and Mount Sumi is "84, meters above the water". Entering the water is also deep, 84 thousand by ten days. " This big black wind is equivalent to blowing to the end. In fact, this is also the literature source of "84, Li" when the banana fan fanned people in The Journey to the West.

Therefore, we might as well think that The Journey to the West's statement that Pilanpo is the mother of the Pleiadian star officer seems to be based on the story of the great black wind in the Buddhist Genesis myth, which lifted the sun, brought it back to orbit and reborn it. This is easy to understand, because in our China mythology, the mother of the sun is xi he, and her role is to bathe the sun and drive the sun. This is similar to the story of a big black wind blowing open the sea and putting the sun in orbit! There are ten sun babies in xi he, but in Buddhist creation myths such as The Charcoal Sutra of the Building, there are seven sun babies with big black wind. One mommy has multiple babies, which is also very similar.

as for why pilanpo is a hen, of course, she came with her son, Ji Ri. Because the other three days in the Twenty-eight Nights: Fang Ri Rabbit, Xing Ri Ma and Xu Ri Mouse, are not directly related to the sun, only the cock crows and the sunrise, and the pheasant is the closest to the sun, and it is also the easiest to make up the story, so the other three days are unknown. According to the needs of the plot, The Journey to the West divided "Pilan Pow" into two images. First, Pilan Pow gave the function of wind management to Princess Tiefan, but Princess Tiefan still kept the name "Rogue". Second, the name "Pilanpo", together with the functions related to the sun, became an old hen. And because of the word "woman" of Pilan Po, she looks particularly like an old woman, which further confirms her image as an old woman and the identity of an old hen!

The experience of "Pilan Po" splitting into two is very similar to that of "Pishamen Heavenly King" splitting into two. The King of Vishamen was originally the northern king of Buddhism, and the word "Menzi" was originally transliterated, but people didn't know that Vishamen was the north gate of the Heavenly Palace. So the King of Pishamen became the King of the North Gate of the Heavenly Palace. Who knows that Pishamen Tianwang is mixed with Li Jing again. At the end of the development, a heavenly king divided into two images: Li Jing became the "King Tota Li Tian" independently, but his subordinates and functions were still those of the King Pishamen. It turned out that the king of Pishamen was guarding the north gate of the Heavenly Palace alone.

Two other banana fans

There are two banana fans in The Journey to the West. By the way, I might as well go to August 18th. Both of them belong to the old gentleman. One of them, which appeared during the surrender of Qingniu Jing, sounds like a very powerful magic weapon, even more powerful than Jingangzhuo.

the old gentleman said, "my diamond cut is a treasure I wrote to care for Hu, which was refined since I was a child. With what weapons, fire and water, you can't get close to him. If you steal my banana fan, even I can't stand him. "

Then Grandfather Tai took a banana fan, and went down with the Monkey King to subdue the demon.

the old gentleman said a spell and fanned the fan. The monster threw the circle and was caught by the old gentleman; Another fan, the monster was limp and numb, and it turned out to be a green cow.

why does the old gentleman take a fan? I have consulted Taoist Li Chengxia on this question (he is a real Taoist), and Taoist Li said that the three clean-ups of Taoism are the three states of "Tao". The pearl held by the Buddha at the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, also known as the pearl of millet, represents the original Tao. The wishful thinking held by the moral deity represents the chaotic state. The treasure fan held by Taishang Laojun represents the initial judgment of Yin and Yang in Taiji. This treasure fan is sometimes painted with Yin and Yang symbols, and sometimes with the sun and the moon.

I found that these three things can be found in the Taoist scriptures.

First, the "Pearl of Millet" held by the Buddha in the first eight years.

This is very famous, and it is in Du Ren Jing:

So at the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, a treasure ball as big as millet was hung, and it went to the ground 5 feet in the air. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the naive great god, the sage and the lofty statue, the wonderful deeds of real people, and the ten infinite parties to the true great god all entered the treasure. Heaven and man looked up, only to see the vitality entering from the mouth of the pearl, and I didn't know where it was. The Chinese people are scattered, the land is still flat, and there is no re-depression. From the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, it was within the orb, and all the scriptures were said.

That is to say, in Du Ren Jing, this pearl of millet is a bit like a big classroom, where people go in in droves and come out after class. Since it is a round "orb", I am afraid it is the National Grand Theatre!

Second, the "Three Treasures of Jade" held by Lingbao Tianzun. This record is very few, only a classic "Tai Shang Dong Xuan Lingbao Wisdom Determined Tongwei Jing", which tells that Lingbao Tianzun was a Taoist monk named Le Jingxin before his infinite robbery, and he served as a Taoist for three generations. The son's name is Fajie, and his family is poor. He would rather sell his children and daughters than support a Taoist priest. So I was moved to heaven, and I was given a "real material" in my dream, so my home was full of gold, silver and jewels. It seems that this handle Ruyi also has the function of making a fortune!

Third, the last eight "Tai Chi Fan" of the old gentleman. This is also from Du Ren Jing. The old gentleman likes to hold a fan:

The old gentleman smiles in heaven, raises five precious fans, caresses the golden splendor of the red clouds, and tells the public again: "Speaking is god, deifying is qi, and qi has no heaven and earth."

In addition, Zhang Tianshi in A Mirror of Immortals' Body and Taoism in Past Dynasties also mentioned that the old gentleman in Taishang likes to hold a fan:

There is a divine man in the car, and his appearance is like ice jade. Holding a five-Ming treasure fan, you can't look straight at it, because you have eight scenes and a round light, and you are more than six feet tall. A man in front of the car said to the real person, "Don't be afraid, son, that is, you are too old."

Another example is The Legend of You Long, written by Jia Shanxiang in Song Dynasty, which preached the miracle of the old gentleman. In Tang Suzong, the old gentleman appeared as a sage:

Standing in front of the mountain, he was covered in white, his left hand hung down, and his right hand held a fan of five bright colors, and his appearance was brilliant.

The following picture shows the statue of the Buddha in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Some scholars believe that this is a fan in the hand of the old gentleman. Friends who are familiar with stone carvings may wish to identify them.

This pearl of millet, three treasures and jade ruyi, and Tai Chi fan were originally from Taoism, and Taoism endowed them with sacred significance. It's this fan that the great old gentleman never leaves his hand. Of course, The Journey to the West is going to write a powerful instrument.

As for King Jinjiao's one, it also comes from the old gentleman in Taishang, also called the banana fan. But obviously it's not the same as the one that surrendered to Qingniu Jing. Its function is just to fan out the fire from the ground. In fact, this banana fan still comes from the fan in the hands of the old gentleman in Taishang, and the source is the same. Just because of the story of golden horn and silver horn, it is likely that it was not written by the same person as the story of Qing Niu Jing (for details, see Hou Hui's "The Lotus Cave Story Begins Late"). So the setting of the magic weapon is different!