It is said that Hou Ji is the son of Di Ku. Di Ku, the Emperor, is said to be the great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor, and one of the heavenly emperors in ancient myths and legends. Hou Ji's mother's name is Jiang Yuan. According to legend, she is a member of the "Youtai" clan and a descendant of Emperor Yan.
On one occasion, Jiang Yuan was traveling in the wild and felt pregnant because she stepped on the steps of a giant. I didn't expect to give birth, but I gave birth to a freak. This is Hou Ji. His mother thought the freak was ominous and caused disaster, so she abandoned him in a narrow alley. Perhaps with the protection of the gods, even cattle and horses passed by, far away from trampling. I can't help it. His mother wants to abandon him in the Woods. There was someone in the forest, so I threw it on the ice in the canal. Strange to say, birds flew in and warmed him with their wings to prevent him from freezing to death. His mother thought it was amazing, so she took him back and raised him again. Because his mother wanted to abandon him at first, she named him "Abandon".
Hou Ji had great ambitions when he was a child. When he plays games, he likes to collect all kinds of wild plant seeds and plant them in the ground with his own little hands. When he grew up, he soon became a good farmer, who could sow and harvest various crops according to local conditions. Even the people around him followed suit according to law, so Hou Ji became famous.
When Emperor Yao heard about it, he hired Hou Ji as an agricultural teacher and asked him to manage and guide all aspects of agriculture in the world. Because of his contribution to agricultural development, Emperor Yao named him Hou Ji, and his surname was Ji, who became the ancestor of Zhou people.
After Hou Ji's death, people buried him in a "wild city" surrounded by mountains and waters to commemorate his contribution. Shan Hai Jing. "Sea Classic" said: "There are cream rice, cream millet, hundred grains, playing the piano in winter and summer, singing birds and dancing birds, letting a hundred flowers blossom, gathering vegetation and loving each other." This grassland will not die in winter or summer. "This is a fairyland on earth, and the' ladder' and' building wood' in ancient myths and legends are nearby. Visible in people's minds, Hou Ji is brilliant and great, occupies an extremely important position. In addition, Shan Hai Jing also records that Hou Ji had a grandson named "Uncle Jun", who was the first person to use Niu Gengdi for civilian purposes.
Because of Hou Ji's great contribution to agricultural development, later generations respected him as a god of agriculture or a god of grain, and enjoyed human sacrifices. "Historical Records of Guan Chan" says: "Duke Zhou is king of each other, Hou Ji worships the heaven in the suburbs, and King Wen worships the gods. Since the revival of the society, Hou Ji has had a bumper harvest, so there are temples, which the suburban community has never had. " Since Zhou Chengwang began to offer sacrifices to Hou Ji in the suburbs, at first she and Ji 'er Temple offered sacrifices separately, and later many clubs and Ji 'he Festival were listed as national ceremonies. Because the ancients thought: "millet can't live without soil, and soil can't see the effect of life, so sacrificing society must reach millet." He also said: "Society is the respect of nine soils, millet is the length of five grains, and millet is born in soil, so society and millet are inseparable."
As can be seen from the above introduction, Ji Shen should originate from ancestor worship. Because of the bumper harvest in Hou Ji, he became a god of agriculture, or a god of grain. Because agriculture and land are inseparable, there are many societies and millet festivals in the later generations, and there are deities for the country from the capital to the prefecture. The bumper harvest of land and grain is related to human survival and social stability. Therefore, the country has become synonymous with the country.
Brief introduction of Hou Ji.
Zhou's ancestors abandoned his surname, and he was once named "agricultural teacher" by Yao and "Hou Ji" by Shun. The Book of Songs? The article "Shengmin" said: "Jue Shengmin should be Wei Jiangyuan. What was the birth of the people? If you are willing to sacrifice, you won't have children. Emperor Wu Minxin, who stopped with Jun, carried the earthquake, gave birth and lived in Hou Ji. " Zhou's first mother is Jiang Yuan. She stepped on the giant's footsteps, got pregnant and gave birth to Hou Ji. The "emperor" in this myth and legend is said to be, which shows that the origin of Zhou family has a certain relationship with the Huangdi family.
Hou Ji was abandoned because he was abandoned three times. First, he was abandoned in a narrow alley, and the passing cattle and sheep did not step on him; Abandoned in the Woods, but picked up by people who cut down trees; Abandoned on the ice for the third time, he saw a flock of big birds spread their wings to cover him. The Book of Songs? The abandonment ceremony recorded by Sheng Min may be related to some religious rituals in primitive times. Abandoned after a severe test, he was regarded as a miraculous figure and had a high prestige in the clan when he grew up.
Abandoning one's own expertise in farming, the grain planted is "solid, square, bud, solid, beautiful, solid, good, solid and millet", which is highly praised by people. In the impression of the ancients, farming in Hou Ji was a great cause that made great contributions to the people. Lu Xing juxtaposes him with Boyi and Dayu, saying that "millet plants seeds and cultivates fine grains". Abandon is also an expert in observing images and timing. According to legend, he is good at observing the stars to master the farming season. For a long time, the leader of the Zhou clan was called Hou Ji, which indicated that the Zhou clan rose due to the development of agriculture. In ancient literature, the Zhou family lived in an abandoned era, which was related to "Yu Ji". It is speculated that the Zhou family lived in the lower reaches of Fenhe River in Jin Dynasty.
The reason why Hou Ji was abandoned
There are several theories in academic circles about the reason why Hou Ji was abandoned by his mother Jiang Yuan:
1. fatherless abandonment theory
"Historical Records" Volume XIII "Three Represents" quoted Mr. Chu as saying: "Hou Ji's mother is Jiang Yuan, and she will go out to see big people and do it. If she knew her body, she gave birth to Hou Ji. Jiang Yuan believes that cattle and sheep avoid practicing in the way of abandoning fatherless. ..... "Mr. Chu believes that Hou Ji was abandoned because he had no father, and his mother Jiang Yuan" abandoned it cheaply ".
Fang Yurun, a Qing man, said: "Only Deng and Ji Mingde think that Jiang Yuan has children out of wedlock. Those who cover the clouds with' Buddha' will marry them, and there is no word for people. Childless', because it has no words on people, it has no children. " He added, "If you know Hou Ji's origin, you will abandon him because he is nameless. If it was conceived from the imperial suburbs, would it have no name? ..... Tracing back to the source, in Shi Kuang's poems, it is obvious that the mother, not the father, was born without a father. Jiang Yuan is the princess of her family, or Yuan's princess. There is no definite solution, but it is the day after tomorrow. If there is no husband at this time, then it is strange. " In Qing Dynasty, Yu Run wrote Poems under the Primitive Book of Songs? Daya？ Born, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, February 1986. Mr. Wang also said: "Ji was abandoned because his mother, Jiang Yuan, had no husband and had a child."
2. Totem testing theory
Mr. Zhu Cunming said: "Hou Ji was abandoned three times after his birth, which has the connotation of totem test."
3. Theory of physical abnormality
As for the phrase "when the moon is born, the husband is as good as the moon", Ma quoted Tao's explanation in Qing Dynasty: "Every baby in the mother's womb is wrapped in a leather bag, commonly known as" afterbirth ". When giving birth, the clothes are torn first, and the child is uncomfortable and difficult to give birth. Only when a sheep is born, its cells are complete. After landing, its mother broke it, so it was easy to be born. Hou Ji was hidden in his cell when he was born, and his body was not exposed, just like a sheep was born, so he said whatever he said. " [23] A Qing Wei Yuan said: "Cells do not have the form of corpses, and children do not cry in pain. The ancients didn't know the method of cutting cells in later generations, so they saw it wrapped in chaos and looked like an egg, thinking that abortion was not formed and abandoned it. ..... in fact, shocking words. I was surprised that she was as vivid as an egg, so I gave up the alley first, and then gave up Lin Ping. I didn't know there were babies among them. Deforestators throw away all kinds of ice, but the wings of big birds move like eggs. When a bird suffocates, it will escape from its small room. Quack like a bird, its family began to smell it and collect it. Therefore, it is the beginning of the truth, and the sound of the road makes it impossible to cry before tomorrow. " [24] Wei Yuan said that when Hou Ji was born, he was "wrapped in chaos and shaped like an egg", and his mother Jiang Yuan mistakenly thought that "the abortion failed" and abandoned it. This statement is not accurate, because it is clearly stated in The Book of Songs and Historical Records that "Yue's family was lost" and "lived in the period", but Jiang Yuan's "shocking it as vivid as an egg" is the main reason for Hou Ji's abandonment, because it is this.