Based on different research perspectives, people divide the myth of "Jingwei Reclamation" into different myth types. Obviously, the myth of "jingwei filling the sea" belongs to a typical deformation myth, which belongs to the myth of "preserving health after death", that is, entrusting the soul to a substance that exists in reality. Jingwei reclamation is also a revenge myth. The girl had no resentment against the sea before her death, but she drowned unexpectedly, so she forged a hatred with the sea and became the revenge cause of the bird's lifelong reclamation.
Some researchers believe: "There are many typical unnatural deaths recorded in ancient myths in China, among which accidents let people see the weakness and powerlessness of ancestors in the face of nature, and also reveal the fragility of life." The death of the baby girl was an accident, which showed the fragility of human life and the strength of the sea. Mao Dun, a famous writer, thinks: "Jingwei and Xingtian belong to the same type of myth, both of which describe indomitable perseverance and will, and belong to the myth of birds and beasts with moral consciousness."
Extended data:
The myth of "jingwei reclamation" has a long history, and there are different opinions on its connotation.
An analysis of the myth of "Jingwei filling the sea", such as Yuan Ke's view that Jingwei filling the sea "shows the desire of primitive humans suffering from natural disasters to conquer nature". This explanation is related to Marx's explanation of myth, which has long influenced China's myth research. Marx wrote in the introduction: "Any myth uses imagination to conquer, dominate and visualize the forces of nature."
People often emphasize its spiritual value, thinking that the ancients had a limited level of understanding and could not correctly confirm that girls knew nature and reflected it. They describe historical events and create myths through imagination, fiction and exaggeration. They also took the key words of "Persistence" and "Unswervingness" in "Reclamation by Jingwei" as the belief and ideal of our ancestors to overcome nature, and praised the lofty ambition of "Jingwei" to fight against the world, or interpreted it as the tragic of Jingwei.
In addition, Ni Nongshui interprets it as a fable and symbol of the "cultural struggle between North and South" from the perspective of narratology, and "thinks it is a metaphorical mythological narrative of the historical, cultural and political confrontation between North and South at that time".
Tian Zhaoyuan, through the analysis of the two elements of "East" and "Mountain", thinks that "Yan Di Shennong failed to advance eastward, lost to the Chiyou family, and drowned. After the failure of Yan Di tribe, he became a bird to express his spiritual ideal, and reclaimed the sea to express a kind of revenge and confrontation.
Duan Yuming believes that Jingwei Reclaiming from the Sea or a myth about the sun tells a story about the sun's sinking. Baby girl is a symbol of the sun and Shang Dynasty, and its sinking symbolizes the demise of Shang Dynasty. Jingwei's efforts are only to restore an old solar order, which contains a businessman's desire to restore the country.
According to the historical information implied in the myth of "Jingwei Reclaiming the Sea", Fan believes that "Jingwei Reclaiming the Sea" is the product of the historical facts of tribal marriage and the true reflection of the marriage between tribal groups and tribal groups princes in the emperor's era. It actually describes the sad feelings of the girl of Princess Yan Di who misses her family after marrying the prince of the Dijun tribe. It is a vivid portrayal of the tragedy of women's marriage and fate, and the earliest "marriage" in the history of China.
Wang Hongqi believed that the sea level rose to the highest point in 7400. "The coastline moved westward to the Beijing-Guangzhou railway line at the foot of Taihang Mountain today, and then the sea level gradually fell back and the coastline retreated eastward. The story of Jingwei's reclamation and Gong Yu's moving mountains is an ancient memory of the above changes. "
Up to now, Du Weiwei, a mythological scholar in Taiwan Province, should be the one who clearly interprets the mythological motif of "Jingwei filling the sea". Based on the theory of pan-moon myth, Du believes that Jingwei Reclamation is a myth with the theme that the moon turns into a bird during the day and a girl at night. Most of Du's explanations were attached to the meeting. Although his views are new, they are hardly convincing.
Another school, such as Li Jing and Sun, used anthropological and folklore methods to analyze the cultural connotation of the myth of "Jingwei Reclamation", and analyzed that the myth of "Jingwei Reclamation" showed the bird totem belief in ancient matriarchal society, interpreted the status of women under the clan system at that time, and reflected a certain national spirit of the Chinese nation. The myth of "Jingwei Reclaiming the Sea" shows the tragic spirit and consciousness of feminism and subverts the previous myth of "happy ending".
Through the study of mythical texts, we need to explore their rich cultural connotations from multiple angles. The myth of "Jingwei filling the sea" is a historical record left by ancient humans. Because it is too far away, there are different opinions on its explanation.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Jingwei Reclamation