Kirin has been regarded as a "benevolent beast" or a "divine beast" since ancient times. As one of the four spirits (dragon, phoenix, turtle and unicorn), it symbolizes wealth, auspiciousness and benevolence. There are countless records about the legend of Kirin in ancient books, among which there are many discussions about the birthplace of Kirin, and they all tend to be unified. It is also for this reason that the competition for Kirin's hometown is not as fierce as other cultural heritages. It is generally believed that Kirin was born in southwest Shandong. Juye County and Jiaxiang County in Shandong Province, which are distributed here, both claim to be "the hometown of Kirin", and it is worth considering where they belong.
According to the Spring and Autumn Annals: "In the spring of the fourteenth year of Lu Aigong (48 BC1), the hunting in the west was given." The detailed explanation of Zuo Zhuan is: "In the spring of the fourteenth year, I went hunting in Xiao Ye." The History of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty also recorded the same thing: in the thirty-ninth year of the week, he was killed in Xiao Ye, and his uncle, a minister and key businessman, got a beast with a deer body, oxtail and horseshoe, and a meat horn on his head. He was killed for a surprise. Confucius sighed: "The benevolent beast, the forest also, it also comes", so that his disciples were buried. As can be seen from the above, the animal image described in the history books of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is Kirin, and it is recognized by Confucius. It can be concluded that Lu Aigong hunted Kirin instead of Xiao Ye. As can be seen from the book Erya, there is indeed a place called Daye in Lu in history, where Kirin once haunted.
Kong Chuan: "Xiao Ye, Ming Ze." Historically, the southwest of Mount Tai, which is now the southwest of Shandong Province, is a vast plain formed by the scouring and silting of the Yellow River, which is called Daye because of its flatness and openness. There are many rivers in Xiao Ye, most of which flow into depressions in the northeast, forming lakes or swamps, so it is also called Konosawa, or Juye Ze. The specific time when Konosawa appeared cannot be verified, but it can be inferred from some ancient books that it existed before the Xia Dynasty. According to "Shangshu Gong Yu", "Xiao Ye is abundant and Dongping". The Book of Rites says, "Phoenix and Kirin are all in the suburbs". During the Spring and Autumn Period, the wasteland was rich in vegetation, water and species. Kirin can get enough food here, and this place can be a place for its survival and reproduction. So it is not surprising that Kirin was born in Ozawa and is haunted.
Juye has a long history. As early as in primitive society, clans and tribes lived together. Fuxi clan used to "plow, fish and hunt" in Dayeze, and Juye County has a tomb of Chiyou. Juye was founded in the early Western Han Dynasty, with a history of more than 2,000 years. Because it is the entrance of Daye, it is named Juye, and "Giant" also has great meaning. Tang Gaozu Wude four years, taking the opportunity of the Western Expedition, set up Linzhou in Juye, so Juye is also called Linzhou. Confucius said on geography: "Ozawa is in the north of Juye County, and the big is the big. "Geographically recorded Juye County is consistent with the historical facts of the county established in the early Han Dynasty, and the location of Konosawa can also be determined. Based on this, we can draw the following conclusions: Juye geographical space is located in Xiao Ye, where there is Konosawa, in the north of Juye County; Although with the changes of history, the replacement of dynasties and the shrinking or increasing of geographical space, Juye County today is the so-called Juye County in ancient times, and Juye County, rather than Jiaxiang County, is the place where Lu Aigong took the forest.
Relevant historical materials and existing relics in Juye County can fully prove that Juye is the source of Kirin culture. According to Li Jifu's "Yuanhe County Records" in the Tang Dynasty: "Juye Ze is fifty miles east of the county seat, that is, Luxi Hunting Ground ... Lin Dui is twelve miles east of the county seat." According to records, it is also called Kirin Tomb or Kirin Terrace, which was built by disciples of Confucius. Wei Biao, a bachelor of Hanlin in the Tang Dynasty, carved stones in the inscription of Lintai in front of Kirin's tomb. During the Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties, Rui Lin Temple was built in the west of Kirin's tomb. Rui Lin Temple is magnificent in architecture and scale, but it no longer exists because of its long history and poor protection. According to local legend, at that time, the whole temple occupied an area of 100 mu, with more than 100 monks and dozens of tenants. There are shops, stone mills, vegetable gardens, salt beds and car workshops near the temple. In the 16th year of Yuan Dynasty, Lin was regarded as auspicious, and a forest pavilion was built in the north of Juye County. In the second year, from Yuan Wenzong to Shunshun, Fan Xun wrote Juye County and rebuilt Lin Fengting. In the fourteenth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, Jining Prefecture sentenced Zhang Jiuxu to rebuild a Kirin monument, and the inscription and chronological signature engraved on the monument still exist today. Qilintai is located 750 meters east of Chenhuzhuang Village, Qilin Town. Historically, it was called the Kirin Tomb. After a long period of wind and rain, the existing platform is about 4 meters high, 48 meters long from east to west and 20 meters long from north to south. According to 1979 survey and exploration, it is found that the original site is 73 meters long from east to west and 52 meters long from north to south, covering an area of about 3,800 square meters. Ash pits have been discovered, and many fragments of red pottery with sand, Han pottery fragments, mussels and animal teeth have been unearthed.
Today, Jiaxiang is located ten kilometers east of Juye. Judging from its historical evolution, from the Three Kingdoms period to the Southern Song Dynasty, it has always belonged to Juye's jurisdiction in administrative division. 1 147 (in the seventeenth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty and the seventh year of Jin Dynasty), Juye County and Rencheng County were divided into new counties to govern Shankou Town. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Jiaxiang County was named after the story of Lu Aigong's "Harsh Westward Expedition" in the 14th spring. Jiaxiang became a county alone later than Juye. In ancient times, it was under the jurisdiction of Juye and separated from Juye. Geographically, Jiaxiang is not a piece of land. Jiaxiang got this name because of the influence of Kirin culture, which shows the local respect for Kirin culture, but from the existing relics and related records, Jiaxiang can only be regarded as a branch of Kirin culture rather than the source.
In the land of Linzhou, ancient legends have been passed down to this day, and the traces of ancient celebrity writers are well documented. The customs and etiquette have penetrated into the daily life of local residents, which is enough for Juye to call it "the hometown of Kirin".
The legend about the birth of Kirin is widely circulated in Juye. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was an old man in Juye Ze who had a cow at home. The cow was pregnant with a calf, but it was in labor, but it was delayed. Because he was busy farming in autumn, the old man had to let him farm. At noon, this cow gave birth to a calf with horns on its head, scales on its body, horseshoes and a cow's tail. It was born alive and kicking, grows when it sees the wind, and eats when it is hungry. In the blink of an eye, it actually ate half of the plow used by the old man Song. The old man was a little scared and said to him, "I can't support you." You'd better go somewhere else. " It listened, stared big eyes, nodded and left. Lu Aigong's Kirin in Wucheng is the monster mentioned above. Wucheng was located in Daye at that time, which is now Juye.
The reason why Kirin is called a benevolent beast is closely related to Confucius, the originator of Confucianism. According to the Juye County Records, which will be published for three years from tomorrow, Linshan was originally named Qiao Shishan, which looks like a tiger. According to legend, in 552 BC (the 21st year of Lu Aigong), Confucius' mother went to Qiaoshishan to pray for her son, met Kirin, conceived in November and gave birth to Confucius. Later, Qiao Shishan was renamed Qilin Mountain, or Linshan. Seeing the steep mountain, Yan named his son Qiu, that is, Confucius. According to Juye County Records, Qilin Mountain, also known as Linshan Mountain, is located four kilometers south of Dushan Town Government in Juye County, Shandong Province. After years of changes, Qilin Mountain is only 2-3 meters high and covers an area of more than 3,000 square meters. This is the only low mountain on the surrounding plain. The bare stones on the mountain are purple, and there are several withered cypresses in the north of the mountain. There are related cultural relics in villagers' homes around Linshan, and the pattern of "Kirin sending a child" is the most common. In the sixties and seventies of last century, because of the complicated fonts and the fact that Kirin was regarded as the object of "four seniors" during the Cultural Revolution, Linshan was called Linshan for short, and a small village at the foot of Linshan, originally called Linshandian, was also rewritten as Linshan Village.
Confucius was born to see the forest and died to see the forest. According to Sima Qian's Historical Records of Confucius' Family, in 48 1 year BC (the spring of the 14th year of Lu Aigong), Confucius was deeply saddened to see Kirin killed in Daye (now Juye County), and immediately wrote an elegy for Kirin: "Tang Yu is happy in the world, what else can he ask for now? I'm worried about Linlin. "And made disciples build a unicorn platform here, and died two years later. After the death of Confucius, the story of winning Lin Daizuo was widely circulated. "The Western Expedition to Win the Forest" took place in the 14th year of Spring and Autumn Period in Lu Aigong, and Confucius' book Spring and Autumn Period was also published in this year. At this time, Confucius was seventy-one years old and stopped writing books. This fully proves that the story of Kono's success and Confucius' last words that Juye is still circulating is true.
There are still many folk customs related to Kirin in Juye today. In the traditional culture of China, there is a saying that Kirin gives birth to children, which is influenced to some extent by the legend that Confucius dreamed of Kirin and gave birth to Confucius. Until now, there are people who go to Qilin Mountain to worship their children. Kirin, as the object of totem worship, has been passed down in the process of continuous diffusion and deepening. It is very popular because it symbolizes good luck, wealth and other beautiful meanings. Make all kinds of decorative items for underage children to wear, which means praying and protecting. Up to now, Juye still retains the custom of wearing a unicorn lock, a unicorn belly and a unicorn hat for children. The peasant paintings, embroidery, paper-cutting and sculpture in Juye County are mostly based on Kirin culture, forming a unique cultural phenomenon.
Through the above textual research and analysis, it can be determined that Juye is the place where Kirin was born, and in the process of historical evolution, Kirin culture has always run through all aspects of local residents' lives. The people of Juye County have been loyal to Kirin culture since ancient times, and have promoted and passed it on through various channels, which has had a certain influence at home and abroad. Kirin culture is a native of Sri Lanka, and the title of "hometown of Kirin" belongs to Juye.