The God of Fire is one of the gods in folk belief. All ethnic groups in China have the custom of worshiping the God of Fire. However, the image, origin and behavior of the god of fire in the ancient historical records of the Han people and in the legends of various ethnic groups are very different, and there are also many differences in related beliefs and folk customs. Even on the key issue of why the worship of the god of fire began, the views of experts and scholars are also different. There are differences and disputes, and there is still no unified statement.
Among the ethnic groups that believe in shamanism in northern my country, the God of Fire is an ancient woman, known as the Fire God Mother, Fire Woman, Fire Girl, Fire Spirit, etc. For example, the legend of the Oroqen people goes like this: A woman got up to warm herself up in the morning and offended the God of Fire by stirring the fire. No matter where her family moved, there was no fire. Later, she begged the Goddess of Fire and was forgiven. When she returned home and lit the fire again, the fire started. According to Mr. Wu Bingan, the principle of the sacredness and inviolability of the God of Fire embodied in this legend not only runs through the hunting and herding production customs of some northern peoples, but is also implemented in all aspects of daily life, such as It is absolutely forbidden to step on fire, ride on fire, or step on fire. It is not allowed to speak ill of fire or directly insult fire. While respecting the benefits that fire brings to the world, people also regard forest and pasture fires, fevers in patients, nightmares in children and other diseases as the result of the anger of the god of fire. The more they revere it, the more they fear its effects on people. Punishment and revenge. Therefore, the god of fire is worshiped and sacrificed more often than other natural gods ("The Mysterious World of Shamans", published by Sanlian Bookstore Shanghai Branch, 1989).
In Manchu myths and legends, the young hero Toa stole a gourd of fire from the Sky Fire Storehouse. He dug a hole in the stone, then put the fire into the stones one by one, brought it back to the world, and told people to use it. Knock rocks together to make fire. Just like that, there was fire in the world. From then on, people worshiped Tuo'a as the God of Fire. In addition to offering sacrifices in the Spring and Autumn Period, a grand ceremony to welcome the God of Fire was also held every New Year's Eve (ibid.).
The fire god worship of the southwest ethnic minorities is different from the personification of the fire god of the northern ethnic minorities. Most of them regard the burning flame as the incarnation of the fire god (or regard Guozhuang stone, Huotang stove, etc. as the fire god) symbol), and is regarded as the patron saint who bestows fire and wealth, making the family prosperous.
The fire worship of the Han people also has "school" differences. In terms of image and origin, Zhu Rong is generally regarded as the God of Fire. It is said that he was a descendant of the Zhuanxu clan. His real name was Chongli, also called Wu Hui. When Emperor Ku (the Gaoxin clan, the legendary leader of the ancient tribe) was in power, The official is in the position of Huozheng, he is very meritorious and can bring light to the world. Emperor Ku Nai ordered him to be named "Zhu Rong". After his death, he will be the god of the Fire Officer. It is also said that Dayu's father Gun stole the soil of the Emperor of Heaven, and the Emperor of Heaven ordered Zhurong to kill Gun in Yujiao ("The Book of Mountains and Seas·Hainei Jing"); when Cheng Tang attacked Xia Jie, the Emperor of Heaven ordered Zhurong to bring down fire on Xia City ("Jing of Mountains and Seas"). Mozi "Fei captured"), helped Chengtang to destroy Xia. In the folklore of later generations, Zhu Rong often appeared as a woman and was called "Mrs. Zhu Rong". In addition, folk beliefs also say that Emperor Yan or the Suiren clan are the gods of fire. For example, in ancient times, the Suiren clan drilled wood to make fire, which brought mankind into the stage of cooked food. Later generations revered him as the god of fire, also known as the True King of Fire Virtue, and offered sacrifices regularly. There are also some areas where the worship of the god of fire has no specific origin, and is sometimes called the Southern Fire Emperor, or the Fire-Growing Mother, etc. The dates and actions of worshiping the God of Fire are also inconsistent in various historical periods and regions. For example, in ancient times, sacrifices to the God of Fire were held in summer. After the Han and Jin Dynasties, this tradition was continued in the form of sacrifices to the stove in summer. Another example is that in Sichuan and other places, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month is the "birthday" of the God of Fire. At that time, farmers, farmers, and merchants would offer incense, worship the god, or perform plays to entertain the god. In the Lunan area, the seventh day of the first lunar month is the day to worship the God of Fire. There is a folk custom of organizing a "God of Fire Meeting". In addition to worshiping at the Fire God Temple, all members have to have dinner together twice. In addition, the God of Fire has a fierce appearance, with three heads and six arms. It also has fire wheels, fire gourds, fire seals, fire swords, fire bows and other firearms equipment, which resembles the metamorphosis of "Nezha" in myths and legends.
Similar to the variety of folk beliefs, modern scholars also have different views on the origins of traditional fire god worship and other issues.
Some people believe that in some areas of the southwest, burning flames or fire pits are used as the incarnation or symbol of the god of fire. This is the original form of worship of the god of fire, along with related rituals, sacrificial words and taboos. The conceptual connotation reflects people's dual understanding of both gratitude and fear of the role of fire, thus maintaining more of the original style of human worship of natural forces in ancient times. As for the fire gods such as Emperor Yan, Suiren, and Zhu Rong, they are the personal fire gods created after the Warring States Period; others, such as the True Lord Huode and the Fire-Growing Mother, are all fabricated by later generations.
Some people disagree with this theory and believe that there is a tribe among the ancestors of the Chinese nation that worships the god of fire and the stars named after "fire" in the sky. This is named after Emperor Yan - the Sui people - Zhu Rong. The clan of Emperor Yan who is the ancestor god. The clan name of Emperor Yan is the Gao Xin family. "Xin" is the original character for "salary", which is taken from the shape of splitting wood with an axe. "If you have salary (Xin), you can get fire, so Gao Xin's original meaning should actually be the nickname of the God of Fire." And Xin has the same sound as Xin, "Shuowen": "Xin, the sound of Xin. Congfang, the sound of Yao." It can be seen from this that the ancient pronunciation of the word Xin is Yao. The so-called Yandi Gaoxin clan is actually the famous "Emperor Yao" among the ancient emperors. Then refer to "The God of Yan, the Emperor Yan" (Wang Yi's "Chu Song·Yuan Yuan Chapter"), "The Emperor Yan's clan is based on fire, so he is a fire master and named after fire" ("Zuo Zhuan·The Seventeenth Year of Zhaogong"), According to records such as "Emperor Yan drilled a flint to make fire" ("Guan Zi: Qing and Chong Chapter"), "Emperor Yan made a stove after his death" ("Huainanzi Bin Lun Xun"), it can be said that "the Yan Emperor tribe was originally a group of people who worshiped the god of fire. tribe. Moreover, the name Yandi itself is also the God of Fire." From the perspective of Mount Tai as the center of the world, Emperor Yan's activity area was relatively in the southwest, which led to the saying in Volume 9 of "Ji Xue Ji" that Emperor Yan "is located in the south and dominates Xia" (He Xin's " The Origin of the Gods", Joint Publishing House, 1986). Based on this, the ancient historical legends regarding Emperor Yan and Zhu Rong as the gods of fire, as well as the popular belief that the god of fire is the "fire emperor of the south" and worshiped in summer, all have historical development trajectories to be found.
Some people believe that the source of folk fire god belief is the worship of the big Mars (i.e. the heart) by the early people. "Zuo Zhuan" records that Emperor Yan's "keeping records by fire" actually refers to the observation of the changes in the movement of Mars to determine the seasons; and the "Huozheng" held by Zhu Rong is an official position that specializes in observing the changes in the movement of Mars to determine the seasons. In addition, Volume 869 of "Taiping Yulan" quotes "Zizi": "The Sui people go up to watch the morning sun"
In Tianyang and neighboring counties and rural areas within a hundred miles of Ganzhuang Mountain, there is still such a story about The mythical story of Buluo Tuo, the ancestor of the Zhuang people, making fire.
According to legend, in ancient times, because there was no fire, people ate the animals they hunted like crows and ate raw fish every time. In the coldest month of winter, people shivered in their raincoats or leaf turf, and many people froze to death in the wilderness. It was terrible. Suddenly one day, there were dark clouds, strong winds, dark sky, thunder and lightning, and an earthquake. The mountain shook. On a hill not far from Ganzhuang Mountain, a big tree was knocked down by lightning amidst the deafening thunder. After the dazzling white light, the fallen tree suddenly ignited into the sky. Fire. Legend has it that the Jade Emperor Zao Huang sent Thunder God to send fireworks to the world. However, people at that time did not know what fire was, and they were frightened by the sudden fire, as if they were trying to ward off evil spirits. They all ran back to the cave to hide in a panic, avoiding the fire and not even daring to look at it. However, only one person was calm. He was neither afraid nor running away. He bravely faced the burning fire. Shu walked over and looked at this strange thing carefully. This man was Buluotuo, the omnipotent god of creation. The fire was burning, and Buluotuo stood by the fire curiously. He thought. This strange thing was hotter than the sun. Buluotuo had an idea. If people had this thing, they would no longer be afraid of the cold when winter came, and people would never freeze to death. So he broke off a branch and started a fire. After taking it back to the cave, he gathered a pile of dry firewood into a pile and lit it, and then casually sat by the fire to warm his hands. He felt very warm. People followed Buluotuo's example and gathered around the fire to warm themselves. Gradually, they were no longer afraid of the fire. There was a fire. The news spread quickly. Later, descendants of the Zhuang people from hundreds of miles away gathered on Ganzhuang Mountain to ask for fire. Since there was a fire, people gathered around it in winter. Sitting by the fire to keep warm, people also tried to roast and eat the wild beasts they brought from the mountains, the yams they dug, the wild fruits they picked, and the fish, shrimps and crabs they caught in the river. Although there were no oil, salt, sauces, etc. at that time, they did not expect that eating it roasted would not only be more delicious than eating it raw, but also sweet and delicious. Therefore, they changed their habit of eating raw meat during the day and burning it at night. They eat while roasting, and after eating, they sleep around the fire. Ferocious beasts such as tigers and leopards are afraid of fire and dare not attack again. People have also begun to realize the importance of fire to their living environment. It’s even beginning to feel like humans can’t live without fire.
One night, it suddenly rained heavily. The rain extinguished all the fires. When they woke up one night, they had no fire. Only then did people realize that water and fire are incompatible. They lived in uneasiness without fire. After a while I couldn't sit still anymore. People went down the mountain in the rain to look for fire everywhere. They searched all the caves around Ganzhuang Mountain, but could not find any sparks wherever they went. At this time, someone thought of Buluotuo, the omnipotent creator god who could create heaven and earth, and told this Zhuang god about finding fire. Buluotuo decided to go out to look for fire himself. He hung a big magic ax on his waist, stood like a pine tree, and walked like the wind. He searched the wilderness, ridges and caves of ninety-nine mountains, and walked through ninety-nine river bends. After all the village visits, they still came back disappointed.
On the way back to Ganzhuang Mountain, Buluotuo came to take a rest under a big tree. He suddenly remembered the last time Thunder God split the tree to give fire. He thought, since Thunder God can split the big tree, Can't I, Buluotuo, get angry? Besides, I still have a magic ax in my hand! With this thought in mind, he chose a cracked old tree, summoned up all his strength, raised his magic ax, and struck the tree that the two of them couldn't close together. As expected, many sparks like fireflies kept flashing. Buluotuo struck again with the axe, and this time the sparks that came out were as big as a spark snake, dancing up and down and scurrying around. Buluotuo immediately scraped hay and leaves into a pile, which was soon ignited by sparks. Buluotuo added a lot of hay and dry firewood to the fire. The fire became more and more prosperous and burned, and soon attracted people from all directions looking for fire. From then on, people had fire again. With the lessons learned last time, this time people no longer dared to light fires in the wild. They took the fire to the cave and raised it. From then on, no matter how strong the wind or rain, the fire would still not go out. It was not until later that people built houses with wooden frames and covered with mud and tiles, and people brought fire into the house to boil water for cooking and heating.
Since then, fire has been able to be preserved and continued, but many problems have arisen. Because people did not control the fire well, they let the butterflies and moths flying into the house use their wings as fans to fan the fire. Even chickens, ducks, and geese followed suit, causing sparks to fly everywhere. Fire travels everywhere. Some even let their children play with fire under the eaves. As a result, when a fire broke out, the entire village was burned to the ground, and even some old people and children who had no time to escape were burned to death. People did not expect that fire would cause such a great disaster to people. Those survivors had no choice but to go and ask Buluotuo how to use fire safely. Without saying a word, Buluotuo asked someone to chop wood, and set up a square stove in the middle of the house, which was covered with sand. It was stipulated that every household's fire must be burned in the stove. Play with fire casually, and in this way, the number of fires will gradually decrease. The original naughty fireflies were also driven into the wild, and when they escaped, they secretly dipped some fire into their butts, so even now we can still see the sparks on the fireflies’ butts on summer nights.
Although the story of Buluotuo making fire is just a myth or legend, some of the details of the story also make us convinced. If you can go to one of the few remaining wooden houses in the countryside in this area, Walking around the farmers here, it is not difficult to find out whether their kitchens are exactly the same as in the story or it is a coincidence. The author disagrees. Fortunately, with the continuous advancement of rural reform, most rural wooden buildings have long since disappeared and have been replaced by beautiful buildings with reinforced concrete structures. The previously so-called stoves have also been replaced by biogas stoves and gas stoves. Perhaps, Making fire is an unfamiliar word that is gradually disappearing in modern life. But as descendants of the Zhuang people, we have no reason to ignore or forget our national roots.
Greek Mythology:
Prometheus was punished by God King Zeus for stealing fire for mankind
and was chained on a sacred mountain to be eaten by eagles all day long. Heart,
But because he, like Zeus, is a descendant of the second generation of gods ruled by Cronus, the father of Zeus
(Later Cronus was overthrown by his sons status, and Zeus, who led this revolution, became
the three generations of god-kings in ancient Greece), so he will never die and will immediately regenerate a new heart after his heart is pecked out.
In addition:
The god Prometheus stole fire from the sky and gave it to humans. Humans learned to use fire. The main god Zeus was very angry. Zeus decided to let disaster come to the world.
He ordered his son Hephaestus, the god of fire, to make a woman from clay, named Pandora, which means "the one bestowed with all virtues."
Each god has given something to her to make her perfect. Aphrodite gave her beauty, Hermes gave her a sharp tongue, and Apollo gave her the gift of music. Zeus gave Pandora a sealed box filled with evils, disasters and plagues to give to the man who married her. Zeus sent this beauty to the human world, where the gods and mortals were wandering leisurely and happily on the earth. When everyone saw this unparalleled beauty, they were all surprised and envious, because mankind had never had such a woman.
Pandora immediately went to find Epimetheus, the "later enlightened one", who was the younger brother of Prometheus and was an honest and kind man. Prometheus was convinced that Zeus had ill intentions towards mankind and warned his brother Epitheus not to accept gifts from Zeus. But he didn't listen to the advice and married the beautiful Pandora. Pandora held her gift in both hands, which was a large sealed gift box. When she reached Epimetheus, she suddenly opened the lid of the box. Before Epimetheus had time to see clearly what gift was inside the box, a black smoke that harmed the world flew out of the box quickly and filled the sky like a dark cloud. The black smoke was full of diseases, madness, disasters, and sins. , jealousy, adultery, theft, greed and other various scourges, these scourges are quickly scattered on the earth. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, quietly placed the beautiful thing "Hope" at the bottom of the box in order to save the fate of mankind. Before it could fly out of the box, the cunning Pandora closed the box. Later, "Pandora's Box" was used as a metaphor for the gifts that would bring misfortune; the abyss of disaster.
Indian Mythology:
God of Fire
Agni is red all over, shining like the sun, headless and footless[⑩], or has three heads and seven tongues. The long tongue extends eastward, representing the tendency of the Aryans to advance eastward. Undoubtedly, the power of fire is huge. It has played a decisive role in the history of human development. It is closely related to human life in terms of grilling food, driving away darkness, protecting against cold, frightening wild beasts, protecting herds, and burning wasteland for farming. Inseparable from the pots and stoves in each household, he is the owner of the stove and is a real household god. For the Aryans who advocated sacrifice, fire had another level of importance: sacrificial fire was necessary in sacrifices, and all kinds of sacrifices for gods were thrown into the fire. That is to say, during sacrifices, people offer sacrifices to various gods through fire, and the gods receive sacrifices through fire! Fire became a kind of bridge between gods and humans! Therefore, fire has titles such as "priest" and "sacrificial executor". Furthermore, during the Vedic civilization period where wars were frequent, fire also had an unnoticed use, namely disinfection. If there is a war, there will be disabilities. In the process of treating the wounded, it should be more time-saving, labor-saving and material-saving to use the method of fire sterilization of scalpels and other medical instruments. This method may not be unknown to the Aryans. Therefore, Agni is praised by all the rishis:
"I praise Agni the priest,
"the holy performer of sacrifices,
"chan
"He is praised by the sages of ancient times,
"He is praised by the sages of today,
"May he bring the gods." !
"I hope to rely on him to gain wealth,
"Prosperity and prosperity,
"Heroes emerge in large numbers and fame spreads far and wide."[11]
"You preside over all kinds of sacrifices,
"You are the glorious defender of order,
"Growing in your own house.
"May You are to us as a father is to a son,
"O Agni (Fire)! Easy to get close to,"
"May you live with us and bless us." "[12]
Here, Agni is a priest and the master of various sacrifices. With his help, the gods descend to earth to accept people's sacrifices and worship, and bless the world. . Because of the power of the God of Fire, people are prosperous and prosperous. Not only that, Agni is also the defender of order. He is always close to mortals; mortals also hope that Agni will stay with them and treat them like parents treat their children. Live happily together and benefit yourself.
In this way, Agni has legitimately become the patron saint of the family, echoing Indra as the patron saint of the entire tribe, and jointly safeguarding the well-being of mankind.
Nordic:
Loki, the god of fire in Nordic mythology, has the blood of giants.
Smart and cunning, he became a sworn brother to the god Odin and became a member of the Asi clan. Using his brilliant mind brought many benefits to the gods, as Loki's mentality gradually became cynical and dark, his actions also evolved from mischief to openly evil. and ultimately led to "Twilight of the Gods." In this battle, Loki and Heimdall died together. Loki gave birth to many inhuman children, among which the eight-legged Pegasus became Odin's mount. The demon wolf Fenrir, the world snake Yolmgunter, and the queen of the underworld Hel all brought disasters to the gods.