My years as a fortune teller

Seeing that I didn't speak for a long time, I shouted a few times and asked with a smile: "Master Zhang, what are you thinking about, old man? Don't you think why there is such a big difference between the two photos?"

I smiled and shook my head and said, "No, I haven't thought about this question for so long. I'm just thinking about the tomb-slayer beasts I know based on the records in this note. There are too many ways to think about it. Something's messed up!"

Hearing it with four eyes, he immediately said: "Master Zhang, can you tell me about it? Although I have seen it a lot, I still don't know how this thing came about. To be honest, if you tell me, It’s good for us to discuss together.”

I smiled and said to him: "Tomb town beasts were famous in ancient China. According to the "Zhou Li" records, there is a kind of monster called Elephant, which eats the liver and brain of dead people; Because of the ability of elephants, the family often ordered Fang Xiangshi to stand beside the tomb. To prevent the intrusion of monsters, it was also said that this Fang Xiangshi had four golden clothes, covered with bear skin, wore red clothes and black trousers, and rode horses. Yang Ge, go to the tomb and strike the four corners of the tomb to drive away Fang Liang and elves. Fang Liang is also a demon that endangers the dead, and people use the power of Fang Xiang to drive them away. Therefore, some scholars believe that this is the use of tomb towns. The origin of the custom of the beast."

Speaking of this, I asked with a smile, "Do you know what this elf elephant is?" Shaking my head with four eyes, I continued, "This elf elephant is also called Wangxiang, a water monster in ancient legends, or a monster of wood and stone. "Mandarin? Lu Yu Xia" said that the monsters of water are dragons and elephants. Wei Zhao's commentary may say that elephants cannibalize people, and they are called mu swollen. In "Zhuangzi Dasheng", there are elephants in water. Lu Deming's interpretation of Sima's original work has no Injury. It looks like a child, red and black, with red claws, big ears, and long arms. One cloud: the name of the water god. "Historical Records" says that Zhuanxu had three sons, who died as pestilence ghosts: one lived in the river, and the other was a malaria ghost; the other lived in water. , as sprites and ghosts; living in a palace, good at astonishing children, they are little ghosts. So at the age of Zheng, I ordered Fang Xiangshi to be handsome to drive away the plague ghosts."

Then he looked at him and asked, "Then do you know what this Fang Xiangshi is?" Four eyes still shook his head.I smiled and continued: "It is said that Fang Xiangshi is also an official name. The first person to obtain this official position was called Momu. She was from the time of the Yellow Emperor, and she looked extremely ugly. "Lu Shi Chunqiu? Yu He Pian" contains: " Mommy is attached to the Yellow Emperor.The Yellow Emperor said that he is strict with Rude but never forgets, and that he is upright with you and never declines, even if he is evil, he will not hurt!" It means that the Yellow Emperor accepted Lei Mu as his second concubine and asked her to manage the harem. "Ancestor God", ordered the mother to direct the sacrificial affairs and guard the coffin. Because of her ugly appearance, the mother could pretend to be a vicious ghost exorcist to drive away evil spirits. Therefore, Fang Xiangshi, who is called by later generations, is this mother. mother, and the inventor of the first mirror."

Hearing this, Siyan said in amazement: "It turns out that the Fang Xiangshi mentioned by later generations is the most famous ugly woman in the world! Haha, it seems that ugly people can ward off evil spirits. This has existed since ancient times." It didn't occur to Siyan to know a little about Mommy's deeds.

I smiled and continued: "The "Zhou Rituals" say that Fang Xiangshi's funeral will be expanded to drive away elves. Elephants eat the liver and brains of the deceased. People can't always make Fang Xiangshi stand beside the tomb to guard them. But The elephant is afraid of the tiger and the cypress, so the tiger and the cypress stand in front of the tomb. "Historical Records" During the time of Qin Mugong, the people of Chencang dug the ground and found something like a sheep, and offered it. Dao met two boys and said: This name is called scorpion, and it is always on the ground. Eat the brain of the dead. If you kill it, beat its head with the southeast branch of cypress. Because there are cypresses on the sides of the tomb! So what we see now, there are cypresses or stone beasts on both sides of the ancient tomb path."

The four eyes heard this and said: "No wonder there are all kinds of wild animals beside the ancient Chinese tombs, and there are cypress trees. These are the reasons for this. And the tomb-suppressing beasts have animal faces, human faces, and antlers. By the way, what I know so far The earliest tomb-guarding beasts were found in Chu tombs in the Warring States Period, and gradually became rare in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the past, a double-headed tomb-guarding beast was unearthed. , the giant eyes are wide open, and the long tongue reaches the neck. A pair of giant antlers are inserted at each end, and the four antlers protrude horizontally."

I nodded and said: "Yes, a tomb-slayer with a human face and a beast body was unearthed in Xi'an, Shaanxi, which is quite rare in China. Moreover, the tomb-slayer with a human face is also very evil. I think you should Yes, I know. In [-], two tomb-guarding beasts were unearthed from the tomb of Xianyu Tingjiao in Xi'an. One has a human face and the other an animal face. There are horns on the head. The image is ferocious, colorful and exquisitely made. The typical image of the tomb-suppressing beast. The Western Han Dynasty continued the tradition of tomb-suppressing in the pre-Qin period, but most of the tomb-suppressing objects in the Western Han Dynasty were placed on the tomb, "the cypress on the tomb, and the stone tiger on the road". Outside the tomb, there are more 'Tianlu' and 'Evil Exorcism' placed on top of the tombs of wealthy emperors."

Hearing this, the four eyes immediately asked: "Master Zhang, what did Tianlu and evil spirits say? I have seen evil spirits before, and many people have them in their homes now. But Tianlu, this is the first time I have heard of it." , you tell me too."

I thought about it, and said to Siyan: "This Tianlu and Xiexie are tomb-preserving beasts mainly in animal shapes. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, a pottery one-horned tomb-preserving beast appeared. This kind of one-horned tomb-preserving beast The beast stands on all fours, with an empty stomach, a short and upturned tail, and a single horn on the top of its head. Many scholars believe that the Unicorn of the Eastern Han Dynasty was imitated from the legendary Xiezhi in the pre-Qin period. However, Xiezhi is a divine beast that upholds justice in ancient legends: Mountain ox, one horn, the ancients decided the lawsuit, the touch is not straight, and the nature is loyal. If you see people fighting, you will not touch the straight ones; What about the Tomb Slayer?"

He paused at this point, and continued: "But in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, in addition to the unicorns at the end of the Han Dynasty, there appeared a double-horned tomb-guarding beast. In this way, the double-horned tomb-guarding beast and the one-horned tomb-guarding beast began to coexist. These tomb town beasts have their own unique names, Wangtianhou, Pixiu, Tianlu, evil spirits, etc. Shen Kuo in the Song Dynasty wrote in "Mengxi Bi Tan? Strange Things": Zhihezhong, Jiaozhi Xianlin, such as The ox is big, has large scales all over its body, and has a horn on its head. According to the biography of Kao, it is not the same as the lin. At that time, there was a mountain rhinoceros, but the rhinoceros did not say that it had scales... Looking at it now, it is almost impossible for Tianlu. .”

The four eyes were dumbfounded when they heard the ancient Chinese, and immediately asked: "Master Zhang, can you just speak the modern language, and you still speak the ancient language in a literal way. I really didn't understand a word, please explain to me."

I smiled and said: "This passage refers to the period of Song Renzong, that is, from 1054 to 1056 AD. Now Vietnam has contributed a unicorn, which is as big as a cow. It has scales all over its body and a horn on its head. It doesn't look like a unicorn. Some people say it's a rhinoceros. But rhinoceros can't bark. After Shen Kuo looked at it later, he thought it should be Tianlu. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty? , Huang Zhongsi, and Tianlu and Xiama. Li Xian commented that Tianlu is also a beast... Today, there is a stele of Zongzi in the north of Nanyang County, Dengzhou, and there are two stone beasts beside it. One is called Tianlu, and the other is called evil spirits. According to this, it is Tianlu, evil spirits and beast names. There was Tianlu Pavilion in the Han Dynasty, and it was also named after the beast."

Four Eyes shook his head and said: "Damn, there are these doorways in it. That is to say, you came with Xiao Zhang. If you were with Liu, you wouldn't tell us these things. It depends on his old man's words." Mood, if you are in a good mood, I will tell you a few words, and if you are in a bad mood, you can't even mention it." Hearing this, my heart sank.

Just as I was talking, the door was pushed open, and I saw that it was Taoist Xunshan who walked in.As soon as he came in, he saw his notes that I put on the table.Frowning, he said to me: "You boy, you actually entered my room without my consent. You even took out my book. Be careful and I will tell your master."

I rubbed my nose and said, "Other than this, what else would you do, old man? Didn't you just take a book, and it's not stealing your treasure. Besides our friendship and seniority, can you still use the word stealing?" ?”

The veteran patrolling mountain gave me a helpless look, and sat down beside me.It happened that I had a question to ask, so I said to him: "You came at the right time, old man, I have two questions to ask you." Four eyes heard that I wanted to ask someone a question, and told him to cover his mouth and laugh stand up...