Why did the ancients like to post door gods?
During the Chinese New Year, every household likes to post door gods. Why? Some people say that this comes from a short story in "Journey to the West". It is said that Wei Zheng dreamed of killing the Dragon King. As a result, the old Dragon King pestered Li Shimin every day. In the end, he couldn't ask Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong to guard it, and later developed into a door god. So is this the real situation?
Originating from the worship of common things in ancient times, the Yin Dynasty emperor sacrificed five sacrifices, and the door was one of them. In the Zhou Dynasty, the five sacrifices were sacrificed at the "door" of the palace-a place where they must pass through every day and at every time, and naturally paid attention to it. Sacrifice visualized and personified the door god. Legend has it that he is a god who rules ghosts on earth under the orders of the Yellow Emperor. Therefore, on the evening of the 30th month of the twelfth lunar month, two gods carved from peach wood were placed on both sides of the gate to ward off ghosts and eliminate disasters. Later, two statues were painted on the door. Chasing him as a door god.
In the ancient ritual ceremonies, there were originally five sacrifices (or seven sacrifices), and all the sacrifices were small gods. Its origin is the primitive worship of nature. The primitive worship believed that everything related to people's daily lives had a god. What the five sacrifices offer are all useful things for people's living, entering and exiting, and eating, so they repay virtue with chaos. This is the earliest source of the concept of door god.
Some of the
say that the door god is the god of yin qi, or that he lives in the world to observe minor mistakes and make censure, which is after the door god's function is socialized. This concept was more popular during the Han and Jin Dynasties. Records in ancient books such as the "Jade Candle Treasure Collection" and "Jingchu Fa Shi Ji" are still the relics of this belief. In the future, the five sacrifices were only used as part of the national ritual ceremonies. The door gods, kitchen gods, etc. believed by the people were no longer related to their original forms.
Another function of ancient door gods was to ward off ghosts and evil spirits and ensure national peace. It is said that this kind of door god started with the names of Shentu and Yulei. There are various interpretations. We will still call them Shentu and Yulei in the customary way. They were originally mythical figures, but were quite popular among the people in the Han Dynasty. They were believed to have the magical power to seize courage. Because they usually live under the large peach trees on Dusu Mountain, on New Year's Eve, people hang the two gods (picking people and reeds) to bind ghosts), and paint the images of the two gods and the two gods (holding ghosts to eat tigers) on the door. This method is used to drive away ghosts and ward off evil spirits.
With the development of society and ideological changes, people's requirements for door gods are not only to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, but also to gain fame and wealth from them. At the latest in the Ming Dynasty, paintings such as "Jue, deer, bat, xi, treasure, horse, bottle, saddle, etc. were often added to the statue of Samurai Men to welcome the auspicious location." In the future, the door god's obligation to eliminate evil spirits was abolished and he specialized in praying for blessings. As a result, the folk atmosphere of Tianguan, No. 1 scholar, Fortune and Longevity Star, Harmony, and God of Wealth were formed as door gods.
Therefore, the door god actually existed in ancient times and originated from the ancients 'worship of immortals. It was not Li Shimin's creation.