In China, the eagle is the totem of the clan. The Yellow Emperor's army uses the eagle as the flag
Hongshan Jade Eagle
Yuan Haidong Green Goose Trap
Gu carving recorded in "Shan Hai Jing"
The eagle is the king of birds and the overlord of the sky. Eagle culture, art and spirit have been accumulated in China traditional culture for thousands of years, and a distinctive China eagle culture has been formed. The image of the eagle is not only the totem and ethnic emblem of many ethnic groups in the north, but also the symbol of the god of war and the symbol of heroes. Scholars and literati of the past dynasties also sent their feelings to the eagle, used the eagle to express their feelings, and used the eagle to express his aspirations, giving the eagle rich and profound ideological and cultural connotations. In folk culture, the eagle is also a popular mascot and is known as the "Godly Eagle of the Town House".
China Traditional Mascot·Eagle
Eagle is the king of birds and the overlord in the air. In ancient China, it was a totem worshipped by all ethnic groups in the north; in the land of China, the eagle was the symbol of the god of war and the symbol of heroes.
According to modern zoological classification, eagles are a group in the family Eagle, the order Galliformes. They are carnivorous raptors, including goshawks and sparrowhawks. Eagle in the broad sense also includes other birds, such as kites, harriers, etc. The most common eagles in our country are goshaws, sparrowhawks and pine eagles. However, in ancient literature, larger birds of the family Falcon and birds of the family Owl, such as owls, are often called eagles.
Description of the eagle in Shan Hai Jing
It is recorded in the ancient wonderful book "Shan Hai Jing" that there is a bird called Yingjia and another bird called ■ ■. "Shuijing Zhu" quotes the records in "Zhuangzi" that there is a bird called Yajia. Eagle Jia and ■ ■ are probably this kind of bird called Yajia, which belongs to the genus Eagle. The Book of Mountains and Seas also records the big osprey, the bird and the Gu eagle, saying that the big osprey "has the shape of a carving with black tattoos and white heads, a red bill with tiger claws, and its sound is like a swan in the morning." The bird is "shaped like an owl, with bare feet and straight beak, yellow text and white head, and its sound like a swan"; the Gu eagle is called "shaped like a carving with horns, and its sound like the sound of a baby" and is a bird of prey that eats people. The osprey is the osprey, and the bird looks like an owl, which is like a kite eagle. These birds of prey were all called eagles or eagles by the ancients.
The eagle, a raptor, was worshipped by humans as early as the primitive hunting era. Its superb flying skills, ferocious capture and attack skills, and its majestic and majestic demeanor stand proudly make people feel very magical. Although eagles do not pose a threat to human survival, in the face of the cruel natural environment, it is extremely natural for the hunters to fantasize about having the same abilities as eagles. In order to make it easier to capture prey, the hunters domesticated eagles as their assistants, and the eagle harrier became their indispensable reliance, and even became their clan totem and mascot. All ethnic groups in northern my country, such as the Manchu, Hezhe, Ewenki, and Kazakh, worship the divine eagle. Especially in the Northeast, almost all ethnic groups that believe in Shamans have their own eagle myths and legends as well as various taboos and etiquette for eagles.
Archaeological data show that the ancestors of Hongshan in Northeast China 6000 years ago were a people who worshipped eagles. In Hongshan jade articles, a large number of jade eagles, jade owls and jade birds appear, and the number of jade eagles far exceeds that of jade owls and jade birds. Some of the Hongshan jade eagles are realistic, some are simple, and there are some variants of the eagle that exceed the imagination of modern people, reflecting a unique mystery of ancient culture. In the Hongshan Cultural Site, statues with eagle-headed human bodies and statues with giant eagles on top of human heads have also been found. Among the clay sculptures enshrined in the Hongshan Goddess Temple in Niuheliang, fragments of a large beast were also found. Various signs show that the eagle was sacred in the hearts of the ancestors of Hongshan and was undoubtedly the totem they worshipped.
There are large and small Hongshan jade eagles, the small ones account for the majority, and the large ones are more than ten centimeters tall. All jade eagles have two communicating nose-like perforations on the back, which can be sewn on the clothes and hats like badges. It is very convenient to wear. This can also prove that the jade eagles are the totem and ethnic emblem of the ancestors of Hongshan.
The worship of the eagle god has a profound impact on the northern nation of our country. As a totem symbol, the eagle once appeared on the golden crown of the Xiongnu King in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The "Chunshui Jade" in the Liao, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties is a continuation of this eagle culture. The Khitan, Jurchen and Mongolian ethnic groups, three ethnic minorities in the same region as the Hongshan culture, have always retained a tradition of falconry hunting. Every spring comes, they ride horses and carry a falcon named "Haidongqing", slightly larger than a dove, on their arms to hunt swans at the water's edge. The "Spring Water Jade" work of the Yuan Dynasty "Haidongqing Goose Catching" is precisely this theme, showing a martial spirit of using the small to win the big. Nurhachi, the founder of the Qing Dynasty, also regarded the eagle as the totem of the nation. To this day, Mongolian herders living on the northern grasslands still regard eagles as a sacred thing.
The Yellow Emperor's army used eagles as its flag
Cultures in different regions naturally have their own differences. The northern nation of our country regards the eagle as a sacred object and uses the eagle as its ethnic emblem and totem. In the Central Plains, the eagle is a symbol of invincibility. Moreover, with the development of history, people have injected more and more cultural connotations and auspicious connotations into eagles, forming my country's unique eagle culture.
It is recorded in "Liezi·Yellow Emperor Chapter":"The Yellow Emperor and Emperor Yan fought in the wild of Banquan. The commander bears, bears, wolves, leopards, and tigers were the pioneers, and the carving, eagle, and kite were the flags." It is said that after the Yellow Emperor defeated Chiyou in the wild of Zhuolu, he composed "Tong Drum Opera" to celebrate. One of the chapters is called "Diao Orey Struggle", which is the earliest symbol of victory in battle in China. "The Book of Songs·Daya·Ming" describes the Battle of Muye when King Wu conquered Zhou as follows: "Muye is vast, sandal-chariot is brilliant, and Si ■ Peng Peng. When you maintain your teacher and honor your father, you maintain your eagle at the time. King Wu of Liang attacked the Great Shang Dynasty and celebrated the Qingming Festival!" It means: the vast Maye is the battlefield, the sandalwood chariots are bright, and the four horses are majestic and majestic. The commander of the three armed forces respects his father like an eagle flying. Assisting King Wu in leading the army and commanding the three armies to attack Yin and Shang, creating a new atmosphere! In the poem,"eagle soaring" symbolizes the majesty of the military appearance and the victory of the war.
Du Fu's poems express his feelings through eagles
In the writings of ancient literati, the eagle was a symbol of personality and ideals. Qu Yuan used "a flock of birds flying" as a metaphor for his lofty ambition and broad mind. Liu Xie of the Northern and Southern Dynasties compared the mountain pheasants with "strong muscles and heavy strength" with the eagles that "fly to the sky" and praised the eagles for their "strong bones and energy." In his poem "Painting Eagle", Du Fu, the poet saint, used the two sentences "Why should I attack ordinary birds, and the blood of my hair sprinkled on the grass" to express his passion for hatred of evil and his ambition to lead the way. His famous line of eagle chants also: "The two eagles have sharp brains and slow heads, and their eyes are like sorrow to look at the world. The cedar chickens and bamboo rabbits do not pity themselves, and the river tigers and wild sheep are all easy to develop." "Each has its own unique appearance and its clear mind has a direction. Stopping a thousand-mile horse will inspire thousands of generals." Wait.
The artistic images of eagles in ancient art are rich and colorful, each with its own characteristics. The "kite-shaped pottery tripod" of the Yangshao Culture during the Neolithic period is the earliest pottery eagle decoration discovered so far. Later, the "eagle-shaped zun" appeared in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Jade carving eagle figures appeared in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The image of the eagle is also vividly depicted in portrait bricks and stone reliefs. Eagle paintings have appeared in the Jin Dynasty, and most of the eagle paintings handed down in the Tang and Song Dynasties were written by court painters. Famous artists include brothers Guo Qianhui and Guo Qianyou from the Five Dynasties, Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and Lin Liang, a painter of the Ming Dynasty. Famous modern eagle painters include Xu Beihong, Li Kuchan, Pan Tianshou, etc.
The eagle of the town house should be placed high
Eagles in nature have an arrogant and independent temperament, a solemn, powerful and brave character, and a spirit of agility, strength and elegance. Eagles have very large hooked beaks to tear meat from their prey. Its strong legs and very powerful claws can even grab prey weighing dozens of kilograms and fly. Eagles also have extremely sharp vision and can see prey from a long distance. These are the distinctive characteristics of the eagle's becoming the overlord in the air.
In my country's traditional auspicious culture, the eagle is not only the totem and symbol of bravery and victory of the northern nation, but also the symbol of heroes and the patron saint of the family house. After the Tang Dynasty, the image of the dragon also changed from animal claws to eagle claws.
People associate eagles with heroes, not only because eagles are the king of birds, but also because "eagle" and "British" sound like each other. What does "English" mean? What does "male" mean? Liu Shao of the Wei Dynasty said in the "Records of People":"Those who are exquisite and graceful in the grass are heroes, those who are unique in the group of beasts are heroes, and those who are ancient people are distinguished in civil and military affairs, so they are named here. Therefore, if you are smart and show off, you are called heroes, and if you are brave and powerful, you are called heroes." Eagles are inherently intelligent and brave, so it is very appropriate to use eagles to symbolize heroes. In traditional auspicious pictures, there is a picture of "Heroic Independence" with this theme. In the picture, an eagle is painted standing on a reef, implying that the hero is the only one in the world and galloping across the country. Another expression of the "heroic independence" picture is an eagle standing on a pine branch. This picture is constructed using homophonic techniques, that is,"eagle" and "British" are homophonic, and "pine" and "male" are homophonic.
People use the eagle as a metaphor for a hero, and naturally they also place good wishes on the eagle, hoping to use the eagle's power to protect the safety of their homes. Therefore, they draw a picture of the "God Eagle of the Town House", which is often posted on high places to demonstrate the eagle's power.
The eagle is a world-wide mascot. The imperial eagle has been a royal symbol since the pharaoh period. The symbol of the Roman Imperial Army adopts the image of the eagle. There are still many countries that use the eagle pattern in their national flags or national emblems. Egypt's national flag and national emblem are the image of the Saladin Eagle. Mexico's flag and national emblem include a snake-eating eagle that falls on a cactus, which evolved from the legend of the ancient Aztec Indians. It is said that when the Aztecs migrated, they were instructed by gods to settle where an eagle grabbed a snake and landed on a cactus. They finally discovered that this place was Mexico City.
The national flag and national emblem of Albania are a double-headed eagle pattern passed down from the Eastern Roman Empire. When Constantine the Great built Constantinople, he wanted to take care of both the European and Asian parts of the Roman Empire and make it defend and attack, so he chose the double-headed eagle as a symbol. Albania is known as the "Mountain Eagle Country" because of its flag pattern.