Legend overview
The ancient books in China since the Spring and Autumn Period have recorded the legend of Chiyou quite abundantly, but there are often contradictions. According to these records, Chiyou was the leader of the ancient Jiuli tribe. [2][3][4] According to Yi Zhou Shu [5] and Yan Tie Lun [6], scholars speculate that Chiyou belongs to Tai Hao and Shao Hao clan groups. [7] Chiyou has eighty-one brothers (maybe eighty-one tribes mean seventy-two [8]). They are all brave and powerful. [9]
Chiyou is mentioned most in ancient books, which is a fierce battle with the tribal alliance headed by the Yellow Emperor. There are three specific situations. The first theory can be found in Records of the Five Emperors, that is, after the Yellow Emperor defeated Yan Di in the Battle of Hanquan, Chiyou made an insurrection, and the Yellow Emperor defeated Chiyou in the Battle of Zhuolu, thus consolidating the status of the son of heaven; [10] The second theory can be found in Yi Zhou Shu Taste Wheat, that is, Chiyou expelled Chi Di (Emperor Yan) and appealed to the Yellow Emperor, and the two emperors jointly killed Chiyou in China and Hebei; [1 1] The third theory can be found in Shan Hai Jing Huang Da Bei Jing, that is, Chiyou attacked the Yellow Emperor with soldiers, and the Yellow Emperor ordered Ying Long to fight. The two sides fought in Jizhou, and Chiyou was defeated and killed. [ 12]
Although there are some differences between them, there is no doubt that Chiyou and Huangdi fought. The war process is more tortuous and highly mythical. Chiyou is good at fighting, "controlling the weapons of five soldiers into clouds", "making a fog for three days", Huangdi "invincible in nine wars" [13], "the city cannot be held for three years" [14]. "Jade Dragon River Map" shows that the Yellow Emperor was "defeated" by Chiyou, "but looking up to the sky and sighing deeply, God sent Xuan Nv to give the Yellow Emperor soldiers the belief in symbols" [15], that is, he won only with the power of the goddess Xuan Nv. [ 13][ 15][ 16] [ 17][ 18]
In the end, Chiyou is said to have been defeated and killed, [10] [11] [12] or surrendered to the Yellow Emperor and took charge of the military power. [ 15]
Later, when the world was in chaos, the Yellow Emperor drew the image of Chiyou to shock the world. The world thinks that Chiyou is immortal, so "all countries in all directions are slaves." [ 15]
The battle between Xuanyuan Huangdi and Chiyou is an extremely important historical event in the era of Chinese legend. After the victory of the Yellow Emperor, he unified the Central Plains and became the orthodox of China. Therefore, China's history books, especially the Confucian classics that have been living in the mainstream, have a lot of bad comments on Chiyou [19][ 10], although it may not be fair [20]. Later, Chiyou gradually deified and became the image of "copper head and iron forehead", "eight arms and eight toes", "human hoof with four eyes and six hands" and "eating sand and stones". [9][2 1][22]
Legend has it that Chiyou made metal weapons [9][23] and was good at fighting, so he was honored as the god of war and weapons (the Lord of soldiers) and was worshipped. [24]
After the defeat of Chiyou, the people dispersed, some joined the Yellow Emperor, and some moved to other places.
[Editor] Textual research on the origin
[Editor] In ancient times
[Editor] Chi You and Yan Di
The relationship between Chiyou and Emperor Yan is quite complicated, and there are different opinions. One view is that Chiyou may have belonged to Emperor Yan, or once joined a tribal alliance headed by Emperor Yan. [25] But then Chiyou and Yan Di had a fierce conflict and defeated Yan Di. [ 1 1]
Some historians, such as Xia Cengyou, Ding Shan and He, think that Chiyou is Yan Di. According to Zhu [26]' s record about Zhuoshui, they verified that Zhuolu, which Chiyou fought with the Yellow Emperor, and Hanquan, which fought with Yanhuang, were in the same place. The two world wars are actually the same, and the meanings of Chiyou and Yan Di are the same. [27][28][29] In addition, both Chiyou and Yandi take cows as totems, [30][3 1] which is consistent with the totem image of Chiyou in later generations. [22][32]
Another view is that Chiyou was after Emperor Yan. [33][34][35] Both belong to the same tribe and are the titles of the tribe or its leaders. The Yellow Emperor first defeated the Yan Di tribe in the field of Hanquan, and the Chiyou tribe, as a descendant of Yan Di, fought the Yellow Emperor in Zhuolu for revenge. After the defeat, the leader was captured and killed, and some people surrendered to the Yellow Emperor as ministers. [32]
[Editor] Chiyou and the Yellow Emperor
In China, where Confucianism has been the mainstream for a long time, the concept of "orthodoxy" has been emphasized, and historians often have the tradition of "success or failure". The war between the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou was gradually described as a war between justice and evil, represented by the Historical Records of the Five Emperors, which spread widely.
In non-Confucian documents such as Yizhoushu and Shanhaijing, the description of the battle between Chiyou and the Yellow Emperor is objective. [1 1][ 12] In the Taoist classic Zhuangzi, he sympathized with Chiyou and condemned the Yellow Emperor. [36]
Besides the hostile relationship, Chiyou and Huangdi may have had a vassal relationship. The Yellow Emperor once put Chiyou in charge of metal smelting and assisted Shao Hao. [37] Guan Zhong, a famous minister of Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period, described Chiyou as the first of the "six phases" of the Yellow Emperor and had a high status. [38] Han Fei in the Warring States period also had similar records, but it was more mythical. [39]
[Editor] Chiyou and Jiuli and Sanmiao
Chiyou is the leader of Jiuli, with many achievements and occasional disputes. [40][4 1] The relationship between Jiuli, represented by Chiyou, and Sanmiao, another tribal group According to various ancient books such as Shangshu and Guoyu and their biographies and notes, Sanmiao came from Jiuli, but after Jiuli. [42] [43] [44] Jiuli was defeated, and the people dispersed and evolved into Sanmiao. [45]
However, many scholars disagree that there is no origin between Jiuli and Sanmiao. [46][47][48]
Another explanation is that Chiyou and the military leader of the tribal alliance have the same title, so he is not only the descendant of Emperor Yan, but also the leader of the two groups and the king of Jiuli. Later, Sanmiao Group also used it. [ 1]
[Editor] Chiyou and Dongyi
Nowadays, people often call Chiyou the first in the East. In fact, "Dongyi" is the name after the formation of the pattern of "five parties of Hua and Yi" in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which is much later than Chiyou. [49]
[Editor] Later generations
Chiyou was defeated by the Yellow Emperor, and the people scattered. The nationalities that may be related to it in later generations are Miao, Han and Qiang.
[Editor] Relationship with Miao Nationality
According to some Miao epics, ballads and legends, Chiyou (Miao language: txiv yawg) is the great ancestor of the Miao people and has a very lofty position. Some scholars, especially Miao scholars, pointed out that Miao ancestors originally lived in the Yellow River valley in ancient times, but were forced to migrate to today's Guizhou, Xiangxi, southwestern Hubei and other regions because of being defeated by the Huaxia nationality. [32][50]
[Editor] Relationship with Han nationality
After the defeat of Chiyou, some people merged into Yanhuang Group, thus becoming the ancestors of some Chinese and even Han people today. Some Han surnames may be related to Chiyou, such as Zou [5 1], Tu [5 1], Li [52] and Guo [53].
[Editor] Relationship with Qiang people
According to the biography of Xiqiang in the later Han Dynasty, some people of Sanmiao migrated westward [54]. If we acknowledge the relationship between Chiyou and Sanmiao, Chiyou may also be the ancestor of Qiang people.
[Editor] Relations with North Korea
Northeast Yi, a branch of Dongyi, may be related to Fuyu and even Koguryo. [49] 1979 unofficial history's "Ji Gu in Huan Tan" () declared that Chiyou was the legendary 14 generation monarch of the Korean Peninsula and gave it to Wu Zhi Xiong Huan (? )。
[Editor] Worship Chiyou
[Editor] Han nationality area
Although Chiyou has a negative image in Confucian classics, there has always been a tradition of worshipping Chiyou among the people, and there are also related worship activities in Hebei and Shanxi in North China. For example, Ren Fang in the Southern Dynasties recorded that there was a kind of music called "Chiyou Opera" in Jizhou (now Hebei), and the people wore horns to offset it; In the villages of Taiyuan, people offer sacrifices to Chiyou. [55][56] Qin Shihuang personally offered sacrifices to Chiyou, one of Ba Shen's war gods. [24] Later emperors and military commanders often sacrificed Chiyou for protection before going out to war. [57][58][59]
Legend has it that Chiyou was defeated and beheaded, and his tomb, the "Tomb of Chiyou", also has many places and people sacrificed. [60][6 1] Juye County, Shandong Province also invested in rebuilding the tomb of Chiyou, and built Chiyou Square on 200 1. [62]
According to the fact that Chiyou is the six aspects of the Yellow Emperor and is in charge of the weather in the first place, it has become a certain astrological name, called "Chiyou Banner". According to the descriptions in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals [63], Historical Records [64] and [65], Chiyou Banner should refer to some kind of comet, which is a sign of war. [64]
[Editor in charge] Miao nationality area
Compared with Han people who generally consider themselves descendants of the Yellow Emperor, Miao people continue to take Chiyou as their ancestor. In the western dialect area of Miao nationality, there is a legend that "there is an old man with a good attitude". Whether "the ruler is old" (pronounced as "ruler" in Miao language, meaning grandfather and old man) is a hero is still controversial. [66] When Miao people in Qiandongnan and Rongshui, Guangxi hold large-scale ancestor worship ceremonies every six or thirteen years, they should also sacrifice their ancestors "Jiangyou" first. The folk in southern Guizhou also sang the Miao epic Bangchiyou, praising the story of "ancestor" Xiang Gonggong. [50]
Miao people in Maguan and Wuding of Yunnan have the custom of "jumping on the moon" or "climbing Mount Hua", which is said to be closely related to Chiyou. At that time, Chiyou led the Miao people to resist the Yellow Emperor's eastward advance, and failed to retreat into the mountains. In order to gather Miao people from all directions, Chiyou put up a tree stem on the mountain and tied a belt to let men and women sing and dance around the flower stem and play lusheng in the New Year. The lively party attracted many Miao people to rally and fight again. After this custom, it became a regular song and dance festival and a traditional festival of Miao nationality. [67]
Miao people also worship maple trees, and even take maple trees as totems. [68] This custom may also be related to Chiyou. [69] The "Song of the Maple Tree" in the Miao epic describes that Miao and even human beings are all produced from the maple tree. [68]
[Editor] Popular culture
[editor] literary works
In 2007, the Korean novel "The Great Chiyou" took Chiyou as its ancestor, and changed the result of the war between Chiyou and Huangdi into victory, which was regarded as tampering with history by China media and the Internet [70].
[Editor] Chiyou in the game
Because ancient books often describe Chiyou as an evil god, many role-playing games in China now often set the most powerful role as Chiyou. Such as Xuanyuan Sword Series, Legend of Sword and Demon, Resurrection, Global God Knot, etc.