First of all, we have to solve a question: Why is Tang praying for rain a big deal?
This must take into account the social background at the time, which was shortly after the Shang Dynasty destroyed the Xia Dynasty, and the overall background was the middle period of a slave society that did not treat people as human beings. It is not difficult to find from this that in the early days of ancient civilization, King Tang's feat of praying for rain was not only for himself, but for the public. As an act of the king of a country, it was obviously a national act; King Tang did not hesitate to sacrifice his body, The act of asking for orders for the people embodies the people-oriented thinking that "the people are valued and the king is despised", which still has practical significance today. Whoever has the common people in his heart will be remembered by the common people. Perhaps this is the reason why King Tang's prayer for rain has been praised throughout the ages in Yangcheng. In this sense, Tang Wang's prayer for rain is the most vital in Shang Tang culture.
After Shang Tang came to power, although he was assisted by two wise ministers, Yi Yin and Zhong Hui, for unknown reasons, within five years, severe drought continued near the Shang capital, and the sun was scorching like fire, resulting in Rivers and wells are drying up, the land is cracked, and all crops have died, leaving no harvest. "Guanzi Qingshong Chapter" says that "Yao and Yu had nine years of water, and Tang had seven years of drought." After seven consecutive years of severe drought, not only crops and trees have failed to grow, but the bones of people and livestock are everywhere. As soon as Shang Tang took over the world, he faced a huge crisis of governance.
Everyone believed that this was done by the Emperor of Heaven. There is also a divination in the Shang Dynasty: Zhen (question): If there is no rain, the Emperor will be fine and I will suffer drought. ?’s record means that Shangtang divination asked: If it doesn’t rain, is it a drought sent by the Emperor of Heaven to me? "Xiao Dai Zha Biao Ji Pian" believes that at that time, the Yin people respected the gods and led the people to serve the gods, putting ghosts first and then etiquette. Therefore, after the drought occurred, not only did Shang Wangtang send people to set up altars in the suburbs to pray to the Emperor for relief from drought and rain, but even ordinary businessmen knelt under the sun to pray every day. However, the sun was so scorching that many businessmen could not bear the heat. Many of them died, and countless people suffered from heatstroke. Shangtang became even more anxious.
In order to solve the drought, which is the top priority at present, Tang ordered people to burn accumulated salary in the suburbs and sacrifice white cattle, white sheep, white pigs and white dogs to worship God. During the sacrifice, the historian in charge of the sacrifice held a three-legged tripod. The tripod was filled with the internal organs of cattle and sheep. According to Tang's instructions, he prayed very devoutly to the heaven, earth, mountains and rivers, and gave six words to blame himself: "Is it because of this?" Doesn’t our king’s government have moderation and laws? Does it mean that the people don’t have enough to eat and don’t have enough clothes to wear? Is it because some officials are corrupt and accept bribes? Is it because there are villains who are slandering and doing the wrong thing? Does that mean there are women interfering in the country's political system without reason? Or have we made the palace too gorgeous? Since it's not the case, why isn't it raining yet? ?Although the officials offered sacrifices devoutly every day and begged the Emperor, the sky was clear and there was still no sign of rain.
In the seventh year, the severe drought was still the same as in the first year. Tang really had no choice, so he ordered people to set up an altar beside the mulberry forest, and he wanted to go there like ordinary people. Pray for rain. Divination was required before the sacrifice, and the historian said after the divination that God would only send rain if a living person was sacrificed. Tang believes that praying for rain is originally for the people, but harming the people for the sake of the people? Absolutely not. If human sacrifice must be used, then do it yourself. He cut off his hair and nails, took a shower, exposed his upper body, and knelt in front of the stage to pray to heaven: "I am guilty of one person, and I cannot punish all the people. The sins of all peoples are all my fault. Don't harm the lives of all people because of my fault." ! After praying, he sat down on the woodpile. Just as the witches were lighting a fire to burn firewood, dark clouds suddenly appeared, and heavy rain came suddenly. The drought was immediately relieved, and all the people cheered. In order to praise Tang's virtues, they composed a piece of music and named it "Sanglin". Later generations also called it "Tang Le". Later, the mulberry forest ceremony became a large-scale, national-level sacrificial activity with the same nature as worshiping the community (land god). Until the Spring and Autumn Period, "mulberry forest" was still a grand sacrificial event that attracted thousands of people's attention. The music and dance used in the "Mulberry Forest" festival will also follow the name of the festival and be called "Mulberry Forest".
There are many records in history about praying for rain in Tang Dynasty. According to the "Huainanzi Zhushu Xun" records: During the period of Tang Dynasty, there was a seven-year drought. I prayed in the mulberry forest, and the clouds from all over the world gathered and rain fell from thousands of miles away. ?
Volume 12 of "Yiwen Leiju" quotes "Century of Emperors": "After Tang conquered Jie, there was a severe drought for seven years. The Yin Shibu said: "You should pray as a human being." ?Tang said: ?I am the one who prays for rain. If I have to pray for others, I will do it myself. ? Then he fasted, cut his hair and claws, sacrificed himself, and prayed in the mulberry forest. Before I could say anything, it started to rain heavily, covering thousands of miles. ?
The so-called "human prayer" means "human sacrifice". Human sacrifice is an ancient sacrificial custom, which uses living people as sacrifices to worship gods, and these sacrifices usually have to be killed.
Human sacrifice first originated from the tribal wars between primitive societies. Because it was still a barbaric era, women were captured as wives, children were either adopted or killed, and men were killed and sacrificed in front of the ancestors' spirits. , to claim victory. Perhaps it's like a lone lion entering a pride of lions, killing the male lions and cubs, but keeping the female lion.
The Longshan Culture killing and sacrificial pits were discovered in Handan, Shaanxian County, Henan Province. Among them were the skeletons of children between the ages of five and ten, which were human sacrifices. After the Shang Dynasty, the number of people killed and sacrificed ranged from three to five hundred, and the number of sacrifices was frequent.
The methods include beheading (beheading with a sword), execution (cutting and killing), cutting (opening the abdomen and removing the intestines, also known as cutting and ticking), zhen (splitting and air-drying the beheaded human animal), fire (i.e. moxibustion, burning the person with cannon) animal), nai (i.e., cooking human animal), fen (burning human animal), ladle (burying alive), Zu (i.e., making meat sauce), Yi (killing and displaying the corpse), etc. According to ancient books, the largest human sacrifice on earth occurred in the Maya. At that time, in order to worship the sun god, more than 30,000 human sacrifices were prepared in one day. It took three days to kill these human sacrifices to prepare for the ceremony. time.
After the Spring and Autumn Period, the value of human beings increased, and the Confucian theory of "benevolence and righteousness" emerged, advocating "people-oriented", and the phenomenon of human sacrifice decreased significantly. However, the practice of killing enemy leaders as sacrifices to the community still existed. After that, when a crowd was gathered to cause trouble and troops were sent out, human heads were often used as sacrifices.
People believe that it was Tang's sacrifice for the people that moved the Emperor of Heaven, which caused the rain to fall from the sky and the drought was lifted.
The earliest record of this incident should be the "Bamboo Book Annals", which says: In the twenty-fourth year of Tang Dynasty (Shang Dynasty), there was a severe drought. The king prayed in the mulberry forest and it rained. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" says: "In the past, when Tang Kexia was trying to rectify the world, there was a severe drought and there was no harvest for five years. So Tang prayed in the mulberry forest with his body. ?Almost at the same time, "Zi Zi" (Zi Zi was the teacher of Qin Xiang Li Si) Volume 2: "Tang Zhi saved the drought. He rode in a plain chariot with white horses, covered with cloth, and had a baby with white grass. He sacrificed his body and prayed in the fields of mulberry forest. . In the early Han Dynasty, "Huainanzi Zhushu Xun" compiled by Liu An, King of Huainan, recorded: During the Tang Dynasty, there was a seven-year drought. I prayed in the mulberry forest, and the clouds gathered around the sea and rain fell from thousands of miles away. ?Historical records have continued endlessly since then, and old farmers in the mountains and fields of Yangcheng can still tell people this story.
After the incident of Tang She's death in Qiu Yu, Shang Cai finally gained a firm foothold in the hearts of the people. When Tang was about to die, he entrusted him to Prime Minister Yi Yin and asked him to assist his descendants with all his heart.
Can Yi Yin live up to King Tang's trust?