In the 1980s, Hong Kong movies created a new genre called "psychic kung fu movies." This type of movies with the theme of supernatural ghosts and kung fu comedies became famous for a while. The blockbuster "Mr. Zombie" "," "One Eyebrow Taoist" and other films have made the image of "Maoshan Taoist" played by Lin Zhengying unpopular. However, the "Maoshan Taoist Priest" in Hong Kong films is, of course, just an artistic image depicted in the language of the film, mostly imaginary. So what is the real prototype of the "Maoshan Taoist" frequently shown in old Hong Kong films?
"Maoshan Taoist" and Hong Kong folk religious culture
Hong Kong's folk religious culture has a strong The regional color, in addition to the orthodox Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, is vividly represented by practitioners of central sects such as Nanxi, Liuren and Maoshan. They are different from religious clergy in the ordinary sense, and are called "folk ritual experts" by academic circles. Their rituals mix the content of Taoism, Buddhism and folk beliefs, and contain witchcraft elements.
In the movie, Lin Zhengying wears a black tiled scarf, a bonnet, and a yellow sea green or double-breasted robe. This is the typical attire commonly known as "Nang Lao" among the people. This image is still very common in contemporary Hong Kong temples. In the film, Lin Zhengying performs spells, casts talismans, and exorcises ghosts, which belongs to another kind of "Maoshan Master" magic.
The "Tao Tong Yong Zhuan" spread in the northern part of the New Territories said: "Their practices are either for Huangguan Taoist priests, or for admonishing star shamans, or for performing Maoshan Dharma, or for sending away evil spirits. Wu, all respect Lao Jun as the master of Taoism."
Although they all claim to be Lao Jun who respects Taoism, their origins are different. Huangguan Taoist refers to Taoist priests, and Gao Douxing Wu refers to him. They are warlocks, and those who perform Maoshan and those who send evil spirits refer to wizards. The three originally had clear boundaries, but in Hong Kong's complex folk religious cultural background, the sects are mixed with each other, and even the locals have no intention of distinguishing their identities and differences. The "Maoshan Taoist" theory in the movie is not a Taoist priest, but the product of multiple identities combined into characters.
Although the image of "Maoshan Taoist Priest" is dressed the same as "Nang Lao" and borrows the identity label of Taoist priests, it mainly shows the wizards who practice Maoshan Dharma. Folks call them "Maoshan Masters" ” or “Master Maoshan”. The Maoshan method mentioned here is a school of folk witchcraft and is not the same thing as the Maoshan Qing sect of orthodox Taoism.
The "Maoshan Method" in Shamanism
In the folk, Maoshan is generally written as "Maoshan" or "Maoshan", and their sect is called Maoshan Sect, 20 In the 1930s, scholars of anthropology and ethnology discovered Maoshan religion during surveys in the Yaoshan area of ??Guangdong and Guangxi, which attracted the attention of the Sinology community. The Maoshan Sect, which is popular in Guangdong and Guangxi, has deep roots with the Lushan Sect of Fujian and the Meishan Sect of Hunan. These folk witchcraft religions are usually called "fajiao" and "teacher religion". Practitioners of witchcraft are called "Master" or "Duan Gong", which is what is called "Master Wu" in ancient literature. The Master in Jianyang, Fujian Province calls himself "Disciple of Wu Liu".
When distinguishing between witchcraft and religion, the anthropologist Malinowski pointed out that "witchcraft is a practical technology, and all actions are just means to achieve the goal." Witchcraft is a quasi-religion Phenomenon, but witchcraft (or witchcraft) is not the same religion.
The masters of witchcraft did not promote classics and doctrines, but mastered witchcraft techniques and provided transcendental services to ordinary people. They played a very important role in the social life of ancient agricultural societies. role. Witchcraft is a mysterious culture that belongs to traditional Chinese society besides scholar-bureaucrat culture and secular culture. It has been hidden in the bottom society for a long time, and has been suppressed by the government. "Da Ming Law" points out that "ordinary witches pretend to cast down evil spirits, write talismans to curse water, support Luan and pray to saints, call themselves Duan Gong, Taibao... all the techniques to respond to the heresy and chaos", and use legal means to curb witchcraft such as Maoshan Method .
However, in the Ming Dynasty, there was also a novel "Travel to the Sea" that reflected the work of witchcraft. Its full name is "The New Engraved Holographic Revealing Method Jiang Shehai's Journey to the Sea". The book attempts to combine witchcraft and the three worlds. It is said that "since the creation of heaven and earth, the people have settled down and spread the four religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and witchcraft to the world", reflecting the influence of witchcraft culture in civil society.
In "Journey to the Sea", Lushan Dharma and Maoshan Dharma are considered to be the two sects of good and evil in witchcraft. The Lushan Mountain and Maoshan Mountain described in the book are both witchcraft resorts in the mythical world. It does not exist in theory, and of course it does not refer to Maoshan in Taoism.
After the spread of Han immigrants, witchcraft religions such as Lushan, Maoshan and Meishan are also widely spread among ethnic minorities in the south. In the traditional culture of the Yao, Zhuang, Dong, Gelao, She and other ethnic groups, witchcraft Religion occupies the central part. For example, the "Founder of the Mountains" of the She ethnic group shows the content of their ancestors' "Maoshan Study". This is also an important way for the sinicization of ethnic minorities since the Song Dynasty.
The "Shangqing Taoist Priests" in Maoshan Taoism
The Maoshan Qing Sect of Taoism refers to the Shangqing Sect that developed around Maoshan, Jurong, Jiangsu. The first-generation master of the Shangqing sect was Wei Huacun, the wife of Nanyue, and Tao Hongjing, known as the "Prime Minister of the Mountains", was the ninth-generation master. He often lived in Maoshan and opened a Taoist school here to teach the "Shangqing Sutra", making Maoshan the Shangqing School. Maoshan became famous as the activity center of the sect. In the second year of Xingning in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (364), Mrs. Wei Huacun gave the "Shangqing Jing" to Yang Xi, a native of Langya King Situshe for the first time.
In the few years starting from the third year of Xingning (365), immortals came to the home of Shi Xumi, the commander of the army, to teach Taoism. A new religious ideological system emerged under the night. Born in the midst of divine revelation. In the Southern Dynasties, Tao Hongjing, a reclusive scholar, collected and compiled the contents of Maoshan's teachings into the book "Zhengao", which rigorously recorded the noble and beautiful words left by Xianzhen. Western scholars such as Sima Xu called it "Maoshan's Revelation" ".
So what kind of image should a formal Taoist priest of the Shangqing Sect look like?
The Shangqing Sect was the mainstream of Taoism in the Tang Dynasty, with branches such as Maoshan and Tiantaishan. The Taoist learning experience of Tiantai Mountain Taoist Ying Yijie can be regarded as the life benchmark of the Shangqing Taoist priests. He became a Taoist at the age of 7 and became a monk at the age of 13. He began to receive the Zhengyi Sutra at the age of 15 and received the Shangqing Sutra at the age of 32. Dharma obtained the highest Taoist legal status in the Tang Dynasty. His lifelong process of studying the three-hole classics and obtaining the corresponding legal status is similar to today's degree system, but very different from the "Maoshan Taoist priests" who use ghost exorcism skills in the movie.
Therefore, the Maoshan Qing sect, which played an important role in the spiritual history of the Six Dynasties, and the Maoshan sect, a popular witchcraft in civil society, have nothing to do with each other. However, due to the strong influence of the movie, some viewers fell into An embarrassing situation of mixed right and wrong.
The "Maoshan Master" in the Notes of Ancient Novels
In addition, there are many stories of the "Maoshan Master" recorded in the historical ghost novels and literati's notes. They relied on various forbidden powers. Spells can cure ghosts and drive away foxes. Although it is written about anecdotes from the two realms of darkness and Ming Dynasty, it also reflects the human condition of the world. This may be the ideological origin of the creation of Hong Kong fantasy Kung Fu films. However, the people who master Maoshan Dharma in ancient novels refer to master shamans. Sometimes they are called magicians, which of course does not refer to the Shangqing Taoist priests from Maoshan. "Yi Jian Zhi" by Hong Mai of the Song Dynasty records that there was a layman who practiced Maoshan Dharma. "Although he was not a Taoist priest," he was called "Master Tan" by the local people.
It is said that in Dexing County, Jiangxi, there was an old fox who transformed into a human form and took on the appearance of Old Man Huang. He often visited his two sons who were working in the fields. The ending of the story is sad. Old Man Huang was mistaken for Mr. Huang by his two sons. He was killed by a fox demon, and finally Master Tan appeared, letting the fox demon pretending to be Huang Laoman reveal himself and kill him.
Jiang Yingke, a Hunan native in the Ming Dynasty, also recorded a story about a wizard named Li Si in his hometown. Most of the Maoshan methods he learned were harmful to others. "The test will prove the test." It can unite walls, sour wine, and break ropes. Once, he used witchcraft to tease a walking woman, and the woman's skirt suddenly fell off automatically. Later, he realized that the woman was his daughter, and she became a laughing stock ever since.
The story of Master Maoshan and the fox demon is also described in Ji Yun's "Notes on Yuewei Thatched Cottage" of the Qing Dynasty, which is very similar to the behavior of asking for bribes in the officialdom. After a family encountered a fox problem, they contacted a Maoshan master. When he was about to drive away the foxes, he met an old man. The old man claimed to be friends with foxes and paid a high bribe to get through to the Maoshan master. Stop him from going to drive away the fox. The greedy Maoshan Master did not give up after getting the money, but threatened him with "Thunder Ax Fire Hell" and constantly asked for gold and silver from fox monsters everywhere. Finally, the unbearable fox stole his sigil, causing him to go crazy and commit suicide.
For ordinary people, the influence of film and television works and secular novels is obviously much greater than that of religious classics. Therefore, in real life, people often ask real Taoist priests whether they can "catch ghosts and demons" based on the virtual image of "Maoshan Taoist Priest" in Lao Hong Kong movies. When faced with such questions, the Taoist priests are either speechless or It’s both a joke and a joke.