The ancient science and technology were not developed, so people could not explain the causes of earthquakes scientifically. They often attribute earthquakes to divine power, and a large number of stories and legends about earthquakes have been handed down.
Turtle fish and earthquake
In ancient times, the earth was always peaceful. It is a stone slab floating on the water, especially supported by five turtle fish. The four of them each have a corner, and one takes turns to rest. Rest once every four years, and rest for one year at a time.
Then came Jiang Ziya. He had nothing to do, so he fished in the Weihe River with a sewing needle. He also said he was willing to take the bait. But after fishing there for more than three years, I didn't even catch a fish. On this day, he suddenly felt that the buoy was going to sink and pulled it up. That's a turtle. This is a resting turtle fish. It swam to the Weihe River to play. When it sees that all the other hooks are bent, only this hook is straight. I was curious, so I took a bite tightly, but Jiang Ziya caught it and took it back to eat. Jiang Ziya also became a fairy.
However, in this way, the turtle fish carrying the earth will never change shifts again. From then on, the tired turtle fish can only change his shoulder. If you change your shoulders, the earth will shake once. Sometimes there will be water, mud and so on when the vibration is great. This is the earthquake that is often said now.
Di Cang Wang tiao di Dan
King Earth Treasure, also known as King Earth Treasure Bodhisattva, is one of the eight Buddhists. According to legend, he is in charge of the underground palace, and he is in charge of the jailer of the underground palace. These jailers take turns to carry the burden on their shoulders every year, so that people on the ground can live safely.
The king of earth treasure has a prince named Xiao Cang, who has been spoiled since childhood and is very headstrong. When he saw the jailer carrying the ground, he felt amused and clamored for it. The guard refused to give it to him for fear of an accident. The little Tibetan king used his father's power to scold the jailer and took the land from him. This robbery is no small matter. Immediately, the earth collapsed, rivers flowed backwards, houses collapsed, people and animals were killed and injured, and the world was in chaos. The little Tibetan king didn't care at all. He just shouted, "Fun, fun!" " "
The Kitchen God immediately told the Jade Emperor that the Tibetan king had not disciplined the jailer well, which brought serious disasters to the world. The Jade Emperor was furious, and made a decree: Little Tibetan King, because he did not obey his father's orders, robbed the land for no reason, which harmed the people of Li. He should have been beheaded, pity his youth, and go to the cold palace to take off the names of the stars. The adopted son of the earth treasure king refused to teach. He broke the dogma, removed the post of the jailer in charge of guarding and punished him for picking land for a long time.
Because the little Tibetan king grabbed the burden, it was July 30 of the lunar calendar, so on that day, people lit incense and offered sacrifices, praying for the Tibetan king's blessing not to have an earthquake.
The cow turned over.
According to the folklore along the southeast coast of China, the land in southern Fujian and the islands in Taiwan Province Province are all carried by a huge cow. Different parts of the cow's body carry different regions: Taiwan Province Province is at the head of the cow, the cow's body is hidden in the strait between the two banks, and the cow's tail carries the land of southern Fujian. Because the cow often moves, the earth it carries will naturally produce "ground motion" (Fujian and Taiwan dialects call earthquakes ground motion). The ground motion is also related to this huge "cow": the cow's head is more flexible, so earthquakes occur more frequently in Taiwan Province Province where the cow's head is located, and the activity of the cow's tail is less, so there is less seismic activity in southern Fujian. Whenever there is an earthquake, Minnan people call it "turning over". People in Taiwan Province Province will also use this folklore to describe the earthquake. 1999, the "9.2 1" earthquake in Taiwan Province Province, and many media in Taiwan Province Province took "The Great Turn of the Native Cow" as a huge headline.
Niujiaoding earth
In Uighur mythology, when the goddess created the earth, she absorbed the air and dust in the universe, then vomited hard and rolled a big ball out of her mouth. This is the earth. After the earth was spit out, it fell from the sky. Because it is big and heavy, it falls quickly and gets farther and farther away from the sky. The goddess is afraid that the earth is too far away to find herself, so she wants to fix the earth. She ordered the bull to corner the ground to stop it from sinking. The goddess descended from the sky, sent a giant turtle, climbed up the water turned over by her breath, and let the cow stand on the turtle's back to hold up the earth. The bull supports the earth with one horn. After a long time, he felt too tired, but he couldn't throw away the dirt. He had to change the earth from one corner to another, so that every time he changed the corner, there would be an earthquake.
In Kazakh legends, there is a similar saying. When God first created the earth, it wavered, so God created a huge cow and put it on the corner to support it. Sometimes, the weight of the ground stays in a corner for a little longer, and when it is about to fall, the cow will move its head to stabilize it, and then an earthquake occurs.
The monster looked up.
In the myth of the Tu nationality in our country, there is a saying that monsters look up. A long time ago, there was neither heaven nor earth, nor sun, moon and stars. I don't know how many thousands of years have passed, and heaven and earth have separated, and the sun and the moon have appeared. After the earth was formed, it was like a wheel, supported by air, wind and water, and fluctuated up and down. At this time, a wise fairy came up with a way to make monsters like dogs and tigers embrace the earth. Who knows this monster is impatient, always tossing and turning, causing the earth to shake and causing untold pain. To this end, the wise fairy warned many times, but the monster ignored it and still struggled. In order to subdue the disobedient monster, the clever fairy picked up a bow and arrow and stood in the east to shoot at the monster in the west. This arrow just hit the monster's abdomen, and the monster immediately lay on his back, with his head facing south and his feet facing north. The arrow hurt his mouth and he dared not throw it again. The genie begged the fairy, "You let me hold the earth, but when is the end?" The clever old man thought of a soothing way, stuck a charred stick in the monster's navel and said, "When this wood germinates, your mission is over." At that time, you can throw away the earth and live freely. " From then on, the monster honestly embraced the earth and did not dare to make a fuss. It expects the stick on its navel to germinate as soon as possible, and sometimes it looks up to see if the wood on its navel has germinated, and then the earthquake happens.
Legend of "Earthquake Catfish" in Japan
According to Japanese legend, the earth is supported by a giant catfish. When the catfish wags its tail, it will cause an earthquake. Generally, a god looks at it with a stone hammer. Occasionally, when God relaxes, the catfish will turn over.
A legend in Fukushima Prefecture goes like this: According to legend, there lived a wise god at the top of the winding staircase. He was injured by falling rocks in frequent earthquakes and even couldn't sleep well in the afternoon. Then, the wise God thought of catfish living at the foot of Panshi Mountain, because catfish is very sensitive to earthquakes. He let the catfish know that an earthquake was coming. Catfish is very responsible after receiving this task. Whenever it feels that an earthquake is coming, it will fly to the top of the mountain to inform Shen Ming. However, after receiving the panting and urgent reports from catfish, Shen Ming is always accompanied by a negligible earthquake. The wise God gradually became impatient, thinking that catfish always disturbed his nap and gradually alienated him. One day, Shen Ming finally couldn't help shouting at the catfish: "Come back when there is only a big earthquake in the future!" "Catfish is very depressed. Finally, one day, a big earthquake was coming, and the catfish rushed to Shen Ming to report that Shen Ming was taking a nap. He said impatiently, "Don't disturb my nap", grabbed the catfish and threw it into the lake on behalf of the pig. Zhumiaodai Lake is located near the center of Fukushima Prefecture, equivalent to the outer gate of Panti Asahi National Park. This lake is called the fourth largest lake in Japan, just like a celestial mirror reflecting the heroic attitude of Panti Mountain on the lake, so it is also called "Days Mirror Lake". Soon, the ground was hot and the volcano came with the earthquake. Ming Shen was burned by the falling fire and rain, and his hair and beard were burnt. At this time, the unlucky God remembered Brother Catfish again, apologized to him personally, and asked Catfish to continue to predict the earthquake for him. But Catfish felt wronged and refused to continue to report the earthquake, but hid at the bottom of the young lake of piglets and lived a leisurely life. ...
Poseidon and the earthquake
Ancient Greek legends believed that earthquakes were related to Poseidon, the sea god. Poseidon is the son of Cronus and Rhea, the younger brother of Zeus, second only to Zeus, one of the twelve gods in Greek mythology, and a great and majestic Neptune, who is in charge of all waters around the mainland. At first, three brothers Zeus drew lots to divide the sphere of influence, Zeus got the sky, Hades condescended to the ground, and Poseidon became the monarch of the oceans and lakes. Although the three brothers seem to be equally divided, their internal strength is not balanced. Zeus often talks wildly, trying to pull the earth and the sea together and hang them on Mount Olympus. Although Poseidon had to respect Zeus' position as the main god on the surface, he was not convinced when dealing with raw seafood and rotten fish and shrimp in the palace under the sea every day. In fact, the earthquake and tsunami are all expressions of his inner indignation. He ruled his kingdom with a frightening earthquake, and every time he waved his signature weapon Trident, he could cause a huge tsunami and earthquake.
Astronomical early warning theory
In ancient China, it was believed that the monarch was endowed by God, and the son of heaven enjoyed absolute authority on earth, which was only supervised by God. Earthquakes, eclipses, comets and other abnormal phenomena are a warning from God to human beings, especially kings, indicating that some of your actions make me dissatisfied. At this time, what the emperor needs to do is to pray and think. If there is something, change it, and if there is nothing, encourage it.
An earlier earthquake in the history of China occurred in the second year of Zhou Youwang, that is, in 780 BC, with its epicenter in Qishan, Shaanxi. "Historical Records of Zhou Benji" (Volume 4) records that Taishi Boyang thought that "Zhou will die. The spirit of heaven and earth, without losing its order; If it goes beyond its order, the people will fall into chaos. The sun is too strong to get out and the yin is too strong to steam, so there is an earthquake. The real earthquake in Sanchuan today is that Yang loses its position and supplements Yin. " The general idea is that the Zhou Dynasty will perish, which can be attributed to Zhou Youwang's excessive love and praise.
At noon on July 28th, in the 18th year of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1September 2nd, 679), a strong earthquake occurred in Shi Jing, which is the Sanhe-Pinggu earthquake recorded in historical materials (which will be explained in detail later). In the face of sudden disasters, Emperor Kangxi reacted quickly. In addition to disaster relief, the most important thing is to personally lead and call on ministers to conduct a comprehensive political review and reflection on the gains and losses of state affairs. Emperor Kangxi repeatedly stressed in the imperial edict: "What do you think of Er Jiuqing, ministers and officials when we have an abnormal earthquake?" It's shocking every time I think about it. Isn't it because I bow down to take care of the maintenance, the ministers are unfair and illegal, and the officials of science and technology don't go directly to the performance, so they can't rely on God's will, which leads to changes? "well, the earthquake is a warning, because all political affairs are not in harmony with the heart, so it is called this disaster." "The king's anger and hatred, caused by floods, droughts, eclipses, earthquakes and dry springs. "It means that the disaster happened because what we did made heaven dissatisfied, and people's grievances made heaven uneasy. Kangxi, the famous emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is still so, which can generally represent the understanding of earthquakes by the rulers of China. No matter whether this understanding is scientific or not, it is also good for ordinary people, because for God's sake, those in power will generally actively provide disaster relief, rectify official management and be considerate of people's feelings.
A simple materialistic explanation
Of course, the ancient interpretation of earthquakes is not subjective. People have been observing the sky and the earth for a long time, trying to make a scientific and reasonable explanation.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, earthquakes occurred frequently. Yan Ying, a sage of Qi, believed that earthquakes were related to planetary motion. When Mercury moves between the heart and the house (the twenty-eight directions of ancient astronomical stars, the second one), an earthquake will occur (The Spring and Autumn Annals of Yan Zi). During the Warring States Period, Zhuangzi believed that earthquakes were related to seawater movement. "The sea is three years old and a week, and the water is thin, so it moves." He means that the sea moves periodically, and when the impact of waves is superimposed to a certain limit, an earthquake occurs. Although these explanations are simple and imaginative, they all have scientific and reasonable elements. Modern theory also believes that the interaction between planets and the movement of seawater may be the cause of earthquakes.
Epicurus in ancient Greece believed that the earthquake was caused by the wind being enclosed in the earth's crust, and as a result, the earth's crust was divided into small pieces and kept moving, that is, the wind made the earth shake and caused earthquakes. Lucretius, an ancient Roman philosopher, inherited and developed Epicurus' view and put forward the theory of wind, that is, the great power of some wind and air from the outside or the earth itself suddenly entered the void of the earth. In this huge void, first it groaned and stirred up a whirlwind, and then the resulting power was driven out of the outside world. At the same time, deep cracks appeared on the earth, forming huge cracks. This is an earthquake. In addition, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle suggested that earthquakes were caused by sudden underground winds and flammable objects burning underground.
Knowledge point catfish and earthquake
The Japanese noticed the unusual behavior of catfish long before the earthquake. 1855 before the Tokyo earthquake in Japan, some people found a large number of catfish that were rare at ordinary times while fishing, and successfully predicted the earthquake. 1923 before the Tokyo earthquake, there was also abnormal migration of catfish. There is still a saying in Japan that "the catfish is in trouble and the earthquake strikes".