The basic feature of a bird with nine heads is that it has nine heads. But there are many different opinions about these nine heads. Some people say it has ten heads. Such as "Youyang Miscellany" Volume 16 "Feather": Ghost Car Bird, it is said that this bird once had ten songs ... one was bitten by a dog. Song Zhou Mi's History of Dong Qiye (Volume 19): Ghost car, commonly known as nine-headed bird ... It is said that there were ten such birds in the past, and one of them was eaten by a dog. So far, people have been blaming the disaster. ..... Round as a dustpan, there are ten rings, nine of which have heads and one has no blood, which is handed down from generation to generation. Yang Mingshen's "Safe Collection" (Volume 81) Ghost Car: Novel: Duke Zhou lived in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and hated this bird, so he ordered the court to shoot it, one with blood and the other nine. Others said that it had only nine heads, and one of them was injured, and the blood never recovered. For example, as quoted in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there are nine-headed birds in Qihou Garden, and all nine heads are singing. There are nine clouds in Liu Yao's Records of Different Ridges in the Tang Dynasty: a ghost car, … or a cloud, one of which was bitten by a dog and often bled. Among the above legends, the appearance of "ten heads (neck) and nine heads" recorded in Dong Qiye's dialect is the most frightening. Imagine, besides the nine heads, there is a bird's neck dripping blood there. How terrible is that?
2. Other appearance features
"The color is red, like a duck." (Introduction of Three Kingdoms)
"It looks like a stork, and the big one has only one wide wing." (Zhengzitong) Example: The stork is an owl. Jin Zhanghua's "Natural History" is lost: "An ostrich, a cormorant, has nothing to see during the day, but has a clear view at night."
"The body is round like a basket, with ten clusters ... each cluster has two wings. When flying eighteen wings, Huo Huo competed and did not use each other until there was a dispute between the injured. " (Qi Dong Yu Ye)
"It is shaped like a big butterfly." (Song and Zhu Yi's Jue Zaji, Volume 2)
3, drop blood to eliminate disasters
"This thing loves to spot its clothes with blood, just to take care of the children." ("The Ancient Novel Hooks and Sinks" is quoted from "The Story in the Metaphysics")
"For birds, or for blood." ("Youyang Miscellaneous Feathers")
"Often drop blood. The home of blood drops is fierce. " (The Record of Different Ridges, Volume I)
"Blood drops are the chief culprit of this disaster." ("Qi Dong Yu Ye" Volume 19)
4, come out at night, singing is ugly.
"There is nothing to see during the day, but it is bright at night." (Lost of Natural History)
"There will be many ghosts and birds at the full moon." (The Story of Jingchu Times)
"Between spring and summer, when I met a little gloomy clouds, I flew over." (The Record of Different Ridges, Volume I)
"Day and night are blind." (Zheng Zitong)
"Fly at night and hide during the day." ("Youyang Miscellaneous Feathers")
"Qin Zhongtian is cloudy, sometimes there is noise, and the sound is like a car or a water chicken." ("Youyang Miscellaneous Feathers")
"Duke Zhou lives in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and he hates this bird." (Yang Sheng Safety Collection, Volume Bayi Ghost Car)
5. Dropping blood or shedding hair is harmful to children.
"It was the bird that fell into the child's clothes and made the child sick." (Water Mirror Zhu Jiang Water)
"The hair falls in the clothes, it's a bird, or it's ambition to spot its clothes with blood." ("Youyang Miscellaneous Feathers")
"Birds have no children, and they like to raise human children, thinking that they are children." (Xuan Zhongji)
"When you see your child's clothes and fall on them, your child will get sick." (Jue Jue Liao Za Zhu, Volume II)
6. Other characteristics
"Love is amazing for people." (The Record of Different Ridges, Volume I)
"I saw the fire." (Zheng Zitong)
About the characteristics of the nine-headed bird, Song Mei Yao Chen's poem "Antique" is more detailed, which is recorded as follows:
There used to be a Duke of Zhou in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. He hated this kind of bird.
Call Ting's family in the evening and bend the arc to drive them out of Kyushu.
If you miss three shots, the dog will be thrown from the sky.
Since the dog bit a song and broke his head, the blood has been clear.
In recent years, they are separated by three centuries, hiding during the day and coming out at night, like snipes.
Every time it is cloudy and dark, at first glance, the fire is scary.
Sometimes the rest of the blood will be dirty and every family will be broken.
(3) The taboo of nine-headed birds among the people
Because the nine-headed bird is a fierce bird, people are afraid of it, so there are various taboos and methods to defend it.
1, taboo
"yu zhang raises children and keeps quiet." (Water Mirror Zhu Jiang Water)
"The sons of mortals should not be exposed, and the clothes of children should not be exposed." ("Youyang Miscellaneous Feathers")
"Children's clothes don't want to be exposed at night." (Xuan Zhongji)
Step 2 decompose and drive away
"So, when you hear about it, scold the dog and turn off the light, so that you can cross Zeguo quickly." ("Qi Dong Yu Ye" Volume 19)
"I hate this bird, so I ordered Shi Ting to shoot it." ("Yang Sheng Safety Collection" (August 1, Ghost Car, quoted from the novel)
"Every family knocks on the door of the bed, hits the dog's ear, and puts out the lights and candles." (The Story of Jingchu Times)
(4) The origin of the legend of the nine-headed bird.
The legend of the nine-headed bird originated very early and spread widely. In the long spread, there are many differences in different times and regions, and it is difficult to trace its original origin. From the existing ancient books, we find several origins.
1, from "Kyubi no Youko bird"
Guang Yun: "Humble", Han Shi says: Confucius crossed the river, and many people can't correct their names because of differences. Confucius tasted the folk songs on the river and said,' I am a bird, I am a bird, I am a bird, and I am Kyubi no Youko.' Confucius once saw this bird "dressed in Kyubi no Youko". At that time, few people knew its name, only thought it was strange. Later, some people called it "horseshoe crab", that is, owls and other birds. The nine-headed bird may be a legendary raptor evolved from the Kyubi no Youko bird.
2. Originated from the legend of the wandering girl of Tiandi.
"Ancient Novel Hooking and Sinking" series "Mystery Story": Birds fly at night and hide by day, covering ghosts and gods. Clothing hair is a bird, and hair removal is a woman. A fairy, a night girl. ..... stealth fighter. Birds have no children and like to raise human children, thinking that they are children. Nowadays, children's clothes don't want to be exposed at night, so they love to use blood to point clothes, that is, to take care of children. The dead are called ghost birds, and there are many in Jingzhou. Yesterday, the man in Zhang Yu saw six or seven women in Tanaka, and ... he climbed over and took the sweater untied by one of them, that is, he went to find the birds, and the birds went to find their sweaters and clothes and flew away. One bird can't go alone, one man is a woman. Give birth to three girls. Her mother's maid asked her father that she knew the clothes were under Jimmy, so she took them and flew away. Then I greeted my three daughters with clothes, and the clothes of my three daughters also flew away. It's called a ghost car.
This is the earliest fairy tale. After the fairy came down to earth, it was a bird in a sweater and a woman who took off her sweater. After she married yu zhang and gave birth to a daughter, she returned to heaven and later took away three daughters. The so-called "birds have no children, and they like to take care of them" means that she flies back to the sky and goes to earth to find her daughter when she can't get her daughter. In order to prevent her from treating other people's children as her own daughters, the people formed this taboo against it. This legend has continued, and each era has its own different version.
For example, the man in Xinyu County, Zhang Yu saw six or seven women in Tanaka, all wearing sweaters, but he didn't know if they were birds. Crawling to get a sweater untied by a woman, holding it and hiding it is to go to the birds. Birds fly in the clouds, and only one bird is not allowed to go, and men are women. Give birth to three girls. Her mother's maid asked her father that she knew the clothes were under Jimmy, so she took them and flew away. Then I greeted three girls, and the girls were going to fly. Notes on Water Classics and Rivers: There are many females in Yangxin County. Xuanzhong Ji said that Yang Xin, a new human being, got it in the water, so he and * * * gave birth to two daughters and left after learning about their clothes and feathers. In Zhang Yu, children are raised without clothes. It is said that many birds fall into children's clothes and make them sick. So it is also called flying around the girl at night. Brief introduction of Dunhuang Bianwen Judu Daoxing Ji Sou Shen Ji: Once upon a time, Tian Kunlun lived in poverty and never married. When the millet was ripe, I saw three girls taking a bath in the pool, and the second girl flew away with her clothes. Kunlun took the clothes of Xiaoyi, took them as concubines, and took them back to her mother. After giving birth, his name is Zhang Tian. Kunlun was ordered to go west and did not return for three years. The woman looked at her mother's clothes. After repeated entreaties, her mother couldn't bear to kiss her and hid. The woman took off in the sky wearing clothes. Although her mother was crying, she didn't care. But when I miss my son, I play games with my second sister, hoping to see her son. At that time, Zhang Tian was five years old, and Mr. Dong Zhong taught him to find his mother. The three girls were then taken to heaven by the children with their heavenly clothes. God felt sorry for his nephew, so he taught him magic. After four or five days, I am fifteen years old. God sent eight volumes of documents to the world. All three talents know it, and the son of heaven hears it and calls it the prime minister. After committing the crime, I went to the wilderness. ……
3. Originated from "female ambiguity"
Chu Ci Tian Wen: "If the husband has no peace, how can he get nine sons?" Wang Yi's note: "A woman is a goddess, and nine children are born without a husband." Ding Yan wrote: "Women are neat, or nine children and nine women." This is the legend of the goddess of the ancient Chu State. A woman without a husband gave birth to nine sons, so how did her nine sons come from? Of course, it is "taken from people", so the people are jealous of her, thinking that she will often come down to earth to take the son of others. It also evolved from the "nine sons" to the "nine-headed bird" theory, and then mixed with legends such as "Heaven around the girl" or ancient birds to form the legend of the nine-headed bird.
4, the ghost of motherhood
This theory of origin can only be found in Yu, Volume 16 of Youyang Zayu. As a long-standing legend, the legend of the nine-headed bird is definitely a multi-source distributed legend. To fully understand its origin and evolution, further textual research is needed.