It is said in ancient times that if a Yellow River carp jumps over the Dragon Gate (referring to the Dragon Gate at the narrowest point of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Grand Canyon where the Yellow River roars down from the mouth of the Hukou, now called Yumenkou), it will transform into a dragon.
"Piya·Shiyu" written by Lu Dian of the Song Dynasty: "As the saying goes, a fish leaps over the dragon's gate and turns into a dragon when it passes by. Only carps may do so."
Li Yuan's "Xuanfan· "Object": "The carp and yellow people climb up Longmen Mountain against the current in spring every year. When the sky fire burns their tails from behind, they turn into dragons." . Yu carved a broken gate in the mountain that was more than a mile wide. The Yellow River flows down from the middle, and there are no vehicles or horses on either side. Every year in the spring, yellow carps come from the sea and rivers to catch them. In one year, only seventy-two people can climb the Dragon Gate. First time on Longmen. Immediately clouds and rain followed ⑥, and the sky fire burned its tail from behind, and it turned into a dragon.
"Chronicles of the Bamboo Book" is the work of Wei State historians at the end of the Warring States Period. The record of "Red River at Longmen" in the book shows that the myth of "Carp Leaping over Dragon Gate" had not yet been formed at that time. Most of the records of "fish turning into dragon" come from Han Dynasty classics, so the formation of mythical stories should be in the early Western Han Dynasty, and may be related to the strengthening of the concept of dragon worship in the early Han Dynasty.
Story:
A long time ago, before Longmen was opened, the flow of Yishui water here was blocked by Longmen Mountain, and a large lake accumulated in the south of the mountain. The carp living in the Yellow River heard that Longmen has beautiful scenery and wanted to go sightseeing. They set out from the Yellow River in Mengjin, Henan, passed through the Luo River, and followed the Yi River to the place where the Longmen water splashes. However, there is no waterway on Longmen Mountain and they can't go up, so they have to gather at the foot of the North Mountain of Longmen. "I have an idea. How about we skip Longmen Mountain?" A beautiful and strong big red carp said to everyone. "It's so high, how do you jump?" "If you don't jump well, you'll fall to death!" The friends were all confused and couldn't make up their minds. The big red carp then volunteered and said, "I'll jump first and give it a try." I saw it using all its strength from half a mile away, like an arrow leaving the string, leaping into the clouds halfway up the sky. The clouds and rain in the sky move forward. A ball of sky fire chased from behind and burned its tail. It endured the pain and continued to leap forward, finally crossing Longmen Mountain and falling into the lake south of the mountain. When the carps in the northern part of the mountain saw the big red carp's tail being burned off by the sky fire, they were all so frightened that they huddled together and did not dare to take the risk again. At this time, suddenly I saw a giant dragon descending from the sky and said: "Don't be afraid, I am your partner Big Red Carp. Because I jumped over the dragon gate, I turned into a dragon. You must also jump bravely!" The carps listened. Inspired by these words, they began to jump over Longmen Mountain one by one. But except for a few who jumped over and turned into dragons, most of them couldn't get through. Anyone who fails to jump and falls from the air will have a black scar on his forehead. To this day, this black scar still appears on the forehead of the Yellow River carp.
Later, Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem specifically about this incident: "The three-foot carp in the Yellow River originally lived in Mengjin. It failed to become a dragon when it touched its forehead. It returned to accompany ordinary fish."
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The original site of the folklore myth "Carp Jumps over the Dragon Gate" is located in Gaoping District, Nanchong City. According to the "Yuanfeng Jiuyu Zhi" of the Northern Song Dynasty: "There is Longmen 30 miles north of Guozhou." On August 8, 2000, the State Post Bureau officially issued a set of special stamps "Little Carp Jumps Over Dragon Gate". On the morning of that day, the first launch ceremony of "Little Carp Jumps Over Dragon Gate" stamps was held in Gaoping District, Nanchong City, the hometown of the legend of "Little Carp Jumps Over Dragon Gate" .