Shu Xi Minshan: Exploring the Roots of China

Author: Ololo Zaga / Country:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: Another Shennong Temple is located in the Baoji area on the east of Minshan. Baoji is the ancient land of the Bao state, a descendant of the Xia dynasty, and traditionally belongs to the geographical and cultural circle of Bashu—the so-called "north of Mount Hua." The Shennong Temple in Baoji's Nanshan Yujiacun has an external Nine Dragon Spring. Legend has it that the Flame Emperor was born in Liangyu, and after his birth, his mother, Jiang Shi, bathed him in the Nine Dragon Spring and raised him in Wayu. Later, people built a temple here to commemorate him. As mentioned in the Imperial Annals of the First Emperors (《》): "(Youjiao Shi) mother and daughter traveled to Huayang and gave birth to the Flame Emperor on the Jiang River." The Annotations to the Waterways of the Nation (《》) states: "East of Qishan, it passes through the southern city of Jiang Shi and the Jiang River." Today, a village named Jiangcheng Castle is located south of Baoji, with a small stream named Qingjiang River to the west of the castle. This area was likely an important settlement of the ancient Jiang people, which was also the headquarters of the Qiang tribe from the Zhou dynasty who fled west after the Shang dynasty conquered the Xia dynasty and sought refuge with their maternal relatives in Qishan. Therefore, there are legends, place names, and ancient temples of the Flame Emperor, the great deity of the Qiang tribe. In ancient tribal migrations, place names were often "carried along." For example, Shandong has a series of place names like Shu Pavilion that are identical to those in Baoji and Shu. Tai Shan is also known as Dai Zong (Great Ancestor), which was originally the sacred mountain of the Qiang tribe. These are all evidence of the Qiang people of the Jiang surname in Qi state carrying them forward. The above points prove that the Flame Emperor's tribe was originally in Shu (Huayang). However, "the Flame Emperor was born in the Jiang River" also refers to the flourishing of the Jiang River. Deep in the Minshan Mountains, a tributary of the Baijiang River in Wenxian also bears the name Qiang River, and the place is called Qiangquan. The Flame Emperor was more likely born there. Since the Flame Emperor's "brothers" from the same mother, the Yellow Emperor, as well as his wife and descendants, were all in Minshan, it is more likely that the Flame Emperor's tribe also originated there. At least, the unbreakable bloodline between the Flame Emperor's tribe and Minshan and Huayang in Bashu is undeniable. The traces and lineage of the Flame Emperor's tribe from Minshan (Wenxian) to Huayang (Baoji) to Wushan (Shennongjia) to Lingxian are also very clear. Qiang and Jiang are the same character—one describes the tribal affiliation—the sheep people; the other describes their origin—their mother was born of a sheep. Although Jiang is not the oldest surname in China and is less numerous than surnames like Zhang, Wang, or Li in later generations, it is indeed a "Chinese surname." This is because Jiang originated from the original totem of the Qiang and Rong tribes, which are part of the roots of the Chinese civilization, and it is the surname of the earliest ancestral deity of the Chinese, the Flame Emperor. Later, the Qiang tribe had many branches, such as the Balan Qiang, the Maoyou Qiang, the Baima Qiang, and the Qing Qiang. Although each branch had its own totem, none did not worship sheep as the main totem, nor did they not worship Yuandi as the great deity. In modern ethnic groups derived from the Qiang lineage, this tradition still persists: for example, among the Yi, Bai, and Naxi tribes, as well as the modern Qiang people, who worship the black tiger as their totem, they not only revere sheep but also wear a simple and sturdy sheepskin backrest. Although the styles vary, they all bear the mark of the original totem. Among them, the most rustic style in the Minshan Mountains sometimes hangs half a piece of sheepskin behind the buttocks as a seat cushion. While the Kanding Guiqiong Tibetan and the Yongren Yi in Yunnan still preserve the use of a whole sheepskin with its head, horns, and hooves as a backrest, the Yi in Liangshan have developed it into various styles of robes called Zairwa, while the Naxi in Lijiang adorn their black sheepskin robes with seven colorful round decorations called "Seven Stars Embracing the Moon." The Yi and Bai in the feudal agricultural society of Kunming and Dali have already transformed the sheepskin backrest into small round felt bags, which can be used as a seat cushion, a backrest for carrying items, or to hold small objects, with even more elaborate decorations. In the tropical regions, the Bai subgroups such as the Lama and Lemo people have replaced sheepskin with white hemp cloth due to the climate, but they have perfectly preserved and displayed the totem of the Qiang lineage in their clothing culture. As for the Chinese language and script, the imprint left by the word "sheep" has already been mentioned earlier. Since Jiang is the "original surname" of the Qiang lineage, the Flame Emperor with the surname Jiang appears in history as the ancestral deity of the Qiang tribe. Therefore, all historians have always classified the Flame Emperor's tribe as Qiang, while classifying his "brother" from the same mother, the Yellow Emperor, as the Dizi tribe of agricultural Qiang and lowland Qiang. However, the Flame Emperor also has another aspect as the great agricultural deity of the Shennong lineage: his ox-head and dragon-body image further confirms that he was the pioneer of rough agricultural practices in the western Qiang and Rong tribes, earning him the title of Lishan Shi. Dragons and snakes are symbols of water and earth fertility among all human ethnic groups, making them important totems for agricultural peoples worldwide: whether the ancient Egyptians, ancient Indians, or the Baiyue who developed rice cultivation culture, or the American Indians who practiced agriculture in the Americas, none failed to worship snakes. In ancient Chinese, the snake was called "long" because "long" and "nong" could be homophonic substitutes, making the dragon the totem of the agricultural tribes of China and the emblem of primitive agriculture in the Chinese civilization. Therefore, the Flame Emperor was not only one of the earliest ancestors of the Qiang and Rong tribes with dragon and snake totems but also the great ancestral deity who led the transition from pastoralism to agriculture.