Shu Xi Minshan (Exploring the Roots of China)

Author: Ololo Zaga / Country:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Another Shennong Temple is located in the Baoji area on the east of Minshan. Baoji was 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 Yu Village 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 Emperor's Chronicle, "(Youjiao Shi) mother and daughter traveled to Huayang and, moved by the divine, 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 Jiangshi City on 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 ancient settlement of the Jiang people, which was also the stronghold of the Qiang tribe from Qishan who sought refuge with their mother tribe after the Shang Dynasty destroyed the Xia Dynasty. Thus, 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, similar to those in Baoji and Shu. Tai Shan is also known as Dai Zong (the great zong), which was originally the sacred mountain of the Qiang tribe. These were all brought by the Qiang people of the Jiang surname state. The above point proves that the Flame Emperor's tribe was originally in Shu (Huayang). However, "the Flame Emperor was born by the Jiang River" also means that the Jiang River flourished. In the depths of Minshan, a tributary of the Baiyang River in Wen County is also named 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 trail of the Flame Emperor's tribe from Minshan (Wen County) to Huayang (Baoji) to Wushan (Shennongjia) to Lingxian is also very clear. Qiang and Jiang are the same character—one denotes the tribal affiliation—sheep people; the other denotes their origin—born of a sheep mother. 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 were part of the rootstock of the Chinese civilization, and it was the surname of the earliest recognized ancestral deity of the Flame Emperor in China. Later, the Qiang tribe had many branches, such as the Balan Qiang, Maoyou Qiang, Baima Qiang, and Qing Qiang. Although each branch had its own totem, none did not worship sheep as the main totem, nor did they not worship Yuan Diao as the great deity. In modern ethnic groups derived from the Qiang lineage, this tradition still holds: for example, the Yi, Bai, and Naxi ethnic groups, as well as the modern Qiang people, who worship the black tiger as their totem, not only revere sheep but also wear a simple yet sturdy sheepskin backrest. Although the styles vary, they all bear the mark of the original totem. Among them, the Qiang people in Minshan are the most rustic, sometimes hanging half a sheepskin on their buttocks as a seat cushion. The Kangding Guiqiong Tibetan and the Yongren Yi in Yunnan still preserve the use of a whole sheepskin with head, horns, and hooves as a backrest. The Liangshan Yi have developed it into various styles of robes called Zairwa. The Naxi people in Lijiang adorn their black sheepskin robes with seven colorful round decorations, called "Seven Stars Embracing the Moon." The Yi and Bai ethnic groups in the feudal agricultural society of Kunming and Dali have transformed the sheepskin backrest into small round felt bags, which can be used as seating or to carry small items, with even more elaborate decorations. The Lama and Lemo branches of the Bai ethnic groups in the subtropical regions have replaced sheepskin with white hemp cloth, preserving the totemic symbols of the Qiang lineage perfectly in their clothing culture. As for the Chinese language and script, the imprint of "sheep" has been as described 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, historians have always classified the Flame Emperor's tribe as Qiang, while classifying his "brother" from the same mother, the Yellow Emperor, as the agricultural Qiang and lowland Qiang of the Di tribe. 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 Indian agriculturalists—all revered snakes. In ancient Chinese, the term "dragon" for snakes was due to the phonetic similarity between dragon and agriculture, which made dragon the totem of the agricultural tribes of China and the emblem of primitive Chinese agriculture. Therefore, the Flame Emperor was not only one of the earliest ancestors of the Qiang and Rong dragon-snake tribes but also the great ancestral deity who symbolized the transition from pastoralism to agriculture.