Historical Anecdotes

Historical Anecdotes

 

Hou Yi Shooting the Sun

In mythology, once there were ten suns in the sky. They are the sons of Emperor of the East Heaven. Ten suns lived with their mother, the wife of the Emperor of Heaven on the coast of the East China Sea which was the east end of the world. She often brought ten children for bath there.  After the bath, they would perch on a tree like little birdies. Each image of the sun's center was a bird, so that naturally trees became their home. Nine suns perched on lower branches, while one sun perched on the treetops.

 

When the dawn came, the sun living in the treetops, would go across the sky and spread his light and heat over every corner of the world in two-wheelers. Ten suns took on duty in turns orderly. All living things in heavens and earth were in harmony. People were leading happy life, like neighbors and friends, farming in dawn, relaxing in sunrise. So was with animals. People bowed to the sky as gratitude to the suns.

 

However, the ten suns bored when days were too long. They thought traveling together might be very interesting. Thus, when the dawn came, 10 suns climbed on the two-wheelers, started on a journey in the sky, which was definitely a disaster for all things on earth. Ten suns functioned like 10 fire balls, scorching the earth. Many humans and animals were killed in fire. Forest was on fire, while all the trees, crops and houses burned into ash. Those survivors from the fire fled and frantically looked for refuge and food.

 

River dried up, while sea was almost dry. All the fish died off, and monsters from the water climbed up to the land to steal food. The food supply of human being and livestock had been cut off due to the death of plants. People were either killed by the heat or became the food of the beast, struggling and praying for the God! At this time, a handsome young hero, called Hou Yi who was an archer with crack shots. The Emperor of Heaven summoned him to expel the sun. He was heart-broken when saw people were living in devastating and set up his mind to shoot out nine extra suns. Hou Yi climbed 99 mountains, crossed 99 rivers and went through ninety-nine Canyon and finally arrived the coast of the East China Sea. He climbed up a mountain, and the sea was at his feet. Hou Yi opened heavy crossbows, and shot down the first sun by a heavy arrow. Hou Yi opened the crossbow again, catching an arrow, and shot down 2 suns in one shoot. Now, there were seven suns staring in glowing red eyes in the heaven. The Hou Yi felt these the suns were still hot, and mercilessly fired a third arrow. This shot was very powerful, 4 suns were shot down. Other suns scared and trembled. In this way, Hou Yi, with no miss, shot out of the nine suns. The nine suns died one after another. Their feathers had dropped to the ground, and their light and heat disappeared little by little. The last sun remaining there was very afraid. In accordance with the orders of Hou Yi, he honestly continued to offer light and heat to the earth and all living things.

 

Since then, the sun rises from the East coast and falls at night every day, offering warmth to maintain living creatures in the world. People lived and worked in happiness.

 

Story of Jie Zi Tui

On BC 655, Prince Chong Er from Jin was set up by his father’s favorite concubine and had to escape with his supports among which was Jie Zi Tui. During expel, they were short of food and clothes. Recorded in Han Shi Legend，a man named Tou Xu stole all his food and run into the mountain while he is in Wei. Because of the food shortage, Chong Er was so hungry that he begged food from the famers, but instead of food, he was made fun by a bowl of mud. When Chong Er was too hungry to stay conscious, Jie Zi Tui cut off one piece of flesh from his leg to feed him which finally saves Chong Er’s life. After knowing what he ate was Jie Zi Tui’s flesh, Chong Er was deeply touched and promised that he would give rewards after he got the throne. It’s very precious virtue that Jie Zi Tui was loyal to his master during the hard time. This story has been widely recorded in history.

 

On 636BC, Chong Er had got the throne, titled as King Jin Wen. At that moment, the new King was flattered by a bunch of courtiers. Jie Zi Tui tried hard to persuade, but in vain. Then he withdrew from society and lived in solitude in Mt Mian. King Jin Wen realized he made a mistake and did his best to find Jie Zi Tui. However, the man was nowhere to be found. In order to find him, the King lit up a fire on the mountain where there was only one way to escape. The fire was so huge that miles of land have been damaged. Three days later, King Jin Wen found nothing but the bodies of Jie Zi Tui and his mother. The King grieved, and he gave the order that in the month of Jie Zi Tui’s death, all the people should eat cold food and the fire was forbidden. Gradually, the custom has turned into Hanshi Festival.

 

The Moon Comes Out of Mount Jue

 

Every Mid-autumn Festival night, looking from Guang Yue Pavilion in Green Lotus Temple at the bottom of the Mountain, a full moon would come out of the Mt. Jue, coloring the mountain water and rocks in silver. Shrouded by the light moonlight, the mountain is foggy and obscure, like the palace in the sky. This is the famous place of interest in Jin City “Moon Comes Out of Mount Jue” or “Mountain Raises up the Moon”

 

Confucius’s return
 

Folktale:

Confucius gave lectures on the way he travelled around. After his journey in Zheng, he directly went to Jin. When he and his students arrived a village on Tianjing Guan (now is in Jin Miao Pu Town, Ze Zhou County in Shan Xi Province) to the coast side of Jin, there were kids building up a castle by stones and blocking their way.  One of the kids, named Xiang Tuo questioned Confucius that: “the cart should step aside in front of a castle, not the other way around”. Confucius thought although the kid is young but he was smart enough to be his teacher. So he took the kid as his teacher and asked his students to step their cart aside. When they arrived Tianjing Guan, there was a squirrel greeting and saluting in the middle of the road. Confucius returned and headed north when he found the young kid clever and animals polite. Later, people built up Confucius’s temple to offer sacrifice to the great man. Until now, there are tracking ruts of Confucius’s return with tablet and pavilion in memory of the story. Xing Yao Yi has changed into Cart-Blocked Village. Since then, Confucius’s return has been one of the top 4 places of interests in Jin City.

 

Nu Wa Fixed the Sky
 

Mythology:

 

Nu Wa, a goddess in Chinese mythology, is the sister of Fu Xi owning a body of snake and a head of human. She is said to use the 5-color rock fix the sky, create human beings with mud, control marriage and is in charge of all the creatures in the world. Nu Wa is the mother of Chinese culture because she created us and prevents people from disasters who has been respected in large range. She owns great power of creation. At least 70 things are created by her everyday.

 

In the Age of Barren, the God of Water, Gong Gong and the God of Fire, Zhu Rong had a fight which ends at the winning of Zhu Rong. Gong Gong was so shamed that he hit the Bu Zhou Mountain in the west. But he didn’t know that the Bu Zhou Mountain was the support of the sky. The falling of the mountain led to the collapse of the heaven. There was a huge disaster__ a hole in the sky, forests on fire, floods swallowing the land and the beasts killing human beings.

 

When Nu Wa saw this catastrophe, she was very sorry and decided to fix the sky. Lots of 5-color rocks were chosen to melt into thick liquid to fix the sky and 4 feet of a massive turtle were cut off to support the sky as 4 pillars. Nu Wa killed the dark dragon which did great harm to people and collect much reed burning them into dust for block the floods.

 

Thanks to her efforts, the sky has been fixed, the land filled, floods blocked, beasts expelled. People regained their peaceful life.  The rainbow you see the on the sky is the lights from those magic rocks Nu Wa used to fix the sky.

 

Legend of Go’s Origination

 

Ji Zi, aristocrat of Shang Dynasty, was the uncle of King Zhou who was listed “Three Persons of Virtue” by the end of the dynasty with Wei zi and Bi Gan.

 

It is said that King Zhou was cruel and heartless and enjoyed alcohol and carnal pleasure with no limitations. Therefore his uncle, Ji Zi tried hard to persuade him to stop, but he was caught in jar and made slave in return.

 

Ji Zi was so heartbreaking when he witnessed the decline of this 600-year dynasty that he cut off his hair pretending lunatic and sang “Ji Zi Song” to express his sorrow. Later, King Wu from Zhou Dynasty killed King Zhou that’s when Ji zi escaped to withdraw from society and lived in solitude in Ling Chuan

 

Ji zi used those black and white rocks for divine, which gradually turns into “Go” played between him and his students.

 

One day, King Wu from Zhou Dynasty, who was eager for talents, visited Tai Hang Mountain and found Ji Zi in Ling Chuan and learned a lot from “Hong Fan Jiu Chou” which was 9 disciplines statesmanship told by Ji Zi. King Zhou admired him so much that he invited Ji Zi to administrate the country. But he was refused. After King Zhou’s leaving, Ji Zi left Ling Chuan for the east with his students and last descendants of Shang Dynasty. Since then, there has been Ji Zi’s story in Ling Chuan. And the Mt. Qi Zi was called Mt. Go. 

 

It’s said that Ji Zi moved to Korea, constructing buildings, developing farmland, breeding silkworms, weaving cotton cloth, making pottery and weaving bamboos. He also committed 8 simple laws to prevent and resolve disputes among people. Chinese culture is widely spread out together with Go.

 


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Historical Anecdotes

 

Hou Yi Shooting the Sun

In mythology, once there were ten suns in the sky. They are the sons of Emperor of the East Heaven. Ten suns lived with their mother, the wife of the Emperor of Heaven on the coast of the East China Sea which was the east end of the world. She often brought ten children for bath there.  After the bath, they would perch on a tree like little birdies. Each image of the sun's center was a bird, so that naturally trees became their home. Nine suns perched on lower branches, while one sun perched on the treetops.

 

When the dawn came, the sun living in the treetops, would go across the sky and spread his light and heat over every corner of the world in two-wheelers. Ten suns took on duty in turns orderly. All living things in heavens and earth were in harmony. People were leading happy life, like neighbors and friends, farming in dawn, relaxing in sunrise. So was with animals. People bowed to the sky as gratitude to the suns.

 

However, the ten suns bored when days were too long. They thought traveling together might be very interesting. Thus, when the dawn came, 10 suns climbed on the two-wheelers, started on a journey in the sky, which was definitely a disaster for all things on earth. Ten suns functioned like 10 fire balls, scorching the earth. Many humans and animals were killed in fire. Forest was on fire, while all the trees, crops and houses burned into ash. Those survivors from the fire fled and frantically looked for refuge and food.

 

River dried up, while sea was almost dry. All the fish died off, and monsters from the water climbed up to the land to steal food. The food supply of human being and livestock had been cut off due to the death of plants. People were either killed by the heat or became the food of the beast, struggling and praying for the God! At this time, a handsome young hero, called Hou Yi who was an archer with crack shots. The Emperor of Heaven summoned him to expel the sun. He was heart-broken when saw people were living in devastating and set up his mind to shoot out nine extra suns. Hou Yi climbed 99 mountains, crossed 99 rivers and went through ninety-nine Canyon and finally arrived the coast of the East China Sea. He climbed up a mountain, and the sea was at his feet. Hou Yi opened heavy crossbows, and shot down the first sun by a heavy arrow. Hou Yi opened the crossbow again, catching an arrow, and shot down 2 suns in one shoot. Now, there were seven suns staring in glowing red eyes in the heaven. The Hou Yi felt these the suns were still hot, and mercilessly fired a third arrow. This shot was very powerful, 4 suns were shot down. Other suns scared and trembled. In this way, Hou Yi, with no miss, shot out of the nine suns. The nine suns died one after another. Their feathers had dropped to the ground, and their light and heat disappeared little by little. The last sun remaining there was very afraid. In accordance with the orders of Hou Yi, he honestly continued to offer light and heat to the earth and all living things.

 

Since then, the sun rises from the East coast and falls at night every day, offering warmth to maintain living creatures in the world. People lived and worked in happiness.

 

Story of Jie Zi Tui

On BC 655, Prince Chong Er from Jin was set up by his father’s favorite concubine and had to escape with his supports among which was Jie Zi Tui. During expel, they were short of food and clothes. Recorded in Han Shi Legend，a man named Tou Xu stole all his food and run into the mountain while he is in Wei. Because of the food shortage, Chong Er was so hungry that he begged food from the famers, but instead of food, he was made fun by a bowl of mud. When Chong Er was too hungry to stay conscious, Jie Zi Tui cut off one piece of flesh from his leg to feed him which finally saves Chong Er’s life. After knowing what he ate was Jie Zi Tui’s flesh, Chong Er was deeply touched and promised that he would give rewards after he got the throne. It’s very precious virtue that Jie Zi Tui was loyal to his master during the hard time. This story has been widely recorded in history.

 

On 636BC, Chong Er had got the throne, titled as King Jin Wen. At that moment, the new King was flattered by a bunch of courtiers. Jie Zi Tui tried hard to persuade, but in vain. Then he withdrew from society and lived in solitude in Mt Mian. King Jin Wen realized he made a mistake and did his best to find Jie Zi Tui. However, the man was nowhere to be found. In order to find him, the King lit up a fire on the mountain where there was only one way to escape. The fire was so huge that miles of land have been damaged. Three days later, King Jin Wen found nothing but the bodies of Jie Zi Tui and his mother. The King grieved, and he gave the order that in the month of Jie Zi Tui’s death, all the people should eat cold food and the fire was forbidden. Gradually, the custom has turned into Hanshi Festival.

 

The Moon Comes Out of Mount Jue

 

Every Mid-autumn Festival night, looking from Guang Yue Pavilion in Green Lotus Temple at the bottom of the Mountain, a full moon would come out of the Mt. Jue, coloring the mountain water and rocks in silver. Shrouded by the light moonlight, the mountain is foggy and obscure, like the palace in the sky. This is the famous place of interest in Jin City “Moon Comes Out of Mount Jue” or “Mountain Raises up the Moon”

 

Confucius’s return
 

Folktale:

Confucius gave lectures on the way he travelled around. After his journey in Zheng, he directly went to Jin. When he and his students arrived a village on Tianjing Guan (now is in Jin Miao Pu Town, Ze Zhou County in Shan Xi Province) to the coast side of Jin, there were kids building up a castle by stones and blocking their way.  One of the kids, named Xiang Tuo questioned Confucius that: “the cart should step aside in front of a castle, not the other way around”. Confucius thought although the kid is young but he was smart enough to be his teacher. So he took the kid as his teacher and asked his students to step their cart aside. When they arrived Tianjing Guan, there was a squirrel greeting and saluting in the middle of the road. Confucius returned and headed north when he found the young kid clever and animals polite. Later, people built up Confucius’s temple to offer sacrifice to the great man. Until now, there are tracking ruts of Confucius’s return with tablet and pavilion in memory of the story. Xing Yao Yi has changed into Cart-Blocked Village. Since then, Confucius’s return has been one of the top 4 places of interests in Jin City.

 

Nu Wa Fixed the Sky
 

Mythology:

 

Nu Wa, a goddess in Chinese mythology, is the sister of Fu Xi owning a body of snake and a head of human. She is said to use the 5-color rock fix the sky, create human beings with mud, control marriage and is in charge of all the creatures in the world. Nu Wa is the mother of Chinese culture because she created us and prevents people from disasters who has been respected in large range. She owns great power of creation. At least 70 things are created by her everyday.

 

In the Age of Barren, the God of Water, Gong Gong and the God of Fire, Zhu Rong had a fight which ends at the winning of Zhu Rong. Gong Gong was so shamed that he hit the Bu Zhou Mountain in the west. But he didn’t know that the Bu Zhou Mountain was the support of the sky. The falling of the mountain led to the collapse of the heaven. There was a huge disaster__ a hole in the sky, forests on fire, floods swallowing the land and the beasts killing human beings.

 

When Nu Wa saw this catastrophe, she was very sorry and decided to fix the sky. Lots of 5-color rocks were chosen to melt into thick liquid to fix the sky and 4 feet of a massive turtle were cut off to support the sky as 4 pillars. Nu Wa killed the dark dragon which did great harm to people and collect much reed burning them into dust for block the floods.

 

Thanks to her efforts, the sky has been fixed, the land filled, floods blocked, beasts expelled. People regained their peaceful life.  The rainbow you see the on the sky is the lights from those magic rocks Nu Wa used to fix the sky.

 

Legend of Go’s Origination

 

Ji Zi, aristocrat of Shang Dynasty, was the uncle of King Zhou who was listed “Three Persons of Virtue” by the end of the dynasty with Wei zi and Bi Gan.

 

It is said that King Zhou was cruel and heartless and enjoyed alcohol and carnal pleasure with no limitations. Therefore his uncle, Ji Zi tried hard to persuade him to stop, but he was caught in jar and made slave in return.

 

Ji Zi was so heartbreaking when he witnessed the decline of this 600-year dynasty that he cut off his hair pretending lunatic and sang “Ji Zi Song” to express his sorrow. Later, King Wu from Zhou Dynasty killed King Zhou that’s when Ji zi escaped to withdraw from society and lived in solitude in Ling Chuan

 

Ji zi used those black and white rocks for divine, which gradually turns into “Go” played between him and his students.

 

One day, King Wu from Zhou Dynasty, who was eager for talents, visited Tai Hang Mountain and found Ji Zi in Ling Chuan and learned a lot from “Hong Fan Jiu Chou” which was 9 disciplines statesmanship told by Ji Zi. King Zhou admired him so much that he invited Ji Zi to administrate the country. But he was refused. After King Zhou’s leaving, Ji Zi left Ling Chuan for the east with his students and last descendants of Shang Dynasty. Since then, there has been Ji Zi’s story in Ling Chuan. And the Mt. Qi Zi was called Mt. Go. 

 

It’s said that Ji Zi moved to Korea, constructing buildings, developing farmland, breeding silkworms, weaving cotton cloth, making pottery and weaving bamboos. He also committed 8 simple laws to prevent and resolve disputes among people. Chinese culture is widely spread out together with Go.