Historical evolution of revival

Fuxing originated from the ancestors' natural worship of Jupiter. Since the Western Han Dynasty, he has been a lucky star official to bless the harvest. But in the Tang Dynasty, the dangerous side of Tai Sui God was over-publicized, which greatly weakened the blessing significance of Lao Xing. People turned to Yangcheng, a good official in the world, as a lucky star who came down to help the poor. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the heavenly officials among Taoist gods came from behind and eventually became the blessed heavenly officials-Fuxing. Jupiter is one of the eight planets in the solar system. The ancients called them old stars and lucky stars. Jupiter was recorded in the silk book "Five Stars" unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb more than two thousand years ago. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, people regarded Jupiter as a lucky star.

The ancients observed that during the 12 year cycle of Jupiter's activity, the climate also showed periodic changes. Climate is very important for agricultural production. Therefore, in Historical Records, Hanshu and other historical books, it is clearly recorded that Sui Xing is a star official in charge of agriculture and his position is extremely lofty.

According to Records of the Historian, in the Qin and Han Dynasties more than 2,000 years ago, there were temples specially built for the birthday girl, and this ritual system continued until the late Qing Dynasty. There is a hall dedicated to the birthday boy next to the Xiannong altar in the south of the Forbidden City. Every autumn, the emperor led hundreds of civil and military officials to hold a grand ceremony here, praying for the longevity star to bless the world and bless the harvest of crops. Food is the most important thing for the people, and a bumper harvest is of course a blessing, so Sui Xing was later named Fuxing. The oldest existing portrait of a star official, Five Stars and Twenty-eight Accommodations, was painted 1300 years ago in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. The picture depicts the images of gold, wood, water, fire, earth and 28 stars and gods. Fuxing, ranked first among the stars, has a monster-like appearance: his head is as big as a tiger, his eyes are wide open, he sits cross-legged, he is dressed in a simple gown and looks like a scholar. His vehicle is actually a huge wild boar.

Liang Lingzan, the author of this portrait, is a famous figure in the history of ancient astronomy and technology in China. He was a famous astronomical instrument manufacturer and an outstanding figure painter in the middle Tang Dynasty. He must have shaped the image of a star official recognized by most people at that time.

In the Tang dynasty, the old star god had both good luck and bad luck. Devotion may be a blessing, but a slight offense will be a disaster. However, as the dangerous side of Tai Sui God is more and more bizarre by folk stories, people forget the original identity of Fu Xing Guan. Stay away from him when you are afraid. Since then, Fuxing has parted ways with this awesome old star, and people have turned to other idols that can pin their blessings and good luck. In the central period of Tang Dezong, that is, around 790 AD. In Daozhou, Hunan, a young official took office. This official is a new Daozhou secretariat named Yangcheng. According to "Biography of New Tang Dynasty, Yangcheng", he was a scholar in Tang Dezong, and his original official position was an admonisher, honest and clean. Because of impeachment and power rape, he was demoted to Daozhou Secretariat. The first thing he did after taking office was to save the people of Daozhou from an evil custom-paying tribute to dwarfs.

In feudal society, as usual, local products were dedicated to the emperor every year, which was called Rentu Gong. The local products of Daozhou are different-short people are sent to the palace as tributes like eunuchs.

The arrival of the new Daozhou secretariat Yangcheng made the people see hope. Yangcheng first proposed to cancel the practice of paying tribute to dwarfs, risking his life to write to the emperor of the dynasty and refused to pay tribute. He said: First of all, there is no stipulation in the laws and regulations of past dynasties that subordinates must pay tribute to dwarf slaves. In addition, if there are short people in Daozhou, they are only short people, not short slaves.

There are not so many dwarfs in Daozhou. Successive secretariat officials, in order to please the emperor, or under the influence of arrogance, put good children in clay pots, only showing their heads, and provided food by special personnel. In this cruel way, they made deformed dwarves pay tribute to meet the absurd needs of the emperor.

This true story was later written by Bai Juyi, a great poet, in the poem "Daozhou people": the people born in Daozhou are only short people, not short slaves.

Yangcheng's solemn representations may have been discovered by the emperor's conscience at that time, or he may be afraid of opposition from the ruling and opposition parties, and then the tribute to the dwarves will go away.

People are grateful to their parents who saved people from fire and water, so they built a temple to worship them. Because Yangcheng reunited Daozhou people's mother and son and regained their family happiness, they worshipped him as a blessing god. Yangcheng Temple is also called Fu Temple. 500 years later, in the Yuan Dynasty Taoist work "The Complete Works of Three Religions", this blessed Yangcheng is a gentle image of the elderly, which is very close to the present lucky star. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the fame of the Prayer Celestial Officer has become higher and higher, gradually replacing the old star god and the Prayer God Yangcheng as the new Prayer Star.

Taoism promotes the belief of "three officials" and has far-reaching influence. Heavenly god blesses the people, the local officials forgive sins, and the water officials eliminate disasters. The saying that God bless the people is the most popular. Even you, the emperor, believe that God bless the people. Taoism reshapes the image of heavenly officials, and in a special way, deeply integrates the belief of three officials into the daily life of ordinary people. This road is a festival.

In the Taoist work "Fairy Mirror of Past Dynasties", the myth of the birth of the three officials of heaven, earth and water is associated with three important folk festivals. The book says that the Buddha of the Yuan Dynasty absorbed the essence of heaven and earth and became a spiritual body in the body. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Emperor Yao was born. On July 15, Shun Di was born. 1October15th, Dayu was born. Their birthdays later became three important folk festivals, namely Shangyuan Festival, Zhongyuan Festival and Xiayuan Festival. Especially the Lantern Festival, the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month of Tianguan's birthday, is still one of the most influential folk festivals.

In the festive atmosphere, Tianguan finally came to earth. In the past, those who sat high in the temple and accepted the emperor's pious worship of the majestic celestial officials have now become lucky stars with rich and gorgeous clothes and good faces, diligently bringing good luck and blessings to the audience.