"The good sectarian gentleman knows that the worship of the Song State still follows the tradition of the Yin Shang and blends some of the gods of the Huaiyi and Chu people."

Nanzi was still very serious about understanding and learning her own duties, she was intelligent, and soon mastered almost all the rituals, and those difficult to read and understand oracle bone characters began to be slowly translated. When she was in Shangqiu, she often had to stay up late to keep her spirits clear by relying on butter candles and the sobering incense that Lingzi had prepared for her.

She slowly explained the religion and beliefs of the Song Kingdom: "The objects of the Song people's daily divination are divided into three categories, namely the gods, the earth, and the ghosts. And among all the gods and ghosts, the god with the highest authority and the greatest power is the emperor. The emperor is the master of the universe, the king of kings, in charge of all affairs of nature and the world, and the Song people worship him to the extreme. ”

"The Emperor's position is supreme, and the rest of the gods form the 'Imperial Court' for his drive. The emperor commanded the gods of the sky, such as the sun, moon, wind, rain, clouds, and thunder, and the underground gods of earth, earth, mountains, and rivers. Each of the above-mentioned gods has different sacrifices, such as fire sacrifices to the gods of heaven and burial sacrifices to mountains, rivers and earths. They all have different functions, but they are all subordinates of the emperor and obey the emperor's orders. ”

In addition, the Song Kingdom also believed in human ghosts and attached great importance to the sacrifice of ancestral spirits, which was related to the rise and fall of each family. Therefore, the Song people worshiped their ancestors extremely religiously, solemnly and frequently. Although the Song Dynasty began to use the name of the Zhou people, they still took the heavenly stem of the death day as the temple name, and the sacrifice day corresponded to the death day, but the custom of killing people and animals gradually decreased. ”

Zhao Wuxian listened to it, and couldn't help but think of the Jade Emperor and Heavenly Court, which were widely spread among the people in later generations, this similarity is really high, could it be that the source is here? Although the gods of Yin Shang and the Song people have not yet been directly personified. But there is already a trend, and there is a clear difference in the status of the gods. It's not just the Song people. In fact, the belief in ghosts and gods of the descendants of Qin, Zhao and other descendants of the surname Ying is also roughly the same, listening to what Nanzi said. It doesn't feel strange.

"When I left the Song Kingdom last year, I asked you to send some astute Wu Zhu to Qi, Chu, Wu and other countries to inquire about the official beliefs and folk ghosts and gods of their generation, and now there is any news?"

Nanzi said: "It's all back, although it's just a quick look, but the general situation has been described, I have seen them one by one, and this will tell the gentleman ......"

However, she still didn't quite understand, what was the use of Zhao Wuxian knowing those, just because of curiosity?

……

"The people who went to Qi came back and reported. In addition to respecting the Emperor of Heaven and the ancestors of the law, Qi Di also worships the eight gods. ”

Nanzi snapped his green fingers and said to Zhao Wuxian: "These eight gods are the god of God, the lord of the land, the lord of the soldiers, the lord of the yin, the lord of the yang, the lord of the moon, the lord of the sun, and the lord of the four seasons. ”

Zhao Wuxian grinned, although the culture and economy of the Qi people are developed, and the system is not backward, but it is incredibly primitive in folk worship, except for Chi You, the eight gods are the masters. It's all simple nature worship.

"What about Chudi? The state of Chu is probably the most prevalent country of witches, right? I have heard that the Chu people worship witches, and the status of witches is higher. He also believes in God, and claims to be from the public to the common people. Who dares not to be respectfully committed to God. ”

Nanzi said: "Yes, the state of Chu was born in the land of Jing Barbarians, so it retains many ancient relics. However, the Chu people were still immersed in the fanaticism of worshipping witches and ghosts. Originally, it was to retain the customs of the Zhurong people. Worship the sun, worship the fire, and honor the phoenix. As the territory expanded, the Chu people also embraced the gods and spirits of the conquered places in their consciousness. There are more and more ghosts and gods to worship. ”

Shameless thought, this. The people of Chu are worth learning from themselves.

"The gods that the Chu people believe in are the gods, and the Eastern Emperor (Taiyi) is the most respected god in the whole day, and the brightest star in the pole star of the Taitian sky, because it is in the position of the four directions in the starry sky, and it is just used to reflect the monarch of the world, so it has become the head of the gods. The second is also the sun god (Dongjun), Yunshen (Yunzhongjun), Si Ming (Da Si Ming, Young Commander), Feng Bo (Fei Lian), Rain God (screen number), Riyu (Xihe), Moon Yu (Wangshu), etc.; There are also earth gods, such as the mountain god (mountain ghost), the water god (earth universe), Tubo (the lord of the underworld), Hairuo, Hebo (Feng Yi), Luo Concubine (Mi Fei), Xiang Jun, Xiang Lady and so on. There are also human gods (ancestral gods), such as Zhurong and Zhuan, ......"

"There are so many ......" Zhao Wuxian couldn't help but be speechless, the Chu people have rich imaginations, so their beliefs are also the most complicated, which is dazzling, but no one has systematically unified these gods together.

"As for the state of Wu, although it is surnamed Ji, it has long been assimilated by the customs of the Yue people. From the official to the people, they all believe in the god of water and the god of the dragon, and they carve the image of the dragon and snake on the body to resemble the dragon. However, there are also differences in various parts of the Wu State, the beliefs in the Xu area are similar to those in the Song State, and the Qunshu Huainan area is similar to the Chu State. ”

Zhao Wuxian groaned slightly, this is the official and folk belief of the three kingdoms of Qi, Chu, and Wu.

He chuckled and said, "Compared with the princes surnamed Ji, these countries are really backward and ignorant......

……

Zhao Wuxian's words are true, the spiritual world of the Zhou people, even if it is compared horizontally around the world, has made incredible progress.

He was in the Jin Kingdom for many years, and then went to the Lu State where Zhou Li retained the most, and under the influence of his ears and eyes, he was naturally most familiar with the religious beliefs of these Ji Zhou States.

Compared with the primitive religions, the most striking feature of the state religions of the Xia, Shang, and Third dynasties was the development of the worship of the gods from nature worship, and the emergence of supreme gods above the gods. Yin Shang called him "emperor", and when the Zhou people rose, the Duke of Zhou carried out a major reform of religion, which was called "heaven"!

The "emperor" of the Yin people is a personality god who is high above and disdainful of the lower realm, he is majestic and moody, making the wind and rain, and the rain and disasters, making people terror and fear.

The "heaven" of the Zhou people is closer to the image of a gentle nature god, which not only contains nature, but also secretly manipulates and dominates everything in society. At the same time, it also integrates the ethics and morality of the Zhou people, "the emperor has no relatives, but virtue is supplemented", it only blesses the virtuous king, and the tyrannical king will lose the mandate of heaven.

"Xia Dao respects the ghosts, respects God and stays away, and is close to people and loyal. Yin people respect God, lead the people to serve God, first ghosts and then salute. The Zhou people are respectful and giving. The ghost respects God and stays away, and the neighbor is loyal. As the saying goes. Different from ****, the religious view of the Zhou people. Always put people in an important position.

In the words of later generations, the spirit of humanism began to sprout, which was a great progress, and the greatness of the Duke of Zhou lies in this. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, although the Zhou people surnamed Ji "matched the sky with virtue", they often put the mandate of heaven on their lips, and also called themselves "Emperor Yuanzi", paying attention to respecting the heavens and ancestors. But the progressives among them began to break free from the shroud of demons and gods. Begin to seek your own possibilities.

Ji Liang, the doctor of Suiguo, said: "The people, the lord of God." It is the Holy King who first becomes a people and then devotes himself to God. ”

Zheng Zichan said: "The way of heaven is far away, and humanity is far away. ”

Zhou Taishi Shi Yan said: "The country will prosper, listen to the people; Dying, listen to God. ”

On the issue of the relationship between heaven and man, Confucius recognized the existence of the dominant god "Heaven", as the so-called "gentleman has three fears, fear of the destiny of heaven, fear of the adult." Fear the words of the saints. But he also advocated people-oriented, "unknown life, unknown death, unknown personnel." Do you know the hell? ”

Zhao Wuxian found that in Jinlu and other countries, although the shadow of God still exists. But the divine factor was relegated to the second place, and man was elevated to the first place. Even becoming the lord of God, humanism has been promoted like never before.

In a few more years. When the trend of thought began to sweep the world, the monopoly of ancient religions in the field of ******** collapsed, and academic studies moved downward. Under the critical transformation of the hundred schools, traditional religions began to differentiate and transform.

Under the influence of Confucius's religious concept of "respecting and staying away", Confucianism vigorously carried forward the humanist spirit in traditional religions, making it less mystical and more secular, and gradually evolving into a religious custom. Taoism advocates that Taoism advocates "quiet non-action", "emptiness", and "keeping oneness", and pursues the absolute freedom of the individual spirit.

As for the Legalists, they are outright atheists, who are vehemently opposed to religion, advocate the destruction of superstition, and trample the order of "gods" under their feet, hoping to replace it with a new order created by man.

The school that firmly believes in the existence of ghosts and gods, except for the Yin and Yang family, which often contradicts itself, is only the Mo family, which was born out of the Song culture and established by low-level craftsmen. They became an absolute minority, preaching "Ming Ghosts" and "Heavenly Will", infiltrating the lower classes of the people with religion and wanting to establish a primitive communist utopia.

This is the Axial Age of Thinking Everywhere and Thinking Everything, which is also the biggest difference between the spiritual level of the Chinese and the civilizations of the same era, Greece, Egypt, Persia, and India!

However, it is a pity that this kind of humanistic thinking only exists in the progressive scholars, who account for less than 1 percent of the population, and the vast number of people are still shrouded in the ignorance of ghosts and gods. As long as you take a casual walk in Jin, Lu and other countries, you will find that there are ghosts and gods everywhere, and it is no accident that Ximen Leopard saw Hebo marrying in Yedi a hundred years later, and in general, there is not much difference from Qi, Chu, Wu and other countries.

Originally, Zhao Wuxian was still a little hesitant, if he let the religion be revived, I don't know if it was **********?

But even if he hadn't, religion would have endured until 2,000 years later. Rationality is always a minority of intellectuals, and the majority of the people have no doubt about ghosts and gods. Even Mozi sacrificed ghosts and gods as a tool to unite people's hearts, even the most elegant Taoists, and later generations also combined with folk witches and ghosts, and transformed into the largest Taoism in China.

Therefore, while maintaining the rare humanistic and humanistic enlightenment of this era, wouldn't it be better to let the spirit of the broad masses of people belong?

Rather than letting the divine power be scattered among the people, or used by the ambitious, it is better to hold it in your hands first! Raise it carefully, chain it, and let it hunt down the rebellious hares. In the end, the cunning rabbit died and the lackey cooked, and then firmly locked up in the prison of rationalism!

Zhao Wuxian's gaze moved to Nanzi in front of her, her lips moved lightly, as if she wanted to wake up the pensive Wuxian.

She was the female Yu who Zhao Wuxian found and controlled this witch hound.

She is a maverick woman, but on this historical line, she can only be his vassal.

The religion in her hands is also destined to be a vassal of the monarchy forever!

……

"Gentleman? Gentleman? ”

Nanzi saw Zhao Wuxian looking at him in a daze, and couldn't help but call him softly.

"When I think about something, I can't help but lose my mind." Zhao Wuxian smiled, the soul of the wandering world finally returned.

"Nanzi said a lot, his mouth was dry, and the gentleman said that he wanted to transform the Song people's belief in the Heavenly Emperor and ghosts, I don't know where to start?" After all, Nanzi has no experience in later generations, and his brows are endless, and he has no ideas at all.

Zhao Wuxian said: "Nanzi, although our purpose is to make the Song Kingdom stable, better control the people, and even control the people of the Huang clan and the Xiang clan, so that they can be used by us, but our eyes cannot be limited to the Song land. ”

Nanzi was smart, and suddenly realized, "This is the reason why the gentleman asked me to describe the state of the world?" ”

"Not bad."

After all, the woman's heart was not so big, and Nanzi asked tentatively: "Then, does the gentleman want to look at the ten kingdoms of Sishang?" ”

The so-called Ten Kingdoms of Sishang, that is, Lu, Song, Cao, Ju, Di, Xiaoyi, Teng, Xue, Pi, and Tan, Nanzi can see that the strategic goal of Zhao Wuxian and Song will be in Langdi this time is to subdue the Nine Kingdoms, and now only Ju and Di have not yet bowed down.

Nanzi is the kind of woman who will die once she has a heart, she is happy to help Zhao Wuxian take a good look at the Song Kingdom, as long as the surname Sheji is not destroyed, she is also willing to sacrifice the interests of the Song State to help Zhao Wuxian plot to go to a small country, if she can help.

Wuxian shook his head and said, "Sishang? No, no...... The ten countries of Sishang are combined, the radius is only a thousand miles, and the population is only more than two million, how can it be enough? ”

He waved his hand and pointed to the sky and clouds, as if he wanted to stir up the sky with one hand: "Nanzi, I didn't even tell my closest friend Zhang Mengtan about this sentence, I only shared it with you, my eyes are staring at the whole world!" ”

PS: The source of these chapters is "The History of Religion in the Spring and Autumn Period of China and the Warring States Period", which is not made up nonsense, and it may be a bit boring when it comes to the pre-Qin gods who are very unfamiliar to modern people, but July really wants to write about them and the spiritual world of people in the Spring and Autumn Period. This should be the difference between this book and the general hegemony text, the seeds thrown by Zhao Wuxian will be the towering tree of civilization thousands of years later. (To be continued.) )