Zhong Kui, also known as the "Holy Monarch of the Blessed Town", it is rumored that this person is a native of Chang'an Zhongnanshan in the early Tang Dynasty, born with a leopard head and ringed eyes, an iron face and sideburns, and a strange appearance; However, he is a talented, full-fledged character, plain and upright, upright, upright, and honest.

In Taoism and folklore, Zhong Kui is a god who can fight ghosts and drive away evil spirits. There are countless legends about Zhong Kui, Zhong Kui fights ghosts, Zhong Kui marries his sister, Zhong Kui judges, Zhong Kui subdues demons, Zhong Kui kills demons, Zhong Kui solves cases, in short, there are more than 100 kinds of unsolved myths and legends, among which the most well-known story is Tang Luzhao's "History of Tang Yi".

During the Kaiyuan period, Tang Xuanzong dreamed that a little ghost stole the jade flute and Yan Guifei's embroidered sachet during his illness. Xuanzong was furious and was about to send a warrior to exorcise ghosts, when he suddenly saw a big ghost running into the temple. The ghost had unkempt hair and a terrible face, his head was tied with horns, he was dressed in a blue robe, his feet were wrapped in leather, and he bare his arms, and as soon as he reached out, he grabbed the little ghost, gouged out his eyes, and swallowed it in one gulp.

Xuanzong was shocked and hurriedly asked who it was? The big ghost gave a salute to Xuanzong, claiming to be Zhong Kui of Zhongnan Mountain, during the period of Gaozu Wude, because he went to Chang'an to respond to the martial arts, he returned to his hometown in shame, and died by touching the stepping stone in front of the palace. Fortunately, he was buried in a green robe by Gaozu, so he felt it in his heart and vowed to get rid of the charm for the Tang Dynasty. After Tang Xuanzong woke up, his illness was also cured.

Xuanzong ordered the painter Wu Daozi to draw a picture of Zhong Kui according to what he saw in his dream. In the picture, Xuanzong criticized on the painting: "The spirit should dream, the disease is all sick, the martyr excludes the demon, and he must be rewarded; Because of the abnormal state of the picture, there is a division to be awarded, and it is advisable to exorcise it in the twilight, so as to dispel the evil charm and benefit the quiet demon atmosphere. still tell the world, and inform the committee. ”

Yousi was instructed to print Wu Daozi's "Zhong Kui Ghost Hunting Map" and distribute it to the world, so that the world would know Zhong Kui's divine might, and since then Zhong Kui's name has been famous in China, and until later, Zhong Kui has more and more titles. In the end, she became the judge of Fulu Shouxi, and the sister of Wenwu Cai, the wine gate, Hua Tiankuixing.

From this point of view, Zhong Kui is the Taoist priest of Zhongnan Mountain in the Tang Dynasty.

But is that really the case?

Historians have a different view, because the story about Zhong Kui and his person was first recorded in the Dunhuang manuscript "Taishang Dongyuan Divine Spell Sutra" written before the end of the Jin Dynasty.

"Taishang Dongyuan Divine Mantra. "Ghost Slaying Seventh" about Zhong Kui is written like this:

Now what ghost comes to sick master, the master is in danger today, Taishang sent wrestlers, red pawns, trillions of ghosts, Confucius held the sword, and the king of martial arts bound him. Zhong Kui killed it, and then used it to ward off evil spirits.

Although the legend of Zhong Kui slaying ghosts is unknown, and there is not even a specific description of Zhong Kui's image, Zhong Kui's role as a special ghost slayer, and Confucius, King Wu, two famous figures, and also legendary figures, appear in the scriptures, and his image is very distinct.

This shows that in the manuscript, Zhong Kui who killed ghosts. It was not a prop created by the author at random to ward off evil spirits, but a character from folklore that was already a household name at the time. From this, it can be judged that Zhong Kui's image has been formed in the Jin Dynasty.

But where is the origin of Zhong Kui?

Speaking of which, Zhong Kui's prototype is "Zhou Li. "Dagui is three feet long. The end of the sun, the son of heaven to serve the end of the sun. It has become an indisputable fact that the final kui, the magic weapon for exorcism, has its own things, but it cannot be without a transitional link in the middle to achieve leapfrog development from things to people.

And the one who can play this important role may be the Yin Ren Zhong Puppet (also written as "Zhong Yu", "Zhonggui", etc.). His name appears frequently in pre-Qin and Han dynasty texts. From the records, it can be seen that he was "originally a witch, and also a demon exorcist".

The Xia Shang Dynasty was prevalent in the third dynasty. In terms of the national etiquette system, we abide by the basic principle of "ghosts before rituals". Because of the fear of ghosts, the official position of witch is particularly important, so people want to rely on his deterrent power to eliminate the invisible fear in their hearts.

As a result, as a puppet of the witch minister, his identity is very special, and he played a huge role under the specific historical conditions at that time. People will inevitably have a deep admiration and worship for him, and the driving utensils used at that time were originally called Zhong Kui, and Zhong Kui and Zhong Kui have the same voice.

One of the two is a ghost exorcist, the other is a person who exorcises ghosts, and the two compartments happen to be homophonic, one comes and goes, and with the passage of time, they become Zhong Kui! And this image of the holy ghost who was given the image of fighting ghosts also spread, becoming ghosts and gods, becoming stars, and becoming today's image.

"Uncle, you're a good drinker! Why did I start to get foggy when I finished drinking? Where did this Zhong Kui love come from, what are we doing studying him? Dahai's brain was a little insufficient, so he added some soup to the hot pot and hurriedly asked.

Chen Blind turned off the induction cooker: "If you don't eat it, you can save me some electricity, I still don't know how to be frugal when I eat white food, I sell coffins to feed you so many mouths, you say it will take a long time to earn it back?" Especially in this situation, I can't cheat yet...... Make money and have to cut your income in half! Ay! Turn off the lights for me! ”

The treasure of the outhouse probed into the room, and then snapped and turned off the switch of the light, only the light of the outhouse was transparent, and the faces of the four people reflected were gloomy and terrifying, and the rows of paper figures behind the table not far away made the back of the head cold at a glance, the root of the neck was stiff, and even the afterglow swept on it was straight hair in the bottom of the heart.

Zu Long ate a little too much, and he was a little sleepy just now, so he wanted to doze off, but was a little sleepy by Chen Blind's sudden reprimand, in order to get back the feeling of being asleep just now, he didn't even open his eyes, as if he was rolling his eyes and looked at Chen Blind: "Later, what about later?" ”

Blind Chen lit a cigarette, and the blue smoke drifted slowly towards the ceiling, and then collapsed on the roof of the shed and disappeared into the house. After taking two puffs, the blind man put the cigarette between his toes, then touched the cup with the sea with his free hand, and then said: "The later things are much more interesting than the previous ones, because the front ones are difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood, but the later ones really can't be true!" ”

The end of the Kui is not only a magic weapon to exorcise ghosts, but also a medicinal herb, but also a surname!

The Zhongkui clan was first seen in the Spring and Autumn Period, and it was a compound surname, and there was no clearer record before. Some people say that the origin of this surname is because of the magic weapon of the end of the ghost, just like people are used to shouting taxis on the street, the original driver has a name and a surname, but people directly call their profession, in the same way, because someone enforces the law of the end of the sun, so gradually some people call the person of the law enforcement device the end of the sun!

There is another way of saying it. Originally, the magic weapon ended with no name, but because the person who made the law enforcement instrument was surnamed Zhong Kui, this magic weapon was also called the end of the flower. Later, this became a chicken-and-egg, egg-and-chicken problem, no one knew what was going on in Ludao, but there was a family with the surname Zhongkui.

And this clan did not disappear with the course of history, but grew stronger, because they are actually a witch clan!

The men in the clan are the men, the women are the witches, and the law of witchcraft has been passed down from generation to generation. The reproduction continued, and gradually the surname Zhong Kui disappeared, and was replaced by Zhong Kui, who evolved with history! So Zhong Kui is not a person, but a surname!

Later, after continuous evolution, the compound surname Zhong Kui became the current surname Zhong, and the whole family changed their surname to Zhong, and Kui Tongkui, the leader of the table. It became a title for the patriarch! But how it was changed has been impossible to verify in the long history.

Rowan put his feet on the table, leaned back on the front two feet of the cocked chair, took off his glasses and kneaded the muscles between his eyebrows. When he heard this, he suddenly opened his mouth and said: "That is to say, there is such a tribe, they first changed their surname to Zhong Kui, and later changed their surname to Zhong Kui, and finally changed their surname to Zhong. And Zhong Kui became the title of his patriarch. ”

Blind Chen sniffed the fingers that had just finished picking his feet, and then frowned: "Almost"

The strength of the sea had already risen, and now I had no idea what the two people were talking about. He lowered his head and squinted at the two of them: "What's wrong?" Talking? Why don't you speak? If you don't want me to hear it, I won't listen! After speaking, he covered his eyes and went under the table, "Say, I can't hear it!" ”

Zu Long was awakened by the movement of the sea, wiped a handful of saliva from the corner of his mouth, opened his eyes and looked left and right, and then tilted his head back and fell asleep.

Luo Wen paused for a moment, then seemed to have grasped something, and then raised his eyes to look at Chen Blind and exclaimed: "You mean that the folk legend about Zhong Kui is not the same person!" ”

Chen Blind smiled, took out the cigarette butt that was about to burn out from between his toes, and took a puff: "The old dog taught you well!" ”

"...... so"

"Zhong Kui is indeed a person"

"But ......"

"Zhong Kui is them, not him"

"That is to say......"

"All the legends about Zhong Kui are true, it's just that they happened to different people in different eras, and the only thing they have in common is that they were all the patriarchs of the entire ethnic group at that time, and they were all called Zhong Kui!"

"So ......"

"Zhong Kui is actually not a person's name, but a title!"

Luo Wen opened his mouth wide and couldn't say a word, his eyes stared at the blind man, trying to see a hint of banter in the other party's eyes, but all he got was a little bit of light in the eyelids that shrugged down.

Luo Wen slowly closed his eyes, tilted his head and kneaded the muscles between his eyebrows, the eyeballs in his eyelids were still rotating, indicating that his brain was constantly thinking about something, and waited for a while before he spoke: "So this Zhong Kui's family has been continuing the bloodline?" ”

"It's the Zhong family," Chen Blind extinguished the cigarette butt and took out another cigarette to correct.

"To this day?" Rowan asked.

"To this day," affirmed Chen, lighting a cigarette.

"Where?" Rowan asked again.

"I don't think anyone knows what to do, otherwise your father wouldn't be so idle," Chen said after taking a puff of cigarette and spitting out a smoke ring.

Luo Wen's curiosity dropped a little: "What does this story have to do with what I want to know?" ”

Chen Blind took the cigarette between his toes, broke a cucumber with his free two hands, and handed half of it to Luo Wen, who shook his head and didn't take it, took a bite of himself and continued to tell the story behind the story.

The Zhong family has been a huge family since ancient times, the Zhong family has been a witch for generations, and the descendants are not passed on, and even set a rule, men can only marry a wife, not concubines, and later become a male but not a woman, this may be because the matrilineal clan gradually withdrew from the historical stage, and later formed by the influence of feudal culture, gradually the Zhong family withered, and the most Lu had to continue the Zhong family's incense, so the Zhong family's witchcraft is a single line.

Chen speculated that this could be caused by a power struggle within the family, which is not uncommon in history. But a certain generation of patriarchs of the Zhong family, that is, the head of the family, accepted a concubine behind the ancestor's teaching, and since then, the Zhong family has become two branches, one for the concubine and the other for the concubine. However, the clan did not recognize the side family as the Zhong family's bloodline, they thought that the side family was a wild species, so there were often fights between the two sides.

And the fight is nothing else, it is a treasure passed down from the ancestors, and this treasure is a token!

This token is the treasure of the Zhong family town, and it is also the inheritance of the authentic bloodline, and there is a mysterious power, and the legend can even destroy the world, but this thing is gone. Some people say that because the incense is not as good as the concubine, the power of the family is getting worse and worse. I was afraid that I would get this token, so I hid this token somewhere, but the oral transmission of the family from generation to generation recorded the hiding place.

Some people also say that when the two families were fighting, this token was lost and lost from then on, and some people say that this thing did not exist at all, and the two families fought for a thousand years for an unwarranted thing. But the token actually exists, only a few people really know its whereabouts.

Rowan sat up straight when he heard this, and Zu Long woke up in fright. With a bang, he drew two short swords, drooling and guarding the surroundings. The sea was originally asleep on Zu Long's lap, but Zu Long fell to the ground with a move, but he still insisted on holding the table leg and continued to snore.

Luo Wen's sideburns couldn't help but leave a drop of cold sweat: "What does this token look like?" ”

Chen took out a cigarette from between his toes. He took a sip and said with a sneer: "You have described it very clearly before"

A thunderbolt exploded in Rowan's head!

"You mean to say that the bronze order we found in this tomb of the Dian Kingdom is the token that has been passed down from generation to generation by the Zhong family!" Rowan spoke in a bit of a disbelief.

Blind Chen nodded: "I believe it is the one you found"

Luo Wen thought for a moment, frowned and asked, "Then the story that Jin Zhong told me is actually true." And he is the Zhong family? ”

Chen Blind Man rubbed his toes with a cigarette butt in his mouth, and looked at Rowan with a smile from the corner of his eye: "Gold heavy, gold heavy"

Luo Wen's eyes widened instantly. Because when these things were connected together, Rowan realized something, and then his eyes rolled back and forth between the two points, and then blurted out: "The surname is Jin, and the name is heavy." In fact, his surname was separated, but in fact his surname was Chung! He is a descendant of Zhong Kui! ”

Blind Chen smiled and spit out a smoke ring: "This old boy's original name is Zhong Guangtai, and he is the last lone seedling in the family, an old lone seedling!" ”

After listening to this, Rowan hurriedly asked, "Do you really know him?" ”

Blind Chen took a sip of wine by himself, smacked his lips and said, "Know? It's so cooked! Not only do I know you, but your dad also knows you, or do you think that with your three-legged cat's kung fu, what else can he do with you? Taking your life is like crushing a bug to death in his eyes! ”

Luo Wen was just about to open his mouth, but Chen Blind waved his hand: "Don't ask, your father won't let me say it." ”

"When I was in the tomb of the King of Yunnan, this Zhong Guangtai, that is, Jin Chong, once said that the clan of the descendants deceived them for dozens of generations, how can this be explained?" Rowan asked again in a different direction.

Blind Chen knew that Luo Wen was trapping his words, but he didn't stop it, but explained: "This has to be combined with what you have experienced, and I also came up with a general idea after listening to what you said."

The reason for the incident was that the two families fought for this bronze order, but there was a leak in the middle, that is, this bronze order was not in the hands of the clan at all, but had long been in the hands of the witches of the ancient Dian Kingdom. Do you know what magic weapon Zhong Kui used to fight ghosts and catch demons? ”

Rowan recalled and replied: "I have the impression that there are different opinions, as if there are many magic weapons"

Chen Blind extinguished the cigarette butt, took out another one and lit it, and when he struck the match, he saw Luo Wen's brows furrowed, and Zu Long heard it in the clouds, and the short sword in his hand was abruptly not reflected.

Chen Blind took a puff of cigarette: "That's right, Zhong Kui has a lot of magic weapons, not because there are different opinions, but because in fact there are many magic weapons."

"Because each generation of Zhong Kui is good at using different blades, so people see Zhong Kui holding different magic weapons, which has been passed down to this day before there are many ambiguities" Luo Wen was suddenly broken.

Chen Blind smiled: "Yes! Just look at this statue of Zhong Kui to know the way, some hold whips, some hold fans, some use knives, and some carry gourds. But these are all images before the Tang Dynasty, and after the Tang Dynasty, they were basically unified, that is, this Zhong Kui held a sword in his hand, called Qingfeng. ”

Rowan rolled his eyes: "I seem to have heard it"

"Do you know where it comes from?" Chen asked blindly, picking at his feet.

Rowan shook his head: "I haven't heard of it" and then Rowan glanced at Zu Long, who took the short sword and wiped his saliva, and also shook his head.

Chen Blind flicked the cigarette ash: "Think again? Think about it with your dad's indirectly inherited dog brain."

Luo Wen lowered his head and pondered for a while, and then half-raised his head: "Let me make a conjecture, if according to what you just said, this token is the treasure of the Zhong family from generation to generation, but it was found in the tomb of the ancient king of Yunnan, and Jin Zhong, that is, Zhong Guangtai once said that if this bronze order is in the tomb of the king of Yunnan, this Qingyi sword should not be there, it means that there is a certain relationship between the two, and this Qingfeng sword will not be the Qingyi sword, right?" ”

Chen Blind held a cigarette butt in his mouth, raised his eyelids, scratched his ears, looked at Luo Wen and said with a smile: "Your self-righteous virtue is quite similar to your father's, but you are right, the Qingfeng Sword in Zhong Kui's hand is really the Qingfeng Sword that you worked hard to find!" (To be continued......)