What does it mean when a dragon raises its head? The origin of the second dragon raising its head in

Legend has it that this festival originated during the period of Fuxi, the head of the Three Emperors. On the second day of February every year, "the queen mother sends rice, and the royal driver ploughs the land", taking care of one acre and three points of land. Later, the Yellow Emperor, Tang Yao, Yu Shun, and Xia Yu followed the example of the previous kings.

To King Wu of Zhou, he not only followed this traditional practice, but also implemented it as an important national policy. On the second day of the first month of February, a major ceremony was held to let the civil and military officials personally plough one acre and three points of land, which is the historical legend of the Dragon Head Festival. Another said that Wu Zetian abolished Tang Lizhou as the emperor, which provoked the Jade Emperor to be angry and ordered the Dragon King not to rain for three years.

The dragon king couldn't bear to be ruined, and secretly rained a heavy rain. The Jade Emperor learned that the Dragon King was beaten out of the Heavenly Palace, pressed under the mountain, the people of Li felt the rain of the Dragon King, prayed to the sky every day, and finally moved the Jade Emperor, released the Dragon King on the second day of the second month of February, so there was a "February 2, the dragon raised its head" said. In fact, in the past, the rural water conservancy conditions were poor, and the farmers attached great importance to the spring rain and celebrated the "Dragon Head Festival" to show respect for the dragon and pray for the rain, so that God blessed the harvest, which was good from its wishes, so the "Dragon Head Festival" has been passed down to this day!

On the second day of the second lunar month, the reason why it is called the Dragon Raising Head Festival is actually related to ancient celestial phenomena. In the old days, people divided the stars near the ecliptic into 28 groups, indicating the position of the sun, moon and stars in the sky, commonly known as the "28 Nakshatras", which was used as a reference for celestial observation. The "Twenty-Eight Houses" are divided into four groups according to the four directions of east, west, north and south, and produce the "four images":

Canglong in the East, White Tiger in the West, Vermilion Bird in the South, Xuanwu in the North. The "Twenty-Eight Sutras" in the horns, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, Kei seven Suzhou form a dragon-shaped astrological sign, people call it the Oriental Canglong, in which the Jiaosu represents the dragon's horns, Kangsu represents the dragon's throat, Di Su represents the dragon's claws, the heart represents the dragon's heart, and the tail and Kei Su represent the dragon's tail. There is a record in the "Sayings" that the dragon "can be dark and bright, can be small and huge, can be short and long, ascend to the sky at the spring equinox, and dive into the abyss at the autumn equinox", which is actually about the changes in the astrological signs of the dragon in the east!

The dragon raises its head here, which is actually derived from an ancient Chinese way of dating: the dragon star chronology.

Now if you pick up a random person on the road and ask them what constellations they know in the sky, I'm afraid they can say that they can say something like the Aries Demon Scorpion Lion on the scale.

But this is the zodiac sign that came from Western astrology, and it has become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people with the animation of Saint Seiya.

However, astrology is not only in the West, but also in China, and even thousands of years before the West.

Zhou Yi is actually the earliest book of astrology in China, in which the first hexagram says:

On the ninth day of the first month, don't use the hidden dragon.

Ninety-two, see the dragon in the field.

Ninety-four: Or leap into the abyss.

Ninety-Five: The Flying Dragon is in the sky.

Shangjiu: Kang Long has regrets.

The dragon here, there are many explanations in later generations, but one thing they mostly ignore is that our country is an agricultural society, and the ancients paid the most attention to the relationship between the changes in the heavens and the calendar, so that they can know when to cultivate and when to harvest, and the change of the stars in the sky provides them with the best reference.

The ancients divided the heavenly dome into 28 constellations, each in a group of 7, that is, we are familiar with the left green dragon and the right white tiger, the upper vermilion bird and the lower Xuanwu. Among the 28 Nakshatras, the seven Nakshatras, Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, and Kei formed the most familiar dragon-shaped constellation of the ancients.

Therefore, the dragon mentioned by Zhou Yizhong is actually a dragon star in the sky.

On the ninth day of the first month, that is, in winter, the dragon star has been lurking below the horizon, so it is called a hidden dragon.

Ninety-two, that is, on the second day of February in early spring, the horn of the dragon star emerges from the sky, and it can be seen from standing on the field, so the horn sees the dragon in the field, and the dragon raises its head.

In the summer, the dragon star completely crosses the night sky, and the hexagram is in the sky for the flying dragon. When the autumn wind came, the dragon star sank to the northwest, because Kang Long regretted. Wait until the winter dragon star sinks below the horizon again, and wait until the next spring dragon looks up to see the dragon in the field, completing a cycle of four seasons, this is the dragon star chronology of our ancient times.

The various astrological signs observed by the ancients were recorded and became the basis for astrology in later generations.

According to legend, after Wu Zetian seized the Tang Dynasty, he changed the name of the country to Zhou and proclaimed himself Emperor Wu of Zhou. When the Jade Emperor of the Sky learned about it, he was furious and ordered the Tai Bai Xing to send a message to the Dragon King of the Four Seas that he would not rain on the world for three years. This can be bitter for the people of the world, and people are full of complaints, and they can't help crying.

The jade dragon who was in charge of the Tianhe could not bear the suffering of the people, drank enough water from the Tianhe River, sprayed the world, and saved the people. When the Jade Emperor learned of this, he knocked the jade dragon down the mortal realm, pressed it under the mountain, and erected a stone tablet with the words:"The jade dragon rains and violates the rules of heaven and deserves to be punished by the world.

If you want to re-ascend the Lingxiao Pavilion, unless the golden bean is blooming. "In order to save the jade dragon, the people tried their best. On the second day of the second lunar month of this year, people found that corn and soybeans were golden and shiny, much like golden beans.

If you fry the beans, isn't it the golden beans that bloom? So, one to ten, ten to hundred, each household fried a lot of corn and soybeans, some for the courtyard, some to the Yulong. The mountain that suppressed the jade dragon was the dust of the Tai Bai Xing, and on this day, the Tai Bai Xing found that the world was golden, thinking that the golden beans had bloomed, so he collected the dust.

Only then did the jade dragon rise into the air and return to the sky. At this time, it was the season when the spring rain was as expensive as oil, and the jade dragon ignored the ban of the Jade Emperor"Whoop"It's raining. <>

I'll give you a copy of something, and you'll know it when you read it. A legend in ancient times [The Legend of the Spring Dragon Festival] There is such a mythical story among the folks in the north of our country. said that Wu Zetian became the emperor, which annoyed the Jade Emperor and told the Dragon King of the Four Seas that he should not rain on the world for three years. Soon, the dragon king in charge of Tianhe heard the cries of the people, saw the tragic scene of starving people, and was worried that the way of life in the world would be cut off, so he disobeyed the will of the Jade Emperor and rained down on the world.

The Jade Emperor learned that he beat the dragon king to the mortal world, pressed him under a big mountain to suffer, and set up a monument on the mountain: "The dragon king violates the rules of heaven in rainfall, and he should be punished by the world; If you want to re-ascend the Lingxiao Pavilion, unless the golden bean is blooming. "In order to save the dragon king, people look for flowering golden beans everywhere.

On the second day of the second lunar month of the following year, when people were drying corn seeds, they thought that this corn was like golden beans. So every household burst cornflowers, and set up a case in the yard to burn incense, offering flowering "golden beans".

The Dragon King looked up and knew that the people had saved it, so he shouted to the Jade Emperor: "The golden bean has bloomed, let me out!" "When the Jade Emperor saw that the golden bean flowers were blooming in the courtyards of every household in the world, he had no choice but to spread the message that the Dragon King returned to heaven and continued to bring clouds and rain to the world.

Since then, the folk have formed a habit to pop corn to eat on the second day of the second month of February.

This kind of folk tale of "heaven and earth, merging into one" is the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient working people; From another perspective, it also reflects the reality that agriculture in ancient times was restricted by the weather and the good wishes of cultivators for good weather and abundant grains. However, according to the data, "on the second day of February, the dragon raises its head" is related to the ancient astronomical understanding of the movement of the stars and the agricultural solar terms.

In the ancient astronomical mode of observing the sky, 28 constellations were determined in the ecliptic of the Zhou sky, which were called the 28 Nakshatras. The ancients divided these 28 constellations into 4 houses according to the south, east, west, and northwest, each house has 7 houses, and attached the 4 houses to 4 animals according to their images. Its Eastern Palace 7 is imagined as a giant dragon stretching north and south, consisting of 30 stars.

The stars are relatively immobile, and when the Earth's rotation position makes the dragon constellation in the same direction as the sun, the sun's rays will drown out the starlight, and people will not be able to see the dragon in the sky; After a while, the position of the earth shifted, the constellation of dragons would reappear, and the cycle would continue, and the ancients discovered this law and used it to judge the season.

When the first of the 7 houses of the East Palace, known as the "Dragon's Horn", appeared on the horizon, it was just as spring was coming, so the ancients regarded its appearance as a sign of the arrival of spring. At this time, it coincided with the rainy season in the second month of the lunar calendar in China, which gave rise to the saying that "on the second day of February, the dragon raises its head". The famous poet Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty has a poem:

On February 2, the new rain was sunny, and the grass sprouts were born for a while; The light shirt is thin and the horse is young in the spring, and the cross head is a line. ”

February 2, Han folk traditional festival. It is prevalent in all ethnic areas of the country. There are many customs and activities in this festival, and it is also known as the Flower Dynasty Festival, the Qingqing Festival, the Picky Lai Festival, the Spring Dragon Festival, the Green Dragon Festival, and the Dragon Raising Day.

Because the time is on the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, it is called. At that time and later, the people asked each other with knife rulers, hundred grains, melon and fruit seeds, and fruits to welcome wealth, and there were activities such as picking vegetables, going out, and welcoming wealth. Yuan Fei's "Years of Glory and Beauty":

After the Ming Dynasty, there are many customs about the dragon raising its head on the second day of February, such as scattering ashes to attract the dragon, supporting the dragon, smoking insects and avoiding scorpions, shaving the dragon's head, avoiding acupuncture and other customs, so it is called the dragon raising its head day.

1. The dragon raises its head (the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar), also known as the Spring Ploughing Festival, the Agricultural Festival, the Green Dragon Festival, the Spring Dragon Festival, etc., is a traditional Chinese folk festival. "Dragon" refers to the 28 Nakshatras of the Oriental Canglong Seven Constellations, at the beginning of each year in the middle of the spring moon (Dou refers to the east), the "Dragon Horn Star" rises from the eastern horizon, so it is called "the dragon raises its head". At the beginning of the silver mao of the mid-spring regiment, the five elements of "Mao" belong to wood, and the hexagram is "shock"; Ninety-two in the hexagram mutual shock, it means that the dragon has left the latent state and has appeared on the surface, emerging or famous, as the elephant that sprouts.

In the farming culture, the "dragon raising its head" indicates that the yang energy is growing, the rain is increasing, and everything is full of vitality, and spring ploughing begins. Since ancient times, people have also regarded the day of the dragon's rise as a day to pray for good weather and good weather, ward off evil spirits, and auspicious transport.

2. "The dragon raises its head" originates from the worship of natural celestial phenomena, and is related to people's understanding of the movement of the stars and agricultural culture in ancient times. Although the "dragon raises its head" has a long historical origin, it has become a national festival and appears in the literature, and it is recorded that it was a group banquet after the Yuan Dynasty. There are many activities related to "dragon raising head", but either way, it is based on the belief in the beautiful dragon god, and it is an activity where people place their hopes for survival.

As far as the country is concerned, due to different regions, there are also differences in local customs.

<>1. The dragon raises its head, a traditional Chinese festival, the second day of the second lunar month, also known as the Spring Ploughing Festival, the Agricultural Festival, the Green Dragon Festival, the Spring Dragon Festival, etc., is a traditional festival of the Chinese people. "Dragon" refers to the Oriental Canglong Seven Constellations in the 28 Nakshatras, and at the beginning of each mid-spring month, the "Dragon Horn Star" rises from the eastern horizon, so it is called "the dragon raises its head". The day when the dragon raises its head is between the sting of the moon and the spring equinox; Mao, rising, all things come out of the ground, for the birth of the elephant, representing the vitality of luxuriant, as in the "Book of Laws" has:

Mao Zhi is also a word of Mao, and a word of all things is Mao". "Mao" is one of the twelve earthly branches of the Ganzhi calendar, the five elements belong to wood, and the hexagram is "earthquake"; Ninety-two is in the hexagram mutual shock, and the shock is a dragon, which means that the dragon letter cover has left the latent state and has appeared on the surface of the earth, emerging from the surface. "The dragon raises its head" is a reflection of the festival in ancient Chinese farming culture, marking the beginning of spring ploughing with yang energy coming out of the ground, spring thunder, rain increase, temperature rising, and everything is full of vitality.

Since ancient times, people have also regarded the dragon raising its head as a day to pray for blessings and auspicious transport.

2. In the Yuan Dynasty, the "second day of the second month of February" was called the day when the dragon raised its head. The second lunar month has entered the mid-spring season, and the "second day of February" is between the "rain", "stunning" and "spring equinox" of the 24 solar terms. Since ancient times, people have been celebrating the dragon on the day of "the dragon raising its head" in mid-spring, praying for the dragon to eliminate disasters and blessings, the wind and rain are smooth, and the grains are abundant.

The second day of February in the lunar calendar is not only the "Dragon Raising Heads Festival", but also the "Sheri Festival", the birthday of the land god. For example, in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and other regions, there are similar customs such as the dragon raising their heads, and there is a new "February 2" custom based on the custom of the sacrificial shrine, and the south generally worships the land god.

People call this day the day of "the dragon raising its head", because the second day of the second lunar month is around the time of the "stunning" solar term. Snakes, earthworms, frogs and many other animals enter a state of hibernation without eating, drinking, or moving in winter, which is called "stinging". Around the second day of February, the weather is getting warmer, and the insects and animals seem to be awakened from their sleep by the spring sun and spring thunder, so this festival is called "stinging".

The dragon raised its head in fact, the four elephants of the green dragon Vermilion Bird White Tiger Xuanwu, the Canglong Qisu, gradually rising from the horizon, and the dragon's head was the horn Su.

Around the second day of the second month of February, spring returns to the earth, and people expect the dragon to suppress all harmful poisonous insects and look forward to a bumper harvest. This is the saying "on the second of February, the dragon raises its head".

Because of the use of the lunar calendar, the second day of the second lunar month is before and after the "stunning" solar term, in the second lunar month has entered the mid-spring season, when the yang rises, the earth recovers, the grass and trees sprout, farmers are about spring ploughing, sowing, very much need the soil to moisten, retain the water nucleus. At this time, if it rains in the sky, it is really precious, so there is a saying that "spring rain is as expensive as oil".

In terms of solar terms, the beginning of February is between the 24 solar terms of "rain", "sting" and "spring equinox", which is a period when rain is needed and may have rain, and people hope to achieve the purpose of rain through the act of praying to the dragon. In addition, the dragon's raising of the head also indicates that the yang energy comes out of the ground, so all kinds of stinging insects feel that they begin to move, so they correspond to the solar term sting.