Why is it called Journey to the West after death?

In ancient China, the crane was often used as a symbol of longevity, and was greatly influenced by Buddhism, which believed that people would be in the Western Elysium after death, so they compared leaving the world to "returning to the west".

As an auspicious spirit bird, the crane is accompanied by the gods. Therefore, there are euphemistic sayings for death such as traveling to the west with a crane, traveling with a crane to immortals, returning from the west with a crane, and becoming an immortal with a crane.

The dead man is called Journey to the West, which means that he flies to the Western Elysium by crane to become an immortal, and the female is called Crane Yaochi, which means that he flies to live in Yaochi, and Yaochi refers to the residence of the Queen Mother, which means that women fly to Yaochi to become fairies.

Yaochi is the place where the Queen Mother of the West lives, so when a woman dies, "driving the crane Yaochi" should go to the Queen Mother of the West to report.

Journey to the West refers to the Buddhist holy places in the west to describe men. Yao Chi refers to the fairy.

Journey to the West means a euphemism for death.

In ancient China, the crane was often regarded as a symbol of longevity, and the departure from the world was compared to "driving the crane back to the west". Therefore, there are euphemistic expressions for death, such as traveling to the west, traveling to the west, returning to the west of the crane, and becoming an immortal.

When a man dies, he is called Journey to the West, and he flies to the Western Elysium to become an immortal, while the female is called Crane Yaochi, which means that he flies to live in Yaochi, and Yaochi refers to the residence of the Queen Mother, which means that women fly to Yaochi to become fairies. The original sentence is "The old lady is true to her word, and soon after this thing is done, she will travel to the west with the crane, and Ziyun will officially take care of the family." This phrase is a kind of good wishes for the deceased.

The reasons why the ancients worshipped the crane:

Immortals are long-lived, and the cranes ridden by immortals are naturally long-lived birds. Liu An of the Western Han Dynasty said in "Huainanzi Shuo Lin Xun": "The crane is a thousand years old, and it is extremely traveling.

"Flower Glasses" also said: "The crane is born for three years, the top is red, the seven years of the feather is 160 years old, and the shape is fixed for 1,600 years, and it is born without eating."

In the eyes of the ancients, the crane and the turtle, the pine, are a symbol of longevity, called the longevity of the "crane longevity", to describe the old people rich experience, people old and healthy called "crane language Yao Nian", "crane hair and young face", etc., also come from this. When the old man dies, it is called "driving the crane to the west".

The crane is a gentleman among the birds, and the so-called "standing out from the flock" is based on this saying, which means that the demeanor is outstanding, which is different from the ordinary shed. Song Suzhe's poem "The Second Rhyme and the Sense of Old Views" said: "The gentleman is the highest, and the crane is among the chickens."

The ancients also used "piano exercises" and "crane virtues" as metaphors for those with outstanding talents and virtues, and the "piano crane picture" in literati paintings is this meaning.

The above content reference: Encyclopedia - Journey to the West.

It's all about legends.

1. Journey to the west by cranes.

The journey to the west is related to the legend of the calligrapher Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It is rumored that in the twilight of Wang Xizhi, he often closes his door to thank guests. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of one year, his son Wang Xianzhi met a monk on the shore of Huijian Lake, and the monk entrusted him to hand over a letter to Wang Xizhi.

After Wang Xizhi opened the letter, he wrote in the letter: "At noon in Duanyang, I will return to the house by crane, cut off my troubles, and visit the queen mother." After reading the letter, Wang Xizhi walked to Jianhu Lake and saw a white crane by the lake, so he flew away on the egret.

Later, people used "the crane to return to the west" as a metaphor for the death of a respected person.

Second, drive the crane Yao Pond.

The legend of the West Queen Mother is related to the legend of the founding ancestor of the West Queen Mother, the legend of the Yao Pond is the place where the West Queen Mother lives, and it is recorded in the "Notes on the Mountains and Seas" that "although the West Queen Mother takes Kunlun as the palace, she also has her own cave to leave the palace, and the place to rest is not to live in a mountain."

In ancient Chinese myths and legends, the Queen Mother of the West, also known as the Holy Mother of Yaochi, is also commonly known as the Queen Mother, a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology, and is worshiped as a fairy leader by Taoism.

After death, why do people say, "Go west"?

1. The origin of "driving the crane to the west".

Since ancient times, Chinese have some euphemisms about people's death, the most common is to go to the West, return to the West, drive to the West, etc., people believe that people should go after death ** is an influence of religious belief culture. Therefore, after the death of the ancients, people would say that he "drove the crane to the west". Why, then, is there such a statement, instead of sitting on another creature to the Western Heavens?

For example, we can also say "Journey to the West". Obviously, "Journey to the West" is not suitable. Because "dragon" had a special meaning in ancient times, it was generally associated with emperors.

In other words, only emperors are qualified to ride dragons. There is another kind, even if they are not emperors, people who ride dragons to heaven are generally alive, not after death, so the meaning of "driving the crane to the west" here has two aspects: one is that people die, and the other is that people become immortals.

What is certain is that the crane travels west, and calling him to go west is a good wish for the deceased. It's a romantic feeling. Chengxian is actually a euphemism for death, which means "immortal death" and "immortal go". This is the original intention of returning to the West.

2. Why "crane".

But why cranes? I think cranes have these characteristics:

First, the sound of the crane is very special. They fly through the air and their voice is very loud and clear, which makes them different from all birds. Many birds can fly very high, and their calls are not small, but there are almost no such as cranes with double symbols.

Second, symbolize the deceased standing out from the crowd. Cranes have a distinct feature in appearance, and that is that they have long legs. The idiom "standing out from the crowd" refers to a person's talent being more prominent than others.

Here, the crane is immortal and extraordinary, and the chicken is mortal. Therefore, it can be seen from this point that the death of extraordinary people is described in the west of the crane, like a god.

Thirdly, the overall appearance of the white crane. What does this have to do with the gods? We can know that cranes are generally white, and therefore, cranes are an incorruptible image with good moral qualities and are naturally chosen as a means of transportation to guide souls to heaven.

3. A long-cherished wish.

To sum up, we can see that the characteristics of the crane are all caused by the subjective initiative of human beings themselves, and the dual symbols of culture and morality are added to the crane. However, despite this, it is still in line with the cultural aesthetic and moral standards of ancient China, and since this is the case, it is not important to talk about the meaning, it does not matter. Therefore, under the good wishes of the people, the extraordinary people and the crane went west together.

Because it would seem more euphemistic to say this, it is a very beautiful way to say, and it will not describe how terrible death is, but look at it with a deified attitude.

The crane is a kind of auspicious bird, is the mount of the gods, after the death of the person said to drive the crane to the west is a kind of good wishes for people, hope that people can become immortals after death.

In ancient times, some gods used cranes as transportation, and after death, they used "to drive the crane west" to represent a good wish. Hopefully, this person went to heaven and not to be beaten to hell.

Driving the crane to the west according to the literal interpretation, that is, he can't wake up from a coma, he is critically ill, and he can't be resurrected after death, so he can only be explained in two words

In ancient China, the crane was often regarded as a symbol of longevity, and was greatly influenced by Buddhism, which believed that after death, the rest of the clothes would be erected in the Western Elysium, so leaving the world was compared to "driving the crane back to the west".

As an auspicious spirit bird, the crane is accompanied by the gods. Therefore, there are euphemistic sayings for death such as driving a crane to the west, driving a crane to the west, driving a crane to return to the west, and driving a crane to become an immortal.

The difference between the two is:

1. It is applicable to different occasions.

Deaths are often used in informal settings, such as announcements between family members. The death is a very formal occasion, such as the death of a certain leader, or an old artist at the national level, and the scientists who have made great contributions have passed away more, and how old they will be written later.

2. The angle of description is different.

Death is usually described from the perspective of others, and is often used to show respect for the deceased. And death is mostly explained from one's own point of view, on the surface, it is leaving the world, and it also refers to the death of people in general.

And the meaning expressed in the original meaning is no different, it refers to the meaning of people dying and dying. Death as commonly understood means that the heart stops beating, that is, death.