"My Lord, since you don't agree to Nuochen's invitation to return to Nirvana, then please, my lord, agree to Nuochen's other invitation!" After laughing, Zhuge Liang said seriously.
"What are you asking for?" Liu Xu was stunned for a moment, and then asked in confusion.
"I invite my lord to preside over the ceremony of conferring gods!" Zhuge Liang said seriously, but Liu Xu was fooled.
"The Ceremony of Conferring Gods? Could it be that the Prime Minister has already read the Romance of Conferring Gods?" Liu Xu asked in surprise. This Romance of Conferring Gods was from the middle and late Ming Dynasty, but he had never mentioned it, nor written it out, let alone Reflecting the people after the Ming Dynasty, how did Zhuge Liang know?
"I don't know about the story of conferring gods!" Zhuge Liang shook his head and said, "I am asking my lord, Guan Yu and Li Jingzhi, to confer gods for us!"
"What?" Liu Xu was shocked again, and Zhuge Liang continued, "I believe that the matter of conferring gods is imminent. If my lord can confer gods on generals like me, then all the generals can become heavenly soldiers and generals, and their combat power will be greatly improved. Master The strength can also be greatly improved. At the same time, becoming a god can also make the generals feel at ease, and at the same time make the lord's position stable again."
"Although all the generals are now generals under the lord, they actually have other princes who are loyal to each other. There is only one loyal minister and good general, so his heart is still with the princes, not the lord."
"But if the lord presides over the canonization of gods, then the lord can be heaven, which is the way of heaven, the father of the human emperor, and the emperor is the son of the lord. Then the lord's authority is supreme and no one can infringe or touch it!"
"Feng Shen...I have never thought about this at all!" Liu Xu scratched his head. Zhuge Liang's suggestion came too suddenly, and it was something Liu Xu had never considered.
The word "Feng Shen" does not refer to the "Feng Shen" in "Feng Shen Yan".
In the Romance of the Gods, God gave the Gods List, and then Jiang Ziya canonized all the human heroes and various Qi refiners who died in the Shang and Zhou wars as heavenly priests. This is called the Gods.
But this is the apotheosis of gods in China, not the apotheosis of gods in the human world.
The canonization of gods in the human world actually belongs to the rights of emperors and various religions.
The simplest among them is the canonization of gods by emperors. Because of the theory of connection between heaven and man established by Confucianism, the emperor is actually the son of God. He is born with the power given by God. He can not only decide the affairs of the world, but also canonize various ghosts and gods. and gods, etc., canonize those who have made great contributions to the world as gods in heaven.
The simplest example is Zhang Tianshi. Zhang Tianshi's lineage was originally just some wild Taoist priests, but later the Five Pecks of Rice Cult became popular. In order to win over these believers, later emperors successively granted titles to them. By the time of the Yuan Dynasty, successive Tianshi Taoists The Celestial Masters were all canonized as real people by the imperial court and were recognized as living gods by the imperial court.
In addition to canonizing religious figures, other civil servants and generals have been canonized. For example, Zhuge Liang has been canonized by later emperors.
In addition, there were many mortals who were also made gods by the emperor. The most obvious example is Mazu.
Mazu was originally a folk woman named Lin Moniang. Because she could tell the world's blessings and misfortune during her lifetime, she helped the poor, cured diseases and eliminated disasters. After her death, she was worshiped in a temple among the people. This was only a ritual in the Ming Dynasty.
However, in the seven to eight hundred years from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, various emperors granted her more than 40 canonizations. First, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty canonized her as the "Goddess of the South China Sea" and directly carried Mazu into the heaven.
Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty named her "Mrs. Linghui Zhaoying" and "Mrs. Linghui Zhaoying"; Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty named her "Mrs. Linghui Zhaoying Chongfu" and "Mrs. Linghuizhaoying Chongfu and Benefit"; Song Guangzong named her "Mrs. "Concubine Linghui" and so on. There were more than 20 kinds of canonization titles in the Song Dynasty. Almost all the emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty had canonized Mazu.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Mazu was elevated to the title of "Tianfei" by the emperor. Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, named Mazu the "Tianfei of the Ming Dynasty who protects the country, benefits the country, promotes righteousness, good deeds and celebrates good things."
The Ming Dynasty continued to grant titles, and Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty named Mazu the "Holy Concubine of Filial Piety, Pure Heaven, and Fuji Influence."
Not to be outdone, Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty named Mazu "the wonderful spirit who protects the country and shelters the people, Zhaoying Hongren and Puji Tianfei"
In this way, Lin Moniang, an ordinary folk woman, became the leading goddess in heaven after being conferred by successive emperors, and her status was extremely high. Her status among the female fairies in heaven was probably second only to the Queen Mother.
Mazu's transformation from a commoner's daughter to a heavenly concubine is just an example. If it cannot be generalized, various dynasties and emperors have consecrated tens of thousands of city gods, mountain gods, and land gods.
In ancient times, when passing through every city and every mountain and river, one could see the corresponding City God Temple, Earth Temple, Mountain Temple, River Temple, etc., and these temples could receive a lot of incense and worship.
And if you are willing to carefully observe the inscriptions in these temples, you will find that except for a few of these city gods, mountain gods and river gods, most of them are human beings.
These people made many contributions while they were alive, or did many good things for the nearby people, or maintained the rule of the dynasty, etc. So after their death, they were canonized by the court and became local leaders. The indigenous gods can enjoy all kinds of incense worship by the people of future generations.
A very important task for the imperial court every year was to receive seals from various local officials, requesting that someone be canonized as a local aboriginal deity. These seals would also record the detailed achievements of these people. Finally, the emperor With a wave of the pen, and then chanting the names of these people while worshiping the heaven and earth, these people were successfully canonized by the emperors of the world and became indigenous gods.
This behavior may seem very foolish and ridiculous to later generations, but it was very necessary at the time.
Regardless of whether the emperor believed that he could really canonize gods, they at least knew one other thing, that is, with these people who had done all kinds of good people and good deeds, made various achievements, and at the same time, their deeds in a certain aspect were praised throughout the ages. After a person is canonized as a god.
Others will definitely yearn for it, and at the same time, they also hope to be able to become gods after their death.
After all, even modern people don’t know what will happen after death. If there is a soul after death, there will really be heaven and earth after death, and there will be 18 levels of hell waiting for them. What a terrible thing it would be. matter.
As for the imperial court's anointed gods, they can transform themselves from lonely ghosts into righteous gods in the world, and enjoy the incense and worship of future generations. They don't have to worry about falling into the 18th level of hell after death, and they can also become gods. How amazing is this? thing!
Therefore, other people will follow the example of these sages who were enshrined as gods, and work desperately for the emperor, thereby receiving the reward of being enshrined as gods.
This is also the reason why later emperors tried their best to confer Guan Yu with titles and forcibly promoted Guan Yu to the throne of Guan Sheng Emperor. It was because Guan Yu had all the elements that emperors loved as ministers, and emperors could not wait for their own generals. Everyone becomes Guan Yu, and the common people are all as loyal to him as Guan Yu, so it is natural to publicize a role model like Guan Yu and make various gods.
Ahem, that's a bit far. It's not that Liu Xu doesn't understand the principles of conferring gods, but this is not the earth, and he is not an emperor. How could he consecrate these generals of the Three Kingdoms to gods!
"Master, why don't you write another book?" Zhuge Liang saw Liu Xu's doubts and smiled directly, "Master just mentioned Fengshen Yanyi, I think this is an excellent book title."
"My lord, you can make up a story, and in the story, we and other generals will be transformed into gods one by one. Then we will naturally become gods smoothly!"
Well, what Zhuge Liang meant was that in "The Romance of the Gods", people like Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei and Cao Cao were made gods... This was indeed a suggestion that even Liu Xu didn't know how to complain about.
(End of chapter)
