"really?"
Yue and Song were particularly excited. The bronze mirror came from Haidong Shengguo, which meant that when this temple was built, Haidong Shengguo had not yet perished. This was good news.
Seeing their curiosity, Mr. Cat explained the origin of the mirror to them like he was playing tricks.
Thousands of years ago, the Haidong Sheng Kingdom was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. It guarded the Bohai Bay for the Tang people for hundreds of years. Because its land was near the sea, its navigation ships were very developed and it could build giant ships of 100 meters for maritime trade.
Close to the sea, guard the sea, and eat by the sea.
The ocean has an extraordinary status for the people of Bohai.
For them, the ocean is sometimes calm and sometimes rough. They are as tolerant and tolerant as their mother, and as cold and serious as their father. Facing such an ocean that is both unpredictable and inescapable, they have extremely complex emotions.
In nearly a hundred years of folk worship, the ocean has been given personality and has a god in charge of marine life - the East China Sea Spirit God.
The spirit god moves the clouds to spread rain and the water to create mist. He controls the weather conditions of the East China Sea and millions of aquatic animals. He can make waves a hundred meters when he is angry, and he can bring abundant fish harvests when he smiles. He is the most selfless and generous but also the most stern and solemn god.
The spirit god often transforms into a dragon, and the treasure it holds in its hand is the Zhenhai Evil-Repelling Mirror!
"Master Cat, do you think this mirror is the treasure of a fairy?"
Yue Guanchao looked at the mirror. It was indeed beautifully shaped, but if you want to say it has magical powers, wouldn't it be nonsense?
"Young friend Yue, I'm not talking nonsense. I, Mao Chunyan, was eating and drinking in Antique Street and I haven't strayed away yet."
Seeing that he didn't believe it, Mr. Cat continued: "Just keep listening, there are quite a few allusions."
"Mirrors are what reflect things. Li Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once said that using copper as a mirror can straighten your clothes, using ancient mirrors to know the ups and downs, and using people as mirrors to know gains and losses. Mirrors have a very important status for the ancients. , in addition to dressing up and dressing properly, it is also often used as a magical instrument to pray for blessings."
Mr. Cat rubbed the mirror and looked at everyone with mysterious eyes:
"Never mind the demon mirror, bone mirror, Kunlun mirror, yin-yang mirror, Fuxi mirror, fairy in the mirror, illusion in the mirror, ghost in the mirror, there are too many fairy tales about this kind of thing."
"In the final analysis, please remember one sentence. The ancients believed that mirrors are the essence of gold and water. Ancient mirrors are like gods in the divine world, which can ward off evil spirits and frighten evil. Generally speaking, the world reflected in the mirror really exists."
"The world in the mirror is like the Mount Sumeru in the palm of the Buddha's hand. It can contain thousands of worlds and tens of thousands of creatures."
"But, what is the function of this water-suppressing and evil-repelling mirror?"
Yue Erpao scratched his chin and widened his round eyes.
"I'm so anxious that I can't eat hot tofu. Don't be anxious. I have to explain the cause and effect to you clearly. Otherwise, you won't be able to understand me when I say you touched the shaft of your crotch in the city gate tower."
Mr. Cat coughed in a high-pitched old voice and held the mirror in front of his heart:
"People in Bohai believe that the ocean is actually a phantom created by the spirit god of the East China Sea using a precious mirror. What the common people see is just a mirage of the precious mirror. The real ocean has always been preserved in the precious mirror and is guarded day and night by the spiritual god."
"They created the evil-proofing mirror based on the legend of the Spiritual God Mirror. They hope that the evil-proofing mirror can capture all dangers in the sea and eliminate bad luck."
"People in the Bohai Sea often worship the dragon god and hang precious mirrors on their boats at home to pray for good weather and a healthy life."
"This thing!"
Master Cat flicked the mirror, and it roared loudly like a yellow bell:
"I have seen many waterproof mirrors on the black market. They are similar in style to this one, but they are all made of wood. The mirror in my hand is too exquisite. It is made of gold, tortoise shell, and tin silver. It’s made of precious stones, I seriously suspect that this is the anti-evil mirror used in the Haedong Shengguo Ancestral Temple’s ritual to suppress evil spirits.”
"Young friend Yue, look!"
Master Mao turned to the back and introduced the rules of the totem pattern on the back of the mirror:
"The twelve water-suppressing beasts represent the twelve hours, the twenty-four lotus seeds represent the twenty-four solar terms, the five circles of nine-petal lotus are in line with the nine-five, which means that this is the highest ritual instrument of royal standards, and the thirty-six agate beads , representing the Thirty-Sixth Road Sea Concubine Longjun of the East China Sea.”
"The black iron represents the earth, the tin and silver represent the sky, and the wave pattern refers to the East China Sea that connects the heaven and the earth."
"Look ahead!"
Mr. Cat turned to the front and pointed at the lines and hexagrams:
"The lotus in Sanskrit represents Buddhism, and the Bagua represents Taoism. This is the characteristic of Buddhism's spread to the east and the mixture of Taoism. Haidong Shengguo comprehensively studied the culture of the Tang Dynasty, and wanted to learn the complementarity of Buddhism and Taoism."
"This kind of highest-level ritual vessel is generally used by the monarchs of vassal states to worship the ancestral temple. In addition to learning from the Tang Dynasty's Temple of Heaven, Earth Temple, Sun Temple, Moon Temple, and Sheji Altar, Haidong Sheng Kingdom also has the Sea Altar. They will worship alone. Worship the East China Sea Spiritual God and the ocean.”
"It is rumored that what is enshrined in the sea altar is this water-suppressing and evil-evil mirror!"
After many discussions and discussions, Mr. Cat finally made it clear to everyone the origin of the water-suppressing and evil-repelling mirror.
When Uncle Yu learned that the mirror was so valuable, he was so frightened that he quickly knelt on the ground, kowtowed six times in front of the mirror, and kept mumbling.
"But, how could this thing appear in this dragon temple to worship a wild dragon? Is it such a big cost?"
Ma Chang's words made everyone confused, but Haidong Shengguo was thousands of years ago, so everything was too vague and far away.
"Anyway, I found this mirror, I have to go down there again!"
Everyone did not understand what Yue Guanchao said:
"Why are you still going down there? Everything has been fished out."
He touched his chin and said in a playful tone:
"Is there anything good in the well?"
"What?"
"There's a half-dead black catfish in there~"
…
