Yue Guanchao and the others widened their eyes when they saw the bull's head come to life. This technique of chewing animals has been lost long ago!
Heaven and earth are unkind and regard all things as stupid dogs!
The rutted animals are also called rutted dogs and daggers, which refer to the six animals made from straw and bamboo strips and are used to sacrifice ancestors and the souls of the dead.
As early as in ancient times, the Xia and Shang Dynasty often used slaves to sacrifice to gods. After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, they replaced the living sacrifices with six animals, gradually changing the customs of sacrifice to a more civilized one. The Zhou Rites also stipulated that the king sacrificed six animals and the public sacrificed five animals. The marquis sacrifices four animals, the uncle sacrifices three animals, the son sacrifices two animals, the male sacrifices one animal, and the common people sacrifice cud animals instead.
In other words, except for those with noble titles who can sacrifice real livestock, poor people are not qualified to sacrifice live livestock at all. They can only use straw as sacrifices to worship their ancestors.
This sacrificial regulation seems to discriminate against the common people, but it is also in line with the productivity of the time. The common people are very poor. Once they raise livestock, they must be used as production tools and cannot be killed easily. If the common people are allowed to kill livestock during the annual ancestor worship, it will definitely It is a waste of production tools.
Simply use the regulations on sacrificial rituals to directly prevent people from privately sacrificing live animals.
Most of the ruminant animals in ancient times were animals woven with scrawled straw. They did look similar, but they were definitely not real portraits. It was not until the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that Lu Ban improved the ruminant animals and compiled the "Six Styles of the Cully Animals". The ruminants went from scrawls to portraits of animals.
In fact, once the internal mechanism of the cued animal made up according to Lu Ban's "Six Styles of Cuddling Animals" is activated, it can move naturally like a real animal, just like a real animal.
After the world returned to the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang burned the art of destroying animals as the magical skills of the alchemists, and hid only the original copies in Xianyang Palace. Later, at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Xianyang Palace was burned to the ground by Xiang Yu, and those original copies were not known to be burned. , or it was stolen by the palace people when they escaped, and their whereabouts have long been unknown.
It can be said that the "Six Styles of Cuddling Animals" has been lost since the Qin Dynasty. The crowing animals created by the common people have their shape but no essence, just like ordinary dead animals.
In later dynasties, the cud animals were replaced by paper objects and disappeared without a trace.
At this moment, everyone saw with their own eyes that Tang Baoguan made a fake thing that was confused with the real thing. They really felt that the world was strange and unpredictable.
"Old sir, is this the art of destroying animals?"
Song Siyuan had already had this question in her mind after looking at it for a long time. Tang Baoguan continued his efforts and made up the heads of other five animals. After making the mechanisms inside and stuffing them with dry straw, he stopped and continued talking: "Woman, you are quite knowledgeable. Well, this is a lost tradition." I heard that there has been such a sacrifice since the beginning of sacrifices to the Soul Palace. I think this is where the Tang Dynasty got Lu Ban's unique copy, so that we can pass it on to the present. The skills of the ancestor Lu Ban are already Burn high incense."
After finishing speaking, Tang Baoguan put the heads and bodies of the six animals together. Each one was half a meter wide and half waist high, and they were arranged in a row with their backs to the crowd, which was very majestic.
"Dayang, bring me my colorful plates, and I'll paint them with colorful clothes!"
This is a folk custom that has disappeared. Song Siyuan did not wait for Tang Dayang to take action, and personally brought the paint tray, took the egg white and started to mix the dry ingredients. When the color was oily and clear, the five-color paint had been mixed.
Tang Baoguan picked up the large and small brushes and held the plate. With the support of Song Siyuan, he began to color and outline the rows of cuddly animals. After attaching the silkworm cocoon white paper, the sauce-colored appearance was quickly covered with oily colors, just like the door god's prints. The animals here are extremely lively and lively!
While Song Siyuan picked up the camera and took pictures of these things, the old man said while painting: "When I was young, I was a good handler of cud animals. These years, I thought I was not good at handling. Now it seems that practice makes perfect. Even a half-blind person can do things. I'll take care of it."
For the first time, the old man felt that he was still useful, and his face was extremely happy. He even spoke a few more words, and told Song Siyuan a few words about the custom of chewing cattle. In the end, the description of the six animals had been completed.
Later, Tang Dayang picked up a small porcelain plate, poured egg white and tung oil on the animal blood that had been dried and ground into powder, and restored it to a blood-red color like cinnabar. After the color of the six animals was completely dry, Tang Baoguan picked up the rat. The fine pen was dipped in animal blood and began to outline mysterious runes on them, which looked a bit like early oracle bones.
When these animals were covered with runes, Song Siyuan pressed the shutter button and recorded all the finished images on the film, and then put down the camera with satisfaction.
"Now, what time is it?"
After doing all this, Old Man Tang wiped the color on his hands.
"About two o'clock in the afternoon."
Song Siyuan looked at her pocket watch, pinched the time and said.
"Woman, the fog can be cleared away!"
Yue Guanchao and the others only focused on looking at the craftsmanship of the beasts, and did not pay attention to the Wanyan Cave at all. Now they were leaning on the crenels and looking into the distance. The sun had tilted from the east to the west. The clouds on the cave were illuminated by golden light, and even the last point The fog of chaos has all dissipated.
With the help of a telescope, you can even see the caves farther away, and the clarity of your field of vision has reached its maximum.
"Uncle Tang, the fog has cleared."
