[Love Island Wenhai Morning Light] Women and Snakes

Whether in China culture or western culture, the image of women and snakes are inextricably linked.

Nu Wa is the goddess of creation in ancient China mythology. She can create at least 70 things every day, so she is called Mother Earth. According to legend, Nu Wa created human beings by imitating her own soil, and created and constructed human society. It also established a marriage system for human beings, enabling young men and women to marry each other and reproduce, so it was also known as the ancient god of love and marriage. Speaking of the image of Nu Wa, it is generally known that it is a snakehead. Qu Yuan asked in Tian Wen, "Nu Wa has a body. Who made it?" Wang Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty commented: "Nuwa has a head and a snake body. Seventy times a day. " It can be seen that in the Han Dynasty, the image of the snake body with the head of Nuwa has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

As for why Nu Wa is a snakehead, some experts explained that it comes from totem worship and reproductive worship. When there is no dragon image, the snake closest to the dragon becomes the symbol of primitive gods, and the snake is an animal with strong reproductive ability. Therefore, after combining the two aspects, the human head snake body becomes the image of Nu Wa.

According to Genesis, God created a man from clay and named him Adam. I thought Adam was lonely, so I took off one of his ribs while he was sleeping. As a result, a woman named Eve was born, and God made them live in the Garden of Eden. Adam means "dust" and Eve means "ribs". Later, Eve was tempted by the snake, ate the forbidden fruit with Adam, learned shame and good and evil, was punished by God, and was expelled from the Garden of Eden. Become the ancestors of mankind. God put a curse on snakes, so that snakes can only walk on their stomachs forever and eat soil for life. God also made the offspring of snakes and women enemies. The offspring of a woman will hurt the head of the offspring of a snake and the heel of the offspring of a snake. "

In ancient Greek mythology, there was also a woman with a snakehead. She's Medusa. Medusa was once a beautiful girl. Because she dated Poseidon privately, Athena turned her hair into a poisonous snake and her lower body into a snake in a rage. Meanwhile, she was cursed. Anyone who looks Medusa in the eye will become a stone statue.

It can be seen that there are snakes in ancient Chinese and western cultures, but the difference is that they play different roles of good and evil. In ancient China mythology, snakes presented positive images; In western mythology, snakes appear as negative images.

The positive image of Nu Wa is related to its birth in matriarchal clan society. With China entering the patriarchal society, beautiful women are often regarded as "femme fatale", while snakes are cold-blooded animals, mostly poisonous, which deepens their vicious impression, while those women who are beautiful in appearance and vicious in heart are called "femme fatale".

According to Chunqiu Zuozhuan, Uncle Xiang's father fell in love with a very beautiful woman, and Uncle Xiang's mother wouldn't let her sleep with her husband. Uncle Xiang advised his mother, who said the reason was: "It is easy to give birth to dragons and snakes in osawa. Although she is beautiful, I am afraid that the dragon and snake she gave birth to will harm you. " It can be seen that in the Spring and Autumn Period, snakes have become a symbol of vicious nouns.

In fact, China people are both afraid and awed by snakes, and this mentality is best reflected in the legend of White Snake, one of the four great folklore stories in China. Legend has it that during the Shaoxing period in the Southern Song Dynasty, a snake demon trained for thousands of years turned into a beautiful woman named White Snake. She met Xu Xian in West Lake, Hangzhou, and fell in love at first sight through thick and thin. White Snake was greedy for life and married Xu Xian. After marriage, after many experiences, Bai Niangzi was finally taken in by the monk Fahai of Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang in the alms bowl and Leifeng Tower during Yongzheng period.

Legend of the White Snake is widely circulated in China, with different versions and details. The original story ended when the White Snake was crushed under the Leifeng Tower. Later versions added the plot of the white snake giving birth. White snake's son is also a top student in high school. He went to the tower to pay homage to his mother, rescued her and reunited the whole family. These changes reflect the common people's pursuit of a happy life.

Now, the legend of the white snake has become a symbol of the freedom of love and marriage between men and women, and movies related to this theme are flooding the screen. Correspondingly, the images of beautiful women and snakes are also changing, and the works of modern people praising snakes are also increasing. Calling women "beautiful snakes" is also developing in the direction of praise, that is, praising women for their beautiful appearance and devil figure, and everyone wants to chase them.