Was there really a corpse driver in ancient China? Is the body real or fake?

Corpse removal is a skill of Miao nationality and a part of Chu witch culture. There are black witchcraft and white witchcraft, and corpse driving belongs to white witchcraft.

The corpse driver is a mage in cassock. No matter how many bodies there are, he will drive them away alone. The mage is not behind the body, but leads the way in front of the body without playing lanterns. He shook the mastermind clock by hand and struck the gong as he walked, so that the night walkers could avoid it. Dog owners lock them up. When there are multiple bodies, connect them with straw ropes, one every six or seven feet. When walking at night, the bodies were wearing tall felt hats and some yellow papers with symbols on their foreheads.

There is a "dead body inn" on the road. This mysterious "dead inn" only lives in dead bodies and corpse drivers, which ordinary people can't live in. Its gate is open all year round. Because behind the two door panels, it is where the body stops. The corpse driver rushed to the "corpse shop" before dawn and quietly left at night. The body leans neatly against the wall behind the door panel. When it is difficult to walk on rainy days, I will stop in the store for a few days and nights.

The origin of corpse driving

China people love their motherland very much. In any case, leaves must return to their roots. A wanderer who dies in a different place must be buried in his ancestral home according to his own wishes; The dutiful son and grandson will be sent back to their hometown, and relatives and friends have the obligation to support this matter. In the upper reaches of Yuanjiang River in western Hunan, the place is barren, and the poor mostly go to eastern Sichuan or eastern Guizhou to be hawkers, collect medicines or hunt for a living. There are many mountains in those places, malaria is very heavy, falciparum malaria is often prevalent, and the living environment is extremely bad. Except for the local Miao people, outsiders seldom go. None of the Han people who died in those places were rich. The Han people traditionally have a deep concept of transporting corpses back to their hometowns for burial. However, even if they have money, it is difficult to transport them by vehicles or stretchers on rugged mountain roads thousands or hundreds of miles away, so someone has created this strange economic way to transport the bodies back to their hometown.

Legend of corpse driver

According to legend, thousands of years ago, the ancestor of the Miao nationality, Apu (Miao language: father-in-law), Chi You led an army to kill the enemy array along the Yellow River until the corpses were everywhere and blood flowed into the river. After the battle, we had to retreat to the rear. After the soldiers carried all the wounded soldiers away, Apci especially said to the Apu military adviser around him, "We can't leave our brothers who died here. How about using some magic to get these good brothers back to their hometown? " Apu said, "All right. You and I will change our clothes. You take' Jeff' to lead the way, and I will supervise later. "

So Mr. Apu dressed up as Mr. Apu Chiyou and stood among the bodies of the brothers who died in battle. After chanting a spell and praying to the gods, he shouted to the body, "dead brothers, this is not where you died." It's really sad to die for nothing. My parents in my hometown are looking forward to it, and my wife and younger son are looking forward to going home. Do not hesitate your soul. Urgent as a law, get up! " All the bodies lying on the ground immediately stood up and followed the "Jeff" held aloft by Apchiyou, and walked towards the south in a polite way. The enemy's pursuers came, and Apci especially joined hands with Apu's strategist, which attracted the "fog of the Five Watches" and trapped the enemy in the maze. Because it was the spell "Si" (implementation and operation) of Apu Military Academy that saved everyone, everyone called him "Lao Si" from now on; Moreover, because the essence of Mr. Apu's last defense against the enemy is "fog", there are too many strokes of "fog" to finish, so he rewrote it into a word "witch" instead. In fact, this witch character is also a hieroglyph: the upper horizontal represents the sky or fog, the lower horizontal represents the ground, and the middle vertical represents "Jeff"; There is a figure on each side of the vertical, the one on the right represents Apchiyu, and the one on the left represents Apchiyu, which means that two people must unite to do witchcraft.

Conditions of corpse movement

According to relevant literature, there is a saying of "three drives and three no drives".

Those who are beheaded (their heads must be sewn together), hanged and put to death in cages can be driven away. The reason is that they are all forced to die, and they are not convinced. They miss their hometown and their loved ones. They can hook their souls with spells, put them in their bodies with spells, and then use spells to drive them to climb mountains and mountains, or even board a boat and return to their hometown.

Those who died of illness, those who voluntarily hanged themselves in the river, and those who were mutilated by thunder and fire could not be driven away. Among them, the dead soul has been hooked by Yan, and the spell can't call back the soul from the gate of hell; However, the souls of those who threw themselves into the river and hung their necks have been "replaced", and they may be handing over. If a new soul is introduced, the old dead soul will be irreplaceable, and will it affect the old reincarnation? In addition, those who died of thunder were sinful people, and those who died of fire were often mutilated, and these two kinds of bodies could not be driven away.

Scope of corpse handling

At first, the body was only driven to death on the battlefield. Later, the old company also helped those who were killed by the government to drive the bodies back to their hometown.

The geographical scope of "Chenzhou House" is only as far north as Langzhou (Changde), not Dongting Lake, east to Jingzhou, west to Fuzhou and Wuzhou, and southwest to Yunnan and Guizhou. Legend has it that these places are under the jurisdiction of the ghost country of Miao ancestors. If they are far away, even the old company can't catch up with those zombies.

Body removal method

Before the Qing Dynasty, after the autumnal equinox every year, all state and county government offices would execute prisoners on death row with the approval of the Ministry of Punishment. After the execution, local death row inmates have their own families to collect and bury their bodies. However, if they want to carry the executed prisoner back to their hometown, they usually need four people to carry a corpse, which is very expensive, while the old company needs to drive the corpse home, which is relatively cheap, and it can be guaranteed that it will not rot halfway, and the carried corpse may rot in a day.

Generally, the day before the execution, relatives and fellow villagers of guests on death row, even good people who are good at doing good deeds, will gather some money for the old companies they invited (traditionally two in Tsing Yi and two in red) and buy all the goods. On the day of execution, two senior officials, their assistants and assistants must wait outside the court. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the knife and axe fell and the death row head fell to the ground.

As soon as the beheading officer left the charity ceremony, the red veteran immediately recited the mantra, and the assistant helped sew up the beheaded dead guest's head. Now Tsing Yi veteran cinnabar (the best cinnabar) is placed on the forehead, chest, left and right palms, and foot of the deceased, and each place is held down by spells, and then tied tightly with five-color cloth strips. According to legend, these seven places are places where the seven orifices enter and exit, and they are sealed with cinnabar spells to keep the seven souls of the dead.

After that, some cinnabar will be stuffed into the victim's ears, nose and mouth, and then blocked with magic symbols. According to legend, the ear, nose and mouth are the places where three souls go in and out, so as to stay in the body of the dead.

Finally, cover the neck of the deceased with cinnabar, stick spells on it and tie it tightly with five-color cloth strips; Then put a bamboo hat on the deceased (as a cover). When everything was finished, the old man in red read a spell and shouted "get up!" " Dead guests will stand up. ...

It is also said that since the Miao people moved from the Great Lakes of the Yangtze River to the mountains of Dipu, they lost the spell of "Wuliwu" but created the technology of alchemy. Generally speaking, in addition to the ancestral "curse", the old company must also use cinnabar. This kind of cinnabar is the best produced in Chenzhou, so it is also called cinnabar. Moreover, the corpse-driving technique was originally called "the charm of Chenzhou cinnabar". Because the name is too long to read, it is simply called "the charm of Chenzhou".

Reasons for the popularity of corpse-driving in Xiangxi

The strange industry of corpse removal can only work in the western part of southern Hunan.

First, only Xiangxi has a "dead body inn".

Second, only Xiangxi people smell the little yin gong of the corpse driver and know to avoid it.

Third, there are highways outside Xiangxi village, and other provincial roads generally pass through the village. Of course, they won't allow the bodies to enter the village.

4. Xiangxi people will take the initiative to lock their dogs at home when they smell the sound of Yin Gong. Otherwise, when dogs come out, they will bite the body.

Revealing the secrets of corpse expulsion.

The so-called "corpse drive" is actually "corpse transport". The corpse driver asked someone to dismember the body and then sprayed a special potion on the residual limb to prevent the residual limb from rotting. A man's stump is on his back, wrapped in a long and big black robe and wearing a big straw hat, which covers his whole head and makes it difficult to see the outline of his face. Another person dressed as a "corpse driver" threw yellow paper in front and rang the bell to guide the corpse carrier. They also deliberately create an atmosphere of terror, making people afraid to get close. If the journey is long, their roles will change every day.

Two or three days before arriving at the destination, inform the family members of the deceased in advance, prepare clothes and coffins, and immediately put the residual limbs of the body together after the "deceased" arrives, put clothes, hats and shoes on the deceased, and put them in Shoumu. This burial process is entirely undertaken by the "corpse driver", and no one is allowed to insert and watch, just as the corpse is not allowed to peep when it is "carried out of the coffin" at the time of departure. It is said that at these critical moments, when a stranger approaches a corpse, he will be in danger of "shocking the corpse", and the burial process must be in the middle of the night. Everything is arranged, that is to say, the deceased will be buried before being claimed.

As soon as the coffin lid is opened, it is obviously a bereaved family. It looks like yesterday, but now it is buried in the coffin. It's sad and heartbreaking. Some people cry and others cry. At this time, the "corpse driver" deliberately advised everyone not to be too sad and upset the deceased. Fortunately, he accumulated virtue before his death and returned to his hometown safely. Just after a long journey, I need a quiet rest. When people are sad, after seeing the dead, they will have a sense of sureness, satisfaction and relief. Who still suspects that it is a scam?

Folk custom significance

There are many records about ancient corpse driving in folk classics, but it is more common in regional legends.

Xiangxi has been rich in cinnabar since ancient times, and cinnabar has many pharmacological effects. Today, there is still the habit of using cinnabar in the funeral custom in Xiangxi: before the deceased enters the coffin, he needs to use cinnabar to point his forehead, vest, chest, left and right palms, foot and other seven orifices, as well as his ears, nose and mouth to seal his seven souls and three souls. After digging a grave for the dead, the bottom should be sprinkled with cinnabar, which means "old curtilage field" in the town.

The research results of many experts and scholars show that the Miao nationality was the first to invent weapons, criminal law and witchcraft. Among them, corpse removal, as a folk custom, is part of witchcraft. Our research on corpse-drivers has multiple academic values for understanding the history and culture, national culture, religious culture and folk culture of Miao nationality.