The reason why the ancients worshipped frogs

Ma Huai Festival of Zhuang nationality is frog festival, and Zhuang nationality takes frog as totem. It can be divided into three stages: finding beggars, filial piety and burial. On the first day of the first month, everyone went out to look for grasshoppers. The first person caught fired seven ground cannons and told heaven and earth that they were honored as grasshoppers and became festival leaders. They welcomed the grasshopper back, sealed it in a treasure coffin, carried it into the greenhouse, and sent it to the grasshopper pavilion with the sound of bronze drums and firecrackers shaking the earth. From the first day to the end of the month, it is a wake for grasshoppers, and it is a wake for grasshoppers at night. After the 25-night wake, frogs were buried, chickens and ducks were slaughtered, and five-color rice was steamed. After breakfast, it was sent to the cemetery for burial. We also need to open last year's treasure coffin and see the color of grasshoppers.

Buyi people worship frogs;

Buyi people worship nature and believe that everything has spirits. They believe in social gods, mountain gods, water gods, Raytheon, stone gods and so on. , also worship cattle, dogs, frogs, ancient trees and other animals and plants.

There is a family with only three daughters and no boys. One day, three girls were digging with hoes. The third sister is young and weak, and she can't dig the ground as fast as the second sister. She sighed and said to herself, "Oh, I'm so tired! It would be great if someone could help me plan the ground. I would rather marry him and be his wife. " Unexpectedly, as soon as her voice fell, a big frog stood up on its hind legs and said, "I can help you finish planing this field right away." Third sister looked down and saw that it was a frog talking. She thought it was hurting herself, so she scolded, "You little frog, as soon as I hoe, I will kill you at once. Can you still dig? " The frog smiled and said, "Girl, don't be angry. Just close your eyes for a while." Third sister was angry and funny. She really closed her eyes: "I'll follow you. Close your eyes first and see what you can do. " Strangely, just after Third Sister closed her eyes for a while, the frog immediately dug the ground. "The ground has been planed. You should marry me. " The frog repeatedly asked Third Sister to keep her promise and be her wife, which made Third Sister very angry. The elder sister and the second sister refused, raised their hoes, cursed and chased frogs to death. But the frog jumped and jumped, and when he missed, he kept saying; "Third sister, if you want to keep your word, you can be my wife."

At noon, the three sisters went home, and the frog followed them to their home. As soon as the frog entered the door, he jumped on the beam and said to Third Sister, "You said you would marry me. Come back with me. Otherwise, I will spit a mouthful of water and flood your home. " When my parents heard this, they were very angry: "There is such a thing as girls marrying frogs in the world! Get out quickly, or I'll kill you little frog with a bamboo pole! " Hearing this, the frog was angry, too: "You all broke your word. Look, I'm going to vomit. " As he spoke, he vomited half a mouthful of saliva and immediately flooded his home by half. At this time, the whole family was frightened, only then did they know that this frog was a magical frog god, and they hurriedly begged the frog: "Take back the water quickly. We agreed that Third Sister would marry you." Frogs smacked their big mouths one by one, and sucked half the water back into their mouths in one breath.

This time, the whole family no longer reneged. So Third Sister put on new clothes, got on the horse and got married, and the frog jumped in front to lead the way. After walking for a long time, they came to a bamboo forest, where there was a cave full of beautiful flowers and plants. The frog said, "Third Sister, you are back. Close your eyes and I'll pull you down. " As soon as Third Sister closed her eyes, she felt her body floating and was quickly taken away. The frog told her to open her eyes. When Third Sister opened her eyes, she saw a dazzling light around her: tall and spacious houses, all kinds of utensils and things, and all kinds of gold and silver treasures, which dazzled Third Sister.

What's more strange is that when the frog asked Third Sister to close her eyes again, the frog suddenly changed and peeled off her skin. When Third Sister opened her eyes again, she saw a very handsome and handsome young man standing in front of her. Third sister was surprised and happy, so they became relatives that day and lived happily ever after.

Why do Zhuang people worship frogs?

Plekhanov pointed out: "Primitive people not only thought that the blood relationship between them and an animal was possible, but also often drew their own genealogy from this animal, and attributed some of their less rich cultural achievements to it", so people naturally produced various myths and legends about this animal. The ancient strong are no exception. They fantasize according to their own goals and wishes, endow frogs with various strengths and achievements that do not actually belong to them, and show great admiration for frogs. This can be seen in many folklore circulating today. At present, the "Maide Kuaige" circulating in Youjiang area, especially in Donglan and Fengshan areas, is an obvious evidence. Once upon a time, there was a reasonable man named Dongling, whose mother died of illness. The habit of eating human flesh prevailed at that time. The news that Dongling was afraid that others would eat his mother's meat and wouldn't let her die spread, so he hid her body. At that time, Dongling was in a heavy mood, both sad and worried. But the grasshopper beside the house didn't know the mood of Dongling, and shouted desperately there, which made Dongling very uncomfortable. So Dongling boiled three pots of boiling water and drowned all the grasshoppers. After the grasshopper died, a cool drought happened in the world. "Three years without a drop of fog, nine years without a drop of dew. Birds build nests in riverbeds and fish climb trees. " Rivers dry up, plants wither and scorch, and human beings are on the verge of extinction. People cry out every day to stop working, and the land is not working, so they go to their ancestor Buluotuo, who said, "King Mahuai is the son of King Lei. You hurt him, and King Lei was angry and stopped raining. " Then, according to Buluotuo's instructions, people found the grasshopper's body, worshipped it, and sent its soul to heaven, expressing their apologies to King Lei. In this way, it really worked, and immediately thunder rumbled in the sky and it began to rain. In this song "The Maid's Song", the servant girl is regarded as a respectable and inviolable "son of King Lei". Before liberation, in Ningming, Chongzuo, Fusui and other areas, there was also a legend about the Yao people moving dragons and dogs, saying that frogs repelled the attacks of neighboring tribes and defended the king's country for a king. Later, the king killed the grasshopper treacherously. In this legend, Mai Guai is considered as one of the bravest heroes. "... uncivilized natural people not only make nature have human motives, hobbies and passions, but even regard natural things as real people". In these Zhuang frog legends, frogs are considered to have the same consciousness, will, needs, desires and passions as people themselves, and are personified. Moreover, "people not only do not oppose themselves to animals, but are willing to admit the superiority of animals on many occasions." As can be seen from the above-mentioned legend of Guan Frog, the Zhuang people's worship of frogs has reached this level.

The frog totem of Zhuang nationality can also be found in customs and habits. According to social investigation materials, the older generation of strongmen respect frogs very much. In many places, strong people are not allowed to kill frogs, or even to catch them indiscriminately, otherwise they will be severely reprimanded. When the old man meets it in the field, he must be careful to detour. Before and after liberation, hunting was still prohibited in Donglan, Fengshan, Tiandong, Laibin and many other places. The Zhuang people in Tanle Village of Tiandong County also have the custom of banning frogs.

Zhuang people live in Lingnan area, located in the subtropical zone, with a mild climate, with an average annual temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius, long sunshine hours in summer, rare frost and snow in winter, and an annual rainfall of about 3000 mm, which is concentrated in spring and summer. This natural condition is very conducive to the development of agricultural production, so the Zhuang nationality developed agriculture very early and became a nation dominated by agriculture. Appropriate temperature and abundant rainfall are certainly beneficial to production and bring joy to ancient growth, but natural phenomena are changeable, such as ever-changing sky and weather, a red sun, a windy day, a clear sky in Wan Li, a dark cloud and a storm, all of which are inconceivable to primitive people. According to historical records, in the areas where Zhuang people live, typhoons landed, storms and flash floods occurred. So what should we do? "The changes in nature, especially those phenomena that most arouse people's sense of dependence, are the main reasons for people to feel that nature is a human and willing entity and to worship it devoutly." In addition, with the passage of time, they began to observe the causal relationship between various natural phenomena and tried to find out the relationship between them. However, due to the low level of productivity, their ability to understand things is greatly restricted, so they speculate on those natural changes that are difficult to grasp and those animals that are closely related to their economic life. This speculation is completely based on intuitive experience, that is, people can't be completely divorced from nature, so it is easy to personify nature and animals and add human consciousness to them. They feel that in the face of incomprehensible natural forces, besides the blood clan is the bond to maintain the survival of clan members, the survival and unity of the clan must also rely on a spiritual pillar, that is, "to make up for the lack of individual self-defense ability with the joint strength and collective action of the group." At this point, animals, plants and nature, which are vital to their lives and people have to contact every day, have become their weapons against alien nature. The frog totem of Zhuang nationality is produced under this condition. Because the ancestors of the Zhuang people engaged in agricultural production, and the change of weather and the size of wind and rain are related to the prosperity of agriculture and affect people's lives. Storms and typhoons also directly threaten people's lives and property. Therefore, it is very important for farmers to know whether the weather is good this year. In ancient times when science and technology were extremely backward, the ancestors of Zhuang nationality noticed that the croak of frogs had a lot to do with wind and rain. Through the phenomena of "frog croakes, heavy rain is coming" and "grasshopper croakes, heavy rain is coming", they think that frog is a kind of god who can call the wind and rain, can convey the information of wind and rain to people and has the characteristics of forecasting wind and rain. At the same time, every spring, when frogs begin to croak, people will know that it is time to sow and transplant. Frog has had this kind of "ability" since 2000, so the ancestors of Zhuang nationality have awe and worship it, and "fear to make god". Frog has become the idol of totem worship of Zhuang ancestors, which is a manifestation of "conquering natural forces, dominating white forces and visualizing natural forces with the help of imagination".

Frogs can not only predict sunny and rainy days, but also be beneficial insects in rice field production. Frogs are beneficial insects. The reason why we attach importance to frogs is because beggars' gangs also attach importance to agriculture, or totems. Frogs can catch pests, protect seedlings and get a bumper harvest, which is another reason why Zhuang people regard frogs as totems.

It can be seen that worship basically comes from fear, coincidence and apotheosis. Maybe it's just a brainwave of the ancient magic stick.