Houji ( Chinese 后稷 Sovereign-grain or Sovereign-millet ). The name given by relatives is Qi . Cultural hero in Chinese mythology. Patron of agriculture and ancestor of the Zhou Dynasties. Initially appeared as a female deity - "Mother Millet" (Muji). According to one version, the son of Bishop Ku, and so on. descendant of the Yellow Emperor .
Content
- 1 The myth of Houji
- 1.1 Birth
- 1.2 Youth
- 1.3 Death and deification
- 2 Cult
- 3 See also
- 4 References
- 5 notes
The Hoji Myth
Birth
According to legend, one day, a girl from the Yutai clan went for a walk. On the way, she saw a giant's footprint. Out of curiosity, the girl stepped on the trail. Her foot fit in the thumb of the giant's footprint. After that, she felt weird. In due time, she gave birth to a boy.
Relatives wanted to get rid of the boy . Separating him from his mother, relatives left him in the middle of the road to be trampled by cows and goats. But the animals not only did not kill him, but also gave him milk. The next time he was carried to the forest. But he did not die in the forest. He was found by lumberjacks working in the forest. They brought the boy home. Unable to endure such a mockery of themselves, the relatives after leaving the lumberjacks brought the boy out into the street and left him in the cold. But here, too, providence did not leave him. Birds surrounded the boy, wrapping him with their bodies. They saved him from the cold.
After these fruitless attempts to get rid of the boy, his relatives calmed down and connected him with his mother, nicknamed Qi - Abandoned. [1] .
Youth
Having inherited a natural curiosity from his mother, Qi buried millet grains, pumpkin seeds and fruit seeds. The fruits of the experiments were better, bigger and tastier than wild ones. Qi was an inventive guy. He came up with simple tools from stone and wood for cultivating the land and harvesting.
Unlike relatives, he was more noble (whatever they say) and taught them to cultivate the land. They gave up gathering and hunting and took up farming. The news of this reached Emperor Yao . He ordered Qi to be in charge of field work and granted him the province of Tai , the most fertile region in the country .
Qi had two brothers ... and Tai-si. Tai-si had a son, Shu-jun, who had guessed to harness the oxen instead of people. [1] .
Death and Deification
After his death, Qi was buried in a beautiful area among mountains and rivers, called the Duguana Plain . She was near the heavenly stairs of Jianmu, along which the deities descended to the earth. The land in Duguana was very fertile, various cereals grew there, and the rice grains were white as fat. Luan birds sang there, the phoenixes danced, and various miracles took place. All this was probably due to the glory and miraculous deeds of Hou-ji.
Qi remained in the hearts of people a good and noble man. In gratitude for his labors, people called him Houji [1] .
Cult
See also
- Zhou
- Wen wang
- Agriculture