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Tengu first appeared in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
It is said that there is a kind of Rui beast living in the Yin Mountain, called Tengu.
Shaped like a tanuki, it has a white head and makes a "durian" sound, and it is said that raising this beast can ward off evil spirits.
(Yin Mountain) turbid bath water out of Yan, and south flow in Fanze. Among them, Dowen Bei, there are beasts, called tengu, its shape is like a raccoon dog and white head, its sound is like a grenade, it can resist evil. ——The Classic of Mountains and Seas, The Classic of the Western MountainsIt's a bit of a cat, dog and beast, and people originally bred it to ward off evil spirits, and it's obviously a Rui beast.
But during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, there was such a prophecy:
Send the fang to take people's hearts and livers, and worship the heavenly dog.It is said that there is a kind of demon called "Fen Fen", which specializes in digging people's hearts and taking human livers at midnight to serve its master, the Tengu.
It's like a beast.
So, how did the tengu go from being a beast that ward off evil and driving away evil to a fierce beast that takes people's hearts and minds?
It all starts with a meteor.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, one night, a meteor suddenly crossed the sky, people at that time had never seen it, and felt that the meteor dragged a long tail, very similar to an animal - rhubarb at home, and it came from the sky, well, just call it Tiangu.
Tengu, like a large meteor, has a sound, and its bottom stops, like a dog. Falling and seeing, looking at it like a firelight in the scorching sky, its lower circle is like a few hectares of fields, and there is yellow on the sharp sight, and the army is broken for thousands of miles to kill the general. - Hanshu Astronomical ChroniclesThe ancients often corresponded to what happened on the earth and the sky, and the vision from the sky indicated that something big would happen, and the big event at that time was either a disaster or a plague, which was usually not a good thing.
So in the future, whenever a meteor crosses by, the people will think that the tengu is coming, and something bad is coming.
Over time, the tengu became a symbol of bad luck.
Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, it is not surprising that the tengu evolved into a fierce beast that takes people's hearts and livers.
Oh, by the way, the legend of the current Tengu eating day The fierce beast of the Tengu eating the moon caused the end of the world is probably also ** here.
It's just that the poor tengu, who was originally a beast to ward off evil and eliminate evil, turned his back on the cauldron of visions from the sky and became a terrifying beast.
It's also quite ironic.