What exactly does "Gu" mean?Why are the punishments for raising Gu so harsh in the laws of the past dynasties?
When it comes to Gu, many people first think of the various Gu legends in the Yunnan region of China.
Legend has it that some Chinese ethnic minorities, led by the Miao, would raise Gu worms and use various secret methods to raise insects, poisonous snakes and other poisons in pots, so that these poisons have different effects.
However, Gu is not unique to ethnic minorities. In the history of the Han Dynasty, there were also repeated records of raising Gu and refining Gu.
However, the punishment of Gu cultivation in all Chinese dynasties was very severe, so the official finally cracked down on these Gu cultivators and Gu refining people.
So what is coercion?Why haven't all dynasties allowed it?
Strictly speaking, it is our cognition of various poisonous insects, poisonous snakes, poisonous weeds and other poisons. Different kinds of Gu have different effects, some we can use it to poison others, and some we can use it to use medicine.
There is also such a story in the Chinese Jin Dynasty** "Sou Shen Ji".
According to legend, there is a family surnamed Liao in Henan who has been raising Gu for generations and has made a fortune.
One day, the family went out together, leaving the daughter-in-law at home to watch the house.
One day, the family went out together, leaving the daughter-in-law at home to watch the house. The bride found a large wooden barrel in her house, opened it and saw that there was a big white snake inside.
The bride was so frightened that she hurried to turn on the water and burned the snake to death.
When the family returned, they were shocked and saddened to learn that the snake had been burned to death, and soon the whole family fell ill and died.
From this story we can see that"Coercion"The role is considerable, it is not only a means of poisoning people, but also a blessing to make the family rich, and there are many similar effects.
As for"Coercion"Where exactly the concept came from can be traced back to some oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty.
Among the more than 7,000 oracle bones found in the Xiaotun area of China,"Mandatory"The term has been recorded several times.
One of the oracles reads:"Those who have diseased teeth are only threatened", which shows that the idea that coercion can cause disease was already formed in the Shang Dynasty.
According to research, some scientists believe that similar"Coercion"Things can happen to moths in grains.
Bird insect sign"Coercion"Refers to a container containing three insects.
This kind of container was mostly used to store grain, and when these insects in the grain made the ancients unable to eat enough and eventually became ill, the ancients gradually appeared"Coercion"concept.
Broadly speaking,"Coercion"It is not a stand-alone concept, as we often associate it with another primitive belief"Witch"Connected.
Where there is witchcraft, there are witches, and where there is coercion, there is witchcraft. The concept of witch is more abstract than coercion, and the most famous witch in the Chinese tradition is the voodoo doll.
According to legend, you can control the person you want to hurt by collecting the hair and putting it in the doll.
If you tear off the doll's head, that person will lose his head and die.
If you stick a needle in the doll, the person will feel the pain caused by the needle piercing into the body.
Although witchcraft and coercion are different concepts in a narrow sense, they are both often used to harm people, which is why they often appear together. Over time, people confuse the two.
As for why the laws of all dynasties in our country have severely punished the art of witchcraft, this is largely related to the fear that witchcraft brings to people.
In ancient China, especially before the Han Dynasty, there was a strong belief in witchcraft.
The assumption of believing in such a thing is that as long as a person thinks that someone else can take his hair at will and kill himself, the fear in his heart will naturally double.
That's why the official opposition to this kind of thing was very strong before the Han Dynasty.
In addition to the fear of witchcraft, there is probably another reason for the strict management of witchcraft by the Chinese feudal dynasties, and that is political struggle.
One of the most famous examples of witchcraft and political struggles in Chinese history is the witchcraft of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Gongsun Jingsheng, the son of Prime Minister Gongsun He, was falsely accused of poisoning Emperor Wu of Han with witches, and Emperor Wu of Han launched an investigation in the palace and harem.
For a while, there were many people inside and outside the palace who falsely accused others of witchcraft and harm, and the whole situation suddenly got out of control.
According to statistics, more than 30,000 people were killed in the witchcraft alone. Even the crown prince Liu Ju was implicated and finally had to commit suicide.
Hundreds of thousands of others have been affected.
The impact of this event was unprecedented, and to a certain extent, it affected the course of Chinese history.
Therefore, the rulers of all Chinese dynasties attached great importance to such things, and strictly forbade the use of witchcraft in harems and imperial palaces to prevent the recurrence of the chaotic situation of witchcraft.
For us moderns, witchcraft has no scientific basis and the vast majority of people will not believe it.
But in the feudal era of superstition and backwardness, there were too many things that made people sick for no reason.
In modern times, a person may have a tumor, or pain in a certain part of the body, which can be detected by instruments.
But in the past, no cause could be found for this pain, and people could only blame it on witchcraft.