The islands of the immortals, where rivers with the water of resurrection flow, unprecedented flowers bloom and the earth provides food all year round, where there are no diseases and death, and everyone who gets there gains eternal life, they were looking for both in ancient times and in medieval Europe. Ancient China did not escape these searches. We can say that the creation of the Chinese world begins with the creation of the islands of the immortals …
The Chinese did not have any God-Creator and six days of creation. But they had a first man - the giant Pangu, a kind of Chinese Adam.
world creation
The giant Pangu was born as a result of the interaction of the forces of darkness and light within the primordial chaos enclosed in an egg. And he was born in a completely inhuman way - he hatched from an egg. More precisely, he did not even hatch, but passed out, since in the aforementioned egg he had an ax. He took Pangu an ax in his hands and split the shell into two parts. Pangu rose to his feet and lifted the top of the shell with his hands. The bottom, where his legs were, became the earth, and the top, where his hands rested, became the sky. This is how Pangu stood, holding the sky, for 18 thousand years, he grew and grew, and grew to 90 thousand li, which corresponds to 46 thousand kilometers. And then, like all mortals, it was time for him to die. Heaven and earth were then already far from each other and could well do without Pangu's support. So he lay down and died. His arms, legs and belly became ridgeswhich are considered sacred by today's Chinese. They form a kind of cross: four cardinal points and a center, which is consistent with the doctrine of the five elements. The giant's head was also not lost in vain: the left eye became the sun, the right one became the moon, the voice became thunder, breathing became the wind, sweat became rain and dew, blood - rivers, veins - roads, meat - fertile soil, hair on the face and head - stars, hair on the body - with flowers and trees, bones and teeth - with noble and base metals, and from the brain, enclosed in a bone frame, pearls and precious jade were born. And what about people? Sorry, we are descended from lice that crawled over the giant's body and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die. They form a kind of cross: four cardinal points and a center, which is consistent with the doctrine of the five elements. The giant's head was also not lost in vain: the left eye became the sun, the right one became the moon, the voice became thunder, breathing became the wind, sweat became rain and dew, blood - rivers, veins - roads, meat - fertile soil, hair on the face and head - stars, body hair - with flowers and trees, bones and teeth - with noble and base metals, and pearls and precious jade were born from the brain, enclosed in a bone frame. And what about people? Sorry, we are descended from lice that crawled over the giant's body and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die. They form a kind of cross: four cardinal points and a center, which is consistent with the doctrine of the five elements. The giant's head was also not lost in vain: the left eye became the sun, the right one became the moon, the voice became thunder, breathing became the wind, sweat became rain and dew, blood - rivers, veins - roads, meat - fertile soil, hair on the face and head - stars, body hair - with flowers and trees, bones and teeth - with noble and base metals, and pearls and precious jade were born from the brain, enclosed in a bone frame. And what about people? Sorry, we are descended from lice that crawled over the giant's body and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die.which is consistent with the teaching of the five elements. The giant's head was also not lost in vain: the left eye became the sun, the right one became the moon, the voice became thunder, breathing became the wind, sweat became rain and dew, blood - rivers, veins - roads, meat - fertile soil, hair on the face and head - stars, body hair - with flowers and trees, bones and teeth - with noble and base metals, and pearls and precious jade were born from the brain, enclosed in a bone frame. And what about people? Sorry, we are descended from lice that crawled over the giant's body and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die.which is consistent with the teaching of the five elements. The giant's head was also not lost in vain: the left eye became the sun, the right one became the moon, the voice became thunder, breathing became the wind, sweat became rain and dew, blood - rivers, veins - roads, meat - fertile soil, hair on the face and head - stars, body hair - with flowers and trees, bones and teeth - with noble and base metals, and pearls and precious jade were born from the brain, enclosed in a bone frame. And what about people? Sorry, we are descended from lice that crawled over the giant's body and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die.sweat - by rain and dew, blood - by rivers, veins - by roads, meat - by fertile soil, hair on the face and head - by stars, hair on the body - by flowers and trees, bones and teeth - by noble and base metals, and from the brain, enclosed in a bone frame, pearls and precious jade were born. And what about people? Sorry, we are descended from lice that crawled over the giant's body and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die.sweat - by rain and dew, blood - by rivers, veins - by roads, meat - by fertile soil, hair on the face and head - by stars, hair on the body - by flowers and trees, bones and teeth - by noble and base metals, and from the brain, enclosed in a bone frame, pearls and precious jade were born. And what about people? Sorry, we are descended from lice that crawled over the giant's body and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die.we came from lice that crawled over the body of the giant and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die.we came from lice that crawled over the body of the giant and irritated him very much. Of course, if Pangu himself was not immortal, then the parasites, that is, we humans, were not immortal either. But they immediately wanted to never die.
Hun and Po
The ancient Chinese had a curious idea of death and the internal structure of man. They believed that two souls live in the human body - hun and po. The first, at the moment of death, goes to heaven, to the abode of the immortal gods, and dissolves into the air. The second goes to the kingdom of the dead, underground, "to the yellow spring", where it disappears. And the body decays, as it should be for all flesh. But if you follow the laws of nature and maintain the body's working capacity in the correct way, as well as not do deliberately wrong actions and try to comprehend the laws of the universe, then death can be completely avoided. Especially interest in immortality increased after the advent of Taoism in China. It was probably then that the legends of the immortals arose - in Chinese xian. The immortals, which were told in myths, lived high in the mountains, the very onesgenerated by the limbs and belly of the giant Pangu.
Promotional video:
The Chinese placed their immortals on five mountain islands in the ocean. One of the legends about the islands of the immortals is given in the Book of Li's teacher, another in the book of Chuangzi about the Yellow Emperor Huangdi. The islands were located tens of thousands of li from the shores of the Bohai Bay, in the place where the waters of the World Ocean and the Milky Way itself pour into the Guixu depths of the sea without a bottom from all eight sides. Once there were five islands with high mountains - Fangzhang, Yingzhou, Penglai, Daisu, Yuanziao. In circumference, each island-mountain had about 30 thousand li, and the circumference on the cut tops - more than 9 thousand li. In terms of modern measures of length, this is, respectively, 15 thousand and 4.5 thousand kilometers. Frankly speaking, not small islands. Immortals settled on them. Fortunately, nature there gave everything they needed to maintain their strength:fruits on the islands not only differed indescribable taste and aroma, but also endowed with immortality. In addition to these fruits, clusters of pearls and pomegranates grew on the trees, and the animals and birds on the islands were snow-white and all of a good temper. The immortals built themselves wonderful palaces with towers and terraces of gold and jade.
Once the immortals asked the gods, just during the next repair of the sky, so that the islands were somehow fixed - they were tired of swinging and swaying on the waves.
And so, when the supports for the sky, made from the legs of the huge turtle Ao, were changed, the god Yudi came up with an excellent idea: he sent 15 Ao turtles to the islands to hold them with their heads. However, the giant Longbo soon appeared in those places and caught six turtles in order to bake on a fire and tell fortunes on their shells. Two islets - Daisu and Yuanjiao - were immediately swept into the ocean, and no one else saw them. And of the three that remained, the most famous was Penglai Island, or the Shelter of those who despised good, because it was there that amazing trees grew, giving the fruits of immortality.
Fruit travel
Even enlightened emperors and pundits trusted their legends. If it is said in the books that there is an island of immortals Penglai, then you just need to find it. The famous Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang showed great interest in this islet in the 3rd century BC. Rumors reached his yard about these islands, similar to huge clouds, allegedly sometimes fishermen's boats were brought there by the currents, and some even managed to return home. The emperor was getting old, so he sent a large expedition for the fruits of immortality, consisting of many chaste youths and girls under the command of his court alchemist Xu Fu. The entire expedition disappeared. Some historians believe that Xu Fu, not finding Penglai Island, was afraid to return to his cruel master,but he found the Japanese islands and stayed there with all the sent Chinese boys and girls. The Emperor sent other expeditions, and was equally unsuccessful.
Many years later, another ruler, Emperor Udi, took up the search for trees with the fruits of immortality. Only Udi sent his people to the western mountains, from where, as he was informed, sometimes peaches with similar properties are brought. Magic peaches were not brought to the emperor, but his messengers discovered the remarkably fertile Fergana Valley and returned with beautiful Fergana horses.
And then “those wishing to achieve immortality focused on finding more reliable sources of it than the legendary fruits from Penglai. Alchemists began to compose the elixirs of immortality. They were made of gold and cinnabar, such mixtures were expensive, but they did not give immortality. On the contrary, the emperors and the nobility perished from them in terrible agony: some miraculous elixirs and pills contained, in addition to safe gold, mercury, sulfur and arsenic.
Much more humane methods turned out to be proper nutrition, breathing and exercise, which the Taoists introduced to achieve longevity. They believed that breathing control and meditation, refusing to eat meat, fish, certain plants and grains, limiting portion sizes, practicing sexual yoga and retention of bodily fluids in the body, if not achieve immortality, then greatly extend life. For complete concentration, they advised to get away from the vain worries of the world, to live in the mountains. It was there and in an era closer to us that we sometimes met people who had lived for two hundred years. For example, the medieval Chinese described a meeting with a feral mountain woman, overgrown with thick black hair, who ate only resin and pine cones, and when she was given boiled grains, she began to vomit from the very smell. But the peasants stubbornly tried to feed her with porridge, and soon she grew old and died. By the time this story was recorded, neither Penglai Island nor immortal new information had appeared. And no one could say where the island was either. But in 1378, the port city of Penglai was founded in Shandong province. It is located in a beautiful area, among the hills, and gradually the port of Penglai took over the glory of the legendary island. The locals sincerely believe that it was in their Penglai that eight immortals lived, and that golden and silver palaces stood on their hills …It is located in a beautiful area, among the hills, and gradually the port of Penglai took over the glory of the legendary island. The locals sincerely believe that it was in their Penglai that eight immortals lived, and that golden and silver palaces stood on their hills …It is located in a beautiful area, among the hills, and gradually the port of Penglai took over the glory of the legendary island. The locals sincerely believe that it was in their Penglai that eight immortals lived, and that golden and silver palaces stood on their hills …
Magazine: Mysteries of History №7. Author: Nikolay Kotomkin