Searching for the origin of the "卍"
character
In a post station in Tibet, Agudengba and
Lhacuo chatted with the owner of the post station, Sinval, about the
"swastika" logo on the chest of the Buddha statue in the thangka.
Sinval claimed to be of Aryan descent.
Sinval said to Agudemba and Latso:
Most people think that the
"swastika" character is a symbol of Indian Buddhism and Hinduism,
representing the teachings of Buddhism and Hinduism. There are generally two
ways to write the character "卍",
one is left-handed (卍), and the other is right-handed (卐). In Buddhism, the right-hand rotation is generally
used. When Buddhist rituals are held, the right-hand rotation is used because
Buddhists believe that the right-hand rotation represents auspiciousness.
But I always believed that the
"Swastika" character originated from the Aryans.
In the culture of the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau, the symbol "卍" has experienced various variations
during the historical development process. However, no matter how the form of
"卍" changes, "卍" has always existed and has become an
indispensable part of religion and folk customs. A missing symbol.
The swastika symbols that appear in Tibetan
rock paintings are all over the west, north, and south. They are distributed
over a wide area, and they last for a long time, running through the early,
middle, and late phases of Tibetan rock paintings. This also shows that "卍" is a very ancient symbol and has deep roots
with the early civilization of Tibet.
In the history of Tibetan and Qiang
culture, the "卍" or "卍" in Tibetan Ritu rock paintings represents the
sun and its rays. At the beginning, I drew a circle with some lights around it.
Later, as the configuration was simplified step by step, it evolved into this
symbol. During the Shang Shung Dynasty, "Swastika" originally meant
the eternal sun, and later became synonymous with indestructibility, eternity,
auspiciousness and goodness.
Among the Tibetan people, the "卍" and "卐"
symbols represent Buddhism and Bon religion respectively, and symbolize that
the universe was first formed by air movement. During the Shang Shung Dynasty,
the "卍" and "卐" symbols were auspicious symbols of the sect.
Buddhism mainly Used to symbolize that Sakyamuni has 32 phases and 80 kinds.
In Tibetan folklore, the early swastika
symbolized the sun god. Later, "Swastika" appeared in Tibet, and its
meaning was more about the reincarnation of living Buddhas. In Tibetan folk
custom, "Swastika" symbolizes light and auspiciousness.
"Swastika" appears frequently in the bronze culture and painted
pottery culture of Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia, symbolizing the endless spiritual
connotation of the nation.
Sinval said:
In the history of Tibet, whether it is the
later Tibetan Buddhism or the primitive Bon religion, the "swastika"
symbol is closely connected with them.
In the original Bon religion,
"swastika" is an auspicious symbol. When Bon religion was founded, it
was called Yongzhong. The characters used were called Yongzhong sacred scripts.
The place where Bon religion is located was called the ninth-level Yongzhong
Mountain. , Yongzhong Sand Dunes, the Zen sticks held by the ancestors of the
Bon religion also have the auspicious pattern of "swastika", and even
the sites of Bon temples are mostly located in places with natural
"fold" shaped patterns.
After Buddhism was introduced to Tibet,
"Swastika" was widely used. All pictures of Buddha must have
"Swastika" on the chest.
However, there are differences in the usage
of swastikas in Bon and Buddhism. In Bon religion, the "Swastika"
rotates counterclockwise, while in Buddhism, the "Swastika" rotates
clockwise.
The "卍" (卐) character is the oldest spell, talisman or religious
and cultural symbol in the world. In ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece, India,
Europe, West Asia and the Altaic-speaking peoples, the worship of the "卍" (卐)
character was common , in addition to religion, it has different symbolic
meanings and different styles and variations in different periods and cultures
in the world.
In cultural areas around the world,
archaeological examples and various variations of the "卍" character have been discovered. The worship of
the "卍" character is very popular among many
ethnic groups. It is a long-standing primitive cultural belief symbol, which
combines the primitive cosmology and primitive Humanistic thought.
The "swastika" character has been
recharged for thousands of years and can be found in almost every ethnic group
living on the earth. It symbolizes the wheel of auspiciousness and the blessing
of gods, as well as life and the alternation of the four seasons.
The earliest swastika character discovered
today was painted on the wall in a cave at least 10,000 years ago. As early as
the distant Neolithic Age, the "Swastika" character has been produced
and existed in many areas of the world. For example, as early as 5000 BC, the
"swastika" character was found on the pottery of the Hassuna period
in Western Mesopotamia. The earliest "swastika" character in ancient
Egypt can be traced back to the third century BC and was seen in the 10th
century BC. On the foreign pottery fragments of Cyprus and Caria during the
Second Dynasty; in ancient India, the "swastika" character has been
seen everywhere for a long time. Before the Aryans invaded India (2nd century
BC), it was commonly used by the local Indian indigenous people. The
"swastika" character is used as a mark on silver coins.
Both Hinduism and Jainism in ancient India
used the "swastika" character as an auspicious symbol, and its symbol
often appeared on gates, offerings and account books.
The "Swastika" character is still
used today in Buddhism and Jainism to represent their seventh saint. The four
arms of the "Swastika" character remind believers of the four places
of rebirth in reincarnation: plants or animals, hell, earth, and heaven. . India
believes that the "Swastika" character is a symbol of the good god
Xiangbitian. It represents the origin of the sun's polarity and represents the
sun moving from east to west during the day. It is a symbol of light, life and
glory; the "Swastika" character is It is the symbol of the goddess
Time Mother, representing the feminine principle, representing the sun moving
from west to east during the night, and is a symbol of darkness, death, and
destruction. In Buddhist (Bonjiao) culture, the "卍" (卐) character
is believed to be the footprints of the Buddha (Dongba), and sometimes also
refers to the "wheel of life" or the "wheel of the sun and the
moon."
Sinval added:
Historically, the Aryans, who belong to the
Indo-European language family, came to Europe around 2000 BC and brought with
them the "swastika" character (sun disk) that was included in their
religious artworks at that time. This evidence can be seen in the cultural
relics unearthed from the Kurgan Cave in the Siberian Steppes of Russia and the
Aryan Cave in Xinjiang, China. In Greece, the ancient Cretans and Trojans
widely used the swastika character in many decorations.
In the Indo-European culture, the
"Swastika" character symbolizes "good luck and good luck".
The "Swastika" character is associated with many things that
represent auspiciousness and luck in India, because it is a symbol of
"auspiciousness and good luck". The end of the cross in the
"Swastika" character can be turned left or right, and its end points
in all four directions to symbolize steady progress. The "Swastika"
character is found in Asia, Europe and Native Americans, and has been used by
many religions such as Brahmanism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc. In Sanskrit, the
character "Swastika" (Srivatsa) means "auspicious sea and cloud phase"
or "auspicious gathering", which means "well-being". In
China, the "卍" character is well known as the
auspicious symbol of Buddhism.
In India, both "卍" and "卐"
characters exist, representing different meanings. Because it is not a simple
cultural symbol, it is used differently in different human societies.
Sinval said:
In China, the "卍" character also has a long history. It is not
only a graphic symbol, but also a Chinese character with sound, shape and
meaning.
The earliest "Swastika" character
in China was found in the Shipengshan Cemetery of Wengniute Banner of the
Xiaoheyan Culture in the Liaohe River Basin in Northeast China. Four pieces of
pottery engraved with twelve original text symbols were unearthed, and seven of
them belonged to the "Swastika" character. About 4000-4500 years ago.
The "swastika" character, which is slightly later than the Xiaoheyan
Culture, can be found in the Machang type of the Majiayao Culture in the upper
reaches of the Yellow River. There are a large number of left-hand twists on
the unearthed painted pottery single-eared long-necked pots. "卍", "十",
"X" and other characters, among which there are nearly 100 "卍" characters, most of which are located on the
belly and bottom of the pottery, dating back about 4200 years.
During the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, a
large number of extremely modified "卍"
characters were also found. For example, a pottery tripod unearthed from the
Erlitou site had a modified "卍"
character on the belly, which seemed to be related to the sun and fire; another
example, during the Warring States Period, A bronze pot with chariot and horse
hunting patterns has "swastika" characters on the top and bottom.
In the 1970s, silk fabrics unearthed from
Tomb No. 3 of the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha had the character
"swastika" on the far left. After Buddhism was introduced to China in
the Han Dynasty, the inherent meaning of the "卍" character began to fade, and instead the
cultural significance of Buddhism became increasingly strengthened.
From the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the
present, the "卍" character has been widely used in
Buddhism and is also widely used in porcelain, jade, bronze, gold and silver,
wood and stone carvings, paper-cutting, embroidery, knitting, headscarves,
Pulu, bronze mirrors, etc. Pictures, costumes, thangkas, mandalas, decorations
and other artworks, daily utensils, rock paintings and buildings have become an
integral part of traditional Chinese culture.
The early "卍" character was derived from the "十" character and the "X" character. It
was an image representation of the fertility worship of ancient ancestors.
Later, the representation concepts of Yin Yang Bagua and Hexagram were derived.
The "卍"
character is an expression of the philosophy of the unity of opposites of yin
and yang. Its view of the male and female of all things summarizes the
crystallization of ancient and modern human knowledge of understanding and
transforming the world. It reveals that heaven has yin and yang, and yin and
yang produce all things. "Heaven, the ancestor of all things, all things
are not If the sky does not come into being, the yin alone does not arise, the
yang alone does not grow, the yin and yang and the heaven and earth are
combined and then come into being.”
The "Swastika" character is also
deeply rooted in the folk, and it means good luck, turning bad luck into good
luck, wealth and God's blessing, everlasting life, longevity and health, ten
thousand blessings and auspiciousness, solid as a rock, happiness and
contentment, and has become one of the auspicious patterns with Chinese
characteristics.
Today, this word is often seen in Buddhism,
especially in Tibetan Buddhism, where it often appears with white characters on
a blue background, because blue is an eternal color in Tibetan culture. Later,
it spread to the Central Plains, and the "Swastika" also underwent
some changes, usually in yellow.
Sinval sighed:
The "swastika" character
represents many things, but as a descendant of the Aryans, I never would have
imagined that the "swastika" character became the emblem and flag of
the German Nazis, and even symbolized "the mission of the struggle for the
victory of the Aryans." "
In fact, the intention of the German Nazis
was far from the true meaning of the "swastika" character.
Sinval sang a "Swastika":
If
there is no faith,
It
is difficult to get blessing;
If
there is no blessing,
It
is difficult to obtain treasure;
If
you don't do farming,
It
is difficult to get a banker;
If
there is no effort,
It
is difficult to succeed.
If
you are lucky,
The
road will also be smooth;
If
you have the courage,
Weapons
will also be sharp;
If
there is fate,
There
will be more gains;
If
you free yourself,
The
swastika is auspicious.
Taking the legendary wise Agu Demba as the protagonist, I started to create the Chinese-English version of "Snow Land Fable" using the traditional fable creation method that combines poetry and prose. Writing fableskes me feel like a child again. Studying snowy culture is my prescription to prevent Alzheimer’s di masease.
回复删除