In ancient China, there were many beliefs about gods, most of which belonged to the worship of professional functional gods. Most of them are the founders of trade. In ancient times, they were mainly craftsmen. The same is true of the Taoist gods we are going to talk about next. Shen Tao is a mythical figure in China's traditional fairy tales. Shen Tao is the legendary Ning Feng. It is said that Kunwu is the inventor of pottery making. So what is the legend of Shen Tao? What's the story? Let's look at Bian Xiao.
Ancestors: The Legend of Feng Tao
Feng Tao is the second son of Emperor Yan. On one occasion, Ning Feng flew down from Huashan Mountain and Kunlun Mountain. When crossing the Weihe River, he saw a village below where people were preparing to hold a sacrificial ceremony in front of a burning altar. There is a pottery workshop next to it, which keeps smoking. Before the workshop, some potters were busy making pottery in the workshop, and a group of beautiful girls were dancing hand in hand around a pile of new pottery just out of the kiln. They express their inner joy with cheerful dances.
Everything here is so warm, peaceful and happy. What makes people feel even more is that among the dancing girls, there is a girl with a graceful figure and a good face. Ning was moved by the beauty of this woman and fell in love with this young girl deeply. She only felt the flame of love burning in her heart. As a young man traveling alone, he flew to the pottery workshop and asked them to let him stay here for a few days. In addition, in order to express his gratitude for their hospitality, he will also make some pottery for them to live in.
The girls gathered around the young man from other places to see what new tricks she would have. Only his hands skillfully turned the pottery wheel, and in a short time he made several very novel pottery. One is an earthenware pot for holding water. Strangely, the upper part of it was cut into pieces, and the Tang Priest's flesh became the shape of a girl's head, with the spout behind the girl. The girl on the clay pot is lifelike. Her face is plump, delicate and elastic, and her lines are round, smooth and vivid. People can't help but be impressed by Ning Feng's vivid modelling technique.
Ning's second work is a pottery basin that she never tires of seeing. After making this pottery basin, he began to paint at the bottom of the basin. He only drew a few small fish, and then drew a fish with a round face. People know that he painted a lucky star, which is the son of Yang Hou, the god of Weihe River, and Ma Lian, the god of water. He is an elf with a face and a fish body.
His third painting is still a pottery basin, but this pottery basin has changed him from a Potter to a skilled painter, because he just painted a girl dancing scene on this pottery basin. Then he made some bottles with small mouths and sharp bottoms. There are two round holes in the lower half of the bottle, which can be used to tie a rope. Then he had his pottery burned in a kiln.
The next day, Ning Feng's pottery was on fire, and people found that his pottery had some other magic: the girl's pottery jar was filled with water or drank it, and you couldn't finish it anyway. After the dancer's dance basin was filled with water, the fifteen girls on the basin wall seemed to be alive. Their shadows reflected in the basin danced gracefully and twisted their waists to advance and retreat together.
Pottery pots painted with mermaids are even more magical: people only need to pour water into the pots, gently rub the edges of the pots with their hands, and the water waves in the pots roll and splash instantly. Four fountains surging, spewing out from the bottom of the basin. The water column is three or four feet high, which is really amazing. At this time, the fish painted in the basin and the elves of the face fish will swim briskly. They will chase each other and even hear the mermaid's laughter.
As for those bottles with sharp bottoms, they are equally amazing. Girls take them to the river to fetch water, and they will automatically pour water and fetch water, and they will automatically turn it over in the middle. The girls take these fresh and holy rivers to the high altar, so that the water in the bottle will not overflow and spill on themselves because it is too full. People are surprised and happy about these magical clay pots, pots and water bottles. People regard these pottery as magical treasures, and Ning Feng, who made these magical pottery, is regarded as a god in the sky. They invited him to the square in front of the altar, gave a banquet, and solemnly entertained this travel-stained, handsome young man from other places.
This pottery god doesn't care about people's praise and worship for him. His mind is full of that girl. He dedicated these extremely precious and magical pottery to this elegant and beautiful girl. Fang Ning, the heartless goddess, saw Shen Tao's love burning in her heart and remembered his indifference to himself in the past. She shot a cold arrow at the girl's heart to keep her away from anyone's love. She was dissatisfied with anyone's appearance, figure, dress and conversation except herself.
Therefore, girls no longer envy Shen Tao's skills. On the contrary, she thinks that he is as mean and vulgar as other suitors, and he is not worthy of a fairy like her. She became more and more disgusted with Ning Feng, so she rudely drove him away. She sits in front of the mirror every day, looking at herself in front of the stream, admiring her charm and trying to avoid Shen Tao's pursuit. When Shen Tao was angry, she became an obsessed and narcissistic girl. She fell madly in love with her reflection in the water and regarded it as the "Prince Charming" in her heart.
She tells him the tenderest love words in the world every day, sits with him and looks forward to her and his happy life in the future. Finally, she threw herself into the arms of her "lover", into a clear stream and turned into a cluster of bamboos by the water. After revenge, Shen Tao returned to Kunlun Mountain with satisfaction and depression.