In the second year of Yuanshuo (127 AD), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the imperial court decided to defend against external aggression and formed an elite cavalry. Led by Wei Qing, they launched the Monan Counterattack and began a large-scale military campaign to fight against the Xiongnu and regain the lost territory. As a result, the capital was empty of power. Liu An, the king of Huainan who had long coveted the throne, saw the opportunity to launch a coup and replace Liu Che as emperor. He plotted to raise troops to resist the central government's "enhancement order" aimed at reducing the vassal state.
In order to confuse the court, Liu An declared to the outside world that as long as he refined elixirs on Zhongnan Mountain, he would devote himself to practicing the art of immortality. He would learn from Lu Buwei, a man from the Warring States Period, to compile "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", recruit talents, and write "Nei Shu", "Waishu" and "Zhongpian" were jointly compiled into "Huainanzi". It spread throughout the country and attracted the attention of the court. Dou Ying was sent as an envoy to the Huainan Kingdom. As a result, the King of Huainan was arrogant and ignored him, and gathered a group of three religions and nine schools of alchemy. Scholars were refining elixirs and seeking immortality in the palace, pretending to be gods and ghosts, creating a smoky atmosphere. They set up an altar to lecture on the Tao Te Ching and advocated "governing by doing nothing." When Dou Ying and his entourage entered the palace, his subordinates shouted: "The imperial envoy has arrived." Liu An closed his eyes. , still chanting sutras calmly and turning a blind eye.
It was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and the common people were still celebrating the Lantern Festival. The palace was filled with smoke, and the Taoist priests waved their wooden swords, chanted words, and danced around the fire with their teeth and claws dancing. . Dou Ying was funny: How could such a majestic prince be so obsessed and superstitious about gods? But as a minister, he did not dare to criticize.
Someone came to report: The Lingnan Immortal has arrived. Liu An only moved his nose, his eyelids did not open, his face was expressionless, and his menstruation did not stop. Dou Ying was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. King Huainan was so brave! It's easy to be contemptuous of me, but you must not be contemptuous of the Lingnan immortal! I heard that this Immortal was several hundred years old. He was a master who attained Taoism in the Pre-Qin Dynasty. He had great supernatural powers and could climb up to heaven and down to the underworld. Three mountains and five mountains were his guests, and the Dragon King Mandrill was his relative. He offended To kill him would be to seek death.
More than a dozen sergeants holding spears surrounded an old man with a strange and long beard, retreating and surrounding him into the palace. Liu An shouted proudly: "Who is bold and dares to intrude on this king's ritual?"
Seeing this, Dou Ying stepped forward and bowed and said: "The immortal came here and did not come far to greet me. Please forgive me."< /p>
The Immortal Weng wiped the dust with his hand, and the sound was like a bell: "The mountain people heard that Huainanzi respects immortals and loves gods, and sincerely does good deeds, so he came here to pay a visit. Unexpectedly, he is a person who fishes for fame and reputation. You are an absolute hypocrite! Shen Ming will not protect you."
Liu An sneered, then opened his eyes and said, "No."
After the immortal left, Dou Ying stepped forward, saluted and said, "Your Majesty, it is inappropriate to neglect the immortals in this way. I fear that I will die before rebirth."
"Will I die?" "Liu An laughed and said: "This elixir of immortality can protect me forever!"
At this time, several palace maidens came running in panic and disheveled clothes, shouting: "Your Majesty! ! Not good!"
Liu An's face sank and he frowned. Said: "You are so rude in front of guests, why are you panicking?"
The maids said intermittently: "The young lady is dying... She is anxious to see you for the last time..."
"What?" Liu An was so shocked that he didn't even bother to take off his Taoist robe, jumped off the altar, and staggered to follow the maids to the harem.
It turned out that Liu An had a concubine named Zigu, who was as beautiful as a flower, well-educated, proficient in all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and had a gentle personality. Liu An loved her deeply. Zigu disapproved of Liu An's raising an army and tried hard to persuade him: The court's use of troops against the Xiongnu was related to the happiness of the Han subjects and the safety of the society. Taking advantage of others' danger is not what a gentleman would do. Liu An was hesitant, but his wife, the princess, disagreed and encouraged Liu An to start a rebellion, so that she could become the queen in the future. Early in the morning, the usually fierce and cruel princess used a trivial matter to bully Zigu wantonly. The people humiliated Zigu and they were angry and resentful. Her chest was full of congestion, she was so angry that she vomited blood and died with hatred. Liu An's beloved concubine died, and he was so sad that he burst into tears and howled loudly.
Five years later, Liu An finally couldn't bear it anymore and rebelled. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was already prepared and sent back General Wei Qing to quell the rebellion and quickly defeated the rebels. Liu An was defeated and committed suicide. After Liu An's death, a ray of unyielding soul floated to the underworld. I saw the cold air, the sudden appearance of red mist, the heads of flying monsters, and the dancing demons. On the left was a bull's head with shiny round eyes, and on the lower right stood a majestic and terrifying horse's face. The dead ghosts came in and out like headless flies, and the king of hell sat among them. There is another person on the side, who is actually the Lingnan Immortal of that year.
At this time, Liu An's soul was still unwilling to give up, and clamored to be reborn. Twenty years later, he became a hero again, and even wanted to raise an army to fight against the Han. The immortal sneered: "Liu An, do you still recognize the mountain man?"
Liu An didn't remember it for a long time. He blinked his eyes and looked at a loss. The Lingnan Immortal scolded: "What a rebel king. Do you still remember how I neglected and despised the mountain people in your house? Don't you want to live forever? Lord Yan, let him be punished to stay in the pit for three years first. We will talk about the matter of being reincarnated later!" ”
Zigu was treated well by the King of Hell in the underworld. She was originally going to be reincarnated as a princess with a thousand gold, but Zigu was very grateful and devoted to Liu An. She knew that Liu An was not going to die soon. After living for five years, he was willing to guard the pit latrines with Liu An. This moved the King of Hell very much, so he reported to heaven and made Zigu the god of pit latrines.
The common people did not buy Liu An's toilet guarding, and they missed the beautiful Zigu. Every fifteenth day of the first lunar month, everyone would dress up like a rag doll in the shape of a woman and go to pig pens or latrines and other filthy places. Prayed: "Zi Gu, Liu An was punished, and it is his own fault. Don't accompany him. That evil woman has also been reincarnated and turned into a pig and a dog. No one will bully you anymore. Come out and have some fun."
After many prayers, the female doll began to move. Everyone knew in their hearts that this was the appearance of the Zigu spirit, so they respectfully welcomed her home, enshrined it on the incense table, burned incense and bathed, knelt down and prayed for divination, and asked about good or bad luck. thing. Zigu God is different from other gods. She is very willing to help people. If the result of what she asks is good, the doll will jump around, lively and cute; if it is bad, it will lie still. Since then, the people have had the custom of worshiping the god of toilet pits, and it reached its peak in the Tang and Song Dynasties.