The Research On The Ghosts And Immortals

The notion of ghosts and shen originated from the animism in primitive society.The animism is the common product of the savage mind structure and function in primitive society.Earlier,people who insisted on animism believed that everything that exists in the world is alive.In the class society,with the emergence of humanism,the notion of animism has gradually divided into the worship of the mysterious power of nature and the worship of the soul of the deceased.The worship of the soul of the deceased is the origin of the concept of ghosts and shen.During this period,people believe that the soul is immortal after death,which is the origin of the notion of ghosts and shen.It was not until in the Shang Dynasty that the word "ghost" has found in Oracle.According to the use of ghost characters in Oracle,it can be proved that the ghosts had some divinity in the Shang Dynasty.Although there is no "shen" in the Oracle,the theory of worship of nature is quite complete.At the same time,the belief in the "di" shows that people tried to build a hierarchical system of shen in the Shang Dynasty.In general,the notion of ghosts and shen attached to the animism is in its infancy in this period.In the Zhou Dynasty,in order to distinguish from the soul of the dead,people call the spirit of the living being "yan" and "yi",which is regarded as the source of the "hun-po".In the Spring and Autumn Period,people believed that po exists in the human body and can affect people's life and death,so there is a saying that "God has taken away his spirit".In the late Spring and Autumn Period,the notion of po is combined with the notion of the hun from the Jingchu culture.The hun and po mainly refers to the spirit and consciousness of the person.In addition,during this period,people have a clearer understanding of ghosts and shen.First,the connotation of ghosts is established.People believe that everyone will become a ghost after death.Secondly,the extension of the ghost is expanded.Not only the monster is a ghost,but the dead ancestor can be called a ghost.Moreover,with the prosperity of humanism,the faith in shen also undergoes a change from worship of nature to worship of ancestors.For example,ghosts and shen can be used to refer to ancestors.In the Warring States period,the hun-po was influenced by the theory of qi and the five elements processes of yin and yang.Hun,the source ofthe Yang aspects of a human being comprising breath along with the conscious functions,and po,which is linked with the physiological Yin components of the organism.During this period,the notion of ghosts and shen has taken on new features.For example,the variety of ghost types and the popularity of exorcism,as well as the ghosts have more personality traits,all of which indicate that people's understanding of ghosts is more secular.Since then,the status of the ghost has begun to decline,and the notion of shen has a new meaning under the interpretation of the Philosophers.Shen comprises the realm of consciousness and other spiritual capacities.In fact,it is the new characteristics of the notion of shen at this stage that provides a theoretical basis for the generation of the immortal thought.The emergence of the notion of the xian during the Warring States period was the result of the intersection of many ideas.Among them,the notion of immortality is particularly important,and the word "wusi" is appearing in the prayers of qi.This is seen as a fundamental change from the pursuit of eternal life to immortality.Later,with the introduction of elixirs from Central Asia,the combination of elixirs and the hope for longevity makes it impossible to immortality.In addition,the development of regimen has a great influence on the formation of the immortality.Regimen was born out of the traditional Chinese medicine,not only pay attention to the health of the human body,but also pursues the longevity of the combination of body and spirit.Nothing illustrates this better than the compound jingshen itself,"spirits of essence"commonly used in ancient texts on inner cultivation.Moreover,the development of medical skills during the Warring States period,especially the development of pharmaceutical technology and alchemy,provided a realistic possibility for immortality.Because of the collection of many of the above elements,the pursuit of immortality appeared in the Warring States period.