I’ll Quit Being a God Chapter 26: Basic knowledge of Onmyoji
Sometimes it is really beneficial to have long legs and run fast.
If Seki Toshiyan had run slower and heard the conversation between Seki Koji and Niwa Nakakuni, his mentality might have continued to collapse.
This stuff is so scary.
Whether it is in a good direction or in a bad direction, simple things will be complicated as long as a special filter is applied.
It is obviously a very simple sentence, why do you always have to over-interpret it?
It’s just like the reading comprehension question in the Chinese language of Zhonghuajia. Guan Junyan can guarantee that Mr. Lu Xun definitely didn’t think that much when he spoke and wrote.
For example, the sentence "The greatest, most permanent and most common art in China is men pretending to be women" - this refers to the long-standing opera culture of flower growers. Mr. Lu Xun would never have thought of a hundred years when he said this sentence Today, there are a large group of cross-dressing men who have nothing to do with singing or acting.
Ahem, that’s too far off topic.
In short, it is true that Guan Junyan did go to the library, but not to find a solution to the sequelae, but to supplement the knowledge of Onmyoji in order to better play the role of the head of the Guan family.
Following the route I wrote down yesterday, I walked into the library, picked up the old book, and started to read it.
The person who wrote the book is named Guan Zhiyi.
A name that feels familiar, but it is definitely not the Kogawa Gilgamesh Koo in my memory.
Looking at the naming routine of the Guan family, it might be the handiwork of Guan Taiyi’s father or even his grandfather.
Unfortunately, the system is not powerful enough to retrieve information by just one name, so Guan Junyan cannot determine which Guan family boss this is.
That’s right, boss.
In Guan Junyan's view, those who reach the top of various industries and write high-end works are the big guys.
But those who summarize various contents and write the basics of getting started are also the big guys.
The former represents the upper limit of a field, while the latter is the threshold and foundation. No matter how great your achievements are in the future, you have to pass here.
For Guan Junyan today, this is the most suitable entry point, and he attaches as much importance to it as the first art of war book he read yesterday.
The book "Introduction to Onmyoji" also lives up to his expectations.
Be clear and straightforward.
The first article explains what Onmyoji is.
As the name suggests, it pursues the art of Yin and Yang.
The theory of yin and yang originated in China and is considered to be the basis of the world and can incarnate all things.
Studying the yin and yang is to delve into the truth of the world. Visible matter and invisible things such as fate, soul, and ghosts are all within the scope of research and understanding. The initial areas of activity are sacrifice, divination, and calendering. , 禊事(auxiliary administration).
It has many similarities with Shinto priests, and it is true that before the Heian period, Onmyodo and Shinto were not separated, and they were vassals of Shinto.
Although there are special Yin and Yang houses and exclusive titles such as doctorate, the status cannot be said to be low, but it is still not comparable to the top priests of the deep-rooted belief system.
Up to the greatest legend among the Onmyoji, the well-deserved first person, who suppressed an era, the great Onmyoji Abe Seimei with the "Japanese Jiang Ziya" - I have to say that Japan really likes to compare ancient Chinese people, such as The emergence of "Little Zhang Fei" Honda Tadakatsu, "Little Kong Ming" Takenaka Hanbei, and "Little Zhao Yun" Sanada Yukimura - allowed the Onmyoji to get rid of the status of Shinto maids and become independent.
The field of activities has also gradually stripped away the Shinto part, focusing on cultivating calendars, 禊事 (assistant government), Kanyu (feng shui), seals, etc., and has developed continuously to this day, spreading branches and leaves. (This period of history has been modified to a certain extent. Everything is for the purpose of this book and should not be brought into reality)
The origin of the Guan family lineage also has a special explanation.
It originated from the second take-off period after the Heian period, the Kamakura period.
Although the political influence of Onmyoji reached its peak during the Heian period, it was also firmly held by the emperor as an important tool of the ruling class, preventing other forces from getting involved. Even the public officials who have close relations with the royal family can only quietly engage in shady "folk yin and yang".
However, during the Kamakura period, the power of the samurai family rose rapidly, and the imperial power and the public family gradually declined. Many onmyoji who originally worked for the court nobles began to flow into the people, and soon combined with other religions to form a new onmyoji for the public. Truly becoming the basis of the inheritance of Onmyoji, this "civilian Onmyodo" has been passed down to this day.
Guan Qingping, the first onmyoji of the Guan family, was born in such an era.
In his early years, he was a **** with no knowledge and skills. Later, he was taught a lesson by an onmyoji, and he changed his ways. As a result, he developed a strong interest in onmyoji.
First, he practiced with the local Onmyoji, a representative civilian, and then entered the "Onmyo Ryo", an official Onmyo institution established by Emperor Tenmu that originated in the Asuka period, to receive orthodox education.
Onnyōtou, who was the highest chief of Onnyōryō at the time, was a direct descendant of the Abe family, whose name had been changed to Tsuchimikado. He had given a lot of advice to the ancestors of the Seki family, and this was how he hung a portrait of Abe Seimei in his home.
Guan Qingping's achievements in his life were limited and he did not leave much reputation. However, the inheritance remained and became an inconspicuous tributary of Onmyoji.
Being inconspicuous has its advantages. During the Warring States Period after Kamakura, Japan was in chaos. Many inheritances and schools were cut off due to wars. The entire Onmyodo was severely damaged and almost collapsed.
Because of their small size and inconspicuousness, the Guan family escaped the disaster and were able to preserve their inheritance. They gradually developed in the great governance after the great chaos, and finally took root in Okutama, gaining their current status.
After talking about the history of Onmyoji and the family, we come to the second chapter, the introduction to Onmyoji.
Onmyoji is the core technology of Onmyoji, the key competitiveness, and the basis for Onmyoji to perform its functions, so there are many types.
Divination, astrology, Kanyu, seals, shikigami, etc. are all numerous, and different schools of Onmyoji are good at different things.
The Onmyoji of the Guan family practice the Shikigami as the first level, followed by Kanyu and Seal. They only have a superficial understanding of other categories and do not engage in specialized practice.
No matter what type of onmyoji it is, it requires mana to support it. The first lesson of an onmyoji is to cultivate mana.
Unlike the samurai who gained strength through breathing and tempering the body, the onmyoji gained power through the soul.
It is mainly divided into two roads.
One is the spirit of clarity, tapping the potential of one's own soul, and then resonating with nature to achieve the effect of interfering with the environment.
The other is to make contracts with other souls, or to borrow power or drive.
To put it bluntly, the former is a spell and the latter is a shikigami.
The Guan family's practice focuses on the latter, and Guan Junyan is also interested in the latter.
Then the most critical question comes, how to get the shikigami?
PS: I thought it would not take many words to write something like this, but I accidentally finished it in one chapter. Considering that the background setting is also a part of the book and can play a role in enriching the content, I will not delete it. It requires research and magic modification, which is more tiring than advancing the plot. I hope you all like it.