Yuval Harari asserted in A Brief History of Humanity that the rise of mankind began with the birth of the story.
About 70,000 years ago, the human brain had a genetic mutation, before that, humans can not be called humans, can only be called Homo sapiens, the communication between them is probably like today's orangutans and monkeys, making some sounds, as a simple way of communication.
After the genetic mutation of human beings, began to create a unique language, based on the continuous evolution and development of language, human beings are no longer only relying on language to express the simple meaning of danger, sleep, etc., but began to learn to tell stories, with the story of human oral transmission gradually enriched, the earth gave birth to many ancient civilizations, and the birth of the corresponding culture.
Ancient Egypt was most famous for its religion, as well as its mysterious pyramids and pharaohs, and when it comes to ancient Greece, one probably thinks of the ancient Greek gods and many affairs related to the god Zeus.
The reason why human beings can inherit the experience and technology of their ancestors and stand on the shoulders of their ancestors and continue to develop is due to the evolution of language and the spread of stories.
The role of folk tales can play a role in regulating human behavior, establishing an order and values that everyone agrees with, and culture is formed and developed based on this. So if you want to get to know a country and region as soon as possible, it is the fastest way to understand their story first.
The old words in Japanese mean the stories of the past, which have been passed down in folklore for hundreds of thousands of years, and have been passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation.
Japanese folklorist Keigo Kwan, who specializes in the study of Japanese folk culture after graduating from university, has collected many ancient folk legends and stories, although the plot has changed slightly when passed from generation to generation, Kwan still strives to explore, hoping to restore the original Japanese folklore stories.
He compiled his collection of stories into this "Japanese Past", the ancestors have grown up by listening to these stories, classic folk tales may have been told millions of times, these stories reflect the national beliefs and national psychology, has been deeply rooted in the bones of the Japanese.
After reading this collection of stories, you may know more about the Japanese people.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > reproduction is the spiritual appeal of traditional Japanese people. </h1>
You remember reading a Japanese literature "Taketori Monogatari" that I read many years ago, which was about a pair of grandparents who had no heirs, and the grandfather found a girl in the bamboo, so he brought it back and raised her.
Since raising this child, the old man would always find gold in the bamboo tube when cutting bamboo, and soon after, the family became very rich, and the girl also had her own name, called Hui Ye Ji.
When hui ye ji grew up, she was very beautiful, and the people who came to the door to ask for relatives even broke through the threshold, up to the dignitaries and nobles, down to the ordinary people, but Hui Ye Ji just didn't want to marry, even if the emperor and the crown prince came, Hui Ye Ji did not agree.
Hui Ye Ji finally told the truth to her adoptive parents, it turned out that she was a person from the Moon World, for some reason she was sent to this world, and now the Heavenly People of the Moon World wanted to take her back, although the Emperor and her adoptive parents were very reluctant to Hui Ye Ji, and finally let her return to the Moon World.
This is a very typical Japanese folklore story, open the "Japanese Past", there are many similar folklore stories, such as "Gua ji", about an infertile couple, cut out a child from the melon, "Dirt Taro", about a lazy couple who do not love to bathe, with the dirt rubbed off the body to pinch out a small doll, named Dirt Taro.
It is estimated that in ancient Japan, there were also many infertile couples, and when they were old, they still had no heirs, so they made up such a story, as a thought, hoping that God could give him a child and multiply, which may be the traditional Japanese ideology and spiritual appeal.
Without children, there may be one in the field or in the forest, and this kind of imaginative story has been passed down to this day, which can glimpse the Japanese people's desire to reproduce.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" > to get a cheap daughter-in-law, is the unanimous desire of the public. </h1>
For example, in "Japanese Past Tales", there are many good things about picking up a daughter-in-law.
In the story of "Fish Wife", a poor man helped a litter of small turtles, the old turtle in order to repay the favor, brought the man to the Dragon Palace, the man went to the Dragon Palace to accept the dragon king's reception, the dragon king asked the man what he wanted, the man remembered the old turtle's advice, so he said he wanted to marry the only daughter of the dragon king, the dragon king agreed.
The man took his wife back home and gave birth to three children, but the wife had a condition, the husband must not peek when he was bathing, but unfortunately the man was still curious to peek and found that his wife was actually a fish.
Because of the broken promise, the wife left the house with the youngest child and returned to the Dragon Palace, where the man could only live with the other two children.
"The Crane Wife" is more interesting, about a young man named Youping who saves a white crane on the road, and a woman knocks on the door that night, saying that she is willing to marry him.
The Heping family was so poor that they could not open the pot, so the wife proposed that she knit the cloth herself and sell it with Ping, but the wife had one condition, that is, when she was weaving cloth, Sheping absolutely could not open the door to see.
Three days later, the wife knitted the cloth, exquisite, and ping sold a lot of money, there is a nobleman who likes it, the high price to order, the wife agreed, but this time the wife said it takes seven days, or the same requirements, during the weaving period and ping can not see.
But Yohei was too curious, so he secretly opened the door and saw a white crane pulling out the woolen cloth on his body.
Hakuhei told Yohei that he was the crane he saved that day, and that marrying him was to repay the favor, and now that he was seen as his real body, he could no longer stay, so he flew away, and although Heping regretted it, he had no choice.
In "Chrysanthemum and the Sword", it was revealed that Japan's culture of repaying favors is one of the pillars of the Japanese spirit, and that those who have revenge and those who have kindness must repay are all cultures carved in the bones of the Japanese. Many of the stories of "Japanese Past Tales" are because of the retribution.
For a poor bachelor, becoming a gentle woman and marrying him is naturally the best way to repay the favor. It can also be seen that for the people living at the bottom, doing good deeds is a moral requirement, and expecting God to send a cheap daughter-in-law is the best secular fable.
In fact, in the "Japanese Past Words", you can find a lot of traces of ancient Chinese folk tales, such as "Heavenly Daughters Under the Heavens", which is a copy of the story of the Seven Fairies and Dong Yong, but in Chinese folk tales, the fairy is in love with Dong Yong and takes the initiative to marry him, and in the Japanese folk tales, the Heavenly Daughter cannot return to heaven because of the feather coat, and has to compromise to marry a man.
This shows that ancient Chinese folk tales are happy to celebrate love stories, while Japanese folk tales are more inclined to moral norms, and Japan's shame culture can also be glimpsed from them.
Traditional folk tales are the foundation of culture, but also the source of today's cultural industry, and the stories we see and listen to now can more or less escape the shadow of folk tales. This story, which has been told at least a million times by word of mouth, is the basis of human childhood, and it is also the food for human spiritual enlightenment, which is worthy of our continued appreciation and praise today.