The ancient Persian prophet Zoroazd

The Prophets of Ancient Persia: The Zoroasters

Religion was an essential element of human life and the foundation of imperial civilization. Every empire had its own religious civilization. Its internal and external interactions are also inseparable from the political attribution brought about by the religious value system.

Zoroastrianism is a persian religion founded by the ancient Iranian prophet Zoroastrianism, also known as Zoroastrianism. According to its main religious ritual characteristics, it is also called "Zoroastrianism". "Zoroastrian" is a foreign language, a new character created by the Tang Dynasty people according to its pronunciation, and is known for its mundane gods. Mr. Chen Yuan further explained: "Calling it zoroastrianism instead of calling it a god, it is clear that it is a foreign god. Therefore, "Zoroastrian" is a high-level summary of the cultural connotation of Zoroastrianism in Chinese culture. Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest religions in the history of the world and has an important and unique position in the study of world religious history, civilization history and ancient Iranian culture. Zoroastrianism has had a significant and far-reaching influence on the world's great religions and the peoples around them. As a crossroads of civilization exchanges between the East and the West, Zoroastrian culture has played a huge role and played an extremely important role for a long time, and its influence far exceeds the geographical scope of modern Iran, and is a typical example of the exchange of civilizations in world history.

The Zoroastrian prophet Zoroastrian did have a man in history. As a religious leader, his life is heavily covered with myths and legends. The Pallavi literature records the myth of Zoroaster's birth: Zoroastrian's aura comes from the boundless light source of the sixth heaven. It descended from the starry sky to the altar of Vlasim's house, and then into the womb of Vlasim's pregnant wife. Later, she gave birth to a girl named Dugo Dava. Born with a divine light, Dugodava was born with a good appearance. Seduced and incited by demons, Vlasim threw his daughter, Dugodava, out of the house. Dugodava wandered to the Spitaman tribe and married Proussas, the chieftain's son. Zoroaster's soul originally lived in the light of tomorrow, and the patron saint placed it in a hum stem and then placed it on top of a towering tree. Under the guidance of the gods, Dugodava's husband took the sacred Hum grass from the tree and returned home to his wife to collect. Zoroastrian's somatic molecules are prepared by the gods with water and plants, and then placed in raindrops, landing on the earth and absorbing the grass and trees on the ground. The Dugodava's herd ate grass containing Zoroastrian somatic molecules, and their breasts swelled up, producing a large amount of delicious milk. Dugodava mashed the hum grass that her husband had given her and drank it in milk. Thus, Zoroastrian's soul and somatic molecules merged with The original Zoroastrian aura in Dugodava's body. Since then, Dugodava has given birth to Iran's first prophet, Zoroastrian.

The birth of this prophet was even more miraculous. After Zoroaster was born, he burst out laughing. His laughter caused the demons surrounding him to cling to his head. The Persians believed that every creature was surrounded by demons.

In fact, this myth is more or less a fabrication of later generations. Just as the founding emperors of ancient China were born with red light and lightning and thunder, it was only to deify them. For example, shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, was pregnant with a white elephant in his mother's dream and was born on the left rib. Just after being born, he took seven steps in a row, one lotus flower after another, and sometimes there were double dragons spitting water and bathing them. He also pointed to the sky and the earth: "Heaven and earth, I am the only one." "Compared with Shakyamuni, the birth legend of Zoroastrian is much inferior. But his experience and influence are also comparable to That of Shakyamuni.

According to legend, Zoroaster began to learn the profession of contact priesthood at the age of 7. At the age of 20, despite his parents' objections, he resolutely ran away from home and traveled around the world, visiting departed soldiers and seeking the truth. Like Buddha and Christ, Zoroastrian went through some ascetic training. Far from the world, he lived alone on a mountain, feeding on cheese and fruit from the mountain. Before he was sanctified, the devil tempted and tempted him in many ways. Sometimes, a sword was inserted into his chest; sometimes, his seven tricks were filled with molten lead. But Zoroaster has endured these tests, and his quest for the Tao has never flinched.

In the mid-spring season when he was 30 years old, Zoroastrian finally received the revelation of Ahula Mazda. At dawn that day, the devout Zoroaster went to the river to fetch water in preparation for the sacrifice. By the river, he suddenly saw a vision: a radiant god dressed in white standing in front of him. The god ascended to the celestial realm with Zoroastrian and came to Ahula Mazda and the other gods. From them, Zoroastrian received the revelation of Zoroastrianism. From then on, as a prophet of Zoroastrianism, he began to spread Zoroastrian teachings. However, for a long time, Zoroastad was not only not recognized and convinced by the world, but was ridiculed and persecuted. 10 years on, Zoroaster received only one believer, who was still his cousin. Zoroastrian lamented to Ahura Mazda, "It is good to do your will, but it has caused me to suffer among the crowds." Disappointed, Zoroastrian left the people of his homeland and traveled far and wide in search of Zoroastrian believers. Finally, he found resonance with a king named Kavi Vistaspa. The king greatly appreciated his preaching, and together with the queen became an early believer in Zoroastrianism, promising permission and assisting him in spreading Zoroastrianism in the country. This year, Zoroaster was 42 years old.

There are five Zoroastrian brothers, and he is the third oldest. Zoroaster married three times in his lifetime. The original wife bore him a son and three daughters. The second lady bore him two sons. The third lady was the niece of Jamaspa, a great vassal of King Kavi Vistaspa. In order to consolidate his relationship with the royal family and expand the influence of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian married his third daughter to Jamaspa. Since then, the influence of Zoroastrianism in the government and the public has become greater and greater, and more and more people have converted to Zoroastrianism.

According to Zoroastrian legend, Zoroastrian and his Third Lady had sex three times, and their semen was ejaculated to the ground. The messenger angel took away the light and power of the semen and gave it to the river goddess Anahita for safekeeping. The semen of the Patriarch is kept in the Kayanssee Lake in Sistan, guarded by the spirits of 99,999 good people. At the end of the first millennium before the day of the Final Judgment, a girl named Bud went to bathe in the lake and conceived, after which she gave birth to the first hermit prophet, Huhidar. At the end of the second millennium, when the Day of Judgment came, a girl named Behbad bathed in the lake and conceived, giving birth to a second hermit prophet, Huhidar Maher. At the end of the last millennium before the end of the final day, a girl named Eredat Fitzli went to the lake to bathe and conceive, giving birth to the third and last reclusive prophet, Sushyant. These three brothers, born a thousand years apart, are the saviors after Zoroastrian and will lead the good over evil.

It is said that Zoroastrian had a high life and ascended to heaven in a thunderclap. Another theory is that his activities provoked hostility from neighboring countries, sparking a war to defend their respective beliefs. The result was a complete victory for Zoroastrian side. But since then, conflicts between old and new beliefs have occurred. At the age of 77, Zoroastrian was stabbed to death by a priest who hated Zoroastrianism. In any case, Zoroaster was an otherworldly mythological figure in the eyes of posterity. To clarify its original appearance, under the condition of limited information, it is quite difficult.

Although Zoroaster did have his own person in history, because there are more legends about him than historical facts, it is difficult to draw conclusions based on the age and place of his life, and it is still debated to this day. Since ancient times, there have been many theories about the age of Zoroaster's existence. Socrates' student, Asibides, believes that Zoroastrian was born 6,000 years before Plato. His basis is that the world is a cycle every 6,000 years, and Zoroastrians and Plato are both dualists, and should also be 6,000 years apart. Although this statement is absurd and nonsensical, it has a great impact because the Zoroastrian scriptures also adopt this statement. This period predates the collapse of the Indo-European community in the 4th to 3rd centuries BC. As the prophet of the Aryans of Iran, it was impossible to live in that era. Another theory holds that Zoroastrian lived in alexander's 6th century BC in 285 BC. It is based on Persian legends and Babylonian chronicle material. According to this legend, Cyrus accepted the teachings of Zoroastrianism, spread them widely throughout the country, and fought against the pagans. This is particularly close to the story of Cavilaspa, Zoroastrian protector of Zoroastrianism in the Avestan. Darius' father was also named Vista Spa. Thus the king and the father of Darius in Avestan are imagined as one person. According to the History of Babylon, Cyrus captured Babylon in 540 BC. If this year is seen as the beginning of his acceptance of Zoroastrianism and the beginning of his war with the pagans, Zoroaster would have been around 30 years old. Moving from 30 years ago, that is, 570 BC, it became the year of Zoroaster's birth. This theory has also been endorsed by many scholars, but there are still doubts that cannot be explained clearly, and this theory is also quite far-fetched.

Although most scholars believe that Zoroastrians lived around 1000 BC, Zoroastrian Boas believes that it should be between 1400 and 1200 BC. Scholars have acknowledged that the oldest part of the Gatha in the Zoroastrian classicSa is a sermon chanted by the prophet Zoroastrian. According to Bois, Zoroastrian was written in the language of Gatha, an ancient dialect of eastern Iran, which is as old as the Indian Vedas. The Rig Vedas were gradually formed after 1500 BC. Therefore, Zoroaster was born no earlier than 1500 BC.

According to the Mitanni literature, the Danish scholar Christensen pointed out that the inhabitants living in Turkey in the 14th century BC were Indo-Iranian Aryans, not pure Iranian Aryans. The Kings of Mitanni believed in the gods of these periods, which is evidence that Zoroastrianism had not yet spread to the land at that time. Based on linguistic materials and historical materials from which the bottom of the rice had settled in the Iranian plateau in the mid-9th century BC, he also deduced that the lower limit of Zoroastrian life should be before 1000 BC. Because Zoroastrianism had already been formed, its scriptures had been circulating in Eastern Iran for a long time. Judging from the content of the Gathay hymn, Zoroastrian's birth year reflects the emergence of a struggle between two religious sects that are inseparable in society. His birth and founding constituted the basic content of social life in the early years of the tribal religious era of East Iran, that is, in 1100 BC. Therefore, his birth and death date is about 1100 BC.

Zoroaster's place of birth is as confusing as the age of his birth and death. According to traditional Palawi language religious documents, the aryan homeland of "Eranvij" is located in Azerbaijan. Accordingly, Azerbaijan is considered its place of birth. According to religious tradition, Zoroastad was born in Azerbaijan and began to live in seclusion at the age of 20 in search of truth. At the age of 30, he received the revelation and began to preach. Due to opposition from the local stubborn forces, Zoroastrian initial mission did not go well, so he went out to the Balkh region of eastern Iran, where he achieved initial success. At the age of 77, he was tragically martyred in a religious conflict. However, extrapolating from linguistic material and the content of the Gatha hymns, Zoroastrian was born in eastern Iran. Because the language of the Prophet is the eastern Iranian dialect. The famous mountains and rivers, tribal wars and religious practices mentioned in the Gatha hymns and later parts of the Avestan are mostly geographically and geographically located in eastern Iran, especially in the Sistan region. Zoroastrian semen is kept in Lake Kayansai in Sistan, guarded by many good spirits. Therefore, the "Eastern Theory" of Zoroastrian birth is recognized by more and more scholars.

Zoroaster also relies mainly on linguistic material. Since the birth of writing, human beings have entered the era of civilization, and language and writing have become the most reliable record of human footprints. Language and writing are a great achievement of human civilization and a decisive factor in the preservation, development, and circulation of civilization. It is a means of dissemination and thinking for the exchange of material civilization and spiritual civilization, and in the exchange of different civilization subjects, the language and writing itself have also undergone tremendous changes. Some are gradually dying out, and some are spreading more widely. Language and writing influence each other and absorb each other in communication, so that they themselves undergo corresponding changes and become symbols of a certain civilization. The application of a certain language and script has a roughly corresponding geographical scope, which has become the common language of a specific civilization circle. It is precisely according to the specific changes in language and writing in the exchange of civilizations that scholars can dispel the fog of mythology and draw a relatively scientific conclusion about the initial creation of Zoroastrianism.

Article excerpted from "Persian Empire" (Author: Yu Weiqing)