Why is "封神" not "封仙"? The true origin of the words "封" and "神"

The first film of China's first mythological epic film "The Investiture of the Gods Trilogy", "The Investiture of the Gods Part 1", was released across the country this summer and attracted widespread attention. The film is mainly based on the mythological novel "The Investiture of the Gods" by Xu Zhonglin of the Ming Dynasty. It mythologizes the history of the dispute between the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty, and describes the battle of wits and courage between the Chan Sect represented by Yuanshi Tianzun and the Jie Sect represented by Tongtian Jiaozhu, and finally the story of deification. Then, let's take a look at the origins of the two words "封" and "神".

Let's look at "封" first. The oracle bone script of "封" looks like a plant planted in the soil. In bronze inscriptions, the upper left half of the character looks like a plant, the lower half is still soil, and the right side looks like a hand, together they represent using hands to plant plants in the soil. The character of small seal script has "?" and "土" on the left and "寸" on the right, which has begun to symbolize. There are two main forms of official script: one is that the left side looks like a plant and the right side is "寸"; the other is that the upper and lower parts of the left side are both "土", and the right side is "寸". The latter writing method was inherited by regular script.

The original meaning of "封" is to plant plants in the soil. "Zuo Zhuan·Zhao Gong 2nd Year" says: "Su dared not to plant this tree in the soil." Both "封" and "植" here mean "planting".

In ancient times, people liked to use trees planted in nature as the boundaries between clans. This phenomenon was called "sealing boundaries and drawing boundaries". Therefore, "sealing" can be extended to mean "boundary". "Sealing" can also mean "making... a boundary". "Zuo Zhuan·Duke Xi's 30th Year" says: "After sealing Zheng in the east, it also wants to expand its borders in the west." This means that Jin had already made Zheng its boundary in the east, and wanted to expand its borders to the west.

"Enfeoffment" can also refer to the emperor granting titles, land, names, etc. to people. "On the Six Kingdoms" says: "Use the land bribed to Qin to enfeoff ministers of state." This means that the land bribed to Qin was used to grant ministers with wisdom and talent. "Feudalism" originally referred to enfeoffment and establishment of states, that is, the ancient emperors granted titles, land, etc. to relatives or meritorious officials, allowing them to establish states in their respective regions.

"封" can also refer to activities such as building altars and offering sacrifices to gods on mountains held by ancient emperors or ministers. "Yong Yu Le: Remembering the Past at Beiguting, Jingkou": "Yuan Jia was hasty, and Feng Langjuxu was established." In ancient my country, there was a Fengshan system, and the names of Liu Bei's two sons, Liu Feng and Liu Chan, during the Three Kingdoms period, came from this. Therefore, the "Chan" in Liu Chan should be pronounced as shàn, not chán.

In addition, "封" also has the meanings of "close", "block", "the number of items placed in an envelope", such as "closing the mountains to grow forests", "blocking", "a letter", etc.

Let's look at "神". The character "神" in oracle bone inscriptions and early bronze inscriptions only contains "申" but not "礻". "Shuowen Jiezi·Shenbu" says: "申, 神也." "申" is the shape of lightning. The ancients did not know enough about nature and believed that lightning was unpredictable and powerful, so they called it a god. In later bronze inscriptions and small seal script, official script, regular script and other fonts, "礻" was added to express meaning, and "申" gradually became a symbol, and it is difficult to see the connection with lightning.

The original meaning of "Shen" is "God of Heaven; Spirit". "Shuowen Jiezi·Shibu" says: "Shen, God of Heaven, leads out all things." This means that "Shen" is interpreted as the God of Heaven who can lead out all things.

"Shen" can also mean "spirit". Fan Zhongyan wrote in Yueyang Tower: "When I climb this tower, I feel relaxed and happy, forgetting all honors and disgraces." "Relaxed and happy" means having an open mind and a happy spirit.

If we narrow the scope of "spirit", "spirit" can specifically refer to "spirit; moving expression". In the third chapter of "Dream of Red Mansions", it says: "Handsome eyes and fine eyebrows, looking around with spirit." "Looking around with spirit" means looking around with spirit.

Gods often have miraculous abilities, so "Shen" also means "magical". "Zizhi Tongjian" says: "The general, with his miraculous martial arts and heroic talents... should roam the world and eliminate evil for the country." "Shenwu" refers to miraculous martial arts, which means high martial arts skills.

The Investiture of the Gods is a treasure in the novel Investiture of the Gods, which is used to command the 365 gods of the eight divisions of heaven. The novel Investiture of the Gods has been popular for hundreds of years because it has created many mythological characters that are loved by the public, such as Jiang Ziya, Nezha, Lei Zhenzi, Tu Xingsun, etc., and has a unique and rich imagination.

(The author Gu Jun is a doctor of literature, a director of the Guangxi Linguistics Society, and a teacher at the Department of Chinese International Education, School of Foreign Languages, Guilin University of Electronic Technology)