China Story | 小年来临，“瘟神”避退！退！退！
不论是海外求学，国际旅行，接待外宾还是跨境业务洽谈中，你是否满腹干货，想做中华文化使者，但又苦于无法用英文表达？
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用英语，说中国
双语播出，适合不同段位的你。
让我们一起，讲述有趣有料的中国故事。
今天是小年，确切说是北方的小年，南方应该会晚一天。
相信经历了诸多起伏诸事不顺的2022年，大家都迫不及待想要翻篇儿了吧。过去的三年可以说关键词就只有一个: The covid 19 pandemic，新冠疫情。
那么今天，趁着小年，咱们就来聊聊中国文化里的人们唯恐避之不及的：瘟神。
2023，“瘟神”别来沾边，给我 退！退！退！
God of Plague/ Pestilence
瘟神
最初的瘟神不是神，而是疫鬼，也就是恶灵、恶鬼，且最初的疫鬼只有三个，
Ghost of malaria
瘧鬼
Demon ghost
魍魎
Small Ghost
小鬼
Five Commissioners of Pestilence 五瘟使者
五鬼又称五瘟、五瘟使者、五瘟使，是中国民间传说中的瘟。据传这五位瘟神能掌握五方瘟疫，使之不得侵犯人间，保佑人们一年四季不染瘟疫，幸福安康。
春瘟张元伯
The Spring God of Pestilence
夏瘟刘元达
The Summer God of Pestilence
秋瘟赵公明
The Autumn God of Pestilence (Interestingly, he later also became a God of Fortune)
冬瘟钟士贵
The Winter God of Pestilence
总管中瘟史文业
The Central and Superior God of Pestilence
《三教源流搜神大全》卷四中这样讲道：隋文帝开皇十一年(596年)六月，有五力士现于空中，距地三五丈，身披五色袍，各执一物：一人手执构子和罐子，一人手执皮袋和剑，一人手执扇子，一人执锤子，一人手执火壶。
清末的《五瘟圣众》
送瘟神
Send away the god of plague
历史上，天花、疟疾、鼠疫都是非常要命的传染病，古人受医疗科学水平的限制，认为这都来自于“瘟神”。
所以，平时除了祭祀瘟神，过年期间百姓还要放鞭炮“送瘟神”以祈求来年没有疾病，一家人健康平安。
仪式
Ritual
古时百姓会烧纸钱、放鞭炮，将积攒的垃圾扫出去，送走瘟神。
民间信仰
Folk belief
乾隆四十四年(1779)，七曲山始崇祀瘟祖，举行秋祭，于是兴起了八月秋季庙会。
供奉
Offerings
驱魔
Exorcism
虽然各地送瘟神的方式和时间不尽相同，但各地人们的愿望都是一样的，都为了将疾病和灾祸送走，祈求全家人健康平安。
连毛主席当年也写过名为送瘟神的诗词。
七律二首·《送瘟神》·其一 毛泽东
民间送瘟神活动
望我们协力送走瘟神，2023年平平顺顺，健健康康。
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本期的问题是：
“辟邪” 你会如何用英语解释呢？
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第15期China Story全记录文本
Hi everyone, and welcome back China Story, 欢迎回来【用英语说中国】, it has been a while.
Today is the Little New Year in Chinese culture.
今天是小年了, 确切说是北方的小年, 南方应该会晚一天.
The major celebration of the Chinese New Year is just around the corner and I bet many of you are taking stock of the year we just had and getting ready to ring in the new one. And may I just say: What a year!
相信经历了诸多起伏诸事不顺的2022年，大家都迫不及待想要翻篇儿了吧。过去的三年可以说关键词就只有一个: The COVID-19 pandemic，新冠疫情。
那么今天，趁着小年，咱们就来聊聊中国文化里的：瘟神。
瘟神usually translated into God of Plague or God of Pestilence, is a god or group of gods responsible for illness, plague, and disease in Chinese folk religion.
瘟神或者叫疫病神, 是中国乃至东亚民间信仰中的瘟疫之神。
In some belief systems, 瘟神(Wen Shen) is identified as a single entity who commands wen spirits; in others, the term is used for a grouping of several distinct gods.
各地信仰的瘟神其实并不一致, 可以是一位也可以是几位神的组合.
In the olden times, when medical knowledge was not yet as advanced as today, people believed that plagues were caused by evil spirits.
In order to ward off these epidemic spirits, protection gods were worshipped that were thought to dispel the plague.
瘟疫其实就是急性传染病, 在古代民智未开医, 疗条件比较低劣的情况下, 大家对于这种可怕的疾病恐惧至极, 甚至很多的时候认为是鬼神作祟, 因此也会祈求神灵保护.
And this could be found in many different cultures.
Now we call them God or Gods of Plague or Pestilence, but initially, there weren’t gods at all. In fact, there were more considered evil spirits. Three to be more precise.
其实最初的瘟神不是神，而是疫鬼，是恶灵或者恶鬼，中国民间传说里最初的疫鬼有三个。
The earliest mention of a group of pestilence gods or pestilence spirits in Chinese mythology was from a book called 《礼纬稽命征》 dating from the Han dynasty. Where it is said that the mythological emperor Zhuan Xu（顓頊）had three sons that died immediately after their birth and became evil spirits spreading plagues.
在中国古代, 最早的疫鬼始建于纬书, 在《礼纬稽命征》就有提到颛顼有三子生而亡去, 为疫鬼.
One lived in the Yangtze River and was called "Ghost of Malaria". 这三个疫鬼一居江水，是为疟鬼"Ghost of Malaria"散播疟疾；The second lived in the River Ruo （若水） and was called Wang Liang "Demon ghost", 一居若水，为魍魉, basically a kind of demon；
and the third used to dwell in the corners of human abodes. He appeared in the shape of a young boy, and was therefore called "Small Ghost". 一居人宫室区隅，善惊人小儿，为小鬼。”
Over time, these spirits became conflated with the "five wet ghosts" of the prophesy classic: 龙鱼河图 and formed the basis for later groupings of pestilence gods.
后来的一本记录民俗神话方式寓言的书《龙鱼河图》里面又提出了五湿鬼 “the five wet ghosts” and People venerating them in the right manner with beans and hemp would be spared disaster.
书里就说要在某一个特定的时刻取豆子和麻子、家人头发混合在一起, 可以让家人不遭伤寒, 避五瘟鬼，这里是中国民俗里第一次出现了五瘟鬼一说.
It also mentioned how to repel the spirits, 而且还有怎么样辟邪的方法. 虽然不知道这些方法是否真的管用, 但是自此之后, 五瘟鬼的说法就开始在民间广为流传, and a most established version of the five gods or the five spirits of pestilence or plague emerged in the Ming dynasty, to be more precise, in a book called The Compendium of Deities.
一般来讲, 在明朝的《三教源流搜神大全》里, 对五瘟神的记载是较为详细, 也为研究者所公认的。
So according to the book, during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, 这本书里就说到隋文帝在位的时候, there were five strong and tall men, appearing in mid-air, dressed in different kinds of clothes, and using different implements. One was holding a ladle and a jar, another a leather bag and a sword, the third a fan, the fourth a hammer, and the last one a firepot.
说有一天突然有五力士现于空中，身披五色袍，各执一物。一人手执构子和罐子，一人手执皮袋和剑，一人手执扇子，一人执锤子，一人手执火壶。
And they found out that they were the Gods of Pestilence, 而这五个人就是五瘟神, also called the five commissioners of pestilence, 也被称为五瘟使者.
These Five Commissioners, who governed Heaven's Ministry of Epidemics, 这五瘟使者个个有名有姓, 是专司瘟疫的神, they were The Spring God of Pestilence 春瘟张元伯, the Summer God of Pestilence 夏瘟刘元达, the Autumn God of Pestilence秋瘟疫赵公明 , interestingly, he later also became a god of fortune, 可能你会觉得赵公明这个名字听起来挺耳熟, 那是因为他之后还成为了一个非常有名的财神。
And then we had the Winter God of Pestilence 冬瘟钟仁贵, and the Central and Superior God of Pestilence史文业，总管中瘟史文业。
When these five commissioners of pestilence appeared, they were basically forecasting a pretty bad plague.
而当时的这五瘟神出现正是预示之后会天降灾疾，in traditional Chinese folk beliefs Wen Shen was believed to release plagues and pestilence upon the world in punishment for the misdeeds of humanity and prayers or offerings were necessary to placate them.
古时人们相信瘟神的出现是为了惩罚人类, 因此就会通过各种各样的仪式供奉祈祷去想办法驱避瘟疫。
Sometimes these rituals would be performed by an entire community.
Later on, the Taoist deity, Wenchang di Jun subdued the five commissioners and turned them into gods that were in control of pestilence who can keep epidemics at bay.
后来道教的文昌帝君降服了这五瘟神, 并将其收入麾下专司收瘟涉毒, 扫荡污秽之职，保护人畜兴旺, 五谷丰登。
Thereafter it became custom to build shrines for Wenchang dijun in many parts of China, called 瘟祖庙。
也正因如此, 文昌帝君被认为是瘟祖，the ancestor or the grand master of plagues.
很多地方都建了瘟祖庙where people could offer sacrifices, 比如乾隆四十四年为了崇祀瘟祖，举行秋祭，于是兴起了八月秋季庙会。其实想想挺有意思，负责科举、文学的文昌成为瘟祖，是不是古人也以为：生活方式的文明进步有助于减少瘟疫的发生呢？
Apart from the temple, there have been various rituals across China to send away the God of Plague, and often around the Chinese New Year Period.
其实在民间各地也曾经有过不少送瘟神“send away the God of plague”这样的习俗, 特别是在春节期间。
For some, it is about burning joss paper, letting out firecrackers at crossroads. 这个习俗在有些地区可能是在十字路口烧纸前燃放鞭炮.
In some coastal regions in Southeast China, people traditionally used a model boat to symbolically carry these Gods of Pestilence away.
在东南沿海则会有送瘟船的习俗, 把象征瘟神的船只烧掉或者放在水里漂走。
虽然各地送瘟神的方式和时间不尽相同, 但各地人们的愿望都是一样的, 都是为了将疾病和灾祸送走, 祈求全家人健康平安。其实就连毛主席当年也写过名为送瘟神的诗词。
Now although we might not necessarily be that superstitious as before, 今天我们可能已经不会迷信瘟神, but after the year we had we could all use some of our own rituals to send away the Gods of Pestilence which have plagued us for three long years.
望我们协力送走瘟神, 2023年平平顺顺健健康康。
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