Wind And The Cult Of The Wind God In The Qin And Han Dynasties

The wind god was one of the most important nature deities in ancient China.During the Qin and Han dynasties,the cult of the wind gods was prevalent,and the image of the wind gods was gradually established.The art of wind divination and the theory of wind disasters and calamities based on the cult of the wind and the wind gods had an important influence on Qin and Han society.This article examines the wind and wind god worship during the Qin and Han dynasties,taking into account the biographical and excavated materials,from three perspectives: wind and wind god images,wind divination and wind god numerology,and wind god worship and Qin and Han politics.During the Qin and Han dynasties,there were two main types of wind gods:animal wind gods and humanoid wind gods.The animal gods of wind can be divided into four categories: bird gods of wind,canine gods of wind,animal Fei Lian wind gods and other animal gods of wind with the ability to attract wind,of which Fei Lian is the representative of the animal gods of wind and its image incorporates the basic features of many animal gods of wind.The humanoid wind gods are Jixing,Fei Lian and Feng Bo,of which Feng Bo is a representative of the humanoid wind gods and also a representative of the Qin and Han wind gods,fusing the characteristics of the animal and humanoid wind gods of the Qin and Han periods and becoming the unified name for the wind gods after the Qin and Han periods.One of the manifestations of the worship of the wind gods during the Qin and Han dynasties was the prevalence of the art of wind divination in society.Based on the observation of the wind,people concluded the correspondence between wind and personnel,and used the natural phenomenon of wind to predict the fortune of actions and guide production and life.The worship of the wind gods occupied an important place in Qin and Han politics,mainly through the prevalence of the concept of wind disasters and calamities in Qin and Han political life.In the Qin and Han dynasties,wind disasters were not only natural disasters,but also divine prophecies or punishments that were linked to the words and actions of the ruler and his political measures,and had the character of condemning him.Wind disasters often symbolised rebellions and the failure of the ruler to act in the right way,and after the disaster the emperor would reflect on the faults of his administration,and the ministers would denounce the emperor’s faults in his administration in a petition,so the wind disaster had a clear political significance.An examination of wind and wind god worship during the Qin and Han dynasties helps to further understand the ways of perception and thinking,to understand the world of belief in deities during the Qin and Han dynasties,and to enrich and deepen the understanding of other historical phenomena such as politics and the military during the Qin and Han dynasties.