The strange legend has been circulating in the Huaihe River Basin that Dayu locked up the Huaihe River monster Wuzhiqi. It is said that Dayu went to Tongbai Mountain three times to control the flood. However, every time Tongbai Mountain was hit by a strong wind, lightning and thunder, rocks howled, trees screamed, Tu Bo blocked the river, and Tian Lao marched. There was an invisible tyrannical force that prevented Yu from starting the flood control. Yu knew that he had encountered a monster and was very angry. He summoned the gods and tribal leaders to a meeting and asked Kuilong to eliminate the monster. At this time, the tribal leaders of Tongbai Mountain and nearby mountains were afraid that the war between the two sides would harm themselves, so they all showed fear and begged Yu to withdraw the order to eliminate the monster. Seeing that Hongmeng, Shangzhang, Doulu, Lanxiqinke, Zhuozhuo, Jiaoyou, and Zhuo were unwilling to work, Yu locked them up. Only then did he know that the monster they were sheltering was the Huaiwo water monster Wuzhiqi. Wuzhiqi was eloquent and knew the depth of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, as well as the height and distance of the terrain. He looked like an ape, with a narrow nose and a high forehead, a green body and a white head, golden eyes and snowy teeth. When his neck was stretched out, it seemed to be a hundred feet long, and his strength was greater than that of a nine-headed elephant. Whether fighting, jumping, or running fast, he was very fast and often disappeared in the blink of an eye. The two sides fought a fierce battle at the foot of Tongbai Mountain. Yu sent Tonglu and Wumuyu to fight, but they were unable to defeat Wuzhiqi. Finally, Gengchen was sent to fight and captured Wuzhiqi. When Chipi, Huanhu, Mumei, Shuiling, Shanyao, Shiguai and thousands of other monsters saw Wuzhiqi being captured, they all rushed up shouting and wanted to snatch Wuzhiqi away. Gengchen waved the Fangtian Ji and, together with the gods, easily killed the mob. Yu ordered his men to lock Wuzhiqi's neck with a large iron chain, put a copper bell through his nostrils, and then pressed him to the foot of Guishan Mountain (Hongze Guishan Mountain) on the south side of the Huai River. After defeating Wuzhiqi, Yu's flood control work in Tongbai Mountain was able to proceed smoothly, and the Huai River flowed into the sea safely from then on. The origin of the legend of Wuzhiqi and his relationship with Sun Wukong Wuzhiqi is also called "jellyfish" in other places. Wang Bao's "Nine Thoughts of Loyalty" in the Han Dynasty said: "Xuanwu walks on jellyfish, and I will go to the south to be prosperous." The note says: "Heavenly turtle water god". It is not a water ape, but a turtle-shaped water beast and water god. The legend of the river and Huai River god taking a horse in "Helu Neichuan IV" in "Wu Yue Chunqiu" by Zhao Ye of the Han Dynasty is probably the predecessor of Wuzhiqi. This kind of mythical legend of "god-shaped beast-looking" is probably a relic of "totem worship" in ancient times, and a transition from a completely beast-shaped god to a completely human-shaped god. - Li Gongzuo created "Wuzhiqi" by combining the legends of ancient monkeys. The legend of Wuzhiqi is widely spread in Huai'an, and it is known as "the first strange monster in the history". There is a record about it in the Tang Dynasty novel "Military Chats": "There was a man named Li Tang, the governor of Chuzhou in Yongtai, who asked a fisherman to see a big iron lock in the water under Guishan Mountain, and he pulled it out with a cow. Suddenly, the wind and waves suddenly rose, and a beast shaped like a monkey, about five feet tall, white-G, snow-white teeth and golden claws, rushed ashore, opened his eyes like lightning, looked at the crowd, and was about to go crazy. The onlookers were afraid and ran away, and the beast also slowly pulled the lock and cow into the water, and never came out again." In the Tang Dynasty, Huai'an was called "Chuzhou", and Guishan Mountain was located in Laozishan Town, Hongze County, Huai'an. It was named because it was surrounded by water on three sides and looked like a giant turtle crawling in the Huai River. The image of Wuzhiqi has also undergone a long evolution process. Huai'an, the hometown of Wu Cheng'en, has been plagued by the Huai River since ancient times, and myths and legends related to flood control have long been produced. - Li Gongzuo's legendary novel "Ancient Yue Du Jing" says that when Yu was controlling the flood, he met the Huai River god Wu Zhiqi. He looked like an ape, "shrunken nose and high forehead", "golden eyes and snowy teeth", and had extraordinary arm strength. Yu locked his neck with an iron chain, "pierced his nose with a golden bell", and locked him at the foot of Guishan Mountain, "and the Huai River was at peace." This is very similar to the story of Sun Wukong being pressed under the Five Elements Mountain by Tathagata Buddha. From the Song and Yuan vernacular novel "The Story of Chen Xunjian's Lost Wife at Meiling" and the Yuan and Ming dramas "Locking the Great Sage Equal to Heaven" and "Journey to the West", as well as the Ming Dynasty Song Lian's "Deleted Ancient Yue Du Jing", we can see traces of the evolution of the Wu Zhiqi legend. Lu Xun said in A Brief History of Chinese Fiction: "In the Ming Dynasty, Wu Cheng'en performed Journey to the West and transferred the supernatural powers to Sun Wukong, so the story of Yu conquering Wuzhiqi became obscure" (Chapter 9), pointing out the relationship between the legend of Wuzhiqi and the creation of the image of Sun Wukong. Wu Cheng'en created the artistic image of Sun Wukong on the basis of the legend of Wuzhiqi, the "first strange monster in the ages" with great magical powers in Huai'an folk. At present, there is still a "Zhiqi Well" in Guishan, which is enough to prove the influence of Wuzhiqi on Wu Cheng'en's creation of the artistic image of "Sun Wukong". The myth of Dayu conquering Wuzhiqi is only found in the "Li Tang" entry of Volume 47 of Taiping Guangji, which is a novel written by Li Gongzuo in the Tang Dynasty. It is probably just a novel, and there is not much basis in ancient myths. However, this fictitious myth was later spread to the people and played into the myth of Sengjia or the Great Sage of Sizhou conquering Wuzhiqi or jellyfish. In the Yuan Dynasty, Wu Changling's Journey to the West, a play about Sun Xingzhe, said "Wu Zhiqi is his sister". In the Ming Dynasty, Wu Chengen wrote Journey to the West, and he transferred Wu Zhiqi's form to Sun Wukong, creating a well-known mythical hero image. This shows the importance of Wu Zhiqi's mythological mother. There is also a folk story about Wu Chengen's creation of Sun Wukong. It is said that when Wu Chengen was writing Journey to the West, he was troubled because he could not find the living habits of the protagonist Sun Wukong. On a New Year's Eve, he and his neighbor, an old man, stayed up all night, and the old man told the story of Dayu controlling the flood and capturing the water monster Wu Zhiqi. Wu Zhiqi, with a face like a macaque, a broad forehead, a short nose, and great strength, could turn over 108,000 miles with one somersault. When he opened his mouth, he could spit floods all over the ground, submerging villages and crops, and drowning innocent people. Dayu invited the god Gengchen to catch it and locked it at the foot of Guishan Mountain where the Huai River flows into Hongze Lake. In the Tang Dynasty, a man named Li Tang served as the governor of Chuzhou. He heard that there was a big iron lock under Guishan Mountain. He wanted to find out what it was, so he ordered people to salvage it and used 50 cows to pull the iron lock out. At the end of the big lock, a monster shaped like an ape was locked, and it rushed ashore with the wind and waves. Wuzhiqi had been imprisoned in the water for thousands of years, and the depression was like a volcano erupting, and he rushed towards the crowd frantically. Fortunately, he did not break the chain. After a while, he sank to the bottom of the water with 50 cows. After hearing this story, Wu Chengen suddenly realized it, so he created a witty, brave and powerful "stone monkey" in his famous work "Journey to the West". However, there are still different academic views on the prototype of Sun Wukong. In addition to the local theory represented by Lu Xun, that is, Sun Wukong evolved from Wuzhiqi, the god of Huaiwo Water, there is also an imported theory represented by Hu Shi. Hu Shi found a monkey god Hanuman in the oldest Indian epic Ramayana, and believed that this was the earliest prototype of Sun Wukong. Mr. Ji Xianlin was the initiator of the "hybrid theory". In his "A Preliminary Study of Ramayana", he pointed out: "The image of Sun Wukong is basically borrowed from the Indian Ramayana, mixed with the legend of Wuzhiqi, and stained with some of Wuzhiqi's colors. This view is probably closer to the truth." In other words, the image of Sun Wukong is an artistic archetype that is influenced by multiple influences and is eclectic. The Origin of Flood Myths Flood myths and legends of flood control are common themes of ancient nations around the world. In order to survive and develop on a land with dense river networks, the ancestors of Huai'an had to fight tenaciously against various disasters such as floods, waterlogging, droughts, and tides, so myths about floods and conquering floods were inevitable. Dayu was the god of flood control and the most powerful, so he naturally became the "protagonist" who captured Wuzhiqi. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)