Chapter 825: Decameron

Among the cultural relics prohibited from leaving the country in China is a bronze money tree.

There are nine sun god birds on the money tree. The branches and vines of this bronze god tree are very similar to the branches of the god tree hibiscus in the T-shaped silk painting of Namawangdui Han Dynasty.

According to legend, there used to be ten suns in the sky, and there was a big tree called Fusang in the sea. 10 suns sleep under the branches, and they run out in turn to perform duties in the sky and shine on the earth. When one sun is on duty, the other nine sun birds rest on the branches. The nine sun birds on the money tree and the That sun in the sky makes up 10 suns.

The connection between the sky and the earth is the sacred tree, and the gods in the sky communicate with the mortals on the ground through this sky-reaching building tree as a bridge, but sometimes the sun gods and birds come out together and bring disasters to human beings. In order to save mankind, Hou Yi drew his bow and arrows and shot at the nine suns. I saw bursting fireballs in the sky, and three-legged crows fell down. In the end there was only one sun left in the sky.

In the past, when there were other divine birds, they could take turns to rest. There was only one sun left, and it had to be on duty every day, and a hardworking horse would be exhausted. Sometimes the sun divine bird was too tired and needed to rest. As soon as it rests, the earth begins to turn cold, and people will suffer from another disaster. At this time, people expect the sun to come out again.

In Mayan culture, the sun needs human blood and human heart to obtain nourishment materials to rise and fall. Human sacrifice is a cruel and barbaric act, but it is considered by many people to be an "effective" sacrifice method, the sacrifice of human sacrifice Usually infants and virgins, the Mayans would also use prisoners of war for these wonderful things. The system of human sacrifice was prevalent in the Manchus. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Shunzhi Dynasty followed the old system. When Dong E, the favorite concubine of the Shunzhi Emperor, died, 30 eunuchs and maids were buried as a sacrifice so that they could serve her underground. The Han nationality and Han officials opposed the cruel and backward human sacrifice system of the Manchus. The missionary Tang Ruowang also advised Emperor Shunzhi not to let so many people die for the Dong E family, but it was not until Emperor Kangxi that he formally issued an edict prohibiting people from martyrdom, and replaced it with haircuts.

As early as the Qin Dynasty, the Chinese nation prohibited martyrdom, but in some places the bad habit of marrying Hebo still existed. In the Alps, there were also "witch trials" organized by the villagers themselves without trial.

Burning does not necessarily burn the living. The purpose of burning is to burn the corpse, prevent the "wizard" from resurrecting, and cut off their connection with the ancestors and the devil. Later, it turned into a weird group carnival, Joan of Arc's The death was particularly tragic. The French king first used her to lead the people to defeat England. Later, he was afraid that she would have too much prestige among the people, so he betrayed her to the British. Her reputation was greater than the theocratic and imperial power at that time. The Inquisition sentenced her to the stake for heresy and witchcraft.

The general fire torture ended quickly, and the victim was either burned to death or choked to death, but the process of burning Joan to death was extremely long.

800 British soldiers separated the crowd from the burning platform. Under the gaze of more than 10,000 people, the girl who was condemned as a witch and a heretic was immediately engulfed in flames; many onlookers heard her shout out the words of Jesus. Names, and the names of the saints who inspired her to lead the rebels that drove the British from France.

After the executioner showed the charred body of the girl of Orléans to the crowd, the fire was lit again, and the body was burned to a heap of ashes, which was then thrown into the Seine River. Joan's heart and intestines remained intact, and they were not burned. I don't know if it was because the British controlled the fire well, or because she had a good heart. It was precisely because of this that after a short period of time, some people said The flames did not hurt Joan. She is still alive.

Joan's two brothers, knowing that the French were happy to believe that the heroine was still alive, saw that they could profit from it, and decided to set up a deception. The two brothers had already enjoyed a good life because of Joan's fame. That is, five years after Joan's death, the two exaggerated the rumor that Joan was still in the world, and as a result, the rumor continued to circulate for hundreds of years. The two brothers suddenly appeared in the streets of Orleans, accompanied by a young woman in armor riding a horse. They said that the woman was Joan of Arc, who was replaced by another woman at the last moment before being burned. In fact, the woman in armor is a female liar named Anmes. Before she pretended to be Joan of Arc, she served in the Italian Pope's army and had a military experience. At that time, her mighty appearance and skilled equestrian skills , so much loved by the crowd that those who saw her believed without a second thought that Joan was still alive.

The citizens of Orleans completely believed what the two brothers of Joan of Arc said, and even abolished the commemoration ceremony held for her since the death of Joan of Arc. . Feast on wine and be respected.

Four years later, their deception was finally exposed, and the fake Joan of Arc popping up everywhere successfully attracted the attention of two people. The first was Archbishop Pierre who tried Joan of Arc, and The other person is King Charles VII of France, and Archbishop Pierre personally captured the fake Joan of Arc everywhere in France and stuffed them all into the Paris Inquisition for trial.

Cities ruled by secular kings, such as Paris and Vienna, seldom burn to death. Even the death penalty is hanged and beheaded. All these counterfeit people have been punished. Use their whole life to serve God and wash away their sins.

During the plague in Florence, Italy in 1348, 10 men and women took refuge in a villa in the countryside. Three of the seven ladies were their lovers, and the others were related to them. They decided to take their servants and leave Florence, a terrible city that was dying.

The environment there is quiet and pleasant, surrounded by verdant trees, winding corridors, exquisite murals, clear springs, pleasing flowers and plants, and rich-smelling wine hidden in the cellar. These 10 young people either sang and played the piano every day, or danced and walked. In the hot summer, they sat under the shade of the green grass, and they agreed that each of them would tell a good and beautiful story every day, so as to happily pass the most difficult time of the day.

The Decameron written by Giovanni Boccaccio criticized the Catholic Church, ridiculed the church for teaching darkness and evil, praised love as the source of talent and noble sentiments, condemned asceticism, ruthlessly exposed and castigated the depravity and corruption of the feudal aristocracy, If this was placed during the literary inquisition of the Qing Dynasty, just because "Qingfeng couldn't read, why did he flip through books randomly" would definitely end up copying and beheading.

But Giovanni Boccaccio was fine, he was still teaching at the University of Florence, and his contemporary, Tecco Dascoli, was burned by the Inquisition simply because he argued that the Earth is spherical and In another hemisphere inhabited by the same human beings.

Is the earth a round shape that influences the nobles to continue their depraved and corrupt lives?

Bruno used to be a trainee monk in the Dominican Monastery. He was accused of heresy and excommunicated because of doubts about certain Catholic doctrines.

In denouncing the evils of the Catholic Church, the Inquisition is always cited as a prominent example. Even those with little interest in European history know well that the Inquisition was an institution dominated by fanatical and brutal priests who tortured, mutilated and killed those who Compared with Gaccio's scolding, Ceko Dascoli and Bruno just said that the earth is round and the earth revolves around the sun. Which one is more provocative to the authority of the church?

In 1998, the Vatican opened the archives kept by the Ministry of the Holy Order to 30 scholars from all over the world. The scholars eventually wrote an 800-page report and held a press conference in Rome to make it public. Their conclusion: Many of those sent to the Spanish Inquisition received fair trials, torture was uncommon, and only about 1% of them were executed.

During the North American colonial period, there were not as many religious trials in the Spanish colonies as Protestants. The Salem Witch Trials took place in the Protestant territory. In the Roman Empire's "Justinian Code", religious heresy was a A capital offense because it challenged the emperor's authority.

In various territories, people accused of heresy will be tried by the local lords. Whether it is the emperor or the local lords, it is very difficult to judge theologically whether the "accused" is heresy. Countless people were executed by the secular rulers without a fair trial or any chance of appeal. According to the secular law at that time, heretics betrayed God and the king, and death was not a pity; but in the eyes of the religious world, heretics were just stray sheep. It is the bishop's duty to bring them back on the right path according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, the secular leaders of the Middle Ages were striving to defend their kingdoms, and the Church was striving to save souls.

There is no suspicion of witchcraft among nomadic peoples, but wizards are worshiped, whether they are gypsy witches or Mongolian shamans.

In hard times, when there were no villages, where each person could not easily pass on his disappointment to his neighbors, where distance produced beauty, and the settled peasants were bound to the land, they had to survive with their fellow men, and there were plenty of reasons for conflict, For example, your sheep ate my wheat seedlings, and my trees blocked the light from your house, and they didn’t have a channel to release their intense emotions such as hatred, jealousy, or jealousy. The behavior of “informing” the Inquisition can be revenge, It can also vent hatred, even if it is slander, so what?

The Inquisition actually provided a way for heretics to escape the death penalty and return to society. They might have become victims of secular lords or mob rule. There was an Italian woman who was acquitted by the Inquisition. The mob stoned them to death. But once those trial judges determined that a certain "lamb's stray" was intentional, the Inquisition had "no choice" but to excommunicate the impenitent and unrepentant heretic, or submit it to secular rule are processed. Still, in aggregate, the Inquisition saved many innocent and even not-so-innocent people.

"Eliminate the Inquisition and liberate the Spanish people", this is Napoleon's slogan for promoting the Great Revolution. However, the crimes committed by the Revolutionary Court in Spain far surpassed that of the Spanish Inquisition. He brought the French Revolution's reign of terror to Spain up.

Conan Doyle wanted to end Sherlock Holmes for a while before writing Sherlock Holmes and his old enemy-Professor Moriarty duel in the waterfall. He could write the historical novel he wanted to write after Holmes "death", but even a bestseller like him Writer, historical novels are still unread, and eventually he has to continue to use the cash cow of Sherlock Holmes to make money.

One of the problems with standard exorcism procedures is determining whether someone is "possessed," which can easily lead to a wizard interrogation. Although "inspiration" is not always associated with possession, "possession" can sometimes make people lose Self-control is about the same as going crazy.

At the same time, there will be a steady stream of inspiration, such as Joan's brothers, who have made a lot of money by relying on Joan's cash cow.

Conan Doyle, who was short of money, did not really "resurrect" Sherlock Holmes. The Hound of Baskerville happened before the last case. For three hundred years, Baskerville has been circulating the mystery of "the big devil-like hound". Legend has it that the story changed from the style dominated by Sherlock Holmes before, and turned the protagonist into a big dog hiding in the mist and doing evil. This book is as popular as other Sherlock Holmes novels.

The reason why superstition is difficult to eradicate may be because it has been passed down from generation to generation. Westerners believe in vampires, and Easterners believe in zombies wearing Qing Dynasty official robes. Making these movies can sell money and "resurrect" Joan of Arc. It is a truth that you can make money. As for whether what it spreads is right or wrong, no one cares.

Normal people regard these as stories, and those who look for reality in illusion are sick, but there are people who take the things in the stories seriously, otherwise, where did the cult come from.

As the saying goes, a good beginning is half the battle, but there are many things that start with a good intention and end in dismal ending.

With the enjoyment at hand, who will listen to the call of the void on the other side.

The angel is dead, but the devil is having a carnival. In 1924, the Japanese writer Sokaze Muramatsu published his experience book "Magic City" based on his experience inside and outside the Shanghai Concession. This is also the first time the word "Magic City" appeared in history.

In fact, not only Shanghai, but cities like New York, San Francisco, London, etc. are magic cities. There is a kind of elusive chaos in these places, blurred, contradictory and ever-changing. You have no idea that the person passing you by is an angel. Or the devil.

These psychedelic chaotic cities have a common feature, that is, they are nicknamed "the city that never sleeps". Artificial lights replace the sun and provide illumination for the night. People in the city revel in the upside-down schedule, and sleep seems to be a delay in their enjoyment.

And night happens to be the time when the "monster" comes out to hunt.

Not necessarily werewolves and vampires, but serial killers, the Hound of the Baskervilles, like Jack the Ripper, who appears and disappears in the mist.

More than 100 years later, people are still fascinated by the Ripper who made the horrific murder, but turned a deaf ear to the five prostitutes who died in his hands. They were sacrificed to the devil like human sacrifices.

Demon worship is not cool at all, but neo-gothic young people are addicted to this dark belief, like a vortex, once they are caught in it, it is difficult to extricate themselves.

Pomona looked at the small palace not far away. There were layers of spiral staircases outside it, like a small house on the back of a snail.

She looked at it bathed in sunlight, and inexplicably remembered that mysterious night of the full moon, Hermione Granger used the time-turner to go back to the past, and let Harry save the West that was brought back from Azkaban. Riss Black, did she change the past, or did she follow the arrangement of fate?

The staircase always has an end, but the Penrose staircase is an endless loop. It is logically impossible to actually construct it in three-dimensional space, but the viewer will still have an illusion when seeing the image displayed on the two-dimensional flat screen.

For ants in the two-dimensional world, people living in the three-dimensional world with a magnifying glass are like gods, so are people trapped in the two-dimensional world downgraded from "gods" to being like ants?

She heard whispers in her ears, like angels whispering, devils slandering, or snakes hissing, tempting her to pick the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden .

Has anyone unraveled the previous plus superstition?

Corte Contarina, del Bovolo, House of Snails

The key is SLUG

The Caesar cipher was actually not created by Caesar, but the Egyptians. They have used substitution and shift ciphers for 4,000 years. Maybe Cleopatra taught him. Of course, this is my guess. Suppose, after all, I am the writer of romance novels, and set a lofty ambition, date!