泰逢

The Classic of Central Mountains: twenty li east is Mount He. No grass, no trees, but much precious stone. This is truly the nine-fold confluence of the River. The mountain bends five times; nine waters issue from it and join to flow north into the Yellow River, and in them is much grey jade. The auspicious god Taifeng governs it: human form with a tiger's tail. He likes to dwell on the sunny slope of Mount Fu, and he comes and goes in light. Taifeng stirs the breath of heaven and earth. Geography first. Mount He is "the nine-fold confluence of the River." Nine waters meeting. The mountain bends five times; nine streams come out of it, gather, and run north into the Yellow River. This is a river mouth. More precisely, a hydrological junction. Putting a god at such a place is standard Shanhaijing practice. But Taifeng carries two extra characters in front: auspicious god. That phrase occurs a handful of times in the entire book. Most gods are introduced neutrally — "the god's form is thus" — or ominously, with "when it appears." Taifeng is one of the very few explicitly labelled auspicious. Then the form: human, with a tiger's tail. The tail is the interesting detail. Not a tiger's head, not tiger claws — a tail. A tail behind a human figure is visually almost harmless; it reads as an accessory, a belt. The divinity keeps a trace of the animal, and the animal is compressed to its minimum. Then: he comes and goes in light. A god who glows is, in ancient records, usually attached to one of two things: lightning, or fire. "Taifeng stirs the breath of heaven and earth." That closing line is the key. What is the breath of heaven and earth? Wind, cloud, thunder, rain — everything that moves in the atmosphere. So Taifeng is a weather god, and his portfolio is specific: he governs motion, not precipitation. Compare Jimeng, who roams the Zhang deeps and brings wild wind and driving rain wherever he goes. Jimeng delivers rain — actual water. Taifeng starts the air. He is the step before the rain. Wind rises, cloud gathers, the breath of the world begins to move; only then does water fall. That separates the two cleanly. Taifeng is the switch. Jimeng is the tap. Mount He sits beside the Yellow River where nine streams converge. What does that mean meteorologically? It means a corridor for moisture. Nine valleys carry damp air out of the hills into the river basin; warm and cold air meet there; and such places generate wind, fog, and thunder more readily than flat ground. "Five bends" — five turns. A winding valley is a wind tunnel. Air accelerating around a bend makes noise and sheds vortices at the corners. The ancients stood on Mount He and saw: nine waters emerging, a mountain folded five times, wind running through the folds, cloud turning on the summit. Then they said: there is a god here, and when the god moves, the breath of heaven and earth moves. That account is more precise than the word "god" by itself. His cult is not minor either: one ram, with auspicious jade, ranked alongside Xunchi and Wuluo. Xunchi "constantly produces fine jade"; Wuluo is the god of Mount Qingyao, "human-faced with leopard markings, narrow-waisted, white-toothed." Three gods, three nodes in one valley. One river, nine streams, three gods. The configuration is a complete hydrological and meteorological system, translated into the language of myth.

เขาฮัว "คือจุดรวมเก้าสายของแม่น้ำ" ภูเขาหักห้าทาง เก้าสายน้ำไหลรวมกันลงเหนือสู่แม่น้ำเหลือง เทพไท่เฟิงดูแลที่นี่ ร่างคน หางเสือ "ไปมามีแสง" และ "เขย่าลมฟ้าอากาศ" ดังนั้นเขาจึงเป็นเทพอากาศ แต่คุม "การเคลื่อน" ไม่ใช่ "การตก" — ต่างจากจี้เหมิงที่ทำให้ฝนตกตรง ๆ ไท่เฟิงคือสวิตช์ จี้เหมิงคือก๊อกน้ำ หุบเขาโค้งห้าทางคือรางลม เก้าสายน้ำคือทางความชื้น นี่คือระบบอุตุนิยมวิทยาแปลงเป็นภาษาเทพ

Gunung He "pertemuan sembilan cabang Sungai". Gunung berbelit lima kali, sembilan anak sungai berkumpul lalu mengalir ke utara ke Sungai Kuning. Dewa Taifeng menjaganya. Tubuh manusia, ekor harimau. "Datang dan pergi dalam cahaya," dan "menggerakkan nafas langit dan bumi." Jadi dia dewa cuaca — tetapi mengurus "gerakan", bukan "hujan". Berbeza dengan Jimeng yang terus membawa hujan. Taifeng suis, Jimeng paip. Lembah berbelit lima kali jadi terowong angin; sembilan anak sungai jadi lorong lembap. Itu sistem meteorologi yang diterjemah jadi bahasa dewa.

Núi Hòa "là nơi hội tụ chín nhánh sông". Núi uốn năm khúc, chín dòng nước tụ lại rồi chảy bắc vào Hoàng Hà. Thần Thái Phùng trấn giữ. Mình người, đuôi hổ. "Đi lại có ánh sáng," và "làm chuyển động khí trời đất." Vậy ngài là thần khí tượng — nhưng coi "cái động", không coi "cái rơi". Khác Kế Mông, người trực tiếp mang mưa. Thái Phùng là công tắc, Kế Mông là vòi nước. Thung lũng uốn năm khúc là đường hầm gió; chín dòng nước là hành lang ẩm. Đó là hệ khí tượng học dịch sang ngôn ngữ thần linh.

Gunung He "pertemuan sembilan cabang Sungai". Gunung berbelit lima kali, sembilan anak sungai berkumpul lalu mengalir ke utara ke Sungai Kuning. Dewa Taifeng menjaganya. Tubuh manusia, ekor harimau. "Datang dan pergi dalam cahaya," dan "menggerakkan napas langit dan bumi." Jadi dia dewa cuaca — tetapi mengurus "gerakan", bukan "hujan". Berbeda dengan Jimeng yang langsung membawa hujan. Taifeng sakelar, Jimeng keran. Lembah berbelit lima kali jadi terowong angin; sembilan anak sungai jadi lorong lembap. Itu sistem meteorologi yang diterjemahkan ke bahasa dewa.