Volume 1 Fortunately, I met the immortal who first enlightened me, and then went to Xiangyan to seek the true Dharma. Chapter 37: The Six Laws of Shinto
"Although this Puming Mountain is not high, and its spiritual energy is far inferior to that of the immortal mountains and blessed lands, it is superior in that its aura is pure. Therefore, when I was arranging the Taoist temple, I focused on keeping the spiritual energy here pure. Do you have anything to add?"
After walking around the Taoist temple, Qian Zhiwen asked Miro for his opinion.
Miro did not have too high requirements for Puming Mountain's vitality and inspiration.
After all, no matter how rich the vitality and spiritual inspiration in the outside world are, they can never compare to his practice in Miaoyou Sect.
On the contrary, pure vitality and inspiration are more suitable for Miro to practice the "Yuhua Tianqing Qi Food Method".
Therefore, he thought for a while and said, "There is no problem with the overall layout, but who do you plan to choose for the sacrifice here? Also, where do you think it would be best to place the residual soul I brought back from the Great Illusionary Realm?"
Qian Zhiwen did not answer the question about the co-sacrifice, but directly discussed the matter of the residual soul with Mi Luo: "Speaking of residual souls, the two ghost messengers you brought back from the Great Illusion should also be able to accept incense offerings."
Miro thought for a while after hearing this and said, "I haven't tried it yet, so I can't be sure, but it should be possible."
"In that case, how about enshrining them in the empty seats on the left and right sides of the Demon Subduing Hall as a companion sacrifice to the Demon Subduing True Lord?"
Mi Luo frowned slightly when he heard this: "Although the main deity worshipped in the Demon Subduing Hall of Taoist temples has always been the True Lord of Subduing Demons, and the auxiliary gods are the guardian gods of various families. But these auxiliary gods have either been sealed by the people, or have received imperial edicts or decrees."
"And the two ghost messengers I got from the Great Illusionary Realm, although they have the ability to travel and guide people and to seduce souls, in theory they can protect all parts of Lu'an County at night and prevent evil spirits from causing trouble, and can be considered as guardian gods. But the two have neither imperial edicts nor jade seals, so it is better not to erect statues of them, but just enshrine spirit tablets in the corners of the mountain gate."
Qian Zhiwen smiled and said, "Your thoughts are sound, but don't worry too much. There are still a few vacancies for ninth-grade ghosts and gods in the county. You can exchange them with your merits. With your current family background, it is not difficult to exchange for two ninth-grade god positions."
"Sir, please don't frame me. Let's not talk about how much merit is required to be a ninth-rank god. I don't know if my two ghost messengers can maintain peace in this area. What's the point of asking for a god's position early? It will only embarrass me ten years later. It's better to worship the spirit tablet first. If it works in the future , it won't be too late to ask for the canonization."
Yun An heard this and laughed and scolded, "If it works, the people will worship it. At that time, the ghost messenger will have a jade seal, so why ask for a title?"
"Yun'an, what you said is not right. Although Yufeng's enthronement as a god is recognized by the six organs, it is not orthodox after all. If Shinto wants to go further, it still needs a formal enthronement." Miro smiled and refuted Yun'an's statement.
The edict, decree and jade seal that he mentioned successively were the ways of enthroning the three kinds of gods on the land of Hanxia.
In today's Hanxia, all important powers of heaven and earth have already been controlled, so Shinto monks are very rare.
The vast majority of gods are either immortal monks or are canonized by heroic spirits, and their status is somewhat similar to that of officials.
The levels of deity enthronement are divided into nine grades and eighteen levels from top to bottom, and there are generally six ways of enthronement: edict, imperial decree, decree, imperial edict, decree and jade.
Among them, imperial decree to confer a title means to make it known widely. It is the highest level of all methods of conferring a title on a god. It can only be called an imperial decree to confer a title on a god when the emperor is inspired by the heaven and earth and announces it to the world personally.
Once the canonization is successful, the corresponding deity must be a great god whose authority influences the entire land of Hanxia.
Secondly, the imperial edict carries a certain warning meaning. Apart from the imperial edict conferred by the emperor himself, only the official document of deification signed by the six officials can be called an imperial edict. For gods of the second or third rank, the scope of its influence will at least involve several states, and at most, for gods of the same rank, it will affect the entire land of Hanxia.
Secondly, "conferring" refers to enthronement based on the system, which is generally used to enthrone local gods in the state. It is mostly recommended by local officials and directly issued after assessment by the Spring Official, one of the Six Officials. The deity's position is mostly from sixth to fourth grade.
The subsequent imperial decree is also the most common way of conferring titles, with the most origins. It can be a spring official issuing a conferring document, or a local official offering a plaque, or some great gods conferring titles. The scope of influence ranges from one county to several prefectures, and the span of deity status is also the largest, ranging from the ninth rank to the fifth rank.
Several official documents of enthronement stored in Lu'an County are of the first-class type.
It should be noted that most of the canonized deities born from the six official systems are time-limited. For example, for minor gods like the ninth-rank deity, the time limit is mostly only ten years.
Ten years later, local officials will conduct an assessment and investigation based on the actions of the deity in charge of this throne during the ten years.
Then, rewards or punishments will be given based on the actual situation.
The last orthodox way of deifying gods is through decree. Most of them are deities that are conferred by the emperor when he is traveling. Some gods who enjoy the title of king or emperor can also be called deities through decree.
The scope of its influence is mostly limited to one county, and very few can affect an entire prefecture. Most of the gods are of the seventh, eighth, or ninth rank.
As for the jade seal under the imperial decree, strictly speaking, it is actually an obscene sacrifice, referring to the people of a certain area, who, because of respect and belief, have condensed the status of gods. For such gods, local officials usually conduct investigations. If there is no bad record, they generally do not intervene, but they will not give them a title either. They are regarded as extra-official ghosts and gods, not orthodox.
According to the existing records of gods in Hanxia, there is no god who has ascended to the seventh rank or above simply by relying on the jade seal.
Moreover, most of the gods sealed in jade will be held hostage by the power of incense and vows in the later period, and transformed into the image in the hearts of believers.
This is also the reason why Miro is not optimistic about Yufeng.
After all, the origins of the two ghost messengers, [Extrader] and [Soul Catcher], come from Miro's companion treasure. If they are really changed by the power of incense and vows, who knows what kind of mess will be caused.
Why would he take the risky approach when there was a safer way?
Qian Zhiwen, who didn't know the inside story, was very impressed by Mi Luo's words and nodded, saying, "Mi Luo is right. Shinto is the same as the Confucianism I learned. They are both the right way in the world. We just need to proceed step by step. Why seek help from those unorthodox ways? The Jade Sealing Method may seem like a shortcut, but if we want to seal the title again in the future, there will be many more procedures. In comparison, what we gain is far less than what we lose."
After saying that, Qian Zhiwen thought for a while, and then said, "However, if you place the two ghost messengers in the corner of the mountain gate as spirit tablets, it will be difficult to place those souls together with the ghost messengers. In the side halls, there should be a room dedicated to the Lord of Rescue and Deliverance as the main god, and the other two can be dedicated to the Immortal Hu Gong and Madam Yousi Linshui."
Upon hearing this, Miro nodded secretly. The Immortal Hu Gong and Madam Yousi Linshui are also two gods that are often worshipped in Taoist temples in the south.
The predecessors of both of them were Taoist monks. Among them, Hu Gong Xianweng was originally from Jingzhou. He was revered for helping people in many places and dispelling the plague.
Later, he was recommended by local officials, and the Spring Officials issued an official document to confer him a title, making him a local deity. He enjoyed incense and sacrifices, and was a fourth-rank deity. After years of spreading, his belief spread across the two southern states of Jing and Yang.
Madam Yousi Linshui died while saving others. She was recommended by local officials, and the Spring Officials issued an official document to confer the title on her, and she was enshrined in the divine way.
He was initially a sixth-rank deity, but because he protected a certain area, appeared miraculously from time to time, went in and out of delivery rooms, protected women, and safeguarded fetuses, he was widely loved by the people and was promoted several times. Now he is also a fourth-rank deity.
