The number is as numerous as the sands of
the Ganges.(恆河沙數)
During the Qing dynasty in China, there was
a famous minister and scholar named Ji Yun. He wrote a book in which he
recorded true stories that he had either heard or witnessed. One of these
stories is summarised below:
In ancient China, people believed that five
deities governed and protected each family. One deity resided in the main hall,
protecting all the land owned by the family. Another guarded the main gate,
another the windows, a fourth the well in the courtyard and a fifth the stove
in the kitchen.
The ancient Chinese regularly worshipped
these five deities, believing that doing so would ensure peace and prosperity
for each family. However, nowadays, most people no longer worship the other four
deities, except for the stove deity.
One day, while I was watching my family
worship the stove deity, I had a thought.
How many stove deities govern the hearth in
all of China?
If there were only one such stove deity,
the king would preside over and hold an annual ceremony to worship it, just as
he did with the fire deity.
Alternatively, if each city in China had
its own stove deity, each deity would have a dedicated temple in that city.
Eliminating these two possibilities leaves
only one remaining:
Each household in China has its own deity
governing the stove.
.
How many households are there in China? I
imagine the number is as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Are there as many
stove deities as there are grains of sand in the Ganges?
We Chinese people believe that, besides the
world we perceive, there are two others. One is inhabited by the dead and is
called the underworld. The other is inhabited by those who have achieved
immortality and is called the celestial realm.
These three worlds exist independently, but
they are sometimes connected. They have similar operating rules, and each has a
central government that rewards or punishes its people for good or evil deeds.
Is there a department in the celestial
realm responsible for appointing, arranging and dispatching the vast number of
deities who manage stoves? What happens to the stove deities who originally
resided in a house when someone moves and it becomes empty? What happens if a
family splits into several new families after their children grow up? Where are
the new stove-managing deities found to fill the gaps?
Is there a huge team and a sophisticated
management system behind the management of these numerous deities?
The questions swirling in my mind remain
unanswered, leaving me deeply perplexed.
You might say that the stove-managing
deities are pure superstition and that they don't exist, rendering my questions
irrelevant.
However, I often hear and even witness
stories related to these deities.
For example, when I was a teenager, a
female cook at my maternal grandfather's house once burned rubbish in the
stove. That night, she had a strange dream in which a man dressed in black
slapped her. She woke up startled.
The next morning, she found her face was
swollen. Over the next few days, the swelling worsened rather than subsiding.
She consulted several traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, but to no
avail. Realising she might have offended the deity in charge of the stove in
her household, she sincerely apologised and promised never to burn rubbish in
the stove again. Only then did the swelling begin to subside.
I witnessed this firsthand, and it left a
deep impression on me. Even now, I still can't explain it scientifically.
The idiom 'as numerous as the sands of the
Ganges' translates literally as 'the quantity is as many as the sands of the
Ganges'.
It is used to describe something that is so
numerous that it is impossible to count.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story? Have you ever given much thought to the social
customs around you? Have you ever encountered things that science cannot
explain?
I
hope this story will provide you with some new insights.
恆河沙數(The number is as numerous as the
sands of the Ganges.)
中國的清王朝有一個著名的大臣，他也是一個非常著名的學者，他的名字叫做紀昀，他寫過一本書，他在這本書中記錄下他所聽見或看見的一些真實發生的故事，其中一個故事的大意如下。
古代中國的百姓們認為掌管與保衛一個家庭的神明總共有五位，其中一位神明居住在大廳間，這個家庭中的每一塊土地都受到祂的保護。另外有一位神明專門負責看守大門，另外一位神明負責看守窗戶，第四個神明負責看守院子中的井，最後一位神明住負責看守廚房中的灶。
古代的中國人們會定期地祭拜這些五位神明，祂們認為這樣就可以保持每個家庭的平安與富有，但到了我們這個時代，除了看守灶的神明之外，其他四個大部分的百姓們已經不再祭祀了。
有一天，我看到家人在祭拜灶的神明的時候，我的心中突然產生了一個疑問。
全中國的管理灶的神明總共有幾位呢?
假設全中國只有一個管理灶的神明，那麼這個祭祀灶的神明的典禮應該就像祭祀火的神明的典禮一樣由國王每年主持與舉辦。
如果全中國中的每個城市各有一個管理灶的神明，那麼這些神明應該在這座城市中有一個專門的祭祀的神廟。
扣除這兩種可能性，那就只剩下一種可能了。
全中國的每個家庭裡都駐守著一個管理灶的神明。
全中國到底有多少家庭呢?我想那個數量就像恆河的沙一樣的多，那麼全中國的管理灶的神明的數量也就像是恆河的沙一樣多嗎?
我們中國人相信除了我們感知到的世界之外，還有兩個世界，其中一個世界中住著那些已經死去的人，這個世界叫做陰間。另外一個世界中住著那些達到長生不老的境界的人，這個世界叫做天界。
這三個世界互不干擾但有時候會相連接，這三個世界中的運作規則很類似，三個世界中都有中央政府在管理並且針對其人民的善與惡進行獎勵與懲罰。
那麼天界中是否有一個部門關門負責任命、安排和調度這些數量龐大的管理灶的神明呢?
萬一有人因為搬家所以原本的房子變成空屋，那麼原本駐守在這間房子中的灶的神明要怎麼安置呢?
倘若有一個家庭因為孩子成年後另外組織了好幾個新的家庭，那麼要去哪裡找到幾個新的管理灶的神明來遞補呢?
管理這批數量如此龐大的管理灶的神明，背後是否有著一個很巨大的團隊與很精細化的管理方式呢?
針對這些湧出我的腦袋中的疑問，我得不到解答，我覺得非常的疑惑。
你可能會說，管理灶的神明這件事情根本就是迷信，這個神明並不存在，所以你思考的這些問題也根本不存在。
但是我又常常聽到與親眼看到一些這些管理灶的神明的相關的故事。
例如我還是青少年的時候，我的外公家的一個女廚師、她有一次把垃圾放進灶中燒，結果當天晚上她作了一個奇怪的夢，她夢到有一個穿著黑色衣服的男人打了她一巴掌，她受到驚嚇所以從夢中驚醒。
第二天早上，這個女廚師看到自己的臉上腫起來，接下來幾天，那個女廚師的臉上的紅腫沒有消失反而愈來愈嚴重，看了好幾次中醫仍都沒有辦法治癒，她覺察到自己可能得罪了家中管理灶的神明，所以她誠心地跟家中的管理灶的神明道歉並且承諾永遠不會再把垃圾放入灶中燒，她的臉上的紅腫才開始慢慢地消退。
這是我親眼所見的，我對這件事情有很深刻的印象，直到現在我仍然無法用科學的角度去解釋這縣事情。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思數量就像恆河的沙一樣的多。
這句成語被用來形容一種東西的數量多到數不清楚的地步。
。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢
你是否用心思考過你周圍所發生的那些社會風俗呢?你是否遇過那些科學無法解釋的事情呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為清-紀昀-閱微草堂筆記-卷13
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E9%96%B1%E5%BE%AE%E8%8D%89%E5%A0%82%E7%AD%86%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B713