When it comes to ancient strange books, many people's first reaction is the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", which can indeed be regarded as a strange book, and the content of which seems to be a myth today. Since there is no specific author and the date of writing, it is also regarded as the oldest and most mysterious strange book in ancient China.
In the same way, the "Pushing Back Map" written by two Taoist monks during the Tang Dynasty, Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang, can also be regarded as a strange book in ancient China. It accurately predicted the development process of Chinese history and several important historical events. It not only predicted the fall of the feudal era, but also predicted the emergence of capitalism, and it also implied that China would eventually move towards a great contemporary.
In addition to these strange books that exist in the main history, there are also some strange books recorded in the wild history. For example, the "Testament of Wu Mu", it is said that this is the secret book of martial arts left by Yue Fei, a famous anti-Jin general in the Song Dynasty, and the martial arts. In Jin Yong's "Legend of the Archery Hero", in order to compete for this "Wumu Testament" and obtain the mystery of Yue Fei's art of war, the prince of the Jin Kingdom actually led a heavy army to invade the Central Plains. And in the Book of the Dragon Slayer in the Heavens, this strange book was hidden by Guo Jing and Huang Rong in the body of the dragon slaying knife.
It can be seen that these strange books can sometimes even change the fortunes of the country and play a pivotal role. Therefore, it has also become a coveted target of many forces. In modern China, there is such a strange book, and the Qing government does not understand the huge role of it. Let Japan get the collection of books and steal the past. This eventually led to the vigorous rise of modern Japan and the rapid decline of the Qing government. What kind of a strange book is it?
This strange book is the "Chart of the Sea Country" compiled by Wei Yuan. In 1840, after the outbreak of the First Opium War, the Qing government signed the Treaty of Nanking, which humiliated the country. Patriotic scholar Wei Yuan was heartbroken when he saw it, and at the same time, he also reflected on the superiority of Western science and technology. Therefore, wei Yuan compiled the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" based on his observations and observations on the front line of Dinghai and combined with the Western books at that time.
As for Wei Yuan's purpose in compiling the Chart of the Sea Kingdom, it was already explained in the preface, which was nothing more than "mastering the art of mastering the art to control the yi". It was to learn from Western science and technology, and in turn to counterbalance Western aggression, which was quite far-sighted at that time.
In the following years, Wei Yuan expanded the Atlas of the Sea Kingdom from 50 volumes to 500 volumes, in which he recorded the geographical location, historical development, political system, and level of development of science and technology in various countries around the world. Even more remarkable is that he also elaborated on the separation of powers in the United States, the federal, parliamentary, and electoral systems. It can be said to be an encyclopedia of the modern world situation and the scientific revolution. And Wei Yuan is also worthy of being "the first person in modern China to open his eyes to the world".
However, the status of this book at that time must have been guessed by all readers. Only a few upper-class magnates had seen it, and even the emperor didn't bother to read it. Wei Yuan had printed several thousand copies for the first time, and only sold one three years later, after all, everything he described in it was something that the feudal ruling class of the Qing Dynasty did not want to see or be interested in.
By chance, a cargo ship carrying Wei Yuan's "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" was seized by the Japanese, and this strange book fell into the hands of the Japanese. They were shocked to see it, and their worldview was completely shattered and knocked open, which greatly broadened the horizons of the Japanese people and changed their understanding of the world over the years. In particular, the ruling class of Japan loved the book even more, and when Emperor Meiji saw it, he had the idea of reforming it.
The success of Japan's Meiji Restoration was inseparable from the joint efforts of the whole people from top to bottom. At that time, the "Atlas of the Sea Country" was basically a book for everyone in the Japanese, and according to the memories of some of the soldiers studying in Japan in the Beiyang Marine Division, their Japanese classmates at that time, even when they were eating, were reading the "Atlas of the Sea Country".
In contrast, the Qing Dynasty's Penghu Reform Law and Good Foreign Affairs Movement, although it was a kind of reform of a nature with the Meiji Restoration. But it was all movements that took place at the top, and only those powerful people had the opportunity to come into contact with Western ideas. Because the "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom" has not been effectively disseminated in our country and the people's wisdom has not been opened, these law-changing movements have never been echoed by the lower-class people, which is equivalent to a castle in the air, and failure is inevitable.
When the Sino-Japanese War broke out, Japan, which had been a vassal state of our country for many years, gave the Qing government a head-on blow. Perhaps the rulers of the Qing Dynasty finally understood the importance of the strange book "Chart of the Sea Kingdom".