Yan shi makes people: puppet artist performances
The story of King Zhou Mu's journey to the west to meet the Queen Mother of the West (Queen Mother's Mother) must have been heard by everyone for a long time. What this article wants to talk about is not the romance of King Zhou Mu and the Queen Mother of the West, but another magical story that happened on the way back of King Zhou Mu - Yan Shi created man.
After Bidding farewell to the Queen Mother of the West, King Mu embarked on the road home. Before reaching the border, a craftsman named Yan shi asked to see him, claiming to have extraordinary skills. King Mu then summoned him, "What skills do you have?" Yan Shi replied, "I am good at inventing and creating, and I am willing to serve the king." I have made something that I want to dedicate to the king to see. King Mu said, "Okay, you will bring something tomorrow to open everyone's eyes." ”
The next day, when Yanshi saw King Mu again, he brought a man with him. King Mu asked, "Who is it that came with you?" Yan Shi said, "It's a puppet singer I made." King Mu almost dropped his jaw in shock when he heard this. Next, Yan Shi asked the puppet artists to start performing. Only to see it move lightly and dance. One moment bowing your head and singing, the song is melodic; the next moment the hand is dancing, and the dance steps are to the beat. Its movements are ever-changing and arbitrary. King Mu thought it was a real person, so he summoned his concubines to watch it together.
Towards the end of the performance, the puppet artist actually blinked his eyes and teased the concubines around King Mu. King Mu was furious when he saw it, and on the spot he dragged Yan Shi down and cut him down. Yan Shi was so frightened that he was half dead, and immediately dismantled the puppet artist's body and showed it to King Mu. Unexpectedly, this puppet artist was actually made of leather, wood, rubber, paint, chalk, black charcoal, dansha, green cymbals and other materials. King Mu examined it again, only to see that it contained liver and gallbladder, heart and lungs, spleen and kidneys, and gastrointestinal tracts; on the outside were muscles and bones, limbs, fur, and teeth. Although they are all fakes, the human body is fully equipped.
After Yan shi reassembled these things, the puppeteer returned to its original state. When King Mu tried to remove its heart, the puppet's mouth could not speak; if the liver was removed, the puppet's eyes could not see; if the kidneys were removed, the puppet's feet could not walk. King Mu of Zhou was convinced and praised Master Yan's skills for reaching the pinnacle. This ingenious puppeteer was later brought back to the palace by King Mu.
Yan shi made man: dismantling puppet artists
The story of Yan shi's creation of man is from "Liezi Tang Qing". Liezi is one of the Taoist classics, which is said to have been written by Liezi. Liezi (c. 450 BC – 375 BC), courtesy name Lie, was a native of The State of Zheng (present-day Zhengzhou, Henan). Liezi was a famous thinker in the Warring States period and another representative figure of Taoist thought besides Laozi and Zhuangzi. The noble and imaginary school he founded had a profound influence on the philosophy of later generations. The "Taoist" section of the Hanshu Yiwenzhi records eight volumes of the Liezi, an early chronicle. The eight volumes of the present book "Liezi" are compiled by later generations based on ancient sources. The book contains a total of 134 folk tales, fables, myths and legends, etc., with a wide range of themes.
Interestingly, at the end of the story of Yanshi's creation, the author, in order to highlight Yanshi's superb skills, also blackened the two great inventors of the Spring and Autumn And Warring States period, Lu Ban and Mozi. The author writes: "Lu Ban, who invented the ladder, and Mozi, who made the wooden kite, both thought that they could represent the highest level of technology at that time. However, their students Dongmen Jia and Bird Slipper, after hearing about Yanshi's skills, told their teachers separately. After that, the two masters did not dare to talk about their skills for the rest of their lives, but obediently guarded their compass and ruler for carpentry. "I don't know if the two masters, Lu Ban and Mozi, will be angry and vomit blood."
In fact, according to the level of science and technology in the Warring States period, Yanshi is unlikely to produce such a delicate and realistic puppet artist. Therefore, the story of Yan Shi's creation of people can only be regarded as a science fiction novel written by Liezi. Science fiction is, of course, the author's bold imagination, but sometimes it can enlighten scientists. Robots similar to puppet artists have always been the direction of technological development. Unfortunately, the robot dreams of our ancestors thousands of years ago have been lost later. The creativity and foresight of the story of Yanshi's creation of man is in stark contrast to the ultra-conservative ideas of the late Qing Dynasty that regarded science and technology as "strange tricks and tricks" and scorned them.
Fortunately, we are now aware of the importance of science and technology. Robots that are more advanced than the puppet artists built by Yan shi have been widely used in various industries. To paraphrase a popular saying: the bulls that liezi, the representative of ancient Taoism, have bragged about are now realized. (Text/Xie Zhidong)
Puppets excavated from the tombs of the Western Han Dynasty