210 BC was the 37th year of the reign of Qin Shi Huang and the last year of his life. This year, Qin Shi Huang began a new parade. If the first four parades were to use the great military might of the Great Qin Empire to deter the descendants of the Six Kingdoms who were dissatisfied with the empire, then this time it was somewhat of a disaster avoidance. The reason for this is also very clear in the "Records of History", that is, Qin Shi Huang was frightened by two things sent by a mysterious person. Regarding these two things, Sima Qian recorded very clearly, that is, a piece of jade bi and a sentence. The former is the one where Qin Shi Huang crossed the river in danger on his second cruise in 219 BC and threw himself into the gods for peace. The latter has only five short words: "This year the ancestral dragon died." So, what exactly does "zulong" mean?
Pei Songzhi's son, the famous historian Pei Xiao, explained in the "Commentary on the Collection of Historical Records", "Ancestor, Shiye; Dragon, Human King' Statue." It is said that the first emperor also. The first emperor's literary accomplishment may not be as good as Pei Xiao's, but his understanding of the word Zulong is still in place. The "Records of History" records that after the First Emperor heard this sentence, he subconsciously explained this sentence, "The ancestor of the dragon, the first of the people." We know that Qin Shi Huang was a very superstitious monarch, and naturally did not dare to neglect to deal with such important matters involving his own life. Therefore, the First Emperor hurriedly found Taibu, who was proficient in Yi Li, to deduce whether this matter was true or false. Taibu often lived in the deep palace and had a precise grasp of the taboos of the First Emperor. Therefore, he did not reply directly, but ended the conversation between the two with a sentence of "You Migrating Ji". What about the First Emperor? In order to get rid of the disaster as soon as possible, he followed Taibu's instructions, passed through Lantian, crossed Wuguan, left Guanzhong, and once again set foot on the old land of the Six Kingdoms. However, to the surprise of the First Emperor, when he was about to return to Guanzhong, he accidentally fell ill and died in the dunes. What was even more unexpected was that less than three years after his death, his Great Qin Empire collapsed violently. In fact, there was one more thing that the First Emperor had not expected: his trip had to some extent promoted the civilization process of a neighboring country! This neighbor is Japan. Injecting fresh vitality into it was the famous former Qi fangshi Xu Fu. What he relied on was the huge manpower and material resources that Qin Shi Huang gave him to use for "immortal hunting". Then, what skill did Xu Fu, who was only an alchemist, rely on to win the trust of the experienced First Emperor? Speaking of which, this is also thanks to the fairy flavor of the Penglai area's "mirage".
To be honest, for the ancients with limited scientific knowledge, the mirage was indeed an elusive and strange thing. However, thanks to the popularity of science today, we already know that mirages are nothing more than optical phenomena of refraction and total reflection of light in air with uneven density distribution. Many people have come into contact with this similar natural phenomenon to a greater or lesser extent in their daily lives. For example, driving on the highway, sometimes you will see one or more horizontal light bands with changing chromaticity on the distant road, which is also an optical phenomenon similar to "sea market". So, compared with other areas in China that have reported on the sea market, why is the content of the sea market scene in the Penglai area that occurs at the turn of spring and summer extremely rich? In fact, this is determined by the unique geographical, climatic and hydrological conditions of the Penglai region.
First of all, Penglai is located in the southern cape of the Bohai Strait, and its north, east and west are across the sea from the Liaodong Peninsula, the Korean Peninsula and the Jijin Coast. In addition, the famous Changshan Islands straddling the middle of the strait provide The "sea market" of Penglai with various distances and types of reflections of distant, medium and near; secondly, the turn of spring and summer in Penglai is precisely the gap period when the influence of the cold air flow in Siberia has been weakened and the influence of the warm air flow in the Pacific Ocean has not yet arrived, and its sea surface air layer is relatively stable. This is also the premise of the formation of a "mirage" in the Penglai area; the last most important thing is the hydrological environment of Penglai. As we know, the Bohai Sea is the largest inland sea on the mainland, and its throat connecting with the Yellow Sea and the outer sea is the Bohai Strait. The coastal tides in this area form a tidal time (the time of the tide rise and fall) every half month. According to hydrological data, the astronomical day refers to the day when the moon is round, that is, the fifteenth day of the lunar month. On this day, when the sun goes down in the west, the moon rises just in the east) and the new day (astronomically refers to the day when the moon is not visible. Usually the first day of each lunar month. On this day the sun and the moon rise and set together) one or two days before and after the big tide. That is, when the tide "threatens", the surging currents in the strait will bring the low-temperature seawater from the bottom layer out of the water, so that the surface temperature of the seawater is much lower than the temperature of the sea surface air and the temperature difference is generated. As a result, the sea surface in the Penglai area has formed a relatively stable, regular, large temperature difference within the unit vertical distance and a horizontal distribution of air density, which is ready for the shining appearance of the "mirage". In fact, no matter what kind of mirage, it can only appear in weather conditions with no wind or very weak winds. When the winds together, causing the agitation and mixing of the upper and lower layers of air, the difference in the density of the upper and lower layers of air is reduced, and there is no abnormal refraction and total reflection of the light, then all the illusions disappear immediately. It is precisely for this reason that the emergence of Penglai Sea City is generally accompanied by several characteristics: moderate temperature, large tides, sunny or cloudless, north wind level one or two, and high visibility on the sea surface. It was precisely because of the high visibility of the sea that the First Emperor, who had traveled to Qidi three times, must have witnessed this inexplicable strange thing, which undoubtedly made him believe that Xu Fu's Penglai Immortal Island and the "Immortal Medicine" really existed. Therefore, even though Xu Fu searched for immortals for ten years and found nothing, the First Emperor still had great expectations for him. However, after ten years and nine deaths, Xu Fu finally understood the illusion of Penglai Immortal Island and the "Immortal Medicine". This also means that he deceived the First Emperor. What happens to a person in power who has the power to kill and kill? The pit of Confucianism 2 years ago has already given Xu Fu the answer. Therefore, when Xu Fu heard that the First Emperor had once again toured the east, he was ready to leave the area under the emperor's rule. So, how did Xu Fu cross the waves and obstacles and arrive in Japan?
Xu Fudongdu
According to the research of relevant scholars, Xu Fu's East Crossing Road is roughly divided into five sections: the first stage is Langya Port - Chengtou Mountain - Zhifu Port; the second stage: Zhifu Port - Penglai - Temple Islands - Laotieshan at the southern end of Liaodong; the third stage: Laotieshan - Yalu Estuary - The West Coast of the Korean Peninsula - The Southeast Coast of the Korean Peninsula, that is, the coast of Busan - Geoje Island; the fourth stage: the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula - Tsushima Island - ChongDao - Oshima - Kitakyushu Coast; the fifth stage: Kyushu Coast - Guanmen Strait - Seto Inland Sea - Osaka Bay - Wakayama, Kumano Beach. Analyzing the above route, given the advantages of fish and salt that the former State of Qi had deliberately developed since the zhongzhong era, it was not difficult for Xu Fu to find a group of experienced sailors who had visited the Korean Peninsula. Secondly, with the support of the First Emperor, Xu Fu's needs for navigation materials and personnel were also easy to solve. The only difficult thing to do is to recruit a group of escort troops who can fight in battle and obey orders even in extreme difficult situations. Private fundraising? They are not professionally trained, obviously not. The only thing that met the conditions was the army personally appointed by the First Emperor. Therefore, when the First Emperor received Xu Fu for the last time, Xu Funai deceived the First Emperor, saying that he had been seeking immortal medicine for several years and could not do it, all because there were big dragons in the sea. The First Emperor listened to Xu Fu's words, and not only personally went to the sea to participate in the shooting of jiaoyu, but also equipped Xu Fu with a group of experienced generals in order to find the immortals smoothly. As a result, Xu Fu got everything he needed for his voyage and never returned. What about Qin Shi Huang? Wait until the last moment of life, in the end, there is no waiting for the elixir. If it is said that the only useful thing that the First Emperor obtained from Xu Fu was the jiaoyu in the sea.
According to the "Historical Records", in order to ensure the illumination of the underground palace of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, the Qin people once made a candle with "mermaid paste" as the raw material. This material will not be extinguished for a long time. This is resistant to burning, which is obviously not something that ordinary candles can do. As mentioned above, the "Records of History" records that the First Emperor was deceived by Xu Fu and ordered people to enter the sea and shoot the jiaoyu with crossbows. Some scholars speculate that this kind of dragon fish should be a whale. Because candles made of whale brain oil have the characteristics of low fuel consumption, low ignition point and not easy to extinguish. Moreover, according to scientists, the burning period of one cubic meter of whale brain oil can reach five thousand days. In this way, if the "changming lamp" in the imperial tomb is in line with the record of "the immortal for a long time" in the "History", whale fat cream should be the best choice for that era. However, judging from the fact that the "Changming Lantern" in the Ming Ding Tomb Underground Palace recorded by archaeologists was extinguished when it was unearthed, if the air is cut off, the "mermaid paste" in the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang should be very difficult to achieve "the degree of immortality for a long time". In other words, the "changming lamp" in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang may have been extinguished for centuries.
References: "History", "Xu Fu Studies"