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Speaking of ancient Chinese myths and stories, it must be inseparable from the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
But if you only look at it as a myth, you really underestimate the power of this book.
Since entering the modern society, people have often found some incredible coincidences in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
For example, the story of the "headless man" written by the father of Western history is exactly the same as the record in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
What's going on here?
The story of Herodotus
As the "father of history" in the West, Herodotus, who lived in ancient Greece, once wrote such a story in his book "History".
The eastern edge of ancient Libya was a densely forested area with abundant marine resources.
This privileged environment is inhabited by a group of "headless" and donkey-headed creatures.
Herodotus
This story really aroused the curiosity of future generations, after all, looking at the entire history of animal evolution, it has not been possible to find the existence of "headless" people and donkey-headed people.
And in people's minds, Herodotus is a typical person who believes in historical truth, which means that as long as he writes something, it must have really existed.
For this reason, Westerners have been constantly searching for this clue.
Finally, five hundred years later, a Roman geographer named Pombo discovered more definitive evidence.
He described this group of "headless" people living in Africa, and they are not headless, but the "head" is sunk deep in the chest, which is why people think that they are "headless".
Immediately afterward, Pang Bo also referred to this group of people as "flawed" people.
And the research on "flawed" people does not end there.
Herodotus
In 1377, Pliny, a Western scientist who wrote the Natural History, wrote that in North Africa, probably in Ethiopia, a tribe called Blemmia, the existence of "blemishes" people was discovered.
Pliny also refuted Pombo's assertion that "blemish" people don't have their heads buried in their chests, but they really don't have heads, and their heads are their own chests.
More importantly, Pliny also brought back a map of the world containing portraits of the "blemishes" and marked the location of the "blemishes", which was exhibited at Hereford Cathedral in England.
At this point, the Western world is almost convinced of the existence of "flawed" people.
Now that the "flawed" people have been confirmed, it is time to let go and find this group of "flawed" people to find out.
Thus, the Western world embarked on the road of expeditions.
In 1436 A.D., a sailor named Bianco drew a map of the world based on his own sailing experience.
Interestingly, on this map, he marked the location of the "blemish" people in India, not Africa.
Could it be that "blemish" people are not only found in Africa?
In order to solve this mystery, a Thai explorer named Guillaume decided to make a personal visit.
So, he got a big ship and took a group of people around the Atlantic Ocean to start the adventure.
At the end of the adventure, Guillaume followed the example of his predecessors and drew a map of the "blemish" people in the places he passed.
However, the location he marked was more confusing: north of the Himalayas.
All in all, people have set off a craze around "flawed" people.
However, what is even more surprising is that these descriptions have been recorded as early as the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
The Classic of Mountains and Seas
Speaking of the "headless" people in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", everyone's first reaction may be Xingtian.
Everyone must have heard the story of Xingtian: in the process of fighting with the Yellow Emperor for the right to rule, he unfortunately failed, and the price of failure was to be beheaded.
However, Xingtian, who was beheaded, did not fall down because of this, but continued to fight with his nipples as his eyes and his navel as his mouth.
In other words, Xingtian who has no head still lives well.
At first, when people read this story, they probably read Xingtian as a mythical figure.
But in fact, "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" may be a metaphor for the existence of "headless" people through the punishment sky.
After all, Herodotus, a contemporary of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, also wrote a story about the "headless" man, and this story also set off an adventure.
If it is only the joint interaction of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and Herodotus, it can only be said to be a coincidence.
However, the Indian epic "Ramayana" also came to join in the excitement.
The epic was probably written around the 7th century BC, slightly before the time of Herodotus.
In this epic, a "headless" man named Kabanda is explicitly described.
Slightly different from Xingtian, this Kabanda only has one eye and no mouth organ.
On top of that, his arms are extraordinarily long, and he can easily carry things up to ten meters away.
It's just that Kabanda, who has this special ability, failed to benefit the common people, but chose to treat the world as a demon.
When the story of the "headless" man appears in the account of Herodotus, the description of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and the record of the Hindu epic, this story cannot help but make people suspicious.
Do "headless" people really exist?
How did the early people discover their existence?
How should we view the myths and stories recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas?
I have to say that any one of these problems alone can be overwhelming.
The reason is simple, if "headless" people really exist, then how does the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" know all this?
Could it be that early people embarked on the road of world exploration before modern people? This is by no means impossible.
Li Daoyuan once affirmed: "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is not a collection of mythological stories, but a record of geographical observations.
This also means that the things recorded in it are the conclusions reached by the author after his field research.
Therefore, based on his trust in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", Li Daoyuan took this as a footnote to the "Commentary on the Water Classic".
But if according to Li Daoyuan, could it be that the author of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" has also been to Antarctica?
In the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", there is such a record: There is a kind of person who has a bird's beak and no arms, but has wings, and eats fish from the sea all day long.
At first glance, isn't this person a "Lei Zhenzi" who has become a jing?
But when you think about it differently, you will find that the description is not exactly the same as that of penguins.
"Penguin Nation"
Seeing this, you may think that "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" uses anthropomorphic techniques.
But if you continue to read it, you will understand that the people in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" are recording the facts.
It turned out that this man with a bird's beak and wings relied on his skills to not only start a family, but also expand his territory into a country.
This country is in the midst of this "great wilderness".
"In the Great Wilderness", as the name suggests, is a place where there are no people around.
Then let's take a look at the world where penguins live: close to the South Pole, where it is cold and snowy, and where humans hardly live.
Doesn't this environment fit the description of "in the wilderness"?
In other words, even if the author of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" had never been to Antarctica, he must have almost reached the vicinity of the pole and seen a flock of penguins.
It's just that he didn't know at the time that they weren't human.
Good guys, the emotional ancients ran to the pole thousands of years ago.
Some people may say that it is more difficult for modern people to enter the polar regions, how can the little productivity of the ancients run so far away?
The "Bamboo Book Chronicle", which records the history of the Xia Dynasty, once described that the ninth king of the Xia Dynasty once sailed eastward by himself and caught a big fish.
In 2000, archaeologists accidentally discovered a "ship coffin site" in Chengdu.
According to research, this site can be traced back to at least the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Among the ruins, archaeologists have found a large number of ship coffins with a history of more than 1,000 years.
This also means that as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people actually knew how to use water, that is, to see another world through shipbuilding, otherwise, it would be impossible to get a coffin for themselves after their death.
Looking back on the history of world development, the development of the maritime industry has opened a new era, allowing people to see that "there is a sky outside the sky, and there are people outside the people".
Then, we also have reason to believe that in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Bashu people may have avoided the war with their ships and went to other places, such as the polar regions.
However, this is not the most scary part of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
You must know that there are almost hundreds of rare beasts recorded in the entire "Classic of Mountains and Seas", and if it is really a geographical empirical record, people dare not imagine what kind of fantasy world it is.
Of course, this is not to say that any account of the Classic of Mountains and Seas is reliable.
After all, when the ancients were writing, there may also be times when they made up for it out of thin air.
For example, modern people have also created many films and television works about aliens on the basis of fantasy.
This may also tell us that the mysteries of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" are left for future generations to continue to explore.
Even if it is a mythological story, it can satisfy people's imagination on the one hand, and can prompt people to explore its existence in real life.
It is precisely because of this curiosity that human beings will understand the world and understand themselves better.
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