What she is holding in her hand is a history book describing the legendary events in Hainan during the Ming Dynasty. Legend has it that a massive earthquake struck the bottom of the sea and caused 72 villages to sink to the bottom of the sea, killing all the people in the village.
"Is there really an underwater world like the Dragon King's Palace?" Qiong Jie was full of doubts. At this time, her teacher happened to pass by and caught a glimpse of the book in Qiong Jie's hand, so he came over to answer her questions.
At the end of the 80s of the last century, when the fishermen of Yanfeng Town, Haikou City, Hainan Province went out to sea to fish, they accidentally discovered the miracle of the seabed. They saw a cluster of buildings on the bottom of the sea, with houses and roads, like small villages.
These villages have a complete structure, from the torii to the mansion, from the public area to the temple, as if frozen in the abyss of time. Every nook and cranny of the village reveals traces of life, as if it were only inhabited yesterday. This discovery quickly attracted the attention of many experts.
According to the historian Ye Mengzhu's "Reading the World", these villages originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty and sank due to an earthquake that occurred in the 34th year of Wanli. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was in decline, and the earthquake was seen as a harbinger of its demise. According to statistics, the earthquake "translated" a total of 72 villages to the bottom of the sea, and these villages have been sleeping on the seabed for more than 300 years.
Today, hundreds of years later, the original village is still well preserved, as if time has stopped passing here. Experts believe that the sudden disappearance of these villages laid the groundwork for more than 100 years of war. Now, this sleepy underwater world has been rediscovered by mankind and has become a valuable window into history and the past.
After sinking to the bottom of the sea, these villages become a mysterious underwater world. Every year in May and June, the silhouette of these villages can be seen from the beach, and the fish swim like a dreamy picture. According to experts, the earthquake in the area had a magnitude of 8.0, and the earthquake brought unprecedented disaster to the residents at that time, and many people sank to the bottom of the sea with their villages without being able to escape.
More than 300 years have passed, and these 72 villages have long been emptied, but they are miraculously preserved at the bottom of the sea. The "underwater village", which was originally thought to be just a legend, actually exists. This made Qiong Jie can't help but imagine what it would be like for these villagers to face the catastrophe back then.
One day in the fifth lunar month of the 32nd year of Wanli, in the village near the sea of Qiongzhou, Hainan, the villagers were busy in the fields, and the long-term workers of the landlord's family were also working for the lord's family. The large families in the village who have always been majestic still live a good and comfortable life. No one could have imagined that this peaceful scene was about to be broken by the roar of the earth.
In the moments leading up to the earthquake, the village was filled with the shouts of work horns and the smell of straw in the fields being roasted by the scorching sun. Villagers are in a hurry, struggling for food and livelihoods. In the center of the village, there are two mighty stone lions in front of the door, a scene of leisurely strolling. There are also several memorial arches in the village to commend festival women, symbolizing the local simple folk customs.
In this harmonious and calm afternoon, the momentum of shaking the earth and shaking the mountains is brewing in secret. Without warning, the ground shook violently, and the houses in the village collapsed in an instant. In the midst of the chaos, the villagers panicked and ran around with their children in their arms. However, it happened suddenly, and there was no time to escape, only to see the entire foundation of the house collapse and sink, and all the villages disappeared into the ocean.
The harsh midday sun also dimmed, replaced by the raging waves of the sea. The villagers were terrified, but they had no way to recover, so they could only watch themselves and their homeland buried in the sea.
"So that's the case, so are their remains now all under the sea?" Qiong Jie asked. The teacher nodded and said, "Yes, after the earthquake, the remains of many villagers sank to the bottom of the sea along with the village buildings and are buried there. ”
"In order to remember their ancestors, future generations will also place sacrifices to the bottom of the sea at certain times of the year. "So there are a lot of traces of ancient life there, and unlike the tomb, it's more like a living ancient village." ”
In the aftermath of the earthquake, local villagers would place offerings to the seabed at certain times to mourn their loved ones who had lost in the disaster, a custom that coincided with sea burials and became a special tradition. In the subsequent archaeological work, experts have found many precious ancient artifacts, which provide important clues for the study of this history.
Now, this "underwater village" has become a unique landscape, attracting many tourists to explore this "underwater dragon palace". This history, which is hidden by the sea, not only awakens people's memories of the past, but also brings new life to the local tourism industry.