Text: Qi Qin
Edited by Qi Qin
In January 2001, the Qinling Tunnel Project officially started, which is a major infrastructure project aimed at improving traffic conditions and promoting the development of local tourism.
As the project progressed, various incredible events occurred one after another, the workers found a giant snake during the excavation, and then dug up a mysterious Liu Bowen stele, and even after the tunnel was opened to traffic, there were strange supernatural phenomena.
As we all know, the Qinling Mountains have been regarded as the "dragon vein" of China since ancient times, and the mountains and rivers here are full of mystery.
So are these phenomena related to the feng shui and dragon vein legends of the Qinling Mountains? Is Liu Bowen's prophecy really fulfilled here? What kind of truth is hidden behind a series of mysteries?
The legend of the Qinling Tunnel Project
The Qinling Mountains, as one of China's great mountain ranges, have always been regarded as a treasure land of feng shui, and since ancient times, the Qinling Mountains have been considered to be the "dragon vein" that protected the Central Plains Dynasty, which is not only a geographical natural barrier, but also carries countless mysterious legends.
In January 2001, in order to open up the north-south traffic, the Qinling Tunnel Project was officially launched, which aims to shorten the distance between Xi'an and Hanzhong, greatly improve regional transportation, and bring new opportunities to local economic development.
Not long after the tunnel began, the workers accidentally found a nest of giant snakes during the tunneling process, and according to the description of witnesses at the scene, the size of these snakes is unbelievable: the smallest giant snake is as thick as an adult's thigh, and the largest one is even as thick as a water tank, with a length of more than 100 meters.
And their bodies are snow-white, and their eyes are red, exuding a chilling intimidating power.
This discovery alarmed the workers on the construction site, who immediately reported the situation to their superiors, who decided to kill all the giant snakes and bury them on the spot. But unexpectedly, this decision to deal with the giant snake does not seem to solve the problem completely.
In the following days, the workers involved in the snake killing died one after another, and the tunnel project suffered frequent collapses, landslides and other accidents, making it difficult for the project to progress.
Shortly after the Giant Serpent Incident, the tunnel project encountered a new mystery again, and as the workers continued to excavate, they discovered an ancient stone monument.
The stele is clearly engraved with the seven characters of "detouring with this, Berwyn stays", this discovery made the workers feel alarmed, and the word "Berwyn" on the stele seems to imply that this stele is related to the legendary strategist Liu Bowen of the Ming Dynasty.
Liu Bowen, as one of the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty, is famous for his clever calculations and predictions. If this stele is really left by Liu Bowen, then the situation may be serious.
However, despite the suspicions surrounding the stele's appearance, the project did not stop. The workers decided to remove the stele and continue the construction of the tunnel.
Although the workers did not find any burials near the stele, since then, the construction of the tunnel has become more and more difficult, and problems such as collapses and equipment failures have occurred frequently.
Not only that, but after the tunnel was completed and opened to traffic, many drivers and passengers passing through the tunnel also reported some strange phenomena, with some tourists claiming that when the vehicle passed through the tunnel, they felt a slight slapping sensation on the back of their heads, as if an invisible hand was touching them.
What's even stranger is that passengers sitting in the car still feel the same slapping sensation after changing to other seats. It's a very real feeling, but it disappears as soon as the car exits the tunnel.
The appearance of these supernatural phenomena makes people even more uneasy about the mystery of the Qinling Tunnel.
With the successive supernatural events in the tunnel project, the relevant personnel in charge of the project began to feel uneasy, and in order to find out the reason behind the incident, they decided to go to Jungnam Mountain and consult a high monk. Zhongnan Mountain has been a sacred place of Buddhism since ancient times, and many of the monks here are proficient in feng shui and numerology.
Legend has it that after listening to the strange things in the tunnel, the monk explained that the serpents were not ordinary snakes, but the guardian beasts of an ancient aristocratic mausoleum.
According to the eminent monks, it was used to suppress the dragon veins of the Qinling Mountains. Once the stele is moved and the momentum of the dragon vein is released, the project will naturally encounter many obstacles. In order to appease his grievances, the monk decided to hold a transcendental ritual in the tunnel to overtake the souls of the slain giant snakes.
So, is this really related to Liu Bowen?
Liu Bowen's prophecies and legends
We all know that Liu Bowen was not only the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, but he was also famous for his predictions.
Historically, Liu Bowen has left behind many mysterious prophecies, some of which seem to have been fulfilled. For example, Liu Bowen once predicted: "Ten thousand sons and ten thousand grandchildren, hang a ruler on the tree", this sentence hints at the relationship between the fall of the Ming Dynasty and Li Zicheng's Dashun regime.
For another example, he also predicted that the Liu family would prosper again after five generations, and sure enough, during the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Bowen's fifth grandson, Liu Yu, was reused by the imperial court.
In addition to the above prophecies, one of Liu Bowen's most famous prophecies is the "Jinling Tower Inscription".
Legend has it that Liu Bowen erected a stone tablet in Jinling (now Nanjing), which was engraved with a prophecy, saying that "if I demolish my tower, the world will be in chaos". During the Republican period, Chiang Kai-shek demolished the tower, and then wars broke out in various places, which seems to confirm the accuracy of the prediction.
And associating these legends with the Qinling Giant Snake seems to have gilded the Qinling Mountains with a veil of mystery, but in fact, the legend of the Giant Snake has little to do with Liu Bowen.
According to the local elders, the legend of the giant snake in the Qinling Mountains has a long history, and the locals often mention a huge python entrenched in the mountains, this snake is huge, the head is as thick as a water basin, these giant pythons are entrenched in the deep mountains and dense forests all year round, and few people can see their true faces.
In ancient Chinese myths and legends, snakes were often endowed with mysterious powers, and the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" once mentioned a huge snake called "Candle Nine Yin", which was considered to be a huge monster entrenched in the Qinling region.
It is widely believed that these legendary giant serpents symbolize the dragon veins of the Qinling Mountains and have an inviolable sacred status. Although the legend of the giant snake in the Qinling Mountains has attracted widespread attention, from a scientific point of view, it is unlikely that such a huge snake species existed in the Qinling region.
Because of the snakes in reality, the largest ones are only the Titan Python and the Reticulated Python. The titan python is an extinct snake that can reach a length of 15 meters and weigh more than a ton.
The largest snake in modern times is the reticulated python, which can grow up to 7.1 meters in length. In addition, the Amazon Snake is also a large snake that can reach a maximum length of 10 meters and weigh more than 200 kilograms.
Compared with the legendary giant snake, the real snake is also huge, but its size is far less exaggerated. Therefore, the rumors of the giant python in the Qinling Mountains are mostly considered to be the product of exaggeration and fiction.
In fact, there are more legends about Qinling than these, but no matter what kind of problems we encounter, we should deal with and think with rational and calm thinking.
References:
Geography Science Popularization Bureau [Qinling: The dividing line between the north and south of Chinese geography, why is it called the "dragon vein" of Chinese civilization? 】.