Chapter 1058 The Sixth Thought of Shanhaijing: The Light of Wisdom that Illuminates a Hundred Miles Away

The introduction of this chapter [The Routine of Ancient Emperors] is placed at the end of the first volume, which is a public chapter.

Those who haven't read it can go and read it. It's better to read this one after reading that one.

First of all.

The Yao in the Classic of Mountains and Seas... is just an emperor.

Looking through the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Yao only mentioned Emperor Yao Terrace. In addition to the opening sentence, there is also "Di Mountain, Emperor Yao was buried in the sun, and Emperor Ku was buried in the shade." In short, let us know that he is an emperor, and that's it.

Some people say that Dayi was sent by Yao to kill monsters and shoot nine suns. But I'm sorry, that's all later statements, which are written in the "Huainanzi" of the Western Han Dynasty.

In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is written: "Emperor Jun gave Yi a red bow and a white bow to help the lower country. Yi began to care about the hundreds of hardships of the lower world."

Yi was appointed by Emperor Jun and had nothing to do with Yao. He was even much earlier than Yao's time.

Obviously, later generations forcibly inserted Emperor Jun's deeds into Yao. After all, Yao really couldn't produce great achievements that could be praised.

He was just an emperor, not even one of the Five Emperors.

Even the Ji Dynasty was destroyed after Yao.

Then what about Shun?

Shanhaijing: "Shun Yi Dengbi gave birth to Xiaoming and Zhuguang, who lived in the river and the lake. The spirits of the two daughters could illuminate the area of ​​100 miles."

The Yi character in Shun Yi is a variant character, which should be Shun's wife.

Roughly translated: Shun's wife was Dengbi, and they gave birth to 'Xiaoming' and 'Zhuguang'. On the lake, the spirits of these two daughters illuminated the area of ​​100 miles.

Tsk tsk, daughters again, we see daughters with names again, the last time was the daughters of Emperor Yan...

So, this is probably another 'tool man'. That is, on the surface, it is said that daughters were born, but in fact, new things were invented.

In addition to giving birth to children, birth also means derivation, creation, and inheritance.

Shanhaijing: "There is a country called Beidi. The grandson of Emperor Huang is called Shijun, and Shijun gave birth to Beidi."

The 'birth' here refers to derivation, referring to the fact that a descendant of Shijun gave birth to the Beidi tribe.

Shanhaijing: "Emperor Jun gave birth to Hou Ji, and Ji descended to Gu..."

The word "sheng" here means giving birth to a child, and Hou Ji is a person. The Zhou people believed that he was their ancestor, and it was impossible for the Zhou people to make a mistake in offering sacrifices to their ancestors. He must be the name of a person, not a clan.

It is because of the easy mistake that later generations used "chan" instead when describing "giving birth to a child".

For example, "Emperor Genealogy" wrote: Huangdi gave birth to Changyi, Changyi gave birth to Gaoyang, who was Emperor Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu gave birth to Qiongchan, Qiongchan gave birth to Jingkang, Jingkang gave birth to Jumang, Jumang gave birth to Qieniu, Qieniu gave birth to Gusou, Gusou gave birth to Chonghua, who was Emperor Shun...

There is no doubt that using the word "chan" will not be ambiguous, and it must be giving birth to a child.

So, was the Xiaoming Candlelight born by Shun an object or a daughter?

The first possibility is a daughter.

Then it says "the spirit of the two daughters".

Then this record means that the two girls have supernatural powers, standing on the lake, shining for a hundred miles.

It is also possible that the two daughters died and turned into spiritual lights.

Then, the second possibility is invention.

This is similar to what I said before about the daughter of Jingwei, which is to extend the things invented by the emperor, or the phenomena caused by them, to the daughters of the emperor.

Then, Xiaoming candlelight, literally understood, isn’t it lanterns and candles?

However, I don’t agree.

Lanterns and candles are too far-fetched, what’s so surprising? Didn’t the ancients see torches? Is it necessary to brag that candles can shine for a hundred miles?

I believe it if it is a searchlight or a large lighting facility, at least it doesn’t insult the intelligence of the ancients.

It must be a kind of unprecedented brightness that the ancients had never seen at night.

At least it must be obviously different from things like torches and bonfires.

So, which possibility is it?

First of all, let’s understand the meaning of Xiaoming and candlelight.

Xiao, eight or nine o’clock in the evening, after ‘hun’ comes ‘xiao’. Refers to the time period from after dinner to bedtime.

So Xiaoming literally means that it is as bright as daytime at eight or nine o'clock in the evening.

What about candlelight? Don't get me wrong, candle does not mean candle. The character in the large seal script is ' candle', and the pictograph of Shu is a sunflower insect.

In the Zhou Dynasty, it was interpreted as a torch.

Current scholars explain that the pictographs of fire and insects refer to the wick of the lamp, which looks like an insect. There is fire next to it, isn't it the wick of an oil lamp? So it is a candle.

However, the earliest definition of the word Zhu was only in the Zhou Dynasty. Is there an earlier one?

What about oracle bone script? Is there a candle character in oracle bone script?

I'm sorry, there is a similar one, but the character is too abstract, it is a long insect with fire on it.

It is a bit different from the character shape of [火和蜀] later...

Until now, scholars of ancient characters have not reached a conclusion and are still arguing whether it is the word ' candle '.

Because according to them, the word "甀" in the Shang Dynasty should be a pictograph of a torch or fire, and the bronze and seal characters look like a worm, which can also be explained as coming from the pronunciation of "蜀".

How could the oracle character "町" be a long worm on fire?

So now, the official has not given which oracle character of the word "町" is.

However, I have my own understanding.

Because to interpret the Classic of Mountains and Seas, we need to think from the era of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and we only need to find out what other "candle" characters mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas mean.

Is there any? Yes, everyone knows, the candle dragon... 'There is a god with a human face and a red snake body, with straight eyes and a straight ride. When he closes his eyes, he is dark, and when he sees, he is bright. He does not eat, sleep, or rest, and he is visited by wind and rain. He is the candle of the nine yin, and he is called the candle dragon. '

About Zhulong, it is too complicated and involves too many things. I can only explain it in a separate chapter. I won’t say much here, and I will tell you my thoughts directly.

That is, the word "zhu" in ancient times did not refer to a torch, but only to Zhulong.

Zhulong is also called Zhuyin. The "dragon" is the body of the candle. In ancient times, when "zhu" was mentioned, it had no other meaning, but only referred to one object, specifically the "zhulong".

The pictograph of candle in oracle bone script and even earlier texts is not a pictograph of anything else, but a pictograph of the dragon.

The dragon is the leader of scale insects, a long insect with fire on its head, which is the pictograph of the candle dragon.

The word "zhu" specifically refers to it.

The meaning of candlelight is: light that seems to be straight and upright like the candle dragon.

In plain words, it is a long and straight column of light.

At night, if a strong light source propagates in one direction, and the surroundings are very dark, and there is a lot of dust and fog in the air, it will scatter and form an obvious column of light.

In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the column of light is the meaning of candlelight.

In the dark nights of ancient times, there was no other light source except moonlight and torches.

People were extremely shocked when they saw a beam of light in the sky.

It was no less shocking than when we saw a Kamehameha wave.

Xiaoming refers to something that illuminates the night. Zhuguang refers to a beam of light.

Only by clarifying the phenomena behind these two names can we understand the records in Shanhaijing.

"Shun Yi Dengbi gave birth to Xiaoming and Zhuguang, who lived in the river and the lake. The spirits of the two women could illuminate the area for a hundred miles."

First of all, it couldn't be as simple as a lantern or a torch. It must be a searchlight, a large light source.

At night, it was beyond people's cognition at that time. It was a light that had never been seen before.

It illuminated a hundred miles, and there was a long and straight beam of light.

I think with your mentality of making trouble, your first reaction was that there was a UFO...

At night, two luminous bodies were suspended on the lake, illuminating a hundred miles.

A beam of light that cut through the sky, it could be horizontal or vertical, and I don't know what it was doing. It shocked the people of the tribe managed by Shun.

Shun's two daughters were taken away just like that...

Hahaha, this is probably the most intuitive understanding.

But even I, who supports aliens, have to question it.

First of all, if it is a UFO, then it is far-fetched to say that the spirits of the two daughters can illuminate the area for a hundred miles.

Why is it related to the two daughters? It doesn't make sense, unless there are two possibilities.

One possibility is that the two daughters ascended to heaven and were taken away by the UFO.

The light column took Shun's two daughters away. For bystanders, it is naturally the spirits of the two daughters, which illuminate the area for a hundred miles.

But this is too far-fetched, I don't believe it.

The other slightly better one is that Shun just gave birth to two daughters, or just died of two daughters, and UFOs appeared on the lake.

Then people will match them up. Shun's daughters were named Xiaoming and Zhuguang.

This can be explained. After all, the ancients did not give names when they were just born. Generally, they would be given nicknames when they grew up, after the period of one or two years old, three or four years old, when they were most likely to die. After that, they would be given big names when they became adults.

This was the case in the earliest times. Later, as medical technology improved and the survival rate of infants increased, the time for naming became earlier and earlier.

In modern times, a baby is named just after being born or before being born. In ancient times, naming was actually very late.

Back to the topic, because a daughter just died or a UFO incident was witnessed a few days after the birth of a daughter, one was named Xiaoming and the other was named Zhuguang based on the phenomenon.

There was a daughter but no name, and an inexplicable incident happened, so it was reasonable to connect them, but I think it is too coincidental.

Moreover, there is still no direct evidence.

You see, I always introduce the concept of aliens when interpreting the Classic of Mountains and Seas, but I want to explain that it is actually a helpless move.

There is no other way. Except for super technology, it cannot be explained, so I will introduce the concept of aliens or ancient technology.

I will try to give a normal explanation for everything that can be explained normally.

So, can the long and straight light column that shines for hundreds of miles be explained by the conditions of ancient times?

Yes.

Shun, or Shun's wife, or Shun's daughter. The phenomenon of two kinds of light was discovered.

One is reflection, and the other is scattering.

The reflective umbrella in the studio is the silver-white umbrella, which is responsible for collecting light and shining it on the place you want to illuminate, so that the light is evenly distributed and soft.

When is the light softest and evenly filled at every point? It is during the day.

The brightness during the day is completely different from the brightness of torches at night. The former can be called "bright", that is, there is no dark spot.

"Midnight brightness" does not mean particularly bright, but refers to something that makes the tribe particularly transparent, and every point is very bright.

What is the problem with light sources such as torches and wicks? That is, the light is only concentrated in a spherical range. The farther away from the torch, the darker it is, and it decreases layer by layer, illuminating only a very small range. Turn off the lights and light a candle in the middle of the house, and the surrounding walls are still dark.

During the day, even if only a little light comes in from the window, it is much brighter than lighting a candle at night when there is a power outage at home.

That kind of brightness is a very soft and filling "brightness". During the day, even if you hold an umbrella to block the sun, you will still see that it is bright under the umbrella.

This brightness is caused by the reflection of sunlight from the entire surface of the earth.

So, in the dark night of ancient times, if curtains coated with some primitive reflective coating materials were erected in all directions, then with a few campfires or torch-level light sources, a large area could be illuminated brightly and evenly.

If you can mix a similar reflective coating, then go home and paint all four walls of your home, then turn off the lights at night, light a candle in the middle of the room, and you will understand what "Xiaoming" means.

Perhaps Shun invented or owned the material "Xiaoming". Let every household apply it, and then set up a flame at home at night, and the whole house can be very bright.

However, this violates the later "Chuhe Daze", and this phenomenon occurs on a large lake.

Therefore, this material was not available to everyone in ancient times, or it could not be popularized. Think about it, we modern people don't have reflective paint in every household. When I was a child, there was a power outage at home, and I could only read books by candles, and the house was still dark.

It is impossible that we are worse than the ancients, right?

I don't know if any of you have seen some night shows in the old times. I have only seen them on TV. In the evening, a stage was set up at the entrance of the village to perform operas. Tall curtains were raised around the scene to surround the entire scene. In the era when there were only lanterns and torches as light sources, this method could effectively focus light, making the scene much brighter than without curtains. If the curtains were removed, no matter how many torches were set up, it would be difficult to see clearly.

So, the truth may be that Shun held a large bonfire party or some kind of ceremony on the lake.

In this ceremony, he created a very shocking "light show".

The very high cloth was raised and smeared with the "witch's pigment" he prepared with relatively primitive natural materials, which had a very strong reflective effect.

These reflective cloths were set up in a large circle, surrounding the lake, and there was also a circle of torches by the lake.

The firelight illuminated the entire lake and even the cloth on all sides. Everyone could see each other clearly at night, making the audience seats on the shore particularly bright.

Meanwhile, on the large wooden platform in the center of the lake, Shun's daughter danced in the mist, perhaps some kind of sacrificial Nuo dance.

A large bonfire was lit around the platform, floating on the water, illuminating the dancing.

People gathered at the lakeside, watching the beautiful and mysterious ceremony in the center of the lake from afar, and the "Xiaoming"-like on-site lighting atmosphere filled them with awe.

This is a large-scale light show: "Xiaoming".

Then, another girl, on the platform in the center of the lake, saw the fire getting bigger, and erected one or several huge mirrors.

She fiddled with the huge mirror, adjusted the focus, reflected the fire, and illuminated the people on the lakeshore.

I think everyone played with this kind of reflection when they were young, using the mirror to dazzle people's eyes.

It is worth mentioning that if you just do this, no light column will be formed between the mirror and the place where it is illuminated.

And to form a light column, it is actually very simple, as long as there is dust, dirt, and mist in the path of light propagation.

There is a stretch of water between the stage in the center of the lake and the audience seats by the lake. This stretch of water is dark because there is no fire.

Use a light mist or artificially increase the dust density in the air.

Then the girl uses a mirror to reflect the lakeside, and a clear beam of light will form above the lake.

This is a large-scale light show: "Candlelight".

This is "Shun's wife Dengbi gave birth to Xiaoming and Zhuguang, and lived in the river and the lake. The spirits of the two women can illuminate the area for a hundred miles."

Such a light show is just a performance for us, not even as good as the small open-air party held in the county.

Maybe the degree of illumination is not as good as I described, after all, the materials are simple.

But for the people at that time, it was enough.

At that time, it was an extremely amazing, magical sacrifice or some kind of ritual.

The two women in the center of the lake are people with "spiritual illumination for a hundred miles", worthy of being the daughters of Emperor Shun.

Seeing this, I don't know if you understand...

I even suspect that Shun is a time traveler...

How can he be so awesome? Combined with the interpretations of [The Routine of Ancient Emperors], combined with Shun's rise from obscurity, success, and the peak of his life.

It should be said that he is worthy of being the 'Ancient Wang Mang'!

The knowledge Shun possessed was obviously beyond that of ordinary people at that time.

Either he was gifted, discovered several characteristics of light from the details of life, and figured out these 'witchcraft'.

Or someone taught him "Optics", Shun knew how to use reflection and scattering to create a live atmosphere and shock the people, and increase the mystery of his family.

I think that some of you who traveled to ancient times may not be able to use the simple conditions of ancient times to make a magical large-scale pretentious evening party with candlelight at night and spiritual illumination for hundreds of miles.

Of course, this belongs to 'witchcraft', that is, [Several pretentious methods of being a wizard].

So after the Jedi Tiantong, only his wife or daughter could do it, and Shun just had to enjoy the halo they brought.

Theocracy sets off the imperial power, and religion improves the political style.

Of course, I am not saying that Shun is a time traveler, but he does have unexpected abilities and wisdom and carefulness that stand out from the crowd in that era.

If he came to our era and received our education, he would definitely be a physics master at the academician level, and he would also be able to manage other scientists and lead many important projects. And he must have excellent interpersonal relationships. With his emotional intelligence, he can become a star scientist.

This is my most rational interpretation of this.

If we can do without aliens, then we don’t need them.

I prefer to believe that it was the ancient emperor Shun, whose wisdom shined for a hundred miles.

…

P.S.: Sorry. This is a VIP chapter, I will try to keep it short. I am probably the only one who interprets the candlelight at night, which shines for a hundred miles. I haven’t seen anyone else interpret this. Most people just translate it directly and treat it as a myth. I think you won’t lose out.