There are some fantasy worlds in ancient Chinese texts related to the sea, and in the alien space of the sea, anything can happen. Most of these texts are infamous, hidden in the folds of history, and not known.
1.《山海经》
The puffed up eyes are like optimus pillars
The age of the book "Classic of Mountains and Seas" has always been disputed, or it is believed that it was written by Boyi, or it is believed that it is a witch book of the Warring States Period, and it is generally believed that the book was not written at one time, and the author is not alone. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is divided into "The Book of Mountains" and "The Book of the Sea", under the extreme geographical conditions of mountains and seas, the wild and strange gods are running all over the place, releasing a dazzling brilliance, reading the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", especially the image book, is undoubtedly a visual shock. I prefer the "Sea Classic" part, the big crab in the South China Sea, the big one has thousands of miles, the eyes are like optimus pillars, the dace with a human face and a fish body rides the waves up and down in the sea, and there are overseas gods and exotic countries, where the people have strange appearances, and the people of Zhu have beaks and wings behind them, and they burn fish on the beach. There was also a man with a long arm, who stretched out his arms several feet long, and fished directly from the sea. There is also a chest piercing country, and the Chinese people have a big hole in their chests, which can dissolve the oncoming sea breeze resistance. The imagination of overseas peoples in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" influenced the geographical outlook of the Chinese people, until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the image system of the Republic of China, such as the sea monster in "Dianshizhai Pictorial" and the image of aliens in "Daqian Tushuo", all of which did not leave the system of "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
2. 《诸藩志》
Blowing the trumpet and beating the drum to dilute the sound of the sun falling
"Records of the Domains" is a work written by Zhao Rushi of the Southern Song Dynasty when he was an envoy in Quanzhou City. Zhao Rushi is the eighth grandson of Taizong of the Song Dynasty, well-read and strong, quite talented, he visited the foreign merchants who came to Quanzhou to trade, asked about overseas customs, and wrote down every gain, which was later written into a book. The book records the customs and products of Japan in the east, Somalia in East Africa in the west, Morocco in North Africa, and the countries on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, as well as the mileage and duration of the routes from the coast of China to overseas countries, but it also provides some overseas experiences from hearsay, full of strange details that make people think about it. For example, the "Zhongli Kingdom" mentioned in it is a strange world, and the people of the country are all monsters, turning into water tribes to rob ships: "Zhongli people have many witchcraft, can transform into beasts or water tribes, dizzy and vulgar, resell ships, or have grievances, and practice to block them." The Ming Dynasty of Zhongli was also known as the country of Mali, which is now Somalia in East Africa, which shows that it has been a place of piracy since ancient times. There is also "Chabi Sand Country", which is the legendary place of sunset, at night the sun falls in the sea near here, "its sound is extremely shaking, and the flood is thunder", the king ordered people to blow the trumpet and beat the drum at the head of the city every day at sunset, diluting the sound of the sun falling, otherwise, the pregnant women and babies in the country will be shocked to death when they hear the huge sound of the sun falling.
3. "Pingzhou Can Be Discussed"
Sediment from the seabed is used to identify shipping routes
Zhu Yu, the author of "Pingzhou Can Talk", lived in the late Northern Song Dynasty, and his father was an official in Guangzhou and lived by the sea for a while. Regarding the management of overseas trade and market ships in the Song Dynasty, after the ships arrived at the port, there were a series of procedures to go through, such as the so-called "column", that is, sending troops to monitor the ships arriving at the port, the so-called "extraction", that is, the collection of taxes, the so-called "presentation", that is, giving gifts to port officials, and the so-called "prohibition of bomai", that is, the government purchased monopoly goods and determined the merchants to sell freely. The book also wrote, "When the boatman fishes, he uses a big hook like an arm, and binds a chicken and goose as bait, so that the big fish can swallow it." The book records the use of the compass in the Song Dynasty: "The boat master knows geography, the night is to observe the stars, the day is to observe the sun, and the obscure compass", Zhu Yu remembered that in addition to the compass, there is also a rope hook to take the seabed sediment to identify the route, the so-called "or to ten zhang rope hook, take the seabed mud and smell it, you will know where to go", a magical navigation method.
4. "Yingya Triumph"
Zheng He's witness to the West
Ma Huan is a Zhejiang Huiji, fluent in Arabic, although he was not born in the imperial examination, but he was selected to Zheng He's fleet because of his outstanding talent, and he was the "general officer" on the ship. Zheng He's voyage to the West is an unprecedented feat, how lucky the people who can open their eyes to the world in that era, Ma Huan is only an inconspicuous small role in the fleet, we use his perspective, from Asia to Africa The sea picture scroll slowly unfolds, Champa, Java, Siam, Manchurian, Sumatra, Ceylon, Kurumus, Tianfang, everything overseas is new, the legendary place names have been recorded in person, Zheng He's voyage is so real. Ma Huan expounded his own concept in the preface of "Yingya Shenglan": "The wording cannot be decorated, but it is just a straightforward writing." "The books that record Zheng He's voyage to the West also include Fei Xin's "Xingcha Shenglan", Gong Zhen's "Western Fanguo Chronicles", Fei Xin and Gong Zhen also went to the Western Ocean with Zheng He's fleet, but in comparison, "Yingya Shenglan" is more detailed.
5. "Sea Language"
Sea spiders are as big as two wheels
Ming Dynasty Huang Zhen's "Sea Language" is more like a dictionary, his home is in Guangzhou, there are many experiences of traveling in the South China Sea, what he hears, what he sees, the words of sailors and helmsmen, are all written down by him, each entry has a brief introduction, among which the "Monster" chapter mentions the sea monk with a human face and turtle body, as long as it appears, it will cause a capsizing incident. There is a sea donkey, which is roughly the same as the donkey on land, but the fur of the sea donkey is lodging on a sunny day and standing up on a cloudy day, and I don't know what it is. There is also a kind of sea spider, "the sea spider is as huge as two wheels, and the stationery is five colors", which is a terrifying existence. "Sea Language" also mentions an armed invasion of Manchurian Thorn (now Malacca, Malaysia) by the Portuguese colonizer, which was in the Ming Zhengde period, Franc Ji prepared eight large ships, tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and attacked in the wind, Manchu was defenseless, and was killed and plundered.
6. "Journey to the Sea"
Ichiban Kai话荒唐听
The Qing Dynasty Zhanghui novel "Journey to the Sea" is a rare sample of ancient maritime literature, the author is unknown, a total of six volumes and thirty chapters. The protagonist's travels in foreign countries and the social reality of the time is a fable-style marine novel, which is long and the writing is not very good, but it also has merit. There are many descriptions of pirate life in the book, and the language is witty, such as "and from Jiangyang as a prodigal son, let him be a turtle and rabbit as a squire", and for example, "Don't worry about the danger of going to the sea, but I am afraid that there will be many thieves in the hometown". The author's understanding of the novel is also in place, such as the poem in the first chapter: "The saying is never true, and it takes a lot of money to write it." It's like being reasonable, and being idle is not new. No matter how Zhang San and Li Si are, there are no consequences and antecedents. I listened to the absurdity of the sea talk, and then told the absurdity to others. There is also a sentence that says, "If you want to know the strange things in the sea, you must read the books that have not been seen in the world."
7. "The Three Treasures of the Eunuch in the West"
The ocean version of "Journey to the West"
"The Three Treasures and Eunuchs of the West" is a novel of gods and demons written by Luo Maodeng in the Ming Dynasty, and Lu Xun once listed it as the third novel of gods and demons after "Journey to the West" and "Romance of the Gods". It is said that the author, Luo Maodeng, was a scholar in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and according to the dialect used in the novel, he should be a native of Nanjing, or live in Nanjing. He made this whimsical idea and perfunctory the historical events of Zheng He's seven trips to the West into a novel, in order to inspire the people of the time to fight against the Japanese invaders, and also hoped that the rulers could learn from history and revitalize the national prestige. This book has a total of 100 times, the emperor's grand view, and interprets historical events as an arduous journey to subdue demons and demons on the sea, which is equivalent to an ocean version of "Journey to the West". The author fictionalized a character, Jin Bifeng, the elder of the Buddhist world, this person has strong mana, and helped Zheng He kill demons and demons on Zheng He's boat, and there are also opinions that "Three Treasures Eunuch Western Legend" is an imitation of the routine of "Journey to the West", Zheng He corresponds to Tang Seng, Elder Jin Bifeng corresponds to Sun Wukong, in addition to Taoist priest Zhang Zhenren, there are countless difficulties and obstacles in the sea, sea monsters are making waves, overseas countries also have people with high mana, and all kinds of difficulties encountered in navigation have been resolved one by one, similar to "ninety-nine-eighty difficulties".
8. "Remembering the Mistakes of the Sea"
The whiskers of giant prawns can be used as crutches
Qing Dynasty scholar Hao Yixing is a native of Qixia in Jiaodong, and his "Remembering Sea Mistakes" is a work on seafood in the Shandong Peninsula region. Hao is a scholar of evidence, when he remembers the scenery of his hometown, it is inevitable to study the evidence, such as the boss fish in Jiaodong, which was originally thought to be a common name in recent years, but in "Remembering the Sea Mistake", it was found to be an "old-fashioned fish". According to Hao Yixing's research, "general" is the sound of "plate", because the body of the old fish resembles a disc. Hao Yixing's hometown is near the sea, Ziyun "accustomed to the sea for a long time", and the old-fashioned fish recorded is also a long-lost cape scenery. In addition to the evidence, the strange events on the sea are also recorded in "Remembering the Sea Mistakes", one of which is about the giant shrimp: "The boat travels in the sea, or sees the mast like a forest, the horizontal blue mountain, the boat fisherman moves and raises his eyebrows, and the ring does not go forward, the back of the shrimp is the back, and the mast is the shrimp whiskers", there are such prawns, the shrimp whiskers are like masts, and the back of the shrimp is like a green mountain in the sea, in addition, there is a kind of giant shrimp The shrimp whiskers can be used as crutches.
9. "The Atmosphere of Jinghai"
A pirate book
"The Atmosphere of Jinghai" was engraved in the tenth year of Daoguang, written by Yuan Yonglun, and is now in the British Library. When Ye Lingfeng wrote "Hong Kong Pirate Zhang Baozai", he regretted that he had not seen this book. The author of the book, Yuan Yonglun, the word Yingxian, a native of Shunde, wrote "Jinghai Atmosphere" is a book of pirates, although written from an official point of view, but the historical value is still irreplaceable. During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, the pirates of the South China Sea entered their heyday, and there were Zheng widows, Zhang Baozai, Guo Podai, Wushi and other big thieves, who were brave and good at fighting, whether they were Qing army sailors or Western colonists, they all suffered defeat in the hands of these pirates. Later, there was a rift within the pirate alliance, and Guo Po took the discord with Zhang Baozai and turned to the government and accepted the Zhao'an of Bai Ling, the governor of Liangguang, which greatly damaged the strength of the pirate alliance, and Zhang Baozai, Zheng Widow and others soon accepted Zhao'an. The pirates fought for sea power, but unfortunately the Qing government still had an agrarian mentality, and could not use these pirates to hold the sea frontier, and believed that pirates were rebellions against the land. Later, Western colonists flocked to the sea as if they were in a no-man's land. The book also mentions the three goddesses believed in by pirates, who are said to be the third sister of Mazu, who specializes in protecting pirates, and Zhang Baozai specially built a boat to worship the three goddesses.
10. "Qing Palace Sea Mistake Map"
Atlas of marine animals painted in fine brushwork
"Qing Palace Sea Mistake Map" is a magical existence, its author Nie Huang spent his whole life to complete such a painted atlas of marine animals, what force urged him to complete this masterpiece by himself? Nie Huang's life is no longer available, and the only information comes from his inscription on "Sea Mistake Map". He was active in the late Ming Dynasty to the Kangxi period, according to his own order, he lived in the Taiou area, and later traveled to various places, visiting fish, shrimp, crabs and shellfish on the seashore, and later lived in Fujian, after six years of systematic sorting, finally gathered into a compilation, depicting more than 200 species of marine animals, in addition to the real species, there are legendary supernatural species, such as mermaids, sea monks, dragons, etc. Nie Huang's classification of marine animals is close to the modern biological classification method, and his depiction of marine animals is more like a specimen sketch, with a sense of scientific rationality, and some fish have drawn structural diagrams. Nie Huang is very knowledgeable, and there is a small block inscription of Nie Huang next to each animal portrait in "Sea Mistake Map", and its content can be regarded as a wonderful naturalist text, which is really a strange book.
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