The ancients have long discovered that the farther north you go, the higher the Polaris will rise, and of course the Big Dipper will rise even higher. They think, if you go further north, will the Big Dipper be higher than your head and go south? This is entirely possible, and some people have actually seen this scene. I told my friends a story about "Huo Qubing despises Beidou".

Huo Qubing was a general of the Western Han Dynasty, a native of Pingyang County, Hedong County (now Linfen, Shanxi Province), and the nephew of another "unbeaten general" Wei Qing. At that time, Xiongnu in the north often plundered the border of Han Dynasty. At the age of 0/8, Huo Qubing/Kloc-was sent to lead the northern expedition to Xiongnu. He led 800 cavalry deep behind enemy lines, killed more than 2,000 Xiongnu soldiers in one breath, captured Hun Khan's uncle alive, and was awarded the title of 2,500 top scholars by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

After several victories, the Huns' military strength was greatly weakened and they had to retreat to the far north of the desert. In the autumn of120th BC, more than 10,000 tarquin invaded south again, and went deep into the right Beiping area (now the northern part of Hebei Province) to burn, kill and plunder. Thousands of people died under Xiongnu fighters in the Han Dynasty. So Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decided to expedition to Mobei and completely destroy the Xiongnu army.

This year, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty mobilized 654.38+ 10,000 cavalry and hundreds of thousands of infantry, led by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, to March into Mobei in two ways. Huo Qubing set out from Daixian County (now Daixian County, Shanxi Province) with a great army, galloped through the desert, marched for more than 2,000 miles, and finally captured the main enemy force. So Huo Qubing commanded the Han army to storm, and a fierce battle began. The pike is broken like straw, and the corpses are everywhere on the vast grassland. The mountains and rivers change color, and the sun and the moon have no light. After several days of bloody fighting, the Han army finally won. In this battle, 70,000 enemy troops were wiped out, and almost all the Xiongnu left troops were wiped out. Huo Qubing led the army to pursue the wolf to Xushan (now Mongolian Deer Mountain or Hangai Mountain). To celebrate the victory of this campaign, Huo Qubing led a crowd to accumulate soil and increase mountains at the top of the Wolf House, and held a ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven.

When he went outside the camp at night and looked up at the Big Dipper, he was surprised to find that the Big Dipper had crossed the zenith and tilted to the south. The first time I saw the inverted pattern of the Big Dipper, I almost didn't recognize it. He quickly asked the soldiers to watch it together. Everyone is amazed at this strange sight, and feels that the sky is as round as a cover, the place is like chess, and the universe is mysterious and unspeakable. Later, Huo Qubing held a memorial service in the nearby Guyan Mountain, boarded the North Sea (now Lake Baikal), carved a memorial tablet, buried it there, and then returned home in triumph. This is the story of "Huo Qubing looking down on Beidou". Unfortunately, Huo Qubing died of illness soon after returning to Korea, at the age of 24. This military genius doesn't talk about enjoyment. He has fought for the cause of defending the frontier all his life. He has two famous sayings that have been passed down to this day: "Why stay at home before the Huns are extinct!"

The latitude of Lake Baikal is about 55_ N, and the Big Dipper has turned to the south at noon. This is indeed a rare thing for people who grew up in the Central Plains. In the Tang Dynasty, Shang Liu wrote in the poem "Eighteen Beats of Hu Jia": "Strangely, the spring breeze is not long, and there are no flowers or willows in the middle of the lake. Who knows that it is upside down, and now I look at Beidou in the south. " I am also lamenting this scene.

2. Yan Chao bribed Beidou God

Because of the key position and striking shape of the Big Dipper, its status in the minds of ancient people in China is getting higher and higher day by day. Later, Beidou became a constellation for managing people's life and death. There is a story in Gan Bao's miraculous novel Searching for the Gods in the Eastern Jin Dynasty:

A man named Yan Chao invited Guan Lu from Pingyuan to see him. Guan Yu said, "You don't look well, and you may die young." Yan Chao was very anxious and asked if there was any remedy. Guan Ju closed his eyes for a while and said, "Ten days later, take a big bag of cooked venison and a big pot of sake to a mountain where there are cut wheat fields. There is a big mulberry tree in the south of the country, and there are two immortals playing Go under the tree. Don't say anything, just treat them with wine and meat. "

On this day, Yan Chao arrived at the big mulberry tree in Medina in the mountains with wine and meat. Sure enough, there are two immortals playing Go there. Yan Chao quietly approached, put wine and meat on both sides of the board, and stood by to watch chess. The two immortals were addicted to chess, and unconsciously touched the wine and meat and ate it. In less than half an hour, they ate all the wine and meat of Yan Chao. Before the game was over, the immortal sitting in the north looked up and said, "Aren't you Yan Chao?" ? Is this wine and meat yours? "Yan Chao respectfully replied," Yes. The fairy said, "You have finished your life. What are you doing here? "At this moment, the fairy sitting in the south spoke:" Brother, you just ate and drank other people's food. How can you be so heartless? Give others a few years! ""The one in the north said, "The book of life and death has been decided. How can we increase it? "

The one in the south said, "Sorry, I came to see you." As he spoke, he asked the fairy in the north for a big account book and turned to a page that read: Yan Chao, 19 years old. The immortal in the south added two strokes to the word "one" and became "ninety-nine years old".

As a result, Yan Chao really lived to be ninety-nine. It turns out that these two immortals are sitting in Beidou in the north and in Nandou in the south (one of the 28 nights). Because "Nandou reborn, Beidou died again", a person's life has to go from Nandou to Beidou.

Fight, so the book of Beidou determines the limit of human life. It seems that fairies are also easy to talk to. This is really "the gods have their own gods, and the world is like chess."

Why can Beidou be doomed to life and death? This statement also has its roots. In ancient China, there were few contacts between people, underdeveloped traffic, many obstacles and dangers. Beidou has become an important basis for people to judge the direction when they usually go out, so people regard it as a "lighthouse" to guide people and save lives, and regard it as a god.

3. Wang Mang and Dou Wei

Because Beidou revolves around the North Pole where the "Star of Heaven and Earth" is located day and night, it has been the car of heaven and earth since very early. Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty wrote in Historical Records? The gobbledygook official said, "The bucket is the emperor's car, which is transported to the central government and controlled by all parties." It means: The Big Dipper is a carriage in which the Emperor of Heaven sits. The Emperor of Heaven takes the central government as the hub, sits in the carriage and constantly patrols all directions. The capital of the Han Dynasty was Chang 'an. From this concept, there was also a man named "Doucheng" in Chang 'an.

In the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty 1 century, the words "Fighting for the Emperor's Car" were engraved in the tombstone shrine of Wu Kaiming in Jiaxiang County, Shandong Province. In the picture, the Big Dipper consists of the first four stars, an emperor figure sitting in a bucket spoon, and the last three stars form an axis. This car has no wheels. It walks in the clouds.

The status of the Big Dipper is so high that emperors of all ages admire it, but if things go too far, it will become very absurd. Let me tell a story about Wang Mang and Beidou.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, a very powerful minister named Wang Mang appeared in the court. He is neither a military commander nor a politician, but a Confucian. He abolished the emperor of the Han Dynasty and established a dynasty called Xin. A Confucian established his own dynasty through years of painstaking efforts, which is unique in the history of China.

Wang Mang was originally the emperor's concubine. After spending some time in the political arena, he became an official and then retired. He could have lived in peace for the rest of his life, but before long, the emperor Liu Xin died, leaving no royal family, and even a person who presided over the funeral could not be found. Empress Dowager Tai and Wang Mang's aunt sent Wang Mang to the court, asked him to preside over the funeral and appointed him as a minister. In this way, Wang Mang mastered the highest military power and the highest administrative power in the country, and suddenly became a pivotal figure.

Although under one person, above ten thousand people, Wang Mang has always been very humble, benevolent, courteous, intelligent and trustworthy, which makes people impressed. He takes honesty as his country all day long and has established the image of loyal ministers. For example, when Wang Mang betrothed 14-year-old daughter to Liu Kan as queen, the court gave Wang Mang land in two counties and two townships and a dowry of10 million yuan, but Wang Mang refused to accept it and donated all the money to the victims. This move made the whole country grateful, and people all over the country praised him as an unprecedented saint.

When he came to power and even the emperor obeyed him, he realized that he was the uncrowned king and no longer humble. Look: Emperors in past dynasties were mediocre, ministers were greedy and selfish, the country was chaotic and the people were poor, and there were many complaints. It can be seen that the big man's luck is running out. He should do his part! So in 8 AD, Wang Mang abolished his own child, Emperor Sui Ziying, and ascended the throne himself, changing his country name to "Xin" and the founding year to "".

If Wang Mang can govern the country well, people at that time and later generations will admit this dynasty with conviction. Unexpectedly, Wang Mang, who started out as a two-faced man, can only be regarded as a third-rate character politically, without the talent and skill of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty. He especially yearned for the ancient ideal society written by Confucian scholars, so he had a major operation on the whole society and made a reform on the ancient system, from currency, official system, laws and regulations, taxes to administrative divisions, and he could change whatever he wanted. Taxation alone is not enough for good farmers to pay taxes. Every family has no food and clothing, and those who have not starved to death will rebel.

Wang Mang believes that since Beidou is the emperor's car, it will be able to bless itself by imitating the shape of Beidou. In the ninth year of his reign, he saw too many anti-thieves and his position was unstable. He decided to star in Dou Wei. In August this year, the foundry work started in the southern suburbs of Beijing, and he personally participated in the supervision. Dou Wei is a mixture of copper and five-colored stones. It looks like Beidou and is two feet and five inches long. He firmly believes that this thing will protect himself from the throne and help him kill the rebels. So he put Dou Wei next to the dragon bed when he slept, next to the throne when he went to court, and let people walk in front of the emperor when he traveled.

However, the peasant uprising intensified and eventually broke out into a national uprising. In 23 A.D., an outlaw hero of the rebel army surrounded Chang 'an, then broke into the city and fought fiercely with the government troops. The next day, all government officials ran away. Seeing the outlaw approaching the palace gate, follwed led the crowd to the front hall of Weiyang Palace and sat down on the floor with Dou Wei in his hand. He looks like a mastermind, winning thousands of miles, and "Astronomer Lang" follows him, constantly operating astrological instruments, simulating the orientation of the Big Dipper during the day, and letting Wang Mang adjust his seat and the direction of Dou Wei, so as to be consistent with the Big Dipper in the sky. -as can be seen from this action, follwed as a ruler is not inflow. He only used his domineering power to cheat others, but he even cheated himself. While he was talking to himself, he muttered, "It's better to give than to be born with virtue. What should the Han soldiers do!" Wang Mang deserves to be a great scholar. At this time, he also translated Confucius' words literally. Confucius' original words are: "Being born with virtue is better than giving it, why not!" When Confucius was traveling, Sima Huanxun of the Song Dynasty tried to kill him, and the accompanying students suggested running away. Confucius calmly said this sentence, which means: my virtue is given to me by God. What can Huan Xuan do to me?

Early in the morning on the third day, Qin Bing helped Wang Mang get on the bus and ran to the observatory, which is responsible for the gradual platform of time and calendar. There is also a star named "Graduation Platform" in the sky, which is a part of Vega spacecraft. Gradually, Wang Mang thought: With water blocking, maybe we can hold on for a little longer. At this time, he was still clinging to Dou Wei. The outlaw heroes gradually surrounded Taiwan. First, they shot arrows, and then they fought in close combat. Wang Mang beat Qin Bing to exhaustion. In the evening, the outlaw hero finally captured Taiwan, and Wang Mang was killed. The "Xin Mang" regime collapsed in 15.

Bai Juyi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem: "Duke Zhou was afraid of rumors, but Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the throne, trying to make his original body die. How can he know the truth of his life? " Indeed, if Wang Mang died before seeking the Han regime, he would definitely leave a Zhuge Liang-style figure to assist the young master, and perhaps there would be a "Wang Mang Temple" for us to visit. Now, we should condemn him with history.

4. A line of practice forgives the world

There is another story about Beidou, which comes from astronomers in the Tang Dynasty and their party.

A line of real name, dharma name is easy, is a first-class astronomer in the history of China. According to Ming Taizu Miscellanies, when he was a child, his family was poor, and his neighbor, Grandma Wang, was very kind and often helped him. Later, the party was treated by Emperor Li Longji and had a great position in North Korea. Once grandma Wang's son was convicted of murder and will be executed. Grandma Wang had to come to the party for help.

The client said awkwardly, "Grandma can take it from me if she is short of money, but your son has violated the king's law of the country, so I can't be selfish." Grandma Wang was furious and said, "What's the use of knowing that you are a minister and monk? I have helped you for so many years! " Say that finish, I left angrily without looking back.

Seeing that his past benefactor couldn't help each other, the client felt very guilty, but he really didn't dare to bend the law, so he decided to fundamentally "bend the law" with "magic" He made a room in Huntian Temple, moved into a big urn, quietly found two workers and said to them, "From tomorrow afternoon, you will ambush in the abandoned garden of the backyard workshop. When you see an animal coming in, go up and catch it. There are seven of them, and none of them can be less. If you run away, be careful of being whipped. "

The two men lay in ambush in the abandoned garden. When the sun went down, a group of pigs ran into the garden from nowhere. There are too many cooks. Let's catch all these pigs and put them in an urn, just seven. A group of people covered the urn with wooden boards, sealed it with mud, and wrote some strange words on the table with a brush that no one knew.

The next day, Emperor Li Longji arrived at the temple. As soon as the party arrived, the emperor asked, "Historians come to play. Last night, the Big Dipper disappeared from the sky. What is the sign? " One line said: "Once upon a time, in the post-Wei era, Mars disappeared. This time, the disappearance of the emperor's car happened, but this has never happened in ancient times. Generally speaking, the stars representing the grass people are not in place, and there may be floods, droughts and frosts; Now that even the emperor's car is gone, I am afraid it is very unfavorable to the country and your majesty. "

Hearing this nonsense, Li Longji was very scared. He asked, "Master, is there any way to save him?"

A long line of words said, "I believe that as long as your majesty does a great thing, he will eventually touch the stars."

Li Longji asked, "How can we move stars with virtue?"

The line says, "We Buddhists advocate forgiving everyone. If we want to be noble, the best way is to Amnesty the world. "

Li Longji patted his thigh: "Good!" So he announced an amnesty for the whole world. All kinds of criminals who wanted to behead and chop their feet to join the army were acquitted, and Grandma Wang's son was saved.

The next night, the official said that the first star of the Big Dipper appeared, another star appeared the next day, and it all came out on the seventh day. In fact, this is also released one by one.

According to this story, the Big Dipper is still a pig god, which has been found in Hongshan Culture, Liaoning, Dawenkou culture in Shandong and Hemudu cultural site in Zhejiang.

From this story, we can also see how powerful the ancient astronomical elites are. They dare to play with the emperor in their hands.

5. The story of Kuixing

You see, in the eyes of the ancients, Beidou is the emperor's treasure car, the god of life and the god of pigs, but it's not over yet! Friends must have heard of the word "Kuixing"! Kuixing is the first four stars of the Big Dipper. They are the gods who dominate the world's fame and fortune. Because of this, the ancient literati worshipped Kuixing most intensely.

In many places in China, Kuixing Tower or Kuixing Pavilion has been built, and Kuixing statue is shaped in its main hall. People who have never seen the statue of Kuixing may think that since Kuixing is in charge of the imperial examination, he must be a gentle white-faced scholar, right? In fact, on the contrary, Kuixing looks ferocious, with golden body and blue face, red hair and red eyes, and two horns on his head, as if he were a ghost. This kuixing has a big brush in his right hand and a bucket in his left. The golden rooster on his right foot is independent, and his foot stands on the head of a chinemys reevesii in the sea, which means "taking the lead". He kicks with his left foot, and his foot is the Big Dipper.

The story of Kuixing goes like this: In ancient times, there was a scholar whose name was not tested. Let's call him Kuixing. This man is brilliant, brilliant and eloquent, but he is extremely ugly, so he came last in many interviews. What does he look like? It is said that he is ugly, pockmarked and limping, but his article is so well written that he finally passed the provincial examination step by step and will work hard to win the first place in high school again and again. When he entered the palace for an exam, the emperor personally interviewed his literary talent. He was unhappy when he saw his appearance and the way he walked in circles on his temples. The emperor asked, "What happened to your face?" He replied: "Back to the Holy Land, this is' pockmarked face reflects the sky and holds the stars'." The emperor thought this man was very funny and asked, "What about your lame leg?" He replied: "Go back to the Holy Land. This is' jumping on one foot and taking the lead'." The emperor was satisfied with his agility and asked, "I ask you a question, and you have to answer truthfully: Who do you think is the best writer in the world now?" He thought for a moment and said, "the articles in the world belong to my county, the articles in my county belong to my hometown, and the articles in my hometown belong to my brother." My brother asked me to change the article. " The emperor was overjoyed. After reading his article, I was even more amazed: "It is worthy of being the first in the world!" So he was appointed as the champion.

The talent, wisdom and diligence of this ugly scholar made him a superstar-the top four of the Big Dipper, in charge of fame and fortune. Take the word "kui" apart, half of it is "ghost" and the other half is "fight". It should be the talented Kuixing people and Beidou constellation. It is said that you are what the calligraphy in Kuixing's hand criticizes you, which is the origin of the saying that "if you write too much, you are afraid of calligraphy and don't nod".

It is said that since then, dragon and octopus patterns have been carved on the slate in the middle of the steps of the main hall of the palace, and a chief bucket has been placed next to it.

At the end of the exam, candidates gather in front of the palace, and Jinshi stands at the bottom of the steps to meet the list. The champion appeared at the top of the list, holding a fist, indicating "winning the championship in one fell swoop" and "taking the lead".

At present, the incense sticks in Kuixing Pagoda are still very prosperous, because the competition in modern society is more intense, all parents have high hopes for their children, and all students are looking forward to being top students, so they all come to worship Kuixing Pagoda, and each Kuixing Pagoda has a list of top students in the local college entrance examination over the years. However, as far as I know, none of the successful university questioners in ancient and modern times worshipped Kuixing.

The story of Qixi Qiaoqi Festival

Related to July 7th, there is also a story about Qixi Qiaoqi Festival. Because the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is deeply rooted in people's hearts, the Weaver Girl is regarded as the representative of intelligent women among the gods, and women hope to make themselves handy by worshipping the Weaver Girl. If you choose a festival, the most suitable day is of course the seventh day of July, so soon after the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was formed, the seventh day of July became the "Begging for Cleverness Festival", which has spread to all parts of the Tang Dynasty and reached its peak.

The earliest method of begging for cleverness was the night of the seventh day of July, when girls and daughters-in-law put melons and fruits in the yard and got up early the next day. If spiders are found to have made webs on it, it means that begging for cleverness has succeeded. According to "The Legacy of Kaiyuan", Li Longji, the emperor mentioned in the previous chapter, had dinner with his daughter-in-law Yang Yuhuan at Huaqing Palace on Tanabata night, then listed fruits and vegetables in the courtyard, looked at the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl overhead and lamented that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were not free. They only met once a year, but they were proud of their chic and could be with their loved ones every day. Swear by the stars that we will be husband and wife in the afterlife. Then beg for wisdom, let people bring spiders, put them in small boxes, put them next to melons and fruits, and wait until dawn to see them. The denser the net, the more cleverness they beg for. Li Longji vowed to be husband and wife again in the afterlife. Does he have a hunch? Li Shangyin's poem: "At this time, the six armies were stationed in Ma Su together, and at that time, the Chinese Valentine's Day smiled and led the cows" just showed the contrast between Li Longji's two situations in this Chinese Valentine's Day and later in Ma Su.

There are still many tricks to please! In some places, people think that the weaver girl is the youngest of the seven fairies, so she is called "Seven Sisters God". On the night of Qixi, the young women put on their most beautiful clothes, got together and sang to the Weaver Girl: "Yellow Emperor, Emperor, I invite seven sisters to heaven. Don't look at your needle, don't look at your thread, look at your seventy-two good means. " It's called "Worship Seven Sisters". They must also tie a scarecrow with straw, put on a flower coat, name him the ancient bridge, and present him with melons and fruits. Every girl's daughter-in-law brings a bowl of water from home, cuts up bean sprouts and shallots and puts them into the water. It is said that by looking at the projection of the moon in the water, you can know the master's cleverness.

In some places, washbasins are used to pick up dew on Tanabata night, saying that it is tears when cowherd and weaver girl meet, which can make people smart and agile when applied to their eyes and hands. Of course, the most common thing is to thread the needle in the game. In the dim moonlight of the seventh day, women touch the needles with colored threads. If they wear too much, it's just a coincidence, and everyone respects them. However, one scholar put it well: "The Weaver Girl has been looking forward to the Cowherd for a year. Tanabata is rare, and it will be finished in just a few hours. How can I have time for the whole world? "

Shu people wander around the Milky Way.

In the story of bullfighting sword, we mentioned Zhang Hua and his natural history. This book tells the story of Shu people going to heaven to meet the cowherd.

The ancients believed that the Milky Way in the sky was connected to the Yellow River at one end and the sea at the other. Some people who live by the sea often notice that in August every year, some large rafts (floating objects) will pass through the open sea, and they are especially punctual. A Shu man thought, where have these big rafts gone? Why don't I explore it once? So the man also made a big raft, built a cabin on the raft to shelter from the wind and rain, brought enough food, and floated away on the raft.

After walking for more than ten days, he knew that he was still at sea, because he could see the sun, the moon and the stars, and he could distinguish between day and night. Then it became muddy, and he couldn't see day and night clearly. After drifting for more than ten days, I suddenly discovered a new continent: there is a flat land in front, overlooking the ideal city, and the houses are neat and spectacular.

He thought: Is this a world or a fairyland? Why don't I take a closer look. When he approached, he found that the river he was sailing passed through the city, and on the right bank was a luxurious palace. Looking from the window, many women are weaving with looms. Look at the left bank. A man led a cow and gave it water by the river. The rafters were about to strike up a conversation when Petunia asked the distant visitor in surprise, "Why are you here?" The rafters briefly explained their ambition and experience of seeking adventure and asked, "What is this place?" Penny avoided answering, saying only, "Just go back and ask Yan Junping in Shu."

Rafters think this place is a bit secretive and strange, and they dare not stay ashore. I set foot on the raft to return home, and in August of the following year, I returned to the seaside where I started. In order to solve this mystery, he returned to Shu, and after many twists and turns, he finally found it and told him the story. Yan Junping said: "I have a record here: on a certain day of a certain year, a guest star got mad." After staying on the raft for a few days, I found that it was the day when he talked to Penny. It turned out that when he arrived in Tianhe, he met Heaven, Cowherd and Weaver Girl, and he himself became a "guest star" at that moment.

Some people in modern times interpret this story as a record of ancient alien travel: a raft is a UFO. Ancient astronauts were still in the solar system for more than ten days after starting from the earth, so they could be divided into day and night, and after flying out of the solar system, they were all day and night. After it flew to Altair, it was observed by Yan Junping, a scholar on the ground, so there was a saying that "the guest star made Altair". It's a bit like a modern myth.

Zhang Qian and Historical Records

After this story, there appeared the story of Zhang Qian going to the Milky Way by raft.

Zhang Qian, an explorer in the Han Dynasty, made many missions to the Western Regions. It is said that when he was sent to the western regions in summer, he also made a big raft and went up the Yellow River, hoping to find the source of the Yellow River. After walking for several months, he found the Yellow River, not the source.

More and more wide, more and more clear, and then came to a city wall, dotted with towers, regular streets, rivers passing through the city.

He rowed in curiously and saw a man holding a cow on the river bank, and the cow was sticking its head into the river to drink water; There is a woman washing clothes on the other side. Zhang Qian drew the raft closer to the woman and asked, "Sister-in-law, what is this place?" This time, the woman stopped playing the suspense and replied cheerfully, "This is Tianhe! Are you from the earth? " Zhang Qian replied, "Yes, it's been hard for months." Seeing a stone beside the woman, its shape and color are unprecedented, she asked, "What kind of stone is this?" The woman said, "This is called a machine stone. If you like it, I will give it to you. " Zhang Qian took the stone and looked at it. It turned out that a stone bar pressed the cloth on the loom. He said in surprise, "Oh, I see, you are a weaver girl!" " The woman nodded.

After traveling around the city, Zhang Qian found his way down the Yellow River and returned to China. In order to find out what happened, he also came to Shu to ask, but he couldn't find it and left the machine stone in Chengdu. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a Tianning Temple in Chengdu, and there were always sacrificial stones displayed in the temple. It is said that it is "high with people, slightly blue and purple" (probably a meteorite), which was mentioned earlier when talking about Emperor Wenchang. Now Chengdu also has "bosom friend stone street".

It seems that the rafters in natural history and this Zhang Qian explore the sea in the east and the Yellow River in the west. As a result, they all went to the Milky Way, which was quite a cross-strait voyage around the world.

About the latter story, many people mentioned it in their poems. For example, Liu Yuxi's "Langtaosha" in the Tang Dynasty wrote:

The Yellow River winds from a distant place, carrying thousands of miles of yellow sand. Since you are from the sky, and now you seem to fly directly to the Milky Way, please take me to the sky, gather in the Milky Way, and go to the home of Cowherd and Weaver Girl together.

Song Wenzhi's "Ming River Map" says more clearly: "... Ming River material is not friendly, I am willing to take advantage. I will also support the Weaver Girl and go to Chengdu to sell fortune tellers. " "He Ming" is the Milky Way, and "Chengdu Merchants" refers to Yan Junping.

Li Shangyin's "Haike" is the most interesting: "Haike rides on the purple gas, and it stops weaving and smelling. You should only be jealous of the cow and say to give you the machine stone. " "Purple gas" refers to the sky, and "Xing 'e" is the weaver girl. She was not afraid of the cowherd being jealous, so she chatted with Zhang Qian for a long time and gave the stone to others.

Someone also wrote, "Why don't you look for Sun Jin and just bring a stone back?" That is to say, since I met my grandson's daughter, why not bring some brocade back from the sky and only a broken stone? This man's view smacks of a western explorer.