In China, there is a peculiar geography book called Shan Hai Jing, which can be called the "Animal World" book of China ancients. But because most animals are nowhere to be found, some people say that the ancient beasts in the book were invented by the ancients, while others say that these animals have long been extinct or evolved. For example, this book contains many dragons, such as Candle dragon, Jiaolong, Ying Long, Solanum nigrum and so on. So it also caused people in later generations to think, does the dragon exist or not?
▲ The Book Shadow of Shan Hai Jing
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In fact, many geographical locations described in Shan Hai Jing are real, and some cultures once existed, but some strange animals are difficult to verify. However, in the "South-to-North Water Diversion Project" at the beginning of this century, Chinese archaeologists once dug up a "dragon". After research, it was found that this object has a history of 6000 years.
This dragon is 7 meters long and was dug in Huangmei County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province. After the archaeologists found it, they immediately surveyed the surrounding area where the dragon was found. Sure enough, after a series of studies, experts found that this is a Neolithic site. And this "dragon" is paved with pebbles, 7 meters long, with a faucet, a dragon body, a fin tail and four legs. This image is very consistent with the legendary dragon image. Archaeologists say that it seems that the existence of "dragon" is irrefutable evidence.
▲ Dragon paved with stones
It is shocking that there is such a clear "dragon" totem in the ruins more than 6,000 years ago. Do dragons really exist? So, do many animals in Shan Hai Jing really exist? After all, after such a long time and historical changes, not all animals can leave their remains for verification.
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Candle dragon in Shan Hai Jing is a god. It has a snake face. When Candle dragon opened his eyes, it was daytime, and when he closed his eyes, it was night. If he inhales, it is winter, and then he exhales, it becomes summer. These absurd descriptions contain various associations of ancient China people with the mysterious animal dragon.
▲ Candle dragon portrait
We can understand that if the person who described Candle dragon really met Candle dragon, a magical animal, and just described its shape very bluntly, Shan Hai Jing might not be so famous. Because in ancient times, when science and technology were far from developed, people were full of doubts and curiosity about nature, and people endowed strange animals with various magical abilities, which could help them explain this suspicion.
Except Candle dragon, Solanum nigrum in Shan Hai Jing looks like a cow, and the prototype of Solanum nigrum may really be a giant cow. In ancient times, people used cowhide to make cowhide drums and designed them as percussion instruments. According to legend, it was because the Yellow Emperor got the dragon that he was able to have great power to deter Chiyou's army, thus defeating Chiyou. So in Chinese fairy tales, dragons are almost always very brave and sacred.
▲ Portrait of the Yellow Emperor
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However, in real life, archaeologists have also found many animal remains with "dragon shape". In a place called Zuiryuji in Japan, there is a specimen of a "real dragon". The Japanese said that he came to Japan from China.
It is said that fishermen found this "real dragon" at that time, but the Japanese saw it, so they bought it at a high price and brought it back to Japan. But this dragon didn't adapt to the climate in Japan at all, and it didn't take long to die. The Japanese thought it was a pity that the dragon died, so they made it into a specimen and kept it in Zuiliuji for so many years. However, the Japanese actually don't allow experts from other countries to check the specimens, so they don't know whether Zuiryuji's real dragon specimen is true or not.
▲ Zuiryuji's real dragon specimen.
Although the Japanese don't allow others to study the real dragon specimen, and China experts have also discovered the "new dragon", this fossil was discovered in Guizhou. The fossil of this animal looks a bit like a crocodile. The biggest difference is that the "new dragon" has horns and a long neck, and looks like the mythical Oriental dragon. However, according to records, the new dragon was a creature 220 million years ago and has long been extinct.
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Perhaps in the distant ancient times, dragons really existed, but later because of climate change and natural disasters, dragons disappeared in nature. In fact, there are species disappearing every day in this world, and there are so many species on the earth that what human beings know is just a "scratch". Who can say that dragons really don't exist? 6000 years ago, the ancients could make dragons. Is it really just because they have rich imagination?