The Legend of Mermaid in Shan Hai Jing

? "Mermaid" frequently appears in the ancient book Shan Hai Jing. Moreover, there are more than one kind of mermaid described in Shan Hai Jing, and there are other animals such as mermaid, red ray, Moody and so on. Have the characteristics of a mermaid. Although some scholars think that the mermaid described in Shan Hai Jing may be a kind of giant salamander (commonly known as giant salamander) or whale, I think this explanation may be consistent with some of the mermaid described in Shan Hai Jing, but it cannot explain all the mermaid.

"Shan Hai Jing" Xi Mountain View: "Zhushan, Danshui, Luoshui in the southeast, abundant water and jade, and many mermaids". So this freshwater is the legendary mermaid country? Danjiangkou Reservoir in Xichuan County, Nanyang City, Henan Province is the largest artificial lake in Asia. The early lakes were not as big as they are now, but before the reservoir was built, the legend of "Mermaid" had been circulating in the original waters. The magical mermaid swam around in the water, colorful crops "Mu Dan" on both sides of the river were harvested, and all kinds of jade covered the riverbed.

? Danjiang, known as fresh water in ancient times, is a tributary of the Han River, the largest tributary of the Yangtze River. Its sources are diverse, but it mainly originated in the southern foot of Fenghuang Mountain in Shaanxi Province (now Qinling Mountain in Shangluo City). It was named after the legend that Dani, the grandson of Dayu, led the tribe to control water here. It was once the seat of Danyang, the earliest capital of Chu State, and also the seat of Mi Shang, the capital of Gutan State in the Western Zhou Dynasty. "Freshwater" and "Mu Dan" appear many times in Shan Hai Jing, a fantastic ancient geography book. Shan Hai Jing ·Xi· Shan Jing: "There are many Mu Dan trees on Lushan Mountain, with red leaves and yellow solid red flowers, which taste like pulp and are not hungry. Dan water flows out and flows into Jize in the west, among which many white jade and ... jade paste flow out to water Dan wood. Mu Dan is five years old, with five colors and five flavors. " According to the available data, Mishan is located in Shangzhou District, Shangluo City, Shaanxi Province, also known as Mishan. It is believed that "fresh water" originated in the southern foot of Qinling Mountains in Shangluo City. This is completely in line with the actual geography. There are towering old trees and many "Mu Dan" in Funiu Mountain area of Qinling Mountains. Danjiang River and Hanjiang River meet in Xichuan, which originated in Qin. It is feasible that the whole river, especially the middle and lower reaches of Danjiang River, once had a "mermaid". As a gathering place of fresh water, Danchu Lake in Xichuan is probably the place where mermaids and China people lived in the Classic of Mountains and Seas in ancient times.

? "Historical Records" once recorded that the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang "takes mermaid cream as a candle, which lasts for a long time but is not immortal". That is to say, the oil extracted from mermaid, as the fuel of the ever-burning lamp of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, can burn for a long time without extinguishing. What kind of fish is this mermaid? There is no way to prove it now. Perhaps in the future, with the expansion of human knowledge about the origin of species, the origin of the earth, the origin of the universe and the deep-sea world, it will be closer to the truth. "Mermaid cream" was found in the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, and fresh water originated in Qin Dynasty, which makes sense.

The world is full of wonders, and existence is reasonable. In the west, God created man; in the east, Nu Wa created man; in the west, there is a mermaid legend; in the east, there is a mermaid legend. There are always striking similarities between fairy tales and historical origins in the East and the West. In the long evolution of human beings and other species, many species have been influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution, "natural selection, survival of the fittest." Some species may have been completely extinct, but there is no denying that they once existed, or they did not adapt to the original living environment, hiding in a corner of the earth or hiding in the deep sea. After all, 70% of the earth is ocean, and human understanding of the ocean, especially the deep sea, is still very limited. It is generally believed that species originated from the ocean, which may be "the first hometown in the distant memory of mankind". It is hard to say whether there is a "Jiao Ren" in the deep sea. Maybe there is a "sea hidden in the center of the earth" in the deep sea, just as the movie "Aquaman" assumes. Perhaps there are many connecting channels between underground rivers on land and underground undercurrents in the deep sea.