Chinese polar exploration: from Dayu's flood control to the "Central Kingdom"

In recent years, the topic of the migration of ancient Chinese to North America has aroused heated discussions in the historical circles at home and abroad. That is because a group of cultural relics related to ancient Chinese culture have been discovered in North America, and many scholars have discussed it from different angles. The more consistent view in the academic community is that 10,000 years ago, the residents of the East Asian continent arrived in the American continent through the Bering Strait and multiplied and lived here. Nowadays, when you come to the Bering Strait and the Kamchatka Peninsula on both sides of the strait, and the Arctic Circle in Alaska, you can vaguely feel a kind of cultural atmosphere from the ancient East. The question is how to be sure that it is from China? Scholars searched from the rich ancient Chinese myths and legends and seemed to have found some connection in this regard. In fact, this issue has also been mentioned in the writings of some scholars. For example, Mr. Yang Kuan's "History of the Warring States" has: "The "Shi Zi" said: 'The cold in the north is six feet thick and the wood bark is three inches; there is ice that does not melt on the left and right of the North Pole.

The North Star refers to the star closest to the North Celestial Pole, so it is not always the same. At this stage, it refers to "Gou Chen I". The North Star is about 434 light-years away from the Earth, with a mass slightly greater than 4 times that of the Sun. It is a star with relatively stable brightness and position that can be seen in the night sky.

The creator of the North Star was the Jinzi clan, who was the earliest female leader of the Han nationality in ancient Chinese legends. Therefore, the North Star is also called the Purple Palace and the Purple Palace. Purple is a synonym for Xuan, and the female leader of the palace is Yin Dexing, the Jinzi Holy Mother Jiu Tian Xuan Nu. 15,000 to 13,000 years ago, the North Star was named Vega after the Vega of the Jinzi clan, which originated from the ancient Han people's natural worship of the ancient stars.

Jinzi invented a method of twisting tree bark into ropes. There are three types of ropes made by this method. The first type is a rope with only one strand, called "Xuan", the second type is a rope with two strands, called "Zi", and the third type is a rope with three strands, called "Suo". Because of her contribution to mankind, people honored her as the Empress. Later, Suiren and Jinzi joined together and established a blood alliance. So people also called her Suiren Jinzi.

In Japanese mythology, there is a legend that people who have seen the Northern Lights together will have a long-lasting love and a lifetime of happiness. Everyone who has seen the Northern Lights will never forget them. People who have not seen them may even regard seeing the Northern Lights as a lifelong dream. Now we all know that the Northern Lights is a colorful luminous phenomenon that appears in the high magnetic latitudes of the Arctic. But in ancient times, there were various beautiful legends about the Northern Lights.

In medieval European mythology, the goddess of dawn, Aurora, fell in love with the beautiful boy, Tithonus. After that, at every dawn, when she flew to her lover in her golden chariot, her longing for him turned into a dazzling light in the sky, shining and moving. Every couple who has witnessed the Northern Lights together firmly believes that they will be blessed by Aurora. Every year, couples come hand in hand to let this rare but shining Northern Lights witness their happy promise. However, there are more love legends about the Northern Lights. There are similar but different legends in Japan, China, North America, and Northern Europe.

In ancient China, the aurora was an ancient god called Zhulong. There are also records about the aurora in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas". The book talks about a god in the north, who looks like a red snake and shines in the night sky. Its name is Zhulong. The "Classic of Mountains and Seas: Great Wilderness North" has the following description about Zhulong: "Beyond the northwest sea, north of the Red River, there is Zhangwei Mountain. There is a god with a human face and a red snake body, with straight eyes and a straight riding. When he closes his eyes, it is dark, and when he sees, it is bright. He does not eat, sleep, or rest. He is visited by wind and rain. He is Zhu Jiuyin, and he is called Zhulong." The Zhulong referred to here is actually the aurora.

In ancient Greece, Aurora was the daughter of the Greek god Titan. The term Aurora comes from the Latin word Eos. Legend has it that Eos is the incarnation of "dawn" (actually, it refers to the morning light and the morning glow) in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of the Greek god Titan, the sister of the sun god and the moon god, and the mother of many winds such as the north wind and many stars such as the evening star. Aurora was also said to be the wife of the constellation Orion.

In ancient Norway, the aurora borealis was the dancing of the gods. The idea that the aurora borealis was the dancing of the gods was extremely common among the ancient Norse people. Until the early 21st century, residents of the west coast of Norway still viewed the northern lights as old ladies dancing and waving their white-gloved hands. In Finland, it is also common to associate old women with the aurora borealis. In a folk proverb referring to the aurora borealis, it is said: "The women of the north are flying in the sky again."

In Denmark, the Northern Lights are the fluttering wings of swans. In Danish folk tales, there is a most romantic saying that the Northern Lights are caused by a group of swans. The group of swans flew to the far north and were trapped by ice. Whenever they flapped their wings to fight for freedom, they would be reflected in the sky, and the Northern Lights were seen in Denmark.

In Finland, the aurora borealis means burning fox fire, meaning that the northern lights are caused by a fox with shining fur, which is flying rapidly across the Lapland mountains. Very interesting is a Lapland provincial painting from 1767, which depicts a fox hunting scene under the northern lights.

The Indians said that people in the Northern Lights had a light on their heads. The North American Indians believed that the appearance of the Northern Lights was related to the Indian tribes living on the northernmost ice going out on a journey of several days. It was said that these Indians were very strong and could catch big whales with their bare hands. When they made a fire to burn their prey, the fire reflected in the sky and became the Northern Lights.

It is natural for any nation or tribe to understand the unique natural phenomenon of the Aurora based on events that they are familiar with. For example, fishermen in some places have to go fishing every day, and they believe that the Aurora is a torch provided by the fish king to help fishermen catch fish late at night. There are also various interpretations of daily life. Some people in Northern Europe believe that the Aurora is a torch provided by an old lady.

Since ancient times, people have always been curious and confused: If we keep going north, where will we reach? Who was the first to discover the North Pole?

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Huangdi, a great flood occurred. His grandson Zhu learned that there was "Xiran" in the Emperor of Heaven. The "Hai Nei Jing" says: "Xiran means that the soil grows and rests infinitely, so it can stop the flood." In other words, Xiran is a kind of soil that can grow and expand by itself. "Xi" means to grow; Xiran refers to the soil that can grow by itself. So, Zhu stole the "Xiran" from the Emperor of Heaven to control the flood for the people, which violated the rules of heaven. He was killed by the Emperor of Heaven before his career was completed. Zhu's son Yu continued his father's career, which is the famous story of Yu the Great controlling the flood, which has been passed down for thousands of years.

Dayu's flood control is a famous ancient Chinese myth. He is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. During the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, the Yellow River flooded. Su and Yu, father and son, were ordered by Emperors Yao and Shun to control the flood. Chongbo and Xiabo were responsible for flood control. Dayu led the people to fight against the flood. Facing the raging flood, Dayu learned lessons from the failure of Su's flood control and changed the method of "blocking". He dredged the flood and turned the flood into water conservancy. He finally won the victory, showing his wisdom and wisdom in leading the people to overcome difficulties. In order to control the flood, Dayu fought with the people for many years, disregarding his personal interests, and "passed by his home three times without entering". Dayu controlled the flood for 13 years, exhausted his energy and physical strength, and finally completed the great cause of flood control.

The mythical Yu the Great was not only a hero who controlled floods for the people, but also an explorer who traveled around the world. After completing the flood control project, Yu the Great sent the god Tai Zhang to measure the earth with his footsteps. Tai Zhang walked from the easternmost point to the westernmost point and measured the length as "233,500 li and 75 steps" (Huainanzi: Zhuixingxun). Yu the Great also sent the god Shu Hai to walk from the north pole to the south pole and use a 6-inch long bamboo stick called "suan" to measure the earth. The result was exactly the same as the east-west distance. It can be seen that the earth where people live should be square, and they are in the center of the square earth surrounded by four seas, so it is logical to call themselves "the central country", that is, China.

What is valuable is that Dayu personally explored the horizon and carried out diplomatic activities. He went east to Fusang, where the sun rises; he went west to the plains of Jiujin and Qingqiang, climbed high mountains to the Bird Valley Kingdom, the Black Tooth Kingdom and the Qingqiu Kingdom with nine-tailed foxes. He went south to Jiaozhi, crossed the extremely hot Jiuyang Mountain, and went to the Feathered People Kingdom, the Naked People Kingdom and the Undying Kingdom. He went west to Sanwei Mountain Kingdom where the three blue birds of the Queen Mother of the West lived, and met people who only drank dew and did not eat grains; he also went to the Jijin Mountain full of gold and met the strange brain man and the one-armed three-faced man. He went north to Lingzheng Kingdom and Quanrong Kingdom, crossed Jishi Mountain, and went to the North Sea to visit Yu Jiang, who was also the god of the sea and the god of the wind.

There are other versions in ancient Chinese legends, saying that after leaving Yujiang, Dayu intended to go home, but got lost in the vast snowstorm and went further north, until he mistakenly entered the North Country - a barren land with no grass. This is the earliest imagination of the Arctic in Chinese civilization.

This country at the end of the north may be the first recorded Arctic expedition in my country.

Although these records come from myths, when we stand on this side of time, there is no need to discuss the other side of time. In any case, these written records are, after all, a part of the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization related to the Arctic and worthy of admiration!

Author: Yu Chun

Graduated from Tsinghua University with a major in automatic control, and studied modern literature at the Graduate School of Sun Yat-sen University. He was the editor-in-chief, editor, colonel, and fourth-level professional and technical personnel of the "Navy Equipment" magazine; a director of the Third China Periodical Association, a member of the Guangdong Writers Association, a visiting professor at the Naval Command College, a naval flight safety management expert, a weapons and equipment management expert, and a senior editor.

He has been committed to literary creation, writing scientific and technological articles, holding special lectures, and engaging in the development and research of weapons and equipment, especially in the field of risk management research of high-tech equipment. His published works cover multiple fields of literature and science and technology. He has won more than 20 literary creation awards and military science and technology progress awards inside and outside the military, and has been named an advanced publishing worker of the Navy three times, and has been awarded the third-class merit three times.