Qinglong

Author: Wang Congren
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-12-01
Features: The Strange Birth of a Beauty
Ancient people often said that beautiful women could overthrow nations, and that women were the cause of a country's downfall. Blaming women for the decline of a nation was far too unfair. Of course, this is not to argue for or against it, but rather to trace the divine origin of a beauty who was unjustly labeled as one of the "harbingers of a doomed nation." She should have been one of the most innocent among them.
The story can be traced back to the late Xia Dynasty, when the Xia Dynasty was nearing its end and strange events became increasingly common. One day, two dragons—male and female—suddenly descended upon the grand hall of the Xia King, copulating openly in front of the king and his ministers, claiming to be the late ruler and queen of the state of Bao. The king and his courtiers were terrified, hastily summoning a sorcerer for divination. The oracle's interpretation indicated that killing, removing, or stopping them was ill-fated. Someone, however, had an outlandish idea: to collect their semen. To their astonishment, the divination revealed great fortune.
Thus, the Xia King had offerings placed before the two strange dragons, inscribing his request on bamboo slips and solemnly praying for their consent. To his surprise, the dragons vanished, leaving behind a large amount of semen. The king had it placed in a chest and stored in the palace. Over the years, no one dared to open the chest, and peace reigned.
By the end of King Li of Zhou's reign, this greedy and cruel ruler suddenly had an idea and opened the chest to take a look. This decision brought great disaster. The dragon's semen, left on the palace floor, could not be swept away. King Li summoned the palace women, who stripped naked and shouted at the semen to ward off the evil spirits. But as soon as the women began to shout, the semen gathered into a large black lizard, which rushed into the king's harem. The women screamed and fled in terror. A young palace girl of about seven or eight, still in the process of losing her baby teeth and not fully understanding the situation, was struck by the lizard. She felt a slight sensation in her abdomen but paid no mind to it. Little did she know, this encounter sowed the seed of misfortune.
When she grew up, the virgin girl became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. This child's arrival was mysterious, and the girl, fearing for her life, abandoned her on the palace wall. By then, King Li had already died, and it was the era of King Xuan. For a year or two, a lullaby circulated in the streets of Haojing (now Chang'an County, Shaanxi):
"The mulberry bow, the hemp bag, the that destroyed the Zhou."
This song spread everywhere, even reaching the palace, where King Xuan heard it and was greatly alarmed. He ordered a secret investigation. On the very day the girl was abandoned, a couple from the countryside arrived in the city, selling mulberry bows and hemp bags. Spies quickly reported this to King Xuan, who immediately sent men to arrest the couple, intending to eliminate the source of the.
A kind-hearted person, however, secretly revealed the truth to the couple. Hearing this, they were struck as if by lightning and hastily packed their wares, fleeing. Unfamiliar with the city and in a panic, they ended up near the royal palace. It was already dark, and the couple was at a loss when they heard a crying sound. Following the sound, they found the mysterious abandoned child.
The couple took the girl and fled to the state of Bao, where they sought refuge with a nobleman named Bao Ji. The girl was adopted and named Bao Xi. Over the next ten years, Bao Xi grew into a beautiful young woman, renowned for her "beauty that could make fish sink and birds fall, and her face that could shame the flowers and close the moon."
However, Bao Ji unknowingly offended the law and offered Bao Xi to the royal court as a way to atone. Bao Xi became the new queen of King You of Zhou. Though she was stunningly beautiful, she rarely smiled and always wore a stern expression. King You, determined to make her laugh, exhausted every effort. Once, a palace girl accidentally tore a piece of silk. Bao Xi let out a sharp laugh. Overjoyed, King You had a large amount of silk brought in, tearing it in front of her, hoping to elicit a smile. But Bao Xi not only failed to laugh but grew impatient and angry. After trying many methods, King You finally devised a bold plan. He ordered the beacons on the watchtowers to be lit and drums to be beaten, signaling an emergency.
The beacons were lit across the land, a signal used by the Zhou in times of crisis, summoning the feudal lords to send troops to the capital. Seeing the beacons, the lords hurriedly led their armies to the capital, only to discover they had been tricked. Filled with resentment, they left.
Bao Xi, brought to the watchtowers, watched as armies rushed below, like ants in a frenzy, vehicles colliding, generals roaring, and soldiers grumbling. Amused, she burst into laughter. Seeing her beauty, King You was overjoyed and repeated the trick several times, until fewer and fewer lords fell for it. Soon, the northern tribes of the Qu invaded, and King You, desperate, lit the beacons for help. But the lords, thinking it was another trick, sent no troops. As a result, King You was killed, Bao Xi was captured by the Qu, and the Western Zhou Dynasty fell.
This ancient story is recorded in The Biographies of Women by Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty, where the large lizard formed from the dragon's semen is called "Xuan Yun." The annotators of The Biographies of Women cite ancient texts that say, "Xuan Yun is a lizard, resembling a dragon." It seems clear that a lizard is a type of dragon. The image of a lizard-dragon is very ancient; a painted pottery bottle unearthed at Majiayao in Gansu depicts a lizard-dragon. Scholars have also cited other evidence, such as the cursive form of the dragon character in oracle bone script, which closely resembles a lizard. In folk lore, lizards are often called "dragon children," "mountain dragon children," "rock dragon children," or "spring dragon children." Of course, numerous ancient texts are cited, including the legend of "Xuan Yun" we have introduced. In summary, the idea that lizards are dragons is a widely held belief.
The Dragon Bone and Fan Feng
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the state of Wu attacked the state of Yue and occupied its capital, Yueshi, acquiring a large bone preserved by Yue. The bone was so enormous that a single section required a special cart to transport. The Wu army, unsure of what it was, asked the Yue people, who themselves could not explain it. The Wu king sent an envoy with the bone, driving a carriage to consult Confucius in Lu. The envoy first presented lavish gifts to the officials to smooth the way before meeting Confucius.
Confucius was presiding over a sacrifice when the envoy arrived. Not wanting to be rude, he removed the sacrificial vessels and hosted a banquet for the envoy. At the banquet, the envoy had the giant bone brought in and respectfully asked Confucius, "May I ask why this bone is so enormous?"
Confucius carefully examined the bone and thought for a moment before answering, "I have heard a story. After the Great Yu successfully controlled the floods, he summoned the gods to a meeting at Mount Yueshi. A man named Fan Feng arrived late and was ordered by Yu to be beheaded. The bones of Fan Feng could fit in a special cart, much like this one."
The envoy, secretly impressed, asked, "Then, who were these gods?"
Confucius replied, "It is simple. There are various gods. Those who guard famous mountains and rivers, who can bring wind and rain to benefit an area, are called gods. Those who guard the land are the feudal lords, and those who sacrifice to mountains and rivers are the vassal lords—all are under the jurisdiction of the."
The envoy, even more amazed by Confucius's erudition, asked another key question, "May I ask, what did Fan Feng guard?"
Confucius answered, "Listen carefully. Fan Feng was the ruler of Wang Mang, guarding Feng and Yu mountains. Their gods were surnamed Li. In the Yu and Xia dynasties, they were called Fan Feng; in the Shang Dynasty, Wang Mang; in the Zhou Dynasty, Chang Di; and now, they are the people of the Great Man State."
The envoy asked, "How tall are the people of the Great Man State?"
Confucius replied, "The Jiao Jiao people are the shortest, standing three feet tall. The people of the Great Man State are much taller, perhaps ten times as tall—about three zhang. That is the limit of human height."
The Wu envoy listened, utterly bewildered, but the more incomprehensible the answer, the more he admired Confucius, praising him repeatedly as a sage.
In truth, Confucius's answer was full of errors and contradictions. In China, there is a traditional belief that knowledge increases with age, and the older one is, the wiser. Knowledge is considered the exclusive domain of famous or powerful figures—the more famous or powerful, the more knowledgeable. However, Confucius was not an expert in this field, and his answer barely passed muster. He only managed to touch on the topic.
On the other hand, the folk tales of Fan Feng, though strange and fantastical, may contain more truth. An ancient text called Records of the Strange (), dating to the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties period, records that in the Wu-Yue region, a temple dedicated to Fan Feng was built, with statues of Fan Feng depicted as "with the head of a dragon and the ears of an ox, a single continuous brow, and a foot three zhang long." Moreover, in southern Sichuan, people with the surname Fan Feng were said to be their descendants and were exceptionally tall.
Another ancient text, Records of the Marvels of the World (), states that the people of the Great Man State were pregnant for thirty-six years and gave birth to white-haired children. They were so tall that they could only travel by cloud, not by foot, because they were "dragon-like."
Scholars have studied the world and found that stories of giant bones are often related to fossilized giant beasts. These fossils were discovered by early humans, who, unable to understand them, depicted, narrated, exaggerated, and deified them, creating many legends of giants. Even modern people are not immune to such illusions and imaginations. It is said that in the Old Testament, Genesis, Adam and Eve were giants. A Catholic priest even used fossilized giant beasts and anatomical methods to calculate Adam's height at 123.9 feet and Eve's at 118.995 feet, with great conviction.
It is clear that the giant bones called "Fan Feng" were indeed fossilized giant beasts, and the most likely candidates are fossils of dinosaurs from ancient times. Archaeological discoveries in China, such as the numerous dinosaur fossils unearthed in Hechuan, Sichuan, seem to have some connection to the Records of the Strange's account of Fan Feng in southern Sichuan. This tribe may have been relatively tall and, using the unearthed Gulong fossils as their ancestors, exaggerated the story, giving rise to many strange and fantastical legends.
Interestingly, a long-necked dragon resembling a dinosaur was unearthed in the tomb of Zeng Hou Yi of the Warring States period in Su County, Hubei, in the Chengqin (bell chimes). Similarly, a long-necked dragon on a Han-era brick relief from Honglou in Tongshan County, Jiangsu, also resembles a dinosaur. Perhaps ancient people truly saw some surviving dinosaurs, or perhaps they used complete dinosaur fossils as a basis to shape this image of a dragon; or perhaps it was all just a coincidence—we cannot say for sure. Some scholars believe that the image of the dragon originated from ancient dinosaurs, which seems to have some merit.