Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 669 Kunlun
"Mr. Hou, I would like to ask, how long can you live if you don't hibernate?"

After Hou Mingyu finished answering Huang Ji's question, Shi Qiang, who was also attending the meeting, interrupted and asked a question.

The immediate issue is to confirm whether Hou Mingyu's compatriot is still alive.

Whether you're alive or dead, the way you search for it is different.

If they're alive, a global population census is needed; if they're dead, then Hu Bayi and his fellow tomb raiders have to step in.

Hou Mingyu pondered for a moment and said:

"Generally speaking, anyone who has taken the elixir of immortality can live to be five hundred years old."

If paired with a hibernation pod, my clansman could theoretically still be alive today.

But I suspect he's no longer alive, because if he were, he would have kept in touch with me all these years.

Moreover, I haven't been able to find my fellow humans who went into hibernation with me back then. Considering the destruction of Atlantis in your human mythology, something must have happened after we fell into slumber.

"Then I guess we'll have to ask Dr. Huang and Mr. Hu for help with this."

Upon hearing this, Shi Qiang looked at Huang Ji and Hu Bayi. The former was well-versed in Chinese history and might be able to find clues about the Eastern King in the classics, while the latter was skilled in the art of moving mountains and tombs. If there really was a secret about the Eastern King, Hu Bayi might have to take action.

"As for Poseidon, Western mythology is very fake, and there is probably no trace of him."

However, Dongwanggong did have several different appearances in China in his later years.

The Eastern Han Dynasty text *Wu Yue Chun Qiu* states that the Yue people "established a sacrifice in the eastern suburbs to worship the sun, named Donghuang Gong; and established a sacrifice in the western suburbs to worship the yin, named Xi Wangmu."

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the "Pillow Book" bestowed upon him the honorific title of Emperor Fusang, the Eastern King, and the title of Yuanyang Father.

In the Southern Dynasties' "True Spirit Rank Chart", the Eastern King Duke was placed in the left position of Shangqing, and was called "Taiwei Dongxia Fusang Danlin Great Emperor Shangdaojun".

Then, in the Southern Song Dynasty, the "Complete Collection of Deities from the Three Teachings" stated that the Eastern Emperor was called Yuanyangfu, and on the first day of the first month of the sixth year of the Zhiyuan era of the Holy Dynasty, he was given the honorific title of Donghua Zifu Shaoyang Emperor.

From the Eastern King Duke to the Eastern Emperor, this entire lineage of divine evolution continued until the Southern Song Dynasty.

Therefore, we can boldly speculate that this "Eastern King" might still be active during the Southern Song Dynasty.

After Huang Ji finished speaking, Hou Mingyu nodded in agreement.

"Just as I thought, but during the Song and Yuan dynasties, the information about the East in history was interrupted."

Moreover, even knowing that he remained active until the Southern Song Dynasty, it is difficult to find any trace of him.

"We definitely won't find Dongwanggong, so we need to focus our attention on Lu Zu, the reincarnation of Donghua Dijun," Huang Ji said with a slight smile.

Lü Zu, whose original name was Lü Yan, or Lü Yan, courtesy name Dongbin, also known as Chunyangzi or Yankezi, and who called himself Huidaoren, was known by his courtesy name and was commonly referred to as Lü Dongbin.

This is yet another prominent figure in Chinese history and mythology.

He was born in the fourteenth year of the Zhenyuan era of the Tang Dynasty. He was from Hezhong Prefecture, Puzhou, Hedong (now Yongle Town, Ruicheng County, YC City, SX Province). He was the patriarch of the Danding School of Taoism.

Lü Dongbin studied under Zhongli Quan and later passed on his teachings to Liu Haichan and Wang Chongyang. He was revered as one of the "Five Northern Patriarchs" by the Quanzhen School of Taoism and is also one of the "Eight Immortals" in folk legends.

He is popularly known as "Emperor Fuyou", "Lu Chunyang", "Master Chunyang", "Lord En", "Immortal Lord", "Ancestor Lu", etc.

"Although Lü Dongbin was born in the fourteenth year of the Zhenyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, his active period lasted until the Song Dynasty."

According to records from the Northern Song Dynasty, such as "Chenxinglu" and "Yueyang Fengtu Ji":
During the Zhidao era of the Northern Song Dynasty, when Lü Dongbin passed through Yueyang, he rested under an ancient pine tree south of the city. An old monk came down from the top of the tree, bowed to him, pointed at him with pity, and revealed that he was Lü Xian.

Dongbin was very surprised and was amazed that this person was extraordinary, so he gave him a pill of immortality and wrote a poem on the wall.

Compared to the legendary Dongwanggong, who exists only in mythology, Lü Dongbin, a deity, left behind many traces in the human world, making him slightly easier to find.

After listening to Huang Ji's analysis, Shi Qiang, Hu Bayi, and the others nodded repeatedly. Indeed, with China's national strength, they were not afraid of spending time and effort, but they were afraid of having no clue where to start.

Even Hou Mingyu's eyes lit up when he heard Huang Ji's words. Although he had been alone on Earth for decades and had gotten used to it, deep down he still hoped to find his fellow clansmen from back then. Whether they were dead or alive, it would be good to see them.

Shi Qiang clearly noticed this as well.

For them, they are not afraid that Hou Mingyu, this alien, has something to ask for; they are afraid that he has nothing to ask for.

Given the possibility of a Three-Body crisis, being able to make contact with Hou Mingyu, a living alien who still harbors some goodwill towards humanity, is truly an unexpected delight, and of course, we must hold onto him tightly.

Seeing that Hou Mingyu had finally taken the bait, Shi Qiang asked:

"By the way, Mr. Hou, if I may ask, what was the purpose of you and your people coming to Earth back then?"

"We? We're just enthusiasts of primitive civilizations."

Hou Mingyu spoke in a calm tone, as if stating a fact.

“We particularly appreciate primitive civilizations that rely on the ocean, just like you Kunlun people often go to the Caribbean or some beautiful islands in Southeast Asia for vacation.”

Shi Qiang fell silent, as did Hu Bayi and Liu Qianqian. They had a lot to say, but they didn't know where to begin.

Fortunately, Huang Ji was more composed than them, and laughed:
Before the Trisolaran civilization appeared to the public, we humans had actually considered the existence of extraterrestrials and even simulated how to communicate with them many times.

In the view of some of our scholars, contact between humanity and extraterrestrial civilizations will inevitably come at a terrible cost.

This is the inevitable result of the disparity in power. If extraterrestrial civilizations discover humanity, then humanity will face immense despair.

Just like when the Spanish discovered the Americas, they brought devastating disasters to the local people.

War, plague, plunder, and famine plagued that continent for centuries until the three major American civilizations perished.

Moreover, even if aliens do not choose to exterminate humanity, it will be difficult for humanity to continue to control its own destiny; assimilation may be the best outcome.

The emergence of the Three-Body Crisis seems to confirm this point: the universe is not so safe, and aliens are not so easy to contact.

But I study the Classic of Mountains and Seas and ancient Chinese civilization. After we discovered the truth that ancient Chinese extraterrestrial civilizations existed, and with the appearance of you, Mr. Hou, it seems to tell us that there are also friendly extraterrestrials.

This was truly unexpected; for enthusiasts of primitive civilizations… to be honest, we never even considered it.”

Hou Mingyu said noncommittally:

"The word 'friendly' is not quite right. The universe is vast, and there are many intelligent civilizations of all kinds."

Your human assessment of contact with intelligent life in the universe is generally correct, but it is too radical.

I must also remind you that I only represent myself.

Huang Ji nodded.

"That's true. We've overlooked the possibility that humans might encounter individuals from interstellar civilizations, and the behavior of an individual cannot be evaluated in terms of the collective interests of a civilization."

However, based on the collective interests of civilizations, they will still act like the Trisolaran civilization.

"Not at all."

Hou Mingyu then retorted: "Using the example of European colonists conquering the Americas to draw an analogy between interstellar civilizations and Earth is very inappropriate."

This analogy is famous, but Spain conquered the Americas for their incredibly rich resources, which are not available on Earth.

For true interstellar civilizations, Earth has nothing. Civilizations capable of traversing interstellar space have barren planets where resources can be mined.

"But there is life on Earth, isn't there? Isn't that precious? Otherwise, why would you specifically call it Kunlun?"

Earth… and humanity on Earth, that’s the most valuable thing, isn’t it? Otherwise, why would the Trisolaran civilization go to such lengths to launch an expedition, and why have you come here?”

"You actually know about 'Kunlun'?!"

This time, Hou Mingyu looked at Huang Ji with a more serious expression, and his tone became more formal.

"As expected, humanity's potential is indeed great. No wonder the Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan fought over this planet back then."

"Wait, what are you talking about? What Kunlun? Kunlun Mountain?"

Hu Bayi suddenly interrupted and asked, for the Kunlun Divine Palace had left a deep impression on him.

"It's not Kunlun Mountain, it's 'Kunlun,' the 'Kunlun' mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas and by aliens."

Huang Ji said slowly and deliberately.

"The Kunlun Mountains that we often refer to today were officially designated by Emperor Wu of Han, who named the mountains within the territory of Khotan in the Western Regions as the Kunlun Mountains."

Later, this name became the name of the mountain range that spans the three provinces of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Qinghai.

But that is not the Kunlun mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

"So where exactly is Kunlun?" Hu Bayi asked hurriedly.

Huang Ji spread his hands and laughed, "Kunlun is right beneath our feet, we are right here in Kunlun."

Hu Bayi looked around in astonishment: "You mean, [Kunlun] is a virtual dream space?"

Huang Ji quickly shook his head: "No, Kunlun is the name of Earth."

"what!"

Hu Bayi was taken aback, as were Shi Qiang and the others, except for Hou Mingyu.

Seeing Huang Ji looking over, he nodded slightly in agreement.

“Earth…Earth?
Is Kunlun the name of Earth?
How can this be?

The ancients even gave the Earth a name: Kunlun?

"It may not have been named by the ancients. It was probably given by aliens. Of course, it is more likely that the dragon race named Earth 'Kunlun,' and the ancients recorded it in the Classic of Mountains and Seas."

Hu Bayi, Shi Qiang, and the others exchanged bewildered glances. Huang Ji thought for a moment and explained:

"In fact, if you have studied the ancient mythology and ancient writing of China, you should know that the writing of a race or civilization was originally pictographic and ideographic."

Egyptian hieroglyphs are like this, Chinese characters are like this, and the scripts of dragons or birds should also be like this.

Therefore, we look at the oracle bone inscriptions of Kunlun.

Huang Ji spoke while bringing up the projector.

"The character '昆' has not evolved much. In oracle bone script, it is '日' (sun) above and '比' (compare) below, which is a pictograph of small people standing in a row under the sun. The meaning is 'all living beings under the sun,' that is, people who all believe in the sun."

Therefore, the character '昆' also means a clan or group; 昆 means one of the same kind.

Of course, strictly speaking, it should be described as 'an intelligent race living under the sun'.

As for the character '仑', its pictographic and ideographic nature depicts a knotted rope placed inside a house. On one hand, it represents information and knowledge; on the other hand, it also signifies order, structure, and sequence.

With this explanation, even a fool would understand what the words "Kunlun" represent.

"So, when 【昆】 and 【仑】 are combined, they refer to the place of order for all living beings under heaven?"

Liu Qianqian blinked and looked at Hou Mingyu beside her for confirmation.

Hu Bayi clapped his hands as well.

"That's right, Kunlun Mountain is the capital of the emperor, isn't it a place that represents the order of all living beings?"

Huang Ji smiled and said:
"【Kunlun】 combined means 'all living beings under the sun are in good order', not 'something place'. It is not a place name."

In fact, just looking at the two characters 'Kunlun', one can sense its profound cultural significance. Furthermore, we know that extraterrestrials existed in ancient times, and the name 'Kunlun' was coined by them. It is even less likely that it was simply a name chosen arbitrarily for the sake of naming a place.

Anything that is round and solid is called Kunlun; anything round and unbroken is called Hunlun.

In ancient Chinese contexts, or perhaps in the language of the Dragon Clan, the word "Kunlun" likely also carries the meaning of a clear and bright world, or a distinction between purity and turbidity.

Therefore, if it is to be used as a place name, then the precise and unambiguous meaning of the two characters 【昆仑】 should be 'a perfectly round place where intelligent life can live in order under the illumination of the sun.'

"A perfectly round place where intelligent life can live in order under the sun?"
This is just Earth!

Hu Bayi chuckled and said, "Aliens, they make things so complicated."

Huang Ji shook his head.

"You don't understand. Pictographic and ideographic characters are profound and extensive. Whether it is the Dragon Clan script or the Chinese characters that are inherited from it, each character has an incomparably vast and wonderful meaning."

If we consider English as a two-dimensional script, expressing meaning through the arrangement of 26 letters, then Chinese characters are a three-dimensional script, recording more complex information through a pattern within a fixed area.

Furthermore, these pictographic and ideographic characters can continuously evolve and grow with the accumulation of culture and history. The orderly transmission means that even if the meaning of some characters is lost due to war or natural disasters, later generations can still guess the meaning by looking at the characters.

So tell me, can the word "Earth" alone truly and clearly point to the planet beneath our feet?
Earth, a giant solid planet. But what about the Moon? Mars? Jupiter? Can they also be called 'Earth'?

If a civilization were to disappear, and future generations were to unearth our ancient texts from the ruins, would they know which planet in the solar system this "Earth" refers to?

I don't think so, but Kunlun is possible, because I just explained it in a rather complicated way to make it clear.

In fact, using our current language system, the term "habitable planet" can be simply summarized as such.

The ancients, or perhaps the dragon race, used an even more concise approach, summarizing it in just two words: 【Kunlun】.

Hu Bayi, Shi Qiang, and the others were stunned. A habitable planet?!

A perfectly round place where intelligent life can live in an orderly manner under the sun's rays—isn't that what astronomy calls a habitable planet?
Chinese culture is indeed profound and extensive. Our ancestors in ancient times actually summarized the concept of habitable stars and simplified it into the beautiful name "Kunlun".

Yes, the name was given by the dragons, but the dragons are also the ancestors of Chinese civilization.

(End of this chapter)