20 replies to this topic

[snowybeagle]

中国未解之谜 The Unsolved Secrets of China


中国未解之谜(全三册,附光盘) http://store.sohu.co...sp?autoid=65118

Has anyone read this 3-volume book published by Beijing Publishing House (北京出版社)

Printed in January 2004, it has an accompanying CD-ROM, which unfortunately I had not been able to get to work. The CD-ROM has a 132MB pdf file, an Adobe Reader 4.0 and autorun. I could not get the reader to be installed, nor could my existing Adobe Reader 6.0 read the file, giving the error message

"There was an error opening this document. The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect."

The volumes are filled with colour photographs and aesthetically pleasing layout. The quality of the paper was excellent, though the entire design of the layout and covers bore strong resemblance to the internationally recognised Dorling Kindersley (DK) illustrated non-fiction publications, right down to the positioning of the publisher's logo.

I was glad to have borrowed the book from the local library - it would not have been worth buying for me who require a published book with the above title to have references, better writings and research, as well as a stringent criteria as to what constitute an "unsolved secret".

A fair number of the articles were little better than typical tabloid stuff on the level of "I saw UFO" or "Mysterious fires, causes unknown".

Some articles dealt with unexplained phenomena which probably has reasonable explanations which no attempt has been made to discount.

Some articles dealt with mere historical speculations.

Nonetheless, there were some nuggets that were genuinely interesting.

上册 Volume One addresses
(1) 自然之谜 Natural phenomena or nature,
(2) 动植物之谜 Flora and fauna, and
(3) 人类之谜 Humankind.

中册 Volume Two addresses
(4) 古文明之谜 Ancient civilisation
(5) 古代 历史之谜 Ancient history
(6) 近代悬案 Recent unresolved cases

下册 Volume Three addresses
(7) 文化之谜 Culture
(8) 民俗之谜 Customs
(9) 宗教之谜 Religions

In this thread, I will share my thoughts on some of the articles.
However, since there was absolutely no appendix provided for any referencing, it would be hard to verify or cross check the contents.
Only in a few articles was it mentioned in the contents some newspaper quotes or actual names and dates given.

I will not waste time on tabloid stuff but try to pick out some articles worth a read or a thought.
It might be that some forummers would know more about it.

[snowybeagle]

In the first section on Nature/Natural Phenomena, there was a story about a loose rock that would be moved by the wind but always remain in the same position (风动石).

When I checked the internet, someone posted an explanation for the phenomena.
风动石临危不坠的秘密 http://www.zhongguoh...nature/028.html
And that article was one of the more credible ones in the whole section of Nature/Natural Phenomena to qualify as "unsolved secret" or "unsolved mystery".

Another one worth reading was on the abandoned ancient caves used for dwellings in Hebei Province. However, I recalled even in recent times, there were still cave dwellers in China.

There is also a slope in the region of Shenyang municipality whereby wheeled vehicles, left on their own, would slide upwards instead of downwards. The article stated that in the newspaper Xin Wan Bao 新晚报 in May 16, 1992 reported a Zhang Xingya verifying the phenoma.

Probably, for history fans, the most interesting stuff would be in Volume Two, which I will eventually get to and share some of the stories here.

[ahbian]

vol. 2 and 3 sounds interesting, looking forward to your posts.

[Daniel]

In the first section on Nature/Natural Phenomena, there was a story about a loose rock that would be moved by the wind but always remain in the same position (风动石).

When I checked the internet, someone posted an explanation for the phenomena.
风动石临危不坠的秘密 http://www.zhongguoh...nature/028.html

Snowybeagle, can you post a summary of the explanation for the loose rock returning to the same position, for those of us who can't read the link?

[urofpersia]

Snowybeagle, can you post a summary of the explanation for the loose rock returning to the same position, for those of us who can't read the link?

Hi,

I read the page, but as far as I can tell it doesnt explain why. The rock apparently kinda of pivots or rotates on one spot either through strong winds or someone pushing. The thing is although you can relatively easily move it, you cant dislodge the rock it still stays at its relative position. It goes on to mention through the centuries of natural disasters like Earhquake or whatever it has endured which qualifies as a true natural phenomena.

It then goes on to mention some interesting images that appears on the rock. The second picture has been digitally enhanced to show the images it is talking about.

Hopefully Snowbeagle can shed more light, sorry my explanations are lame.

Cheers,

Ur of Persia

[青文景武剑]

wa!!! i want it!! so desperate

[snowybeagle]

I will post excerpts soon, it'll take time to copy from the book word by word, and do a translation.

[青文景武剑]

it is long

[snowybeagle]

From page 36 of 中国未解之谜 , volume one.

天下第一奇石 - 风动石

东山岛位于中国福建省东南部, 古称"铜山", 是著名的海滨风景区。
东山岛的闻名, 除了美丽的热带海滨风光外, 还因为岛上有一块被誉为"天下第一奇石"的风动石。
风动石危立于铜山古城东门海滨。
石高4.73 米, 宽4.57 米, 长4.69 米, 重2000多吨, 外形像一只雄兔, 斜立于一块卧盘石上。
两石吻合点仅有几厘米见方。
当海风从台湾海峡吹来的时候, 强劲的气流会使风动石微微晃动, 让人觉得岌岌可危; 可风停后, 风动石也随之平稳如初了。
风动石不仅在风的吹拂下摇晃, 人力也能使其晃动。
如果找来瓦片置于石下, 选择适当的位置, 一个人就能把这硕大石轻轻晃动起来。
此时, 瓦片咔咔作响, 倾刻间化为粉末, 奇石晃动的轨迹清晰可见。
1918年2月13日, 发生7.5级地震, 山石滚落, 屋倒人亡, 风动石却安然无恙。
"七七事变"后, 日军企图搬走风动石。
日舰"太和丸"号上的士兵用钢丝索系于风动石上, 打足马力。
可多条钢丝索 被 拉断了, 风动石仍纹丝未动, 最后日军只得放弃这一企图。
风动石这一奇特的特性, 吸引了无数游人和学者, 但至今还没人能解释风动石的行为。

My translation into English

Dongshan island, situated southeast from Fujian province, was known as Tongshan or Bronze Mountain in the past. It is famous for its scenery of the sea. In addition, its fame is augmented by the mysterious Wind-moved-stone.

The stone is located on a slope the seaside near the eastern gate of the ancient Tong city.
It measures 4.73 by 4.57 by 4.69 metres and weighs more than 2000 tonnes. Appearancewise, it resembles a male rabbit.

The stone and the ground it rests on is in contact only by mere centimetres.

Wind blowing from the Taiwan Straits will cause the stone to tremble, making a topple seems imminent. But when the wind subsided, the stone will return to its position of equilibrium.

People could also shake the stone by strategically positioning tiles beneath it. During the shaking, crushing could be heard and the tiles would be found grounded to dust, showing clearly the traces of movement of the stone.

In Feb 13, 1918, a 7.5 richter scale earthquake hit the island, causing losses to properties and lives, but the stone remained unharmed.

After the Marco Polo Bridge incident of July 7, 1937, the Japanese military attempted to move the stone away. Steel cables from a Japanese warship were attached to the stone and the ship went on full horsepower. The cables were severed and the stone remained unmoved. The Japanese military gave up the project.

Till this day, the stone attracted countless visitors and scholars, but none could explain its strange phenomena.

My doubts about the story being an unsolved secret/mystery.

(1) Could this not be a "Freak" case of nature, creating the stone in a perfect equilibrium?

(2) Why didn't the Japanese military simply blasted the stone with explosives (assuming that part of the story is true) ? Anyone knows the Japanese pronounciation of the name of "太和丸"?

[snowybeagle]

I read the page, but as far as I can tell it doesnt explain why.

You're right, it doesn't. I made a mistake of reading the header and posting it in a hurry.

The original picture from the website.


The edited picture


The enlarged picture was edited to show images of supernatural creatures working to keep the stone from toppling.

Sorry about the mistake.

[snowybeagle]

Page 29 of Volume One : 恐怖的黑竹沟 The Horrifying Black Bamboo Gulch

The book listed 4 accounts of mysterious disappearance in the Black Bamboo Gulch Hēi Zhú Gōu, located in the northern slopes of Xiao Liáng Shān (小凉山), in the SW of Sichuan Province.

(1) 1950 - Half a platoon (30+) soldiers from unit under Hú Zōngnán (胡宗南) of KMT were escaping through this area, being well equipped with weaponries. They disappeared without a trace.

This account was repeated in several websites on the internet, easily found doing a search on 胡宗南 and 黑竹沟 : I listed two.
http://www.dreams-tr...c_cd/sc_hzg.htm
http://www.sichuan-t...p?ArticleID=242
In fact, it became like an urban legend or a tourist campfire tale.

(2) June 1955 - Two military surveyors from the PLA disappeared without a trace, despite an all-out search by their unit.

(3) 1964 - Two hunting dogs belonging to native guides working for a surveying party working for the the county and the forestry department disappeared. The humans tried to call for them, but experienced a sudden thick fog which disappeared in 5-6 minutes.

(4) July 1977 - Two able bodied men working with a surveying team were the advance to get to Shi Men Guan (石门关) within the Gulch. They disappeared without a trace as well.

A search on the internet revealed some websites claiming the Black Bamboo Gulch to be like China's version of Bermuda Triangle, despite the area being one of the most noted tourist attraction.

The website 魂断黑竹沟 : http://www.sichuan.g...&iturl=tffg.asp
told of a first hand account of a group of university students, poorly prepared, tried to penetrate the Gulch. They were forced to turn back when one of their members fell ill. Perhaps it was psychological, the ill-stricken member continued to be hospitalised after returning to civilisation and died some time later, and the narrator thought the rest of their lives had been saved at his expense - they'd all be lost if they had continued.

My verdict : ???
It appears the region is a tourist attraction, as evidenced by the numerous internet sites and "official" sites.

The number of people disappearing were probably much less than the number of people who visited it and did not disappear, though there was nothing to indicate they were at the same place.

Having trekked a national park in Australia's outback, I appreciated how easily one could get lost in the wilderness. Man, being a largely urban creature, must treat nature with respect.

[Daniel]

Thanks for the pictures and descriptions, snowybeagle.

I would personally think that the rock qualifies as an unsolved mystery, so long as we distinguish "unsolved" from "insoluble." The rock may indeed be just in chance equilibrium (it wouldn't be the only such freak occurrence in the world), but until it is better examined, we don't know.

As presented, the bamboo gulch is technically unsolved also. Until their bodies are found, we don't know what happened to them. However, in any large wilderness area visited by thousands of people each year, one would expect many more than 19 people to get lost and die in a fifty-year period. So I would ask, how many people disappeared and were found dead in the same place? If there have been many deaths in the area from known causes (cliffs, crevasses, quicksand), then it's a pretty good chance that the unexplained disappearances are from the same causes also.

[MengTzu]

There is also a slope in the region of Shenyang municipality whereby wheeled vehicles, left on their own, would slide upwards instead of downwards. The article stated that in the newspaper Xin Wan Bao 新晚报 in May 16, 1992 reported a Zhang Xingya verifying the phenoma.

I think there's a similar slope in Northern California.

[Adee]

I'm always fascinated by these stories. Is this book available in English by an chance?

[snowybeagle]

I'm always fascinated by these stories. Is this book available in English by an chance?

Not that I'm aware of.
Frankly, given its present standards, I'd be embarassed if they did an English translation, and the standards I'm referring to is not the translation profeciency but the original contents.
It's emulating the worse of the West - tabloid stuff presented in respectable appearances.