Atavism

Archaeologists in Fujian Province recently discovered a tomb in which Sun Wukong and his brothers were buried together on the main peak of Baoshan Mountain, located in the northwest of Shunchang County. The tomb dates back to the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.

According to the curator of Shunchang County Museum, the joint tomb of Sun Wukong and his brother is located in Shuangsheng Temple behind the South Heavenly Gate of Baoshan Mountain, at an altitude of 1305 meters. The left stele has two small characters in regular script, "Baofeng," horizontally inscribed above, and four large characters in regular script, "Qitian Dasheng," vertically inscribed in the middle, with the two small characters "Shenwei" horizontally inscribed below. The right stele has four large characters in regular script, "Tongtian Dasheng," vertically inscribed, with the two small characters "Shenwei" horizontally inscribed below. While Sun Wukong, the "Qitian Dasheng," is a mythological figure familiar to Chinese people both at home and abroad, the "Tongtian Dasheng" does not appear in Wu Cheng'en's Ming Dynasty novel *Journey to the West* and is virtually unknown.

On January 12, 2005, at 10:30 AM, the Lianhe Zaobao quoted an AFP report stating that British researchers were preparing to travel to remote western China in hopes of solving a major archaeological mystery: why the same religious symbol is found at archaeological sites of multiple ancient civilizations around the world.

The Daily Telegraph reported that images of rabbits with three connected ears have appeared in medieval British churches, on Mongolian metalware, and in Chinese Sui Dynasty temples built between the sixth and seventh centuries AD.

The report states that what has puzzled academics is why Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, which are separated by such vast distances in time and space, would all prominently use this symbol.

In this scene, three rabbits chasing each other along a circle, their ears overlapping, look almost identical.

The report says that a four-person British research team, led by archaeologists, will travel to Dunhuang in Gansu Province, China next month to study the murals there, hoping to find a glimmer of hope to unravel the mystery.

More than a thousand years ago, Dunhuang was an important starting point of the Silk Road. This famous trade route connected China with Central Asia and Iran, and its branches extended to Tibet and South Asia.

Besides goods, religion and ideas also spread to distant places through this route. Researchers believe this is the origin of the "Three Rabbits" mystery.

It is understood that the "Three Rabbits" symbol first appeared on the cloth canopy of the Dunhuang murals. British researchers will conduct a detailed study of it after arriving there.

"If we can figure out why the same thing was equally meaningful to people thousands of miles apart and hundreds of years apart in ancient times, then we can help modern people understand things that are common in different cultures and religions," said archaeologist Greaves, who led the research team.

Qianlong News Network, August 24, 2004, 13:55: I read hundreds of news articles every day, some related to me, but most unrelated. These two news articles originally had nothing to do with me, but now they are connected. I can list the news articles for everyone to see, but the stories they involve will be told little by little.

Those who have read my previous journal entries must be starting to speculate about what's going to happen, but I guarantee you'll never guess.

In late May 2005, I visited the Temple of Heaven in Beijing over the weekend, returning empty-handed and quite dejected. At that time, I was grappling with a profound mystery that defied all my efforts to unravel. Even the elites representing the dark side of humanity were just as baffled as I was, only able to await the final message from the distant horizon. Those who have read my journal, "The Code of God," will know what I'm talking about.

Such a bad mood affected my work performance to some extent. That noon, while I was eating my lunchbox at the table, a hand picked up the movable wooden figure on the computer monitor, twisted it into a strange shape, and put it back. As a result, it lost its balance and fell headfirst. Luckily, I grabbed it with my left hand and it didn't fall into the plastic lunchbox.

"Are you playing the Ten Cruelest Tortures of the Qing Dynasty?" I straightened the wooden dummy's arms and legs and put them back, then looked up at Zong'er, who, despite not having a mustache, always liked to touch his upper lip. He was my department head.

"You've been listless these past few days, but you reacted quite quickly just now." Zong'er produced a freshly washed steel spoon and tapped it against the wooden figure's head. This married man's lifestyle was vastly different from ours; at least his wife cooked lunch for him at home every day and brought it to him, saving him a couple hundred yuan a month on food expenses and allowing him to wash dishes twenty or thirty more times.

"Do you and my wooden dummy have some kind of grudge?"

"Sure enough, he speaks weakly." Zong Er enthusiastically gave the wooden man four slaps on the head from all sides. The little guy swayed precariously, and I caught him.

"Go on vacation, go heal your heartbreak." Zong Er finally put away the mischievous steel spoon and walked away.

"Huh, are you that good?" I asked, glaring at him, ignoring his inappropriate choice of words.

"You worked six days during the May Day holiday, so I'll give you four days off. The reporting work is tight and the tasks are heavy lately, so don't worry about the remaining two days." Zong Er waved a steel spoon and walked towards his seat with a good view by the window, his wails echoing as he hit two more people on the head along the way.

"Oh, I see..." I touched my forehead, relieved. When did Zong'er's steel spoon start working against everyone's foreheads?

I booked a five-day, four-night tour of Fujian through a hostel, planning to relax in the deep mountains and forests. This is a new route, mainly exploring the Yiyang Yuanyangxi Nature Reserve. Most people going to Fujian head to Wuyishan, but this route is less crowded and quieter. The first night is in Shunchang, the second and third nights are in the reserve, the fourth night is in Fuzhou, and then I'll return to Shanghai.

I requested four days off from the 13th to the 16th, but I left on Saturday the 11th. Journalists don't have weekends off; they're on call even when they're not working. So, normally, I should ask for leave to leave Shanghai over the weekend, but Zong was already two days short of my leave, so he had no choice but to grant me the leave by using my two-day weekend.

The new tour group was small, only twelve people, so the travel agency didn't make much money; it was currently in the market development phase. We arrived in Fuzhou before noon, where the tour guide picked up the group, and everyone scrambled onto a minibus that looked new on the outside but was old on the inside. As I adjusted the air conditioning vents, I started to feel annoyed; the air conditioning was clearly inadequate.

Our tour guide was a petite young woman who seemed to bounce around even when she was standing still. She told a slightly risqué joke as soon as we boarded the bus, and then led us to pay our respects to our driver, Master Niu. As is customary, everyone applauded this dark-skinned, skinny young man who would keep us safe for the next few days.

Like all tour group drivers, Master Niu remained cool and silent, having already overtaken more than a hundred vehicles by the time he left the city. Horsepower and air conditioning seemed inversely proportional; everyone started wiping away sweat.

The tour guide, noticing our slightly off expressions, quickly tried to cheer us up: "Don't let Mr. Niu's speed fool you; his driving skills are top-notch, and he's never had an accident. Just think of it as a free ride on a roller coaster!" She then clapped her hands.

The people in the car glared at the girl, and only a few clapped along.

"Whoosh!" The minibus weaved through the gap between two trucks. Master Niu responded to our encouragement. Very much in his style.

It's over 200 kilometers to Shunchang. At this rate, it won't take more than two hours to get there.

What happened next made me suspect that this girl with short braids wasn't mature enough, or that she and Master Niu were a perfect prank duo in the tour guide world. She took it upon herself to give the twelve of us in the group catchy nicknames.

It's really catchy.

For example, Wukong—this is me.

She herself is called Tang Sanzang, so besides Wukong, there are also Bajie and Sha Wujing. The rest of the people weren't so lucky. One of them, whom I thought was a fat woman on a hiking trip to lose weight, was called the White Bone Demon, which made me see Tang Sanzang's mischievous nature even more clearly.

The White Bone Demon glared resentfully at Tang Sanzang, who was basking in the glow of his newfound enjoyment of nicknames, then surprisingly rolled his eyes at me as well. What does this have to do with me? Even though I am Sun Wukong.

"When you're out having fun, you have to let loose," the tour guide said casually. She then ordered us to call her Tang Sanzang or Master: "Our first stop is the hometown of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, so such a name is most appropriate."

She also arranged the rooms, and apart from the fact that it was just the two of them traveling, the allocation of the other people was quite orderly.

The guy I shared a room with was tall and thin, about 188 cm, and his name was Liu Er (Six Ears). His full name was Liu Er Macaque King. My master said we were a good match living together.

Liu Er is an extremely outgoing person. He reached over from the back seat and patted me hard on the shoulder: "You don't snore at night, do you?"

I stretched my shoulders. Was it really necessary to use so much force?

"If you don't snore, what should I call you?"

"Six ears".

I turned around and saw his grinning face. I couldn't help but smile wryly: "You're really playing along. My name is Na Duo."

"That's quite a rare surname. My name is You Hong, You as in swimming and Hong as in macroscopic." You Hong pulled back from his leaning back in his chair: "But I think the name Liu Er is pretty cool, as long as you don't bring out the last three characters."

"Oh..." I drawled, "Then I'll call you Six Ears."

At this point, Tang Sanzang started inviting us to play a "butt game." This is an old, tired game in the tourism industry, with no originality whatsoever. Each member of the group would say an adj

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