This view holds that mermaids do not actually exist. Ancient sea merchants had a very limited understanding of marine life, and it was easy for them to regard mammals such as manatees that they did not understand as monsters.
In fact, looking at the swimming and playing posture of this thing, there are indeed some similarities with humans. Moreover, this thing mainly lives in the South China Sea where sharks are frequent, so this view is more easily accepted by the academic community.
The second is the theory of ancient apes.
This view relies on Darwin's theory of evolution and believes that when humans evolved to the stage of ancient apes, they divided into two branches, one developed to land and became the current human beings, and the other developed underwater and became a new type of marine creature -
—Shark man.
In the long process of evolution, the two communicated less and less, and finally became two independent systems.
The third type is the theory of refuge.
This view holds that the mermaid species is the descendant of the lost civilization-Atlantis.
Description of Atlantis first appeared in the "Dialogues" of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
It is said that it was destroyed by a super natural disaster around 12,000 to 9,600 BC, and its remains sank to the bottom of the sea along with the land.
In Greek mythology, the residents of Atlantis are descendants of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Poseidon has ten sons in this territory, who are in charge of different areas. Among them, the eldest son Atlas plays a role similar to the leader of the princes.
character, the name Atlantis is also named after his existence.
However, according to the original statement, the powerful ruling class of Atlantis has been corrupted for a long time due to some reasons. This corruption even angered the main god Zeus. In order to punish him, Zeus
Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis occurred overnight, and this wealthy city was submerged in the ocean in an instant.
As descendants of Poseidon, a considerable number of Atlantis residents showed unparalleled adaptability. They grew fish gills and fish tails, and gradually evolved into indigenous residents of the ocean—
—Shark (mermaid).
According to current research, a large number of architectural remains have indeed been found in the submerged ruins of Atlantis. According to the inferences of relevant scholars, there is indeed a highly developed prehistoric civilization here. This also provides a basis for survival in the Platonic world.
The theory of descendants of Atlantis in the myth adds a lot of mysterious factors.
Of course, in addition to the above three theories, there is also a fourth theory, which we temporarily call the "indigenous residents theory".
Because according to some data, the South China Sea Mermaids had considerable trade contacts with coastal residents in the early days. They usually exchanged silk and pearls for goods. Sometimes several times a year, sometimes once every few years.
So some people suggested that the so-called sharks are not actually special marine creatures, but just a foreign population living in the ocean. Because their clothing, skin color, and appearance are very different from the local residents, they are misunderstood as sea creatures.
.
The rationality of this statement lies in:
First of all, humans, as creatures with highly developed intelligence, will not easily trade with wild beasts. Think about a lion offering you a fox skin in exchange for a leg of lamb. Do you dare to accept it? Since there can be trade, it proves that at least to a certain extent.
On the other hand, good communication can be achieved between the two.
Secondly, pearl hunting was not as easy as it is today for the ancients. Swimming into the deep sea without an oxygen bottle was quite unreliable. Therefore, when facing an alien race with a large number of pearls in their hands, most people would be suspicious, and spreading rumors among others was not the case.
Can't happen.
Thirdly, why most of this kind of transactions occur in the South China Sea is also a big question that needs to be considered. Looking at the map of China, it is easy to see that in the coastal areas of our country, the ones facing the most are near Hainan Island and the Nansha Islands.
Southeast Asian countries, many of which are good at fishing and weaving, therefore this statement is more feasible in terms of business exchanges.
In addition to this fourth view, there is also the theory of the Dragon Girl scattered in anecdotes from various provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.
This category mainly records stories about talented men and beautiful women.
For example, you rescued a fish, and she turned into a girl and came back to be your wife. Finally, the Dragon King sent people to capture her, and you found out that she was the Dragon King's daughter. She cried and struggled and transformed into her true form, a big tail.
It is presented in front of you. Either some merchants and officials were sitting on the bow of the boat at an inappropriate time and saw a half-fish, half-human thing sitting on a stone and flirting with him. He didn't know what it was, so he asked around, and finally
The result is another three words: "Dragon Girl."
But after all, such statements are most likely to be made up out of thin air, and what they describe is also obviously different from what we call the sharks. Therefore, such statements are not within the scope of our discussion.
No matter how reasonable these speculations are, at least one thing is obvious, that is, the commercial value of this so-called shark is very, very high.
Putting aside the myth of immortality, there are many valuables that are closely related to the sharks. One is the impermeable silk fabric contributed by the sharks, and the other is the immortal "fish paste (fat)" of the mermaid.
In addition, there are also those strange pearls made of tears. These three things were considered to be rare treasures at that time, and getting one of them would be a huge fortune.
Today, the market value of that shark corpse specimen alone is probably more than tens of millions of RMB.
I'm very curious about how Ms. Zhao's grandfather caught it, and even more curious about how those foreigners died. I obviously have an intuition that makes me feel that things here are definitely not that simple.
Firstly, why did an old man who got rich overnight suddenly see through the mortal world and become a half-monk? Secondly, why did he, who had lived in seclusion for so many years, still keep the matter secret?
I think he owes something.
You must know that there is no cause without a cause or an effect without a cause in this world. Some things that seem to us to be wild and unreasonable are mostly caused by our insufficient understanding of the clues in them.
However, it seems a little inappropriate to inquire into the current situation.
There is a saying that the dead are the most important. If a dead person is not willing to speak easily, why should we pursue it more.
Thinking of this, the three of them were silent for a while. Everyone had their own guesses and thoughts, but no one was willing to speak out.