Ji Xiaolan recorded an anecdote: Snow Lotus would hide from geckos when she saw people.

The legendary Ji Yun (word, Xiaolan) had a little-known experience, that is, 1768 to 1770 worked in Xinjiang. In this magical and beautiful land, Ji Xiaolan saw many anecdotes, which broadened his horizons, enriched his imagination and broadened the world he wrote. 177 1 At the beginning of the year, Ji Xiaolan was recalled to Beijing. However, his thoughts often stay in that distant place. He recorded the anecdotes he saw during this period in Yuewei Caotang Notes, and this note novel has a strong western color since then.

Whether these magical stories recorded by Ji Xiaolan are true or not cannot be verified at present. Some of them seem to be contrary to science, but as first-hand information, they are of great help to the study of Ji Xiaolan's life and the customs of the western regions in the middle of Qing Dynasty. Let's have a look.

Anecdote 1:

A ten-foot-tall gecko

Can walk upright like a human?

1768, Ji Xiaolan was sent to Xinjiang by Gan Longyuan for more than two years on suspicion of transporting salt to her in-laws and Huaibei to make Lu Jian a snitch. Ji Xiaolan stayed in Urumqi for some time. His main job is to handle letters and documents for generals, and at the same time, he also writes letters for some people. In the long run, he got acquainted with people at the grassroots level. He likes chatting with local people and officers and men, learning about local customs and listening to many magical stories. I guess he didn't do scientific research, so he recorded it one by one.

According to the seventeenth volume of Notes of Yuewei Caotang, Li Yin of Kulkawusu told Ji Xiaolan a story: once Li Yin and Liu De, the general manager, were walking in the mountains and saw an arrow stuck in an old pine tree on the edge of a cliff. He felt very strange, but he couldn't think of the reason at the moment. How did he shoot an arrow at the pine tree? "I can't tell why I saw the old cliff loose." When Li Yin lived in the mailroom at night, he remembered that not long ago, he passed by this place at night and saw a rider galloping in the distance. Li Yin thought what had happened and immediately lay in ambush in the depths of the grass. When the rider approached, he found that the person riding on the horse was a non-human object, and the horse was a wild horse. "If you wait in the deep grass, you will get closer. It looks like a person. According to Ma, it is also a wild horse. " Li Yin immediately shot an arrow, and Li Yin judged that it was really shot. Moreover, the arrow is on the string, making a bell-like sound. When it is emitted, it turns into black smoke, and the wild horse runs away. Now I see the arrow in the tree, so I judge that it was a tree demon who was shot. "Now this arrow is in the tree, and it is called the Wood Demon." And it is inferred that the Tree Demon is afraid of being discovered and eradicated, so eating an arrow without answering can be regarded as eating a yabakui. Ji Xiaolan also praised the tree demon as "alert".

Personally, I think the story recorded by Ji Xiaolan must be wrong. Mainly Li Yin's description is wrong, even deliberately wrong. A few nights ago, Li Yin shot a man and a horse. He said he hit the target, but he didn't necessarily. At that time, the light was dim, and it was impossible to judge whether he had hit it. It is very likely that he took it on a pine tree on the edge of the cliff. In the dark, one man and one horse were also disturbed by bows and arrows, and they ran faster. Li Yin was embarrassed to say that she was not good at archery, so she made up a story that a wooden demon was shot dead that night. What nonsense! She also said, "When the bell rang, the black smoke left." Or maybe he simply regarded the pine trees blown by the wind in the dark as living things, or maybe. It happened that Mr. Ji was also a curiosity hunter, so he regarded it as a myth and talked about it after dinner. That pine tree was badly wronged. It stayed in the wild well and was written as a tree demon by Master Ji. This is similar to Li Guang shooting stones at night.

Looking through the third volume of Yuewei Caotang Notes, an adult magistrate told Ji Xiaolan that once he was walking at night in the Gobi and saw something at a distance, which was "like a human being, a few feet taller". The prefect rode after him, bent his bow and took an arrow. One arrow hit his chest and fell to the ground, but he stood up again and "bounced back." The prefect shot another arrow and it all fell. Take a closer look and see, "Look, it's a big toka." Incredibly, it is a big lizard and can stand up like a human. This story is quite credible. It is not impossible for a lizard to be as tall and powerful as a human being. Whether you can walk upright like humans is unknown.

There are also some rare species living in deep mountains and forests. According to the second volume of Yuewei Caotang Notes, a resident named Gui Fang said that he had been herding his horse in the mountains when it suddenly ran away. Gui Fang chased the horse to a secluded valley and found a strange species, "like man and beast", covered with scales like pine skin, with hair like feathers and eyes protruding like eggs. Ji Xiaolan didn't make a subjective analysis of the matter and admitted that he didn't know what animal it was because he had never seen it again. I guess it's a beast, but I don't know for the time being. According to the description, it is a bit like an alien creature in a science fiction movie.

Anecdote 2:

Xuelian hides when she sees people.

The third volume of Yuewei Caotang Notes records that Changji City once reported that one day at noon, a man suddenly fell from the sky. When asked, Ji Xu was sent to Turner area; On the same day, Turner also sent a report that Ji Xu, a prisoner in the area, had escaped. It is more than 200 miles from the detention site to Changji, which means that Ji Xu was blown by the wind for more than 200 miles, and then made a soft landing without any damage. It seems that Ji Xu didn't mean to escape, but was wrapped in the wind. Ji Xiaolan made a careful investigation this time. He also asked Ji Xu about his situation when he drifted in the wind. Ji Xu said that when he was blown into the air by the wind, he was "drunk as a dream", his whole body turned in the air like a wheel, his eyes could not be opened, his ears sounded like drums, and his ears sounded like drums. Because of the strong airflow, it is difficult to breathe, and he has to struggle for a long time to breathe.

In fact, such incidents often occur in the local area. When Ji Xiaolan was in Urumqi, he received a report that a military school named Lei Ting was blown across the north of Lingbei by a strong wind without any trace. "On a certain day, everyone was blown away by the wind."

As for where the wind came from, Ji Xiaolan also made an investigation, saying that it came from a hole in the southern mountainous area of Turpan, about the size of the wellhead. Every time the wind blows, the sound of the waves can be heard dozens of miles away, and it won't take long for the wind to arrive. The diameter of the tuyere is about three or four miles. It would be nice if we could hide out of the range of the raging wind. If it can't be avoided, the caravan will be fine. Even so, the big cars will still be "stirred" by the wind, and their state is like "a surging ship in a big river". If you are a person, you can only be messy with the wind. "Then the burdens of both men and women are as light as leaves", as helpless as leaves in the wind. Teacher Ji was quite skeptical about the cause of the wind outlet, but did not give a reasonable explanation. He thinks it's an accumulation of qi. But even in modern times, some people are swept into the air by tornadoes.

Ji Xiaolan mentioned the magical Snow Lotus on the snow-capped mountains, and it was also in the third volume of Notes of Yuewei Caotang that she was "born in the snow of rushing mountains". Usually a man and a woman are born together. If one of them is found, the other will be found a foot or two away. However, in Ji Xiaolan's works, Xuelian is quite spiritual. I saw it, went quietly, and got it smoothly. To make it clear, Snow Lotus will hide when she hears it, so that she can't find it. "Then you will shrink in the snow and disappear without a trace." Is it so amazing? There is no textual research, but it adds the magical color of Saussurea involucrata.

Anecdote 3:

A legend that follows lovers for thousands of miles.

The fifth volume of Yuewei Caotang Notes records a legendary love story. When Ji Xiaolan was in Urumqi, she heard such a thing. In Yili, there is a woman from other places. She usually lives and works quietly, but nothing happens.

One day, a man suddenly came and stayed with him, which surprised the neighbors. The woman later explained the reason: it turned out that the two were childhood friends and "confessed their love". The woman came to the west, thousands of miles apart, thinking that they would never see each other again. I didn't expect the man to find it, but because of reality, they still couldn't be together. Ji Xiaolan was very moved when he heard this, so he wrote a poem to commemorate it.

If an artist had recorded it in the form of opera and displayed it, it would have been a legend and spread all over the world. Of course it doesn't matter. Fortunately, it was recorded by some great talents, so it was not completely buried.