Chapter 5 Chapter 4 Tribes and City-States

Falling is the primary stage of city-state development, and city-state is the advanced form of tribal expression. We have to look at the relationship between the two dialectically. Those stinking low-class filthy ghosts in the tribe say that we are discriminating, which is wrong. . - Speech by King Mumla VI of the Kaupan Dynasty at the meeting of the Pan-Mayan City-State Federation. In fact, the translations of the words "city-state" and "tribe" are not exact, they are just two words that linguists have chosen from the modern vocabulary that are closest to the original meaning of Maya.

But these linguists made two mistakes: first, deciphering Maya is impossible, just like you can't guess the number of a dice thrown at random; second, even if you are lucky enough to understand Maya , you will find that this language is chaotic and untranslatable.In logic, this is known as the Mayan Paradox. Because of this, the translation of Mayan texts is carried out based on a principle called "according to what one needs": translators can translate the meaning of Mayan literature according to their own needs-that is, you need Maya What the text means, it means, no one can say you are wrong, because no one knows what is right.This principle was greatly welcomed by the Mayan research community. In the year 2795 of the Republic of China, that is, in 1953 AD, a Norwegian scholar tried to publish a Pokmer-Mayan canonical dictionary, and then he was burned to death in the international translation. FIT's headquarters in Montreal, charged with 'attempting to create unease among the public'

The exact meaning of "city-state" in Maya is—in accordance with the principle of taking what you need—a magnificent, noble, elegant, stately, clean and scientific dream city where only high-quality and superior talents are eligible to live.The word "tribe" is formed by simply adding a very firm negative form before, after or in the middle of the word "city-state". "Tribe" and "city-state" are two general types of Mayan settlements.The qualitative difference between these two groups is not as great as the gap between the two proper nouns, or to be more accurate, no matter in terms of the efficiency of municipal management, the record of official integrity, or the degree of chaos in urban planning, tribes and There is no difference between the city-states at all, they are all bad.Freud once pointed out: "It is difficult to pick the crazier from two madmen." (As he said this, he pointed his index finger at Jung and three fingers at himself)

What really differentiated the Mayan civilization into "tribes" and "city-states" were the pyramids. Mayan pyramids are different from their Egyptian cousins.The Egyptian pyramid is a square cone-shaped smooth building, and every line from the tip to the base of the tower is straight and seamless.The Mayan pyramid is a building with a square base, divided into several layers, stacked from bottom to top and gradually shrinks, and finally forms a wide flat top at the top.There are also stairs on the four sides leading directly from the ground to the top of the tower. The difference between the Egyptian and Mayan workings can be easily discerned from the difference between the two types of pyramids.

The Egyptian pharaohs lacked awareness of human rights. When designing, they only considered the overall beauty of the building, and did not have to worry about whether it would cause harm to the labor force.The shape of the Egyptian pyramid determines that the further up it is, the more difficult it is to build, because it is too smooth, and it is difficult for workers to climb back safely even if they climb to the top.Especially when placing the spire, the worker in charge of the installation will have no place to stand after finishing the work. The only thing he can do is to jump as far as possible-this will not save his life, but at least it will not be dirty. pyramid.

Maya is another form.Mayan kings also lacked awareness of human rights, but Mayan workers were extremely afraid of death, so they invented the earliest and most sound labor organization in the world.The labor organization claimed that they would rather be beaten to death than engage in dangerous work, such as building a square-cone pyramid.They listed several dangers of the square cone pyramid: First, the square cone pyramid requires neat edges, which requires stone processing, and the splashing stones are likely to cause casualties. Secondly, the square tapered pyramid requires huge stone bricks, which is easy to cause casualties during transportation.

Again, the square tapered pyramid is too high, and it is easy to cause casualties during high-altitude construction. …………………… Finally, the pyramid's spire design is pure whimsy, it's so dangerous, how do we get down then? The Mayan kings finally compromised with the labor organizations, and they modified the design: the designer changed the one-piece structure of the pyramid to a stacked, trapezoidal shape, which made the construction safer; the construction materials were also changed from huge monolithic stones to The classical mixed concrete made of mud, crushed pebbles, and foreign captives ensured that no one would be killed during transportation; the spire was eventually changed to a flat top.

The laborers felt that this was not safe enough, so they secretly built four more permanent steps around the pyramid, leading from the base to the platform at the top of the tower, so that they could be safe when climbing to the top for construction. Some historians speculate that the Mayan pyramids were used for ritual rituals, but this is not the case.There is only one purpose in building them, and that is to show off, and they are useless other than that. There are mystics obsessed with some dubious statistics, and they will emphasize in an enchanted voice: "The ratio of the base of the Mayan pyramid to the height of the tower is exactly the ratio of pi to the radius; the height of the tower is two times the circumference of the earth. One seventeen thousandth is also one trillionth of the distance from the earth to the sun. What's more amazing is that the light from Sirius can go directly to the cabin on the top of the tower through the airflow channel on the south wall, while the light from the North Star The airflow channel through the north wall can directly reach the cabin under the tower."

For these people, well-meaning scientists will ask security to drive them away, while bad-hearted scientists will ask back after they report a series of numbers: "Yes, and then? What's the use of them?" The correct answer is: totally meaningless. The ratio of the base to the height of the tower will not lead to tax reduction; the height of the tower will only affect the project budget.As for Sirius and Polaris, their only use may be for illumination, but wise kings will light torches and read, and foolish kings will not read at all. But the Mayans did, after all, it's their vain nature.They naively like to listen to other people's praises, and think that the gorgeous pyramids will bring gorgeous glory and be the fundamental difference between civilization and savagery.Sometimes, Mayan priests candidly admit that such a thing is not useful, but then they will ask expectantly: "But it is big enough, isn't it?"

Due to the prevalence of this mentality, all Mayan communities hope that the community has a pyramid to prove that they have an advanced civilization that has evolved into a city-state.On the contrary, if a community does not even have pyramids, no matter how many avocados it has and how many parrot feathers it has, it can only be reduced to an inferior tribe. A Mayan who was born in a tribe was discriminated against in the city-state. Everywhere he went, the local police would come over and ask sternly: "Is there a pyramid?" If the answer is no, then this person will be thrown into the construction site To sieve the sand, and then be mixed with the sand into concrete to serve as the building material for the new pyramid.According to archaeological excavation statistics, almost every pyramid contains the bones of many tribal people, and the city-state Maya leaned on these pyramids that brought infinite glory, and continued to ask the tribal Maya in a contemptuous tone: "Is there a pyramid?"

Therefore, we can see such a strange landscape that belongs to the category of urban planning. Every Mayan gathering place has tried its best to build a pyramid. Some wealthy city-states even built a Mayan Millennium Monument to commemorate the Mayan sun. calendar leap year. So when Commander Youhouxi asked Fu Rong "tell me about your tribe", Fu Rong had to correct him first by saying that we are a city-state. According to Furong, the reason why the tribe of Naheim became a city-state is simple.They were chosen to serve as the logistics base for the Mayan United Marine Police Force. In return, the inland Mayan city-state will provide a pyramid to Naheim, so that they can get rid of the shameful status of "tribe". The only problem is that the only settlements in the territory of the Naheim tribe suitable for building pyramids.After repeated weighing, the elders of the Naheim tribe decided that all the descendants would move to a smaller open area nearby, although there was nothing but holes under the bushes, and the nearest source of food was far away. . "But we are willing. The matter of starving to death is very small, but the matter of losing one's virginity is great!" Fu Rong waved his arms passionately. Commander Youhouxi nodded in understanding.Although he understands that "losing his body" means "losing his status as a city-state", he still can't help thinking about which brave warrior would make Fu Rong lose his body. He also understood why, when attacking the Naheim tribe, he would see a human settlement that was not even as good as a spider ape's lair. What surprised Commander Youhouxi was that Furong's oracle bone inscriptions had reached a very fluent level.You must know that although the oracle bone inscriptions are much simpler than the Mayan inscriptions, they are still very complicated.If a foreigner wants to master it, it will take at least five months. If the foreigner's teacher is of the opposite sex, then the learning time will usually be extended by another two months. Oracle bone script is the official language of Shang, and it got its name because it used tortoise shells and animal bones as carriers.The earliest oracle bone inscriptions were just a kind of written text popular among wizards and nobles. They were often used to secretly send love letters between noble girls and their lovers, and they were regarded as an elegant and delicate language. The famous reformer Pan Geng of the Shang Dynasty earnestly hoped to improve the quality of the people as soon as possible, so he abolished the barrier between the nobles and the common people, and ordered that all the people of the Shang Dynasty must learn oracle bone inscriptions, not only to write, but also to speak out .The latter requirement makes everyone very embarrassed, because the style of oracle bone inscriptions is not the same as that of Yin Shang's spoken language, and the result is often misunderstood. The most serious misunderstanding occurred in 438 BC in the Republican calendar. After reviewing thirty bundles of bamboo slips, Emperor Pan Geng asked his deputy: "Is there any other bamboo that I need to endorse?" He used colloquial oracle bone inscriptions, but his deputy misheard it as "Is there anything else that can stop me from wanting to move the capital?" The deputy was very surprised and quickly asked, "Where do you want to move to?" At this time, the second misunderstanding occurred. Emperor Pan Geng thought he was asking: "Where do you want to sign?" He replied impatiently: "On the back." Others asked questions, so he conveyed the order exactly. When Pan Geng discovered this misunderstanding, the capital of the Shang Dynasty had been moved from Yan to Northern Mongolia.This was a tragedy, after which Pan Geng canceled the order to promote oracle bone inscriptions.However, a habit has been formed. Although Yin merchants resumed their normal spoken language, they still called this language Oracle Bone Inscriptions.The real oracle bone inscriptions were buried in the ground, and no one would try to decipher them until thousands of years later-fortunately, this kind of writing does not require "each according to what he needs". After listening to Furong's narration, Commander Youhouxi felt very happy because he finally started communicating with the local natives; at the same time, he was also disappointed because the Naheim tribe was very backward and they rarely interacted with the outside world. The farthest Rong has ever been is only 30 kilometers away from the tribal settlements, and that is because he got lost. Therefore, Fu Rong could not provide much help in understanding other Mayan city-states and tribes. Commander Youhouxi felt that it was necessary to take more proactive actions now. He decided to attack a few more Mayan tribes or city-states, and captured more Mayans and sent them back to the parrot training language concentration camp.In this way, the influence of the Yin-Shang colonial army can be expanded, and a new batch of translators can be developed. To be honest, Commander You Houxi really doesn't like Fu Rong's appearance. It will affect emotions, even when not negotiating! He asked Fu Rong: "Do you know where the nearest tribe or city-state is to your... er... city-state?" Fu Rong thought about it carefully, and replied in very standard oracle bone inscriptions: "I don't know." Therefore, on September 10, 205 in the Republican calendar, the Mayan Grammar Teacher's Day, the Yin-Shang colonial army, which had just won an initial victory, was in trouble for the first time—there were too few enemies.