Chapter 8 Chapter 7 God and Demon Riding on the Waves

It was only after 6 o'clock in the morning, and the small train started suddenly, slowly climbing up the steep hillside of the Kuzco Valley.This narrow-gauge railway is laid in a series of zigzags on the hillside.The train chugs forward, travels along the horizontal line below the first Z for a while, then switches tracks, walks backwards up the hill along the slanted line in the middle of the Z, switches tracks again, and proceeds along the top horizontal line—and so on Going back and forth, starting and stopping, the train climbed all the way, and finally reached the top of the hill.Overlooking the ancient city at the foot from the top of the mountain, you can see the ancient Inca walls, luxurious colonial mansions, narrow streets, and the Cathedral of Santo Domingo crouching on the ruins of the Viracocha Temple, looming in the gray In the morning light, it looked particularly eerie and mysterious.The street lights are still on, like a beautiful pattern, decorating the street like a fairy tale world.The morning mist is misty and misty, filling the ground.Households in the city are surrounded by smoke, and wisps of clear smoke can be seen coming out of the tiled roofs of countless small houses, curling up in the dawn.

The train finally turned around, left the city of Cuzco, and headed northwest straight to the destination of our trip: the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu (Machu Picchu), which is located 3 hours away and 130 kilometers away.I wanted to read a book, but the carriage swayed all the way, and I finally fell asleep before I knew it. When I woke up 50 minutes later, I found that a natural beauty outside the car window suddenly appeared like a painting.In the foreground is a green flat pasture, with melting dew glistening in the sun; a small stream flows in a wide, long valley, winding its way through the green grass beside the stream.

Behind the meadow, clumps of bushes dotted a vast field; a small herd of black and white dairy cows wandered among them, grazing with their heads down.There are several houses scattered in the nearby small village. At the door stood a dark-skinned, short Quechua Indian, wearing a felt wool coat, a long scarf on his shoulders, and colorful woolens on his head cap.Behind the village a canopy of maples and exotic eucalyptus shaded the distant hills.Sitting on the train and looking down, my eyes followed the two green and towering mountains. I looked farther and farther, and finally saw the plateau layered between the two mountains.Snow-capped peaks stand in the distant sky.

turn giant back to stone Reluctantly, I pulled back my gaze and began to read the book in my hand.During this investigation, I think I have found some wonderful clues, which can connect two major events in the history of South American Indians: the sudden visit of the god Viracocha and the great flood in the legend of the Incas.I would like to explore these clues further. Spread out in my hands is Fr Jose de Acosta (Natural and Miral History of the Indies). In this work, the learned priest gives the origin of the ancestors of the Indians, based on the legends of the Indians.And look at one of them:

They used to speak of a great flood that had occurred in their country... According to the Indians, all the men of the tribe were drowned in the flood.They went on to say that Viracocha emerged from Lake Tiacaca and came to Tiahuanaco - where the ruins of strangely shaped ancient buildings can be seen to this day - — After staying for a while, he went to Kuzko.Since then, humans have multiplied in large numbers...① In order to collect more information about Lake Titicaca and the mysterious city of Tihuanaco, I consulted various legends recorded in the book.One of the Indian groups in the Cuzco area:

People who lived in ancient times, committed some inhumane crime, and were destroyed by their Creator... in a flood.After the flood receded, the Creator appeared as a man, stepping out of Lake Titicaca.It began to create the sun, moon and stars, restore the lifeline of human beings, and let them multiply on the earth again...② Another myth puts it this way: The great creator, Viracocha the Great, decided to create a world for humans to live in.First, it creates the earth and the sky.Then, it carved the big stones into giants, and blew on them for a day, so that they could live in the world it created.At first they all lived together without incident, but after a while the giants began to pick fights with each other and refused to work.Viracocha decided to destroy them.It turned some of the giants back to stone... and then unleashed a great flood that drowned the rest of the giants.

Similar myths certainly exist in other unrelated cultural traditions, such as the Jewish "Bible. Oral Testament".According to the record in Chapter 6 of Genesis, the God of the Hebrews was dissatisfied with human beings' misbehavior and decided to destroy them.The description in this chapter of the chaotic days before the Flood has long attracted my attention.One of them mentions, "At that time there was a giant on the ground..." ④ which is quite intriguing.Is there some kind of mysterious connection between these biblical "giants" buried in the deserts of the Middle East and the mythical "giants" of Indians before Columbus discovered America?To further mystify our confusion, both the Jewish Bible and the Peruvian mythology, after describing the giants, go on to mention—there are many similarities in detail—that the gods went into a rage and ordered a flood to engulf the wicked, godless world.

On the next page of the volume of documents I collected is an Inca myth that describes the Great Flood.It is included in the book Relacion de las Fabulasy ritos delos Yngas by Father Molina: The ancestor of the Incas was Manco Capac.For his sake his descendants called themselves sons of the sun, and idolatrously worshiped the sun.Many of the legends of the flood recorded by the Incas are related to Manco Capac.They say that the great flood rose to the top of the highest mountain in the world, and drowned all men and animals.Except for a pair of men and women hiding in the box, no other living things survived.After the flood receded, the wind carried them...to Ti Huanaco.The Creator nourishes the people living there and revitalizes the country in that region...⑤

The book "Review of the Inca Dynasty" written by the Spanish scholar Vega has been quoted above.His father was a Spanish aristocrat, and his mother was from the Inca royal family.Scholars generally agree that his records of Inca cultural traditions are the most detailed and reliable.He was born in the 16th century, not long after the Spanish conquest of Peru, and the Inca traditions were still untainted by foreign cultures.His records confirmed a legend widely circulated among South American Indians and deeply rooted in the national mind: "After the flood receded, a person appeared in the Tihuanaco area..."⑥

This man was Viracocha.Robed, muscular, and "impressive in appearance," he walks with resolute and fearless strides through the rugged barren terrain.On the way, he continued to perform miracles, healing the wounds and relieving pain for the people.When necessary, he will use his magic power to summon the fire of heaven to destroy the wicked.For the Indians at that time, his origin will always be a mystery. ancient sea-crossing peoples On the way to the ancient city of Machu Picchu, the train has been running for more than two hours, and the landscape outside the window has also changed.The towering mountains, whose snow had melted long ago, stood blackly above our heads in the sun.The train traveled through a dark valley and through a rocky channel.The air in the mountains is bitter; I only feel that my feet are cold.I shivered, then looked down at the documents in my hand.

Faced with this pile of intertwined and entangled myths and legends, I can only be sure of one thing at the moment: Most scholars agree that during the hundreds of years of expanding their territories and establishing a huge empire, the Incas not only conquered Many civilized nations also absorb their cultural traditions and pass them on to future generations.From this point of view, even though scholars are still arguing about the history of the Incas, no one will doubt that they once played the role of "cultural inheritors"-the Incas transferred the ancient culture of Peru before them (whether it was Coastal or plateau, known or unknown to Westerners) are all absorbed and carried forward. So far, no one has dared to determine what kind of civilization existed in Peru in the remote and mysterious ancient times.Every year archaeologists make new discoveries that push the roots of Peru's history a step further back.Maybe, one day, archaeologists will find evidence that in ancient times, a group of people crossed the sea and entered the Andes Mountains to bring civilization and enlightenment to the local aborigines, and then left after completing their mission.This is what the mysteries and legends of Peru inspired me.These legends describe the "man/god" Viracocha stepping against the wind and walking on the trails of the Andes with extremely vivid images.Wherever he went, miracles continued to appear: Viracocha headed north with two attendants...he went all the way into the mountains.One follower went along the coast, the other came to the edge of the eastern forest... Viracocha the Creator went all the way to Urcos near Cuzco and summoned the future humans to come out of the mountains.He stayed in Cuzco for a while, then continued his journey north, and finally came to Ecuador.In the coastal province of Manda (Provnce of Mania), he said goodbye to the people, and then walked into the sea, stepping on the waves and disappearing into the vast sea⑦. In the myths circulated among the Peruvian folk, all the myths related to this mysterious guest who came from a foreign country and nicknamed "Big Wave" will end with a sad and touching scene of farewell: Viracocha traveled and called people all the way... When he arrived in Puerto Viejo, he joined the disciples who had been sent everywhere.After the reunion of master and apprentice, Viracocha led the disciples into the sea.The locals said that Viracocha and his party walked on the waves as freely as they walked on land. Always a bleak farewell...often with a touch of magic. Exploring the Ancient City of Machu Picchu Outside the train window, the landscape gradually changes.On my left, a tributary of the Amazon, the Urubamba, the sacred river of the Incas, ran with its black torrents.The temperature has risen significantly.We've entered a low, sweltering valley.The hillsides on both sides of the railway tracks are covered with dense green forests.I thought to myself, this place is really closed, surrounded by insurmountable mountains, forming a natural barrier.The people who went all the way into this wilderness to build the citadel of Machu Picchu must have been driven by strong motives. Whatever the motivation, choosing such a remote location for the castle had at least one advantage: the Spanish army that conquered Peru, and the Catholic missionaries that followed, failed to find the castle in their sweeping sweep of the Inca culture, and let it escape. doomed.In fact, it was not until 1911, when the ancient Indian cultural heritage began to be respected by Westerners, that the young American explorer Hiram Bingham made public the remains of the ancient city of Machu Picchu he discovered. .In an instant, a wonderful window opened before our eyes; through it, we got a glimpse into the mysteries of pre-Columbian American culture.Under the protection of the Peruvian government, the ruins of Machu Picchu, which represents the mysterious ancient culture of the Americas, have been completely preserved from being harassed and plundered by criminals.Our children and grandchildren will be puzzled and amazed by its magic from generation to generation. The train arrived at the Machu Picchu ruins station at 9:10 a.m., passing through the small town of Agua Caliente (meaning "hot water") with only a few seedy restaurants and cheap bars along the road.We changed to Batu, followed a winding dirt road, climbed up a steep and steep hillside, and arrived at the ancient city of Machu Picchu half an hour later, staying in a hotel with simple facilities and extremely expensive rent.We are the only guests in this hotel.Several years ago, local guerrillas dropped bombs on the train bound for Machu Picchu; after that, not many foreign tourists dared to visit this ancient city. Sun God's Leash Rock At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, I stood on a high platform at the southern end of the ancient city. Looking around, I saw that the whole ruins were covered with moss, layer upon layer, extending all the way to the north.The surrounding mountain peaks are hidden in the clouds, and the sun occasionally breaks through the clouds and shines down. In the valley below, I saw the holy river meandering through the rock formations under the citadel of Machu Picchu, like a moat surrounding a majestic city.Looking down from a height, the river water reflects the tropical jungle on the hillside, which looks extraordinarily green.The sparkling water on the river is really beautiful. I raised my neck and looked at the towering mountain opposite the ruins.Its name is Huana Picchu (Huana Picchu), and it often appears on posters of travel agencies.I was surprised to find that there is a neat terrace on the hillside about 100 meters from the peak.Apparently someone had climbed up there before, and with the careful handling of a rake, had turned the steep cliff into a graceful hanging garden—perhaps, in ancient times, this garden was really full of bright flowers. In my opinion, the whole ancient city is simply a huge sculpture art, composed of hills, trees, stones and flowing water.It's bewitchingly beautiful.I have never seen such a beautiful place in my life. Despite the splendor of the castle, it felt as if I was gazing into a dead city inhabited by ghosts.It reminds me of a ship sunk on the bottom of the sea, eerie and ghostly.The houses in the city are row upon row, sitting on rows of long steps.The houses were small, one-room houses, close to the narrow streets, solidly built, and unpretentious.In contrast, the place where the sacrificial offering is held is much more elaborate in architecture, using the kind of big stones I saw in the Saksayhuaman Temple. One of the polygonal boulders is polished very smooth, about 12 feet long and 5 feet wide , 5 feet thick and no less than 200 tons in weight.How did ancient construction workers move such a huge stone up the mountain? There are dozens of stones like this in Machu Picchu, all interlocked at various angles to form a wall like a jigsaw puzzle.I counted and found that one of the stones had thirty-three corners in total, each of which was closely joined to an equal corner of the adjacent stone.In this ancient city, huge polygonal stones and square stones can be seen everywhere, with edges and corners as sharp as a razor.In addition, there are some natural, uncarved boulders, which are integrated into the overall design.Worthy of mention are those peculiar devices, highly unusual to Westerners, such as the "Intihuatan" (Intihuatan), which means "the horse-post of the sun god".At its base was a basestone of gray crystal clear, carved in intricate geometrical figures, adorned with shrines and buttresses, with a stubby stem standing in the centre.Straight forks. jigsaw puzzle How old is Machu Picchu?The common view of the academic circle is that the construction date of this castle should be around the 15th century AD.However, some well-respected scholars dare to question and put forward different opinions from time to time.For example, in the 1930s, Rolf Muller, a professor of astronomy at the University of Potsdam in Germany, found conclusive evidence that some important architectural features of the ancient city of Machu Picchu reflected major astronomical phenomena.Mathematically, he carefully calculated the position of the stars in the sky over the past few thousand years (the position of the stars changes over time due to an astronomical phenomenon called "precession"), and came to this conclusion: Machu Picchu Castle Its original design and construction must have been completed "between 4000 BC and 2000 BC". In the eyes of orthodox historians, this is simply nonsense.If Müller's calculations are correct, the citadel of Machu Picchu is not just 500 years old, but 6,000 years old.In this way, it is much older than the Great Pyramid of Egypt (orthodox scholars date the construction of the Great Pyramid to around 2500 BC). There are other scholars who disagree with the orthodox opinion about the history of Machu Picchu citadel.Like Müller, most of them believe that parts of the castle are thousands of years older than orthodox historians give it a date. Like the polygonal boulders assembled on the walls of Machu Picchu's citadel, at first glance, this viewpoint seems to fit together with other pieces to form a complete jigsaw puzzle, allowing us to solve the mystery of history and glimpse the ancient face of Peru.Viracocha is part of this jigsaw puzzle.According to legend, his capital was set in Tihuanaco.The ruins of this great ancient city are now located in a region of Bolivia called Collao, 20 miles from the southern shore of Lake Titicaca. I calculated that in just two or three days, we can reach the ancient city of Tihuanaco via Lima, the capital of Peru, and La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. note ① Jose Diascoda's "Natural and Human History of the West Indies", Volume 1, Chapter 4, see "South American Mythology", page 61. Jose de acosta, The Natural and Moral History of the Indies, Book I, Chapter four, in South American Mythology, p.61 ② Same as above, page 82. ③Gifford and Xibike, "The Brave Land, God Paper and Elves in South American Mythology", p. 54. D． Gif ford and J． Sibbick, Warri Ors and Spirits from South American Mythology, Eurobook Limited, 1983, p. 54． ④ "Old Testament Genesis" Chapter 6, Part 4. ⑤ Father Molina's "Inca Mythology and Ritual Accounts", included in "South American Mythology", page 61. ⑥ "Review of the Inca Dynasty". ⑦Elden Mason, "Ancient Peruvian Civilization", 237 pages. J． Alden Mason, The Ancient Ciuilizations of Peru, Penguin Books, London, 1991, P. 237． ⑧ Dibetanzos (Legend of the Incas), see (South American Mythology), p. 79. ⑨Quoted in Zikaria Hiteqing's "The Lost Kingdom", p. 164. Zecharia Sitchin, The Lost Realms, Avon Books, New York, 1990, p. 164．