Chapter 542: Let There Be Light

"So this mirage — if it's not a divine sign, what exactly is it?"

On the road to Jimo City, after hearing the news that had come back from the Western Regions, the ever-curious Zhang Cang posed this question. He didn't understand why a learned scholar like himself always ended up asking a rough fellow like Heifu, but he had a feeling that Heifu could explain it.

Strangely enough, Heifu was utterly clueless about some of the common knowledge of this era, yet on matters Zhang Cang racked his brains over without success, Heifu could put his finger on the answer with a single sharp remark.

"This must be what they mean by 'a capable man always has his peculiarities,'" Zhang Cang could only console himself.

Heifu simply invited him up into his own carriage for a proper talk. The moment Zhang Cang climbed aboard, the team of four horses at once let out a pitiful whinny — the carriage had suddenly grown two hundred jin heavier.

Once the two were seated, Heifu said, "This phenomenon is called a sea market. It often appears above the ocean's surface. The fangshi say it is an immortal realm manifesting in the world. Others believe it is the breath exhaled by a creature of the jiaolong kind — a clam-monster — which forms towers, terraces, city walls, and ramparts, hence the name 'clam towers.'"

"However, sea markets and clam towers do not appear only along the coasts of Yan and Qi. In places like snowy plains, deserts, or the Gobi, towering terraces, city walls, trees, and other phantom scenes occasionally appear. I saw one once at the edge of the desert north of the Great Wall — only a pity it came and went too fast. It's one thing to say there are jiaolong by the sea, but are there any in the great deserts and snowy plains?"

"But if someone says the sea markets and clam towers appearing in the Western Region deserts are the Ruins of Kunlun and the realm of the Queen Mother of the West, I don't believe that either…"

Zhang Cang, like Xun Qing, was a staunch monist; he scoffed at all talk of strange forces and chaotic spirits. Yet the things in this world could not all be explained one by one.

Heifu said, "Back when I was north of the Wall, I discussed this with the Mohists who had been ordered to go there and assist. Among them, Tang Duo, who serves under Young Master Fusu, believed it was a matter of spirits and gods, but Cheng Shang felt that it likely had nothing to do with spirits and gods — that it was due to light rays…"

"Light rays?"

Zhang Cang raised his head, gazed at the sky's light and the clouds' reflections, and fell deep into thought.

At that moment, Heifu instead asked Zhang Cang a question first.

"I've heard that Xun Qing once denounced the Twelve Masters, and among them was Mozi."

Zhang Cang gave a hearty laugh. That was his teacher firing a broadside. Not only Mozi, but Song Xing, Shen Dao, Tian Pian, Hui Shi, Deng Xi, Zisi, Meng Ke — twelve great masters of various schools from recent times — were all roundly criticized by Xunzi.

Among these, his criticism of Mozi was that he did not understand the laws and standards for unifying the world and establishing a state; he esteemed utility and practical results, valued frugality but slighted hierarchical distinctions, and even refused to allow differences and disparities between people, or a clear distance between ruler and subject. It was just that his arguments had roots and evidence, and his explanations were well-organized and coherent — enough to deceive and hoodwink the ignorant masses…

To Heifu, this sounded less like a condemnation and more like a compliment, because the Mohists' logical capacity was truly the most solid among the Hundred Schools.

Moreover, the Mohists were fond of "illuminating ghosts," using ghosts and spirits as a banner, which was another point heavily criticized by Confucian and Legalist scholars.

"But did Mozi truly believe in ghosts and spirits?"

Heifu tossed out this question. "As early as the first campaign against Chu, I had dealings with the Mohists. I got hold of the Mo Jing from Cheng Shang and read through it…"

Of course, Cheng Shang's willingness to show Heifu the Mo Jing, which was not lightly revealed to outsiders, also carried the intention of drawing him into the school. But Heifu had gotten a very particular feeling from it.

"Thanks to you, I read widely through all the books in Xianyang. I've also read the Confucian Analects. I could tell that when Confucius held up the Duke of Zhou as his model, in his heart he devoutly believed in the Duke of Zhou. But when I read the 'Illuminating Ghosts' chapter, I felt that although Mozi never failed to invoke ghosts and spirits, whether he himself wholeheartedly believed in them is truly hard to say."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Mozi both illuminates ghosts and rejects fate — it's full of contradictions. If he were a devout believer in ghosts and spirits, it shouldn't be like this… I have a conjecture. Perhaps Mozi only wanted to rely on ghosts and spirits to establish righteousness. What he offered was not the ghosts and spirits themselves, but their power to reward and punish, to make the people of the world feel awe. He used ghosts and spirits as the outer skin, but in reality, Mozi poured far more of his mind into expounding universal love and non-aggression, the world's conformity to superiors, and the study of investigating things…"

"Investigating things" was the term Heifu and Zhang Cang gave to the study of material change and properties. To prove something, one must first investigate things — that is, observe and study phenomena, and thoroughly grasp the principles of the matter.

Heifu's assertion that fireflies are not born from rotting grass, and Zhang Cang's discovery of the principle behind the brine-drenching method of salt production, were both the results of observation and investigating things.

The Mohists also investigated things, and their investigation of things was truly at the forefront of the world!

"Take light rays, for example. It was only after Cheng Shang explained it to me in detail that I realized with astonishment just what degree Mozi had reached back in his day!"

In the "Lower Canon, Explanations" section of the Mo Jing, Mozi performed an experiment: in a dark room, a small hole was opened in the wall facing the sun. A person stood outside the room facing the small hole, and on the opposite wall inside the room, an inverted shadow of the person appeared. Why did this strange phenomenon occur? Mozi believed that light passing through a small hole is like an arrow in flight — it travels in a straight line. The person's head blocks the light from above, so its shadow forms below; the person's feet block the light from below, so their shadow forms above — thus creating an inverted image…

When Heifu heard the Mohists finish explaining this passage, he was utterly floored! Wasn't this the pinhole imaging experiment and the first law of optics — "light travels in a straight line"?

Mozi's experiments did not stop there. He also used this property of light to explain the relationship between an object and its shadow. The shadow of a bird in flight also seems to be in motion. The Mohists analyzed the relationship between light, bird, and shadow, uncovering the secret that the shadow itself does not directly participate in the movement.

At the same time, the "Lower Canon, Explanations" also expounded on image formation with plane mirrors, concave mirrors, and convex mirrors, explaining the relationship between focal length and object imaging.

What is most astonishing is that these "Eight Articles on Optics" recorded in the Mo Jing were all verified using water surfaces and bronze mirrors — without any glass!

"How did he think of it and achieve it?"

After reading it, Heifu was utterly prostrate with admiration for Mozi, to the point that the thought even crossed his mind: "Could the venerable Mozi also be a transmigrator?"

And he had to be from a science and engineering background! Because besides optics, Mozi also touched on mathematics, mechanics, and the law of the lever.

It was no wonder, then, that the Mohists produced an endless stream of black technology — because they were not merely craftsmen. They had a complete set of theories. Mozi was, in the truest sense…

"A scientist!"

Mozi — he was quite simply the light of hope for ancient Chinese science.

Heifu did not know who the great mind tinkering with optics in ancient Greece was, but the timing was certainly much later than Mozi. After learning all this, he could not help but sigh with deep emotion, and at the same time a question arose.

"For the two thousand years after that, what on earth was China doing?"

It was not until modern times, when gunboats forced open the gates and Western learning spread eastward, that the Chinese finally opened their eyes to see the world, resolved to learn the barbarians' superior techniques in order to control them, and frantically translated all manner of scientific books. While marveling at Newton's greatness and becoming fascinated by those Western physical laws, they opened the ancient Mozi and suddenly discovered that our own Mozi had already proposed these things back in the Warring States period!

One can imagine how profoundly awkward the scene was at the time. So it was not that our ancestors were not brilliant, but that their later students did not live up to them!

This was also unavoidable. Historically, the Qi Mohists and Chu Mohists all declined and perished; only the Qin Mohists survived, but they too gradually faded. The Mohists' successors did not pay much attention to this part of the Mo Jing, and very few delved into it.

By the time the Qin fires came burning, the books of the Hundred Schools among the common people were cut off, and Mohist works also suffered the calamity, with very few remaining. And after Emperor Wu of Han venerated only Confucianism and abolished the Hundred Schools, Mohism completely collapsed. After that, these things were utterly forgotten by the Chinese people for two thousand years.

So in the matter of preventing the book burning and allowing the Mo Jing to escape that calamity, Heifu was quite proud of himself!

Having finished recounting the Mohists' research on optics, Heifu then said to Zhang Cang, "Based on the records in the Mo Jing, Cheng Shang believes that these sea markets and clam towers, though seemingly complex, are nothing remarkable once you grasp them thoroughly. They may simply be the shadows cast from afar by some mountain range or city under the sky's light. Foolish people do not recognize them and therefore take them for gods — the same principle as rotting grass turning into fireflies."

"It's just that sea markets are hard to track down, with no way to begin studying them. You can only encounter them with good luck. If your luck is poor…"

Heifu revealed a smile. "Then it will be just like the fangshi. Even if they burn ever more incense and set up ever more altars at Chengshan Cape, the sea market will not emerge to grant them a single glimpse. This is another kind of 'it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie'…"

"The marvelous wonder of nature's creation truly fills one with admiration. I hope that one day I can see it with my own eyes."

Zhang Cang quite approved of this line of reasoning from Heifu, and at the same time developed a new interest in the Mohists' theories.

Heifu also suggested, "Brother Zihu, once we return to Xianyang, you should read more of the Mohists' doctrines and talk more with Cheng Shang. The myriad things of heaven and earth are infinitely strange. To investigate things and discern falsehood, one person alone is not enough. And the Mohists may well be our best fellow travelers."

"I certainly will!"

Zhang Cang nodded heavily, then lowered his voice and said, "So you also believe that the appearance of a sea market in the desert was mere coincidence, and has nothing to do with the realm of the Queen Mother of the West or the Ruins of Kunlun?"

The two of them were probably the only ones who had talked the matter through to clarity. The assembled officials outside were all congratulating Qin Shi Huang on it, and the Emperor believed it without doubt.

Heifu said with certainty, "Nothing to do with it!"

"There is still one thing I don't understand."

The carriage stopped beside a post station. Before alighting, Zhang Cang bowed to Heifu with clasped hands and said, "You have repeatedly obstructed the matter of sending tower ships east across the sea to seek immortals. Yet regarding the matter of seeking the realm of the Queen Mother of the West in the west, why do you seem perfectly happy to see it proceed? If I remember correctly…"

Zhang Cang said, "That Wu Ya who spoke at great length about the Queen Mother of the West before His Majesty — she was the one you brought from the Chenbao Shrine, wasn't she?"

Both were clever men; there was no need to speak everything aloud once you saw through it. Heifu smiled. "Opening up the Western Regions and exploring the Eastern Sea — they seem not very different on the surface, but in reality, they are as far apart as heaven and earth."

The reason is simple: the time cost spent versus the return gained are not remotely on the same order of magnitude.

"The west may be far, and blocked by great deserts and snowy mountains, but at most three to five years and one can make a round trip. Moreover, the envoys and trade caravans might bring back some fine things the Central Plains lack."

Fine horses standing seven or eight chi at the shoulder, alfalfa that both men and livestock can eat, watermelons, Hami melons, grapes, and the cotton Heifu can never stop thinking about… bringing back so many good things—what great changes could they bring to life in the Central Plains? Not to mention that our domestic silk and sugar could also flow out in an endless stream, traded for things the Central Plains needs.

As for the east—it is true that the Americas have corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and tomatoes, but to what extent have these plants been cultivated now? No one knows. With Qin's seafaring technology, how long would it take to reach them? No one knows. And if one went, could one even make it back? No one knows.

As for the silver mountains of Japan… Great Qin's population is only around thirty million, and the Jiangnan region has countless gold and silver mountains that we still lack the manpower to exploit—why seek the distant and forsake the near?

As a rational man, Heifu believed that setting off east too early would only be like drawing water with a bamboo basket—all in vain. Opening up the Western Regions, establishing contact with the equally civilized West Asia and Europe, and ceasing to play at self-amusement within the East Asian circle, only to end up stagnating in complacency—that was the proper path.

There was no way to explain these reasons to Zhang Cang, so Heifu could only tell him this…

"Therefore, I support going west. It has nothing to do with gods or spirits."

Heifu said gravely, "It concerns only the common people!"

"And everything Your Majesty will see next in Jimo will also be purely about the people's livelihood—how man transforms nature, tames and masters it—and will no longer have the slightest connection to gods and spirits!"

……

PS: Second chapter. No need to wait this evening if it doesn't come; I'm heading out for the holiday. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone.

PS: Translation of Canon II: A shadow inverts because light rays intersect; the focal point and the shadow are thus produced. This is the principle of the focal point.

Translation of Exposition of Canon II: Shadow—light shines upon a person, reflects, and travels straight like a sword. That which shines on the lower part reflects to a high place; that which shines on a high place reflects to a lower part. Thus the shadow is cast inverted. The feet block the light below and reflect to form a shadow above; the head blocks the light above and reflects to form a shadow below. At a far or near distance from the object there is a small aperture; the object is struck by the straight lines of light and reflected upon the wall, hence the shadow stands inverted within the screen.

(End of chapter)