Chapter 62 - Sacred Mountain in Myanmar (Part XVI)

The stone steps underfoot led deep into the cave, likely existing from a long time ago. In some places, they were badly worn and had not been repaired, indicating that the Japanese army at the time didn’t bother to fix them.

Chen Shaoxian’s group proceeded cautiously. The further they went, the damper it became. The cave walls were damp, and the steps were similarly slippery.

Suddenly, a tall stone gate appeared in front, blocking their path.

The group approached the stone gate. Chen Shaoxian estimated it to be three meters high. He knocked on it, judging from the sound that it must be quite thick.

“My, God.” While still examining the stone gate, Chen Shaoxian heard an exclamation and turned to look at the three foreigners.

The expressions of Thomas and his companions were filled with excitement as they stared at the cave wall beside the stone gate, muttering something under their breath.

Chen Shaoxian walked over, noticing that this side of the cave wall was smoothly polished and featured many murals. The murals were simple, seemingly carved casually with sharp tools.

The first mural depicted four people standing in four directions. The second showed the four persons surrounding a mountain towering up to the clouds. The third displayed the four breaking the mountain together. The fourth depicted the four standing on the clouds in the sky, causing heavy snow to fall. The fifth revealed the snow transforming into twelve vaguely defined creatures. The sixth presented people kneeling at the mountain’s peak, worshiping the four figures in the sky.

Chen Shaoxian scratched his head and looked at the three foreigners, who were still fixated on the murals. He gently tapped Thomas.

Coming back to his senses, Thomas looked at Chen Shaoxian with excitement, speaking incoherently, “You wouldn’t believe it, you wouldn’t believe it.”

Chen Shaoxian nodded, thinking to himself, “Indeed, I wouldn’t, so explain clearly.”

Thomas swallowed, collected his thoughts, and pointed to the murals, saying, “If I’m not mistaken, these are murals of the ancient Yi Ethnic Group. I have studied many East Asian creation and human-origin myths. Though they are mostly similar, the ones from the Yi are particularly distinctive.” He paused and then asked Chen Shaoxian, “Do you know how many murals are on this cave wall?”

Chen Shaoxian looked at the murals on the cave wall and confidently said, “There are six.”

Thomas shook his head and replied, “Wrong, there are seven.”

He then pointed to a blank section at the beginning of the murals and said, “This blank wall represents the chaos of heaven and earth. At that time, there was no air, no sky, just chaos.”

Thomas, like a museum docent, explained each mural to Chen Shaoxian: “The second mural’s four figures represent the four great deities of the creation of heaven and earth.”

“The third mural is very interesting. It’s not as simple as the Western God creating humans. According to the ancient Yi Ethnic Group legend, the four deities initially created a giant creature that couldn’t speak or think. The fourth mural shows the heavenly deities breaking it apart. I think the mountain in the painting represents that creature.”

“The fifth mural shows the four deities ascending to the sky and causing heavy snow to fall.”

“The sixth mural depicts the snow transforming into twelve kinds of beings, one of which is the ancestor of humans.” He pointed to the creature in the fifth mural that was taller than the other eleven and said, “This represents the ancestor of humans.”

“The final mural shows humans worshipping the deities, and it is the most well-documented among the seven.” Concluding, he solemnly pointed to the mountain in the mural and asked, “Do you know what this represents?”

Chen Shaoxian felt frustrated, thinking, “Why do intellectuals and experts, whether Chinese or foreign, always ask questions they already know the answers to? They could just say it directly.” He glanced at Thomas, then turned his gaze to the mural. After a moment, he suddenly exclaimed, “You mean the mountain we are in right now is the place where they performed their worship?”

Thomas was quite pleased to hear this and pointed once more at the murals, saying, “You are very smart, and not only that, Chen, look again at the third and fourth murals.” He looked expectantly at Chen Shaoxian.

Chen Shaoxian hesitantly asked, “Could it be that this mountain also represents the first giant creature created by the four deities?”

Thomas nodded excitedly and said, “I can’t be certain, but we can’t rule out the possibility. You have to understand that science is rigorous, and only after verification can we know for sure. But do you know what this means for us?”

Chen Shaoxian sighed and replied, “Mr. Thomas, I don’t know what it means, but if we don’t find a way out, it means we might starve or die of thirst.” With that, he ignored Thomas and called over Xiao Zhuang and the others to help push open the stone gate.

Thomas suddenly shouted, “It’s not like that!” He walked up to Chen Shaoxian, placed both hands on his shoulders, and quickly said, “I’ve studied myths from all ethnic groups, and they all have a common theme: the chaos of heaven and earth. Later, everything is created by God or heavenly deities.”

“These things are not without foundation. Like the artifacts from Sanxingdui¹ of the Ancient Shu Kingdom, many of the bronze statues resemble Westerners. Amazingly, the inscriptions on many artifacts contain different ethnic languages, including Yi languages, which can be explained using the Yi language.”

“This suggests that there might have been a period of ethnic integration in ancient times, or perhaps humanity lived together in a single place in prehistoric times. The Ancient Shu Kingdom appeared five thousand years ago, thrived for over one thousand five hundred years, then vanished abruptly. When history resumed, there was a gap of over two thousand years. How it disappeared is unknown.”

He then pointed tremblingly at the stone gate and said, “Perhaps our discovery today could be as world-shattering as Sanxingdui.”

Just then, the stone gate began to creak and slowly opened.

Thomas looked at his finger and then at the stone gate, which had just opened under his pointing. He stood there, mouth wide open in disbelief.

Footnote:

1. Sanxingdui(三星堆):Sanxingdui is an archaeological site in Sichuan Province, China, associated with the ancient Shu civilization. It is famous for its unique and sophisticated artifacts, including bronze, jade, and gold objects, which showcase a distinct artistic style and a highly developed ancient culture.