The Bo land is barren, lacks water and is mountainous. Thirty miles south from Luoshui Pass, past Luoshui, is the territory of the Bo people. The Bo people have lived here for generations. Hundreds of years ago, the ancestors of the Bo people came out of the mountains and forests.
They wanted to rush to the Chengdu Plain, but unexpectedly the powerful Qin State destroyed the Shu State in an instant and took the vast plains as their own. Facing the powerful Qin State, the Bo people had no choice but to retreat here.
A small river meandered out and flowed quietly along the cliff. It was surrounded by grass or dense forests, and the one-foot-wide path was very difficult to walk. Su Ren was carrying several carts of goods this time, and it was difficult to move in such a place.
While pushing the cart, Hawking complained: "If I had known that this place was so difficult to get around, I wouldn't have brought so many things with me. It would have hurt me to have to push the cart. We went to give gifts, and those Bo people didn't come to pick them up."
On the other side of the river is a steep cliff, and several decayed coffins are placed high on the cliff. The wind and rain are blowing, and the coffins are almost broken into pieces, revealing the corpses inside. The bones are hideous and the air-conditioning is dense. Night owls are watching in broad daylight.
He even screamed, and the miserable screams only added to the terror of this place.
Su Ren raised his head, glanced up, and asked Lu Yi: "Miss Lu Yi, you are a Bo people, what is the meaning of your custom of erecting coffins on the cliff?"
Lu Yi also raised his head and glanced at the coffin on the cliff. It was already a long time ago, and it should have been put up by the ancestors of Bo. I don’t know when it was put up: “There is a saying among the Bo people that the higher the hanging coffin, the more auspicious it is.
If it falls, it will be more auspicious, just like you Han people who go to the grave to rest in peace, just to provide shelter for future generations."
Su Ren nodded: "I used to think that you Bo people raised the coffins so high to get closer to your gods. After hearing what you said, I finally understood. The original sentence is that you climb high and fall.
It’s so miserable!”
"You said that you Bo people have nothing to do when you are full, but you are trying to hold the bodies of your ancestors so high, not only exposed to the wind and sun, but also to see who falls first. You are letting your ancestors die in vain.
The whole corpse!"
"You!" Lu Yi was bitten by Su Ren's angry silver teeth, and he wanted to take action, but after thinking about it, he ran away.
Sima Xiangru shook his head: "Why are you so angry with a woman? Speaking of which, Miss Lu Yi is quite pitiful. She has been in our Han land for several years for her people. A woman with such endurance can be regarded as a hero among women."
"Come on! That's because the Bo men are incompetent. I dare to ask Brother Changqing, do we Han people have a tradition of letting women ward off disasters?"
This sentence happened to be heard by Lu Yi, who sneered: "You Han heroes only make peace with the Huns every year and marry Han princesses far away from the Great Wall. This is what you Han men are capable of!"
Su Ren was choked by these words and was speechless. He quickly turned to look at Sima Xiangru. Sima Xiangru smiled slightly and turned his head away and ignored him.
"What do you, a woman, know? This is called a honey trap, do you understand? Gou Jian will use Xishi to destroy Wu, and I will use the princess to destroy the Huns!" Su Ren was still arguing.
Lu Yi finally found something that could hit Su Ren, how could he let it go: "Haha, it is indeed a honey trap. It is said that the Xiongnu Chanyu asked your queen mother Lu to marry her. She was the queen of your great ancestor. You Han people had nothing to do. Presumably Lu
She must be an old woman who is as beautiful as a fairy, hahaha..."
Su Ren's face turned into the bottom of a pot, and he whipped Hawking: "Put in some effort, you are going so slowly on this road, when will you see the Bo people?"
Huo Jin looked at Su Ren aggrievedly. It was cold and the clothes were thick, so it didn't hurt to be whipped, but he felt aggrieved: It was obviously that woman who was trying to push you, why did you hit me?
Matangba was Su Ren's first stop when he entered the Bo region. There was a small Bo village here. Far away, he saw a mighty procession coming out of the village. All of them were in ragged clothes. Some women's clothes were not even worn.
Cover the body. The Bo people like the color black. In a large area of black, yellow skin is exposed from time to time, and it is also those key parts that make people feel particularly uncomfortable.
There were a lot of people, probably the whole village was mobilized. Lu Yi hurriedly dismounted: "Get out of the way, no collision!"
"What do you mean? What are these people going to do?"
"Someone must have died, and his coffin must be placed on the cliff!"
Su Ren quickly stood up, and in the middle of the team, a yak cart pulled a black coffin. Several men and women dressed in black were crying around the coffin. The road was only so far, and the teams on both sides were about to meet.
It is basic common sense to make way for the dead, but the carriage loaded with goods was very heavy, and it took a long time to move. Lu Yi was worried and reached out to help. More than a dozen people worked together, and before the funeral procession came,
Get out of the way.
The Bo people passed by Su Ren and others without saying a word, and looked at the group of Han people with angry eyes. Some children who wanted to reach out and touch something on the car would be slapped on the hand by an adult immediately. Until the whole funeral
As the team passed by, the older adults didn't have a good look on their faces.
Su Ren wiped the sweat from his head and asked Lu Yi: "What do you think they are going to do?"
Lu Yi rolled his eyes: "With a coffin, it's natural to be buried on a cliff."
"Oh? Then I have to go and have a look!" Su Ren ran towards the direction of the white horse: "Xiao Jinzi, go and see how these Bo people put the coffin up a cliff more than ten feet high!"
There is a cliff next to the small river to the north of Matangba, and many coffins have been placed on it. This hanging coffin of the Bo people is an eternal mystery. Many so-called scholars and experts in later generations cannot understand how the Bo people relied on backward technology.
Raising those coffins to such a high place and seeing them with my own eyes today is the time to solve this eternal mystery.
The memorial ceremony and various ceremonies were meaningless to Su Ren. When everything was over, he suddenly heard a loud roar and the hanging of the coffin officially began. Su Ren was very excited. He saw a few Bo people carrying the coffin to the bottom of the cliff, and long ropes
Then he hung down from the top of the cliff.
"Brother, there is someone up there!"
Following Hawking's pointing, a dozen strong Bo people on the cliff were holding on to two thick ropes. One end of the rope was hanging above the coffin. The people at the bottom of the cliff tied the coffin and roared again.
, the Bo people on the cliff began to exert force. As the Bo people rose higher, the coffin was raised little by little, and they did not stop until they selected the hanging coffin location dozens of meters away.
The two people hanging from above with ropes, each had a huge log behind them. With the help of the Bo people above, the two huge logs were put into the cave that had been dug. Wooden wedges and stones were used to secure them.
The giant trees were fixed, and under the command of the commander, the coffin was lowered little by little and placed smoothly on the two giant trees.
This process lasted a long time, from noon to sunset. The whole village of Bo people were busy guarding the coffin. The men were on the top of the cliff, the women were at the bottom of the cliff, and the loudest one in the village was the conductor. Dozens of people
The people cooperated tacitly, and all the steps were completed in one go. In this way, a coffin containing a dead person was placed on a cliff thirty or forty meters above the ground.
Su Ren frowned, it turned out to be so simple!
I think of the experts of later generations who taught all kinds of speculations, winches, high platforms and even simple lifting equipment. In order to show their wisdom, they were all imposed on the simple ideas of the ancients. Manpower is the most reliable and direct method.
!Although the coffin was bumped and bumped during the process, as long as it was not damaged, it was within the allowable range. The Bo people's coffin has a special feature. It is hollowed out of an entire large tree. Small collisions will not cause any damage to it.
Not in the mood to watch the Bo people's memorial ceremony at night, Su Ren took Huo Jin back.
When Huo Jin saw Su Ren bowing his head in thought, he said: "These Bo people are really strange. It's better for us Han people. When a person dies, dig a hole and bury it. It will save trouble!"
Su Ren was delighted by Hawking's words.
Yes, different ethnic groups have different ideas about funeral methods. The cliff burials of the Bo people, sky burials on the plateau, and sea burials by the sea are all the same method. And the most commonly used methods are burial and cremation. To put it bluntly,
, because these two funeral methods are the most convenient. They can be done anytime, anywhere, without being restricted or affected by any conditions.
Lu Yi saw a few people coming back and stepped forward to greet them: "How is it? Do you think it's spectacular? Do you admire us Bo people?"
Su Ren snorted coldly: "In a word, stupid! People are dead, and they still have to suffer like this. They are placed up and down in the coffin. After thinking about it, it is most straightforward for us Han people. After death, just find a hole and bury it. It's simple.
It’s practical, and it can also be used as fertilizer to nourish the earth.”
"You! You are simply not human!" Lu Yi was really angry this time and turned away.
The people of Matangba were paying homage to the dead at the foot of the cliff, and it was not a suitable time to enter the village. Su Ren asked everyone to set up camp outside the village. When they were boiling water for cooking, the Bo people's memorial team came back. The rice porridge they had just cooked,
The favorable wind carried the aroma far away. The hungry Bo people all opened their eyes wide, and the children ran towards the Su Ren camp. Looking at the milky white rice porridge in the pot, the clothes on their chests were wet with saliva.
"Want to eat?" Hawking scooped up a small spoonful, blew it, and handed it to a thin child standing at the front with a smile. The child's eyes glowed green, he glanced at Hawking, and was about to move his mouth.
"Pa!" A Bo man behind him slapped the child on the head. The thin body stumbled and fell far away.
Hawking became angry, threw down the spoon, and grabbed the guy who beat the child: "Why did you beat him?"
The man didn't speak, his eyes were full of anger, and he gritted his teeth and glared at Hawking. Behind him, more and more Bo people came over and surrounded Su Ren's small camp. When Huang Shisan saw the Bo people rushing over, he immediately greeted him
More than a dozen guards came to support Hawking with weapons, and the two sides formed a confrontation.
Sima Xiangru asked Su Ren anxiously: "Sir, if you don't ignore it, something big will happen!"
Su Ren smiled: "Don't worry, nothing serious will happen, some people don't want to die!"
Before Su Ren finished speaking, Lu Yi and her two servants hurried towards the confrontation. While running, they shouted loudly in Bo language. (To be continued)
