Is the ancient eternal lamp a mysterious element invented by the ancients to highlight the solemnity of the ancient tomb, or is it a real magic lamp that can last for thousands of years?
Everlasting Light
The Origin of the Everlasting Light
There is a legend in ancient China. On New Year's Eve, the gods who patrol and protect the world will return to heaven to report the year's situation to the Jade Emperor. After the gods leave, the lurking monsters and monsters will come out to cause trouble. These little ghosts like dark places and will follow the sounds to catch people, so people came up with a way to light up the lights. Ghosts are always afraid of fire, so the ever-burning lanterns can protect people from spending New Year's Eve safely. Therefore, there is an ancient custom in China. On New Year's Eve, every household must light a lamp, and it cannot be blown out until the oil is exhausted. This is the earliest ever-burning lamp in China.
"Historical Records" clearly records that the ever-bright lamp in the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum "uses mermaid paste as a candle to save the immortal for a long time." However, "Taiping Yulan" quoted " Sanqin " as saying: "In the tomb of the First Emperor, whale ointment was burned as lamp." Whether mermaid ointment is used as lamp oil or whale ointment is used as lamp oil, there is no doubt that there is an ever-burning lamp in the tomb.
In fact, it is far beyond China. Eternal lanterns also appeared in ancient India, ancient Egypt, Greece, , North America and even some European countries. According to the customs in ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, and other places, the dead also need lights to illuminate their way, so the living will light a never-extinguished lamp for the deceased in the tomb to illuminate the deceased. And when the door to the tomb was opened again after a thousand years, the ever-burning lamp inside still emitted a dazzling light.
Ever-bright lamps appearing in various places
According to records, in 527 AD, Eastern Roman soldiers discovered an ever-bright lamp in Syria that had been lit in 27 AD, which meant that the lamp had been burning for 500 years at that time.
In 1400 AD, an ever-burning lamp was also found in the tomb of the ancient Roman prince Pyles. It is said that this lamp has been burning continuously for more than two thousand years.
In 1540 AD, Pope Paul III also discovered a burning ever-bright lamp in the tomb of the daughter of the ancient Roman politician Cicero . It is estimated that the lamp has been burning for more than 1,500 years.
The magic of the ever-burning lamp is not only that it can burn for thousands of years, but also that once it is lit, it cannot be extinguished by wind or water. The only way to extinguish it is to drain it of lamp oil.
Ever-Bright Lamp Conjecture
From the current point of view, a lamp that lasts for thousands of years seems to violate the law of conservation of energy, so some people think that the legend of the ever-bright lantern must not exist. However, the eternal lamps that have been repeatedly discovered around the world for thousands of years have proven that they are such a real existence. However, the secrets of the eternal lamps have not been revealed. This has triggered speculation by many scholars. People expect to find the secret of eternal energy from it.
Compared with ordinary oil lamps, the structure of the ever-burning lamp is not much special, but it has the energy to burn for thousands of years. Is it because its energy can be continuously replenished? According to this conjecture, scientists conducted some experiments, but they all failed. This idea is naturally unrealistic. Even if ancient times had the technology to continuously replenish fuel, where did such a huge amount of fuel that could last for thousands of years come from? How to place it?
After research, it was found that what is contained in the bowl of the Changming Lantern is indeed a kind of fuel. As recorded in historical records, this fuel is a special kind of deep-sea fish oil. So is it "mermaid paste" or "whale paste"? Regarding the "mermaid paste" in "Historical Records", " Foreign Object Chronicles" has the most detailed explanation, "The mermaid is human-shaped, more than a foot long, and cannot eat skin. It is good for mackerel (shark). It is used for sawing wood, and there is a small piercing on the neck, and the breath comes out. The mermaid paste is used as a candle in the tomb of Qin Shihuang , which is this fish." Some scholars have proposed that mermaids are whales based on the characteristics described in this paragraph.
And whale oil is indeed a kind of fuel. To this day, whale oil is still used as fuel or lubricant in some fields. It is calculated that one ton of whale oil can burn for 14 years, and fish oil extracted from a large whale can continue to burn for nearly a hundred years. Even so, it still cannot sustain the ever-burning lantern for thousands of years. So what is the secret that can keep the ever-burning lantern burning for thousands of years?
The mystery that lasts for thousands of years
Assuming that enough "whale paste" to burn for thousands of years is really placed in the tomb chamber, it will definitely require a lot of space and will leave certain traces. However, no such traces were found during archaeological excavations. Moreover, continuous burning requires enough oxygen . In a sealed environment like a tomb chamber, even the corpse can be "incorruptible for thousands of years". Will there be enough oxygen to support the burning of the ever-burning lamp?
American Simon Aifik gave such an explanation after thirty years of research. In fact, the eternal lamp is not immortal for thousands of years. It went out the moment the tomb chamber was closed and the oxygen was exhausted.
Then why were so many lit ever-burning lamps found when the tomb door was reopened? That's because when the door to the tomb was opened again, fresh air flowed into the tomb again. In addition, archaeologists found white phosphorus in the wick of the ever-burning lamp. White phosphorus, as a substance with a very low ignition point, is prone to spontaneous combustion, so the ever-burning lamp was relit when the tomb was reopened. In addition, white phosphorus is highly toxic and emits a large amount of toxic gases when burned. This is another wisdom of the ancients to prevent tomb robberies.
Even if we can now unlock the secret of the ever-burning lantern that "lasts for thousands of years", the method of making the ever-burning lantern has long been lost, and the secrets left by the ancients still need to be solved one by one.
