Whales Appearing on the Yellow Sea Peninsula in Ancient Times
The Yellow Sea Peninsula has many marine life, and large 'whales' are not uncommon.
Strictly speaking, whales are not fish, but people often use the term 'whale' (two characters are more convenient than one), and for the sake of writing convenience, this article also refers to them as whales.
Nowadays, whales are occasionally found washed up in areas such as Long Island. In ancient times, similar situations were not uncommon; historical records repeatedly mentioned that there were 'whales' appearing on the Yellow Sea Peninsula. However, ancient people did not use the word 'whale', but called them 'big fish'. Based on the records, we can basically infer that they were whales. Below, we will briefly introduce them.
According to the 'Wen Xuan Tong Kao', 'During Qin Shi Huang's thirty-seventh year, he toured the East Sea, besieged the sea, arrived at Zigong, saw a giant fish, and shot one fish.' (Earliest from Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian) Here, the size of the fish is not recorded, so the opinions are varied, some think it’s a whale, some think it’s a shark. However, considering the fish oil lamps found in the Miyun Mausoleum, the possibility of it being a whale is greater.
During the Western Han Dynasty, there were also records about whales in the Yellow Sea. ‘During Emperor Ai’s third year of Jingping, the large fish appeared in Pingde, Long Island, which was eight to ten zheng (approximately 2.7 meters) long and one zhang (approximately 3 meters) high, with seven pieces, all dead.’ Han Dynasty one zheng is approximately 2.7 meters, and eight zheng's length exceeds 20 meters, with a height of more than 3 meters. Such a physique is likely only found in whales (whale sharks also have lengths of over 20 meters, but are relatively rare in the Yellow and).
It is worth mentioning that during the Han Dynasty, the Yellow Sea Peninsula was not the same as today, at that time there were sea invasions, and Pingde’s north coast was close to the sea, while now Pingde is already an inland county and city.
The event of ‘big fish’ appearing in Pingde was also reflected in the local names, there is a large fish ridge mountain not far north of Pingde City, which is said to be related to whales.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, ‘During Emperor Lingdi’s second year of Xiping, two large fish appeared in the sea of Donglai, which were eight and nine zheng (approximately 2.7-3 meters) long and two zhang (approximately 6 meters) high. This whale was obviously bigger than the one in Pingde. However, at that time, the ‘Heaven and Man are One’ ideology was prevalent, and many people thought that the appearance of ‘foreign objects’ represented many prophecies: ‘A giant fish coming out of the sea, evil people entering, and wise people retreating.’
The above are records from the Qin and Han Dynasties, and in the middle there are limited historical records, so there is no information found. But by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, 'big fish' began to appear again on the Yellow Sea coast.
According to the 'Qing History Manuscript', ‘In the third year of Kangxi, a giant fish washed up in the sheep pen mouth of Laiyang, which was more than six zheng (approximately 18 meters) long, made a thunderous sound, and instantly killed it.' There are similar records in the 'Laiyang County Record,' but the time is in the late Ming Dynasty’s Tianqi years: ‘In the third year of Tianqi, the sea port of sheep pen (sheep county) in Donglai washed up with a large fish that was more than six zheng (approximately 18 meters) long and made a thunderous sound, instantly killing it. The locals cut its meat and obtained more than a thousand carts of meat, and the bones could be used as roof beams.’
The 'big fish' in the Han Dynasty appeared in the northern part of the Yellow Sea Peninsula, while Laiyang Sheep County is on the southern coast of the Yellow Sea Peninsula, which can be considered to fill the southern part.
By the Qianlong Dynasty, there were also records of whales appearing in the Yellow River Delta. ‘In the fifth year of Kangxi, six giant fish washed up in the Yellow River Delta, and their bones were used to make four carts.’
The two whale records in Laiyang and Huang County were both six zheng long, which, from the surface, seemed smaller than the Han Dynasty's, but the zheng in the Qing Dynasty was more than three meters, approximately 20 meters, so the difference is not significant.
