Diqin Designer

Chapter 526 Relying on Man, Not God

Of course, there is no such coincidence. When Li Nian was editing, he deliberately made the mythological background of the Ancestral God Sect related to Greek mythology, biblical stories, and Brahman gods, and selected some of the settings and stories to incorporate into the background of the Ancestral God Sect.

Li Nian's goal was to create a religion for the Great Qin that would give it the upper hand when facing other major religions in the world.

Your religion is very powerful, but you may not know that your religions all branched off from our Ancestral God Religion, and the gods you worship are just incarnations and other names of our gods.

Our Ancestral God Religion is the source and ancestor of your religion!
This would allow the Qin Dynasty to take the initiative when encountering these religions in the future.

For example, some believers of God claim that the ancestors of mankind are Adam and Eve. When these people see the scriptures of the Ancestral God Sect, they will be surprised to find: What? Adam and Eve were created by the Qin people's gods Nuwa and Fuxi. These two Qin people's gods also created the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve to live in.
What exactly happened? Was the Qin people's record correct, or was the Bible's record correct?
Could it be that Adam and Eve were truly created by the gods of the Qin people, but due to the passage of time, the true records were lost over the years, leading to errors in the biblical account?

Euthydemus I and others were now in a state of astonishment and doubt: why did the stories of the gods of the Qin people correspond to some of the myths they knew?
Could it be that their myths and legends originally came from the Qin people, but were distorted when they reached them?

Doesn't that mean that the gods they worshipped were inferior in rank to the gods of the Qin people?

Not necessarily. If the legends about gods were to go astray by the time they reached them, the legends about gods would certainly have been wrong as well. The gods they worshipped might have actually been the gods of the Qin people, but they were misrepresented during transmission. Information can be distorted during transmission, especially legends about gods passed down orally.

Euthydemus I and others had mixed feelings. If what they thought was true, wouldn't it mean that the gods of the Qin people were the real gods, and that they were worshipping false gods?

Thinking further, the Qin people were the legitimate lineage, and their collateral branches splitting off was unacceptable to them. Who would willingly be suddenly relegated to a lower status?

And that's exactly what Li Nian wanted!
Just like the battleground of public opinion, if you don't occupy the religious front, someone else will. Li Nian naturally wanted the Great Qin, or rather, the Chinese nation, to have the upper hand in the religious front.

Rather than allowing other religions to enter China and influence it, it is better to let Chinese religions go out and influence others.

Why can God touch it, Buddha touch it, but our Great Qin Emperor can't touch it? That doesn't make sense!
Moreover, religious culture is a very important part of civilization, and for the future of the Qin Dynasty, it must go out into the world.

Li Nian hopes that Westerners in this world will pray to the Heavenly Emperor Taiyi instead of God, and when thanking others, they will say "May the Heavenly Emperor protect you!" instead of "God bless you!"

A Bactrian minister frowned and said, "If what the envoy says is true, then we are all creations of your nation's gods? But why have we never heard of this?"

Wang Ling glanced at the minister and smiled, "Just because I've never heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The creation of humans took place over an extremely long time, and some records have been lost to time, while others have become distorted."

"Do you all know that this world was once just one landmass, which was later separated? Even longer ago, there was no land, only ocean!"

These words astonished Eurydimus I and others. What was this all about? The world was once an ocean with no land, and all the lands were once one, which was only separated later.

The minister asked, "Does the envoy have any evidence?"

Wang Ling smiled and said, "Actually, some of you may have already seen the evidence. Have you ever heard of stones containing fish or shellfish being unearthed in a certain place?"

Upon hearing the translator's interpretation of the king's words, Euthydemus I and his entourage immediately fell into deep thought.

If Wang Ling hadn't mentioned it, they wouldn't have thought of it. But now that Wang Ling brought it up, they immediately realized that it might really be as Wang Ling said: this world was once an ocean, which is why they could dig out those stones with fish and shellfish on land.

Because it was once an ocean, it naturally contained fish and shellfish. As the sea later became land, the fish and shellfish that were unable to leave in time turned into stones.

"There is evidence that the world once consisted of only one landmass. The evidence is that, although they are thousands of miles apart, certain plants, birds and beasts have something in common because they originally lived on one landmass and had a common ancestor."

The minister then asked, "Then why are we humans different? The envoy's appearance is quite different from ours. Could it be because the continents are separated?"

Wang Ling laughed and said, "That's only one reason. The main reason is that the two great gods, Nuwa and Fuxi, not only created us in Shenzhou, but also created humans in other places. When creating humans, the two great gods would adjust them according to the local environment so that the humans they created could adapt to the local environment."

"As far as Wang knows, further west, there are people with very dark skin. This is an adjustment made by the two great gods when they created these people's ancestors. Because the local climate is hot and the sun is too strong, it is necessary to make their skin darker to protect them from the sun."

It has no scientific basis and is just nonsense, but it can fool people.

"Moreover, the two great gods endowed the locals with relatively robust bodies, making them good at running and jumping, but also making them lack wisdom. 'The number of the Great Expansion is fifty, but its use is forty-nine.' Humans in the Dao should also be like this; with gain, there will be loss."

Upon hearing these words, Euthydemus I and his companions had an idea: So that's why those people were so stupid.

Why does it seem like this Qin envoy is getting more and more right?

"The two great goddesses Nuwa and Fuxi also created two Western ancestors named 'Adam' and 'Eve'. Nuwa first created Adam, and then took one of Adam's ribs to create Eve. Fuxi built a paradise called 'Eden' for the two to live in."

This time, Euthydemus I and his entourage had even stranger expressions, because they knew the story of Adam and Eve.

Surprisingly, the myths and legends of the Qin people also mention Adam and Eve, who were created by their gods.

Wang Ling shook his head: "It's a pity that these two ancestors of the West couldn't resist the temptation and were led away from the Garden of Eden by the evil serpent god. But then again, if they hadn't left the Garden of Eden, where would the humans of the Western Lands be today?"

It actually matches up in the myths and legends of the Qin people. In the stories they heard, Adam and Eve were tempted by a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit and were expelled from the Garden of Eden by the God who created them.

Of course, they did not consider themselves descendants of Adam and Eve; they were created by the great Prometheus and the goddess Athena.

No, Prometheus is a male god and Athena is a goddess. Doesn't that perfectly match the Qin people's gods Nuwa and Fuxi?
The Qin envoy said that their gods created humans not only in one place, but also in other places.

We met again!

"After the two great gods Nuwa and Fuxi created humans by the divine decree of the Heavenly Emperor Taiyi, they taught them some simple survival skills and then returned to their place, leaving humans to develop on their own in the world."

Hearing this, Euthydemus I and the others breathed a sigh of relief. At least they had nothing in common. Their god had not gone home after accomplishing his task and no longer cared for people, but instead walked on the earth and coexisted with them.

Like Prometheus, who stole fire for them, enabling them to keep warm and cook, but was punished by Zeus, the king of the gods, for it. Zeus, too, repeatedly performed miracles, such as having relations with many beautiful mortal women, even knowing they were married, seducing them into sexual relations.

Zeus, the king of the gods, seems to have questionable morals...

All of this proves that their mythology is different from that of the Qin people, and that their gods are not the same as the gods of the Qin people.

This is also why they breathed a sigh of relief; they weren't afraid of being different from the Qin people, but rather of having too many coincidences with them.

But soon, their joy vanished.

One minister specifically asked, "Did not your nation's god travel the earth with your ancestors?"

Wang Ling smiled and replied, "Gods are not human beings, but rather the embodiment of the Dao, or the laws of heaven and earth. Their actions are all determined by the Dao, just like the wind in the world, which does not blow from where people think it will, nor does it stop where people think it will stop."

Simply put, these are nature gods, possessing only divinity. They are natural phenomena in the universe, devoid of human desires and emotions.

The gods of Greek mythology are more human than divine; they are more like a group of powerful beings than gods.

"Although the goddesses Nuwa and Fuxi created us by the decree of Taiyi, in their eyes we are no different from other things in the world. Therefore, our rise and fall, birth and death are all determined by ourselves."

One minister asked in bewilderment, "If that's the case, then why do you all still believe in gods?"

Wang Ling smiled and said, "Although the gods created us in accordance with the changes of the Tao, they may not care whether we are grateful or believe in them, but they have indeed given us the grace of creation, and we should be grateful."

Whether or not the gods accept our beliefs is one thing, but whether or not we believe in them is another.

"After the gods left the earth, our Chinese ancestors traveled across the land, enduring hardships and difficulties. But amidst these hardships, one great ancestor after another emerged, leading our ancestors through those difficult years."

"Suirenshi invented fire-making by drilling wood, which enabled our ancestors to have fire for lighting, warmth, to drive away wild beasts, and to cook food."

"Youchao built houses so that his ancestors no longer had to live in tree holes and sleep in the open. They could stay in houses to shelter from the wind and rain and to avoid the cold of winter and the heat of summer."

"Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs to distinguish between poisonous and medicinal herbs, so that our ancestors had medicine to cure their illnesses, thus saving countless ancestors!"

Listening to Wang Ling recount the achievements of the ancestors of the Qin Dynasty, Euthydemus I and others finally understood why Wang Ling said that their ancestors developed on their own in the world, without relying on the help of the gods.

They don't need divine help or assistance; they can forge their own path.

Their fire doesn't need a god to steal it, their houses don't need a god to teach them how to build them, and they don't need to pray to a god when they get sick.

The ancestors of the Qin people were able to accomplish things that they themselves had to do with the help of gods in their stories!
We can stand shoulder to shoulder with the gods, not with gods!

Euthydemus I and his followers were no longer amused; compared to the ancestors of the Qin people, their ancestors seemed like a bunch of useless fools…

"Although our ancestors have passed away, their spirit will forever be upheld by us."

Euthydemus I and others had already understood what gods the Qin people worshipped. They respected the natural gods who created heaven and earth, but what they truly worshipped were their ancestors, whom they regarded as gods!
Compared to the Qin people, they were far inferior. The gods they worshipped were simply indescribable. Thinking back to the gods of the Qin people, were their gods really gods?

It was actually a group of people!

A true god should be like the Qin people said, without human emotions or desires. Are we going to believe in a bunch of false gods?

Perhaps, the origin of humankind is indeed as the Qin people said, and they should have worshipped the same gods as the Qin people, but later lost accurate records and mistakenly believed in a group of false gods.

Euthydemus I and others pondered this, and some already felt that they might have believed in the wrong god.

This is exactly what Li Nian wants to do: change these people's beliefs, make them abandon their past beliefs, and join the glorious Ancestral God Cult.

The Ancestral God Religion is the only orthodox religion. The creation and human creation information recorded in the Ancestral God Religion scriptures are the only true information. The gods of the Ancestral God Religion are the only true gods. The gods of other religions are all false gods and evil gods!
Wang Ling laughed and said, "This is the god that my Great Qin Dynasty believes in!"

With the protection of the Heavenly Emperor Taiyi, I am not familiar with Zeus, God, or Buddha.

Euthydemus I exclaimed, “The messenger is right. Gods are superior to men; how could they have the same emotions and selfish thoughts as humans? They neither favor nor mistreat humankind; they are the wind and thunder of heaven and earth…”

Euthydemus I didn't mention anyone in his speech, but everyone knew what he was talking about: the god-king Zeus who controlled thunder.

Some Bactrian ministers also sighed inwardly, realizing that the words of the Qin envoy had taken root in their hearts, and that it would be difficult to maintain their devout faith in Zeus in the future.

My apologies, my apologies, King Zeus, please forgive me and do not punish me. It is all the fault of the Qin envoy. If you must punish me, please punish the Qin envoy.

But as they had this thought, other thoughts secretly arose: if the God-King were to punish them for such a thing, it would only prove that He was unworthy of being believed in.

The ancestors of the Qin people were truly remarkable, and their ancestors were perhaps just as powerful, but their achievements were not recorded and passed down like those of the Qin people's ancestors.

Regarding religion and deities, although he did not admit it personally, Euthydemus I knew that they had lost to the Qin people in this respect; they were no match for them, simply no match.

Having lost in this respect, Euthydemus I made no attempt to regain face in other areas. He said, “Our country has many philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, and your country has many scholars. May I ask, envoy, which philosophers are among them, and could you introduce them to us?”

Wang Ling, Li Shiqi, and the others glanced at Euthydemus I. This guy really had a thick skin. If it weren't for Young Master Li Nian telling them about the history of the Western countries before their mission, they would have been fooled by this fellow.

(End of this chapter)