It is described in "Shan Hai Jing Dong Shan Jing" as follows: "The head of the Dong Shan Jing is called the mountain of limbs, and it is close to the north. Water flows out and east water flows into the sea. Among them, there are many bighead carp, which are shaped like oxen and sound like songs. " That is to say, the bighead carp recorded in Shan Hai Jing lives in the Shandong and Anhui areas of China today, with a bull's head and sounds like a domestic pig. Now there are many kinds of fish in nature that fit this description, but combined with geographical characteristics, I think the bighead carp described in the book is probably bighead carp.
Megalobrama amblycephala widely lives in subtropical warm water and shallow water, with a pair of long spines in front of the orbit, which are relatively short and bend downward with growth; Behind the edge of the abdomen, there are a pair of backward long spines, so they look like horns. At the same time, because the puffer fish eaten in China has lived in rivers since ancient times, it is named "dolphin" because it makes a chirp like a pig when catching water. As a relative, the horn bream sounds somewhat similar to that of domestic pigs after being frightened, and also has the habit of flowing back to the river, so it is probably a stork.
At the same time, the research results of scientists point out that through fluid modeling, digital simulation and fluid experiments, the unique appearance of the angular box bream really helps it swim more stably in the complex water environment. Inspired by Box Gun, Mercedes-Benz released a concept car named "Bionic" in 2005, and Professor Peking University also developed a bionic underwater robot based on Box Gun.
Of course, for bighead carp, it may be an imagination and exaggerated description of unknown things under the limitation of ancient people's thinking thousands of years ago. As for its authenticity, we can only speculate on the real situation through the description of ancestors and rigorous scientific attitude. In any case, Shan Hai Jing is still one of the most important encyclopedias of geography and biology in world history.