Reading "Science Fiction World" (7) Baoshu's "On the Matter of Humanity Having to Find Dragons"

Synopsis

Published in the 4th issue of "Science Fiction World" in 2024.

Lin Yimin, who holds several key positions in state agencies, and his business partner, Dr. Ding Yi. The two first met eight years ago. As a fledgling researcher, Lin was tired of the mundane work of organizing excavated artifacts day after day. It was then that an ancient tomb was discovered by chance during a test run of a new type of boring machine. Lin, wondering if the boring machine could be used for archaeological surveys, visited its developer, Dr. Ding.
The two soon hit it off and invented a boring machine that could excavate "possible pasts." They attracted public attention by digging up various "relics of the past" and eventually proving the existence of a legendary dynasty, but one day, Dr. Ding's computer was attacked by hackers.
From then on, artifacts confirming the existence of legendary ancient civilizations began to appear all over the world, and in the United States, the ethnic consciousness of indigenous people rose rapidly, as "excavations" began to influence modern society. As a result, their machine was internationally banned due to fears of its excessive influence. However, the machine had already spread to civilians, and even after the ban, there were people who secretly manufactured and used it. They were followers of a new religious movement that worshipped dragons, legendary creatures. Following the intentions of the dragons, which were intelligent life forms that existed before humans, they were trying to destroy this world...

Impressions

It was a short read that I could finish quickly, but it made me think by weaving in issues of modern society while dealing with the problem of space-time—what is the "present"?
As the boring machine in the story shows,the history we know now is merely the result of accumulating relatively plausible hypotheses based on the evidence currently availableto us. That is perhaps why researchers dream of discoveries that could overturn history.
This boring machine is also depicted asa machine that alters history as a parallel world that was not chosen, and connects it to the "present"I felt that it skillfully expressed the human psychology of being attracted to historical revisionism and pseudoscience, while at the same time reminding me of the uncertainty of history in the real world—that it is something tentative. Also, although written briefly, I was struck by the part where the "excavations" awaken the ethnic consciousness of indigenous people in the United States, causing the state to feel threatened. I think there are many people and things among minorities, including indigenous people, that have not been written into official history or have been buried in the darkness of history. I think one can also read a social theme here, that
if we consider that the "present" is part of history and an extension of the past, then the excavation of that history or past can change the current situation.

About the Author

Baoshu was born in 1980. I think he is an author well-known enough in Japan that he needs no introduction here. He boasts a brilliant award history, including the Galaxy Award, the Seiun Award, and overseas categories of Japanese SF literary awards. In 2024, he was nominated for a Hugo Award for "The Three-Body Problem: The Redemption of Time" (Note: The source text refers to "Meishi Sanpin"/"Three Gourmet Dishes"). He also won the Galaxy Award in the same year for "Zhongyuan Festival."
In Japanese, in addition to "The Three-Body Problem: The Redemption of Time" (translated by Nozomi Ohmori, Sakura Mitsuyoshi, and Wang Chai), you can read his works in anthologies such as "Golden Age" (translated by Naoya Nakahara / in "Golden Age" edited by Ken Liu), "Ring Girl" (translated by Toya Tachihara / in "The Bookstore at the End of the Universe" edited by Toya Tachihara), and "Blessing of Time" (translated by Yoko Okubo / in "Moving Labyrinth" edited by Kazumi Ooe et al.), as well as his personal collection of masterpieces, "King of Time" (translated by Bungo Inamura and Kosaku Ai).