“The comparisons between Chinese and Biblical
chronology are so many that many mythologists have admitted that they must have
been inspired by the same source”.
Roy L. Hales
Roy L. Hales has shown in brief
outline, in his article, “Archaeology, The
Bible and The
Post-Flood Origins of Chinese History”, how early Chinese dynastic history follows a definite biblical (Genesis) pattern: http://www.creationism.org/csshs/v06n2p04.htm
Post-Flood Origins of Chinese History”, how early Chinese dynastic history follows a definite biblical (Genesis) pattern: http://www.creationism.org/csshs/v06n2p04.htm
…. During
the past century many theories of a western origin for Chinese civilization
have been proposed. One of the best documented attempts was based on the
similarity of neolithic pottery in eastern Europe and China. It was discarded
because archaeologists believed that any such large scale migration should
leave abundant evidences in the intervening lands and that evidence was not
available. On Biblical presuppositions, of course, we might expect no
intervening link because the migration to distant lands occurred rapidly after
the Tower of Babel episode. An examination of Chinese tradition, and the
legends of the equally ancient Far Eastern Miao tribes, suggests that China was
colonised after a flood like that described in the Bible.
THE FLOOD
The flood was as
important in the ancient mythologies of the peoples of China, as it is to
Scripture. Many primitive peoples described it as a catastrophe of Biblical
dimensions. The Miao Legend states that a single human couple escaped the
deluge in a wooden drum, and then gave birth to the first members of post flood
humanity.1 The Shu King, China's first "history", states:
destructive in
their overflow are the waters of the inundation. In their vast extent they
embrace the hills and overtop the great heights, threatening the heavens with
their floods.2
WORLD PRE-FLOOD GENEALOGIES
Yu, the Chinese
"Noah", overcame the flood waters, but he and his immediate
predecessors are of a lineage well known to world mythology. The Bible, the
ancient Sumerians and the Chinese all cite a chronology of ten rulers whose
last member was the hero of a Great Flood epoch. Similar legends are known from
Greece and India. Some modern scholars have recognised the unity of these
genealogies and suggested they may have originated in ancient Sumeria. In our
Biblical framework, the great flood was an actual event and each of these
traditions indigenous to the lands where they are found. Such a currency of
like traditions is to be expected on the basis of Scripture, and on that basis
Miao are quite correct in ascribing the whole of post flood humanity to a
single family.
A BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION OF CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY
A Biblical
interpretation of China's village culture must necessarily cut 3,000 years off
the current reconstruction of that nation's Neolithic era. The vast bulk of
early cultures, the Yang Shao and Lung Shan among them, would be incorporated
as components of Hsia dynasty times (2205 B.C. to 1766 B.C.). The earliest
villages would not have been more than a few hundred years earlier.
SIMILARITIES OF SUMERIAN AND CHINESE CULTURE
Genesis 11:2
states that after the flood mankind found a plain in the land of Sinar
(Sumeria) …
Damien Mackey’s comment:
For what I consider a better location for the biblical Shinar (“Sinar”), see my
article:
Tightening the Geography and Archaeology for Early Genesis
Roy L.
Hales continues:
… and settled
there. There are evidences in China's culture that indicate a Sumerian [sic] origin.
The term "black-headed people" for their own race, and an emphasis on
astronomy and mathematics in early times are common to both cultures.
Damien Mackey’s comment:
For affinities between Chinese and Sumerian, see my article:
Roy L.
Hales continues:
Furthermore, the
identity of a great body of astronomical lores and astrological superstitions,
the use of methods of measurement, the cycle of sixty and decimal system, the
belief in interrelation and correspondence of five elements, of five colors and
the harmony of numbers, together with a multitude of other customs on the part
of both the Chinese and Chaldeans cannot be explained as merely co-incidences.3
JAPHETIC ORIGINS OF THE CHINESE
From Sumeria,
mankind spread out across the earth and it seems quite probable that the
ancestors of the Chinese accompanied the Japhetic migration into Europe. The
Caucasian and Mongolian races have long been recognized as close genetic
relatives.4 When Sir William Dawson broke the early Chinese language into its
monosyllable roots, in the late nineteenth century, he found them traceable to
all stocks of European speech.5 Then, too, the painted urns of one of China's
earliest neolithic cultures (the Yang Shao) have no other correspondents in
China, but are strikingly like "similar painted wares" from
Turkestan, the Caucasus, the Ukraine and the Balkans.
MIAO TRADITIONS OF BEGINNINGS AND THE MIGRATION
Hugo Bernatzek
found traditions of another homeland and an ancient migration from among the
Miao tribes who now live in Thailand. The first two human beings, a brother and
sister, supposedly appeared after "the earth was flooded by the
ocean".7 The Miao also talk of a "golden age" before weeds grew
in the field and of how ripe grain flew through the air into men's houses.
This age came to
an end when one lazy woman disobeyed her husband and didn't sweep the house
clean to receive the ripe grain. There are stories, too, of an original
homeland many years journey to the north where the days and nights are six
months long and it is very cold.8
A missionary named
F.M.l. Savina had earlier collected the stories of the Miao who lived in
southern China. These people also spoke of the "golden age",
indicating that it had ended when a woman picked some forbidden strawberries.
They told of how a brother and sister had escaped the flood waters in a wooden
drum and how all post flood humanity was descended from them. Then there came a
time when mankind grew numerous and tried to reach heaven with a ladder. The
"Lord of Heaven" struck these few dead with lightning. Before this
time all people had spoken one language: now they were given many languages
and, not being able to understand one another, separated. The Miao went to a
land where the days and nights were six months long. They eventually migrated
into Honan province, in China, and were in possession of that land when the Hia
or "Chinese" arrived.9
BlBLlCAL ASPECTS OF MIAO AND CHINESE LEGENDS
Both Miao and
Chinese traditions assume several Biblical sounding aspects. Miao legends
mention an original "golden age" lost to mankind through disobedience,
a great flood and the subsequent dispersal of the human family throughout the
world. Chinese tradition possesses no fall Story, and no migration epic, but
lists a number of pre-flood characters who are very similar to those found in
the Bible.
THE FIRST TEN CHINESE EMPERORS
Stories of the
first ten emperors of China follow a chronology much like that of the first ten
generations of Genesis. Like Adam, the first emperor was specially created,
ruled "over the earth" (Genesis 1:28) and wore the skins of animals.
Shen-nung, the second emperor, was like Adam's son Cain in that he was the
first farmer, who invented the plow and instigated the first markets. During
another emperor's reign cattle were first herded, pitch pipes were invented and
the first instruments of bronze and iron fashioned: Genesis 4:19-22 attributes
these innovations to the sons of Lamech. The seventh man of each list was a
bigamist. Noah and Yu, the tenth members of their lists, were flood heroes who
developed a limp during the course of their labours and who were associated
with the discovery of wine.10 The comparisons between Chinese and Biblical
chronology are so many that many mythologists have admitted that they must have
been inspired by the same source. These modern scholars suggest that both
traditions evolved from Sumerian legends, but there are far more resemblances
between Chinese and Biblical tradition than exist between the myths of Sumeria
and China
SUPPOSEDLY OLDER CHINESE TRADITIONS
Numerous
pre-Imperial personalities would appear to refute the thesis that the
Imperial/Biblical generations are historical, but these myths in many ways
actually strengthen the Scriptural link. Many of the stories can be dismissed
as late inventions. Others, of an obvious antiquity, often demonstrate claims
contemporary to the Imperial line and Scripture. For instance, Suei Jen taught
men how to make fires and set up markets: innovations also claimed by pre-flood
emperors and, at least in regard to markets, Cain. The flood waters followed and
when they had covered seven-tenths of the earth Kung Kung took advantage of
mankind's Compressed situation to make himself king.
Alternate versions
relate that Kung Kung was an inept official who failed to halt the rising flood
waters and that he was the father of Yu (Noah, in the present thesis). The
similarities between these mythical fragments and the Imperial chronologies are
such that they may have descended from alternate traditions of the same era.11
MIAO AND CHINESE MIGRATIONS INTO CHINA
The Miao claim to
have migrated into China prior to the Chinese and there are many evidences that
support such a claim. Ch'ih Yu, the third emperor, was the [chieftain] of the
Li tribes who are part of the Miao race. Some, admittedly late, traditions
state that Huang Ti led the Chinese out of the northwest and into China at this
time. Huang Ti 's overthrow of Ch'ih Yu, which must be regarded as a
Miao/Chinese struggle, is the first war of Chinese history. Whatever historical
basis these legends may have, however, they appear to be chronologically
misplaced. The entire sequence of preflood Imperial history appears to be like
that of the Bible, and Huang Ti is in the middle of this sequence. Furthermore,
both Miao and Biblical chronologies cite these events as occurring after the
flood. A far more logical candidate for leading the post flood migration to
China is Yu, who established the Hsia dynasty (2205 B.C. 1766 B.C.) after the
flood.12
YU LED THE "CHINESE" INTO CHINA
Within the legends
of Yu are hints of two personalities: a flood hero and a migration leader.
During the course of his labours, Yu paced the length of the earth. He then
established the Hsia dynasty and cast nine caldrons which became symbolic of
his dynasty. The origin of the metal for these caldrons which represent the
nine provinces of China is problematic: one authority insists this material
came from the nine regions (of the empire)", another states that the metal
was "brought from far off countries by the nine shepherds".13 The second
interpretation supports a colonization hypothesis, especially when we consider
the strong sheepherding traditions of Sumeria and the Balkan regions of eastern
Europe. Further hints as to Yu's migration are gained through his father, Kung
Kung. One Chinese tradition asserts that when flood waters covered seven-tenths
of the earth Kung Kung took advantage of this fact to extend his rule over all
of them. Miao tradition states that mankind grew numerous after the flood, but
then dispersed after the "confusion of the tongues". Scripture
mentions that mankind settled in the land of Shinar (Sumeria) after the flood
and that a certain Nimrod established his kingdom there: then came the
confusion of tongues and dispersal. Yu's claim to be the son of Kung Kung
(Nimrod, in this thesis) may or may not be true, but he probably took the idea
of "empire" with him to China. Numerous archaeological remains and
retained customs testify to the Sumerian and Japhetic origins of Chinese
civilization.
DISTORTION OF CHINESE TRADITION
In time,
egocentric ideas of Chinese superiority and of the emperor as the "Son of
Heaven" came to distort the traditional chronologies of beginnings. The
flood was remembered, but China is the only culture which claims to have
conquered its flood and the conqueror was, of course, an emperor. That this
"emperor" led the Chinese into their future homeland is most
probable. His recasting as "Noah" seems quite natural in a culture
which came to disregard anything not Chinese. Omitting the foreign episodes,
there was nothing before Yu except the flood.
VALUE OF CHINESE TRADITION
Despite these
distortions, Chinese tradition remains one of the most essential evidences in
any attempt to build a creationist framework of world history. The Chinese were
one of the earliest literate civilizations and, with the Greeks and Hebrews,
perhaps the first historically minded people. Most of eastern Asia derived
cultural roots from China.
VALUE OF CREATIONIST RECONSTRUCTION TO MIAO AND CHINESE TRADITION
Within a
creationist framework of history, both Chinese and Miao traditions derive a
historicity which was formerly denied them. The Miao Stories of the flood, of a
confusion of tongues and a subsequent migration to China appear as historical
events. Many of the first Chinese emperors appear to have been historical
characters, which makes it quite possible that the others are as well. Eight
people survived the flood, with six different family backgrounds behind them.
Any number of details, which are not in the Biblical record but nevertheless
true, could have passed into folklore. The framework for any such
reconstruction, however, lies in Genesis, chapters 1 to 11. It is within the
idea of a post-flood colonization like that described in the Bible that the
traditions of China's most ancient peoples the Miao and "Chinese" are
reconciled. ….
Along similar lines, John D. Morris has asked the
pertinent question: “How Can the Chinese Dynasties
Extend Back Many Thousands of Years?”:
I was lecturing on the Biblical and scientific evidence for recent
creation to a university audience in Hong Kong, China, when a scholar raised
the objection: "The Chinese have a documented history going back many
thousands of years, much earlier than your dates for creation and the Flood. We
have known dynasties and named rulers. The Bible must be wrong."
The solution lies in an examination of the earliest Chinese dynasties.
Actually, precisely documented dynasties go back only to about 2000 B.C. The
first true dynasty was founded about 4000 years ago by a leader remembered for
having "sweetened the waters," making the land habitable after
wide-spread flooding. The ten listed dynasties before that, however, were of a
different sort, with very long lives and questionable details attributed to
them. From a Biblical viewpoint, as did all of humanity, the Chinese descended
from Adam, then Noah through the Tower of Babel incident. The amazing
"Table of Nations" in Genesis 10, which chronicles the language
groups and their destinations, mentions the "Sinite people" in verse
17, which probably became the Asian groups.The Asian people descended from
language groups migrating away from the Tower of Babel after God confounded
their languages. In all likelihood, the well-documented dynasties date to that
event, while the prior ones were faded memories of pre-Flood patriarchs,
preserved as legends.
Doesn't this "Back to Genesis" history have the ring of truth
about it? Biblical chronologies place the Babel incident at 4200 or so years
ago. Many of the expelled groups took with them technological knowledge which
they put to use in their new homelands. History documents the fact that several
major cultures sprang into existence seemingly from nowhere at about the same
time—the Egyptians, the Sumerians, the Phoenicians, the Indians, as well as the
Chinese—and each possessed a curious mixture of truth and pagan thought, as
would be expected from peoples only briefly separated from Noah and his
teachings as well as the star worshipping/pyramid building heresy of Nimrod at
Babel.
Interestingly, each group mentioned above lists 10 patriarchs in their
pre-history, just as does Genesis. Individual leaders would guide their growing
language groups to a new land, bringing both technology and a history with
them. Each had personal knowledge of the Flood and pre-Flood days, having
learned from Noah, his sons, or their early descendants. The Asian leader
evidently gained prominence when he engineered the draining of swampy land left
saturated by leftover flood waters. His following dynasty commenced about the time
of Abraham, about 2000 B.C., and the memories of long-lived patriarchs of
pre-Flood days became early dynasties.
Details in ancient history are necessarily scarce, and proposed origins
must be considered tentative. But the fact is, Biblical history is correct. All
peoples descended from Adam, then Noah through the Tower of Babel incident. We
shouldn't be surprised when we find cultural and historical memories of the
"Back to Genesis" truth. ....
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