When the Chinese Didn’t Discover America – Fusang.

1792 French Map indicating Fusang to be about where British Columbia was. Image via Wikicommons.

When examining the claim of the Chinese in pre-contact America, you quickly realize that all of the evidence to support this claim is interconnected in a way that, if you can prove one piece wrong, it pretty much proves all the evidence wrong. Still, we need someplace to start, and a mythical island somewhere in the ocean is as good a place as any. No, not Atlantis, though it might as well be, but a new land named Fusang.

Fusang has an origin story, as most myths do, and just by looking at this story I see several red flags. Keeping in mind, the legend of Fusang is part of Chinese culture, I cannot express strongly enough that we are not going to debunk Chinese culture here, it’s not even close to our intention. However, we are going to critically examine the myth and the modern claims surrounding it, and it’s those modern claims that we are going to challenge.

So, The story of Fusang begins with a mystical monk named Hui Shen (Feder 2011:126). No, I cannot find a mention of Hui Shen outside of a book from the 7th century called the Book of Liang by Yao Silian. In this book Yao recounts Hui’s explorations around the globe to known and unknown lands, where upon he finally returned to China and told of his discoveries to the royal court (Feder 2011:126).

And this is where the red flags start.

Red Flag #1: The Book of Liang was compiled in 635 and was mostly made up of Yao’s father’s accounts (Wiki). So at best this is a third hand account, and worst, who knows. It does sound a bit like the origin story of Atlantis though doesn’t it? The only account we have of Atlantis is in two of Plato’s stories, and then the story is describes as being handed down through several mouths till it’s finally written down. Not to mention it was also all part of a thought experiment where the students were asked to make it up…but I digress.

Red Flag #2: In the book Hui describes encountering a living people who we can classify as being well into the bronze age at the time of the story from the description given of them (Wiki). If Hui had made it to the Americas, as is claimed by some in the Cult Archaeology world, then he wouldn’t have encountered people who worked metal with the skill he mentions.

Red Flag #3: Traditional Chinese maps place the location of Fusang on the Chinese coast, as per Hui’s description of the location (Feder 2011:126). It doesn’t seem to have migrated off the coast of China until European mapmakers came along. Once that happened, Fusang began popping up everywhere.

Red Flag #4: Hui was said to have carried holy relics and texts with him and five other monks accompanied him as well (Wiki). They were kinda like missionaries in this aspect. That being said, why is there no evidence of them ever having set foot and encountering local Native American peoples?

Red Flag #5: Hui describes other cultural practices of the people he encountered in Fusang (Wiki), namely the domestication and milking of deer (a tradition known of the Mongolians and their reindeer) and the domestication of horses (which didn’t exist in North America until they were reintroduced after European contact, but did flourish in and around China).

So, if we take the account of Hui Shen at his word,  there there is no real reason to link Fusang with the Americas or any other location not in China, except for possibly, Mongolia.

That’s never stopped anyone has it?

The story of Fusang doesn’t stop there, like wine it gets richer with age, and new and mysterious details pop up every year, regardless if they are part of the original story or  not. These new details get forced into new shapes in order to support the idea that the Chinese made it to America first. Once you really look at them, however, they don’t hold up well. They do pop-up in a lot of places, being repeated over and over as if repetition alone could make them real. Let’s just examine a few. These are things I’m seeing a lot on random websites testifying to the reality of the Chinese discovery of America.

  1. Hypothetically there are ocean currents that move around the continents of Eurasia, and if you were so lucky as to hitch a ride on them you could, hypothetically, drift all the way around the world and back again.  Now, I know currents exist, and I know that sea fairing peoples were aware of them as far back as sailing was invented. That doesn’t mean that this scenario ever actually happened, or is actually possible given the technology of the day. I’m not even sure you could do it today, since most of these currents run deep in the ocean and aren’t usually accessible to the ships that float atop. But if you can prove me wrong here with actual evidence, feel free to. Do keep in mind however, just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it did happen.
  2. I see lots of vague and uncited accounts of “ancient Chinese artifacts” found all over North America and “known interaction” between the First Peoples and the Chinese.  None of these are reputable, and the few I can manage to find are either known fakes or actual artifacts being reinterpreted in a way to try and make them support the narrative. We’ll touch on a few of these as we go further in the series, but for now please be aware there are no authentic ancient Chinese artifacts found in America.
  3. I also see several attempts to identify the plant Hui calls Fusang, from which he named the area because of their abundance. There is no reliable way to do this, therefor, anyone telling you that they have identified the plant is wrong. They may have a convincing story or even a convincing set of “like” traits, but this proves nothing, and definitely does not identify any particular location as the location of Fusang.
So with that said, let’s wrap up a bit.

The original story of Fusang is ancient and is mostly a written account of an oral tradition. This alone should make it suspect.  Once we look over the accounts as it’s written we see that Hui is describing a living group of, at lest, bronze age people who have very similar traits to the Mongolian peoples. I’m not saying they are the same, I’m just that these cultural characteristic were not as foreign to Hui as we are lead to believe. The Chinese themselves located Fusang off their own coast and this location didn’t change until White Europeans got a hold of the story sometime around the late 1700’s early 1800’s. Combine all that with a severe lack of evidence of any actual archaeological remains, and Fusang becomes an important Chinese myth, that has nothing to do with America.

We’ll certainly be coming back to Fusang often as we move forward with our investigation of claims that the Chinese discovered America first. It’s a reoccuring theme that almost ties everything together.

Want more on this topic? Go to  Columbus was Second-ish: Who Discovered America Anyway? or When the Chinese Didn’t Discover America for more on this series.

Resources:

Feder, Keneth

2011    Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology. Seventh Edition. McGraw-Hill. New York, NY.

Wikipedia

Nd.    Fusang. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusang

41 thoughts on “When the Chinese Didn’t Discover America – Fusang.

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  1. The North Pacific Gyre is the combination of 4 connecting ocean currents that flow in a clockwise motion around the entire North Pacific. The current is huge and extremely powerful right up to the
    surface. There are countless records of fishing boats that lost power in the current off the coast of Asia and have gone ashore in North America. Tons of debris as well as abandoned boats from the recent Japanese storm have been carried from Japan to Vancouver. This Gyre is a moving conveyor belt in the sea. The ancient Chinese referred to this current as the Wei Liu and have known of it since
    ancient times. Because this current flows in a circular clockwise motion it speeds up sailing sea traffic
    even today traveling between Asia and North America. Google: “North Pacific Gyre” for more information on this scientific marvel that predates man’s arrival on earth.

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  2. Google: “North Pacific Wei Lu Current”
    for more information on what the ancient Chinese knew about the North
    Pacific Gyre that flowing clockwise provides an aquatic connection between all North Pacific rim cultures
    on both sides of the ocean.

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  3. For what appears to me to be symbol and custom evidence of ancient Buddhism in North America
    google: “Buddhist Symbols and Customs North America”. Did you know that Buddhists and Buddhism
    were/are involved in the ancient North American Rain Dance? Google: “Wisdom Quarterly Rain Dance” and “Wisdom Quarterly Hendon Harris”. Phallic symbols like “Phallic Rock Danxia, China” show
    up in the Four Corners. Try “Buck and Mabel”s King Kong Dong” “Bust.com rock hard penis” and
    “Whaweap Hoodoos by Tanya”. When you get to the site go to the “images” section and scroll down
    the images until you find it. You can’t miss it. It’s a huge two toned replica and you’ll clearly recognize it when you see it. Similar evidence like the “Torana Arch Vedic Gateway” can be found in numerous
    places like Delicate Arch and Anasazi Arch and Rainbow Bridge.

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    1. I’m not really sure I should approve this comment. However, it is interesting to see someone trying to use porn sites to prove a claim that is unrelated to porn. Also, similarities in cultural practices doesn’t prove anything. So, yah, Porn and coincidence.

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      1. Thank you for posting my response in spite of our differing
        opinions on this subject. I believe
        this is the process through which
        opinions are formed and ultimately the truth may be revealed either pro or con. I do
        apoligise to anyone that may have been offended by the key words needed to reach certain websites that I feel contain important information on specific
        Vedic symbols that are a key part of all the Eastern religions of
        India including Buddhism. If Hwui Shan had made it to North
        America and had successfully converted the natives as he reported it would be logical to believe that there would clearly be cultural and religious evidence remaining here to this day that would validate his claim.
        Alexander Von Humbolt, one of
        histories most famous and well
        received geographers/explorers
        believed that Hwui Shan and his
        fellow clerics had made it here
        to North America as he had reported. Because Humbolt was
        familiar with Buddhism and the
        role that phallic symbols played
        in Buddhism and all other Vedic
        religions he was perplexed all his
        life as to why he could find none of these symbols himself. He died not knowing of the role of
        Kokopelli and his fertility symbolism in the cultures of the
        Puebloan tribes and their tie ins
        to Buddhism. He was also never
        aware of the large phallic rock images that were here either.
        Evidence or the lack of it is what proves or disproves any thesis.
        How can all and any amount of
        evidence that supports a thesis
        be rejected automatically as
        simply being random? Are not
        judgements made on the basis
        of compelling evidence. How else can anyone prove a point?

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  4. One of the most frequently cited reasons used to discredit Hwui Shan’s
    account in the Liang Shu is the portion
    describing The Land of Women. Nobody believes today that snakes can
    impregnate women and they certainly didn’t believe that in highly advanced
    6th century China. As was reported in
    the original body of this posting the final
    recorded version of the narrative that we have today was written about 130 years after Hwui Shan originally gave his travelogue of Fu Sang, The story could have been altered by Chinese
    historians during that gap. Ancient Chinese historical geographic literature
    is full of this mixing truth with mythology. It’s a fact sinologists know
    they must deal with. Explorer / missionaries newly arriving in Fu Sang
    may have been surprised by a culture
    here unlike anything they had ever see
    before or ever even heard about. That
    would be a Matriarchal Society where
    women instead of men play the dominate role. Is that surprise why they
    gave that region that name? In the Four
    Corners region of North America the
    Puebloan people are a matriarchal
    society and have been for a long long
    time. Certainly long before the 5th century. In the Hopi part of this culture
    Hopi men have an extraordinary high interest in snakes. This is easily accessed via Internet search engines.
    For the report to then mention snakes
    as how women there got pregnant seems to fit too closely with Hopi men who have been doing a good job of this
    on their own for it to be a coincidence.
    Lastly, this report gives the distance The Land of Women is from the west
    coast of Fu Sang. The distance is a
    Chinese measurement but when converted to miles it places The Land
    of Women near the Four Corners the
    present as well as the ancient home of
    the Puebloan people.’

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  5. In the 3rd century a Chinese writer said that if you traveled 10,000 li east from the west coast of Fu Sang you would come to a huge ocean at the other side of that land mass (continent),
    In Hwui Shan’s report of 502 CE he stated that after traveling 20,000 li from Kamchatka he finally arrived in Fu Sang.
    In that same report Hwui Shan said that 1,000 east of Fu Sang was the Land of Women that he so
    famously described.
    One of the ways to confuse the issues relating to the validity of the theory to connect Fu Sang with
    the west coast of North America is to state that the Chinese land measurement the li has changed
    over the course of Chinese history. Yes, that statement is true. However, the most common use of
    the li (three li equals approximately 1 mile) seems to consistently line up with the 3 to 1 ratio when it
    comes to the above uses used on what many believe is North America.
    This is how the above Chinese land measurements line up in North America according to the 3/1 ratio.
    1). The width from the west coast of Fu Sang to the “vast, huge ocean” 10,000 miles to the east would
    be 3,333 miles which is almost the exact distance across North America from the Pacific Ocean to the
    Atlantic Ocean. This measurement was recorded in China in the 3rd century.
    2). The distance from Kamchatka to the Oregon Coast matches up to the approximate 6,666 mile
    actual distance when you use the 3/1 ratio for Hwui Shan’s reported 20,000 li recorded distance.
    3). Hwui Shan gave 1,000 li (333 miles) as the distance between Fu Sang and The Land of the Women
    to the east of Fu Sang. What he didn’t record was the width of Fu Sang or where the western border
    of The Land of Women began. We are left to work that out for ourselves. The Puebloan cultures who
    have called The Four Corners region home for a long long time are well known to be matriarchal cultures where women instead of men play the predominate role. The Hopi men a part of the
    Puebloan societies have a very high interest in snakes. This interest is highlighted by their BiAnnual
    Snake Dance which has been attended by U S Presidents and other political and business notables
    because of its uniqueness. One way of demonstrating the ancient sphere of influence of the Puebloan
    people would be to stick a pin in the moden day Four Corners Monument and then with string calibrated to represent 300 miles distance from that center you drew a circle 300 miles from that center.
    That would then put the ancient western boundary of the Puebloan (Land of Women) people 300
    miles to the west of the Four Corners. The distance from Santa Monica on the California coast to the
    Four Corners is approximately 700 miles. If you then subtract that 300 miles along with the 1,000 li
    (333 miles) from the 700 actual distance from the coast to The Four Corners that then leaves only 67
    approximate miles as the width of Fu Sang. Why would Fu Sang only be 67 miles at the reported point? The Mojave Desert begins in the rain shadow of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains approximately 67 miles from the Southern Califonia coast. When you then add the 67, 333
    and 300 miles you have the established distance of 700 miles between The Four Corners and the
    Pacific Ocean (Eastern Sea).
    The protection from the wind and currents provided by the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the Channel Islands off the California Coast make the San Pedro Bay an ideal geographic place for a harbor throughout history. By the way two of the busiest harbors in modern history are there. That would be
    the Long Beach as well as the Los Angeles harbor. They are the two busiest harbors on the west coast. The attractiveness of this anchorage and the possible connections with 5th century Fu Sang
    may explain why the founder of Body Glove, Bob Meistrell, found scores of ancient Chinese stone anchors right off the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Again, great effort has been taken to discredit this
    find of these anchors. However, the coincidence of their being found at the location of two of the busiest harbors in the world seems to take away any claim of their location there simply being random.

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  6. For a great view of the California Channel Islands, the San Pedro Bay, the Southern California Coastal
    Plain as well as the San Gabriel and San Bernadino Mountains that separate the California Coastal Plain from the also visible Mojave Desert google: “Map of the California Channel Islands Ray Sterner”.

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  7. For a great view of the Mojave Desert and its proximity to San Pedro Bay and the Los Angeles region
    google: “What and Where is the Mojave Desert”. That’s about as close as the Mojave gets to the
    coast anywhere. The freeway passes used today to get from the Los Angeles basin into the Mojave
    Desert (Freeways #14 and #15) and on to the rest of the US by motor vehicles follow the route of the
    easiest geographic paths through the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains. These are most
    likely the same path taken by the ancients as well as they traveled east. It makes sense. Why make
    it hard on yourself. Assuming the ancients knew the various options to get through the mountains why
    would they take any other path than the easiest one? The Mojave Desert is huge and covers a large area. Ancient Chinese literature has referred to an area east of Fu Sang as “The Great Waste”. Is
    it possible that term was used to describe the area that we refer to today as “The Mojave Desert”?

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  8. Is Agni–The Hindu/ Buddhist god of fire also the god of fire used by the Anasazi in their extant kiva
    ruins fire pits and by Native American couples who still use the Vedic Seven Step Seven Vow
    Wedding ceremony around the also Vedic/Hindu Sacred Flame ceremony as the most common wedding traditions used by North American tribal cultures up to this very day? Google: “Agni–The
    Hindu God of Fire–The Buddha Garden” and “Agni–The Vedic Hindu God of Fire” Is this a logical
    conclusion based on all the other customs, symbols and monuments that also appear to connect these two cultures?

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  9. The foundation of the theory of Buddhist influences in Pre Columbian North America is the recorded historical and official Chinese Imperial report given by Hwui Shan about his missionary trip to Fu Sang
    made in 458 CE. The best place to read the account is in the online and free book “Pale Ink” by Henriette Mertz. Google: “”Pale Ink Henriette Mertz Index”. However if you want the condensed version of this story google: “Pale ink Henriette Mertz Chapter II”. In the 3rd century a Chinese poet
    had stated that the land mass that Fu Sang was on was 10,000 Li or 3,333 miles wide from ocean coast to the ocean coast on the other side of the land mass. That information takes Japan and all the
    Pacific Islands out of the possibility of ever being Fu Sang. The customs, symbols and other direct
    influences of Buddhim that remain here to this day are simply confirmation that Fu Sang was in fact what we know today as the west coast of North America. Google: “”Hwui Shan I Believe I Can Show You” and “Buddhist Symbols and Customs North America.

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  10. If you doubt that mainstream scholars on the ancient history of the North American Pacific Southwest
    are working diligently to repress information on the possibility of ancient trans Pacific migration and
    influences in that region you should google: “The Southwest in the World-Steve Lekson”. Dr. Lekson
    is a renown scientist at the Univ. of Colorado, published author and known worldwide for his work.
    He believes that the Anasazi were capable of calculating longitude based on the location of their major
    settlements from Chaco Canyon at first north and then south all the way down to the coast of Mexico.
    All these major settlements were within an extremely tight range of what we know today as the 108 Meridian West. His views on this are not widely accepted by his peers. No culture is recognized currently as having that knowledge early in the Common Era. I have an alternative view on this topic.
    I believe that China had that knowledge at that time. Claudius Ptolemy in Alexandria, Egypt and Zhang
    Heng in Chang’an China were both working on grid mapping the earth in the 1st Century. Zhang Heng
    also had a great interest in improving time keeping technology. At first I thought those two interests were totally unrelated. Not so! Those two interests combined provide a major clue. Accurate time keeping is an essential element in calculating longitude. In the 3rd century Zhang Heng’s work was
    greatly improved upon by another Chinese cartographer, Phei Hsiu. The biographies of all these men
    are available on the internet. There is far much more to this story than we have been taught, Google:
    “Inconvenient Maps at the Library of Congress”.

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  11. For those continuing skeptics that believe this whole story of Hwui Shan’s reported trip to Fu Sang is
    nonsense this is BREAKING NEWS: Read the October 2014 of the Smithsonian “DId Marco Polo
    Discover America?” and get information on the soon to be published book by Dr. Benjamin Olshin
    “The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps”. Since 1930 the Library of Congress has been in possession
    of the so called “Rossi” or “Map with Ship” map collection. This is a map purportedly of a 13th Century
    trip by Marco Polo to the New World (North America”s west coast) two hundred years before Columbus
    arrived on the east coast. What is amazing about this account of Marco Polo’s expedition is that it follows EXACTLY THE VERY SAME COURSE detailed by Hwui Shan in the 5th century on how he arrived in Fu Sang. This new information seems to indicate that Marco Polo followed the North Pacific
    Gyre (know for centuries if not longer to the ancient Chinese as the Wei Lu Current) from China and all the recorded places in between all the way past Alaska and as far south as possibly Seattle. The difference is that this is A Map itself and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to recognize on that map what we know of today as the Bering Straits and Alaska. But once again eurocentric scholars seem determined to give this find to a European from Italy who supposedly found N America’s west side
    from 3/4s of the world away from Italy. Give us a break! So far there is no mention of the Chinese
    ships and the Chinese seamanship and navigation that brought him there. The first time Marco Polo came to China from Italy he came overland. So I ask you: Does this make any sense to you without the express help of experienced Chinese sailors on Chinese ships using Chinese navigational skills? No!
    However, the most telling part of this map is that it follows the exact path as reported by Hwui Shan to
    the Emperor of China in the 6th century. That is a hard piece of evidence to deny.

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  12. Further research demonstrates just how significant the North Pacific Gyre was and still is in directing
    the best routes of sailing ships traveling acrossit he Pacific Ocean. In addition to Marco Polo and Hwui Shan who by their travel reports and notes seem to have traveled that current on their way to Fu Sang there are others who have written on the topic of why this route is the best way to N America. In 1871 (five years before the Battle of Little Big Horn) Colonel Barclay Kennon of the U S Surveying Expedition
    1853-1856 wrote a letter to Charles Leland describing his experiences on this route from China to
    N America. He details why this route was the way to go for prior seafarers and how easy it was to travel during the right times of the year. For free online access to his article google: “Fu Sang Charles
    Leland Index”. When you arrive at the index click on Chapter VII for access to his letter. Shortly after
    the Spanish sailed into the Pacific and had conquered the Phillipines, they tried to find the best way
    East to Acupulco, Mexico. There were at least two reasons that this was necessary. By decree of the
    Pope and the Roman Catholic Church they were prohibited from sailing west to Spain through the
    Indian Ocean. That route had been given by the Pope to the Portugese. So in addition to bringing
    Asian goods back to their colonies in S America this was the only way for them to bring Asian goods back to Spain itself. After a brief period of them floundering about trying to discover the best way to sail back to Mexico they finally figured it out. Can you guess where I’m going with this? The safest and
    easiest way for them to go from the Phillipines to Mexico was using the currents of the North Pacific
    Gyre just as Hwui Shan, Marco Polo and Colonel Kennon had apparently traveled and reported.
    Google: “Manila Galleons North Pacific Gyre” for numerous articles written on this subject. It sure appears that for a sailing ship in the Pacific Ocean the North Pacific Gyre was/is a definite force to be
    considered. Therefore it’s not a coincidence that ALL the available data on early sailing trips from Asia
    to N America (Fu Sang) including Marco Polo’s seem to have them following the course of the North
    Pacific Gyre to get there. That was the way to get to Fu Sang.

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  13. The entire world seems to have accepted carte blanche the western academics theory on the possibility or lack of the possibility of ancient Asian exploration and influences in the ancient
    American continents. Is anyone out there paying attention to the facts that indicate that this premise
    is not correct? Why not start by trying to reconcile the world maps that were made in Europe from
    the 13th to the 17th centuries? If you seriously try to reconcile these maps you will be extremely
    frustrates because it can’t be done. It doesn’t make sense. As you try to have this make sense you
    will constantly run into maps that use highly complex compass points or the use of latitude and longitude at a time that was not known and understood in Europe. When you ask a Eurocentric scholar
    how this makes sense you will be told “Don’t worry about it. It’s a mystery.”. Google: “Mysterious Maps
    and Mysterious Mapmakers”. At a recent meeting of scholars at The Library of Congress one of the invited speakers seriously suggested that this discrepancy was possibly the work of “space aliens”.
    Seriously? Why is it acceptable that we can use the reproduced copies of Claudius Ptolemy maps
    based on what he wrote in his books (none of his original maps made it to the 14 th century) but that is
    not acceptable or done based on the detailed descriptions of the maps of Zhang Heng or Phei Hsiu of China in the 1st and 3rd centuries? Also before we get too Eurocentric about the origins of Ptolemy’s
    work let’s all remember the origin of his name and the continent and country in which he did all his
    research and writing. If Ptolemy is indeed “The Father of Western Cartography” as so many scholars
    claim he was living in Egypt in North Africa. That information came from someone living in Africa. Yes,
    he was a Roman citizen living in the Greek community of Alexandria Egypt, However, if it wasn’t for
    Arab Muslins who retained his writings in Arabic for over a thousand years Ptolemy’s work would have
    been lost to the world forever. During that thousand years both the Roman Catholic Church and
    European scholarship had Absolutely Not Interest and No Use For Ptolemy’s Information. This only
    changed when the Ottoman Turks shut down the Spice Road depriving Europe of Asian products which
    they really wanted. Now those ancient oceanic routes to Asia suddenly gained new importance. The
    rush was on to find water routes to India, Yemen and Somilia and China. That’s why Columbus in
    1492 when he found land in N America thought he had reached India. That is why the N America native people were called Indians and the name has stuck. Isn’t it probable that the highly advanced
    ancient maps that showed up in Europe during that time where from Han Dynasty China. The work of
    Zhang Heng and Phei Hsiu in the first centuries of the Common Era continued to be improved for a thousand years while Europe from the 3rd Century Common Era on sank into an intellectual morass for thousand years. Google: “Zhang Heng Cartographer” “Phei Hsiu Cartographer”.”Ancient Chinese
    Cartography”. We may wish that history was different than this. However, simply claiming that these
    facts are not true or that this advanced mapping is mysterious and will never be revealed doesn’t make
    it so.

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  14. How was it that Chinese geographer and government official, Jia Dan, in the 7th or 8th century Tang Dynasty wrote a detailed travel journal from China all the way to the Persian Gulf? He also gave a detailed description of the lighthouses that guided ships through the Straits of Hormuz. This isn’t speculation. This is a recorded and acknowledge report accepted by mainstream scholars around the entire world. The journey from China to the Fertile Crescent sounds like open oceanic travel to me requiring maps and oceanic navigational tools. Why do everyone of the 7 crude Chinese Tian Xia (EVerything Under Heaven) maps in the Dr. Hendon Harris Jr. Map Collection have a clear replication of the Red Sea, The Arabian Peninsula and The Persian Gulf? These same three features also show up on all or almost all of the Tian Xia maps in museums and private collections around the world. This circular map format is similar to the Greek maps of Miletus. Iona from the 6th Century BCE in what is today coastal Turkey. What is amazing is that scholars associated with the American Library of Congress are now attempting to date the Chinese Tian Xia maps to 1592. That makes no sense at all. First of all how did they arrive at a date exactly 100 years after Christopher Columbus’ trip. That area had little or no interest to the ancient Chinese after the Silk Road was shut down. During
    and perhaps even before the famous Silk Road oceanic route from China to Alexandria, Egypt from
    300 BCE to 300 CE the Chinese had a monetary interest in that route and after that in the oceanic
    routes that had once taken then to Babylon, then Baghdad as well as India and Southern Africa where
    they could get exotic animals and Oman and Yemen where they could get the spices that were the real reason for the 15th and 16th century urgency. The Europeans recognizing the market potential of these products in Europe and after having their conflicts with the Ottoman Empire resulting in the closing of their land access to those regions understood that their only access to these products were oceanic.
    That is why in the 14th through the 17th century the Europeans had an amazing revival of their long
    abandoned interest in the ancient sea route maps that were now held by the Arab and Jewish merchant trading families. Many of these families had moved over the years from N. Africa (Egypt)
    to Spain. Did the fact that the final Arabic stronghold in Spain (Barcelona in Catalan, Spain) was finally defeated and the Spanish Inquisition (The Movement to Expel Jews and Take Their Property) as well as Columbus’ discovery of land in N America all occurred in 1492. Were these events connected? I believe they were. I believe that the Roman Catholic Church was heavily involved in this process. How else can you explain that after 1492 Jewish mapmakers in Catalan had little to nothing to do with map making while they had been been the principal mapmakers for centuries up to 1492.. In 1507 you have Waldseemueller, a German Roman Catholic cleric, supposedly originating a world map that not only included the American continents but also the Pacific Ocean years before any cultural Europeans had that knowledge. A Mystery? Only to those who want to deny the obvious for religious or cultural reasons. When I was young my mother told me “Hendon, I takes a small man to have to stand on someone’s else’s shoulders to be tall.” I hope our culture doesn’t have to do that to be tall. I love my country and I love my cultural origins. Several branches of my family tree trace back to Colonial North America. But the truth is the truth. Do we have to bend the truth to be significant. Absolutely not. There is far too much information out there that is readily available for this Eurocentric version of history to continue for much longer. It can’t be sustained indefinitely. Our very language gives insight on this topic. The word “Orient” with its Latin roots is used in most or all European languages. Orient means East as in Asia. The Orient Express was a train that traveled I believe from Vienna to Istanbul, Turkey in Asia or the the Near East. . But to this point what other meaning does that word have. To be oriented means you know precisely where you are. That’s why when freshman go to our colleges and universities the first thing they do is go to freshmen “orientation” to find out where everything is on campus. Our newly elected Members of Congress and Senators also go to “Orientation” to find out where and how to get to the places they will need to go and what they will need to know about Washington DC. The word “orient” and “oriental” has been used for hundreds of years to not only describe a particular continent or place and the people from that place but also apparently characteristics that they had that people from other places other than Asia did not possess. Now we are told not to use that word anymore because it is racially divisive and degrading to the people of Asia particularly to the people of Han Chinese origin. I do not use the word in conversation with others but personally I wonder how is this word degrading. It seems to me that if your culture has been known over the centuries or longer to have had superior knowledge than the rest of the world on where places around the world are and how to get to those places personally if that was my culture I would take it as a compliment and an admission by those other cultures by its usage in their language that their forefathers knew it to be true. Google: “Jia Dan” “Zhang Heng” and Phei Hsiu” These men lived a long time ago in China and they definitely knew where they were and how to map, grid, navigate and travel to places far away. They were definitely “oriented” in every acceptable meaning
    of the Latin word–East. Is that why the future cultures from that specific continent came to be known as “Orientals” to the cultures in the West who knew far less on that subject.

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    1. Consider that Chinese trade ambassadors actually appeared in Rome ,,, it’s a smaller world than you’d think. Archaeologically, Chinese pottery litters sites from one end of the world to another (digs of British military establishments in Canada often produce Chinese pottery in the majority). Even Norwegian Vikings had a taste for Chinese silk.

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  15. Last year on April 19th, May 1 and May 26th I posted comments on this site relating to Los Angeles/
    Long Beach Harbor that are today among the busiest harbors in the world. On April 25, 2015 the Los Angeles Times published an article regarding Catalina Island which is 26 miles off the California coast and which presently protects the L A and Long Beach Harbors from the unrestricted winds and waves
    blowing in from across the ocean. For those familiar with sailing, most harbors have a “man made
    breakwater” to prevent the unrestrained oceanic elements from having the ability to blow right up their channels and into their harbors causing major damage. Santa Catalina Island is a natural feature
    which performs that function for these two harbors. It has performed that function since before the arrival of mankind on earth. The L A Times article warns that Catalina Island could go from a protector of the California coast to the source of an enormous Tidal Wave in the event of an earthquake along any of the several fault lines that run along the ocean floor near the island. Google:
    How Catalina Island Might Pose a Tsunami Threat”. I mention this article today because a picture that accompanies the article clearly shows the relationship of the island to the California coast particularly
    San Pedro Harbor where the two major harbors are located. It also shows how the Palos Verdes Penninsula juts out into the ocean just above the harbors sending the south flowing ocean currents
    out and away from those ports. The fact that these are natural features which have been there for a long time lets you know that San Pedro Bay has ALWAYS been a GREAT HARBOR/ Anchorage.
    A few years ago Bob Meistrell one of the two founder /owners of Body Glove and an excellent diver himself found dozens of what appears to be ancient Chinese stone anchors right off of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Several scholars have examined these large rock formations with holes bored in the center of each one and claimed they were ancient Chinese anchors particularly because of the 2000 plus years on accumulated magnesium growth on them that would date them back to periods of time the ancient Chinese geography text the Shan Hai Jing in which it is written that ancient Chinese had made trips to a land to the east of China across the ocean that they knew of as Fu Sang. However, there are others who claim these stones are simply natural formations This is even though this type of center cut boring only is found no where in the natural world but is known to have been bored for anchors by ancient Chinese craftsmen. i Information has been recently written that appears to link highly advanced ancient Chinese surveying and mapping techniques to the Shan Hai Jing written BCE and the use of high mountain peaks for this process. . Google: “The Fundamental Cartographical Technology of Ancient China—Forward Intersection” by Zilan Wang. These highly advanced skills were not previously known to have been used by ancient Chinese. This information highlights just how advanced Chinese scientists were at that time. If they were capable of triangulating the stars to prepare maps and survey using these skills then they were also capable of using this same skill set to navigate on land and sea. Stay tuned for more information on this subject.

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  16. Incorrect notions of ancient Chinese cartography by western scholars have shaped views on this topic
    that lead many away from the truth. Google: “Reintrepreting Traditional Chinese Geographical Maps”
    by Cordell D. K. Yee “Historical reconstruction, however, need not lead to relativism; it may yield a
    kind of pluralism –the possibility that excellence in cartography in cartography can be measured by social, aesthetic, and even religious criteria as well as scientific ones, and that Europe did not hold a monopoly on all these forms of excellence throughout the history of mapmaking. This pluralism implies
    that modern cartography has something to learn about diversity of excellence from many traditions, not
    That of Europe alone.
    We are just beginning to understand how to read traditional Chinese maps.” Page 33 of 36

    Cordell Yee’s article is apparently not now directly accessible on the Internet. To access his 36 page
    article google: “The Joseph Needham North American Chess Board Grid Collection”. When you get
    to the Needham article click on the highlighted “the use of the grid in ancient China”. That will take
    you directly to Cordell Yee’s article. Enjoy

    Which other culture other than China had such a fascination for grids and grid maps throughout hundreds of years of their history? And then why are there so many huge grid features all over
    the western United States which can only be seen from high altitude? I have dedicated these grid
    features to China scholar Joseph Needham who has written much about the chess board grid in ancient China. It’s use originally appeared to be for divination and eventually lead to mapping and surveying.

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  17. For images of these enormous chess board like grids in North America do the following:

    1). Use Google Earth and zoom in the area to the south and west of Eugene, Oregon. To my knowledge this is the largest contiguous collection of ancient grids in N America.

    2). Google: “Joseph Needhan North American Chess Board Grid Collection”

    3). Google: “John Fairbairn Ancient Go Board Grid Alberta”

    4). Google: “Homer H. Dubs Priest Lake Idaho Chess Board Grid”. Immediately below Priest Lake, Idaho is the most beautiful intact Chess Board type grid in N America. The 2 mile by 2 mile ancient
    Asian Go Board Chess Board type grid south of Burnstick Lake, Alberta Canada is a close second.

    There are numerous examples of this type of gridding in N America. The two cultures in the ancient
    world that had a fixation on gridding were centered in Alexandria, Egypt (Ptolemy) and Chang An, China (Zhang Heng). However, within 200 years or less of Ptolemy’s death the west lost it’s interest
    In gridding and the rest of Ptolemy’s work. Chinese interest in grids and grid mapping continued on
    for hundreds of years thereafter. For a view of an extant ancient Chinese grid map google: “Map of the Tracks of Yu”. Having stated the above–Why is it that these apparently Asian originated grids still show up all over the Western United States to this very day?

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  18. For another view of a Chattra (Buddhist Mushroom Rock) in N Ametica google: “Rock Formation Devil’s Lake Wisconsin”. Go to the images section to see the several images of this rock formation
    on the top of a flattened table top rock, Compare it with “Snake Dancers Rock Walpi Village”, “Bent Hoodoo by Ned” and the rocks in “Mushroom Rock State Park Kansas”. Also compare it with the same
    shape/symbol in ancient Thailand. “Isan Home of Ancient Dvaravati Ruins”. No one claims that Buddhists in the 5th Century were not very serious and accomplished rock carvers. The Giant Buddhas in Afghanistan and the Ellora Caves in India during this time bear witness to their ability and desire to do such huge rock carving projects. “Ancient Buddhist Symbols and Customs in N America.

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  19. For the best views of the Wisconsin rock mentioned above google: “Balanced Rock Devil’s Lake Wisconsin”.

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  20. In the history of the world no other religion has had the same fascination and proclivity for working with rocks. This affinity for rocks which includes rock carving, rock balancing, rock stacking and almost everything else that has to do with rocks goes back to the origination of this religion in the 6th century BC. In the 5th Century AD this group built the “Giant Buddhas of Afghanistan (Gandhara) which was also the same century that Hwui Shan left Gandhara to sail to a place known in Asia for centuries as Fu Sang. This religion is Buddhism. However, by the rock geoglyphs such as “Ancient Buddha Tree of Life Lotus Flower” and the numerous uses of fire in ceremonies and much other evidence it appears that the type of Buddhism that apparently arrived in 5th century (458 AD) N America and had
    such major influences on the native cultures here was specifically Vajrayana Buddhism. That is something very important to understand about the Buddhist characteristics that show up in N America today. Vajrayana Buddhism is by far the smallest school of Buddhism. Although today it is known as Tibetan Buddhism it’s origin goes back much further in history than when Tibet ultimately become it’s “home base’. Although Vajrayana Buddhism apparently first appears in Gandhara, Greater India in the early centuries of the Common Era, it’s devotees will tell you that it goes all the way back to Buddha himself in the 6th century BC. Because the teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism are in many cases significantly different from the other schools of Buddhism Vajrayana Buddhists have to come up with an explanation for that. They will say that Buddha was Vajrayana himself and believed then what the Vajrayanas believe but that these differences were deeply held secrets by Buddha and the top leaders of Buddhism until they were ultimately revealed as truths to the world in Gandhara centuries later.
    Although there are some similarities to the other schools of Buddhism, the major differences between Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism and the other schools include these:

    1) When Buddha started Buddhism he did so in a Vedic-Hindu culture. Hinduism is polytheistic and has numerous gods and Vedic cultural customs that are tied into their religion. Fire as an example is a huge influence in the Vedic culture of Hinduism.

    2) Buddhism has no godsl. Buddhism is about self realization and the finding of peace through
    understanding oneself. When you are successful in fully understanding yourself you will have discovered Nirvana a place of perpetual peace.

    3) Buddha specifically rejected the use of fire in Buddhism and expressed harsh judgments about
    what he considered to be the Hindu obsession with fire.

    4) There are numerous other differences between Buddhism and Hinduism not mentioned here.

    5) Vajrayana Buddhism when it first appeared publicly in Gandhara fully embraced many of the Vedic Hindu customs, symbols and monument types apparently originally rejected by Buddha such as the worship of fire and fire ceremonies as well as the Vedic gods worshiped by Hindus.

    6) Therefore it can be clearly seen that Vajrayana Buddhism has a significant blend with Vedic/ Hindu thought, religion and culture.

    The knowledge of these facts is important to understand as to why there are so many Vedic customs
    such as the Hindu Saptapadi (the Hindu sacred seven step seven vow wedding ceremony) which is almost identical to the same Seven Step Seven Vow Wedding ceremony used up to this day as the most common wedding used by Native Americans as their very own sacred wedding for hundreds and hundreds of years. This wedding ceremony is conducted around a sacred flame in both cultures.
    In India they know that flame as Agni their god of fire. Since everything else is identical does that
    mean that the sacred fire in Native American weddings is thereby Agni as well.

    The fire pits in the extant Anasazi kiva ruins in Chaco Canyon and elsewhere look exactly like the homa/ havan (fire pits) used by Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhist priests in their fire worship to this day.

    So if you’re wondering why I’m so sure that Tibetan (Vajrayana) Buddhists were the source of the numerous Vedic Hindu symbols that show up in N America you will now know on what evidence I’ve based that belief. I have just scratched the surface. The Native America Tribal chiefs who used umbrellas to demonstrate their authority were also using an ages old Vedic symbol of authority that
    could only be used by powerful leaders and high priests.

    Since only Tibetan Buddhists had incorporated these Vedic customs and symbols into their faith, as these same customs and symbols are discovered in N America along with distinctly Buddhist influences it seems clear who it was that brought it here. Then you couple this evidence with Hwui
    Shan’s recorded report to the Emperor of China in 602 and the picture comes into focus.
    Vajrayana Buddhists led by Hwui Shan found their way to N America in 458 AD and converted a
    significant portion of the Native American population to Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism and thereby leaving influences here that can still be recognized to this very day.

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  21. There is some, but not significant, historical evidence to support the idea that the Chinese were active in Ancient America. Ancient Chinese coins, ship anchors (James R. Moriarty of the University of San Diego), and other relics have been discovered along the American coast – some dating back as much as 2,000 years! Also, Hui Shen’s descriptions do correspond somewhat with what we know of the New World around 450 AD

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  22. Perhaps the biggest argument used in recent times against the possibility of Pre Columbian Asian influences in North America is that it was far too difficult for ancient and pre modern Asians to get here
    for it to have happened. So seriously, how difficult was it for ancient Asians?
    Fortunately we have an answer to that question from an authority on that topic. That would be a letter written by U.S. navigator Colonel Barclay Kennon in 1871 on that exact topic in which he describes in
    detail a United States expedition from 1853-1856 for the apparent purpose of tracing the course of the
    “North Pacific Gyre”. He was the navigator on that expedition. He says the trip from Asia to North
    America is Never More Than A Few Hours Out Of Sight Of land At Any Time During The Entire Trip.
    The currents of the North Pacific Gyre make the northern part of the trip (the trip from Asia to N America) a breeze. But don’t take my word for this. Read this short online letter for yourself.
    Google: “Navigating the North Pacific Barclay Kennon”

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  23. I have repeatedly heard that there is NO EVIDENCE to support any claim of Pre Columbia Asian influences here in North America. Are those that are making that claim taking the time to review the evidence that seems to clearly contradict that statement? Are they so influenced by historic western
    teaching they are reluctant to consider new information?
    The Nazca Lines in Peru are an enigma but nobody dare deny their existence because they are there
    and the world has officially recognized them. How and why did the ancients create art that could only be seen from high altitude. By spending time looking at the Nazca Lines one might be inclined to think that at least some of the ancient societies were able to ascend high above the earth’s surface. That would give the only seemingly plausible motive for why they took so much time and effort to create these beautiful art carvings that have lasted to today.
    But beautiful enormous earth carvings (geoglyphs) are not unique to that one area in Peru. Google:
    “Hendon’s Geoglyphs” to see numerous huge art projects visible only from high in the sky in North America. How about the enormous grid system seen from above Eugene, Oregon? Does anyone
    really believe that grid system of alternating contrasting colors found there and around the western United States is random. Google: “Ancient Chinese Weiqei/Go Board Burnstick Lake, Alberta”. That ancient carved Go board in alternating contrasting colors is approximately 2 miles by 2 miles in size. Each of the individual Go board squares is a uniform 10 acres (approx) with all the other grids in that same pattern.
    Would it not be an insult to your intelligence if someone tried to sell you on the notion that this was the result of any known type of natural and random causation?

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  24. Dr. Carl L. Johannessen has just published a book entitled “Pre-Columbian Sailors Influenced the History of the World” in which he details many cultural traits that existed before Columbus in both the Old and New World, but especially Asia, where their cultural hearth was on a different continent. The only possible way they could have arrived at their new location would have been by sea. We would be interested in following this thread and in seeing valid references to archaeological, linguistic, cartographic or historical evidence regarding the information contained in this blog. We would be happy to share our findings as well. Posted by Paul S. McCartney, MA -geographer/linguist

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  25. It’s a little rich to discount old stories based on their handedness since any modern history book is replete with stories that are in their 20th or more retelling, yet are considered to be factual, for the most part. To disabuse an old saga using Atlantis as an example is contradictory since the location of the Atlantis of Plato’s retelling is well known. However, everything told should be taken with a grain of salt, even when well documented. In school we were taught about Ethelred the Unready which turns out to be an unfortunate English homonym for a Saxon word meaning ill-advised – and he certainly was ill-advised since exterminating large numbers of Danish immigrants brought him a whole lot of Danish and Viking whoop-ass (perhaps he was ‘unready’ for the intensity of retaliation).
    Communication is a curious thing: the common perceptions of the hearer often distort the message much more than the inaccuracies of the teller. Some Orkney and Bristol seamen told Christo Columbo about sailing to lands to the west and Chris assumed that this had to be China and was never dissuaded even when told correctly by informed individuals that the supposed distance was much to short (reasonably accurate estimates of the circumference of the earth being well established and proven by Sino-Roman trade).
    As for Chinese artifacts, they number in the thousands for the simple reason that devalued Chinese coins and temple tokens (including knock-offs of each) provided very inexpensive trade goods (at one point selling for 2200 to the silver penny) which routinely ended up in North America but are more likely to have been brought by Russian or English traders (just as German made trade beads might have been brought by French or Norwegian traders in the east).

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  26. The Largest Tang Dynasty Horse Image In the World Is In North America.

    If something isn’t in your basic belief pattern and then someone comes along and makes a bold statement that isn’t supported by anything you’ve ever hear or seen before, it’s not difficult to blow off that bold statement off as nonsense unless you take a few minutes to check it our for yourself.

    An example of that would be if I were to tell you that the largest Tang Dynasty Horse Image in the world is not in Asia but can be seen on satellite maps in North America. That sounds like utter nonsense unless you take the time it takes to explore this claim further.

    Tang Dynasty Horses are a famous part of ancient Chinese history and art. Original Tang Dynasty pottery pieces are extremely expensive. Today they are valued property in numerous museums and in the art collections of wealthy people around the world.

    Tang Dynasty Horses are particularly distinctive because of their features. They can be easily recognized because of these unique characteristics.

    Here are a few of these highly recognizable features:
    !) The horses themselves are huge in comparison to other horses. This breed was not native to China. They were imported into China originally by an ancient Chinese Emperor who had a particular fondness for this breed of large horses and who went to war to be able to bring them back to China.
    1) These horses were outfitted in almost every case with the same equipment.
    A) Mongolian Saddles have high front and rear pommels similar to the Pommel Horse Gym Equipment.
    B) This distinctive saddle came with additional pieces that were alike in almost every case. These horse saddles have both rear and front saddle straps that keeps these ancient saddles from sliding forward or backward when the horse and rider are either ascending or descending steep terrain. (These straps had to be designed perfectly or they caused great discomfort to the horse) These saddle strap accessories were never commonly used in the west but were commonly used in ancient China.
    C) Tang Dynasty Horses ALWAYS had a highly stylized “Bobbed Tail”. These tailed were highly groomed and shortened.

    I have gone to this much detail to inform you that if you should come across this particular detail on a huge horse in North America that you are definitely looking at the remains of an ancient Tang Dynasty Horse image.

    You can access images of this horse in N. America with ALL the Distinctive Features I’ve described by using your favorite search engine and typing in “The Harris Horse” or “Hendon’s Horse Images”

    Then type in “Tang Dynasty Horse Images” to see hundreds of smaller similar images on the Internet.
    Also type in “Ancient Asian Saddle Images” and see how these Asian styles also appear on Native American Tribal Saddle Equipment. What a coincidence!

    Resist the urge to reject my premise because “Hendon”s Horse” (dedicated to my father who bears the same name with me) is almost 120 miles wide from head to tail. Just because you and I can not explain today how those who created this horse did it does not mean it did not happen.
    (An additional clue that this is not a random natural creation is this horse is clearly a male horse given the appropriate physical characteristic at the correct location.I believe this was added later because this does not typically appear commonly on these horse images. It is however a commonly accepted
    Asian highlighted art feature with ties to Buddhism)

    This geoglyph does not stand alone in North America. For several other prominent examples type in
    “Hendon’s Geoglyphs” Nobody can tell you with certainty how, when or even why the Nazca Lines Geoglyphs in Peru were constructed. But then NOBODY denies that they exist and that an ancient culture with great art and engineering skill created these objects of art that can ONLY be seen from high altitude.

    How did this Enormous feature of an ancient Chinese horse commonly known and accepted in art circles today around the world find it’s home in ancient N. America? There’s only one culture that would have brought it here and done the many years of backbreaking work to carve it into the terrain- The Chinese.

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  27. For an understanding of why Chinese in ancient North America may have been motivated to create such a large Tang Dynasty horse image here it’s helpful to know the importance of the horse in ancient Chinese society.. Don’t just take my work for it. Google: “The Importance of Horses in Chinese Culture” and “Understanding The Horse in Chinese Culture”. “Tang Dynasty Horse Saddles”
    Has anyone ever explained to you why if there were no horses in pre Spanish North America why “Native American Saddle Trees” have such an uncanny resemblance to “Mongolian/Chinese Saddle Tree forms” That’s high front and rear pommels and almost identical front and rear saddle strapping. Many of us were never even aware that early Native Americans had any saddle technology at all. We thought they all either used saddle blankets or rode bareback. That’s not correct. Check it out for yourself.

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    1. Years ago you mentioned they reached “The Land Of The Women.” I am guessing that you haven’t heard of the legend of Queen Califia who the State of California is named for. Queen Califia and the people she ruled were located in Southern California, They left a lot of cave and rock “art” that indicates that they had an highly advanced civilization, which fits the same description given by Hwui Shan. Queen Califia and the Californians were described by in a novel written by the Spaniards in 1524 as a Amazon Warrior Queen with a army of female warriors. There is a plethora of information on this on the web. It is funny that back then it was no problem reporting that Californian Muurs can travel all the way on the other side of the world to fight a “Jihad,” but in this day, we are still in denial of strong evidence that there was a world of advance technology and trade before the rise of whites from Europe.

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  28. Halim, you are correct that California got it’s name from Queen Calafia. However, Queen Calafia is the main fictional character in a Spanish novel written between 1500 and 1510 by Spanish writer Garci Rodriquez de Montalvo. This story although highly popular in Spain after the early Spanish explorations has little or nothing to do with historical fact. However, it was a huge hit in Spain for many years.

    It is interesting to note that it played a significant role in shaping Spanish opinion of the “New World”.
    Early Spanish explorers were under the impression that the land they called California was an island. However, what they and the novelist called California was actually what we know of today as “Baja California”. We know that as a fact and it is commonly accepted today because the so called Island of California and what we know of as Baja, California today has the same identical shape. For years after the Spanish had thoroughly explored the area and knew that Baja was a peninsula and not an island the Spanish in Spain continued to believe that Baja, California was an island and showed it as such on their working maps.

    What is significant to me about this story is the account of the Amazon Women. One of the most amazing features of this new area the Spanish had found was that there was an area here where women were absolutely in control. The Spanish were not familiar with a such culture anywhere else they had been. Therefore it was an amazing anomaly and had to find a place in the novel that was written about this new place. And so it was included in the fictional story because of it’s uniqueness.

    However, the Spanish WERE NOT the first people coming to that part of the world who encountered that same amazing and unique culture. After returning to China in 1498 CE and reporting to the Emperor of China and his court of his trip in 1458 to Fu Sang (North America?) Buddhist cleric Hwui Shan also reported in the Imperial Chinese Court Record that this same culture existed in the Four Corners area
    of N America. Although Hwui Shan had gained a great respect for this culture such was not the case with the Chinese court. In jest they called this area the “Land of Women” and attributed several fictional
    accounts of what happened there. Those fictional accounts although undoubtedly the occasion of great laughter for the courtiers and their friends have been one of the reasons that Hwui Shan’s account has been disregarded throughout the many years as simply a fable by numerous historians.

    What is noteworthy is that although 1000 years passed both the Buddhist cleric and the Spanish explorers described this ame culture in the same area. Is that a coincidence? Is there anything in that area today that would give credence to those two separate cultural observations made 1000 years apart of “Amazons” or a “Land of Women” there. Indeed, there is such evidence.

    Matriarchal cultures were not common around the world in ancient times and are not common even in modern times. However, some Native America cultures (The Puebloan People of the Four Corners) are
    matriarchal societies. They were a matriarchal society thousand of years ago and they are today.
    It doesn’t matter whether or not we approve of it or whether we accept it as it exists. It’s a fact and it does indeed exist. In matriarchal societies the women instead of men are dominate in the social structure. That’s the way their culture works. To outsiders it’s strange because they don’t understand it.

    In my opinion the uniqueness of the Puebloan matriarchal culture in the Four Corner is why it was highlighted in written reports by the Chinese court in the 6th century and then again by the Spanish in the 16th century.

    Don’t just take my word for it! Check this out for yourself, Use your favorite search engine and type in:
    “The Puebloan Matriarchal Culture”

    What are the odds that the Chinese Buddhists and the Spanish explorers would have written about these Amazon Women (The Land of Women) and that even today this same area is populated by
    a society directed by women?

    If it waddles like a duck, flies like a duck, paddles like a duck and lays eggs like a duck–IT’S A DUCK!

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  29. Hwui Shan sailed to Fu Sang in 458 AD and returned to China in 498 AD Not 1458 AD and 1498 as I have posted above.

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  30. Look at The Indian Bulletin (1895) on Archive.org for evidence of chinese influence on native American place names.
    Also, trying to establish an equivalence between Plato’s Atlantis and Fusang is somewhat disingenuous. Atlantis is a distant myth whereas Fusang is maybe more akin to Marco Polo’s writings – regarded as wild imagination at the time, but largely reliable and verifiable with more quality research.
    Anything relying on wiki is on the shakiest of shakey

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  31. Hello Archy, It’s Hendon and it’s good to be back. It’s like I’ve been out of town for 6 years or so. I have recently written on another posting things that you may find interesting. If so google: “Church Rock- Cathedral in the Desert”. I have always appreciated you for allowing me to state my opinions even when you did not agree. Thanks
    Hendon Harris

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  32. It doesn’t matter if we approve of it or appreciate it as an art form, ancient Buddhists and modern day Buddhists have
    a remarkable fascination with phallic symbolism with particular interest in the male form. This has been true for over
    a thousand years. We already know that they were accomplished rock carvers and with working with rock art forms and construction because of the giant Buddhas in modern day Pakistan recently destroyed by the Taliban as well as their rock carved temples at the Ellora Caves India and at numerous other locations throughout Asia. No other ancient culture is known to have had this level of skill and desire to do this. Therefore if ancient Asian Buddhists were able to do this and if they wanted to carve massive male phallic symbols they could do this in Asia and wherever else they were able to travel in their efforts to spread Buddhism arount the world. Well, they certainly did it in Asia because there is proof remaining in China today of their efforts in doing this. Interestingly, there is abundant evidence of that same activity having taken place in numerous locations in North America. If this wasn’t done here by ancient Chinese Tibetan Buddhists then who else would have had the ability and the desire to do it? For images of these features:
    Use your favorite searh engine: “Vajrayana Buddhism in pre Columbian North America- Fu Sang”

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