Chinese Came from Red Sea Area?

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Chinese Ancestors Came from Red Sea Area?

 

Amateur historian Su San has created an enormous controversy with

claims of Chinese ancestors were from the Red Sea area and human

civilization began in the Middle East and North Africa, reported

Shanghai Daily on Wednesday.

http://service.china.org.cn/link/wcm/Show_Text?info_id=109342

 

These two stunning conclusions have been put forward in two recently

published books, and critics and readers have wasted no time in

their attack.

 

"They call my books nonsense," says 40-year-old Su, a Henan Province

native. "They just can't bear to think there's a Western ancestor

for Chinese."

 

With a bachelor's degree on English literature and a master's degree

on economics, Su previously worked for a foreign company and was

also an English teacher.

 

Two years ago, she quit her managerial job to study history, but not

at university, just on the Internet. She published book reviews and

essays on cultural study Websites.

 

In her first book, "A Conjecture on Sanxingdui Civilization," she

boldly concludes that the Sanxingdui ruins came from Red Sea

civilization. Since excavation in 1929 in Sichuan Province, the

Sanxingdui ruins has been the topic of hot debate because of

antiques discovered there are exotic and unusual.

 

In her second book, "Toward the East," she traced the origin of

Chinese civilization through the Old Testament of the Bible.

 

"The Bible is a serious record of a royal family, who colonized

around the Earth with their wealth and wisdom," she says. "I believe

Chinese ancestors were Semites, Israelis and from other Middle

Eastern nations. The Chinese people's respect for chastity and the

elderly originates from primitive Judaism."

 

She even found interesting relations between the earliest Chinese

dynasties and the Bible.

 

According to her study, Hagar, wife of Abraham, established the Xia

Dynasty (c. 21st century-16th century BC). His grandson Esau's

offsprings built the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century

BC ), and the name of the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-221 BC)

originated from the word "Jew."

 

Su emphasizes she has more freedom than traditional Chinese

archeologists and historians whom she claims work in a rigid style.

 

"I have a free mind and hate restrain," Su says. "I have no

background in education on archeology or ancient cultural study.

This allows me to think outside the traditional stereotype and

discover the real origins of Chinese."

 

Su grew up in a small mountainous village near Luoyang of Henan

Province, the ancient capital of the Zhou Dynasty.

 

"When I left my home to study English in a university in big city,

life was such a big contrast," says Su. "I had many interests but my

favorite was history. At university I often lay on the lawn to

appreciate the night sky, which helped me built up my view of the

world."

 

Her first book only took two months to complete.

 

"I studied the Websites of museums, institutes and online libraries.

It's efficient and quick," she says.

 

But few experts agree with her claims.

 

"Until now most Sanxingdui antiques belonged to Chinese local

civilization and mainstream experts believe Sanxingdui is still a

Chinese civilization with only small foreign influences," says He

Yun'ao, director of Cultural and Natural Relics Research Institute

at Nanjing University.

 

He explains that most jade and pottery antiques discovered in

Sanxingdui bear strong Chinese characters. But some bronze antiques

are different from traditional Chinese civilizations from along the

Yellow River.

 

"This probably shows the variety of Chinese civilizations, which are

not only from along the Yellow River," He says. "In Sanxingdui,

there's a road to India. But since there's no records for the area,

archeology cannot answer the question. Gene analysis can tell the

truth but until now no human remains have been unearthed there."

 

Professor Jiang Xiaoyuan, dean of the Human Studies Institute at

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, says Su's study can be hard to

swallow.

 

"Her opinions are radical and far from traditional research, which

probably will be accepted after 100 years," says Jiang. "I agree

with parts of her research about Sanxingdui."

 

But most Chinese historians are not even close to considering her

research.

 

"She hasn't got a historical education but obviously she has done a

lot of library work," comments Jiang. "Her books are far better than

amateur nonsense. I suggest she send her articles to professional

magazines such as 'Historical Study,' which will draw attention. I

guess most experts won't even glance at her books."

 

Su's study may not be traditional but she says it is informed

evidence-based research and a new way of thinking.

 

Just like the old Chinese saying, "throw out bricks to draw

jades.I wish my books were bricks, attracting experts' attention

and finally discover genuine jade," she says.

 

(Shanghai Daily October 13, 2004)