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Chinese Characters Originated in the Middle East —— A Cultural Interpretation of the Origin of Oracle Bone Inscriptions

Article Source: China World Ancient History Research Network Author: Su San

First, starting from "speaking from the West"

To really understand the origin of Chinese characters in China, we must first break all ideological barriers and emancipate our minds, especially give up the so-called premature "conclusion" of the independent origin of Chinese civilization. It is said that up to today, the origin of China characters has not been determined, but in fact there is no clue. I think everyone was misled by "China's theory of civilization independence" when exploring the origin of Chinese characters, so it took more than 100 years without a clue. Because all people are wandering in China in the shadow of "independence", at least in recent decades. If we are willing to look into the broad outside world, everything will be suddenly enlightened and become very simple.

Many people don't know its origin or extinction, so any remarks or discoveries that are suspected of supporting "speaking from the west" will appear to be enemies of the world, and the origin of Chinese characters is even more difficult. Therefore, I think that the new understanding of "speaking from the west" and my "global civilization homology" are the keys to unlock the origin of Chinese characters. Otherwise, the origin of Chinese characters will never be revealed.

Archaeology is a young discipline for China, with a history of less than 100 years. It was founded by a foreigner named An Tesheng, who is an amateur. At that time, his official occupation in China was as an engineer. This origin seems to indicate something else. The history of China is so closely related to westerners. It was this man who formally put forward the concept of "learning from the west" according to the painted pottery characteristics of Yangshao culture in China. This happened more than 80 years ago. It should be pointed out that the concept of "West" in From the West has nothing to do with today's concept of "West". It refers to the geographical "west", especially Central Asia and West Asia.

The study of prehistory has its own laws. With the continuous excavation and updating of archaeological data, it is normal for different conclusions to be overturned and rewritten at any time. "From the West" also faces such a fate. But the difference is that the study of "talking about the West", which may involve China people's feelings, happened to encounter a complicated political movement in the last century, and opposing "the West" became a clear political task at some point. In the era of talking about "the West", it has its own limitations and weaknesses. In the 1970s, "talking about the West" unexpectedly disappeared and was replaced by "the theory of the independence of the origin of Chinese civilization".

It is true that the theory of "independence" makes sense. For example, China's own scholars have discovered more and more cultures that can confirm each other in the vast area of China, but more and more people seem to be doing A=B when explaining the relationship between these cultures, so a series of closed games of B=A, B=A=C=D have appeared, while the confused China scholars actually think that the source of China civilization should be here. A, B and C completely ignore the premise that the origin of the Neolithic Age in China is later than that of the West. No one knows how and who decided. It is probably the most common saying in the old days that "the public is right and the woman is right".

It should be said that this theory of "coming from the west" can't go away because of the internal reasons of archaeology and history and the external reasons of the academic environment in China at that time. However, it directly illustrates the fragility of scientific concepts in China's academic circles. In the absence of conclusive evidence, the academic circles in China hastily created the theory of "China's civilization independence" and instilled it in all China people. If someone says that he is a "pluralist" in the history of China, don't make a mistake. He refers to China's "pluralism", such as Northwest Theory, Yellow River Theory, Yangtze River Theory, East-West Theory, etc., which is not the same as the "pluralism" imported from other regions by China. In China, any large-scale public exploration of the origin of civilization is virtually suppressed by this "conclusion", or it can only be explored on this premise, otherwise it will be regarded as crooked ways.

The jade articles in the tombs of Yin Ruins come from Karakorum Mountain in Xinjiang, which is the boldest exploration I have seen in recent years, because their views almost cross the border to Central Asia as referred to by "from the West". Today, it is generally believed that Xinjiang was indeed related to the Central Plains in the Shang Dynasty, because those jade stones clearly told this fact. I measured it with a meter ruler, and the distance from Xinjiang to the hinterland of China is basically the same as that from Xinjiang to Egypt and Rome. And from the geographical and climatic conditions, the road from Xinjiang to the hinterland of China is more difficult. These situations explain many problems. If I can't prove that there is a direct connection between Shang Dynasty and ancient Egypt, then we can infer that the connection between Yin Shang people and ancient Egypt is not a problem at all through exchanges in Xinjiang. In other words, it is certain that Xinjiang people have contact with ancient Egyptians. Moreover, archaeological discoveries show that ancient Xinjiang people had a large number of northern coins from the southeast coast of China, so far that Xinjiang people could go anywhere in the Middle East.

Mr. Chen Xingcan, an archaeologist, said: "Apart from the influence of China's traditional view of history and nationalism in the Central Plains, the change of archaeological materials is a more direct cause, and all explanations must change with the change of materials. On many occasions, Mr. Zhang Guangzhi said: Past archaeological experience tells us that "new materials will definitely appear in the near future, and the hypothesis based on old materials will definitely collapse". The same is true of the study of the origin of Chinese civilization. " I think this understanding is objective and correct. Today happens to be the time when the old material hypothesis collapses, because it has accumulated enough since the denial of "western theory" more than 30 years ago. Of course, first of all, I would like to thank many unknown archaeologists and historians for their unremitting efforts. Although many of them still insist on "China's theory of civilization independence", they carefully and deliberately avoid materials that may be supported by the "West", or find me some accurate data of the "West", such as the excavation of some major sites, and almost always avoid talking about race.

2. Two stages and stratification

I think the prehistoric stage of China can be roughly divided into two stages: Yangshao culture which originated from 6000 to 7000 years ago and Xia, Shang and Zhou culture which originated about 4000 years ago. The reason why we focus on these two stages is because their characteristics are obvious, and others are not mentioned for the time being. The connection between them was about four thousand years ago. And because they come from a huge civilization system-the Middle East, they can be said to be closely linked and almost inseparable. Occasionally some people even say that there is a direct inheritance relationship. The main feature of Yangshao culture is painted pottery, and its religious symbol is mainly Pisces on Banpo. Its development area is mainly in the northwest of China, distributed in Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi and some provinces of Shanxi and Henan, and its development trend is obviously inclined from west to southeast. Its source channel can be considered to enter from Xinjiang or cross the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from South Asia to Qinghai. Astronomy in the ancient two river basins was very developed. The worship of Pisces probably comes from the worship of Pisces in astronomy. Pisces is closely related to the solar equinox.

In Yangshao period, hieroglyphics and cuneiform characters in the two river basins in the Middle East should be mainly considered, with the symbols on Gan Qing and Banpo painted pottery as the main ones. The hieroglyphics in Lianghe area are mainly characterized by the arrangement of many point symbols, in addition to the general hieroglyphics. Several ancient cards in China, such as the arrangement of black and red dots on Pai Jiu and the "drum card" symbol on Mahjong, can all be considered as some kind of inheritance. What researchers should pay attention to is that Pai Jiu, an ancient gambling tool that seems to exist only in China tradition, still exists among the people in the Arabian Peninsula, such as Yemen, which is close to the two rivers. There is not much research on hieroglyphics in the two rivers, but because the hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt are inherited from the two rivers, we can refer to other aspects of ancient Egypt. The characters of pottery characters in Banpo culture in Shaanxi province, which evolved from triangles, should be compared with cuneiform characters developed from hieroglyphics in the later period of Lianghe River Basin. Of course, because Pisces itself is a triangle, it is also possible that a large number of triangles in Yangshao culture are only a double description of Pisces. Triangle and hexagon are symbols of Pisces. Pisces is often abstracted into a shape similar to "H" to show the connection between "Western Fish" and "Northern Fish". This picture can be found in Yangshao painted pottery (with pictures). In the recent census, it is said that the surname of China people is "H". If possible, tracing their ethnic origin may bring some unexpected gains. Many experts have made a transitional relationship between "fish" and "triangle symbol" on the symbols on painted pottery, and I also think there is such an organic connection between them.

Sun worship is the most important and common belief in the Neolithic age in the whole Middle East. Both the two river basins and ancient Egypt along the Red Sea, as well as Phoenicians and Hebrews, have followed this tradition. The conclusion that "China's ten thousand characters come from Buddhism", which was once popular in orthodox history books, can be said to be completely wrong. China had swastika in Yangshao culture period, which is the trace of sun worship. In ancient China, there were not only the swastikas used by the Nazis, but also various other variants of the sun symbol. This worship appeared not only in Yangshao culture in China, but also in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties in China.

However, the culture of Xia, Shang and Zhou in China is obviously different from that of Yangshao, which is characterized by excellent bronzes and jade carvings, but pottery is not their specialty. These are in line with the characteristics of ancient Egypt and its surrounding countries. Although there were bronzes in the two river basins in the Middle East about 5,000 years ago, the development of their jade and bronze crafts stopped because of the lack of stones, and pottery became the first outstanding, which also symbolized the characteristics of Yangshao culture. What's more, the pottery in the two regions is so similar, from modeling to color to pattern. Although there were also pottery of Longshan culture in Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, it can be clearly seen that they have different characteristics from Yangshao culture and are not as developed as Yangshao culture in pottery making. According to the excavation of Yin Ruins, their pottery is mainly gray pottery rather than red pottery, and the decorative patterns are completely different. The birthplace of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties should be concentrated in North Africa, and their landing place in China does not rule out the possibility of coming from the west like Yangshao people, because the exploration of "Jade Road" seems to have explained this possibility. However, there is also a possibility that cannot be ignored. For example, the Yin people probably came from the sea and landed near Shandong, then developed and began to attack the Xia people. It is also possible that Xia entered from the west, and later Xia, Shang and Dong merged in the Central Plains. Many experts have mentioned that the relationship between several cultural layers in China is like an "uncle-nephew relationship", which is both unified and different. This feature can be inspired by the interpretation of the relations between several regions in the Middle East, especially the implication in my poor book East First, then East. Although it does not accurately describe the reappearance of history, this complex relationship has an appropriate analogy with China's complex cultural relationship. The religious symbols on vessels in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties were obviously consistent with those in ancient Egypt. In addition to the worship of the sun, cows, sheep, beasts, birds and snakes were all worshipped in ancient Egypt and Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties.

If the origin and popularity of the later 12 constellation represents the influence of the civilization in the two river basins, then the 12 constellation system represented by Pisces is likely to be transformed into 12 constellation in the three generations of China. If so, it shows that the Egyptian culture in the central and southeastern regions has finally won a decisive victory in China. This cultural transformation in China is also in line with the historical development of the Middle East. The two river basins gave way to the most powerful ancient civilization in ancient Egypt about 4000 years ago. At least 4,000 years ago, the astrology of 12 constellation existed in the two river basins. Its symbols and representatives are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio (also called Capricorn), Sagittarius, Aries, Aquarius and Pisces (February 20th-March 20th). China 12 zodiac signs are: Zishu, Ugly Cow, Yinhu, Hairy Rabbit, Chen Long, Sishe, Wuma, Weiyang, Monkey, Youyou Chicken, Dog and Hai Pig. This change marks the decline of the civilization of the two river basins in China, which has a glorious astronomical history, and is replaced by the agricultural civilization of ancient Egypt. In addition, this 12 belongs to all terrestrial animals (including amphibians such as snakes and dragons); Pisces, Aquarius and other symbols symbolizing the two rivers have completely faded out of the mainstream society. Since the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, China people no longer attach importance to the magnificence of the sky as Yangshao people do. In fact, this may also reflect more information. The abandonment of astronomical constellations shows that the large-scale global migration of human beings is basically coming to an end, and countries and nations in various regions are basically in place. The characteristics of the above two systems are shown in Yangshao culture and three generations, which shows that the carved symbols of ancient painted pottery and ritual vessels are closely related to astronomy and belief system.

There are mysterious connections between the Shang Dynasty, which moved to the hinterland of Henan, and Shandong, which is close to the sea. The "Yi" of "Dongyi" is particularly suspicious, and it has a suspicious connection with the "Ai" of "Ai". At the same time, the other three aspects of Rong, Di, Man and Yi are also closely related to the ethnic origin. Even can we roughly correspond the four ethnic divisions in ancient China with the well-known ethnic divisions today? If Yi is a yellow Mongolian, Di is a white man and Rong is a red man, he can be a black man. Of course, this division is subjective, but the difference between ancient nationalities must be mainly related to race, so we can also consider it from these aspects. The connection between Rongren and Xia only shows that they may come from the west, but it doesn't mean that they have completely different ethnic ties with businessmen. Generally speaking, the word "Yi" is "from the bow", but I think the suspicious explanation is "from the snake". Whether in ancient Egypt or China, there are patterns of snakes winding people or the sun, which are called "Ye". "Dongyi" is what people call them after they came to the Central Plains, but it is also possible that these people once arrived in America around 3900, and later some people returned to China for some reason and settled here in Shandong, so it seems to conform to the meaning of "Dongyi".

In any case, there is no doubt that Xia, Shang and Zhou finally merged with Yangshao civilization, whether it is friendship or war. In short, China people were born in these two civilizations. The civilization of the Chinese nation, like writing, is not a complete copy, but a process of gradual acceptance and integration, and finally forms its own unique and distinctive civilization system. It can be said that they are both inherited and original in China. This is a long and complicated process.

3. The process of writing.

From the two river basins to the coast of the Red Sea and even the eastern Mediterranean, they are all in a big cultural environment and have always had close contacts with each other. It is generally believed that ancient Egyptian civilization came from two river basins. Therefore, it is normal to find the connection between Yangshao culture and Xia, Shang and Zhou culture in China, but it is more important to admit that there are differences between them, which constitutes the significance. At the same time, although there is a further relationship between Xia, Shang and Zhou, it is not difficult to see that these families originally belonged to a big family, but later they were divided into several small families. There are some unclear grievances between them, and when it comes to time sequence, there are also some differences and oppositions, which is understandable.

Judging from the existing Yangshao painted pottery, its symbols are closely related to hieroglyphics (pictures, painted pottery, cuneiform characters) in the two river basins. But most symbols should be regarded as artistic processing or variation of words or symbols, rather than direct words. A large number of fish totems show that this civilization does not belong to the ancient Egyptian culture, but only belongs to the two river basin civilization, because there is little fish worship in the ancient Egyptian culture (but there is not necessarily no fish worship in the Jewish culture). I have never found the basis for the popular worship of Pisces in western China. One day, I boarded an American English website introducing cuneiform characters in the two river basins. On their homepage, I suddenly realized that if it was atypical or unfounded, this website would not choose Pisces as the primary symbol of the people in the two river basins. (with photos)

(Illustration) The symbol of nine planets in astrology. The order above is Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars, and the order below is Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. It is not difficult to see their connection with hieroglyphics. The fact that the sun and the moon are all in it, rather than strictly following the arrangement of the nine planets, shows that this observation system is "ancient", and the moon satellite, because of its second brightness, obviously better illustrates the originality of its system. The source of astrology is in the two river basins. At present, the evidence in this field can be found about 4000 years ago, and the developed astronomy is its theoretical basis.

In ancient times, the decorative patterns on ceramics in Greece and China were different, which showed some differences in their religious beliefs. Most of the major religions in the world today are against idolatry, and animals and humans are not allowed to appear on their objects as decorations, so their artists can only develop in plants and geometric patterns. I think these religious thoughts should have existed in some ancient tribes, and also influenced people who came to China, so that their main utensils avoided the appearance of animals, but only lines and geometric patterns. However, due to the bias to one end, these ceramists made these geometric patterns so perfect that people today are amazed at their exquisite geometric patterns when they see these works. When I say pottery, I obviously mean the painted pottery culture around 4000 years ago, represented by Qinghai and southern Gansu. People are often surprised by the exquisite design and suddenly ask: Why don't these clever craftsmen describe animals and people? Today, the main belief of Arabs is Islam, and they still stick to the habit of drawing only geometric figures and plant leaves. They refuse any idolatry and refuse to let animals appear on their objects and buildings. However, the fish pattern on the surface of the pottery basin concentrated in Banpo, Shaanxi Province seems to be an exception. However, the reduction of animal patterns can be understood as prohibition, and gradually only geometric and plant patterns can be described. At the same time, we should also consider the regional differences, such as Banpo and Gan Qing, which are different because of the geographical span.