The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1869-10-08
THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BIZ THE
CHINESE.

OG 1lltt ESOISIOfCT LAldb
continent after it had, in remote ages, |
been found, peopfed and forgotten by |
the Old World ? 1t is curious that this |
question has not been more generally |
raised, for it is very clear that one of
two things must be true: either the peo-
pie whom Columbus found in America
must have been descended from emf
grants from the Old World, and there
fore America was known to the Old
World before Columbus time, or else
the aborigines of the Western Hemis-
phere were the result of spontaneous
human generation, the development of
man from lower species of animal. or
descended from second Adam and
Eve, whose origin would be equally
puzzliDg. Unless we are prepared to
cast aside the Holy Writ, and all our
general notions of the origin of the hui
man race, we must believe that there
was at one time communication be-
tween the Old World and the New.
Probably this communication took place
on the opposite side of the world from
ours, between the eastern coast of Asia
ard the side of America most remote
from Europe; and l believe it is quite
as possible that the inhabitants of East
ern Asia may have been aware of the
existence of America, and kept up in
Win lbs W AAllC Jul poit Va tAiO
Old World never dreamt of its exist
ence.
The impenetrable barrier the Chinese
were always anxious to preserve be-
tween themselves and the rest of the
nations of the Old World renders it
quite possible that they should have
Kept their knowledge of America to
themselves, or, at any rate, from Eu-
rope. The objection that the art of
navigation in such remote times was
not sufficiently advanced to enable the
Chinese to Cross the Pacific and land on
the western shore of America is not
conclusive, as we have now found that
arts and sciences which were once gen.
orally supposed to be of quite modern
origin existed in China ages and ages
before their discovery in Europe. The
arts of paper-making and printing,
amongst Others, had been practised in
China long before Europeans had any
idea of them. Why, then, should not
the Chinese have been equally, or more,
in advance of us in navigation! The
stately ruins of Baalbec, with gigantic
arches across the streets whose erection
would puzzle our modern engineers, the
Pyramids, and other remains of stupen-
dous works. point to state of civiliza-
ton and the existence of arts and sci
ences in times of which European his
! torians give no account.
One fact corroborative of the idea
that the Old World, or at least some of
/ the inhabitants of Asia, were once aware
of the existence of America before its
discovery by Columbus, is that many OF
| the Arabian UIemG with whom | have
conversed on the subject are fully con-
WINGED that the ancient Arabian geogra-
pliers knew of America, and in support
! 0F WON'T fn II Nd
works in which a country to the west
of the Atlantic is spoken of. An Arab
gentleman, a friend of mine, General
Hussein Pasha, in q work he has just
written on America, called En-N esST-
! Et-lS0riY, quotes from Djeldeki, and
other old writers, to show this.
There is, however, among Chinese
records not merely vague references to
IL country to the west of the Atlantic
but circumstantial account of its dis.
covery by the Chinese long before Co.
lumbus was born.
y competent authority OH such mat.
tiers, J. Hanlay, the Chinese interpreter
in San Francisco, has lately written an
gather the following startling state
ments, drawn from Chinese historian:
and geOgraphers:
Fourteen hundred years ago ever
America had been discovered by the
Chinese. and described by them. They
stated that land to be about 10000 miles
distant from China. About 500 years
after the birth of Christ, Buddhist
priests repaired there and brought bach
the news that they had met with Budd
! hist idols and religious writings i'll the
country already. Their descriptions, in
many respects, resemble those of the
Spaniardsa thousand years after. They
called the country "Fusany," after a tree
which grew there, whose leaves resem
BILE those of the bamboo, whose BARI
, the natives made clothes of, and whose
fruit they ate. These particulars cor
respond exactly and remarkably will
those given by the American historian
Prescott, about the maquay tree in Mex
leo. He states that the Aztecs prepared
a pulp for paper making out of thu
bark of this tree. Then, even its leaves
were used for thatching; its fibers fol
making ropes; its roots yielded nour
ishing. food, and its sap, by means O
} fermentation, was made into an intoXi
eating drink. The accounts given by
the Chinese and Spaniards, although {
thousand years apart, agree in stating
that the natives did not possess any
iron, but only copper; that they made
; all their tools for working in stone anC
metals out of mixture of copper an(
tin; and they, in comparison with TIL
nations of Europe and Asia, though
but little of the worth of silver ant
gold. The religious customs aud form
of worship presented the same charac
teristics to the Chinese l 400 years agt
as to the Spaniards 400 years ago.
There is, moreover, remarkable re
semblance between the religion of tn
| aud ba Ry,HHl,iStr Of ha Cbi
!. nese, as we'll as between the manner
{ and customs of the AZtecs and those o
the people of China. There is also
great similarity between the features o
, the Indian tribes of Middle and Soutl
America and those of the Chinese, ant
as Hanlav. the Chinese interpreter. O
whom we spoke above, states, betweel
the accent and most of the moRosylla
bic words of the Chinese and Indian
languages. Indeed, the writer gives
list of words which point TO a close re
lationship, and infefs therefrom tina
there must have been emigration froT
China to the Continent at a most earl
t period, as the official accounts of tn
Buddhist priests fourteen hundred year
ago notice these things as existing a.
ready. Perhaps now old records ma
be recovered in China which may fun
nish full particulars on this question.
1t is, at any rate, remarkable, an
confirmative of the idea of emigratio
from China to America at some remot
period, that at the time of the discoy
cry of America by the Spaniards, tn
. Indian tribes on the coast of the Pacifi
y opposite to China, for the most part en-
i joyed q state of culture of ancien
growth, while the Inhabitants of til
Atlantic shore were found by European
in state of original barbarism. If til
idea of America having been discover
ed before the time of Columbus be col
It rect, it only goes to prove that there
Y nothing new under the sun. and fha