Long before the arrival of the major religions of Asia, which today include Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, Hinduism and numerous others, what we know as Shamanism was the basis of religious beliefs of most people in the ancient world. We know this because of the symbols, customs and beliefs of Shamanism that have been absorbed and are still used by indigenous people around the world with particular emphasis for this article in Pacific Rim countries.

Fertility rites and symbols have played a major role in Shamanism and then been passed down into the current religions that have taken its place. The celebration of Phallic symbols has been going on for millinnea and is still being celebrated today –Google: (“Sky Pillar China”). For access to an ancient Chinese image Google: “Putting the dong into Guangdong” Art with a sexual emphasis was relatively common in Asia. “Chinese Sex Exhibit in Toronto Displays Asian Sexual Culture”
“Phallus Alert: Fertility Blessings in Bhutan” and “the often mentioned origin of the symbolic phallus is as a legacy of the popular Bhutanese saint Lama Drulepa Kunley (1455-1529). Kunley migrated from Tibet, was trained in Ralung Monastery in Tibet…” “_ _ _, the phallus’s representation got enmeshed with Buddhism in Bhutan.”

“Long throughout human history, the phallus has been an important symbol, often used as a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva (though here it is referred to as a Lingam.)

Books & articles such as “Kokopelli = The Magic, Mirth, and Mischief of an Ancient Symbol” by Dennis Slifer and “Is the Hopi Deity Kokopelli an Ancient Hindu God” by Gene D. Matlock have been written on this topic. Numerous rock carved images of Kokopelli throughout the American Southwest have phallic images carved into them as well.

An yet although this has been such a highly researched topic no one seems to be connecting the dots between this art form from Asia celebrated all the way back to ancient Shamanism with identical symbols that are currently found in Utah, North America. In Arches National Park, Utah there are several phallic symbols just like the images in Asia. Google: “Interesting side views of Arches” and Another Arches Phallic Image.
In addition to the phallic symbol research that has already been done, American geoglyphs that appear to be Tibetan Buddhist in origin and the wide spread use of a wedding celebration by Native Americans that is an exact replica of the Hindu Seven Step Seven Vow Wedding Ceremony Walked Clockwise Around the Sacred Flame one would think that pre-Columbian Asian travel and influence in the Americas was finally accepted and acknowledged..

It’s not!!! Why not??

The Beak of the 10^th Sun/Raven-STILL GLOWS!

Images of the petrogyphs on Newspaper Rock are readily accessible as are the topics of Buddhapada (Buddha’s footprints) and their impact on ancient Buddhism as well as the Concentric Circles (Mandalas) of Buddhism and their usage in both the Wheel of Life (Six Spokes) and the Dharmachakra (Wheel of Law) which has Eight Spokes and is probably the best known Buddhist symbol.

I have recently returned from a trip to southeast Utah where I was able to travel to Newspaper Rock near Canyonlands National Park. It was an informative experience and I will share more details of the trip in future postings.

Buddhism originated in the late 6th century B.C.E. in India. It did not reach China until very early in the Common Era. From its origins up to the time that Buddhism reached China it was prohibited in Buddhism to make artistic images of the actual body of Buddha.

Because of this prohibition and because Buddhist art was an important tool in Buddhism symbols were extremely significant to Buddhist devotees in spreading their message wherever they travelled.

These symbols were/are many and can be accessed by “googling” Buddhist Symbols. They include but are not limited to the Dharmachakra, The Eight Auspicious Symbols, the Wheel of Life, the Lion, the Mudras (hand gestures), the Mandala (Medicine Circle and Medicine Shield), concentric circles and the footprints of Buddha, the Chattra (Sanskrit for mushroom) which is the revered Buddhist symbol of protection as well as numerous others.

I went to Utah looking for possible evidence of ancient Buddhism in that area and I believe that at least some of the petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock may point in that direction.

Here is the evidence that I believe needs to be further researched by experts in these fields.

1. Buddhapada (the study of the ancient carvings of the footprints of Buddha) is a significant field of study. Several scholars of Buddhism have made Buddhapada their life’s work. Unfortunately little or no time has been given to such carved footprints in North America because the possibility of the ancient travel to the Americas by Buddhists is not a widely held theory. But footprints are all over Newspaper Rock!
2. Concentric Circles are a very important part of Buddhism and of the Mandalas in which they play an extremely important function. When I first located the six spoked wheel with the large hub in the middle (it’s just to the right of the horseback archer who has an inflight arrow on the way toward his intended elk target) I was confused. I did not know at that time of the Six Spoked Buddhist Wheel of Life. (Wheel of Life, Dazu Stone Carvings, China). The Wheel of Life is an important and yet lesser known symbol of Buddhism than many other far more popular images. There are wheel images all over Newspaper Rock!
3. Then there is possibly one Mudra (hand gesture) at the same level as the Six Spoke Wheel just further to the right and above three footprints. I don’t know the meaning of this particular hand print but I believe it warrants analysis by Mudras experts.

I will acknowledge that these footprints, concentric wheels and the hand print on Newspaper Rock are in a cruder form than similar art found in India, Southeast Asia and China. But could this be because these carvings were done earlier than the other examples found in Asia or because these North American artists were less skilled than their Asian based counterparts? How can we get experts in Buddhism to research this as well as the geoglyphs near Egnar, Colorado just a few miles away.

I will close this posting with a couple of ongoing North American mysteries-

A) Although it is obvious from Newspaper Rock that Native Americans were aware of the wheel, there is no record that they used the wheel for anything other than religious art. Why would anyone not use the wheel who was aware of it?

B) It is also obvious that because of the images of Native Americans on horseback for hunting and travel on Newspaper Rock that at least at the time this art was carved that they had horses which although mentioned in the Buddhist Monk’s (Hwui Shan) journal in 499 AD are claimed not to have been available to the natives by mainstream scholars until the Spanish bought them to North America in the early 16th century.

The way Meso American scholars currently explain mystery (B) is to say that this art is relatively recent. At least sometime after the Spanish arrived here and had brought the horses.

How can these apparent Buddhist symbols used so frequently half a world away be discounted  with no research to establish their age or source of origin when so much advanced technology to research this is readily available?

I believe that the lack of use of the wheel for utilitarian purposes by Native Americans throughout the Americas and the scarcity of horses as well is connected and is alluded to in the ancient Chinese book I Ching and the Chinese legend of the 10 Sun/Ravens but that’s a story for another time.

The Beak of the 10th Sun/Raven- STILL GLOWS!

1. The Silk Road linking Chang’an and Rome and the rest of the Mediterranean had been in place for at least two hundred years. The Silk Road was actually a number of land and sea routes that connected Asia and Europe and the Middle East.
2. The Chinese had been predicting eclipses for centuries prior to this and tracked celestial activity with scientific fervor. This is of record and acknowledged.
3. One of the numerous routes of the Silk Road was a sea route that went from China to the east coast of Egypt where the passengers and goods were transferred over to the Nile and then floated down the Nile to Alexandria where they could then proceed on to their ultimate destination.
4. One of the ports of call before the Egypt portage/transfer point was Somalia. Somalia was probably the best place in the ancient world to buy frankincense and myrrh. (Check this out on Google for yourself!)
5. The Han Dynasty was on full alert for a dynastic change in China. The 210 year term that the Chinese nation anticipated was the length of the Han Dynasty was rapidly coming to an end. Astronomers were searching the skies for “signs and omens” and others were using divination to determine when and where the next King/Emperor would appear. (Source: The History of the Former Han Dynasty Vol. III by Pan Ku/ Translated: Homer H Dubs)
6. Whether you view the Biblical account as a collection of myths and legends or the inspired Word of God there are patterns that reoccur throughout the entire text. One of the major patterns is the use of contrasts. To illustrate this point one only has to read of the boy David versus the giant Goliath , Gideon’s 300 against thousands, 5 loaves and 2 fish feeding hundreds, “In your weakness My strength is made perfect”, etc.
7. And then there’s Bethlehem—According to the Biblical account the Son of God (King of Kings) was born in a stable/barn in Bethlehem because there was nowhere else that would or could accommodate the event. This was a barn in every sense of the word. Without getting excessively graphic about what a barn contains this was not a likely place for any human birth much less any kind of king. Common men (shepherds) heard of this birth and came to observe. This represented the first half of the contrast. What about the other side of the contrast?

The Biblical account tells of a sky ablaze with a heavenly choir of angels. It was a terrifying site/sight until those humans present (the shepherds) were assured that they were selected to be witnesses to a heavenly chorus of praise because of The Event. The other aspect of the regal side of the contrast was the arrival of “The Wise Men of the East” bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to pay tribute to this baby. They are reported to have been following some sort of astrological anomaly (Global Positioning Star, GPS) that brought them to this place. The Biblical account does not tell us much more about these “Kings”

Is it possible and does it not fit into the Biblical contrast context that the child born in this extremely humble place may have been honored in Bethlehem by royals of great wealth living in The Largest Palace In Human History (WeiYang). This concept may never be able to be proven true. However, supporting information exists to this day to show that at a minimum it was physically possible.

Were the Three Wise Men from China?

The Beak of the 10^th Sun/Raven-STILL GLOWS

The summer 2011 edition of the US-China Review contains articles written by several of today’s leading proponents of pre-Columbian Asian and North American trade, cultural contacts and influences. This “Did the Chinese discover America before Columbus?” edition is an important read for those interested in this topic.

Thanks to the efforts of Charlotte Harris Rees, the other contributors and the cooperation of the US-China Peoples Friendship Association, this information is now available.

The Beak of the 10^th Sun/Raven-STILL GLOWS

We will also rapidly ship international orders. All books will be autographed.

With the release of this new book, high definition professional color photos of the entire Harris Map Collection are also being shown publicly for the first time. Because of limitations of the publisher, only a few of the maps are shown in Chinese Sailed to America Before Columbus and those are in black and white. However, a CD containing 117 beautiful professional photos of the Harris Maps is offered for sale exclusively on www.AsiaticFathers.com. By having a CD it allows one to zoom in on every part of any map.  For full understanding of the new book, we suggest that you also order a CD. There is a substantial discount if you click the icon on the order page to purchase both the book and CD together.

Chinese Sailed to America Before Columbus: More Secrets from the Dr. Hendon M. Harris, Jr. Map Collection explains their historical setting and many interesting details including love notes, internationally volatile data, and state secrets found on the maps in the Harris collection. This book contains numerous “bomb shells” such as the revelation that currently the oldest positively dated map of the Ch’onhado/Tian Xia style is in a Chinese book, not Korean, as previously supposed. Other “bombshells” include a sequoia tree (native to America) depicted as the “Fu Sang Tree” on the American coastline and also details on the world map that speak to current global warming.

Though the Harris Maps themselves are in seven Korean atlases of various dates, thought to be from the 15^th through 19^th centuries, the author demonstrates that most Asian maps of that era descended from Chinese maps.

A third century Chinese text mentioned an incident in the 18^th century BC involving a world map of the Ch’onhado/Tian Xia style. The source document for the world map is from around 2000 BC and discussed in accurate detail a beautiful land (Fu Sang) to the east of China. The map shows Fu Sang on the American coastline. 

Chinese Sailed to America Before Columbus references all the maps in the Harris atlases including a map of Japan which is a copy of the earliest complete printed map of Japan known to exist.  In the Harris collection is also a fascinating map of Okinawa which was reportedly only used from 1471 to 1521.

The more modern 1602 Ricci Chinese world map reached Korea in 1603, and yet Koreans through the 19^th century continued to revere the strange, round Ch’onhado world maps such as those found in the Harris Collection. In an era when modern Western thought was encroaching on Asia, Chinese and Japanese progressed to more modern maps, but Koreans preferred isolation and antique maps. Subsequently this helped to preserve these copies.

Chinese Sailed to America Before Columbus: More Secrets from the Dr. Hendon M. Harris, Jr. Map Collection is the sequel to Secret Maps of the Ancient World. If you have not yet read Secret Maps of the Ancient World, we suggest that you read that book first.

Check the order page on the web site for special promotion prices of Charlotte’s books and the CD. Only a few are left of the original 1000 copies of the abridged The Asiatic Fathers of America. Elsewhere on the web, used copies of that book are listed for hundreds of dollars. Get your copy while supplies last.

If you are ordering for shipment outside the USA, be sure to click the extra $10 icon at the bottom of the order page to cover the cost for international shipping. Otherwise, your order will be delayed until you do that.

The Beak of The 10th Sun/Raven—STILL GLOWS!

Hendon Harris

For millennia the Hindus have celebrated their “samskara” ceremony. This is the wedding ceremony celebrated around the sacred fire. The highlight is “Saptapadi” also called the “Seven Steps”. Toward the end of the wedding ceremony the bride and groom circle the sacred flame clockwise in seven steps at each step making a wedding vow to each other. Several Native American tribes celebrate this identical ceremony as a part of their own rich heritage. How is this relatively complex cultural connection celebrated clockwise around the sacred fire possible between two separate people living so far apart from each other?

In addition to this cultural connection two geoglyphs with an apparent Hindu background near Edgar Colorado raise further questions about how they appear in North America. One of the geoglyphs appears to be the Hindu sacred flame and the other appears to be an image of Nataraja (Shiva-Lord of the Dance) surrounded by a circle of flames.

Approximately twenty-five miles away in Utah is Church Rock. Previously I have written that I thought Church Rock looked like three Hindu Shiva Lingam stacked on top of one another. Recently I have also located what I believe is a Shiva Lingam on the grounds of the Meteora Monasteries in Greece. (Google: “Yann Arthus Bertrand Meteora Monasteries”. It’s the large rock formation just to the right and below the monastery in the picture). It’s acknowledged that Buddhists were in ancient Greece BC. However, no one has claimed to my knowledge that Buddhists may have predated Christians in the Meteora Mountains and possibly in Spain at the Montserrat Mountains/monastery. I believe that deteriorated rock-carving there is evidence to support the theory. Buddhists have had a preference for hilltop temples and monasteries from the beginning of their religion. Evidence of this is all over Asia and places where Buddhists have been or are to this day.

Recently however I came across an image that has caused me to reevaluate my position on Church Rock. (Dhamek Stupa in India). The Dhamek Stupa location is where Buddha reportedly gave his first teaching after his enlightment. I am impressed at the physical similarities between the Dhamek Stupa and Church Rock, Utah. Although Church Rock is much larger they both have a similar design. Since the Dhamek Stupa has such an important place in Buddhist tradition it stands to reason that a replica of it might be something that ancient Buddhists would build in a mission location to commemorate the original location of Buddha’s first teaching. Is Church Rock a replica of the Dhamek Stupa?

One isolated custom or artifact might be able to be explained away but how does anyone explain away all this:

1. Numerous Geoglyphs
2. Huge Ancient Grids seen from above
3. Ancient Weiqei/Go Board near Burnstick Lake, Alberta
4. Numerous Black Water Lakes
5. Altered Black Water Lakes     
6. The Asian Saddle, the Asian Lady Eye, the Asian Style Groomed Horse’s Tail and the Asian Crupper Belt on the Harris Horse in Wyoming.
7. The Seven Step Hindu Wedding Ceremony Practiced by Native American Tribes.
8. The Buddhist/Hindu Manji (Swastika) used by several Native American Tribes.
9. The Sacred Flame and Nataraja Geoglyphs located near Edgar Colorado.

As Aldous Huxley wisely said: “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored”

Previous Related Postings on this website

1. Hwui Shan—Lying Buddhist Priest? / February 23, 2011
2. Church Rock Utah and other nearby sites ,/March 20, 2011

Related Internet Sites

1. Trans-Cultural Diffusion
2. History of Buddhism
3. Buddhas of Bamiyan (Giant Stone Buddhas of Afghanistan)
4. Coolest Monasteries Around the World

Interesting Pictures of Meteora, Greece and Canyon de Chelly, USA

1. Meteora Monasteries, Greece
2. Meteora Monasteries, Greece
3. Meteora Monasteries, Greece
4. Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, USA

The Beak of the 10th Sun/Raven — STILL GLOWS!

(Click above to view image)

Location: “Lewis and Clark National Forest”, Montana

Please be tolerant of the disintegration that has occurred as this image may be over a thousand years old. As you look at the head image on the satellite photograph please note the following:

1. The well shaped open mouth.
2. The detail flared nostrils with a worn white bridge on the nose.
3. The eye brows over each eye.
4. The visible eyeball and pupil in the right elongated eye.
5. Evidence that the white material used to make both eyeballs desintegrated and flowed out of the left eye like tears from the right side of the left eye.
6. Puffy checks.

I am dedicating the troll head that I originally introduced on this website on April 26^th, 2010 to Julius Heinrich Klaproth (1783-1835). Klaproth was a leading German orientologist or Asiatologist of his time. His grasp of languages was exceptional as was his interest in all things Asian. He published his first work in 1802 at age 19 and over his life published more than 300 books or articles before his death in 1835 at age 52. He was widely respected in his time. However he was a “generalist” in “contrast with the 21^st century focus on specialization”. So although he is credited with applying scientific standards with critical methods to East Asian research he was personally controversial in several of his assertions.

1. In 1812 at age 30 he published an article stating Uighur was a Turkic language that was disputed by Isaak Schmidt (a specialist in the subject).
2. In 1821 at age 38 he published The Itinerary of a Chinese Traveller “and a similar series obtained from him in the London foreign office, … all regarded as spurious”.
3. Donald Keene wrote about Klaproths efforts in 1834 to translate an 8^th century poem. “Not surprisingly, his translation was anything but accurate”.
4. However, in my opinion his most controversial assertion was made in 1831 when he declared that French sinologist Joseph de Guignes’ 1761 conclusion that Hwai Shan and four other Buddhist priests had traveled to the Americas in 458 AD false. Klaproth stated the trip was impossible because according to him the ancient Chinese lacked the equipment and the knowledge to use the equipment that was necessary to make a trip from Asia to North America.

Thanks to Joseph Needham (1900 to 1995) and several other experts we now know that the Chinese did in fact have the equipment and the skills to have made what would have actually been an easy trip from Asia to North America in the middle of the 5^th century.

The reason I am questioning Klaproths credibility is because he is the first witness (the Star Witness) to discredit Joseph de Guignes’ translation and report on Hwai Shan’s trip. However, the academic world still accepts Julius Klaproth’s declarations even with evidence now available that indicates that de Guignes’ conclusions were the more accurate.

The apparent unwillingness to acknowledge the discovery of foreign artifacts and cultural influences in ancient America has to do with diffusionism and what type of diffusionism one chooses to accept.

The most commonly held belief on diffusion (or how and why almost identical culture, religion, architecture, agriculture, etc spread around the ancient world) is “evolutionary diffusionism”. The other competing viewpoint is “cultural diffusionism”. Evolutionary diffusionism believes that mankind continues to evolve culturally. Therefore, according to evolutionary diffusionism similar tools, weapons, customs, architecture, religion, etc could and have appeared at places never connected culturally around the ancient world because these were concepts whose time had come and in each society in which they appeared they arrived spontaneously and independently from the other cultures which also had these same concepts appear. The majority of the academic world share this belief.

The minority group, the cultural diffusionists believe that the explanation for the appearance of these cultural similarities is that they were manually diffused (transferred by human contact). (That is practically everything except for the most basic tools, weapons and customs etc). The cultural diffusionists do not appear to be held in high regard (or much of any regard for that matter) by evolutionary diffusionists. “There is a reason, according to the academics who uphold anthropological orthodoxy at universities and research institutes, why the diffusionists have elicited nothing but enmity or disregard for their views: they are crackpots and lunatics”. Let me see if I’ve got this right. In other words is it true that based on a philosophy can one reject or ignore inconvenient evidence that would tend to disprove a conclusion that they have previously made and hold dearly?

One commonly held belief is that the ancients didn’t travel much so cultural diffusion was therefore impossible or next to impossible. If that belief is correct then how do you explain the extent of the Chinese Han Dynasty wealth, culture and access to the Roman Empire BCE. According to reknown sinologist Homer H. Dubs in his translation of “The History of the Former Han Dynasty” Volume III by Pan Ku (page 511) when Wang Mang was killed at his palace on October 6^th, 23 AD he had more gold in storage there than the total in all of Europe at that time. Everyone has heard of the Silk Road, the paths by which China traded with the Middle East and all points in between. The Silk Road was a series of land and oceanic paths that extended from Xi’an/Chang’an China (the capital of the Han Dynasty) to Roman, Italy. For those reports of Wang Mang’s wealth to be true then the 21^st century apparently is not the first time that China has had trade goods that the rest of the world felt like they had to have. With ships the size needed to carry this cargo, the maps and navigation equipment necessary for these trips to be safely made does it take a leap of faith to believe that the Chinese may have taken exploratory excursions with their merchant marine and navy. With Zhang Heng & Phei Hsiu in the 1^nd and 3^rd century CE mapping the heavens and earth in quantitative grid map detail where would it have been impossible for them to travel using their GPS. No they didn’t have Global Positioning Satellites but they did have the next best thing-Global Positioning Stars.

This is just one example of how cultural diffusion occurred. There are other numerous examples of how cultural diffusion was accomplished by human contact throughout the ancient world. In my opinion that is how culture spread around the ancient world because the ancients were traveling extensively.

Having said this there is so much we cannot yet explain. Therefore, lets all be patient with each other as we work to discover the truth.

Pale Ink/Gods from the East
Henriette Mertz  (1953)

Fusang or the Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priest in the Fifth Century
Charles G. Leland  (1875)

*Both books entirely available online *

Please let me know what you think of this geoglyph.

The Beak of the 10th Sun Raven STILL GLOWS!

This well researched article was originally published in American Anthropology in the April-June 1940 issue on pages 255-269. It was first available online on October 28, 2009.

“Previous studies of weapons culture in the region of the Pacific have been limited to local discussions of regional surveys of either Asia or America”.

“The purpose of the following analysis is to begin an intercontinental comparison between America and Asia in regard to the culture complex of archery on a broader basis…”

“The form and construction of bows and arrows and methods of arrow release are considered.” Page 255

In my opinion this article is a must read for anyone interested in the history of archery and for those that believe Pre-Columbian Trans Pacific cultural exchanges may have or did occur between Asia and the Americas after the original migration from Asia that is reported to have occurred approximately 10,000 or more years ago.

The reason I am most encouraged by this writing is that the quoted scholars’ research that was used clearly shows that the same archery technology was present in Northern Asia as well as Northern America all the way to Greenland. Ice bridge or not the Bering Straits apparently did not present an insurmountable obstacle for the transfer of cultural exchanges and technology from flowing back and forth between the two continents.

In addition in the article Rogers uses maps to illustrate the location of archery styles in the two continents. This is where it gets particularly interesting.

For reasons that cannot yet be explained advanced Asian archery techniques appear among the Siouan family of tribes of North America. This grouping is  commonly referred to as the “Plains Indians” and include well-known tribes such as the Sioux of Dakota, Cheyenne, Apraho, Black Feet, Comanche, Kiowa and others. Next to the Algonquian, the Siouan family of tribes is the most populous linguistic tribal group north of Mexico.

How is it that this tribal group in America has Asian style archery equipment and uses the Mongolian style of arrow release? It is reported that one of the main reasons for the composite bow was to make a bow that could be used more effectively from horseback. It needed to be smaller than the long bow but just as powerful and accurate. The Mongols demonstrated how effective a fighting weapon this was by conquering the largest contiguous land empire in the history of the world by relying primarily on these bows. How then did this technology and arrow release technique show up on the plains of North America used by the Comanches so effectively as well?

The maps included in this article increase the mystery. Map #6 on page 267 shows the three primary methods of arrow release methodology around the world. On both sides of the Pacific you see very similar patterns. Inexplicably in the middle of North America you see the same Mongolian arrow release that is seen directly across the ocean. Could that indicate that Chinese immigrants brought that technology from China?

Is this really surprising? When people leave their homes and migrate to a new country they go to climates and environments that are similar to what they had in their original homeland.

Why are there are so many Americans of Scandinavian/Lutheran lineage living in Minnesota, the Dakotas and Wisconsin? Could it have anything to do with the “land of lakes” and the Scandinavian love of water and a colder climate? I believe so.

To better understand the battle for the Great Plains of North American and the clashing of two determined cultures read “Empire of the Summer Moon” by S. G. Gwynne. Also read “The Horse in America” (1965) by Robert West Howard.

The Beak of the 10^th Sun/Raven – Still Glows

Throughout the ages Chinese literature has referred to an extremely beautiful land on the other side of the Eastern Sea called Fusang. One of the most popular ancient Chinese myths is the story of The Ten Sun/Ravens and their rebellion. That myth which includes the subsequent execution of 9 of the 10 Sun Ravens by the archer Yi also includes the mention of Fusang. For in Fusang was the enormous tree (Sequoia?) at the top of which was the palace from which each day a different Sun would take his turn and make his way across the Eastern Sea passing over China before completing his journey back to the Fusang palace where he would wait his turn before making the trip again.

An early Chinese writer said that Fusang was 10,000 li from the nearest coast to the furthest coast where there was another ocean. (There were approximately 3 li in 1 mile. That makes 10,000 li approximately 3300 miles, which is approximately our country’s width)

By Hwai Shan’s time in 458 AD Fusang was old news in China. It had been discovered by the Chinese long before this Buddhist expedition.

Although not well known to the average citizen there have been numerous scholarly historians, researchers as well as amateurs who have written on this topic. It was M. Joseph De Guignes, a Frenchman who first broke this story in 1761 in a book written about the topic. He translated Hwui Shan’s report “found in the Chinese imperial archives” into French. Allow me to have Henriette Mertz tell you the story of the Fusang debate as recorded in her book, Pale Ink -Chapter II.

Seventy five years before Henriette Mertz, Charles Godfrey Leland, an American author published Fusang – The Discovery of America by Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century. His “must read” book represents as unbiased an opinion on this topic as I have read. He delves into the vigorous discussions pro & con on this topic. He acknowledged that the evidence available in 1875 was not sufficient to prove the case. However he encouraged others to press on to discover more evidence in the hope to one day possibly prove the thesis.

In 1885 Edward P. Vining published “An Inglorius Columbus: Evidence that Hwui Shan and a Party of Buddhist Monks Discovered America in the Fifth Century, A.D.

Lively debates are still on going as more ancient tombs are discovered and opened, geoglyphs are discovered and supporting evidence is found.

Then why was it then (and even today) so important to discredit this Buddhist priest.
For those who wish this story wasn’t true Hwui Shan’s report must be discredited because his report details the trip to Tahan (Siberia) and then on to the Americas. His account is the only account to date that specifically says how you could get from China to Fusang. If you don’t want America to be ancient Fusang then you must discredit the descriptions, distances and directions given by this ancient explorer/missionary.

However, if you chose to ignore him you still would have to deal with the Mojave Desert references in Chinese literature called “The Great Waste” reported near the west side of Fusang, Chinese descriptions of the Grand Canyon, The La Brea Tar Pits called the Sea of Varnish and references to the hummingbird and opossum, along with numerous other animals indigenous to the Americas.

These discussions are not getting the mainstream attention I believe they deserve. Those of us who support this thesis continue to work to locate and present new evidence as well as continue to bring forward old evidence that we believe will eventually tip the scale of public opinion.

I am personally motivated in this quest by my late father’s passion and exhortations on this topic and the exhortations of so many others now long deceased.

1. “But though this voyage from the oldest portion of the Old World—historically speaking—to the newest portion of the New, can be made by remaining almost constantly in sight of land, I do not recommend it; and I am sure that any man in any kind of a boat, who had sufficient enterprise and patience to undertake it, would have easily found the shorter route. But there is a still stronger argument for the voyage across having been undertaken, in this, that Chinese sailors had long been traveling in a route of which this was a mere continuation, and that not a very difficult one. For, in reality, from Singapore in Malacca to Batavia in the island of Java, and to Shanghai in China, the trip is almost an actual coasting one, the steamers nowadays running from point to point. To a landsman it is doubtless pleasant to see fresh islands every day, but a sailor greatly prefers the open sea, until he makes the land near his port. From Hakododi, Japan, the arc of the great circle joining it with San Francisco passes almost exactly beside the central island of the Aleutians. This distance is about 4250 miles. One objection to the route is this, the fogs about those islands being actually ten times worse, in every way, than those of London, they are avoided as much as possible by steering father south, or rather by running more directly to the east.” Written by Colonel Barclay Kennon officer in the United States Coast Survey and Naval Explorer of the Bering Straits. Fusang/Charles Leland (Page 72 & 73) April 1874 (The Battle of Little Big Horn, June 1876 –Reference Point in History)
2. “If Buddhist priests were really the first men who, within the scope of written history and authentic annals, went from the Old World to the New, it will sooner or later be proved. Nothing can escape history that belongs to it…..I do not know how or when it will be, but I am persuaded that ancient America will in time yield her Moabite stones and Rosetta slabs to the patient inquirer. The records of Mexico carefully destroyed by wicked bigots, who, not satisfied with extermiuating a flourishing and happy nation, sought to commit a double murder by killing its past life. But it will be found again; for science will yet achieve that, and more”. Fusang/Charles Leland 1875 Page 85
3. “The truth is, that the vindication of Hoei-Shin (Hwui Shan) is of little importance in itself compared to what lies behind it and what it may lead to. I refer to those early ages peopled by strange and cloudy forms—ages not without gleams of barbaric splendour—hinted at in the account of the embassies bearing mirrors in which could be seen “the palace of the sun”—perhaps that very Palace of the Sun itself known so well to the Mexicans. Should the investigation lead to anything positive relative to the early settlement of America, and to the action or reaction of the humble priest, who did not even claim to be the first from beyond sea whose footsteps had fallen in the Golden Land of Fusang, may well be allowed to pass into oblivion, if nothing more occurs to confirm its authenticity” Fusang/Charles Leland Page 187

Additional Sources

1. Scientific Evidence for Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Voyages to and from the Americas, Part 1 John L. Sorenson and Carl L. Johansson
2. Scientific Evidence for Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Voyages to and from the Americas, Part 2 John L. Sorenson
3. A Comparison Between Chinese Taoism and Native American Religious Tradition Gary R.Varner
4. A Prehistoric Moving Sidewalk to  America   (A “Path in the Sea” Ocean Currents Psalms 8:8) The Kuroshio Current by R. A. Barkley

“It is my desire that as you consider the lovely long ago morning of Fusang, your soul be stirred with a new appreciation of the beauty of life and the innate possibilities of men…that you will hear the music of man’s aspirations, deep in your spirit…and catch a glimpse of the excellent countenance of God.”   Dr. Hendon M. Harris, Jr.  The Asiatic Fathers of America.

The Beak Of The 10^th Sun Raven—STILL GLOWS!