Controversial New Theory Suggests Ancient Greeks Helped Build Terracotta Army in China

Ancient Origins

New research suggests that Western explorers reached China more than 1,500 years before Marco Polo’s historic trip to the East, making it the first documented contact between Western and Chinese civilizations ever recorded. Now experts believe ancient Greeks may have inspired and helped build China’s famous Terracotta Army.

The BBC reports that the new theory is based on evidence from excavations at the Tomb of the First Emperor, where the Terracotta Army was found, as well as the results of a genetic study.
"We now have evidence that close contact existed between the First Emperor's China and the West before the formal opening of the Silk Road. This is far earlier than we formerly thought," said Senior Archaeologist Li Xiuzhen, from the Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum [via BBC].
Until now, it was believed that explorer Marco Polo was among the first Europeans to make contact with China. Polo’s journey to Asia in the 13^th century was aimed at bringing some letters and valuable gifts from Pope Gregory X to the Mongol ruler of China, Kublai Khan. He was well received by the Great Khan and remained there for 17 years, where he amassed a great fortune. However, he was clearly not the first European to be there.

Marco Polo travelling, Miniature from the Book "The Travels of Marco Polo" ("Il milione"), originally published during Polo's lifetime (c. 1254 - January 8, 1324), but frequently reprinted and translated. (Wikimedia Commons)

A genetic study has revealed European-specific mitochondrial DNA at ancient sites throughout Xinjiang Province in China, suggesting that Westerners travelled and settled there during the time of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang (259 – 210 BC), and even before. In fact, European contact may date back as far as 3,800 years ago, as a number of mummies were found in the Tarim Basin in China with distinctly Caucasian features, and a genetic study in 1993 revealed they had European DNA.
In her article ‘The Beauty of Loulan and the Tattooed Mummies of the Tarim Basin’, Margaret Moose writes: “The settlements along the Silk Road might very well have been meeting points where merchants from the west traded their goods for goods from the east. Having multicultural merchants would certainly have helped facilitate communication between the traders.”

“Mainstream historians have always had this strange concept that early people were not world travellers when in fact most evidence points to just the opposite. We are led to believe that many cultures lived in isolation and that the world was not truly explored until the last five hundred years,” she adds.

• The Life and Adventures of Marco Polo
• The Secret Tomb of the First Chinese Emperor Remains an Unopened Treasure
• New Dig at First Emperor Mausoleum Expected to Yield up to 1400 More Terracotta Warriors

The Beauty of Loulan, a 3,800-year-old mummified woman with Caucasian features found in the Tarim Basin (Sott.net).

In addition to the genetic research, new excavations carried out by archaeologists at Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum and documented for television by the National Geographic Channel and BBC, revealed new evidence that the 8,000+ terracotta figures found buried near the tomb were inspired by Greek sculpture and that the craftsmen may have been trained by ancient Greek artisans in the 3^rd century BC.
It is expected that the full details of the evidence for this theory will be revealed in the documentary. However, the researchers point to the fact that prior to the construction of the Terracotta Army, there had been no tradition of building life-sized human statues in China, and only outside influence could explain such a significant change in style and skill.

"We now think the Terracotta Army, the Acrobats and the bronze sculptures found on site have been inspired by ancient Greek sculptures and art," said Dr Xiuzhen [via the BBC}.

Prof Lukas Nickel, chair of Asian Art History at the University of Vienna, believes that the First Emperor was inspired by the arrival of Greek statues in Asia as a result of Alexander the Great’s conquests. He also suggests that Greek sculptors trained local craftsman in the art of life-sized sculpture.

Terracotta Warriors and Horses, is a collection of sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Xi'an, China.  (Wikimedia)

Historical documents suggest that soon after Emperor Qin Shi Huang ascended to the throne in 246 BC, he began work on his tomb near Xi'an, China - now recognized as one of the greatest mausoleums in the world. The massive effort required 700,000 laborers, many of whom were convicts or people who were in debt to the empire. As part of the huge project, craftspeople sculpted around 8,000 colorful warriors — likely using real human beings as inspiration — and those warriors wore stone armor and wielded real lances, swords and crossbows. Archaeologists believe the army was meant to protect the First Emperor in his journey after death.
The giant army lay sealed beneath earth and vegetation for more than 2,000 years, until Chinese farmers accidentally discovered the ancient site while digging a well in 1974. It was the beginning of one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all times. However, while huge discoveries have been made at the site, including thousands of clay warriors, horses, chariots, and weapons, much still remains to be excavated and it is believed that the terracotta army is just the tip of the iceberg, as the emperor’s tomb itself remains unexcavated.
It is unlikely that the tomb of Qin Shi Huang will be opened any time soon. For a start, there are the tomb’s booby traps, including a moat of mercury. In addition, the Chinese government has said that technology at present would not be adequate to deal with the sheer scale of the underground complex and the preservation of the excavated artifacts. Perhaps when that day comes, more will be revealed about the construction of the world famous Terracotta Army.
Top image: The famous Terracotta Army. Source: BigStockPhoto
By April Holloway

History Trivia - Battle of Plataea. - Persian forces routed

August 27

 550 BC Confucius, famous wise man of China is believed to have been born around this date.

479 BC Greco-Persian Wars: Persian forces led by Mardonius were routed by Pausanias, the Spartan commander of the Greek army in the Battle of Plataea.

410 The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ended after three days.

History Trivia - process of making Roquefort cheese discovered

June 4

 781 BC – The first historic solar eclipse was recorded in China.

1039 Henry III became Holy Roman Emperor.

 1070 the process of making Roquefort cheese was discovered by an anonymous shepherd in a cave near Roquefort, France.

 

1,700-Year-Old Silk Road Cemetery Contains Mythical Carvings

by Owen Jarus
Live Science

A cemetery dating back around 1,700 years has been discovered in Kucha, a city in China. The city played an important role along the Silk Road trade routes that connected China to the Roman Empire. Archaeologists have uncovered 10 tombs in the cemetery, seven of which are large structures made with bricks. This image shows part of the cemetery facing north. Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics

A cemetery dating back roughly 1,700 years has been discovered along part of the Silk Road, a series of ancient trade routes that once connected China to the Roman Empire.
The cemetery was found in the city of Kucha, which is located in present-day northwest China. Ten tombs were excavated, seven of which turned out to be large brick structures.
One tomb, dubbed "M3," contained carvings of several mythical creatures, including four that represent different seasons and parts of the heavens: the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the Black Turtle of the North and the Azure Dragon of the East. [See photos of the ancient Silk Road cemetery]

 

The M3 tomb also "consists of a burial mound, ramp, sealed gate, tomb entrance, screen walls, passage, burial chamber and side chamber" the researchers wrote in a report published recently in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics.
The cemetery was first found in July 2007 and was excavated by the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, with assistance from local authorities. The research team, led by Zhiyong Yu, director of the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute, published the findings in Chinese in the journal Wenwu. The article was recently translated into English and published in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics.
Who was buried here?
The identity of the people buried in the cemetery is a mystery. The cemetery had been robbed in the past and no writing was found that indicates the names of those buried or their positions in life.
The seven large brick tombs were likely constructed for people of wealth, the researchers said.
But, when the skeletal remains were analyzed, the researchers found that the tombs had been reused multiple times. Some of the tombs contain more than 10 occupants, and the "repeated multiple burials warrant further study," the researchers wrote.
City on the Silk Road
The excavators think the cemetery dates back around 1,700 years, to a time when Kucha was vital to controlling the Western Frontiers (Xiyu) of China. Since the Silk Road trade routes passed through the Western Frontiers, control of this key region was important to China’s rulers.
"In ancient times, Kucha was called Qiuci in Chinese literature. It was a powerful city-state in the oasis of the Western Frontiers" the researchers wrote.
For the dynasties that flourished in China around 1,700 years ago "the conquest and effective governance of Kucha would enable them to control all the oasis city-states in the Western Frontiers," the researchers said.
In fact, one ancient saying was, "if you have Kucha, only one percent of the states in the Western Frontiers remain unsubmissive."
Chinese Cultural Relics is a new journal that translates Chinese-language articles, originally published in the journal Wenwu, into English. The discovery of the 1,700-year-old cemetery was included in its inaugural issue.

 

1,000-Year-Old Tomb Reveals Murals, Stars & Poetry

by Owen Jarus

A 1,000-year-old tomb with a ceiling decorated with stars and constellations has been discovered in northern China.
Found not far from a modern day railway station, the circular tomb has no human remains but instead has murals which show vivid scenes of life. "The tomb murals mainly depict the daily domestic life of the tomb occupant," and his travels with horses and camels, a team of researchers wrote in their report on the tomb recently published in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics.
On the east wall, people who may have served as attendants to the tomb's occupant are shown holding fruit and drinks. There is also a reclining deer, a crane, bamboo trees, a crawling yellow turtle and a poem. The poem reads in part, "Time tells that bamboo can endure cold weather. Live as long as the spirits of the crane and turtle."

The tomb also contains images of what appear to be the occupant's pets. On the north wall, there is "a black and white cat with a red ribbon on its neck and a silk-strip ball in its mouth," the researchers wrote, with the same scene also showing "a black and white dog with a red ribbon on its neck and a curved tail." Male and female attendants are shown beside the cat and dog, with an empty bed lying between the animals. [Photos: 1,000 Year Old Tomb Found in China]
The tomb's ceiling contains stars painted in a bright red color. The "completed constellations are formed by straight lines connecting the stars in relevant shapes and forms," the researchers wrote.
Archaeologists also found a small statue of the occupant. The statue is 3.1 feet (0.94 meters) tall, and shows a smiling man who is wearing a long black robe while sitting cross-legged on a platform. It could be that the statue was used as a substitute for the body in the burial, the researchers said, noting this practice wasn’t unusual among Buddhists at the time.
The tomb was found in Datong City and was excavated in 2011 by a team from the Datong Municipal Institute of Archaeology. The researchers reported their finds, in Chinese, in the journal Wenwu, and their article was recently translated into English and published in Chinese Cultural Relics. The excavation team was led by Junxi Liu. 
Who was he?
The tomb was robbed in the past and the name of the tomb owner has not survived. Judging by his statue, and the decoration of his tomb, researchers said it's likely that the occupant was a Han Chinese man of some rank and wealth.
At the time he lived, about 1,000 years ago, the area where his tomb is located was controlled by the Liao Dynasty (sometimes called the Liao Empire). This dynasty was controlled by people called the Khitan, who held territory in modern- day Mongolia, northern China and parts of Russia.
Historical records indicate that the Khitan ruled a multicultural empire that incorporated Han Chinese into the government.
"The Khitan system of rule worked on a principle of dual administration, with its nomadic, pastoral, and mostly Khitan subjects in the north under the northern government and its agricultural, sedentary, and largely Chinese and Bohai subjects in the south under the southern government," writes Nicola Di Cosmo, a historian at the Institute for Advanced Study, in a chapter of the book "Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China's Liao Empire" (Asia Society, 2007).
Although we may never know the identity of the tomb occupant, or the position he held, this unknown man has left behind a colorful tomb full of life.
Chinese Cultural Relics is a new journal that translates Chinese-language articles, which were originally published in the journal Wenwu, into English. The mural tomb was included in its inaugural issue.

Live Science

2,100-year-old king's mausoleum discovered in China

By Owen Jarus

Archaeologists in China have discovered a mausoleum, dating back over 2,100 years, that contains three main tombs, including the tomb of Liu Fei (shown at bottom), the ruler of the Jiangdu kingdom in China.Photo courtesy Chinese Archaeology

A 2,100-year-old mausoleum built for a king named Liu Fei has been discovered in modern-day Xuyi County in Jiangsu, China, archaeologists report.
Liu Fei died in 128 B.C. during the 26th year of his rule over a kingdom named Jiangdu, which was part of the Chinese empire.

Although the mausoleum had been plundered, archaeologists found that it still contained more than 10,000 artifacts, including treasures made of gold, silver, bronze, jade and lacquer. They also found severallife-size chariot and dozens of smaller chariots.
Excavated between 2009 and 2011, the mausoleum contains "three main tombs, 11 attendant tombs, two chariot-and-horse pits, two weaponry pits" and the remains of an enclosure wall that originally encompassed the complex, a team of Nanjing Museum archaeologists said in an article recently published in the journal Chinese Archaeology. The wall was originally about 1,608 feet long on each side. [See Photos of the Ancient Mausoleum and Artifacts]
The archaeologists said their work was a "rescue excavation," as the site was threatened by quarrying.
Liu Fei's tombA large earthen mound extending more than 492 feet once covered the king's tomb, the archaeologists say. The tomb has two long shafts leading to a burial chamber that measured about 115 feet long by 85 feet wide.
When archaeologists entered the burial chamber they found that Liu Fei was provided with a vast assortment of goods for the afterlife.
Such goods would have been fitting for such a "luxurious" ruler. "Liu Fei admired daring and physical prowess. He built palaces and observation towers and invited to his court all the local heroes and strong men from everywhere around," wrote ancient historian Sima Qian (145-86 B.C.), as translated by Burton Watson. "His way of life was marked by extreme arrogance and luxury."
His burial chamber is divided into a series of corridors and small chambers. The chamber contained numerous weapons, including iron swords, spearheads, crossbow triggers, halberds (a two-handled pole weapon), knives and more than 20 chariot models (not life-size).
The archaeologists also found musical instruments, including chime bells, zither bridges (the zither is a stringed instrument) and jade tuning pegs decorated with a dragon design.
Liu Fei's financial needs were not neglected, as the archaeologists also found an ancient "treasury" holding more than 100,000 banliang coins, which contain a square hole in the center and were created by the first emperor of China after the country was unified. After the first emperor died in 210 B.C., banliang coins eventually fell out of use. [Photos: Ancient Chinese Warriors Protect Secret Tomb of First Emperor]
In another section of the burial chamber archaeologists found "utilities such as goose-shaped lamps, five-branched lamps, deer-shaped lamps, lamps with a chimney or with a saucer ." They also found a silver basin containing the inscription of "the office of the Jiangdu Kingdom."
The king was also provided with a kitchen and food for the afterlife. Archaeologists found an area in the burial chamber containing bronze cauldrons, tripods, steamers, wine vessels, cups and pitchers. They also found seashells, animal bones and fruit seeds. Several clay inscriptions found held the seal of the "culinary officer of the Jiangdu Kingdom."
Sadly, the king's coffins had been damaged and the body itself was gone. "Near the coffins many jade pieces and fragments, originally parts of the jade burial suit, were discovered. These pieces also indicate that the inner coffin, originally lacquered and inlaid with jade plaques, was exquisitely manufactured," the team writes.
The adjacent tomb
A second tomb, which archaeologists call "M2," was found adjacent to the king's tomb. Although archaeologists don't know who was buried there it would have been someone of high status.
"Although it was looted, archaeologists still discovered pottery vessels, lacquer wares, bronzes, gold and silver objects, and jades, about 200 sets altogether," the team writes.
"The 'jade coffin' from M2 is the most significant discovery. Although the central chamber was looted, the structure of the jade coffin is still intact, which is the only undamaged jade coffin discovered in the history of Chinese archaeology," writes the team.
More chariots and weapons
In addition to the chariot models and weapons found in the king's tomb, the mausoleum also contains two chariot-and-horse pits and two weapons pits holding swords, halberds, crossbow triggers and shields. [In Photos: Early Bronze Age Chariot Burial]
In one chariot-and-horse pit the archaeologists found five life-size chariots, placed east to west. "The lacquer and wooden parts of the chariots were all exquisitely decorated and well preserved," the team writes. Four of the chariots had bronze parts gilded with gold, while one chariot had bronze parts inlaid with gold and silver.
The second chariot pit contained about 50 model chariots. "Since a large quantity of iron ji (Chinese halberds) and iron swords were found, these were likely models of battle chariots," the team writes.
Attendant tombs
A series of 11 attendant tombs were found to the north of the king's tomb. By the second century B.C. human sacrifice had fallen out of use in China so the people buried in them probably were not killed when the king died.
Again, the archaeologists found rich burial goods. One tomb contained two gold belt hooks, one in the shape of a wild goose and the other a rabbit.
Another tomb contained artifacts engraved with the surname "Nao." Ancient records indicate that Liu Fei had a consort named "Lady Nao," whose beauty was so great that she would go on to be a consort for his son Liu Jian and then for another king named Liu Pengzu. Tomb inscriptions suggest the person buried in the tomb was related to her, the team says.
Kingdom's end
During the second century B.C. China was one of the largest, and wealthiest, empires on Earth, however, the power of its emperor was not absolute. During this time a number of kings co-existed under the control of the emperor. These kings could amass great wealth and, at times, they rebelled against the emperor.
About seven years after Liu Fei's death, the Chinese emperor seized control of Jiangdu Kingdom, because Liu Jian, who was Liu Fei's son and successor, allegedly plotted against the emperor.
Ancient writers tried to justify the emperor's actions, claiming that, in addition to rebellion, Liu Jian had committed numerous other crimes and engaged in bizarre behavior that included having a sexual orgy with 10 women in a tent above his father's tomb.
The journal article was originally published, in Chinese, in the journal Kaogu, by archaeologists Li Zebin, Chen Gang and Sheng Zhihan. It was translated into English by Lai Guolong and published in the most recent edition of the journal Chinese Archaeology.http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/08/04/2100-year-old-king-mausoleum-discovered-in-china/

First 3D Flying-Reptile Eggs Discovered in China

By Tanya Lewis

A three-dimensionally preserved pterosaur egg that was found in the Turpan-Hami Basin in China. Credit: Xiaolin Wang

The first three-dimensionally preserved eggs of ancient winged reptiles that lived more than 100 million years ago have been unearthed in China.
Five intact eggs were found, along with dozens or more adult fossils, of a new type of pterosaur, a group of prehistoric winged reptiles that dominated the skies during the time of dinosaurs. These creatures included some of the largest flying animals that ever existed.
"We found a lot of pterosaur bones which belong to different individuals in the sites, with five eggs," said study researcher Xiaolin Wang, a paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropologyat the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

The fossil record of pterosaurs is lacking, and before now, only four individual flattened pterosaur eggs had been discovered by scientists.
The researchers found the fossils of the new genus and species, Hamipterus tianshanensis, in an area first excavated in 2005 in the Turpan-Hami Basin, located south of the Tian Shan Mountains in Xinjiang, in northwestern China. Thousands of bones may be hidden in the area where the eggs and skulls of adult male and female pterosaurs were found, the researchers said.
The newly uncovered pterosaurs likely perished in a storm about 120 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period, Wang said.
Wang and his team found that the eggs were soft and pliable, with a thin, hard outer shell and a thick, soft inner membrane, similar to the eggs of some snakes. The pterosaurs probably buried their eggs in the sandy shore of an ancient lake to prevent them from getting dried out, the researchers said.
The researchers also uncovered many adult pterosaur fossils nearby. They examined 40 male and female adult specimens, and found differences in the size, shape and robustness of the animals' head crests.
Like modern bats and birds, pterosaurs were flying vertebrates, but their wings were different. Birds have fused palms and asymmetric feathers, whereas bats and pterosaurs have membranes supported by fingers, Wang told Live Science. Bat wings are also attached to four fingers, while pterosaur wings are only attached to the fourth finger, he said.
The newly found cluster of fossils suggests these pterosaurs lived together in large social groups, the researchers said. The creatures likely belonged to gregarious colonies, because the fossils had not been transported far from where they originated, Wang said.
Finding the eggs near so many adult pterosaurs could indicate that a nest site may be nearby. The vulnerability of the pterosaur eggs may also explain why so few have survived in the fossil record, the researchers said.
Wang and his colleagues reported their findings today (June 5) in the journal Current Biology.

http://www.livescience.com/46124-ancient-pterosaur-eggs-found.html

Old chaps? 3,300-year-old trousers found in China may be world's oldest

Animal-fur menswear found on the bodies of two mummies in Xinjiang province 'almost the same shape as today's trousers'

This pair of ancient Chinese trousers may have belonged to a male shaman. Photograph: M Wagner/German Archaeological Institute

Two pairs of 3,300-year-old trousers found in China's far western Xinjiang region may be the world's oldest, according to state media.
Archeologists in May found animal-fur menswear on the bodies of two mummies, identified as male shamans in their 40s, the state-run China Daily cited scientists as saying.
An international team is working together to repair and preserve the two pairs, which are the oldest yet discovered with a clear resemblance to modern trousers, the report said.
"They were almost the same shape as today's trousers," the report quoted Lu Enguo, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology in Xinjiang, as saying.
Even older apparel resembling trousers have previously been discovered in the region, but they were made according to a more simple design and lacked a piece of fabric covering the crotch, Lu added.
Archaeologists believe nomads living in the area invented trousers for horse riding. The nomads "at first wore a kind of trousers that only had two legs," said Xu Dongliang, deputy head of the institute, adding that "crotches were sewed on to the legs, and gradually other styles, such as bloomers, appeared".
Previously, the oldest pants found with a crotch were just 2,800 years old, the report said.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/06/oldest-trousers-found-in-china-mummies

History Trivia - first historic solar eclipse recorded in China.

June 4

 781 BC – The first historic solar eclipse was recorded in China.

1039 Henry III became Holy Roman Emperor.

1070 the process of making Roquefort cheese was discovered by an anonymous shepherd in a cave near Roquefort, France.

American's Visit to China's Forbidden City Revealed in Old Journal

By Owen Jarus

The Forbidden City (also called Zijin Cheng) is a 72-hectare (178 acres) palace complex in Beijing that was used by the emperors of China from A.D. 1420 to 1911. Credit: Pocholo Calapre | Shutterstock

Newly analyzed artifacts and a 200-year-old journal reveal the remarkable tale of the first American citizen to enter China's Forbidden City and meet the emperor.
The mission was based on a diplomatic deception, and lives would be lost on the journey, but in 1795 Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest would get to see the Forbidden City, a palace complex of more than 900 buildings that was off-limits even to most Chinese. He saw it at a time when China was wealthy and at the height of its power.
At one point Houckgeest was shown to the emperor's favorite apartment, which gave him a view of a mountain covered with temples.
In Houckgeest's journal, he writes of his visit, as translated into English in the 18th century: "This work seems to represent the enterprise of the giants who attempted to scale the Heavens: at least rocks heaped upon rocks recall that ancient fiction to the mind. The assemblage of the buildings and picturesque embellishments of the mountains afford a view of which the pen can give no adequate idea …"
Bruce MacLaren, a Chinese art specialist at the firm Bonhams, has been researching Houckgeest's tale and presented his findings recently at a symposium at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum. While scholars are aware of the tale, MacLaren's research adds new details and insights.
Maclaren slightly modified these 200-year-old translations to make them more understandable today.
Enticed by democracy
Houckgeest (born in 1739) was a Dutch citizen who had spent much of his life moving between China and Europe, working for the Dutch East India Co. However, in 1783, when the American Revolutionary War ended, Houckgeest decided to travel to Charleston, South Carolina, and make a new start. [10 Epic Battles That Changed History]
"He loved the idea of American democracy, he actually watched it very closely from Holland and watched [Thomas Paine's] ideas happen. He took a keen interest in it and wanted to move to be a part of it," MacLaren told Live Science in an interview. In 1784, Houckgeest took the oath of allegiance and became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Life in America would prove difficult for Houckgeest, as he lost three of his children to typhoid and his rice plantation near Charleston faltered, MacLaren said. His financial difficulties would force him to return to China by the 1790s.
Diplomatic deception
Houckgeest came up with an idea that would allow him to get back on his feet. A key problem that European traders faced was China's tight restrictions, merchants being largely restricted to an area on the Pearl River Delta, MacLaren said.

By 1795 the Qianlong emperor had ruled China for 60 years.
Credit: windmoon | Shutterstock

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In 1793, a British mission to the Qianlong emperor, the man who ruled China, failed spectacularly, in part because British ambassador George Macartney refused to kowtow (prostrate himself) before the emperor.
Houckgeest made a proposal to Dutch officials in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia) that he lead a mission to the Qianlong emperor to try to give Dutch traders better access to the country. Making the visit in 1795, during the Qianlong emperor's 60th year of rule, would give the Dutch an excuse to visit him.
Houckgeest also claimed that delegations from other European countries were going to visit China that year. In fact, MacLaren found that no other missions appear to have been planned and Houckgeest seems to have made this claim up to put pressure on the Dutch to approve his mission.
The Dutch officials approved Houckgeest's proposal, but decided that he should be second in command rather than leader.
Entering the Forbidden City
On Nov. 24, 1794, Houckgeest left for the Forbidden City. Servants, secretaries and bodyguards being aided by about 1,300 laborers helped the envoys make their way from Canton to Beijing. The embassy had to move quickly to reach the Forbidden City by the Chinese New Year, MacLaren said.
The weary travelers would arrive on Jan. 9, 1795. "A number of the laborers died en route," MacLaren told the Toronto audience.
When they entered the Forbidden City, the travelers entered a seemingly fantastical world. In his journal, Houckgeest found himself struggling to describe the palaces, temples and other sights that he saw within and near the Forbidden City.  [In Photos: Art from China's Forbidden City]
"Instead of rashly undertaking to express and describe with my weak pen all that my eyes admired; instead of endeavouring to communicate to my reader's mind, the many, the varied and the extraordinary sensations produced incessantlyin mine by the sight of so many things, inwhich singularity, magnificence, boldness of design,and skill of execution were combined, it will be more simple and more natural to confessmy incapability," he wrote.
Although there was much ceremony during the meeting there were also lighter moments. At one point Houckgeest's hat fell off while bowing (something which the emperor laughed at), the journal noted. The delegation was also treated to a skating demonstration.
"The (emperor's) sled was drawn to another place, where a gate made of bamboo had been erected, having a leather ball suspended in the center. Two by two (the soldiers) skated over the ice with bows and arrows in their hands, and shot, one at the leather ball, and the other at a kind of hat, of leather also, laid upon the ice at a little distance from the gate," Houckgeest wrote in his journal.
The food was said to be terrible. At one point Houckgeest said he was served meat that had been gnawed on. He claimed the emperor himself had gnawed it, and he had been afforded a great honor.
"According to the opinion of the Chinese, it was the greatest favour that could be conferred, since we had it in our power to gnaw the bone that his Majesty had begun to clean," Houckgeest wrote.
At another point the diplomats had to figure out what to give the emperor after their baggage train arrived with their gifts broken.
"Not a single article has escaped undamaged. Everything that was fragile is reduced to fragments. The vessels containing provision, the cases filled with liquor, are broken," Houckgeest wrote.
Though the mission wouldn't open up the country to the Dutch, the emperor warmly welcomed the visitors.
Return to America
While Houckgeest traveled to China as a representative of Holland, he would return home to Philadelphia. Throughout all the hardship he remained an American citizen.

This cup and saucer, tailor-made for first lady Martha Washington, were part of a full Chinese porcelain service set brought back from China's Forbidden City by an American named Houckgeest.
Credit: George Washington's Mount Vernon

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MacLaren said that during his time in China, Houckgeest had commissioned about 1,800 drawings showing the country's interior (then inaccessible to foreigners). Houckgeest would show these drawings to the people of Philadelphia and give a Chinese service set, which had been decorated in Canton, to first lady Martha Washington as a gift. The names of the 15 states that were in the union in 1795 were engraved on the set.
Houckgeest built a house north of Philadelphia whose architecture was inspired by China, including a cupola on the roof that was shaped like a pagoda, MacLaren said. Extracts from his journal would be translated into English and published.
Again, however, Houckgeest would falter in America. In 1797 MacLaren said that he was forced to rely on friends to keep him out of debtors' prison, his financial problems apparently caused by excessive spending.
In 1798, Houckgeest left America for London, never to return. His art collection was sold at auction, and MacLaren said that today it is scattered around the world. Houckgeest died in 1801 in Amsterdam, apparently still an American citizen, MacLaren said. Houckgeest had been criticized in his final years for kowtowing before the emperor.
The symposium at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum accompanies an exhibition on the Forbidden City that runs to Sept. 1. It features numerous works of Chinese art.

http://www.livescience.com/45917-american-visit-to-china-forbidden-city.html

Shepherds Spread Grain Along Silk Road 5,000 Years Ago

 Kazakh boy holds the reins of two horses in the pasture.
Credit: Boy and horses via Shutterstock


Tim Wall, Discovery News

Nearly 5,000 years ago, nomadic shepherds opened some of the first links between eastern and western Asia. Archaeologists recently discovered domesticated crops from opposite sides of the continent mingled together in ancient herders' campsites found in the rugged grasslands and mountains of central Asia.
“Ancient wheat and broomcorn millet, recovered in nomadic campsites in Kazakhstan, show that prehistoric herders in Central Eurasia had incorporated both regional crops into their economy and rituals nearly 5,000 years ago,” said Micheal Frachetti, archaeologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. and co-author of the study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

One of the grains found in Kazahkstan, bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), was cultivated in the Middle East by 6,000 years ago, but didn’t show up in East Asian archaeological sites until 4,500 years ago.
Likewise, another grain found in the shepherd’s camps, domesticated broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), may have originated in what is now China 8,000 years ago, but didn’t appear in southwestern Asia until 4,000 years ago.
Farming Sprang Up In Multiple Places
The nomadic shepherds may have been a crucial link across the vast expanse of steppe, desert and mountains that separated the agricultural and economic systems of eastern and western Asia.
Central Asian shepherds did more than transport grains. The archaeologists also found evidence that herders began farming millet, wheat, barley and legumes by 4,000 years ago. The discovery of this prehistoric agricultural activity in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan pushed back the earliest know farming in the region by 2,000 years.
Terracotta Warriors Inspired by Ancient Greek Art
The intrepid ancient shepherds of central Asia blazed trails that would expand into the economic highway of the ancient and medieval world. Eventually, the route would carry silks from Han Dynasty China to the Roman Empire and earn the name “Silk Road.”
The route remains in use today, though now railroads have replaced camels as the preferred means of travel.
This story was provided by Discovery News.

http://www.livescience.com/44614-shepherds-spread-grain-along-silk-road-5000-years-ago.html

Chinese Jurassic Park yields incredible feathered dino find

By Tanya Lewis

Published March 05, 2014

LiveScience

 

A fossil bed in China that contains some of the world's most exquisitely preserved feathered dinosaurs, early birds, reptiles and mammals may also be home to an equally rich set of older fossils from the Middle Jurassic, a new study finds.

These older fossils, dating back about 160 million years, contain the earliest known gliding mammal earliest swimming mammal, a flying reptile and the earliest feathered dinosaurs. Now, a new study classifies these fossils as belonging to a distinct ecological group, or biota.

The new biota was found in layers of rock beneath the so-called Jehol Biota, a famous collection of 130-million-year-old fossils from China's western Liaoning Province and nearby northeastern China; the Jihol organisms are now thought to have been killed and preserved in a Pompeii-style eruption. In recent years, fossils that are 30 million years older have surfaced from beneath the Jehol Biota, but have not been definitively linked to the same time period. [In Photos: Wacky Fossil Animals from Jurassic China

The fossils from the Jehol Biota literally lie on top of the older specimens, said David Hone, a dinosaur biologist at Queen Mary University of London and leader of the study published yesterday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

"They seem to be from the same environments lots of trees and probably a lot of water," Hone told Live Science.

The researchers have catalogued and described the older fossils in unprecedented detail, naming them the Daohugou Biota after a village in Inner Mongolia near one of the six main fossil sites examined. Like the Jehol fossils, the Daohugou fossils have remarkably intact skeletons, often still containing soft tissues and even feathers.

The fossil trove dates from the Middle-Upper Jurassic, a period when birds are thought to have evolved from feathered dinosaurs. The team found feathered dinosaurs that were extremely birdlike, thought not any actual birds.

At the moment when birds and dinosaurs split from each other, as expected, "you can barely tell them apart," Hone said.

They also found mammals that glided from trees ("the Mesozoic equivalent of a flying squirrel"), a classic transitional form of flying reptile called a pterosaur and even a "weird little bucktoothed dinosaur," Hone said.

Hone predicts his colleagues will find a bird in the Daohugou Biota within the next decade. "It has only been in the last two to three years that we've recognized that this is a place we should really be looking," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/05/chinese-jurassic-park-yields-incredible-feathered-dino-find/