by
Clyde Winters
In accordance with the oral traditions of China, the founders of Chinese civilization were Huangdi and Fu Xi. These legendary rulers like Dai Hao, were all buried in zhiu (burial mounds). The presence of this mound culture in China supports the traditions of burial of elects in mound tombs.
The skeletal remains from southern China are predominately negroid. (Chang 1964, p.70) The people practiced single burials.
In northern China the blacks founded many civilizations. The three major empires of China were the Xia Dynasty (c.2205-1766 B.C), Shang/ Yin Dynasty (c.1700-1050 B.C) and the Zhou Dynasty.The Zhou dynasty was the first dynasty founded by the Mongoloid people in China called Hua (Who-aa).
The founders of Xia and Shang came from the Fertile African Crescent by way of Iran. According to Chinese legends the first man Pan Gu, used a hammer 18,000 years ago to make man.
The Chinese legends designate various culture heroes as the inventors of various aspects of Chinese civilization. The Chinese term for emperor is Di. Huang Di (Yellow Emperor), is the Chinese culture hero credited with introducing boats, carts 'chariots, the bow and arrow, ceramics, wooded houses and writing.
Chinese civilization began along the Yellow river . Here the soil was fertile and black Chinese farmers grew millet 4000 years ago, and later soybeans. They also raised pigs and cattle. By 3500 B.C., the blacks in China were raising silkworms and making silk.
The culture hero Huang Di is a direct link of Africa. His name was pronounced in old Chinese Yuhai Huandi or Hu Nak Kunte. He was supposed to have arrived in China from the west in 2282 B.C., and settled along the banks of the Loh river in Shanxi. This transliteration of Huandgi, to Hu Nak Kunte is interesting because Kunte is a common clan name among the Manding speakers.
The Africans or blacks that founded civilization in China were often called li min "black headed people" by the Zhou dynasts. This term has affinity to the Sumero-Akkadian term sag- gig-ga "black headed people". These li min are associated with the Chinese cultural hero Yao.
In the Annals of the Bamboo Books, we learn that Yao devised a calendar to help regulate agrarian work through proper use of ritual and music and created a rudimentary government. The Annals of the Bamboo Books, makes it clear that Yao "he united and harmonized the myriad states [of his dominion], and the [li min] black headed people were reformed by his cordial agreement".
We also read that Shun, the successor of Yao, distinguished by his reputation as an obedient devoted son, noted to : "Ki [that] the Black headed people are suffering the distress of hunger". To help relieve the people Shun gave his throne over to Yu, the founder of the Shang Dynasty. Yu, in the Annals of the Bamboo Books, is reported to have noted that "...when a sovereign gives response to the people, he is kind, and the Black headed people cherish him in their heart". P> The first dynasty of China was Xia (She-ya). The Xia dynasty lasted from 2205 to 1766 B.C. According to the Guben zhu Shu zhi Nien, the Xia dynasty "from Yu to Zhieh had seventeen kings... and lasted 471 years". (Chang 1987)
Archaeologists believe that the major Xia sites are located in Shanxi and Henan. According to Chang (1987) northern Henan towards the end of the Longshan period was the eastern part of the Xia culture.
Xia was probably situated in the Yihe and Luohe river valleys, and along the Yinghe and Ruhe rivers. The capital of Xia was located in the Sangshan mountains.
The origins of Xia go back to the Longshan period. During the Longshan period burial goods included a large number of weapons, including stone lanceheads and arrows. This suggests that intersocial conflict was at its height during the Longshan periods, and warfare may have played a role in the rise of Xia. The Longshan neolithic is characterized by wheel-made pottery, bronze working, ceramics, wheeled vehicles, writing, rich grave goods and furnishings.
The Chinese histories tell us much about Xia. According to Chinese tradition the Xia built their settlements near rivers, lakes and streams. The Xia Dynasty is mentioned in the oracle bone records.
The leaders of Xia were granted rule based on their Ssu (clan) membership. The Xia naming system employed the ten celestial stems the same as the Shang people. (Chang 1980,p.353)
The national tree of the Xia li min was the pine. This tree was used in the earth ritual.
Xia social organization, and life was based on the clan . The totems of the major Xia clans were aquatic animals: fish, tortoise, turtle and etc. This view is supported by the myth recorded in the Annals of the Bamboo Books, which claims that Yu's mother swallowed a spirits pearl before the birth of Di (Lord) Yu, founder of the Xia Dynasty. Moreover , the dragon motif is common at Xia sites. A pan vessel was found at Taosi, with a red painted dragon motif.
The Chinese histories make it clear that the Xia had writing and tortoise books. This view can be supported by the pottery marks on the Longshan and Erlitou pottery. (Chang 1987, p.265)
Erlitou pottery is often inscribed with various signs and symbols. Fish were incised on a piece of bone, but up to now, oracle bone inscriptions have not been found. (Chang 1987, p.314)
Today archaeologists believe that the Erlitou culture is the Xia Dynasty. This is supported by the fact that the historical text place Xia in Henan and southern Shanxi. These Chinese provinces are the main areas where Erlitou artifacts have been discovered. Chinese archaeologists have suggested that the Henan Lungshan culture and the Erlitou I-III periods are representative of the Xia Dynasty. (An 1986)
Xia is considered the first dynasty of the sandai (three Dynasties) of ancient China: Xia, Shang and Zhou. There are many references to the Xia people. The Xia people were recognized as westerners, because they settled the middle Yellow river region of China. As a result they were called the Hua Xia "the middle states people".
There are numerous textual references to Xia. Han Fei Tzu writing in the third century B.C., in his Shih Guo, observed that:
"Yu made the ritual vessels painting the interior
black and the exterior in red."
The tradition recorded by Han, of the black-and-red ware for the Xia li min suggest some relationship of Xia to the Yangshao culture which also used BRW and analogous pottery signs.
Chang (1987) believes that the legendary sages and heroes of China, probably lived during the Lungshan culture period. The Lungshan culture had walled cities and evidence of rank and rituals. This clearly illustrates how archaeology can compliment textual history.
The artifacts of Erlitou include BRW, red,black and buff wares. These artifacts were made of stone, shell and bronze. The bronze instruments found by archaeologists at Erlitou sites correspond to the descriptions by Yuan Kang, in the Yueh Zhueh Shu, quoting the philosopher Feng Hu Tzu of the tools made by the Xia. Yuan Kang wrote that:
"In the Age of Yu, weapons were made of bronze, for build
-ing canals...and..houses...."
The black-and-red ware (BRW) common to the Fertile African Crescent was also used in China. There is affinity between the BRW from Nubia, and the pottery from Yangshao sites in the Henan and Gansu sites of China.
The textual history of Xia is synthesized in the Chinese book Shih Zhi. This evidence from the Shih Zhi, was used by Hsu Husheng , of the Chinese Institute of Archaeology, to find the xu (ruins) of Xia: the Xia xu. Hsu Husheng using this source hypothesized that the center for traditional Xia Dynasty towns was the Loyang plains and the Dengfeng river valley. This coincides with the Erlitou sites of this area which date to 2100- 1800 B.C.
The Xia people were recognized as being different people from the mongoloid Chinese they politically dominate China today as a people that came from the west (i.e., Iran), before they settled the middle Yellow river. A Zhou saying observed that :
"The rituals [or rules of] the Three Dynasties [sandai] are one".
The early Xia lived on mounds, in houses made of grass and mud. Pounded earth walls surrounded Xia villages to protect the li mim from attack. The Xia probably spoke a Manding language. This view is supported by the earlier discussion of the analogy between ancient Chinese and Manding.
The major clan totem of the Xia as mentioned earlier was the dragon. The zu (clan) or tsu was the basic point of social organization for the li min.
In China the dragon was regarded as the deified serpent. (Andersson 1973, p.7) It also denoted the symbol of perfect man, the son of Heaven, the Emperor.
The clan emblem for the ancient Manding was the first lizard/dragon. A dragon is nothing more than a giant lizard. This dragon motif was also found in Iran and Babylonian Assyrian civilization and the Anau civilization in Russia, which had similar painted pottery to the pottery styles of Henan (Xia). (Winters 1983c)
The Xia li min built their settlements near rivers, lakes and streams. They are mentioned in the Oracle bone writing. The sacred tree of the Xia was the pine. The Xia naming system was the same as that used by the Shang.
The founder of the Xia Dynasty was Yu. His father was Gun. Myths about Gun are found throughout southwest Shanxi. Yu's son founded the Pa culture. The Pa culture was a megalithic culture. Great Yu was the regulator of the waters and builder of canals. He invented wetfield agriculture.
Yu was born in Shihnew. His mother was Sewege (Seuge). She is alleged to have become pregnant and swallowed a spirit's pearl.
Under the orders of Emperor Shun, Yu was to dredge the Yellow river. Yu traveled the empire for 10 years draining the land of water. One tradition claims that "but for Yu we should all have been fishes".
Beginning with Xia the fundamental political unit of this dynasty and succeeding dynasties of China was the yi or walled town. These yi were organized into small and large guo (states). Each guo, was known as a shih.
The administrator of the guo was a member of an agnati clan or xing. The xing, ruled over members of their own clan and non- related clans living in the various yi, forming the guo.
Emperor Shun, appears to have given Egeu, his son, the princi -pality of Shang, and Yu the principality of Xia. After the death of Shun, Yu became the leader of the confederation of Seihshin: the large guos of Xia and Shang. According to Gu Tsu Yu, in the Du Shih fang yu Zihiyao, written in the 1600's:
"It is traditionally stated that when Yu assembled the lords at Dushan there were ten thousand states [cities] that came carrying jades and silks".
The second great leader of the Xia Dynasty was Qi, the son of Di (Emperor) Yu. According to the Guben zhu Shu Zhi Nien, the Xia dynasty had seventeen kings and lasted 471 years.
The Xia Dynasty remained strong until the tyrant , Zhieh, came to power. In 1766 B.C., Zhieh was deposed and exiled by Zheng Dang, ruler of Shang.
There are thirty references to the capital of Xia in the Zo Zhuan, Guo Yu , and Guben zhu Shu Zhi Nien. Loyang plain in central Henan, especially the region of Dengfeng and Yuxien in the upper Ying river valley, and the area near the Fenhe river valley in southwestern Shanxi south of mount Ho are usually mentioned in these sources as the area where the Xia capital was established.
The first capital of Xia was Yangcheng. This city was in southwestern Shanxi. Archaeologist believe that Taosi and Wangchenggang may be Xia cities.
Taosi dates to 2500 to 1900 B.C. Here the people raised oxen, pigs and sheep. They grew millet. Their homes were built half-way below ground. They smelted copper . The coiled dragon motif is common at this site along with crocodile skin drums.
The Taosi site is important because the artifacts excavated from the more than 1,000 tombs, indicate that a hereditary system of chiefs and class was already established.
The dragon motif at Taos may have been the totem of the Xia dynasts at Taosi. This would correspond to Chinese legends of the Long (Dragon) ethnic group.Huan Long (Dragon Breeding Clan) and Yu Long (Defend the Dragon) clan. The dragon legends are associated with the Chinese sages Yan, Yao, Shun and Yu.
The capital of Xia Yangcheng is believed to be the city of Wangshenggang. As mentioned earlier the yi, or 'walled city', was the basic political unit of Xia. These walls were built layer upon layer and called hangtu. Chinese traditions allege that Yu's father, Gun, built the first hangtu.
Wangshenggang site is 10,000 sq. meters . It is situated near the Wudu river. This structure contains skeletons of all ages.
P>
We know very little about the sounds of ancient Chinese because Ancient Chinese was different from Old Chinese and Middle Chinese and the modern Chinese dialects. (Ramsey 1987, pp.137-138) This results from the fact that the Chinese dynasties were founded by diverse ethnic groups e.g., Xia and Shang li (i.e., Black Shang) were founded by Dravidian and Manding speakers. Shang-Yin was founded by classical mongoloids, and the Zhou by the contemporary Chinese. ) This explains the difference in pronunciation for Ancient Chinese spoken by the Xia and Shang peoples and Old and Middle Chinese or a variant there of, which was probably spoken by the Zhou people.
The Shang characters compare favorably to the ancient Proto- Saharan script used by the Harappans in the Indus Valley and the Manding script used in the ancient Sahara and Crete . Winters (1985c) outlined the spread of the Proto-Saharan script to Harappa, and throughout Saharan Africa and Asia by the Dravidians and Manding.
Evidence of Chinese writing first appears around 2000 B.C. as pottery marks. The shell-and-bone characters represented writing they were not pictures. The Shang symbols compare favorably with ancient Manding symbols. Although their are different contemporary pronunciations for these symbols they have the same meaning and shape. This suggest a genetic relationship between these scripts because we know that the present pronunciation of the Chinese symbols probably has little relationship to the ancient pronunciation of Chinese spoken in Xia and Shang times when these characters were first used. This cognation of scripts supports the proposed Dravidian and Manding migration and settlement of ancient China during Xia times.
The identification of the first hero of China, Hu Nak Kunte as a member of the Kunte clan of the Manding speakers of Africa is supported by the close relationship between the Manding languages and Chinese. Even though we do not know the ancient pronunciation of many Chinese signs many Chinese and Manding words share analogy and suggest a Manding substratum for Chinese.
Chinese and Manding share many typological features. These features include reduplication for emphasis and the use of suffixes to form words.
In Chinese the -zi suffix, is joined to many nouns e.g., 0 qizi # 'wife'; 0 tizi # 'ladder'; and 0 jinzi # 'gold'. This -zi, suffix corresponds to the Manding use of si 'that, that one,those' e.g., kye si 'that man'.
The suffix -tou is used to form place words e.g., 0 litou # 'inside' and 0 qiantou # 'front'. In Manding the word for place was -ta.
The Chinese -r suffix is used to form nouns e.g., 0 hua # 'to paint' and 0 huar # 'picture'. This corresponds to the Manding suffix -ra which transforms verbs into nouns, e.g., 0 kyi # 'to send' and 0 kyira # 'messenger'.
There is also some analogy between Chinese and Manding pronouns:
Language I You he,she
Chinese wo ni ta
Manding ne ni, i a
These languages also share the interogative pronouns:
Chinese English Manding
0 ho # who,which,what 0 o #
In addition to cognate writing and grammatical features the Chinese and Manding share many lexical items. Below we compare Chinese and Manding terms. The Chinese terms are written in the Pinyin (phonetic alphabet) which is popular in China today.
There are numerous examples of phonetic correspondence between Chinese and Manding.
d=/=t
Chinese English Manding
di bend down ti 'negation suffix
da to cut down,destroy te 'negative particle'
dai to alter ta 'to put in'
du rot toli
da hill, hillock te-mbo
di Supreme Ruler tigi
d=/=d
da great,noble dya, da
di child di
da big dya,di 'several'
b=/=b
bu 'negative' bu 'to be in decrease
bo to break bo, bu 'to give a blow
ban great ba
b=/=p
bi to press,make impression pe
bai white, clean po
d=/=b
do cut bo, bu
h=/=o
ho 'everywhere' o 'void'
ho who,which,where o
f=/=f
fa 'kill' fe 'to be void'
s=/=s
shan 'mountain sande 'the sky region near water'
sa loose sa 'to die'
su 'to pound' --- su 'to mix'
su to suck susu
k=/=k
kan stem ka, kala
ku to cut open,rip up kulo 'to soften'
y=/=y
yu abundant,excessive yo 'perfect'
w=/=w
wa hollow wo
n=/=m
nu women musu
mu eye nya
ma mother na
o=/=o
do cut bo
bo 'break' ---- bo 'to five a blow'
rou flesh soro
a=/=a
da big dya
da great da
sa 'to loose' --- sa 'to die'
ban great ba
ma mother ma
o=/=u
so to grind su
yu 'abundant' --- yo 'perfect'
du rot toli
do cut bu
i=/=i
niu cow ni
xin 'heart' --- si 'breast'
di child di
iu give di
a=/=e
da 'to destroy' te 'negative particle'
tien cultivated field de-n
u=/=u
bu 'negative' bu 'to be decreased'
nu woman musu
du earth dugu
lu house lu
Above we have compared forty-six cognate Chinese and Manding terms. These terms can be divided into three sets of cognate items, (1) words in both languages with equivalent meanings with full correspondence, (2) words with consonants showing assimilation and (3) words with equivalent meanings but lacking similar phonetic values. Using this criteria we find that the cognate rate for corresponding Chinese and Manding terms are the following percentages 54% of the terms show full correspondence; 30 % show cognate terms with alternating consonants e.g., d=/=t, p=/=b , and etc.; and 15 percent of these terms are unrelated.
The analogy between the Manding and Chinese languages suggest that Manding is a substratum of Chinese. This also supports the view that some early rulers of China came from the Kunte clan and were Manding speakers. P>
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There are several books that discuss the ancient Afrocentric world, including W.E.B.DuBois': Negro and The World and Africa; John G. Jackson, Introduction to African Civilizations; and Chiekh Anta Diop's : The African Origin of Civilization, and Civilization of Barbarism. All of these books can be obtained by ordering directly from:
