Fw: Shang-Olmec-Jos Connection

["S. L . Lee" <sllee@asiawind.com>]

[I am posting for Charles Louie. Dr. Diamond of UCLA is a medical doctor. He
has a strong interest in Asian culture. However, his interpretation of Asian
culture is limited by his lack of knowledge of the Asian language to consult
primary documents. I think some of his conclusions in articles should be
taken with caution.  SL Lee]

> Dear Mr. Lee,
>
> Hello, long time no hear.
>
> I just heard a speech today by Dr. Jarrod Diamond author of the The Third
> Chimp over the radio. This lecture was promoting his new book but I
> forgot the title of it. Anyway, in his speech on the "hunter-gatherer"
> civilizations, he mentioned very briefly that the ancient Chinese had
> left evidence of an ancient Diaspora in Taiwan, the Philippines,
> Indonesia, Chatham Island (off of New Zealand) and Hawthorne Atoll off of
> Africa but not referring to a historical time reference.
>
> The people of Chatham Island still are alive today as hunter-gatherers
> and maybe the bridge between Olmec culture and Shang culture. As for
> those who settled on the Hawthorne Atoll (which I can't locate on the map
> must be in the Indian Ocean), he claims that they have gone "extinct"
> maybe from having exhausted their resources and overtaxing the
> environment just like the civilization on Easter Island have done.
> However, I'm thinking maybe they didn't go extinct but continued their
> journey winding up in Jos, Nigeria and Meso-America respectively.
>
> I've concluded with a new hypothesis: the Chinese tribe which was
> defeated during the Shang Civil War must have sailed their way first to
> Taiwan, then to the Philippines, and then to Indonesia. From Indonesia,
> they probably split camps maybe due to internal conflict; or as insurance
> that if one group failed to survive an unknown journey than the other
> might succeed; or could have been blown off course during an "El Nino"
> event...one can only speculate.
>
> In Reference to the legendary folklore of the mystical land of Fusang,
> perhaps they didn't know which way Fusang was so one group sailed west to
> Chatham Island leaving some behind and then to Meso-America (perhaps they
> went to Easter Island prior) meanwhile the other group sailed east to
> Hawthorne Atoll and then maybe to Jos, Nigeria.
>
> Because the Hunter-gatherers community is still alive on Chatham Island,
> they may provide clues of our ancient Chinese language. If only we could
> compare the language of this community with the Jos community I think we
> will be able to confirm a historical cultural link. But genetic testing
> is a better method.
>
> Route To Meso-America:
> >From Chatham Island, they  could have easily sailed the West Wind Drift
> to (a rest stop long enough to erect statues) at Easter Island until they
> connected to the Peru (Humboldt) Current where they followed the South
> American coastline until they reached Meso-America. I've read on a Taiwan
> website (sponsored by the Taiwanese Government but is no longer on-line)
> devoted to Shang-Olmec cultural comparison which showed evidence of
> contemporary people in the Olmec area  bearing the "Mongol Mark" a light
> blue spot the size of a quarter  on the back of the body. This is a
> birthmark common among those with mongoloid ancestry which I myself
> possess.
>
> Route to Jos, Nigeria:
> >From Indonesia, it would be logical to sail the West Australian Current
> to East Africa where Hawthorne Atoll must be. Since the language of
> Eastern Madagascar is similar to Indonesian, there is no doubt that a
> ocean journey can be accomplished. From the Hawthorne Atoll (assuming it
> is off of Madagascar since I can't find it on the map) they could have
> sailed either the South Equatorial Current or Agulhas Current to the tip
> of South Africa connecting to the Benguela Current until they reached
> Nigeria thus settling in Jos. As a child, whenever I saw  West African
> tribes on a National Geographic Magazine,  I would imagine them without
> the dark skin and bald and they actually look Chinese to me with the
> broad foreheads, full-lips, heart-shaped face, high check bones, and
> "Asian" eyelids.
>
> Now if these people in Jos are one of the descendants of the Shang
> tribes, we can find out if anyone there bears the blue "Mongol Mark."
> Better yet if we can do DNA testing and compare then with the people of
> Meso-America and those on Chatham Island.
>
> [By the way, I do believe the ancient Incas arrived to the Andes from
> Polynesia via the Equatorial Counter Current.  Two common cultural traits
> between these two cultures is the use of human sacrifice to the gods and
> the tradition of roasting pigs underground which is an ancient  cooking
> technique still practiced in Peru and Hawaii (however, I've read that the
> ancient tribes who no longer "exist" today on the Galapagos Islands, made
> famous by Charles Darwin after discovering the Giant Tortoises, were
> periodically raided and enslaved by the Equadorians so perhaps the
> roasting of pigs by the Andean peoples could have been a result of
> intermarriage between Galapagos Polynesians & Andean cultures).  And I do
> believe  North American Native Americans arrived from crossing the Bering
> Strait; but, without academic endorsement, did not migrate southwards
> beyond the Rio Grande to develop into the great empires of Meso-America.]
>
> Sincerely,
> Charles Louie
> San Francisco
>
> cc: WWW.Huaren.org BB
>
> P.S.
>
> When Hainan Island was declared a province, I don't believe one of
> Beijing's goals was to preserve the languages of Hainan. If a Hakka
> province was carved out of Guangdong, Beijing will have to deal with
> other linguistic groups in China who will demand the same. And that will
> cause too much social unrest because then hypothetically Fujian could be
> divided into to three provinces based on language as well as Guangdong,
> Guangxi; and, Yunnan, Tibet, and Xinjiang into even more.