Chinese Chronology and Cycles

GENERAL VIEW OF THE QUESTION.

...that those who maintain the authenticity of the drums have the best of the discussion. Whatever may be thought of these monuments, they are of slight importance, as they only record a hunting expedition of the sovereign King Xuan original: "Hsuan-wang"; King Xuan of Zhou, reigned 827–782 BC, an event which was not even recorded in the annals of his reign. According to Chinese critics, this lack of record prevents them from being thoroughly identified with this specific epoch in chronology.

Another supposed ancient inscription in Chinese, which is said to exist on a terra cotta vase discovered by Dr. Heinrich Schliemann at Hissarlik original: "Hassarlik"; the archaeological site of ancient Troy in modern-day Turkey, has been lately brought forward in support of Chinese antiquity. However, although the Chinese ambassador in London in 1879 claimed to discern Chinese characters in the inscription, Professor Archibald Sayce, in a letter to the Times on June 11, 1879, effectively dismissed the idea. He showed that they were not Chinese, but belonged to the Cypriot syllabary A writing system used on the island of Cyprus from the 11th to the 4th century BC. See also the China Review for July–August 1879, containing remarks by Dr. Bushell, who declares that the claim cannot be accepted as certain. This syllabary will be considered in the fourth part of these researches.

Among the supposed ancient monuments of China are also the seventy-two tablets engraved by order of seventy-two ancient Chinese sovereigns who ruled before Fuxi original: "Fu-hi"; a legendary culture hero and the first of the Three Sovereigns of ancient China, located on Mount Tai original: "Tay-shan" in Shandong original: "Shantung". Antoine Gaubil A prominent French Jesuit missionary and astronomer who worked in Beijing during the 18th century, in his Chinese Chronology (page 280), states that everything said on this subject is a fable and calls them "pretended tablets." He adds that the only ancient monument to be found on Mount Tai is the remains of