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In a new study provides more evidence for an early Bronze Age in eastern parts of Asia.

Sediments from Liangzhi Lake in Hubei Province suggest bronze working by about 3000 +/- 328 BC. Hubei is in south-central China (middle Yangtze), and the findings could be associated with Daxi or Qujialing cultures.

Hubei province, Wikipedia

Similar radiocarbon dates have been obtained for bronze in Thailand (Non Nok Tha, Ban Chiang) and the Philippines (Balobok).

Environ Sci Technol. 2008 Jul 1;42(13):4732-8.

Seven thousand years of records on the mining and utilization of metals from lake sediments in central China.

Lee CS, Qi SH, Zhang G, Luo CL, Zhao LY, Li XD.

Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

A 268 cm section of sediment core from Liangzhi Lake in Hubei province in central China was used to assess the use and accumulation of metals in the lake in the past 7,000 years. The concentrations of trace metals, including Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn, and major elements, Ca, Fe, and Mg, in a 14C- dated segment of sediment core were analyzed. Historical trends on the input of metals to Liangzhi Lake from around 5000 BC to the present were recorded in the sediments, representing about 7,000 years of history on the mining and utilization of metals in central China. The concentrations of Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn increased gradually from about 3000 +/- 328 BC, indicating the start of the Bronze Age in ancient China. During the period 467 +/- 257 to 215 +/- 221 AD, there was a rapid increase in the concentrations of these metals in the sediments, indicating enormous inputs of these metals at that time. This era corresponded to China’s Warring States Period (475- 221 BC) and the early Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), during which copper and lead were extensively used in making bronze articles such as vessels, tools, and weapons. From 1880 +/- 35 AD to the early 1900s, there was also a significant increase in the concentrations of metals such as Cu, Ni, and Pb, which probably reflected the metal emissions and utilization during the early period of industrial development and weapon manufacture during the wars in China. The Pb isotopic analysis showed that the surface and subsurface sediments had lower 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/ 207Pb ratios than the deeper layers, reflecting the additional input of Pb from mining activities that took place during the Bronze Age era and in modern times. This study provides direct evidence of the environmental impact of the mining and utilization of metals in the last 7,000 years in one of the important regions of Chinese civilization.

Malaysian archaeologists have discovered Neolithic burials in the Niah-Subis limestone hills in Batu Niah on the island of Borneo.

Eight skeletons were discovered along with other artifacts including pottery. I hope that they will try to extract some genetic material from these skeletons. It will also be interesting to see, especially if the earlier dates of around 3,000 years ago are valid, as to whether there is any linkage with the Lapita-type pottery of Oceania.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

ANCIENT BURIAL SITE DISCOVERED IN BATU NIAH

Bernama - Saturday, August 2

KUCHING, Aug 1 (Bernama) — A research team from the Centre For Archaeological Research Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the Sarawak Museum Department has discovered an ancient burial site, believed to be from the Neolithic period, at Gua Kain Hitam in the Niah-Subis limestone hills in Batu Niah, Miri division.

Sarawak Museum Department deputy director Ipoi Datan said today the excavations at the site, funded by the National Heritage Department in 2007 and the USM Research University Grant last year, has so far uncovered more than eight human skeletons, dating back 2,000 to 3,000 years ago.

“The human skeletons as well as the associated artifacts such as pottery, ornaments and food remains like shells and animal bones are currently being analysed in order to extract more information about the burials and lifestyles of the ancient people who lived in the Niah-Subis region during that time,” he said in a statement here.

He said the new finding would not only enrich knowledge on the early history of Sarawak and the nation but also expected to attract more local and foreign tourists to visit the site, which is located in the Niah National Park.

The Sarawak Museum Department is asking for public cooperation in not disturbing or encroaching into the site as the finds had no commercial value but only contained valuable research and academic significance, he said.

– BERNAMA

Chinese new sources are reporting an exciting find from Yunnan, in southwest China. The discovery in Dali may turn out to be the largest Neolithic site anywhere in the world. So far it covers an area of 1,350 sq. meters and could eventually span 4 sq. kilometers.

Some 2,000 wooden poles sunk deep into the ground (4.5 meters) were uncovered. Archaeologists surmise that these are more than 3,000 years old and the article mentions they may be older than the Hemudu Culture of the Yangtze region, which would mean that it is still thousands of years older. Hemudu Layer 4 is generally dated to 5000 BCE. Yan Wenming of Peking University says the poles might have been used to support housing structures, which brings to mind the type of pile-raised architecture found further south or east along the maritime coastlines in Southeast Asia and South China. Ancient Yunnan is often associated with Daic and Austro-Asiatic speaking peoples prior to the arrival of Sino-Tibetan speakers. The latter are believed to largely descendants of the Di-Qiang people mentioned in Chinese literature as migrating into Yunnan from the north. And most, with the most notable exception of the Lolo, still mainly inhabit northern Yunnan.

A new American Journal of Physical Anthropology article studies the mtDNA from both ancient human remains in northeast Thailand, and modern human samples from the same area and surrounding regions.

The findings basically show that the two ancient groups, from the Bronze and Iron ages, resemble Austro-Asiatic-speaking populations. The modern Tai-Kadai speakers were more closely related to Southeast Asians than to East Asians, but they formed a separate group in the region. Among Southeast Asians the Tai-Kadai of Thailand are closest to the Khmer and this is explained by the researchers as related to the Khmer subjugation of the Tai-Kadai after their arrival in Thailand in the 10th-11th CE.

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Published Online: 9 Jul 2008

Genetic history of Southeast Asian populations as revealed by ancient and modern human mitochondrial DNA analysis

Patcharee Lertrit, Samerchai Poolsuwan, Rachanie Thosarat, Thitima Sanpachudayan, Hathaichanoke Boonyarit, Chatchai Chinpaisal, Bhoom Suktitipat

The 360 base-pair fragment in HVS-1 of the mitochondrial genome were determined from ancient human remains excavated at Noen U-loke and Ban Lum-Khao, two Bronze and Iron Age archaeological sites in Northeastern Thailand, radio-carbon dated to circa 3,500-1,500 years BP and 3,200-2,400 years BP, respectively. These two neighboring populations were parts of early agricultural communities prevailing in northeastern Thailand from the fourth millennium BP onwards. The nucleotide sequences of these ancient samples were compared with the sequences of modern samples from various ethnic populations of East and Southeast Asia, encompassing four major linguistic affiliations (Altaic, Sino-Tibetan, Tai-Kadai, and Austroasiatic), to investigate the genetic relationships and history among them. The two ancient samples were most closely related to each other, and next most closely related to the Chao-Bon, an Austroasiatic-speaking group living near the archaeological sites, suggesting that the genetic continuum may have persisted since prehistoric times in situ among the native, perhaps Austroasiatic-speaking population. Tai-Kadai groups formed close affinities among themselves, with a tendency to be more closely related to other Southeast Asian populations than to populations from further north. The Tai-Kadai groups were relatively distant from all groups that have presumably been in Southeast Asia for longer-that is, the two ancient groups and the Austroasiatic-speaking groups, with the exception of the Khmer group. This finding is compatible with the known history of the Thais: their late arrival in Southeast Asia from southern China after the 10th-11th century AD, followed by a period of subjugation under the Khmers. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Here’s an interesting article from the New Zealand Herald that describes the traditional Maori New Year marked by the rising of Matariki, the constellation known in the West as the Pleiades. The ancient celebration has now become popular again as a cultural festival in New Zealand.

Rawiri Taonui: Matariki - A time for New Zealanders to shine as one

5:00AM Thursday June 12, 2008
By Rawiri Taonui

Matariki - Maori New Year

This month heralds the beginning of Maori New Year festivities with the dawn rising of Matariki (the Pleiades). An increasingly popular celebration among New Zealanders, the renaissance of Matariki reflects our journey as a nation.

Humans have always marvelled about the significance of the heavenly bodies. Many cultures held particular regard for a small glittering star cluster in the northern sky. The Greeks named them the Pleiades, the seven daughters of the gods Atlas and Pleione. The English called them the Seven Sisters, others the Jewel Box. To the Japanese they were Subaru.

Polynesians know the constellation by the cognates Matali’i (Samoa), Matari’i (Tahiti), Makali’i (Hawaii) and Matariki (Rarotonga and New Zealand) through star lore that stretched far back into the pre-European Pacific.

Centuries before Christopher Columbus sailed tentatively into the unknown, the Austronesian-speaking ancestors of the Polynesians, navigating by the sun, moon, planets and stars, settled hundreds of islands across the Pacific and Indian oceans - Madagascar, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Marianas, Caroline and Kiribati islands, the Solomons, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Hawaii, Marquesas, Tuamotus, Rarotonga, Easter Island and New Zealand.
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The ancestors of the Maori adapted that knowledge to the New Zealand environment, instituting 12 or 13 month lunar calendars. The pantheon of lore was as elegant and exquisite as Greek mythology.

Each month and every day and night of the waxing and waning moon was named. Prominent stars, such as Whitikaupeka or Pekehawini (Spica), Whakaahu (Castor and Pollux), Te Kakau (Regulus) and Poutu te rangi (Altair), the bloom and fruiting of plants and the migratory behaviour of birds, whales, fish, eels and whitebait, heralded different months. Stars like Takurua (Sirius) and Rehua (Antares) marked whole seasons. Grand constellations adorned the sky as canoes, store houses, mythological heroes, giant sharks, whales, carvings, ancestors, baskets of knowledge and birds.

Tribes differently marked the New Year when Matariki or other stars, such as Puanga (Rigel), Tautoru (Orion) or Takurua (Sirius) were first seen, or on the day of the first new moon after they had risen.

Matariki means the “eyes of god” (mata-ariki) or “little eyes” (mata-riki). One tradition says the “eyes” are the storms of Tawhirimatea, the god of the winds. Others believe Matariki is a mother and her six daughters who assist the sun, weakened by winter, on its daily journey across the skies.

Another account says the god, Tanenui-a-rangi, created the constellation when he shattered a heavenly orb containing all the knowledge in the universe.

Matariki delineated the seasonal cycles. The aphorisms “Ka puta a Matariki, ka rere a Whanui” (When Matariki rises, Vega has flown) and “Matariki nana i ao ake” (Matariki has risen), instruct that the autumn harvest and food gathering governed by the star Vega is now replaced by Matariki, who rules the new cycle, beginning with preparing the earth for the spring planting of kumara.

“Nga kai a Matariki” (the foods of Matariki) and “Ka kitea a Matariki, kua maoka te hinu” (When Matariki is seen, game is preserved) referred to the collecting and storing of food for the winter period. “Matariki ahunga nui” (Matariki heaped up) refers to the “heaping up” of furrowed ground to protect seed kumara from frost.

Matariki marked the winter solstice and shortest day and portended the year ahead. If the stars were clear, a productive season lay ahead, with planting in September. If hazy, winter would be cold and the planting would begin in October.

Matariki also signified a time of remembrance, learning and festivity. Tribes would remember those who had died, celebrate past successes, conduct learning sessions and plan the year ahead. Much of this lore was lost under the yoke of colonisation, which banned tohunga (priesthood), imposed Western schooling that looked at stars in books rather than in the skies and replaced the Maori calendar with the more scientific but ultimately less reliable Georgian version.

Matariki celebrations dwindled, with very few tribes continuing them past 1900. The last traditional festival occurred around 1940. The current Maori renaissance has spurred a revival of Matariki celebrations.

There have been some adaptations to traditional lore. The focus is singularly on Matariki, whereas pre-European tribes acknowledged different stars.

Resurrected calendars are based on Gregorian weeks and months with Maori names. There are attempts to ascribe a single date for the rising of Matariki, when the traditional practice was that the new year began from when stars were first sighted on whatever day of what we now call June and from the first new moon after that.

But Matariki is positive; its rising emblematic of the rebirth of Maori identity and the dawning of a new age.

More Pakeha and immigrants are also embracing Matariki. When celebrations were first organised in Hastings in 2000, about 500 people attended. In 2003, 15,000 turned out. This year’s celebrations will be the largest ever, with scores of observances in pre-schools, schools, museums, art galleries and libraries throughout the country.

The small constellation of glittering jewels reflects our journey as one nation, two peoples and many cultures - a time for New Zealanders to shine as one.

Dr Rawiri Taonui is head of the School of Maori and Indigenous Studies and kaiarahi (joint Maori adviser) at the College of Arts, University of Canterbury.

One of the most spectacular museum exhibits in the Philippines is display at the Ayala Museum in Makati (Metro Manila).

“Gold of Ancestors: Pre-Colonial Treasures in the Philippines,” is found in the Special Collection Room of the Ayala, the country’s finest museum. The display consists of mostly 10th to 13th century gold artifacts, particularly those belonging to the private collection of Leandro and Cecilia Locsin.

“Many of the precious objects were recovered in association with tenth to thirteenth century Chinese export ceramics.”

Many of the gold items show Indic or Tantric influence.

Garuda ornaments based on the mythical bird from Hindu-Buddhist mythology.

Object described as “anthropomorphic plaque” of a Lady or “Binibini”

One item, considered one of the most stunning artifacts, is called an upavita referring to the sacred thread worn by brahmins in India. However, from my knowledge the upavita or sutra is actually a thread, while the gold object is a large tubular sash-like object that could not go around the groin like an upavita.

The “upavita” from the Ayala Museum (photo from Manuel Quezon III’s album on Flickr).

Some other objects in the Ayala exhibit from Manuel Quezon III’s album and from the Ayala Museum site:

Gold belt

Described as a “kinnari,” a half-woman, half-bird creature.

When Columbus set out in search of the Indies, he had in mind the lands of Tarshish and Ophir, the great isle of Cipangu and also the Terrestrial Paradise — the Garden of Eden.

The Earthly Paradise was generally set in the dominion of Prester John, and for this reason in medieval roll of arms, for example, Prester John of the Indies (Prester Johan de Ynde) was listed first in precedence followed by the King of Jerusalem, the Emperor of Rome and the Emperor of Constantinople in that order, followed by other Christian kings.

From the Herald’s Roll (late 13th century)

1 Prester Johan de Ynde

Azure a cross or (attributed arms)

2 Roye de Jerusalem

Argent crusilly and a cross potent or

3 Emperor de Rome

Or a double headed eagle displayed sable

4 Emperor de Constantinoble

Gules a cross or

In the millenarian environment of Europe during Columbus’ time, the honor of ruling over the Garden of Eden would certainly suit the prophesied king, the Encubierto, as many fancied Columbus’ patron Ferdinand of Spain. Technically such an honor would rank even higher than reconquering Jerusalem.

On his way home from his first voyage, Columbus wrote in his Diario that the land he had discovered must be Paradise Terrestrial which ’sacred theologians and philosophers’ had located in the ‘end of the East’ (”en el fin de oriente”). One of the admiral’s favorite books, Imago Mundi, placed the Garden of Eden at the extremity of the East where the Sun rose for the first time on the morning of creation.

The idea that Cipangu and China could be reached by sailing West and that the distance was not that great appears to have originated with Nicolo di Conti and/or the mysterious ambassador from the East Indies — from a Nestorian Christian nation 20 days beyond Cathay (China). These two are mentioned together by Poggio after the latter’s interview of de Conti.

Both had influenced Paolo Toscanelli and others, and Toscanelli is believed by many to have encouraged Columbus to undertake his fateful mission. Previously, under the Ptolemaic system it was believed that the Indian Ocean was landlocked and that the eastern coast of Asia could not be approached by sea from the West. Pierre d’Ailley, the author of Imago Mundi had these concepts in his book, but later gave up the idea of an open Indian Ocean after reading the Latin Ptolemy.

At this time, the view that the distance from the Canaries to Cipangu was relatively small became current. Toscanelli estimated it at only 85 degrees, while Martellus put it at 90 degrees and Behaim at 110 degrees. Some scholars believe the idea of such a short distance originates with Marinus of Tyre, but even the latter but the distance at 135 degrees. In reality, the measure was about 225 degrees.

Whatever the source of the idea, Columbus believed that he was sailing along the coasts of southeastern Asia when he discovered the Americas. After his third voyage, he wrote in a letter to Ferdinand and Isabella: “I am completely persuaded in my own mind that the Terrestrial Paradise is in the place I have said…just above the Equator, where the best authorities had always argued Paradise would be found.”

The idea that Eden was near the equator was related to the idea of climate and the lack of extreme changes of hot and cold seasons. Eden was thought of as a lush place with a dazzling variety of living creatures. In 1554, an anonymous English author writes:

All who have gone there agree that the best and greenest fields and countrysides in the entire world are to be found there, the most pleasant mountains, covered with trees and fruits every kind, the most beautiful valleys, the most delicious rivers of fresh water, filled with an endless variety of fishes, the thickest forests, always green and laden with fruits. As for gold, silver, and other kinds of metal, spices of all kinds, and fruits desirable both tor their taste and touch and for the salutary effects they have: so abundant are they that until now it has not been possible even to imagine that they could be as many elsewhere as here. In conclusion, it is now thought that the earthly paradise can only be located on the equinoctial line or close to it, for the only perfect spot on earth has its place there.

In a letter that Columbus wrote to his son after his voyages, he said:

Certain it is that I have served Their Highnesses with as great diligence and love as I might have employed to win paradise and more; and if in somewhat I have been wanting, that was impossible, or much beyond my knowledge and strength.

Probably the paradise that Columbus mentions above is that of the eternal reward after life, but after his time, the idea of reaching the Garden of Eden began to fade. Explorers may have realized the futility of such an endeavor, but they continued to look for other fabled lands including Cipangu, Tarshish and Ophir, and Cattigara.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Delumeau, Jean. History of Paradise. The Garden of Eden in Myth and Tradition, Trans. Matthew O’Connell. New York: Continuum Publishing C., 1995, 111.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. Admiral of the Ocean Sea a Life of Christopher Columbus, Little Brown & Co., 1942.

The Vaqvaq or Vaq Tree is said to be located near Mount Qaf in Muslim literature. This fabulous tree is described as having fruit in the form of heads that talk and make prophecies. The tree is also known as Wakwak, Waqwaq, Wak, Waq, etc. and is located in the Bilad al-Wakwak, the ‘Isles of Wakwak.’

Instead of heads, the Wakwak Tree is also said to have fruit in the form of beautiful women that hang off the tree by their hair as mentioned in the Arabian Nights.

Every morning at sunrise these heads cry, ‘ Wak-wak! Praise be to God, the author of all this tricktrack!’ By this cry we always know when the sun has risen. The very same thing occurs at sunset. For the rest, the inhabitants of that island are, as here, women, who do not suffer any men to live among them. They are subject to the great king of the genii, who has under his command an innumerable host of genii, demons, devils, and goblins of all sorts.

As can be seen, the Isles of Wakwak relate well to the Island of Women or the Kingdom of Women discussed earlier in this blog.

The various myths related to the Wakwak Tree appear to conflate aspects of the Fusang Tree, the talking tree, the tree of knowledge, the coconut tree and other motifs. The coir of the coconut husk resembles hair and the coconut fruit itself has a head-like shape. In India and Southeast Asia, the coconut is often used as a substitute for the head in religious rituals.

According to Indian myth, the sage Visvamitra created the coconut as a substitute for the head to replace human and other sacrifice. In India, the coconut fruit is seen as having facial features including eyes, a beard and plaited, long hair.

In China, the coconut was once known as “head of the king of Yueh”:

Chi Han writes that a popular name for the coconut was Yueh-wang-t ‘ou, “head of the king of Yueh,” a designation explained in terms of a feud a king of Yueh supposedly had with the king of Champa (southern Indochina). According to the tradition, an assassin was sent to kill the king of Yueh and hang his head on a tree, and when he did so, it immediately turned into a coconut. The king of Champa, angered, had the coconut cut open to use as a cup, as still done by southerners in Chi Han’s day. The Li of modern Hainan have a story vaguely resembling this one, but it entails decapitating the heads of prisoners and planting them, with coconut trees then springing up and bearing head-shaped fruits that yield a tasty juice which ferments into a delectable wine. (Frederick J. Simoons, 1991:289)

Solar Tree

Muslim literature states that the Wakwak Tree announces the rising and sometimes also the setting of the Sun, possibly hinting at a link with the Fusang Tree. Like the Fusang, the Wakwak was located in the extreme East of the world.

The goddess Xihe is said to have bathed her sons, the Ten Suns, before they perched in the branches of the Fusang Tree prior to sunrise. These Ten Suns had in addition to solar and anthropomorphic form, also a bird form as the Sun Crows.

Alfred R. Wallace believed that the legend of the Wakwak Tree arose from the morning cry of “Wak wak!” made by the Bird of Paradise from its tree homes in the Aru Islands.

In the Philippines, the crow is called Wakwak in some languages, and in others this is the name of a mythical crow-like bird whose cry of “wak wak” or “wuk wuk” is thought to be a foreboding omen. Another possibility is the name for the Wakwak Tree comes from the Sanskrit word vaq “to cry (as a bird or animal)”.

John Mandeville in the 1300s mentions a Tree of the Sun and Moon located in the islands of Prester John that spoke to Alexander foretelling his death. This theme is borrowed in part from the 12th century Roman d’Alexandre in which Alexander visits the Kingdom of Women at the end of the world where he encounters the talking tree.

Alexander visits the talking tree on the Island of Women, where the tree prophesies his death. From a late 15th century manuscript of Shah Namah.

Musa ibn al-Mubarak visits the Queen of Wakwak from a manuscript of al-Qazwini’s Aja’ib al-Makhluqat. Notice the Wakwak Tree in the foreground.

Alexander visits the Island of Women from Nizami’s Iskandarnamah (1501 CE).

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Arnold, Thomas. Painting in Islam. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. (reprint), 1965.

Simoons, Frederick J. Food in China, CRC Press, 1991.

Wallace, Alfred R. “The Birds of Paradise in the Arabian Nights,” IN: Jenks, Edward and Charles Roden Buxton. The Independent Review, T.F. Unwin, 1904, 379, 561.

Continuing from the last post on star and constellation names, in addition to the use of Spica at an ancient epoch in connection with a determining latitude, it has also been suggested earlier that the prime meridian was associated with the star.

Assyrian period image from Nineveh of Ishtar (Robert Brown 1886:459) holding up a fleur-de-lys or ear of grain, a prototype of the symbolism for the constellation Virgo and its brightest star Spica (’spike’ of grain).

According to certain Indian and Muslim (al-Balkhi) schools of astronomy, the eastern city of Yamakoti marked the prime meridian.

Yamakoti, Lanka or Ujjain, Romakapura and Siddhapura were placed in order from East to West at quadrants from each other by Indian astronomers supposedly forming a circle around the earth, with Siddhapura in the Western Hemisphere. However, it is clear that these four points instead only delineate the known world, or about half the globe at the time, as the Muslim writer Al-Biruni notes:

How the Hindus came to suppose the existence of Siddhapura I do not know, for they believe, like ourselves, that behind the inhabited half-circle there is nothing but unnavigable seas.

Earlier in this blog, we noted that Romakapura (’Romaka City’) was associated with the astronomy of Ptolemy and other Alexandrian astronomers and therefore Romaka is likely Alexandria rather than Rome (as suggested by some scholars). The city of Ujjain, famed for its astronomical observatory, was located at about 75.5° East longitude in India. Therefore, Romakapura and Ujjain were located about 45 degrees or three hours from each other.

Now, Siddhapura, the city of the Siddhas, or perfected ones, appears related to the Fortunate Isles of Ptolemy, used by the latter as the prime meridian. The Fortunate Isles were the blessed islands, the paradise of the heroes in Western mythology. It seems here that the Siddhas would correspond in Indian terms to the Greek Heros. Now, Ptolemy’s Fortunate Isles are generally associated with the area around the Canary Islands or roughly around 15° West longitude and thus about three hours West of Alexandria.

Yamakoti, a city famed for its gold, is easily linked with Suvarnadvipa, the “Gold Island” and would be placed then for consistency three hours to the East of Ujjain. Here is a map of our suggested locations for these Indian meridians.

Click on image for full-size view

Ptolemy’s map of the world was derived from that of Marinus, a geographer who lived at the port city of Tyre in Lebanon. Marinus claimed to have gleaned his information from travelers like Diogenes, an Indian who ventured to Rhapta on the African coast, and Alexander, a Macedonian who obtained information on the sea voyage from the the Golden Chersonese (Malaya Peninsula) to Cattigara, the furthest port to the East in Greek geography.

Cattigara was said to be a great emporium of the Sinae. While it is tempting to connect the Sinae with the placename “Chin” and similar latter cognates for China, Marinus and Ptolemy use the terms Thinae and Seres to describe most of what constituted China at the time. As the countries of the Sinae were said to cover the area along the sea (Gulf of Sinae) southeast of India extra Gangem, it would describe the extreme southeast of modern Southeast Asia.

The emporium was placed by Marinus as a few days sailing to the southeast of Zaba, although Ptolemy thinks it was many days from Zaba. The latter market city is normally linked with the kingdom of Champa, although some think it may have been on the east coast of the Malaya Peninsula. Historically though, Champa may have been founded later than Marinus time in the early part of the 2nd century, but the datings here are murky. The country of Linyi, the Chinese name for the latter kingdom of Champa, arises in about 192 CE, but there are indications of earlier antecedents south of the Chinese sphere of influence.

Marinus’ Grid System and the Chinese

Marinus of Tyre was the first person in the West to use a grid system marking latitudes and longitudes. However, he was preceded in China where geographers had used such a system since the Qin Dynasty, with particular developments during the Han Dynasty.

Joseph Needham notes that while the grid system in the West was an interrupted development, it continued to be used by the Chinese throughout their history into modern times.

One of Marinus most important informants was a Syrian known as Maes Titianus, who was said to have conducted trade in silk with the Seres (Chinese). It appears that Marinus may have learned about the Chinese grid system from Maes Titianus or possibly from Alexander the Macedonian.

Zou Yan (250 BCE) divided the earth into nine continents through which the Sun passed on its daily rotation. A massive district known as the Red District with China located in the southeast corner appears to describe something similar to the inhabited world of Marinus and that of the ancient Indian astronomers. This district is described as 28,000 li from East to West and 26,000 li from North to South. During this period it is thought that the li represented about a third of a mile, so the dimensions would be about 9,333 miles by 8,666 miles. Zou Yan, though, somewhat like the Hindu astronomers in relation to the mythical circular continents around Meru, apparently inflates the size of the rest of the world in order to conform to traditional cosmology.

The Red District was divided into a three by three “magic square,” of nine squares, with each of these nine squares again divided into into another magic square of nine squares. So that from East to West, the district was divided into nine divisions or hours.

Of course, if we accept my identification of Yamakoti and the other three Indian astronomical cities, the total distance between them is in fact nine hours consisting of 135 degrees.

Marinus, however, made the distance from the Fortunate Isles to Cattigara into 15 hours of 225 degrees, while Ptolemy suggested instead 12 hours of 180 degrees. It should be noted that the remaining “uninhabited” area of the world according to Marinus estimate was in fact nine hours of 135 degrees, so maybe there was some miscommunication along the way.

Now getting to the connection of geography with the star Spica, the Huananzi (2nd century BCE) divides the sky into nine fields. For the Daoists, the nine divisions of Heaven corresponded to the nine divisions of Earth. Zou Yan describes the Sun traveling across the nine continents in a day just as it transversed the ecliptic through the year.

The first field of Heaven is led by the asterism Kio, containing the star Spica. The first part of the world, the beginning of the East in Chinese thought, is the region of the Fusang Tree.

The Sun rises in Yanggu (Bright Valley),
Bathes in the Xian Pool,
And rests in the Fusang Tree.
This is called the Dawn Light.
Ascending the Fusang, it commences its journey…
…the Sun travels over the nine continents, and seven resting places.

– Huananzi: “The Treatise on the Patterns of Heaven”

So, it would appear that Fusang, the beginning of the East for the Chinese, was the limit of the East, or Cattigara, of the Greeks. For certain Indian and Muslim schools of astronomy, Yamakoti also served as the starting point.

Marinus estimated the distance between the Fortunate Isles and Cattigara at 11,250 miles while Ptolemy gave the distance as 9,000 miles as both thought the degree equaled 50 miles at the equator. Again Zou Yan’s estimate is about 9,333 miles depending on the exact equation of the li, while the actual distance using our identification of these locations is 8,100 miles.

Ptolemy locates Cattigara at 177° East and 8° 25′ South, but his coordinates in this region are overextended in both the eastern and southern directions. Later, during medieval times and the early part of the Renaissance, European maps followed this tradition placing mainland Southeast Asia south of the equator and the coast of China near or beyond 180° East longitude.

When Magellan neared the islands of what is now known as the Philippines he was steering for Cattigara according to shipmate Pigafetta, apparently recognizing Ptolemy’s errors in longitude and latitude.

In conclusion, the star Spica was placed at the beginning of the nine fields of Heaven just as the Fusang region was at the head of the nine continents, in the font of the East. The star served to mark the start of the year when the Zenith Moon passed nearest during the year, with the zenith located directly over Tanggu (Yanggu) and the Fusang Tree. This latter location has basically the same identity, at least geographically, with Yamakoti and Cattigara. Marinus of Tyre may have heard of the Chinese grid system together with its starting point from Maes Titianus or Alexander the Macedonian, and simply reversed the order of reference. The Indian astronomers may have heard of the system from Sakadvipa migrants, who had established themselves in India during the country’s golden age of astronomy.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Lewis, Mark Edward. The construction of space in early China, Albany , NY : State University of New York Press, 2006.

Sachau, Edward C. Alberuni’s India: An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India About A.D. 1030, Routledge, 2001.

William, Vincent. The Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients in the Indian Ocean, New Delhi, AES (reprint), 1998.