Chinese evidence of Noah’s flood

John Martin’s 1834 version of the Deluge

Is there any evidence in China of the Great Flood of Noah’s time?

Yes.

Some researchers are claiming that:

A Chinese myth that speaks of a flood so high “it threatens the very heavens” may be rooted in fact after all.

Some 4,000 years ago, legend says, the flood tore through a large are of central China washing away cities and inundating farmland.

Enter a hero named Yu the Great, who earned his sobriquet by spending decades organizing a campaign to dig canals to channel the floodwater, supposedly passing his home three times as he traveled the region, but never setting foot inside until the job was done.

Yu was so revered for these public works that he passed into legend as emperor of China’s supposed first dynasty, the mythical Xia Dynasty.

Now, researchers in China say they may have found evidence that the great flood that sparked the myths was, in fact, a real event on the region’s Yellow River. https://weather.com/science/news/scientists-find-evidence-china-legendary-great-flood-was-real

Analysis of the crushed skeletons of children have revealed that an earthquake 4,000 years ago could be the source of a legendary “great flood” at the dawn of Chinese civilisation.

A Chinese-led team found remnants of a vast landslide, caused by an earthquake, big enough to block the Yellow river in what is now Qinghai province, near Tibet. …

The authors put the Yellow river flood at about 1920 BC by carbon dating the skeletons of children in a group of 14 victims found crushed downstream, apparently when their home collapsed in the earthquake. …

The evidence of a massive flood in line with the legend “provides us with a tantalising hint that the Xia dynasty might really have existed”, said one of the authors, David Cohen of National Taiwan University.

Deluges feature in many traditions, from Hindu texts to the biblical story of Noah. In pre-history, floods were probably frequent as ice sheets melted after the last ice age ended … https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/05/chinas-great-flood-tests-on-childrens-bones-support-4000-year-old-legend

“The flood is pouring forth destruction. Boundless and overwhelming, it overtops hills and mountains,” goes a quote attributed to the legendary Emperor Yao. “Rising and ever rising, it threatens the very heavens.”

If civilization was to survive, the people needed a hero who could tame the floodwaters and restore the land. That man was Yu, founder of China’s first dynasty, the Xia. Over the course of decades, Yu organized a dredging campaign, dug channels that would carry the water back to its source, and pioneered a tradition of great Chinese public works.

“He brings order out of the chaos and defines the land, separating what would become the center of Chinese civilization,” said David Cohen, an anthropologist and early Chinese history expert at National Taiwan University. “He is essentially establishing the political order and the ideologies of rulership.”

It is a powerful foundation myth, but many believed that was all it was. Some 4,000 years after the flood was supposed to have happened, historians had found no archaeological evidence of its effect or firsthand accounts of its destruction. There are no historical artifacts from Yu, or the Xia dynasty he founded. All researchers had to go on were stories written long after the fact, dramatized and politicized to justify the ends of those who wrote them.

Until Wu Qinglong, a geologist at Nanjing Normal University, found signs of the flood in the sediments beneath his feet.

In a new paper published Thursday in the journal Science, Wu and his colleagues describe geological evidence for a catastrophic flood on the Yellow River in about 1900 B.C. — right around the time the “Great Flood” was said to have taken place.

“This expands our understanding,” said Andrew Sudgen, deputy editor of Science, “not only of civilization’s origins, but also the environment in which ancestral societies emerged.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/08/04/legends-say-china-began-in-a-great-flood-scientists-just-found-evidence-that-the-flood-was-real/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na

The Bible tells of a massive worldwide flood that occurred (Genesis chapters 6 -8). This seems to have been around 2325 B.C. (see Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?).

Since carbon dating has its flaws, it could be that the remains found were related to the flood in Noah’s time, or perhaps a different, more local flood, that occurred a few centuries later.

However, there is other evidence in China that the Chinese were aware of the biblical flood.

Notice a couple of statements in the Bible concerning the flood:

1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1).

20…in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water (1 Peter 3:20).

A Chinese word chuán for a type of boat is made up of symbols as described:


Boat	= 8	+ Mouth	+ Little Boat, Vessel

It may be of interest to note that one of the Chinese symbols for flood (chong) is a combination of an inverted symbol meaning “first Earthly branch” and eight (the term for eight may instead mean “person remaining””–that of itself is interesting as that the symbol for eight and “person remaining” look about the same–recall that on the ark there were only eight persons remaining alive).

After the flood, humans stayed together and built a tower:

1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:1-4).

But God did not care for this:

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 11:5-7).

It is highly likely that when people saw others speaking foreign languages, that they thought that somehow something at this tower affected their mouths. The Chinese symbol of a tower is made up of symbols as described:


Tower	= Grass	+ Clay	+ Mankind	+ 1	+ Mouth

The tower of Babel was built with bricks (grass and clay) and humans originally had one language (or mouth). It is possible that this symbol is showing that the ancient Chinese recognized a connection to the biblical tower of Babel. The Bible shows that after God confused the languages in Babel that He scattered humans all over:

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth (Genesis 11:8-9).

The Bible also mentions:

25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan (Genesis 10:25).

Now whether it was just the scattering of humans that occurred in Peleg’s time, or that the earth had continental divisions at that time is not completely clear. What is clear, however, is that humans did separate essentially by language and ethnicity thousands of years ago.

When I tried to copy each of the Chinese characters into this post, they did not copy properly.

To see them, however, simply go to my article China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Genesis and Chinese Characters.

That article also has evidence, via Chinese characters, that the ancient Chinese knew about Adam & Eve and more in Genesis.

Of course, it is not just the Chinese. The old Radio Church of God taught:

The AMERICAN INDIANS in both North and South America preserved legends of the Flood in which a few escaped by means of a boat and repeopled the earth.

The NATIVES of GREENLAND maintained that all men were once drowned and that a man and woman became the ancestors of all now living.

The POLYNESIANS from the South Pacific contend that a flood overwhelmed all but eight people.

CHINESE traditions speak of their civilization as having been founded by a man, together with his three sons and daughters, who escaped a devastating flood.

EGYPTIAN and other AFRICAN traditions preserve similar accounts.

The GREEKS pictured their “Noah” as building an Ark to escape the waters, after which he sent out a dove twice before setting foot on earth again.

The ancient BABYLONIANS and ASSYRIANS have preserved for us on clay tablets word-for-word accounts of the same traditions among them — traditions which are exact in many details!

Think for a moment — IF the Flood had not occurred, would all these peoples have preserved these records of the Flood? Certainly all people would not have been deceived into believing the Flood had happened if it had not happened! You may find this unanimous testimony of ancient nations in the International Standard Encyclopaedia, article “Deluge,” and in summary form in Halley’s Bible Handbook.

Thus, for the Flood of Noah we have the actual geological evidence AND the testimony of many ancient peoples who remembered the catastrophic results. The only reason the testimony is not believed today is that man is unwilling to believe what God says! He would rather believe the evolutionary fairy tale that everything has continued the same since the beginning of time.

Knowing these facts, some skeptics assert that the biblical record came from Babylonian tradition rather than fact. The EVIDENCE IS JUST THE OPPOSITE! The Babylonian record we have was nearly all found in the Library of Ashurbanipal (around 650 B.C.), long AFTER Moses’ record of Noah’s Flood. The sane explanation is many peoples preserved their OWN accounts. Of these accounts only the biblical record is without contradiction and filled with rational simplicity. (Lesson 12 – Proof of Biblical History. Ambassador College Correspondence Course. 1966)

The biblical accounts can be trusted, even if certain ‘experts’ wish to pretend that they are only myths.

Some items of potentially related interest may include:

China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Genesis and Chinese Characters Where did the Chinese people come from? This article provides information showing that the Chinese peoples must have known about various accounts in the Book of Genesis up until their dispersion after the Tower of Babel. Here is a link to a version of this article in Spanish: ¿Prueban los caracteres chinos la exactitud de la Biblia?
Have the Turks and Chinese Just Found Noah’s Ark? Some have so claimed. If true, this could change how much of the world views events from the Bible.
Is God’s Existence Logical? Is it really logical to believe in God? Yes! Would you like Christian answers to give atheists? This is a free online booklet that deal with improper theories and musings called science related to the origin of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and evolution. Two animated videos of related interest are also available: Big Bang: Nothing or Creator? and A Lifegiver or Spontaneous Evolution?
Is God’s Existence Logical? Some say it is not logical to believe in God. Is that true? Here is a link to a YouTube sermon titled Is it logical to believe in God?
Is Evolution Probable or Impossible or Is God’s Existence Logical? Part II This short article clearly answers what ‘pseudo-scientists’ refuse to acknowledge. Here is a link to a YouTube video titled Is There Another View of Evolution? and another titled Quickly Disprove Evolution as the Origin of Life.
How Old is the Earth and How Long Were the Days of Creation? Does the Bible allow for the creation of the universe and earth billions of years ago? Why do some believe they are no older than 6,000 years old? What is the gap theory? Were the days of creation in Genesis 1:3 through 2:3 24 hours long? Here is a link to a sermon: Genesis, ‘Prehistoric man,’ and the Gap theory. Here is a link to a related article in Spanish: ¿Cuán vieja es la Tierra? ¿Cuán largos fueron los Días de la Creación? ¿Teoría de la brecha?
Did Angels Marry Human Women? Many insist this is so and also that this mating caused giants to be born. Did this come from the ‘Book of Enoch’? What does Genesis 6:4 really mean? A related video is also available: Did Angels Marry Women and Produce Giants?
Where Did God Come From? Any ideas? And how has God been able to exist? Who is God?
How is God Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient? Here is a biblical article which answers what many really wonder about it.
Has time been lost? It Saturday the seventh day of the week?
Study the Bible Course Want to learn more about the Bible? This new course is for you! It is also available in French (Leçon 1 En francés), Kiswahili (Somo 1 Katika Kiswahili), Mandarin Chinese (首页 › 中国), Tagalog (KURSO SA PAG-ARAL NG BIBLYA), and Spanish (Lección 1 En castellano).
Read the Bible Christians should read and study the Bible. This article gives some rationale for regular bible reading. Here is a link in Mandarin Chinese: 读圣经 Here is a link in the Spanish language: Lea la Biblia.
Bible: Superstition or Authority? Should you rely on the Bible? Is it reliable? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2027 or 20xx? There is also a video titled The 6000 Year Plan: Is the end of humanity’s reign almost up?