THE CHINESE OF GENESIS

Several times I have made a written summary of my life. It was a simplified version of my life that may have seemed unbelievable with certain expressions I used that may seem unclear and raised questions about certain aspects of my own life’s story. And this is the reaction of people of my own generation, even of my own family members. Now, I wonder if a summary of my life can so easily be misunderstood by people of my own generation, how more so will people misunderstand the life summary of people who lived thousands of years ago? That is exactly the problem with Biblical characters from The time of Genesis to, the time of the Messiah. It should be quite obvious that the simplified stories in the Bible are much more complicated in reality. Simple stories must be elucidated, not simply dismissed as unbelievable.

I believe I found a companion legendary history to the Biblical story of Genesis. First, lets ask some questions to the narrative of Cain an Abel.

“And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭4:2-4‬ ‭ASV‬‬

1) why herd animals?
2) why kill animals?
3) why make a burnt offering?
4) how did they know to make fire?
5) were animals used for fur, milk or meat?
6) why would they cook their food?
7) Cain was not a shepherd, how would he know how to kill?

The reason for these questions is that:
1) God gave Adam and Eve only the fruits and vegetation of the garden as food not meat from animals.

2) God did not kill any animal to clothe them provided that the animals skins that he clothed them with was actually pubic hair, otherwise since animals are innately mortal any animal already dead would provide them skins for clothing, therefore there is no need anyone to kill an animal for just their skins and discard the meats and bones.

3) The weather and temperature would have been in idealic conditions to not need or be comfortable wearing leather or even woolen clothes.

4) If Abel herded sheep for their wool, does that mean that they knew how to weave cloth? If he herded sheep for milk, then was it really sheep or any other flock of domesticated animals as most Bible translation only say “flock” as opposed to “sheep”. In that case any other animal would probably not provide wool for weaving.

5) If Abel herded a flock of animals to provide meat then of course that means they were eating meat, but as primal forager and gathers, why would they eat meat, cook their food or even know how to make fire?

6) Although they may observe how animals eat other animals, we naturally do not have the desire to eat raw meat especially unseasoned. There are no animals that cook their prey.

7) In idealic weather, with no rain, thunder storms with lightning to  ausd trees to burn, or volcanoes to pour burning lava down a mountain side; there would be no natural occurrences of fire to inspire humans to make fire themselves.

8) In such idealic conditions, even outside the Garden of Eden, humans may have become astute in chemistry in a rich environment of minerals deposits. It seems to me that the Genesis account would not have named such rich deposits of minerals as gold and gemstones, because what would the value of those minerals be worth at that time much would they have any use for it. However, generically mineral deposits such as iron, copper, nickel, sulfur, carbon, magnesium, etcetera would likely be very valuable minerals to experiment with which very likely lead to the discovery creating sparks of fire if not fire itself. On the other side of chemistry would obviously be to discovery of fermentation of fruits the making alcohol and vinegar. Cooking by means of fermentation may certainly have preceded the use of fire. Another aspect that may have preceded the use of fire is sun drying of fruits and nuts. Therefore, if Edenic humans ate meat at all then they may have been prepared by chemical means and drying before the discovery of fire.

9) In regards to the discovery of fire, no matter how it happened, this must have been milestone in human society that they would actually see it as the power of God himself, ad thus see a need to make a dedication to God by means of it, offering a sacrifice of whatever they produce. This, I believe, is the meaning of the passage:
“In the course......,” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭4:3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

10) In this line of reasoning I the most plausible way in which humans discovered fire from Chinese mythology. According to the legend of Youchao and Suiren Edenic humans learned to make homes from wood before they discovered fire. Therefore, rudimentary carpentry must have lead to the discovery of creating friction to make fire.

Now, lets look at the similarities of Chinese mythology to the Biblical narratives:

The accounts of these persons in the Bible and in Chinese legends are mostly concurrent events despite written in consecutive order. For example the following account given about them in the 3rd century BCE:


In the book THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF CHINA:
1) P’an-ku
Chinese mythology refers the origin of the human race to a fabulous creature known by the name of P’an-ku, the first human being, though endowed with supernatural powers. Page 4
REFERENCE TO ADAM AS THE FIRST DIVINE HUMAN CREATION

Yin-ti epoch
2) Y’u-ch’au or Youchao (Nest-builders)- thirteen families
Next following P’an-ku, the so-called Tien-huang, “Heavenly emperors” a succession of thirteen brothers, represent a state of life similar to that of our Paradise. Man in those days lived a life of perfect innocence, and know neither temptation nor impurity. Page 5
LIKELY THE UNNAMED BROTHERS OF CAIN AND ABEL.

In the ancient times there were fewer people and more animals. The people were victimized by beasts and reptiles. Then there came a sage who taught them how to build nests with wood in order to avoid harm; and the people were happy. So they made him their ruler and called him Youchao, "Have Nest."
Yin-ti [Yu-ch’au - likely one of the Tien-huang] taught the people to build dwellings as a protection against the animal world. Beasts of all kinds are believed to have lived in perfect peace with mankind. Primal man was supposed to subsist on s vegetarian diet, and it was not before he began to kill them for food that animals became hostile to him.
[A post Garden Edenic setting of paradise conditions with God’s provision of only fruits and vegetables as food. Gen.2:8,9]

3) Suiren or Sui-jön (Fire Maker)
The Yu-ch’au were followed by Sui-jön, “the Fire Producer,” the Prometheus of the Chinese, who discovered the fiery element by looking up to the stars. This, however, did not lead to any practical application until he observed a bird pecking at a tree and thus producing sparks.
[an anecdotal reference to the development of carpentry]
However, the people continued to eat fruits, berries, fish, clams, which were raw, fetid, malodorous, and causing so much injury to the digestive organs that they were ill most of the time. So there came another sage who taught them how to obtain fire by drilling wood and then cure the food of its stench and decay. And the people were happy and made him their ruler and called him Suiren, "Fire Maker." (HanŸeizi, wudu), The Chinese Heritage p.51.
The result was the discovery, that fire might be produced by rubbing pieces of wood against each other; and this is the reputed inventor of the prehistoric knot-writing of the Chinese. (The Ancient History of China Page 6)

4) Paoxi, Fuxi or Fu-hi (Animal Domesticator) - Abel
Paoxi was known also as Fuxi. Paoxi is known to have taught the people how to make meat always available for the kitchen; and Fuxi, more directly, that he taught the people how to domesticate animals. Also, in the "Book of Changes" it is expressly stated:
When Paoxi ruled the world, he looked up, observing the phenomena of the heavens, and he looked down, observing the ways of the earth. Also, he observed the styles of the birds and animals as well as the conditions of land and soil. He learned lessons from near and from afar, from his own person and from things outside. And he began to form the Eight Trigrams in order that men may communicate with divine enlightened virtues, and also categorize the nature of ten thousand matters.  THE CHINESE HERITAGE (Book of Changes xici, II, chap.2.) p.51.
Ssï-ma Ts’ién, the Herodotus of the Chinese, is in this respect a somewhat better guide to us than the inventors of pre-historic legends. He commences his list of emperors with Huang-ti, the first ruler to whom a chronological period is assigned.
FU-HI  (2852-2738) b.c.)
The alleged first emperor of Chinese historians, Fu-hi....
The Chinese place him in the beginning of the third millenium B.C. He is also known by the name Pau-hi....
His official name as an emperor was T’ai-hau, “the Great Almighty.”
According to some accounts, Fu-hi was the successor of Sui-jön, the Fire Producer.....
Neither Fu-hi nor any of his still more fabulous predecessors are mentioned as having anything to do with territories outside the northwest of modern China. In other words, if the Chinese race has at all immigrated from any other part of the world, no tradition of such wanderings has survived among the early legendary accounts of the people.
[This is apparently because Chinese history starts with Cain as Shennong begins his rule as Emperor, and his descendants, not with Abel as Fuhi and Seth as in the Bible. All the legendary accounts before then actually occur in Eden, either in Africa or Turkey it does’t really matter, but it is before Cain and the clans he leads are exiled the the Far East, namely China]
What we hear of Fu-hi’s life from his biographer is a mixture of supernatural features and mock reality. His appearance is described as somewhat like that of a Triton, a human figure the lower part of which has the shape of a scaly serpent. The well-known stone sculptures of the Wu-chï-shan tombs in Shan-tung, dating from the second century A.D., described by Professor Éd. Chavannes, contain a representation of Fu-hi and of an apparently female figure, perhaps his wife or sister, ther lower part of the two bodies being represented by serpents’ tails intertwined with each other.
[It is is interesting to note that his wife is also his sister as it is suggested in the Bible]
According to those authorities who consider him as the first real ruler, it was Fu-hi who established order in the social relations of his people, who, before him, had lived like animals in the wild. He is also supposed to have introduced the marriage bond, [actually nobody else was married except Adam and Eve] which was previously unknown. It was he who taught the people to hunt, to fish, and to keep flocks. [keeping of flocks is a specific reference to Abel Gen. 4:2] He constructed musical instuments of wood and silk threads. He is looked upon as the inventor of those mysterious eight diagrams, the pa-kua, a series of lines of symbolic meaning, which, in spite of many ingenious efforts on the part of European students, still remain a mystery to our philosophers. He is further supposed to have replaced the ancient knot-writing, which may have resembled the quipu of the Peruvians, by a system of hieroglyphics. He arranged some kind of calendar, and gave expression to religious sentiment by being the first to introduced sacrifice to his God on the sacred mount of T’ai-shan. [This may have been another cause for Cain’s jealousy as the one who initiated the practice]
He is supposed to have died after a reign of 115 years [a short lifespan in comparison to the other Biblical characters Gen.5], and to have been succeeded by a personage called Nü-kua, or Nü-wa, whether a man or a woman is doubtful. According to some, Nü-kua was Fu-hi’s sister. She too, is occasionally represented as having a human head with the body of a serpent. (THE CHINESE HERITAGE Pages 6-9)
[It is interesting to note that the only women, other than Eve to mentioned by name in the geneology of the Genesis account are the wives of Lamech and his grand-daughter Na’a-mah. The legendary identity of Nü-wa may have been by nature of legends construed.]

Of interest, however, is not how Paoxi [Fu-hi] may have made this invention, but how Sima Qian was to treat this matter historically. The temptation must have been truly great for him to include an account of Paoxi in his Historical Records. But he chose not to do so.
Of course, in the case of Paoxi, Sima Qian might have excused himself on grounds of exceeding antiquity and the consequent lack of certainty. But, if this were the excuse, it could not be applied to Shennong, “Divine Husbandman.” [Cain] For the house of Shennong had ruled immediately before the Yellow Emperor; and this fact was recorded by Sima Qian himself in the very first chapter of the Historical Records.
 (The Chinese Heritage Page 55) [This is why Chinese History begins with Cain]

5) Shennong (Divine Husbandman) - Cain
Moreover, the principal achievements of the first Shennong had been already described by several books antedating the great historian.
One of them says:
In the ancient times the people ate and drank whatever and wherever they could, gathering fruits and berries from trees and plants and feeding on beasts and reptiles. And they were most of the time afflicted with disease, poison, and injuries. Then came Shennong who taught the people to plant and cultivate the five cereals, to observe the difference of soil, to take note of what grains are suited to what kind of land, dry or wet, rich or poor, high or low. He himself tasted hundreds of plants as well as spring waters, both sweet and bitter, so that the people might what to avoid. Once in this experiment, in a single day, he took in poison seventy times. (Huainanzi, xiuwu xun)
This, also, was authenticated by no less an authority than the Book of Changes:
At the end of the house of Paoxi, the house of Shennong rose. The latter bent wood to make a plow, and cut it to make a rake; with the plow and the rake he taught the whole world. (Book of Changes xici, II, chap.2.)
All these showed how he had come to be known as "Divine Husbandman" (Shennong). But he seemed to have done even more. According to the same authority, it was he who first introduced systematic barter in China; or, at least, it was during his time that trade began to be institutionalized:
The noontime was set as market time. At that time all the people would meet with one another carrying their produce or merchandise. After making exchanges, they would each go their own ways satisfied. (shenŸenlan, 6, shenshi)
And it appeared too that Shennong had not gained the empire without some sort of struggle. This is noted in another book: "The people of Shusha attacked their own prince and joined with Shennong." (Lushi Chunqiu, lisulan, 4, yongmin) (The Chinese Heritage Page 55)

[And as an alternative to the simple Bible narration between Cain and Abel, this Chinese narrative infers a struggle between two clans, which led to Cain (Shennong) being exiled to the Far East along with his clan. Again, the events mentioned about Shennong/Cain occurs at Eden. Therefore, the people that “joined” Shennong went with him to the Biblical “Land of Fugitives.”]

When Cain killed Abel it my have been a situation of social and territorial conflict between two clans. Early in the development of the human family two clans emerged from two social orders, that of agrarian and pastoral. These two social orders cannot coexist without some friction over land use and of boundaries. According to Genesis 13:5-9, even the pastoral clans of Abram and Lot could not coexist in the same space without some disputes.
Yes, Cain did kill his brother Abel, but it is ironic, like the humble farmer kills the gun-toting cowboy. It would be like he gave him “a taste of his own medicine” as the saying goes. But as clan leaders, it would be more like the plantation owner killing the ranch owner over a bad card game. Except, no human has ever died yet. Did Cain know Abel would die from his assult on him? Anyway, that is the reason thier brother Seth had to replace their dead brother Abel as clan leader. Likewise, as in the later application of the Mosaic Law, this act of murder was most likely committed in the heat of rage during a dispute of negotiating a settlement of some territorial conflict. So, not first degree murder but second degree, thus sentenced to banishment to an area for fugitives.
Cain went into banishment in "the land of Fugitives to the east of Eden," [which was further east from "the east of the garden of Eden" where Adam and were expelled, Ge.324], taking with him his wife, being an anonymous daughter of Adam and Eve. (Ge.4:16,17; compare 5:4, also the much later example of Abraham's marriage to his half sister Sarah, Ge.20:12.) Following the birth of his son Enoch, Cain "engaged in building a city," [with and for his clan, this marks the point he rules not simply as clan leader but as king or emperor], naming it for his son. Such a city may have been but a fortified village by present standards. His descendants are listed in part and include men who distinguished themselves in nomadic stock raising, the playing of musical instruments and forging the of metal tools as well as those who were known for their practice of polygamy and their violence. (Ge.4:17-24) Insight on the Scriptures vol.1, p.387. Likewise, we can take notice by this scripture that this was not the Iron Age. Which additionally give credence to secular historical correspondence.

The earth was still at the geologic stage of a proto-Pangaea, when Cain was exiled to the East, which is further East from where Adam and Eve were expelled. East in the Hebrew language means 'towards the rising sun.' Far enough East would take the clan of Cain, to Far East Asia.
First let me explain what I mean by a proto-Pangea. Obviously the world physically was very much different from how it is now. One major clue is that the Bible suggests that it never rained on the earth before the Great Flood. The Flood itself caused and was caused by some major cataclysmic events that drastically changed the face of the earth. I make a full explanation of this in my article “The Noachian Flood.” But, just for this article, I need just say that all the water on the earth now is the only thing that separated the continents. Pangea was simply the absence of most of this water. The earth had a wider circumference with a shallow sea, so most of the land now under water was fully exposed. Thus, Pangea, whatever shape the geologists propose it was, is inconsequential. That is what I mean by a proto-Pangea.
Also, In regards to the book the Preadamites by Alexander Winchell, it can be interpreted that since Mongoloid and Negro (i.e. Bantu) people (distinctively non Hametic) are acutely absent from the Biblical genealogy of the 70 families of Noah’s progeny, then Cain’s progeny in exile consisted of Mongoloid and Negro type people and that they were spared, for the most part, from the Divine judgment of the Great Flood of Noah.
It seems very likely that other families survived the Flood like the Basque, Khoi-san, pygmies, Gaelic, Dravidians and Australian aborigines.
From there a proto Ntu (plural of Bantu) people spread across the southern part of the equator in both directions further East to Melanesia and to the West returning to Africa. So overall, the earliest and oldest occupation of humans has always been in Africa and West Asia, but I believe 90% of human artifacts are buried under the sea.

6) The Heavenly emperors were followed by the Ti-huang or Di-huang “Terrestrial emperors,” eleven brothers [most likely the eleven generations of children from Adam. Probably 3 generations from Cain and 8 generations from Seth, Gen. chapter 4 and 5] credited with having first distinguished sun, moon and constellations. They instituted the divisions day and night, and discovered that THIRTY DAYS CONSTITUTED A MONTH [Pre-Noahcian Flood observation]. Probably something comparable to the Sumerian/Babylonian Ante-deluvium King List. (The Ancient History of China p.5)

7) THE YELLOW EMPEROR
The next generation saw the Jon-huang or Tai-huang “Human emperors,” nine brothers [Probably nine clan leaders, including Lamech (as the Yellow Emperor), in the area of the Land of Fugitives namely China] who divided the world [China proper] known to them into nine countries, a kingdom for each, with cities and towns.
 (The Ancient History of China p.5)

In the book THE CHINESE HERITAGE:
At the time the Yellow Emperor [Lamech] appeared on the scene, the Chinese people seemed to be still largely nomadic, roaming mostly about the Yellow River Valley.
But a new power rose under one Ciyou, who threatened, if not to absorb them all, to waste every one of them by plunder. He was not one of the recognized princes, his lineage being obscure. And he seemed to have hailed from south of the Yangtze, generally considered at that time to be the habitat of barbarians with a culture inferior to that of the north. But having discovered metal in some area under his control, he availed himself of the advantage and forged it into all sorts of weapons of war.
The Yellow Emperor, whose surname Gongsun and given name Xuanyuan, was then chieftain of a house based in the central part of present-day Henan province. He found himself, therefore, squeezed in between two conflicting forces: the one from the then reigning Flame Emperor trying to reassert a more rigorous control over the various princes, and the other from Ciyou bent on rapine and destruction. Thus threatened, the Yellow Emperor was compelled to take up arms. Perhaps because the danger from the north was nearer or more imminent, or perhaps because he thought that if he could gain ascendancy over the dominent imperial house he could the better unite the other princes of similar cultural affinity against their common enemy, the barbarian intruder from the south, he marched northward and fought against the last of the Flame Emperors in the wild plains on the borders of modern China proper and Inner Mongolia, about 150 kilometers northwest of Peking.
Both Confucius’s discourse and the Historical Records use the same language in describing the conclusion of the contest: “It was only after three battles that he was able to proceed in accord with hiswill.” Indeed.” Indeed, this could have occurred no sooner, for Ciyou was dogging his steps fast from behind. Now he summoned the other princes and lords to rally to his standard, and they came willingly. Together they met with Ciyou on another plain close to the one where he had won his recent victory. Ciyou was captured and put to death. Then all the princes and lords hailed him as the Son of Heaven and honored him with the title huangdi, “Yellow Emperor.”
As to whythis particular title was chosen, Confucious did not offer an explanation. But it is believed by later scholars that according to the theory of the rotation of the five elements, earth is born out of fire. Since fire was the symbol of the Flame Emperor, the one who displaced him must be a representative of the virtues of earth; and and as the color of the earth is generally yellow [why not brown?], so the name Yellow Emperor was thought fitting and proper. But whatever the derivation of the title, there is no question but that the Yellow Emperor was the first man to have unified China, or a very large part of it, by military force.
As in noted by the Historical Records, “Wherever under heaven there were people who disobeyed him, he would go after them; but as soon as they were pacified, he would leave them. He crossed mountains and open roads, never stopping anywhere to rest for long. On the east he went as far as the Kongtong mountains and ascended the Rooster-Head Peak. On the south he went as far as the Yangtze and ascended the Bear and the Xiang ranges. On the north he chased away the Hunzhou barbarians and convoked a meeting of the lords and princes at Mount Fu. He based his headquarters on the plains of Zhuolu (where his celebrated victory over Cyiou was won); but he himself always wandered from place to place, living in camps accompanied by guards.”
The Yellow Emperor practiced polygamy, which was probably the custom of the times. As noted before, he had twenty-five sons; and out of these twenty-five, fourteen were awarded surnames different from his own. According to the genealogy given by Confucius and confirmed by the Historical Records, the Yellow Emperor seems to have had only two sons by his principle wife, Luozu.  However, all his successors were descended from her. (THE CHINESE HERITAGE pages 56-58)
Another allegation of the Yellow Emperor to Lamech in Genesis 4:18-24. For example:
Before Sima Qian obtained access to the "books stored in metal cabinets inside stone chambers" of the Han palace, for information on the Yellow Emperor and his immediate successors, he relied principally on Confucius's two discourses-Virtues of the Five Premier Emperors (wudide) and Genealogy of the Premier Emperors (dixixing). These discourses were delivered by Confucius in response to a disciple's question, not of his own volition. In fact, it may almost be said that he was more or less compelled to give answer because he did not want such misrepresentations about the Yellow Emperor as were apparently implied in the inquiry to continue uncorrected.
Zai Wo inquired of Confucius: "Formerly I heard from Rongyi that the Yellow Emperor had three hundred years. May I ask about Yellow Emperor? Was he human, or not human? How could he have three hundred years?"
Confucius was at first reluctant to answer the question, declaring that the times of the Yellow Emperor were of exceeding antiquity and it was all but impossible to give a full and authentic account of him. But at the disciple's insistence, he delivered a brief sketch of the Yellow Emperor's virtues and achievements, and then added:
While he lived, the people enjoyed the advantages he gave them for some one hundred years, after he died, the people continued to be awed by his presence for another hundred years; and when his presence was no longer felt, the people still used his teachings for another hundred years. This is why it is said that he had three hundred years. p.55

However, despite his conservative explanation, on face value if the Yellow Emperor had lived three hundred years that would be a consistent life span as a contemporary of the Noah's children the postdilluvium patriarchs. Also, the Yellow Emperor practiced polygamy, which is an outstanding character of Lamech. In China proper, the rivalry between tribes within the clan may have lead to Lamech's lamentation of having killed someone. (Genesis 4:23,24) With all things considered therefore the reason the narration of Cain's genealogy is recorded in the Bible is not for a dead history, but for a living legacy of a people not included in the narration of Noah's descendants.


8) YAO - 2357-2258 B.C. Descendant of the Yellow Emperor/Lamech.
Last but not least, in the book The Chinese Heritage, page 69, the author remarks:
“For sometime during Yao’s reign the Great Flood occurred. Whether this is the same legendary flood that swept over the earth, as attested by the Bible and other records, we need not discuss here. But the extent of the inundation was so vast that it covered all of Yao’s domain, the valleys of both the Yellow River and the Yangtze. And Yao himself was said in the canon to have described it thus: “Like endless boiling water, the flood is pouring forth destruction. Boundless and overwhelming, it overtops hills and mountains. Rising and ever rising, it threatens the very heavens. How the people must be suffering!””

Note that the reign of Yao is from 2357-2258 B.C and the  conservative Christian date for the Great Flood of Noah is 2370 B.C. The date is off by only 13 years, actually during the reign of Yao’s father Di Ku (or imperial name Gaoxin). In any case this makes Noah a contemporary of the 3rd generation from the Yellow Emperor/Lamech. And the world of Noah was a much greater population than the world of the Yellow Emperor. The most significant aspect of the Chinese account of the Great Flood is that it was dated by Chinese astronomers completely unrelated to so-called Babylonian influence; and with certainly corroborates the Noahian Great Flood and having started at the same time in both the East and the West Asia. I would like add that both civilizations had reckoned 30 days as a month in their calendars, testifying that the cause of the Great Flood had likewise a significant effect on earth’s orbit, altering it from a sound 360 days per year to an irregular 365+ days per year, as it has been later reckoned post-flood. Curiously though, this information is certainly well known by many Biblical scholars, priest and pastors and other heads of popular churches, but since many have survived the Great Flood in the China, it certainly does not suit them to publicize this information to their flock. The effects of the flood in China lasted for many years since then and seems to have significantly changed the climate and environment of China drastically. This is the specific reason and motive for the dispersion of many tribes and the separation of many ethic groups to migrate from China after the Great Flood. According to Bible chronology, after only one year, would it have been feasible for many tribes to search for a warmer climate and a more stable environment elsewhere towards the south. So, again, according to the book the Preadamites by Alexander Winchell, From there a proto Ntu (plural of Bantu) people spread across the southern part of the equator in both directions further East to Melanesia and to the West returning to Africa.