Mysterious civilization of "Fusang" described in ancient Chinese text

en.wikipedia.org...

From the article

Fusang or Fousang (simplified Chinese: 扶桑; pinyin: fúsāng) is a country described by the native Buddhist missionary Hui Shen (Chinese: 慧深; pinyin: huìshēn) to the Chinese in 499 CE, as a place 20,000 Chinese li east of Da-han, and also east of China. It seems probable that the Han li measuring 415.8 metres was used. If so, the 20,000 li distance would translate into about 8,316 kilometers.

I used Google Maps to get directions from Shanghai, China to Honolulu, Hawaii and this distance corresponds with the distance between China and Hawaii.

But Fusang was described a country northeast of Japan, and some maps even placed it in the Pacific Northwest of North America. This link thinks it could refer to Mexico. If "Fusang" is in America, that would mean the Chinese found the Americas long before Leif Ericsson, Zhang He (if he did find it) , and Columbus.

"Fusang is 20,000 li to the East of the country of Dàhàn (lit. 'Great Han'), and located to the east of China (lit. 'Middle Country')."
"On that land, there are many Fusang plants (perhaps red mulberry) that produce oval-shaped leaves similar to paulownia and edible purplish-red fruits like pears. The place was rich in copper and traces of gold and silver but no iron. The native tribes in Fusang were civilized, living in well-organized communities. They produced paper from the bark of the Fusang plants for writing and produced cloth from the fibers of the bark, which they used for robes or wadding. Their houses or cabins were constructed with red mulberry wood. The fruits and young shoots of the plants were one of their food sources. They raised deer for meat and milk, just as the Chinese raised cattle at home, and produced cheese with deer milk. They traveled on horseback and transported their goods with carts or sledges pulled by horses, buffalo, or deer." (Liang Shu, in Lily Chow)

I don't think horses and deer are even native to Hawaii. Deer are native to America but not horses. Horses actually are said to have existed in North America but became extinct there 10,000 years ago. But maybe they did not. But if horses were completely gone from the Americas, it must be somewhere else, right? The legendary "Mu" or "Lemuria"? Hawaii is more consistent with the distance described (but the distance represented by "li" has gone through many variations), but perhaps there was another landmass close in the Pacific. I'm not sure if the Yonaguni underwater ruins have something to do with Fusang, I just thought of it and there is no way the Yonaguni ruins are natural. But even if they are it is still possible that this Fusang existed somewhere else.

reply to post by Mercurio


From the Wiki article:

They raised deer for meat and milk, just as the Chinese raised cattle at home, and produced cheese with deer milk. They traveled on horseback and transported their goods with carts or sledges pulled by horses, buffalo, or deer.

This doesn't describe anything in North America. However, the parts about raising deer for meat and milk is interesting; only one species of deer has been domesticated in this manner, the reindeer. And there are reindeer herding cultures out into the far east of Siberia (the Yakut, for instance). There are plenty of Siberian and steppes people between there and China who use horses and yaks ("buffalo?") for animal power.

"East" might be an intentional lie; traders would often do that to protect "their" routes (heck, Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo both filled their logs with bullcrap for just that reason)

Also, those french maps may be saying "fou sang" - "crazy blood" or "crazy gore". Both are in the area of British Columbia, which is where the Kwakiutl people lived - and the Kwakiutl made quite a living off warfare with their neighbors, to the point of selling themselves as mercenaries. They were also rumored to be cannibals. Sooooo.

Yonaguni Island has both wild horses and deer. Both native to that island. I don't know if that means something or not. The underwater ruins are significant so Yonaguni may be the east coast of a lost continent, or an island settled by the people of Fusang which may have been further out to the east.

The independent Ryukyu kingdom had a very odd looking flag and emblem. The Ryukyu Islands were later annexed as part of Japan.

en.wikipedia.org...

It is possible the people of Ryukyu are related to the people of Fusang. The people of Ryukyu have their own language and their own religion. Many consider themselves a separate people and want to become independent again. Another interesting thing about the people of Ryukyu is that they are famous for is their longevity, which is attributed to their healthy diet and lifestyle (the people of Ryukyu eat three times as many vegetables as the Japanese).

According to all the agricultural resources I can find red mulberry doesn't even grow on the west coast. Their native range is only as far east as Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Now the breadfruit on the other hand... is a member of the mulberry family and grows in the tropical ranges more likely described by these passages. But the problem there is the passages you cite predate the cultivation of breadfruit by ancient Polynesians throughout the Pacific. The jackfruit, like the breadfruit, is a member of the mulberry family and has wood capable of being used in furniture. It grows in Hawaii and was also cultivated in India as far back as the passages you cite. You can research the other members of the mulberry family but they get less and less likely from there. I think you're looking at a huge load of fiction or great evidence of global climate change.

Interesting this is the second article about ancient civs to peak my intrests. What is interesting is the relation to what is termed, "Kvenland" In Scandinavia, they seemed to have similar tactics and style of domestication to the "Fusang" and is legend in the same way. It makes sense to me even though there is most likely no correlation at all to the two peoples. But the "Vendi" came from Asia so it makes sense that they would have learned from other people along their way.