Caucasian Mummies of China

In ancient times, many Westerners found themselves in intimate contact with China and other parts of Asia, and vice versa. This story is about the Aryans, forerunners of both Western and Eastern cultures; Western cultural connections to the East; Chinese influence on Western civilization; and their interaction leading up to the Tarim Basin discoveries. This essay concentrates on the Steppes and Western China, but it will not rule out the Wesstern connection and will discuss it quite candidly. The word Aryan is a derivative of the word Arya, which in Sanskrit means “noble.” The Aryans created the great culture of the Hindus, sweeping southward across the Himalayas and pressing deep into the Indian subcontinent, a land which got its name from another Sanskrit word Sindu, which refers to the Indus river, and the fertile land along its banks, which saw the rise of many great civilizations. (Chouinard, 211) Geographically speaking, there are four possible homelands of the original Proto-Indo-European race. (Renfrew, 89) The first is an Asiatic cradle, from which a primordial civilization spread out in numerous directions, colonizing most of Europe, Asia, and other regions as well. (Renfrew, 90) The second is that of Southern Russia, in the area of the Caucasus, a place which gave its name to the Caucasian race, or white population of Europe and their descendants. The third is Central Europe, and the fourth is the Northern European plain, most specifically Scandinavia. (Renfrew, 90–92) V. Gordon Childe, in his book The Aryans: A Study of Indo-European Origins, discussed at length the various contending theories concerning a European, rather than Asiatic origin for the Indo-Aryans. (Mallory, 6) Omalius d’Malloy was the first to suggest that the Aryans had their origins in the North-central European plain. His view was countered by Latham’s conviction that it was in the Ukraine where the Aryan homeland can be found. (Mallory, 42) “They showed extraordinary prevision; it may at once be said that in the present state of our knowledge the cultural conditions are fulfilled only in one of those two directions.” (Mallory, 44) Childe notes that Poesche in 1878 supposedly determined that the Rokitno Swamp as the most logical nesting place of the Indo-Aryan nations. This view was spurred by his erroneous conception that Nordic blondness and albinism were synonymous. Indeed, not only was the climate not suited for the evolutionary development of the Aryan people, it also lacked the necessary environment for a horse-driven society, or for the development of agriculture, two institutions which must be considered characteristic of the ancient Aryans, if not originated by them. (Renfrew, 92–94) Around 1100 b.c., a mass migration of Aryan-speaking Nordics penetrated southward beyond the Caucasus. (Grant, 104) They most certainly assimilated into the existing population. The old Darwinian law which states the more progeny produced the greater chance a species has for continuance and survival definitely applies here: there were too few Aryan invaders to adequately “modify the blood of the autochthonous race and to substitute Aryan languages for the ancient Mediterranean and Asiatic tongues.” (Grant, 105) It was from the steppes of Mother Russia that these first “Northmen” came, two races which we now call the Achaeans and Phrygians. (Grant, 105) Records of their early migrations were recorded by Mesopotamian scribes. They told of fierce, light-skinned nomads descending from the north and establishing key settlements throughout the region. As these Russian Nordics expanded outwards, they colonized not only Europe and the Middle East, but regions far from their homeland in Central Asia, Siberia, Japan, and beyond. (Pierce) One of the places our ancestors went to colonize and conquer was a harsh, unforgiving realm known as the Tarim Basin, an autonomous province on the western frontier of China, which includes as part of its exotic landscapes the desolate Takla Makan Desert. (NOVA) Takla Makan is a wasteland of unrelenting sand dunes, winding slopes of whirling dust extending to the horizon. Patches of scorched vegetation litter the terrain. Rising from the sea of rippling sands stand immense mountain ranges and rocky enclaves, burning hot in the summer and frigid cold during the winter. These treacherous rock formations stand in silence, speaking only to the dead and to the memories of a past long forgotten by men, but remembered by the sentinels of eternity. (NOVA) Any visitor to the region would be quick to point out that the ancient gods have never left; the desert is still ruled by them. The inhabitants of this rugged landscape still depend on them for their survival. In many ways it remains as it did 3,000 years ago when the newcomers first arrived. These places speak of primordial mysteries unmatched both in their beauty and their cruelty. Who can comprehend the glorious miracles that were performed here, the classic stories of the ancient barbarians who made a home for themselves in one of the most unlikely of places? (NOVA) It was here that two worlds, East and West, met face to face on the battlefield of human endeavor, and for an instant became one. (Chouinard, 201) It was here that the city of Niya flourished for five centuries before being left in ruins sometime around the third century c..e. The masters of Niya were not Chinese, nor were they Mongolian, Siberian, or Turkic. In fact they didn’t resemble any known Asian races at all. Their appearance was striking; their tall stature, blond hair, and round, deep-set eyes set them apart from the native population; they were an entirely different race and not members of the Oriental world. The Chinese were resentful of this, feeling their long-held beliefs of Chinese supremacy under attack. (Mallory and Mair, 209) The excavation of a large burial site in Niya was the first transgression. It was set inside an elaborate temple that exhibited architectural styles showing Indian, Persian, and even Greek and Roman influences. (NOVA) Pieces of pottery and metalwork were marked by swastikas, a racial archetype which also signifies a religious connection to both Hinduism and Buddhism. To demonstrate the Chinese authorities’ audacious attempts to conceal the truth, the author of an article published by National Geographic told an infuriating story. They found a piece of pottery which bore an impression of the potter’s thumb. The author asked if he could take with him to the United States for further examination. (NOVA) Chinese archaeologist Wang Binghua then asked, “Would you be able to tell if the potter was a white man?” The author said he didn’t know. Binghua stuffed the artifact into his pocket, and neither the author of the article nor anyone else ever saw it again. On the temple there was an engraving with a sun disc, as well as a swastika, which hinted at the cult of Mithras, an Indo-Iranian religion which, although much older than Christianity, was a rival image to Christ and spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire during the first to third centuries c.e. Dr. Kamberli is confident that Western societies built great cities and civilizations along the Silk Road, a pathway connecting Western and Eastern Europe with China and the central Asian steppes. (NOVA) British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein made a map of Niya in the early 20th century. He also retrieved hundreds of wooden documents, written in an obscure script similar to an Indian alphabet or some form of Aramaic, the language that Jesus probably spoke. Ancient Chinese texts, dating as far back as the second century b.c.e., identified a group of people known as the Yuezhi. They were depicted as treacherous, yellow-haired barbarians with a propensity for destruction. In 1980, there was an expedition to the lost city of Loulan. A unit of archaeologists, funded by the Chinese government, was sent to confirm or deny certain rumors regarding the racial composition of some of China’s earliest peoples. Lying in the sweltering heat was just the kind of evidence they were looking for: the mummified remains of a 40-year-old, brown-haired woman with clear Caucasian traits. Team leader Mu Shun Ying was impressed by its immaculate state, and dubbed the woman the “Loulan beauty.” Radiocarbon dating set this mummy at around 3,800 years old. (Barber, 132) In close proximity to the “beauty” was another mummy, in a tomb constructed from wood. Radiocarbon dating on the materials used to construct the tomb placed its origins as early as 6,000 B.P. (Barber, 132) One hundred and fifty miles from the site of the ancient metropolis of Niya is the humble village of Zaghunluq. It was there that a Uygur archaeologist named Dolkun Kamberti discovered a burial site which would later prove instrumental in debunking many of the beliefs held by Red Chinese scholars, which they endured with much consternation. (Mallory and Mair, 24) It wasn’t until the early 1990s that an American team was permitted to go beyond the city of Niya and taste the forbidden fruit of knowledge, a reality that lay rotting in a storeroom at a sweltering Chinese museum. These 4,000-year-old relics could change China’s relationship to the West forever.An expedition mounted in 1996 comprising Dr. Victor Mair, a professor of Chinese literature at the University of Pennsylvania, and a group of his colleagues, including Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimball, executive director at the Center for the Study of Eurasian nomads, was dispatched to further investigate.. (Mallory and Mair, 24-26) They first arrived at the Urumchi Museum, where they were waved into a large chamber filled with rows of mummies, some looking as they had died within the past 48 hours, others seriously deformed or in a state of advanced decomposition. Some appeared Mongolian, perhaps the ancestors of Genghis Kahn, but others, as shocking as it might seem, were clearly Western and were dated as far back as 4,000 B.P. (Barber, 44) The expedition members were motioned to a table on which was lying a young maiden, half-covered in a thin shroud. She appeared to have been sacrificed. Her eyes were gouged out, her limbs directly under her pelvis had been ripped out, and her arms above her elbows were missing. Underneath her, laying face-down in the choking dust of the earth was a young child, no older than a year, its face screaming for air: mouth open, hands clenched, even remnants of mucus and tears. (NOVA) Attached to these unfortunate sacrificial victims was the honored mistress of the tomb, clearly of Aryan origin: tall and long-nosed with a narrow visage and blond hair. She must have been a real beauty when she was alive, said Dr. He, one of the archaeologists who found her. Her long blond hair, still almost perfectly preserved, caressed her narrow shoulders and ran downward towards her once ample breasts. (Barber, 94) She had been rescued from an ancient burial site in 1978 by Chinese archaeologist Wang Binghua at Qizilchoqa, east of Urumqi, which is the capital city of Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region. (Barber, 93) Due to its anomalous nature, the discovery was intentionally buried by the Communist regime for almost 20 years. But you cannot annihilate truth, no matter how hard you try. Looking into the mummy’s lifeless eyes, one could catch a fleeting glimpse of the world’s grand design. In time, she would transcend her earthly demise and gain near-immortality, for it would soon become clear that she represented a turning point in contemporary archaeology. (Barber, 93–96) Scientific reconstructions of the faces reveal the startling appearance of Anglo-Saxons and other Teutonic tribes. Astounding as it may seem, many scholars in the United States still maintained that their authenticity was in question. Yet after this expedition Mair confirmed unequivocally that they are indeed genuine. (Chouinard, 208) Like Kennewick Man, this series of awesome discoveries challenges us to rethink Europe’s role in the development of global history and civilization. Now, not only are Caucasians appearing in prehistoric North America, but also in China. Found with the mummies were wool tartans, like those of the Celtic tribes of Western Europe. The Chinese were incapable of producing wool textiles. (Chouinard, 89) Victor Mair and his company then took a perilous trek into the heartland of the Basin. The government had forbidden expeditions into this region, but an exception was made. This should have been an indication that something was seriously wrong. The Chinese Communists had maintained strict control on the exchange of information regarding the 4,000-year-old mummies and the white population they represented. (Mallory and Mair, 19) Nevertheless, the group was led to a burial site which, according to the Chinese authorities, contained the remains of a Yuezhi. The American team was not impressed. First, the alleged Yuezhi’s head was missing, making it extremely difficult to determine ethnicity. (Mallory and Mair, 51) Its body was also covered with fungus, and it was clear that the grave had been tampered with. Obviously the Chinese officials had intended to show them a mummy which would discourage them from validating the discovery that China was not alone in its technological, yes, even spiritual development. (Mallory and Mair, 51–52) Scientists and scholars made the perilous trek to Western China. There are reports of a vast civilization of fair-haired giants, who were once nomadic but settled along what is known today as the site of the ancient Silk Road. This was known as the Tocharian civilization. The creators of this great society, the Tocharians, were often called Arsi, a word which was derived from the Sanskrit arya and the Old Persian ariya meaning Aryan. (Mallory and Mair, 7–8) Tocharian has been positively identified as one of the earliest branches of the Indo-European family of languages. Though now extinct, many of its linguistic patterns resemble those of Celtic, Slavic, and other now-defunct dialects that can be traced to a group of peoples who had their origins on the Russian steppes near the area of the Ural Mountains. (Mallory, 67) Some scholars were so bold as to proclaim that Tocharian was in fact a Celtic dialect. It is very likely that the original homeland of the Indo-Europeans was either the north Caucasus or Central Russia, from which a large extent of the population moved west into Europe, as others pushed southward into India, Persia, and the Middle East, and a smaller complement, the ancestors of the Tocharians, moved eastward into China. (Mallory 67–69) Dr. Mair investigated a cave-like temple at Kizil and Kumtura located in the Tien Shan Mountains north of the Tarim Basin. In it were examples of Indo-European script, a linguistic link to the peoples of the West. (Mallory and Mair, 13–19) Despite a melding of Buddhist and Hindu imagery, and the fact that parts of the paintings were purposefully defaced by peoples of other faiths, the European signature was not to be mistaken. (Mallory and Mair, 21–34) Victor Mair noted it immediately. The images showed hundreds of finely dressed men, with red or blond hair always parted in the middle, an obvious European hair-style. Their pinkish skin tone, blue or green eyes, and long, pointed faces showed that they were in fact of Indo-Aryan extraction; their bodies were by far much taller and slenderer than most Asians. These same people eventually spread throughout northeastern and central Asia, moving into Ferghana and Bactria, north of China just beyond the Pamirs. (Mallory and Mair, 102)In his book The Wanderings of Peoples, published 1912, A. C. Haddon affirmed that Chinese civilization was spurred by the firebrand of “semi-cultured” peoples from the west. Dr. Han Kangxin believes, as does Dr. Mair, that the original inhabitants of the Basin were related to the European races. Indeed, Kangxin even believes they were related to the Cro-Magnons, although others disagree. Some share the opinion that it was the European rather than Asiatic races that led to the establishment of early Chinese civilization. In 1951, the German archaeologist Robert Heine-Geldern showed similarities of metallurgy in Europe and China around 800 b.c..e. Socketed battle-axes and spearheads which were used in abundance in early China were compared to those of Hallstatt and the Indo-European homeland, indicating they were brought there by nomadic Aryans some 3,000 years prior. Although it might be considered the product of an overactive imagination, Heine-Geldern also claimed that the first Chinese Empire of Chi’n Shih Huang Ti, founded in 221 b.c.e., was the creation of Aryan invaders. (Pierce) Many formerly disputed theories are now being exonerated. Dr. David W. Anthony, an anthropologist at Hartwick College in New York, linked the awesome migration patterns of the Indo-European race to the invention of wheeled wagons. Extensive excavations in southern Russia and Kazakhstan have revealed 5,000-year-old burial mounds containing traces of numerous wagon wheels. Not only were such artifacts found in Eastern Europe, but also in the Gobi Desert, which lies on the northeastern border of the Tarim Basin. (Pierce) It is now accepted by almost all archaeologists that the Ukraine was the birthplace of mounted culture, entirely discrediting assertions that identify the origins of horse-riding and the chariot with China or the Middle East. The mummies of the Tarim Basin are a link to not only the human past, but also to the evolution of both Eastern and Western culture. This is not the story of one culture overtaking the other, but rather an East-West synthesis. Regardless of invasion, colonization, and oppression, the contact of two distinct peoples can have ramifications beyond the imagination. ■WORKS CITED:Barber, E. J. W. The Mummies of Urumchi. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999.Chouinard, Patrick. A Legacy of Gods and Empires: The Quest for Ancient Mysteries. Clearwater: Shadow Books, 2003Grant, Madison. The passing of the great race, or, The Racial Basis of European History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1918.Mallory, J. P.; Mair, Victor H. The Tarim mummies: Ancient China and the Mysteries of the Earliest Peoples from the West. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2000.Mallory, J. P. In Search of the Indo-Europeans. Language, Archaeology and Myth. London: Thames and Hudson, 1989Pierce, William L. “Aryans: Culture Bearers to China.” National Vanguard, July 1998, updated 2004.Renfrew, Colin. Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1988.NOVA: The Mysterious Mummies of China. PBS, August 1997
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