ExclusiveLiangzhu civilization, a mysteries kingdom that existed before Xia Dynasty and is related to Maya.

Around 5,000 years ago, along the mystical latitude of north 30 degrees, where the Nile River valley birthed the ancient Egyptian civilization and the Tigris and Euphrates fostered the Sumerian civilization, emerged the Liangzhu civilization in China. Liangzhu thrived in the Taihu Lake basin and the Yangtze River delta, covering roughly 42 square kilometers around Hangzhou. Imagine a basin backed by the Tianmu Mountains, with a flat Hangjia Lake plain to the east, creating a mesmerizing blend of mountains and plains. Archaeological excavations, initiated in late 1936 and spanning several decades, have revealed Liangzhu as an expansive city-state site that thrived approximately 5,300 to 4,300 years ago, predating the flood control initiatives of Great Yu by nearly a millennium. It was organized into three tiers, comprising an inner city, an outer city, and a palace district. The central area was a 300,000 square meter palace area, followed by a 3 million square meter inner city and an outer city spanning over 6 million square meters. The inner city was a residential area for rulers, nobles, and artisans while the outer city primarily housed commoners and agricultural populations. In the heart of Liangzhu, there were 51 ancient waterways, carefully crafted by hand. These water channels, along with eight water gates and one land gate, showcased the city's impressive engineering. Various cultural remnants such as altars, burial sites, city walls, villages, and dams were discovered. These findings point to a sophisticated society with clear social hierarchies, intricate belief systems, and advanced knowledge. The construction of Liangzhu's ancient city and dams began in the early stages of the Liangzhu civilization, over 5,000 years ago. This suggests that the Liangzhu ancestors, upon arriving, carefully selected the location and, once the exact geographical position of the city-state was determined, commenced construction. In other words, they already possessed the knowledge and capabilities to build a city, not evolving step by step from caves. Then the question arises, where did the ancestors who founded the Liangzhu civilization come from? Before we get into the question, let's first explore what remarkable achievements the Liangzhu civilization had created. The Liangzhu hydraulic system comprised a long embankment, six high dams, and four low dams, capable of controlling an area exceeding 100 square kilometers, with a total water storage capacity of 46 million cubic meters. It served both flood control, protecting the Liangzhu ancient city, and functions such as water regulation, irrigation, and transportation. In 2011, archaeologists obtained a decrypted U.S. satellite image taken on February 11, 1969, covering an area of 1,000 square kilometers, which included the Liangzhu ancient city. By comparing satellite images with modern maps, archaeologists progressively discovered a dam system linking natural mountainous terrain around the Liangzhu ancient city. In simple terms, the Liangzhu forebears ingeniously harnessed the natural landscape to form a built-in overflow system for their ancient city. In contrast to contemporary concrete spillways with gates, they opted for earthen dams. If water rose beyond the dam's height, it would naturally breach. They cleverly employed a rocky mountain slightly lower than the dam as a natural overflow channel. Experts confirm its ability to handle floods exceeding a once-in-a-century magnitude, ensuring the dam's security. In times of rare floods, water would gracefully pass through the bottleneck. This external water control system of the Liangzhu ancient city is the earliest discovered flood control dam project in the world. Besides harnessing the natural environment, the Liangzhu ancestors employed the grass-wrapped mud method in constructing terraces and river embankments. First, they laid a base of qinggao clay at the valley mouth, followed by piling yellow clay as the outer layer. Facing the water on the north side, they stacked grass-wrapped yellow clay to form a slope, covered with yellow-brown loose soil. They used bundles of reeds and thatch, each weighing around 10 kilograms, wrapped with mud, similar to modern sandbags used in flood protection. Wrapping with grass increased the strength of the soil by six times, and the crisscross stacking had twice the load-bearing capacity compared to placing soil in parallel. This indicates a profound understanding of hydraulic engineering by the Liangzhu people over 5,000 years ago. The Liangzhu civilization gained worldwide fame for its exquisite jade artifacts, primarily employed for worship and symbolizing power and status, intricate ceremonial instruments signifying identity. Over 15,000 Liangzhu jade pieces, showcasing richness in variety and exceptional craftsmanship, have been unearthed throughout the years. Notably, the jade Songqing and a jade Yuqing, discovered in the Anti-Mountain Tomb No. 12 in 1986, are particularly astonishing. The jade Songqing is a yellowish-white rectangular prism, broad and sizable, standing at 8.8 centimeters with a weight of approximately 6,500 grams. It features intricate depictions of mythical creature faces and human figures on all four sides, collectively known as the Liangzhu divine emblem. The carvings exhibit fine details, with the most exceptional aspect being the creation of four to five lines within a one-millimeter width, a feat challenging to discern with the naked eye. Such carving techniques, even with modern high technology, would be challenging to replicate. The Liangzhu people, 5,000 years ago, demonstrated an extraordinary level of skill and artistic prowess in creating these intricate jade artifacts. Recent studies indicate that a significant portion of the abundant stone tools unearthed in and around the Liangzhu ancient city might not have been locally sourced, but potentially originated from regions a few hundred kilometers away, showcasing the establishment of a relatively sophisticated economic system during that era. To sum up, the Liangzhu civilization boasted a developed hydraulic system, rice agriculture, refined pottery techniques, written symbols on pottery, evident social divisions and hierarchies seen in burials and large-scale construction projects. Despite the absence of metal artifacts, the considerable quantity of exquisite jade objects unearthed suggests a civilized society. However, the subsequent appearance of the Maqiao culture did not inherit the unique jade culture of the Liangzhu civilization, indicating the abrupt disappearance of Liangzhu. Experts assume that the sudden decline of the Liangzhu civilization likely resulted from a catastrophic disaster. Then where did the Liangzhu civilization originate, and who were these early builders? In 2015, a Chinese archaeologist, along with his team, visited Copan in western Honduras on the border of Central America. Unexpectedly, he made intriguing discoveries, finding traces reminiscent of the Liangzhu civilization. Firstly, the structure of the Mayan pyramids is radial, with staircases on all four sides. When viewed from above, the four-sided staircases intersect to form a cross, precisely dividing the pyramid into quarters. This bears a striking resemblance to the straight grooves on all four sides of the Liangzhu jade song. The Mayan pyramids were primarily used for rituals and astronomical observations, similar to the significant role of Liangzhu jade in religious ceremonies. Secondly, carvings at the entrance of Mayan temples bear a striking resemblance to the Liangzhu divine motifs. Thirdly, in both Mayan and Liangzhu urban construction, no traces of metal usage have been found. Fourthly, both civilizations exhibited rich astronomical knowledge, advanced agriculture, and exceptional craftsmanship. Some archaeologists have proposed the concept of a Maya-China cultural continuum. If these two cultures indeed form a continuum, the question arises, who are their common ancestors? Let's start from the end of the last civilization, when Noah built the Ark, a colossal flood submerged everything, reaching an altitude of over 2,000 meters. After the floodwaters cleansed the world of sin, Noah and his family emerged from the Ark, having survived a year and ten days within. The flying creatures and beasts, along with various animals aboard the Ark, were released to propagate anew. In the distant east, when the flood occurred, it was during the reign of Emperor Yao, according to Sima Qian. However, many Chinese people had fled to the Kunlun and Himalayan mountains during the Great Flood, escaping the calamity and surviving. At that time, the center of Chinese civilization was in the vicinity of Kazakhstan, near the Kunlun Mountains. Throughout the generations, emperors built terraces north of the Kunlun Mountains. Terraces were ancient structures used for observing celestial phenomena, similar to the Maya pyramids, indicating that the area was the center of ancient Chinese civilization. Later, it shifted eastward to the Yellow River Basin and continued migrating eastward and southward to the Yangtze River Basin. The survivors in China retained a significant portion of the ancient culture, such as river diagrams, Luo books, the Book of Changes, Tai Chi, and the Eight Trigrams. So, the Liangzhu civilization likely emerged from the survivors of the Great Flood, possibly during the period of Emperor Shun. As for why it disappeared, it might have encountered a more significant flood disaster. However, later archaeological sites like Taoshe and Shimao have revealed elements of the Liangzhu culture, including the most distinctive features of Liangzhu jade artifacts. This suggests the survival of Liangzhu cultural elements and some form of interaction with tribes in the Central Plains. As for the Maya civilization, the Shanghai Jing records the story of Khufu chasing the sun. Many people do not understand its true meaning. After Khufu's death in the Battle of Cholu, his successor led the tribe to flee to the Wei River Basin, settling down. As their population grew, they migrated to the Baikal Lake region. Facing limited space again, they continued their migration, settling down and multiplying. After the death of each Khufu, the new successor led the tribe in further migrations. They eventually crossed the Bering Strait into the Americas, then turned southward to South America. Later, the Chiyu tribe and Xiaohao tribe also arrived in the Americas. They traveled from north to south, leaving descendants of the Huaxia tribe and establishing civilization. The Maya people demonstrated astonishing knowledge in astronomy, calendar systems, mathematics, agriculture, architecture, culture, and art during the previous era of human civilization. The populations residing in South and North America at that time were also of East Asian descent. The current Native Americans in the Americas are of East Asian origin, appearing red only due to sun exposure, not being of a red race. After the Great Flood, some people survived in the highlands of the Rocky Mountains and the Andes. Only a few Maya people survived, and although they rebuilt their homes, they couldn't reach the height of their ancestors' civilization. They could only recall a part of the Maya civilization they understood and couldn't fully recover it. With each generation of Maya, the true essence of Maya civilization became increasingly elusive. Nevertheless, the later Maya civilization today remains astounding. Their scriptures describe advanced calendars accurate to within a minute each year, with an error of only one day every 1,500 years, far surpassing the Gregorian calendar approved by the European Church in the early 16th century. The Maya scriptures also mention more than one great flood, tracing human history back hundreds of thousands of years before the most recent flood recorded in the Bible. The thorough loss of the Maya civilization is related to Spanish missionaries. When they arrived on the continent and heard Maya priests talk about the classical knowledge of Maya culture, they were shocked by the profound insights of the Maya people. Some of the content contradicted the Bible, such as the Maya's knowledge that planets in the solar system revolve around the sun, which was unacceptable to those who believed in the geocentric model. In a fit of hysteria, they burned Maya books and ruthlessly burned Maya priests at the stake. The wisdom of the Maya people remained a closely guarded secret within the priestly class, unknown to the common people. With the death of the priestly class, the Maya civilization truly vanished. Alright, we'll end our discussion here today. Don't forget to leave comments, like, and share. See you in the next episode.