Who first discovered the new continent? More detail

It was neither Zheng He nor Columbus, but Faxian.

Fa Xian, a Buddhist disciple from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Sixteen Kingdoms Period (AD 3 17-420), is famous for The Story of the Buddha Country. Sikuquanshu has a unique eye. Does the history department include the story of Buddha? Geography class. Both Ci Yuan and Ci Hai have entries recorded by Buddhism. Ci Yuan said it was "the earliest detailed record of overseas traffic in China"; Cihai also said that it is "the earliest detailed record of land and sea traffic in China's existing historical materials" and "valued by Chinese and foreign academic circles".

Indeed, The Story of the Buddha is not a monograph of Buddhist scholars, because it involves land and water transportation at home and abroad, so it has long attracted the attention of Chinese and foreign scholars. According to the newspaper, in recent years, some people have passed the research and examinations of the poor, and they have won new victories. The author is humble and ignorant. I intend to make a comprehensive evaluation of what I have seen for the reference of scholars.

First, Fa Xian's man and his book The Story of Buddhism.

Fa Xian (about 337- 422) was born in Wuyang, Pingyang County (now Xiangyuan County, Shanxi Province) during the Sixteen Kingdoms Period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Hui Jiao's Biography of the Eminent Monk has a biography. There are four brothers, three of whom died young. Their parents are worried that he will never grow up. When Faxian was three years old, he became a novice monk and was sent to a monastery because of serious illness. When his parents died, Fa Xian was determined to become a monk and was appointed as a clergyman by a monk at the age of 20. The Story of Three Monks says that it "has a clear mind and a clear manner." Fa xian is in Chang' an, and he often "hides the law incompletely and is determined to seek it."

After the Sixteen Kingdoms, in the first year of Qin rule (AD 399, that is, three years of Long 'an in the Eastern Jin Dynasty), Fa Xian set out from Chang 'an to Tianzhu (now India) to seek truth and quit. The following summer, they came to Zhangye, Gansu. Here, I met another group of monks seeking dharma in the west, such as Shao, Bao Yun, Hui Jian and Jing Monk, so I followed. The difficulties and obstacles on the way are beyond words, and there are many vivid descriptions in the book. According to the travel conditions at that time, as the author said, "the difficulty of traveling is unparalleled." As a result, some people turned back halfway, some people died of illness in a foreign land, and some people went through all the hardships to reach Tianzhu, but they never dared to go back the way they came, so they had to stay for a long time.

Only Faxian is sincere and willing. He 14 years, traveled to more than 30 countries, not only obtained all kinds of Buddhist scriptures he longed for, but also lived in Jiankang (now Nanjing) after returning to China. Together with Buddhabhadra, a Tianzhu monk, he translated some of them in the Dojo Temple, and resonated with Tianzhu monks. In a third-person tone, he gave a brief and vivid description of the Buddhist relics, people's feelings, customs and other sects he experienced, as well as the geography of mountains and rivers.

Buddhist stories have always been widely valued by Chinese and foreign scholars and have been translated into many foreign languages for a long time. The Insanity College in Zhina, Japan inscribed "Biography of Tianzhu", calling it "taking materials from foreign countries and promoting ancient books". The Japanese were full of joy and wrote the Textual Research Law, which was analyzed and confirmed with sufficient reference.

Second, the mystery of the Buddha's Story and its decoding by predecessors.

The most striking thing about The Story of the Buddha is that the author mentioned that he came to a "Yeboti" country because of his trek. Where the hell is Yeboti? Where did Faxian's voyage pass? This is a mystery. It's 1600. Now, the journey home described in the Buddha's story is in distress, which leads to a mistake in "Yeboti" country. It is recorded as follows: "I started from Chang 'an and went to China and India for six years. After six years of menopause, I went to Cross Country. Peer after peer, stay or die. That is, there are more than 200 people on the merchant ship. Good trade winds, east down. On the third day, a strong wind blew and the ship leaked in. Businessmen are terrible and their lives are at stake. If it is a strong wind, on the night of the thirteenth day, I arrived at an island, knowing nothing about things, but looking forward to the sun, the moon and the stars. If it is rainy, chasing the wind and clouds is not accurate. When the night is deep, the big waves are fighting like a raging fire. The businessman panicked and didn't know which way to go. The depth of the sea is bottomless, and there is no place for rocks to live. It's already dawn, but I know something and I'm still looking forward to it. If you lie in the sun, there is no way out. If it's 90 days, I'm in a country called the wild woman, where Taoism, Brahman and Buddhism are not enough. After stopping in this country on May 2 1, he returned with his merchant ship and 200 people. Fifty Diets released on April 16 went to Guangzhou in the northeast. On the second day of January, at 2 o'clock in the night, it was dark and stormy, so it was cloudy and the navy looked at it by mistake. After more than 70 days, even if it went to the northwest to seek shore. 12 night, to the south bank of Laoshan in Changguang County. ..... is the twelfth year of Jin Dynasty (AD 4 16). " On this basis, in the late Qing Dynasty, Ding Qian wrote Textual Research on Buddhist Geography, and identified Yepodi as Borneo Island. He said: "There is no doubt that its azimuth mileage is Borneo Island. Brahma and Sui Shu wrote "Li Po", which is homophonic with "Poti". Those who add the word "ye" are almost familiar with Sanskrit translation. Reporter: "Borneo Island" is the northern part of Sumatra Island in Indonesia. In 669 AD, Tang was sent to China.

Cen made a textual research on the inference of the Buddha's trip to Tianzhu, and clearly said, "According to Yue": "Yepo's civilization is late, and her pronunciation is also different. Ding (modesty) is not credible. " This is because "The Story of the Buddha" clearly says: "Buddhism is prosperous outside, and Buddhism is not credible." Cen's textual research conclusion on the Buddha's trip to Tianzhu is as follows:

"In a word, the style of writing is simple and unparalleled, but the name of Ye Po was mixed in the past. It is hard to say that it is popular to suppress Su Men in Java today." .

Liang Qichao, a famous scholar, has a very real attitude. In the third chapter of "Communication between China and India" in the book "Eighteen Treatises on Buddhism", when he talked about "Yepoti" traveled by Fa Xian, he specifically indicated that this place was to be tested. This book was included in "Icehouse Photo Album" first published by 1936.

Tang Yongtong, a famous scholar, made a note under "Yepoti Kingdom" in the book "Buddhist History of Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties" published by the Commercial Press 1938, saying: "Yar 'Adua should be on Sumatra Island today." "Sumatra" is a variant of "Sumatra". Teacher Wang is cautious, just estimating and speculating, so he uses an auxiliary verb "should".

Where is the "Yeboti Country"? It is almost a difficult "mystery" that academic circles have paid attention to for nearly a century.

Third, close friends in the boudoir hide, "Fa Fa is obvious in the Western Hemisphere"

Lv Simian, a famous scholar, published The History of China in World Bookstore 1934. According to the itinerary described in Fa Xian's Buddhism, this paper makes an incisive analysis, which is enlightening and refreshing. After briefly introducing the Buddhist story, the article says:

The country where the crime occurred now is Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Originally, I wanted to return to Guangzhou from Ceylon to the east, but it was blown away by the wind and went east to Yeboti. Yeboti, according to today's duality, is the YeCotor State in South America, directly to the south of Mexico and to the east of the Pacific Ocean. The pronunciation of "ke" is "po", and the two sounds of "po" and "he" are mixed in six generations, such as the translation of "po po pan dou" and "po pan tou". Yepoti, pronounced Yeheti, obviously means Yekotor. It is said that Mexico used to be a vast country, so Yee Cotor was undoubtedly Mexican territory at that time. Therefore, it is only 46 days for people who know that Yeke Ti must be in America and not in the Nanyang Islands to return to Guangzhou from the country of Shizi. (original note: according to "Tang Shu? Geography "), therefore, the law is out of line and merchant ships have to be rationed by 50. Today, we were hit by a strong wind. /kloc-On the night of 0/3, we arrived at an island. On the 90th day, we arrived at a country. Counting the previous three days, it has been 160 days, and it is a two-way eastward tour. In the case of Nanyang, it is known that there is a way of continental island; At that time, the sailboats were all sailing along the coast, and there were no people who directly released the ocean. It is said today that the sea is bottomless and you can't shake it. For 90 days, there was no island attached to the sea, and it fell into the Pacific Ocean, not the Nanyang Islands. When I caught Ye Roland, I didn't know it was the Western Hemisphere. I went to the northeast and walked for more than a hundred days before turning west. My husband traveled eastward from America for one hundred days, but he also returned to the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, the marine division didn't understand the roundness of the terrain, but sought the path to the east and walked around the west (ocean) for a long time. This is the eastern part of Qingzhou coast, and it begins to bend to the northwest. /kloc-arrived in Laoshan on 0/2. But (France) rarely sees America, and it is also a circle (around the earth). This passage is conclusive, reasonable, delicate and clear. The author concludes that Faxian's visit to Yepoti was in the south of Mexico, but on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean, which was then the YeCotor State of Mexico. The argument is:

1. Ancient and modern sound changes. The pronunciation of Yepoti recorded in Fa Xian is regarded as "Yeheti", so "Ming is Yektor". It turns out that the pronunciation of a foreign language is similar to that of an ear, but today, it is not a fake international phonetic symbol, but only recognized by Chinese characters, and the same is true.

2. Since the Lion Country (Sri Lanka) returned to Guangzhou, it will only take 46 days if you don't get lost by mistake. Faxian's merchant ship took 106 days, which was caused by "two-way eastbound".

At that time, the sailboat sailed by the sea, but from Shizi country (Sri Lanka), there were islands along the way. However, in The Story of the Buddha, it is said that they were once in a situation where the sea was bottomless and could not rock. "For ninety days, no island was attached to the sea. Therefore, the author concludes that Fa Xian "fell into the Pacific Ocean, not the Nanyang Islands".

Faxian boarded the merchant ship again via the northeast, hoping to return to Guangzhou. As a result, he circled the Atlantic Ocean and reached the coast of Qingzhou. Before reaching Laoshan Mountain, he turned northwest 12.

So the author said: Faxianfeite discovered the new continent of America, and he also circled the earth.

According to the above materials, it should be said that the first person who discovered "Faxian discovered the New World" wrote "Faxian discovered the Western Hemisphere" in the appendix of Lv Simian's National History of China. This "approachable" put forward this conclusion at least before the publication of China National History 1934.

Unfortunately, no one knows the name of this "approachable", and his deeds are even more difficult to verify. However, his article "The Theory of the Western Hemisphere Revealed by Law" is really shocking and refreshing, but it is "kept in an inner room and no one knows her". Of course, perhaps because of the difficult pace of the country at that time, the deep national crisis and the desolation and loneliness of academic research, it failed to attract widespread attention in academic circles. Unfortunately, thanks to the unique insights of historian Lv Simian, he was able to use his erudition to write an appendix for the national history of China, so that we can learn to see the whole leopard in the future and never get lost in that pile of paper and dust full of sweat. Maybe it's a great fortune in misfortune!

Fourth, the joy of regret.

1April 9, 994, the People's Liberation Army newspaper published an article co-authored by Mr. Qiu and Mr. Lian Junyi, "Who first discovered the new continent-China monk Fa Xian arrived in America earlier than Columbus 1080", and the article said:

A breakthrough theory has emerged. China scholar and retired cadre Lian XX (anonymous according to the author) announced a conclusion to the world: Fa Xian, a monk in China, arrived in the American continent before Columbus 1080, which means that Fa Xian discovered the new continent before Columbus! As soon as this word came out, world public opinion exploded.

Reading this great theory is really thrilling. 1April 994 18 newspaper abstracts were reprinted immediately, which had a great impact.

According to the article, it was in 1963 that Lian Xx accidentally "met" his fellow countryman, another monk in the history of China. Even XX began to study Fa Xian from this time. The article said that it took Lian XXX "30 years of painstaking efforts" to "verify clearly" Faxian's sailing route and destination.

However, the reasoning ideas and conclusions are exactly the same as Lv Simian's article "Fa Obvious to the Western Hemisphere" in the appendix of China Nation, which is really "great minds think alike".

It should be pointed out that this "approachable" found that "Fa Xian discovered the New World for the first time", that is, the issue of 1934 of Lv Simian's National History of China, which reprinted the theory of the Western Hemisphere, was 60 years earlier than the news report of 1994 of the People's Liberation Army Daily. In other words, from the time when Lian Xx began to study in 1963, the conclusion of the article "People-friendly" was published as early as 30 years ago. Lv Simian's National History of China was published in 1934, and the article Approaching People was published at least before this time.

It should be admitted that compared with the conclusion of "approaching people", Mr. Lian has his own personal discovery, the times are progressing, and his argument is naturally more comprehensive, rigorous and scientific. Mr. Lian's painstaking research and popularization of this conclusion are indispensable.

The problem is that the achievements of "being close to the people" cannot be erased. Respecting the work and wisdom of predecessors should be the sentiment and morality of scholars. In Das Kapital, Marx quoted the works of many unknown writers. He said: I judge history and give everyone what they deserve. Of course, even the study of XX may be completely completed in a closed environment, just colliding with others, which is particularly difficult to examine and distinguish carefully and carry forward. But as far as the whole academic circle is concerned, we should not turn a blind eye to the cultural heritage of our predecessors and call for "The Emperor's New Clothes" together. In that case, it is not only Mr. Lian's own will, but also the original intention of promoting Mr. Lian's husband. Academic life lies in loyalty, loyalty to history and loyalty to science.

Mr. Lian's research and its achievements have brought glory to the people of China, which is gratifying and encouraging. But it is a pity that Mr. Lian's big article didn't mention it at all. Respecting history, science and facts are the highest principles that scholars follow.