Whiston, William
(Leicestershire 1667-1752 Kensington) : Theologe, Physiker, Autor
Subjects
Index of Names : Occident
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Literature : Occident : Great Britain
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Physics and Chemistry
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Religion : Christianity
Chronology Entries (1)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1696 |
Whiston, William. . new theory oft he earth [ID D27254]. Quellen : Bibel. Martini, Martino. Sinicae historiae decas prima [ID D1703]. Hundt, Michael. Beschreibung der dreijährigen chinesischen Reise : die russische Gesandtschaft von Moskau nach Peking 1692-1695 in den Darstellungen von Eberhard Isbrand Ides und Adam Brand [ID D4572]. Confucius sinarum philosophus [ID D1758]. Couplet, Philippe. Tabula chronologica monarchiae sinicae [ID D1757]. I cannot but propose a Conjecture I have for some Time had in my Mind about the Peopling of China ; which I think may deserve to be consider'd ; and 'tis this ; that the Chinese are the Offspring of Noah himself after the Flood, and not deriv'd any of his other Posterity, Shem, Ham, or Japhet, as the Inhabitants of the rest of the World are. This Conjecture depens on the following Reasons. 1. The Account of the Posterity of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and of their Dispersion, gives no Hint of any that went so far East as China, as I think is plain from the best expositions of the 10th of Genesis, where that Matter is chiefly treaded of. 2. Since the Dispersion of the Posterity of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, appears to have begun about Babylon ; a Country so remote as China could not be so soon reach'd and peopled, as the prodigious Numbers of its Inhabitants at present shew it to have been. The nearest Regions must have been first and most fully peopled ; and the remoter not till Men were increas'd sufficiently to require new Habitations ; and accordingly, it has happen'd in the Countries of Europe, Africa, and the Western Parts of Asia ; to which, I suppose, the Dispersion begun at Babel is confin'd. But this is a sufficient Proof, that so very large and prodigiously populous a Country as China, could not be of so late an Original, as it must be in case the Chinese are deriv'd from this Dispersion. 3. The sacred History, soon after the Flood, confines it self within the then known World : (which, I think, did not include China, no more than America, and which is styl'd the whole Earth very often in Scripture) and at the same Time says not a word of the great Father of the whole Race of Mankind, Noah, excepting the Number of Years he liv'd. Now this is, I think, a kind of Intimation, that Noah had no Share in the Actions related in the sacred History ; and so, by a fair Consequence, was probably plac'd in China, a Region out of the Compass of the then known World. 4. This Argument appears the more probable, because the Scripture tells us, as we have now seen, that all Mankind journeyed Eastward after the Flood. And tho' the Posterity of Shem, Ham and Japhet, stopt in the Land of Shinar, and there undertook to build a City, and a Tower ; yet 'tis probable that Noah himself, together with his Wife and his young Postdiluvian Posterity, would not join with the rest of the World in that Undertaking, (which appears to be displeasing to God, since he miraculously defeated their Enterprizes), but proceeded still in their Journey Eastward, till they came into China. 5. This is farther confirm'd by the ancient Chaldean Tradition concerning the Deluge, which informs us, that Xifutbrus (so Noah is there call'd) coming out of the Ark after the Deluge, with his Wife and Daughter, and the Pilot of the Ark, offer'd Sacrifice to God ; and then both he and they disabbear'd, and were never seen again : And that afterward Xifutbrus's Sons journeyed toward Babylonia, and built Babylon, and several other Cities. 6. The Chinese Language and Writing are so entirely different from those with us, which the Confusion at Babel introduc'd, and are at so vast a Distance from them, that I think they cannot well be deriv'd from thence, nor from any of those Patriarchs whose Posterity was there divided into the several Parts of the World. All our Languages consist of Words and Syllables, made by a few Letters : which is wholly different from the way of expressing entire Sounds, and of varying the Sense of Tones or Accents among the Chinese. All which Circumstances persuade me, that their Original is different from ours : And that as we are the Offspring of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, whose Sons were scatter'd from Babel ; so are they of Noah, who was no way interested in that Dispersion, or in those Languages which are derive d therefrom. 7. The learned Sciences seem to have been anciently much better known in China, than in these Parts of the World : Their Government and Constitution much firmer, and more lasting than Ours : Their most ancient Histories more authentick and certain than Ours ; (excepting those of more than bare human Original). All which Things make one ready to imagine, that as, 'tis probable, Noah might be much more wise and learned than any of his Sons ; so all chose Settlements, Laws and Traditions, which are deriv'd from him, are remarkable Effects and are Testimonies of the same : And therefore that in China (where these Effects and Testimonies chiefly appear) all those Prerogatives are owing to Noah, their original Founder, and no other. 8. There are some Reasons to believe, that the Chinese mean no other by their first Monarch Fohi, than Noah himself. For, 1. The Beginning of their History with the Reign of Fohi, will, if the second and third Families of their Kings were collateral, (as I have elsewhere shown they were) be coincident, even from the Hebrew, which, about the 235th Year after the Deluge, and consequently the End of Fohi's Reign will be coincident with the Time of Noah's Death. 2. The Chinese Histories say, that Fohi had no Father ; which agrees well enough with Noah, because the Memory of his Father might be lost in the Deluge, or they could trace his Genealogy no higher, and so Occasion was given to this Fable, that he had no Father at all. 3. The same Histories affirm, that Fohi's Mother coneiv'd him as she was encompass'd with a Rainbow ; which seems an imperfect Tradition concerning the first Appearance of the Rainbow to Noah after the Flood. 4. The Character and Cirumstances, and Appellation of Fohi among the Chinese, agrees exactly with what the Scriptures affirm of Noah. Fohi, says Le Compte, the first Emperor of China, carefully bred up seven Sorts of Creatures, which he used to sacrifice to the supreme Spirit of Heaven and Earth. For this Reason, some call him Paohi, that is, Oblation. Noah, says Moses, took into the Ark of every clean beast by sevens, the Male and his Female. And after the Flood, Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast and every clean fowl, and offer'd burnt-offerings on the Altar. 5. The Chinese Histories affirm, that Fohi settled in the Province of Xensi, which is the most North-West Province of China, as was natural to expect if he journeyed from the Ark, or from Mesopotamia. From all which Arguments, I think it very probable, that Fohi, the Founder of the Chinese Monarchy, was the same Person with Noah in the Scripture, and consequently, that the Chinese are the Offspring of Noah. 9. All this will be further confim'd, when we shall have shewn hereafter, that the Current of the Waters of the Deluge would carry the Ark a long way from East to West, and that China lies just East from the Gordyean Mountains ; so that Noah, before the Flood, must have liv'd in those Eastern Parts, and probably in no other than China it self. Since therefore 'tis so lokely, that Noah liv'd in China before the Deluge, 'tis no wonder that he return'd to China again, and re-peopled the same with his own Offspring born after the Deluge ; and that from this Difference in Original proceeds all that Difference in other Things, which is so remarkable, (if compar'd with the rest of the World) in that ancient, numerous and learned Nations. |
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Bibliography (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1696 |
Whiston, William. A new theory of the earth, from its original to the consummation of all things : wherein the creation of the world in six days, the universal deluge, and the general conflagration, as laid down in the Holy Scriptures, are shewn to be perfectly agreeable to reason and philosophy : with a large introductory discourse concerning the genuine nature, stile, and extent of the Mosaick history of the creation. (London : Printed by R. Roberts for Benj. Tooke, 1696). [Enthält Eintragungen über China]. http://books.google.com/books?hl=de&id=hmxbAAAAQAAJ&q= memoirs+of+china#v=snippet&q=memoirs%20of%20china&f=false. |
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