Star and Constellation Names

Two fairly recent works by Dante L. Ambrosio of the University of the Philippines and Meredith Osmond of The Australian National University have compiled many astronomical terms in Austronesian and Philippine languages for stars and constellations. Osmond has reconstructed a number of these terms in upstream language groupings.

Here is a partial listing of the terminology.


Words for Stars and Constellations

(PMP = Proto-Malayo-Polynesian; POc = Proto-Oceanic; Mic = Micronesian; Pn = Polynesian; Ph= Philippine)

Venus, Morning Star, Evening Star

PMP *mantalaq -- 'the morning/evening star, Venus' (Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD))

PMP *(t)ala(q) -- 'star' (Dempwolff)



Big Bird -- constellation that includes Betelgeuse, Canopus, Procyon, Rigel and Sirius

PMP *manuk -- 'bird'

POc *manuk -- 'bird, Bird constellation'



Sirius

Mic: Mortlockese, Carolinian man -- 'Sirius'

Mic: Satawalese man -- 'constellation incl. Sirius'

Adm: Ninigo mānifono ‘Sirius’ (fono ‘head’)

Mic: Kiribati pwāpwā-ni-man ‘Sirius’ (pwāpwā ‘chest’)

Mic: Puluwatese yinekin-mān ‘Sirius’ (yinek ‘body, trunk’)

Pn: Tahitian taurua-faupapa ‘Sirius’

Pn: Maori takurua ‘Sirius; winter’ (Åkerblom 1968:19)

Pn: Marquesan takuua ‘Sirius; July’

Pn: Hawaiian kaulua ‘Sirius; June-July or February-March’

Ph: Palawan Binawagan magakas 'Sirius'



Pleiades

PMP *buluq -- 'a constellation, Pleiades' (ACD)

POc *bulu(q) -- 'a constellation, Pleiades' (Osmond, ACD *puluq)



Southern Cross

Proto-East-Oceanic *bubu -- 'Southern Cross; triggerfish'

SES: Sa’a ape ‘Southern Cross’

Fij: Bauan kalokalo-ni-ðeva ‘Southern Cross’

Pn: Anutan te kupeŋa ‘The Net: Southern Cross’

Pn: Tikopia te kau kupeŋa ‘pole-net handle’

Pn: Rennellese kau-kupeŋa ‘Southern Cross; net handle, net frame’

Pn: K’marangi tina ti raŋi ‘Southern Cross’

Pn: Tikopia te uru a taŋata ‘Southern Cross’
rakau tapu ‘Southern Cross’ (Lewis 1994:407)

Pn: Hawaiian hōkū-kea ‘Southern Cross’

Ph: Sama bunta 'Southern Cross'

Ph: Tagalog camalyng 'Southern Cross'

Ph: Spanish-Tagalog Krus na Bituin 'Southern Cross' ('cross of stars')

Ph: Bikol paglong 'Southern Cross'

Ph: Ilokano sunay 'Southern Cross'

Ph: Ivatan-Spanish trismariiya 'Southern Cross' ('three Marias')



The Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri)

SES: Sa’a ro mwane ‘Pointers (to Southern Cross)’

Pn: Samoan lua taŋata ‘Pointers: Alpha and Beta Centauri’ (Åkerblom 1968:27)

Pn: Tikopia rua taŋata ‘Southern Cross’ (Lewis 1994:407)

Pn: Tokelauan na taŋata ‘two stars used for voyages from Tokelau to Samoa’ (MacGregor 1937:89)

Pn: Anutan rua taŋata ‘constellation of two bright stars near the Southern Cross. Centaurus, also known as te kau o te kupeŋa ‘handle of fishing net’’

Ph: Sama, Jama Mapun anak-datu at sahapang 'alpha and beta Centauri'

Ph: Tagalog timbangan 'alpha and beta Centauri'



Polaris

Proto-Chukese *fitū mwakut ‘Polaris’ (lit. ‘star not moving’)

Mic: Puluwatese fūhQ mwakət ‘Polaris’

Mic: Satawalese fuese magut ‘Polaris’

Mic: Carolinian fise mwç xut ‘Polaris’

Mic: Woleaian werewereri iyefaŋi ‘Polaris’

Pn: Tahitian ana-nia ‘Polaris’ (Lewis 1994:403)

Pn: Hawaiian hōkū-paa ‘Polaris or North Star’

Ph: Sanskrit-Maguindanao bituin utala 'Polaris' ('north star')

Ph: Sanskrit-Sama mamahi uttara 'Polaris' ('north star')

Ph: Jama Mapun sibilut 'Polaris'



Aquila

Mic: Mortlockese meilap ‘the constellation Aquila’

Mic: Marshallese mQ clεp ‘constellation Aquila, Altair’ (lit. ‘big eye’)

Ph: Maranao dalomampao 'Aquila'

Ph: Manobo lepu 'Aquila'

Ph: Sama paliyama 'Aquila'

Ph: Palawan sagab 'Aquila'

Ph: Teduray singkad 'Aquila'

Ph: Jama Mapun tanggong 'Aquila'



Scorpio, Antares

Proto-Mic *(d,z)umuri ‘Antares’

Proto-Central-East-Pn *refua ‘a star name, Antares?’ (Biggs & Clark 1993)

Proto-North-Pn *mele-mele ‘Venus or Antares’

Ph: Sama mamahi pagi

Ph: Jama Mapun niyuniyu

Ph: Palawan njug + wasaj

Ph: Sama Dea salokah

Ph: Ibaloi tachong



Delphinus

PMic *tapia ‘Bowl constellation, approximately Delphinus’

Ph: Maranaw anak o karani 'Delphinus'

Ph: Manobo buu 'Delphinus'

Ph: Teduray kenogon 'Delphinus'

Ph: Kankanaey sipat 'Delphinus'

Ph: Palawan tarung 'Delphinus'

Zenith and Zenith Stars

Robert Blust reconstructed the West Malayo-Polynesian form *uRtuh ‘zenith; noon, mid-day' (ACD), which Osmond states refers specifically to the Sun.

However, there are instances when reflexes of *URtuh can refer to stars or other celestial bodies. Among the Mangyan of the Philippines, for example, udto uloy can refer to any celestial body in or near the zenith. In many central Philippine languages, ugto or udto can have general meanings like meridian, mid-heaven, culmination, crest, etc.

Previously, I have written that the Chinese and Indian calendars were based on Spica as a zenith star rather than a vernal equinox marker although there is some linkage also with the spring season. Both calendars begin when with the Full Moon is conjunct or nearest to Spica. The latter star, thus, is also used to determine the division of the zodiac in both cultures.

Now, the differences between the two systems is that the Chinese calendar is tropical while the Indian one is sidereal. The Chinese version has the original year starting when the Full Moon conjoined Spica 45 days before the vernal equinox. There is some indication of this also in the Indian system as the six seasons of the Indian calendar start with Sisira, the cool season, when the Sun enters Aquarius, which was about 60 days before the vernal equinox at one time.

While neither culture mentions anything specifically about the Full Moon in the zenith, there are some indications of this in the names of the star or related constellations, and the related iconography.

Spica is known as Kio in Chinese, which means "horn" referring here to the horn of the Spring Dragon, but also possibly indicating the highest point in the sky. The Western term "spica" refers to a "spike" of grain said to be held up by the woman in the constellation Virgo. Here are some other words for Spica in various languages:

Spar "point" Persian
Sparegha "point" Avestan
Shaghar "point" Sogdian
Akshafarn "point" Khorasmian
Al-Simak "the prop, also al-simak al-a'zal 'the unarmed prop'" Arabic

Chrysococcas called Spica 'the little lance-bearer.' Such names in the West probably ultimately derive from the imagery of the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar who in some artifacts is shown holding up an ear of grain, a lance, a whip, a fleur de lys-like device or similar object.

Ishtar is known as the Queen or Lady of Heaven, and also as the "Divinity of the Zenith" (Prayer of the Heart to Istar). The goddess is closely related with the zenith, and the word for the latter in Assyrian is ziqpu meaning literally "sharp point." W.F. Albright and others also interpreted the Babylonian "Nebiru" or "Nibiru" with the zenith as it is described as the 'middle of Heaven.'

Now, in the Malayo-Polynesian culture, zenith stars had practical uses linked with navigation and thus Spica would be considered a zenith star for any location only for a certain period. The declination of Spica and other stars changes because of the movement of the Earth's axis. Although neither Osmond or Ambrosio mention Spica, it is found in regional astronomies. For example, in Tahiti it was one of the pillar stars and was known as Ana-rota. It was called Mataroa in Kiribati, Aap in Truk, Paulauru in the Carolines and Da in the Marshall Islands.

In the Austronesian region, the conjunction of the Moon with specific stars is often used in electional astrology. The conjunction of the Full Moon with specific times in the tropical year is also used to detemine the new year, most notably in connection with the well-known swarming of the Palolo sea worms.

Among the Kodi of Sumba in Indonesia, the year indeed is determined by the Zenith Moon, when the Full Moon conjoins or passes nearest to the local zenith. About seven days after this time, the Palolo worms emerge (Janet Hoskins 1993: 65, 72, 353, 358).

Now, the Moon would mainly transit the zenith in tropical areas, but the Moon has different declination limits than the Sun. Thus, the Moon can transit the zeniths at latitudes up to 28.5° N or S. The period when the Full Moon would conjoin with Spica about 45 days before the vernal equinox, as in the Chinese calendar, corresponds to the late 4th millennium BCE.

The following astronomical charts were created with Chris Marriot's SkyMap showing the Full Moon of 3102 BCE from the location of Mt. Pinatubo (click on images for full-size views).


Full Moon at sunset, Mar. 4, 3102 BCE, 44 days before Vernal Equinox (Apr. 16)

Click on image for full size.


Moon and Spica transit zenith at midnight, Mar. 4, 3102 BCE (Location: Mt. Pinatubo)



Moon and Spica in close conjuction, 9:03 am, Mar. 4, 3102 BCE, below horizon at Mt. Pinatubo



Orion's Belt at sunset, Mar. 4, 3102 BCE about 45 degrees above western horizon


Orion's Belt is an important season marker in the Malayo-Polynesian region to this day.

Words for Orion's Belt in the Philippines

atlung Maria, Spanish-Kapampangan ('three Marias')
balatic Magahat, Bilaan
balatik Bagobo, Tagalog, Maguindanao, Bikol
bayatik Mandaya
balbalays Mayawyaw Ifugao
batik Jama Mapun, Sama
belatik Manobo
binabbais Kankanaey
binawagan magsasawad Palawan
bodays Ibaloi
farrais khinaang Fontok
gaganayan Ilokano/Igorot
gendaw belatik Subanen
lubang Bikol
magbangal Bukidnon
mbangal Maranao
seretar Teduray
tatlong Maria Spanish-Tagalog ('three Marias')
trismariiya Itbayaten ('three Marias')

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Ambrosio, Dante L. Sandaidigan at Kalangitan, University of the Philippines-Diliman, 2006.

Brown, Robert. "Remarks on the Zodiacal Virgo," The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal vol. IX, 1886, 441-489.

Hoskins, Janet. The Play of Time: Kodi Perspectives on Calendars, History, and Exchange, University of California Press, 1997.

Manansala, Paul Kekai. Sailing the Black Current: Secret History of Ancient Philippine Argonauts in Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Beyond, Booksurge Publishing, 2007.

Osmond, Meredith. Navigation and Heavens, ANU E Press, 2007.

Postma, Antoon. "The Concept of Time among the Mangyans," Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 44, No. 2 (1985), 231-240.

Reiner, Erica, David Pingree, David Edwin Pingree. Babylonian Planetary Omens, Brill, 1998, 223, 240-1.

Mount Qaf

Muslims orient themselves toward the Kaaba in Mecca during prayer and some ancient writings consider that location, or rarely Jerusalem, as the center of the world.

However, general Islamic cosmology is largely borrowed from Persian and Indian beliefs, and views Mount Qaf as the earthly axis mundi.

Mount Qaf appears related to mountains known as Hukairya, Hara (Hara Berezaita), and Alburz in Zoroastrian texts. Like the Biblical Eden, this mountain is imprecisely located in ancient texts, stated to rest somewhere to the East in the Varkash Sea.

Muslim texts place Qaf near the mythical city of Jabalqa in the extreme east of the world.

In the Muslim versions of the Alexandrian romances, Zu'l Qarnain (Alexander the Great) travels to Qaf on his eastern quest for the water of life and he meets on its peak the angel Israfil waiting to blow the trumpet on Judgment Day.

Zu'l Qarnain journeyed to Mount Qaf;
He saw it was formed of a bright emerald,
Forming as it were a ring round the world,
Whereat all people are filled with wonder.
He said, "Thou mighty hill, what are other hills?
Before thee they are mere playthings."
The Mount replied, "Those hills are my veins,
But they are not like me in beauty and importance.
A hidden vein from me runs to every city,
The quarters of the world are bound to my veins.
When God desires an earthquake under any city,
He bids me shake one of my veins.
Then in anger I shake that vein
Which is connected with that particular city.
When He says, 'Enough,' my vein remains still,
I remain still, and then haste to perform my work.
Now still like a plaster, and now operating;
Now still like thought, and then speaking my thought.
But they who are void of reason imagine
That these earthquakes proceed from earth's vapors.

Jalaluddin Rumi (13th century CE), Masnavi I Ma'navi IV:9

The mountains said to be made of green emerald or chrysolite, or to have a square green emerald/chrysolite at its peak. This jewel reflected the blue color of the sky, and also the greenish tint in the sky was said to be caused by this jewel.

Blue-Green Connections

We find some resemblance here between the mixtures of blue and green colors with the "Blue-Green Florescence," one of the names of the millenarian isle of Qingtong, the Eastern Lad in Daoist myth, which is likened to a square speculum. Among the Shi'a, the Hidden Imam waits for the end-times on the "Green Isle."

We can also note some similarity here between the idea of all the mountains in the world having connection with Mount Qaf through subterranean "veins" with the Chinese concept of mountains linked by underground grotto worlds. Qaf mountain is said to encircle the world and this may refer specifically to the "roots" that connect one mountain range to another. According to one tradition: "There is no one country amongst all countries, nor a city amongst all cities, nor a town amongst all towns but has a root of its roots," and another states, "nor is there any mountain of all mountains but has a root in Qaf."

The Muslim writer Yaqut mentions that some scholars believed that the Sun both rose and set into Mount Qaf, an explanation that matches our theme of the double mountain. Mount Alburz, one of the Zoroastrian equivalents of Qaf is decribed in a similar fashion: "Alburz is around this earth and is connected with the sky. The Terak of Alburz is that through which the stars, moon, and sun pass in, and through it they come back," (Bundahisn 12:4). From the same work, we hear of the portals in Terak of Mount Alburz through which the Sun and stars pass.

Of Mount Alburz it is declared, that around the world and Mount Terak, which is the middle of the world, the revolution of the sun is like a moat around the world; it turns back in a circuit owing to the enclosure (var) of Mount Alburz around Terak.

As it is said that it is the Terak of Alburz from behind which my sun and moon and stars return again.

For there are a hundred and eighty apertures (rojin) in the east, and a hundred and eighty in the west, through Alburz; and the sun, every day, comes in through an aperture, and goes out through an aperture; and the whole connection and motion of the moon and constellations and planets is with it: every day it always illumines (or warms) three regions (karshwar) and a half, as is evident to the eyesight.

And twice in every year the day and night are equal, for on the original attack, when it (the sun) went forth from its first degree (khurdak), the day and night were equal, it was the season of spring; when it arrives at the first degree of Kalachang (Cancer) the time of day is greatest, it is the beginning of summer; when it arrives at the sign (khurdak) Tarachuk (Libra) the day and night are equal, it is the beginning of autumn; when it arrives at the sign Vahik (Capricorn) the night is a maximum, it is the beginning of winter; and when it arrives at Varak (Aries) the night and day have again become equal, as when it went forth from Varak.

So that when it comes back to Varak, in three hundred and sixty days and the five Gatha days, it goes in and comes out through one and the same aperture; the aperture is not mentioned, for if it had been mentioned the demons would have known the secret, and been able to introduce disaster.

-- Bundahisn 5:3

Some scholars have suggested that these verses describe the Sun and stars as revolving around Terak, but instead it seems as if the celestials bodies enter into the equatorial "apertures" of Terak and then proceed through the subterranean "moat" of Alburz before rising again at the same peak of Terak. The underground arteries or veins of Alburz are also described in the Bundahisn.

First, Mount Alburz arose; afterwards, the other ranges of mountains (kofaniha) of the middle of the earth; for as Alburz grew forth all the mountains remained in motion, for they have all grown forth from the root of Alburz.

At that time they came up from the earth, like a tree which has grown up to the clouds and its root to the bottom; and their root passed on that way from one to the other, and they are arranged in mutual connection.

Afterwards, about that wonderful shaking out from the earth, they say that a great mountain is the knot of lands; and the passage for the waters within the mountains is the root which is below the mountains; they forsake the upper parts so that they may flow into it, just as the roots of trees pass into the earth; a counterpart (anguni-aitak) of the blood in the arteries of men, which gives strength to the whole body.

In numbers, apart from Alburz, all the mountains grew up out of the earth in eighteen years, from which arises the perfection of men's advantage.

Qaf is said to rest on the back of a great fish or whale known as Nun, that is described as shaped like the Arabic letter for "n". Some authorities claimed Qaf rested upon the horns of a great ox, which in turn stood on the back of Nun. The whale was also called Bahmout or Bahamut (Behemoth). Earthquakes arise from the movement of the whale, something we find also in the myths of Southeast Asia. The Nun fish/whale is probably related to the Kar fish of Persian literature described as an 'ass-like fish' or a 'three-legged ass,' the latter description probably referring to the two flippers and tail of a whale. Although the Kar is not related to earthquakes, like the whale/dragon of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, it is linked with the ebb and flow of the tide. While the latter is said to be the cause of the tides, the Kar "knows to the scratch of a needle's point by how much the water in the Ocean shall increase, by how much it is diminishing" (Bundahisn 18:6).

While Qingtong, the Blue-Green Lad is associated with the Blue-Green Florescence in the Eastern Sea, the emerald Mount Qaf is linked with al-Khidr "The Green One," in Islamic lore. Al-Khidr is often equated with the Biblical Elijah, but like Qingtong he is described as an eternal youth sometimes as a boy clad in green garments.

Khidr leads pilgrims to the fountain of youth that exists near Qaf's summit. And like Qingtong, the Green One has eschatological associations. In the end-times, Khidr, along with the Seven Sleepers, seven boys and their dog who have slept in a deep cave since ancient times, accompany the messianic al-Mahdi on his earth-redeeming mission. The cave of the Seven Sleepers is located in Mount Qaf, and it reminds us of Peshotan and the sleeping Zoroastrian heroes of Kangdez, southeast of China, who arise for the final battle at the end of the millennium.


Simurgh Bird and Jinn

Among the inhabitants of Mount Qaf is the Simurgh Bird, which in Persian myth guards the mythical White Haoma Tree in the eastern Varkash Sea.

The Simurgh has its nest at the peak of Qaf and this was the grand destination in the great Sufi poem "Conference of the Birds." In most Arabic literature, this bird is known as 'Anka, but in the Arabian Nights it appears to be called Roc (Rukh).

For the soul of every bird that reaches Mount Qaf,
Confers glory on the whole family of birds.

-- Rumi

Mount Qaf is also said to be the main abode of the Jinn (Djinn) or Genies of Muslim literature, and the great Jinn king resided in this mountain. Both the Jinn and the Simurgh Bird are linked in Islamic tradition with King Solomon.

The Simurgh Bird is said to possess supreme wisdom and the reign of Solomon is known as the "Golden Age of Simurgh." Of all the animals and birds that Solomon was said to have spoken with, the Simurgh was the most important.

Solomon was also said to have special power over the Jinn, which he used to compel them to help build his great temple.

We may see in these connections of Solomon with the Simurgh Bird and the Jinn, some link to Solomon's biblical journeys to the eastern lands of Ophir and Tarshish that may have been connected by Muslim writers with Mount Qaf.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Akkach, Samer. Cosmology and architecture in premodern Islam, Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005.

Corbin, Henry. Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi. Princeton University Press, 1998.

West, E. W. Sacred Books of the East, vol. 5, Oxford University Press, 1897.

Wheeler, Brannon. Moses In The Quran And Islamic Exegesis, Routledge Curzon: London, 2002, 95-6.

More on Early SEA Dispersals

The international team that conducted the study on Sundaland flooding and population dispersal in Southeast Asia has released some new press releases. I wonder if a complimentary study using Y chromosome data is in the works.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

The researchers show that population dispersals came earlier, from within the region, and probably resulted from flooding.

The conventional theory, or the ‘out of Taiwan’ model, suggests that the current day populations of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) originate in a Neolithic expansion from Taiwan, driven by rice agriculturalists about 4,000 years ago. This theory was contested 10 years ago by Oxford University scientist, Dr Stephen Oppenheimer, in his book Eden in the East: The Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia, when he suggested the migrations came from within ISEA and resulted from flooding in the region.

This latest study, led by Leeds University and published in this month’s Molecular Biology and Evolution, shows that a substantial fraction of the mitochondrial DNA lines (inherited by female descendants) have been evolving within ISEA for a much longer period, some since modern humans arrived about 50,000 years ago. The DNA lineages show population dispersals at the same time as sea level rises and also show migrations into Taiwan, east out to New Guinea and the Pacific, and west to the Southeast Asian mainland – within the last 10,000 years.

Study co-author Dr Oppenheimer, from the Oxford University School of Anthropology, said: ‘One of my main predictions in the book was that three major floods following the Ice Age forced the inhabitants to escape in boats and flee to less flood-prone regions. By examining mitochondrial DNA from their descendants in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, we now have strong evidence to support the flooding theory and this is possibly why Southeast Asia has a richer store of flood myths, more than any other region in the world.’

Martin Richards, the first Professor of Archaeogenetics at Leeds University, who led the interdisciplinary research team, said: ‘I think the study results are going to be a big surprise for many archaeologists and linguists, on whose studies conventional migration theories are based. These population expansions had nothing to do with agriculture, but were most likely to have been driven by climate change, in particular global warming and the resulting sea-level rises at the end of the Ice Age between 15,000 to 7,000 years ago.’

Source: Oxford News

Map: Distribution of Widespread Fish Poisons

Below is a map showing the distribution of widespread fish poisons mentioned in the previous posting on the diffusion of ancient fishing practices.

The Tephrosia subspecies and the Derris-Lonchocarpus subspecies are especially noteworthy for the wide range of use. Remember that the subspecies within both Derris and Lonchocarpus and the subspecies between Derris and Lonchocarpus are generally very difficult to distinguish from each other physically. Quigley suggested that Derris and Lonchocarpus might one day be folded into the same genus. Currently they are part of the same tribe.

Quigley suggested that some of the poisons may have been diffused by humans across the Atlantic or Pacific although the more general current theory is that there were two major diffusion areas -- one in the "Old World" and one in the "New World."



Click on image for full size version


The map is developed from Carrol Quigley's work, and one can see a clear tropical distribution of the use of fish poisons. In some instances, as in the use of Anamirta cocculus in Brittany, the plant is imported from warmer regions.

Although archaeological evidence of fish poison use is naturally hard to come by in tropical areas nevertheless the ancient Spirit Cave site in Thailand provides evidence of fish poison plant use prior to 9000 BCE. Archaeological evidence of fish poison use in the New World has also been found in Ecuador (Engoroy Culture) dating to the first millennium BCE.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Béarez, Philippe. "First Archaeological Indication of Fishing by Poison in a Sea Environment by the Engoroy Population at Salango (Manabí, Ecuador)," Journal of Archaeological Science Volume 25, Issue 10, October 1998, 943-948.

Misra, V. N. and Peter Bellwood. Recent Advances in Indo-Pacific Prehistory..., Brill, 1985, 268.

Diffusion of Ancient Sea Fishing Culture

The recent discovery of shell fish hooks in the Persian Gulf offers an opportunity to reexamine the ancient diffusion of sea fishing culture and general maritime culture and the possible Nusantao linkages.

Single-piece, curved shell fish hooks have a strong circum-Pacific distribution in the early Holocene period but also extend all the way to the Persian Gulf and northeastern Africa toward the West.


Distribution of Shell Fish Hooks beginning in Early Holocene


Click on image for full-size map


The sites shown in the map above are generally associated with shell mound cultures. In some of these areas the single-piece, curved shell fish hook is preceded by a straight, multi-piece hook made of non-shell material.

Even after exposure to civilization, the Nusantao Maritime Trade and Communication Network may have used the extreme maritime mode of living as exemplified by the shell mound culture for exploration voyages. Sea fishing/hunting and shellfish collection would allow the Nusantao explorers/merchants to quickly adapt to new, unknown territories without carrying a lot of supplies.

View Full-Size

John Weinstein, © The Field Museum

Shell fish hooks, South Coastal Californians (3000 BC-AD 900), California
(From: http://archaeology.about.com/od/northamerica/ig/Ancient-Americas-/Shell-Fishhooks--California.htm)

The early shell fish hooks from Timor were made from Trochus niloticus, and the same species was used for fish hooks at the Vanuatu and Tikopia sites. Latter peoples of the Pacific favored pearl shell to make fish hooks, and some early theorists had even suggested that the Pacific was colonized by peoples looking for new pearl fishing grounds. The earliest shell hooks predated the Austronesian expansion, but Proto-Austronesians appear to have adopted this item quickly as shown by the PAN reconstruction *kawil "fish hook." The Austronesian speakers generally used the single-piece, curved shell fish hook, either the angling or the trolling variety.

Proto-Oceanic also has another reconstruction for "fish hook" in the form of *kima "shell fish hook, clamshell" that appears to be related to a common word in Papuan languages kimai and its cognates that also mean "shell fish hook, clamshell." Possibly *kima and kimai are remnants of Pre-Austronesian words for these items.

Robert Blust has suggested a diverse set of roots -- kug, kuk, kuy, kul, kel, ku(q), luk, luy, and tuk -- all having the meaning 'to bend, curve.' Some of these roots appear similar to words constructed for Nostratic and other long-range families, but Torsten Pedersen has suggested that these forms may instead have been diffused at an early date by a 'waterfront' people.

A number of words like bend, hook, curve, etc. at least appear related to Proto-Austric *kun[k,q], 'bend', if not the Proto-Austronesian roots. And there are a few words that might relate direction to Proto-Austronesian *kawil such as ga:la "fish hook" and its cognates from the Dravidian languages, gaLa "fish hook" from Pali and Prakrit, and possibly kullab "hook, fish hook," Arabic.

S. Starostin has suggested a term for "fish trap, net" as found in his hopelessly large language family called "Borean" in which he combines an expanded Austric grouping together with Sino-Caucasian. Here again it's possible that an early long-range diffusion by a maritime culture may explain this term rather than genetic language inheritance. Here are some examples of the possible related forms:

PMP *saruk "type of fishing net"
Proto-Austric *[ʒ]al "fishing net or basket"
UAN *zalah or *d'ala' "fishing net"
Proto-Sino-Tibetan *[ʒ́h]ŏn (˜-ɫ) "fish trap or basket"

Following is a list of Proto-Austronesian (PAN) and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) fishing terminologies giving a good idea of the importance of sea fishing as an early source of sustenance in this region.

Fishing Terms	PAN	PMP
bait		*baŋi
bait, trolling lure	*paen	*paen
fish basket trap	*bubu	*bubu
fish corral		*belat
fish drive		*kebuR
fishhook	*kawil	*kawil
fishing dip net		*lawa(n,q)
fishing net		*saruk
fishing line		*hapen
fishing net float		*apung
fishing pole		*bitik
fish poison		*tuba
seine net		*puket
sinker		*buliq
spear		*saet
torch, torch fishing		*damaR

Diffusion of Fish Poisons

One of the most interesting areas of research is the widespread use of fish poisons to stupefy and then catch fish, and its relevance to early migration and the development of early agriculture.

For sea fishing, the poisons are usually cast into inter-tidal pools during low tide to stun fish, which are then easily scooped up by hand, net, etc.

Proto-Austronesian *tuba "fish poison, to poison fish" usually refers to either the Derris or Tephrosia species although many other plants are also used. Some species like Barringtonia, which has a waterborne seed, may have been diffused mainly by sea currents. However, other plants like Derris uliginosa, Derris elliptica, Mundulea suberosa, Anamirta cocculus and a number of Tephrosia species do not transfer well over water and are often found in areas where their wild progenitors are lacking or rare, suggesting human agency.

"...Derris uliginosa, is used as a fish poison from the Zambezi River in Africa, through India and Southeast Asia to the Philippines, Java, Australia, Fiji, and the Marquesas. This distribution is much more indicative of a possible human role in its dissemination because Derris, when used as a fish poison, is commonly a cultivated plant and may have been spread over some of its broad range by human action. A third fish poison, Mundulea suberosa, "probably as a result of age- long cultivation" (Howes 1930:133) is used throughout tropical Africa as well as in Madagascar, India, and Ceylon. Or again, Anamirta cocculus is reported from Brittany to the Philippines, including Palestine, Arabia, Persia, India, Malaya, and Java. Another widely distributed plant used in the same way is Derris elliptica, reported from India, Malaya, Indonesia, Borneo, Philippines, the Caroline Islands, and New Guinea."

(Quigley 1956:510)

A strong argument can be made for the distribution of these plants along the spice trade routes in the Old World and by the Lapita expansion in the Pacific.

Tephrosia purpurea (Tephrosia piscatoria) appears to have a pantropical range as a fish poison and often is cultivated without wild parents throughout much of its range. The plant is native to tropical Asia.

Many of the Tephrosia species used for fish poisoning are nearly identical and can often be distinguished only by experts. The same can be said for the Derris and Lonchocarpus species suggesting that these plants may have been mistaken by migrants for the same plants used as fish poisons in former habitats. Another possibility is that early voyagers sought out similar looking plants with the idea that they possessed similar properties.

Quigley lists a number of other fish poisons with spotty pantropical distributions:

Pantropical plants of other genera which are recorded as piscicides in at least part of their range are Cissampelos pareira L. (used in the Philippine Islands and the West Indies according to Quisumbing 1947:146 and Killip and Smith 1935:14); Sapindus saponaria L. (Killip and Smith 1935:14); and Entada phaseoloides L. (used in the Philippines, India, and South Africa, according to Quisumbing 1947; Chopra 1941; and Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk 1932).

(Quigley 1956:520)

Many of the fish poison plants are wasteland weeds and easily cultivated making them ideal for semi-nomadic seafarers to carry along with them. The fish poisoning method does not require as much local knowledge of fish habits and fish species for success as do most other types of sea fishing.


Seascape

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian naturally has many reconstructed terms for the seascape. Here is a partial list of PMP and PAN terms:

*lahud ‘downriver, towards the sea’
*qarus 'current'
*qalun ‘long rolling wave, swell, billow’
*budaq 'foam, froth'
*busa 'foam'
*ruab 'high tide'
*lajay 'coral'
*buŋa ni batu ‘coral sponge’
*sakaRu ‘reef, shoal’
*namaw ‘sheltered water: deep place in a river; cove, harbour, lagoon'
*l(i,u)mut 'seaweed'
*ma-qaCi 'ebb, low tide' (PAN)
*sawaq 'channel, passage'
*qaNud 'drifting on current'
*Nabek ‘breakers, surf, waves’ (PAN)

Remember that the early seafarer did not have the same technologies as those in medieval times or during the Age of Exploration. The vessels were generally smaller with less storage space and lacking waterproof compartments. The sails and materials of those early boats generally necessitated going along with the wind and currents as much as possible and not fighting against these elements. The ability to live as much as possible off the sea itself would have been of great advantage to early explorers and sea traders.

We find that even into the late period that the large kingdoms and empires of Southeast Asia still maintained communities that lived on the water. The king of Sanfotsi exempted these people from taxes, possibly a recognition of their importance to the ancient maritime culture of the region.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Quigley, Carroll. "Aboriginal Fish Poisons and the Diffusion Problem," American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 58, No. 3, (Jun., 1956), 508-525.

Landberg, Leif C. W. "Tuna Tagging and the Extra-Oceanic Distribution of Curved, Single-Piece Shell Fishhooks in the Pacific," American Antiquity, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Apr., 1966), 485-493.

O’Connor, S. "Unpacking the Island Southeast Asian Neolithic Cultural Package, and Finding Local Complexity," IN: Bacus, Elisabeth A, Ian C. Glover, Vincent C. Piggot. Uncovering Southeast Asia's Past, NUS Press, Singapore, 2006.

Pawley, Andrew. "The origins of early Lapita culture: The testimony of historical linguistics," http://epress.anu.edu.au/terra_australis/ta26/pdf/ch02.pdf, 2007.

Phillipson, David W. African Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, 2005, 181-2.

Ross, Malcolm D.; Andrew Pawley; Meredith Osmond, eds. The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic: the culture and environment of ancestral Oceanic society. Canberra: Australian National University E Press, 2007.

White , Nancy. South American Archaeology: Archaic/Preceramic (6000-2000 B.C.): Emergence of sedentism, early ceramics, http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/saa/saa_mod03.html, 2005.

The impact of the Austronesian expansion: Admiralty Islands

A new study examines again the Austronesian expansion from the view of migrating Austronesian speakers reaching Melanesia.

One problem with these studies is that they do clearly differentiate between Austronesian and Malayo-Polynesian expansion. Even if we grant that Austronesian speakers originated in Taiwan, as the new study claims, it is highly doubtful that the Malayo-Polynesian expansion radiated from that region. There are no Malayo-Polynesian languages in Taiwan, and the general distribution of the linguistic branches do not jibe with a Taiwan location.

Another thing is we should not assume anything about the "race" of the Austronesian speakers, or for that matter the "Melanesians" back in the Neolithic period when these expansions occurred.

Austronesian speakers in the Pacific -- Micronesians, Melanesians and Polynesians -- for example, all have significant percentages of Y chromosome C2 haplogroup. In some Polynesian areas, C2 is the dominant haplotype. However, C2 has not been found in Taiwan so far.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Mol Biol Evol. 2008 Apr 3

The impact of the Austronesian expansion: evidence from mtDNA and Y-chromosome diversity in the Admiralty Islands of Melanesia.

Kayser M, Choi Y, van Oven M, Mona S, Brauer S, Suarkia D, Schiefenhövel W, Stoneking M.

Department of Forensic Molecular Biology, Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The genetic ancestry of Polynesians can be traced to both Asia and Melanesia, which presumably reflects admixture occurring between incoming Austronesians and resident non-Austronesians in Melanesia before the subsequent occupation of the greater Pacific; however, the genetic impact of the Austronesian expansion to Melanesia remains largely unknown. We therefore studied the diversity of non-recombining Y-chromosomal (NRY) and mitochondrial (mt) DNA in the Admiralty Islands, located north of mainland Papua New Guinea, and updated our previous data from Asia, Melanesia and Polynesia with new NRY markers. The Admiralties are occupied today solely by Austronesian-speaking groups, but their human settlement history goes back 20,000 years prior to the arrival of Austronesians about 3,400 years ago. On the Admiralties we found substantial mtDNA and NRY variation of both Austronesian and non-Austronesian origin, with higher frequencies of Asian mtDNA and Melanesian NRY haplogroups, similar to previous findings in Polynesia, and perhaps as consequence of Austronesian matrilocality. Thus, the Austronesian language replacement on the Admiralties (and elsewhere in Island Melanesia and coastal New Guinea) was accompanied by an incomplete genetic replacement that is more associated with mtDNA than with NRY diversity. These results provide further support for the "Slow Boat" model of Polynesian origins, according to which Polynesian ancestors originated from East Asia but genetically mixed with Melanesians before colonizing the Pacific. We also observed that non-Austronesian groups of coastal New Guinea and Island Melanesia had significantly higher frequencies of Asian mtDNA haplogroups than of Asian NRY haplogroups, suggesting sex-biased admixture perhaps as a consequence of non-Austronesian patrilocality. We additionally found that the predominant NRY haplogroup of Asian origin in the Admiralties (O-M110) likely originated in Taiwan, thus providing the first direct Y-chromosome evidence for a Taiwanese origin of the Austronesian expansion. Furthermore, we identified a NRY haplogroup (K-P79, also found on the Admiralties) in Polynesians that most likely arose in the Bismarck Archipelago, providing the first direct link between northern Island Melanesia and Polynesia. These results significantly advance our understanding of the impact of the Austronesian expansion and of human history in the Pacific region.

First evidence of shell fish-hook technology in the Persian Gulf

A new article is out on the discovery of shell fish hooks in the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf). Previously shell fish hooks had been discovered at Indian Ocean sites on the Arabian peninsula but not in the Gulf. Here is the abstract of the article.

First evidence of shell fish-hook technology in the Gulf

Authors: Méry, Sophie¹; Charpentier, Vincent¹; Beech, Mark²

Source: Arabian archaeology and epigraphy, Volume 19, Number 1, May 2008 , pp. 15-21(7)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

Abstract:

The technology of shell fish-hooks and line fishing is well attested in the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean during the Neolithic period (fifth-fourth millennium BC). Their presence in the coastal area of the Arabian Gulf is now confirmed by new findings from Akab (Umm al-Qaiwain) and Shimal (Ra's al-Khaimah) in the United Arab Emirates.

One of the article's authors, Mark Beech, wrote an article, The Development of Fishing in the U.A.E.: A Zooarchaeological Perspective, in which he compares the use of shell fish hooks in the Gulf with practices in the Pacific (without suggesting direct links).

Shell fish hooks are found in the Neolithic kits of Insular Southeast Asia especially in Taiwan and Timor, but are more abundant in Oceania. The word "fish-hook" has been reconstructed in Proto-Austronesian as *kauil and in Proto-Malayo-Polynesian as *kawil.

Beech, citing Charpentier and Méry (1997), notes that the limestone tools found at apparent shell fish hook workshops in Oman resemble tools used for the same purpose in Polynesia at a much later period. He quotes Sir Joseph Banks' observation on the island of Tahiti:

. . . the shell is first cut by the edge of another shell
into square pieces. These are shaped with files of coral,
with which they work in a manner surprising to any one
who does not know how sharp corals are. Ahole is then
bored in the middle by a drill [. . .] the file then comes
into the hole and completes the hook . . .’

(Best 1929: 32–3)

Other similarities between the shell mound fishing cultures of Oman and the Arabian Gulf with those of the Pacific and Southeast Asia, although of different chronology, include the use of gorges and lures, and stone wall fish corrals. In both regions, we find that Neolithic cultures also practiced sea mammal hunting.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Parasites as probes for transoceanic human migrations?

A new study supports earlier evidence from parasite studies suggesting a seaborne migration to the Americas. This study seems to mainly analyze data from previous research involving helminths found in mummies and coprolites (dung fossils). There has been a flurry of articles recently supporting the theory of transpacific or transoceanic Pre-Columbian contact and/or migration between Asia and the Americas. Helminths are not found in Siberia, Alaska or northern Canada. One South American mummy that contained helminth (Ancylostoma duodenale) eggs dated back to 1500 BCE.

Trends Parasitol. 2008 Mar;24(3):112-5.

Epub 2008 Feb 11.

Parasites as probes for prehistoric human migrations?

Araujo A, Reinhard KJ, Ferreira LF, Gardner SL.

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Escola Nacional de Saude Publica; Rua Leopoldo Bulhoes 1480, Rio de Janeiro 2104-210, RJ, Brazil.

Host-specific parasites of humans are used to track ancient migrations. Based on archaeoparasitology, it is clear that humans entered the New World at least twice in ancient times. The archaeoparasitology of some intestinal parasites in the New World points to migration routes other than the Bering Land Bridge. Helminths have been found in mummies and coprolites in North and South America. Hookworms (Necator and Ancylostoma), whipworms (Trichuris trichiura) and other helminths require specific conditions for life-cycle completion. They could not survive in the cold climate of the northern region of the Americas. Therefore, humans would have lost some intestinal parasites while crossing Beringia. Evidence is provided here from published data of pre-Columbian sites for the peopling of the Americas through trans-oceanic or coastal migrations.

Climate Change, Sundaland and Human Migration

A March 2008 study provides some of the first genetic evidence of human migration apparently caused by the submergence of Sundaland starting at the beginning of the current warm Holocene period.

MtDNA haplotype E reached Taiwan and the Western Pacific from Sundaland within the last 8,000 years. From a practical standpoint it would be difficult to conceive that the vast sea flooding of the continent would not have spurred extensive demographic movements. Stephen Oppenheimer, whose book "Eden in the East," studied the evidence for such migrations, is one of the contributing authors of this study published in the journal Molecular Biological Evolution.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Mol Biol Evol. 2008 Mar 21

Climate Change and Post-Glacial Human Dispersals in Southeast Asia.

Soares P, Trejaut JA, Loo JH, Hill C, Mormina M, Lee CL, Chen YM, Hudjashov G, Forster P, Macaulay V, Bulbeck D, Oppenheimer S, Lin M, Richards MB.

Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.

Modern humans have been living in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) for at least 50,000 years. Largely because of the influence of linguistic studies, however, which have a shallow time depth, the attention of archaeologists and geneticists has usually been focused on the last 6000 years - in particular, on a proposed Neolithic dispersal from China and Taiwan. Here we use complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome sequencing to spotlight some earlier processes that clearly had a major role in the demographic history of the region but have hitherto been unrecognised. We show that haplogroup E, an important component of mtDNA diversity in the region, evolved in situ over the last 35,000 years and expanded dramatically throughout ISEA around the beginning of the Holocene, at the time when the ancient continent of Sundaland was being broken up into the present-day archipelago by rising sea levels. It reached Taiwan and Near Oceania more recently, within the last approximately 8000 years. This suggests that global warming and sea-level rises at the end of the Ice Age, 15,000-7000 years ago, were the main forces shaping modern human diversity in the region.

Lung-t'sing 龙精

In the Hirth and Rockhill translation of the Chu-fan-chi (Zhufanzhi) of Chau Ju-Kua, the title of the king of Sanfotsi (Sanfoqi) is given:

They style their king Lung-ts'ing (龙精). He may not eat grain, but is fed on sha-hu; should he do otherwise, the year would a dry one and grain dear. He also bathes in rose-water; should he use ordinary water, there would be a great flood.

Various explanations have been offered to explain the title Lung-ts'ing (long jing) including translations of local Sanfotsi words. Suggested meanings include "Dragon Sperm" and "Perfected Dragon."

More likely the term is an attempt to transliterate a native word. Hirth and Rockhill suggest the first part "lung" might be related to Malay arung "kings."

If we take the southern pronunciations, merchants from Quanzhou may have used something closer to "Lungzing," while "Lungzeng" would be a possible Canton version. The character ts'ing or jing 精 in the South would be pronounced zing, zeng, zin, etc. Lungzeng or Lungzing could have been an early corrupt rendering of "Lusung" or "Lusong." Otherwise the latter name appears correctly starting in the Ming Dynasty.

Thus, Lung-ts'ing may come from a title like "King of Luzon (Lusung)."

The name Lusung, as we have discussed previously in this blog, would refer to the sacred mountain of the Sanfotsi kingdom. There exists today other mountains, hills and geologic formations in the region with names that are cognate to lusung "mortar" including Mt. Lusong in Benguet, northern Luzon; Mt. Lesong in Bali and Batu Lesong in Malaysia. These names probably derive from the mortar-like shape of the landmarks.

The lusung or mortar-shaped sacred volcano in this case would be Mt. Pinatubo (and Mt. Arayat) located in the region and kingdom known as Sambali, the latter word giving rise to the Chinese name Sanfotsi (saam-bat-zi) in our estimation. The location was described as rich in alluvial gold. During the mid-10th century, Akbar al-Sin states that

"near Zabaj is a mountain called the Mountain of Fire, which it is not possible to approach. Smoke escapes from it by day and a flame by night, and from its foot comes forth a spring of cold fresh water and a spring of hot water."

The palace of the king of Zabag, again the Arab name for Sanfotsi, was described in Muslim texts as located at the water's edge of an estuary close enough to the "bay of Zabag" that saltwater flowed during high tide and freshwater during ebb. Such an estuary, it's been suggested earlier, was known in the local language as sapa, sabang or sapang from which the Arab place-name "Zabag" would be derived. Abu Zayd said that the kingdom of Zabag faced China, probably referring to the southern port of Canton, which would have been directly across the Nanhai (South Sea) to the northwest. This geographical description is confirmed by Mas'udi who states that the kings of the Khmer kingdom (Cambodia) face toward the kingdom of Zabag during their morning prayers i.e., toward the East, the sunrise.

As an aside, on Chau Ju-Kua's statement above that the king must eat sha-hu (sago) and bathe in rose-water to avoid famine and flood respectively, this is an example of the sacred king seen as an embodiment of nature and the kingdom. We find this concept widely spread in the galactic polities of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Hirth, F. and W. W. Rockhill. Chau Ju-kua. His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the 12th and 13th Centuries, entitled Chu-fan-chi, St. Petersburg, 1911.

Image of a Ruson-tsubo

I found this image of a ruson-tsubo, an earthenware jar from Luzon used in Japan for aging tea leaves, on Kenichi Tsunoda blog "Ken's Green Tea Salon."


Click on image for full-size version

The jar was imported in the 16th century and is made of lightweight, low density clay. The porous clay "breathes" making it ideal for tea leaf fermentation. Traditionally leaves were picked in the spring and aged until about November.

European observers in the 16th century noted that it was the 'homely' earthenware jars that were most valued often commanding outrageous prices. Luzon jars became popular in the Muromachi Period, and at least one source claims they were imported as early as Sung Dynasty times. Some of these jars were considered magical and animate in the Philippines and neighboring Borneo.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

'Fire Pearls,' Tektites and Optics in eastern Asia

In the postings on Qingtong, the Eastern Lad, the visit of an envoy from Fusang was mentioned in which a special jewel was offered as an official gift. Joseph Needham describes the visit:

About +520 envoys of Fu-sang are said to have arrived in China, bringing with them a precious stone suitable for observation of the sun (kuan jih yu) 'of the size of a mirror, measuring over a foot in circumference, and as transparent as glass (liu-li); looking through it in bright sunlight, the palace buildings could be very clearly distinguished'.

In the centuries that followed, we hear of "fire pearls" (huo chu 'fire orb, pearl') repeatedly offered as gifts by various countries to the Chinese court. The Chinese texts identify prime sources of fire pearls as the countries of Lo-ch'a, Tan-tan and Po-li. While the exact location of these countries is open to debate, the texts clearly place them in Southeast Asia. The Tang Shu says this about the fire pearls from Lo-ch'a and Tan-tan.

Their country produces fire-pearls in great number, the biggest attaining the size of a hen's egg. They are round and white (transparent), and emit light to a distance of several feet. When held against the rays of the sun, mugwort and rush (tinder) will be ignited at once by fire springing from the pearl. The material looks like rock-crystal.

The small size of the fire pearls and the fact that they are like but not rock crystal (clear quartz) suggest they could be tektites, the natural glass gems probably formed by the collision of some extraterrestrial body on the Earth's surface. Tektites are often globular in form and they can range from opaque to nearly as transparent as silica glass. Such transparent, orb-shaped tektites would have a natural magnifying ability.

As the fire pearls were natural, small, round and transparent, and apparently not found in China but common in regions to the South, it is highly probable that tektites were meant.

Tektites were used to make flaked tools in the Neolithic period of Southeast Asia and polished tektites were apparently used as charmstones starting around the metal age. Some early Indochinese Hindu-Buddhist deity statues have polished tektites placed in the eye sockets.

During T'ang times, we see a close association between the huo chu and the dragon. A T'ang bracelet at the Shosoin in Japan has two facing dragons holding a fire pearl. This motif and a related one with a huo chu between the mouths of two facing dragons has continued until present times. Often the fire pearl in this depiction is decorated with a spiral or is surrounded by a wreath of flames. Pearls are said to be found in the mouths of dragons something possibly alluded to earlier by Zhuangzhi. It was common during this period to classify the whale (King 'male whale', I 'female whale') as a type of sea dragon. Probably in connection with this concept, the naturally phosphorescent eyes of the whale, particularly the female whale of the South Seas, were known as "moonlight pearls" having the "brilliancy of the night." There may be some connection here also with the use of polished tektites as "eyes" in Indochinese sculpture.

In latter times, one of the Dragon Kings of the sea is located along with his palace on the blessed island of Penglai, apparently a conflation with the King Father of the East. In Japanese lore, the land of Tokoyonokuni, linked in the Nihonshoki with Mount Horaisan (Penglai), is also the home of the Dragon King of the Sea. The Dragon King's palace is said to be made of rock-crystal (shui ching).

While the fire pearl was linked more with the sea, there is also a hint of heavenly origin as found in Southeast Asia with reference to tektites, where the latter are known by names such as star dung, sun stones, moon stones, thunder dung, etc. The term "huo chu" was used in pre-T'ang literature to refer to fiery meteors, and we know that the Chinese dragon flies through the sky and is associated with storms, thunder and lightning. G. Elliot Smith, following Koh Hung, thought the spiral design on fire pearl iconography represented the rolling sound of thunder.

(Left) Three Australian button tektites and (right) three glass models ablated by aerodynamic heating; actual size ranges from 16 to 25 mm (Encyclopædia Britannica)

The Gaozhang empress Wu Zhao had the great Mingtang ('Hall of Light') built to worship Heaven in 688 CE. A giant iron phoenix on the roof of the 85 meter wide, three-story octagonal structure was blown down by wind, and replaced with a fire pearl. The name was changed to Tongtianwu ('Hall that Connects with Heaven'). After Wu Zhao usurped the T'ang house to form the Zhou Dynasty in 690 CE, Wu Sansu, her nephew, along with some "tribal chiefs" set out to construct a massive pillar in honor of Wu Zhao.

Completed in 695, the Tianshu ("Heavenly Pillar") was 30 meters high and 5 meters wide and stood atop a mountain of iron decorated with a bronze dragon and unicorn. On top of the pillar, four "dragon men" sculptures held up a fire pearl.


Optics in Ancient and Medieval China

Mirrors in China appear in the oldest strata of literature, and references to the concave bronze mirrors, the yang-sui, that collects the Sun's rays; and the fang-zhu, that gathers the dew from the Moon, date back to at least the Zhou Dynasty.

The yang-sui is mentioned during Zhou times as a burning mirror capable of igniting kindling placed at its center under the light of the Sun.

Interest in burning lenses, rather than mirrors, perks up in the T'ang Dynasty with the importing of the fire pearls from Southeast Asia and elsewhere. However, it was during the Sung Dynasty that we see a real upswing in optics research in China. In the 10th century, the Daoist teacher Tan Qiao (Than Chhiao), wrote about lenses and mirrors. He describes four types and properties of lenses:

I have always by me four lenses. The first is called kuei (the 'sceptre', a diverging bi-concave lens). The second is called chu (the 'pearl', biconvex). the third is called chih ( the 'whetstone,' plano-concave). The fourth is called yu (the 'bowl,' plano-convex).

With kuei the object is larger (than the image).
With chu the object is smaller (than the image).
With chih the image appears upright.
With yu the image appears inverted.

When one looks at shapes or human forms through such instruments, one realises that there is no such thing as (absolute) largeness or smallness, beauty or ugliness..."

Tan Qiao's work Hua Shu is dated to about 940 CE, so he predates the noted Arab physicist Ibn al-Haitham by several decades. In the 11th century, Shen Gua (Shen Kua) wrote of similar properties with reference to concave, convex and flat mirrors.

The ancients made mirrors according to the following methods. If the mirror was large, the surface was made flat (or concave) ; if the mirror was if the mirror was small, the surface was made convex. If the mirror is concave (wa) it reflects a person's face larger, if the mirror is convex (tieh) it reflects the face smaller. The whole of a person's face could not be seen in a small mirror, so that was why they made the surface convex. They increased or reduced the degree of convexity or concavity according to the size of the mirror, and could thus always make the mirror correspond to the face.

That a concave mirror could be used to view objects at a great distance was known to the Chinese. In 1225, Chau Ju-Kua (Zhao Rugua) wrote about the great lighthouse in Pharos.

The country of O-Ken-Tho (Alexandria) belongs to Egypt (Wu-Ssu-Li). According to tradition, in olden times a stranger (i jen), Chhu-Ko-Ni by name, built on the shore of the sea a great pagoda, underneath which the earth was excavated to make two rooms, well connected and thoroughly hidden. In one vault was stored grain, and in the other arms. The tower was 200 ft. high [Note: chang = 10 feet, chhih = 1 foot]. Four horses abreast could ascend (by a winding ramp) to two-thirds of its height. Below the tower, in the middle, there was a well of great size connected by a tunnel with the great river. To protect this pagoda from foreign soldiers, the whole country guarded it against all enemies. In the upper and lower parts of it twenty thousand men could readily be stationed as a guard or to make sorties. At the summit there was an immense mirror. There was an old story said that if warships of other countries tried to make an attack, the mirror detected them beforehand, and the troops were ready to repel it. But in recent years there came (to Alexandria) a foreigner, who asked to be given work in the guardhouse below the tower, and he was employed to sprinkle and to sweep. For years no one entertained any suspicion of him, but suddenly one day he found an opportunity to steal the mirror and throw it into the sea, after which he made off.

Chau Ju-Kua was relaying a story told in Arabic works of a great mirror on the Pharos lighthouse that allowed the ruler to see events throughout the kingdom and according to some versions to detect fleets more than 100 leagues away.

According to Abu-l'fida (1331), this mirror was made of "Chinese iron" or "kharsini," indicating that the mirror was installed by Muslim rulers. Chinese mirrors are mentioned by al-Razi as being sold in 990 CE for up to several times their weight in silver in Baghdad. Al-Dimashqi in 1325, refers to "distorting mirrors" made of kharsini.

Concave mirrors up to three feet in diameter are described in the 4th century CE work Shi-I-Ki, and other sources tell of fabulous mirrors capable of casting light at distances up to 200 li.

We have noted earlier, that both the King of Shambhala and Prester John were said to have mirrors or lenses that allowed them to observe things throughout their kingdom or beyond. In the Letter of Prester John, this mirror is located in the tower of the king's palace. Edwin Bernbaum writes about the King of Shambhala: "According to descriptions of the King's palace in Kalapa, special skylights made of lenses act like high-powered telescopes to reveal life on other planets or solar systems. The King also possesses a glass mirror in which he can see scenes of whatever is happening for miles around."

Whether such a mirror existed is possibly not so important as the esoteric ideas involved. In this connection, we may also consider the crystal palace of the Dragon King of Penglai, and the relationship between whale (dragon) eye pearls, and possibly the eyes of deity statutes, with fire pearl lenses.

There is an interesting linguistic reconstruction with reference to the burning and observation lenses brought from Southeast Asia to China starting in the T'ang era. There exists the suggested prototype *sjaLemin for Tagalog salamin 'mirror, spectacles, glass, crystal," Toba Batak sormin; Malay chermin "mirror," Ngaju Dayak saramin "mirror, glass, Bisaya salamin "crystal, mirror," Kapampangan salamin "mirror, spectacles," etc.

Some have challenged this reconstruction suggesting instead that the words mentioned above are borrowed from Sanskrit carmin "made of leather,' via a rather convoluted argument. I would have to say the reconstruction has a better chance of being true.

Pigafetta speaking about the kingdom of Brunei in 1521 states:

The merchandise which is most esteemed here is bronze, quicksilver, cinnabar, glass, woollen stuffs, linens ; but above all they esteem iron and spectacles.

The quote above may be the first mention of eyeglasses as a trade item. Up until Pigafetta's time, glasses were apparently quite rare anywhere in the world.

Chinese texts, in fact, state that the first spectacles (ai-dai) in China were brought from Malacca (Man-la-chia) as a present from that kingdom's ruler. These were quite different than early spectacles from the West as they were made from rock crystal and were monoculars that could be attached together. The earliest use of rock crystal (shui jing) in China for such purposes was prior to 1117 by Sung Dynasty judges who used rock crystal magnifying glasses to decipher poorly-written or preserved documents. The ai-dai also came to have a 'tea lens' (smoky quartz) variation to protect the eyes from sunlight.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Beyer, HO . The Relation of Tektites to Archaeology, National Research Council of the Philippines, University of the Philippines, 1954.

Cheung, Frederick Hok-ming, and Ming-chiu Lai, eds. Politics and Religion in Ancient and Medieval Europe and China, Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1999.

Needham, Joseph, Wang Ling, Ling Wang, Kenneth Girdwood. Science and Civilisation in China vol. IV, Cambridge University Press, 1962, 87, 114-120.

Needham, Joseph and Ling Wang. Science and Civilisation in China, Cambridge University Press, 1954, 430.

Rosenthal, J. William. Spectacles and Other Vision Aids: a history and guide to collecting, Norman Publishing: San Francisco, 1996.

Wood, Frances. The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia, London: British Library, 2003.

Setsuko Matoba: Zipangu and the Philippines

Setsuko Matoba has written a book Zipangu and Japan, after doing extensive primary research of sources in Europe, that suggests that Marco Polo's Zipangu (Cipangu) was actually the Philippines rather than Japan. I had missed the announcement of this book when first released about seven months ago.

Independently, I had come to the conclusion that Zipangu was a confused European conception of a continent that spanned the area from Japan, or at least southern Japan, southward through the Ryukyus, Taiwan, the Philippines all the way to the nutmeg and mace producing lands of the Moluccas.

The "Golden Land" or Suvarnadvipa region of Zipangu would refer to the region now known as the Philippines.

Here is the review of Zipangu and Japan that was published in the International Herald Tribune (Herald Asahi) last September.

29 September 2007
The International Herald Tribune (Herald Asahi)


Although he never visited it, the Venetian voyager wrote about a land that was laden with gold

It turns out he may have been wrong about the location

Setsuko Matoba, a Madrid-based author, raises the intriguing theory that Zipangu could be a reference to the Philippines in her book "Zipangu and Japan" published last month by Yoshikawa Kobunkan Inc. Matoba arrived at the new interpretation after analyzing archives and maps from the Age of Geographical Discovery (the 15th century through the first half of the 17th century) that she came across during visits to libraries and convents in Spain, Portugal and Italy over the past 10 years. Most of the documents dated back to the 16th century. "I published the book because I hoped to bring to attention documents that were not familiar in Japan," she said. "Giving my own opinion was not what I intended to do." "The Travels of Marco Polo" was based on Polo's experiences and observations during his journeys across Central Asia and China

Polo (1254-1324) was thought to have handed down the stories orally in Genoa, Italy, in 1298. They were then compiled into a manuscript, which was later translated into many European languages in and after the 14th century

About 150 original manuscripts of Polo's renditions survive. But there is no mention of "Zipangu" in the earlier versions, according to Matoba

Instead, the island that captured the imagination of medieval Europe was spelled in several ways, including Cipangu, Cipango, Zipangu, Siampagu and Cyampagu

"The Travels of Marco Polo," published in Japanese by Heibonsha Ltd. in its Toyo Bunko (the Eastern Library) series, employs the term based on the spelling of Cipangu. "Zipangu" apparently appears in documents for the first time in the early 17th century. In "Chronicle of Churches in Japan," written in the 17th century, Jesuit missionary Joao Rodrigues of Portugal said there was no question that the Zipangu mentioned in "The Travels of Marco Polo" referred to Japan. He noted that Zipangu derived from "Jepuencoe" or "Jiponcoe," the Chinese way of pronouncing Japan. Rodrigues spent many years in Japan from the late 16th century

Subsequent Jesuit missionaries accepted Rodrigues' view at face value. In turn, it became a mainstream theory in Europe, according to Matoba. Japanese scholars later subscribed to it

To back up his claim, Rodrigues cited the fact that a huge armada of Mongolian ships under Kublai Khan had come to grief in waters off Japan during a terrible typhoon. The incident, one of two attempted Mongolian invasions of Japan, was mentioned by Polo in his book But details do not match historical facts

Matoba offers this viewpoint: "Mongolia dispatched its fleet elsewhere as well." She said Polo could easily have been referring to an incident in Southeast Asia

So where was Zipangu? The documents Matoba gathered suggest the island known by the name of Zipangu is in the tropics

She noted frequent references to the Philippines, which Spain colonized in the 16th century with the lure of gold being a major factor. In contrast, there was no mention of gold in Japan. Moreover, ancient maps put Japan much further north. It was believed to be a peninsula, part of the Asian land mass, not an island nation, according to Matoba

Her findings spurred her to postulate that "Zipangu" actually referred to the Philippines and its far-flung archipelago

Takashi Gonoi, professor emeritus of the history of Christianity in Japan at the University of Tokyo, said he accepted her theory in principle. "It makes more sense if we think that (the island with gold) was a reference to a place other than Japan," Gonoi said. Charlotte von Verschuer, professor of Japanese history and philology at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris, said Matoba's theory could answer longstanding questions among European scholars as to the location of gold-laden island if it was not Japan. But Masaaki Sugiyama, professor of the Mongolian history at Kyoto University, disagrees

"The compilation of 'The Travels of Marco Polo' was completed in the latter half of the 14th century, not in the end of the 13th century," he said. "Under the name of Marco Polo, experiences of other people and stories they had heard were incorporated into it." "That is why there are contradictions in it," Sugiyama said, referring to incidents that are at odds with historical facts

"It is possible that reports on Mongolia's expedition to the island of Java got mixed in with it. Still the outline matches that of the Mongolian expedition against Japan of 1281. There is no doubt that the island with gold was a reference to Japan." Sugiyama said that maps and documents pointing to the Philippines as the site of Zipangu referred to another location with a huge reserve of gold since Japan no longer produced the metal during the Age of Geographical Discovery. Matoba's theory has sparked a debate that may not die down easily. Even so, historians appear to agree on one thing: It raises questions about the veracity of the established theory.