[TigersEye]

Yes, I think there has always been a Chinese arrogance about being the first, best, most supreme. I'm not sure they were ever as ruthlessly revisionist about it as Mao Tse-Dong was. I think he made up anything he wanted to and backed it up with 'a bullet in the head if you don't like it.' What chaps me is that western journalists just lapped it up.

Just making it all up as you go is sounding familiar again isn't it? So far no bullets, just vague threats. A little character assassination for the recalcitrant.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And yet (I won’t annoy folks with it, but it Googles up readily enough) there’s a .cn web site that is now bragging about peoples in China back to 10,000 B.C.

India can show an archeologically credible trace back further than the Xia dynasty, I believe. One has to go to the bible to find civilizations prior to this.