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WASHINGTON – Bits of pottery discovered in a cave in southern China may be evidence of the earliest development of ceramics by ancient people. The find in Yuchanyan Cave dates to as much as 18,000 years ago, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Two and a half centuries ago a stormy dispute surged through the Christian world about the nature of China’s culture. In Rome, the Catholic Church was deeply divided over the nature of Chinese culture. Did the ancient Chinese, long before they encountered Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam, have an understanding of God in a monotheistic sense as creator and sustainer of the universe? The Jesuits, who had an intellectually brilliant and profound impact on China in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, thought they did. So, two centuries later, did Rev. James Legge, translator of the Chinese classics into English and a...

Indecipherable Ancient Books Found in Chongqing The Epoch Times Feb 24, 2008 Mysterious ancient books found in Chongqing. For the past two years no one has been able to read them. (Epoch Times screen shot taken from 21 cn.com) The Tujia have been known as an ethnic minority with its own spoken language but without a written language. Yet a succession of ancient books in the same written language have been found in the Youyang Tujia habitation straddling the borders of Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou Province, and Chongqing City. For the past two years none have been able to read the...

Christian Designs Found in Tomb Stones of Eastern Han Dynasty [2002-08-02] Studies show that as early as 86 A.D., or the third year under the reign of "Yuanhe" of Eastern Han, Dynasty Christianity entered into China, 550 years earlier than the world accepted time. When studying a batch of stone carvings of Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 A.D.) stored and exhibited in the Museum of Xuzhou Han Stone Carvings, Christian theology professor Wang Weifan was greatly surprised by some stone engravings demonstrating the Bible stories and designs of early Christian times. Further studies showed that some of these engravings were made...

Tomb of ancient coin collector unearthed www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-15 14:05:53 XI'AN, Jan. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Archaeologists in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have discovered an ancient tomb, possibly of a coin collector, dating back more than 600 years. During a recent excavation at a Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) tomb in the suburb of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi, archaeologists found over 150 coins of different dynasties, together with 60 ceramic utensils. Twenty kinds of coins were in circulation in the dynasties of Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279) and Jin (1115-1234), spanning about 600 years. They might have been collected by the owner of the tomb...

Researchers Shed New Lights on Origin of Ancient Chinese Civilization Chinese ancients living 3,500 to 4,500 years ago already had many choices for meal, including millet, wheat and rice, which are still the staple food of the Chinese. They also compiled calendars according to their astronomical observation, which is regarded as one of the symbols of the origin of civilization. They made exquisite bronze vessels to hold wine and food, and some of the bronze vessels were later developed into symbol of the supreme imperial power. But how the Chinese civilization started and evolved remains a magnetic topic that has...

Chinese archaeologists find one of world's oldest observatories Sun Oct 30, 8:45 AM ET BEIJING (AFP) - Chinese archaeologists claim to have found one of the world's oldest observatories, dating back 4,100 years ago. The observatory was uncovered at the Taosi relics site in Shanxi province, He Nu, a research follow with the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency on Sunday. The observatory "was not only used for observing astronomical phenomena but also for sacrificial rites", said He. The remains, in the shape of a semi-circle 40 meters...