Madness induced by the Siren Calls on the Shores of the Hellespont and Taiwan Straits
Part III
October 28, 2022
The Selden Map: Bodleian Library
John Selden was a polymath. As part of his many talents he can be regarded as an orientalist. It seems there is stronger evidence today to suggest that he may not only have bequeathed the map to the Bodleian Library of Oxford, but he may have commissioned or even have drawn it. The poet sees images of Selden himself on the map in different phases of his life. Conceivably, the inks used to draw the map and canvass could have been brought to Great Britain from the area of the South China Sea by a merchant or artist. Furthermore, the poet conjectures that Selden may have referred to the map as he was writing Mare Clausum. In other words, he not only wanted to see how his ideas of a closed sea applied to Great Britain, but also wanted to test the hypothesis in an area of exploration which might be of contention between the British and Dutch.
The Selden Map was bequeathed to the Bodleian Library by Selden at his death in 1654. Historians generally assume that some rich merchant in the region of the South China Sea commissioned the map sometime between 1608 and 1619. In December 1618, James I commissioned Selden to write a full length treatise called Mare Clausum on the Crown's claim to sovereignty of the seas. Selden finished it, James I demanded changes, Selden obliged the Crown, but George Villiers who was the Lord High Admiral of England withdrew support. One might then assume that the merchant-trader retired to London where the map came into the possession of Selden around 1634. Mare Clausum was revised and published in that year with the permission of Charles I. Then, at the death of Selden, the map was archived and forgotten by the library until its existence was revealed in 2008 by an American no less whose name was Bachelor---end of story. The preceeding scenario is plausible, but is there another which is more likely?
One should keep in mind that Grotius was approached by the Dutch India Company in 1604 to write a defence of the company's privateering in Asian waters. (Ittersum, 1195) That word "privateering" through its monopoly reminds one of "pirateering; although, the former is legal while the latter is illegal. Chapter 12 of the report became Mare Liberum which was published in 1609. While Selden's treatise pertained to the waters of Great Britain, he may very well have kept in mind the Asian waters mentioned in Grotius' defence with the help of an Asian map of his own design.
The poet can understand why an important map showing the South China Sea was named after John Selden. He was described by John Milton as the most learned man of the land. Furthermore, Selden wrote Mare Clausum which was England's answer to Grotius' Mare Liberum. Finally, he donated the map to the Bodleian Library. However, up until now, the only direct connection between the map and Selden is that of a donation made by a dead man. How long had Selden owned the map or for what purposes is unknown.
The poet suggests one should look closer at the map with an open mind and without a bias to the idea of open seas. About five years ago, he published an extensive account of the map on his sundawu.ca website. It was almost totally ignored by experts. It resembles the circumstance of how the map itself was ignored for almost 300 years in a library archive. From the age of exploration in the 17th century to the age of space exploration in the 20th century, nobody explored the archives. More lately, all through the Chinese negotiations on UNCLOS which began in 1973 to their ratification of it in 1996---the map went undiscovered. It is something of a convenient oversight, don't you think so? Only when China began to recognize the South China Sea as its own did the map make its appearance as if to confirm the concept of open seas with the exception of piracy. The official version is that the map was kept on permanent display in the Anatomy School, but the time period is indefinite and indeterminate.
There is circumstantial evidence to show that the map was drawn around 1608-1619 CE. One doesn't quite understand why anyone but the poet hasn't suggested that Selden may have used the map as inspiration to write Mare Clausum. The poet though goes one step further. He suggests that Selden either commissioned the map or helped draw and design it either just before or after he was commissioned to write Mare Clausum. For example, the "Compass Rose" and ruler on this oriental map which is unique may suggest "sovereign" and "sovereignty"; although, it was also a common feature on British maps.
In his titular position at the Admiralty, George Villiers refused a final meeting with Selden to allow publication of the treatise. It was probably at the instigation of James who was unhappy with the original submission. However, it is conceivable that James had a more profound objection to the treatise. Basically, he had been told that it would extend his sovereignty to waters of the coastline. James believed though that his absolute monarchy was based on divine right. Therefore, he might have seen Mare Clausum as a limitation to his sovereignty of the open seas.
Those who look at the map concentrate on maritime trade routes. The reason is that they were important during the Ming Dynasty and equally significant today for world trade as China asserts its claims in the South China Sea. It may be, though, that if Selden played a part in the design of the map then the lines of trade routes, the general form and placement of islands and the shape of the South China Sea expressed subtle, political messages to the point where the map has hidden meaning.
To avoid political censure and reprisals might explain why Selden kept the existence of the map a secret except perhaps to his closest friends for nearly four decades. It is conceivable the map may have remained a secret for nearly four centuries to conceal the underlying hidden meaning in the trade routes.
The maritime trade routes are not just straight lines running hither and thither from one center of trade to another, but form recognizable patterns overlaid on the South China Sea. The poet has identified these patterns in his "Selden Poems'. However, he now reveals their deeper significance. These sketches reflect an anti-imperialist attitude of the map's designer. They mock the knight errant who tries and never tires to slay the dragon in far-off campaigns on the open sea. It's a rendition of St. George who saves the damsel in distress with his swordplay. In this case, the dragon is James. The damsel is George Villiers who was made Lord High Admiral of England in 1619 or the same year Mare Clausum was submitted to the king and admiral.
Here is the Janus-faced knight riding the dragon stead which is shaped like a Chinese junk on a junket eating a dessert of junket. The poem's title is "Togydre ymet and wrought his felawe wo ". The line is taken from Geoffrey Chaucer's Knight's Tale, Part 4 of The Canterbury Tales. The full passage reads as follows:
Ful ofte a day han thise Thebanes two
Togydre ymet, and wroght his felaw wo,
Unhorsed hath ech oother of hem tweye,
Therr nas no tygre in the vale of Galgopheye
Whan that hir whelp is stole, whan it is lite,
If you wish to know the meaning of Chaucer's lines then you will have to translate them yourself. However, so much is lost in translation. The lines are much more beautiful in Middle English. When you have finished reading The Canterbury Tales then tackle Troilus and Criseyde which is an epic poem about two lovers during the siege of Troy.
For these reasons, Rossi provides the remainder of his I'image poems, but asks you to interpret them. So much is lost in translation. He made a transition from free-form word poems to image poems long ago. They are more universal in character. To further translate the images would be one step away from reality for the poet. However, to be honest, the poet himself does not fully understand his image poems as they are revelatory.
It is hoped the reader welcomes a few new notes that haven't been seen previously about The Selden Map. Basically, the poet continues where the historians left off. Instead of dealing strictly with the eastern maritime trade routes which were a means to profit, the poet integrated them with the routes of the western Silk Road which were for profit and prayer.
Rectangle at top of Northwest Rectangle within which is the Polar Quadrilateral or North Circumpolar Rectangle
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Yanran Rectangle "Who first was here is victorius" tr. Rossi 2018
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Three religions or San Jiao ( 三 敎) are depicted on the map. At the time of the Song and Ming Dynasties, the religions of Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism were syncretized. They combined merits, morals and meditation respectively.
Various sacred and secular symbols are all aligned West to East on the northern boundary. That boundary is not the defensive line of the Great Wall above the top of the emperor's hat. It is further North within topmost rectangle within the Northwest Rectangle (NWR). At either end of the NWR are the Kun (fish) in the West and Peng (bird) in the East which ascend and descend. They mark the limit of boundaries.
Then, there is the Compass Rose. It is directly above the emperor's image. It is symbolic of the emperor's rule through the Mandate of Heaven (天命). He rules as long as he is in accordance with the Will of Heaven. The actual "ruler" of measurement or figuatively speaking "sovereign" is below the NCR and above the emperor. The concept of the Mandate of Heaven was originally derived from the early Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BCE). It was used as their justification to overthrow the Shang Dynasty. It was revived and advanced through Confucianism which stressed ancestor worship and ritual.
Further East is the nested set of vertical rectangles of which the outer has a small opening. The pair symbolize the Buddhist concept of nothingness. They are as far East of the compass rose as the Yanran Inscrition (tentatively identified by the poet) is to the West. It marked the decisive Han victory of General Dou Xian against the nomadic Xiongnu Empire. There can be no bigger contrast between that of nothingness and an inscription of decisive victory or are they really one and the same thing?
James VI of Scotland wrote The True Law of Free Monarchies in 1598 knowing that he was to be the heir to the English throne. The title pretty well says it all. James believes the monarch is free under the true law of Heaven. He is not subject to the laws of his subjects. Even an evil monarch who ruins the kingdom is not subject to the laws of his subjects. There is no contract at the time of coronation between the people and the king. It was James who said "And so it followes of necessitie, the kings were the authors and makers of the Lawes, and not the Lawes of the kings". In other words, James wanted a divine right based on Medieval absolutism.
To some extent, The Mandate of Heaven resembled King James' defence of The True Law of Free Monarchies. The Mandate provided a divine source of authority and the right to rule for its early kings and emperors. The difference between the two was not so much in laws, but rather moral obligations.
Mencius (孟軻)
For example, if a ruler through his mandate could not deal with disease, droughts and floods which were ravaging throughout the land then the people could seek change of the mandate. They might criticize, rehabilitate or replace the ruler. It was Mencius (孟軻) who said that "heaven sees as the people see; heaven hears as the people hear". Today, he might say that when the leaders of the People's Republic of China cease to sense what the people sense then the republic ceases to be the people's.
Cross References
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Northwest Rectangle
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Qinghai Lake and Lake Baikal would have been of particular interest to Selden. They were boundaries of the empire as part of the Four Seas (四海) concept developed in the Han Dynasty after the defeat of the Xiongnu Confederacy. Qinghai Lake is notable as the largest lake in China with salt, alkaline characteristics. Lake Baikal is the deepest fresh water lake in the world. Both were regarded by the Han Chinese as sacred seas. They were called the West and North Sea respectively. The other two boundary markers--namely Telin and Taiwan--are either close to the sea or in the sea--namely the East and South Sea respectively.
While the emperor's upper body may be hard to discern on the map, it is more easily identified when highlighted. He wears a peaked cap which is a yishanguan (玄武) which is reserved for a Ming emperor. The emperor flies with two wings like a monarch butterfly. In addition, he blows the four winds out of his mouth.
Most interestingly, the emperor is found on the back of the black tortoise which is often referred to as the Black Warrior (玄武). In pinyin it is called Xuanwu. It is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations and itself is guardian of the North direction. The snake is to the right of the tortoise's head. In Taoist mythology, the female tortoise mates with the snake.
The presence of the snake may provide a clue as to what emperor reigned and the date of the map. The Tianqi Emperor (天啓帝) was born on December 23, 1605 and died on September 30, 1627. In the Chinese zodiac, he was born in the year of the snake. Below the tortoise and the snake (as part of the robe) is a sheep. In the western zodiac this means Capricorn. It is remotely possible therefore that The Selden Map was completed sometime between October 1, 1620 and September 30, 1627 or the reign of the Tianqi Emperor. On the other hand, perhaps the presence of the snake simply refers to the Year of the Snake which might be 1617 or just prior to the commission of the treatise.
The Chinese empire expanded in size and scope for many reasons which included conquest, Confucianism and commerce among others. Trade developed in the northwest region through the overland Silk Road. The capital of Xian (Changan) played a prominent role in this development. Lake Baikal---as the North Sea---was an artificial, boundary marker even if it was a real lake or sea. Trade passed by it to the south on the Silk Road with the exception of jade deposits exploited in the region.
As time went on, though, maritime trade routes in the South China Sea expanded. At first, they supplemented the Silk Road, but after awhile they surpassed and supplanted the land routes. By the time of the Ming Dynasty, power had shifted from Xian to Beijing reflecting the more active and prosperous sea routes and ports along the coast.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Northwest Rectangle (NWR) from a modern point of view is the island of Taiwan as an artificial, boundary marker. In other words, it is similar in this regard to Lake Baikal. Both had few settlers---at least until Dutch settlement of 1624 in the case of Taiwan---and trade was limited. In Taiwan's case, prolific trade was conducted across the strait on the mainland, but not with the mainland. The Pescadores which had fishing villages were considered informally to be Chinese territory as opposed to Taiwanese territory.
All of this means that Lake Baikal and Taiwan with its South Sea strait were boundary markers that had not become territorial boundaries. Neither does the poet regard Lake Baikal nor Taiwan as frontiers. The poet now takes his cue from Selden who said there are no frontiers.
Eastern Seaboard Rectangle
The newly named Eastern Seaboard Rectangle (ESR) is the poet's complement to his Northwest Rectangle (NWR). It reflects the expanded reality of commerce and spirituality during the Ming Dynasty. The main focus is now on Beijing as the political center with one important exception. The Wanli Emperor almost entirely retreats from politics because of a spat over the choice of his successor. This circumstance may help explain something rather perplexing at least to the poet as he understands the map.
The ruler which measures distances and hence time on land and sea also represents the rule of the sovereign. One would expect the ruler to be placed horizontally on the map. However, it is placed at a slight angle. The poet suggests it represents something which is slightly off in terms of balance of rule. For example, if one looks at the "futou" (幞头) or Song Dynasty peaked hats called the Zhanjiao Putou (展角幞頭) with their wing-like flaps one can see stiff and straight horizontal flaps of up to a meter each which extend outward. To the poet these flaps together may symbolize the NCR.
On a more scientific basis, the downward slant of the ruler may signal that an adjustment has to be made to magnetic compasses that are not weighted. It may be noted that the compass is roughly at the same latitude as Japan to the east. Scientists are aware that compasses off the coast of Japan point to Lake Baikal, Siberia to the West. "The reason why we have now westward declination in Japan is probably due to the presence of a strong, positive, geomagnetic anomaly around Lake Baikal in Siberia. The N-poles of magnetic needles tend to be attracted to the anomaly to show westward declinations around Japan."
A compass is usually held horizontally. In the northern hemisphere it will point in the direction of the north of the Earth which is the South pole of the Earth's magnet. However, the magnetic field is not only horizontally aligned but also vertically aligned. This means it not only indicates the direction of North and South but also "in or out" of the earth. In Japan, the very tip of the needle "dips" toward the magnetic anomaly beneath the surface of the waters of Lake Baikal where there is a rift formation. To compensate for this dip a modern compass is balanced at the other end.
There is a third reason why the ruler may be declined downwards. There are lines running from the center of the Compass Rose to either side of the infinity symbol on the ruler. If these lines are extended they can mark the locations of Beijing, Taiwan, Guangzhou and Quanzhou.
The poet hangs an overlay of the golden, geometrical "Magical Mystery Square" (MMS) onto the center of the Compass Rose. The implication is that one-third of the Square is within a part of the NCR. Also, the same horizontal line runs through the centers of the Kun, Compass Rose, Nothingness and Peng spiritual symbols This circumstance, in effect, links them.
However, The Yanran Rectangle is special. First, it is not spiritual, but rather social; although, the actual site of battle elsewhere might be sacred. Second, it is contrasted to Nothingness as they are on opposite sides of the Compass Rose. Finally, while the line does not go through The Yanran Rectangle; nevertheless, it passes above the rectangle. The rectangle is linked, too, with both the Compass Rose and Nothingness symbols as the bigger golden square is related to the smaller golden square at its center.
One should pay particular attention to the perpendicular line running from the small circle at the center of the compass to the small circle within the small square. The center of the compass represents the binary stars of Draconis 11and 10 which were the polar stars at the time of the mythological Yellow Emperor Huangdi. Professor Didier contends that Draconis 11 corresponds to Taiyi (太一) and Draconis 10 to Tianyi (天一) or the two highest Chinese gods. All stars appeared to rotate around the polar stars which rotated around each other's barycenter. The small circle at the bottom may represent the Ming emperor who from the Forbidden City serves the people through the Will of Heaven.
Banpo series poem 28
The Magical Mystery Square has been perceived by the poet from the stars. It is a perception rather than a projection. The poet is saying that the MMS is implicit in The Selden Map with regard to the ordering of symbols. The poet merely overlaid a pattern he has seen in the stars (among many other patterns) which he then projected onto the form of an I'image type of mandala. The pattern of the mandala was then projected onto the map in the correct position.
The End of Shi Huangdi, the End of a Dynasty and then the End of an Empire
The concept of immortality was held in common by the syncretized religions during the Ming Dynasty through different means. Daoists stressed longevity, Buddhists meditated on reincarnation while Confucianists put their faith in ancestor worship. However, much earlier during the Qin Dynasty, Shi Huangdi had outdone all believers in his quest for immortality. Perhaps this is why there has been a recent attempt to rehabilitate and reincarnate his character in a modern form through revisionism by the Maoists and Legalists in the vein of Han Fei.
However, one must keep in mind that Shi Huangdi did not achieve immortality. He was assassinated near Xingtai, Hebei on his fifth expedition in search of immortality. Furthermore, his empire established under the Mandate of Heaven lasted only four years after his death rather than a dynasty of 10,000 generations of which he had boasted.
The South Sea expedition of 10,000 that he sent to Taiwan or Japan totally vanished. Its goal was to find the elixir of immortality. The poet suspects that clay forms of the 10,000 were made for his terracotta army and then the soldiers were executed. He would want them to be in the afterlife before he arrived in order to protect him from harm by his enemies. He would also want to eliminate a potential threat from them as his perceived enemies in the present moment. If this is the case then it seems the Confucianists may have underestimated his perfidy and treacherousness.
One might say there are two versions of how Ying Zheng came to power. The official version is simple. When King Zhuangxian died then Ying Zheng assumed power as his son and rightful heir. The second version is extremely complicated as it involves machinations of a merchant named Lu Buwei to legitimize his son named Ying Zeng born of his concubine named Lady Zhao. She eventually became queen consort to King Zhuangxian, "Uncle" Lu Buwei became chancellor and Ying Zeng was designated the crown prince. The very fact that Ying Zeng adopted the name of the mythological Yellow Emperor Huangdi indicates that he was paranoidly obsessed about the topic of his legitimacy and explains why he postumously redesignated his mother.
Pablo Picasso, Blind minotaur guided by a Girl in the Night, from La Suite Vollard, 1934, image courtesy of Christie’s
The determining factor in Ying Zeng's life was that he suspected he might be illegitimate. Those who threatened his position were executed by him. However, with so many potential enemies he developed a fear of assassination and death so he retreated into a labyrinth-like palace. In effect, he becomes the Minotaur with the head of a bull and body of a man.
This situation resembles the archetype of a much earlier universal myth. The god Poseidon sends a magical bull to King Minos of Crete to be sacrificed in Poseidon's honour. King Minos swaps the magical bull with an ordinary bull. Poseidon becomes enraged and leads Minos' wife Pasiphae to fall in love with the magical bull. The Minotaur ravages the land. The Labryinth or Underworld is built to hold the Minotaur while his half-sister Persephone is held captive as the Queen of the Underworld. Her central myth promised regeneration and immortality.
Peng 鵬
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Baby Bat Selden riding on top of Peng
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The poet's approach to the Peng (bird) found in the topmost rectangle of the Northwest Rectangle has been consistent. The Peng lays a special white egg. Its form is the head of a former, famous, Buddhist monk named Xuanzang (玄奘; 602–664 CE) who travelled West on the Silk Road to India so he could recover scriptures. The egg cracks open and the monk is reborn or reincarnated as "baby bat" Selden. The baby Selden rides on the back of the Peng to prepare for his ultimate, western journey within the NCR to the Kun (fish).
Sun Wukong (孙悟空 Monkey King)
To Buddhist believers it sounds miraculous while to non-believers it sounds nonsensical or at least satirical. The five characters from the novel Journey to the West (西遊記 1592) also make their appearance on The Selden Map to protect baby Selden. They are Sun Wukong (孙悟空 Monkey King), Pigsy, Friar Sand, White Dragon Horse who was son of Dragon King of the West Sea, and Tang Sanzang (based on Xuangzang). The one inconsistency with previous accounts of the poet is that he now regards these five defenders as simultaneously apart from the Peng and a part of the Peng.
The birth of Selden resembles that of the Monkey King who was born of a stone egg on an island. The Monkey King symbolizes someone with special powers who challenges the status quo in a rather chaotic way ie. a trickster god. John Selden was born on December 16 1584; so, he happens to be a Green Woodland Monkey according to the Chinese Zodiac. However, the jurist's powers are intellectual and spiritual as expressed in Erastianism. This doctrine was "simply a surface manifestation of the seventeenth century's attraction to the methods of scientific inquiry and mathematical measurement...." The Erastian doctrine claimed the state was superior to the church in ecclesiastical matters.
With respect to the sea, he wishes to apply reasonable limits (based on Rabbidinal Law) to absolute power. If the absolute power is god-like then its territorial claims lead to infinite "sea crises" with other nations who hold different views. Coincidentally, the word "crises" in English sounds like the word "Chryses" in Greek at the time of the Trojan War near the Hellespont Strait. Chryses' daughter was taken as a slave by Agamemnon. The king refused to return her until a plague sent by Apollo decimated the Achaeans. One might also cite some of these "sea crises" in the West-East Clash by the name of "cross-straits" as they might be applied to the Hellespont and Taiwan Strait.
Hellespont Strait
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Muslim attired seafarer on Taiwan looking across the Taiwan Strait in the Qiblah direction from East to West or towards Quanzhou and then Mecca
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The Hellespont crisis in the Trojan War led directly or indirectly to the collapse of the Mycenaean and Hittite Civilizations. With regard to the Taiwan Strait, two previous situations were classified as "crises" seemingly to minimize their real status. The pair of crises together seemed more like civil wars when the mainland and Taiwan were lobbing artillery shells at each other on a daily basis.
Today, the so-called crisis of Cold War characteristics in the Taiwan Strait has the potential through nuclear weapons to not only wipe-out the so-called American Empire and nascent Chinese Empire, but civilization as we know it. Furthermore, it could lead to an extinction of entire species on a world-wide basis as a result of a ten year nuclear winter. For the human animal-mammal species, it would mean the death of 5 billion. In total, it would be like climate change on steroids.
Finally, my journey has led me to the Kun in the northwest quadrant of the Northwest Rectangle. It's always been rather straightforward and clear to me despite the fact that others haven't yet seen it. The white whale is descending into the cold depths. It is swallowing Jonah who was a Jewish prophet. He will be saved if he repents. The tail of the whale though is the head of a bird. There is syncretism here in the Jewish and Daoist religions. Overall though, the image of Jonah and the whale represents an archetype and allegory.
However, the image next to the Kun on its right side is another matter. I can't quite understand it and my perception of it keeps changing. I'm not sure if it is changing or not or if I am or am not? It is a part of the Kun, but apart from it. I've identified it as Dragon King of the North Sea (北海龙王). It is called Ào Shun (敖顺). As such it is a divine ruler of the North and can be linked with the Black Warrior (under the Compass Rose). I should have an affinity with it because I'm a water dragon. Water Dragons are fairly placid creatures. We bring needed rain, but if we're riled we can cause destructive floods. Of course, lazy dragons can also cause drought.
Ào Shun is not one of your run of the mill water dragons like myself who come every 60 years. He is much more powerful---even if I was born on a day at the time of the Qing Ming (grain rain in Hong Kong), when the planets were in alignment, a comet visited the solar system and UFO's were in formation over Temple, Texas. Anyway, what's all that got to do with me? If I don't understand Ào Shun then how can I be as powerful?
One of the problems for me is that he doesn't quite look like a water dragon or should I say he doesn't quite look like me, but then who does? His only connection to the sea for me is that he is conch-shaped. This is even more perplexing because a salt-water conch shouldn't be associated with a fresh water, North Sea.
Dragon King of the North Sea (北海龙王). It is called Ào Shun (敖顺).
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Taiwan
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But, I am having a glimmer of insight! I look through the various maps of Taiwan which I have seen many times---except now I see something different. I see a conch-shaped island with a mountain chain running along it similar to the conch-shape where the Altai Mountains run next to the North Sea. However, having solved the conundrum of the conch I'm faced with a more daunting problem that throws down its gauntlet to me.
I'm almost 100% certain that John Selden would have regarded the North Sea as totally closed in terms of boundaries; after all, it is enclosed by land. Furthermore, it was claimed---at least as a boundary of the Han Empire---by dint of its decisive victory over the Xiongnu Empire in the classic Han v Hun confrontation. Yet, there is a lingering doubt in my mind. It was definitely a boundary, but did it become territory? It doesn't seem so.
A similar doubt arises for me over the status of Taiwan on The Selden Map. It shows definitively that Taiwan was a boundary of the Ming Empire rather than a territory. The Ming Emperor was quite assertive to the Dutch that the Pescadores were Ming territory, he drew no line at "elsewhere" which presumably included Taiwan. Basically, Taiwan became Dutch territory through settlement and trade.
Ào Shun also reminds me of a bat. He is bat shaped. Mind you he is not a bat that hangs upside down, but rather one who is upright. He literally wears a bat for a crown, too.
The Chinese regard the bat as a good luck symbol and I hold the same view. In fact, I probably did what few other Chinese have done---I fed bats at dusk by throwing bits of food up into the air for more good luck. Yeah, that sounds pretty batty.
Of course, bats also have their other side, too. They can carry coronoviruses of SARS and SARS-CoV-2. There are many bats of different types found in the caves around the North Sea (Lake Baikal). They are peaceful and harmless. They are unlike horsehoe bats as carriers tested for years by Bat Woman in a cave in Yunnan Province in southwestern China. Those bats might bring disease and death to millions if there were to be lab-leaks.
It would seem that the strongest proof of someone's involvement in the design of a map would be a signature. This method is common with paintings and portraits. One is uncertain though how common or uncommon it is with ancient maps. At any rate, no one has found a signature on The Selden Map. Of course, it might be hidden or disguised in some way.
Even so, it doesn't seem the map maker wants his identity to be known. One has to ask oneself, if it is common to sign a map, then why has this particular map of high quality gone unsigned? There are many possible reasons, but the simplest explanation is that it is a risk to do so. For example, it might be a risk from a political or religious point of view.
It is least likely, but nevertheless within the realm of possibility, the map maker embedded his own portrait(s) on the map in lieu of a signature. The portrait would have to be miniature in size. Furthermore, the portrait would have to be disguised or distorted in some way as to hide its identify in a cursory examination.
A viewer who was concentrating on the latest, maritime trade routes wouldn't pay much attention to what was drawn on the rest of the map. He definitely though would be drawn to the Compass Rose and ruler at the top of the map because he is concerned with distances. That which is to the left and right of these instruments are only in his peripheral vision and of minor interest.
He may not realize the importance of the Yanran Rectangle and rectangles of Nothingness. The viewer may be unaware that the geographical location at the middle of the rectangles of Nothingness is equivalent to Pherkad within the bowl of the Little Dipper. It is called by the Chinese as (北極一) or the First Star of North Pole. Within the Purple Forbidden Enclosure it is known as the Crown Prince while Kochab symbolizes the Emperor. The stars of the Little Dipper appear to rotate around Pherkad. The Yanran Rectangle basically positions Alkaid and Mizar at the western end of the NCR.
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If one accepts the premise that the image on the back of the Peng is a baby which has improbably hatched from an egg whose shape is the head of Tang Xuanzang (玄奘) then how does one know it is John Selden? The answer is that at this stage of development one can't be certain. The Monkey King is a trickster. He was himself hatched from a stone egg either in the forest at this location near Telin (特林) or nearby at the small island of Ush off the coast of Kuye (modern day Sakhalin).
It is difficult to distinguish between Selden and the other who may represent the Tianqi Emperor (天啓帝) in this visual representation of a satire called Journey to the West which is the first modern novel as we know it. They were both woodland monkeys based on the Chinese zodiac. Even in the Purple Forbidden Enclosure (紫微垣) they are close together as Crown Prince (太子) and the Emperor (帝) respectively in the stars Pherkad and Kochab. They are apart from and form a part of each other. However, there is one distinguishing detail which shouldn't be overlooked. The six stars (including Kochab of the Little Dipper) 'appear' to rotate around the Crown Prince.
One must wait for the Peng to fly from the East where the Sun rises, to the West where the Moon sets on the map. Both the Prince and Emperor will pass through Nothingness. Then, they will arrive at the Compass Rose's center. This is equivalent in astronomical terms to the binary pair of the ancient pole stars---Draconis 11 and 10 which rotate around each other's barycenter. At this point, the Emperor will depart to play his role in Beijing. The Prince will continue on the back of the Peng. He will pass close-by to the Yanran Rectangle as a poet might write an homage to a brilliant general who won a decisive victory. Finally, he will arrive at the Kun (fish) in order to begin his descent.
刘会茹: 觉醒的人 Liu Huiru: The Awakened One
D. Carlton Rossi, January 30, 2022
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Ta Sun 大尊 天空的 狮头人像 (D. Carlton Rossi copyright 2014-2022)
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One wouldn't want the reader to not know the poet. The reader should have a clear understanding for one's own enlightenment of how the Dawu Group influenced the poet. He is a Buddhist like LIU Huiru (刘会茹), a Confucianist like SUN Dawu (孙大午) and a Daoist like SUN Kai (孙凯) of Dawu family (大午家庭), Dawu Group (大午集团), Dawu City (大午城市) at the time of the Dawu (大午) Great Noon.
Poem 40 Banpo Poetry Series
The poet has approached The Selden Map as he has developed his earlier poetry. For example, his Banpo Poetry series is derived from ancient star patterns and Banpo Pottery of the Yangshao civilization in China c.5000–3000 BCE. In the poet's opinion, Banpo Pottery exhibits pre-Taoist concepts. The pottery and derivative poetry may be zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and/or geometric.
The poet is adept at pattern recognition through various ways and means. He'll just mention one technique which is used by the mapmaker. The reader may then have an inkling of just what is going on with regard to perception. Keep in mind that the zoomed-in image may be only thumbnail in size.
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The above image is found above the left shoulder of Ào Shun. It represents a kind of optical illusion. You'll see three black dots which may be eyes in roughly horizontal alignment. If you focus on the left and center dot then you may see one thing. On the other hand, if you concentrate on the center and right dot then you may see another thing. You might ask yourself "What is the mapmaker's view of the nature of reality in terms of transformation and transmutation?"
All that is left for the poet to do is to show images of Selden and his family on the map. If this can be done then it goes a long way to substantiate the hypothesis that Selden was instrumental to some degree in the design of the map. The poet will begin with an image which he assumes is the father of John Selden. It is indisputably the most clear, vivid and identifiable image of any person on the map. Of course, the identity of the person is subject to debate.
One might say that the image is surrealistic to some degree because the man wears a cap which transforms into a violin. On top sits a mouse. Indeed, it is known that John Selden's father of the same name was farmer who played the violin. Therefore, there is a high likelihood that the miniature portrait portrays the head of Selden's father. The image of Selden's father is a three-quarter portrait which gives a 3D impression. It is found on the left-shoulder of Ào Shun from our point of view. The image faces West.
On the other shoulder of Ào Shun is a portrait of the head of a woman from the side view. It may be argued it is part of a full length portrait. The woman is the mother of John Selden. Her name is Margaret Selden (nee Baker of Rustington, West Sussex) descended from a knightly family of Kent. She faces East. This means they face each other. This pair of faces facing each other parallels the pair of dragons between them whose faces and tails are interlocked in a loving embrace.
Here's what you've awaited. It is three-quarters length, miniature, side portrait of young John Selden. It may be the only one extant; so, it may be exceedingly difficult to compare with another or to positively identify the subject. If though it is part of a family collection of portraits, as it seems to be, then it bolsters its authenticity.
The boy is about 13 years old. He wears a mouse on his head (like his father). His ear reminds one of a bat. One might argue that his body overlaps that of the helmet below. Within the helmet are several images of a younger Selden. One image may be overlaid with a handled pot. Does this represent the Big Dipper asterism?
The adolescent seems to be involved in some kind of ceremony. The poet's best guess is that he is receiving the breath of a dragon in his mouth. The white dragon enwraps like an ermine a crowned, regal-looking figure who has four faces. This figure may be either a monarch, Sanzang or the Monkey King. One is also reminded of the image of the emperor on the back of the tortoise. The emperor's breath blew the spirit of four winds.
In this case, the indeterminate figure rather than the emperor has four faces. The breath is exhaled from a dragon to the adolescent Selden. The power of life and longevity is transfered from the dragon and is not derived from slaying the dragon from a horse as was St. George's. In fact, there is a full side view of the front of White Dragon Horse (which Sanzang rides) behind Selden. The horse and Selden face East towards the regal-looking figure.
Let's re-examine the side portrait of Margaret Selden (nee Baker) with respect to a continuum. Underneath the portrait looking East is a three-quarters side portrait of her son John Selden looking in the same direction. Beneath that portrait is another of a skeletal knight looking East, too. He is the deceased knight in Kent from whom Margaret is descended.
Kun descending
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Ancestral lineage
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Now, let's put two images side-by-side in parallel. To the left of the family continuum is the white Kun descending into the depths of the sea. It goes down into the depths of the North Sea with respect to the dimensions of space and time. The family continuum goes down its ancestral line from Margaret, to her son and then to the knight and continues on through its descent in space and time. One may now consider that the whole family continuum which began with Margaret may now be regarded as a full length portrait of Margaret Selden (nee Baker).
Summary
In summary, the West-East clash of civilizations has been the dominant theme for over 3000 years. The Trojan War represented a clash between the Mycenaean civilization in the West and the Hittite civilization and empire in the East with Troy as a tribute state. The fundamental reason for the war was access to the Hellespont or a narrow strait between the Black and Mediterranean Sea. With the fall of Troy, the Greeks gained access to the strait for the next 500 years. However, both the Mycenaean and Hittite civilizations collapsed subsequently within a relatively short period of time perhaps due to climate issues.
The two Persian Wars emphasized the importance of the narrow strait since it must be crossed in an invasion by both Xerxes and a decade later by his son Darius I through the support of a fleet. The role of the strait as the dividing line between West and East was reinforced. The wars were not fought for control of the strait per se, but because the Persians wished to expand their empire to the West. At this time, the pass of Thermopylae and the narrow strait of Salamis served as gateways to the south of Greece and Athens respectively echoing the strategic importance of the narrow passage through the Hellespont.
The Delian League (479- 404 BCE) under Athenian leadership was formed to counter an existential Persian threat. The Athenian navy grew in size. However, Sparta began to realize that Athens might be more of a threat than the Persians. The results were the Peloponnesian Wars. These wars and later plague weakened Athens to the point it was ruled by tyrants. Pointedly though, Persia did not invade Greeceat this time, but rather a would-be ruler of Persia used Greek mercenary troops to challenge Persian leadership.
Darius I wished to fulfill his father's goal of conquering the West. Alexander III of Macedon wished to fulfill his father's goal of conquering the East. However, Philip II had failed to capture Byzantium which was on the European side of the Bosporus Strait. One must keep in mind two things. Macedonia was a tribute state of Persia up to 479 BCE. Furthermore, unlike Athens it was not a democracy, but rather a militaristic monarchy.
When Alexander crossed the Hellespont, he visited the site of Troy. Having secured the Phoenician ports he disbanded his fleet! While it was called a Panhellenic League; nevertheless, it was basically a Macedonian army that defeated the Persians at Guagamela in 331 BCE. Athens and Ephesus supported the Ionian revolt against Persia, the Greeks fought Persians through two Persian Wars, the Greeks fought each other through the Peloponnesian Wars. but it was the former tribute state of Macedonia which defeated the Persians on their own soil and Hellenized the East.
One must also mention how Constantine I transfered the seat of power to New Rome or Constantinople (formerly Byzantium) in 324 CE. The city was intended to civilize the barbarian eastern Romans. It is located along the Meridian of Alexandria as conceived by Eratosthenes. If one controls both the Hellespont near the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas and the Bosporus near the Black Sea then one's power is formidable since all roads go to Constantinople as they had gone to Rome.
To the Far East lies another strait of strategic importance which represents the essence of the East-West clash of civilizations if not empires. It is called the Taiwan Strait which is part of the South China Sea. The strait separates or joins the mainland depending on one's own respective point of view.
During the Ming Dynasty, it might be said that the South China Sea was theoretically regarded as closed to trade based on the Haijin Sea Ban imposed in 1371, but was practically speaking open to international trade. In part, its goal was to curtail Japanese piracy. Private sea trading was banned and was to be replaced with "tribute trade".
Recently, the Chinese state has been looking for a precedent in the Ming and Qing Dynasties to support an isolationist position both theoretically and practically through a closed South China Sea. It would not be surprising if it reintroduced the equivalent of the Haijin Sea Ban, but with increased enforcement. Basically, the Haijin Sea Ban was a farce, but the CCP of the PRC may attempt to compensate for its deficiencies through force. It might try to regulate trade through a tribute system while labelling foreign navies as pirates.
The poet explored The Selden Map through a spiritual journey to gain an insight into himself and human nature. One might say he was imitating Homer who looked back through a mytho-poetic interpretation of an idealized version of the past at the time of the Trojan War. It was Homer who transformed the Olympian gods into Homeric gods who were all too human thus forming the basis of Greek religion. His epic poetry became the inspiration for the individual to seek perfection for himself and his creation.
In a similar manner, Confucius regarded the early Zhou Dynasty as a golden age. He selected the best of its poetry which he recorded in the Book of Songs so that the people's voice could be heard. The Zhou emphasized ritual and ancestral worship. It stressed collective duties and responsibilities centered on the unit of the family. These obligations were to become the foundation for dynastic rule in accordance with the Will of Heaven. It was recorded at a UNIRULE workship, on the topic of "Family to Country" attributed to Sun Dawu, that "Since a dynasty can gain the mandate of heaven, it can also lose it, and it is not a god in itself. Whether it can keep the destiny depends on whether it follows the way of heaven."
Since the provenance of the map acquired by John Selden is unknown then its English appellation is simply The Selden Map. The reason is that the last owner of the map was John Selden. Furthermore, it is a kind of homage to the author of Mare Clausum. Its Chinese name is 明代東西洋航海圖 (tr. Eastern and Western Navigation Charts in the Ming Dynasty).
The predominant interest in the map is that it shows trade routes through the East and South China Sea. However, the poet is more interested in a perceived pattern of those routes. They seem to show a knight slaying a dragon. The poet interprets them to be satirical drawings of ultimately an absent king.
Of course, critics who generally support the idea of open seas are closed to this imaginative interpretation. They don't openly criticize it, but simply ignore it as if it had no merit. There is an unwillingness to draw any attention to it. If there were a recognition of even one pattern (or other patterns on the map) then it would be quite problematical for experts in the field.
Naturally, experts are interested in the Compass Rose and ruler on The Selden Map for nautical reasons. These devices are a means to measure space and time as one journeys. However, sailors also look at the North pole star for direction.
Today, the North star is Polaris (at tip of handle of Little Dipper). Approximately 5000 years ago there were a binary pair of North stars known by the Chinese as Draconis 11 and 10 at the top of the North Circumpolar Rectangle (NCR) and also known as the celestial polar quadrangle. Of course, the polar star was known by the name of Thuban in the ancient Egyptian civilization. The pharoahs believed their final journey in the afterlife was to the Pole star which never set. The Chinese believed that their highest god known as Taiyi resided there.
The poet contends that the center of the Compass Rose represents the pole star associated with the god Taiyi (太乙). It is the star which the North Circumpolar stars appear to revolve around. In this way, the compass is similar to our Sun which the planets revolve around. Our Sun appears to rise in the East and that is where it appears on The Selden Map. It seems that Sun worship arrived later during the Bronze Age. For example, a 3000 year old altar to the Sun was recently discovered in North-West China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
To the South of the compass is Beijing which sits on the back of the tortoise and an image of the emperor. The stars appear to go around their center at the pole star. So, too, do the subjects of the emperor appear to go around him.
The binary pole stars rotate around a common barycenter. Those stars are located in the middle at the top of the NCR. This rectangle extends from two stars of the Big Dipper on the left to two stars of the Little Dipper on the right ie. Pherkad (北極一) and Kochab (北極二). Those two stars briefly became pole stars themselves at a later time. This particular pattern will repeat in another 25,772 years as the heavens rotate slowly around the earth in what is called the precession of the equinoxes. "This precession is often referred to as a Platonic Year in astrological circles because of Plato’s recorded remark in the dialogue of Timaeus that a perfect year could be defined as the return of the celestial bodies (planets) and the fixed stars to their original positions in the night sky."
It is almost a certainty that if the mapmaker were Selden then he applied the pattern of the NCR to the map. Selden believed that all boundaries on the land or sea were artificial---even if they were lakes or mountains. However, it seems that if the NCR pattern is applied to a map of China in this way then it is based on a geometric pattern in the northern polar skies which might be divinely based or at least it was believed to be so in ancient times.
To understand the past is like trying to understand the future. We see them as we see ourselves in the present. They are the shadows on the walls of a cave or the tea leaves at the bottom of a cup. While it is seemingly much easier for us to understand other people it is much more difficult for us to understand ourselves because what we see may be difficult to face. Therefore, we project ourselves onto others.
The real lies we tell are not to others, but rather to ourselves. We understand ourselves much less than we pretend to understand others. To really understand ourselves we must listen more than we speak, we must know how we are seen more than what we see in a mirror and we must realize that past events never repeat exactly nor are future events predictable with certainty.
It is the poet's view that the situation in the Taiwan Strait of the South China Sea resembles that of another strait called the Hellespont more than 3000 years ago. In the past, Troy as a tributary state of the Hittite civilization and empire, controlled the Hellespont Strait. The Achaeans of the Mycenaean civilization wanted to control the strait themselves. The issue centered around trade.
It may be regarded as a classic example of the West-East clash of civilizations. One may say that the Trojan War was its first manifestation. Our understanding of this war stems from the epic poems of the Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer. Therefore, the mytho-poetic interpretation overrides the historical. It is precisely for this reason that it is important. Universal truths emerge and are illustrated through archetypes.
On the other hand, historians prefer to examine the later period of the fifth century to make their comparisons with the Taiwan Strait. There are many reasons to be made though which undermine any comparison. While there are prominent examples of this clash during the period; nevertheless, it is not comparing "apples with apples" or one might say "strait with strait", so how straight is it? Furthermore, two Pelopponesian Wars were fought during this period which do not directly pertain to the West-East clash. Third, there is a tendency to be biased towards this period because the western concept of history was invented by Thucydides who recorded it. Then, there is the illusion that democracy was fully implemented in Periclean Athens and to misrepresent the clash as one of democracy versus authoritarianism. Finally, historians seem to overlook the fact that democracy devolved into tryranny in Athens and only survived as fluke of history.
The Selden Map helps us bridge the gap in understanding the ancient past and present, the mainland and Taiwan and a nascent Chinese empire and American empire. While it may technically be argued that American civilization is not an empire and Chinese civiliztion is not trying to establish an empire; nevertheless, it is indisputable that both China and the United States are the only two superpowers. One may define a superpower to have soft and hard power, to establish alliances and to either benefit mankind overall or ultimately destroy it many times over.
It may be generally said that historians are interested in the map as it pertained to trading routes on the East and South seas. In the past, during the Tang (唐朝) and Song dynasties (宋朝), these routes fostered trade. Foreign traders wanted Chinese porcelain and silk while Chinese traders coveted silver. International trading reached its peak during the Ming dynasty (大明).
Today, the East China Sea and particularly the South China Sea carry a large percentage of international trade. These are vital sea routes. The dispute between West and East arises as to what kind of routes these are to be. China wants a closed South China sea while the United States wants to retain the status quo as an open sea. Both sides have formidable navies.
The map itself seems to show the South China Sea as open despite the fact that the Haijin Sea Ban restricted private trading and the establishment of coastal settlements. If the provenance of the map remains uncertain and its mapmaker unknown then one is left with an open South China Sea with the exception of piracy. However, if there is a possibility or even probability that John Selden himself was instrumentally or integrally involved in its design then the degree of openness of the South China Sea may be challenged.
First and foremost is the historical fact that Selden was requested by James I to write a treatise on Mare Clausum or Closed Sea. The poet now leans to the view the map was drawn in a narrow window of say four years between 1618 to 1622. The first draft of Mare Clausum was written in 1619.
The question one must ask oneself is the following. "Did Selden use the map as a reference at or around the time he was writing Mare Clausum?" That may very well be. He may have wanted to see how his thesis applied outside a European context to one under exploration and potential exploitation by the English, Dutch and Spanish.
Based on the official position taken in Mare Clausum by Selden, it would seem that one could draw the conclusion that Chinese territory extended only three miles from shore. One could also infer that Chinese territory extended three miles from shore of the Pescadores Islands. However, Chinese territorial claim did not extend to Taiwan since Chinese trading and settlements were limited if not restricted with the island.
If Selden were instrumental in the map's design then he was responsible for the key position of the Compass Rose and measuring ruler. These additions were innovative on a Chinese map of the time. They are located near the top middle of the map. The location was chosen because it is above the tortoise-snake with drawing of emperor over-laying it. It means that he was involved to some degree in the design of these drawings, too.
Finally, we come to the criteria for Selden to become intergrally involved in the mapmaking process. He equates the center of the compass with the North Star in which resides Taiyi or the highest god at the time of the mythical Yellow Emperor Huangdi. He draws a line from Kun-Ao Shun in the West through the center and then on to Peng-Sanzang in the East. These drawings represent artificial boundaries of the North and East Seas respectfully.
Basically, he is applying the Four Seas concept developed in the Han Dynasty (which the author interpreted as the emperor and his four brothers). The emperor Liu Bang represented the center and the four brothers of whom Liu Jiao (刘交) was the most trusted would defend the four corners of the empire. To complete the boundaries the poet adds the West Sea (Lake Qinghai) and the South Sea to form a rectangle designated by the poet as the Northwest Rectangle.
From this single line, he can establish the North Circumpolar Rectangle (NCR) which was recognized by the ancients. For example, the number 72 which is associated with Confucius can be used in an equation to calculate the length of the precession. Along this line and surrounding the Compass Rose he adds the Yanran Square and the double rectangles of Nothingness to illustrate victory and the hollowness of victory respectively.
The poet anticipates a possible criticism of his argument concerning the width of the NWR. It is not quite balanced on the map ie there is more geography to the left of the Compass Rose than to the right. One might explain this in the following way. The emphasis of the Northwest Rectangle (NWR) is on Xian or the old capital. Gradually, as time went by, the importance of Xian receded along with its orientation to the Silk Road(s). As Xian's importance waned (vernal equinox), Beijing's importance waxed (spring equinox) with the new trade brought about by shipping on the East Coast. This meant there was a shift from West to East on the map. To compensate for this shift the poet extended the NWR to the East. However, he did not so do arbitrarily.
Polar Quadrilateral
Sun-Moon Line
Eastern Seaboard Rectangle
His new paradigm is the Eastern Seaboard Rectangle (ESR). The basis for the extension of the map is what the poet has termed the Sun-Moon line. It is configured to run from the Moon to the Sun. In other words, as the Moon (Kun) descends on one side of the map, the Sun (Peng) rises on the other side of the map. This reflects the waning of Xian and the waxing of Beijing as capitals. Furthermore, the angle of the ruler parallels the Sun-Moon line.
If the poet recalls correctly there was mention of Edmund Halley (c. 1556-1742) in the references for The Selden Map. Halley was one of Britain's foremost astronomers and philosophers. He found the accuracy of the geography somewhat lacking or to be specific it was "cartographically inaccurate". If this is true then might we also question to some degree the accuracy of the trade routes? Years ago, the poet suggested the mapmaker may have used poetic licence in their design so that mariners could remember the routes better with more familiar images.
Today, he suggests a political motive may also have been introduced. There appear to be patterns in the routes which may function as satires of an absent king ie. one who entertains foreign ventures with dubious goals and at great cost. With his legal training and parliamentarian tendencies, Selden may have bristled at a king who declared divine authority based on a medieval concept. Furthermore, he may have privately resented the non-approval by Villiers and ultimately the king of his treatise on Mare Clausum which had been requested by the king in the first place.
Conclusion
The Hellespont Strait
The poet made a strait by strait comparison to see if the West-East clash was the dominant theme and trend for just over 3000 years. The first clash called the Trojan War c. 1260-1180 BCE decided who would control the Hellespont with respect to trade between the Black and Aegean Sea or ultimately the Mediterranean Sea. It was won by the Achaeans; albeit, at great cost in human lives on both sides.
Minoan Civilization
When the vocano on the island of Thera (Santorini) erupted c. 1650-1600 BCE, the earthquake triggered a tsunami which wiped out the Minoan civilization of Crete. The soot and gases thrown into the atmosphere temporarily cooled temperatures which adversely affected crops. With respect to population there was a migration of peoples from the North to the South which was a leading factor in the growth of the Mycenaean civilization.
Mycenaean and Hittite Civilizations
Ultimately, though, both the Mycenaean civilization and the Hittite civilization and empire collapsed not too long after the Trojan War. The reasons for the collapse are not fully understood. It is suspected that climate change may have had something to do with it. Generally, it became hotter and drier. Drought ensued leading to crop failures, food shortages and possibly starvation.
Greek city-states and Persian Empire
The next, major clash of West-East civilizations took place at the time of the Persian Wars at the beginning of the fifth century. The Persians had been irritated when two Greek city-states were instrumental in stirring up revolt of Greeks on the Ionian coast. As a result, Xerxes and later his son invaded Greece with army and navy. They were twice repelled.
However, the invasion was not directly about the Hellespont. The strait simply had to be crossed to get into Greece and it was crossed without resistance. One must make the concession though that if Persia had conquered Greece it would have effectively meant control of the Hellespont.
Macedonia and Persia
Many years ensued before the West invaded the East. Alexander the Great was well aware that a Greek mercenary army had aided a rebellion against the Persian king himself. The army had successfully engaged the Persians. It was with confidence that 67 years later, Alexander safely crossed the Hellespont; although, again, his intention was not to control it. Of course, the reverse is also true because when Alexander conquered the Persian Empire then he would de facto have controlled the Hellespont.
One should emphasize that Alexander was not Greek, but rather Macedonian. Macedonia had been a tribute state of the Persian Empire until 479 BCE when the Persian Wars ended. He was not fighting for freedom of Greek city-states nor for the freedom of Greeks along the Ionian coast. He was fighting for Macedonian dominance over the Persian Empire.
The Taiwan Strait
Qin Dynasty
Qin Shi Huangdi of the Qin Dynasty had one overriding obsession. It was to achieve immortality either in the present life or the afterlife. To further this goal, he sent an expedition of 10,000 to Taiwan in order to find the elixir of immortality. Now, 10,000 is a lucky number for the Chinese, but for those he sent it was very unlucky. They disappeared--perhaps sacrificed as models for his clay army.
The expedition has become a rather obscure footnote to the record of his reign as emperor. However, if even a 100 had survived their journey to Taiwan then they might have started a settlement which could have thrived. This could have provided the basis, today, for Chinese historical claims to the island.
Han Dynasty
The Song of the Great Wind was written by Liu Bang in 195 BCE. He had founded the Han Dynasty and Empire. The song can be used to illustrate the boundaries of the empire at that time.
《大風歌》
Song of the Great Wind
大風起兮雲飛揚，
A great wind came forth,
the clouds rose on high.
威加海內兮歸故鄉，
Now that my might rules all within the seas,
I have returned to my old village.
安得猛士兮守四方！
Where will I find brave men
to guard the four corners of my land?
The boundary markers of the Han Empire are defined as the four corners by Emperor Gaozu of Han. His might is within the [four] seas. They would be the North, West, East and South Seas or Lake Baikal, Qinghai Lake, East China Sea and South China Sea respectively as named today. The word "land" implies terra firma. In other words, four brave men (perhaps referring to his brothers) have guarded the land with his armies and he asks if they will continue to do so and if not then who will replace them. However, the expression "my might rules all within the seas" does not necessarily limit his might to the land, but may imply the seas themselves.
Victory is not always what it seems to be. One might look at the following verse:
"Now that my might rules all within the seas,
I have returned to my old village."
In one sense, he has everything as emperor and in another sense he is Liu Bang who returns to his small village. He is wounded with the shaft of a stray arrow as if it is fate. One is reminded of Qin Shi Huangdi. During his reign as Qin emperor he celebrated a victory against the Xiongnu tribes; yet, he finds it necessary to engage perhaps the same soldiers in building The Great Wall for defensive purposes. This implies the victory is qualified if non-existent with respect to the longer term.
It may take a general to defend the empire, but it takes an explorer and envoy to extend it. That man was Zhang Qian (張騫 died c. 114 BCE). Following his reports to Emperor Wu of Han, the empire established commercial relations with Central and Western Asia. This was the beginning of the Silk Road and set the stage for Han conquests to secure it.
It was General Dou Xian ( 竇憲 died c.CE 92) who in CE 89 defeated the Northern Xiongnu in the Altai Mountains near the North Sea to end the Han–Xiongnu War (漢匈戰爭). The victory was unparalleled, unmatched and unequalled. It was marked by the Inscription of Yanran (封燕然山銘) on Mt. Yanran.
On The Selden Map, the poet has identified what he calls the Yanran Rectangle which is matched with the double set of rectangles. These empty rectangles symbolize "nothingness". It may be recalled how the Achaeans won the Trojan War; but, nevertheless, the Mycenaean civilization collapsed shortly thereafter.
If mainland China invades the island of Taiwan it is conceivable that Chinese civilization will meet the same fate as the Mycenaean. Victory will be achieved, but at what cost? The Trojan War was fought between West and East for control of the Hellespont Strait. If The Taiwan War is fought between East and West it will be for control of the Taiwan Strait which is part of the South China Sea. Control of the strait means control of the South China Sea.
Taiwan drought in 2021
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Fishing boats on Yangtze in 2022
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There is also a similarity between apparent drought conditions around the Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age and the drought conditions in Taiwan (2021) and China (2022). It is no exaggeration to say that both Taiwan and the Yangtze River were without fresh water.
The primary cause was climate change. The secondary cause on the mainland was the Three Gorges Dam with its large reservoir whose main purpose is to supply hydro power rather than to avert floods or to keep the water flowing in drought conditions. The government faced a moral dilemma. Should it supply fresh water to the 23,913,495 people of Taiwan (which it classifies as a province) when no typhoon or rain arrived in the Spring of 2021 or should it reduce its hydro power generation by releasing water in 2022 from its Three Gorges Reservoir to alleviate the low water levels and drought conditions downstream affecting 400 million people? Of course, the third choice was to do nothing.
Is there evidence to suggest that climate change appreciably or even negligibly affected the Silk Road on a mass scale as opposed to a local phenomenon between the Han and Tang Dynasties? It seems that the major changes in climate had already taken place thousands of years earlier. For example, the sedimentary basin within the Ordos Loop of the Yellow River had been a saline lake which had dried up. Both the Taklamakan and Gobi were already cold climate deserts with little rain and extreme temperature variations--especially the Gobi.
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty represented the flowering of Chinese culture and civilization. The refinement of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism transpired. Two Buddhist pilgrims undertook a physical journey to India. Xuanzang 玄奘 secretly left China by the Silk Road in CE 629 while Yi Jing 義淨 left by sea in CE 679. Metaphysical journeys were made by the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty known as Emperor Gaozu of Tang 唐高祖 and later by the Neo-Confucian scholar whose name was Han Yu 韓愈 near the end of the Tang Dynasty.
Gaozu of Tang who reigned from CE 618-626 claimed and was accepted as a reincarnation of Laozi. He supported Daoist doctrine and temples. Han Yu concentrated on the restoration of the Confucian Way through the ancient prose movement, self-cultivation of the Dao and emphasis of certain Confucian canon texts.
Song Dynasty
The waning of the overland Silk Road and the waxing of the maritime sea routes was characteristic of the Song Dynasty. Guanzhou gave up its position to Zaiton (Quanzhou) as the major port of the maritime trade since the latter had better access to tea and porcelain. "With the development of oceanic commerce, the eastern and southeastern coasts of China became primary regions for international trade and foreign contacts, which significantly reduced the importance of the northwestern frontier." (Song Dynasty (960-1279): Commercial Revolution)
The economy successfully made use of market mechanisms to increase national income as opposed to top-down control. One might say that the "reform and opening" program of Deng Xiaoping which introduced free-enterprise elements resembled to some extent the economic strategy employed in the Song. Both programs fostered a commercial growth of unprecedented extent. Of course, reform and opening (改革开放) was short-lived in comparison to the Song commercial revolution. Xenophobia and isolationism have returned these days with Xi Jinping Thought.
1. The Selden Poems
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172105/http://www.sundawu.ca/The_Selden_Poems.html
2. Poetic Interpretation
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172223/https://sundawu.ca/Poetic_Interpretation.html
3. Transformation through Spiritual Pilgrimage
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172318/http://www.sundawu.ca/Transformation.html
4. Kun
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172350/http://www.sundawu.ca/Kun.html
5. Peng
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172438/https://sundawu.ca/Peng.html
6. Peng II
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172535/http://www.sundawu.ca/Peng_II.html
7. Transition
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172610/http://www.sundawu.ca/Transition.html
8. Northwest Rectangle
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172826/https://sundawu.ca/Northwest_Rectangle.html
9. The Riddle of Xian
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206172911/http://www.sundawu.ca/The_Riddle_of_Xian.html
10. The Riddle Unravelled
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206173009/https://sundawu.ca/The_Riddle_Unravelled.html
11. Kun II
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206173114/https://sundawu.ca/Kun_II.html
Banpo Poetry Series, D. Carlton Rossi
https://web.archive.org/web/20190206171856/http://www.sundawu.ca/Banpo_Poetry_A.html
Big and Little Dipper
https://www.fairbanksmuseum.org/uploads/night_sky/star_chart/Northern_Circumpolar_October.png
Black Tortoise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tortoise
Chinese zodiacal date, John Selden
https://chinese-year.com/1584
Debating the Free Sea in London, Paris, The Hague and Venice: the publication of John Selden’s Mare Clausum (1635) and its diplomatic repercussions in Western Europe, Martine Julia van Ittersum, Department of History, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01916599.2021.1871930
The Descent of Ariadne: Minoan Queen of the Dead to Mistress of the Labyrinth? Riley Winters, January 9, 2018
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/descent-ariadne-minoan-queen-dead-mistress-labyrinth-009407
Didier, John "In and Outside the Square: The Sky and the Power of Belief in Ancient China and the World, c. 4500 BC – AD 200" Sino-Platonic Papers No. 192, 2009, 3 vols.
www.sino-platonic.org
https://www.libarts.colostate.edu/people/jcdidier/
• Volume I: The Ancient Eurasian World and the Celestial Pivot
• Volume II: Representations and Identities of High Powers in Neolithic and Bronze
China....
• Volume III: Terrestrial and Celestial Transformations in Zhou and Early-Imperial
China
http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp192_vol1.pdf
Emperor Gaozu of Han
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Fisk, William L. “John Selden: Erastian Critic of the English Church.” Journal of Church and State, vol. 9, no. 3, 1967, pp. 349–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23913734. Accessed 12 Sep. 2022.
Four Seas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Seas
Futou
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Great Reformers: Psychological Analysis Of Their Personality, Justinian, Julius Caesar And Shi Huangdi, Daniela Zaharia a *, Elena Stănculescu a, Florica Mihuț-Bohîlțea a, Ecaterina Gabriela Lung, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 140 (2014) 212 – 220,
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Guan (headwear)
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HISTORY OF EUROPEAN IDEAS 2021, VOL. 47, NO. 8, 1193–1210
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The Knight's Tale (in Middle English), Geoffrey Chaucer, Track 2 The Canterbury Tales (in Middle English)
https://genius.com/Geoffrey-chaucer-the-knights-tale-in-middle-english-annotated
Mandate of Heaven, Mark Cartwright, July 25, 2017
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Neo-Confucian Philosophy
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The Political Works of James I: Reprinted from the Edition of 1616. Charles Howard McIlwain. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1918
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天则双周学术论坛：孙大午，从家国到国家。
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孙大午,Sun Dawu,许志永, XuZhiyong,Sun Dawu,孙大午,Liu Huiru, Dawu Group,DAWU GROUP, Private Entrepreneur Constitutional System, Dawu Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Group Co., Ltd.,Langwuzhuang, Xushui County, Hebei Province, November 11, 2020, November 11,2020,1911,Xinhai Revolution,Sun Deming,Three Principles of the People,Unirule, Tianze Economic Research Institute,Mao Yushi,land seizure,farmers,agricultural collective,ethical capitalism,D. Carlton Rossi,demolition and relocation,picking quarrels and provoking troubles,709 case,709 crackdown,police,protective umbrella,Confucianism,Yellow Emperor Huangdi,The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market,National Institute of Virology,Winnipeg,National Institute of Virology,Wuhan,Dr.Qiu,Justin Trudeau,Prime Minister,Canada,Beijing Olympics,2022,Taiwan,Hong Kong,John Selden,The Selden Map,2022孙大午,Sun Dawu, 孙大午,被捕11112020,刘会茹,Dawu Group,大午集团 ,私营企业主立宪制度,徐水国营农场,大午农牧集团有限公司,河北省,徐水县郎,五庄,2020年11月11日,November 11,2020,1911,辛亥革命,孫德明, 三民主义,Unirule,天则经济研究所,茅于轼,土地扣押,农民,农业集体 伦理资,本主义,D.Carlton Rossi,拆迁,寻衅滋事,709案,709大抓捕,警察,皇帝,保护伞,儒,武汉华南海鲜批发市场,中国科学院武汉病毒研究所,Justin Trudeau,Prime Minister,Canada,The Selden Map,Timothy James Brook卜正民,Ming Dynasty