Chinese History: The White Tribes of Ancient China
4,000 Year Old Lost Tribe
One of the most fantastic finds in the last half of the twentieth century has to be the discovery of a Northern European tribe found in the northeast corner of Xinjiang province, near the Celestial Mountains and the Taklimakan Desert on the edge of the Gobi desert.
The story starts in 1978 when the Chinese archaeologist, Wang Binghus, started searching for ancient sites. He began by following stream beds, and asking the locals if they had ever come across any broken pots and artifacts. He eventually came across a few people who pointed out that there was a place called Qizilchoqa, or, as the local people called it, Red hill. Here he made the most amazing discovery, the first of the mummies. It had been placed in a grave on the side of the hill.
It was a simple site, rush mats were on the floor, and some of the bodies were buried in the foetal position. In effect, the mummies were not what you would call real mummies, in the sense that they were not embalmed. They had been preserved in an amazing way. They had been placed in the ground, which had been subjected to a unique weather system. Heat, aridity, and bitter winter cold, mixed with a salty soil, had preserved them better than other mummies found around the world. Even the clothing was still perfectly recognizable.
The bodies were excavated and taken to the museum in the city of Urumqi. There were 113 bodies taken from the site. At the time the Chinese government did not have enough funds to excavate the find. Wang eventually discovered three more burial sites.
The faces of the mummies were very well preserved, so, on closer examination, they could see that they were not Chinese. They had blonde hair, big eyes, and European noses.
At that time, Chinese tradition had always shown the fact that they believed China had developed independently from the rest of the world. Because of this, the government was reluctant to bring the finds to the public attention.
But soon they realized that the proof was irrefutable.
The Mummies of China
The most extraordinary thing about the mummies was the fact that their clothes were in such good condition. A jacket belonging to one man, over three thousand years old, still had a crimson edge. And the women had artificial extensions in their hair.
This tribe was obviously very advanced for its day. On one of the mummies, there is a scar which shows they had rudimentary operating skills. It had been sown up with horses hair.
When the West was eventually allowed to visit the mummies, Dr. Victor Mair, who was a Professor of Chinese at Pennsylvania University, took a tour around the museum. Imagine his surprise when he saw these amazing mummies, which had been kept in a dark room, in glass-topped boxes.
At this time, the Chinese authorities were still a bit reluctant to let anybody know about them, so it has taken quite a long time for the West to be able to study them properly.
Eventually in 1993, they were allowed back with a team of geneticists from Italy. And this is when they began to study them properly. They used the most up to date technology of the time to confirm the date of the mummies. They now believe that they are about 4,000 years old, and the youngest about 2,000. There are probably many more to be found, possibly in the same region of China, but it is also possible they could have settled anywhere in China, as long as the conditions were suitable to live in.
These people were from the Bronze age, they were Caucasian, and it is possible that they interacted with the indigenous people at that time. The local people probably taught them their traditions, and the Caucasians most likely introduced them to their way of life as well.
There were two cartwheels found at the burial sites, very similar to what you might find in Russia, or nearby countries. These amazing people were probably Scandinavian or German; it is amazing to think that they trekked across China all the way from Europe, 4,000 years ago, taking their traditions and language with them. How many other tribes were there? Who knows?
I think that one of the most fascinating things about this story is that the local people, even today, that live in the area where the bodies were found speak a language called Tocharian, the most eastern branch of Indo-European.
This language is closely related to German and Celtic. I think the other most amazing thing about these people is that they walked all the way across China, taking with them their families, and a mixture of animals, probably goats and sheep.
Feeling the cold, and the heat, catching diseases that they didn't know anything about, unsure whether they would survive the different climate. Babies were born, people died, and all the time not knowing whether they would be safe or if the indigenous people would accept them.
Their lust for adventure and discovering new places gave them strength and determination to survive. They were amazing people, and I hope that soon we will be able to see these wonderful discoveries and learn more about these courageous human beings that came from the beginning of history.
Questions & Answers
What was the race of Chinese people?
There were various tribes back in history who lived in what we now call China. As you can see the white tribe lived there, along with many other nationalities, such as Russians, on the border.
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© 2009 Nell Rose
Comments
There's a "white tribe" in Pakistan, The Kalasha of Chitral.
After watching the Youtube link embedded in your article, it seems quite probable that those white tribes came from the West. Maybe they were mistakenly trapped in those oases surrounded by high mountains and deserts when seeking for better pasture all along their way. They should have come via riding horses/carriages. Anyway, human beings had a start, and will have an end. That is just the destiny. :-)
It is a quite fascinating article and I love it.
Thanks a lot for your sharing!
Ancient civilizations encountered a lot of gene flows, I think. What is happening in USA just confirms this type of genetic interchanges, doesn't it?
GOD works. :-)
There people are ancient Turks. They all look alike of my father. Great article.
The easiest answer to the question of "where are these people from" is that they are from the place where they were found. If we went even further back in time we would find Central China populated by the ancestors of today's Finns & Uralic tribes. Eastern Asia is a big place and there is plenty of room for the ancestors of Turks & Indo-European folks there as well.
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Thanks Nell, the Wikipedia page I’m referring to is about the ‘Xirong’ if you’re interested. Basically what I’m saying is that when it comes to archaeology in China, always check Chinese historiography as well, 9 times out of 10 it has been already documented multiple times in various ancient Chinese texts. I keep Sima Qian’s Records Of The Grand Historian at hand at all times for these things, but there are many others as well. When it comes to record keeping, the Chinese far excel the Romans and the Greeks in details, accuracy and sheer volume. Happy hunting on your next topic, I enjoy it!
These mummies are Celts, they did the DNA testing. I’ve read many articles about these mummies and am always surprised that Chinese historical records are not mentioned or looked at. These people have been talked about in Chinese texts several times throughout ancient history: they are the Wusun, or the ancestors of the Wusun. The Han Chinese described the nomadic tribes of the west as the Xirong, consisting of many different groups. This quote is straight from Wikipedia, no hard digging necessary: ‘The 7th-century commentary to the Hanshu by Yan Shigu says: "Among the various Rong tribes in the Western Regions, the Wusun's shape was the strangest; and the present barbarians who have green eyes and red hair, and are like a macaque, belonged to the same race as the Wusun”’ The Chinese took meticulous records, it’s always best to look there first to understand the history of that area.
Hi again, Miss Nell!
I know this comment is kind-of late, but I just wanna thank you for your answer and state I just saw someone on American Ninja Warrior, who is from the same Neuro-Tribe as me (He's Autistic) and he managed to cleara 5 obstacles on the show!
Would it be okay if I trained as hard as (Or harder) than he did and went on the show to represent the Tarim Mummies as well as the animals, forests, mountains, deserts, and tundras of Earth?
Hi there, Miss Nell!
I just love this article! It would be so awesome if we were to find out if these Tarim Mummies were in fact Celtic. But please let me ask you this: Would these Tarim mummies teach me their way of life or even hug me? I'd gladly appreciate an answer...Cheers!
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Cave of Treasure's .. After Adam died later they one by one came down from cave of treasure's . We waited for the Angels to come after Adam's body . No one can go to this place for when we came down we was told we could never go back ....
Today we are at the end time's We are Aryan and the Lost Tribe's of Door's of no Return ... None of you accepted us and cast us out your land's . When you wipe us out your end is here . God bless .Northern Kingdom ... All who rejected us will be stricken from the book of life ..
They came from the Cave of Treasure's .. My people was last to come down .....We past other places but refuse to tell for african stealing our history .. We are from Seth ...... Paleo Indian's and we landed off Inland of china and went down silk road ............ WE are from Adam and Eve .....
Interesting article, but red hair? Sorry, not wanting to offend, at least with regard to the pictures shown, it's brown hair, not red. I'm from southern Europe (Portugal) and a a large part of the people of my country have hair of that colour. And, by the way, the first picture is an old woman not a blond one. True red hair is in Ireland, and in your country (U.K.), not from the Tarim mummies.
Interesting article, Nell. I wonder about this group, and this is right up your investigative alley - could they have been somehow related to the lost Tribe of Dan? I truly enjoyed your work. superb as always. And happy late Mother's Day! Respect and admiration, Tim
Very informative! It is too early in my opinion to speculate where these people came from, rather than being from Europe, it may they are from a stock that earlier or later emigrated to Europe
Your article was amazing I loved it
What you all do not realise is that these people along with the Aryans of India are R1a1 slavic and that is why it is not being fully told only vague suggestions of possible German or Celtic origin.
Fanstastic find Nell. Learning about ancient civilizations is certainly a hobby of mine. I enjoyed reading and discovering these amazing findings right alongside of you!
Hello, I would like to ask where did you find those pieces of information about those mummies? Your references? I've been trying to find valid information about Chinese mummies in the wed for some time now...
The area is not Chinese but Turkic Uyghur area , they were always there , Chinese occupied that land , look at the map you will see Turkish names "Tarim" which means land for farming and the river name "Aksu" means white water . If you look at world's DNA map you will see that this area only area in all Assia that includes "R" DNA
Seriously, that's all they came up with? They must be Germans?! :-D That's exactly why they tend not to tell everything - all those ancient excavations have nothing to do with Germans. And yet somehow they always create nonsense theories based on no evidence that those advanced civilizations were Germanic, although nothing, but nothing except their huge wish connects them(Germans) with those civilizations. "Germanic or Celtic language" - do those two have anything in common? Comparing those two languages is like comparing ass and eye. Nothing in common.
Did anyone think that they might not come from Europe at all? Why would they have to move only to Europe from India(Indo-Europians were "Indo" before they became Europians; They lived in India and Persia white as they had been before they moved to Europe). One part of them could move directly from India or Persia to China. But, Gosh, they couldn't be Germans then...
One would think that they would stop with those sick lies after the WW2. Guess some things never change...
Nice article. From my research I believe there was wood found on site ,even boats . Now that sample should define exactly were these people came from. The one lady has ink or paint on her face and other pictures show her right am and entire hand being covered in design. That surely is art and can be traced to a certain tribe. I don't think the whole story is being told ,or if it ever will be.
Fantastic article! really does shine some new light. Is there anymore information out there about this?
Interesting article!
I don't know too much about Chinese mythology, but i once read something about a land to the west where they believed the people who lived beyond the mountains were gods.
I'm sorry i cant remember what it was called, but will comment again If i do.
My best anthropological guess is that this Indo-European diaspora was most likely the result of the sudden flooding of the Black Sea area, around 5600BC, where agriculture was already established. The resulting post glacial flooding led to a great migration/dispersion, and also the original Great Flood stories. Unfortunately most of the area is underwater and excavation is not feasible. If you are not familiar with this, look up "Ryan and Pitman" and the Great Flood hypothesis.
Fascinating article. History fascinates me. Please write more items. Thanks.
Hi Nell, i would urge you to read the book i am currently reading which has put many "attractions" of my life into focus... the history of the red haired, green/blue eyed folk known as Dragon/Grail/Fairy/Elven bloods, direct descendents from the Annunaki (children of god/shining ones) and is labelled as the official history of their race by Nicholas De Vere titled "The Dragon Legacy" or "From Transylvania to Twickenham". it makes clear why these red haired folk are found all over the world in ancient times as they were wise and "connected" rulers and had many client races around the world who engaged their services. They formed a caste system with the wisest of Druidhe class as advisors to the Temporal or Grail King class and then Swan Warriors who protected the Swan/Grail Maidens who were the actual repository for the wisdom of the druids and kings... the method i will leave you to discover, but it has brought together so much since i was a child and noticed how fairy tales seemed ubiquitous so must have basis in reality... here is a link, but i advise buying the book as it is serious study rather than a read, so not best done online... I think it will supply much that you wonder about. Here is link : https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/dragons/esp_soc... Enjoy! (if you so choose)
Very interesting article. Love history and since getting my DNA tested am even more so. Thank you so much for this article.
They are ancestors of the Turks.
Tribal jews have always lived among Chinese, Burma and India without too much conflict. China spoke of them as those with the brown hair. Some would think this meant white people but it could very well be lost tribes.
Hi Nell, missed you much and glad to be back.
THERE IS SO MANY FABRICATIONS
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1. The mummies are in a country called " EAST TURKISTAN" the people who live there are Uyghurs (related with Tocharians) which is 600 miles away from the heart of Chinese civilization. The Chinese communist incorporated it in 1949 just like Tibet.
2. The genetic Tocharian are most similar to Iranians not Europeans.
3. If these White tribes were so advanced how come they were ruled and controlled by Chinese people for 500 years? Chinese was the richest nation, and had many rich invention. Hangzhou: The Finest and Most Noble City in the World According to Marco Polo.
Everyone is much more connected than we think we are. The first thing people say when I tell them my mom is Japanese is "oh, she must not be 100% because you don't have slanted eyes." Well, guess what? She is 100% and I am half. We can look many different ways, and we are not always so different.
Oh, this is interesting, indeed, Nell. I do think I saw a program about this on the History Channel a few years back, if memory serves. It just goes to show the "us/them" attitude is rather wrong-minded....
Voted up, interesting and shared.
You People need to understand about the indo-europeans to understand who the red headed people of northern china where
Very interesting information.
This is incredible news that we keep me busy for some time now. I am more familure with Menashe culture which was original dispora out of Egypt thru Persia but as far as the mountain regions of China.
I have heard about this somewhere before but you have really covered the subject really well and I have voted Up and tagged as Awesome. I am also sharing on my Facebook wall.
Caucasian as a name shuld not be politicaly correct.
I Dont like the american way of forging the history. Americ is aroudn 230 years old. where everyone that "looks" european is called caucasian . Cos its build on a missbelife that the white race is from "caucasus" today's south Russia. Which is false. White race shuld be called Indo-European , its better clarification. Cos even how you make it ....The first civilzation outside africa was India, that is a fact. And the mongol race, and white race is all made out of Indian people. However the white race was developed in north india , which is today's Iran and Pakistan, afganistan (afgans is called Scandinavian race) even in US. Not caucasian.
Hi Nell. Great article and amazing photos. Voted up and shared.
A long time ago, I met a physician from Kazakhstan. His facial features were halfway between Caucasian and Chinese. That squares with photos I've seen from other Central Asian republics.
There was one surprise from a few years ago. I've also looked at photos of Sami people, also known as Laplanders. (They live in the Northern parts of Sweden, Norway and Finland.) As expected, most look like Europeans.
However I remember one photo of a nomadic Sami family from the early 20th Century. Their features were very Asian. Human prehistory is probably more complex than we think it is.
This is fascinating -- I'd seen something about this on TV. It shows that people back then used to travel around a lot -- probably more than we realize. Voting this Up and Interesting.
Nell,
check out the Red Deer Cave People too. They're a non human hominid species discovered in China recently. Maybe you can find out what kind of remains were found because I sure haven't been able to so far. (I'm kind of lazy sometimes.) The only Solutrian remains were a finger bone and a tooth, so I'm hoping this find is more extensive. (Hard to imagine one less extensive!) I still don't believe Solutrians were any different than Neanderthals, but who knows?
The Red Deer find seems at least as cool as the mini homo erectus bones found in that cave in Flores Indonesia. The dorks who "discovered" the site (they were led to it by locals) stupidly called the little guys Hobbits. I'm sure you've heard of them. I used to live in Indonesia and they have folk tales of "Tuyul"- small people who like to steal small objects and food like pack rats and those birds I cant remember the name of due to incipient senility. I think they still exist in Flores and probably Java and other islands too. Wouldn't it be cool if somebody found them? Of course, it would be cool if somebody proved Sasquatches exist and that hasn't happened either.
Later!
P.S.,
I forget to mention that both films about the Solutrians are available for free online. Just search for them by name and they pop right up. I wish somebody would make a film about the Andaman Islanders, but the ones who live primitively (the Islands are territories of India and ethnic Indians live on at least one of them in very limited numbers,) don't want outsiders coming around. Until recently shipwrecked sailors were routinely murdered and the only film of an Islander I've seen was of a man throwing a spear at a helicopter that came by to see if they were O.K. after the same tsunami that devastated Aceh in Indonesia awhile back hit the Andamans. I guess they didn't need any help!
Nell,
I read the article Ron linked to and thought you might be interested in the following info because that story contained a lot of factual errors.
The "Negroid type (Blacks)" he referred to still exist. The Negrito race (it's a separate race and despite the name "little Negro" they aren't Negroes) is extant in parts of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines and some other islands, though except for in the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean most of them are now racially mixed. Many of the Andaman islanders are so isolated and primitive they still live in their own stone age and don't even know how to start fires. In fact, they are the most isolated population on the planet. Their population group (race) is as old as the Australian Aborigines-who are Caucasians-and the Bushmen, who are also a separate race. These three races are the oldest on the planet but not even population geneticists can tell which one is the oldest-much to the chagrin of racists and racial bigots the world over.
Another blow to racists and racial bigots? Mongoloids, American Indians and Negroes are all descended from Caucasians, though the original population couldn't have possibly been of the Nordic type that most people erroneously attribute to all "White" people. (Very light skin and an unparalleled diversity of hair and eye colors.) Worse yet to the bigots is that Negroes are the youngest race on the planet. This only matters to a bigot of course, but it never fails to amaze me what can be important to some bigots.
There are Indian artifacts and remains in the Americas older than any proved to be Negrito, and the artifacts at a habitation site of European hunters found in the Carolinas is the oldest yet. However, that doesn't prove either group was there before the other, much less before the Negritos. If the Negritos did make it to the New World, they were likely the first people to do so, because the Indians were the only people living there when Europeans rediscovered it (though some Eastern tribes showed signs of racial mixing with Caucasians.) That would mean the Indians had supplanted the Negritos. The Kenniwick remains found in Washington state could easily have been those of a Negrito but thanks to political correctness we may never know. The state stupidly turned them over for interment to a local Indian tribe that claimed a fictitious ancestral link.
I hope you find this information useful. Due to political correctness it's not well known, but it is fascinating. You can find plenty of info and photos about the Andaman Islanders with a web search. The Discovery Channel (if I remember correctly) made a documentary about the Europeans who apparently traveled to America 17500 years ago called "Solutrians: The First Americans" that was very good. There was even a movie called "Ice Age Columbus." (I saw that one on Discovery for sure.) It was pretty good, though as usual the stone age humans were portrayed as being barely able to survive in a hostile environment-something that flies in the face of all known facts. The savage and deadly mega-fauna of North America went extinct shortly after the arrival of Indian hunters and the cave bears and lions of Europe didn't last long after Homo Sapiens arrived. I agree with the theory that man was the apex hunter of the last Ice-Age.
Cheers!
Great article Nell! I found it by chance and enjoyed it very much.
There is no archeological evidence that anybody lived in the Red Hill area but Tocharians 4000 years ago--"Indigenous" or not. From what I remember they are among the anscestors of Scythians and some other steppe horsemen societies.
Unfortunately, The "People's Republic" of China (Est. 1949) propagates a fictional history of a culture "5300" years old established by the mythical Han Chinese--who are claimed to be a race as well as a nationality. Most Chinese swallow this myth without even bothering to chew. This myth is also accepted by most Westerners who should know better but don't--for way too many reasons to go into here. Racial myths are common in totalitarian countries and China is no exception. (The muslim myth that the Near East is populated by Arabs is a similar example-also shared by most Westerners.) As you noted, the Chinese government originally supressed the existence of the Tocharians. It also claims the Tibetans are Han Chinese and that the Caucasian peoples in Western China are all outsiders. In fact, Chinese government apparatchiks claim that all the land encompassed by its borders-and then some-are traditional Han Chinese land.
Apparently the jingoistic Miss Wu doesn't know the history of the Mandarins and their contributions to modern Chinese society--including its national language. The notion that China is a continuation of all the local cultures and so called Dynasties that came before it is preposterous. The notion that those cultures developed independantly and were all composed of a single race of pure blooded Han is perfectly ridiculous.
I don't Think chinese han were mixed with any other races.
Chinese Great Han come from Yellow river. we creat our own history and culture. totally different from Whites.
Just some travleers not meaning anything. I imgrate to America is that means i bulid USA??? LOL, Chinese history start 5300 years ago, not in the place where mummie found out.
I never knew about this tribe: amazing! On a similar vein, I have been hearing some of the ancient egyptian pharoahs have european features as well.
Ancient people obviously traveled around a lot more than some would have you believe. Very interesting.
I am fascinated with all this. I love the culture and history so much and you wrote it out wonderfully! It was an excellent read.
Amazing story and pics. I haven't heard of this before and it is great to learn of a new archaeological discovery. There are still so many hidden secrets from ancient civilisations- truly fascinating- voted up and awesome!
I have seen a couple of documentaries about these mysterious Chinese mummies and it is all very fascinating. Who knows what is still concealed beneath the earth, that will totally change our perceptions of history?
Hi Nell Rose, I have seen through your hubs and I really like it. The mysterous story about chinese is very cool hub. Chinese has a long history in Asia and there are many very intelligent ppl in the history those who influence other race or countries. Chinese mytery make your hub more intereting.
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