Oolon Colluphid

Yes it does. So, even though it's answered, I'm moving it to the forum entitled Biblical Criticism and History.

Dean Anderson

This scenario, of course, contradicts the Bible as well as being absurd.

The Bible is clear that until the Tower of Babel incident (which was after the flood) there was only one language in the world.

Therefore according to the Bible, there cannot have been older writings in various languages found in ruins for these people to have found and been inspired by.

So we don't need a continuous written history in China to disprove a literal reading of Genesis - only a continuity of language and writing methods, which we have.

Creationists can quibble semantics about whether these writings genuinely form a "continuous written history" or not until the cows come home. It doesn't change the fact that they form a "continous history of writing" and that the mere existence of these writings disproves the YEC case.

Vorkosigan

These have been very controversial. Some archaeologists outside China have been critical, claiming that the Chinese have simply labeled artifacts as "Xia" in order to push their history back further, an act of nationalism.

yalla

Come to Australia mates. Within a stone's throw [well nearly] of where I live there is an indigenous site that is dated at 8000 to 12000 years.
And that is a "young" site.
In Kakadu and other places there are paintings tens of thousands of years old which, although not written in an alphabet, do tell Dreamtime stories and can and are interpreted by contemporary people.
They are a ''primitive" [don't like that word] pre-writing form of visual communication that tell stories.

There are places here which show continuous, uninteruppted occupation for at least 50000 years. Lake Mungo for example.

And of course similar stuff is around in other countries.

Harry Bosch

You used my post incorrectly to start your debate. I stated that clearly their were Chinese people before the alleged flood, and clearly there are Chinese people after the flood. I was responding to an OP on how the races were created. Why you assume that the only way to establish that a civilization exists is if they have writing that surivied for thousands of years? The point of my mockery was that clearly there were races that existed before the flood, and clearly there are races that exist after the flood? Why? {But I'm happy that you started this thread, I've picked up a lot of useful information!}

Diogenes the Cynic

I think there is a misunderstanding as to what the argument about Chinese history relative to the flood really is. The actual claim used by some historians is that it can be proven that China existed as an unbroken civilization from before the mythical flood, all the way through it and beyond. This is an argument based primarily on archaeology, not on written records. The archeological records show that there was no interruption in Chinese civilization during the time of the flood. There is no flood layer, no destruction, no break at all. Some of the archaeology includes writing but the argument (at least not as formulated by Chinese historians) is not that we have any detailed, extant written histories through that period, only that we can tell China was there during that period and that it didn't get flooded. I have no doubt that some amateur skeptics misunderstand and misstate the evidence but that doesn't really help flood believers very much. The real evidence is unassailable enough with regards to Chinese civilization, and even that evidence is really superfluous compared to a suffocating amount of even more dispositive geological, biological and archaeological evidence against a global flood.

Matty

Dont prove nothin' mate, We all know that indigenous 'stralians were bloody good swimmers

judge

One problem here is that there is more than one date for the flood depending on which version of the OT one uses.
The Massoretic Hebrew text has one date and the LXX another.
If we look to the writings of Josephus it seems that Josephus was aware of more than one timeline for Jewish history as well.

But I think the short answer is that there is very good evidence that not only Chinese history but Middle east history predates 2300 B.C.

mata leao

except that paleontologists have found fossilized sea animals on the very tops of every extant mountain range in the world.......sorta establishes a universl flood dont it!

judge

Not necessarily. It is more probably that the mountains were raised up there from lower levels due to commonly understood processes.