Chinese archaeologists are striking out along the Silk Road • Hacker News Board

Re: Chinese archaeologists are striking out along the Silk Road

#111

Post by nsonha » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 4:52 AM UTC

SubiculumCode wrote: post #17

SubiculumCode wrote: post #15

The myth of China being China for millenia is such a propagandist rewrite of history in that region; I hate to see NYT headlines fall for it.

https://www.camphorpress.com/5000-years-of-history/

it's an excerpt from a book, that presumably has a lot of things to say about China. Why focus on that to elevate some petty point that China does not have 5000 years of history. So what? it still has millennia, counting only written history.

It's a bit tiring to see the average tech guy on HN demonstrate their critical thinking about everything China. Being able to write some code and read your own country's propaganda does not mean you're well equipped to talk about other countries.

Re: Chinese archaeologists are striking out along the Silk Road

#112

Post by Keysh » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 12:48 PM UTC

profsummergig wrote: post #85

nuc1e0n wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh really? Maybe that's wrong then. Is the name a transcription or a translation? What script were the records written in originally? Names can be retroactively applied, especially in translation. Looks like I've got some reading to do. Edit: Maybe I got confused between different folk etymologies for the name of the city of Kandahar.

From what I understand (and I could be wrong), Kandahar is the modern name of Gandhara.

Kandahar is a city; Gandhara was a kingdom. (But, yes, there is a theory that the name ["Kandahar"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandahar) derives from Gandhara, as opposed to deriving from "Alexander" -- though it seems generally agreed that there was a city -- [Alexandria of Arachosia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria_Arachosia) named after him built on that spot.)

Re: Chinese archaeologists are striking out along the Silk Road

#113

Post by ngcc_hk » Wed, Aug 07, 2024, 4:32 PM UTC

beloch wrote: post #60

ramblenode wrote: post #31

Unlike many commenters here, I actually read the article, and this quote seems to be the basis for the tenuous link between archeaology and geopolitics suggested by the title: > The extent to which present-day politics hovers over China’s archaeological ambitions became clear during a Wall Street Journal reporter’s encounter with an Uzbek researcher at the ruins of an ancient Kushan city near Chinor. “Tell the Chines…

Archaeology does not take place in a vacuum. It has always been a product of political human beings. Archaeologists are keenly aware of this. Mussolini excavated Pompeii with bulldozers to reveal the past greatness of Italy on a schedule compatible with his ambitions. British archaeologists conducted digs around the globe through the lens of empire. Natives in the Americas, to this day, hesitate to trust archaeologis…

The difference is when the Brits collected, it is not to prove Brits were there and we are all Brits. Also china is 1/5 of humanity. It is of different scale when it goes rogue.

One day Soviet Union or Russia will remember the if china can claim Mongolian empire theirs and it reached Moscow …

But if chinese really studied its own history, its history are full of expansion then totally collapse. Anything went into the core land collapsed in it no doubt. But the core is not stable. There is no political solution to solve an empire which abhor difference and only use exam to do social cohesion and inclusion.