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One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

cnn.com

141–150 of 191 posts

Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#141
post #33
post #11

Its a Chinese equivalent of the phantom time theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_time_conspiracy_theory Its just as silly as phantom time and covers almost exactly the same period. The motive is possibly racist which makes it more sinister.

Back in the early 2000's, well before most social media sites existed, I had a coworker who shared with me a number of questionable theories, one of which was basically this. He also believed very passionately that plate tectonics was wrong. Unfortunately social media didn't invent brain worms.

Okay. Look at the moon. Look at every other planet not currently protected by an atmosphere. They all have craters. This fact is ignored by rote Geologists. "All the high and low points on the planet are due to plate tectonics and erosion!"

Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. "Doesn't have the death rate I publicly stated" is very different from what you claimed. 2. At that time, information about Covid was changing somewhat rapidly. By the time he testified to Congress weeks later, he may well have had better information. (Look, I am very much not a Fauci apologist. But you need to do better than this at finding reasons to condemn him.)

1. Inflating death rates to claim something is a pandemic is not very different. It was at worst a "bad flu," which is what many Q posts were indicating. You don't need a lockdown for a "Bad flu". You also don't need masks. 2. You seem to think I need to do better than this, but if this were a trial what I have provided is sufficient to establish motive. The dude wanted to be famous, and didn't mind who died to get h…

> It was at worst a "bad flu,"

Incorrect.

> The dude wanted to be famous

Hilarious on the heels of "I just won this trial I made up".

Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#143
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a shame people are drifting from vaccines but the unwillingness of the WHO, etc., to backtrack on claims that turned out false with respect to Covid, does not help the cause. The sausage-making history that's coming out from Covid is also making people suspicious and one cannot blame them. Additionally, they've redefined that a pandemic is (removing severity from the definition), additionally it's expanding way…

> Additionally, they've redefined that a pandemic is (removing severity from the definition) Over a million Americans died, but OK, that's not a severe problem...

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Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#144

This article still pushes the typical "China bad" narrative, throughout which it attempts to disparage Chinese nationalism. Take the incident mentioned in the piece: the Xi'an Culture and Tourism Bureau later clarified that no one had actually made such phone calls. The reporter simply cited an unverified online comment without doing any fact-checking. This is a classic tactic used to smear an opponent—exaggerating t…

The beginning of the article says it doesn't have mainstream traction. Not sure about the "China bad" thing, we seem to have the Han nationalists vs the mainstream who wants ethnic unity and 5000 years of unbroken history vs the internet memers and people who "did their own research".

Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#145
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everywhere in the Wikipedia articles is this phrase "had Han ethnic origins". Looks like China Editors are trying to change history. At least that is based upon what the CNN article is saying.

I spotted the same thing, and there's never a source given. Allegedly his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather (or 15th great-grandfather for short) was totally Han, the son of the scourge of the Xiongnu - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Guang A timely reminder that, damn, China is olllldddd.

> A timely reminder that, damn, China is olllldddd.

China proper starts about 1000 BC, so China is quite a bit younger than Europe. (Whatever "Europe" is.)

Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it is healthy for society in the long run to have pockets of divergent belief. Most of the time it is groundless and fades away. Every so often it gains traction. If it is based in reality, we gain a better understanding. If it is misleading, it vitalizes a competing and more correct understanding. The more interesting phenomenon is that we are able to agree on anything at all, it's not exactly our strongest in…

No, it is literally a russian propaganda method. Spread flat earth theories, get influencers to question if sunscreen is actually harmful, etc. Spread enough contradictory information so that gradually, people don't have any idea what to believe, and then they become susceptible to political misinformation, or just become completely politically disengaged. It is not a sign of a healthy society at all, it is a disease…

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Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#147
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could it be healthy to not even agree on the most basic facts of history like whether hundreds of years actually happened or the shape of the earth?

Does this stuff really matter when you get down to it? How much does it being true or false change the average persons daily life?

Eventually the misinformed mob gets together and elects an RFK jr type.

Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#148
> The outlandish claim has since spread far and wide

Is this significant? I never saw anyone talking about it on my side of corner.

But, It's not really that surprising. A significant part of human civilization still believes that we humans were created by beings who live somewhere in the sky/atmosphere, and these beings are watching our every move to punish or reward us, and you beg really really hard, they'll help you (if they didn't, you ain't begging hard enough).

Re: One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve read plenty of good history/biography publishing in the past 50 years right up to last year. I’m not sure I understand your claim. Narrative warfare… I guess the question is, what isn’t “narrative warfare”?

Dispassionate search for and representation of truth?

"Truth" doesn't exist outside of social construction, which is performed through narrative warfare, so in fact you want what you already have.
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