Liqian: The Chinese town founded by Roman legionnaires

[liberty]

I agree with the author it is not very likely that this town was found by Roman legionaries. It is true that by the time of the Roman defeat, disastrous battle in area of present day Iraqi, that the Roman legions were heavily man by Germanics from northern Europe, but why would they retreat northeast to China when they would be more motivated to swing Northwest back to their homeland. And the ice mommies are proof that Germanic people have lived in this area for a very long time. This should also be proof to Meade that my people did come the steppes. I remember a narrator on a documentary on the ice mummies asking: why would they come all the way from Western Europe to be buried here? The answer is simple they didn’t come Western Europe they came from the Central Asian Steppes jus t a few hundred miles to the west.

Y. M. H. T. M. E. I got a call to go, less time to edit.


http://www.saporedicina.com/english/liq ... ionnaires/
Liqian: The Chinese town founded by Roman legionnaires
August 11, 2014 by Sborto Zhou 7 Comments

Three months ago, I started to learn a bit more about China’s ancient history as a part of writing the article on travelling to the Henan Province, as I sometimes do. At one point, I started to branch out and ended up reading articles about other things: first of all on the Silk Road, and from there, Sino-Roman relations and in the end, I ended up finding a curious article on a lost little town called Liqian.
Today’s article discusses this little town, where history is mixed with legends as well as political and economical interests, something which happens all the time in the middle kingdom.
What is Liqian?
Liqian (骊靬), currently known as Zhelaizhai (者來寨), is a small rural town in the Gansu province on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Liqian is located at more than 300 km from Lanzhou, the capital, and more than 60 km from the closest city, which is called Jinchang (金昌市).
This lost town in western China became famous thanks to a theory formulated in the 40’s by the Chinese history professor at the University of Oxford, Homer H. Dubs, who attributed a Roman origin to it.
Roman origin theory
Before explaining Professor Dubs’ theory/story, I would like to briefly present its main actors:
The Romans: I don’t think they need to be presented.
The Chinese: of the Han dynasty: Do I need to say anything more?
The Parthians: Also known as the ancient Persians, they formed a powerful empire which bordered on the Roman Empire and Han China, and because of this, controlled the Silk Road.
The Xiongnu: A confederation of nomadic tribes known in the west as the Huns, which extended across all of northern China including Mongolia, Manchuria, the south of Siberia and part of the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Gansu.
This is how the story goes (my version):
Around the year 58 B.C. the richest man in Rome, Marcus Licinius Crassus, who formed part of the Roman triumvirate with the no less illustrious Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, decided to start a war, without the authorization of the senate, against the annoying Parthians who were making a killing on the trade on the Silk Road. In other words, Crassus wanted to kill the intermediary.
Crassus launched a powerful army of around 50,000 men towards Mesopotamia. What Crassus didn’t expect was that the Parthians had an army of horseback archers which was very effective against the Roman legions. The result of the war was a massacre and one of the most humiliating defeats of Rome. The Parthians killed 20,000 Roman soldiers, including Crassus and his son, and captured 10,000 more in what is called the Battle of Carrhae.
The destiny of the 10,000 legionnaires which were taken prisoner remains a mystery, and because of this, they are called the Lost Legion. Nonetheless, it is believed that they were sent to protect the eastern border of the Parthian Empire (in what is now Turkmenistan).
The Lost Legion, which had been enslaved and forced to protect a border which was very far from home, had the luck to be captured once again by the Xiongnu who disputed the region with the Parthians and were enlisted into the ranks of the powerful Hun army.
This is how, according to Dubs, the Lost Legion reappeared twenty years later (in the year 36 B.C.) in the Battle of Zhizhi between the Chinese and the Xiongnu in what is now the Gansu province. Chinese chronicles talk of the capture of strange soldiers, long-time veterans and who fought perfectly organized into a “fish scale formation” which Dubs thinks is a reference to the testudo (or tortoise) formation typical of Roman legions. The foreign soldiers captured by the Chinese were deported and settled in some place near the current town of Liqian.
This is how the poor legionnaires, after being beaten and captured by the Parthians, relocated to the other end of the world, recaptured and recruited by the Xiongnu and captured for the third time by the Chinese, decided to dedicate themselves to something else and founded the town of Liqian.
Liqian Inhabitant
What the theory is based on
Dubs’ theory is based on, aside from both Chinese and Roman chronicles, the particular physiognomy of some of the inhabitants of this small town (like the person in the photo), who at times present Caucasian characteristics such as green eyes, pointed noses, raised superciliary arches or blonde hair (you can do a Google search for “Liqian people” to see more examples). In addition, Dubs believed that the name “Liqian” could be the transliteration in Chinese of “legio” (legion). Liqian was precisely the name that the Chinese used in this era to designate the unknown Romans who bought many of their luxury products.
In addition, Chinese archeologists tried to back up Dubs’ theory, after finding around one hundred skeletons, some of which had heights greater than 1.80 which dated to over 2,000 years ago.
Is the theory true?
Many recent studies have been dedicated to trying to demonstrate that this theory is false. In fact, recent genetic studies seem to rule out the hypothesis of a Roman origin.
Furthermore, it is not strange that Caucasian characteristics appear in the population in this region, as the Silk Road favored interracial marriages, but even more important is the fact that the original population of the region (much older than the Romans and the Han dynasty), is known to have been nomads with Caucasian characteristics, as indicated by the Tarim Mummies. The fact that no objects of Roman origin have been found to date also detracts from the legitimacy of the theory.
Personally, I think that it is an elegant theory which has given the inhabitants of Liqian something to be proud of; take a look at these photos. Apart from this, it has created an economic development in the area, attracting some lost tourists. Therefore, where’s the harm in declaring Liqian the town founded by the Roman Lost Legion?
Do you want to know more?
Besides the links you can find in the article, you might be interested in reading the historical novel Empire of Dragons written by the Italian author Valerio Massimo Manfredi which is inspired by these hypothetical historical facts.
In addition, the author Ben Kane, in the second part of his trilogy The Forgotten Legion called The Silver Eagle, makes references to these poor legionnaires lost in China.
That’s all for today! I hope you liked this story!

[rubato]

Ice mommies?

And where were 'your' people before they were in the steppes?


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

You can never convince me of utter rubbish, lib. But don't let that stop you.

[rubato]

perhaps "his people" rose up out of the black earth steppes by some form of parthogenisis?

yrs,
rubato

[liberty]

Ice mommies?

And where were 'your' people before they were in the steppes?


yrs,
rubato

Well all people originated in central Africa. But my family resemblance developed in the isolated river valleys of the steppes. At least that is my theory. I know there is a theory that blonds developed much later, but I don’t believe it.

Organism include humans develop differently when isolated. A good example of this would be early Australia where the native human and animals look much different than people and animals do else where. Before the horse the river valleys of the steppes were very isolated places for the humans which allowed the people to develop differences in appearance.

[MajGenl.Meade]

"His people" are blonds. Much is explained

[dales]

[Guinevere]

"His people" are blonds. Much is explained

Please do not insult blondes, so. The vast majority of us are not nearly as ignorant as lib.

[MajGenl.Meade]

It was the Aryan connection I had in mind.

ETA: not in a nice way but in the "first person to mention it loses" way

[Lord Jim]

And where were 'your' people before they were in the steppes?

Atlantis, of course:

Elaborating upon the myth first mentioned by Plato, the Aryans were believed to have inhabited the island of Atlantis. When that continent was submerged in a universal cataclysm, a number of Aryans escaped, and after landing in the mountains of Asia, conquered most of the known world, imparting to the conquered peoples their knowledge of the Ancient Wisdom.

http://www.conspiracyschool.com/dying-god/aryan-myth

For example, in Africa they imparted the Ancient Wisdom of how to ride a horse...

[oldr_n_wsr]

It was the Aryan connection I had in mind.

I'm blond (well whatever hair I have left is blond with some gray) and mostly of German heritage.

[liberty]

And where were 'your' people before they were in the steppes?

Atlantis, of course:

Elaborating upon the myth first mentioned by Plato, the Aryans were believed to have inhabited the island of Atlantis. When that continent was submerged in a universal cataclysm, a number of Aryans escaped, and after landing in the mountains of Asia, conquered most of the known world, imparting to the conquered peoples their knowledge of the Ancient Wisdom.

http://www.conspiracyschool.com/dying-god/aryan-myth

For example, in Africa they imparted the Ancient Wisdom of how to ride a horse...

Why do you guys want to build the Aryans up into something they were not. They were merely a Indo-European speaking tribe that invaded south Asia about the same time the Greeks came into Greece.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=aryans

Ar·y·an
ˈerēən,ˈärēən/
adjective
1.
relating to or denoting a people speaking an Indo-European language who invaded northern India in the 2nd millennium BC, displacing the Dravidian and other aboriginal peoples.

( These people are as bad as afro-centrics for polluting history, but fortunately they are minuscule in numbers and can be ignored. )

in Nazi ideology) relating to people of Caucasian race not of Jewish descent.
plural noun: Aryans
noun
plural noun: Aryans
1.
a member of the ancient Aryan people.

[Guinevere]

And where were 'your' people before they were in the steppes?

Atlantis, of course:

Elaborating upon the myth first mentioned by Plato, the Aryans were believed to have inhabited the island of Atlantis. When that continent was submerged in a universal cataclysm, a number of Aryans escaped, and after landing in the mountains of Asia, conquered most of the known world, imparting to the conquered peoples their knowledge of the Ancient Wisdom.

http://www.conspiracyschool.com/dying-god/aryan-myth

For example, in Africa they imparted the Ancient Wisdom of how to ride a horse...

Why do you guys want to build the Aryans up into something they were not. They were merely a Indo-European speaking tribe that invaded south Asia about the same time the Greeks came into Greece.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=aryans

Ar·y·an
ˈerēən,ˈärēən/
adjective
1.
relating to or denoting a people speaking an Indo-European language who invaded northern India in the 2nd millennium BC, displacing the Dravidian and other aboriginal peoples.

( These people are as bad as afro-centrics for polluting history, but fortunately they are minuscule in numbers and can be ignored. )

in Nazi ideology) relating to people of Caucasian race not of Jewish descent.
plural noun: Aryans
noun
plural noun: Aryans
1.
a member of the ancient Aryan people.

And there, in red, is Lib's entire racist world view.

[liberty]

[Elaborating upon the myth first mentioned by Plato, the Aryans were believed to have inhabited the island of Atlantis. When that continent was submerged in a universal cataclysm, a number of Aryans escaped, and after landing in the mountains of Asia, conquered most of the known world, imparting to the conquered peoples their knowledge of the Ancient Wisdom.

http://www.conspiracyschool.com/dying-god/aryan-myth

For example, in Africa they imparted the Ancient Wisdom of how to ride a horse...

Why do you guys want to build the Aryans up into something they were not. They were merely a Indo-European speaking tribe that invaded south Asia about the same time the Greeks came into Greece.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=aryans

Ar·y·an
ˈerēən,ˈärēən/
adjective
1.
relating to or denoting a people speaking an Indo-European language who invaded northern India in the 2nd millennium BC, displacing the Dravidian and other aboriginal peoples.

( These people are as bad as afro-centrics for polluting history, but fortunately they are minuscule in numbers and can be ignored. )

in Nazi ideology) relating to people of Caucasian race not of Jewish descent.
plural noun: Aryans
noun
plural noun: Aryans
1.
a member of the ancient Aryan people.

And there, in red, is Lib's entire racist world view.[/quote]

B.S because IF IT WAS TRUE YOU COULD BET YOUR FAT ASS I would tell you so. I am not known for keeping my opinions to myself.

[Guinevere]

You've told us, over and over.

[Scooter]

You are not just an idiot. You are the kind of idiot that other idiots point at and laugh about.

First, you did not bother, or perhaps are simply incapable, of reading your own source. The Roman origin hypothesis does not depend on the legionnaires escaping north-east to China. It says they were captured by the Parthians, were enslaved and sent to defend the eastern borders. There they were captured by the Xiongnu and recruited into their army, which later was in battle with the Chinese, who captured them a third time and settled them in the area of present day Liquan.

Second, the notion that members of the Lost Legion were Germanic is preposterous given that Crassus raised his army in Syria and Armenia.

Third, the notion that Roman legions of the time had any noticeable Germanic presence is moronic. This was still in the time of the
Roman Republic. Julius Caesar had not yet completed his conquest of Gaul. Roman conquest of Germanic lands was a long way off.

You can't read, and you are abjectly ignorant of history. Remind us again what you believed you were contributing to this topic by posting it?

[MajGenl.Meade]

You are the kind of idiot that other idiots point at and laugh about.

I am grateful for the recognition

[liberty]

You are the kind of idiot that other idiots point at and laugh about.

I am grateful for the recognition

Don’t be trying to grab honors that that don’t belong to you; the rightful owner is fat ass scooter the pooter. He is the real idiot.

[wesw]

people who point and laugh at others are deplorable, but not irredeemable.

but what do I know?

I m just a simple fisherman

then again my last three fishing jaunts have been unsuccessful.....

I got caught in a typhoon last Monday.

the Nanticoke river mouth looked like the atlantic ocean on a bad day...

....of course I was half a mile from civilization, stranded under a tussock of marsh grass while all hell broke loose.....

it was kinda fun, kinda scary...., like this election....

[Scooter]

fat ass scooter

My fat ass has been an object of worship for over 30 years. Men have written songs about the glories of my fat ass. But I didn't realize that the legend had spread as far as Lousiana. Thanks for letting me know.

He is the real idiot.

And it gets under your skin that this idiot is able to hand your flabby, cellulite-covered ass every time you post your stumphole whiskey induced ravings.

Write another post about how Europeans don't eat corn, or Canada being an ally of the Soviet Union. Demonstrate to everyone what it means to lack the brain cells God gave a savoy cabbage.