Pale Ink Two Ancient Records Of Chinese Exploration In America

Nonfiction, History, Asian, China, Religion & Spirituality, Inspiration & Meditation, Spirituality, Theology
Cover of the book Pale Ink Two Ancient Records Of Chinese Exploration In America by Henriette Mertz, AppsPublisher
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Author: Henriette Mertz ISBN: 1230000033426
Publisher: AppsPublisher Publication: November 24, 2012
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Henriette Mertz
ISBN: 1230000033426
Publisher: AppsPublisher
Publication: November 24, 2012
Imprint:
Language: English

Pale Ink
by Henriette Mertz

This is another attempt to investigate early Chinese trans-Pacific contacts, written mid-20th century by a globe-trotting patent attorney, Henriette Mertz. Like Charles Leland's Fusang, written three-quarters of a century before, Mertz depends heavily on ancient Chinese geographical treatises to support her thesis that the Chinese explored the western United States hundreds, maybe thousands of years before Europeans. The strongest part of the book is her attempt to explain the available Chinese historical descriptions, even the most fanciful parts, in terms of specific locations, animals, and cultures, for the most part plausibly. On the downside, she misidentifies parts of the Hindu sacred texts as Buddhist, and indulges in the amateur etymology game, with predictable results. But these factual lapses seem to be peripheral to the book.

Mertz self-published this in 1953, and followed it up with a second edition in 1972, which corrected many of the endemic typos in the first edition. The book was reissued in paperback by Ballentine in 1975 as Gods from the Far East: How The Chinese Discovered America (see cover), apparently in an effort to cash in on the Van Daniken craze. However, Pale Ink is a much better effort than Van Daniken, as Mertz is not obsessed with explaining every Native American technological advance as a borrowing from unknown visitors.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Pale Ink
by Henriette Mertz

This is another attempt to investigate early Chinese trans-Pacific contacts, written mid-20th century by a globe-trotting patent attorney, Henriette Mertz. Like Charles Leland's Fusang, written three-quarters of a century before, Mertz depends heavily on ancient Chinese geographical treatises to support her thesis that the Chinese explored the western United States hundreds, maybe thousands of years before Europeans. The strongest part of the book is her attempt to explain the available Chinese historical descriptions, even the most fanciful parts, in terms of specific locations, animals, and cultures, for the most part plausibly. On the downside, she misidentifies parts of the Hindu sacred texts as Buddhist, and indulges in the amateur etymology game, with predictable results. But these factual lapses seem to be peripheral to the book.

Mertz self-published this in 1953, and followed it up with a second edition in 1972, which corrected many of the endemic typos in the first edition. The book was reissued in paperback by Ballentine in 1975 as Gods from the Far East: How The Chinese Discovered America (see cover), apparently in an effort to cash in on the Van Daniken craze. However, Pale Ink is a much better effort than Van Daniken, as Mertz is not obsessed with explaining every Native American technological advance as a borrowing from unknown visitors.

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