The winners have been announced. Their books are on their way.
Congratulations to the giveaway winners and a big thank you to the 431 readers who entered the contest. Here’s some eye candy of what you could have won from the giveaway contest. A free copy of the book and some Citra bookmarks.
Don’t worry. If you didn’t win you can still read the book. Click the orange button to purchase.
Citrene Stories is also available from Amazon.com
1421: The Year China Discovered The World by Gavin Menzies
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book should be called 1421 The Year China Discovered Everything. America is only 1 small part. Menzies takes known and accepted fact that the Chinese sailed to India and the east coast of Africa and cites this well.
It as after this that his citations grow less and the story extravagant. He states that in 1421 they kept going around Africa until they rounded the Cape of Good Hope, up the west coast and over to the America’s at which point the fleet separated, 1 went north up to North America, Greenland and traveled north of Europe and Asia before returning South through the Bering Strait and home to China.
The other fleet went South along the South American coast split up at the tip of South America. 1 fleet traveling along ice-packed Antarctica until the winds pushed them north a bit and they ran into Australia and traveled north back to China.
The last fleet rounded South America, traveled up the west coast and at some point in North America turned home to China.
This all makes for a great story. Menzies theory is more plausible than others’ i have heard about how certain facts in history don’t fit with in accepted historical understanding (see the Piri Reis Map as an example). The problem Menzies encounters is the tremendous lack of solid evidence. The key word here is solid. For he has an idea and presents it well, but most of the book is build around ‘I can imagine how they would have…’ which, if, that’s all you have then don’t even bother writing the book. You could write about anything. And much of the book is repetitive. I can’t tell you how many times he refers to Asiatic Chickens in South America as evidence that the Chinese were there. 5 or 6 times is enough. I get it.
Overall, Menzies could be on to something. Though he has little evidence to support his theory he does have some connections. I think his conclusions are valid as he is the first. His website and the back of the book claim that he is open to anyone out there willing to look into this. He wants more evidence. He wants to discover more. This way we know he’s not some nut job who only wants his 15 minutes of fame and $ without actually have to tell the truth or work for it. And to this i agree. I hope people respond with eagerness to help prove or disprove his idea.
His biggest hurdle to overcome is discovering more evidence and explaining why if the Chinese mapped the entire world in 1421 the information they wrote down is only displayed in pieces in European charts-shouldn’t there be a European chart of the whole world that predates Columbus, Magellan et al?
I liked the book and think it falls into the realm of Graham Hancock’s except with more reliable information.
Giveaway ends April 22, 2013.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Finding God in Ancient China by Chan Kei Thong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A more in depth look at Chinese history and culture than Discovery of Genesis which focuses on the written symbols only. There are striking similarities between ancient China and ancient Israel and history taken from the book of Genesis that only makes sense if the first Chinese were one of the groups of people disbursed by God after the Tower of Babel or since there are so many similarities maybe they were one of the few who voluntarily disbursed as God wished.
The authors provide a plethora of evidence to suggest just such a scenario. Their overarching theme is that the ancient Chinese were monotheists who worshiped Shang Di also called Tian by later dynasties. This worship of Shang Di starts around 2,500 BC which corresponds to a time shortly after Noah’s Flood receded and the Tower of Babel.
Interesting facts I learned:
1.) The word for murder is an X with lines on the left, right and bottom. The author says this may have been the mark God personally placed on Cain’s head.
2.) The ‘di’ root word (as in Shang Di=God) is found in many ancient languages even unrelated ones and isolates. This word always refers to God, god, something holy, sacred or as on honorary title to ancestors or kings. The authors don’t say this, but my thought is that after God confused man’s language into many languages he retained the same word for himself. I’m not sure how this would fit into ancient Hebrew as I cannot think of a ‘di’ or ‘ti’ sound that refers to God. This ‘di’ sound is present even in our English today via Latin in the word Deity.
3.) Royal astronomers record witnessing a comet originating in the direction of the star Altair (Bull in Chinese) in 5 or 4 BC. They assigned meaning to this by stating this was the sign that something big was going to begin. a new era or a new chapter in history. This comet had such a big impact on society that they changed their calendar system to reflect this. They ended up changing it back later the same year. They authors think the wise men from the East who visited Jesus were Chinese.
Hold tight because a new short story is on it’s way. It’s so awesome its actually going to be published in tandem with another short story. Citra will be appearing with An Old Message in the book Citrene Stories. Publication date should be some time in March for the ebook and a short while afterwards for the old school hand held paperback.
A sneak peak at the back and front covers below. Props to cristallTG for the artwork.
If you can’t wait until the book shows up on Amazon or Barnes and Noble then just click here 
to buy direct from the publisher.
The Discovery of Genesis by C.H. Kang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Easily the best book i will read this year. CH Kang and Ethel R Nelson attempt to find similarities in Chinese characters (Chinese writing) and the Biblical book of Genesis concluding that the ancient Chinese were monotheists who worshiped the one true God of the Bible, were scattered, perhaps voluntarily, around the time of the Tower of Babel and migrated to China where they have had an unbroken culture for over 4,500 years.
The evidence they put forth is that since the culture has remained intact-obviously changing, but never obliterated or conquered-many aspects of the original culture remain the same; the most obvious of these is the written characters used to represent speech.
The authors walk the reader through a basic understanding of how chinese writing works. it’s similar to english except it uses pictographs instead of letters. Pictographs can be more abstract and difficult to understand. However, the words used are explained well.
In Chinese it seems that an entire word is composed of several unrelated words which actually tells a story in itself. Examples, used to support their theory and explain to the reader how the writing works is below.
1st + man + enclosure(garden) = west meaning the chinese came from the west where the tower of babel was.
cover + 2 trees (under the cover symbol) + devil = tempter meaning the devil tempted underneath the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil
heaven + covers + water + rains + 3 persons + working magic = spirit meaning-this one is totally abstract and makes no sense unless you are familiar with Genesis. working magic is the miracle work God/Holy Spirit does. 3 persons are the trinity (Father/Son/Holy Spirit) working together. During creation the heavens covered the water of the earth, but there was water in the air too, the firmament above. The Spirit hovered above the waters
dust + breath of mouth + alive = to talk
to talk + walking = to create meaning nothing if you aren’t familiar with Genesis. But the authors propose that the first Chinese in fact were familiar. So, this character told the story of God creating Adam. From the dust of the Earth, God breathed into him and Adam became alive and was able to talk and walk. Thus, God finished creating.
There are many many more examples given. One relates to the word for woman-it has a an incision in adam’s side. The word for fire is two people burning which indicates adam and eve’s reflecting God’s glory prior to the fall. There is so much more. This book is absolutely amazing.
The authors recall the history of monotheism in China, when Buddhism, Taoism and other religions arrived. They use ancient and calligraphic forms of Chinese writing which further supports their claims.
I got a surprise package in the mail a week ago. Back in September 2012 i wrote to the USDA’s Plant Germaplasm Resource Unit in Geneva, NY with a request for samples of rare apple trees. In the 1980′s and 90′s they went to Kazakhstan to gather samples of apple trees to grow in the US. Some believe Kazakhstan is the original home to Malus domestica, the apple we know and love today. The natural apple forests in Kazakhstan have retained a much more broad genetic diversity. I’ve read that they are very resistant to many of the diseases our beloved apples trees suffer from so easily. Some have thorns. Some grow big bright succulent fruit. Some root very easily from cuttings. Most, however, they don’t really know. They’ve only had a few generations growing the US. So, when i wrote to them i wasn’t really expecting a response. They never confirmed anything or clarified my order. It was a confusing process, but when i got a package from them i was more than excited.
Below is a photo of 4 of the bud wood samples i received. they are on the left. They are just sticks. no roots, no leaves. I have them in 50/50 mix of potting soil/peat moss with bottom heat from an old waterbed mattress heater. I have 1 other sample growing in the house which has already started to show bud break. This is not good. The buds should remain dormant for awhile to allow the roots to establish themselves. If it buds out too quickly there will be no way for the plant to obtain energy beyond its winter reserves and will die.
on the right is my attempt for some cuttings of trees i bought from Earl May. there are 2 Gravenstien and 4 Gala apple cuttings. I bought the tree at a steep discount because it was the end of the season, but one the excitement passed i looked closer and found that all the trees are covered in head to toe cankers. i cut out a few canker free branches from this year’s growth and tossed the tree. i’ve never had a Gravenstien apple before. i would love for my first one to be one i grew in my own yard.
Cross cut of Osage orange. North Americas hardest tree.
If you care anything for this tree you are probably very interested in it. Otherwise you would have forgotten long ago. I loved this book b/c it contains so much info on an obscure tree from a small part of the world, but contributed so much to America in more ways than you will realize…until you read this book.
Osage Orange is the hardest wood in north america. It was the only adequate plant for constructing living hedges/fences prior to the invention of barbed wire. It inspired the invention of barbed wire. it’s wood is used for fence posts because it doesn’t rot. It is one of 2 or 3 trees in america that doesn’t need to be treated to prevent rotting when placing in the ground. and it lasts longer than any other tree by many many years. decades really. it is one of the premier woods used for bow right behind the famous yew.
the only negative from this book is that it is easy to identify that it was self published. The cover is catchy, but the content is only generally organized with a lot of repetition and rehashing information from one chapter to the next. some chapters are very long. some only a few pages.
since Osage Orange occupies little of america’s interest you should expect that the most comprehensive book about it is a little unprofessional, but nonethelss a true treasure to anyone remotely interested in Osage Orange.
My biggest wish is that there were high definition color photos of the tree, its beautiful yellow wood and grains. In my experience with the tree the heartwood is usually a strong yellow with distinct lighter rings. The heartwood around the pith sometimes has a large red streak running with it. I’m not talking about yellow and red in the sense that kentucky blue grass is blue. sorry, it’s green. a blue heeler isn’t really blue to me. this tree has markedly yellow and red colors that just pop in ways that other woods don’t.
If you like apples, hard cider, bitter sharp cider apples or orchards see the journal i started on my APPLES page.
An example of some varieties i’ll be trying to grow next year:
Bittersharp Cider Apples
1.) Kingston Black
2.) Foxwhelp
3.) Red Stoke
4.) Hereforshire Redstreak
5.) Porter’s Perfection
Heirloom Desert Apples
6.) Calville Blanc d’Hivers
7.) Ashmead’s Kernal
8.) Ribston Pippin
Disease Resistant Desert Apples
9.) Liberty
jacoblindaman
