An intriguing article appeared in the December 1968 issue of Orbit: The Journal of the Tyneside UFO Society (Vol. 8, No. 4), published quarterly in Newcastle upon Tyne in Great Britain. Titled “Spacemen in Old Japan,” by W. R. Drake, a researcher of ancient and esoteric mysteries of the East, the excellent piece primarily dealt with possible extraterrestrial connections and interventions in feudal Japan. But interestingly enough, there was a reference to a spectacular mothership sighting over ancient Chinese skies. These observations were first reported in The Classics of the Mountains and Seas, a text formerly Romanized in the Shan-hai Ching, a pre-Qin Chinese classic text and compilation of geographyand mythology. Versions of this text have existed since the 4th century B.C.E. The Classics of the Mountains and Seas is divided into eighteen sections.
It is important to keep in mind that an advanced level of civilization has thrived in China for over five thousand years. In the 4th century B.C.E., Greek culture was spreading throughout the near East and Mediterranean spheres thanks to the conquests of the Macedon Alexander the Great and his entourage of regional generals. The levels of culture and “civilization,” so-called, in the rest of Europe could not even light a candle when compared to the brilliance emitted from China. The Chinese themselves were well aware of their cultural and technological edge and, therefore, referred to their land as Zhongguo, the “Central” or “Middle Kingdom” of the entire world. Zhongguo is still the most common name for China.
And in light of China’s fantastic economic, political and military rise in the close of the 20th century and continuing into our time, how could anyone disagree that this appellation is so rightfully applied? When we look at the representative characters, the first, zhōng (中), means "central" or "middle," while the second character(s), guó (國/国), means "state" or "states," and in modern times, "nation." Therefore, in English it is often translated as "Middle Kingdom" or "Central Kingdom." In its more ancient context, however, the term referred to the "Central States" of the period before the unification of the empire. Of course, primacy was assumed for the culturally distinct core area, centered on the Yellow River valley and the areas of the Han peoples, as distinguished from the tribes of the periphery. But in later periods, it should be pointed out that Zhongguo was not used in this particular sense. The country was called after the name of the respective ruling dynasty, such as "The Great Ming," "The Great Qing," etc. But the term zhōngguó first appeared in text form in Confucius’ Classic of History the name for "the center of civilization" or “Tianxia.” Confucius was born in 551 B.C.E. and died in 479 B.C.E. Nevertheless, it is believed that the term was in common usage much earlier than the 6th century B.C.E. It should also be noted that the first appearance of (中國) in an artifact was in the Western Zhou vessel He zun. But what is significant here is that the general concept of the term "zhōngguó" originated from the belief that the Zhou dynasty was the “center of civilization” or “center of the world;” and that if ever, up to that time, there was a location where a mothership would make its appearance, it would be over China.
Who wrote The Classics of the Mountains and the Seas may never be known, although it was originally thought that it was the work of such mythical figures as Yu the Great or Boyi. But contemporary Sinologists have, more or less, arrived at a consensus that the book was not written at a single time by a single author, but rather by numerous people from the period of the Warrring States to the beginning of the Han dynasty.
The bigger question lingers. Has the mothership returned? Are UFOs being reported with the same, or greater frequency, in contemporary China than they have been in the West?