Noah's Ark in Chinese?
Chinese Language and Legend May Point to Noah
If the Bible is true and historically accurate, then we should see evidences, both large and small, literally everywhere. That includes looking in places that one might not expect to find such evidences. One such place may very well be the Chinese language and an ancient Chinese legend.
China is not mentioned directly in the Bible. However, with thorough study of both Scripture and additional world history, we can make educated guesses as to where China came from and even where it may play a role in the future. There is some history that China shares with everyone alive today. We all go back to Noah, and our various languages (split off from one) began at the Tower of Babel. Unless all evidence has been completely lost over time, we should see traces that lead back to the truth. For now, we're looking at a legend that likely influenced the very language China uses today that may point back to Biblical accounts.
This ancient legend speaks of a great flood that rose above the mountains and wiped out all humans and land-dwelling animals. However, the heroic individual Nüwa (pronounced Nyoo-wah) built an ark that saved the lives of eight worshippers. Once the floodwaters receded, the ark landed on a mountain, and the worshippers were told to repopulate the Earth. The best record of this legend is found in the Shu Jing (Book of Documents), written over 3,000 years ago (c. 1000 BC). Additional records indicate that the events of the Chinese flood story occurred as a result of man's rebellion around 4,500 years ago (c. 2500 BC), which would line up with the Biblical account of Noah's Flood.
No one can deny the parallels that exist between the two flood stories, but is the Chinese story taken seriously? Does it even matter? Well, it seems it was pretty important due to this next trace of history...
The Chinese language also goes back thousands of years and is one of the oldest consistently used languages still in use today. In fact, it seems to go back as far as the legends do. To this day, their language does not include an alphabet. Instead, their language uses a series of images, called logographs, to represent words. Similar to English compound words like "popcorn," they, too, have words with other words within them.
Interestingly enough, the Chinese word for ship (船) contains the characters for boat (舟), the number eight (八), and the word for mouth (口), which, taken in context, would represent eight people aboard the ship. And this is only one word that seems to reference the Bible or at least parallel Biblical accounts. In fact, even the combination of "eight mouths" is common. Eight heads above water means "to hand down or to continue," and eight mouths refer to "praise/commend." These all seem to connect the number eight to groups of people—or recognize that we all came from the eight "immortals" who survived the flood, depending on which version of the legend you read.
The point of all this is to show that there is evidence, even in China, of a global flood event along with some specific details that corroborate the Biblical account. Eight people survived a massive flood that covered the mountains, wiping out all the other humans and land-dwelling animals. Those eight people are the ancestors of everyone alive today—including you!
Is it proof? We'll let you decide.