introduction
When historians study history, there is always a lot of controversy, and some people will make very surprising remarks. There is a saying in the Analects of the Constitution: "If the truth is not true, it is difficult to do so." These remarks often attract a lot of criticism, but in any case, it is also a necessary research attitude to carefully hypothesize and boldly seek verification in academic circles.
01
Huang Heqing, a professor at Zhejiang University, once made his point in a live broadcast, arguing that the Parthenon Temple in Athens and the pyramids in Egypt were actually built of concrete in the 19th century. And he also suggested that there was solid evidence to support this claim. Everyone knows that the Parthenon Temple and the Pyramids are world-famous cultural sites, and such remarks will of course be strongly questioned, and many people also criticize Professor Huang, believing that his remarks are very inconsistent with his identity. So what evidence does Professor Huang have to prove his remarks?
Professor Huang believes that from the 19th century to the 20th century, the Western world used to falsify history. To this end, they did not hesitate to spend huge sums of money, and their main purpose was to artificially elevate the ancient Egyptian and the two river basins and ancient Indus river civilizations. The real intention of this is to suppress the ancient Chinese civilization. The falsification of these histories is to prove that Chinese civilization is not so worth cherishing, and they use a large number of inflated illusions to bury the truth of world history, and at the same time can weaken the glory of Chinese civilization.
Professor Huang believes that this is an outright historical conspiracy, and as soon as this statement came out, the whole world was shocked. Professor Huang is not a scholar of a third-rate university, Zhejiang University is a top university in China, and Professor Huang, who is here, has put forward his own views while also presenting evidence. In fact, Professor Huang Heqing is not the first scholar to have such a view, and in the West, some scholars have questioned historical falsification. But because this is not mainstream speech, the mainstream academic community does not recognize this statement, so it has been ignored.
02
Professor Huang said that many Western book illustrations and historical photos can prove that the Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Egypt did not exist at that time. Because most of these so-called "civilization sites" were built with concrete in the 19th century. A small group of Western scholars believe that various legends about the Egyptian pyramids have been circulating since the 16th century. Various travelers claim to have seen the famous Egyptian pyramids, and they have painted pyramids and sphinxes based on what they witnessed. But the shapes drawn by these people are very different from the pyramid forms that people see now.
Europeans held all kinds of illusions about mysterious Egypt during that time, and from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon's expedition team spent a lot of money to go to Egypt for investigation and research. And this expedition team also tried to write an Egyptian version of the encyclopedia, but even with such a scientific expedition, the Egyptian sphinx is still very different from the real face of the present. Another piece of evidence is a type of artificial stone called "poured stone", a technique that has been known in Europe since the 17th century. This also provided the necessary technical support for the later reconstruction of the pyramids in the West.
In summary, the Egyptian pyramids look like there is a real possibility of forgery. But to confirm this, there is also technology that can help. By examining the decay cycle of carbon 14 in the objects inside the pyramid, the time of existence of the pyramid was determined. So in today's scientific and archaeological circles, scholars generally believe that the history of the pyramids is true and not a forgery. Carbon-14 is the isotope of carbon atoms, and its decay period is constant, so when measuring the age of antique artifacts, people usually use carbon-14 dating.
03
Therefore, in fact, the various "evidences" proposed by Professor Huang Heqing cannot refute the results of carbon-14 measurement, they can be regarded as "hypotheses" at best. There is a saying in the Book of Han and Yiwen zhi: "Those who are confused are subtle; those who avoid it are also suppressed; they deviate from the Taoist scriptures; and they use sensationalism to gain favor." Many people think that Professor Huang Heqing's remarks are sensationalism and have accused him. In fact, this is not necessary, and it is reasonable to make various assumptions in scientific research before the truth of the facts has not been discovered.
Even the truth that people have already learned, with the development of technology and people's consciousness, is likely to be overthrown, and the falsifiability of science is also its charm. Quantum physics, which people have only recognized in modern times, is placed two or three hundred years ago, just like the theory of ghosts.
epilogue
When academic scholars are engaged in research, they should be able to get a more relaxed range of assumptions. The spirit of science is constantly overthrown, and if the authority is never challenged, then one new theory and new discovery after another will not exist. When the general public is faced with many scientific theories that they do not understand, they do not have to be in a hurry to scold, and it is not a bad thing to calm down and understand more.
Resources:
The Analects
Book of Han