SEYFFARTH — ON THE THEORY OF THE MOON S MOTIONS- 49 1 



Pokok, Walton, Bochart, Perizonius, Freret. Many other learned 

 men of the same conviction will be found mentioned in Fabricii 

 "■ Bibliotheca Antiquaria." Even P. Mailla, the author of the 

 "Histoire de la Chine" (vol. i. p. clix.), wrote to Freret, one of 

 the most distinguished chronologers and members of the French 

 Academy at that time, as follows : " Vous etes pleinement 

 convaincu, me dites vous, qu'il faut preferer la chronologic des 

 Septante ; il est en effait evident qu'aucun des quarante et plus 

 sentiments des chronologists Hebraisants ne seroit s'accorder 

 avec la chronologic des Chinois, sans parler de celle des autres 

 peuples." The chronology of the Septuagint, moreover, has been 

 verified by many new methods, especially by planetary configu- 

 rations and other astronomical observations going back to_ 1951, 



— 1578, — 3446, — 3725, — 5870. (See the author's "Summary 

 of Recent Discoveries," etc., New York, 1857, PP- 114-60; "Die 

 wahre Zeitrechnung des Alten Testaments," St. Louis, Mo. 1857, 

 pp. 22-69.) Hence, seeing that the corrected Greek text of the 

 Old Testament refers the deluge to — 3446, it would be prepos- 

 terous to condemn Chinese history which commences with the 

 year 3332, and refers the first emperor of the first dynasty to 



— 2598, whilst the Egyptians, according to numerous astronomi- 

 cal monuments, put their first king, Menes (Thinites), residing at 

 This, i.e. Tanis (Heb. Koan)^ in — 2780, viz. in the 666th year 

 after the Deluge, and in Peleg's days. 



Now, the aforesaid Chinese history and chronology — which is, 

 by the way, excepting a few ciphers corrupted by transcribers, the 

 same in all Chinese annals — state that King Tchouen-Hio, the 2d 

 regent of the i st Chinese dynasty, reigned 78 years, namely, from 



— 2513 to — 2435- And in the Universal History of China we find 

 a passage, translated by P. de Mailla (^Histoire de la Chine, Paris, 

 1777, vol. i. p. cliv.), as follows: ^^ Imperator Tchouen-Hio fecit 

 Calendarium, ut principio veris Luna esset prima. Hoc anno primce 

 Lunce prima die processerat ver. Quinque planeke convenere in ccelo, 

 iransmissa constellaiwtie '■ Che^ ( Aquarii)'' " Lorsque I'empereur 

 Tchouen-Hio fit le Calendrier, il etablit le commencement de 

 I'anne au commencement du primtemps. Cette annee le premier 

 jour de la premiere Lune etait entree dans le primtemps. Cinque 

 planetes s'assemblerent au ciel, on avait passe la constellation 

 *Che' (Aquarius)." The sun standing, in our age, on the day 



