“The Maya and Chinese cultures share several characteristics. One is that both venerate natural elements, such as sun and rain”, according to Ninfa Montaño Claros, general coordinator of the China Peninsula Association of Yucatan.
“In addition, both cultures have deitities in the form of dragons with serpent bodies and snakes coming down from the sky, Maya and Chinese alike have an underworld, and they both worship water and land fertility”, said the speaker during the closing day of an academic seminar on the Shu and Maya civilizations.
Between Saturday and Sunday, around 200 people attended the exhibition “Mysterious kingdom of the ancient shu civilization”, an event organized by the central government of China through the Press Office of the People’s Government of Sichuan Province.
The event, which was held at the International Congress Center, aimed to generate a point of contact between both cultures, the authorities of these countries and the local people.
(Photo: yucatan.com.mx)
According to Ninfa Montaño, culture is not divisive, it doesn’t have anything to do with political parties or religious beliefs, but thanks to it all is united by a common objective: the development and cultural growth in other countries.
Then she added, “the representatives who came from China participated in this seminar with the representatives of the Maya culture, where they learned peculiarities that books don’t tell.
In addition, attendees were able to observe the archaeological sites of both cultures through virtual reality lenses.
The Shu culture dates from 3,000 years BC, and it is known that some Maya vestiges date from 400 years BC. Although you can see several similarities, such as the veneration of the sun and rain.
While, Kukulcán (feathered snake) is one of the main icons of the Maya culture that has to do with rain and abundant crops; in China a dragon with a snake tail goes up in the sky to touch the clouds and bring rain.
On the other hand, Montaño mentioned that this seminar also served to have an interchange between Maya and Chinese anthropology and archeology .
“Friendship is the first link in any relationship and a strong friendship has been the result of this seminar”, said the general coordinator of the China Peninsula Association of Yucatan.
“Saturday’s activities”, she said, were exclusively for representatives of the anthropology and archeology delegations that reppresented both countries during the seminar.
The assistants were greeted by a X’men (Maya word for Shaman or sorcerer) who gave them a “limpia“. Then there was a Mayan ritual where the attendees received the energy of the force of time.
Source: yucatan.com.mx
