Was ancient history just a series of elaborate Western fabrications?
In short: A growing fringe theory suggests that the foundations of Western civilization—Greece, Rome, and Egypt—might be entirely fictional. While mainstream historians reject these claims, the movement has found a digital foothold, blending mathematical theories with a desire to dismantle Western-centric narratives of human achievement.
The 'Western Pseudohistory Theory' is a collection of fringe beliefs originating in Russia and gaining significant traction in China. At its core, it argues that the histories of ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt are either largely fabricated or entirely non-existent. The movement draws heavily from the 'new chronology' theory proposed by Russian mathematician Anatoly Fomenko. However, the intellectual lineage of these ideas can be traced even further back to the 18th-century French priest and classical scholar Jean Hardouin. He Xin, who previously worked at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, sparked a contemporary resurgence of the theory in 2013 after releasing 'Research on Pseudo-history of Greece'. Since then, the narrative has proliferated across Chinese social media.
It often operates on the premise that these civilizations were either plagiarized from other cultures or were invented to support a specific historical continuity that favors Western interests. Research into digital platforms like Bilibili reveals a complex ecosystem of discourse. While a significant number of videos promote these theories—often framing them as a tool to combat 'Western-centrism'—there is also a robust counter-movement. Interestingly, studies show that videos refuting these pseudohistorical claims tend to attract more viewers and engagement than those supporting them. For the academic community, however, the debate remains largely sidelined; many scholars in Chinese historiography and classics choose to ignore the claims entirely rather than engage in a formal refutation.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Western Pseudohistory Theory
- Also: Videos engaging in conspiracy theories: Promoting or refuting foreign-pseudohistory on the video-sharing website (Bilibili).
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