Chinese legend has it that after the global flood when “one of the pillars holding up heaven had been broken down,” after repairing the broken pillar, Nuwa and Fuxi settled in the Kunlun mountains, the origin of the jade which has eroded down the Karakash and Yurungkash river into the Tarim basin, verdant during the Ice Age. The ancient city of Kashgar is nearby, and the headwaters of the Karakash lead up to Karakoram pass, gateway to Kashmir, the Hindu Kush mountains, and Kususthali submerged in the gulf of Kutch since the end of the Ice Age, all named for Ham’s son Kush.
