Is Architectural history a lie? 

– The Tartarian Mudflood Conspiracy.

 

A basement window looking out to Murray Street - Gawler.

 Recently on the Haunts of Adelaide Facebook page, we have had a few conspiracy theories that certain older buildings in Adelaide were built by a highly advanced global empire that visited Australia (and other locations around the globe) pre-European settlement. The conspiracy is that the Tartarian global empire was intentionally erased, and that history was rewritten to make buildings seem younger and more modern.[1] Subscribers to the theory believe that a vast, technologically advanced empire arose in north-central Asia, and spread peacefully across the globe. They believe that approximately one hundred years ago a great cataclysm occurred that toppled the empire which led to many of its buildings being destroyed, and its history erased from records.[2]

European Cartographers often used the toponym ‘Tartary’ to describe Central Asia. The area was bound by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. There were a multitude of different cultures living within this area. Tartary was not defined, nor did it represent one race of people. In modern terms, this area spans from the east of the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea and includes Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and Siberia.[3]

The Tartarian ‘theory’ was originated and perpetuated by pseudo-historians who combined a Russian fervour for their allegedly lost empire (Tartaria being the supposed real name of Russia according to some conspiracy believers) with an alternative historical chronology. Basically, the timeline we all know is actually much shorter in reality. This theory has then been picked up by influencers and shared as a fact being hidden by someone in authority – usually a shadow Government, the Rothschilds, the Illuminati or the Secret Owl Society. [4]

Buildings such as the Capitol in Washington, the Pyramids in Egypt, The Great Wall of China, and Bastian Star forts, such as seen in Portugal, Netherlands, and Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka was a Portuguese and Dutch colony, so no mystery how the design was utilized there). Here in Adelaide, buildings being assigned to the Tartarian include the Adelaide Town Hall, the General Post Office and the Edmund Wright Building. This is despite detailed records of design and photographic evidence of construction.

 One of the things that Tartarian conspiracy theory believers love to argue as a feature of Tartarian architecture is buildings with basement windows. If you look around Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Gawler, or Kapunda, you’ll see this common feature that allows light to get into basement rooms with pre-electric light (it is widely believed that Port Adelaide has lower basements because the city was ‘built up’ to stop tidal floods, however, there is no evidence of this. One would think if this were the case the original ground-level doors would be visible in what are now basements, and sub-basements, that were originally basements, would be present in all buildings).

Another feature of the conspiracy is that much of our history has been intentionally razed or destroyed by disasters and war. An example is the fire in the Norte-Dame de Paris, the 12th-century Roman Catholic cathedral in France was seen as a deliberate attempt to destroy more Tartarian architecture by conspiracy believers.[5]  Some believers in the theory cite Napoleon’s invasion of Russia as the beginning of the rewriting of Tartarian history and add that further World Wars destroyed much of what was left of the empire in the 20^th century. However, they do not cite how Napoleon’s army overcame the vastly superior weaponry of the Tartarian – as one must assume, a world power with such great architectural stills, would also have an advanced military and weaponry.[6]
  There is little reasoning offered on why such a coverup and rewriting of history has occurred. Much of the rhetoric involves believers riffing on old maps, weaving together narratives based on conjecture picking out small inconsistencies, and a flagrant disregard for documented history.
 There also seems to be little or no understanding of economic differences between now and two hundred years ago. Today, glass, steel and concrete are reasonably cheap to build with; stone, terracotta and marble are not. It was also much cheaper to hire skilled workers and labourers two hundred years ago than it is today.

© Allen Tiller 2025

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[1] Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, What Is the Lost Empire Of Tartaria?, Discover, (2023), https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/what-is-the-lost-empire-of-tartaria.

[2] Zach Mortice, ‘Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire,’ the QAnon of Architecture’, Bloomberg, (2021), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-04-27/inside-architecture-s-wildest-conspiracy-theory.

[3] Mark C. Elliot, "The Limits of Tartary: Manchuria in Imperial and National Geographies". The Journal of Asian Studies. Vol. 59, (2000), pp. 603–646.

[4] Josie Adams, Inside the wild architecture conspiracy theory gaining traction online, The Spin Off, (2022), https://thespinoff.co.nz/internet/14-01-2022/inside-the-wild-architecture-conspiracy-theory-gaining-traction-online.

[5] Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, What Is the Lost Empire Of Tartaria?, Discover, (2023), https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/what-is-the-lost-empire-of-tartaria.

[6] Zach Mortice, ‘Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire,’ the QAnon of Architecture’, Bloomberg, (2021), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-04-27/inside-architecture-s-wildest-conspiracy-theory.

Witchcraft in South Australia Part VI: Koro (Suo-Yang) – Penis Panic

Witchcraft in South Australia Part VI:

 Koro (Suo-Yang) – Penis Panic

Although this infliction has not occurred in Australia, it has shown up in Africa and China and originates with witchcraft in Medieval Europe. I thought it was interesting enough to research and write about for the blog, as many people have probably never heard of it before!

 Koro, (known as Suo-Yang in China) is a psycho-sexual disorder where men become panicked, believing their penis is shrinking, retracting, or completely disappearing.
The Medieval belief of Koro can be found in the fifteenth-century Witch hunting book Malleus Maleficarum [Hammer of the Witches] written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. Within the book, Kramer and Sprenger describe various ways to expose witches, but also a few case studies.

 One of the phenomena he claimed was that witches could remove a man's penis, not actually cut it off, but remove it with magic.
 One of the accounts in Kramer & Sprenger’s book details the story of several witnesses to this very magic.

 “What shall we think about those witches who somehow take members in large numbers—twenty or thirty—and shut them up together in a birds' nest or some box, where they move about like living members, eating oats or other feed? This has been seen by many and is a matter of common talk. It is said that it is all done by devil's work and illusion, for the senses of those who see [the penises] are deluded in the way we have said.”

It is claimed that the witches would have up to thirty penises’ in a bird’s nest or box, all wriggling about, and would feed them oats and other grains, treating them as pets.
Kramer and Sprenger’s book was full of misogynist and preposterous accusations against women’s sexuality, that stem from their (and Medieval Christian Europe’s) infatuation and anxieties with women’s sexual desires, sexuality and place in the Bible. The whole basis of his book and accusation against female witches comes back to one passage that led to countless women being accused of witchcraft, and murdered across the world; "All witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which in women is insatiable.”

Headline from the Canberra Times
 Wednesday 8 November 1967, page 6
(link in the bibliography)

Koro, which is a psychological issue, has seen many mass waves of panic in the centuries since the Medieval Witch hunts. In 1967, Singapore was hit with a mass panic, when 454 men visited the Singapore General Hospital over a period of months.

 One of the Doctors who treated the men, stated afterwards that patients reported; “a sudden feeling of retraction of the penis into the abdomen with great fear that, should the retraction be permitted to proceed ... the penis would disappear into the abdomen with a fatal outcome.”

The next mass penis-shrinkage-panic happened in China from 1984-1985. Over 3000 individual men were treated for Suo-Yang, weirdly, this time it also included a number of women reporting vulva, labia, nipple and breast shrinkage, or disappearance!

Africa has seen the most recent cases of Koro, with ten years between 1998 and 2008 seeing 56 separate cases. In these cases, the common complaint wasn’t shrinkage, but total loss of the penis. 36 people, accused of witchcraft, body part trading, or blackmail by penis-snatching were killed in the hysteria that followed accusations over the years.

Zionist Sorcery was apparently the cause of penis loss in Sudan in 2003. In what was later revealed as an attempt to divert the people’s attention away from what was happening with the presidency.
In 2013, a stranger was visiting a small village in Tiringoulou, Central Africa, when he stopped for a drink. Upon handing the drink to the stranger the vendor suddenly screamed his penis had disappeared, this was soon followed by another villager. Other villagers claimed to see the two men’s penis shrink from adult size to baby size before their eyes! The visitor was duly arrested for sorcery and executed.

Despite the various claims of witchcraft, sorcery and female fox spirits in China stealing penises, believe it or not, koro in men and women has a psychological explanation. It would seem in a society where a person’s reproductive ability helps determine a man’s self-worth, and worth to procreation in their society, are intrinsically connected to anxiety and fear, ethnicity and cultural belief, and political or socioeconomic tension.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2018
https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide/

Bibliography

Mattelaer, Johan J, Jilek, Wolfgang (2007). "Koro?The Psychological Disappearance of the Penis". The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 4 (5): 1509–1515. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007. 00586.x.
Smith, M., (2002). “The flying phallus and the laughing inquisitor: Penis theft in the 'Malleus Maleficarum'”. Journal of Folklore Research An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology 39(1):85-117
Edwards, J. W., (1984). “Indigenous Koro, a Genital Retraction Syndrome of Insular Southeast Asia: A Critical Review”. Culture Medicine and Psychiatry 8(1):1-24 · April 1984. DOI: 10.1007/BF00053099
China-Underground. (2016). “Koro, shrinking genitals syndrome”, China-Underground, viewed 13 April 2018, https://china-underground.com/2016/05/14/koro-shrinking-genitals-syndrome/
1967 'SINGAPORE KORO 'NOT THREAT TO MANHOOD'', The Canberra Times (ACT: 1926 - 1995), 8 November, p. 6. , viewed 27 Jul 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106981331

Port Adelaide: The Ghost of Lee Pao Sung

Port Adelaide: The Ghost of Lee Pao Sung

In October 1944 Mr Lee Pao Sung was found floating in the Port River, he was wrapped in a red blanket with a hessian bag over his head. Upon removing the bag, police found two 3-inch nails, driven into Mr Sung’s skull. His body was badly beaten, and around his neck, a coil of cord had been tied. Tied to his body was a small, oblong piece of bone.

Mr Sung and another Chinese sailor, Mr Wu Su-ling, had “jumped ship” in September 1944, and had been reported missing. The only clue the police had to identify Mr Sung’s killer was the expertly rolled coil of cord, which detectives believed only a seasoned sailor could tie in such a way.

An autopsy revealed that the nails had been driven into Lee's head after his death.  The cord around his throat was coiled twice, knotted, coiled another four times, and tied in a reef-knot.

Lee Pao Sun - source: Truth (Brisbane newspaper 1944)

 Two Chinese Seamen, Mr Wu Su-ling (the ship Engineer, from Tientsin in northern China) and Mr Low Yung-fui (the Captains’ Boy, from Hong Kong) were reported for the crime.

In 1944 Port Adelaide homicide detectives became the first in Australia to extradite the two suspects for the murder of Lee Pao Sung. Both men, who worked as sailors had left South Australia, with one moving to Newcastle in New South Wales, and the other to Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon in 1944).

During an interview with Detective Sergeant Gill, Wu Su-ling pointed the finger at Low Yung-fui. He claimed that Lee Pao Sung had threatened Low Yun-fui with a knife, and he had killed him in retaliation.
 When Low Yun-fui was told this story, he denied it, and then said it was the other way around, Wu Su-ling had committed the murder and that he, Low, had helped dispose of the body into the Port River.

"I did not; it was the other way round. Low killed him and forced me to help. When I woke up at 3.30am he was in my cabin, and the body was there. He threatened to put me in trouble if I called out." Low stated.
Low also claimed he had seen three nails in Wu’s possession and heard him say he was going to kill Lee Pao Sung.

After intense interrogation, and the dismal of Low’s claims, both men were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.  The death of Lee Pao Sung took an interesting twist when it was revealed in The Advocate (a Tasmanian newspaper) that the three nails in a triangular pattern had been seen before in other murders in China.  It is believed the pattern was a sign from a secret Chinese political party that used an equilateral triangle as their secret symbol.

Lee Pao Sung was buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery on Friday the 6th of October 1944. The Rev H. C, Cuthbertson, chaplain of the Port Adelaide Mission to Seamen, presided over his funeral.

His funeral rites were provided to those pertaining to the Church of England (Mr Sung’s religion was unknown).  His funeral was attended by Detective L Bond and by Mr M McLennan, a representative of the Melbourne Steamship Co.  The Melbourne Steamship Co also paid for Mr Sung’s funeral expenses.

Since 1944 many people have claimed to see the spirit of the Chinese Sailor Lee Pao Sung at Port Adelaide. Sometimes he is seen near the Birkenhead Bridge, and other times walking along the pier near the lighthouse. Descriptions of a Chinese man roaming the pier, sounding in pain have been numerous in recent years.  Weirdly, the reported sightings do not have Mr Lee with a bag over his head, rather they report a sailor-style of clothing and a neat appearance.

Have you experienced the ghost of Lee Pau Sung at Port Adelaide? Let us know over on Facebook at The Haunts of Adelaide

If you are interested in learning more about Hauntings in Port Adelaide and doing a free tour, please visit Ghosts of the Port – Self-guided walking tour – written by our own Allen Tiller for the Port Adelaide Enfield Council – find it here: https://www.portenf.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?c=51325

Or on Facebook here:

 

Ghosts of the Port - Facebook

Bibliography

Williamson B, 2015, Port Adelaide’s policing history reveals gruesome and groundbreaking past, ABC Radio Adelaide, viewed 1 Aug 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-26/port-adelaide-policing-history-reveals-gruesome-past/6495578

1944 'CHINESE SEAMEN CHARGED WITH SHIPMATE'S MURDER', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 21 December, p. 4. , viewed 01 Aug 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11375795

1944 'Victim Of Murder Buried', News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), 6 October, p. 3. , viewed 12 July 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129877030

1944 'Brutal Murder Of Chinese', The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), 5 October, p. 5. , viewed 01 Aug 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26042054

1944 'MURDER OF CHINESE SEAMAN', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 13 October, p. 4. , viewed 12 Dec 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17924067

1944 'Murder Charge', Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1860 - 1947), 14 October, p. 5. , 12 Dec 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151403550

1944 'Possible Victim of Secret Society', Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), 7 October, p. 3. (DAILY), viewed 12 Dec 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91744640

1944 '"Nail" Murder's Accessory ?', The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950), 7 December, p. 6. (CITY FINAL), viewed 07 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78761197

1944 'Tong Theory In Murder Of Chinese', The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), 4 October, p. 3. (LATE FINAL EXTRA), viewed 07 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229271221

1945 'Two Chinese For Trial For Murder RIVER FIND', Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954), 7 January, p. 18. , viewed 07 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203756833

1944 'BIZARRE THEORY IN CHINESE MURDER', Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954), 8 October, p. 19. , viewed 07 Mar 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203757634

Celebrating South Australian's – Yett Soo War Way Lee

Celebrating South Australian's – Yett Soo War Way Lee

 Yett Soo War Way Lee was born in Tungkun near Canton in China in 1853. The son of a rice-miller, Way Lee married early and had a son with his wife, named Yett King Sum.

By 1874, Yett Soo had made his way to Sydney Australia. He had travelled alone, and whilst in Sydney lived with his uncle Way Kee. He travelled the eastern states seeking education in schools in Sydney and Brisbane, before making his way to Adelaide.

  In Adelaide, he studied English language at the Adelaide City Mission and founded his own company “Way Lee Co.” an import company bringing in Tea, china and other imported goods and fireworks.

Way Lee's business was hugely successful in an era when the rise of racism against the Chinese in Australia was steadily on the rise (which would eventually lead to the anti-Chinese riots in gold mining towns like Ararat in Victoria )

 Way Lee's business was incredibly successful he opened stores right across the South Australian colony and in the Northern Territory and New South Wales. In South Australia, his main store was located in Rundle Street, but he also had a store in Currie Street. Stores could also be found in South Australia at Quorn, Hawker, Millicent. In New South Wales at Beltana, Broken Hill, Wilcannia, Wentworth and Menindee and in the Northern Territory at Daly River.

Way Lee was a supporter of his community often giving money to local charities, and supporting local events. He always supported Chinese New Year, offering dinners for Adelaide's dignitaries and politicians and supplying fireworks for  celebrations.

Way Lee was the first Australian to really open the way for trade between China and Australia. A fighter for the rights of Chinese immigrants, he fought for Chinese settlers to be offered a district solely for Chinese use.

 Way Lee also offered to bring to Australia, Chinese labourers to work at the Daly River Plantation in the Northern Territory.
 Way Lee was a great promoter of education to the  Chinese community, and worked hard to improve the working conditions and rights of his Chinese compatriots in Australia. He also worked to stop the import of Opium into the colony.

 Way Lee also raised money, and donated much of his won money, to be sent back to China to help feed people after chronic flooding, then droughts that were decimating the people of his homelands.

Way Lee was a Freemason and a respected member and leader of the local Chinese Community. He offered homes for many Chinese immigrants in Adelaide, way houses until they could afford better homes themselves.

 In 1889 Way Lee married Margaret McDonald, and together they had 4 children, Vera, Pretoria, Lily and Jack.

He spoke openly in the public about the treatment of his fellow-countrymen in Australia by the Government, law and people and is quoted as saying “The Australian people are always very kind to me, but the law worse then the people”.

Way Lee died in 1909 of chronic nephritis and amyloid disease on August 21^st 1909. Many of Adelaide's population travelled to West Terrace cemetery to witness the funeral of Way Lee, expecting odd Chinese death rites, but they were bitterly disappointed, as Way Lee was buried under common Presbyterian funeral rights.

For more on Yett Soo War Way Lee, please visit the following links:

adb.anu.edu.au/biography/way-lee-yet-soo-war-9015

www.chia.chinesemuseum.com.au/biogs/CH00005b.htm

migration.historysa.com.au/biography/yett-soo-war-way-lee

© Allen Tiller 2015