Apparently, almost all European languages are derived from Mandarin. At least that’s what the World Civilisation Research Association, a group made up of Chinese scholars and professors, would like us to believe, reports state. They say this claim is backed by over 20 years of research, which were presented at the first ever China International Frontier Education Summit in Beijing in July.

In a an interview with Sina News, World Civilisation Research Association Vice President and Secretary-General Zhai Guiyun said: “Of course, the pronunciation will be a little different, which is caused by the variations in pronunciation over hundreds or even thousands of years in different regions. Think about how significant the differences are in our regional dialects… so it can be said that English is like a ‘dialect’ in our country.”

Zhai continued to say that the autumn leaves are “yellow,” an English word that is pronounced like the Mandarin word “yeluo,” which means “leaf drop.” Another example he gave was the word “heart,” which sounds like the Mandarin word “hede,” which means “core.” Zhai went on to explain that there are hundreds of words with such similarities. He even went on to say that French, German, and Russian also root from Mandarin.

Apart from language, the organisation claimed that Western civilisation also originated in China. They say this is backed by Zhai Du Gangjian, a professor who supposedly conducted 20 years of research that shows how the civilisations that first spoke English came from the Indus River Valley when China’s Yellow Emperor ruled it.

Perhaps that wildest among the scholars’ statements is one that claims that accounts on ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt were all fabricated.

“Before the 15th and 16th centuries, Europe had no history, only myths and legends,” Zhai said. He continued to explain that “Europe was a primitive society before the Middle Ages,” but this allegedly changed after the “Western introduction to China’s Zhou Dynasty.”

The World Civilisation Research Association’s findings led many Chinese netizens to scratch their heads. Many users of the Chinese social media platform Weibo called the organisation “Wolf Warrior Scholars,” a reference to a patriotic Chinese film.

“Thanks, we can no longer laugh at the Koreans who claimed Confucius and Genghis Khan are Korean,” another said.