But then in Japan and mainland China, lotus seeds of over 1000 years old were found in the soil. Through carbon-14 dating, they were confirmed as millennium-old "artifacts." They had never had the chance to sprout because they had gotten removed from water.
直到日本、大陸陸續在地層中發現蓮子，經放射性同位素碳十四判斷，是具有千年歷史的「出土遺物」，因故離了水，失去發芽機會。