LEIF ERIKSON! ;-)
Posted on 01/13/2006 9:05:19 PM PST by tbird5
An ancient map that strongly suggests Chinese seamen were first round the world
THE brave seamen whose great voyages of exploration opened up the world are iconic figures in European history. Columbus found the New World in 1492; Dias discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488; and Magellan set off to circumnavigate the world in 1519. However, there is one difficulty with this confident assertion of European mastery: it may not be true.
It seems more likely that the world and all its continents were discovered by a Chinese admiral named Zheng He, whose fleets roamed the oceans between 1405 and 1435. His exploits, which are well documented in Chinese historical records, were written about in a book which appeared in China around 1418 called “The Marvellous Visions of the Star Raft”.
Next week, in Beijing and London, fresh and dramatic evidence is to be revealed to bolster Zheng He's case. It is a copy, made in 1763, of a map, dated 1418, which contains notes that substantially match the descriptions in the book. “It will revolutionise our thinking about 15th-century world history,” says Gunnar Thompson, a student of ancient maps and early explorers.
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
personally, I don't believe alot of what China says...what do they think, we'll give them this country?
Perhaps it was an update to reflect the accurate current map of the time. Not a direct copy of a nonexistent map.
Never seen such a fluff piece for the CCP.
"The map was bought for about $500 from a small Shanghai dealer in 2001 by Liu Gang, one of the most eminent commercial lawyers in China, who collects maps and paintings. Mr Liu says he knew it was significant, but thought it might be a modern fake. He showed his acquisition to five experienced collectors, who agreed that the traces of vermin on the bamboo paper it is written on, and the de-pigmentation of ink and colours, indicated that the map was more than 100 years old."
Just plain silly.
And Leif Ericson was there almost a 500 years earlier.
But those are merely footnotes to history (albeit very interesting ones). CC's "discocovery" was the only one that influenced history in any significant way.
More silly is the contention that if was not made in America by Americans or in Europe by Europeans, it can not be true.
He was the first one to hold a press conference when he got back. For one reason or another the others who made it kept it on the qt
Maybe not. The Basques were there before Columbus and were providing salt cod from Newfoundland to much of Western Europe in the latter part of the 15th century. That was quite historically significant.
jas3
Ancient China did not have Xerox machines. Paintings, calligraphies, maps, documents, etc made in the early dynasties would start to wear out from age and must be replaced. The Imperial System has a group of artists whose jobs is to reproduce as faithfully as possible the original documents. These reproductions are done by authorized craftsman and certified as authentic repros because they can be used as references for future research and official functions. The key to the 1763 document is the markings that indicate that it has been reproduced by an official and certified Imperial artists for the Imperial archives.
too bad. columbus called it first.
No if it's not made in America by Americans I just don't buy it.
Methinks the greedy bastages wanted to keep it all to themselves. Can't say I blame them.
Ok and they only got one they bought off a street in shanghai. Ok it's real, you got me, The chinese were here first. You got your justification for the invasion. Have at it.
Goodness, and I thought they had 'Xerox Machines' way back then.
How would Chinese explorers--or any explorers of the fifteenth century--have known that the Northwest Passage existed, when it was beneath near-impenetrable ice?
LEIF ERIKSON! ;-)
Thanks. I'm posting from my phone at a bar right now, so I'll have to read it later.
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