Lesser-known facts about the father of modern science
The history books would have us believe that on October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus was the first person to discover the Americas. But was he really? Well, according to an ancient map, a Chinese explorer named Zheng He predated Columbus by over 70 years!
Just how much do we know about this map and its supposed author? And is there any historical evidence to confirm these claims? In this gallery, we delve into the theory that states China reached the Americas first. Click on to learn all about it.
In 2006, a Chinese lawyer and collector named Liu Gang unveiled an old map at a Shanghai bookshop. The map was supposedly an 18th-century copy of a map from 1418.
Unlike other European maps back then, this one depicted North and South America, as well as Australia and Antarctica.
The man behind the map was supposedly Chinese explorer Zheng He (1371-1433). The Chinese Muslim eunuch traveled across the seas for 30 years.
From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He is said to have set sail on seven voyages through the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Indeed, there are historical records of his trips to Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, and the east coast of Africa, as well as evidence of his using advanced navigational techniques and ships.
But according to former British submarine lieutenant-commander and author Gavin Menzies, Zheng He went even further, and was the first one to discover America.
According to Menzies, the Chinese explorer did so in 1421—that’s 71 years before Columbus!
Menzies laid out his theory in his 2003 book, entitled ‘1421: The Year China Discovered America.’
It goes without saying that the authenticity of the map has been disputed.
For instance, Gong Yingyan, a historian at Zhejiang University, claims that the map has too many anachronisms to date from the 15th century.
Yingyan also argues that Chinese cartographers didn’t use the style of projection seen (three-dimensional globe) on a flat sheet. This technique was introduced later by the Europeans.
The map has notes about the religious and cultural features of peoples in the continents, but it contains vocabulary that would have not been used in the early 15th century.
An example includes the word used to describe the Western God, which wasn’t used until after the Jesuits arrived in China much later, in the 16th century.
"I had high hopes when I first heard about the existence of such a map, but I can see now that it is an entirely ordinary map that proves nothing," said Gong Yingyan.
Historian Geoff Wade was yet another man to find numerous issues with the map that defy its authenticity, one being the fact that it’s a dual-hemisphere map, which is an exclusively European cartographic tradition.
Plus, North and South America are represented as massive continents, which is something a mariner wouldn’t have known back then.
Another one is the fact that California is depicted as an island. This was a common “mistake” in European maps of the 17th century.
Zheng He is referred to as Ma San-bao. This would never happen, simply because of the fact that the emperor had given him the surname Zheng, so everyone would call him that. Always.
The details of rivers, mountains, and other non-coastal elements are just way too accurate. These are more akin to European cartography, rather than Chinese.
The iconic mountain range is marked as the world’s highest: a fact that wasn’t discovered until the 19th century.
Zheng He is not the first man to be pointed out as the one who first discovered America, and probably won’t be the last. In fact, there are several theories that claim that many reached the New World before Columbus.
One theory says that in 1000 CE, Viking explorer Leif Erikson sailed to a land he named "Vinland," which was the Canadian province of Newfoundland.
Indeed, a Norse settlement dating back to circa 1021 was unearthed at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland in the 1960s. This remains the most compelling archaeological evidence of Viking presence in the New World.
According to folklore, Saint Brendan and a group of monks sailed from Ireland to North America sometime in the 6th century.
Legend has it that Welsh prince Madoc sailed to America in 1170, where he settled.
Portuguese explorers João Fernandes Lavrador and Pêro de Barcelos are also believed to have reached the shores of Labrador in North America before Columbus.
Unlike the bogus Zheng He theory, Pacific Islanders may have actually reached South America before Columbus.
At least there is actual genetic information that links Polynesian DNA to an indigenous Brazilian tribe called the Botocudos.
Sources: (The New York Times) (The Guardian) (NPR) (Gizmodo) (ARS Technica) (The Economist)
Did the Chinese discover America?
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LIFESTYLE History
The history books would have us believe that on October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus was the first person to discover the Americas. But was he really? Well, according to an ancient map, a Chinese explorer named Zheng He predated Columbus by over 70 years!
Just how much do we know about this map and its supposed author? And is there any historical evidence to confirm these claims? In this gallery, we delve into the theory that states China reached the Americas first. Click on to learn all about it.