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This recently uncovered Chinese map, made in 1763 and claimed by its creator to be based on a 1418 Chinese map, suggests that medieval China had extensive knowledge of the Americas and Antarctica - The Economist, January 12, 2006

The 1421 theory of the Chinese discovery of the Americas originates from former British Royal Navy submarine commander Gavin Menzies. In his book, 1421: The Year China Discovered The World, Menzies suggests that fleets by the Chinese captains Zhou Wen (周聞), Zhou Man (周滿), Yang Qing (楊慶) and Hong Bao (洪保), in the fleet of Emperor Zhu Di's (朱棣) Admiral Zheng He (鄭和), travelled to many parts of the world during the Ming Dynasty era from 1421 to 1423, before the Europeans 'discovered' these places.

According to Menzies, the discoveries include Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Antarctica, the northern coast of Greenland, and the Northeast Passage. The knowledge of these discoveries has been lost, Menzies argues, because the mandarins (administrators) of the Emperor's court took a strict line on new adventures after lightning (which was considered a sign of divine anger) burnt down the newly constructed Forbidden City. A year later, his successor (son), the Hongxi Emperor, then forbade making new voyages, and his advisors hid or destroyed all accounts of Zheng He's voyages.

The 1421 hypothesis is widely disputed by scholars. It is a revolution in history, but fails to present strong proofs, using contested documents. However, it is widely popular in the Pseudohistory field.

Methodology

The 1421 theory is partially influenced by Charles Hapgood's theory.

Menzies bases his theory on Chinese shipwrecks, old maps, surviving Chinese literature from the time, and accounts written by navigators like Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan. Menzies also believes that unanswered structures like the Newport Tower and the Bimini Road were constructed by Zheng He's men.

Maps

The Kangnido map (1402) describes the entirety of the Old World, from Europe and Africa in the west, to Korea and Japan in the east, with an oversized China in the middle.
One of the inscriptions on the Fra Mauro map (1459) relates the travels of an Asian junk deep into the Atlantic Ocean around 1420.

Several maps were used by Menzies:

  • The Kangnido map (混一疆理歷代國都之圖 or 疆理圖) (1402), which tends to indicate an extensive geographical knowledge of the Old World (and particularly of the contour of the African continent) by Eastern Asian countries, even before the time of Zheng He's expeditions.
  • The Pizzigano map (1424)
  • The Fra Mauro map (1459), which describes an expedition by an Asian ship into the Atlantic around 1420:
"About the year of Our Lord 1420 a ship, what is called an Indian junk (lit. "Zoncho de India", "India" meaning Asia in 15th century Europe), on a crossing of the Sea of India towards the Isle of Men and Women (close to Socotra), was diverted beyond the Cape of Diab (Cape of Good Hope), through the Green Isles, out into the Sea of Darkness (Atlantic Ocean) on a way west and southwest. Nothing but air and water was seen for 40 days and by their reckoning they ran 2,000 miles and fortune deserted them. When the stress of the weather had subsided they made the return to the said Cape of Diab in 70 days and drawing near to the shore to supply their wants the sailors saw the egg of a bird called roc." (Fra Mauro map, Inscription 10, A13).

Also, the De Virga world map (1411-1415) had been presented on Gavin Menzies's 1421 website, as new evidence to the propagation of eastern cartographic know-how before the European Age of Discovery.

Other evidence

Among his specific evidence are:

  • DNA studies showing "recent" DNA flow from China to indigenious people of North & South America, Australia, New Zealand etc.
  • Maps which apparently show foreign lands before the Europeans discovered them
  • A drawing of an armadillo in a book published in China in 1430
  • Bananas and rice plantations seen along the banks of the Amazon by Francisco de Orellana, 1541.
  • Incidences of pre-Columbian horses, flightless ducks and Asiatic pigs
  • Linguistic similarities with the Chinese found between place names in Peru and Chile.
  • Along with much other circumstantial evidence.

Also quoted are the accounts of Bartolomé de las Casas according to which two dead bodies that looked like Indians were found on Flores (Azores). De las Casas said he found that fact in Columbus' notes, and it was one of the reasons for Columbus to assume India was on the other side of the ocean.

Criticism

His book is considered by many experts not to be founded in facts. The 1421 hypothesis is based on several discussed documents (the Piri Reis map, the Vinland map), on the original interpretation of accepted documents (Fra Mauro map, de las Casas) and archeological findings.

Reactions

As the development of this hypothesis is relatively new, Menzies has yet to be able to establish a defined theory. He modifies and updates his theory from time to time based on newly discovered evidence. His new findings are usually bigger, bolder, and much less traditional than his previous ones. For example, he now claims some of Zheng He's ships travelled as far as Spain. He also now alleges that the Chinese records of the voyages were never, in fact, destroyed, and are waiting to be found.

It should be noted that certain aspects and findings may be too speculative in nature and easily disproved by mainstream historians. A counter-argument is that the new ideas that are relatively less accepted may not neccessarily be untrue.

According to critics, the cartographic evidence has better explanations than the one given by Menzies, while the archeologic evidence is often of an extremely dubious nature, in other cases demonstrably incorrect. Another criticism is that Menzies chose not to consult the most obvious source of information on the Zheng He voyages, namely the Chinese records from the period themselves.

Menzies has sparked off a series of independent research in this area, many of which point to the grey and debated areas of history. For example, the question of whether Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli's contributions were influenced by China's relations with Papal Rome prior to the Renaissance has become a highly targeted research area.

These unanswered areas fuel the interest in Menzies and his theory.

Achievement

Menzies' hypothesis and his theory accomplishes what many Zheng He scholars and academicians failed to do: that is to create a wide awareness on the subject matter; and forced a critical rethink, including some reevaluations on the extent, the success and the failures of the Ming Imperial Treasure Fleet.

References

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See also

Listening

Debunking sites

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