1421- The year China discovered the world???

[foreigner]

Is it true???

=================== http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/hey/story/0,4136,82370,00.html?

Did Chinese explorer discover America?
By Jill Lim
jilllim@sph.com.sg

GAVIN Menzies' theory is that it was a Chinese explorer who discovered America.

And his theory has been heartily criticised and dismissed by historians and book reviewers.

But over the phone from the UK, Mr Menzies is absolutely sure of his work and adamant that most people agree with him.

The former Royal Navy commander's arguments are spelt out in his 2003 book, 1421: The Year China Discovered The World:

Chinese admiral Cheng Ho, or Zheng He, is the real Christopher Columbus because Columbus already had maps when he set out to find new lands. Zheng He had a master chart of the world by 1408, so Columbus must have used Zheng He's map.

European explorers encountered Chinese culture and artefacts (rice, porcelain and jade) in the Americas.

The wrecks of Chinese junks that date back to pre-Columbus times have been found all over the world.

In an interview with CNN last year, Mr Menzies said: 'European explorers... found Chinese people everywhere. California, Mexico, Arkansas, Florida... And they found not only Chinese people, but Chinese junks. So I say, that's it. Game, set and match for me.'

That's how sure he is.

He remained similarly firm in a recent interview with The New Paper.

Suggest that there are many critics of the theory, as we did, and he becomes a little defensive.

'It's not true that most are critical. There have been more than 8,000 reviews or mentions of my book and most agree with it. The number of people who say it is untrue is very, very small.'

When asked if any of the criticisms might make him rethink his theory, he replied: 'Rethink? Absolutely not, and 99 per cent (of those who have read the book or website) agree with me.'

Mention the mistakes that have been pointed out by others, and he said breezily: 'Yes, there are mistakes, but none material.'

In his mind, 'there's not very much argument about the evidence'.

And he took a swipe at the historians who had a go at him, saying: 'You can't expect historians who spend their whole lives saying that Columbus discovered America... to be very enthusiastic. No-one likes being made to look stupid.'

So is it just his word - or evidence - against the critics?

That's what a documentary is trying to sort out.

It will use Mr Menzies' book as a starting point, and re-create, using CGI, Zheng He's nautical wanderings. It will also interview some of his critics.

But the programme and its critics don't seem uppermost in Mr Menzies' mind. He is more concerned with raising money for more research.

He is also planning for an updated, 2007 edition of his book.

Mr Menzies said that he had spent 'hundreds of thousands of pounds' on research for his book, which took him to more than 120 countries and 900 museums and libraries over 10 years.

As he enthusiastically told us about a new archaeological site on the American coast, he said: 'That will cost vast amounts of money to excavate. We do need money to carry on.'

He added: 'I received slightly over US$1m ($1.6m) from the sale of my book and I've ploughed that back into research'.

1421: The Year China Discovered America? will be shown over Discovery (StarHub Ch 12) on Sunday at 9pm. It repeats on Monday at 1pm.

[Mr Hyde]

i think they're right. the native indians (including eskimos and aztecs) are actually from the same mongoloid species as the chinese. and they share more or less the same culture as the chinese dynasty of that era.

[Guan Gong]

1421?  Good grief, Leif Erikson, a Viking, arrived in what is now Newfoundland, Canada in the 11th century.  The original settlers of the americas are believed to have crossed an ice bridge covering the Bering Strait at least 10K years ago.  Remains dating back 10-12K years have been found as far south as Tierra del Fuego (Southern tip of South America) .

[This message has been edited by Guan Gong (edited 05-02-2005).]

[God himself]

Who gives a ****. We are all gonna be Chinese in two generations anyway.

[Azania]

Guan Gong - I think you hit the proverbial nail on the head.

I read 1421 with great interest and believe that it is very well researched, backed up with lots of irrefutible evidence and like all discovery theories, has a major flaw.None of these places were empty when they were supposedly "discovered"!

The Aboriginals in Australia lived there for 10's of thousands of years before anyone, Chinese, British or otherwise got there. As were the North American Indians, South American Indians and so on and so on. The so-called great discoverers were adventurers. They were brave and fought adversity and hardship to make connections with these places, but inevitably, they were tourists.

The real discovers of uninhabited lands were our forefathers from countless millenia ago who set out from the base for all modern man and nomadically and gradually populated the various corners of the single land mass that was present.

We still don't really know how long ago man reached the various parts of the planets, and theories are changing constantly. One thing is for sure, however. It was a lot further back than 1421.

[Mr Hyde]

our greatest forefathers were... CAVEMEN!?  

[GrassIsGreener]

I heard the scholarship on the book was horrible.

[marriedguy]

 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=discovered

[the other side of town]

"http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=discovered "

============

WHile the sour grapes are playing with terminology , that Gavin guy is laughing all the way to the bank; having been paid US$1 million for his book and with another edition cuming up.

....

[Euro-Aussie]

"To be the first, or the first of one's group or kind, to find, learn of, or observe. "

I guess this is open to interpretation - if the Chinese discovered North America, then it was in 1421.  This does not negate anyone else 'discovering' it prior to that.  

I"m going to Tao Payoh this afternoon and will have discovered it by this evening.

[This message has been edited by Euro-Aussie (edited 19-02-2005).]