If this map was originally drawn in 1418, it goes without saying that it will have subversive consequences: the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by Portuguese explorer Dias in 1488, and Australia was discovered by The Dutch discovered it in the 17th century, Antarctica was discovered by the Americans and British in 1820, and America was discovered by Columbus in 1492. Of course, these recognized discoveries only reflect the exploration and discovery of the Western world outside its civilization. Because the first human beings to discover these places did not leave written records, and because it was only after Westerners discovered these areas that these areas were began to truly become part of globalization, so these first discoveries by Westerners were of great historical significance. But now the emergence of this map may change everything, indicating that these areas may have been discovered and recorded by the Chinese before 1418.
Not long ago, Menzies, a retired officer of the British Royal Navy, published the book "1421: The Year China Discovered the World" and became a best-seller. He used three pieces of evidence: "nautical charts", "historical sites", "Native DNA" proves that Chinese Zheng He discovered America long before Columbus. There is a red circle in this map marked "In the 13th year of Yongle, he followed the eunuch Ma Sanbao and others to Bangge Lazhu, and went straight to Khulumo (there is a blurry word here) and other countries. The reward was given to the 16th year of Yongle. Return to Beijing in the next year." Zheng He's original name was Ma Sanbao, and he was known as the "Sanbao Eunuch". The emergence of this map is like a miracle, becoming the strongest support for Menzies' theory - and his theory has been recognized by many Chinese scholars before. This map shows that the Chinese not only first discovered the Cape of Good Hope, the Americas, Australia and even Antarctica, but also clearly knew that the earth was spherical and mastered the projection mapping method - a method that was previously believed to have been introduced to China by European missionaries at the end of the 16th century. .
Menzies announced his research findings for the first time - the Chinese were the first to draw a world chart, Zheng He's fleet reached the American continent before Columbus, and Zheng He was the first person to sail around the world. All of Menzies's guesses stemmed from a nautical map in the collection of the University of Minnesota Library. "This map was drawn in 1424 and is signed by the Venetian cartographer Zuane Pizzigano. The map depicts parts of Europe and Africa. What is strange is that in addition to the continents, the map also The four islands in the deep western Atlantic Ocean were drawn, and the names were marked: Satanazes, Antilia, Saya and Ymana. My interest was completely aroused. The map marked some places that Europeans had not visited at that time. We have accepted historical knowledge that Europeans did not explore there until 70 years later. After several months of looking at charts and documents in map collections and archives, I became convinced that Satanazes and Antilia were in fact Caribbean islands. Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe."
Menzies said there was no doubt about the age of the map. He believes this suggests that the islands were accurately surveyed about 70 years before Columbus arrived in the Caribbean.
In addition to Pizzigano's map, Menzies also discovered that the Cape of Good Hope was clearly marked on the 1459 Famorra map, and that Australia appeared on the 1452 chart drawn by Jean Roots. . "When Columbus set out from Europe in search of the legendary 'gold-filled' East, he had seen the map with the American continent before setting off. He knew he could 'discover' the New World."
Next, Menzies saw in Venice a flat spherical map drawn in 1459 showing the Indian Ocean and southern Africa. This map already shows the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, which was not "discovered" by Vasco da Gama until 1497. The plan was also marked in Medieval Phoenician, saying that in 1420 someone sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to the Cape of Baird Island, and a Chinese sailing ship was also painted next to it.
Next, Menzies found a map of "Hunyijiangli Map of the Capitals of the Past Dynasties" at Ryukoku University in Japan. This map was printed on silk and contained information other than China, North Korea, and Japan. In addition to other countries, it also involves the east coast, south coast and west coast of Africa. "This map is so accurate that there is no doubt that it was drawn by someone who sailed around the Cape of Good Hope. Because Europeans did not reach southern Africa until 60 years later."
In ancient maps, Menzies's discoveries continued to pile up. “I was amazed to discover that Patagonia and the Andes Mountains in South America were mapped 100 years before Europeans discovered them; Antarctica was accurately mapped about 400 years before Europeans got there. on the map; another chart marked the east coast of Africa, and also marked the longitude very accurately, a technology that Europeans would not fully master for the next three centuries; and a map marked Australia, which predated the library. Captain Crocker's discovery was 300 years old; other charts identified the coastlines of the Caribbean, Greenland, the Arctic, the Pacific, and the Atlantic, which were charted with astonishing accuracy long before Europeans arrived.
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Who visited these places and depicted them on the charts? In order to answer his questions, Menzies visited more than 120 countries and visited more than 900 museums and museums at his own expense. Libraries, archives, looking for ancient monuments, castles and harbors, going deep into headlands, coral reefs, remote beaches and islands...
"My conclusion is that the Chinese painted it between 1421 and 1423 World map, completed the global voyage (Editor's note: Zheng He's fleet made the sixth voyage to the Western Ocean in 1421), and they reached all places except Antarctica. After a few decades most of their records were destroyed and global ocean voyages were abandoned. But Chinese knowledge was spread to early Western map makers through the Portuguese and through the Italian traveler Niccolò da Conti, who participated in the Chinese voyages. ”
Evidence: Rooster and Corn
Menzies was very confident in his research findings. Menzies said in "1421: China Discovered the World" that completing this round of the world It was Zheng He's Hongbao fleet, Zhou Man fleet, Zhou Wen fleet and Yang Qing fleet that sailed and discovered America, Australia, Africa and Antarctica, not Zheng He himself. In order to confirm his statement, Meng He. In addition to maps, Schiess published his findings and evidence including shipwrecks, plants, and animals.
Menzies describes his discovery process in a novelistic way. One morning during his stay in Peru, Menzies’s sleep was broken by a burst of chicken crow. “I immediately realized that these chickens were not European chickens. The European chicken's crow is "coo-coo-coo", while the cry of this kind of chicken is "coo-coo-coo". "Menzies lived in Malaysia for a period of time, and he recalled that the local chickens' cries were "cluck-cluck-cluck", which was the same as the chickens in Peru.
The combs and feathers of Asian chickens and European chickens Their legs, feet and cries are different, and the eggs they lay are also different. In 1500 AD, Asian chickens were already everywhere in the Americas. It has been thought that Columbus's fleet brought them there. It is believed that Zheng He’s fleet visited the Americas as early as 1421 to 1423, and they brought Asian chickens to the New World.
“These chickens were not brought to the Americas by Europeans, because they were the first batch. Europeans discovered them when they arrived in the New World. Magellan also once recorded that he got a lot of chickens in America. "I used a fishhook or a knife to exchange 6 chickens from the locals. I even worried that the locals were lying to me." "These chickens are obviously different from European chickens. In a Chinese book "Exotic Pictures" published in 1430, there are records of some strange animals that the Chinese saw during their voyages. Such as elephants in India, African giraffes, and American leopards. For example, there is an animal with a dog's head that is very similar to the giant sloth painted in Piri Reis's picture, and there is a description saying that they sailed westward from China for two days. This animal was discovered only in 2001. The giant sloth is a unique animal in South America and became extinct 300 years ago.
Corn is also considered to be an evidence of Zheng He’s discovery of the Americas. Corn was unknown to China until Zheng He's voyage. Chinese records say that General Zheng He brought back some 'grains with particularly large ears'. The Chinese are accustomed to eating a type of rice whose ears are similar in size to barley. The grain with the ‘exceptionally large’ ears could only be corn. The Portuguese discovered corn in Indonesia, the Philippines and China. A flat-bottomed boat built in the 12th year of Yongle (1414 AD) was discovered on the seabed in the southwest of the Philippines. They also discovered a unique South American method for grinding corn. tools. ”
In the book, Menzies listed a list of animals and plants that “followed Zheng He across the ocean and took root in foreign places”, including pigs, dogs, horses, bananas, rice, cotton, yams, and coconuts. Etc. Also serving as evidence are human diseases: “American Indian DNA and their diseases are very similar to those of Chinese and East Asians. "A skin disease of the Indians found in Mato Grosso, Brazil, a duodenal disease of the Indians of Lengua, Paraguay, roundworms in Peru and Mexico, all said to be related to the Chinese "Many data show that the first European explorers in the Indian Ocean, Africa, North America, the Atlantic coast, Australia and other places recorded the existence of Chinese or Asian people; moreover, I have learned about many people and DNA analysis was conducted on the animals and it was found that the indigenous people in America, Australia and other places have a special relationship with the Chinese. ”
Menzies, who visited more than 120 countries and almost exhausted his life savings, finally came to a conclusion that surprised even him: “At that time, only one country had such financial resources and scientific knowledge. , ships and navigation experience, can carry out such a magnificent journey of discovery - that is China. Many documents show that the Chinese drew the earliest navigation charts, and the Chinese seemed to have a better understanding of the world at that time. "
Is Menzies a liar?
In a July 2004 special program on PBS, Menzies was "besieged" by experts "Zhong admitted several times that he may have "misunderstood", but he insisted that his conclusion was correct.
“How can a retired submarine captain discover secrets that many great scholars have not discovered? Although I am only an amateur historical researcher, I also have an advantage that others do not have: I am The Royal Navy has mastered systematic knowledge of astronomical navigation and navigation. I am very familiar with ancient maps and nautical charts. I have rich navigation experience. I not only go to the library, but also conduct field investigations. In addition, I do not stick to conventions and have no authority. These became my key to unlocking this secret." Menzies ridiculed those who criticized him, including Chinese scholars, who could only read books but not maps. "A layman in navigation, no matter how accomplished he is in other fields, when he looks at a map or nautical chart, he can only see many contour lines. An experienced navigator, when looking at When using the same map, more clues can be deduced: where did the cartographer who first drew this map sail to, in what direction, whether the speed was fast or slow, how far away from the land, and what knowledge he had of longitude and latitude. It can be seen whether it is day or night. The map contains important information that is visible to everyone, but it has escaped the eyes of many outstanding Chinese historians. They are not lacking in diligence as historians, but only. It’s because they lack knowledge about astronomical navigation and the world’s oceans.”
In the past three years, Menzies has visited China several times to collect historical information about Zheng He and conduct on-site inspections of Zheng He. and imprints. During his dialogue with Chinese historians, Menzies felt deeply painful when faced with the doubts and distrustful looks of Chinese scholars. Menzies expected that Chinese scholars would treat him differently from Western scholars.
"Why don't you believe me? I have published thousands of evidences and findings. Different from other versions, in order to communicate with Chinese readers, in books published in mainland China, I have specially added Nearly 100 pages of content. I hope that these newly discovered materials can be used by Chinese researchers to participate in the study of this great history of Zheng He’s voyages to the West.”
At present, Menzies’s The findings continue. In May of this year, Menzies announced in Beijing that some white building ruins had been discovered in the far north of Canada, which can be seen far away from the shore. Menzies went to the site, which he believed was the site of Zheng He's camp.
Menzies was accused of misidentifying the place
Last Thursday, Beijing lawyer Liu Gang announced the carbon-14 dating results of the paper samples from his collection of "The General Map of the World" , and together with relevant British and American researchers, answered some questions from the academic community. Jin Guoping, a researcher at the Center for Sino-Portuguese Relations in Lisbon, called a reporter from the Shanghai Oriental Morning News yesterday to stress that the test cannot prove the theory that "Zheng He discovered the world", and that some media's overly hasty reports may affect China's academic image.
Jin Guoping believes that directly using the title "Zheng He Map" is misleading to the public, because the appraisal report is only responsible for the pieces of paper submitted for inspection and does not indicate that the pieces of paper come from Liu Gang's collection of " "General Map of the All Under Heaven", it cannot be proved that it is a copy of the "Tianxia Fanshi Tribute Map" of 1418 that has not yet been discovered, or that it is related to Zheng He.