|
Friday, December 13, 2002
Lee: The year China discovered the world
By Kelvin Lee
How were the Chinese able to sail the seven seas so thoroughly? Old China's naval supremacy came from the might of its ships. Ming dynasty naval ships were massive giants, larger than even some of the ships today.
ONCE upon a time, in an age long past, it is said that the Chinese ruled the oceans. Before Magellan roamed the seas, before the British dominated the waves, before the Spanish had even heard of the Philippines or Christopher Columbus had even set foot on the new world, there was Zheng He.
Who?
Zheng He was a Eunuch in the service of the ruling Ming Dynasty in 1421. A Muslim from Southwest China, Zheng He rose to become an admiral in the Imperial navy and became the leader of a series of expeditions, which originally set out not only to explore but also to colonize the world. So Zheng He and his men were the first real explorers to circumnavigate the globe.
This is the thesis of a new book by retired British Royal Navy Submariner Gavin Menzies, entitled 1421: The Year China Discovered the World. It is so named because the records indicate 1421 was the year that the Admiral first set out on his journey.
The Eunuch Admiral Zheng He is said to have played such an important role in naval history that he is still worshipped today in Java and Malacca. He is considered both a Muslim saint and a Chinese deity Sam Po Kong aka the "Three Jeweled Eunuch." It is said that the three jewels referred to are Zheng's private parts, which he carried with him in a pouch. Of course, there are a number of scholars who dispute all this.
So what were some of the early exploits of the Chinese fleet? According to the book by Menzies, the first Europeans to reach North and South America found colonies of Chinese people in California, Mexico, Venezuela and even in Peru.
There were even wrecks of Chinese junks (boats) found on the Mississippi, the Florida coast and in the Amazon. Descendants of those people are still around today. There were even early Chinese colonies in Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Thus this fleet, in theory, reached the Magellan straits a full 60 years before its namesake "discovered" it. This would also mean that the Chinese found the secret of longitude 300 years before the Europeans.
Another piece of evidence, and considered quite important, came from a striking quotation from Zheng He himself. "The countries beyond the horizon and at the ends of the Earth have all become subjects (of the Chinese Empire) and to the most western of the western or the most northern of the northern countries, however far away they may be," he proclaimed.
How were the Chinese able to sail the seven seas so thoroughly? Old China's naval supremacy came from the might of its ships. Ming dynasty naval ships were massive giants, larger than even some of the ships today.
These vessels were teak terrors that could sail the wide oceans for years at a time. To deal with enemies these floating fortresses had flaming arrows and shells that sprayed refuse, including excrement, over their adversaries.
Menzies writes that, "In every single respect -- construction, cargo capacity, damage control, armament, range, communications, the ability to navigate in the trackless ocean and to repair and maintain their ships at sea for months on end -- the Chinese were centuries ahead of the Europeans." And one must remember, this is a claim made by a European.
Menzies spent 15 years researching all over the world before he was able to finish this book. And one can see the painstaking effort paid to deal with all the data that was accumulated over that period of time.
Much work was put into this book. So much that to list all the references used, Menzies had to resort to a website - www.1421.tv -- to document them all.
So what do Vasco de Gama, Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus have in common as explorers and discoverers?
The answer, according to Gavin Menzies, is simple: they were all losers. Zheng He, a Eunuch Admiral of the Ming Dynasty Chinese Empire, beat them to it.
(Visit the writer's website at www.babbleon5.blogspot.com or email him at babbleon@atenista.net)
(December 13, 2002 issue)
Want Sun.Star news on your mobile phone? Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
