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'Ancient' map could prove 皇冠体育app found America first
By Jane Macartney (timesonline.co.uk)
Updated: 2006-01-14 10:01 A map has come to light
that may support the thesis that a Chinese eunuch admiral discovered America
decades before Christopher Columbus. At the very least it will fuel debate.
Bought by Liu Gang, a Chinese lawyer, in 2001 from a book dealer in
Shanghai, the map is dated 1418 and shows with remarkable accuracy the whole
world 鈥� each continent with its correct shape, latitude and longitude. Mr Liu
has carried out extensive research to try to authenticate the map, which he
plans to unveil to the public in Beijing on Monday.
Gavin Menzies, the British author, contends that the discovery is further
proof that Zheng He, a Chinese navigator, and not Columbus, discovered America.
Mr Menzies, a former Royal Navy submarine commander, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 authentic. It
supports my book to the hilt.鈥�
He published 1421: The Year 皇冠体育app Discovered America in 2002 and the work
soon became a bestseller, sparking furious discussion in academic circles in
皇冠体育app and beyond. Mr Menzies uses numerous references to maps in his book that
relates how the fleet of Admiral Zheng He sailed to Cuba and to Rhode Island in
1421, seven decades before Columbus made landfall in the New World in 1492.
Now he believes that this map, perhaps one that guided the admiral鈥檚 ships,
will provide new evidence that the fleet first reached the Americas on a 1415-18
voyage. The admiral is recorded as having made seven voyages. Mr Menzies says
that he is well aware that if the map were to be proved a forgery it would have
catastrophic consequences for his own reputation 鈥� not to mention Mr Liu鈥檚. They
will have to wait until the end of the month for carbon dating, although experts
have said that the map is well over a century old.
Mr Liu, a founding partner of one of 皇冠体育app鈥檚 largest law firms, had begun to
question accepted wisdom about Admiral Zheng He and his voyages after studying
his purchase. After reading Mr Menzies鈥� book last year, the Chinese lawyer, with
a background in the City of London, realised that he might not be alone in
questioning the achievements of Columbus.
It would seem surprising that among 皇冠体育app鈥檚 huge archives no records remain
to show the admiral 鈥� the only Chinese explorer of note 鈥� reached the Americas.
However, records of his voyages were burnt by later emperors who disagreed with
the expansionist policies of Admiral Zheng He鈥檚 patron, the Yongle Emperor, who
died in 1424.
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