1418 Chinese world map: a scam, or real? The arguments begin

[dianeduane]

A prominent Chinese lawyer and collector unveiled an old map on Monday that he and some supporters say should topple one of the central tenets of Western civilization: that Europeans were the first to sail around the world and discover America.

The Chinese map, which was drawn in 1763 but claims to be a reproduction of an ancient map dated 1418, presents the world as a globe with all the major continents rendered with an exactitude that European maps did not have for another century and a half, after Columbus, Da Gama, Magellan, Dias and others had completed their renowned explorations.

I'm something of a map freak, and will be watching this with interest...

Comments

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

If it was drawn in 1763, we have only the word of a now long dead cartographer that is was copied from one much earlier. That level of evidence isn't enough.

That Columbus wasn't the first to return from visiting the Americas is pretty strongly accepted. I'm also not dismissive of the Chinese claim to have visited — if they had the ability to go long distance with big fleets of big ships, then North America would have been in reach. You can get from Beijing to San Fransisco without ever getting far from land, thanks to the Aleutian chain.

This, however, isn't the evidence — not on what's been presented, anyway.

A book about this

[cjmr.livejournal.com]

Have your read the book 1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered America ? (Something like that. Jerry read it a couple years ago. I think he's going to post the link later.)

Re: A book about this

[dduane.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it, but it's referenced in the article. Definitely something to dig up.

[mneme]

The evidence doesn't seem to be compelling, based on the NYT article (the one you link to above) -- since the map has 1763 features (like an exploded globe -- a technique known not to be used by Chinese cartographers until they'd imported it from the West), it becomes impossible to tell how much, if any, of it was faithfully copied from an original 1418 version.

I don't find the idea that Zheng He found America before Columbus did to be inherently unbelievable, but this feels to me more like a centuries old fake than a legitimate discovery.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

At first look, I'd agree. Wonder how long it'll take for someone to get the carbon-dating handled...

It will take a while

[cjmr.livejournal.com]

They'll want to date both the paper/parchment and the ink; they'll want to make sure that the paper/parchment hasn't been reused; they'll want to make sure if the ink showing is the original ink used or a retrace, etc...

I watched a Nova or something a while ago about trying to validate a Vinland map--they did all that to it and more. And in the end I think the results were inconclusive on that one.

[singer-mn-lead.livejournal.com]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060117/sc_nm/science_ireland_dc

this was interesting story. did you read it?

[dduane.livejournal.com]

I hadn't seen it. Interesting... Thanks!

[singer-mn-lead.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

[semiramis.livejournal.com]

Zheng He--is this the same guy that they say Sinbad the Sailor was based on?

[dduane.livejournal.com]

It could be: I'm not entirely sure.