Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2019 | Page 31

Should America be renamed Zhengherica?
Harrow International School Hong Kong, Webb, Stephanie - 14
The year was 2001. A renowned lawyer and collector of maps by the name of Liu Gang stumbled across an
ancient world map. He purchased it for 500 dollars from a small Shanghainese dealer, thinking it was
probably just a modern fake. Little did he know that the map would fan the flames on a later debate
surrounding the “1421 theory”.
The controversial “1421 theory” originated from the book “1421: The Year China discovered America”
which was written in 2003 by Gavin Menzies, an amateur historian and former submariner in the British
Royal Navy. In the book, Menzies asserted that it should be Zheng He, the great Chinese admiral, who
should be credited with discovering America some 70 years before Columbus’ journey. He claimed that
Zheng was the first to complete a circumnavigation of the world, stumbling across America on the way.
Although many historians discarded Menzies’ theory, his book kindled a spark of debate among
professionals, and later became a bestseller, along with his “1421” website.
Charged with a mission to impress foreign countries of China’s might by the Ming Emperor Yongle, Zheng
He led multiple voyages around the world, establishing diplomatic relations with many nations and bringing
back treasures from different cultures. His expeditions which sprawled from 1405 to 1435 were recorded in
a book called “The Marvellous Visions of the Star Raft” which appeared in China around 1418. The
significance of the world map that Liu had acquired was that not only did it support the descriptions of this
book, but it also depicted the continents of the world including the Americas. Although Liu’s map was
drawn in 1763, the copyist who drew it had imitated another map supposedly dated 1418. He made a
distinction between what he himself had added and what was on the “1418 map”. After reading Menzies’
book, Liu was convinced that his map would help prove Menzies’ “1421” theory. Indeed, if it could be
proven that the “1763 map” which Liu had bought was truly based on a “1418 map”, then the history of
the world would have to be rewritten, but how authentic was this “1418 map”?
In the “1418 map”, the world was shown as a 3-dimensional sphere presented on a flat sheet of paper. In
the top right hand corner, the message “a chart of the integrated world” was written in Chinese characters.
Despite a few obvious errors, much of the world was shown in fairly accurate longitudes and latitudes.
However, it is precisely the remarkable details of the map that drew criticism that the cartography was too
anachronistic for it to be truly dating from the knowledge that had existed in 1418.
To start with, many critics of the “1418 map” suggested that Zheng He could not have known that the
world was round at the time. However, Mr Robert Cribbs, of California state University argued that with
the Chinese’ advance nautical knowledge, the royal geographers who charted Zheng He’s voyages would
likely have postulated this. Nevertheless, even if they had known the world was round before Zheng He had
set sail, opponents pointed out that the rendering technique of presenting a 3-dimensional world on a flat
sheet was unknown in Ming Dynasty. Dr. Geoff Wade, a historian with the National University of
Singapore suggested that this rendering technique was only adopted by the Chinese after the Europeans
introduced it to them much later.
Instead of Liu’s map being based on a “1418 map”, Dr. Wade believed it was more likely to have been
based on maps drawn by Jesuit missionaries in the 17th Century. He also pointed out that apart from them
both mistakenly presenting California as an island, even a part of the text was a clear translation from Jesuit
maps. Other historians also showed that China itself was poorly drawn which seems to contradict with the
advance knowledge of the royal geographers, particularly regarding their own country.
Perhaps one of the most telling flaws of the “1418 map” is the precise representation of inland features such
as the riverine systems and mountains. For example, the Himalayas were marked as the highest mountain
range in the world; St Lawrence River and the Mississippi were both well represented. It is unfathomable
how maritime sailors like Zheng He could have known the inland geography of the lands they travelled past
with such accuracy.