“Although the extent of his expeditions is still debated, most scholars agree that his sailors reached Africa between his fifth and seventh voyages,” Wang wrote. ing.
Wang’s analysis led her to the conclusion that Chinese explorers reached the Americas before Christopher Columbus.
Scholar explains the trap of child slavery in China created by 17th century farming style
Scholar explains the trap of child slavery in China created by 17th century farming style
But how did Chinese sailors reach the Americas?
By circling the southern tip of Africa, Wang told the Post. Once he circumnavigates the continent, he says, “the ocean currents will take you to America.”
Although this theory is not supported by most historians, some have come to similar conclusions in the past, such as British submarine commander Gavin Menzies, who published a book in 2002 titled: 1421: year when China discovered the world, In it, he wrote that the Chinese arrived in the Americas in 1421.
The ship took this route to reach Canada on its seventh voyage, and Wang said it was likely the same route it took on its sixth voyage, which reached the Gulf of Mexico.
For the Portuguese sailor Díaz, going around the southern tip of Africa led to the discovery that this route would give Europeans sea access to Asia.
In Chapter 4 of the book, Wang dates the African portion of the KWQ to 1433 based on political information such as country names and territories present on the map.
This dating revealed some interesting features of the map.
Before Europeans sailed to the southern tip of Africa, they believed that the southernmost tip of the African continent was the Cape of Good Hope. He continued to draw their maps well into the 16th century.
However, Cape Agulhas is actually the southernmost tip of Africa. KWQ depicts this accurately even though this part of the map was created by the king in his 1433 year. Therefore, the king decided that Ricci must have used Chinese original drawings when he drew this part of the KWQ.
This is further supported by the fact that parts of the interior African landscape, such as Lake Victoria and sub-Saharan mountains, appear on the KWQ. These were “close to reality” depictions, Wang wrote.
Sixteenth-century European maps, on the other hand, contained limited geographical annotations of the interior of sub-Saharan Africa. These maps did not have any of the 11 annotations that were present in KWQ.
However, according to Wang’s book, the scope of Chinese exploration was not limited to the Americas.
There is another region of the world that Ming sailors may have reached about 200 years earlier than Europeans: Oceania.
What puzzled Wang was the depiction of a large, connected continent that took up the entire bottom of the map.
Europeans preferred to depict the southern frontiers in this way, but Chinese cartographers had never done anything like it.
But as Wang began to investigate KWQ more closely, he began to see evidence of its “Chinese origins.”
First, the actual contours of northern Australia appeared to be somewhat mirrored by the extended coastline of a large continental mass.
The first recorded European landing in Australia was by Dutch explorers in 1606, after the publication of the KWQ.
Still, Wang found annotations on KWQ with names of mountains and birds that matched Australia’s geography.
Europeans also “didn’t know of New Zealand’s existence in the 16th century,” she writes, but didn’t arrive in New Zealand until the mid-17th century.
If Europeans had not yet reached this land and their maps did not show it accurately, what sources could Rich have consulted to create the KWQ?
Wang suggested using a map created by Chinese sailors around the time of their fifth voyage.
KWQ provides evidence that by the 1420s, Chinese sailors were exploring Australia, New Zealand and even Antarctica, long before European explorers, Wang wrote.
She also said she believed Rich referenced original Chinese maps to annotate Oceania, but was still using the European concept of a large southern continent while creating the map.
To provide further evidence of Chinese exploration of New Zealand in the early 15th century, Wang incorporated the findings of British surveyor TC Bell into his analysis.
In the early 2000s, after a tsunami changed the landscape, Bell discovered what appeared to be two ships upturned and buried in the hills of New Zealand’s South Island.
Wang said there were traces of “Chinese traces” inside. The pieces of concrete used to strengthen the ship were glued together with sticky rice glue, a powerful adhesive that was also used on parts of the Great Wall of China.
She said this rice glue has been tested and confirmed in the laboratory. Bell also found evidence of Chinese writing stamped into the concrete.
This evidence is “direct” [hard] “Chinese junk and evidence of Chinese presence in New Zealand,” Wang wrote.
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3000 year old mummy unearthed in Peru
3000 year old mummy unearthed in Peru
As for why the ship came to be buried in the hill in the first place, Mr Wang said it was likely that a meteorite struck the Tasman Sea around this time. It may have occurred during the seventh voyage and affected part of the fleet that was in the area at the time.
Mr Bell found more evidence, including artwork, house foundations and city gateways, that suggested the Chinese may have arrived in New Zealand even earlier than the Ming voyages, perhaps 4,000 years ago.
But why did Chinese sailors choose to circumnavigate Africa in the first place? Mr Wang said this was to avoid taxes.
Chinese ships sailing from the Indian Ocean had to pass through the Red Sea canal and sail over Africa to enter Europe. It makes sense for trading ships to pay taxes, but it makes less sense for explorers to pay taxes.
In fact, Wang writes, vast numbers of ships like the Treasure Fleet probably would not have been able to pass through these seasonal canals, which are “unsuitable for ocean-going ships.”
If Mr. Wang’s map analysis and the true reach of Zheng He’s voyage are true, how could this be lost to history?
After the seventh and final voyage, China decided to “completely withdraw from the world stage.” These included banning navigation and imposing a “maritime ban,” burning treasure fleets, and destroying maps and other equipment, Wang wrote.
Even after the ban was partially lifted in the mid-16th century, no large Chinese ships built for exploration were sent around the world.
Wang said maps from Chinese sources that Rich may have used to create the KWQ may have been lost because the Chinese “didn’t value maps” at the time.
But evidence from these lost maps suggests that these voyages, already known as “unparalleled” in history, may have been even more extensive than previously thought. This may be reflected in the KWQ, which depicts a lost account of Chinese exploration.