Map may show Chinese explorer discovered America
An ancient map unveiled next week may prove that it was a Chinese eunuch who discovered America and not Christopher Columbus, it was revealed today.
Schoolchildren are taught that Columbus found the New World in 1492, but the copy of a map dated 1418, to be made public in Beijing on Monday and London a day later, could show that it was in fact Admiral Zheng He who got there first - more than 70 years earlier.
If proved to be genuine, the clear depiction of the Americas, Africa and Europe will bolster his case significantly, according to the Economist.
It said five academic experts on ancient charts believe it is authentic.
Gunnar Thompson, a specialist on old maps and early explorers, told the magazine: "It will revolutionise our thinking about 15th century world history."
The exploits of Zheng He, whose fleets roamed the oceans between 1405 and 1435, were described in a book which appeared in China around 1418 called The Marvellous Visions of the Star Raft, and are well documented in Chinese historical records.
The 1763 copy of the map contains notes that “substantially match” the descriptions in the book, the magazine said.
Six Chinese characters in the upper right-hand corner of the map say it is a “general chart of the integrated world”.
The commentary, written in clear Chinese characters, includes a description of the people of the west coast of America reading: “The skin of the race in this area is black-red, and feathers are wrapped around their heads and waists.”
There are also several mistakes: the British Isles do not appear and California is an island.
But it is the precision, rather than the errors, that is more likely to make critics question the authenticity of the map.
Zheng He has long been considered one of the pioneers of marine exploration in China, but he was virtually unheard of in the West until 2002.
That year retired British submarine commander Gavin Menzies published a controversial book claiming he circumnavigated the world in a two-year odyssey which began in 1421, discovering America on the way.
It was when the map’s owner, eminent Chinese lawyer Liu Gang, read the book that he realised what he might have on his hands.
He had bought the map for about 500 dollars from a small Shanghai dealer in 2001 to add to his art and cartography collection.
Mr Liu says he knew the map was significant, but thought it might be a modern fake until he read the book. But he insists he does not want to sell his precious find, saying: “The map is part of my life.”
Now the map is being tested at Waikato University in New Zealand, with the results due in February, although they can only prove the date of the copyist’s paper and inks.
Experts said the map puts together information that was available piecemeal in China from earlier nautical maps.
“The format of the map is totally consistent with the level of knowledge that we should expect of royal Chinese geographers following the voyages of Zheng He,” Mr Thompson said.
Other experts dispute the claim however, with many of the fiercest critics in China itself.
Wang Tai-Peng, a scholarly journalist in Vancouver, doubts that Zheng He’s ships landed in North America.
He also claims that his navigation maps were drawn in a totally different Chinese map-making tradition.
“Until the 1418 map is scientifically authenticated, we still have to take it with a grain of salt,” he said.
The map will be unveiled at Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum on Tuesday.
