Liu Gang’s original article on the 1418 map, 17th January 2006
The real discoverer of the world — Zheng He
I. Introduction
For more than five hundred years, the historians and scholars have always deemed that during the period from 1405 to 1432, the emperors of China Ming Dynasty sent Zheng He, who was also called as “Sanbao Eunuch” or “Ma Sanbao” to lead his fleet to voyage in the South Asia seas, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf for seven times, and visit more than thirty countries and regions in Asia and Africa. The farthest point reached by Zheng He’s fleet is on the east coast of Africa, near the equator.
It is commonly believed that Zheng He’s voyages were indeed the outstanding navigation in his era, and his exploits are well know and documented. Even though considered as one of the ocean voyage pioneers in human history, Zheng He’s reputation is much lower than the following European voyage explorers:
Bartholomeu Dias sailed by Cape of Good Hope in 1487 and is called as the first man in the world who sailed round the south point of African continent;
Christopher Columbus arrived at Bahamas of America in 1492 and is extolled as the forerunner to discover the American continent;
Ferdinand Magellan led his fleet in September of 1519 to begin the marine expedition and circumnavigate the global. After three years voyage, his crew come back to the start point in Europe. As his fleet completed around world voyage, Ferdinand Magellan won the crown of the world discoverer. Since he was considered as the first one who discovered the channel between Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, such channel is named after his first name for more than 500 years.
In recent years, the “world records” made the said three European explorers have been doubted by someone. In March of 2003, Mr. Gavin Menzies, who is a retired British naval officer, proclaimed his astonishing viewpoints: the persons mapped the first chart of world were Chinese, Zheng He’s fleet arrived at America before Christopher Columbus and is the first one circumnavigated the global in human history. He further claimed that Chinese discovered the world in 1421. These viewpoints shaken the sets of the historians and the scholars, who make their respondences to Mr. Gavin Menzies in many different ways. Some show their supports, some shake their heads, some feel uncertain, and some call Mr. Gavin Menzies as a crank. Even the Chinese academic circle is at a loss. Many Chinese historians and scholars believe that Mr. Gavin Menzies’ assertion is only based on his conjecture without substance. Someone even say that Mr. Gavin Menzies is not qualified to make the statement about Zheng He’s voyages, since he can not read Chinese and has no adequate knowledge about the Chinese history.
Like Mr. Gavin Menzies, I am not a professional historian. But I have a hobby for more than 12 years to collect and study the old Chinese maps. I share the same view with Mr. Gavin Menzies about Zheng He’s fleet being the first one circumnavigated the global in human history. However, I must point out that one of Mr. Gavin Menzies’ viewpoints is not correct, which is about when Zheng He’s fleet discovered the whole world. The time when Zheng He discovered the new continents and charted the whole world was within the period from 1415 to 1418, rather than in the year of 1421. My support to Mr. Gavin Menzies and modification to his conclusion is not come from the nationalism emotion, and is based on my study of an old Chinese map, as well as other related historical records.
II. An Old Chinese Map
In the spring of 2001, I purchased an original old world map in Chinese, which is finely illustrated on a bamboo paper (59.6cm x 41.7cm) with ink and colors. In the upper right-hand corner of the map, there are six Chinese characters, which means “general chart of the integrated world”. The statement written by the mapmaker on the lower-left corner of the map says that “(this chart is) drawn by Mo Yi Tong, a subject (of Qing Dynasty) in mid-autumn of the year of Qianlong Gui Wei (1763) by imitating a world chart made in the sixteenth year of Ming Yongle (1418) showing the barbarians paying tribute (to Ming Dynasty)”. A plat of Chinese compass is also drawn in the upper middle of the map. In addition to the said Chinese characters and illustration, there is an important note written on the upper left-hand corner saying, “The descriptions without red circle are not the notes of the original chart (i.e. 1418 general chart of the integrated world)”. Such note means that the descriptions with red circle are the original notes on the world chart drawn in 1418 showing the barbarians paying tribute. Note 1
I was puzzled when my eyes fell upon the old map, which depicts all continents of the world, as well as the Antarctica, North Pole and Greenland. The general appearance of the world on the map is not the only thing strike my eyes. On the American Continent and Australia Continent, the original notes with red circle are described, and mountains and rivers also lay there. It is very clear that many depiction and descriptions on the old map are not consistent with the common knowledge about New World discovery. The Chinese drew an accurate world map in the year of 1418? How the cartographer of this 1418 world chart showing the barbarians paying tribute knew the geographical knowledge about the American Continent and Australia Continent, as well as the mountains and rivers on the continents long time before such continents was discovered?
Is it a fake map? I started to question on the authentic of the map. The trace of vermin on bamboo paper and de-pigmentation of ink and colors indicate to me that the map was made at less more than one hundred years ago. Did Mo Yi Tong, the mapmaker wanted to cheat someone when he imitated 1418 world chart showing the barbarians paying tribute?
It was certainly not the case. One Chinese character before the map marker’s autograph means, “Subject”. For a long time in China, including Qing Dynasty, people could call themselves as “Subject” only in front of the Emperor or his house, otherwise will be considered as being revolting. Therefore, such Chinese character indicates that the map was supposed to be resented to Qianlong, the Emperor of China at that time. As he wrote the note on the upper-left corner saying that “The descriptions without red circle are not the notes of the original chart”, Mo Yi Tong should know that if he made cheat on the map he could be sentenced to death by the Emperor. Furthermore, several depiction and descriptions on the map should be out of Chinese knowledge at that time. Such as the outline of the Antarctica land, this had not been discovered until 1820.
After careful study on the map I became confident of its authentic. But what was the source of 1418 world chart showing the barbarians paying tribute? A note recorded on the Pacific Ocean of the map about Zheng He’s voyages provides a clue for me to find out the source. The Chinese characters and wording of the note are the same as the description about one of Zheng He’s seven voyages recorded in an ancient book, except the name of Zheng He being Ma Sanbao. The author of the ancient book was Fei Xin, one of the officials who accompanied Admiral Zheng He during his voyages in the early medieval period.
Born in a family of humble scholars in the Kunshan district of Suzhou prefecture of China, Fei Xin joined military service and was chosen to accompany Zheng He during four voyages to the Western Oceans (the Chinese historians believe that they should be referred to the Pacific and Indian Oceans), which respectively made during the period of 1409-1411, 1412-1414, 1416-1418 and 1431-1433. After his return from the fourth voyage he started to write a book describing the various peoples and local customs he saw in the barbarian countries or learned from others. His writing was completed in 1436 and title of the work was “The Marvelous Visions of the Star Raft” (“Xingcha Shenglan” in Chinese). The description in the book about the court of Bangla (Bengal) is an important source to reconstruct the history of medieval Bengal.
The book originally was divided into two volumes and did not refer to any map or chart. The researches of the Chinese historians reveal that, soon after the book was printed someone else wrote another version based on the original one. Note 2 The second version consists of four volumes, and its introduction section says that “… collecting charts and incorporating those into this book”. Since both versions had been reprinted lots of times following one by another, no chart or map is contained in the extant copies.
The description recorded in the book about Fei Xin’s third voyage with Zhen He states that “In the thirty-three year of Yongle Emperor (1415), following the emissary, Eunuch Zhen He (in the note on map it is “Eunuch Ma Sanbao”) and other persons (I) went to those barbarian countries including Bangla and arrived at Hormuz as well as other barbarian countries, the imperial edicts were preached and rewards were granted. In the thirty-six year of Yongle Emperor (1418) (I) came back to Beijing.” It is very clear that this description substantially matches the note on the map. This indicates that 1418 world chart showing the barbarians paying tribute should be one of those charts incorporated into the second version of “The Marvelous Visions of the Star Raft”, or someone copied one of the charts recorded in the second version of “The Marvelous Visions of the Star Raft” before such version was lost.
III. Misunderstanding on Zheng H’s Voyages
The original descriptions on 1418 world chart showing the barbarians paying tribute convince me that the extent of Zheng H’s voyages have been misunderstood for more than five hundred years. Before the discussion about such extent, it is useful to explain the Chinese concept of “Western Oceans”, which term was used by Zheng He and the relevant ancient books. The historical records show that the term of Western Oceans originated in Song Dynasty (960-1279) of China, together with the term of Eastern Oceans. Since the birth of the twins, both of them had had no clear extents for long time. In Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), lines were gradually drawn up for the two terms. “The Marvelous Visions of the Star Raft” and another ancient book named as “Notes on the Barbarians in Western Oceans” (printed in February of 1434) narrated that Sumataansche (an ancient country located on west-north corner of Sumatra Island) was the mean of reaching Western Oceans. An ancient book printed in 1617 and named as “Research in Western and Eastern Oceans” narrated that Brunei was the far end of Eastern Oceans and also the starting point of Western Oceans; therefore it was the finishing line for both of Western Oceans and Eastern Oceans. These records reveal the extents of Western Oceans and Eastern Oceans during Ming Dynasty. At that time, the Chinese concept of Western Oceans refers to the maritime space starting from the west-north corner of Sumatra Island and ending at Brunei. This extent includes the Indian Ocean, Arabic Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Correspondingly, the term of Eastern Oceans refers to the sea area including China Southern Sea, East China Sea and Japanese Sea.
Starting from a long time ago, Chinese tradition and philosophy has been promoting equilibrium and symmetry. But, why in Ming Dynasty the extent of Western Oceans was so big, meanwhile Eastern Oceans was so small? What was the basis for the people of Ming Dynasty to draw up the lines for Western Oceans and Eastern Oceans? Several Chinese historians based on their research have given the answer to those questions. Note 3These Chinese historians believe that the extents of Western Oceans and Eastern Oceans were determined in Ming Dynasty based on the courses of voyage carried by the wind and current flowing. It was called as Western Course if the courses of voyage carried westwards by the wind and current flowing. In this circumstance the area reached were included into Western Oceans. Accordingly, the areas reached by the courses of voyage to east direction were included into Eastern Oceans. A modern cart showing current flowing in the Oceans will corroborate with the said view.
The extent of Western Oceans described in 1418 general chart showing the barbarians paying tribute tallies with the concept of Western Oceans in Mind Dynasty. In this chart, the Indian Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean are respectively named as “Small Western Sea” and “Western Sea”. The Chinese characters of “Western Oceans” are slightly bigger than the characters of “Small Western Sea” and “Western Sea”. This indicates that “Small Western Sea” and “Western Sea” were part of “Western Oceans”. Furthermore, the note about Zheng He’s voyages recorded on the Pacific Ocean of the chart means that the Pacific Ocean is also within the extent of “Western Oceans”.
After the term of “Western Oceans” being explained, the questions should be asked about a Chinese phrase of “Zheng He to Western Oceans” (in the Chinese “Zheng He Xia Xi Yang”), which was originated in Ming Dynasty and since then had been repeated in the Chinese ancient books. Dose the extent of “Western Oceans” means that Zheng He and his feet circumnavigated the globe? The following original notes with red circle on the chart provide the answer to us.
The note on the region of Alaska says, “The people living in this area are similar to Qidan and Mongols, who feed on fish.” It is clear that the note talks about Eskimo.
The note on western America states, “The skin of the race in this area is black-red, and the feathers are wrapped around their heads and waists. They are anthropophagous people.” This note relates to Indians in North America Continent.
There are two notes on South America, which respectively are “There are cities there built with huge stones, and called as the stone cities”, and “The people there believes in the religion called as ‘Balaka’, human being is used as sacrificial victim, and people pay obeisance to fire”. The first note here is relevant with the Inca Empire, since the cities of the Inca Empire were usually built on mountain or plateau with huge stones. The second note relates to the ancient Peru. One of the native cultures in the ancient Peru was named as “Paracas”.
The note recorded on Australia says, “The skin of the aborigine is also black. All of them are naked and wearing bone articles around their waists. Those people also have anthropophagous habitude. ”
The note on North Africa is, “There is a huge city here built with stones, the dimension of stones can be compared to those used by tomb of Qin Dynasty Emperor.” Note 4
The note on South Africa states, “The skin of people here is like black lacquer. Their teeth are white, their lips are red and their hairs are curled. ”
The note on Western Asia is: “All people of the cities in west of Jiayu Pass believe in Islam and Muhammad. Their temples are built with clay and stones, and walls of the temples are decorated with gemstone. People who want to go into the temple should take bath and change their clothes, such custom also exit in our middle kingdom, and it is so funny. ”
The note on the region between Asia and Europe says, “The shape of people eyes are round and within deeper eyeholes. Their heads are wrapped with scarf, their clothes are loose and their trousers are long. Women here must wear veils when going out, otherwise will be punished. ”
The note on Eastern Europe says, “People here mostly believe in God and their religion is named as ‘Jing’”.
The above notes, as well as the general delineation of the Antarctica, North Pole and Greenland depicted on the chart, reveal a civilization had been lost for about six hundred years. “Zheng He and his fleet discovered the America Continent before Columbus was even born. They also circumnavigated and charted the globe, a century before the Europeans staked claim to having done so.” Note 5 The footprints of Zheng He and his sailors were left around the whole world, but soon be covered by dusty.
You may ask me: If it was true that Zheng He’s fleet circumnavigated and charted the globe, why no ancient book, epigraphy, chart and map contains the relevant information? My answer is that the information did recorded in several ancient books, epigraphy, charts and maps, but they have hidden themselves from the historians for a long time.
IV. Evidence hid in Chinese Epigraphy and Ancient Books
Stone Inscription
Before the seventh voyage (1431-1433), Zheng He erected two carved stone tablets respectively at the Temple of the Celestial Spouse at Liu Jia Port near the mouth of the Yangtze River, Jiang Su Province and the Temple of Changle Nanshan in Changle County, Fujian Province. The first two sentences of second carved stone tablet, named by the historians in a shortened form as the Changle Epigraphy, have been interpreted and translated as follows:
“The Imperial Ming Dynasty unifying seas and continents, surpassing the three dynasties even goes beyond the Han and Tang dynasties. The countries beyond the horizon and from the ends of the earth have all become subjects and to the most western of the western or the most northern of the northern countries, however far they may be, the distance and the routes may be calculated.”
The above is not appropriate understanding and translation. These two sentences should read as “The Imperial Ming (Dynasty) has unified seas and universe, surpassing the first three generations (of Ming Emperors) as well as the Han and Tang dynasties. None of all countries has not become subjects, even those at the remotest corners. (The place) in the west of the Western Region of the Imperial Ming and in the north of the northward extension from the Imperial Ming are so far away, however the distance to them can be calculated by mileage.”
The term of “Western Region” originated in Han Dynasty, and at that time this term referred to the region between Chongling (now in northwest area of Xinjiang Autonomous Region) and Dunhuang (in Gansu Province). In Tang Dynasty, the extent of “Western Region” became much bigger and was extended to the Mediterranean Region and North Africa. The most of Chinese historians believe that the term of “Western Region” in those sentences should refer to the small Western Region. Unfortunately, this is a misinterpretation. The ancient books written in the Ming Dynasty about oversea travels adopted the concept of “Western Region” in a much broader sense. For example, the many western areas mentioned in “Records of Journey to Western Region” and “Notes on the Barbarians in Western Oceans” (both of the ancient books printed in Zheng He’s era) were far westwards away from the small Western Region. Most importantly, the following text of the Changle Epigraphy says, “…we arrived at Hormuz, Adan (Aden), Mugudushu (Mogadishu) in the Western Region, …”. It is very clear that “in the west of the Western Region of the Imperial Ming” means a place westwards away from the Mediterranean Region and North Africa.
The phrase of “in the north of the northward extension from the Imperial Ming” means a place northwards away from Siberia, which is part of Asia Continents and northwards from China. It is noted that there is a passage at the North Pole on the 1418 world chart, which indicates to us that Zheng He’s fleet might go through such passage. In Zheng He’s era the Chinese did not have any concept about the North Pole, accordingly when they took a journey from China to the North America Continent through the North Pole, they believed that the journey was always northwards. The modern geography theory about the North Pole was established after the “Europeans discovery” of the North Pole. In the modern geography theory, the journey from China to the North Pole is northwards, but journey from the North Pole to the North America Continent is southwards.
After digging out the true meaning of the said two sentences, we should realize that the farthest place referred to in the said two sentences is in the North America Continent.
Zheng He also recorded, in the texts of said two carved stone tablets, the number of countries visited by and the distance of sea spaces of his voyages. The records have been misunderstood and mistranslated as “… altogether more than thirty countries large and small. We have traversed more than one hundred thousand Li of immense water spaces, …”. Accordingly, many historians believe that the distance recorded in the texts should be referred to Zheng He’s cumulative total for his career of six voyages. I truly believe that the wording should read as “… altogether more than thirty countries large and small. We waded across the immensity of sea spaces of more than one hundred thousand Li, …”. That immensity of sea spaces was the maritime space touched by Zheng He’s fleet during the six voyages, “more than one hundred thousand Li” should refer to the size of such spaces.
What was the length for the term of “Li” in the medieval times of China? The conservative historians believe that it was more than 0.4 kilometer. Some take an aggressive approach saying that it was about 0.6 kilometer. Taking conservative way, “more than one hundred thousand Li” means more than fourteen thousand kilometers, which is just short of the circumference of the Earth.
Zhe He’s Nautical Chart
The original name of Zheng He’s Nautical Chart is “The chart showing the treasure ships sailing into sea from Longjian Water Gate to various barbarian countries”. For easy reference, the Chinese historians name such chart as Zheng He’s Nautical Chart. No record indicates when Zheng He’s Nautical Chart was made. However, it is well believed that the original chart was mapped in the early fifteenth century and based on some voyages of Zheng He’s navigation. Note 6 The chart consists of twenty drawings respectively recorded on twenty pages of an ancient book named as Wu Beizhi. Inasmuch as the Zheng He’s Nautical Chart was recorded on twenty pages, the chart was mapped without consistent directions, distances, proportions and positions. More than 530 places were named, of which over 300 were out of China. The cities, towns, islands, navigation symbols, beaches, reefs and mountains were plotted on the chart along shipping lines. It continuously shows, on the seventeenth and eighteenth pages, a wide stretch of unnamed land with a long coastline below the southwest coastline of Sumatra Island. Beside such land there is a small island with a mark of “Stone City Mountain” and “people living there”. Another six islands also show up by the end of this land, among which a bigger one is marked with “Tiger’s tail reef” and another small one is marked with “people living there”. Several Chinese scholars claim that this land should be the Australia Continent, however no evidence has been provided.
It well believes for the historians that Zheng He’s Nautical Chart focus on the voyages without much attention on geography and topography. Even if it lack in consistent directions, distances, proportions and positions, the historians strongly believe that every lands and islands showed on the chart should exist in the real world and their positions along the voyages should be correctly plotted. On the two drawing, there is one voyage going between the southwest coastline of the Sumatra Island and the wide stretch of unnamed land. Obviously, the Australia Continent is not in the southwest direction of Sumatra Island. Glancing at the modern terrestrial globe, we cannot find other land exits in the southwest direction of Sumatra Island except the east coast of Africa and the Antarctica. However, when we turn over the terrestrial globe a little bit, we will be astonished to realize that a wide stretch of land with a long coastline leis in the far southwest direction of Sumatra Island. This wide stretch of land is the South America Continent. Furthermore, the direction of several voyages drawn on the pages from seventeenth to nineteenth are firstly from east to northwest and afterwards from south to north. The east coastline of Africa is depicted on the nineteenth page. Drawing a voyage with the same direction on the contemporary world map starting from the southwest coastline of the Sumatra Island, we may see that the South America Continent emerges firstly on the left side of the voyage, and the east coastline of Africa appears afterwards on the same side.
On the Zheng He’s Nautical Chart, the description of “Stone City Mountain” marked on a small island beside the long coastline of the unnamed land should be in connection with the Inca Empire, since many ruins of the cities in the Inca Empire’s era are located on mountain or plateau, and they were built with huge stones. This description is also in correspondence with the one of two notes described on South America in the 1418 world chart: “There are cities there built with huge stones, and called as the stone cities”.
The inverted shape of the South America Continent depicted on the 1418 world chart conceals its identification from many eminent historians of China for a long time. The long coastline of the America Continent showed on the 1418 world chart is the Peru-Chile coastline, rather than the Patagonia coastline, which lies in the far southwest direction of Sumatra Island on the modern world maps. The small island marked with “Stone City Mountain” should be one of islands along the Peru-Chile coastline. The six islands depicted by the end of this unnamed land should be those islands off the southern end of the South America Continent. Among those islands, the biggest one marked with “Tiger’s tail reef” should be Tierra del Fuego. In the Chinese tradition, people give a name to a site as tail of an animal or totem usually because the topographical shape looks like the tail of such animal or totem. It dose not make any sense why tiger’s tail was given as the name to the reef. A description made by a Portuguese historian in the medieval times tells us that in 1428 a Portuguese brought from overseas a world map, which depicted all the parts of the earth, on the world map the Straits of Magellan was called as “Dragon’s Tail”. The dragon has been the most favorable totem and symbol for the Chinese people. Meanwhile, there have been no totem in Islamism and the dragon also is not a favorable symbol for Christians. Therefore, it is strongly possible that the Chinese gave the name of “Dragon’s Tail”. But why this name? Dose the Straits of Magellan looks like dragon’s tail? No, it looks like dragon’s body, rather than his tail. I believe that the Portuguese misunderstood the name, which was given to an island in the Straits, rather than the Straits of Magellan (it is very possible that the island was Tierra del Fuego). In Zheng He’s era, the Chinese sailors called whale as dragon. If we look at the 1418 world chart, we can see that the shape of the South America Continent on the map is like a whale with its head up to the north. The islands off the south end of the South America Continent on the contemporary map look like the whale’s tail. The name of “Dragon’s Tail” was also connected with “Tiger’s tail reef” marked on the one of six islands depicted at the end of the unmanned land on the Zheng He’s Nautical Chart. The tiger is another favorable symbol for the Chinese, particularly for the Chinese man. There are many idioms about dragon and tiger, such as “fierce battle between dragon and tiger” (means fierce battle between giants), “prancing dragon and jumping tiger” (means a scene of bustling activity), “dragon’s pond and tiger’s cave” (means an extremely dangerous place) and “moving like dragon and walking like tiger” (means dignified manner of a strong man). It is possible that the original name for the reef on the Zheng He’s Nautical Chart was “Dragon’s Tail”, but when the chart was copied during several hundred years following one by another, someone mistaken the name as “tiger’s tail”.
The Captivating Views of the Ocean’s Shores (or the Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores
Ma Huan wrote this ancient book three years earlier than the Overall Survey of the Star Raft. This author was also a great traveler who accompanied Admiral Zheng He during his voyages in the early medieval period. This ancient book contains the poems describing the experience and feeling of the author during his routes with Zheng He. Two lines in the poems saying, “The ship mastered by the brave steersman mixed up the West and East; Only by reference to the stars the South and North could be identified.”
We all know that it is not too difficult to find out where is the West and where is the East. One sentence in “Notes on the Barbarians in Western Oceans” saying that “Recognizing the West and East only by reference to sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset. Measuring the distances by reference to the levels of the stars”. But why Ma Huan’s crew identified the directions only by watching the stars? The answer is quite simple: they had not seen sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset for a certain days.
There are only two zones on the earth in which we cannot see sunrise and sunset for a certain days. One is the Arctic Circle, and another is the Antarctic Circle.
“Notes on the Barbarians in Western Oceans”
In Zheng He’s era, there were three travelers who accompanied Admiral Zheng He during his voyages and wrote considerable books about the voyages: Fei Xin, Ma Huan and Gong Zhen. Gong Zhen completed the writing of his book in February of 1434, and the title of book is “Notes on the Barbarians in Western Oceans”. One sentence in the autobiographic note saying “In the beginning of Yongle Emperor’s period (1402-1424), (the Emperor) sent the important Chinese and foreign subjects to circulate those countries around Western Sea for showing the kindness and power (of the Emperor). The sign of “Western Sea” marked on the 1418 world chart tell us that the countries aroun
