Anatole Andro’s opinion of the 1418 map
Seeing the newly discovered Qing Dynasty reproduction of the 1418 Zheng He Integration Map of the World for the first time can be described as thrilling. It felt like I had been transported back six hundred years sharing Zheng He’s view of the world alongside the intrepid unknown explorers whose hard work the map symbolizes. It was Zheng He’s world because the inscription on the map tells us that the map was constructed pursuant to Zheng He’s mission to Hormuz.
According to the presentation of the map it is apparent that the map had been intended as a concept map, designed to showcase the newly surveyed world geography. Indeed, the original mapmaker had included only the newly discovered world landmasses on his creation, rendering their contours to the best of his ability but paying scant attention to perfection in scaling. For example, Shandong Peninsula, part of his own country, is horrendously large, while India is disproportionately small, and Taiwan is unrecognisable. Also, virtually all the major islands of the world such as Iceland, the British Isles, and Sri Lanka had been ignored or cavalierly portrayed. Many were probably still unknown at the time.
It is also interesting to visit with the sensitivity of a different time. The title note on the map identifies the map as one depicting “barbarians” paying tribute (to China), and as barbarians they were depicted. Virtually all the peoples (in the eyes of the Chinese) with lesser degrees of civilization, those scantily-clad native tribesmen Zheng He’s sailors encountered on their missions in West and Southwest Africa, Australia, and North-eastern and South-western North America were described as cannibals or had tendencies to eat people. Zheng He’s sailor probably had encountered these frightful-looking people from afar, for a note in South America indicated that the natives there practiced a religion called balaka (Pelengue?) and that they sacrificed humans and staged fire rituals. The Chinese most likely had spent time with those natives. In fact, the Chinese might even have been their guests and observed the ceremonies firsthand.
To me personally, above all the map is breathtaking because it validates my findings on the Zheng He expeditions on so many levels. For instance, the mapmaker plainly identified Hormuz as the destination of Zheng He’s missions, which I had deduced. The notation “Western Ocean” to the left of Africa confirmed that the name meant more than just the Indian Ocean. The “old world” part of the map is virtually identical to the early fifteenth century di Virga map, which is discussed in my book, except the Chinese version is clearly better. There is little doubt where di Virga derived his inspiration. South America is highly distorted, exactly as did the Ortelius 1570 version. Of course, we now know why European cartographers vied to draw California as an island. It is shown detached in this 1418 Zheng He replicate.
The date 1418 makes the map one produced at the height of the Ming maritime program. That in itself explains the many missing places. Perhaps they were yet to be surveyed. Nevertheless, the full rendering of Africa implies the Ming fleet had already rounded the Cape of Good Hope, thus the Fra Mauro notation of “1420” most likely referred to a repeat passing. The knowledge of the North and South Pole landmasses also suggests that the Ming fleets had already reached those territories. The existence of the Northeast and Northwest Passages is manifest.
Now that Chinese interest in the Ming maritime enterprise is renewed, perhaps more such long-lost maps will soon come to light. What a blast it will be to see one dated, say, 1421!
Reviewer’s background.
Anatole Andro is the author of “The 1421 Heresy – an investigation into the Ming Chinese Maritime Survey of the World”. He is a lifelong scholar and researches archeology, anthropology, history and lingiuistics.
