Only 500 years ago the advanced civilisations of the world were not in Europe or North America. They were in West and Central Africa, China, India, Turkey, Central and South America. Great cities, powerful empires, complex cultures. So much has happened since...
Each week the blog will look at a different story from those times. This week, were the Chinese the first to discover Australia and America and sail round the world? Were they in fact the greatest explorers ever?
Each week the blog will look at a different story from those times. This week, were the Chinese the first to discover Australia and America and sail round the world? Were they in fact the greatest explorers ever?
'1421 -the year China discovered the world' is a controversial book by Gavin Menzies about a Muslim admiral called Zheng He.
History books say the Portuguese were the first to sail round the world, the Spanish were the first outsiders to reach South America and the British 'discovered' Australia. But did Zheng He's massive treasure ships get there first? Menzies says they did, and the Europeans used Chinese maps later to do the same journeys. Others accuse Menzies of getting it all wrong. They say there is no real evidence.
TASK
What do you think? Read the evidence and write down or post your views.
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Columbus sailed to America in St. Maria (eighty-five feet) in 1492. Zheng He sailed from China to many places throughout South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Taiwan, Persian Gulf and distant Africa in seven epic voyages from 1405 to 1433 ,some 80 years before Columbus's voyages.
Zheng He flag "treasure ship" is four hundred feet long - much larger than Columbus's.
In the drawing below, the two flagships are superimposed to give a clear idea of the relative size of these two ships.
Columbus sailed to America in St. Maria (eighty-five feet) in 1492. Zheng He sailed from China to many places throughout South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Taiwan, Persian Gulf and distant Africa in seven epic voyages from 1405 to 1433 ,some 80 years before Columbus's voyages.
Zheng He flag "treasure ship" is four hundred feet long - much larger than Columbus's.
In the drawing below, the two flagships are superimposed to give a clear idea of the relative size of these two ships.
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