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600 Years Ago
July 09, 2005
On July 11, 1405, a Chinese admiral Zheng He (1371-1435) leading his fleet of several hundred ships equipped with the most technological advanced navigational tools was to began its maiden voyage for world exploration.
The Chinese discovered America in 1421, 71 years before Christopher Columbus did in 1492; passed the southern tip of Africa (Cape of Good Hope) 76 years earlier than Vasco da Gama; rounded the globe about 100 year earlier than Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet (1519-1522) and surveyed Australia three centuries before James Cook did in the 18th century.
Menzies’s findings were primarily based on evidence of Chinese maps which predate those European voyages but which show remarkable details of geography unknown and unexplored to the Europeans at the time.
We can only contemplate today what the legacy of the great Chinese armadas would have been if China had not abandoned her glorious maritime and scientific heritage and retreated into a long, self-imposed isolation from the outside world. What we do know as a fact is that by incoporating the discoveries of the Chinese fleets and by importing the Chinese navigational know-hows, the Europeans charted their even more adventurous routes and began their 500 years domination of the world.
Perhaps, who was first to discover America or to circumnagvigate the globe is not nearly as important as the difference in spirit between the Chinese and European explorations. For the Europeans, they were about colonization and seizing control of foreign lands and for gold and silver. For the Chinese, the explorations were about friendship and promotion of peace. The Europeans loaded their ships with treasures and plunder when they returned home; the Chinese loaded their junks with treasures when they set sail away from home.
Perhaps, just perhaps, if the Chinese had not given up their explorations, Africa would not be so miserable nowadays.
To mark the 600th anniversay of Zheng Hi’s voyage, a weeklong oceanographic exhibition opened on Friday at the Shanghai Exhibition Center (July 8-16), featuring models and displays of ancient, hand-drawn maritime maps, calligraphic scrolls, Buddhist sutras written with golden characters and paintings. The theme of the exhibition is “热爱祖国、睦邻友好、科学航海”.
Posted to General at July 9, 2005 01:26 AM :
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Comments
I’m a great admirer of admiral Zheng, but some of your assertions maybe quite questionable.
- Zheng He’s explorations was more for political, or “show-off” reasons, instead of a simple gesture of international friendship. I’d say it took almost 1/3 of the nation’s GDP.
- The explorations could probably not be financially sustainable for long by the Ming Dynasty. The European controlled the seas for the next 500 years, not because by mere technologies, but its privately funded maritime system, insurance structures, and seafaring traditions. All of which we didn’t have.
- The Indians were probably the first who “discovered” America if you want to count who’s first. It’s more important to see who’s the first to utilize the discovery and gain from it. Again, the European.
Granted. Admiral Zheng’s journey was glorious, but I’d think twice about trivializing the West’s maritime records. The fact is - they made progress, and we stopped for the next 500 years.
posted by: m.c. at July 9, 2005 05:33 PM
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