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"On 8 February 1421 the largest fleet the world had ever seen sailed from its base in China. The ships, 500 foot long junks made from the finest teak and mahogany, were led by Emperor Zhu Di's loyal eunuch admirals. Their mission was "to proceed all the way to the end of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas" and unite the whole world in Confucian harmony. Their journey would last over two years and circle the entire globe. When they returned Zhu Di had fallen from power and China was beginning its long, self-imposed isolation from the world it had so recently embraced. The great ships rotted at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed. Lost was the knowledge that Chinese ships had reached America 70 years before Columbus and circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan. They has also discovered Antarctica, reached Australia 350 years before Cook and solved the problem of longitude 300 years before the Europeans. Gavin Menzies has spent 15 years tracing the astonishing voyages of the Chinese fleet. In this historical detective story, he shares the account of his discoveries and the incontrovertible evidence to support them. His narrative brings together ancient maps, precise navigational knowledge, astronomy and the surviving accounts by Chinese explorers and the later European navigators. It brings to light the artefacts and inscribed standing stones left behind by the Emperor's fleet, the evidence of sunken junks along its route and the ornate votive offerings left by the Chinese sailors wherever they landed, in thanks to Shao Lin, goddess of the sea." -- BOOK JACKET.… (meer)
Ik was 13, las "waren de goden kosmonauten?" van von Däniken, en was meteen verkocht, het leek allemaal zo goed onderbouwd en overtuigend. Met dit boek ("1421") had ik bijna hetzelfde gevoel. Menzies weet heel meeslepend te schrijven en overtuigt je bijna dat het inderdaad kan kloppen dat een reusachtige Chinese vloot in het begin van de 15de eeuw Afrika, Amerika, Australiê en Antarctica ontdekte, bijna perfect in kaart bracht en zelfs op tal van plaatsen kolonies stichtte. Tot je even doordenkt en de "basics" op een rijtje zet: de auteur kent geen letter Chinees, en formuleert telkens weer zekerheden op basis van wel zeer wankele vermoedens. Enkele eenvoudige internet-controles van een aantal van zijn stellingen lopen systematisch op niets uit; en echt wel gevestigde autoriteiten hebben zijn werk intussen als pure fictie afgedaan. Zo zie je maar... Het neemt niet weg dat het boek toch wel boeit als avonturenverhaal! ( )
Was de Chineese vloot inderdaad het eerst die de Nieuwe Wereld (Amerika)bereikte, zeventig jaar voor Columbus? Ontdekten zij ook Antarctica en waren zij 150 jaar voor Cook in Australië? Een overtuigend en prikkelend boek. ( )
"On 8 February 1421 the largest fleet the world had ever seen sailed from its base in China. The ships, 500 foot long junks made from the finest teak and mahogany, were led by Emperor Zhu Di's loyal eunuch admirals. Their mission was "to proceed all the way to the end of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas" and unite the whole world in Confucian harmony. Their journey would last over two years and circle the entire globe. When they returned Zhu Di had fallen from power and China was beginning its long, self-imposed isolation from the world it had so recently embraced. The great ships rotted at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed. Lost was the knowledge that Chinese ships had reached America 70 years before Columbus and circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan. They has also discovered Antarctica, reached Australia 350 years before Cook and solved the problem of longitude 300 years before the Europeans. Gavin Menzies has spent 15 years tracing the astonishing voyages of the Chinese fleet. In this historical detective story, he shares the account of his discoveries and the incontrovertible evidence to support them. His narrative brings together ancient maps, precise navigational knowledge, astronomy and the surviving accounts by Chinese explorers and the later European navigators. It brings to light the artefacts and inscribed standing stones left behind by the Emperor's fleet, the evidence of sunken junks along its route and the ornate votive offerings left by the Chinese sailors wherever they landed, in thanks to Shao Lin, goddess of the sea." -- BOOK JACKET.
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