Hong Bao led a voyage of the Chinese treasure fleets from 1421-1423. The fleet set sail from China under Emperor Zhu Di with massive junks carrying thousands of crew including navigators, doctors, craftsmen, and a historian to document the voyage. After stopping at various ports in Asia, Africa, and India to exchange goods and collect tribute, the fleet is believed to have discovered Antarctica and charted the coasts of Australia, centuries before European explorers arrived, adding significant new geographical knowledge from these voyages.

1. 1421:
The Year China Discovered the World?
A Personal Discovery
for The
University of Portsmouth
22nd January 2013
by Peter Missen

2. Agenda
My personal discovery
The book's author
The book/structure
Nautical charts
Information on China
Conclusions
Web sites

3. My personal discovery
One Saturday morning
browsing a bookshop
for “Japanese” books an
oriental design caught my eye.
Flicked through the book.
Sparked an immediate interest.
Parted with some cash.
Went home and read most of the day, HOOKED!

4. My personal discovery
The MA Fine Art Summer Show
last year (2012) had a critique
by international artist Suki Chan.
Georgette has a Chinese based
project and Suki mentioned this
book as one to research. I had
already read the book so here I
am to reveal all! I did contact
both Gavin and the publisher.
The publisher sent a set of
slides, just pictures, no notes! I
have used a few that are marked
(GM).

5. The author – Gavin Menzies

6. The author – Gavin Menzies
According to Wikipedia (05/01/2013):
Rowan Gavin Paton Menzies (born 14 August 1937) is a British
author and retired submarine lieutenant-commander. He is best
known for his controversial book 1421: The Year China Discovered
the World, in which he asserts that the fleets of Chinese Admiral
Zheng He visited the Americas prior to European explorer
Christopher Columbus in 1492, and that the same fleet
circumnavigated the globe a century before the expedition of
Ferdinand Magellan. Menzies' second book, 1434: The Year a
Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the
Renaissance extended his discovery hypothesis to the European
continent. In his third book, The Lost Empire of Atlantis, Menzies
claims that Atlantis did exist, in the form of the Minoan
Civilization, and that it maintained a global seaborne empire
extending to the shores of America and India, millennia before
actual contact in the Age of Discovery.
Mainstream historians regard Menzies' theories and assertions as
fictitious.

7. The book
1421 The Year China Discovered the World
By Gavin Menzies
Published by Bantam Press, London
Back cover says:
On 8 March 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever
seen set sail from China. The ships, some nearly five
hundred feet long, were under the command of
Emperor Zhu Di's loyal eunuch admirals. Their orders
were:
'to proceed all the way to the end of the earth'.

8. Fact or fiction or romance?
I'm not an authority on any of this.
I present some of what's in the book.
Many have “rubbished” this work.
There are supporters of this work.
The book was a fascinating read.
The book holds many facts about China.
Medieval China was very developed.
China sent out treasure fleets.
China knew some things centuries before Europeans.
Don't shoot the messenger!
I'm happy to make this session interactive...

9. Book structure
Acknowledgements
Introduction
I Imperial China
II The guiding stars
III The voyage of Hong Bao
IV The voyage of Zhou Man
V The voyage of Zhou Wen
VI The voyage of Yang Qing
VII Portugal inherits the crown

10. Book structure
Epilogue: The Chinese legacy
Postscript
Appendices
Chinese circumnavigation of the world
1421-3: Synopsis of Evidence
The determination of longitude
Notes
Index

11. Acknowledgements
Royal Navy for his education in:
Seamanship, cartography, astronavigation
Visits to 900+ museums worldwide (3 called out)
• The British Museum
• The Shaanxi Historical Museum in Xian
• Museum of History in Lima
Numerous libraries all around the world
6 pages of names to thank
Finally his Italian wife, Marcella, for the finance!

12. Memorial stone
The countries beyond the
horizon and at the ends of
the earth have all become
subjects and to the western
of the western or the most
northern of the northern
countries however far they
may be.
Part of an inscription on a
memorial stone erected by
Admiral Zheng He at Ch'ang Lo
on the banks of the Yangtze
estuary in 1431.

13. Zheng He
In the People's Republic of China
11th July is Maritime Day ( 中国航海日 )
The day is devoted to the memory of Zheng He's first voyage
1st Voyage 1405-1407 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Aru, Sumatra, Lambri, Ceylon, Kollam,
Cochin, Calicut
2nd Voyage 1407-1409 Champa, Java, Siam, Cochin, Ceylon
3rd Voyage 1409-1411 Champa, Java, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Quilon, Cochin, Calicut, Siam,
Lambri, Kaya, Coimbatore, Puttanpur
4th Voyage 1413-1415 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Cochin, Calicut, Kayal,
Pahang, Kelantan, Aru, Lambri, Hormuz, Maldives, Mogadishu, Barawa, Malindi,Aden, Muscat, Dhufar
5th Voyage 1416-1419 Champa, Pahang, Java, Malacca, Sumatra, Lambri, Ceylon, Sharwayn, Cochin,
Calicut, Hormuz, Maldives, Mogadishu, Barawa, Malindi, Aden
6th Voyage 1421-1422 Hormuz, East Africa, countries of the Arabian Peninsula
7th Voyage 1430-1433 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Calicut, Hormuz

14. Introduction
Retired Author - interested in medieval history
Studying charts of ancient mariners
Noticed 2 large “islands” where nothing exists today
On Pizzigano Chart of 1424
Worked out as the Caribbean
Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe
Who was there?
70 years before Columbus!
Started a 15 year search

15. Nautical charts
Progressing through the book
Sparked an interest in these early charts
I spent a bit of “Google” time
I'll show a few of the well know charts
From before and after the 1421 voyages

16. Kangnido 1402
The Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Jido "Map of Integrated Lands and
Regions of Historical Countries and Capitals" is a map of the world
made in Korea in 1402. It is 158.5 cm by 168.0 cm, painted on silk.

17. De Virga World Map 1411-15
This map, made by Albertinus de Virga between 1411 and 1415, is drawn on a
piece of parchment 696x440 mm and also includes a calendar and two tables.
One table was for calculating lunar changes, the other the date of Easter.

18. 1418 Ming Dynasty Map?

19. Pizzigano Chart 1424
The Pizzigano chart is an Italian portolan chart dated 1424. The map contains
large islands in the North Atlantic Ocean to the west of Spain and Portugal!

20. Pizzigano Chart 1424
GM

21. Pizzigano Chart 1424
GM

22. Fra Mauro's Planisphere 1459
Fra Mauro's planisphere is "considered the greatest memorial of medieval
cartography" according to Roberto Almagià. The map was made by the
Venetian monk Fra Mauro. The map is a circular planisphere drawn on
parchment and set in a wooden frame, about two meters in diameter.

23. Cantino World Map 1502
The Cantino World Map is named after Alberto Cantino, an agent for the
Duke of Ferrara, who successfully smuggled it from Portugal to Italy in 1502.

24. Cantino World Map 1502
GM

25. Waldseemüller Map 1507
The Waldseemüller map is a wall map of the world drawn by German
cartographer Martin Waldseemüller. It was one of the first maps to chart
latitude and longitude precisely, following the example of Ptolemy, and
was the first map to use the name “America".

26. Piri Reis Map 1513
The Piri Reis map was compiled in 1513 from military intelligence by the
Ottoman-Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis, on gazelle skin. The
half of the map that survives shows the western coasts of Europe and
North Africa and the coast of Brazil with reasonable accuracy.

27. Piri Reis Map 1513
GM

28. Jean Rotz Map 1542
The Jean Rotz map was drawn by the official 'hydrographer' to King Henry VIII.
The map depicts the coastlines of Africa, Asia, India, and China with great
accuracy, yet more surprisingly it also shows the east, west, and northernmost
parts of Australia, some two centuries before Cook made his 'discovery'.

29. Google maps 21st Century

30. Google maps - Caribbean
Puerto Rico
Guadeloupe

31. Back to the book...
Emphasising information on China
15 years of research in the book
Lots of background information
Navigation
Oceans
Charting
Sailing
Wildlife
Plants/trees
Peoples encountered

32. I Imperial China -
The Emperor's grand plan
New Year's day 2 Feb 1421
China dwarfed every nation
Emperor Zhu Di's Inauguration
In the forbidden palace
28 heads of state present
From Asia, Arabia, Africa,
and The Indian Ocean
All brought by Chinese ships

33. I Imperial China -
The Emperor's grand plan
NOT INVITED WERE:
Holy Roman Emperor
Emperor of Byzantium
Doge of Venice
King of England (Henry V)
King of France
King of Castille
King of Portugal
These backward states lacked any:
• Trade goods
• Worthwhile scientific knowledge Henry V

34. I Imperial China –
The fleet set sail
Navigated using the Wu Pei Chi
This document has survived
By 1421 China had over 600 years of ocean navigation
Based on the Pole Star
They had the compass
Could not use sun for latitude yet (Portuguese in 1474)
Used sand clocks for time
10 lots of 2.4 hours per day (length of a seaman's watch)
Problem measuring longitude
Could not tell the speed of water moving under them
No measure of absolute time yet (wait 350 years for this!)

35. I Imperial China –
The fleet set sail
Chinese Marine Engineers built awesome ships
Able to withstand storms and typhoons
Junk compared with a European ship

36. I Imperial China –
The fleet set sail
15th Century Chinese marine technology
Robust frame in sections
Watertight bulkheads bolted together with brass pins
3 layers of hardwood on a teak frame
Caulked with coir and sealed with boiled tung oil and lime
Acres of orchards of tung trees needed for the fleets
Reinforced bow with channels to internal compartments
Teak keel bound with iron hoops
Rectangular and composite stones plus mud balls for ballast
Additional movable keels for stability
Semi submersible anchors to reduce rolling

37. I Imperial China –
The fleet set sail
The Chinese junks of the 'treasure fleet' were
MASSIVE!
500 feet long
9 masts
4 decks
Models show:
Zheng He's junk
European ship

38. I Imperial China –
The fleet set sail
Admiral Zheng He's fleet included:
Somewhere between 500 and 800 ships (accounts vary)
180 medical officers
1 medical officer per 150 people
Elite crew of navigators and compass men
Worked from a small bridge – lived separate to rest
Ships also carried artisans and all sorts of craftsmen
Caulkers, sail makers, anchor and pump repairers, scaffolders,
carpenters, tung oil painters
These craftsmen kept the fleet in good repair
Historian, Ma Huan, on board to document voyage.
Published “Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores” in 1433

39. I Imperial China –
The fleet set sail
Separate 'grain ships' carried supplies
Soya beans, wheat, millet, and rice
The Chinese knew about scurvy
Took limes, lemons, oranges, pomelos, and coconuts
3 months supply for each sailor
Soya very versatile – sprouted, milk, curd, tofu, and sauce
Fresh vegetables – cabbages, turnips, and bamboo shoots
Limited meat but lots of fresh fish caught by otters
Fresh water and knew how to distil from sea water
Rats hunted by dogs
Arsenic to kill bugs and insects

40. I Imperial China –
A thunderbolt strikes
2 months after fleet sailed
Lightening struck the imperial palace
The gods signal a change of emperor!
Economy hit hard by many building works:
Forbidden city
Treasure fleet
Grand canal
Great wall

41. I Imperial China –
A thunderbolt strikes
Emperor Zhu Di was weakened
Mongol leader refused to pay his tribute
Zhu Di mounted an army to get back pride
1 million men
340,000 horses
177,550 carts to transport grain
Died on 24th August 1424
His son Zhu Gaozhi ascended the throne
A disaster for the treasure fleet!

42. I Imperial China –
A thunderbolt strikes
Emperor Zhu Di's funeral was a grand affair
As was his life – a visionary and gambler
2 day march to the imperial mausoleum
At Chang Ling in the NW foothills of Beijing
A cortege 10,000 soldiers and officials
A magnificent tomb
Yellow imperial cloak and military decorations
Plus 16 concubines buried alive with him!

43. I Imperial China –
A thunderbolt strikes
Zhu Gaozhi issued this edict on day 1:
All treasure fleet voyages to be stopped
All ships ordered home
All ship building and repair stopped
All official procurement for overseas voyages to be stopped
All purchasers to return to capital
China reverted to basics and closed down to the outside world
Inflation controlled – no mining of gold and silver
Purchase of luxury goods banned
Budget deficit slashed
Note: China had paper money from 806 (centuries before Europe)

44. I Imperial China –
A thunderbolt strikes
Any foreign trade meant execution as a pirate!
Learning foreign languages was prohibited
Embargo on trade rigorous for next 100 years
To prevent trade a south coast strip of land burnt
700 miles by 30 miles
Population moved inland
Shipyards decommissioned and plans destroyed
All accounts of Zheng He's voyages destroyed
Established colonies abandoned
Africa, New Zealand, North and South America, Australia

45. II The guiding stars -
Rounding the cape
The “missing years” from 1421 to 1423
Liu Daxia, Ministry of War
Ordered destruction of all written records
2 carved stones found, 1 in Chiang-su, 1 in Liu-Chia-Chang
To commemorate Zheng He's crowning achievements
The great voyages of the treasure fleets
We have travelled more than 100,000 li of immense water spaces and
have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising sky high, and we
have set eyes on barbarian regions far away, hidden in a blue transparency
of light vapours, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds, day and night
continued their course, rapid like that of a star, traversing those savage
waves. (1 li is approximately 500m)

46. II The guiding stars -
Rounding the cape
The Chinese traded with Calicut since Tang dynasty (618-907)
Capital of Kerala and most important port in Indian Ocean
Ruled by Hindu kings
Extensive trade: cotton, textiles, spices
Chinese use Calicut as a forward base
All sailing distances based from Calicut
The fleet returned ambassadors to Africa and headed South
Once round the Cape the wind and currents give a free ride all the
way to Cape Verde Islands
Chinese charted the West coast of Africa on their journey
After leaving Cape Verde next land sighted would be Brazil

47. II The guiding stars -
The New World
In 499 Hoei-Shin returned from a land 20,000 li eastwards
He named the land Fusang after a tree there
The tree bore a red pear shaped fruit
Had edible shoots and bark
Inhabitants used for clothing and paper
The Maguey tree that grows in Central & South America?
Hoei-Shin commented no iron was found
Iron is found all over world except for Central America
Did Hoei-Shin get there nearly 1000 years before?

48. Voyages of the Treasure
Fleets, 1421-3

49. III The voyage of Hong Bao -
Voyage to Antarctica and Australia
Hong Bao's designated task was to chart world eastwards
from 52º40'S (Falkland Islands)
Cabbage, wild celery, penguins, geese, and fish
No fruit there
Only 4 legged animal – a tame fox type creature
Possibly descended from Chinese food dogs
Canopus used as guiding star in the Southern hemisphere
“The Straight of Magellan” same latitude as star
Superb feat to get a junk through the straights
Magellan had a Chinese map when he sailed

50. III The voyage of Hong Bao -
Voyage to Antarctica and Australia
Cold and ice held no fears for Chinese sailors
Chinese had 800 years experience of polar sailing (North)
1000 years experience of navigating in ice
Nearest port to Beijing is ice bound 3 months a year
Use of Canopus gave Chinese a 50 year lead over Portuguese
The Chinese charted the South Shetland Islands
Charting precision meant they were
there a while!
Uninhabited wilderness of ice and rocks

51. IV The voyage of Zhou Man -
Australia
Zhou Man's task – survey world west of South America
Encountered the Humboldt current
Swept northwards up the coast of Chile
A novel about Zheng He's voyages – Hsi-Yang-Chi (1597)
Listed tributes offered from barbarians
Whale eyes, bream whiskers, camels that go 1000 li, ambergris,
frankincense, Cholula porcelain bowls
Where was the source for these?
Assuming camels were llamas everything comes from Peru
Next stop Australia
Just the small matter of the Pacific Ocean to cross...

52. IV The voyage of Zhou Man -
The Barrier Reef and Spice Islands
Valuable scientists on Chinese junks were mining engineers
China + India had half of the world's entire wealth in 1421
China had centuries of experience in
Geology, mineral extraction, processing
Chinese set up long term mineral extraction settlements
Fleet included horse ships for exploring lands
Blood ponies from Tajikistan were favourites
Chinese took great care of their horses
Chinese geologists arrived in a mineral paradise
Wrecks on coast, stone buildings ashore, aboriginal rock carvings
and paintings all signal Chinese were in New South Wales

53. IV The voyage of Zhou Man -
The first colony in the Americas
Arrived in Nanjing 8 October 1423 with no envoys
Where did he sail for 4 months in the Pacific?
The Pacific coast of North America?
A wreck off Neahkahine beach
Made of teak, calophyllum pulley (South East Asian wood)
Found paraffin wax (used to desalinate sea water)
Asiatic chickens from Chile to California
Roses indigenous to South East Asia
Ming blue and white porcelain
Medieval Chinese anchors found off California coast

54. IV The voyage of Zhou Man -
Colonies in Central America
Mexican maque lacquer process identical to Chinese
Unusual, complex, and time consuming
Surface preparation - cracks are filled
With nimacarta – a mixture of rice flour and seshime
Article is sanded down
Then 10-100 coats of lacquer applied with human hair brush
Layer must dry, be sanded, and then polished
Polishing with whetstone & deer horn powder
Red colours used predominate in Mexico and China
Did the processes evolve separately?
Same with dye stuffs producing brilliant colours
Complex procedures to extract and fix - coincidence?

55. V The voyage of Zhou Wen -
Satan's Island
By 1337 China had accurate estimate
of the distance from the Pacific to the Atlantic
From Cape Verde just a short 2000 mile hop
Zhou Wen probably thought it was 4000 miles
Due to the sea moving under them
Cannibals in Guadeloupe?
As Columbus found later
Did the Chinese give this island a wide berth?
Pizzigano information much less detailed than Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico people much more peaceful!

56. V The voyage of Zhou Wen -
The treasure fleet runs aground
Did the fleet get damaged?
Many wrecks in the area
What is the Bimini Road?
2 man-made trenches of huge rocks
Slip ways to repair Chinese Junks?
Using Ballast stones from the damaged vessels?
Hauled up ships with rudder and keel in the groove
Flat bottom boat needs lots of ballast
500 – 600 tons (2000 tons of cargo)
Investigation blocked by Bahamian authorities...

57. V The voyage of Zhou Wen -
Settlement in North America
In 1542 Verrazzano encountered people the colour of brass
With long black hair and quick black eyes
Not natives – where did they come from?
Chinese DNA evidence
Physical evidence...
Rhode island tower
Wants to test the mortar
Chinese use gypsum & rice to bind
Many stones with carvings

58. V The voyage of Zhou Wen -
Expedition to the North Pole
The island of Corvo – Portuguese arrived in 1430
Found a statue of a man on a horse
Inscription was not understandable
Greenland circumnavigated!
Warm summers meant ice receded
Hvalsey people possess Chinese DNA
Intricate carvings found on walrus ivory
Did the Waldseemüller map details come from the journey home?
North coast of Siberia very accurate – who was there?

59. VI The voyage of Yang Qing -
Solving the riddle
Yang Quin stayed in the Indian Ocean – a Chinese lake!
100s of years experience navigating the ocean
Chinese built many observatories
Measured time by length of shadows
By 721 Chinese had measured shadows accurately
Vary by 3.56 inches per 400 miles
Zhou Gong tower measurements
Summer solstice 12.3695 feet
Winter solstice 76.7400 feet
Could calculate each day of the year from the noon shadow

60. VII Portugal inherits the crown -
Where the earth ends
In 1421 Portuguese sailed to the uninhabited island of Madeira
Colonisation began in June 1421
News filtered back to Portugal of the Chinese discoveries
They took up the gauntlet
And were NOT sailing into the unknown!
Started a great wave of European expansion and colonisation
Spread across the globe
Has affected the destiny
of billions of people

61. VII Portugal inherits the crown -
Colonizing the New World
All about Portugal...

62. VII Portugal inherits the crown -
On the shoulders of giants
North East coast of Brazil discovered by the Chinese?
On many maps before European explorers sailed
Europeans rediscovered the world
Known at first hand to the Chinese and Niccolo da Conti
Niccolo da Conti was on a Chinese Junk that reached Australia
Europeans set sail with Chinese maps showing the way
How unlucky China was that fire ravaged the Forbidden City
The world could have been a much different place!

63. Epilogue: The Chinese legacy
Chinese Buddhist architecture graces Asian skylines
From Malacca to Kobe
Chinese silk from the Ming dynasty
From Africa to Japan
Chinese blue and white ceramics
From Australia to Manchuria
Chinese jade
Communities united by trade, religion, and written language
4000 km from east to west and north to south
The Chinese imperial footprint remains
The footprint of a colossus

64. Postscript
Gavin gave a talk in 2002 about his theories and
evidence
At the Royal Geographic Society, London
Broadcast around the world
Articles appeared in 74 newspapers
New evidence poured in from all around the world
Including news of a large wreck off Fraser Island
More and more DNA evidence
e.g. Korean DNA in Norwegian fishermen

65. Appendices
Well over 100 pages!
Appendix 1 - Chinese circumnavigation of the world 1421-3:
Synopsis of Evidence
Part I – European explorers did not discover the New World
Part II – Only the Chinese had the capacity to chart the world at
that time
Part III – Evidence of the voyages of Zheng He's fleet
Part IV - Evidence Zheng He's fleets' visits to specific places
Part V – Genetic fingerprints left by Zheng He's fleets –
the DNA evidence
Appendix 2 - The determination of longitude

66. Notes
There are comprehensive notes throughout
the book
19 pages!
Usually link to evidence or further reading
Need 2 bookmarks for this book
One for the text and one for the notes...

67. Index
Yes there's an index, it's a book!
18 pages of 2 column index

68. List of Maps and Diagrams

Voyages of the Treasure Fleets, 1421-3

East Asia, c. 1421

The voyage to Sofala

The circulatory winds and currents in the
South Atlantic Ocean
− i) The Kangnido map showing Africa
− ii) The Kangnido map corrected for longitude
− iii) Modern Africa

The journey to the Cape Verde Islands

69. List of Maps and Diagrams

The journey to Tierra del Fuego

The Piri Reis map compared to modern
Patagonia, showing the straights of
Magellan

The Falkland Islands on the Piri Reis,
compared to a modern map

The journey to Antarctica

Locating the Southern Cross

Hong Bao's journey to Australia

Zhou Man's journey to Australia

70. List of Maps and Diagrams

Evidence of the visit of the Chinese
treasure fleet to Australia

Auckland and Campbell Islands, as shown
on the Jean Rotz map

The journey around New Zealand

The routes of Hong Bao and Zhou Man
around Australia

Hong Bao's journey home and Zhou Man's
journey through the Spice Islands

71. List of Maps and Diagrams

The San Francisco Bay area, showing the
winds blowing into the Sacramento River

Evidence of the visit of the Chinese
treasure fleet to the Americas

Zhou Wen's journey through the
Caribbean

Guadeloupe shown on the Pizzigano map,
compared with a modern map

Puerto Rico shown on the Pizzigano map,
compared with a modern map

72. List of Maps and Diagrams

The bays and inlets of Puerto Rico, depicted
on the Pizzigano map

The Cantino map showing the Caribbean and
Florida, compared with a modern map

Locations of unidentified wrecks on the route
to Bimini

The junk's approach to Bimini and the Bimini
Road

Zhou Wen's journey up the east coast of
Florida

73. List of Maps and Diagrams

The journey to Rhode Island

The locations of standing stones in
Massachusetts

The voyage to the Azores and Cape Verde
Islands

The journey around Greenland

Greenland shown on the Vinland map,
compared to a modern map

Chinese bases across the Pacific Ocean

74. List of Maps and Diagrams

Solar eclipse

Lunar eclipse

The progression of a lunar eclipse across the
Earth's surface

75. Conclusions
Very glad I read the book
Many ideas in the book to make you think
Increased my awareness of Chinese culture
I have since started to learn Mandarin...
Shows what we take for granted these days
The Internet!
Global Positioning System
Google: Maps, Images, Search

76. The web site
http://www.gavinmenzies.net/
Go take a look if this has sparked an interest
There are web sites that attack the book.
Try this for some balance:
http://www.1421exposed.com/

77. These slides are available online

I have put a version of these slides on
SlideShare – a free resource

Search: slideshare missenp 1421
http://www.slideshare.net/missenp/1421-talk-for-portsmouth-university