1421 Myth of Zheng He

The case of the Chinese "discovery" of Australia

The author's own web site - Gavin Menzies

Maps used to substantiate this thesis/myth:  the Kangnido map made in Korea in 1402 "of the world" (compare to the Chinese map from 1389, the Da-ming-hun-yi-tu); the Pizzigano map of 1424 - an Italian portulan chart, showing islands in the North Atlantic to the west of Spain and Portugal; the Fra Mauro map of 1459 showing a general knowledge of Africa and Asia - before the European circumnavigation of Africa.  Note that it is inverted here, as originally, south was at the top, north at the bottom, which was normal for maps of that era; the Cantino map of 1502 - this is the earliest map, which has survived until today, which shows Portuguese discoveries in the east and west.  It shows a bit of the Brazilian coast, which was discovered only in 1500 by Pedro Alvares Cabral;  the Waldeseemuller map of 1507, by a German map maker.  It is one of the earliest maps to chart latitude and longitude precisely.  It was the first map to use the name "America;" the Piri Reis map of 1513, produced in Constantinople for the Ottoman sultan's library.  The myth claims that the Chinese admiral charted the coast of Antarctica 70 years before Columbus' voyages;  the Johannes Schoner globe, from 1520 - shows the west coast of South America and Antarctica, before European discovery of same; the Vinland map, purportedly drawn in the 15th century long before Columbus' voyages, and supposedly redrawn from a 13th century original - which makes it even earlier than Zheng He!; and finally, the De Virga world map of 1411-1415 - showing the full continent of Africa, and both Antarctica and Greenland.