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(More customer reviews)Another fantastic volume in Gavin Menzies's trilogy, "The Fifteenth Century: When China Discovered the Universe". Volume 2, "1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance" follows Menzies's successful and enlightening Volume 1, "1421: The Year China Discovered America". Menzies fans are looking forward to next year's equally profitable final Volume 3 of the trilogy, "1438: The Year China Launched the First Manned Rocket to Mars". Who says history can't be fun...
A comment upon the above review asked for more specifics on my attitude toward Menzies, so...
I'll make a few more comments:
The issues with Menzies are twofold. First, there are many contemporary Chinese descriptions of these voyages which Menzies ignores, all of which describe the voyages (including the 1421 sixth voyage) as being confined to the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Second, Menzies just invents out of his imagination events and descriptions and evidence that have no relevance to reality. Hence, his many scholarly detractors.
Zheng He himself in 1431, prior to his seventh and last voyage, left us two engraved inscriptions (at Liujiagang and Changle) that describe the first six voyages, and which describe the 1421 voyage as only delivering ambassadors back to their home countries (such as Hormuz) and returning to China with their tribute in local products. Nine years after the end of the 6th voyage, he knew of nothing extraordinary that took place on any of the 1421 voyages. Ma Huan (who sailed on the 4th, 6th and 7th trips as an interpreter) in 1433 wrote the "Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores" describing the many places that the various Chinese fleets had visited, including the places visited by others in the fleets that he himself had not seen, and he knows of no places ever visited outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Fei Xin (who sailed on the 3rd, 5th and 7th trips) in 1436 wrote the "Overall Survey of the Star Raft" again describing the many places that the fleets had visited, including the places visited by others in the fleets that he himself had not seen, and he knows of no places ever visited outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Gong Zhen (who sailed on the 7th trip as Zheng He's private secretary) in 1434 wrote "The Monograph on the Foreign Countries of the Western Ocean", once again describing the many places that the various Chinese fleets had visited, including the places visited by others in the fleets that he himself had not seen, and he knows of no places ever visited outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
So you have five still existing contemporary sources by participants in the voyages, including Zheng He himself, all writing within 14 years of the voyages, describing the many places that the various Chinese fleets had visited over the years, and NONE of them report any Chinese trips outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Hummm... you'd think they would have noticed that they or their fellow Chinese had sailed round the world landing at many new continents and visiting many new peoples - that kind of thing would probably not go unnoticed by participants of the voyages.
The "Mingshi" is the official history of the Ming dynasty compiled from Ming Court documents (during which all of these voyages took place) and in its biography of Zheng He the Mingshi describes again the seven voyages - and describes nothing extraordinary. The "Taizong Shilu" which is the official history of Yongle's reign, the "Renzong Shilu" covering Hongxi's reign and the "Xuanzong Shilu" documenting Xuande's reign all again mention Zheng He, and the various voyages in some detail, and they know of nothing extraordinary that took place during any voyage, or any place visited by any fleet outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. All of these documents and inscriptions exist, and other relevant documents also, but Menzies ignores them all - since they all refute his wild and unsupported claims. These many contemporary sources give detailed accounts of each voyage: when the various fleets left and returned, which places were visited, how long it took on various voyages to travel from A to B, how long they were in various ports, etc.
Then again you have Menzies' claims for Chinese "evidence" and "events" throughout the world. Once you really look at his "evidence" you will see that it doesn't actually exist - it is based on unsubstantiated claims and assertions - actually the "evidence" is either speculative, imaginary, only possible, misinterpreted, misunderstood - in brief, you can't go and examine actual, verified, evidence that passes even the barest of scholarly merit. Claims are many and asserted often - actual evidence for Menzies' claims is lacking. Hence, his many scholarly detractors.
I will give you one example of Menzies' method. He describes in glorious detail the concubines on board the voyages, specifically the 1421 voyage. He describes in detail where the girls come from, their appearance, their clothing, their many sexual practices, their sexual relationship with the ambassadors on the ships, and on and on in fine detail. But we have two contemporary sources (as well as all of the sources mentioned above) that describe in precise detail the personnel present on the ships, with precise numbers in each category of people - and (surprise) not a single Chinese source mentions any women on board, much less beautiful concubines. Ma Huan (1433) mentions women in a sexual function taking place only once on a voyage - that some married Thai women had sex with some of the Chinese men - but no concubines anywhere. They are completely a figment of Menzies' imagination. Let me say it again - he just makes them up! Why? Because he wants to fabricate events later in his imaginary voyage that he needs the existence of women for (he needs these imaginary women to spread Chinese DNA all over the world) - so he just invents women on the trip, and invents all of the details that he describes. He does the same thing with hundreds of other elements of the 1421 voyage - he just INVENTS WHAT HE NEEDS to make his unsubstantiated and wild claims.
Another instance: Menzies makes many claims of Chinese junks being found throughout the world, but in spite of his many vague claims, I have yet to see him tell us a single location where we (and a scholar) can actually examine and date a single Chinese junk of Zheng He's period (or before) outside of the China Seas and the Indian Ocean where you would expect to find them. So I went to his "1421" web site looking for evidence and found three entries. These following are his headlines and my comments about his article.
"A fleet of Chinese junks wrecked on the Pacific coast of North America?"
The article says, "there are potentially over 40 unidentified wrecks lying under the sand dunes". Notice what the article says: "potential", "unidentified", therefore, undated, no time period, no nationality, no ship type.
"100 foot long Chinese junk raised from sea bed"
Oops... the junk "has been raised from the sea bed off the coast of China", right where you would expect to find one.
"Chinese shipwrecks in the Caribbean?"
Golly. "Local folklore has it, that this [totally unidentified] ship sank long ago..."... and the article goes on to say that there is no "light on the ship's origin"... and oops, "We are not able to divulge the precise location of the wrecks as yet." I.E., again, no actual observable evidence of a Chinese junk. Just another vague unsubstantiated claim.
So much for Chinese junks found throughout the world...
The bottom line is that for anyone familiar with the actual Chinese sources, and with the actual evidence pertaining to Menzies' claims throughout the world, it is clear that Menzies has almost zero evidence behind his empty assertions - it is just a money making gimmick that gullible readers who have no actual knowledge of the facts and evidence fall into. Virtually everything that Menzies asserts has been shot down by the scholars in their respective fields. That there have been some contacts in the Americas with other peoples I am not denying - that there have been any contact with Chinese fleets, much less fleets of Zheng He's time - is just fun fantasy in a long line of pseudo-scientific and pseudo-historical best sellers. If you look at it as a historical novel (i.e., fiction) you'll have a fun romp - it you look at it as history, well...... Meszies is smiling all the way to the bank...
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