1421 by Gavin Menzies

I think that I am finished reading Gavin Menzies' “1421 – The Year China Discovered America”. Not that I have completed the book, but I've reached the point where I am no longer interested in reading.

Mr. Menzies starts with an intriguing premise: The Chinese, with the large economy they had at the start of the 15th century, coupled with their ship-building know-how (they actually built sectioned boats that could have two compartments flooded and still stay afloat!) and their desire for trade led them to sail to the America's both across the Pacific and the Atlantic in advance of Columbus.

Mr. Menzies uses his knowledge of the sea and its ways (he was a Captain in the Royal Navy), along with an understanding of how a man standing on a ship deck would view the land and chart it; this has led him to believe that charts of the world that pre-date Columbus sailing were in fact copied from Chinese charts – and coupled with artifacts found around the world constitute proof that the Chinese were there first.

Claiming first arrival is difficult. Although we have the recorded history of Columbus' voyages, we now know that the Polynesians crossed large expanses of the Pacific ahead of Columbus (and Magellan) settling most of the larger Pacific islands. It actually is not unreasonable that they may have sailed from Hawaii and Easter on to North and South America, respectively. And, given what we are learning about the Chinese capabilities during the latter 14th and early 15th century, they may very well have, too.

And those charts: The Portuguese had charts in their possession that showed lands across the Atlantic. We know the apocryphal stories of Columbus to be untrue: It wasn't that the majority believed the world to be flat, they knew it to be round, and further, 15th century Europeans, from contact with the Greeks and the Arabs, knew approximately how big it was. It wasn't that Columbus would fall off – he would run out of provisions attempting to cross the large expanse of sea that must lie between Europe and India. So, if Columbus had a chart that indicated an intermediary land where he could re-provision...

Mr. Menzies gets kudos for his explanations of the charts, how a 15th century seaman would have charted the land he saw, for his explanations of ocean currents and prevailing winds, and the effects they would have had on a square-rigged Chinese junk. Kudos too for explaining how ocean currents would change a charter's perspective, and cause them to draw Africa the right height (north-south), but fore-shorten it's western bulge due to a current heading west along it's coast.

And kudos too for his explanation of how the Chinese built survey posts to record a lunar eclipse, and hence charted the east coast of Africa, all of India, and China accurately not only in latitude but longitude.

But, Gavin Menzies is no historian. He starts repeating himself, and he jumps to conclusions. He finds evidence of an ancient wreck in San Francisco Bay, and concludes “I'm convinced it was the Chinese”. He finds similarities between some Mayan ceremonies and Chinese ceremonies, and concludes “I'm convinced it was the Chinese.” He finds evidence of a shipwreck in Australia, and concludes “It could only have been the Chinese.”

When an author starts promoting his view, his conclusion, without exploring alternative explanations, my internal warning flags go off. And when his conclusion is based on the barest of evidence and minimal cross-support, I start to doubt. And then, when his conclusion appears to be a leap, with nothing more than “I'm certain it could only be...”, showing a lack of imagination, I'm forced to discard his conclusion as unproven.

I'm sympathetic to Mr. Menzies and his ideas. Given some of the things I've outlined, plus others, I wonder that our accepted view of history may still be a little off, a little Euro-centered. I wonder if someday in the future we may find evidence that the population of the Americas wasn't just a migration following the crossing of the Bering Foot-Bridge, but was accomplished by other means as well. That before the Europeans crossed the Atlantic and sailed the world that other peoples had sailed there before. That the people of Australia, New Zealand, and maybe even China were aware of the Antarctic and South America and the animals unique to those regions long before Shackleton.

But, these ideas remain only possibilities. Gavin Menzies has not proven them.