As children, we all learn about who discovered America. However, all those figures are Europeans. In this paper, Dr Wang analysis the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu《坤輿萬國全圖》or Complete Geographical Map of All the Kingdoms of the World published by Matteo Ricci in 1602. What she found is that contrary to popular belief, the Americas shown are not the result of European information, but Chinese sourced from Pre-Columbian times. Moreover, it shows the political landscape of the Americas in the 1420’s and evidence for much earlier Chinese voyages.
Abstract
Did Ming mariners explore the Americas?
This paper analyses the Americas as drawn on the world map Kunyu Wanguo Quantu《坤輿萬國全圖》or Complete Geographical Map of All the Kingdoms of the World published by Matteo Ricci in 1602 in China. The results support the claim that the Ming Treasure Fleets led by Admiral Zheng He (郑和) to the Western Ocean have explored the Americas.
This paper thoroughly examines the Americas portion of Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, including the seventeen original annotations, and the history and coordinates of 241 geographical terms (one unnamed river, which I conclude to be the Mississippi River, seventeen named rivers, three named lakes and 220 place names of chiefdoms/kingdoms, regions, cities/towns/villages, mountains, islands, bays, gulfs, seas, and oceans), and compares them with their counterparts on the three major sixteenth-century European maps and today’s map. The comparison involves identify over a thousand geographical coordinates based on different Primary Meridians used by these maps. The results show that the Americas of Kunyu Wanguo Quantu is of Chinese origin; it is not a copy of the three major sixteenth-century European maps. Matteo Ricci merely edited this Chinese map to make it look more European.
Additional findings are: 1) the Americas of Kunyu Wanguo Quantu reflects the political landscape of the Americas between 1400 and 1428, decades before Christopher Columbus set foot in the Bahamas in 1492; 2) after taking into account other Chinese historical records, the date of that political landscape can be narrowed to between the 1420s and 1428, a period which overlaps with the sixth voyage of Zheng He’s Treasure Fleets but precedes their seventh (and last) voyage; 3) the map shows correctly and uniquely the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, the south-western tip of Alaska ‒ Cape Peirce ‒ and the Arctic Ocean; 4) the map shows correctly that Cape Breton Island in Canada was separated into two islands by a Chinese-built ancient canal; and 5) this paper lends support to the claim that Chinese might have migrated to the Americas more than 4000 years ago as written in Shan Hai Jing (《山海經》or Classic of Mountains and Seas).
Keywords: Americas, Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, Matteo Ricci, Shan Hai Jing, Treasure Fleets, Zheng He
Full text is included in the book entitled “Chinese Global Exploration in the Pre-Columbian Era: Evidence from an Ancient World Map (World Scientific, October 2023).
- Determining the Origin and Era of Asia as Depicted to the North of China on the First Chinese World Map
- The Zheng He Cultural and Art Festival and the Maritime Silk Road Expo
- An Ancient World Map Depicts West and Central Asia in 1433
- Where are Shui Chao Feng 水潮峰 and Snow Mountain 雪山, cited on the first Chinese world map?
- 5 June 2024 Royal Geographical Society (Hong Kong)
I AGREE
Hi, Dr Wang is publishing a new book all about this titled “Chinese Global Exploration in the Pre-Columbian Era: Evidence…
Can you tell us more about this? I’d want to find out more details.
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Hi, Dr. Wang’s website builder here. Thank you so much for your visit. I am glad you like the site.…
6 responses to “Did Zheng He mariners explore the Americas before Columbus? A Chinese-based map reveals the truth”
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great submit, very informative. I ponder why the other
specialists of this sector don’t understand this.
You must continue your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a great readers’ base already! -
Can you tell us more about this? I’d want to find out more details.
-
Hi,
Dr Wang is publishing a new book all about this titled “Chinese Global Exploration in the Pre-Columbian Era: Evidence from an Ancient World Map”. https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/13273#t=aboutBook
The publisher is World Scientific, publisher of prestigious publications, sucha s the Nobel lectuers and textbooks used by world-class univeristies. https://www.worldscientific.com/page/about/corporate-profile
Besides that, Dr Wang has done some speeches on her findings, which can be searched on her bio page and upcoming posts/and/or pages.
We hope that answers your question,
Dr Wang’s It Department
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