1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance

by Gavin Menzies

Book Overview

The New York Times bestselling author of 1421 offers another stunning reappraisal of history, presenting compelling new evidence that traces the roots of the European Renaissance to Chinese exploration in the fifteenth century The brilliance of the Renaissance laid the foundation of the modern world. Textbooks tell us that it came about as a result of a rediscovery of the ideas and ideals of classical Greece and Rome. But now bestselling historian...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061492175
• ISBN13: 9780061492174
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A peaceful cultural enrichment visit

This is a follow-up of Menzies's 1421 with the rest of the story. He argued and documented how he came to the conclusion that Chinese Fleet under Admiral Zhang He sailed to Italy and ignited the Renaissance. This statement challenged the status quo how possible the people accused of the "Yellow Peril" can achieve such role. Did anyone mention and care about "intellectual property" and citation from Nung Shu? As Menzies was a Royal submarine commander and not an academia, his statement is being challenged. However he did serious research from authorities such as Joseph Needham in Science and Civilization in China, and Professors John Sorenson and Martin Raish in Pre-Columbian Contact with the Americas Across the Oceans. This book challenges the orthodox European center thinking and achievement for the past five hundred years. He presented in a logical way for it. It is up to readers to verify in research for or against him. This book stimulates and provokes to learn more. The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500 -1800 (Critical Issues in World and International History)Pre-Columbian Contact With the Americas Across the Oceans: An Annotated Bibliography Engineers of the Renaissance

Menzies defends his thesis that the Chinese transformed the 14th world

Gavin Menzies accounts Chinese voyages beyond the Cape of Good Hope, up to Europe, Italy, etc. Menzies findings suggest Chinese navigators (not Zheng He) landed with other expeditions at the California coast, Mexico's Pacific coast, South America, Peru, Brazil, Puerto Rico, US north Atlantic coast, Italy, the Mediterranean, discovered Greenland and the Antarctic among other places. Some of these Chinese navigators were Hong Bao, Zhou Man, Zhou Wen and Yang Qing. When did Chinese Exploration peak in the 14th century? 1. Chinese Global Exploration occurred in the time frame 1433 to 1435 and again between 1435 to 1449. 2. Zheng He is credited with the first (7) seven voyages that explored most of the Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Malaya, Burma, Ceylon (Sry Lanka), India, Ormuz (Arabic peninsula, Emirates, Yemen), Somalia, Kenya and Mozambique. 3. Zheng He died during his seven voyage. Zheng He adventures spanned from 1405 and 1433. Therefore, Zheng He can not be attributed with circumnavigating the world 4. The year Zheng He died, 1435 is also the year the emperor Zhu Zhanji (Xuande) died. Questions: 1. What moons of different planets did Galileo discover? Did Chinese astronomical charts assist Galileo in his discoveries? 2. Did the Chinese bring a hybrid cotton, a blend of Indian cotton, to the Americas prior to 1492? 3. Was Chinese rice found in Brazil prior to 1492? 4. What Chinese Junks debrie have been discovered in New Zealand? 5. Did the Croatians migrate to America prior to 1492 and live among the Algonquian Indians? 6. Is there evidence of Chinese Junks in Oregon prior to 1492? 7. What comet struck earth and created a tsunami near New Zealand? 8. How did Galileo theory of falling bodies challenge the Socratic view of falling bodies? 9. What was the Copernicus revolution? 10. Did Galileo verify the works of Copernicus? 11. What are water bellows? Are water bellows a Chinese invention? 12. What the journey's of Marco Polo? Did Columbus have access to Portuguese navigation maps of the world? 13. Who developed the parachute? 14. How does a Waterwheel transfer power from horizontal to vertical power? Did the Chinese spread the Egyptian Waterwheel technology to Italy. 15. Who conceived the idea of the helicopter? Was the helicopter a Chinese toy? 16. Did the Chinese possess knowledge of Longitude navigation by the stars? 17. Was Leonardo Da Vinci's body of work, the work previously done by others? Were the designs in the Nong Shu and the creator of the designs, Chinese? 18. What works did Mariano Taccola plagerize from the Nong Shu? 19. What inventions were published in the contents of Wang Zhen - Nong Shu in 1313? Should Da Vinci give credit to Wang Zhen? 20. What maps showed a connection between China and Europe? Did Columbus have access to Marco Polo's Silk Road maps? 21. What role did Niccolo da Conti play in history? 22. What maps showed a connection between China and Europe? Did Columbus have access to Marco Polo's Silk Road

Stow the skepticism; read this book

Gavin Menzies' Zheng He treasure fleet series is a fabulous contribution by any measure. The debate over its plausibility and/or accuracy is irrelevant. When only 40 percent of Americans accept the theory of evolution despite the fact that DNA sampling has confirmed it time and again and a significant proportion of the other 60 percent would deny their own children the intellectual opportunity to consider it with an open mind, who is surprised there are skeptics? Bring it on, Gavin. The scientific method is very simple. Where compelling but untested evidence is present, develop a hypothesis, then work to support it with facts. Traditional scholars do that all the time, typically ending their published results with calls for others to take up the cause. Rarely do they make the claim that 'all is revealed' as a result of their work. Menzies has bent over backwards to invite participation in this adventure that will, inevitably, lead to some of his ideas being cast aside. There is enough material here to launch a thousand research projects. It is absurd to tar Menzies' work with a broad brush simply because it does not conform to standard histories passed down through the ages. Scholars who labor to create critical (i.e., truly original) editions of the writings of medieval thinkers know all too well how repeated editing and filleting of original texts for political or ideological reasons by self-appointed meddlers have resulted in libraries full of hokum. I personally witnessed a team of four such scholars toil over real and purported manuscripts for 17 years to produce a critical edition of the works of William of Occam. Will the discredited texts so painstakingly shown to be unoriginal - even outrageously fake - be forced off the shelves of libraries everywhere? Don't hold your breath. Successful scholars bring to their work unique perspective and previously unrevealed context. Menzies' training, skills and experiences from his naval career as a submarine commander are huge in that respect. He has been to the often remote places he describes, understands how they connect to trade routes via the stars, the seasonal variations of ocean currents, and the natural harbors and resources that made them attractive for colonization. My own experience riding the Gulf Stream in a small boat 35 miles off the Carolinas left no doubt that chinese junks and other 'vessels of discovery' floated along at the mercy of currents wherever they were encountered. As for context, these books reveal a troubling shallowness in the traditional western imagination regarding its own history. We have been living in an archival silo of narrow proportions. Mr. Menzies, tear down this silo! These are fascinating books, their stories well told, their sources well cited, their implications extraordinary. More, please.

The historical panorama is much clearer after this book

I have just finished 1434 and have been impressed with the research and the conclusions Menzies draws from that research. I read all the negative opinions about this book before writing this comment and I am afraid I was not convinced by their arguments against the book. Of course, intellectual jumps must be made in order to accommodate Menzie's conclusions but I have prowled around in history, both East and West, enough to realise that history is riddled with missing links and I am convinced that because of Menzie's particular set of talents he has found gaping anomalies in Western history; anomalies that his detractors are more than upset by his finding. Throughout this earth moving book, I had to put it down and sit back and try to absorb what I had just read. Menzies made so many quite astounding (yet totally substantive) statements that, modestly knowledgeable in world history, I had difficulty absorbing what he had just written but what had been overlooked or subsumed by academics for whatever reason. Granted the trust of his arguments are subject shifting but I am incredulous that people are so angry about what seems to be so obvious; none of what I read seemed to be beyond belief. I know that commentators have trashed his conclusions in this book as well as 1421 particularly regarding the original Chinese sources that make no mention of Zheng He's voyages beyond the Indian Ocean; however, I am prepared (many would say stupidly) to place Menzie's greater theory above the mundane theory of accepted historiography. I fully admit that the idea of a Chinese fleet sailing up the Adriatic to Venice is, superficially, preposterous. However, buttressed as he does with myriad facts that cannot, in my opinion, be countered easily, the reader is left with the problem (more difficult than accepting his theory) as to what to do with this strange collection of facts that will not just disappear. For instance, page 87 -Asiatic blood in Tuscany; page 108-early maps of South America and Antarctica; page 128-maps of South and Central America; all of chapters 15 through 20; Chinese inventions, page 242; Columbus' pre1492 voyagers to America; pages 259 to 263-Bell's discoveries in New Zealand and on page 259 the Foreign Minister of New Zealand stating that Maori mitochondrial DNA proves that they originated in China and further discussions of the Mahuika comet's impact that had massive geological and historical ramifications throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Obviously, I believe 1434 to be an extraordinary book and any person with historical curiosity should seek it out and give it a careful read.

A Classroom Teacher's Book Report on Menzies' Great Book

1434 Book report by Lorraine Tellei 1434, the Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed into Italy and Ignited the Renaissance by Gavin Menzies (copyright 2008)is the non-fiction sequel to 1421, The Year China Discovered America. This pair of books will do for history what plate tectonics did for geology. It may be more akin to Darwin's Origin of the Species in its controversy: accepted by open-minded free-thinkers and true scientists, rejected by prejudiced scholars afraid of changing their opinions. Retired British Royal Navy Captain Menzies lived in China as a child. He and his wife have researched and traveled extensively tracing the Chinese treasure fleet of the early 1400's. Galileo, Copernicus, Leonardo da Vinci, Gutenberg and many other Europeans we fame for their inventions and discoveries were educated by Chinese encyclopedias. The Chinese knew of Jupiter's moons centuries before Galileo. Chinese discovered longitude and vaccinated against smallpox before the English. The endpapers of the book show a complete map of the world dated 1418 charting all seven continents. Magellan and Columbus used maps copied from the Chinese before Europeans "discovered" the Americas. The reason our history books have forgotten the Chinese antecedents is because a bolt of lightening burned the Chinese emperor's palace to the ground, and they took it for a sign from God they should stay home in China and not associate with western barbarians. The Chinese then attempted to destroy all evidence of their world travels. 1434 is compelling in its evidence, heavily footnoted with references and bibliographies, and well indexed. It gets a little slow in its engineering details and travel logs of drinking alcohol in Europe and Egypt, but its thesis is captivating. This book should be required reading for every history and Social Studies teacher in every school. The many references to their website [...] frustrating to those of us with poor internet access, but we trust that resource will improve in the near future. Within twenty years, all our history books must be completely re-written to acknowledge the significant Chinese contribution to modern civilization. Librarians of the world should acquire, study and publicize 1421 and 1434. By Lorraine Tellei Classroom teacher, eighth grade Melekeok Elementary School [...] (Submitted on behalf of Lorraine Tellei by her daughter)

This is a BRILLIANT book! A MUST read for educator and student alike

To understand the controversy over Menzies's books 1421 and 1434, you have to understand the politics of writing - and rewriting - history. Careers are built upon, towns are named for, and a segment of the publishing and entertainment industries are programmed to maintain a keystone American myth about "Discovery." If what Menzies postulates in 1421 and 1434 is true, why, Columbus, Ohio, would have to rename itself Zheng He-ville. Columbus Circle in NYC would change to Zheng He Circle. All the nursery songs would have to be rewritten. All those scholarly texts would be put in the recycling bin. All those illustrations of a handsome Italian dressed in velvet standing on a sandy shore under the admiring gaze of "primitive" people would end up lining kitty boxes. It's pretty staggering, what would happen if the myth of Columbus bit the dust once and for all. Menzies was attacked by his critics. Not a pretty sight. But 1434 is succeeding anyway, largely because of the internet. Menzies very smartly asked for help from the world's scholars and lay researchers. They answered his call, from around the world. If you are not deterred by naysayers, you will be treated to a well-researched and well-written, fully foot-noted twosome, 1421 and its sequel, 1434. If you can admire the accomplishments of civilizations outside of Europe, you will be totally fascinated by the pieces of information Menzies has doggedly pursued. 1434 is a fun-to-read history book that rests on new discoveries as well as scholarly, less accessible works like the survey of Chinese science and math written by Joseph Needham. At times 1434 reads like a detective novel. Menzies traveled to many cities and towns around the Mediterranean and discovered, for example, that Leonardo's brilliant "inventions" were actually based on drawings done by another Italian artist who based his work on Chinese inventions. Menzies very intelligent, collective approach to history mirrors what you come to realize while reading the book - that the collective work of an entire culture far exceeds the accomplishments of the individual "genius." Students and anyone interested in history will learn an important lesson from reading 1434: that you don't have to have a degree in history to study, think, and contribute to human knowledge. And the lesson that Menzies learned? Those who step outside the cabin and rechart history must be readly to withstand a flogging from the captains of academia. I'm glad he was up to the task. Read his books. You will enjoy the journey.