The Island of Seven Cities: The Discovery of a Lost Chinese Settlement in North America

by Paul Chiasson

Book Overview

The Island of Seven Cities unveils the first tangible proof that the Chinese settled in the New World before Columbus. In the summer of 2003, architect Paul Chiasson decided to climb a mountain he had never explored on Cape Breton Island, where eight generations of his Acadian family had lived. One of the oldest points of exploration and settlement in the Americas, with a written history dating back to the first days of European discovery, Cape Breton...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312361866
• ISBN13: 9780312361860
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Chinese discovered America before Columbus

Paul documented his search on site to show that Chinese came to America before Columbus. This theme is exciting and interesting. This book may lead you for a site visit and do more research on this subject as it is a question asked since Columbus reached the New World. May be we could find answer in Native American/First people petroglyph.

Excellent Development of a Thesis

Paul Chiasson discovers the renmants of a road while hiking in his native Nova Scotia. His curiousity spawns intensive, solitary and self funded research that includes every mapping he can find from a 1424 sketch to current aerial photograps. He reads the accounts of explorers and missionaries. The author is a passionate amateur with good reason for his passion. He has made an incredible find, even more incredible for its having laid undiscovered in modern times. Besides his clear and convincing text, he presents aerial photos which demonstrate the dimensions of this forgotten area and photos of the lore of the Mi'kmaqs which demonstrate a Chinese influence. Chiasson has laid out the challenge and the ball is now in the court of the archeaologists. What is this discovery? Did the Chinese build these structures as Chiasson poses? If so, why is it that they were able to build on such a scale in Nova Scotia when so many others perished in the first year? Why has this been so long ignored? Credit must be given to the book designers. The well selected maps and charts appear exactly where they should. It's rather mundane to comment on the type, but the type and layout, which added printing costs for sure, were easy on the eyes.

Essential reading

THE ISLAND OF SEVEN CITIES: WHERE THE CHINESE SETTLED WHEN THEY DISCOVERED AMERICA gathers and presents tangible proof that the Chinese had their own settlement in America long before Columbus. Chaisson is an architect and teacher: his insights on a series of ruins in Cape Breton Island rewrites American history, and is essential reading for any who would understand early American origins and evidence on explorations. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

If Not Proof, A Well-Argued Case

A few years back, a hypothesis was put forth that the Chinese had landed in North America in the first part of the fifteenth century, nearly a century before Columbus. Needless to say, this hypothesis has been somewhat controversial. Still, though I would not say that what I've read has been absolute proof, there is certainly plenty of compelling evidence to support the hypothesis. In his book, The Island of Seven Cities, Paul Chiasson pushes the hypothesis even further by claiming that a ruin on Cape Breton Island--the author's home island where his parents still live--is, in fact, the remains of a thriving Chinese settlement. Like much of the rest of this early evidence, it is quite compelling. Mr. Chiasson starts with the legend of the island of seven cities which is scattered through the writings of early European explorers. He makes a case that this legend is based on fact and that the basis of the legend is a sophisticated set of communities that once existed on Cape Breton Island. Then, by eliminating the possibilities that these communities were actually Western settlements (Portuguese or French, primarily), he turns to the chance that these might have been Chinese. Much of his evidence for a Chinese presence comes from what is known about a Native American tribe, the Mi'kmaq, whose culture was incredibly advanced for the time and bears many striking resemblances to Chinese culture. There religious beliefs and legends bear a striking Chinese fingerprint and, in particular, their written language (otherwise non-existent in North America) is based on pictograms amazingly similar to Chinese writing. For me, however, his strongest argument came from Chiasson's own speciality: architecture. He is a Yale-educated architect specializing in architectural history so his arguments have weight. He examines the ruins very closely and shows very well how the structure of the ruins mirrors traditional Chinese architecture. It is a very convincing tale. I'm not calling this book a slam dunk on the case of Chinese presence but it's an excellent effort. If there's a weakness in this book it's that he unfolds his evidence in a timeline that parallels his discovery of it which also parallels his story of personal illness. Not to be unsympathetic but I found his comments about his struggle with HIV to be distracting since HIV is such a powerful topic itself it takes away from what he is trying to say about this revolutionary idea. To me, if the book had been less personal it would have been more "scientific" and convincing. On the other hand, it must be granted that the author's struggle with disease is often what pushed him in his research. In any case, this is an excellent book. Likely it is another shot in what will be a growing avenue of historical research. Mr. Chiasson deserves a lot of credit for his discovery and fine research. I hope this site will be examined in more detail for undisputable evidence of a Chinese presence.

Chisson's Island as archaeology site

The book is well researched & documented. It's awsome. If later excacations by archaeologists and proved beyond reasonable doubt it was a Chinese settlement, the history of the western world should be rewritten.

Very Simply an Outstanding Book

When I first picked up this book and started to read it, it glued itself to my hands and did not want to let go. Anyway, that's how it felt as I read page after exciting page of this excellent work. This rendition of the author's historical/archaeological research and discovery is of the highest and most exciting caliber. The author's quest was to find who built certain structures on Cape Dauphin on Cape Breton Island. In his effort to find out, in the first half of the book, the author discusses the European discovery and early colonization of North Eastern North America, more specifically, Cape Breton Island and its surroundings. The second half is more concerned with the local Mi'kmaq Indians, including parallels between their culture and that of the Chinese. Chinese history is also briefly covered in this half, as it pertains to the main theme of this book. Included throughout are snippets of the author's personal life as he conducts his painstaking research. When I first read the book's subtitle, I was very skeptical: how could the Chinese have made their way to Eastern North America before the Europeans? After having read the author's arguments and his well-constructed analysis, I am now willing to entertain the possibility that he may indeed be on the right track. The author's writing style is very chatty, friendly and engaging, so much so that, as stated earlier, I could not put the book down. This book would be of great interest to history buffs as well as anyone who loves a good who-done-it story.