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 Gavin Menzies makes the startling argument that in the year 1434, China—then the world's most technologically advanced civilization—provided the spark that set the European Renaissance ablaze. From that date onward, Europeans embraced Chinese ideas, discoveries, and inventions, all of which form the basis of Western civilization today.
The New York Times bestselling author of 1421 combines a long-overdue historical reexamination with the excitement of an investigative adventure, bringing the reader aboard the remarkable Chinese fleet as it sails from China to Cairo and Florence, and then back across the world. Erudite and brilliantly reasoned, 1434 will change the way we see ourselves, our history, and our world.
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In his earlier book, 1421: The Year China Discovered America (2002), Menzies, a former British Royal Navy submarine commander, asserted that a mighty Chinese fleet commanded by the eunuch Zheng visited North America. The book generated considerable interest and a cult following among laymen, but professional historians in both China and the West largely dismissed his claims. Now Menzies, still the provocateur, insists that a Chinese fleet visited Italy and imparted the wisdom of the highly advanced Chinese civilization, thus sparking the explosion of scientific inquiry and creativity during the Renaissance. As scholarly history, this work is weak. Menzies takes fragmentary evidence and blows it up into “without a doubt” conclusions. Still, as a combination of nautical tall tale and historical speculation, this is a fun book. Menzies knows how to spin a yarn and does so in the manner of a good detective story. This isn’t serious history, but many will find it an enjoyable read. --Jay Freeman
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
GAVIN MENZIES was born in 1937 and lived in China for two years before World War II. He joined the Royal Navy in 1953 and served in submarines from 1959 to 1970. In the course of researching 1421, he visited 120 countries, over 900 museums and libraries, and every major sea port of the late Middle Ages. He is married with two daughters and lives in North London.
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...Read more ›
Gavin Menzies' foolish and ridiculous book 1434 claims that a Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and gave the Europeans knowledge which started the Renaissance. This statement is false.
Allow us to examine several major items of knowledge originated in China and found later in the West. In no case was the knowledge transmitted in 1434. This information is from Temple's The Genius of China, cited by mangy Menzies as a source but apparently unread by him. The stirrup was invented in the third century CE and was introduced into the Byzantine Empire in 580. Not in 1434.
Porcelain was invented in China in the third century CE and was independently re-invented in England by Josiah Wedgewood in the eighteenth century. Not in 1434.
Printing was invented in China in the eighth century and was introduced into Europe before the middle of the fourteenth century, not in 1434. Gutenberg did begin to use movable type in 1458, but it did not appear in Italy first, but in Germany; there is no indication of its transmission from a visiting Chinese embassy, as printing had been practiced for more than one hundred years already in Europe.
The idea of the circulation of the blood was brought to the Near East by al-Nafis and the works of this Arab were translated by Servetus, Renaldus Columbus and others, not working from information transmitted in 1434.
The compass was found in Europe by 1180, mentioned first, I believe, by Neckham. Not in 1434.
The rudder was invented in China in the first century CE and found in Europe by 1180, not transmitted in 1434.
The crossbow was invented in China, and was known to the Greeks by 397 BCE, not 1434 CE....
Gunpowder was known in China by the 800s CE, and in the West by the late 1100s, not 1434.
Therefore to claim that vast amounts of knowledge was transmitted all at once in one imaginary voyage is clearly false. Menzies should learn history.Read more ›
I wish I had read a few of the reviews prior to purchasing this book. Regardless of whether you believe the author's theory or not, it's just not presented in an interesting or readable fashion. As a lover of history, particularly Renaissance Italy, I was intrigued by the notion that China had provided the spark. After slogging through dense, repetitive and just plain boring verbage, I found that my time could have been better spent elsewhere.
There's no doubt that the Chinese made some amazing voyages in the 1400s. However, this book starts from there and takes a speculative leap. He asserts that Chinese ships visited Italy in 1434, bringing maps of the Americas and numerous other inventions, helping to start the Renaissance. I just don't see that Menzies' evidence supports his conclusions.
In many places the book seems simply sloppy. For example, in Chapter I Menzies says that the Forbidden City of Beijing built by Zhu Di still stands today. Only a few paragraphs later he says that the Forbidden City built by Zhu Di burned to the ground in 1421. I'm sure there's an explanation for this, but this sort of error doesn't incline me to trust Menzies' scholarship.
The book's constant instructions to check the author's website for more information are very annoying. If Menzies has evidence, why not present it?
Menzies believes that the Chinese explorers knew how to calculate longitude at sea from the stars. He also says they knew in 1384 that the sun was the center of the solar system and moves in an ellipse. This strikes me as very doubtful indeed, the more so as Menzies gives very little evidence for it. Of course it's theoretically possible that they might have calculated longitude at sea, but that's a long way from saying that this was a common practice. The calculations involved are formidable.
Menzies believes that the Chinese fleet passed from the Red Sea to the Nile through a canal. My understanding of this is that a shallow canal pre-dating the Suez canal may have existed at various times, starting in antiquity. The older canal may have been usable only at flood times; at any rate, it seems to have frequently silted up and been abandoned for centuries at a time.... I find it difficult to believe that a canal existed in 1434 suitable for use by Chinese junks. Why would European explorers such as Columbus and Vasco da Gama have gone to such trouble and expense over the next century to find a sea route to Asia if a readily available sea route already existed? I would not take Menzies' word on this without confirmation by other historians.
The maps and globes relied on by Menzies to show Chinese influence don't seem particularly accurate to me. I also don't see anything there that Europeans couldn't have come up with. Menzies says that Magellan had a chart of the Strait of Magellan before he went there. I'm sure Magellan had seen some charts of the area; the question is whether such charts were the product of fantasy or were accurate enough to provide reliable sailing directions. Fantastic charts having little connection to real geography were, of course, widely available at the time. If Magellan actually had an accurate chart, it seems odd that Magellan had so much trouble finding the strait (he spent months exploring every inlet on the South American coast, looking for a passage through). Again, I would not take Menzie's word on any of this.Read more ›
AN ACCOUNT OF THE WESTERN WORLD VOYAGES OF THE SAN BAO EUNUCH, written by Luo Mao Deng, places the Chinese far to the west in a city of black lions and glass-Venice. Luo's book is the one the debunkers do not want you to know about. It is currently being translated into English. Excerpts from... Read more
