品牌：
基本信息
·出版社：BANTAM BOOKS
·页码：656 页码
·出版日：2003年
·ISBN：0553815229
·条码：9780553815221
·版次：2003-10-01
·装帧：平装
·开本：32开 32开
内容简介
A former submarine commander in Britain's Royal Navy, Menzies must enjoy doing battle. The amateur historian's lightly footnoted, heavily speculative re-creation of little-known voyages made by Chinese ships in the early 1400s goes far beyond what most experts in and outside of China are willing to assert and will surely set tongues wagging. According to Menzies's brazen but dull account of the Middle Kingdom's exploits at sea, Magellan, Dias, da Gama, Cabral and Cook only "discovered" lands the Chinese had already visited, and they sailed with maps drawn from Chinese charts. Menzies alleges that the Chinese not only discovered America, but also established colonies here long before Columbus set out to sea. Because China burned the records of its historic expeditions led by Zheng He, the famed eunuch admiral and the focus of this account, Menzies is forced to defend his argument by compiling a tedious package of circumstantial evidence that ranges from reasonable to ridiculous. While the book does contain some compelling claims-for example, that the Chinese were able to calculate longitude long before Western explorers-drawn from Menzies's experiences at sea, his overall credibility is undermined by dubious research methods. In just one instance, when confounded by the derivation of cryptic words on a Venetian map, Menzies first consults an expert at crossword puzzles rather than an etymologist. Such an approach to scholarship, along with a promise of more proof to come in the paperback edition, casts a shadow of doubt over Menzies's discoveries. 32 pages of color illus., 27 maps and diagrams.
Menzies makes the fascinating argument that the Chinese discovered the Americas a full 70 years before Columbus. Not only did the Chinese discover America first, but they also, according to the author, established a number of subsequently lost colonies in the Caribbean. Furthermore, he asserts that the Chinese circumnavigated the globe, desalinated water, and perfected the art of cartography. In fact, he believes that most of the renowned European explorers actually sailed with maps charted by the Chinese. Though most historical records were destroyed during centuries of turmoil in the Far East, he manages to cobble together some feasible evidence supporting his controversial conclusions. Sure to cause a stir among historians, this questionable tale of adventure on the high seas will be hotly debated in academic circles.
作者简介
GAVIN MENZIES was born in 1937 and lived in China for two years before the Second World War. He joined the Royal Navy in 1953 and served in submarines from 1959 to 1970. As a junior officer he sailed the world in the wake of Columbus, Dias, Cabral, and Vasco da Gama. When in command of HMS Rorqual (1968-1970), he sailed the routes pioneered by Magellan and Captain Cook. Since leaving the Royal Navy, he has returned to China and the Far East many times, and in the course of researching 1421 has visited 120 countries, more than 900 museums and libraries, add every major seaport of the late Middle Ages. Gavin Menzies is married with two daughters and lives in North London.
媒体推荐
Spotlight Reviews
Reviewer: Atheen Hills (Mpls, MN United States)
Impressive body of research and exciting visit to the world of the 15th Century.
I have read one other book on this topic, namely about pre-European global discovery, and that was Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings by Professor Hapgood. Since I was rather disappointed by that author's conclusions, I almost anticipated an equally disappointing experience with Mr. Menzies' book. Hapgood discussed the Piri Reis map, a portalan map of the known world rediscovered in a collection in Turkey. He and his students subjected the work to a thorough study by applying modern mapping techniques and non-Euclidean geometry. While I had no complaints about their scientific research on the map-I'd taken some cartography in conjunction with my degree in geology-I was somewhat taken aback by their conclusion that the map proved the existence of the "lost continent of Atlantis!" It is a fair jump from deciding that a pre-Columbian map portrays an accurate visual image of the coasts of the world to proving the existence of a fabled civilization. There should be other more reasonable explanations of the phenomenon tested before we resort to the Sherlock Holmes theorem (when all probable explanations are disproved, then the only remaining explanation is the improbable.)
Menzies' work, 1421: The Year China Discovered America, while it also challenges accepted doctrine regarding the European initiation of world discovery, is a far more satisfying work. Like Hapgood and his students, Gavin Menzies subjects old maps to a thorough examination by modern techniques and approaches the project with a better personal vita. While not himself a professor of history, he is a well read and well traveled individual. Furthermore his life experiences qualify him far better to undertake this project than Dr. Hapgood's did. He served in the Royal Navy from 1953 to 1970, commanding a submarine, the HMS Ronqual, from 1968 to 1970. During this time he experienced the same natural phenomenon of the world's oceans and became familiar with the idiosyncracies of maps and cartography in practice. He also lived in China for two years before WWII and has returned many times since then. He displays an obvious bias in favor of Chinese culture and its potental, but not unjustly if his data are to be trusted.
Probably the most impressive thing about the book is the author's very methodical approach to his subject. He begins by giving a history of the Chinese state at the time he proposes produced the maps, discussing the social background that provided the impetus to world discovery and the reason the great voyages were not followed by extensive colonization as they were later by similar European ventures. He also notes why the documentation of these voyages is so scant in China and uses what information there is as a starting point for his own pursuit of external evidence. Describing the careers of commanders like Zheng He, Yang Qing, Zhou Man, Hong Bao and Zhou Wen, he sets the stage for his own research into their adventures. Following each of the ancient commanders in their proposed missions and capitalizing on his own experience as a captain of an ocean going vessel, he charts the nature-driven course these ancient pilots would have been encouraged or forced to take. At each probable landing point, he searched for and occasionally found indications of ancient contact: in material remains like porcelains, votives, and inscriptions, in the mythology of aboriginals, in wreck sites of non-European vessels, and so on.
The most impressive piece of this type of assessment is that of the Bimini "road." This underwater formation has had many attempted explanations, most of them total fantasy. They have been described as "temples" of a lost civilization, as "roads" from the lost continent of Atlantis, as odd geological formations, as concretions remaining from some former sea life, etc. That they might have been laid down by sailors for the very practical purpose of beaching their ships for repair is the most logical explanation I've heard yet! Menzies is even able to describe how the beaching procedure would have been done and why that dictated that the "road" be designed just as it is.
Unlike Hapgood and his students, this author examines not just the Piri Reis of 1513 but several of the other anomalous early maps in pursuing the voyages of these amazing captains: the Kangnido world map of 1402, the Pizzigano chart of 1424, Fra Mauro's planisphere of 1459, the Cantino world chart of 1502, the Waldseemuller map of 1507, and the Jean Rotz world map of 1542. While many of these date to after the European voyages of discovery, this author-and others as well-believe that they are copies of originals that are older. It is believed that the European understanding of map making and of assessing position, particularly longitude, was not adequate enough to have produced such precise descriptions of foreign coasts. The author's explanation of why this is true and why and how the Chinese were so far ahead of their European counterparts is detailed and interesting.
Menzies' style is colorful and descriptive, reading almost like a novel. At times one is as lost in the narrative of the voyages as one is in the history of the events and the logic of the author's arguments. I found it difficult to put down and read it in about two days. The bibliography is quite extensive and includes mostly books in English or in English translation. Some are a little old-Aldridge's "Cairo" for one (1970) though it's a fascinating discussion of the city-but even some of these are germane to the subject. The technical discussions might be beyond the junior high level reader, but the story certainly is not. I think that some of this should be taught in high school world history classes, since it shows that the age of discovery was a global phenomenon, that the world may have been "ready" for discovery, that it was "in the air" so to speak and inevitable. That the Chinese could explore the world without antagonizing the foreign people they met along the way makes one wonder if the violence of the European ventures abroad were truly "inevitable" outcomes of a highly technological society confronting a less advanced culture as sometimes said. An interesting book and worth a space on your shelf.
Reviewer: Smallchief
If you believe that little green men from outer space built Stonehenge or the Nazca lines in Peru, this is the book you want to read. Don't get me wrong. I like books that shake and rattle the academic establishment -- but you gotta be at least moderately credible and get most of your facts right. Menzies fails on both counts, although he's pretty good at covering up his astounding claims with a patina of scientific language.
Menzies thesis is that the Chinese sailed around the world in 1421 and on side jaunts discovered Antarctica, the North Pole, circumnavigated Greenland (!!), and left colonies all over the Americas including building stone towers near Boston. Moreover, the Chinese sailed around the world in only a couple of years. Oddly, the Chinese seem to have missed Europe where their visit would surely have been remembered and recorded.
As in all good cons, there's a grain of truth in Menzies. The Chinese undertook some serious sea expeditions in the 1400s, exploring the East African coast as far south as Mozambique and probably touching on the northern coast of Australia. It's conceivable that at some point in their long history the Chinese -- purposely or by accident -- may have reached the northwest Coast of North America -- as it is equally plausible that American Indians may have reached out toward Asia. Read "Kon Tiki."
Despite a kernel of fact, most of Menzies' book is a mountain of nonsense. To take just one claim, Menzies has the Chinese circumnavigating ice-bound Greenland, explaining that this was possible because of a warmer climate in those days. Au contraire, Gavin. As every geographer knows, the period from about 1400 to 1700 is known as the "Little Ice Age" and temperatures were significantly colder than they are today. Greenland was not circumnavigatable by sea in 1421; rather the Norse colonies in Greenland were dying out because of the miserable weather. The first non-motorized circumnavigation of Greenland took place in 2001, and it was accomplished by dogsled and kayak, not a 15th century Chinese junk.
Many, many other examples of silliness are found in the book. Suffice it to say that this book should be marketed in the fantasy section of your local book store.
编辑推荐
A former submarine commander in Britain's Royal Navy, Menzies must enjoy doing battle. The amateur historian's lightly footnoted, heavily speculative re-creation of little-known voyages made by Chinese ships in the early 1400s goes far beyond what most experts in and outside of China are willing to assert and will surely set tongues wagging. According to Menzies's brazen but dull account of the Middle Kingdom's exploits at sea, Magellan, Dias, da Gama, Cabral and Cook only "discovered" lands the Chinese had already visited, and they sailed with maps drawn from Chinese charts. Menzies alleges that the Chinese not only discovered America, but also established colonies here long before Columbus set out to sea. Because China burned the records of its historic expeditions led by Zheng He, the famed eunuch admiral and the focus of this account, Menzies is forced to defend his argument by compiling a tedious package of circumstantial evidence that ranges from reasonable to ridiculous. While the book does contain some compelling claims-for example, that the Chinese were able to calculate longitude long before Western explorers-drawn from Menzies's experiences at sea, his overall credibility is undermined by dubious research methods. In just one instance, when confounded by the derivation of cryptic words on a Venetian map, Menzies first consults an expert at crossword puzzles rather than an etymologist. Such an approach to scholarship, along with a promise of more proof to come in the paperback edition, casts a shadow of doubt over Menzies's discoveries. 32 pages of color illus., 27 maps and diagrams.
Menzies makes the fascinating argument that the Chinese discovered the Americas a full 70 years before Columbus. Not only did the Chinese discover America first, but they also, according to the author, established a number of subsequently lost colonies in the Caribbean. Furthermore, he asserts that the Chinese circumnavigated the globe, desalinated water, and perfected the art of cartography. In fact, he believes that most of the renowned European explorers actually sailed with maps charted by the Chinese. Though most historical records were destroyed during centuries of turmoil in the Far East, he manages to cobble together some feasible evidence supporting his controversial conclusions. Sure to cause a stir among historians, this questionable tale of adventure on the high seas will be hotly debated in academic circles.
目录
LIST OF MAPS AND DIAGRAMS
LIST OF PLATES
CHINESE NOMENCLATURE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
……[看更多目录]
文摘
插图
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