THE YEAR CHINA DISCOVERED AMERICA 1421

内容简介

OVER TEN YEARS AGO I STUMBLED UPON AN INCREDIBLE discovery, a clue hidden in an ancient map which, though it did not lead to buried treasure, suggested that the history of the world as it has been known and handed down for centuries would have to be radically revised. I was pursuing an interest that had become a consuming passion for me: medieval history, and in particular the maps and charts of early explorers. I loved to examine these old charts, tracing contours, coastlines, the shifting shapes of shoals and sandbars, the menace of rocks and reefs. I followed the ebb and flow of tides, the pull of unseen currents and the track of prevailing winds, peeling back the layers of meaning contained within the charts.

目录

LIST OF MAPS AND DIAGRAMS LIST OF PLATES CHINESE NOMENCLATURE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION I Imperial China THE EMPEROR''S GRAND PLAN A THUNDERBOLT STRIKES THE FLEETS SET SAIL II The Guiding Stars ROUNDING THE CAPE THE NEW WORLD III The Voyage of Hong Bao VOYAGE TO ANTARCTICA AND AUSTRALIA IV The Vorase of Zhou Man AUSTRALIA THE BARRIER REEF AND THE SPICE ISLANDS THE FIRST colony ]N THE AMERICAS COLonIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA V The Voyage of Zhou Wen SATAN''S ISLAND THE TREASURE FLEET RUNS AGROUND SETTLEMENT IN NORTH AMERICA EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH POLE VI The Voyage of Yang Qing SOLVING THE RIDDLE VII Portusa[ Inherits the Crown WHERE THE EARTH END COLonIZING THE NEW WORLD ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS EPILOGUE: THE CHINESE LEGACy POSTscript APPENDICES 1 CHINESE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE WORLD 1421-3: Synopsis of Evidence 2 THE DETERMINATION OF LonGITUDE NOTES INDEX