Supposedly evidence of the same explorer, Zheng He.
If a lot of recent revisionist history discussion is to be believed, ol' Zheng He got around quite a bit in the early 15th century.
I think interest in all of this is only heightened by China's growth and resurgence as a world superpower. How much is "junk history" (Get it? junk history? Haha- great accidental pun there) and how much is real is anyone's guess. Gavin Menzies' "1421 Hypothesis" is controversial to say the least. I once traded pleasant emails with the guy over my medallion. Just got a copy of his book but haven't read it yet. Is he a wishful crackpot or a revolutionary genius? Who knows. Sometimes that is a pretty fine line. I like people that are able to think outside the conventional box, though, as long as they don't claim to be absolutely right all the time.
The jury is still out as far as I am concerned, and likely to remain until more definitive archaeological "proof" is ever found.
But regardless, it sure is fun to imagine the circumstances behind some of that.
<< <i>The jury is still out as far as I am concerned, and likely to remain until more definitive archaeological "proof" is ever found. >>
Some things will never be "proved" with any archaeological evidence. For example, historians believe (and always will) that the Phoenicians invented the first alphabet, and that the Hebrews, Etruscans and Greeks adapted it. But all good Jewish boys (like me) know the Hebrew Aleph-Bet came first and the Phoenicians stole it from us
And yes, that's where the name alphabet comes from... the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (those are the first two letters of ours, and that's what we call ours)
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You might also find my "Mysterious Ming Medallion" detector find story of interest, if that piqued your curiosity, and you haven't already seen my tale.
Supposedly evidence of the same explorer, Zheng He.
If a lot of recent revisionist history discussion is to be believed, ol' Zheng He got around quite a bit in the early 15th century.
I think interest in all of this is only heightened by China's growth and resurgence as a world superpower. How much is "junk history" (Get it? junk history? Haha- great accidental pun there) and how much is real is anyone's guess. Gavin Menzies' "1421 Hypothesis" is controversial to say the least. I once traded pleasant emails with the guy over my medallion. Just got a copy of his book but haven't read it yet. Is he a wishful crackpot or a revolutionary genius? Who knows. Sometimes that is a pretty fine line. I like people that are able to think outside the conventional box, though, as long as they don't claim to be absolutely right all the time.
The jury is still out as far as I am concerned, and likely to remain until more definitive archaeological "proof" is ever found.
But regardless, it sure is fun to imagine the circumstances behind some of that.
<< <i>The jury is still out as far as I am concerned, and likely to remain until more definitive archaeological "proof" is ever found. >>
Some things will never be "proved" with any archaeological evidence. For example, historians believe (and always will) that the Phoenicians invented the first alphabet, and that the Hebrews, Etruscans and Greeks adapted it. But all good Jewish boys (like me) know the Hebrew Aleph-Bet came first and the Phoenicians stole it from us
And yes, that's where the name alphabet comes from... the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (those are the first two letters of ours, and that's what we call ours)
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