{"id":5589,"date":"2019-03-23T03:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-03-23T07:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dontow.com\/?p=5589"},"modified":"2019-03-23T23:34:20","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T03:34:20","slug":"a-paradigm-shifting-world-history-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/2019\/03\/a-paradigm-shifting-world-history-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Paradigm Shifting World-History Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Based on more than 10 years of research investigation of many classic world maps and other historical documents, Dr. Siu-Leung Lee (\u674e\u5146\u826f, of Columbus, Ohio and Hong Kong) has concluded that the contents<\/strong> of a very important world map, known as Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (\u5764\u8f3f\u4e07\u56fd\u5168\u56fe) dated 1602, attributed to Matteo Ricci, is not translated into Chinese from European maps. Furthermore, this important world map was based on the surveys by Chinese before 1430, some 60 years before Columbus’ exploration<\/p>\n This article provides a short summary of his reasoning and the vast implications for world history. [1]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Who Was Matteo Ricci?<\/strong> Matteo Ricci (Chinese name \u5229\u739b\u7aa6, 1552-1610) was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He learned classical Chinese by working and living for more than 20 years in China. Because of his scientific expertise, he became an advisor to the imperial court of the Emperor Wanli (\u4e07\u5386\u7687\u5e1d). Together with his Chinese collaborators [technical translator Li Zhizao (\u674e\u4e4b\u85fb) and copier Zhang Wentao (\u5f20\u6587\u7118)], he prepared maps and atlases for Emperor Wanli. [2] The most famous and most important was the 1602 world map Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (\u5764\u8f3f\u4e07\u56fd\u5168\u56fe).<\/p>\n What Was Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (\u5764\u8f3f\u4e07\u56fd\u5168\u56fe)?<\/strong> In Chinese, this name means “Complete Geographical Map of all the Kingdoms of the World.” For brevity, we will refer to it as the “1602 Chinese World Map.” It was a very large woodcut map, 5 ft high and 12 ft wide, and labeled entirely in Chinese.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It contains 1,114 place names, and was the most detailed and accurate world map of its time. Several prints of the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu were made in 1602. Most of the original maps are now lost. Only six original copies of the map are known to exist, and only two are in good condition.<\/p>\n This is a map that was long thought of as based on a map by Ortelius (1570) brought to China by Ricci. In particular, it was long thought of as the first time that the Chinese were introduced to the knowledge of the American continents.<\/p>\n Dr. Siu-Leung Lee’s first conclusion is about the authorship: <\/strong>There are many clues showing that the “1602 Chinese World Map” was not derived from European maps of Ricci’s time. Lee provided several reasons [3]:<\/p>\n Dr. Lee’s second conclusion is about timing: <\/strong>Dr. Lee’s second conclusion is that the “1602 Chinese World Map” actually resulted from Chinese surveys completed before 1430 for the following reasons: That is why Dr. Lee came to his second major conclusion that the “1602 Chinese World Map” resulted from Chinese surveys that were completed before 1430. The ramification of this conclusion is that Chinese explorers had already reached and surveyed the American continents at least 60 years before Columbus’ discovery of the “new world” in 1492.<\/p>\n Summary: T<\/strong>he “1602 Chinese World Map” was made in 1602 in China, the most detailed map of the world at that ime, has been wrongly attributed to Matteo Ricci and European explorers for over 400 years. The geography of the American continents has been thought as knowledge that Europeans brought to China. However, after more than 10 years of research investigation, Dr. Siu-Leung Lee has revealed the true authorship of the map by scientific reasoning. Ricci actually learned many of these new cartographic findings about many parts of the world, including the American continents, from cartographic information discovered and compiled by Chinese explorers over many prior years. In particular, these new cartographic information were the result of the seven world voyages led by the legendary Chinese explorer Zheng He between 1405 and 1433.<\/p>\n Unless new verifiable information about European exploration is available to explain the discrepancy revealed by the “1602 Chinese world map,” it is irrefutable that Chinese led the first global exploration and cultural exchanges, overturning 600 years of misinterpreted history!<\/p>\n Before ending this article, there are two important questions that we want to address:<\/p>\n The maps, original documents and cultural relics have interwoven into an irrefutable network of evidence overturning the myth of Christopher Columbus\u2019 discovery of America. European explorers might have taken much much longer to reach the western hemisphere had the Chinese world geographic information not leaked to the West. Ming Chinese should be credited as the pioneers of globalization of cultural exchange and trade. This has tremendous implications and impacts in current international affairs. We strongly urge the world’s cartographic experts and history experts to reassess history based on Dr. Lee’s paradigm shifting research investigations. [6]<\/p>\n Acknowledgment:<\/strong> I would like to thank Dr. Siu-Leung Lee for valuable discussions on his research investigation.<\/p>\n [1] Dr. Lee\u2019s research findings are available in three Chinese books:<\/p>\n The third book is a simplified-font version of the first book. The second book deals with hundreds of pieces of evidence in cultural relics linking Native American culture and Chinese in Ming dynasty and more ancient time.<\/p>\n A series of books are in preparation for the English readers. During the past few years, Dr. Lee has published many research papers in both English and Chinese. A summary English article is \u201cChinese Mapped America Before 1430<\/span><\/a>\u201d presented at the 28th International Cartographic Conference (ICC) in Washington, D.C., July 2-7, 2017. In this paper, Chinese and European maps are compared quantitatively revealing the advance technologies of Chinese survey and cartography of the world.<\/p>\n\n
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