Sheng-Wei Wang 
CHINESE GLOBAL EXPLORATION IN THE PRE-COLUMBIAN ERA [EPUB ebook] 
Evidence from an Ancient World Map

How early did the Chinese explore the world? Did the Treasure Fleets, led by Admiral Zheng He, discover many parts of the world before Christopher Columbus? While it is known that Christopher Columbus discovered America and Europe ushered in the Age of Discovery, there is an ongoing debate on the ‘unknown’ areas depicted in Western maps from the period and earlier. There is agreement among scholars that certain areas seem to have been mapped out prior to the arrival of Western explorers.

Chinese Global Exploration in the Pre-Columbian Era: Evidence from an Ancient World Map analyses the world’s first modern map — known as Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (KWQ) 《坤輿萬國全圖》 in Chinese, translated as the ‘Complete Geographical Map of All Kingdoms of the World’ to demonstrate evidence of Chinese global exploration in the Pre-Columbian era. The map of concern was first printed by Italian missionary, Matteo Ricci in 1602, and has been purported to be of entirely European origin, based on Ricci’s former maps which he had brought to China in 1582.

This book, thus, seeks to be transformational in presenting essential new insights on Pre-Columbian world history and Chinese global exploration, moving away from the norm of the studies of geography and cartography by:

Contents:

• About the Author


• Introduction


• Chinese Explored Cape Breton Island Long Before the Europeans


• Chinese Explored Australia, New Zealand, Land of Fire and Antarctica Long Before the Europeans


• A Chinese-Based World Map Depicts Europe Between 1157 and 1166


• A Chinese-Based World Map Depicts Africa in 1433


• Did Zheng He’s Mariners Explore the Americas Before Columbus? An Analysis Offers Essential New Insights


• Index

Readership: Historians, map collectors, archaeologists, geologists, teachers, students, researchers, and others interested in the Pre-Columbian globalization in maritime exploration in the period before the European Age of Discovery.

‘A great gook to read. I am very delighted and proud to recommend Dr Sheng-Wei Wang’s new book — Chinese Global Exploration in Pre-Columbian Era: Evidence from an Ancient World Map — which lays out Chinese contributions in the world maritime exploration.’ [Read Full Review] — Hwa-Wei Lee, Ph D (University of Pittsburgh); Hon. Dr of S S (Ohio University)Dean of Libraries Emeritus, Ohio University Retired Chief of the Asian Division, Library of Congress American Library Association Melvil Dewey Medal Awardee (2015)