1418 China Map Of World

Each continent of the world has correct shape mass latitude and longitude and position.

1418 china map of world. The 1418 map published decades before columbus da gama and magellan set sail shows the whole world with remarkable accuracy. He also points out that china is poorly represented on the map and wonders why if the map s creators were chinese their nation would be drawn clumsily. The map seems to reflect this the continents of the western hemisphere are clearly visible as are the shape of africa and europe. All oceans of the world are displayed many major rivers the potomac leading to washington dc and innumerable islands.

A map unveiled in beijing and london in 2006 could have lent weight to a theory that a chinese admiral discovered america before christopher columbus not that columbus was the first by any means. 156 china s 1418 world map frank jacobs. Wade points out several flaws with the 1408 map which suggest it s a fake chief among them is that the map shows the world based on the idea that it s a sphere. It was reviewed in john harley and david woodward s book the history of cartography.

It may very well have actually been printed in 1763 but i doubt very much the depictions of the americas are from the early 15th century as the text on the map claims. 23 july 2010 n. This notion was unknown in ming dynasty china. The turks have piri reis whose 1513 map shows parts of america and antarctica with astonishing and in the case of antarctica.

Between 1405 and 1435 admiral zheng he went on a bit on an exploratory spree documented in a book entitled 1421. A 1763 copy of a 1418 map is set to go on display in beijing and at the national martime museum in greenwich u. Zheng he s achievements ming maps of 1418 1425. Still questions remain about the map and the extent of zheng he s travels.

We can gain some further appreciation for the improvements that resulted from the expeditions of zheng he s mariners by comparing the north american regions on both the 1418 ming map and the 1425 shanhai yudi quantu. The moment i saw the recently discovered chinese map of the world purporting to be a copy of one from 1418 i knew that it is not what it is claimed to be. The later map accurately shows california as a.