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Subject: Zheng He steered by the stars?
From: Peter Fogg (ffive@XXX.XXX)
Date: Sat Nov 23 2002 - 20:28:52 EST
That the Chinese were very innovative in all sorts of technical areas
seems clear.
However a new book '1421, The Year China Discovered the World', by Gavin
Menzies, published in Australia by Random House, postulates that the
Chinese admiral Zheng He and his fleet of massive 9 masted junks
explored much of what we assume was left to European navigators to
'discover' some centuries later.
Its fascinating stuff. The contention is that not only did his vice
admirals Hong Bao and Zhou Man in different ships circumnavigate
Australia (hitherto first credited to the Englishman Flinders in the
early 19th century) but that settlements were established complete with
observation towers and mines were exploited for a variety of minerals.
I should add that this theory is being contested, not least by Chinese
historians who thought they already knew all about Zheng He.
The part that intrigues me is the idea that these sailors 'steered by
the stars'.
The history of European navigation is fairly well known and documented.
But does anyboby know about what instuments and techniques Chinese junk
sailors may have had at their disposal? I know they had the compass, and
may have been introduced it to the west, but star measuring instruments?
Polynesians had a compass that was the night sky itself, knew the
diffferent stars as they rose and set and could set course according to
them. I suppose any people that studied the stars for long enough could
have independantly devised ways of using star positions.
Does anyone know any more?
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