1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance (P.S. Series)

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More About This Book

Overview

The brilliance of the Renaissance laid the foundation of the modern world. Textbooks tell us that it came about as a result of a rediscovery of the ideas and ideals of classical Greece and Rome. But now bestselling historian Gavin Menzies makes the startling argument that in the year 1434, China—then the world's most technologically advanced civilization—provided the spark that set the European Renaissance ablaze. From that date onward, Europeans embraced Chinese ideas, discoveries, and inventions, all of which form the basis of Western civilization today.

The New York Times bestselling author of 1421 combines a long-overdue historical reexamination with the excitement of an investigative adventure, bringing the reader aboard the remarkable Chinese fleet as it sails from China to Cairo and Florence, and then back across the world. Erudite and brilliantly reasoned, 1434 will change the way we see ourselves, our history, and our world.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
In Menzies's 1421, the amateur historian advanced a highly controversial hypothesis, that the Chinese discovered America; in this follow-up, he credits the Renaissance not to classical Greek and Roman ideals (a "Eurocentric view of history") but again to the Chinese. His thesis in both works is based on the seven (historically undisputed) voyages undertaken by a large Chinese sailing fleet between 1405 and 1433; while it is known that they traveled as far as east Africa, Menzies believes that they landed in Italy and sent a delegation to the Council of Venice, held in Florence in 1439. There, they provided the knowledge and technique-introducing the painter Alberti, for instance, to the methods of perspective drawing-that sparked the Renaissance. Menzies sets the stage by recapitulating arguments from his first book, including the ingenious method for calculating longitude that Chinese navigators may have used. Though Menzies writes engagingly, his assumption that the Chinese fleet landed a delegation in Florence is highly speculative, and hardly substantiated by any facts (Alberti could just have easily learned perspective from classical sources; the Greeks knew about the relationship between perception of length and distance in the 1st Century BCE).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Library Journal

Revisionist historian Menzies (1421: The Year China Discovered America) here argues that a Chinese fleet arrived in Tuscany in 1434, giving Italy the necessary tools for the Renaissance. These tools included maps of the entire world, astronomical calendars, Chinese texts (including Nung Shu), rice, printing and movable type, slaves, gunpowder, firearms, and much more. According to Menzies, the European Renaissance in fact invented nothing new: Leonardo da Vinci was just an illustrator (though still "superb") and Francesco di Giorgio a "wholesale plagiarizer" of Mariano di Jacopo. Menzies traces all such "new" works back to Chinese ideas and drawings published in the 1313 Nung Shu. Like his 1421, this book will be appreciated by general readers looking for a different, non-European history of the Renaissance. And like 1421, it will spark controversy; historians will surely debate Menzies's research and resources. Many will find his premise bogus, but his previous book proved popular. Public libraries should consider purchase, owing to possible demand, but sketchy sourcing makes this of questionable value to college libraries. (Index and photos not seen.)
—Margaret Atwater-Singer

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780061492181
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 6/9/2009
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 416
  • Sales rank: 168,201
  • Series: P.S. Series
  • Product dimensions: 5.90 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 1.30 (d)

Meet the Author

Gavin Menzies is the globally bestselling author of 1421: The Year China Discovered America and 1434: The Year China Ignited the Renaissance. His ideas have been profiled in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, and Wall Street Journal, and he has lectured at the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), Royal Geographical Society (London), National Maritime Museum (London), and Great Hall of the People (Beijing). He served in the Royal Navy for nearly two decades, becoming a submarine captain. His knowledge of seafaring and navigation sparked his interest in the epic voyages of Chinese admiral Zheng He, which he described in 1421 and 1434. Menzies lives in London, England.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

I Setting the Scene

1 A Last Voyage 3

2 The Emperor's Ambassador 7

3 The Fleets are Prepared for the Voyage to the Barbarians 17

4 Zheng He's Navigators' Calculation of Latitude and Longitude 29

5 Voyage to the Red Sea 39

6 Cairo and the Red Sea-Nile Canal 49

II China Ignites the Renaissance

7 To the Venice of Niccolo da Conti 63

8 Paolo Toscanelli's Florence 83

9 Toscanelli Meets the Chinese Ambassador 94

10 Columbus's and Magellan's World Maps 101

11 The World Maps of Johannes Schoner, Martin Waldseemuller, and Admiral Zheng he 110

12 Toscanelli's New Astronomy 132

13 The Florentine Mathematicians Toscanelli, Nicholas of Cusa, and Regiomontanus 141

14 Leon Battista Alberti and Leonardo Da Vinci 155

15 Leonardo Da Vinci and Chinese Inventions 166

16 Leonardo, Di Giorgio, Taccola, and Alberti 177

17 Silk and Rice 197

18 Grand Canals China and Lombardy 206

19 Firearms and Steel 216

20 Printing 231

21 China's Contriblition to the Renaissance 238

III China's Legacy

22 Tragedy on the High Seas Zheng he's Fleet Destroyed by a Tsunami 257

23 The Conquistadores' Inheritance our Lady of Victory 278

Acknowledgments 289

Notes 311

Bibliography 331

Permissions 347

Photograph Credits 351

Index 353

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
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Sort by: Showing all of 19 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 17, 2008

    1434: The Year A Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailes To Italy And Ignited The Renaissance

    1434 is the contentious sequel to retired submarine commander Gavin Menzie's first book, 1421. In his maiden effort, he proposed that the Chinese discovered America. Here, he says they sparked the Renaissance. Menzies - not a trained historian - says it all began when a large Chinese fleet arrived in Italy in 1434 via Egypt. They brought a treasure trove of knowledge - calendars, maps, encyclopedias and technical drawings - and unlocked the spirit of inquiry. Even the great Italian painter and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci benefited from the Chinese, the author claims. Menzie's writing style is engaging and peppered with stories of his travels. In one instance, he and his wife Marcella go to the French town of Saint Die to find out more about German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller, who drew a globular world map in 1507 showing South America and the Pacific. Menzies points out that Waldseemuller could not have known of those regions before Ferdinand Magellan 'the first European to cross the Pacific' set sail and traces the depictions of the Americas to a globe that the Chinese gave the pope in 1434. While this is an interesting read, the jury is still out on whether Menzies is to be believed. Historians agree that Chinese ideas did make their way to Europe but point out there is no written record of Chinese junks arriving in Italy. Menzies' evidence comes from among other things, a translation of a letter written by Italian mathematician Toscanelli, who claimed to have spoken to a Chinese ambassador who visited Pope Eugenius in 1434. This is just one of Menzies theories that academics have cited as 'far fetched'. But to the casual reader of history, 1434 is an exciting way of revisiting history. It is worth a read, if only to see if you can be convinced.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 28, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    1434 The Reaissance's birth?

    A very well written piece of history. Mr Menzies has spent countless hours researching and traveling the globe to put this together. Very stimulating if you love history. A must read.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 30, 2008

    1434

    You know Menzies just makes this stuff up right?

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 9, 2012

    Amazing theory! China responsible for Italian renaissance!

    Author backs up his theory by pulling together facts from maps and historical evidence of a super-sized fleet of monster Chinese junks travelling the globe spreading knowledge of navigation, gunpowder, movable type, distant lands, and the most accurate maps of the world. Christopher Columbus used Chinese maps to "discover" America and Magellan used Chinese maps to circumnavigate the world. The Europeans were gifted knowledge that spurred the era of exploration and the Renaissance. Big claims with which historians disagree but this former Navy navigator pieces together enough evidence to call into question the entire Europe-centric myth of the Renaissance. Even if you are not convinced, the author provides interesting tidbits of little known history, links together well-know facts in different ways. Explains the mongol DNA in widespread places. Explains how the Chinese solved the longitude problem using star charts developed over centuries of observation whereas Europeans didn't have accurate longitude location until they had accurate timepieces on ships. Beyond here dragons be!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 22, 2009

    An interesting theory of the renissance.

    An interesting continuation of 1421. A little long in the tooth in some of the explinations. It relys too much on references to the web site for explanations and illustrations. You need to read it with a computer in front of you to get all the detail. COuld have been simplified as to examples and more of the illustrations and explanations ilncluded. An interesting read.

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  • Posted October 20, 2009

    Not as good as expected

    I had read 1421 and had enjoyed it and was looking forward to reading this book. While the subject was well researched I found several things that frustrated me about the book. First, the author would talk about a subject and then say for more details to go to his website instead of having an appendix at the end of the book. I had the trade paperback and in the text he kept refering to maps that I could not find in the book. The last thing is that it did not read as well as his first book. It seemed more like a travelogue than a research book.

    The subject is very throught provoking in that he questions the Eurocentric view of history. He has done a lot of research to back up his thesis and his explination of events seems very logical.

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