Mapmakers are now discussing if it is a real map that might show a Chinese sailor, admiral Zhu Di, was the first person to discover America. Gavin Menzies, a British historian, wrote a book called 1421—The Year China Discovered the World. In it, he writes that Zhu Di sailed around the world in the fifteenth century and discovered new lands. His words are now supported by the new discovery of an old map in Shanghai. The map dates back to 1418, seventy years before Columbus stepped foot on American earth. Scientists are now testing the age of the map.
Mr Menzies speaks something more about Zhu Di that turns our knowledge of history upside down. He says that the Chinese sailor sailed around the earth a century before Magellan, discovered Antarctica(南极洲) and reached Australia three hundred and fifty years before Captain Cook. Menzies says the admiral’s maps were never used by his country, as China had little interest in the world outside its borders. Until now, Chinese professors have said there is little truth in Mr Menzies’ book. However, the new map clearly shows America, Africa and Europe. It was bought for $500 in a small shop in Shanghai.
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