1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance

Inhisbestsellingbook1421:TheYearChinaDiscoveredtheWorld,GavinMenziesrevealedthatitwastheChinesethatdiscoveredAmerica,notColumbus.NowhepresentsfurtherastonishingevidencethatitwasalsoChineseadvancesinscience,art,andtechnologythatformedthebasisoftheEuropeanRenaissanceandourmodernworld.Inhisbestsellingbook1421:TheYearChinaDiscoveredtheWorld,GavinMenziespresentedcontroversialandcompellingevidencethatChinesefleetsbeatColumbus,CookandMagellantotheNewWorld.ButhisresearchhasledhimtoastonishingnewdiscoveriesthatChineseinfluenceonWesternculturedidn’tstopthere.Untilnow,scholarshaveconsideredthattheItalianRenaissance-thebasisofourmodernWesternworld-cameaboutasaresultofare-examiningtheideasofclassicalGreeceandRome.However,astunningreappraisalofhistoryisabouttobepublished.GavinMenziesmakesthestartlingargumentthatasophisticatedChinesedelegationvisitedItalyin1434,sparkedtheRenaissance,andforeverchangedthecourseofWesterncivilization.AfterthatdatetheauthorityofAristotleandPtolemywasoverturnedandartisticconventionschallenged,aswasArabicastronomyandcartography.FlorenceandVeniceofthe15thcenturyattractedtradersfromacrosstheworld.MenziespresentsastonishingevidencethatalargeChinesefleet,officialambassadorsoftheEmperor,arrivedinTuscanyin1434wheretheymetwithPopeEugeniusIVinFlorence.AmassofinformationwasofferedbytheChinesedelegationtothePopeandhisentourage-concerningworldmaps(whichMenziesargueswerelatergiventoColumbus),astronomy,mathematics,art,printing,architecture,steelmanufacture,civilengineering,militarymachines,surveying,cartography,genetics,andmore.ItwasthisgiftofknowledgethatsparkedtheinventivenessoftheRenaissance-DaVinci'sinventions,theCopernicanrevolution,Galileo,etc.Following1434,EuropeansembracedChineseintellectualideas,discoveries,andinventions,whichformedthebasisofEuropeancivilizationjustasmuchasGreekthoughtandRomanlaw.Inshort,ChinaprovidedthesparkthatsettheRenaissanceablaze.--Thistextreferstoanoutofprintorunavailableeditionofthistitle.