1421

After watching the 2 hour long program on how China could’ve discovered America before Christopher Columbus, I was surprised that there were so many little things that could’ve fit into the picture. Not all of the ideas discussed had been completely proven but I think that there is definitely a chance that the Chinese could’ve come across America when their empire was at its peak of power. Menzies showed how the winds and current could’ve pulled them along Africa and then straight to America. It is a possibility, but a lot of the evidence is poor and there is no real great document or artifact strong enough to believe this. Also, a lot of other historians and scientists do not agree with any of the theories that Menzies is trying to use to prove that the Chinese were first. I think that Menzies still has a lot of work cut out for him if he is going to prove them wrong and a very strong piece of evidence is needed to support his theories.

1421: China discovered America

The movie 1421: The year China Discovered America is an interesting movie. There are two parts to it.

The first part is shows how China prospered throughout the 15th century and went beyond its way. The Emperor, Zhu De Zheng took his fleet to explore the sea and it went beyond and found America. At the beginning it seemed a little bit influencing, however when he went to the second part of the DVD, I felt the arguments he was making was not compatible. The evidence were shown as graphic design. They don’t have enough evidence to show that Zeng Zhu discovered America before China.A former British submarine commander named Gavin menzies proposed a theory stating that Zeng Zhu discovered America before Columbus’s voyage. To backup his theories Mr.Menzies provided charts and eye witness. The movie shows the later voyages Zeng Zhu d his admirals went around the Indian ocean for trade, and traded porcelain and silk for pepper. Though Gavin menzies tried to prove Chinese invention of America, but as the documentary pointed out there are some serious flaws to his theory. Therefore I would say he needs some more exact evidence and other facts to prove what he is trying to claim. Otherwise the second part of the DVD makes his theory illusive.

1421: The Year China Discovered America (Simone G.)

Last night we watched a two-part documentary about Gavin Menzies’ theory that China may have discovered America before Christopher Columbus.. At first I found this intriguing. I mean what if China had discovered America first? Would we be the same country we are today? Since China is a more communistic country, I would think that America would have had more Chinese values. If other cultures would have interbred with Chinese, would African-Americans be African-Asian? Or Native American Native-Asian?

By the time we got to the second part I realized that Menzie’s theory was not exactly pieced together right. I mean it was a good thought but it seemed like he was just trying to prove a theory without looking at all the facts. Theories should be disproven before proven. I think he was so caught up with trying to prove his theory was true that he ignored all the facts that could have proven it false.

Year China Discovered America

This movie had a very interesting premise claiming China discovered America and the New world before Columbus did.  Menzies presented some interesting evidence to support his claim that Zheng He found the America’s but his claims seemed to rely a lot on inferring information that had abstract proof at best.  Most of his claims seemed exaggerated in order to fit into his theories.  His charts are a good example, because the movie spoke of him misinterpreting it, and that he manipulated the chart to make it seem as if it was from a Chinese perspective.  Every valid point Menzies brought up seemed to have an equally strong counterpoint that made his theory hard to believe, but still a thought provoking idea.

The Year China Discovered America Response

This documentary is about who discovered the America first. Gavin menzies believes that Chinese Emperor, Zhang he discoveres the America long before Christopher Columbus. He further says that the chinese are responsible for developing all the major colonies, technological advancements, and other economic developments. He supports his theory with lame reasons which viewer refuse to believe. Every support he gives in the movie, was way too exaggerated for a normal individual to digest. He also told us that Europeans explorers are also successful only because of Chinese made charts which he thinks are very accurate and concise. On the other hand, I am convinced from some of the points he presents to the viewer. This movie is similar to what we are reading in the book, the years of rice and salt. I would still consider it as an excellent overview of alternative history, even though, Gavin menzies is unsuccessful in proving his theory.

1421-The year China Discovered America

I found the documentary 1421 to be an interesting to watch, as the documentary provided an interesting theory as to who really discovered the America in the 15th century. The documentary mainly talked about the great chines fleet which was once controlled by zhang hee great Chinese admirals. during his reign as the commander of the fleet, the Chinese navy took several long voyages in order to expand trade, gain more land, and also to exert political influence. later on within the movire, A former British submarine commander named Gavin menzies proposed a theory in which he stated that a Chinese admiral named zhang he discovered America well before Columbus’s voyage. In order to backup his theories Mr.Menzies provided charts and eye witness accounts in an attempt to back up his theory. The movie traces the later voyages that zhang he and his admirals as they go around the Indian ocean for trade. The theory proposed by Gavin menzies is pretty interesting, but as the documentary pointed out later on that there are some serious flaws to his theory, i believe that more facts are needed in order to support his claims and to silence his critics.

1421- China Discovered America

In this documentary I learned different things about China, India and all the places traveled by Gavin Mince. Gavin Mince had reasonable information on why to theorize that China discovered America before Columbus did. Zhenge He had some great navigation talents and that helped him alot in getting prepared for the journey he was taking. The question in this documentary was if the Portuguese were the first to discover America. The question still remains unanswered because Gavin Mince as he relived every moment of Zheng He’s voyage, he didn’t have enough evidence to prove it. It was interesting when they said that the Arabs were attracted to China because of trade and that tehy kept a good relationship.  The voyage Zheng He took was dangerous but he did some great preparation because his ships were superior enough to go through the voyage.  Gavin’s theory will remain just a theory unless more evidence can be found which is difficult because most of it has been destroyed. Also as he went on his trip he brought happiness and wealth to cities. This was an interesting documentary which has me wondering if China was the first to discover America. 

China-1421 Discover America — Zack Long

The documentary was interesting to see  another country that discovered America other than a European country. Some of the facts though seemed either exaggerated or probably just jumping to a conclusion. I’ve heard there were all sorts of people that came to America before Columbus like vikings or whatever, so I still think it’s possible that China came before Columbus as well. Although it’s possible that something could happen, it doesn’t mean that it did happen and I’m not sure if the argument is serious enough to be taken seriously, but in time more facts may arise.

1421 the Year China discovered America?

The film 1421 the Year China discovered America was very interesting and offered an interesting theory as to the discovery of America. The historian Menzies doesn’t provide sufficient evidence that can be examined and proved by others as well as himself to support his theory that the Chinese discovered America. He uses the testimony of people who are not experts in these fields that he asks them to testify in. For example he provides testimony as to the translation of the words on the Pitsagona chart from an expert in modern day Latin when he needed an expert in medieval Latin. The medieval Latin expert said Menzies had incorrectly translated the words and they didn’t mean what he claimed they meant. This happened throughout the film where an expert didn’t agree with Menzies evidence, or parts of his story were weak and he agreed that they were weak. Menzies theory was entertaining to say the least but does not have enough evidence to take the theory seriously.

China-1421 Discover America {Marcus. C}

This documentary held my attention far better than some of the others did. I agreed with some of the points portrayed in the film about the possibility of the Chinese discovering America. Honestly, many of the facts did seem to be of much truth. However, some facts such as the fish shape on the land, I found, were a bit exaggerated. My reasoning is that sometimes you get potato chips that look like presidents, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has some sort of large significance. I am not arguing against his suspicion about the fish shaped land plot that could be the burial place of a wrecked “Junk,” but rather it had me asking questions such as: How does that one spot stay like that for years without any change? I found it far fetched that the surface hadn’t grown any grass. Also, in historical terms, that time period wasn’t too far back. They said that they could find any remains or any evidence that suggests that there was ever a ship there at one point. Also, I had a feeling that they were stretching the truth just a bit and were pulling pieces of the puzzle together that were not necessarily truth. For example, he argued that they followed the wind currents, thus leading them to America. That may be true, however, there could be many obstacles to prevent that. Again, I do believe that there is a possibility that the Chinese could have discovered America before Christopher Columbus, but that is the thing… just a possibility.