1421: Chapter 11

With this chapter I have passed the 300 page mark in this book. However, I would like to continue reading it after the assignment is due. The beginning of this chapter took me all the way back to when the Chinese fleet first reached the Americas from the east. All the ships discussed up to this point travelled down the coast of South America. However, now the book has retraced its steps and is discussing the travels of the part of the fleet that travelled north. At this point in time specifically, Gavin is describing the method that was used to chart the Caribbean. Thus far in the novel, a bit of a pattern has been established. The author has gone back and proven the courses of these Chinese explorations by use of maps, legends, ship wrecks, stone markers, and many other things as well. After these routes are established, it seems that quite often that a later explorer (often the ones we learn about in classrooms) follow those same routes by use of maps and more importantly currents. Once again, this is believed to be the case in the Caribbean. The Chinese had a tendency to follow the current wherever it took them, and this is exactly what Columbus did as well. In his case, when they met the locals, there were stories of earlier outside visitors like Columbus and his men. It is very probable that these men were the Chinese sailors of the great exploration undertaken by Zheng He. Like the Chinese mapping technique used everywhere else, ships were sent out in enormous amounts to map an area. When they came to an island, several ships went to one side while other went to the other side. This method allowed them to map both sides of the island at the same time and cut the amount of time in half... just another way the Chinese proved how advanced they were in seafaring and navigation. Other evidence included the fact that there was iron materials among the natives when the first Europeans arrived. At first, I did not find this very interesting at all, and wondered how it proved anything. However, I soon discovered that Central America is very well known for being one of the few spots on Earth that contains no iron deposits whatsoever. This supports Gavin's thesis very well. Although it was a semi-difficult read, this book has proven to be one of my favorites of the year. It was so different, almost like a science fiction novel, but yet there is evidence to support the theory it is real. Upon reaching my desired number of pages, the author Gavin Menzies has already convinced me that the Chinese had made these voyages. I greatly hope that someday he is able to verify his ideas with credible sources and one day we will all be able to see history rewritten. The Chinese definitely deserve to be commended on undeniably one of their greatest accomplishments ever.

1421: Chapter 10

This chapter continued to reveal the relationships between Chinese and Early American Culture. The Pacific Coast of America still has many of these similarities with China even to this day. Some of these include: Language, Asian chickens, Dye and Art Techniques, just to name a few. Gavin goes into great detail about each one so it is impossible just to classify them as coincidences. Also, once again DNA testing has provided evidence of Chinese ancestry all along the West Coasts of North and South America. It is basically indisputable that the Chinese had a very evident part in America long before it was ever discovered by Europeans. I know I am only about half way through this novel, but with the amount and types of evidence presented so far, I am already convinced that Gavin's theory is correct. He also states that when he was searching to see if there were any others out there that believed the same theory as his that the Chinese had discovered America, he stumbled upon the fact that there have already been over one thousand books published about this particular topic from all parts of the earth.

1421: Chapter 9

Before actually landing in China, Zhou Man's fleet (the Pacific Fleet) was actually taken by the currents of the Pacific Ocean to North America. This is verified by a Chinese ship wreck in the Sacramento River. There, they discovered seeds and plants indigenous to China. It has also been recorded in American history that some Chinese settlers differed from other Chinese immigrants, providing evidence that they were all not just immigrants. The ships then continued south to Mexico, where they met the Mayans. They had finally found what they were looking for the entire expedition... someone who rivalled their engineering and artistic abilities. The Chinese were well advanced in astronomy, sailing, and mining. The Mayans, on the other hand, were very advanced in areas such as art and gem cutting. Their villages were built with extreme detail and their ability to cut and shape gems and stones was sure to impress the exhausted sailors. This chapter really surprised me. I did not expect the fleet to sail right past China and continue on their voyage. I found the exploration of the Pacific Coast of America fascinating in the fact that the Chinese found the Mayans so worthy of trade. Not that the Mayans did not deserve it, I admit that I learned a lot about them in this chapter alone. It was simply surprising to me that they had travelled the entire world and not found anyone yet worth trading with that they did not already know. It is kind of cool that they found those new worthy people in North America.

1421: Chapter 8

Upon greater research into the Chinese's exploration of Australia, he provides even more solid evidence. First, there was the Barrier Reef. This reef is enormous and spans a lot of Australian Coast. The entire reef was mapped in accuracy that almost rivals today's precision. All this occurred nearly 275 years before the first Europeans even saw Australia! However, these Chinese explorers were not just out to map uncharted territories, they were out to discover new riches. When they found Australia, they hit a gold mine... literally. Just like sailing, astronomy, and many other aspects of life, the Chinese were way ahead of everyone else when it came to mining. They actually figured out that certain plants grow over certain minerals. Imagine if that were known in America during the California Gold Rush. There would not have been all those people out there digging in random spots looking for something they would never find. Instead, miners could simply see what plants are growing where, and know exactly where to dig. The Chinese figured this out more than 400 years before the California Gold Rush! However, the sailors wanted more. So on their voyage back to China, they stopped in the Spice Islands and traded for even more goods to take home. This particular part of their trip greatly effected history. It was later discovered that Magellan had acquired a map revealing their course and actually followed it on his circumnavigation of the world. It is astounding how their greed has left such a mark on history. If they had not decided to follow that route, Magellan may have never made it, which it turn effects everyone to sail after him.

1421: Chapter 7

As chapter six left me with the fleet that was traveling eastward from South America, chapter seven picked up with part of the fleet that was traveling westward from South America. It was very interesting to see that because each group of ships used the same navigation techniques, they both arrived at the same final destination, Australia. The Pacific Ocean fleet, as I am calling this group of ships, faced many perils on their adventures. As they reached the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, the eastward currents actually swept them back in the direction they had come from. During this event, several treasure ships were lost. However, the Chinese do not stop and wait for everyone to have a pity party for them. Recently, there was an earthquake in China, killing thousands. Both times, the Chinese responded by trying to rectify their problems immediately. Again and again in history, the Chinese continue to provide examples of their relentless desire to continue forward. The loss of these ships, though, has proven quite beneficial for Gavin Menzies. With the discoveries of these lost ships all over the world, it only helps to further his hypothesis of the Chinese travelling around the world and discovering the Americas. Gavin's last piece of evidence is the Chinese ancestry in the places where the ships wrecked. It is amazing what technology can do these days. By tracing legends to people, and then using their DNA, Gavin was actually able to find that some people surrounding these wreck sites do have Chinese in their blood. To me, that is simply crazy. It is like a real life CSI scenario. Throughout this book, I have been feeling a feeling of pride in these Chinese sailors. Everywhere they go, they mark the lands with gigantic boulders, all bearing the same symbol. To prove it is Chinese, several of these stones have been found in southern China as well. It feels like they were trying to make a statement. Not only were they trying to accomplish the impossible (at the time), but it seems they wanted everyone to know of it.

1421: Chapter 6

As we have already discussed in class, the Chinese people as a whole are relentless in their strive for advancement and new knowledge. With each passing chapter, this fact becomes more and more apparent in this book as well. After discovering South America (along with Magellan's Strait), an Admiral by the name of Hong Bao set sail to explore along the coast of Antarctica. Keeping in mind that the Chinese have dealt with icy waters for centuries, this was still a bold undertaking. Again, the Chinese displayed a knowledge of the stars well beyond that of Europeans at the time, as the used Polaris to calibrate their latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere with Canopus. I was really surprised when they accomplished this. Also, with new locations comes new troubles to overcome. Scurvy had become a problem onboard the ships, and to counter it they found local cabbages that somehow countered the disease. With each new map, I am amazed at the detail the Chinese used so many years before any European exploration even came close to what they had accomplished. The author is almost completely certain, and I agree with him, that most European explorers (including the great Magellan), used maps already created by the Chinese. With the completion of the journey along Antarctica, the ships ventured to Australia and then home to China. However, the great exploration is not over. There is so much left to be told.

1421: Chapter 5

I have never read an author like this before. This guy's passion about finding evidence proving the Chinese did discover America is unlike anything I have ever read before. I am merely 150 pages into the book, and it seems as though he may be running out of options. At that instance, he finds more evidence out of nowhere. After finding as much evidence as he could in maps and records, Gavin then attempted to use plants, animals, and diseases to further prove the Chinese's exploration of America. However, he also found other details other people (including me) overlooked in the maps. In Fra Mauro's map the Piri Reis, a compass was located in the exact location of the Falkland Islands. When I saw this map in the book, I merely thought that was where they put the compass. However, Gavin explained that it was located there because there is a mountain called Mount Adams located there. At that exact point, the sailors were below a star called Canopus, which like Polaris, gave them a point from which to determine their latitude. Small details like this just show his knowledge of maps and his desire to find the smallest details. The author then went on to use animals drawn on the maps to show that the Chinese not only found these places, but explored inland and recorded the areas before Europeans ever set foot in the Americas. Animals like chickens (in South America, the chickens are more similar to Asian chickens than they are European chickens), and plants like maize (a plant that could have only gotten to Asia from South America by sailors) further proved his point. These are things that a retired seaman may not ever consider when trying to use maps to prove a voyage, but Gavin's knowledge obviously goes far beyond that. It will be interesting to see what he uses as evidence next.

1421: Chapter 4

Throughout the course of this chapter, Gavin Menzies spends the majority of the pages discussing the voyage from Southern Africa to the Americas. Surprisingly, with the loss of all the Chinese records, Mr. Menzies is able to find accumulate a large amount of data from other ancient texts and maps describing the Chineses' experiences. To better understand what it was like for the sailors, Gavin himself relived their great expidition by sailing what he thought to be their course. He first hypothesized that the Chinese fleets sailed around the southern tip of Africa after returning ambassadors to the their homelands along the borders of the Indian Ocean. They then met and travelled around Cape Hope and were taken by the current up along the Western Coast of Africa. This was verified by a Japanese map called the Kangnido. When the Chinese sailors reached "The Bulge" of Northern Africa, the currents then took them Southwestward toward South America. Their trip from this point on towards the Southern tip of South America was verified in the first map of the world, created by a man named Far Mauro, who was given his information from a man by the name of Da' Conti. Da' Conti was in Calicut when the Chinese arrived before embarking on their voyage, and it is believed that he travelled for quite some time with them before speaking with Fra Mauro. Reading this book, it is almost like the story of a child in a candy store. With each new piece of evidence, the author gets more and more excited. He never counts himself out, or gives in that the Chinese sailors never made it. The fact that he searches the entire world for evidence is astounding, and only continues to show how much he desires to prove his theory. It is quite possible that the reason this book is so captivating is the fact that the author believes wholeheartedly in what he is writing.

1421: Chapter 3

After the introuduction period of the first two chapters, chapter three finally begins to describe the voyage of Zheng He. According to the book, several of the documents (Wu Pei Chi) survived the destruction of the mandarins. It is simply amazing how they Chinese navigated the ocean. They established the technique of using "The Pole Star" (Polaris) as a way to measure their latitude. However, contrary to today's methods, the ancient Chinese measured from the North Pole instead of the equator. To them, the Pole Star was a symbol, almost like the Emperor. It ruled the night sky. However, at the time, they could not accurately chart longitude due to currents in the water. Still, it is astounding they were able to accomplish that much. Not only were they excellent navigators, but they were also very aware of their health and nutrition on these voyages, being much more prepared than later voyages, such as Magellan's. While on their awe inspiring journeys, the Chinese took entire ships dedicated to their food supply. Their storing techniques so the food would not spoil was very interesting, and instead of eating meat they mainly relied on fish. How they caught the fish was interesting as well. The Chinese used trained otters to trap the fish into a net, a practice which is still sometimes used today. If there was ever a water shortage, they were somehow able to desalinate the salt water. Again, another very impressive feat. Concubines were also a very important aspect of these voyages. The fleet had landed in Malacca ,Mecca, and Calicut. When the fleet arrived in Calicut, a Portuguese poet (Camoes) said the fleet was comprised of over 800 ships. That number just puts a wow in my head. It is said that the Chinese controlled the trade of the entire Indian Ocean during this time. It is obvious why.

1421: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 begins two months after the great armada left China. A horrible event has just happened. A storm has hit the Forbidden City, burning the palace of Zhu Di. According to the Chinese beliefs, an occurance such as this one displays how their God feels. For example, when he was happy, the city prospered. However, when he was mad, the palace burned to the ground. This event was significant because it forshadowed the downfall of the Chinese under the Ming emperors. Zhu Di basically goes insane after this, draining his finances and losing the support of his people. However, this happens several times through the course of history, so I almost saw it coming in this scenario as well. After Zhu Di's death, basically all foreign trade was cut off. This part of the book surprised me. According to the book, China's fleet was larger than all those of Europe combined at the time. To even ponder that they would just up and abandon that as if it were nothing really shocked me. These ships were simply massive, hundreds of feet long by several hundred feet wide! The Chinese were so far ahead of Europe in so many ways everytime I read about something new I get the same feeling of surprise and awe. Upon the homecoming of the armada, they were not greated with praise. All accounts of the voyage were supposedly destroyed in China, which makes this book all the more mystical. Somehow this account came to be, even if it was not straight from China.

1421: Chapter 1

The opening chapter of the novel was very interesting. It correlates really well with a lot of what we are learning in class about Chinese history. 1421 starts by telling of how the Chinese ended the rule of the Mongols in their land. Zhu Di, the main character, defeated the Mongols on every front. After the defeat, the novel shows a great deal of Chinese culture by revealing how they torture the Mongol prisoners. They took the prisoners and turned them into eunuchs. Eunuchs were a very important part of the Chinese social system. Most eunuchs worked for the emperor, and gained high positions such as: commanders, generals, admirals, and even the emperor's personal assistants. Zhu Di has been the emperor for quite some time, and he had just moved the Capitol to Beijing. He also did many other things, some of which we learned about in class. Confucianism played a major role in Chinese culture at the time. Zhu Di also rebuilt much of the Great Wall of China, and also created the "Great Canal." Both of these immense building projects came at a great cost to the Chinese population, combining to take the lives of millions of Chinese citizens. Around the same time period, the Chinese fleet was being built. This just shows how much the Chinese are willing to sacrifice for progress, just like today. After the completion of the building projects in Beijing and the Great Canal, Zhu Di held a massive party. To show his power, every dignitary that came had to bow at his feet. To show the magnitude of this feast, it was compared to King Henry's wedding in England. On every level, it dwarfed the wedding party. At the end of the chapter, the great voyage of the Chinese fleet is just beginning to be mentioned. So far the culture of the Chinese has simply been captivating, and I look forward to more.

1421: Introduction

The introduction was set up as a really good hook. It simply was a background of how the author, Gavin Menzies, came across the maps that led him to search for an ancient seafaring country. In the beginning, he had no idea who these people were, only that they sailed all over the globe before the days of Columbus and Magellan. The detail that was used in describing the routes took by these seamen has already started to draw me into the novel, and I can tell it is only going to get better. It is astounding to even consider the fact that the history we have been taught our entire lives may be based on the explorations of other explorers years before what we already know.

Responses

I commented Hannah's and Lisa's blogs in response to the video on Hinduism. It made me laugh what Hannah said about her dreaming what she wanted, when she wanted to. Lisa's response basically spelled out how it was for me listening to the podcast when she said it was over her head.

Mythology of Hinduism # 3

Wow, I am not meant to sit through a lecture class. This was a very intense lesson, and I'm sure to even come close to grasping what Watts was saying I'd have to listen to him speech several times. He used many analogies and comparisons, only a few of which i could even attempt to contemplate. I know at the beginning he was talking about dreams, but how they related to Hinduism I'm not quite sure. He then went on to explain how the western world's and eastern world's religious views differed. It is the view of those living in the west that the world was constructed a long time ago by one God, and that is how we came to be. The east thinks more along the lines of that God is still toying with us, and his creation is still happening and will always be happening. I like Alaina's comparison to As You Like It by William Shakespeare. That actually helped me understand better what Watts was saying. In all reality, though, I've learned a lot more in class from the notes we've been taking than from this lecture.

Common Theme

From story to story, I picked up on one very obvious reoccurring theme. That theme is being self-centered. In each novel, one of the main characters acts on a selfish impulse, and it always ends up hurting another character. In The Life You Save May Be Your Own, Mr. Shiftlet sees an opportunity to gain himself a car. In the process, though, he hurts both Mrs. Lucynell and her daughter. Likewise, in Rules of the Game, Meimei's mother tries to use her daughter to raise her social status. When Meimei confronted her about this, Meimei's mother became angry and Meimei was obviously hurt that her mother would simply use her daughter's talents for her own gain. Like in Rules of the Game, in Book of the Dead a parent hurts their child. However, in this case it is a father hurting his daughter. He did this in two ways. One, he had lied to her about his past. Secondly, he destroyed something she had created. Lastly, in Teenage Wasteland, Donny hurt his mother by doing several things. He did not trust his parents, he did not try and school, and above all else, he ran away. This theme seemed the most obvious to me, probably because I really do not like it when people act solely for themselves.

Teenage Wasteland

Finally, the last of the short stories (just kidding Mrs. Fox). Teenage Wasteland seemed to be like a lot of other stories we have read in the past, Catcher in the Rye being one of them. Again, like several other characters from the other short stories, I felt no pity for Donny. He was what the story implies, a teenage waste. Daisy, his mother tried doing just about everything she could. However, nothing worked. It all came down to Donny. Life may not always be fair, but that does not mean we have to hate everyone and should not try to be someone in the world. Sure, he may have had some troubles. But honestly, who doesn't? It is how we choose to react to these situations that defines us. Donny obviously did not care. I clearly dislike Donny, but Cal, Donny's tutor, did not help the situation any. He first seemed to be a positive influence, but his true character was shown later on in the story. Cal basically tried to step in and assume the role of being the parent, when he had no right to and most importantly no knowledge. Like Donny, he always tried to put the blame on someone else. In the end Donny runs away. I do not think life will ever get any better for him, and I do not really feel sorry for him either. I do feel sorry for Daisy, though. She truly tried, and it just did not work.

Book of the Dead

Between Book of the Dead and the story Rules of the Game, I have started to feel a sense of hostility towards parents. In Book of the Dead, Ms. Bienaime has created a statue of how she has always pictured her father. To Ms. Bienaime's amazement, someone has actually shown interest in purchasing it, and her and her father travel quite a distance to take it to their buyer. To this point, everything seemed to be quite normal. However, Ms. Bienaime's father, who she calls Papi, disappears one morning before the sale along with the statue. This is when I start to get disgusted with him. Upon his return, he reveals his reasons for taking the statue. Ms. Bienaime was shocked to discover that her father had not been brutally tortured in prison, but he had been a guard doing the torturing. He had never wanted to tell his daughter, but it had finally come to a point where he had to. That was his reason for throwing away the statue. However, I do not think that it was his choice whether or not the statue would still be sold. It was a creation Ms. Bienaime had worked very hard on, and though it may have meant little to him it still had a lot of value to the buyers. I feel sorry for Ms. Bienaime and the buyers. However, I have absolutely no pity for her Papi. He acted selfishly, and hurt his daughter very badly.

Rules of the Game

Rules of the Game was a very fun novel for me to read. In a way, I felt as if I could relate to the main character Waverly Place Jong. Her nickname Meimei is much easier to remember, though. As a young girl, Meimei began playing chess with her older brothers. It seemed that she almost instantaneously feel in love with the game, and would play and study it nonstop. This is sort of how my experience with soccer began. When I was young, I would watch my sister play and eventually became so involved with soccer it seemed as if my whole world revolved around it. For Meimei, she practically lived and slept chess. She had gotten very good, too. Much better than I will ever be at soccer. I was amazed that someone so young could have such an intimidating presence on the international level of a competition. I personally did not like the mother. As Meimei pointed out in the end, her mother was using her to make herself seem higher in society. Meimei was just a little girl, and all she wanted to do was play chess. It seemed to me her mother was the only thing that ever kept that from happening. All throughout Meimei's competitions, her mother would always be harassing her and trying to tell her how she should be playing. I may have overreacted to her behavior, but she just really seemed to play the spoiler role in the story. I didn't exactly understand the ending either. It seemed as though it was just left hanging. That may of been how it was supposed to be, though.

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

I did not particularly enjoy reading the short story The Life You Save May Be Your Own. There were several reasons for this. The main reason I did not like the story, was that I knew the man was going to hurt the old woman and Lucynell from the very beginning. I do not know how or why, but when those types of characters come along in a story they are relatively easy to pick out. From the moment he first showed up, though, it was clear his only interest was in the car. I thought of that as a great useage of foreshadowing in the story. However, it did not make it any more enjoyable to read. Whenever I read a story such as this one, I tend to actually get mad at the character doing the wrong. If we were to discuss this in class, I could almost guarentee I would speak out quite harshly against the man and his actions. I was very disappointed that the man took advantage of the two women the way he did. Not only were they nice people who worked for everything they had, but Lucynell, the daughter, was deaf. The old woman, who repeatedly kept mentioning the fact that she would not trust any man. However, she did trust the man. The thing that makes me madest about this is the man new this, and he still took advantage of them. To make it even worse, the man did not stop once he got his hands on the car. He actually married Lucynell, drove away with her, and left her at a diner far away from her home. All along, the man was only looking out for himself, which is where I think the title ties into the story. The life you save may be your own . . . seems fitting for a character like him.

Things Fall Apart: Recap

Soo... the epic novel has finally come to an end. Looking back on it, I guess if I really thought about it, I probably could have guessed the ending. Not the exact events that happened, but the fact that he killed himself. All the way throughout the novel, Okonkwo was just too angry. He was never able to let go of what had happened with his father, and it just kept building and building. I think he could have chosen to follow a different path, but in the end I do feel sorry for him. No one was ever really able to understand or relate, so even though there were people there, he was still alone in a sense. Unfortunately, in the end, it seemed that the world and everything that was going against him was too much, and he just couldn't bear it anymore. Personally, I don't like novels that build up to nothing, even if they are very informative. Just my opinion, though.