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1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance | 
 enlarge | Author: Gavin Menzies
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
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Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 9321
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0061492175
Dewey Decimal Number: 945.05
EAN: 9780061492174
ASIN: 0061492175
Publication Date: June 1, 2008
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Product Description
The New York Times bestselling author of 1421 offers another stunning reappraisal of history, presenting compelling new evidence that traces the roots of the European Renaissance to Chinese exploration in the fifteenth century 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 intellectual ideas, discoveries, and inventions, all of which form the basis of western civilization today. Florence and Venice of the early fifteenth century were hubs of world trade, attracting traders from across the globe. Based on years of research, this marvelous history argues that a Chinese fleet—official ambassadors of the emperor—arrived in Tuscany in 1434, where they were received by Pope Eugenius IV in Florence. The delegation presented the influential pope with a wealth of Chinese learning from a diverse range of fields: art, geography (including world maps that were passed on to Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan), astronomy, mathematics, printing, architecture, steel manufacturing, military weaponry, and more. This vast treasure trove of knowledge spread across Europe, igniting the legendary inventiveness of the Renaissance, including the work of such geniuses as da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo, and more. In 1434, Gavin Menzies combines this long-overdue historical reexamination with the excitement of an investigative adventure. He brings 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 The trilogy continues... June 5, 2008
Ves (Tucson)
142 out of 165 found this review helpful
Another fantastic volume in Gavin Menzies's trilogy, "The Fifteenth Century: When China Discovered the Universe". Volume 2, "1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance" follows Menzies's successful and enlightening Volume 1, "1421: The Year China Discovered America". Menzies fans are looking forward to next year's equally profitable final Volume 3 of the trilogy, "1438: The Year China Launched the First Manned Rocket to Mars". Who says history can't be fun...
A comment upon the above review asked for more specifics on my attitude toward Menzies, so...
I'll make a few more comments:
The issues with Menzies are twofold. First, there are many contemporary Chinese descriptions of these voyages which Menzies ignores, all of which describe the voyages (including the 1421 sixth voyage) as being confined to the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Second, Menzies just invents out of his imagination events and descriptions and evidence that have no relevance to reality. Hence, his many scholarly detractors.
Zheng He himself in 1431, prior to his seventh and last voyage, left us two engraved inscriptions (at Liujiagang and Changle) that describe the first six voyages, and which describe the 1421 voyage as only delivering ambassadors back to their home countries (such as Hormuz) and returning to China with their tribute in local products. Nine years after the end of the 6th voyage, he knew of nothing extraordinary that took place on any of the 1421 voyages. Ma Huan (who sailed on the 4th, 6th and 7th trips as an interpreter) in 1433 wrote the "Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores" describing the many places that the various Chinese fleets had visited, including the places visited by others in the fleets that he himself had not seen, and he knows of no places ever visited outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Fei Xin (who sailed on the 3rd, 5th and 7th trips) in 1436 wrote the "Overall Survey of the Star Raft" again describing the many places that the fleets had visited, including the places visited by others in the fleets that he himself had not seen, and he knows of no places ever visited outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Gong Zhen (who sailed on the 7th trip as Zheng He's private secretary) in 1434 wrote "The Monograph on the Foreign Countries of the Western Ocean", once again describing the many places that the various Chinese fleets had visited, including the places visited by others in the fleets that he himself had not seen, and he knows of no places ever visited outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
So you have five still existing contemporary sources by participants in the voyages, including Zheng He himself, all writing within 14 years of the voyages, describing the many places that the various Chinese fleets had visited over the years, and NONE of them report any Chinese trips outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Hummm... you'd think they would have noticed that they or their fellow Chinese had sailed round the world landing at many new continents and visiting many new peoples - that kind of thing would probably not go unnoticed by participants of the voyages.
The "Mingshi" is the official history of the Ming dynasty compiled from Ming Court documents (during which all of these voyages took place) and in its biography of Zheng He the Mingshi describes again the seven voyages - and describes nothing extraordinary. The "Taizong Shilu" which is the official history of Yongle's reign, the "Renzong Shilu" covering Hongxi's reign and the "Xuanzong Shilu" documenting Xuande's reign all again mention Zheng He, and the various voyages in some detail, and they know of nothing extraordinary that took place during any voyage, or any place visited by any fleet outside of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. All of these documents and inscriptions exist, and other relevant documents also, but Menzies ignores them all - since they all refute his wild and unsupported claims. These many contemporary sources give detailed accounts of each voyage: when the various fleets left and returned, which places were visited, how long it took on various voyages to travel from A to B, how long they were in various ports, etc.
Then again you have Menzies' claims for Chinese "evidence" and "events" throughout the world. Once you really look at his "evidence" you will see that it doesn't actually exist - it is based on unsubstantiated claims and assertions - actually the "evidence" is either speculative, imaginary, only possible, misinterpreted, misunderstood - in brief, you can't go and examine actual, verified, evidence that passes even the barest of scholarly merit. Claims are many and asserted often - actual evidence for Menzies' claims is lacking. Hence, his many scholarly detractors.
I will give you one example of Menzies' method. He describes in glorious detail the concubines on board the voyages, specifically the 1421 voyage. He describes in detail where the girls come from, their appearance, their clothing, their many sexual practices, their sexual relationship with the ambassadors on the ships, and on and on in fine detail. But we have two contemporary sources (as well as all of the sources mentioned above) that describe in precise detail the personnel present on the ships, with precise numbers in each category of people - and (surprise) not a single Chinese source mentions any women on board, much less beautiful concubines. Ma Huan (1433) mentions women in a sexual function taking place only once on a voyage - that some married Thai women had sex with some of the Chinese men - but no concubines anywhere. They are completely a figment of Menzies' imagination. Let me say it again - he just makes them up! Why? Because he wants to fabricate events later in his imaginary voyage that he needs the existence of women for (he needs these imaginary women to spread Chinese DNA all over the world) - so he just invents women on the trip, and invents all of the details that he describes. He does the same thing with hundreds of other elements of the 1421 voyage - he just INVENTS WHAT HE NEEDS to make his unsubstantiated and wild claims.
Another instance: Menzies makes many claims of Chinese junks being found throughout the world, but in spite of his many vague claims, I have yet to see him tell us a single location where we (and a scholar) can actually examine and date a single Chinese junk of Zheng He's period (or before) outside of the China Seas and the Indian Ocean where you would expect to find them. So I went to his "1421" web site looking for evidence and found three entries. These following are his headlines and my comments about his article.
"A fleet of Chinese junks wrecked on the Pacific coast of North America?"
The article says, "there are potentially over 40 unidentified wrecks lying under the sand dunes". Notice what the article says: "potential", "unidentified", therefore, undated, no time period, no nationality, no ship type.
"100 foot long Chinese junk raised from sea bed"
Oops... the junk "has been raised from the sea bed off the coast of China", right where you would expect to find one.
"Chinese shipwrecks in the Caribbean?"
Golly. "Local folklore has it, that this [totally unidentified] ship sank long ago..."... and the article goes on to say that there is no "light on the ship's origin"... and oops, "We are not able to divulge the precise location of the wrecks as yet." I.E., again, no actual observable evidence of a Chinese junk. Just another vague unsubstantiated claim.
So much for Chinese junks found throughout the world...
The bottom line is that for anyone familiar with the actual Chinese sources, and with the actual evidence pertaining to Menzies' claims throughout the world, it is clear that Menzies has almost zero evidence behind his empty assertions - it is just a money making gimmick that gullible readers who have no actual knowledge of the facts and evidence fall into. Virtually everything that Menzies asserts has been shot down by the scholars in their respective fields. That there have been some contacts in the Americas with other peoples I am not denying - that there have been any contact with Chinese fleets, much less fleets of Zheng He's time - is just fun fantasy in a long line of pseudo-scientific and pseudo-historical best sellers. If you look at it as a historical novel (i.e., fiction) you'll have a fun romp - it you look at it as history, well...... Meszies is smiling all the way to the bank...
 Interesting, But . . . June 24, 2008
John D. Cofield
34 out of 43 found this review helpful
No one can doubt Gavin Menzies' enthusiasm. For years now, first with 1421 and now with 1434 (with hints of a third volume to come) he has striven to demonstrate that much of what is taken for granted to be of Western European origin is actually from China. Its a solid point with undeniable evidence behind it, much of which Menzies presents in really intriguing detal, but unfortunately he chooses to present it in an unwarrantedly sensational manner. In 1421 he claimed that giant Chinese fleets had circled the world. Now in 1434 he argues that the European Renaissance was triggered by a visit by a Chinese navy to Italy, bearing maps, machines, weapons, and many other gifts. Mr. Menzies presents evidence for Chinese contact with Europe, but unfortunately by limiting the contact to one year he obscures what should be better known: that there was substantial European contact with China, India, and the Middle East for centuries, and that many European "inventions" like the printing press are derived from earlier Asian developments.
Mr. Menzies' enthusiasm is unquenchable, but again and again he can't produce evidence to back up his theories. For example, he spends a lot of time discussing maps which existed before 1492 but which depict the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, and other areas then unknown to Europeans. Unfortunately, he can't produce the originals of these maps, just copies from the 1500s or later, after the Americas had been discovered, thus allowing for editing and additions by the copyists. This is not to say Mr. Menzies doesn't have a point here. There are numerous intriguing maps like the Piri Reis which seem to show more knowledge of the world than Europeans are thought to have possessed at the time they were drawn, and historians find them difficult to explain away at times. Its unfortunate that Mr. Menzies focussed so narrowly on one year and one supposed Chinese visit to Italy as the source for so much of this knowledge. Speaking of the Chinese visit in 1434, Mr. Menzies cites as evidence numerous vague references by Europeans to travelers from the East who brought knowledge and gifts over many centuries. Again, his argument would have been so much stronger had he not tried to link the entire Renaissance to that one voyage in 1434. And speaking of that voyage, isn't it odd that no one in Italy, the most literate area in Europe at the time, left descriptions of what must have been the impressive sight of many enormous Chinese junks anchoring in Venice and dozens of Chinese officials parading through the streets of Florence? Sometimes Mr. Menzies actually does offer evidence, supposedly to support his thesis, that actually refutes it. A good example deals with Chinese and Mongolian DNA appearing in European populations along the Adriatic Sea. Mr. Menzies attributes all of that to that one 1434 voyage even though he also mentions in the same chapter that there were many slaves of East Asian origin living around the Mediterranea at the time.
I like Gavin Menzies. His enthusiasm is infectious, and I deeply respect his years of service as a naval and submarine officer in the British navy. Although I feel he jumps to some unwarranted and fanciful conclusions, he has done a good service to history by helping to make the public at large better aware of the many contributions China and the rest of Asia have made to world civilization. Those interested in learning more about China's gifts to the world will enjoy Simon Winchester's new book The Man Who Loved China.
 Fanciful But Interesting June 8, 2008
Mark R., Whittington (Houston, Texas USA)
19 out of 26 found this review helpful
Like another reviewer, when I first heard of this books I thought it was an alternate history. But like the author's previous book, 1421, it's a rather fanciful conclusion held together by a string of clever conjecture that falls about upon close examination. For one thing, the author has his Chinese fleet transitioning from the Red Sea to the Medterranean via the Red Sea to Nile canal built by the Pharoehs that, by 1434, had been out of commission for seven centuries. The book is still worth a read as it is chock full of little tid bits about Chinese navigation methods, Arab spice and perfume trade, 15th Itallian culture, and a host of other subjects. But the author does not prove that a fleet on Zeng He's gigantic Chinese junks sailed into the Venitian lagoon one bright morning in 1434 and sparked the Rennisence.
1434 Exposed July 6, 2008
J. COMER (Hesperia CA)
19 out of 22 found this review helpful
Gavin Menzies' foolish and ridiculous book 1434 claims that a Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and gave the Europeans knowledge which started the Renaissance.
This statement is false.
Allow us to examine several major items of knowledge originated in China and found later in the West. In no case was the knowledge transmitted in 1434.
This information is from Temple's The Genius of China, cited by mangy Menzies as a source but apparently unread by him.
The stirrup was invented in the third century CE and was introduced into the Byzantine Empire in 580. Not in 1434.
Porcelain was invented in China in the third century CE and was independently re-invented in England by Josiah Wedgewood in the eighteenth century. Not in 1434.
Printing was invented in China in the eighth century and was introduced into Europe before the middle of the fourteenth century, not in 1434. Gutenberg did begin to use movable type in 1458, but it did not appear in Italy first, but in Germany; there is no indication of its transmission from a visiting Chinese embassy, as printing had been practiced for more than one hundred years already in Europe.
The idea of the circulation of the blood was brought to the Near East by al-Nafis and the works of this Arab were translated by Servetus, Renaldus Columbus and others, not working from information transmitted in 1434.
The compass was found in Europe by 1180, mentioned first, I believe, by Neckham. Not in 1434.
The rudder was invented in China in the first century CE and found in Europe by 1180, not transmitted in 1434.
The crossbow was invented in China, and was known to the Greeks by 397 BCE, not 1434 CE.
Gunpowder was known in China by the 800s CE, and in the West by the late 1100s, not 1434.
Therefore to claim that vast amounts of knowledge was transmitted all at once in one imaginary voyage is clearly false. Menzies should learn history.
Life is too short July 8, 2008
History Lover (USA)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
I wish I had read a few of the reviews prior to purchasing this book. Regardless of whether you believe the author's theory or not, it's just not presented in an interesting or readable fashion. As a lover of history, particularly Renaissance Italy, I was intrigued by the notion that China had provided the spark. After slogging through dense, repetitive and just plain boring verbage, I found that my time could have been better spent elsewhere.
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