I got thrown headlong into this historical (hysterical) fantasy – but that is another story for another day. Apparently one guy and an overly rabid publisher have created a myth tagged on to the legend of Zheng He, a Chinese explorer of the 15th century. This in turn has gotten some folks fairly annoyed.

If you look carefully this photo depicts Zheng He’s ship versus Columbus. You can see how tiny the Portuguese ship is. More interestingly for me is the fact that in a few minutes I was able to view this subject from about every angle and draw my own conclusions thanks to the web.

Even if Zheng He and his armada didn’t make it all the way to America in 1421, they did play an important role during the period of discovery that was blossoming as well in Europe. There are so many unanswered pieces of history and artifacts around the world that it gives a chance to something like 1421 appear possible. The publisher has certainly used every “trick in the book” to market the book.

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