The Chinese “Discovery” of the Americas, Zheng He’s Voyages to the Indian Ocean, and Early Globalization

Abstract

This article undertakes a thorough investigation of the assertion in recent publications, both Chinese and foreign, that Zheng He’s fleet “discovered” the Americas, and traces it back to its origins. It comprehensively examines all the major arguments that have been made concerning the question of whether Chinese people sailed to the Americas before Cristopher Columbus, from the pre-Qin dynasty to the early Ming dynasty. It reveals both contributions and problems of previous studies of the subject, pointing out how the various theories on this topic and surrounding discussion have evolved, the reliability and dubiousness of the various points of view, and the academic significance of the debate. As the long-standing academic dispute over this question, it has helped collect relevant American archaeological, written, and oral sources as well as other such historical data, and has brought to light related Chinese documents as well as ancient Chinese and foreign maps and other materials. The academic significance of the relevant scholarship also lies in the comparative study of the civilizations of ancient China and the Americas on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean. Through the identification and thorough study of Chinese and foreign materials, careful, serious, and responsible historians have not only refuted the exaggerated claims for Chinese “discovery” of the Americas, but have also tried to reject the Sinocentrism that arises from these distortions. The scholars in China have also discovered, within the study of Zheng He’s maritime expeditions, the true aspects of their history that Chinese people can feel proud of. This article sifts through both the arguments and counterarguments as well as their respective evidence, and it pursues further textual research on relevant documents and materials for the purpose of examining the possibility for Chinese visits to the Americas before Columbus. Seen from the point of view of globalization, even if Zheng He’s fleet or other Chinese people reached the Americas before Columbus, their journey (which awaits confirmation) could not have had as much influence on the links between the New and Old Worlds as did those of later explorers. In spite of this, the seven large-scale voyages of Zheng He’s fleet in the Indian Ocean promoted maritime links within the Old World before Columbus’s great voyages in the Atlantic, making contributions to the history of globalization that are as important as those made later by Columbus.