Film Guide Questions for

1421: the Year China Discovered America?

 

 

Zheng He (1371-1435): the early Ming admiral who by the command of Zhudi (or Yongle, r. 1403-1424), the third ruler in the Ming Dynasty led the seven ocean voyages of the Star Fleet for the Chinese court between 1405 and 1433.  Zheng He’s flotilla consisted of about 30,000 men and over 300 ships.

 

Columbus (1451-1506): Genoese merchant/navigator, who made four fabled voyages to the Caribbean.  Columbus never abandoned his conviction that he had reached Asia in these travels.

 

Ferdinand de Magellan (ca. 1470- 1521): Portuguese nobleman, who gained Spanish patronage for a trip round the world in 1519.  Magellan was killed in 1521 in the Philippines.  His crew finished the voyage home to Europe.

 

Ma Huan (ca. 1380-1460): Ming official who accompanied Zhang He on three of the seven voyages. Expert in Arabic, Ma served as a translator. The book on his travels Yingyai shenglan (The Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores) was published in about 1451.

 

Sri Lanka: South Asian Island nation off the southern coast of India.  The country became independent in 1948 as Ceylon, but changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972.

 

Calicut:, modern-day Kozhikode, which is a trading port located in the southernwestern coastal Indian state of Kerala.

 

Sohar (Oman): ancient Persian Gulf port city.  Renowned as the legendary birthplace of “Sinbad the Sailor.”  The Strait of Hormuz is located to the west of Sohar.

 

Pole Star (Polaris): northern Hemisphere star, around which all other stars appear to circle. Polaris long served the central point for celestial navigation in premodern times.

 

Malindi: West African coastal town located to the north of the Kenyan capital of Mombassa.

 

Qilin: the mythical Chinese unicorn.

 

 

  1. Why were the voyages under Zheng He’s command initially launched?
  2. What were some of the technological innovations and other important inventions employed by the Star Fleet vessels? 
  3. What was the most important Ming court interest in Malacca?  What happened to Malaccan society as a result of the Star Fleet’s visits?
  4. How was maritime trade conducted at Calicut?
  5. What did the Chinese court seek from Persian Gulf traders?  How did the Chinese employ Arab astronomical knowledge?
  6. What drew the Star Fleet to the East African coast?  What did East African rulers seek from the Ming visitors?

Disc Two: 1421: the Year China Discovered America?

 

 

Niccolo Da Conti (1395–1469): an Italian merchant and explorer, who traveled to India and Southeast Asia during the early 15th century.

 

 

 

 

Fra Mauro (fl. 15th-century): Venetian monk, who in 1457 produced a highly accurate map of the Old World by drawing on the extant geographic data known to European society of his day.

 

 

  1. What is the “bedrock” premise for Menzies’s overall argument?

 

  1. What role does Nicola da Conti supposedly play in the Ming voyages?  What’s the result of his protracted encounter with Zheng He and the Star Fleet?

 

  1. What evidence does Menzies present for the Star Fleet’s entry into the Atlantic?  Into the Caribbean?

 

  1. When and where did the Star Fleet supposedly land on the shores of North America?

 

  1. What do critics say about Menzies’s various theories?

 

    1. Pizzigano’s Atlantic chart of Guadeloupe?

 

    1. The Portuguese toponyms on the chart?

 

    1. The Bimini Road and the Shark Mounds?

 

    1. The Newport Tower?

 

    1. Verrazano’s 1524 discovery of Chinese settlements and the DNA evidence?