Briton charts Zheng He's course across globe

Historians show Zheng He's fleet carried not only food, water and tradable goods, but also soil to grow vegetables.

From 1405 to 1433, he commanded huge fleets of Chinese junks in their seven journeys, mainly around the Indian Ocean region ranging from India, Sri Lanka and Arabia to East Africa.

Zheng He and his fleet brought porcelain and tea with them, while at the same time demonstrating that ancient Chinese had mastered advanced navigational and ship-building skills.

Perhaps it is just the scale of Zheng He's fleet and splendid records of his voyage that have led Menzies to believe his fleets might have reached the Caribbean and even Australia, North and South America and Antarctica.

Based on his 10-years of research, Menzies published a book "1421: The Year China Discovered America" in 2002. In May this year it came out in simplified Chinese.

In it, Menzies lists many of Zheng He's major discoveries, particularly in the field of cartography, before Europeans began to sail the world.

However, many Chinese historians say there is other evidence to suggest some of these discoveries may have been the work of others.

Despite the controversy, Wan Ming, an authority on the Ming Dynasty at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Menzies has broadened the view of Chinese historians by his consistent explorations over the past 10 years. And his research and published works are a valuable reference source for historians and academics researching Zheng He.

Editor: Maggie