China: A map shows the Chinese surveyed the world in the early years of the 15th century, writes Clifford Coonan in Beijing.
Many have laid claim to have been the first to "discover" America, including Irish monks, Viking warriors and Christopher Columbus, but a newly-discovered map seems to show it was in fact a Chinese Muslim eunuch, Admiral Zheng He, who first landed on the shores of the New World.
The ancient map, unearthed by a collector of old charts in Shanghai and due to go on display in Beijing today, apparently shows the Chinese accurately surveyed and settled the world in the early years of the 15th century, decades before Columbus' Sancta Maria had even been built.
And that's not all. Cartographers and historians believe the map could prove Admiral Zheng rounded Africa's southernmost tip, the Cape of Good Hope, 76 years before Vasco da Gama, and circumnavigated the globe 100 years earlier than Ferdinand Magellan.
Just for good measure, Admiral Zheng also surveyed Australia a good 300 years before Captain Cook. It also could show that New Zealand was not first settled by Maoris but by Chinese, and that the Portuguese were not the first foreigners to settle Brazil, Mozambique and Angola, nor the Spanish Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela.
Some experts now contend that Columbus, da Gama and Magellan used copies of this 1418 map to reach the New World.
The map was bought by a distinguished Chinese lawyer and art collector, who bought it from an antique map/book dealer in Shanghai in 2001 for less than €500.
The map is marked as a "general chart of the integrated world" in six Chinese characters in the upper right corner, with other notes saying it was copied by Mo Yi Tong from a chart showing barbarians paying tribute to the Ming emperor, Zhu Di.
Each continent of the world has correct shape, mass, latitude and longitude and position. All oceans of the world are displayed, many major rivers - including the Potomac leading to Washington DC - and many islands.
There are gaps in the map's scope - neither Ireland nor Britain features, and California is shown as an island.
Zheng He received international attention after the publication of British author Gavin Menzies's book, 1421 - The Year China Discovered the World, but historians dispute Menzies's claims.
Experts in New Zealand are currently checking it to make sure the map is genuine, but a number of historians say they believe it is.
Emperor Yongle, the first ruler of the Ming dynasty, wanted to showcase China's naval power and in 1402 commissioned Admiral Zheng, a Muslim eunuch from Yunnan province, to undertake a daring mission to the seas known to the Chinese as the "Western Oceans".
Three years later, the expedition was ready and last year the Chinese celebrated the 600th anniversary of his travels, which took him to 37 countries over 28 years. It is believed by some to be the mightiest fleet that ever sailed, with 300 ships and 37,000 sailors. The pride of the fleet was the treasure ship, a stunning vessel about 130 metres long and with 1,000 men on board. In the days when the intrepid admiral roamed the high seas, China was far more technologically advanced than other cultures and had no equal at sea.
Born Ma He in 1371, to poor parents, the future great seafarer was captured by soldiers and castrated when he was still a boy. He was forced into the army, where he excelled, and also studied languages and philosophy. He died in 1433, aged 62.
Zheng He sailed for nearly 30 years but after the emperor died in 1424, China began to look inwards, beginning a policy of isolationism that lasted hundreds of years.