1421: The Year China Discovered New Zealand
August 25, 2020
By AHNZ
Author Gavin Menzies, who died earlier this year, wrote an infamous book titled 1421: The Year China Discovered the World. Visitors to Anarchist History of New Zealand sometimes suggest I read it so I did.
The premise is that Ming China sent out a very large expedition fleet in 1421 AD to discover the world, including our country, New Zealand.
My first impression of Menzies is that he ought to be a stable intellect. You don’t get to be a Royal Navy Submarine CO with over a decade of service without knowing your job and being trusted by your crew. On the other hand, Lieutenant-Commander Menzies was born in 1937 and that makes him a member of the Silent Generation. If there’s one key feature about the Silent Generation it’s their resort of fantasy and the corresponding imaginative and artistic creative power that comes with it. Great for poetry but not so good for history writing!
My last impression comes from having read the book which, I’m afraid, leads me to think that the author is a crackpot. When it comes to New Zealand it is clear he hasn’t researched very hard and didn’t include us on his supposed extensive world tour of the various Chinese sites. He writes about Raglan but uses an old-timey name: Whangaroa. He claims there is Tamil calligraphy on a standing stone there but doesn’t say who told him. We have photos of these stones but nobody ever mentions “writing”¹ and nor is it marking a river mouth. He says the Korotangi bird was found nearby and it was but he says the Tamil Bell was found nearby but it wasn’t. Menzies refers to to the South Island of New Zealand as ‘South Island’. No scholar of New Zealand does that! South Island is where Sonic the Hedgehog lives.
Mylodons in New Zealand
Sub-commander Menzie’s most solid argument for Chinese presence in New Zealand is the mylodon. This species of mega-fauna are recognised as having been extinct for over 10,000 years but certainly once lived in Patagonia.
Menzies claims that the mylodon were alive and well when Robert FitzRoy and Charles Darwin visited Patagonia in 1854…
“Darwin found a skeleton on a beach..from the oil still present in the remnants of attached flesh, he concluded that the creature’s demise was ‘recent”.- p152
Contrary to this, even in the modern day we happen to have very well preserved mylodon remains including flesh and fur. This is not because they died recently but because the remains were preserved over the long years.
Next, Menzies draws his long bow to claim that the Chinese also found these living mylodon on their own visit to Patagonia 400 years before Darwin. And, that, unlike him, they took live specimens on their trip along with tons of feed to sustain them. Then, to bring it home, he claimed that at least two remained with the Chinese fleet but that a breeding pair made a jail break during the Chinese discovery of New Zealand!
“A Sydney packet visited Dusky Sound in 1831 and two sailors from the crew ‘saw a strange animal perching at the edge of the bush and nibbling the foliage. It stood on its hind legs, the lower part of its body curving to a thick pointed tail, and when they took note of the height it reached against the trees allowing a metre and a half for the tail, they estimated it stood nearly nine metres in height. The men were to windward of the animal and were able to watch it feeding for some time before it spotted them. They watched it pull down a heavy branch with comparative ease, turn it over and tilt it up to each the leaves it wanted.”- p209; Ref. p45, J.H.Parry, The Discovery of the Sea (1979)
Menzies appears to be referring to a ship named the Sydney Packet that is known to history. The highly similar version to the above features in Robyn Jenkin’s book, New Zealand Mysteries (1970) but adds on something that Menzies forgot to add…
“They watched it pull down a heavy branch with comparative ease, turn it over and tilt up to reach the leaves it wanted. When it finally saw them, the animal stood watching the men for a short time, then made one almighty leap from the edge of the bush towards the water’s edge. There it landed on all fours but immediately stood erect before making another great leap into the The men were able to measure the first jump and found it covered twenty yards. They watched the animal plough its way down the Sound at tremendous speed, its wake extending from one side of the Sound to the other.”- Ref. yowiehunters.com.au
This suggests the sailor’s story might refer to some sea mammal but clearly rules out the (non-aquatic) mylodon.
Gavin Menzies really wanted to believe, his publishers really wanted a pay day, and the public was willing to spend money fulfilling these wishes. That, I’m afraid, is the only secret history concerning 1421.
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1 There are markings though, they’re called the Tattooed Rocks at Raglan; Ref. NZH&H
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Thank you. There is no mention of the map of Auckland Island in your review. The map is remarkably accurate and leads me to believe it is authentic. Also, since reading his book,it is obvious the Chinese were a great maritime nation,hard to prove? I think the book is hard to disprove. you seem to stereo type him which is rather unscholarly and wonder if you are rather afraid of his findings.
I don’t remember reading about a map of the Auckland Islands. That’s a damn long way from New Zealand and only politically part of New Zealand so what’s the idea?
Maori had no written history only wood carvings.
The had no idea of history, just day to day vents, but not in total.
Some of their tales include the great Ice sheet(Antarctica).
In addition the sweet potato which Maori called a Kumara, which originated in South America there is vague reference of ice(Antarctica)
This to some extent is a Chinese reference.
The Chinese went on round the world expeditions (1421) with their concubines and slaves; who in some cases begat and the offspring, and the parent and children were dumped in Aotearoa(NZ) at variously different times but at around the time Maori maintains he arrived in NZ.
The Polynesian race extends up through The West coast of South America, Tahiti, Hawaii and to Alaska.
Need some evidence, Richard. Are you suggesting that Maori knew of Antarctica from the Chinese?
I’ve followed this trail and it looks to me as if Maoris during the time of high excitement wanted to get in on the Antarctic action…
http://ahnz.anarkiwi.co.nz/700-hui-te-rangiora/
I read this book recently and found it quite thought provoking.
The fact that Menzies, ex British Navy and with an impressive knowledge of sea navigation and ocean currents makes many of his claims most interesting.
I dunno man, I was thinking it might have gone the other way..
Maori had no idea of history???? Do you know my culture? Do you know the stories we share passed down threw generations?? Do you know why we maori have carvings all over the world?? You claim old mate was a great navigator of the seas yet my people have evidence in countries all over the globe of visits, with no compassess or maps we still arrived all over the world, stop reading bullshit books and go to a real village and ask for stories of the true history mate, dont read books written by people who claim to have arrived in “peace” all over the world, we know its full of shit, the just raped and pillaged everyone and everything insight, “so called peace treaties” you believe their bullshit over what you call carvings♂️♂️ mate our carvings tell stories of many generations mate just like inscriptions left behind by every other ancient culture, to say my people had no idea of history is arrogance at its finest, such a closed minded opinion, do real research visit tribal leaders ask real questions visit turangawaewae marae and ask someone to read the stories carved in the walls and floors, my people were known by native Americans as the star people, the only culture described as using the stars to navigate around the world, so much so, the so called moby dick legend, the navigator was what, maori, thank you. Also you wanna know more history, search up who the European settlers stole the idea of trench warfare from, and how upon arrival to new Zealand they lost countless battles against people who only had sticks and stones against people with guns, don’t believe anything you read from bullshit books man go find out what the carvings stories are, they are not decorations as yous all think, every single detail has a meaning, purpose or story
The Maori in Moby Dick was a harpooner not a navigator. Maoris did not invent trench warfare. Indians never met a Maori. You’re repeating old wive’s tales. Authentic Maoris don’t need lies like these to make them important. They’re already important.
There is a Chinese map of the world dated 1418 that clearly shows 2 large islands of the east coast of Australia
How do you like them for shape?