Culture | Chinese cartography
China beat Columbus to it, perhaps
An ancient map that strongly suggests Chinese seamen were first round the world
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THE brave seamen whose great voyages of exploration opened up the world are iconic figures in European history. Columbus found the New World in 1492; Dias discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488; and Magellan set off to circumnavigate the world in 1519. However, there is one difficulty with this confident assertion of European mastery: it may not be true.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “China beat Columbus to it, perhaps”
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