Columbus did not discover America

Christopher
Columbus

History – the science of perpetuating a myopic euro-centric opinion of past events.

At the lower end of the renown, La Rambla Mall in Barcelona, Spain is an imposing bronze statue of an Italian explorer. The 197 feet statue depicts a man with an outstretched arm pointing at the ocean towards the Americas. The Monumento a Colón was constructed in 1888 in honor of Christopher Columbus who is remembered annually in the US as the person who discovered America in 1492.

But Columbus never once set foot on North America.

He himself never claim that he landed on the continent. He simply stumbled upon the Bahamas, later Hispaniola, the modern day Haiti and colonized the islands. His mission was not to explore but to exploit the new world in search for gold, expand Spanish imperialism, proof that the world was not flat and spread Christianity.

Why then would Spain honor an Italian who turned out to be a criminal in Hispaniola arrested and brought back in chains to Spain? Perhaps the colonisation of Hispaniola by Columbus, did provide the launchpad for Spain to expand its Empire into the Americas and the Spaniards were eternally grateful. Or perhaps it was a case of close-enough-was-good-enough during 15th Century Europe when the Fraternity of Christians were looking for a hero to represent their success in the Americas.

Even disregarding the first landing in America thousands of years ago by true explorers – the ancestors of Native America from Asia via the Bering Strait – there was a motley collection of first arrivals many centuries before Columbus. Joining this list was Japanese fishermen landing in Peru, Jews escaping from Roman persecution in 1st Century and Saint Brendan the Irish Monk in 6th Century. But none of these have generated greater debate and controversy than the notion that the Chinese arrived in North America in the 5th Century.

Hui Shen -
could he have
discovered America

Joseph De Guignes, a French historian, published 'Recherches sur les Navigations des Chinois du Cote de l' Amerique' in 1761, providing evidence that an unknown Buddhist Monk named Hui Shen sailed east from the East coast of China travelling 20,000 li to reach a place called Fusang. 20,000 Li is equivalent to today’s distance between Shanghai and California across the Pacific ocean. In an 18th Century map provided by Guigneas, this place Fusang was located North Coast of California. Further supporting evidence of this journey was found in the records of a 7th Century 'Book of Liang' by Yao Silian describing an existing Bronze Age civilization in Fusang.

By 1885, a good 3 years before the statue erected at Barcelona, Edward P. Vining published his book 'An inglorious Columbus: Evidence that Hui Shan and a Party of Buddhist Monks from Afghanistan Discovered America in the fifth Century'. In his eight-hundred page book he went further and provided detail evidence of Hui Shen's journey, further re-igniting the debate started in 1761.

There are certainly no shortage of evidence refuting Columbus' purported discovery, yet despite these overwhelming evidence the annals of history still bestow the first-discovery honor on this man.

We can see why history as we now know it is both myopic and euro-centric. Perhaps it is only written for Western consumption. 

I wish my history teacher knew about this, then at least I would be spared from this lifetime myth that is still being told in schools.

We live in a small world

If we went back to basics and see each other without modern filters - we are  all the same. 

The new generation of Chinese world citizens

My Aussie friend has his signal on waiting to turn right into the only parking spot. Its Saturday morning and empty spots are precious in this busy shopping centre. Without warning, from the opposite direction a Mercedes deliberately spins left into the spot stealing it from under my friend's nose.

A Chinese lady, in her 50s, steps out, locks her car and nonchalantly walks away from the crime scene. Her bling blouse that color-clashes with her skirt and handbag, is a dead giveaway of her origins - mainland China.

This lady looks like she is on a definite winner-take-all mission. Her botoxed face suggests a no-nonsense person who has no time for niceties nor pleasantries and if she could take advantage of a situation she would, regardless of ethics or social norms.

Unfortunately, this is the image embedded in the minds of many Aussies when it comes to mainland Chinese.

"Bloody rude Chinese drivers. They are always like that" muttered my friend ignoring that I am also a Chinese seated next to him.

We can understand that each country has its own social norms, which may be practiced only within that culture but there are acceptable universal standards which seem to be missing in this lady with the Mercedes. Perhaps in her own way she felt that driving a luxury car gives her divine rights to export her rudeness or the mistaken idea that wealth commands respect.

My friend's comment this morning starts me thinking about my Chinese-ness, yet again.

Well for a start I would not deploy such a cruel guerrilla tactic when it comes to finding a parking spot. Nor would I partake in a common practice of public self-massage and shouting into the mobile. When it comes to expectorating publicly that would be a definite no. I value my personal space as much as basic social politeness and certainly does not subscribe to a common mainland attitude towards traffic lights: green means go and red means go even faster.

Given the above I must be different to this general image of a mainland Chinese. Having spent the last 40 years in Australia might be the reason. Or perhaps my non-China birthplace might have something to do with it.

But the question remains, why are so many mainland Chinese today seem to be devoid of basic social politeness?

More importantly what has happened to this cultural behemoth that prides itself with 5000-years of culture? What happened to the people who gave the world the fork; gunpowder; compass; paper; printing press; money; silk; tea; porcelain; Daoism; Confucianism and even soccer? What happened to the practice of humility that has been embedded into the national psyche of Chinese people for thousands of years? I also wonder what Confucius would say about this morning's disorderly incident?

Perhaps the answer might be found in 19th century China when the Qing dynasty quivered between adopting western ideas and maintaining the traditional closed-door policy when dealing with the world.

China's last imperial dynasty the Qing dynasty, entered the 19th century rocked by internal rebellion and the incursion of foreign powers. The first hundred and ten years of the century would turn out to be the darkest years for the Middle Kingdom. The country imploded under the exploitive forces of foreign powers as well as internal political upheaval, civil war and natural disasters. By the end of the century between 20 to 50 million, mainly civilians died of starvation, opium addiction and injuries from warfare. The international status of the Middle Kingdom deteriorated from the 'Exotic, Cultured and Wealthy nation' into the 'Sick man of Asia'.

The 20th century was no different. It started with the plague in north China as well as floods wiping out more than 10-12 million people. By the time the Qing dynasty fell in the early 20th century, emerging Chinese nationalism threw the country into yet another 70 years of political, economic and social turmoil which exacted further suffering and death to millions more of its people. Internal civil war followed by the second Sino-Japanese War subjected the nation to further inhumane suffering. By mid-century a new form of government replaced China's 2000 years of continuous dynastic rule.

By the 1960s the people of China had endured almost 200 years of incessant change, turmoil, death, starvation and humiliation especially by foreign powers.  Then to add further misery and pain the entire nation was plunged into further ten years of forced cultural reform. By the time this reform ran its full course in 1976 the last remnants of ancient China together with its traditional culture, philosophy, art and values were eradicated. In this void, a cultural and social ground zero existed inhabited by rebellious youth devoid of compassion, religious beliefs, traditional philosophy and basic trust among humans.

The suffering endured by the people of China between 1800 and 1976 was unmatched by any disasters, man-made or natural, in the modern world. A nation cannot withstand such a catastrophic assault and for such a long time without having an impact on the psyche of its people.

Testimony to the resilience of the Chinese people, after 230 years of turmoil and practically closed to the world, by 1978 the Middle Kingdom finally emerged with a re-branded identity. With a more pragmatic leader the country was now ready to kick start its economy and deal with the world. This first generation of global business men and women leading the country's industrialization would now be aged between 40s and 50s. Being new global citizens these first wave of Chinese entrepreneurs had to re-learn unfamiliar international ways and universal acceptable behaviours from scratch - one mistake at a time.

This lady in her Mercedes might just be one of these off springs from the new generation.

Fortunately, with the resilience of this cultural behemoth backed by the strength of 5000 years of culture there may still be hope. From this perspective, the impact of the last two centuries would merely be a rain drop in the ocean.

"Why are the Chinese so rude?" my friend's question brings me back to reality. He has a perplexed look.

"Lets talk over coffee" as we walk into the shopping centre.

If I saw the lady in her Mercedes again I would value the opportunity to somehow let her know that there are so much to learn about this brave new world. I would ask her to go forth and be successful but do it by embracing new universal standards and be an acceptable part of this generation of world citizens.

This is what I would say to her and her children.

"Good luck - my friend. 200 years out of 5000 years is not enough to fundamentally change you. Showcase the product of 4800 years and treat the experience of the last two centuries as a software update for the new and cultured Chinese. You now represent the new generation of Chinese global citizen"

The Opium Wars - the poppy that created a new nation.

The events that led to the two Opium Wars in China had its genesis in Bengal, India. Who would have known that the poppy flower would cause an end to the 2000-year dynastic rule in China and created a new nation with a new identity.

In the 18th century, Europe’s fascination for tea, silk and porcelain from China created a one-way trade between the two regions in favor of China. Insatiable demand for tea alone by England had severely depleted the British Empire's stockpile of silver dollars. To avoid a financial meltdown the responsibility was given to the British East India Company (EIC), a joint-venture trading company backed by the Monarchy, to find a solution.

The EIC’s answer was to use opium from Bengal in lieu of paying silver dollars.

After engineering the breakup of the Indian Moghul Empire, the EIC had its first major success in India by conquering Bengal in 1757 giving them monopoly over the lucrative crop – opium.

Unlike England, the importation and use of opium was not legal in China, but this was not going to stop the EIC. The company was determined to find a way to sell the banned substance to China. With a population of 300 million, more than 20 times the size of England, the sale of opium to China represented a great opportunity to address the rapidly depleting silver dollars in the British treasury.

The only way to get around the ban was resort to smuggling. To remain respectable the company outsourced this despicable activity to a network of EIC-sponsored distributors and traders; one of the largest in-country trader was Jardine.

EIC’s opium-filled cargo ships (equipped with long range cannons) would land on Lintin, a small uninhibited island south of China (just off Guangzhou or Canton). It was from this island that local in-country distributors moved the illegal substance ashore under the watchful eye of EIC's cargo warships anchored within striking distance of the mainland.

By 1831, the value of opium smuggled into China was two-and-a-half times that of tea – quickly reversing the trade imbalance between the countries. EIC became the largest government sponsored drug trafficker and smuggler in the world.

Quite apart from the financial drain, the devastating effects of opium addiction on the Chinese

population forced the Qing Emperor to send his proven General, Lin Zexu to stop opium smuggling in southern China. Following a ruthless anti-opium campaign General Lin not only stopped smuggling activities, he drove the traffickers from Lintin island (Neilingding Island), confiscated and destroyed their stockpile of illegal drugs. EIC and Jardine Co moved further south east to another uninhibited island Hong Kong. It was here they planned their next move.

The confiscated opium and cessation of smuggling activities severely affected the fortunes of the shareholders of EIC and Jardine. As a result they sent a representative to lobby the British parliament asking for British military aid to help them recoup their losses from China.

With the support of the Monarchy and her parliament, the British sent an armada of warships, 4,000 Scottish, Irish and Indian troops and bombarded a number of seaports leading up to Canton (Guangzhou) in retribution for the "wrongs" inflicted on British smugglers by the Chinese general. The first Opium War had started without a declaration of war or warning from the British armada.

The cannons that the Chinese had were only aimed at one fixed position and were no match for the flexible and long-range cannons mounted on fast moving British warships. With superior and flexible fire power, the British successfully carried out a series of attacks on a number of Chinese cities laying to ruins each one of them. British soldiers pillaged and burned towns as they moved up the eastern seaboard and demanded “protection money” in return for immunity from further bombardment. By the time the armada reached Nanking (Nanjing) – the Emperor admitted defeat.

By 1842 the Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) was signed. Amongst the list of demands by the British were retribution for the cost of waging the war; compensation for the destroyed opium and ceding Hong Kong sovereignty to the British. In addition the Chinese were to legalise opium.

Having seen the destructive force of opium on its population, the Chinese agreed to all other demands except the legalization of opium. The result was the second Opium War.

But this time the British were joined by the French and together they unleashed their joint naval and military might on the royal imperial capital itself – Beijing. When the capital fell, French and British troops looted the Summer Palace and desecrated many sacred sites within the city generally creating fear and havoc among the defenseless citizens.

As a result of the relentless bombardment, looting and senseless destruction of imperial palaces, the Emperor had no choice but agree to legalize opium. With the last bastion of resistance gone large scale opium production built by the British mushroomed in the country. Parallel to this the occupying British forces gained a stronghold on the economy by controlling Chinese customs and trade. By the end of the 19th century, China’s trade with Britain had increased to more than 60% of the country’s total trade – China sold silk, tea and porcelain to the British in exchange for opium.

It was conservatively estimated that by the end of the century, 30-40 million people were addicted to opium. Starvation, poverty and social decay followed starting a 60-year period of slow and painful death for the entire nation. To add to the suffering, seven other foreign powers joined in to carve a niche for themselves. Knowing that the country was now emasculated by mass opium addiction the USA, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Japan, Russia and France used their superior military machinery to gain territorial rights within the country.

Besieged by a decaying nation the Qing dynasty finally fell and for the first time in the 2000-year dynastic history, China stood at the precipice of being broken up into pieces and distributed among the foreign powers stationed in the country.

This was the darkest moment for the country.

But the resilience of this cultural behemoth stood the test of time. The humiliation and suffering inflicted on the Chinese for almost 100 years by foreign powers gave China the all important wake up call. The call shaped an emerging nationalism that would soon set the foundation for the birth of a new country with a new political identity.

Although the drug traffickers won the war they lost a nation by providing the needed impetus for the country to finally stand up. The poppy flower indeed has woken up this 5000-year old tiger and now it is about to pounce.