S04: Junk History

Misinformation and China

January 12, 2026

Landing of Christopher Columbus

John Vanderlyn, Landing of Columbus, John Vanderlyn, Oil on canvas, 12’ x 18’, 1847, Capitol Rotunda

Key Questions

Zheng He fleet on Chinese postage stamps
  • Who is Zheng He? Did he reach America before Columbus?
  • Zheng He as myth: Has China always been a peace loving country?
  • Pseudo history: Why are “fake histories” so popular?

Decline of the Mongol Empire

  • Internal disputes and weak leadership after Kublai Khan’s death in 1294.
  • External pressures and natural disasters, like the Black Death, played a role.
  • The empire broke into four separate khanates, weakened by internal conflicts and rebellions.
  • The Yuan Dynasty fell in 1368, and other khanates fragmented later.

First Emperor of Ming Dynasty

Emperor Hongwu of Ming (1328-1398, r. 1368-1398)
  • Born in 1328 in a poor peasant family, he became a monk and lived in a Buddhist monastery.
  • In the 1350s, he joined the Red Turban Rebellion, which aimed to overthrow the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.
  • In 1368, he successfully captured the Yuan capital, Dadu (modern-day Beijing), marking the end of the Yuan dynasty.
  • He implemented various reforms, including land redistribution, but was also known for his harsh treatment of officials and suppression of dissent.

Succession Crisis

Palace portrait of Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di, 1360-1424) on a hanging scroll, kept in the National Palace Museum in Taipei
  • Zhu Yuanzhang initially appointed his eldest son as crown prince, who predeceased him in 1392.
  • By the rules of primogeniture, he named the next eldest, Zhu Yunwen, as heir apparent.
  • Zhu Yunwen became the Jianwen emperor in 1398, disappointing his uncle, Zhu Di, Zhu Yuanzhang’s fourth son.
  • Zhu Di took military control of the north and initiated a three-year civil war against his nephew.
  • In 1402, Zhu Di captured Nanjing, burned down the imperial palace, then ascended the throne as the Yongle emperor.

Emperor Yongle: Reign of “Eternal Happiness”

What should the new emperor do to legitimate his rule?

Palace portrait of Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di, 1360-1424) on a hanging scroll, kept in the National Palace Museum in Taipei

Legitimating Power: Moving the Capital

Layout of the Forbidden City
  • The Yongle emperor preferred the north over Nanjing, where support for his deposed nephew was strong.
  • He declared Beijing the capital and moved his government there in 1420 after rechanneling the Grand Canal to connect Hangzhou with Beijing.

Legitimating Power: Maritime Expeditions

Shen Du, Giraffe, National Palace Museum, Taipei
  • Zheng He (1371-1433), a Muslim eunuch, six large-scale expeditions between 1407 and 1422 to Southeast Asia, India, and Africa, a century before Columbus and da Gama.

Zheng He’s Fleet

Zheng He’s fleet on Chinese postage stamps
  • The Ming fleet featured advanced boatbuilding technology: watertight compartments for repairs while sailing.
  • Zheng He’s fleet had 317 ships, much larger than Columbus’s four, with treasure ships over 60 meters long and capable of carrying 2,200 metric tons.
  • Zheng He’s navy had 28,000 men, including specialists like astrologers, judges, translators, and 180 medical staff.
  • Chinese ships were often ten times larger than European ones in size, crew, and equipment.

Zheng He voyages

Map of Zheng He voyages

Gavin Menzies Triology

1421

1434

The Lost Empire of Atlantis: History’s Greatest Mystery Revealed

Gavin Menzies

Gavin Menzies (1937-2020)
  • What is Menzies’ main argument?
  • What evidence did he present? How did he present it?
  • How did he respond to his critics and skeptics?
  • What explains the popularity of his books?
  • How can one debunk “fake histories”? Are they effective?

Zheng He and Belt and Road Initative

Map of Zheng He voyages

Map of Belt and Road Initiative, ca. 2018

Zheng He as Myth

Zheng He as Myth

  • Why is China keen to promote Zheng He as a friendly emissary? What is at stake?

Zheng He in History

Statue of Zheng He in Kunming, Yunnan

Discuss: Zheng He’s Biography in Mingshi

  • Describe Zheng He’s mission.
  • What is the source, “Mingshi (Official History of Ming)”? How does it shape what we know (or don’t know) about Zheng He?

Zheng He: Ambivalent Figure

  • Zheng He’s crew did commit some atrocities against local populations.
  • At the same time, military actions were exceptions, as the Chinese were hesitant to conquer cultures they considered less civilized and far removed from their own.
  • The Ming dynasty focused on nearby regions like the Mongols and Vietnamese, who were familiar with Chinese culture.

Zheng He vs. Christopher Columbus

Zheng He Christopher Columbus
Sailed for diplomatic reasons, asserting Ming authority and securing tribute from states. Sailed for commercial reasons, aiming to establish trade links with Asia, especially China.
His state-sponsored expeditions included a military presence to ensure local compliance. Funded by the Spanish monarchy, partly using money from the expulsion of Jews in 1492.
Reached unvisited places to add them to China’s tributary states, not to “discover” them. Often credited with “discovering” the Americas, though his main goal was trade, not exploration.
Voyages ended in 1433 with the death of the Yongle Emperor; defense shifted back to the North. Marked the start of sustained European exploration and colonization in the Americas.

Zheng He’s Voyages: Endings (and New Beginnings)

  • After the Yongle emperor’s death in 1424, Chinese voyages were paused, with only one final expedition allowed in 1433, the year Zheng He died.
  • Shift its focus away from maritime activities.
  • Seven years later, the first Portuguese arrived in Ming.

Mongol Threat (Again): Tumu Crisis

  • After the Yongle emperor’s death, Esen unified the Oirats, a Mongol faction, and in 1449, they battled the Ming troops at Tumu.
  • Emperor Zhengtong, who became emperor at age eight, was held hostage and deposed.
  • After the Mongol victory in 1449, Ming foreign policy permanently shifted to view the Mongolian border as the main threat, while minimizing concerns about dangers from overseas.

Tribute and Trade

  • While banning private maritime trade, the Ming court allowed for official tribute trade, albeit within tight diplomatic control, requiring envoys from various regions (Philippines, Japan, Indonesia) to enter through specific ports (Fuzhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou).
  • The court imposed restrictions on the size and frequency of diplomatic missions: e.g. limiting Japanese embassies to one visit every ten years with no more than two ships and three hundred men.

New Myth: A Closed China

  • Inward turn in Ming
  • Closed to the West until the Opium War (1839-1842)

Piracy and Smuggling

Japanese wokou pirates
  • Piracy was widespread along the coasts of Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang provinces in the 16th century, involving all levels of coastal society, including fishermen, sailors, merchants, and gentry.
  • By the late 16th century, a vibrant international East Asian maritime trading community emerged in the sixteenth century, involving Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and Chinese merchants.
  • The high profits from maritime trade led to both legal and clandestine trading activities along the coast.

New World Silver

  • The influx of silver into China surged after the first shipments from the New World arrived in Asia.
  • Spanish galleons transported silver from the New World to the Philippines, where Chinese merchants traded goods like tea, porcelain, and silk.
  • It is estimated that between 1570 and 1600, around 7.5% of silver output from Peruvian mines reached China, equating to eight times China’s own silver stocks.

Ming China in the World

A View of China

A Chinese Dish

A View of China

Delftware is a type of Chinoiserie: Western art, furniture, and architecture imitating Chinese styles and motifs. It is less bright and detailed in decoration.

Delft dish

Jingdezhen porcelain

Ming in the World: A Map

Ming China’s contact with the world

Pseudo-history

Gavin Menzies (1937-2020)
  • What is pseudo-history?
  • Why is Zheng He’s story a good candidate for falsification?
  • What makes pseudo-histories attractive?

Pseudo-history in the Age of Social Media

Professional historians have worked to separate sensible, evidence-based interpretations from fanciful stories, but the public enjoys engaging stories that resonate with their identities.

  • What kind of pseudo-histories have you encountered? What explains their appeal?
  • Do new media and their platforms exacerbate pseudo-histories? How?
  • What should scholars do? What should the public do?