Great Mariner --- Admiral Zheng He

June 6, 1999, Sunday
1492: The Prequel
By Nicholas D. Kristof
Source: The New York Times
Section: Magazine Desk
4748 words

Abstract

Nicholas D Kristof article on ancient Chinese mariners who sailed world long before Columbus, and mystery of why Europeans, and not Chinese came to dominate faraway lands; traces life of Admiral Zheng He, great mariner of early 1400's, who sailed to East Africa with great armada that could easily have reached America, but turned back, missing grand opportunity that laid groundwork for rise of Europe and, eventually, America; recalls how Europeans, dreaming of wealth, pushed outward in 15th century, while Chinese and Indians looked inward, devoted to past and suspicious of new ideas; journey to tiny East African island of Pate finds remote Famao villagers whose eyes, hair and complexions hint at Asian ancestry, and whose legends tell of shipwrecked Chinese sailors who stayed and married local women; photos; map (L)