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送交者: sikao 于 January 20, 2006 18:53:39:
回答: 一份破绽百出的地图摹本 由 jgp 于 January 17, 2006 06:52:52:
Losing face… for a Map?!
António de Saldanha
Jin Guo Ping
Scientific world is in the border of a turmoil. The self-called “discovery” of Mr. Liu Gang --- the “1418 map” --- is raising an intense discussion among historians from all over the world. At stake the possibility to claim to China and from the traditional “discoverers” (Portugal, Spain and England) the glory of having mapped the world in a modern way as early as the early XV century.
We will not discuss the (rather dubious) authenticity of a document cast in the shadow of the imperial archives, mysteriously unknown to generations and generations of Ming and Qing scholars. Actually nothing is yet decided about that authenticity because until now the only credentials Mr. Liu put on the table are totally produced on his side.
We ask only: is China prepared to lose face… for a map?! Serious scholars from all over the world are still laughing or asking themselves how was it possible that the Chinese scientific community had not the capacity or will to react to such a dubious story as that of Mr. Menzies, the man who recently --- in Da Vinci’s Code style --- made millions telling an absurd story about the travels of Chinese navigator Zheng He. And the main support of the “Zheng He’s Map” story is again Mr. Menzies.
Now. Is China – or Chinese political and cultural authorities – prepared to lose face allowing that a private assumes alone the responsibility of conducting this affair, an affair that risks to put Chinese scientific credibility in a very low level? Everybody knows (even if nobody says) that non-chinese sinology is in a way still dominated by the old creed that Chinese scholars are unprepared or “undeveloped” in what concerns the approach a few historical issues, namely those related to the knowledge of the “outer world”.
Should China allow the process goes rolling on without giving the opportunity of its own respected scholars to have a word on the affair or to call for an independent judgement that puts immediately a credible end to this party, we must be prepared for a big roar of laugh and unpredictable damages on the international credibility of Chinese scientific community to deal with its own history.
After videos, dvds, brand goods… maps?
written in Lisbon the 19/20th Jan 2006