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Scott, yes I saw the PBS special a week ago and they repeated it last night. I had missed the first part so I tuned in again. They did make it VERY CLEAR that Menzies' thesis (his book is packed, however with interesting tidbits on China in the early 15th century)is controversial and the evidence is highly questionable, but this is the kind of stuff I love.....mysteries....I would hope that my interest in other people and cultures will not put me on an "enemies" list as some kind of traitor. My mother, niece and her daughter, like me, love anthropology and archaeology, and the big finds as opposed to the necessary slogs of the daily digs are the lures. My dad and brother could have cared less. In the airport in Auckland, New Zealand there is a big archway commemorating the voyages of exploration of Cook and others and in one thrilling moment you feel like one of them even though you came by jet in 18 hours or so. My first bite at a junior college teaching position years ago was teaching Chinese (of which I knew zero) and British history. Now that I'm retired and have my eyes back by cataract surgeries, I've back at square one. I don't remember anything from Durant's volume on China, so I'll try the Temple book. I agree that what China does is relevant to PWP. Thanks Scott, Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Antes" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 7:00 AM Subject: Ray/Great Withdrawal > Hi Ray. I enjoyed the PBS special last night on 1421. Hope you did, > too. If you saw it, you'll have noticed that Menzies has no solid > evidence > for his theories, but that's not to say the Chinese didn't accomplish > more > than the rest of the world combined (at the time and for awhile > afterwards) > with regards to world exploration by sea. Amazon should have Temple's > book. I think that's where I got my copy, but it was a few years back. > If > they don't have it, try abebooks.com. They will have almost any book in > or > out of print. Scott (And yes, this whole Chinese business is relevant to > the PD world, for anyone who's wondering. You'll see.) > > At 11:12 AM 4/2/2006, you wrote: >>Scott, >> >>I was confused about the date of The Great Withdrawal, so thanks for >>clarifying. Thought death of Zhu Di in 1424 was a little early, and 3 >>years seemed a short time for visiting all those places (like Antarctica), >>but things seem to be happening fast now in our country with one ruler >>waging war on science. Yes, this is controversial and unproven as >>presented >>on PBS. It's an interesting book though. I think Gavin Menzies' >>assertion >>was based on the fact that China was the only country with a fleet capable >>of the circumnavigation of the earth necessary to produce those >>pre-Columbus >>maps. How much of the fleet really returned to China? Can I get Temple's >>book at Amazon.com? Thanks, Ray >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: "Scott E. Antes" <[log in to unmask]> >>To: <[log in to unmask]> >>Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 7:32 AM >>Subject: Re: Time to learn Mandarin > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn