According to a new book, it was a Chinese ambassador that sparked the Renaissance. Gavin Menzies, a British amateur historian, claims that a 1434 Chinese fleet voyage included encyclopedias of unknown technology to Italy. The material was presented to Pope Eugenius IV and the rest was history… on not.
By comparing pre-1430 Chinese books with Leonardo da Vinci’s famous illustrations, Menzies finds similarities that point to a connection between the two cultures. He supposes that designs from the encyclopedias eventually made their way into the hands of da Vinci.
Leonardo basically redrew everything in three dimensions, which made a vast improvement.
Not surprisingly, the book has created some controversy, with some scholars dismissing Menzies claim of there being a Chinese fleet, and others shunning the concept of the sharing of information entirely.
However, as we can see in something as simple as the noodle, good ideas simply make their way to other peoples. The Arabs, Italians and Chinese all lay claim to the origin of noodles, but a recent discover gives the Chinese a heads up in that race, with 4,000 year old noodles recently discovered.
As for flight, or weapons, or other ancient marvels? That winged circle above is a design for a bomb from the Song Dynasty (960-1279, CE). And of course, don’t forget that Bamboo Dragonfly toy.
Greetings,
Our polite, ethnocentric, and very well managed history already leaves out a lot of important influences on the Italian Renaissance such as neoplatonism and Moorish alchemy. These are sources that we don’t wish most people to consider, particularly when it comes to controversial minds like Leonardo, who has left us so many puzzling clues to his real opinions.
If Venice or Florence had visiting Chinese scholars they would most likely have been staying among Italian hermeticists, protected by some enlightened ruling family.
Want another surprise?…take a look at this:
http://divertimentodavinci.blogspot.com/
“It’s called: “Do You See Leonardo da Vinci’s Hidden Penis?” and it shows one example of how Leonardo snuck naughty images into his religious art, despite his Church handlers’ most diligent scrutiny.
I’m sure we still have a lot more to learn about Leonardo and the astounding explosion of Renaissance thought that accompanied him.
Its no “controversy” when its a well known fact that Macro Polo, a traveller from Italy. When to China and stayed there for a long time, learnt their cultures and traditions, brought them back to Italy. Among those cultures are foods which is now known as “pizza” and “spaghetti”, and the other surprising food is ice cream.