Chinese Treasure Fleet Adventures of Zheng He Documentary

China STA
Published on Dec 7, 2013

Great Voyages: Zheng He

Penn Museum
Published on Oct 10, 2013

Dr. Adam Smith, Assistant Curator, Asian Section, kicks off the 2013–2014 “Great Lectures” series. This year’s theme: Great Voyages. Zheng He, a Muslim-born eunuch, is the most famous of the men that led the spectacular maritime expeditions of the Ming Dynasty, mounted during the early 15th century as an assertion of China’s power and prestige among neighboring peoples of Southeast Asia. Dr. Smith discusses Zheng He’s seven voyages, which reached beyond Southeast Asia to India, the Middle East, and the east coast of Africa over three decades—half a century before Portuguese navigators reached these same regions via the Cape of Good Hope.

The Conundrum of Admiral Zheng He and Christopher Columbus

Jeremy Lent
Jeremy Lent
Published on Apr 23, 2014
In the 15th century, a massive Chinese armada of over 300 ships led by Admiral Zheng He traversed half the world, impressing populations in Africa, Arabia and Southeast Asia with its magnificence.

Later that century, Christopher Columbus landed in the New World with three dingy boats, all of which could have fit comfortably in one of Zheng’s.

Zheng’s fleet had virtually no impact on history. Columbus’ transformed the world, marking the beginning of our modern world order.

Why the difference? This presentation suggests the underlying cause for these different outcomes is to be found in the cognitive differences between the two cultural complexes of China and Europe, with two contrasting views of power.

These differences help us to understand the current cognitive structures that drive our civilization’s trajectory today.

I presented this at the Joint Meeting of the California and Northwest World History Association at UC Berkeley in February 2014.

The material is taken from a chapter of my book in process called “The Patterning Instinct: A Cognitive History of Humanity’s Search For Meaning.”

More information at http://jeremylent.com

Frontline – Putin’s Revenge

abrantino
Published on Oct 26, 2017

FRONTLINE tells the inside story of how Vladimir Putin came to see the United States as an enemy — and why he decided to target an American election. See part 2 here – https://youtu.be/CseelcF16GA

abrantino
Published on Nov 2, 2017

See part 1 here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pWAL…

The Troublesome Legacy of Columbus: Look Out ! What Are We Celebrating?

YouTube Version

See also:

• Drawing the Wrong Conclusions – An Anthropologist Looks at History: Cultural Mistakes Since 1492 -The “Frontier” Metaphor & the Myth of Endless Growth