1717 hrs August 29th 2005

Went with Ms X

to the 1421 Zheng He exhibition.

All the fanfare

about how great

the Chinese civilisation was,

how they conquered the oceans,

and discovered America,

drew maps of uncharted territories

almost 100 years

before the Europeans.

How Zheng He's BaoChuan

was 5 times bigger

than Columbus.

Compelling evidences

that Zheng He

visited New Zealand,

before Captain Cook.

Sailed Magellan Straits

before Magellan.

Built a Chinese fortress

in Nova Scotia.

Well, it sure puffed up

some Chinese egos.

I however,

felt depressed.

OK, we were light years

ahead of Western Civilisation

600 years ago.

We were brave

we were smart.

Then,

tell me,

with such a head start,

how the hell did we fall

so far behind

the West?

To me,

1421 is not about

how great the Chinese were,

but how we fucked up

as a people.