Published:
15.05.2006
The Island of Seven Cities: Where
the Chinese Settled When They Discovered America
Library Journal
Joan W. Gartland
In contrast to its epic title,
this is a personal account of the author's own research
into a stone road he found on his native Cape Breton
Island, Canada. Chiasson, an architect, was driven
by intellectual curiosity, his family's Acadian ancestry,
and his awareness that he was living with HIV and might
not have the time or energy to complete the project.
Writing in a modest style, he describes his research
into early sources (500 years of maps and written records),
his visits to the stone road and ruins on the mountaintop
of Cape Dauphin, and aerial photography, all leading
him to the conclusion that the ruins are those of a
Chinese settlement established during the Ming dynasty
in the early 15th century, well ahead of John Cabot's
European discovery of the island in 1497. He posits
that the Chinese may have been in search of coal or
gold. Realizing the magnitude of his hypothesis, he
reviews his evidence again and again, comparing similarities
in culture between Cape Breton's indigenous Mi'kmaq
and the Chinese, highlighting the architectural features
of the ruins, and identifying Cape Breton Island with
the fabled Island of Seven Cities, supposedly inhabited
and predating Columbus and Cabot. Finally, he met with
Gavin Menzies (1421: The Year China Discovered America
), who visited the site and concurred with Chiasson
that it was a pre-European Chinese settlement. It remains
for archaeologists and experts in Chinese history and
culture to validate Chiasson's findings, but the book
stands as a fascinating piece of historical detective
work. Essential for readers of1421 , whatever their
beliefs, and for lay readers in general. - Joan W.
Gartland, Detroit P.L.
