The 1421 Foundation - July 2024 update

On July 11th, 1405, 619 years ago, under the orders of the Ming Emperor Zhu Di, Admiral Zheng He set out on a series of exploratory trade and diplomatic missions. Today we celebrate his pioneering feats, and wish you a happy "Zheng He Day"!

Last month, Ian Hudson had a fantastic trip to Hong Kong. He gave a talk at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, kindly organised by friend of 1421, Malcolm Brocklebank. There were about 40 guests in attendance, including 1421 Foundation Founding Director, Frank Lee. Hudson’s talk was entitled "1421 and Beyond: Rethinking Pre-Columbian Global Exploration". It was great to see some friendly faces, and meet new fans of 1421, and he discussed new discoveries from the last decade since Who Discovered America? was first published. If you are interested in getting Ian to come and talk about his research on Zheng He and all things 1421 at one of your events or perhaps on a podcast, please get in touch!

Ian then had a series of positive meetings with friends of 1421, including Johnny Chan who has developed the 1421 wine brand over the last 15 years. Although we are in no way affiliated with ‘1421 wine’ it was fantastic to meet with Chan and hear of his plans for “the world’s first traceable Chinese wine” and how its story complements ours.

Ian also met with the delightful Sulia Chan, President of the Zheng He Society of New York, and Fausto Guimarães, a Brazilian scholar and author of From the Shan Hai Jing to the epic journeys of Admiral Zheng He in the XV century. They are planning some wonderful ways to celebrate Zheng He in the future, and we look forward to discussing these events with you soon.

The Menzies Memorial Scholar

In 2020 we pledged funds to the Menzies Memorial Scholar, who started her undergraduate studies in Hong Kong. Her major was China Studies and she aims to become a professional researcher in early Chinese voyages to the Americas. During her undergraduate studies, she achieved a 3.78 of 4.0 GPA with a First Class honours, and made the dean’s list every year. Additionally, she won the Outstanding Achievement scholarship and the Outstanding Performance scholarship, awarded by the Hong Kong Education Bureau, three years in a row. She is now trying to pursue a masters degree, but we need your help - are you able to make a donation to the Menzies Memorial Scholarship so we can assist her in her ongoing studies?

The Baby Buddha - Fuxi International 2024 Spring Auction

The time has come! Our favourite Baby Buddha is due to be auctioned on July 15th at Fuxi International Auction House. You can view the auction page here (you might need to try a variety of browsers.) We have noted with excitement the number of views it’s been receiving, compared to other items in the auction, and we are hoping for a fantastic result. The beautiful figurine will be on display at the Shangri-La Hotel for two days on the 12th & 13th July, with the auction being held on Monday 15th July. The team from “Antiques Roadshow” are flying over for the event, and we eagerly await the day!

Are you interested in learning more? Get in touch!

As always, we are excited about what the future holds for the 1421 Foundation. Should you have any comments or queries about our work, we would love to hear from you. Should you have any interesting research projects which might merit our assistance, please get in touch. Lastly, as always, any help you can provide, be it through advice, expertise or a financial donation, is always hugely appreciated.

Warm regards

Ian and the team

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