'There are those who affirm that there are more Vessels in China than in all the rest of the known World. This will seem incredible to many Europeans, but I, who have not seen the eighth part of the Vessels in China, and have travel'd a great part of the World, do look upon it as most certain.' Domingo de Navarrete in 1669 Tratados Historicos, Politicos, Ethicos y Religiosos de la Monarchia de China One of the most extraordinary men in China's long history was born in 1030, during the Song Dynasty. His name was Shen Gua and he spent his life as a military commander, director of hydraulic works, ambassador to Xi Xia and as a chancellor of the Han-Lin Academy.
In about 1086 he wrote a wonderful book called the Meng Qi Bi Tan (The Dream Pool Essays). This work contains the first written account in the world of the magnetic compass.
Even with the knowledge of the compass, China did not immediately embark on a campaign of exploration. Indeed, not only did China wait a few hundred years, but when the time came for China's greatest navigator to explore the world, he did so for only a handful of voyages and then both he and they stopped. The navigator was the eunuch Zheng He who sailed at the beginning of the 15th century.
Following his voyages a large number of books, or rutters, was written on martime affairs. One such rutter is a curious book that exists as a manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
It is titled Shun Feng Xiang Song (Fair Winds for Escort) and was probably written in 1430, about the time that Zheng stopped sailing.
The book tells sailors some of the things they may find, including a group of small islands we know today as the Diaoyu Islands.