Mark your calendars and brace yourselves. On Thursday, Liu Gang, Gavin Menzies and company are holding an invitation-only media briefing in Beijing, where they will announce the carbon-dating test results for Liu Gang’s map, which they believe is a copy of a map that proves that the Chinese discovered the world in 1418. (If you’ve been following this story, you will, like me, expect that they will announce that it’s 18th-century paper; how this “proves” it’s an 18th-century copy of a 15th-century map is still to be seen.) Liu will, apparently, issue a point-by-point rebuttal of the map’s criticisms; others will testify as to why they believe it’s genuine. This is going to be fun. Or messy. Or both. Via MapHist.

See previous entry: A Look Back at the Chinese Map Controversy.