A chained male monkey in a costume and wearing a toy mask performs at a street in Depok, West Java, Indonesia, 30 September 2021. A performing monkey in a street, known as “Topeng Monyet” (lit. Monkey Mask), is a popular form of cheap entertainment in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java. (Photo by Adi Weda/EPA/EFE)

Supporters of Lebanese President Michel Aoun hold up a giant Lebanese flag as he delivers a speech outside the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, October 30, 2022. Aoun left Lebanon's presidential palace Sunday marking the end of his six-year term without a replacement, leaving the small nation in a political vacuum that is likely to worsen its historic economic meltdown. (Photo by Bilal Hussein/AP Photo)

Miss California Crystal Lee performs during the Miss America 2014 pageant, Sunday, September 15, 2013, in Atlantic City, N.J. (Photo by Mel Evans/AP Photo)

An ancient oak tree sits in a Shropshire field as the first signs of Spring begin to show across the United Kingdom on February 19, 2014 in Bridgnorth, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

An actor carries a cross as he plays the role of Jesus Christ in a re-enactment of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) during a Holy Week procession, in preparation for Good Friday celebrations, in Luque, Paraguay, on March 27, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter. (Photo by Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) is shot by would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square, 13th May 1981. His attendants help him into his white jeep after the incident. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A boat, center, is surrounded by Japan Cost Guard's patrol boats after some activists descended from the boat on Uotsuri Island, one of the islands of Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, in East China Sea Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Regional tensions flared on the emotional anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender as activists from China and South Korea used Wednesday's occasion to press rival territorial claims, prompting 14 arrests by Japanese authorities. The 14 people had traveled by boat from Hong Kong to the disputed islands controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. (Photo by Yomiuri Shimbun/Masataka Morita/AP Photo)

Do you think that history is a science? Well, not exactly. First, and foremost, history is the state's “legend of wars”, it’s official regalia. Of course, public historians are not interested in scientific truth – quite the opposite. In this respect, any attempt to present a state’s history as altruistic and benevolent as possible is welcomed and encouraged – as opposed to any revisionism attempts that may be more accurate. In this matter, Chinese have surpassed us all – they revised in highly creative manner (but rather shamelessly) the technology already invented by Europeans, a process that resulted in oldest state on the planet. Here is an interesting paradox: ask any sinologist about the Middle Kingdom during second century B.C., and he will describe it to you in such a vivid manner as if he has been living there all his life – but as soon as you will ask him to describe Chinese history in the 19-20th centuries… let's say, his eagerness will be greatly diminished. However, we will discuss China in a different article, and in the meantime we will try to understand how exactly historic “legend of wars” is formed and functions – based on a specific and well-known example. A great example is Ferdinand Magellan's first voyage around the world.