A motorway bridge crosses the icy Hunhe River in Shenyang, China on December 12, 2019. (Photo by Costfoto/Barcroft Media)

A woman wearing a protective mask is seen behind a girl dressed in a Plague Doctor Mask in Western-Ukrainian city of Lviv, Ukraine, 22 March 2020. Ukrainian Designer Anastasia Markovska sewed protective masks looking like Plague Doctor Masks, the traditional costume of Venice Carnival, for herself and her friends due to the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In Ukraine had been 47 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including three deaths and one recovery as Ukraine's Health Ministry announced. (Photo by Pavlo Palamarchuk/EPA/EFE)

USA's Valarie Allman competes in the women's discus throw final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on July 20, 2022. (Photo by Ben Stansall/AFP Photo)

A woman holds an elderly woman on her back to cross a flooded street after a heavy rain in Shenyang, Liaoning province on July 14, 2017. (Photo by Fred Dufour/AFP Photo)

A volunteer tries out a protective suits for health workers, at the International Islamic University Malaysia in Gombak, outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday, April 10, 2020. The Malaysian government issued a restricted movement order to the public for the rest of the month to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus. (Photo by Vincent Thian/AP Photo)

An ambulance with emergency lights on makes its way through snowfall in Iowa, US on December 21, 2022. (Photo by Joseph Cress/AP Photo)

Two scavengers collect plastics in the Citarum river in Bandung, West Java on March 28, 2023. (Photo by Timur Matahari/AFP 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.