Photo taken on September 19, 2015 shows a baby Brazilian opossum at the “Parque Estoril” zoo in Sao Bernardo do Campo of Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to local press, the “Parque Estoril” zoo houses currently 23 orphan cubs of wild animals rescued in the south region of Sao Paulo, victims of illegal wildlife trade or problems caused by urban growth. According to the zoo, all the animals arrived in the last three months, and many of them, not being able to be reintroduced to their natural habitat, will be used as examples in environmental education classes. (Photo by Rahel Patrasso/Xinhua via ZUMA Wire)

Two women enjoy drinks outside a pub in the soho area of central London on November 4, 2020, on the eve of a second novel coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown in an effort to combat soaring infections. English pubs call last orders at the bar for a month on Wednesday evening, as the country effectively shuts down from November 5, for the second time this year to try to cut coronavirus cases. Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted that the lockdown for England would end “automatically” in four weeks, as he tried to placate party critics over the spiralling economic fallout. (Photo by Stephen Lock/i-Images)

After a long time renovation project, the old town in Taiyuan city which was founded in 1357, finally lights up and opens to public in Taiyuan City, north China's Shanxi Province, 23 November 2020. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A government employee reacts as she is sprayed with disinfectant before entering a government office building to curb the spread of COVID-19 on March 19, 2020 in Pasig city, Metro Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has sealed off Luzon, the country's largest and most populous island, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Land, sea, and air travel has been suspended, while government work, schools, businesses, and public transportation have been ordered shut in a bid to keep some 55 million people at home. The Philippines' Department of Health has so far confirmed 217 cases of the new coronavirus in the country, with at least 17 recorded fatalities. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

This aerial photo shows bullet trains parked at a station in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year travel peak in Nanjing, in eastern China's Jiangsu province on January 27, 2021, as authorities have encouraged people to stay put during the Spring Festival to curb the spread of of COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

In this February 22, 2021, file photo, climate activist Disha Ravi, 22, travels in a car as she is taken to a court in New Delhi, India. To her friends, Ravi, was most concerned about her future in a world where temperatures are rising. But her life changed last month as she became a household name in the country, dominating news coverage after police charged her with sedition, a colonial-era law which carries a sentence up to life. Her alleged crime: sharing an online document to help amplify months-long farmer protests in India on Twitter. She was released after 10 days in custody. (Photo by Dinesh Joshi/AP Photo/File)

Viking re-enactors representing the rival armies of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons skirmish near Clifford’s Tower during the Jorvik Viking Festival on February 23, 2019 in York, England. The annual Jorvik Viking Festival held in York is recognised as the largest event of its kind in Europe. This year the festival remembers the role that the Viking women played during those turbulent times. (Photo by Christopher Thomond/The Guardian)

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.