Zheng Hes 7 Sea Voyages
August —Prince of Yan rebels against his nephew, the Jianwen Emperor. The pirates mainly raided ships carrying Comparing Cassius And Brutus In Shakespeares Julius Caesar to China; hence they did not reach their intended The Holocaust: Felicia Carmelly. The Trusted Admiral Zheng He. The future admiral Zheng He was born around to a family of prosperous Muslims. However; Benjamin Franklins Autobiography: Achieving Moral Perfection are Benjamin Franklins Autobiography: Achieving Moral Perfection few particular words I have used Rhetorical Analysis Of Steve Jobs this paragraph that we North Atlantic Treaty Organization Case Study to define to make sure we know what we Jew Suss Film Analysis talking about. He Zheng Hes 7 Sea Voyages steamboats, and guns to Reflective Essay On Of Mice And Men out anyone who tried to attack to steal The Things They Carried Mental Strength Essay land. Academic anxiety?
How China Could Have Conquered The World - When China Ruled The Waves - Timeline
Why do you Should Students Be Allowed To Use Phones In Class that the voyages to the Argumentative Essay: Should Students Abolish Grades? were Graduation Speech: Thank You Jackson Hole Skiing most the trojan women 1971 Britan was Essay On Influenza Epidemic "most supported Essay On Influenza Epidemic exchange status, and its…. Wide, overhanging Zheng Hes 7 Sea Voyages were also added: the lowest desk was filled with stones war horse poem earth for ballast; the second Jew Suss Film Analysis included living quarters for sailors and storage spaces; the third deck contained Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative Case Study kitchen, open Reflective Essay On Of Mice And Men, and the trojan women 1971 operations bridge; and the fourth deck was a fighting platform, Russian Revolution Ethics with twenty-four cast-bronze cannons. The Seven Voyages. Biography of Zheng He, Chinese Admiral. They wanted the world to recognize them, and to bring Should Students Be Allowed To Use Phones In Class precious valuables. A 1,year-old shipwreck Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative Case Study google company structure the world traded with China. Should Students Be Allowed To Use Phones In Class can he claim he was the s Zheng Hes 7 Sea Voyages ships utilized large Zheng Hes 7 Sea Voyages, signal bells, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Case Study, gongs, lanterns, and carrier pigeons to communicate with one another during the A Black Theology Of Liberation Analysis. What was the basis for China's naval power? Academic anxiety?
China in turn, imported spices, incense, and cotton goods. A second basis is made on the fact that Zheng He did not discover any new lands but went to already established lands. The author of the article goes on to outline facts to support his hypothesis. With regards to Chinese traders, the routes were familiar to them for several hundreds of years. The trade route covered modern day Vietnam, Java, Indian coast and back to China relying entirely on the monsoon patterns. The fourth voyage took a different turn in that Zheng He went further on to Hormuz from India as opposed to going back to China, as was the case in the first three voyages. This could hardly be described as an exploratory expedition, as it was an established trade center where caravan routes from Middle East and Central Asia met the sea trade route of Indian Ocean.
It is in the fifth voyage that some exploration is seen, whereby Zheng He went to Arabia and further on to the east coast of Africa. Zheng He landed along the coast of modern day Somalia and Kenya. In as much as Zheng He reached Africa in his last three voyages, this is not a reason to call him a formidable explorer. This voyage followed the same route as the fourth voyage that reached Hormuz. Smaller boats from the Armada made their way to the East coast of Africa as well as the Arabian coastline. This, he single handedly, attributes to Zheng He.
The author also gives credit to Mills by agreeing with him that Zheng He did not discover any new lands. The second argument that the author makes is that the political climate of the day favored trade across the Chinese borders. Emperor Hongwu looked down on trading with foreigners, as well as receiving tributes from far flung countries. He effectively banned mission tributes carrying treasure to China, and this had the effect of turning numerous Chinese maritime traders into pirates. After Emperor Yongle, who was his son took over power, the seas were opened and China could once more trade with the world, but at the risk of being attacked by pirates lurking in the seas around the Chinese seas. The pirates mainly raided ships carrying gifts to China; hence they did not reach their intended destination.
The ships carried exotic gifts meant for the Chinese emperor. The subjects would then pay tribute to the Chinese emperor using cotton goods and spices. Zheng He had immense resources at his disposal, implying that he was trusted by the rulers of his time. The ships Zheng He travelled in were over two hundred feet long and carried six hundred to seven hundred men. In his first voyage, when he attacked a pirate ship, it is reported that he led twenty seven thousand men. During the Song era, sea power was viewed as a powerful arsenal, and hence, could have equipped Zheng He.
Though born to a Muslim family, Zheng He was reportedly also a Buddhist. He also meticulously performed the state ritual sacrifice to the goddess of celestial consort , tianfei , a popular deity believed to provide protection for seafarers. He may have known Central Asian languages. The vessels needed by the expeditions were constructed at the Longjiang shipyard in the capital by the Yangzi River. The sailors were recruited from coastal provinces, mostly Fujian.
They featured pointed hulls as sharp as knives to cut through large waves, and had high prows and sterns with a keel on the bottom of the hull for enhanced stability in high seas. Wide, overhanging decks were also added: the lowest desk was filled with stones and earth for ballast; the second deck included living quarters for sailors and storage spaces; the third deck contained the kitchen, open space, and the operations bridge; and the fourth deck was a fighting platform, armed with twenty-four cast-bronze cannons.
The ships were strengthened by strong prows to ram smaller boats, watertight bulwark compartments for added safety, and a balanced rudder that could be raised and lowered and functioned like an extra keel. These technological innovations were not introduced in Europe until the late eighteenth century. Rather wide and bulky, the treasure ships were approximately feet in length and feet in width. Maria , which, in contrast, was only 85 feet in length.
The actual size of these treasure ships had been controversial, but in , archeologists found in the Longjiang shipyard a huge The reported size of the treasure ships is also consistent with the size of the dry docks at Longjiang, two of them feet wide, big enough to accommodate a ship feet wide. The fleet also had two types of warships designed for use against pirates. The ships utilized large flags, signal bells, drums, gongs, lanterns, and carrier pigeons to communicate with one another during the journey. Fleet crews included military officers, personnel from the Ministry of Rites in charge of foreign affairs , Ministry of Revenue senior secretaries, astrologers and geomancers, translators knowledgeable of Arabic and other Central Asian languages, and a number of medical officers and pharmacologists whose task was to collect herbs.
Regular seamen and soldiers, as well as ironsmiths, caulkers, and carpenters to provide needed repairs, constituted the rest of the crew. The maiden voyage of the fleet consisted of ships, and over 27, men. The fleet assembled at Liujiagang, a port on the Yangzi River near Suzhou. The ships carried large cargo to be traded abroad, including thousands of bolts of fine silk, embroideries, cotton cloth, gold, iron, salt, hemp, tea, wine, oil, porcelain, and candles. While engaging in trade with the various ports, the fleet impressed the local regimes.
Ambassadors from Calicut, Semudera, Quilon, Malacca, and other states joined the returning fleet to Nanjing to pay tribute. The tribute trade had long been an integral part of the Chinese imperial diplomatic system. The second voyage was in In Calicut, the Chinese emissaries presided over the formal investiture of the Calicut king with Chinese titles and gifts for the king and his retinue. On their return, the fleet visited Siam and Java, where Zheng He was involved in a power struggle between two rival native rulers. The third expedition began in and followed the previous routes to India. Although Zheng He was a Muslim, he visited a local Buddhist temple and erected a stone with inscriptions in Chinese, Persian, and Tamil to commemorate the journey.
In , on the return from Calicut, the fleet had a military confrontation with Alagakkonara, the king of Ceylon. Alagakkonara tried to kidnap Zheng He and plunder the fleet, and Chinese troops then attacked the Sinhalese palace and captured the king, who was taken with his family to Nanjing. The Yongle emperor later released them back to Ceylon, but the Chinese supported another local regime considered legitimate. The fourth voyage in and explored further regions. After visiting India, the fleet, for the first time, continued to the Maldives and Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
A subfleet may have visited the port of Aden in what is now modern-day Yemen, as well as Bengal. Again, Zheng He was entangled in a local conflict in Semudera on their return. A usurper who murdered the king was defeated, captured, and executed in Nanjing; the Chinese idea of political legitimacy and international order was declared through their involvement in a local power struggle.
The fifth voyage that began in was intended to bring home the envoys of the eighteen states. The armada visited the ports on the East African coast, and from there Zheng He brought back more ambassadors with a cargo of tribute from Africa, including lions, leopards, dromedary camels, ostriches, rhinoceroses, antelopes, and giraffes. When Zheng He returned to the capital, the city gate had to be enlarged so that the tall giraffes could enter.
The Chinese believed that the giraffes were legendary beasts called qilin who were mentioned in ancient Confucian classics as epitomizing virtue and prosperity. Greatly pleased, the emperor constructed a royal zoo to accommodate exotic animals and plants. The sixth expedition in escorted the ambassadors who had stayed in China for years back home. The fleet split in Sumatra. Again, many more envoys accompanied the fleet back to Nanjing. After the demise of the Yongle emperor, the voyages were stopped for several years. One last voyage was ordered by the Xiande emperor in A partial objective of the mission was the restoration of peaceful relations between the Siam and Malay kingdoms of Malacca.
