Zheng He was a Muslim eunuch who served as a close confidant of the Yongle Emperor of China during the Ming Dynasty. He went on voyages to Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Java, Ceylon, India, Persia, Persian Gulf, Arabia, the red sea Egypt, and the Mozambique Channel. The number of his voyages vary depending on method of division, but he travelled at least seven times to The Western Ocean with his fleet. The fleet comprised 30,000 men and seventy ships at its height. He brought back to China many trophies
To be an explorer one must go off the beaten path, they must actively be trying to discover something new. Zheng He did not do so, and that is why he should not be considered an explorer. Zheng He was knowingly sent to places that and already been discovered and were actively gone to by merchants and traders. Which makes one ponder; why would an emperor build a massive armada if it were not for exploratory purposes? The fleet was built for imperialistic reasons to show the world that they should
When we celebrate something it’s usually because the event influenced or impacted history in some way. In the case of Zheng He, I do believe we should commemorate his voyages. Zheng he did experience a bad child-hood; as he was involved in many devastating events like the death of his father, becoming a prisoner by the Ming dynasty and being forced to work for a royal family. Zheng didn’t let that bring him down and eventually became a trusted advisor and earned power and wealth. These actions lead
whether Zheng He, one of the greatest navigators who set up seven voyages in July of 1405, should be celebrated has aroused widely concern among people. From my standpoint, Zheng He’s fleet should be celebrated for the sake of their technological advances, their remarkable accomplishments as well as their exalted purpose for those great discoveries. First and foremost, the dimensions of the treasure ships were huge, as was the size of the crew and company. According to history in general, Zheng He’s
Zheng He, an admiral of the 15th century, who sailed the Indian Ocean to make alliances for the Ming dynasty should not be celebrated because his actions were not essential to China. Although he did travel thousands of miles, he did not discover any new territory, so what makes him different from any other admiral? He had a crew of 27,500 people which was not necessary at all just for making alliances by giving gifts or repaying a gift. Also those 27,500 people could have been more resourceful in
Prince Henry and Zheng He were the pioneers in the history of navigation, both of them had achieved their goals successfully by sailing to unexplored areas. Zheng He addressed a formal acknowledgment of Ming Dynasty to 37 countries located along seacoast such as India and Malidi. (Wolf, 2005, p. 7) Also, He brought gifts and money back into the imperial treasury and developed a channel for trading between Ming Dynasty, eastern Asia and eastern Africa. On the other hand, Prince Henry sponsored captains
Prince Henry of Portugal, more commonly known as Henry the Navigator, and Zheng He, a successful Chinese admiral, were both extremely accomplished men throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. During this era, many accomplished explorers ventured out into the ocean and discovered new lands, two of the most important men being Henry the Navigator and Zheng He. Although both men came from different backgrounds, their contrasting societies and structures affected the way in which they regarded economic
example of someone who had the potential to do so much good, and obtain so much greatness was a Chinese admiral by the name of Zheng He. Zheng He watched his father die at the hand of the Ming Dynasty, along with being castrated himself. Zheng He was forced to join thousands of eunuchs, and then rose quickly through the ranks of the military. The emperor basically assigned Zheng He the task of leading a fleet of exploration ships. They sailed this huge fleet of ships to unknown areas in hopes to make friends
Accompanied by 27,000 men on 62 large and 255 small ships, the Chinese eunuch Zheng He, led 7 naval expeditions to Southeast Asia, Middle East and east coast of Africa in the span of 28 years during the Ming Dynasty. The scale of Zheng He’s fleet was unprecedented in world history. The large treasure ships used during the expeditions were purported to be 440 feet long and 180 feet wide (Dreyer, p. 102). Throughout his travels, Zheng He brought Chinese tea, porcelain and silk products to foreign countries
Ruled the Seas by Levathes In the book, When China Ruled the Seas, Levathes tells us about seven voyages made by junk armadas during the Chinese emperor Zhu Di's reign. 'Treasure ships' as they were called, were under the command of admiral Zheng He, these ships traded silk, porcelain, and many other fine objects of value. They sailed from India to East Africa, throughout Korea and Japan, and possibly as far as Australia. She believes that China might have been able to create a great colonial
has an undertone of projection bias. He assumes that people will have the same outlook on Admiral Zheng He’s voyages under the Yongle Emperor as he. He makes a reference to China viewing Great Britain as being a “backwards region” and doesn’t explain why (as if the reader will incoherently agree). He disregards European goods of wood, beads and wine, as if they are worthless. He expresses that China could have easily bypassed Africa and explored further west. He states that China had architecturally
Indian kingdom of Chola. The Srivijaya kingdom was followed by three more kingdoms, each of which also participated in Indian Ocean trade. The Ming Dynasty (established in 1368 C.E.) paid for seven naval expeditions, led by Zheng He, to establish the Chinese in Indian Ocean trade; Zheng He’s expeditions used treasure ships, which were very large and impressive. These expeditions ended in 1433 after the Ming government ceased sponsoring them. In the late 1400s, Bartolomeu Dias, a Portuguese sailor, arrived
In the book, When China Ruled the Seas, Levathes talks about seven voyages made by the Chinese armadas during emperor Zhu Di's reign. Admiral Zheng was in control of many “Treasure ships”. These ships traded silk, porcelain, and many other fine goods. They sailed from India to East Africa, through Korea and Japan, and might have even traveled all the way to Australia. Levathes believes that it could have been very possible for China to have been able to create a great kingdom to rule over one hundred
series of seven voyages under the direction of Admiral Zheng He (The Ming Dynasty: Exploration to Isolation). For approximately 30 years, China sailed it's ships around Southeast Asia, India, and even East Africa trading exotic goods and reportedly establishing political alliances (Viviano). In addition, many estimate the Chinese flagship as being about 4.5 times larger than a European ship of the time period (Hadingham). These accounts of Zheng He's voyages can be used to argue that China in the early
The Interaction of Culture and Technology throughout History Throughout human history, the expansion of technology has been dependent on the cultural environment into which it was introduced. Intricacies in social and cultural beliefs are among the reasons Europe’s technological dominance and expansion from the 15-1600’s to the early twentieth century. In addition, isolation and cultural conservatism are among the main reasons that Chinese culture, whose inventions range from paper to the wheelbarrow
structures are created; they are not real. People have the capacity to change, bend, or break these structures. Kathy Kelly’s story of the military man offering her water though she had just broken the law is an example of these social structures being bent. He was in a position of power, she was intentionally breaking the rules their common government put in place, and yet their human connection proved more powerful and they shared a moment of compassion. These two people experienced a bit of modern life
All we know from history is that fortune tellers were the inventors of the compass, but Zheng He was the first person to actually make use of the compass for navigation. Zhen He from the Yunnan province was the first person to ever record it using it as a navigational aid for his voyage from 1405-1433. “Zheng He’s sailing to West Ocean did mark an important waypoint on the passage of world navigation history. Never before in the world had there been
can definitely say you why . Zheng He is one of the biggest explorer of the world but unfortunately he is to one of the lesser known. SO WHO WAS HE ?: He was a famous Chinese maritime explorer. He went around the world 600 years ago, has allowed China to acquire and friendly international relations, commercial and forwarded through all these trips the image of China, powerful and impressive. He held the position of commercial and political emissary of Emperor Yongle , he traveled the seas for over
Also as a eunuch he competed with the confucianists for attention form the emperor. The emperor favored the eunuch’s at the time and listened to their counsel, the emperor also favored Zheng He. The emperor commanded Zheng He to build a navy for China and explore the world that was out there. Up until this point it was illegal to explore and trade with the foreign people. In 1405, Zheng He went on his first voyage, which took him all the way to Ceylon. All together Zheng He took seven voyages with
change the world.Explorers Marco Polo and Zheng He came from two different worlds with differences for the motivation for their explorations, but both created successful works of writings about their travels. Also, they had different forms of transportation;however they both became close with the king or emperor. Also, they both opened China up to the rest of the world, but there is a difference in their upbringing. Explorers Marco Polo and Zheng He came from two different worlds with differences