Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on the Impact of Zheng He Voyages
Zheng He - essay
Essay on the Impact of Zheng He Voyages
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay on the Impact of Zheng He Voyages
Zheng He was born in 1371, Kunyang Yunnan province, China and died in 1433, Calicut, now Kozhikode. He was an admiral, explorer, eunuch, diplomat, and trader, whose adventures brought great wealth and riches to China and spread its religions and influences across Southeast Asia, Persia, Arabia, Africa and India. He was always remembered for his greatness and his leadership in the expeditions and adventures he made. He made a whooping number of SEVEN voyages, each aiming extend Chinese maritime and establish trade across all these places. First Voyage: “He first set sail in 1405, commanding 62 ships and 27,800 men. The fleet visited Champa, Siam, Malacca and Java; then through the Indian Ocean to Calicut and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).” Zheng He returned …show more content…
After stopping at the principal ports of Asia and establish a whole lot of trade routes, he proceeded westward from India to Hormuz, again. A detachment of the fleet cruised southward down the Arabian coast from India, visiting Djofar and Aden,” this time not being directly captained by Zheng He, but he was still the commander of the entire mission. “A Chinese mission also visited Mecca and continued to Egypt. The fleet visited Brava and Malindi and almost reached the Mozambique Channel.” This meant that Zheng He managed to extend his influence all the way till Africa as well! “On his return to China in 1415, Zheng He brought the envoys of more than 30 states of South and Southeast Asia to pay homage to the Chinese emperor.” He had also established small towns in Africa and the west side as well, meaning that almost the whole world was going to be impacted by Zheng He’s courageous and numerous explorations. In these four expeditions, Zheng He had already visited all the places he was planning to and after this point, all his voyages consisted of his revisiting all the places. Also, he was amazed by the locations he had already seen and probably wished to stick to those and help those countries as much as …show more content…
Again he visited Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and Africa. Seventh Voyage: “Zheng He’s seventh and final voyage left China in the winter of 1431, visiting the states of Southeast Asia, the coast of India, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the east coast of Africa. He died in Calicut in the spring of 1433, and the fleet returned to China that summer. Zheng He led China to become the superpower of the Indian Ocean, considered to be “the world's most important crossroads of trade”, in the 15th century.” His impact was huge as the places he had visited in his life were going to be visited by many other countries in the near future, resulting in the fact that a lot of other explorers carried on the work Zheng He had nearly
On reason we should celebrate is his fleet made incredible distances and destinations, especially for the period of time he traveled in. Zheng He traveled 105,300 total miles in his life. (DOC A) One round trip from Nanjing, his home port in China, to Calicut, one of many destinations he traveled to on his voyages, was a total of 11,600 miles. (DOC A) It took 18,500 total miles to take a round trip from Nanjing to the east of Africa, which was another one of the popular ports that he traveled to. (DOC A) The distance that was
His first voyage took place in 1598 with his uncle. He was on his own for his next trip which lasted 2 years. He was in France from 1603 until 1607. They then found some West Indians that
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 years before the Europeans even explored and expanded, with China's giant navy of about three thousand of these large treasure ships.
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 realm one hundred years before the Europeans explored and expanded, from China's navy of some three thousand ships.
Zheng got government-outfitted fleets and fully sponsored resources from the Ming dynasty ruler Yongle. The same as Henry got monopolies and broad-based supports from the King Duarte I, Portuguese merchants, the Catholic Church and loyal peasants. However, the initiation behind them were different. On one hand, Zheng was a eunuch been ordered by the emperor to take voyages. He was just an official executor under the emperor’s will of consolidating his imperial power and displayed the great Chinese power. On the other hand, Henry was a prince who enjoyed more power. Unlike Zheng as a servant had lots of limitations on his actions and no independence in making decisions, Henry as a dominator had the domination to do anything he wanted. He was motivated by his own will that allowed him to do things in a more open-minded way. For example, he established navigational schools and funded private navigations, instead of personally lead those voyages as Zheng did. While Zheng have not religious reasons for sailing, Henry had strong religious aims of finding military allies to outflank the Moors by sea. In short, they had different motivations on began
The king demanded him to go back with bigger and more lavish gifts. They made an arrangement with the Zamorin to trade in Calicut, while this was successful. When they arrived they were confronted by Muslim traders in Calicut which ended up with a Portuguese massacre and a war between the Portugal and Calicut for many years. This means that when The Portuguese tried to trade with Calicut Gama was denied of any profit which ruined Gama. So he returned to his homeland empty handed with no profit. The king demanded him to go back and try again with even more insightful grifts. When he returned with more gifts his men were slaughtered by Muslims. Which lead to war between Calicut and Portugal. This evidence supports the claim that there was conflict between the Portuguese and the people at Calicut, which ended with a killing of many Portuguese people from the people of Calicut committing war on them. All of this lead a man by the name of Zheng He took some safety precautions. In the article, “ Zheng He’s Ship,” written by Ibn Battuta, from 1325-1354. Zheng’s had 317 ships carrying 28,000 men in total each one contained 1,000 men per ship. Each ship accommodated 600 sailors and 400 soldiers, including archers, having shields, and Arbalists. Who had crossbows who threw Naphtha which were
...aders usually offered tribute and emissaries to avoid conflict. This whole process preceded the colonialism practiced by the Europeans in years to come. The question begging to be answered here is, are Zheng He’s voyages deserving of celebration? In my opinion, I feel that we should acknowledge what he did, and continue to try to learn about the voyages. Just the fleet that he sailed across the world was remarkable; 255 huge ships, 27,500 people, and an astounding doctor-to-patient ratio of 1 to 151. Should Zheng He’s voyages be celebrated? Definitely not, he did not capitalize on the resources available to him. He cared too much about animals that weren't very beneficial, and essentially wasted precious time and money. We need to celebrate people that maximized the potential of their opportunities and actually got close, or achieved something truly great and useful.
Sir Francis Drake is known for England's defeat of the Spanish Armada. He was a sea dog and he sailed around the world. Drake was actually the first one to sail around the world since Magellan died in his journey.
There is a debate whether or not Marco Polo truly went to China. The side that does not believe Marco Polo traveled to China has this view because Marco Polo did not mention the Great Wall. In addition, the Chinese culture was not noted of. Being a foreigner, Marco Polo did not write about these strange things such as foot binding, calligraphy and etcetera. Not only that, but Marco Polo did not catch onto and learn the Chinese language due to the time he was there. Also, Marco Polo was not mentioned or documented about directly in the Chinese writings. However, three Venetians were written about.
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 and political expansion and also their contact with other cultures. Societies like the Chinese and Portuguese had many cultural differences such as their different religions. The Chinese practiced neo-Confucianism whereas the Portuguese were Christians which was one of the many purposes of their exploration, to spread Christianity. There were also many cultural similarities between the two societies such as their long lasting histories and their explorer’s curiosity to seek out to new lands, which resulted the two societies in having different views on economic and political expansion and contact with other cultures. Both Confucian and Christian ideologies favored those who worked over the wealthy. Thus, to a larger extent, the structures and values of a society have an extensive impact on the way people view economic and political expansion and contact with other cultures.
During the 15th century, the Chinese had one of the most advanced naval fleets known to man. As a result, China was able to establish many trade routes to places such as Africa, India, Singapore, etc… If the Chinese wanted to, they could have sailed all the way to Europe and even as far as North America. However, the Chinese ran into some political problems that prevented explorations in the future. If they had continued their voyages, it would have been possible for them to have discovered the New World before Columbus. Had China discovered America before Columbus, our world would be different from what it is today.
Henry Hudson was an English Explorer born in 1565, he is known as one of the most famous explorers. Henry Hudson’s main goal was to find a passage way to Asia but he never achieved this. With the goal of finding the route he only had four voyages throughout his career. On his first voyage, in 1609, he brought his sons along with him to find an ice free passage to Asia. They traveled east until they reached the north of the Arctic Circle, but they were forced to return back due to all the surrounding ice. In the same year, Hudson made a second attempt, but traveled a different way. Hudson soon failed again because all the field of ice, blocking them. In 1609, Hudson’s third voyage was
...age. The following Emperors had no such interest in foreign affairs and terminated the expensive voyages. The lack of imperial political interests and support in navy expedition to foreign countries was the main reason why China withdrew from the ocean after Zheng He’s 7 voyages. However, the political significance and legacy of Zheng He’s expeditions cannot be ignored. It strengthened the Middle Kingdom’s power and influence in Asia during the early years of the Ming Dynasty. The peaceful nature of Zheng He’s voyages is still used by the Chinese government today as a political tool to advocate the benevolent intention of contemporary Chinese foreign policy (Dreyer, p. 29).
Late in 1577, Francis Drake left England with five ships, ostensibly on a trading expedition to the Nile. On reaching Africa, the true destination was revealed to be the Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Magellan, to the dismay of some of the accompanying gentlemen and sailors. Still in the eastern Atlantic, a Portuguese merchant ship and its pilot - who was to stay with Drake for 15 months - was captured, and the fleet crossed the Atlantic, via the Cape Verde Islands, to a Brazilian landfall.
“El Draque” or “The Dragon” the Spanish called this English admiral out of fear. Sir Francis Drake was born at Crownsdale, near Tavistock, Devon around the 1540’s. He served, as an apprentice in the Thames Coastal Trade after his father became a preacher at Chatham. He led several expeditions against the Spanish Main as well as an attack against the Spanish city of Cadiz. Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and he helped defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588. He was a successful privateer, a talented navigator and one of the most famous seamen in history.