The Travels of Zheng He
In 1403, the new emperor, Zhu Di, ordered the construction of the Treasure Fleet – a fleet of trading ships, warships and support vessels that would travel across the
South China Sea and Indian Ocean.
First voyage (1405-1407) – Zheng He was made commander of the Treasure Fleet and set sail for Calicut to purchase spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and pepper.
The fleet traveled to Champa (southern Vietnam),
Siam (Thailand), Malacca, and Java, through the
Indian Ocean, and onto Calicut. On the return trip to China, the fleet stopped at Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Second voyage (1408-1409) The fleet traveled to Calicut, Kochi and Siam (Thailand).
Third voyage (1409-1411) – The fleet sailed from China
…show more content…
They traded with the native populations for ebony, lakewood, and aloeswood in exchange for Chinese porcelain and silk.
Fourth voyage (1413-1415) – The emperor ordered the largest Treasure Fleet expedition yet assembled. It included 63 vessels and 28,560 men.
The fleet traveled to India, Sumatra and then to
Hormuz where they obtained sapphires, rubies, topaz, coral beads, amber, woolens, and beautiful carpets. On the return voyage, Zheng He brought envoys from nineteen countries as tribute to the emperor.
Zheng He, also known by the names Ma He and Ma Sanbao, was born around 1371 in Yunnan province in China.
He was the second-oldest son of a devout Chinese
Muslim family, the family name “Ma” was derived from the Chinese rendition of the name Muhammed. Zheng He’s family claimed to have been related to an officer that served in the army of Genghis Khan.
In 1381, Zheng He was captured and forced to serve as a eunuch in the emperor’s court. By 1390, he had distinguished himself as an accomplished soldier, skilled in war and diplomacy. Because of his skills, the emperor conferred a new name for Ma He – Zheng He.
The main reason for Zheng He to travel to
The United States gives Columbus a national holiday, Zheng He should deserve a national holiday as well. He was kidnapped at the age of ten by the Ming Dynasty, and had to watch as his father died. He was taken prisoner and became an eunuch who eventually rose to power. The Emperor Yongle rewarded his loyalty by electing him as the fleet commander and eventually went on 7 voyages all around Asia, India, and eastern Africa in the next 28 years. Using the measuring sticks of scale/size, significance, and skill, should we commemorate the voyages of Zheng He? We should recognize the voyages of Zheng He for the 3 major reasons, the incredible distances/destinations traveled, the amazing size/scale of the ships, and the honorary purpose of many of the expeditions.
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.
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
On February 25th, 2000, Adnan Syed was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, via manual strangulation six weeks prior. Brutal right? So are false convictions. Adnan Syed did not murder Hae Min Lee nor did he have anything to do with her death. However, without a doubt, Jay Wilds, his alleged partner in crime, was involved.
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
Not only did he explore a variety of lands he also brought things back creating trade routes throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. As Zheng He returned from his voyages he brought back goods and much tribute. We can see how Zheng He explored many lands as shown on the map in document A. We can also see that his voyages were long and did go up to 19000 miles’ roundtrip per voyage (doc A). This evidence proves that Zheng He must’ve been a good leader in order to successfully carry out 7 of these voyages and bringing back tributes like “local products, pepper, horses, and money” (doc D). This shows how the voyages actually benefited the emperor and proves that we would be celebrating something that included
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 China than of those seven voyages. Since China was already the best out of the rest of the nations, there was no real reason to give gifts to foreign envoys especially since the Ming Dynasty became bankrupt because of these actions.
There may been times when people have been treated unfairly, just because of their appearance or their social life.
Shi Huangdi now able to unite the warring states, explored ways to establish a stable, and long lasting dynasty. The improvements he made to a now unified China, changed they way the world looked upon the country.
Zheng He was a Muslim eunuch who served as a close confidant of the Yongle Emperor of China during the Ming Dynasty.
Mao Zedong was born December 26, 1893 and lived until September 9 in 1976 when he died in Beijing China. Mao Zedong died from the Motor neuron disease. Mao Zedong was born into a peasant family in the place Shoshanna near Hunan. During the years of 1928 throughout 1931. Mao Zedong and others that worked with Mao Zedong established armies in the hinterlands and created the Red Army which was known as the most feared “army” in china during the time of the revolution.
After this, China shied away from maritime travels and expenses and many records of Zheng He and his voyages disappeared. It was not until the twentieth century that Zheng He started to become an interest again. As so, the significance of his travels could once more be understood by the world. Zheng He’s voyages, put China in the history of oceanic “…exploration, trade, colonization, and exercise of sea power, even if such portrayals took Zheng He out of the context of early Ming history and viewed his voyages from a Western analytical perspective.” (Dreyer, 165). Not to mention, the sheer size of his fleet and treasure ships; which at that time was a massive achievement of its own. Apart from the significance of his fleet and voyages, Zheng He himself also deserves credit for rising so high, as a eunuch who came from humble beginnings.
This ended when the emperor Yong’le and began to put his interest into sea voyages and investing greatly into these voyages ("Ancient China: The 15th Century Fleet."). Yong’le chose his lead eunuch to head the ventures to other lands. Zheng the lead eunuch to the emperor led seven expeditions to areas around the now called region of the Indian Ocean ("Ancient China: The 15th Century Fleet."). In 1414 China set out on sea expedition of a large magnitude with a manpower of 30,000 men ("Ancient China: The 15th Century Fleet."). The bulk of the load was carried on massive ships called the galleons which was 400 feet long and could carry a load of about 1,500 tons ("Ancient China: The 15th Century Fleet."). Furthermore, with this fleet they were able to complete large trade expeditions and explore foreign land that prior they did not visit because of their isolation. ("Ancient China: The 15th Century Fleet."). Unfortunately, the fleet saw its last voyage after the death of emperor Yong’le and the induction of the new emperor Xuande allowed for this final voyage where at sea Zheng the eunuch died at sea. Through this expansion started by emperor Yong’le China had and continues to have a growing and mighty naval
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 and also brought back exotic goods to the Ming court such as spices, plants and leather. Although his voyages fostered commercial trades and cultural exchange between China and foreign countries, the goal of his expeditions stemmed from the political motivation to maintain the tributary system and his voyages had important political implication of causing Neo-Confucian opposition and suspension of the expedition.
It will define that Zhang used traditional Chinese charcoal drawing aesthetic to show the subtext of his artworks in contemporary Chinese art. By tracing the traditional Chinese charcoal drawing aesthetic in Chinese Painter Zhang Xiaogang artistic development in the past two decades, his art as a whole can be interpreted in presenting his concerns of the foregone society and showing his own feelings towards the public history with a unique form of expression.