Zheng He Voyage

Zheng He, a Chinese explorer, was born in 1371 in the Yunan Province of southwestern China (background essay). When Zheng He was ten years old, his father was killed right in front of him by the Ming Dynasty’s army (background essay). He was then taken prisoner, castrated, and forced to become part of the eunuchs (background essay). As he grew older, Emperor Yongle began to trust him more and more (background essay). The Emperor trusted him to travel by ship and lead a crew down the coast of China and across the ocean to eventually land in India in 1405 (background essay). This was one of the seven voyages he would take (background essay). When asked if Zheng He’s voyages should be celebrated, three factors must be taken into account: skill, scale and significance. Skill is the measure of one’s ability to do something. Scale is the measure of actions taken to preform something. Significance is the meaning of an event. The voyages of Zheng He should not be celebrated because there was no new land discovered, the cost of the trips were expensive and wasteful, and the reasons for the voyages mainly purposed Zheng He himself and Emperor Yongle.

In the map and chart created by National Geographic titled “China’s Great Armada”, Zheng He traveled to Mombasa Kenya which is ~19,000 miles roundtrip(Doc A). This accomplishment is important because far seafaring expeditions of this extent were nearly unheard of in the 15th century due the lack of technology and knowledge. Therefore Zheng He’s skills as a great explorer are undoubtable. Moreover in the chart it exhibits that Zheng He transversed Calicut, Hormuz, Malindi, Mogadishu, and Mombasa(Doc A). All of these countries were over ~11,000 miles roundtrip and therefore, Zheng He displays that he can consistently travel far distances(Doc A).

Ma He as a young man gained high in rank with the trust of Emperor Yongle. Thus, Emperor Yongle gave him power, wealth, loyalty, with the noble name of “Zheng He.” One day the emperor told him to obtain an enormous mission. He was told to lead several ships from Nanjing, China to Mombasa crossing all the seas that follow. He chose to share the idea of the voyages to Zheng He because he wanted him to explore new acreage and to establish

Document C shows us that his treasure ships were ¨79,200 ft2¨ while a football field is only ¨48,200 ft2.¨ Document C also states his fleet had, ¨62 treasure ships; 193 tenders.¨ That is two hundred fifty-five ships in total which was way more than other explorers. Also Document B tells us he had, ¨27,500 crew members¨ which is amazing, and his choices of crew members were very intelligent. These two Documents give us great information on why Zheng He was great in size, crew, ships, voyages, etc. Another great reason on why Zheng He should be

Zheng He may have journeyed far, but with little avail compared to competing captains. As the image in The Voyages of Zheng He: 1405-1433 depicts, his ships sailed to only populated areas with very little undiscovered territory (Document A). Unlike other famed explorers, who became popular off of their discovery of new land, Zheng He remained in an area within proximity of China and made no discoveries worth recognizing. In addition, the chart in When China Ruled the Sea shows Zheng He’s mileage compared to Columbus’s (Document B). He traveled nearly two days slower than his fellow explorer, and made far less progress.

According to Doc A, he went 105,300 miles all together. His ship and crew were much larger than Columbus’s. Doc B says Zheng He’s ship was 315 feet bigger than the Santa Maria. Doc C states that there were many different types of people on the ship, such as doctors, soldiers, fortune tellers, sailors, servants, horse groomers, and many more. Zheng He has the largest fleet of wooden ships in the world. Finally, in Doc D, it shows that his voyages were a valuable trading opportunity.

The first reason the voyages of Zheng He do deserve to be celebrated is because of his over the top ships. From an illustration of what his treasure ship might of looked like “it shows it at least being 400 feet” (Doc C). In Zheng He’s comparison chart to other navigators it shows how he had “255 ships when everyone else only had less than 5 ships” (Doc B). Clearly, one can observe that Zheng He only wanted to be the best at everything he did. And with his huge sailing technology he had managed to finally state that about himself. Therefore, Zheng He’s many advanced vessels are worth being celebrated.

In 1403, 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. Zheng He was given command over the armada and oversaw its several voyages. With every new destination, Zheng He bestowed gifts,

Although Zheng He was great, Magellan was a better captain overall. Magellan was a Spanish explorer who was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. He set sail on a voyage that was supposed to go around the World, but Magellan was killed before he made it. Although he did not make it around the world, he had the skills to get all the way to the Philippines. Zheng He was a Chinese admiral who led seven voyages. He was also a great captain, but he did not almost make it around the world. Instead, he stayed in the same area and stopped in the same places multiple times.

Should Zheng He be recognized for his travels to the east coast of Africa and the southern parts of Asia? Culture, country-to-country relationships, and trade seemed very important to Emperor Yongle, who decided that Zheng He was to explore the world for China. In document A, a map is shown, displaying his travels to east Africa and southern Asia. His furthest travels include India, Iran, Kenya, and Somalia. Along the way, he traded with these countries, including local products and animals.

The chart under the map on Document A shows that after every stop, they sailed all the way back to Nanjing, China. According to Document A, the two longest explorations consisted of 19,000 miles roundtrip. I feel that these incredibly long voyages were a waste of time and money; they should have just continued to sail through to the next city. Zheng He sailed to a city, gathered whatever he wanted to, and then sailed back only to pass the city he left. This is incredibly ineffective, and illogical in my opinion because this wasted time and money. Referring back to my thesis, Zheng He was definitely not utilizing the maximum potential of his opportunity.

In 1405, Zheng He was asked by his emperor, Zhu Di, to be commander on the Treasure fleet to set sail for Calicut to purchase spices, Throughout his career on the Treasure fleets he traveled to southern Vietnam, Thailand, Melaka, and Java. A Treasure fleet is a fleet of trading ships, warships, and support vessels that would travel across the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. These fleets were a big change because China’s isolationist policy had forbidden foreign trade and travel. The goal of these fleets was to demonstrate his glory to foreign countries and for people to recognize China as the one and only center of power and culture. His seven expeditions helped achieve this goal, so many of the states the he visited acknowledged China’s power by sending gifts and diplomats to the emperor’s court.

Marco Polo- A sailor who told his tales of success in Asia, finding gold, silks, and spices which encouraged people to sail overseas in search for wealth.

Although Marco Polo started out as a humble merchant from Venice, he eventually developed a reputation as one of the world’s greatest explorers (“Marco Polo”). He was much more than just a trader however, providing the Western world with detailed accounts of the foreign society that was Medieval China under the Mongol conquest. These accounts would later become invaluable to historians for centuries to come.

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