For four years, Zheng He fought on the side of Prince Zhu Di, accompanying him on countless campaigns and battles throughout China. Amassing one victory after another, Zheng He was instrumental in Zhu Di's seizure of imperial power. Among them was the eunuch official Zheng He. Zheng He was also subsequently known as the Three Treasures Eunuch. Zheng He's illustrious career was made possible in part by his unique background. During his time as a trusted intimate of Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, he came into extensive contact with the highest echelons of China's ruling class, greatly expanding his horizons and knowledge.
Zheng He's honesty and integrity won him full confidence of the Prince Zhu Di. The two often discussed matters of state, which offered Zheng He numerous opportunities to learn about politics, military affairs, and strategy.
The military expertise Zheng He acquired in the field with Zhu Di further developed his abilities. After Zhu Di became emperor, he decided to undertake extensive exploration of the seas to the west of China.
In recognition of Zheng He's extraordinary abilities and loyal service, the emperor chose him from among his most trusted advisors as the ideal commander for the great voyages westward. Zheng He is China's most famous maritime explorer. His extraordinary ability and vision found brilliant expression in the great achievements of his life, including maritime exploration, foreign diplomacy, and military affairs.
He is credited as the first man to establish a sea route directing the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean worlds. He made seven major trips in the Indian world from around to He is a superior explorer to his European counterparts: Christopher Columbus in with three ships; Vasco de Gama in with four ships; and Ferdinand Magellan in with five ships.
He rounded the Cape of Good Hope seventy-six years before Vasco de Gama did, circumnavigated the globe one hundred years before Ferdinand Magellan, and some say that he reached the Americas decades before Christopher Columbus. Zheng He was commissioned to start his voyage by the first ruler of the Ming dynasty, Emperor Yongle.
Into the ports of southern China came hardwoods and other tree products, ivory, rhinoceros horn, brilliant kingfisher feathers, ginger, sulfur and tin from Vietnam and Siam in mainland southeast Asia; cloves, nutmeg, batik fabrics, pearls, tree resins, and bird plumes from Sumatra, Java, and the Moluccas in island southeast Asia.
Trade winds across the Indian Ocean brought ships carrying cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and especially pepper from Calicut on the southwestern coast of India, gemstones from Ceylon Sri Lanka , as well as woolens, carpets, and more precious stones from ports as far away as Hormuz on the Persian Gulf and Aden on the Red Sea. Agricultural products from north and east Africa also made their way to China, although little was known about those regions.
By the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, China had reached a peak of naval technology unsurpassed in the world. While using many technologies of Chinese invention, Chinese shipbuilders also combined technologies they borrowed and adapted from seafarers of the South China seas and the Indian Ocean. For centuries, China was the preeminent maritime power in the region, with advances in navigation, naval architecture, and propulsion.
From the ninth century on, the Chinese had taken their magnetic compasses aboard ships to use for navigating two centuries before Europe. In addition to compasses, Chinese could navigate by the stars when skies were clear, using printed manuals with star charts and compass bearings that had been available since the thirteenth century.
Star charts had been produced from at least the eleventh century, reflecting China's concern with heavenly events unmatched until the Renaissance in Europe. An important advance in shipbuilding used since the second century in China was the construction of double hulls divided into separate watertight compartments.
This saved ships from sinking if rammed, but it also offered a method of carrying water for passengers and animals, as well as tanks for keeping fish catches fresh. Crucial to navigation was another Chinese invention of the first century, the sternpost rudder, fastened to the outside rear of a ship which could be raised and lowered according to the depth of the water, and used to navigate close to shore, in crowded harbors and narrow channels. Both these inventions were commonplace in China 1, years before their introduction to Europe.
Chinese ships were also noted for their advances in sail design and rigging. Bypassing the need for banks of rowers, by the third and fourth centuries the Chinese were building three- and four-masted ships years before Europe of wind-efficient design. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries they added lug and then lateen sails from the Arabs to help sail against the prevailing winds. By the eighth century, ships feet long capable of carrying men were being built in China the size of Columbus' ships eight centuries later!
By the Song Dynasty , these stout and stable ships with their private cabins for travelers and fresh water for drinking and bathing were the ships of choice for Arab and Persian traders in the Indian Ocean. The Mongol Yuan Dynasty encouraged commercial activity and maritime trade, so the succeeding Ming Dynasty inherited large shipyards, many skilled shipyard workers, and finely tuned naval technology from the dynasty that preceded it.
Because the Yongle emperor wanted to impress Ming power upon the world and show off China's resources and importance, he gave orders to build even larger ships than were necessary for the voyages.
Thus the word went out to construct special "Treasure Ships," ships over feet long, feet wide, with nine masts, twelve sails, and four decks, large enough to carry 2, tons of cargo each and armed with dozens of small cannons. Accompanying those ships were to be hundreds of smaller ships, some filled only with water, others carrying troops or horses or cannon, still others with gifts of silks and brocades, porcelains, lacquerware, tea, and ironworks that would impress leaders of far-flung civilizations.
The Seven Voyages. The first expedition of this mighty armada was composed of ships, including perhaps as many as sixty huge Treasure Ships, and nearly 28, men. In addition to thousands of sailors, builders and repairmen for the trip, there were soldiers, diplomatic specialists, medical personnel, astronomers, and scholars of foreign ways, especially Islam.
The fleet stopped in Champa central Vietnam and Siam today's Thailand and then on to island Java, to points along the Straits of Malacca, and then proceeded to its main destination of Cochin and the kingdom of Calicut on the southwestern coast of India. On his return, Zheng He put down a pirate uprising in Sumatra, bringing the pirate chief, an overseas Chinese, back to Nanjing for punishment. The second expedition took 68 ships to the court of Calicut to attend the inauguration of a new king.
Zheng He organized this expedition but did not actually lead it in person. Zheng He did command the third voyage with 48 large ships and 30, troops, visiting many of the same places as on the first voyage but also traveling to Malacca on the Malay peninsula and Ceylon Sri Lanka. When fighting broke out there between his forces and those of a small kingdom, Zheng put down the fighting, captured the king and brought him back to China where he was released by the emperor and returned home duly impressed.
The fourth voyage extended the scope of the expeditions even further. This time in addition to visiting many of the same sites, Zheng He commandeered his 63 ships and over 28, men to Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. The main chronicler of the voyages, the twenty-five year old Muslim translator Ma Huan, joined Zheng He on this trip.
On the way, Zheng He stopped in Sumatra to fight on the side of a deposed sultan, bringing the usurper back to Nanjing for execution. The fifth voyage was primarily a return trip for seventeen heads of state from South Asia. They had made their way to China after Zheng He's visits to their homelands in order to present their tribute at the Ming Court. On this trip Zheng He ventured even further, first to Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea, and then on to the east coast of Africa, stopping at the city states of Mogadishu and Brawa in today's Somalia , and Malindi in present day Kenya.
He was frequently met with hostility but this was easily subdued. Many ambassadors from the countries visited came back to China with him. The sixth expedition of 41 ships sailed to many of the previously visited Southeast Asian and Indian courts and stops in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the coast of Africa, principally in order to return nineteen ambassadors to their homelands. Zheng He returned to China after less than a year, having sent his fleet onward to pursue several separate itineraries, with some ships going perhaps as far south as Sofala in present day Mozambique.
The seventh and final voyage was sent out by the Yongle emperor's successor, his grandson the Xuande emperor. This expedition had more than one hundred large ships and over 27, men, and it visited all the important ports in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean as well as Aden and Hormuz.
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