Though tiny compared with the baochuan, the zhanchuan were more than twice as long as Christopher Columbus's flagship, the Santa Maria. His majesty, the Sultan al-Malik al-Nāsir ordered that the Envoy of the ruler of China [rusul sāhib al-Sị̄n] returned with gifts of his own, including many rare, with frankincense wrapped coral trees, wild animals such as Oryx, wild ass, thousands of wild lion and tamed cheetahs. Zheng He’s Enormous Treasure Ships Kaushik Patowary Jul 14, 2015 3 comments Between 1405 and 1433, during the Ming era, Chinese Admiral Zheng He, who was also the court eunuch, commanded seven expeditionary voyages as far away as East Africa and Middle East. [6], Alongside the treasures were also another 255 ships according to the Shuyu Zhouzilu [zh] (1520), giving the combined fleet of the first voyage a total of 317 ships. [18], In 1407, 249 vessels were ordered "to be prepared for embassies to the several countries of the Western Ocean". The 3 contemporary accounts of Zheng He's voyages do not have the ship dimensions. Mozambique 10. [37] However, the copy was still under construction in Nanjing in 2010. [14], I tell you that they are mostly built of the wood which is called fir or pine.They have one floor, which with us is called a deck, one for each, and on this deck there are commonly in all the greater number quite 60 little rooms or cabins, and in some, more, and in some, fewer, according as the ships are larger and smaller, where, in each, a merchant can stay comfortably.They have one good sweep or helm, which in the vulgar tongue is called a rudder.And four masts and four sails, and they often add to them two masts more, which are raised and put away every time they wish, with two sails, according to the state of the weather.Some ships, namely those which are larger, have besides quite 13 holds, that is, divisions, on the inside, made with strong planks fitted together, so that if by accident that the ship is staved in any place, namely that either it strikes on a rock, or a whale-fish striking against it in search of food staves it in... And then the water entering through the hole runs to the bilge, which never remains occupied with any things. There seems to be disagreement among scholars about the factual accuracy and correct interpretation of accounts of the treasure ship. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Along with their horses, rice, drinking water, and trade goods, that number of people required a staggering amount of room aboard the ship. Malacca 18. The flagship and other largest treasure junks dwarfed … Treasure ships also used floating anchors cast off the sides of the ship in order to increase stability. The Ministry of Works used a chi of 12.1 inches while the Jiangsu builders used a chi of 13.3 inches. The 4-decked baoshan had an estimated displacement of 20-30,000 tons, roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the displacement of modern American aircraft carriers. [4] Xin’s main reasons for concluding that the ships could not have been this size are: From the comments of modern scholars on Medieval Chinese accounts and reports, it is apparent that a ship had a natural limit to her size, going beyond, would have made her structurally unsafe as well as causing a considerable loss of manoeuvrability, something the Spanish Armada ships famously experienced. ibn-Majid, which was also a Curiosity-class starship. As indicated by the name, the machuan carried horses along with timber for repairs and tribute goods. He led 7 voyages. [7] The Jinghai Temple inscription gave the ship dimensions in 1409 as 1500 liao (375 tons). [15], People sail on the China seas only in Chinese ships, so let us mention the order observed upon them.There are three kinds: the greatest is called 'jonouq', or, in the singular, 'jonq' (certainly chuan); the middling sized is a 'zaw' (probably sao); and the least a 'kakam'.A single one of the greater ships carries 12 sails, and the smaller ones only three. The flagship and other largest treasure junks dwarfed European ships of that century; even Christopher Columbus's flagship, the "Santa Maria," was between 1/4 and 1/5 the size of Zheng He's. Between 1405 and 1433, Ming China under the rule of Zhu Di, sent out enormous armadas of ships into the Indian Ocean commanded by the eunuch admiral Zheng He. According to British scientist, historian and sinologist Joseph Needham, the dimensions of the largest of these ships were 135 metres (440 ft) by 55 metres (180 ft). A ship with 9 masts would be unable to resist the combined strength and force of such huge sails, she would not be able to cope with strong wind and would break. Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. Oslo 3. Several of these 'misriya' contain cupboards and other conveniences; they have doors which can be locked, and keys for their occupiers. The park is the excavation of three of the six docks that made up the Longjiang Shipyard where Zheng He's ships were built. Zheng He's flagship was said to be over 440 ft. in length and may have had a crew of 1,000 officers and men. Reykjavik 5. And this was on 26 Muharram in the year 822 [March 19, 1419]. Accra 7. A description of them appears in adventure novel by Luo Maodeng, The Three-Treasure Eunuch’s Travels to the Western Ocean (1597). Why did Zheng He need so many huge ships? Aden 12. [5], According to the Xingcha Shenglan (1436), the third voyage consisted of 48 treasure ships, not including other ships. Assuming a range of 10.5 to 12 inches for each chi, the dimensions of the treasure ships as recorded by the History of Ming would have been between 385 by 157.5 feet and 440 by 180 feet (117.5 by 48 metres, and 134 by 55 metres). According to the Guoque [zh] (1658), the first voyage consisted of 63 treasure ships crewed by 27,870 men. However, such use of this piece of archeological evidence rests upon supposing proportions between the rudder and the length of the ship, which have also been the object of intense contestation. Liangchuan was about 257 feet by 115 feet in size. And with this thing they smear their ships, and this is worth quite as much as pitch.Moreover I tell you that these ships want some 300 sailors, some 200, some 150, some more, some fewer, according as the ships are larger and smaller.They also carry a much greater burden than ours. Xin Yuan'ou, professor of the history of science at Shanghai Jiaotong University, argued that Zheng He’s ships could not have been as large as recorded in the History of Ming. Back when he was in Starfleet, Chris Rios served on the U.S.S. The USS Zheng He was a 24th century Federation Inquiry -class starship operated by Starfleet. Vol. Zheng He's Smaller Ships Along with dozens of baoshan, each armada included hundreds of smaller ships. [30][31], One explanation for the colossal size of the 44 largest Zhang treasure ships, if in fact built, was that they were only for a display of imperial power by the emperor and imperial bureaucrats on the Yangtze River when on court business, including when reviewing Zheng He's actual expedition fleet. A Chinese treasure ship (Chinese: 寶船/宝船; pinyin: bǎochuán) was a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty. The ships also had a balanced rudder which could be raised and lowered, creating additional stability like an extra keel. ): Zheng He - Images & Perceptions. Taken on: 2017-04-06 12:02:21. [17], On 4 September 1403, 200 "seagoing transport ships" were ordered from the Capital Guards in Nanjing. 15. [35], The keel consisted of wooden beams bound together with iron hoops. However, treasure ships were considered luxury ships rather than warships. The vessel is en route to the port of Rotterdam, and expected to arrive there on Jan 5, 18:00.. Traditional and popular accounts of Zheng He's voyages have described a great fleet of gigantic ships far larger than any other wooden ships in history. Hamburg 2. Photos of ZHENG HE (MMSI: 253261000) Browse and rate photos uploaded by our community. The great explorer. Ming minister Song Li indicated a ratio of 1 man per 2.5 tons of cargo, which would imply Zheng He's ships were 500 to 750 tons. About 80 years before Columbus, Zheng He conducted a 27-year voyage of discovery. The largest ships of Zheng He's fleet were the 6 masted 2000-liao ships. [5] A Zheng He era inscription in the Jinghai Temple in Nanjing gave the size of Zheng He ships in 1405 as 2,000 liao (500 tons), but did not give the number of ships. Unlike a typical fuchuan warship, the treasure ships had nine staggered masts and twelve square sails, increasing its speed. [10], Niccolò de' Conti (c. 1395–1469), a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of Chinese ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen five-masted junks of about 2000 tons* burthen:[11], They doe make bigger Shippes than wee do, that is to say, of 2000 tons, with five sayles, and so many mastes'. The replica of his flagship was closed for the winter when I was there. The vessel CMA CGM ZHENG HE (IMO: 9706906, MMSI 215199000) is a Container Ship built in 2015 (6 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Malta. The Yangtze River, with its calmer waters, may have been navigable for such large but unseaworthy ships. Treasure ships were the largest vessels in Zheng He’s fleet. No evidence that China had the type of joining materials necessary to accomplish these tasks. The other reason was that Zheng He traveled with an estimated 27,000 to 28,000 sailors, marines, translators and other crew members. [1] Historians such as Edward L. Dreyer are in broad agreement with Needham's views. But two such drydocks measured 64 m (210 feet) wide, considered large enough to build a ship 50 m (166-foot) wide. Bombay 16. It is probable that the actual size of the ships was smaller, since in later historical periods wooden ships approaching this size (such as HMS Orlando) were unwieldy and visibly undulated with the waves, even … The eight-masted ships, called "machuan" or "horse ships," were about 2/3 the size of the baoshan measuring approximately 340 feet by 138 feet. In 1962, a large rudderpost indicating a rudder area of 452 square feet was unearthed at the Longjiang Shipyard. The number "4" has numerological significance as a symbol of the 4 cardinal directions, 4 seasons, and 4 virtues. [17] The novel contains a number of fantasy element; for example the ships were "constructed with divine help by the immortal Lu Ban". Other translations of the passage give the size as a 2000 butts. Zheng He from 1405 to 1433 made 7 voyages with over 1000 soldiers and crew to India and Africa. And he entertained him and settled him in the guesthouse. [8], There are no sources for number of ships or men for the fifth and sixth voyages. On the way back to China, laden with tribute and envoys, the Treasure Fleet confronted the pirate Chen Zuyi at Palembang, Indonesia. The sight of these enormous ships appearing on the horizon one by one must have been truly incredible for the people all along the Indian Ocean's rim and would have enhanced Ming China's prestige immeasurably. In stormy weather, holes in the prow would partially fill with water when the ship pitched forward, thus lessening the violent turbulence caused by waves. It often happens that a man can be in his cabin without others on board realising it, and they do not see him until the vessel has arrived in some port.The sailors also have their children in such cabins; and (in some parts of the ship) they sow garden herbs, vegetables, and ginger in wooden tubs.The Commander of such a vessel is a great Emir; when he lands, the archers and the Ethiops march before him bearing javelins and swords, with drums beating and trumpets blowing. 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