Are Zheng He’s Voyages Deserving of Celebration? Essay

The Age of Exploration was a time period that has had significant influences in the modern world. It was the moment in which Europe was brought out of the Dark Ages and into an era of discovery. The risks taken within the 15th and 18th century allowed both positive and negative outcomes to be introduced to the European Exploration. There were many motives for this era, and many outcomes came about. However, they were both negative and positive. To summarize the motives of this age, a simple combination can be stated. The main purposes of the Age of Exploration was God, Gold, and Glory.

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 treasure ships were able to wield a power on a world of people in just seven voyages. However when Zhu Di died, a new emperor learned in the ways of Confucianism, took control. In nine months the new emperor disbanded most of the fleet, and forced ruthless margins on trading and foreign journeys. Even though the fleet attempted one last expedition, it was never given another proper opportunity at prominence. The fleet

Lastly the third reason why Magellan led himself to his deathbed. Magellan’s navigational skills were poor. According to Over the Edge of the World, By Harper Collins “he regularly sent small scouting parties in the long boats”, “they would go and come back with news of the findings.. And the rest would follow” Gines de Mafra recalled. This evidence shows that Magellan had planned the way easily, but doing it was difficult. Magellan purely relied on his search parties to go throughout the way. You might argue that he still got through and reached the spice islands, but he reached there with just a handful of men in his Armada.

I researched Zheng He for my Wax Museum Project. His original name was Ma He. “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” This quote represents how he learned many new things because of his traveling. Zheng He was an important figure in history because he helped the Chinese people expand their knowledge.

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

Despite the fact that Zheng He had ships that were almost five times the size of Columbus’s and that Zheng’s crew was more than three hundred times larger than the crew of when Columbus went on his voyages, this doesn’t change the fact that Zheng He made the choice to kill many people, not supply many doctors for the voyage, and had ships too big to trade in certain

It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory

The voyages of Zheng He were so remarkable because of their size. Everything about them was large, the distance, the ship and the fleet. About 40 - 300 ships sailed at a time including fighting ships, storage vessels and treasure ships. Everywhere he went he distributed gifts to show Chinas wealth. Also, during his voyages he completed his Muslim

After the Zheng He debate, I am anti-menzie. I believe that menzies and the opposing team at the debate had few evidence to support the theory of Zheng He traveling to America. Even with not supporting Menzie, I do still hope that Zheng He actually did travel to America but Menzies’s research/claims about Zheng He is actually incorrect, as I know that many of the sea traveling records were destroyed.

He was then castrated and used as staff in the palace. Ma He grew up and ranked into a top ranking as the Emperor’s assistant; and gained a formal name – Zheng He. The Emperor had given him a task for him to explore other countries; and was the first Chinese explorer to sail to other countries. Three reasons to celebrate Zheng He because: he led 7 voyages into different countries for exploration, he has done many good deeds for China and has changed history and geography of the world.

Zheng He discovered Ryukyu, Champa, Pahang, Malacca, Bengal, and more. Zheng He led , considered to be “the world's most important crossroads of trade.” Zheng He encountered pirates, Zheng He started a battle, easily defeating the pirates. Zheng He traded and got spices.

Having grown up an imposing man despite castration at the hands of Chinese soldiers in his youth, the inevitable destiny to live out his life as a eunuch, Admiral Zheng He’s story is both testament of triumph and the inexplicable repulsiveness of human history. Nevertheless, his fortuitous placement with the household of anticipated Yongle emperor would ultimately seed relationships pivotal to his extraordinary future. There, while being provided a formal education, he seized on opportunity and established himself as one of exceptional intelligence and military acumen. At the pleasure of emperor Yongle, Zheng He would eventually lead seven expeditions to Asia, Africa and the Middle East during the early fifteenth century and establish diplomatic

Exploration is a key aspect to ensuring the constant and consistent development of the human race, but is it really necessary to branch out into the cosmos rather than focusing on the Earth itself. Expanding is essentially the ability to understand the unknowing and to grasp unworldly ideas, but without the means to reach those goals: justification, funding, and manpower, what is the point of committing funds to an unforeseen mission such as Space Exploration. Space Exploration is an issue that Humanity faces because it targets the what ifs about the future rather than focusing on the dangers of the present. Drought, famine, poverty, and war, will all continue to plague the world, and will remain tackling issues on present day Earth, and by using immense funding and manpower on what is not certain, is detrimental to humanities growth. Although, yes, NASA has created breakthroughs with innovations in relation to technological advancements, it is not certain that exploring space will ensure new innovations, because space itself is still theoretical and far too vast for ideal comprehension. Proper funding is mandatory for growth and expansion, but not important for the funding of Space exploration, rather it is more important to focus on pressing matters ranging from genocides: The Rwandan Genocide, to extreme poverty and famine: humans on Earth who do not have enough to live. If funding is granted to Space exploration by the public, it will remove essential funding to those

Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the unknown. From sailing to distant lands to someday setting foot on other planets, the spirit of exploration is the same. Bur now with the current economic situation and the high cost of sending people to space, NASA is being looked at as a way to free up some much needed funds. Although, there is many problems here on planet Earth that need addressing, the benefits of space exploration far out weight the disadvantages. Space exploration has given us more advanced technology, advances in the medical field, and a boost to the economy and these facts cannot be disputed.