When China Ruled the Seas by Levathes Essay

Imperialism was the cause of the economy to beginning to boom in numbers in China. China’s sudden wealth made some eastern nations such as Japan and France very curious. These nations believed that if China was to be colonized that it would make it so much easier for them to have trade routes to and from China. Not only is imperialism impacting the economy but also the culture of China. China’s culture began to change when people all over Europe began to move to China. This is what made the culture of China so diverse. Without Imperialism China would not be the nation that it is today.

Before the arrival of western powers, China was very stable, agricultural, and ethnocentric. They had many factories that produced silk, cotton, and porcelain with their natural resources: salt, tin, silver, and iron mines. They had no interest of trade or interaction with foreigners. From the early eighteenth century, European and American Imperialism spread throughout China with a goal to extend their nation’s power. China was one of many territories that undertook the changes of New Imperialism. By 1912, the country was governed by outside nations: Great Britain (mostly), Russia, Germany, France, and Japan. Their influence on China resulted malignantly on the country’s economy, political ties, and lifestyle; in spite of the few

there have been many changes in commerce. One change in commerce over the years was who dominated Trade in The Indian Ocean. Over the course of this time period the Indian ocean trade was dominated by the Indians, the Chinese the Arabs and even the distant European powers. Their were also changes in what goods were traded. Some trade goods like the exotic animals taken from Africa to China that weren’t traded for longer then a few decades. The reason Ming China had imported animals was because they were in an age of exploration at the time and wanted to have some animals for their exotic royal zoo. Also sending great explorers like Zheng He showed their ability to travel to distant lands and take what they please. Another change was how things were traded. Over the course of the 1,100 years described many changes occurred in the world of sailing. China had many of these inventions with in it’s walls before this time period. China was so Ethnocentric .that they did not spread their inventions till generations after they were made, and even then it was often by accident The compass were great improvements on how sailors navigated to their destinations. The ships them selves also changed throughout this period. The Chinese Junks were incredible ships, vastly larger then the ones Columbus used, They were equipped with cannons to defend them selves from pirates and were, in their time the most impressive ships on the water. There are changes in commerce in the Indian

The author also mentions that China-based their economy on the exchange of silver. Another important thing in this chapter was the role of the Chinese voyages in the history of China and the entire world. The voyages that were created around the 1400s were used for three reasons,

During the 15th and 16th century, exploration became the new norm of society. Each individual country had their own motives, reasons and goals regarding voyages across land and sea. For instance, Christopher Columbus, in the name of Spain, voyaged out to find an alternative route to Asia. The Portuguese, tried to increase their knowledge about trading. Moreover, while some traveled to increase their powers, Zheng He, of China, traveled to discover raw resources and generate more capital into China’s economy. If we compare the maritime policies of the kingdom of Spain and Portugal on the one hand and the Ming Empire on the other the differences in motives clearly outweigh the similarities between these two societies. For example, the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal traveled to spread Christianity, to gain land, to rule over new subjects and to spread their power throughout the different continents, while as the Ming Dynasty was only interested in capital and new/raw resources.

Both traded along the Indian Ocean using maritime trade. As the Ming traded along the Indian Ocean, they attained luxuries, for example silver, in exchange for Chinese exports such as cotton, silk and porcelain. The Ming Emperor, Zheng He, also sailed across the Indian Ocean. He is best known for the 7 sailing expeditions, which navigated across the Indian Ocean and the Southeast Asian archipelago. Zheng He's ships carried export goods; silks and porcelains, and he also brought back foreign luxuries such as spices and tropical woods. As for the Ottoman Empire, they also traded along the Indian Ocean; however, with items they had already attained. Armenians and Jews would often go to the port of Izmir, along the Ottoman Empire, and bring wool, beeswax, cotton and silk, causing great traffic. The Ottomans then traded these items in exchange for other luxurious items. Another similarity between the Ottoman and the Ming was why they traded along the Indian Ocean. Both traded along the Indian Ocean due to geography. The Ottomans were located closely to the Indian Ocean; they also had the right technology to trade along it, including ships and compasses. The Ming also traded along the Indian Ocean due to their geography. They were located nearest to the Indian Ocean, which then caused them to trade along it; also Zheng He had also laid out the groundwork for the Chinese to start trading

Zheng He traveled a total of 105,300 miles throughout his seven voyages (Doc A). He began his voyages from Nanjing, China and traveled to Calicut, Hormuz, Malindi, Mogadishu, and Mombasa (Doc A). All of these places were already well established trading ports. Zheng He didn’t find any new land and claim it for China. Because Zheng He did not discover any new land, there isn’t anything to

The illustration from When China Ruled of Christopher Columbus’s Santa Maria, and Zheng He’s treasure ship on Document B show you just how ridiculous and overzealous his ships were. According the chart under the illustration on Document B, Zheng He had 255 ships, and a crew consisting of 27,500 people. Too fully comprehend how ridiculous this was, compare it to Christopher Columbus’s 3, 85 feet long ships and 90 person crew. Zheng He’s ships were 440 feet long, and 180 feet wide according to Document C’s illustration by Edward L. Dreyer. Apparently these massive ships could not sail in water more shallow than roughly 20 feet, because the port elevation was 20 feet itself so optimally, the water would have to be 30 feet deep. To understand how large the crew was; the doctor to patient ratio in the United States is

One of the most important reasons they decided to explore further was in result of the contination of growth Europeans were undergoing. With the help of maritime trade between the East and the West, they were able to expand their trading. Plenty of goods were brought over to the Europeans with the trading route of the Silk Road. These goods included silk, medicine, spices, animals, and much more as time carried on like perfume. Through this

Have you ever seen a treasure ship larger than a football field? Crazy right? But yet it was accomplish by a man with the name of Zheng He. Many people do not recognize him because all of his records were destroyed, but he was astonishing. If you ask me, I say we should celebrate the voyages of Zheng He. Why? He spent twenty-eight years of his life traveling and traveled one hundred five thousand, three hundred miles in total! He also had enormous ships, crew members, and seven voyages compared to others. Lastly he brought peace and people together from all places, also made sea trade safer.

5. How did the tribute system in practice differ from the ideal Chinese understanding of its operation?

In the book, When China Ruled the Seas, Levathes tells us about seven voyages made by junk armadas during the Chinese emperor Zhu Di's reign. "Treasure ships" as they were called, were under the command of admiral Zheng He, these ships traded silk, porcelain, and many other fine objects of value. They sailed from India to East Africa, throughout Korea and Japan, and possibly as far as Australia. She believes that China might have been able to create a great colonial realm one hundred years before the Europeans explored and expanded, from China's navy of some three thousand ships.

In the world, the age saw many explorers in search of a faster trade route to China, which led to the discovery of North America.

China was a very advanced civilization during the 16th Century and rose to power. They had large libraries, conducted trade by using a series of canals. They also had large cities and used paper money for trade. The Chinese invented the gunpowder and the magnetic compass. They had a very large navy with over 2,000 vessels in all sizes and they conducted overseas expeditions. After the last Chinese expedition, there was an imperial edict that banned the construction of ships with more than two masts. Warships were put away and not maintained. The navy was too costly and the Chinese wanted to spend their money defending their Northern frontiers from the Mongols. This did not require a large navy. Paul Kennedy stated “that in this Restoration atmosphere, the all important officialdom was concerned to preserve and recapture the past, not to create a brighter

Zhu Di’s idea behind the creation of this fleet was to convince foreign rulers who may have been harboring Zhu Yunwen that he was the rightful ruler. It was also said that the imperial treasury was in need of replenishment by foreign trade.