Why Is Zheng He Be Celebrated

Marco Polo was a renowned explorer in the medieval era and he wrote the work in which most of our past understanding of the regions is remembered today. He was born in 1252 in Venice and later deceased in Venice at the age of 70 in 1352. The reason he so is so famous and remembered today is because he reached the farthest on his 24 year journey down the silk road reaching extents of China and Mongolian empire. To begin with Marco Polo was born into a wealthy family who was known for their travels and spread of merchantability already and a young Marco Polo would begin his journey as early as 14-16 Years old. Though his date of birth is unknown and the exact location his family was a big name in the Venice community making it only seem fitting. This paper is going to correlate to the book found in the franciscan library at Saint Bonaventure, “Did Marco Polo Really Go to China” by Dr. Wood; she does a scholarly review questioning whether or not Mr. Polo really carried out the things he said to have done and has he actually visited the regions in which he said he's went too. Before we begin though we cannot fully disprove the veracity of the journey in which Mr. polo took because other explorers have also left out important historical happenings when discovering new regions and cultures. Born in 1254 in Venetian Republic, Marco Polo headed to Asia with his merchant father (weapons trader supposedly as we will later touch on) . He would spend the next 24 years exploring

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).

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

The first reason for celebration of Zheng He's voyages is his distance and destination. In 7 voyages he traveled over 105,300 miles. Examples of some places and distance he traveled was

Asia was the center of trade, business and craft. Many countries tried to find a direct route to Asia, in order to increase trade. Whereas, China decided to uphold isolationism. Its population was one hundred million people in four million miles of square land. China did not want more land, nor more subjects to govern. In fact, China had more people than it can govern. Yongle Emperor sent Zheng He to purchase various spices, goods and conduct trade. Zheng He was a Muslim Chinese eunuch trusted by the

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.

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

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 the years between 1403 and 1433, a Chinese ship commander by the name of Zheng He made several grand voyages. His voyages had such a large effect on foreigners that they sent gifts to the emperor at that time. This made Zheng He one of the greatest sailors at the time in China because of all the treasure he was bringing back with him. Therefore, should the voyages of Zheng He be celebrated today? Although some would argue that his voyages had no purpose, Zheng He’s expeditions should gain recognition, since he had many gigantic ships, got free gifts, and had made safer sea routes.

Magellan went way farther than Zheng He did and he only went one time while Zheng He went multiple times. Magellan went farther than Zheng He with far fewer ships and fewer men. Zheng He was very good at getting where he was going because of a number of times he went, but Magellan had great navigational skills when going around the world. In Document G, it shows a map with the route of Magellan’s journey and the exact path he took in his attempt to make it all the way around the world. How far he went shows how much skill he had and shows how much he had prepared and planned for the voyage. Not only did he have amazing navigational skills, but he was great in predicting the length of bodies of land. Document I states, “Magellan's extraordinary skill as a good strategist proved to be the decisive factor in negotiating the entire length of the Dragon’s

Each explorer has contributed to their country advancing the society in multiple ways. Bartholomeu Dias was a Portuguese explorer that set sail in 1487 to sail northeast into the Indian Ocean. He set sail with “two small caravels and a slower supply ship.” As stated in the textbook American Journey. After Dias was overseas for a couple days, there was a huge storm lasting two weeks. Throwing Dias off his original course, the strong winds pushed him southward in sight of land. Dias had realized that he had sailed past the southernmost point of Africa called a Cape. In 1487, Bartholomeu Dias also found a direct water route to India providing the Portuguese with another way of trading food, for different goods. In the Primary Source Packet document 2, it states, “In 1487 Dias sailed to India, finding a direct water route to India forming another trading route for the

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.

People argue that Zheng He didn't accomplish anything, but in Document B it states, ¨Voyages; 7; (1405-1433).¨ This tells us he was traveling for twenty-eight years out of his whole life, so at least he tried. Also not everything you try gets accomplished, it was just his luck he couldn't explore anything new. From information that I have gathered from Document A, it clarifies that in total, he traveled one hundred five thousand, three hundred miles in total! He was also very intelligent by going back to Nanjing each voyage for new crew, and repairments.. For his great intelligence, that gives one good reason for recognition

Columbus was an explorer who initiated a series of explorations to the Americas and paved the way for new trade routes to Asia; however, a holiday that is dedicated to a man who ‘found’ a territory already inhabited, and glorifies a voyage that commenced a mass genocide and slave trade should not be celebrated.

“I have not told half of what I saw” were the final words of the great Venetian explorer Marco Polo; however, in recent times, Marco Polo’s exploits have been doubted more and more. (Pedriali, 161) Most often cited as evidence that Marco Polo’s travels may not have been as truthful as reported is the 1998 book Did Marco Polo go to china? by Dr. Frances Wood. Through new research done by Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel of University of Tübingen in Germany, it has been shown that Marco Polo was mostly truthful in his memoirs, but it has also proven that some things were exaggerated thanks to his ghostwriter Rustichello da Pisa, Marco Polo himself, or later copyists.