Zheng He Discovered America Analysis

Emperor Yongle intended to awe the rulers of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean into sending tribute to China (Dreyer, p. 27). Zheng He and his fleets needed to establish Chinese presence and influences in those countries in order to enforce the tributary system. Although China had no interest in imperial expansion through oceanic exploration like the Europeans did, navy power was traditionally associated with the strength of a nation. Therefore, the gigantic treasure ships, the significant scale of Zheng He’s crew as well as the Chinese goods he brought to the foreign countries all served the political needs to display wealth and power of the Middle Kingdom.

The Ming and Ottoman Empires arose after the Mongols in the mid-14th century. These two empires undertook massive renovation. Although there were some broad, common goals in their re-building, the Ming focused inward, while the Ottoman focused outward in building their empires, which reflected in their trading techniques. The Ming dynasty focused on internal trade and restricted external trade; the Ottomans however, mainly focused on external trade rather than internal. Trading across the ocean led to the Ottoman Empire becoming tolerant of ethnic religious minorities due to their large landmass, whereas the Ming dynasty’s geography caused them to become isolated, therefore leading them to become selective of their treatment towards ethnic

The explorations of Zheng He would conclude with a seventh and final voyage when he tragically perished on return to the homeland and buried at sea accordingly. Upon reflection, historians now acknowledge that his expedition to Africa is of particular distinction. Moreover, those experts generally agree that continuation around the Cape of Good Hope would have almost assuredly resulted in discovering a direct trade route with Europe seventy-five years earlier to that of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. And while Zheng He’s preeminence reigns supreme over this era, he closely parallels other famous explorers whereby significant inadvertent discovery occasionally overshadowed intentional design. By the same token, Christopher Columbus

In the late 17th century to the early 18th century, two powerful monarchs who ruled over their own magnificent empires. These monarchs were Peter the Great, the tsar of Russia, and the emperor of China, Kangxi. At the time of their rules, an economic system called mercantilism formed. This system allowed societies to benefit off of influx of goods from merchants trading. Using this system, in China, the Canton system was formed to open up ports to western societies. Even though, both Kangxi and Peter the Great shared similarities in the way they ruled, they had a variety of differences, which were caused by their background and their country’s interests. On the other hand, the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the empires caused them to also have differences in their ways of ruling. These differences could be categorized into two overarching topics, economy and education. Their economies had varied taxation systems and were structured differently. As far as education, the rulers differed in the ways they spread knowledge and the type of knowledge they taught.

From 618-907, the unprecedented leniency and tolerance of the Tang dynasty created a large hyper power, with alliances and trading and such. This empire left a lasting impression on the Chinese. “These and other factors converged to produce a dynasty more tolerant of foreign cultures, religions, and influences than any other in Chinese history.” Taizong was the first emperor of the tang dynasty and set the precedent for his successors. His main goal was to establish equality throughout the regions. He achieved this and became “the first Chinese ruler to establish dominion over the steppes.” As the Tang rule grew larger and larger, it engulfed areas like Manchuria, Vietnam, and parts of Iran. The way they chose to handle the commerce and diplomacy

In terms of the Chinese tribute system we examined in class, the leaders of China’s voyages dealt with leaders of countries they visited by treating them based on the tribute gifts they received. Under Confucian civilization, China often received tribute from the foreign states they visited and gave them Chinese products and recognition of their authority and sovereignty in return. There were several tribute states to China including neighboring countries such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo, Indonesia, South Asia and Central Asia. However when countries stopped paying tribute to China, there were often tensions. During the Zheng He expeditions many goods were carried to build tribute relationships between the Ming Dynasty and newly discovered kingdoms. An example of the a tribute gift given was an eyeglass given to Zhu Di by Parameswara of Malaca. “Of all the tributes Zhu Di received that summer from the many envoys

Who really discovered America? There are many different theories on who discovered America. If I were to ask you who would you say? Some say Vikings other say Christopher Columbus. Others have other theories. I think the ancient Polynesian were the true founders of America.

Which means that the Europeans were trading half of their goods to the Ottomans for wheat, timber, and coal. The Ming traded to the west with the Europeans and profited highly from it. Much world history is influenced by the Ming and Western Europe. As the Europeans went looking for new and faster ways to get silk and spices from China. Of course, this influenced China too.

Why is it that American culture today attributes its geographic discovery to a man named Christopher Columbus? Could it be that he was the first European to claim this land as part of an Imperialistic expansion or is it merely out of convenience for the history books? It is known that the American continent was populated by 1000 AD which is long before settlements by Viking fisherman and even longer before the arrival of Columbus. In spite of this fact every October, we as a culture celebrate a holiday in honor of the man who is believed to be "the discoverer" of America. Like so many other aspects of enculturation past down through American families, generation after

As early as 1793 the Qing Dynasty began to have trouble with their trades. When China began to work with the British for trade it became an exploitive exchange from the British. Western trade was limited to the Southern port of Canton (Guangzhou).This was known as the Canton trade system period (1757-1842). The Chinese government issued trading licenses exclusively to authorized merchants. These merchants would be the only ones allowed to deal with Western traders. This system helped keep trade with foreign countries running smoothly and, by extension, helped to eliminate the possibility of external threats. In Britain's case, as the demand for tea rose and the production of manufactured goods increased during the Industrial Revolution, it wanted to develop and increase trading opportunities and to establish diplomatic relations with China. This led to Macartney's famous British mission to China in 1793. China began to enforce rules that were as fickle as wind, England decided to send lord Macartney as an Ambassador to Emperor Qianlong to negotiate safer and

The first voyage that was from 1405 – 1407 was composed of 317 ships and nearly 28,000 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 second voyage from 1407 - 1409 took 68 ships to attend the trip. Zheng He organized this voyage but did not actually lead it in person. The third voyage which is from 1409 - 1411 had 48 large ships and about 30,000 troops. 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. In addition to the fourth voyage of discovery 1413 - 1416, Zheng He commandeered

British attempts for renewed trade conditions were not met favourably by the Emperor. Firstly, due to China’s self-superiority it was assumed the visiting diplomats were paying tribute. Further complications arose with British refusal to comply with Chinese customs e.g. performing the kowtow before the Emperor. These actions caused misunderstandings and misinterpretations, which set the basis of British-Chinese relations and attitudes.

Wu Ch'êng-ên is the author of “Journey to the West”, which is also known as “Monkey King”. He was a native born in 1506 during the dynasty of Ming in China. His birth was before the arrival of Europeans from Portugal to China during the year 1514.There was an awesome enthusiasm for looking back to past customs and antiquated society. Narrating was exceptionally prevalent and he was especially skilled for making a decent story into an artistic expression. Wu portrays a great Chinese historical figure with a twist of humor and genuine remarks regarding human instinct and things happening in this world. The author was a researcher person, yet minimal regarding the whole thing. During 1582, he passed away. He translated Monkey, a picture of Journey

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

“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.