Zheng He Voyages

Zheng He was one of the greatest explorers in the Age of Exploration however, his fame is not widely celebrated today. Zheng He was the powerful and wealthy adviser for Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. The Emperor sent Zheng He on a mission to travel to foreign lands ranging from the tip of India to the eastern parts of Africa to give them gifts to show China’s power and dominance. He started these voyages in 1405 and eventually captained seven of them before retiring. The Chinese felt that the cost of the expeditions outweighed the benefits.

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,

Exploration has been an important action to take part of since the beginning of time. We have to explore to find out what’s out there right? We could potentially obtain so much knowledge, and so many resources. You can only obtain the maximum potential of something if your motives and ideology are correct. A great example of someone who had the potential to do so much good, and obtain so much greatness was a Chinese admiral by the name of Zheng He. Zheng He watched his father die at the hand of the Ming Dynasty, along with being castrated himself. Zheng He was forced to join thousands of eunuchs, and then rose quickly through the ranks of the military. The emperor basically assigned Zheng He the task of leading a fleet of exploration

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

The early voyages by the Portuguese and Spanish were motivated by gold, trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through religious conversion. The voyages of a few adventurers show that the Spanish and Portuguese goals were to spread Catholicism, expand trade, and expand the kingdom of the Spanish and the Portuguese to the new lands they’ve discovered. These adventures were Christopher Columbus who attempted to find a new route to Asia to extend Spain’s trade and to colonize, Bartholomew Columbus and his successful founding of Santo Domingo, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his

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.

Furthermore, this experience led to the discovery that the key to success is control over regions that produced valuable goods, since control over trade routes ultimately leads to their change.1 China with its warfare and seafaring technology never claimed to take control over the sea even after Zheng He’s voyages, since they had enough, if not more resources than everyone else, unlike Europe. The conclusive thought is that Europeans were poor, and in order for them to succeed in an otherwise rich world, force was the only option. The bias is therefore in the fact that Europeans had no

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

Zheng He’s voyages were very authentic and remarkable. He navigated a fleet of over 300 huge ships with almost 28,000 professional soldiers around 35 countries on 7 expeditions with the ambitions to establish a Chinese presence and expand the tributary system. He was very smart and very well developed. Zheng He's voyages is a spiritual, wealth, and rich culture legacy of china and of the world.

Word of Zheng He’s death set off a political firestorm among court factions within the Chinese government. As a result, there was swift movement to restrain future maritime exploration altogether. It also appears that the ever masterful Confucian scholars had a hand in orchestrating a largely symbolic message when they ordered the destruction of Zheng He’s entire fleet and years of meticulously kept documents. From historical perspective alone, it seems striking that those bearing witness to such vast undertakings, culminating in triumphant and prestigious accomplishments on the world’s stage, would relegate them to such an inauspicious end. However, as one might expect, there was more to the story. Powerful factions in the emperor's court

Zheng He, ever heard of him? No, because instead of celebrating the man who landed in North America first, we celebrate a whimpy man who came here 60 years after him. Zheng he was a man who was responsible for 85 times Christopher Columbus’s ships and was very hopeful that his 105,300 miles of sailing would work out in the end. Zheng He should be celebrated. I personally believe that we should celebrate Zheng he’s voyages because he found America first, he was a good trader, and he was compassionate about all of his passengers.

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

Honoring the trips of Zheng He would be a big mistake because there was no big outcome that affected China and the world, also the trips were very costly to China which could have threatened their economy. Lastly there was so much people on the ships that did more harm than good. Other experienced sailors could have collected tributes since Zheng He didn't do anything extraordinary, and something that no one else could. There was also no significant discovery during his seven voyages. Some may also think that people wasting time thinking about this topic, but it is very important. There are not a lot of people that have holidays but the ones that do worked extremely hard. Almost everyone knows them; most people don’t even know Zheng He and

Worthy of mention is the Christianity in China. Dubois explains that the advent of Christianity in China was not solely to spread the religion, but was majorly concerned with economic matters. “the age of exploration. This is the time of Christopher Columbus, Vascode Gama and Ferdinand Megallan,

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.