Zheng He's Armada

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

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

China was the most powerful maritime force for almost three decades during the 14th century. The world recognized the Chinese for their fine artisan skills, which included creating stunning porcelains and silks. They also had great marine navigation skills, vast knowledge in astronomy and advanced firepower technology. Before the Ming Dynasty, the Yi citizens of China involuntarily stopped working on the land, hence had to seek for alternatives in the sea for survival. A century before Columbus plus his allied Europeans started their entry into the Modern World, seven voyages of massive castoffs commanded by the eunuch Zheng He ventured through the China Seas to East Africa, throughout Korea and Japan. This occurred between 1405 and 1433, during the reign of Zhu Di. Using their skills, they conquered the forces around the Indian Ocean, making China the naval ruler. In the book When China Ruled the Seas, Louise Levathes explores the historic timeline of China’s dynamic transformation until her rise and dominance as a marine power. Discussed below is China’s overall

When comparing Han China and Classical Rome, many political, geographical, and religious similarities can be found, though many differences are also prevalent. Though Roman and Han political structures both emphasized bureaucracies, they came to them quite differently. Through copious amounts of expansion, both societies spread culture and earned money, though expansion was eventually their downfalls. Their religions differed immensely, with Rome emphasizing polytheism and Han China focusing on Confucianism. The differences and similarities between these two civilizations are to be discussed in this essay.

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,

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.

In the early 15th century, an explorer named Zheng He started his first of many voyages to India. He was appointed by Emperor Yongle from the Ming Dynasty. He was castrated and taken away from his family at a young age. As he got older, he gained more power and authority. Zheng He's excellent leading skills lead the exploration of new cultures for China, although they did not voyage the Americas, but had an effect on exploration thereafter.

22.  What political and cultural differences stand out in the histories of fifteen century China and Western Europe?  What similarities are apparent?  Why?

The Han dynasty was a golden era for China. It saw the greatest land confiscation of the nation’s history and economic success. In this paper I will be focusing on the structure of the national government, the monopolizing of iron and salt, the Yumen Pass and the Yellow Turban rebellion. Join me as we take a trip back in time to visit a time in Chinas history that is highly revered.

While under the rule of the Emperor Qianlong, China’s foreign policy and trade was beginning to unfold and open up to Europe. Qianlong, however, still maintained a strict and regulated administration of all foreign trade and foreign ability to exist within China. “ It is true that Europeans, in the service of the dynasty, have been permitted to live at Peking, but they are compelled to adopt Chinese dress, they are strictly confined to their own precincts and are never permitted to return home.” All outside interactions with China could only be permitted if ‘in the

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 development of countries and beginning of language development and agriculture was very interesting to read. Developing knowledge of the Chinese government was fascinating. In 1400 China was already considered an aggressive country. The Chinese’s government system was well organized, very educated and ruled over 100 million people. The country was so advanced, that they were not interested in joining forces or trading with other counties. During this time period China created compasses, gunpowder, various printing and paper money. For a short period of time the country conducted some trading, but later decided that it was not essential to utilize the services of other countries.

The size of these ships was egregious, but comes great craftship comes great fiscal drain, this project was paid in taxes and dipped into parts of the emperor own banking estate. Building these fleets costed big money, which the chinese, in its primarily self sufficient economy, could support and build no problem- if not for the other numerous big investments and changes occurring at the same time or near the same time. The attacks on west china by barbarians, the move of the capital to Peking, over eight hundred miles away, and the atypical amounts of natural disasters (floods, famine, and lightning strikes) were other investments dividing the attention, which lead to a lack of sufficient funds to support all of China’s agenda-ed objectives. One had to go, this along with other reasons, which will be explained, lead to the dismantlement of the fleet; insufficient

Ho-fung Hung’s work attempts to reconcile the widespread expectation that China’s rise would lead to a fundamental change in the global status quo with the observed fact that China has become increasingly connected to and one with the global status quo. To do this, he must first examine China’s rise and prove that it upholds the global status quo, and further must look into the origins of China’s rise, going back to the 13th century, to understand why this rise seemingly changed so little about the global world order.

to a superior but as a “letter” to an equal, the letter was in Chinese