Zheng He's Contributions

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).

There are plenty arguments that support why Zheng He's voyages should be celebrated or should not be celebrated. Zheng He's voyages should be celebrated because of his distance and destination, size of his fleet and treasure ship, and lastly his voyages had a glorious purpose. As a kid, Ma He watched his father die in front of him and then was taken by the Ming Dynasty's invading army. He became close with the leader and Ma He rose through ranks of military and was soon renamed Zheng He. Zheng He deserves a special recognition for his 15th century voyages.

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.

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.

Zheng He, a Chinese explorer, was born in 1371 in the Yunan Province of southwestern China (background essay). When Zheng He was ten years old, his father was killed right in front of him by the Ming Dynasty’s army (background essay). He was then taken prisoner, castrated, and forced to become part of the eunuchs (background essay). As he grew older, Emperor Yongle began to trust him more and more (background essay). The Emperor trusted him to travel by ship and lead a crew down the coast of China and across the ocean to eventually land in India in 1405 (background essay). This was one of the seven voyages he would take (background essay). When asked if Zheng He’s voyages should be celebrated, three factors must be taken into account: skill, scale and significance. Skill is the measure of one’s ability to do something. Scale is the measure of actions taken to preform something. Significance is the meaning of an event. The voyages of Zheng He should not be celebrated because there was no new land discovered, the cost of the trips were expensive and wasteful, and the reasons for the voyages mainly purposed Zheng He himself and Emperor Yongle.

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

The first reason the voyages of Zheng He do deserve to be celebrated is because of his over the top ships. From an illustration of what his treasure ship might of looked like “it shows it at least being 400 feet” (Doc C). In Zheng He’s comparison chart to other navigators it shows how he had “255 ships when everyone else only had less than 5 ships” (Doc B). Clearly, one can observe that Zheng He only wanted to be the best at everything he did. And with his huge sailing technology he had managed to finally state that about himself. Therefore, Zheng He’s many advanced vessels are worth being celebrated.

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

Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Qin emperor, was a proactive and ambitious emperor who implemented a central bureaucratic system that oversaw the evolution and unification of China at the cost of public sentiment. The Qin Dynasty is considered among the most influential dynasties as it laid the foundation for the massive cultural and economic development of China that took place during the Han Dynasty, but it also failed to achieve many of its pro-commoner ideological goals. In fact, socioeconomic disparity was not alleviated and despite the notion of enriching the lives of the common people, it was under Qin rule in which public resentment of the authoritarian government peaked as there were countless peasant revolts against the iron-handed bureaucratic rule of China. Because a paranoid emperor alone wielded political clout and influence, the tumultuous few years of Qin reign was rife with paranoia and suspicion among the masses. Although the Qin Dynasty is seldom thought as possessing the same glaring discrepancy between ideology and state that the Communist regime in post-World War II China had despite the similarities, the failure of the flawless egalitarian state models in socioeconomic and political aspects during the Qin Dynasty mirrored the developments in early Communist China.

Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Qin emperor, was an ambitious emperor who implemented a central bureaucratic system that oversaw the evolution and unification of China at the cost of public sentiment. The Qin Dynasty is considered to be among the most influential dynasties as it laid the foundation for the massive cultural and economic development of China that took place during the Han Dynasty, but it also failed to achieve many of its pro-commoner ideological goals. In fact, socioeconomic disparity was not alleviated and despite the notion of enriching the lives of the common people, it was under Qin rule in which public resentment of the authoritarian government peaked as there were countless peasant revolts against the iron-handed bureaucratic rule of the Qin. Because a paranoid emperor alone wielded political clout and influence, the tumultuous few years of Qin reign was rife with paranoia and suspicion among the masses. Although the Qin Dynasty is seldom thought to possess the same glaring discrepancy between ideology and state that the Communist regime in post-World War II China had, the failure of the flawless egalitarian state models in socioeconomic and political aspects during the Qin Dynasty mirrored the developments in early Communist China.

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

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.

Being that the figure Christopher Columbus was trying in to find a route to the Asian mainland. He is seen as a great and heroic explorer who discovered the “New World”.Others saw him as the cause of invasion and destruction. The book concludes, “Other explorers soon realized that he had discovered a new frontier altogether” (410). Christopher Columbus was a great influence for others to find the New World. With the factor of trading goods, it was important due to Colombus trading routes. The most important factor was being how the Portuguese was going to take over the Muslims possessions and create a solution that benefits them and gives them more

Diplomacy is imperative to nations coming together. A country cannot stand alone; it is the relations that the country creates which gives it power. Chou En- Lai better known as Zhou Enlai was a diplomat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Enlai helped China continue as a major world power during and after the Second World War. Enlai was smart and tactical. As a diplomat Zhou Enlai felt his purpose was to modernize China. Zhou Enlai had a rich upbringing with the resources to study abroad, a complicated relationship with Mao Zedong, and a strong career as Premier to the Chinese Communist Party.