Zheng He's Fifth Voyage

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).

A Voyage Long And Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America

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

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

1492- On August 3rd 1492 Christopher Columbus had gone on his first voyage to go to Asia he had been given three ships, Santa Maria, Nina, and the Pinta with 104 men. After five weeks Columbus had landed

Zheng He traveled a total of 105,300 miles throughout his seven voyages (Doc A). He began his voyages from Nanjing, China and traveled to Calicut, Hormuz, Malindi, Mogadishu, and Mombasa (Doc A). All of these places were already well established trading ports. Zheng He didn’t find any new land and claim it for China. Because Zheng He did not discover any new land, there isn’t anything to

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

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.

Zheng He’s voyages have been a constant source of controversy in the historical world because of the differing opinions on whether they should be celebrated or not. In July of 1405, Zheng He was given the task to lead a fleet of ships for exploration. This task was assigned to him by Emperor Yongle of China’s Ming Dynasty. Over the next twenty-eight years, the Chinese Admiral, Zheng He went on seven separate voyages through the Indian and Pacific Oceans with one of the largest fleet of wooden ships in history. He navigated his massive fleet from Nanjing along the Chinese coast and through these oceans to explore new lands and bring prosperity to China. The Chinese Emperor sent Zheng He on these explorations to explore new lands, establish trade

Zheng He voyages were so remarkable due to the size of everything. Zheng traveled many miles, had a huge fleet, and the ships were massive. Zheng traveled from Southeast Asia to Eastern Africa. On each expedition there was between 40-300 ships including fighting ships, storage vessels, and "treasure" ships that could be up to 400 feet long! Zhengs crew was more than 27,000 people, including sailors, soliders, carpenters, interpreters, accountants, doctors, and religious leaders. All in all Zhengs voyages were so remarkable due to the size of everything needed for their

Vasco Da Gama left from Lisbon, Portugal on his first voyage on July 8, 1497 because he wanted to prove that the Atlantic Ocean connected with the Indian Ocean. He had one hundred seventy men and four ships. The journey sailed on November 22 successfully