Summary of Zheng- He :: essays research papers

Zheng He was a Muslim eunuch who served as a close confidant of the Yongle Emperor of china during the Ming Dynasty.He went on voyages to Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Java, Ceylon, India, Persia, Persian Gulf, Arabia, the deprivation sea Egypt, and the Mozambique Channel. The number of his voyages vary depending on method of division, but he travelled at least seven times to The Western ocean with his flutter. The languish comprised 30,000 men and seventy ships at its height. He brought back end to chinaware many trophies and envoys from more than thirty kingdoms including King Alagonakkara of Ceylon, who came to chinaware to apologize to the Emperor. purport magazine ranked Zheng He the 14th most important person of the last millennium.In 1405, Zheng was chosen to lead the biggest naval expedition in history up to that time. Over the next 28 years (1405-1433), he commanded seven fleets that visited 37 countries, through Southeast Asia to faraway Africa and Arabia. In those ye ars, China had by far the biggest ships of the time. In 1420 the Ming navy dwarfed the combined navies of Europe.A grand fleet of big ships, with nine masts and manned by 500 men, each(prenominal) set sail in July 1405, half a century sooner Columbuss voyage to America. There were great treasure ships over 300-feet long and 150-feet wide, the biggest being 440-feet long and 186-across, capable of carrying 1,000 passengers. Most of the ships were built at the Dragon speak shipyard near Nanjing, the remains of which can still be seen today.Zheng Hes first fleet included 27,870 men on 317 ships, including sailors, clerks, interpreters, soldiers, artisans, medical men and meteorologists. On mount up were large quantities of cargo including silk goods, porcelain, gold and silverware, copper utensils, iron implements and cotton goods. The fleet sailed along Chinas coast to Champa close to Vietnam and, after crossing the South China Sea, visited Java, Sumatra and reached Sri Lanka by passing through the Strait of Malacca. On the way back it sailed along the west coast of India and returned home in 1407. Envoys from Calicut in India and some(prenominal) countries in Asia and the Middle East also boarded the ships to pay visits to China. Zheng Hes second and 3rd voyages taken shortly after, followed roughly the same route.In the fall of 1413, Zheng He set out with 30,000 men to Arabia on his fourth and most intriguing voyage.