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Home , Ibn Battuta, Zheng He

Name ______Date ______Period ______Class ______

Quasestio:______Nunc Agenda: Answer the following questions using pages 379-382 in your textbook… 1. How did the change ? (p 379-380) ______2. Who was He? What did he do? (p 381) ______3. Why did China suddenly end overseas ? (p 382) ______

Zheng He and the Great Chinese Fleet

Zheng He, born Ma He in Kunyang in the Province in the year 1371, was the second son in a Muslim family with four sisters. His granfathers and greatgrandfathers were devout , as Zheng would become, and each had made the pilgrimage to . In the year 1381, a Ming army arrived in Zheng He's village to squash down the Yuan supporting army of Basalawarmy. In the process, the Ming army killed eleven year old Zheng's father, and Zheng was made a and sent to the imperial court where he would later become one of Zhu Di's, or the 's, most trusted adviser.

Yongle was the third Ming emperor, ruling from 1404 to 1424, and was one of the most visionary emperors China has ever seen. Among many accomplishments, Yongle switched the capital from to and ordered the construction of the Forbidden City. He also reopened the to supply the new capital with goods and supplies from the south. Yongle even ordered the reconstruction of the in stone. But perhaps most importantly, he commissioned the building of a huge treasure fleet and commissioned Zheng He's voyages.

The awesome fleet was made up of 317 , including 62 treasure ships that, if the accounts can be taken as factual, measured up to 416 feet in length and 170 feet wide, and had nine masts, four decks, and were capable of accommodating more than 500 passengers, as well as a massive amount of cargo. If accurate, these dimensions would signal the biggest wooden ships ever built. and both described multi- masted ships carrying 500 to 1000 passengers in their translated accounts. The rest of the fleet was made up of good transport ships, troop transport ships, patrol boats, supply ships, warships, and even water tankers. This massive fleet and its 27,000 men would leave a huge impression on the peoples they visited.

In 1405, Zheng left the coast of China with , , and spices for trading. His goal was to earn tribute from new nations, establish a Chinese presence in new regions, and impose control over trade in the . From the of Nanjing, Zheng's fleet traveled south, to . In Indonesia, Zheng He and his men built granaries and warehouses. They also established Muslim communities along the shores of , , and the . These Muslim communities actively propagated and the Chinese language. From Indonesia, the fleet traveled to , a land ravaged by violence. Zheng made offerings of gold, silver, and silk to a Buddhist temple. He and his crew also established a temporary peace in the region. Many years after leaving the coast of Sri Lanka, Zheng He's fourth voyage landed in . When local officials threatened his fleet, Zheng He displayed his impressive military force to squash any kind of rebellion against he and his men. Zheng He and his men also brought some luxuries and new exotic animals back from Africa, including a , which intrigued the Ming citizens very much.

In 1424, the great emperor Yongle died, and the throne passed on to Hongxi. Zheng He made one last expedition after Hongxi's reign, under Xuande. However, Zheng He's death on this last voyage marked the end of China's and the beginning of a xenophobic, closed off China. The new imperial court and emperor decided it would be in China's best interests to cut connections with outside 'barbarians' and to focus all of China's energy inward. This was a huge mistake, and marked the beginning of the downfall of one of the greatest and oldest on Earth. Even after the end of the expeditions, Zheng He's explorations and fearless adventures stuck in the minds of Chinese poets and writers. From his birth in the small, remote Yunnan Province, to his death at on his seventh expedition, Zheng He and his huge fleet bravely challenged the restless Indian Ocean in order to spread Chinese culture, encounter new tributary states, and impose control over trade. Many years later, the world remembers Zheng He for what he truly was: A heroic explorer.

1. Summarize the childhood experience of Zheng He: ______2. What was the goal of Zheng He’s voyages? ______3. Do you think the size and number of ships was exaggerated? Why or why not? ______4. Less than 60 years after China stopped exploring overseas, Columbus sailed to America, making Spain a major power. How might the world have been different today if China had never stopped exploring? ______