Zheng He Dbq

Emperor Yongle intended to awe the rulers of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean into sending tribute to China (Dreyer, p. 27). Zheng He and his fleets needed to establish Chinese presence and influences in those countries in order to enforce the tributary system. Although China had no interest in imperial expansion through oceanic exploration like the Europeans did, navy power was traditionally associated with the strength of a nation. Therefore, the gigantic treasure ships, the significant scale of Zheng He’s crew as well as the Chinese goods he brought to the foreign countries all served the political needs to display wealth and power of the Middle Kingdom.

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,

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

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

proven if Marco Polo himself ever traveled as far East as China) to travel freely to the Far

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.

Even though Shi Huangdi made some improvements such as creating a writing system and protected China, he made China worse because he killed many people and destroyed historical records. For example, during the Qin dynasty he created one writing system. This evidence shows that he improved China by allowing for easy communication throughout the country. To add on, he built the Great Wall of China by connecting other walls in the north.This means that China will be protected from any invaders that attack from the north of China. This also made communication during trade easier. In document 4, Shi Huangdi ordered that all writing and teachings of Confucius to be burned and to execute anyone who opposed his rule. This shows that he made China

The treasure ships were able to wield a power on a world of people in just seven voyages. However when Zhu Di died, a new emperor learned in the ways of Confucianism, took control. In nine months the new emperor disbanded most of the fleet, and forced ruthless margins on trading and foreign journeys. Even though the fleet attempted one last expedition, it was never given another proper opportunity at prominence. The fleet

Throughout the history of China, most the emperor was from the noble class. However, there were a few where it started as a peasant and made their way to be an emperor; and one of the well-known peasant emperor was Liu Bang. Even though Liu Bang was born in a poor family, he was a kind-hearted, benevolent, and an open-minded human being. Liu Bang managed to become a successful emperor that the people were willing to obey to him because he knew how to delegate authority, utilized his resources, listened to the opinions that were offered by his peers.

Emperor Yongle sponsored Captain Zheng He’s fleet of over 300 ships and a crew of upwards of 27,000 members, into the South China Sea for purposes of trading in the year 1405. “Zheng He’s expeditions served to establish Chinese power and prestige in the Indian Ocean and to exert Chinese control over foreign trade in the region. The Chinese, however, did not seek to conquer new territories, establish Chinese settle-ments, or spread their culture, though they did intervene in a number of local disputes, p 568” The Chinese took a completely non-militaristic approach to these expeditions. This being a very important factor supporting the thesis. There is strong evidence given here that suggests that Emperor Yongle was not interested in conquering new land and expanding their territories. He was more interested in impressing the rest of the region (being the South China Sea and the coasts of the Indian Ocean) and giving them a message that said China is on top of the economic ladder. This is a key component to why the Chinese empire did not find the New World

Zheng He’s story is remarkable since he was amongst the first to own the largest fleet during the 1400s, also raised his status from a foreigner taken hostage by the Chinese army to commander of one of the largest Navy fleets along with a personal ally to the emperor, Zhu Di. In addition, He increased the Chinese’s economy through trade of Chinese goods such as silk and copper in exchange for tropical spices and precious gems from the surrounding nations (Viviano

First of all, he successfully proved everyone wrong by sailing around the world. People at the time thought that the world was flat. He showed map makers an estimate of the world's actual size. At this point, he had made a very courageous act because he didn't know if he would come back alive from this trip. Although he had not succeeded in this original plan, he did accomplish much more.

Zheng He’s voyages were very authentic and remarkable. He navigated a fleet of over 300 huge ships with almost 28,000 professional soldiers around 35 countries on 7 expeditions with the ambitions to establish a Chinese presence and expand the tributary system. He was very smart and very well developed. Zheng He's voyages is a spiritual, wealth, and rich culture legacy of china and of the world.

Word of Zheng He’s death set off a political firestorm among court factions within the Chinese government. As a result, there was swift movement to restrain future maritime exploration altogether. It also appears that the ever masterful Confucian scholars had a hand in orchestrating a largely symbolic message when they ordered the destruction of Zheng He’s entire fleet and years of meticulously kept documents. From historical perspective alone, it seems striking that those bearing witness to such vast undertakings, culminating in triumphant and prestigious accomplishments on the world’s stage, would relegate them to such an inauspicious end. However, as one might expect, there was more to the story. Powerful factions in the emperor's court

The voyages of Zheng Hu are remarkable because of scale and effort. It was a very long and large journey. It must've been very difficult to complete especially in that time. It also must've taken a lot of work. This was an amazing feat for these people and would've led to possibly world domination if it wasn't