When China Ruled the Seas by Levathes In the book, When China Ruled the Seas, Levathes tells us about seven voyages made by junk armadas during the Chinese emperor Zhu Di's reign. 'Treasure ships' as they were called, were under the command of admiral Zheng He, these ships traded silk, porcelain, and many other fine objects of value. They sailed from India to East Africa, throughout Korea and Japan, and possibly as far as Australia. She believes that China might have been able to create a great colonial realm one hundred years before the Europeans explored and expanded, from China's navy of some three thousand ships. The chief purpose of the fleet was diplomatic in nature. Zhu Di's intent to make known his ascension to the dragon throne to the rest of the world, was to make it known by the most superb way possible: a vast fleet of massive ships bringing gifts. These ships in his fleet were over four hundred feet long and could carry a load of up to three thousand tons of cargo. They were by far the largest ships most people had ever seen. This created a certain intimidation that Zhu Di liked because he was concerned in having the 'four corners of the earth' stoop down to China as being middle kingdom. The striking size and wealth the fleet represented would make most rulers consider beginning trade with China. The 'Treasure ships' were filled to the brim with expensive goods and were taken to trading ports all over the Indian Ocean. The treasure fleet was also...
On reason we should celebrate is his fleet made incredible distances and destinations, especially for the period of time he traveled in. Zheng He traveled 105,300 total miles in his life. (DOC A) One round trip from Nanjing, his home port in China, to Calicut, one of many destinations he traveled to on his voyages, was a total of 11,600 miles. (DOC A) It took 18,500 total miles to take a round trip from Nanjing to the east of Africa, which was another one of the popular ports that he traveled to. (DOC A) The distance that was
British Imperialism in China and Africa The treatment of the Chinese by the British, during the takeover of their country, was just like that of the Africans. The British took over the land and the government, took advantage of the people and exploited them for their resources. The English accomplished these things differently in each situation, but each time, the results were the same. One of the most important aspects of imperialism is the takeover of government.
The book China Marine by E. B. Sledge was a biography about the life of E.B. Sledge as a Marine during his guard duty in North China. During the Pacific War, Sledge tired of waiting for his academic degree and officer’s commission. He decided to leave Georgia Tech and enlisted in the Marine to join the war. In 1944, he survived from Peleliu and Okinawa War. Those were murderous battles and he was in the front lines as an infantryman serving in a rifle company of the First Marine Division. After the strong fought with Japanese soldier, on 14 August 1945, Japanese had surrendered unconditionally and the World War II was over. Sledge and his marines’ comrades felt blessed after they heard that announcement. They thought that they would be going home after the war ended. However, they got a new command that they should go to North China to secure the region from China Communist. In this book, Sledge wanted to tell about the effect of America in China civil war and the story about the life of Sledge while he was at North China.
European Imperialism of China and Japan Imperialism is the practice by which powerful nations or peoples seek to extend and maintain control or influence over weaker nations or peoples. By the 1800’s, the Western powers had advantages in this process. They led the world in technological advances, giving them dominance when conquering other countries. The European Imperialists made attempts to conquer China and Japan.
As written in the book The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China by David J. Silbey, the author gives an account of the Boxer Rebellion. David J. Silbey, the author gives an account using allied soldier and diplomat’s letters and diaries of the Boxer Rebellion. The Boxer Rebellion is an anti-foreigner movement in China during 1900. The conclusion of this rebellion lead to China having signed the Boxer Protocol in September 1901(Page 225). This treaty entailed the Chinese paying reparations to the United States, Russia, Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, and Austria-Hungary.
After this, China shied away from maritime travels and expenses and many records of Zheng He and his voyages disappeared. It was not until the twentieth century that Zheng He started to become an interest again. As so, the significance of his travels could once more be understood by the world. Zheng He’s voyages, put China in the history of oceanic “…exploration, trade, colonization, and exercise of sea power, even if such portrayals took Zheng He out of the context of early Ming history and viewed his voyages from a Western analytical perspective.” (Dreyer, 165). Not to mention, the sheer size of his fleet and treasure ships; which at that time was a massive achievement of its own. Apart from the significance of his fleet and voyages, Zheng He himself also deserves credit for rising so high, as a eunuch who came from humble beginnings.
As in terms of economics, China grew prosperous through trade, military expansion, invention of tools and other means of convenience and through the market economy. From the Han Dynasty China began to build again. The Sui Dynasty constructed the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal was an artificial canal that extended 1,240 miles. It enabled merchants and farmers to travel by water, selling an abundance of rice and other crops. This canal was extremely expensive but throughout the years paid itself off by providing travel routes north and south of China. The Sui Dynasty also built palaces, granarie...
The Chinese empire had once been one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the world. Before the 19th century, China had a large population and was ruled by families or dynasties. It was considered technologically advanced as China had a history of many miraculous inventions, such as: writing, magnetic compasses, movable sails, porcelain, abacus and paper money. Although China was isolated from the rest of the world, it coped well on its own, and saw no need to begin trading with the west, (as Lord McCartney proposed in 1793), since it was a self-sufficient nation. At that particular time, the Chinese empire was still able to exclude the ‘barbarians’, thus forcing them to only trade at one port. However, China soon took a turn for the worst as important ...
Nicolas D. Kristof’s account of history has an undertone of projection bias. He assumes that people will have the same outlook on Admiral Zheng He’s voyages under the Yongle Emperor as he. He makes a reference to China viewing Great Britain as being a “backwards region” and doesn’t explain why (as if the reader will incoherently agree). He disregards European goods of wood, beads and wine, as if they are worthless. He expresses that China could have easily bypassed Africa and explored further west. He states that China had architecturally advanced vessels; the naval ships were massive and the designs were very luxurious. Kristof believes that China, with its vast fleet, skillful navigation, and thousands of personnel should have made it to
Zheng He was a celebrated voyager that drove numerous incredible campaigns amid the Ming Dynasty. During his time, Chinese sovereigns sent fleets of Chinese boats to numerous locations. He voyaged all over, even East Africa. In one of his essential voyages, he even took 262 vessels and 28,000 mariners. Amid his endeavors, he promoted trade, gathered tribute and shown Ming predominance, showing outside rulers how effective the Chinese were. Due to his efforts, China succeeded significantly, and different countries perceived the prowess and how advance China had become. The accomplishment of China in the Ming Dynasty has a great deal to do with Zheng He and his undertakings. He made numerous amazing accomplishments during his life, and the impacts
During the 15th century, the Chinese had one of the most advanced naval fleets known to man. As a result, China was able to establish many trade routes to places such as Africa, India, Singapore, etc… If the Chinese wanted to, they could have sailed all the way to Europe and even as far as North America. However, the Chinese ran into some political problems that prevented explorations in the future. If they had continued their voyages, it would have been possible for them to have discovered the New World before Columbus. Had China discovered America before Columbus, our world would be different from what it is today.
In the early part of the 15th century C.E., a massive fleet of Chinese ships went on a series of seven voyages under the direction of Admiral Zheng He (The Ming Dynasty: Exploration to Isolation). For approximately 30 years, China sailed it's ships around Southeast Asia, India, and even East Africa trading exotic goods and reportedly establishing political alliances (Viviano). In addition, many estimate the Chinese flagship as being about 4.5 times larger than a European ship of the time period (Hadingham). These accounts of Zheng He's voyages can be used to argue that China in the early 15th century was the equal or possibly even superior to Europeans in terms of technology, navigation, trade, and it's political scope. Despite these voyages tremendous success, a faction of Confu...
In the book, When China Ruled the Seas, Levathes talks about seven voyages made by the Chinese armadas during emperor Zhu Di's reign. Admiral Zheng was in control of many “Treasure ships”. These ships traded silk, porcelain, and many other fine goods. They sailed from India to East Africa, through Korea and Japan, and might have even traveled all the way to Australia. Levathes believes that it could have been very possible for China to have been able to create a great kingdom to rule over one hundred years before the Europeans even explored and expanded, with China's giant navy of about three thousand of these large treasure ships.
Zheng He's first fleet included 27,870 men on 317 ships, including sailors, clerks, interpreters, soldiers, artisans, medical men and meteorologists. On board were large quantities of cargo including silk goods, porcelain, gold and silverware, copper utensils, iron implements and cotton goods. The fleet sailed along China's 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 several countries in Asia and the Middle East also boarded the ships to pay visits to China. Zheng He's second and third voyages taken shortly after, followed roughly the same route.
Chinese pirates have a well-known reputation of having been particularly cruel and frightening. However, the height of Chinese piracy began for purely economic reasons. During the Ming dynasty, China closed its borders to the outside world and became increasingly isolationist. Because of the ban imposed upon maritime trade, people were forced to trade illegally in order to stay afloat economically. During the Qing dynasty, the number of Chinese pirates began to increase as the laws regarding maritime trade with outside nations grew stricter. Piracy in the South China Sea was a way for Chinese merchants to continue with their business ventures. The crews on these merchant vessels were involved