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105-576: The museum's main attraction was a 15m tall reconstruction of an ancient Chinese ship which is created based on historical accounts of Chinese mariner and diplomat, Zheng He 's journeys to the "Western Ocean" ( Indian Ocean ). Behind the Chinses ship was a replica of a 9th-century Arabian dhow, the Jewel Of Muscat , which was gifted to Singapore by the Sultanate of Oman . Surrounding both ships

210-508: A 13th-century wreck off Bakau in Indonesia. This article related to a museum in Asia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a Singapore building or structure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zheng He Zheng He (also romanized Cheng Ho ; 1371–1433/1435) was a Chinese admiral , explorer, diplomat, and bureaucrat during

315-480: A 1944 map), most of which have now been covered by the construction of buildings in the 20th century. The basins are believed to have been connected to the Yangtze via a series of gates. Three long basins survive, each with wooden structures inside, interpreted to be frames onto which the ships to be built on. The largest basin extends for a length of 421 metres (1,381 ft). While they were long enough to accommodate

420-753: A Dutch ship recorded in the History of Ming was 30 zhang . If the zhang is taken to be 3.2 m, the Dutch ship would be 96 m long. Also the Dutch Hongyi cannon was recorded to be more than 2 zhang (6.4 m) long. Comparative study by Hu Xiaowei (2018) concluded that 1 zhang would be equal to 1.5–1.6 m, this means the Dutch ship would be 45–48 m long and the cannon would be 3–3.2 m long. Taking 1.6 m for 1 zhang , Zheng He's 44 zhang treasure ship would be 70.4 m (230.97 ft) long and 28.8 m (94.49 ft) wide, or 22 zhang long and 9 zhang wide if

525-522: A Jin general named Wanyan Eke. He had lost the defense of Hezhong to the Mongols and fled on ships with 3,000 of his men. The Mongols pursued them with their ships until the Jin broke through by using thunder crash bombs that caused flashes and flames. During the siege of 1232, the Mongols protected themselves with elaborate screens of thick cowhide while they attacked the city walls but the Jin defenders lowered

630-492: A Muslim style. Zheng's voyages were long neglected in official Chinese histories but have become well known in China and abroad since the publication of Liang Qichao 's Biography of Our Homeland's Great Navigator, Zheng He in 1904. In the decades after the last voyage, Imperial officials minimized the importance of Zheng He and his expeditions throughout the many regnal and dynastic histories they compiled. The information in

735-589: A book entitled the Wubei Zhi ( A Treatise on Armament Technology ) written in 1621 and published in 1628 but traced back to Zheng He's and earlier voyages. It was originally a strip map 20.5 cm by 560 cm that could be rolled up, but was divided into 40 pages which vary in scale from 7 miles/inch in the Nanjing area to 215 miles/inch in parts of the African coast. Investigation into folios 19V to 20R of

840-482: A cache of these bombs three centuries later in the Xi'an area and described their appearance: they were made of cast iron and looked like two bowls that came together to form a ball that had a small hole at the top about the width of a finger. He wrote that that iron shrapnel came out when the bombs exploded and that was how they killed. Heaven-shaking-thunder bombs, also known as thunder crash bombs , were used in 1231 by

945-651: A contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen five-masted junks weighing about 2,000 vegetes , that is Venetian butt. Christopher Wake estimated a burthen of 1300 tons. The ship of Conti may have been a Burmese or Indonesian jong . The largest ships in the fleet, the Chinese treasure ships described in Chinese chronicles, would have been nearly twice as long as any other wooden ship recorded thereafter until

1050-493: A couple of thousand a month. In one arsenal he found "no more than 85 iron bomb-shells, large and small, 95 fire-arrows, and 105 fire-lances. This is not sufficient for a mere hundred men, let alone a thousand, to use against an attack by the ... barbarians." Blocking the Mongols' passage south of the Yangtze were the twin fortress cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng . What resulted was a siege that lasted from 1268 to 1273. For

1155-826: A detailed description of his grandfather's sending Zheng He to the Western Ocean." The voyages "were contrary to the rules stipulated in the Huang Ming Zuxun " ( 皇明祖訓 ), the dynastic foundation documents laid down by the Hongwu Emperor : Some far-off countries pay their tribute to me at much expense and through great difficulties, all of which are by no means my own wish. Messages should be forwarded to them to reduce their tribute so as to avoid high and unnecessary expenses on both sides. They further violated longstanding Confucian principles. They were only made possible by (and therefore continued to represent)

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1260-481: A displacement tonnage of about 800 tons. Traditional and popular accounts of Zheng He's voyages have described a great fleet of gigantic ships far larger than any other wooden ships in history. The most grandiose claims for Zheng He's 1405 fleet are entirely based on a calculation derived from an account that was written three centuries later and was accepted as fact by one modern writer; rejected by numerous naval experts. There are even some sources that claim some of

1365-429: A kind of embarrassment to the dynasty. State-sponsored Ming naval efforts declined dramatically after Zheng's voyages. Starting in the early 15th century, China experienced increasing pressure from the surviving Yuan Mongols from the north. The relocation of the capital to Beijing in the north exacerbated this threat dramatically. At considerable expense, China launched annual military expeditions from Beijing to weaken

1470-516: A large turned-up brim, reversible in winter, and earmuffs. Whether a soldier's helmet was leather or metal depended on his rank and wealth. Mounted archers were a major part of the armies of the Mongol Empire, for instance at the 13th-century Battle of Liegnitz , where an army including 20,000 horse archers defeated a force of 30,000 troops led by Henry II , Duke of Silesia, via demoralization and continued harassment. The primary weapon of

1575-561: A massive and expensive expansion of the Great Wall of China . In that environment, funding for naval expeditions was simply absent. However, missions from Southeastern Asia continued to arrive for decades. Depending on local conditions, they could reach such frequency that the court found it necessary to restrict them. The History of Ming records imperial edicts forbade Java, Champa, and Siam from sending their envoys more often than once every three years. Mongol Army During

1680-439: A massive explosion that a team of inspectors at the site a week later deduced that some 100 guards had been killed instantly, with wooden beams and pillars blown upward and landing at a distance of over 10 li (~2 mi. or ~3 km) away from the explosion, creating a crater more than ten feet deep. One resident described the noise of the explosion as if it "was like a volcano erupting, a tsunami crashing. The entire population

1785-619: A powerful and relatively efficient bow to be made small enough that it can be used easily from horseback. Quivers containing 60 arrows were strapped to the backs of their cavalrymen and to their horses. Mongol archers typically carried 2 to 3 bows (one heavier and intended for dismounted use, the other lighter and used from horseback) that were accompanied by multiple quivers and files for sharpening their arrowheads. These arrowheads were hardened by plunging them in brine after first heating them red hot. The Mongols could shoot an arrow over 200 metres (660 ft). Targeted shots were possible at

1890-409: A range of 150 or 175 metres (492 or 574 ft), which determined the tactical approach distance for light cavalry units. Ballistic shots could hit enemy units (without targeting individual soldiers) at distances of up to 400 metres (1,300 ft), useful for surprising and scaring troops and horses before beginning the actual attack. Shooting from the back of a moving horse may be more accurate if

1995-586: A sailing time or distance, which takes account of the local currents and winds. Sometimes depth soundings are also provided. It also shows bays, estuaries, capes and islands, ports and mountains along the coast, important landmarks such as pagodas and temples, and shoal rocks. Of 300 named places outside China, more than 80% can be confidently located. There are also fifty observations of stellar altitude. According to Luo Maodeng  [ zh ] 's novel Sanbao Taijian Xia Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi ( Eunuch Sanbao Western Records Popular Romance , published 1597),

2100-545: A soldier on the northern frontier. and often participated in Zhu Di's military campaigns against the Mongols. On 2 March 1390, Ma accompanied the prince when he commanded his first expedition , which was a great victory, as the Mongol commander Naghachu surrendered as soon as he realized he had fallen into a trap. Eventually, he gained the confidence and trust of the prince. Ma was also known as "Sanbao" during his service in

2205-412: A storm at sea. The whole city was terrified, thinking that an army was approaching, and panic soon spread among the people, who could not tell whether it was near or far away. Even at a distance of a hundred li tiles shook and houses trembled. People gave alarms of fire but the troops were held strictly to discipline. The disturbance lasted a whole day and night. After order had been restored an inspection

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2310-538: A suicide bombing and set off a huge iron bomb when it became clear defeat was imminent. Lou asked the Mongols for food in return for their surrender because they were starving. However after receiving the food and having a meal, the soldiers made noise with horn and drum as if to do battle, and set up off a large bomb that split the wall and killed many Mongol soldiers. In 1280, a large store of gunpowder at Weiyang in Yangzhou accidentally caught fire, producing such

2415-749: A tiger" and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates, who had long plagued Chinese and Southeast Asian waters. For example, he defeated Chen Zuyi , one of the most feared and respected pirate captains, and returned him to China for execution. He also waged a land war against the Kingdom of Kotte on Ceylon , and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from 30 states, who traveled to China and paid their respects at

2520-524: A triumph of the Ming's eunuch faction over the administration's scholar-bureaucrats . Upon Zheng He's death and his faction's fall from power, his successors sought to minimize him in official accounts, along with continuing attempts to destroy all records related to the Jianwen Emperor or the manhunt to find him. Although unmentioned in the official dynastic histories, Zheng He probably died during

2625-585: A type of bomb called the "Elipao," a type of local pear probably in reference to the shape of the weapon. The Anfeng defenders were also equipped with a type of small arrow to shoot through eye slits of Mongol armour, as normal arrows were too thick to penetrate. In 1257 the Song official Li Zengbo remarked during a frontier arsenal assessment of Jinjiang that they were not well equipped. Li considered an ideal city arsenal to include several hundred thousand iron bombs and also its own production facility to produce at least

2730-687: A type of solid-propellant rocket. Another interpretation of the passage suggests they were fire lances that shot off flames. Jin scholar Liu Qi (劉祈) mentions the defenders using a type of bomb known as the heaven-shaking-thunder bomb (震天雷) that caused “many casualties, and when not wounded by the explosions were burnt to death by the fires they caused.” A description of the bomb in the History of Jin describes it as an iron container filled with gunpowder that could be heard from an extreme distance when it landed and caused fires that could penetrate iron armour. The Ming dynasty official He Mengchuan encountered

2835-437: A while before the conflict, also to exaggerate their manpower. The Mongols very commonly practiced the feigned retreat, perhaps the most difficult battlefield tactic to execute. This is because a feigned rout amongst untrained troops can often turn into a real rout if an enemy presses into it. Pretending disarray and defeat in the heat of the battle, the Mongols would suddenly appear panicked and turn and run, only to pivot when

2940-413: Is that Admiral Zheng He died in 1433, during or shortly after his seventh voyage. Another is that Zheng He continued to serve as the defender of Nanjing, and died in 1435. A tomb was built for Zheng He at the southern slope of Cattle Head Hill, Nanjing . The original tomb was a horseshoe-shaped grave. It is a cenotaph believed to contain his clothes and headgear. In 1985, the tomb was rebuilt following

3045-464: Is the Battle of Baghdad , during which many diverse people fought under Mongol lordship. Despite this integration, the Mongols were never able to gain long-term loyalty from the settled peoples that they conquered. In all battlefield situations, the troops would be divided into separate formations of 10, 100, 1,000 or 10,000 depending on the requirements. If the number of troops split from the main force

3150-585: Is the Souk Gallery which is a collection of dioramas of ancient markets in Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Iran and Malindi in Africa . At the end of the gallery, the museum had a simulator, Typhoon Theatre, to let visitors experience what happened when a Chinese junk is caught in a storm. Visitors subsequently go down a water-themed walkway from the simulator into a gallery with artefacts recovered from

3255-459: The History of Ming that the initial voyages were launched as part of the emperor's attempt to capture his escaped predecessor , which would have made the first voyage the "largest-scale manhunt on water in the history of China." Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook the expeditions. Wang Jinghong was appointed as second in command. Preparations were thorough and wide-ranging, including

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3360-632: The Arabian Peninsula that had been used since at least the Han dynasty . That fact, along with the use of a more-than-abundant number of crew members who were regular military personnel, leads some to speculate that the expeditions may have been geared at least partially at spreading China's power through expansion. During the Three Kingdoms Period, the king of Wu sent a 20-year diplomatic mission led by Zhu Ying and Kang Tai along

3465-623: The Chinese New Year on 11 February 1404, the Yongle Emperor conferred the surname "Zheng" to Ma He, because he had distinguished himself defending the city reservoir against imperial forces in 1399. Another reason was that the eunuch commander also distinguished himself during the 1402 campaign to capture the capital, Nanjing. In the new administration, Zheng He served in the highest posts as Grand Director and later as Chief Envoy ( 正使 ; zhèngshǐ ) during his sea voyages. Over

3570-598: The Hongxi Emperor terminated the undertaking of further treasure voyages. On 24 February 1425, he appointed Zheng He as the defender of Nanjing and ordered him to continue his command over the treasure fleet for the city's defense. On 25 March 1428, the Xuande Emperor ordered Zheng He and others to take over the supervision for the rebuilding and repair of the Great Bao'en Temple at Nanjing. He completed

3675-643: The Mongol invasions and conquests , which began under Genghis Khan in 1206–1207, the Mongol army conquered most of continental Asia , including parts of the Middle East , and parts of Eastern Europe . The efforts of Mongol troops and their allies enabled the Mongol Empire to become the contemporarily largest polity in human history . Today, the former Mongol Empire remains the world's largest polity to have ever existed in terms of contiguous land area and

3780-483: The Mongol invasions of Europe . "Fire catapults", " pao ", and "naphtha-shooters" are mentioned in some sources. However, according to Timothy May, "there is no concrete evidence that the Mongols used gunpowder weapons on a regular basis outside of China." Shortly after the Mongol invasions of Japan in the late 13th century, the Japanese produced a scroll painting depicting a bomb. Called tetsuhau in Japanese,

3885-645: The Swahili Coast . The giraffe that he brought back from Malindi was considered to be a qilin and taken as proof of the Mandate of Heaven upon the administration. The Daxuexi Alley Mosque in Xi'an has a stele dating to January 1523, inscribed with Zheng He's fourth maritime voyage to Tianfang, Arabian Peninsula. While Zheng He's fleet was unprecedented, the routes were not. His fleet followed long-established, well-mapped routes of trade between China and

3990-477: The Yongle and Xuande Emperors' official annals was incomplete and even erroneous, and other official publications omitted them completely. Although some have seen that as a conspiracy seeking to eliminate memories of the voyages, it is likely that the records were dispersed throughout several departments and the expeditions, unauthorized by and in fact counter to the injunctions of the dynastic founder , presented

4095-588: The zhang is taken to be 3.2 m. It is known that the measure unit during the Ming era was not unified: A measurement of East and West Pagoda in Quanzhou resulted in a zhang unit of 2.5–2.56 m. According to Chen Cunren, one zhang in the Ming Dynasty is only half a zhang in modern times. From 2003 to 2004, the Treasure Shipyard was excavated in northwestern Nanjing (the former capital of

4200-476: The "Western Ocean" (Indian Ocean). In 1431, Zheng He was bestowed with the title Sanbao Taijian ( 三寶 太監 ), using his informal name Sanbao and the title of Grand Director. The Yuan dynasty and the expanding Sino-Arab trade during the 14th century had gradually expanded Chinese knowledge of the world since "universal" maps previously displaying only China and its surrounding seas began to expand farther and farther southwest, with much more accurate depictions of

4305-514: The 20th century, surpassing Admiral Nelson 's HMS Victory , 69.34 metres (227 ft 6 in) long, which was launched in 1765, and the 68.88-metre (226 ft) Vasa of 1627. The first ships to attain 126 m (413 ft) long were 19th century steamers with iron hulls. Many scholars consider it unlikely that any of Zheng He's ships were 135 m (450 ft) in length and have proposed much shorter lengths, as low as 60–75 m (200–250 ft). Zhao Zhigang claimed that he has solved

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4410-698: The Mao Kun Map, which cover the Indian Ocean including South India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and East Africa, suggests that the map is a composite of four maps, one for Sri Lanka, one for South India one for the Maldives and one for around 400 km of the East African coast, no further south than 6 degrees south of the Equator. Each of these maps is positioned at a different orientation to fit with

4515-546: The Ming Dynasty), near the Yangtze River . Despite the site being referred to as the "Longjiang Treasure Shipyard" (龍江寶船廠) in the official names, the site is distinct from the actual Longjiang Shipyard, which was located on a different site and produced different types of ships. The Treasure Shipyard, where Zheng He's fleet is believed to have been built in the Ming Dynasty, once consisted of thirteen basins (based on

4620-544: The Ming conquest, while Levathes states that Zheng He's father died at 37, but it is unclear if he was helping the Mongol Army or was just caught in the onslaught of battle. Wenming, the oldest son, buried their father outside Kunming. In his capacity as Admiral, Zheng He had an epitaph engraved in honour of his father, composed by the Minister of Rites Li Zhigang on 1 June 1405, which was Duanwu Festival . Zheng He

4725-496: The Ming court. In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor (r. 1424–1425), stopped the voyages during his short reign. Zheng He made one more voyage during the reign of Hongxi's son, the Xuande Emperor (r. 1426–1435) but, the voyages of the Chinese treasure ship fleets then ended. Xuande believed his father's decision to halt the voyages had been meritorious and thus "there would be no need to make

4830-447: The Mongol forces was their composite bows made from laminated horn , wood, and sinew . The layer of horn is on the inner face as it resists compression, while the layer of sinew is on the outer face as it resists tension. Such bows, with minor variations, had been the main weapon of steppe herdsmen and steppe warriors for over two millennia; Mongols (and many of their subject peoples) were skillful archers. Composite construction allows

4935-574: The Mongolians. The expenditures necessary for the land campaigns directly competed with the funds necessary to continue naval expeditions. Further, in 1449, Mongolian cavalry ambushed a land expedition personally led by the Zhengtong Emperor at Tumu Fortress , less than a day's march from the walls of the capital. The Mongolians wiped out the Chinese army and captured the emperor. The battle had two salient effects. Firstly, it demonstrated

5040-697: The Yongle Emperor, whom Zheng assisted in the Jingnan campaign that overthrew the previous Jianwen Emperor in 1402, Zheng He rose to the top of the Ming imperial hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing . Zheng was born Ma He to a Muslim family of Kunyang , Kunming , Yunnan, then under the rule of the Principality of Liang loyal to the Northern Yuan dynasty. He had an older brother and four sisters. The Liujiagang and Changle inscriptions suggest that devotion to Tianfei ,

5145-483: The actual size of the rudder blades. Church notes that in traditional wooden Chinese ships, rudderposts were necessarily long in order for them to extend from the water level up unto the ship deck, where it was controlled by the tiller. Church compares it with modern wooden junks built in the traditional Lümeimao ("green eyebrow", 綠眉毛) style, which also have rudderposts that are 11 metres (36 ft) long, but are only 31 metres (102 ft) in overall length. One theory

5250-548: The animal. The Mongols protected their horses in the same way as did they themselves, covering them with lamellar armor . Horse armor was divided into five parts and designed to protect every part of the horse, including the forehead, which had a specially crafted plate which was tied on each side of the neck. Lamellar armor was worn over thick coats. The armor was composed of small scales of iron, chain mail, or hard leather sewn together with leather tongs and could weigh 10 kilograms (22 lb) if made of leather alone and more if

5355-568: The approval of the succession from his father Shi Jinqing, who was the Pacification Commissioner of Palembang, and was given permission from the Yongle Emperor. When Zheng He returned from Palembang, he found that the Yongle Emperor had died during his absence. On 7 September 1424, Zhu Gaozhi had inherited the throne as the Hongxi Emperor after the death of the Yongle Emperor on 12 August 1424. On 7 September 1424,

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5460-565: The arrow is loosed in the phase of the gallop when all four of the horse's feet are off the ground. The Mongols have also used crossbows (possibly acquired from the Chinese), also both for infantry and cavalry, but these were rarely used in battle. In the Battle of Xiangyang , both the Song and Mongol forces used siege crossbows against each other. According to Juvayni , Hulagu Khan brought with him 3,000 giant crossbows from China, for

5565-419: The bomb is speculated to have been the Chinese thunder crash bomb. Japanese descriptions of the invasions also talk of iron and bamboo pao causing "light and fire" and emitting 2–3,000 iron bullets. A commonly used Mongol tactic involved the use of the kharash . The Mongols would gather prisoners captured in previous battles and would drive them forward in sieges and battles. These "shields" would often take

5670-414: The bombs using iron cords until they reached the place where the miners worked. The protective leather screens were destroyed along with the excavators. Another weapon the Jin employed was a version of the fire lance called the flying fire lance or “flying-fire spears”. The History of Jin describes the gunpowder weapon as a tube made of sixteen layers of “chi-huang paper” around two feet in length. It

5775-532: The bows known to have been used by the Mongol Empire. Mounted archery had fallen into disuse and has been revived only in the 21st century. The Mongols encountered and used gunpowder weapons during their wars against the dynasties of China. In 1232 the Mongols laid siege to the Jin capital of Kaifeng and deployed gunpowder weapons along with other more conventional siege techniques. The Jin defenders also deployed gunpowder weapons such as fire arrows launched using

5880-449: The brunt of enemy arrows and crossbow bolts, thus somewhat protecting the ethnically Mongol warriors. Commanders also used the kharash as assault units to breach walls. As they were conquering new people, the Mongols integrated into their armies the conquered people's men if they had surrendered - willingly or otherwise. Therefore, as they expanded into other areas and conquered other people, their troop numbers increased. Exemplifying this

5985-437: The cities, they found the Mongol fleet to have spread themselves out along the entire width of the Yangtze without any gaps. A chain was stretched out across the water. The two fleets engaged in combat, and the Song opened fire with fire-lances, fire-bombs, and crossbows. The Song forces suffered heavy casualties trying to cut through the chains using axes, pulling up stakes, and hurling bombs. They ultimately succeeded in reaching

6090-421: The city walls but in 1273, the Mongols enlisted the expertise of two Muslim engineers, one from Persia and one from Syria, who helped in the construction of counterweight trebuchets . These new siege weapons resulted in the surrender of Xiangyang in 1273. During the siege of Shaoyang in 1274, the Mongol general Bayan waited for the wind to change to a northerly course before ordering his artillerists to bombard

6195-407: The city with molten metal bombs, which caused such a fire that "the buildings were burned up and the smoke and flames rose up to heaven." Shaoyang was captured and its inhabitants massacred. Bayan used bombs again in 1275 during the siege of Changzhou before storming the walls and massacring the inhabitants due to their refusal to surrender. In 1277, 250 Song defenders under Lou Qianxia conducted

6300-413: The clear threat posed by the northern nomads. Secondly, the Mongols caused a political crisis in China when they released the emperor after his half-brother had already ascended and declared the new Jingtai era . Not until 1457 and the restoration of the former emperor would political stability return. Upon his return to power, China abandoned the strategy of annual land expeditions and instead embarked upon

6405-705: The coast of Asia, which reached as far as the Eastern Roman Empire . After centuries of disruption, the Song dynasty restored large-scale maritime trade from China in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans and reached as far as the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. When his fleet first arrived at Malacca , there was already a sizable Chinese community. The General Survey of the Ocean Shores ( 瀛涯勝覽 , Yíngyá Shènglǎn ), composed by

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6510-530: The construction of the temple in 1431. On 15 May 1426, the Xuande Emperor ordered the Directorate of Ceremonial to send a letter to Zheng He to reprimand him for a transgression. Earlier, an official petitioned the emperor to reward workmen who had built temples in Nanjing. The Xuande Emperor responded negatively to the official for charging the costs to the court instead of the monks themselves, but he realized that Zheng He and his associates had instigated

6615-521: The course of battle, so long as the battle unfolded according to the general directive and the opponents were defeated. The Mongols used deception and terror by tying tree branches or leaves behind their horses. They dragged the foliage behind them in a systematic fashion to create dust storms behind hills to appear to the enemy as a much larger attacking army, thereby forcing the enemy to surrender. Because each Mongol soldier had more than one horse, they would let prisoners and civilians ride their horses for

6720-429: The cuirass was made of metal scales. The leather was first softened by boiling and then coated in a crude lacquer made from pitch, which rendered it waterproof. Sometimes the soldier's heavy coat was simply reinforced with metal plates. Helmets were cone shaped and composed of iron or steel plates of different sizes and included iron-plated neck guards. The Mongol cap was conical in shape and made of quilted material with

6825-454: The death of the Jin emperor in 1234, a Jin loyalist gathered all the metal he could find in the city he was defending, including gold and silver, and made explosives to lob at the Mongols. In 1237, the Mongols attacked the Song city of Anfeng (modern Shouxian , Anhui Province ) with bombs so large they required several hundred men to hurl. Towers that were hit by the bomb were immediately destroyed. The Song defenders, led by Du Gao, also used

6930-416: The debate of the size difference, and stated that Zheng He's largest ship was about 70 m (230 ft) in length. Edward L. Dreyer claims that Luo Maodeng's novel is unsuitable as historical evidence. The novel contains a number of fantasy element; for example the ships were "constructed with divine help by the immortal Lu Ban". One explanation for the seemingly-inefficient size of the colossal ships

7035-661: The early Ming dynasty (1368–1644). He is often regarded as the greatest admiral in Chinese history . Born into a Muslim family as Ma He , he later adopted the surname Zheng conferred onto him by the Yongle Emperor ( r.  1402–1424 ). Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng commanded seven treasure voyages across Asia under the commission of the Yongle Emperor and the succeeding Xuande Emperor ( r.  1425–1435 ). According to legend, Zheng's largest ships were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded, and carried hundreds of sailors on four decks. A favorite of

7140-524: The emperor's apparent death and the ascension of Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, as the Yongle Emperor . In 1393, the Crown Prince had died, thus the deceased prince's son became the new heir apparent. By the time the emperor died (24 June 1398), the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Jin had perished, which left Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, as the eldest surviving son of the emperor. However, Zhu Di's nephew succeeded

7245-399: The enemy was drawn out, destroying them. As this tactic became better known to the enemy, the Mongols would extend their feigned retreats for days or weeks, to falsely convince the chasers that they were defeated, only to charge back once the enemy again had its guard down or withdrew to join its main formation. This tactic was used during the Battle of Kalka River . The Mongols established

7350-431: The extent of Arabia and Africa. Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored seven naval expeditions. The Yongle Emperor , disregarding the Hongwu Emperor 's expressed wishes , designed them to establish a Chinese presence and impose imperial control over the Indian Ocean trade, impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin, and extend the empire's tributary system. It has also been inferred from passages in

7455-413: The first expedition had: On the ships were navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, and soldiers, along with the translator and diarist Gong Zhen . Six more expeditions took place from 1407 to 1433, with fleets thought to be of comparable size. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta both described multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1,000 passengers in their translated accounts. Niccolò de' Conti ,

7560-463: The first rudderpost recovered was proof of the enormous dimensions of the ships based on his calculations on how big the rudderblade would be. However Church (2010) points out that Zhou was using calculations based on modern steel propeller-driven ships, not wooden ships; as well as the fact that Zhou's hypothetical rudder shape was based on the flat-bottomed shachuan (沙船) ship type, not the sea-going fuchuan (福船). The rudderposts cannot be used to infer

7665-412: The first three years the Song defenders had been able to receive supplies and reinforcements by water, but in 1271 the Mongols set up a full blockade with their navy, isolating the two cities. A relief convoy led by Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui ran the blockade. They commanded a hundred paddle wheel boats. Despite travelling by night, they were discovered early on by the Mongols. When the Song fleet arrived near

7770-524: The frames that supported them. Moreover, the basin structures were grouped into clusters with large gaps between them, if each cluster was interpreted as a ship framework, then the largest ship would not exceed 75 metres (246 ft) at most, probably less. The 2003–2004 excavation also recovered two complete wooden rudderposts from the Treasure Shipyard, in addition to another recovered in 1957. They are made of teak and measure around 10 to 11 metres (33 to 36 ft) in length. Zhou Shide (1962) claimed that

7875-405: The handling of chemical substances. Suddenly, one day, while sulphur was being ground fine, it burst into flame, then the (stored) fire-lances caught fire, and flashed hither and thither like frightened snakes. (At first) the workers thought it was funny, laughing and joking, but after a short time the fire got into the bomb store, and then there was a noise like a volcanic eruption and the howling of

7980-439: The household of Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, who later became the Yongle Emperor . Zhu Di was 11 years older than Ma. Enslaved as a eunuch servant, Ma He eventually gained the confidence of Zhu Di, who, as his benefactor, gained the allegiance and loyalty of the young eunuch. The prince had been governing Beiping (modern Beijing ) since 1380. It was near the northern frontier with hostile Mongol tribes. Ma spent his early life as

8085-627: The household of the Prince of Yan, a reference to the Buddhist Three Jewels . Ma received a proper education at Beiping, which he would not have had if he had been placed in the imperial capital of Nanjing as the Hongwu Emperor, the father of Zhu Di, did not trust eunuchs and believed that it was better to keep them illiterate. The Hongwu Emperor purged and exterminated much of the original Ming leadership and gave his enfeoffed sons more military authority, especially those in

8190-484: The imperial capital, Nanjing. Zheng He would be one of his commanders during that campaign. In 1402, Zhu Di's armies defeated the imperial forces and marched into Nanjing on 13 July 1402. Zhu Di accepted the elevation to emperor four days later. After ascending the throne as the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di promoted Ma He as the Grand Director ( 太監 , tàijiān ) of the Directorate of Palace Servants ( 内宫監 ). During

8295-511: The imperial throne as the Jianwen Emperor . In 1398, he issued a policy known as xuēfān ( 削藩 ), or "reducing the feudatories", which entailed eliminating all princes by stripping their power and military forces. In August 1399, Zhu Di openly rebelled against his nephew. In 1399, Ma He successfully defended Beiping's city reservoir, Zhenglunba, against the imperial armies. In January 1402, Zhu Di began with his military campaign to capture

8400-402: The largest claimed Zheng He treasure ship, they were not wide enough to fit even a ship half the claimed size. The basin was only 41 metres (135 ft) wide at most, with only a 10 metres (33 ft) width showing evidence of structures. They were also not deep enough, being only 4 metres (13 ft) deep. Other remains of ships in the site indicate that the ships were only slightly larger than

8505-504: The next three decades he conducted seven of the voyages on behalf of the emperor, trading and collecting tribute in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. In 1424, Zheng He traveled to Palembang in Sumatra to confer an official seal and letter of appointment upon Shi Jisun, who was placed in the office of Pacification Commissioner. The Taizong Shilu 27 February 1424 entry reports that Shi Jisun had sent Qiu Yancheng as envoy to petition

8610-400: The north, like the Prince of Yan. The power of the goddess , having indeed been manifested in previous times, has been abundantly revealed in the present generation. In the midst of the rushing waters it happened that, when there was a hurricane, suddenly a divine lantern was seen shining at the masthead, and as soon as that miraculous light appeared the danger was appeased, so that even in

8715-419: The ocean currents and winds required of a sailing chart, rather than a formal map. The analysis also suggests that Arabic-speaking pilots with a detailed knowledge of the African coast were involved in the cartography. There is little attempt to provide an accurate 2-D representation; instead, the sailing instructions are given using a 24-point compass system with a Chinese symbol for each point, together with

8820-459: The ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course [as rapidly] as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare.... Zheng He's sailing charts, the Mao Kun map , were published in

8925-401: The official. According to Dreyer (2007) , the nature of the emperor's words indicated that Zheng He's behaviour in the situation was the last straw, but there is too little information about what had happened earlier. Nevertheless, the Xuande Emperor would eventually come to trust Zheng He. In 1430, the new Xuande Emperor appointed Zheng He to command over a seventh and final expedition into

9030-516: The patron goddess of sailors and seafarers, was the dominant faith to which he adhered, reflecting the goddess's central role to the treasure fleet . John Guy mentions, "When Zheng He, the Muslim eunuch leader of the great expeditions to the 'Western Ocean' (Indian Ocean) in the early fifteenth century, embarked on his voyages, it was from the Divine Woman that he sought protection, as well as at

9135-409: The peril of capsizing one felt reassured and that there was no cause for fear. — Admiral Zheng He and his associates (Changle inscription) about witnessing Tianfei 's divine lantern, which represented the natural phenomena Saint Elmo's fire Zheng He's appearance as an adult was recorded: he was seven chi tall, had a waist that was five chi in circumference, cheeks and a forehead that

9240-408: The relevant 5 units of 100 soldiers, and these would attempt to flank or encircle the town to the left and right. The main point of these maneuvers was to encircle the city to cut off escape and overwhelm their enemies from both sides. If the situation deteriorated on one of the fronts or flanks, the leader from the hill directed one part of the army to support the other. If it appeared that there

9345-511: The second-largest polity overall, behind only the British Empire . Each Mongol soldier typically maintained 3 or 4 horses . Changing horses often allowed them to travel at high speed for days without stopping or wearing out the animals. When one horse became tired, the rider would dismount and rotate to another. By letting a tired horse keep up with the rest of the herd without a load, the strategy preserved mobility without overburdening

9450-545: The siege of Nishapur , and a team of Chinese technicians to work a great 'ox bow' shooting large bolts a distance of 2,500 paces, which was used at the siege of Maymun Diz. The Manchus forbade archery by their Mongol subjects, and the Mongolian bowmaking tradition was lost during the Qing dynasty . The present bowmaking tradition emerged after independence in 1921 and is based on Manchu types of bow , somewhat different from

9555-489: The sight highly amusing, that is until one fire lance burst into a cache of bombs, causing the entire complex to explode. The disaster of the trebuchet bomb arsenal at Weiyang was still more terrible. Formerly the artisan positions were all held by southerners (i.e. the Chinese). But they engaged in peculation, so they had to be dismissed, and all their jobs were given to northerners (probably Mongols, or Chinese who had served them). Unfortunately, these men understood nothing of

9660-465: The title hajji , and his father had the sinicized surname Ma and the title hajji , which suggests that they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca . In the autumn of 1381, a Ming army invaded and conquered Yunnan , which was then ruled by the Mongol prince Basalawarmi , Prince of Liang. In 1381, Ma Hajji, Zheng He's father, died in the fighting between the Ming armies and Mongol forces. Dreyer states that Zheng He's father died at 39 while resisting

9765-503: The tombs of the Muslim saints on Lingshan Hill, above the city of Quanzhou." Zheng He was a great-great-great-grandson of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar , who served in the administration of the Mongol Empire and was the governor of Yunnan during the early Yuan dynasty . His great-grandfather Bayan may have been stationed at a Mongol garrison in Yunnan. Zheng He's grandfather carried

9870-496: The translator Ma Huan in 1416, gives very detailed accounts of his observations of people's customs and lives in the ports that they visited. He referred to the expatriate Chinese as " Tang " people ( 唐人 ; Tángrén ). The fleet did not engage in conquest or colonization; though it included troops, their purpose was to demonstrate the Middle Kingdom's strength. However, a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like

9975-581: The treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty since he was buried at sea . Zheng He led seven expeditions to the "Western" or Indian Ocean. Zheng He brought back to China many trophies and envoys from more than thirty kingdoms, including King Vira Alakeshwara of Ceylon , who came to China as a captive to apologize to the Emperor for offenses against his mission. Zheng He wrote of his travels: We have traversed more than 100,000 li of immense water spaces and have beheld in

10080-413: The treasure ships might have been as long as 183 m (600 ft). The claims that the Chinese treasure ships reached such size is disputed because other 17th century Ming records stated that European East Indiamen and galleons were 30, 40, 50, and 60 zhang (90, 120, 150, and 180 m) in length. It is also possible that the measure of zhang (丈) used in the conversions was mistaken. The length of

10185-615: The use of so many linguists that a foreign language institute was established at Nanjing. Zheng He's first voyage departed 11 July 1405, from Suzhou and consisted of a fleet of 317 ships holding almost 28,000 crewmen. Zheng He's fleets visited Brunei , Java , Siam (Thailand), Southeast Asia , India, the Horn of Africa , and Arabia , dispensing and receiving goods along the way. Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain , and silk, and in return, China received such novelties as ostriches , zebras , camels , and ivory from

10290-417: Was captured by the Ming armies in Yunnan in 1381. General Fu Youde saw Ma He on a road and approached him to inquire about the location of the Mongol pretender. Ma He responded defiantly by saying that the Mongol pretender had jumped into a lake. Then the general took him prisoner. He was castrated between the ages of 10 and 14, and placed in the service of the Prince of Yan. Ma He was sent to serve in

10395-448: Was going to be significant loss, the Mongols would retreat to save their troops and would engage the next day, or the next month, after having studied the enemies' tactics and defenses in the first battle, or again send a demand to surrender after inflicting some form of damage. There was no fixture on when or where units should be deployed: it was dependent on battle circumstances, and the flanks and groups had full authority on what to do in

10500-437: Was high, a small nose, glaring eyes, teeth that were white and well-shaped as shells, and a voice that was as loud as a bell. It is also recorded that he had great knowledge about warfare and was well-accustomed to battle. The young eunuch eventually became a trusted adviser to the prince and assisted him when the Jianwen Emperor 's hostility to his uncle's feudal bases prompted the 1399–1402 Jingnan Campaign , which ended with

10605-453: Was made, and it was found that a hundred men of the guards had been blown to bits, beams and pillars had been deft asunder or carried away by the force of the explosion to a distance over ten li . The smooth ground was scooped into craters and trenches more than ten feet deep. Above two hundred families living in the neighbourhood were victims of this unexpected disaster. This was indeed an unusual occurrence. Gunpowder may have been used during

10710-419: Was significant, for instance 10,000 or more, these would be handed over to a significant or second-in-command leader, while the main leader concentrated on the front line. The leader of the Mongols would generally issue the tactics used to attack the enemy. For instance the leader might order, upon seeing a city or town, "500 to the left and 500 to the right" of the city; those instructions would then be relayed to

10815-425: Was stuffed with gunpowder and iron shrapnel attached to a fuse. When lit, it shot out flames over more than ten paces. The tube was re-usable. It was recorded that Mongol greatly feared the flying fire lance and heaven-shaking-thunder bomb. In 1233, a group of 450 Jin fire lancers led by Pucha Guannu snuck up on a Mongol encampment and surrounded them by river, drowning 3,500 of the Mongol forces as they fled. After

10920-405: Was terrified." According to surviving reports, the incident was caused by inexperienced gunpowder makers hired to replace the previous ones, and they had been careless while grinding sulfur. A spark caused by the grinding process came into contact with some fire lances which immediately started spewing flames and jetting around "like frightened snakes." The gunpowder makers did nothing as they found

11025-524: Was that the 44 zhang treasure ships were used only by the Emperor and imperial bureaucrats to travel along the Yangtze for court business, including reviewing Zheng He's expedition fleet. The Yangtze river, with its calmer waters, may have been navigable by these treasure ships. Zheng He, a court eunuch, would not have had the privilege in rank to command the largest of the ships, seaworthy or not. The main ships of Zheng He's fleet were instead six-masted 2000-liao ships. That would give burthen of 500 tons and

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