What was the purpose of the Chinese treasure fleet?
The Chinese expeditionary fleet was heavily militarized and carried great amounts of treasures, which served to project Chinese power and wealth to the known world. They brought back many foreign ambassadors whose kings and rulers were willing to declare themselves tributaries of China.
What was Zheng He’s treasure ship?
A Chinese treasure ship (simplified Chinese: 宝船; traditional Chinese: 寶船; pinyin: bǎochuán, literally “gem ship”) is a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty.
What were Chinese treasure ships called?
baoshan
Incredibly, the largest ships in the fleet (called “baoshan,” or “treasure ships”) were likely between 440 and 538 feet long by 210 feet wide.
When was the Chinese treasure ship invented?
The first Chinese oceangoing trade ships were built far back in the Song dynasty (c. 960-1270). But it was the subsequent Mongol emperors (the Yuan dynasty of c. 1271-1368) who commissioned the first imperial treasure fleets and founded trading posts in Sumatra, Ceylon, and southern India.
What was the greatest purpose of the Chinese civil service system?
The Chinese civil service system gave the Chinese empire stability for more than 2,000 years and provided one of the major outlets for social mobility in Chinese society. It later served as a model for the civil service systems that developed in other Asian and Western countries.
Why was it called the Treasure Fleet?
The 1715 Treasure Fleet was a Spanish treasure fleet returning from the New World to Spain. Because the fleet was carrying silver, it is also known as the 1715 Plate Fleet (plata being the Spanish word for silver). Some artifacts and even coins still wash up on Florida beaches from time to time.
What were Zheng He’s 7 voyages?
Zheng He was a Chinese explorer who lead seven great voyages on behalf of the Chinese emperor. These voyages traveled through the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and along the east coast of Africa. His seven total voyages were diplomatic, military, and trading ventures, and lasted from 1405 – 1433.
Who was Zheng and what did he accomplish?
Zheng He. As an admiral, explorer, eunuch, diplomat, and trader, Zheng He led China to become the superpower of the Indian Ocean, considered to be “the world’s most important crossroads of trade”, in the 15th century. Originally born Ma He in 1371, He was captured and castrated by soldiers as a young boy.
What is Chinese gold called?
yuanbao
A yuanbao is a small metal ingot that was used in ancient China as money. Being made out of silver or gold, the value was determined by weight in taels, which is a weight measurement, part of the Chinese system of weights and currency (see also: baht). Yuanbaos were made by individual silversmiths for local exchange.
What happened to the Chinese ships built by the Ming Dynasty?
But by 1525, all of China’s “Treasure Fleet” ships had been destroyed — burned in their docks or left to rot by the government. China had been poised to circumnavigate the globe decades before the Europeans did, but instead the Ming Dynasty retracted into itself and entered a 200-year-long slump.
What were early Chinese ships called?
junks
Boats were an important way of getting around in Ancient China. Wooden sailing ships, called junks, were used by merchants to carry goods along rivers and canals or by sea.
How did the Chinese tribute system function who did it benefit?
The tribute system was a set of practices that required the non-Chinese authorities to to pay attention to Chinese superiority and recognize their lower position in the Chinese-centered world. This benefited the Chinese because they were able to strengthen and regulate their relationship with outside lands.