Zheng He was an explorer, diplomat, and admiral from China that lived during the Ming Dynasty. Throughout centuries and even in recent decades, Zheng He and his expeditions have been politicized and remembered as an envoy of peace. His expeditions were widely praised and moreover exaggerated by nationalistic individuals who were proud of the past (Ptak 1). What those individuals create is the huge romanticzation of Zheng He as an individual and his expeditions. Similar to the story of the Three Kingdoms and figures such as Zhuge Liang and the Liu Guan Zhang brothers, Zheng He was greatly glorified and honored and became a prominent figure in Chinese history and literature.
One reason why Zheng He’s personification is this way is due to his platform which ultimately pushed for his positive image. The expeditions he took were extremely dangerous and arduous and with that, he was able to bring back commodities, geographical knowledge and spread Chinese culture and religion which were all part of most imperial and even modern China’s
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If one were to write an accurate depiction, they may want to include his success as well as his failures. In others, one should include more than just the highlight of his successes, but also how he attained and controlled the factors pertaining to his success. For example, some scholars argued that his accomplishments in trade rooted from maritime colonialism and the use of threats to project power control among the seas (Branigan). On the other hand, if one were to simply write an intriguing novel that adds on to the positive politizaion of Zheng He, one should include a structured storyline that slowly builds on to Zheng He’s character. Despite high degrees of politization which led to high degrees of romanticzation, Zheng He’s accomplishments were extremely admirable and is arguable the reason why the Ming Dynasty was such a global superpower at its
He and his crews of thousands sailed from Africa, the Middle East, and India, to get the west impressed with China and for people to discern them as the leading manufacturer in the world. Once Zheng He died, the voyages stopped because more important issues had started to populate in the country, such as nomadic invasions. Because the excursions were
The era of the Han dynasty in China, simply referred to as ‘Han China,’ was an extremely prominent one, with power that almost rivaled the Romans themselves. During this period of China, achievements and accomplishments reached new heights as the Silk Road opened, which allowed connection with the western world. However, even with all this, Han China still fell, thanks to opposing forces in the form of nomadic tribes, several natural disasters that were interpreted as angry messages from the gods, and internal/political unrest. During the Han dynasty and the opening of the Silk Road, there were several aggressive, nomadic tribes that centered around the Asian area.
Upon reflection, historians now acknowledge his expedition to Africa of particular distinction. Historians and scholars commonly agree that continuing around the Cape of Good Hope would have presumably led to discovering a direct trade route to Europe seventy-five years earlier than Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. Notwithstanding Zheng He’s preeminence over this era, inadvertent discoveries occasionally eclipsed intentional design nonetheless, drawing parallels to other famous explorers no different than Christopher Columbus’ unplanned discovery of America. On balance, world history indicates Zheng He’s achievements as nothing less than
Exploring Henry Hudson Henry Hudson was an English born baby, he had been believed to have been born approximately in the year of c. 1565, on the 12th of September. He was the child of Henry Hudson II, and Katherine Hudson. He was born in Tamworth, Staffordshire England, The United Kingdom. Unfortunately there is only little known about his early life as a child. Yet in his later years during his 20’s he became a skilled sailor, and he had a talent for navigation.
We should celebrate the voyages of Zheng He because he overcame great odds in childhood, castrated by the Ming Dynasty, he traveled over 100,000 miles with very little technology, he managed a total of 37,500 men, managed a four hundred feet boat, he was a great leader to his soldiers, and created cultural diffusion in China. Zheng He overcame great odds in childhood was by in 1381, a ten year old boy named Ma He from Yunan Province in southern China watched his father died at the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also taken into prisoner to serve the Emperor’s son, Prince Zhu Di. However before serving the emperor’s son was by being castrated and to join (forced) the thousands of eunuchs. Zheng He served the prince well and rose in the ranks of the
Zheng He was very leaderful and did many successful things like his seven voyages that took place between 1405-1433. He lived during the Ming Dynasty and was an explorer, a mariner, and an admiral.. Zheng, had a positive impact on world history due to his way of conducting his fleet and his way of making China more informed of the world, while his adventures across seas had put his men at risk as pirates would try to take over and kill them. He led a fleet of huge ships that were believed to be the largest wooden ships ever built in the 14th and early 15th centuries.
Few historical figures can stand alongside legends such as Napoleon and Alexander the Great but in his book, Heavenly Khan, Victor Cunrui Xiong Ph.D. tries to make a case for Tang Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin. Xiong attempts to write a historical fiction that appeals to a wide variety of readers. Heavenly Khan tells the story of Emperor Taizong who grew up in a period of devastation for the Chinese people. Taizong would grow to become a military commander, military genius, and emperor of the Tang Dynasty Doctor Xiong is a professor of History at Western Michigan University and is well versed in Asian history.
AP summer assignment Trading has always been an integral way in which people spread technological ideas, religion, culture, etc. Some religions such as Islam have put the importance of merchantry in their holy book the Quran. Some people like the chinese wanted to impress people with their treasure fleets. However, in order for most people to trade there has to be a routes people they will take to reach their destination. This brings me to the following reason why interregional trading increased.
“He my never have reached Asia as planned, but one cannot discount the sheer will required to make his journey. At the age of 41, he defied naysayers across Europe and led four voyages across an uncharted ocean in wooden sailing ships that were not designed to
Zheng He’s voyages have been a constant source of controversy in the historical world because of the differing opinions on whether they should be celebrated or not. In July of 1405, Zheng He was given a task to lead a fleet of ships for exploration. This task was assigned to him by Emperor Yongle of China’s Ming Dynasty. Zheng He went on seven separate voyages over the next twenty eight years through the Indian and Pacific Oceans with the largest fleet of wooden ships in history. He navigated his massive fleet from Nanjing along the Chinese coast and through these oceans to explore new lands and bring prosperity to China.
Two travelers, namely Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta, travelled to China independently and while there noted their experiences by writing travel accounts. Although they both went to China, their individual experiences influenced the way they wrote. These individual experiences were primarily driven by differing cultural backgrounds, different time periods and religious beliefs. Marco Polo was born around 1254 in Venice, Europe and was raised Catholic . Marco Polo was privileged and was able to travel to China at the age of 17 with his father and uncle .
Polo was known as best known long distance traveler during the Mongol time. Polo and his father traded by legal traders who wanted to trade silk and precious stones. When he was seventeen years old he travelled to China around 1271, along with his father and uncle, and had explored about 20 countries and amongst the places he explored was India and he remained in China for 17 years working aside Kublai Khan the grandson of Genghis Khan. Because of his lack of intellect when he was arrested he would create a story telling narrative to entertain his audience. This audience is believed to be his sell mates, and through one of the cell mates whom had written down the stories, and the result of this came to be known as the travels of Marco Polo.
This article is a description of Sir Francis Drake’s voyage, detailing the specific events that transpired throughout the voyage. Throughout this paper I will be comparing and contrasting these two voyages. Sir Francis Drake and Ferdinand de Magellan both had a fleet of five ships that accompanied them on their voyage. In both voyages only one of the ships survived with most of the crew being either lost of dead. Both Drake and Magellan had some trouble with their crew.
Qin Shi Huang-di is often regarded as a great leader within history. However, he was also paranoid and got rid of anyone who disagreed with him, but without Qin, there might be no China. Furthermore, despite his mixed reputation today, he brought six warring kingdoms together to form the basis of a country that has lasted to this day, an impressive feat that was a huge turning point in Chinese history. Qin’s effect on China and by default, on the other countries of the world was enormous. In fact, his dynasty, the Qin dynasty, even gave China its name (“Shi Huangdi Becomes Emperor”).
China’s Last Empire. The Great Qing. William T. Rowe. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. 360 pages including Emperors and Dynasties, Pronunciation Guide, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Index, Maps and Figures.