Chinese treasure ship


A Chinese treasure ship was a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty.
According to British scientist, historian and sinologist Joseph Needham, the dimensions of the largest of these ships were by. Historians such as Edward L. Dreyer are in broad agreement with Needham's views. However, other Western historians have expressed doubts over the size and dimensions of the treasure ships.

Accounts

Chinese

According to the ', the first voyage consisted of 63 treasure ships crewed by 27,870 men.
The History of Ming credits the first voyage with 62 treasure ships crewed by 27,800 men.. A Zheng He era inscription in the Jinghai Temple in Nanjing gave the size of Zheng He ships in 1405 as 2,000 liao, but did not give the number of ships
Alongside the treasures were also another 255 ships according to the ', giving the combined fleet of the first voyage a total of 317 ships. However, the addition of 255 ships is a case of double accounting according to Edward L. Dreyer, who notes that the Taizong Shilu does not distinguish the order of 250 ships from the treasure ships. As such the first fleet would have been around 250 ships including the treasure ships.
The second voyage consisted of 249 ships.. The Jinghai Temple inscription gave the ship dimensions in 1409 as 1500 liao
According to the Xingcha Shenglan, the third voyage consisted of 48 treasure ships, not including other ships.
The Xingcha Shenglan states that the fourth voyage consisted of 63 treasure ships crewed by 27,670 men.
There are no sources for number of ships or men for the fifth and sixth voyages.
According to the Liujiagang and Changle Inscriptions, the seventh voyage had "more than a hundred large ships"..

Yemen

The most contemporary non-Chinese record of the expeditions is an untitled and anonymous annalistic account of the then-ruling Rasūlid dynasty of Yemen, compiled in the years 1439-1440. It reports the arrival of Chinese ships in 1419, 1423, and 1432, which approximately correspond to Zheng He's fifth, sixth, and seventh voyages. The 1419 arrival is described thus:
The later Yemeni historian, Ibn al-Daybaʿ, writes:

Mamluks

historian Ibn Taghribirdi writes:

Niccolò de' Conti

, a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of Chinese ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen five-masted junks of about 2000 tons* burthen:
Although active prior to the treasure voyages, both Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta attest to large multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1000 passengers in Chinese waters.

Marco Polo

Ibn Battuta

Description

Taizong Shilu

The most contemporary accounts of the treasure ships come from the Taizong Shilu, which contains 24 notices from 1403 to 1419 for the construction of ships at several locations.
On 4 September 1403, 200 "seagoing transport ships" were ordered from the Capital Guards in Nanjing.
On 1 March 1404, 50 "seagoing ships" were ordered from the Capital Guards.
In 1407, 249 vessels were ordered "to be prepared for embassies to the several countries of the Western Ocean".
On 14 February 1408, 48 treasure ships were ordered from the Ministry of Works in Nanjing. This is the only contemporary account containing references to both treasure ships and a specific place of construction. Coincidentally, the only physical evidence of treasure ships comes from Nanjing.
On 2 October 1419, 41 treasure ships were ordered without disclosing the specific builders involved.

Longjiang Chuanchang Zhi

's Longjiang Chuanchang Zhi, also known as the Record of the Dragon River Shipyard, notes that the plans for the treasure ships had vanished from the ship yard in which they were built.

Sanbao Taijian Xia Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi

According to 's novel Sanbao Taijian Xia Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi, the treasure fleet consisted of several distinct classes of ships:
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"

History of Ming

Dimensions and size

According to the History of Ming, completed in 1739, the treasure ships were 44 zhang, 4 chi, i.e. 444 chi in length, and had a beam of 18 zhang. The dimensions of ships are no coincidence. The number "4" has numerological significance as a symbol of the 4 cardinal directions, 4 seasons, and 4 virtues. The number 4 was an auspicious association for treasure ships. These dimensions first appeared in a novel published in 1597, more than a century and a half after Zheng He's voyages. The 3 contemporary accounts of Zheng He's voyages do not have the ship dimensions.
The zhang was fixed at 141 inches in the 19th century, making the chi 14.1 inches. However the common Ming value for chi was 12.2 inches and the value fluctuated depending on region. The Ministry of Works used a chi of 12.1 inches while the Jiangsu builders used a chi of 13.3 inches. Some of the ships in the treasure fleet, but not the treasure ships, were built in Fujian, where the chi was 10.4 to 11 inches. Assuming a range of 10.5 to 12 inches for each chi, the dimensions of the treasure ships as recorded by the History of Ming would have been between 385 by 157.5 feet and 440 by 180 feet.
The contemporary inscription of Zheng He's ships in the Jinghai temple 靜海寺 inscription in Nanjing gives sizes of 2,000 liao and 1,500 liao, which are far too low than would be implied by a ship of 444 chi. In addition, in the contemporary account of Zheng He's 7th voyage by Gong Zhen, he said it took 200 to 300 men to handle Zheng He's ships. Ming minister Song Li indicated a ratio of 1 man per 2.5 tons of cargo, which would imply Zheng He's ships were 500 to 750 tons.
The inscription on the tomb of Hong Bao, an official in Zheng He's fleet, mentions the construction of a 5,000 liao displacement ship, and taking the liao to be 500 lbs, that would be 1,250 tons displacement or around 750 tons burden.

Controversy

Some scholars have argued on engineering grounds that it is highly unlikely that Zheng He's ship was in length, some estimating that it had a maximum size of 110–124 m long and 49–51 m wide instead while others put them as 61–76 m in length.
One explanation for the colossal size of the 44 largest Zhang treasure ships, if in fact built, was that they were only for a display of imperial power by the emperor and imperial bureaucrats on the Yangtze River when on court business, including when reviewing Zheng He's actual expedition fleet. The Yangtze River, with its calmer waters, may have been navigable for such large but unseaworthy ships. Zheng He would not have had the privilege in rank to command the largest of these ships. The largest ships of Zheng He's fleet were the 6 masted 2000-liao ships. This would give burthen of 500 tons and a displacement tonnage of about 800 tons.

Structure

The keel consisted of wooden beams bound together with iron hoops. In stormy weather, holes in the prow would partially fill with water when the ship pitched forward, thus lessening the violent turbulence caused by waves. Treasure ships also used floating anchors cast off the sides of the ship in order to increase stability. The stern had two 2.5 m iron anchors weighing over a thousand pounds each, used for mooring offshore. Like many Chinese anchors, these had four flukes set at a sharp angle against the main shaft. Watertight compartments were also used to add strength to the treasure ships. The ships also had a balanced rudder which could be raised and lowered, creating additional stability like an extra keel. The balanced rudder placed as much of the rudder forward of the stern post as behind it, making such large ships easier to steer. Unlike a typical fuchuan warship, the treasure ships had nine staggered masts and twelve square sails, increasing its speed. Treasure ships also had 24 cast-bronze cannons with a maximum range of 240 to 275 m. However, treasure ships were considered luxury ships rather than warships. As such, they lacked the fuchuan's raised platforms or extended planks used for battle.

Physical evidence

Some of the drydocks at Longjiang Shipyard at Nanjing—known informally as the Treasure Ship Yard—were 27 to 36 m wide. But two such drydocks measured 64 m wide, considered large enough to build a ship 50 m wide.
In 1962, a large rudderpost indicating a rudder area of 452 square feet was unearthed at the Longjiang Shipyard. It has been widely said dimensions of this rudderpost corresponds with a ship of between 538 and 600 feet in length, lending credence to the notion that ships of these dimensions were indeed built. However, such use of this piece of archeological evidence rests upon supposing proportions between the rudder and the length of the ship, which have also been the object of intense contestation.

Replica

A copy of a treasure ship was announced in 2006 to be completed in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. However, the copy was still under construction in Nanjing in 2010.
A new date of completion was set for 2013; when this dateline failed to be met in 2014, the project was put on hold indefinitely.

Citations