Zheng He Dbq Analysis

Decades before the age of European exploration, the Chinese had already begun their own voyages. Seven of which were captained by a Chinese man named Zheng He. In 1371, Zheng He was born into a Muslim family in China, with the original name, Ma He. Later in his life, Zheng He became a loyal servant and friend of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor, impressed and appreciative of He’s accomplishments and loyalty, gave Ma He the surname Zheng along with military power. In 1405, Zheng He conducted the first of seven voyages on behalf of Emperor Yongle. China wanted to show the world its power and become richer, and going on these voyages was a way to do that. Nevertheless, these voyages should not be celebrated because they wasted many of China’s resources, the routes were only to land known by the Chinese, and tribute received when in ports did not help China’s economy and created less biodiversity in China.
China wasted a great …show more content…
In a chart titled Zheng He’s Fleet By the Numbers, it explained that each voyage consisted of 255 different ships. “These included ships dedicated solely to carrying fresh water to crew and animals” (Document C). The size of the fleet would have been immense and traveling up rivers to explore new land would have been impossible. This limited the fleet to traveling to only ports and harbors, diminishing the exploration aspect of Zheng He’s voyages. The map titled The Voyages of Zheng He: 1405-1433, showed that Zheng He traveled to many ports, including Calicut, which he traveled to multiple times (Document A). This city was already known by the Chinese and traveling there did not result in the discovering of new land or resources. Furthermore, Zheng He wasted time voyaging to the same ports, where he would not get any new resources. Zheng He did not expand China’s familiarity of the world, making his voyages less