Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T07:03:02.995Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Zheng He's Expeditions to the Western Ocean and His Navigation Technology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2009

Sun Guangqi
Sun Guangqi
Affiliation:
(Dalian Maritime University, China)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Zheng He was the greatest navigator in China's history and he conducted major oceanic voyages, before the western ‘Age of Discovery’, at a time when the Portuguese under Prince Henry were just beginning to feel their way down the coast of Africa. Under the orders of Emperor Yongle and then Emperor Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He led a fleet which was the greatest in the world in the fifteenth century and made, in all, seven expeditions to the Western Ocean from 1405 to 1433. His fleet sailed across most of the sea areas of the Western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and visited more than thirty Asian and African countries and regions. This paper will mainly discuss the extraordinary achievements of Zheng He's expeditions and their navigational technology, and will also briefly evaluate their role in navigational history.

Keywords

1. History.
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , September 1992 , pp. 329 - 343
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1 The Western Ocean here does not refer to the present-day Atlantic Ocean, but to the sea areas to the west of the western mouth of the Straits of Malacca in the Indian Ocean.Google Scholar
2History of Ming - Biography of Zheng He.Google Scholar
3Yuan, Shuwu. Postscript on the tablet of Ma Hazhi, from Kunyang. Collection of the Hall of Laying on Snow, Vol. 9.Google Scholar
4Zhu, Mingzhen. The Political History of Ming Dynasty.Google Scholar
5 Anon. Biography of Zheng He.Google Scholar
6LU, Maodeng. Popular Instructive Story of the Voyages and Traffics of the Three-Jewel Eunuch (Admiral Zheng He) in the Western Oceans. With appendix, Fei Huan An Xian Huo Sheng Xiang Ji.Google Scholar
7History of Ming - Biography of Zheng He.Google Scholar
8Fei, Xing. Triumphant Visions of the Starry Raft.Google Scholar
9Huan, Ma. Triumphant Visions of the Ocean Shores.Google Scholar
10Shu, Yuanming. Records of the Past Events. Under the entry of Western Ocean Sailing.Google Scholar
11Huan, Ma. Triumphant Visions of the Ocean Shores.Google Scholar
12LU, Maodeng. Popular Instructive Story of the Voyages and Traffics of the Three-Jewel Eunuch (Admiral Zheng He) in the Western Oceans. With appendix, Fei Huan An Xian Huo Sheng Xiang Ji.Google Scholar
13Gong, Zhen. Accounts of the Countries in the Western Ocean.Google Scholar
14Gong, Zhen. Accounts of the Countries in the Western Ocean.Google Scholar
15LU, Maodeng. Popular Instructive Story of the Voyages and Traffics of the Three-Jewel Eunuch (Admiral Zheng He) in the Western Oceans. With appendix, Fei Huan An Xian Huo Sheng Xiang Ji.Google Scholar
16Sun, Guangqi (1989). Chapter 8 - Navigation in the Early Period of the Ming Dynasty, in History of Ancient Chinese Navigation. Chinese Ocean Press, Beijing.Google Scholar
17Needham, J. (1971). Science and Civilisation in China. Volume 4, Chapter 29. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
18Mao, Yuanyi. Treatise on Armament Technology. Volume 240, Zhan Du Zhai.Google Scholar
19Needham, J. (1959). Science and Civilisation in China. Volume 3 - the Science of the Earth. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
20Mao, Yuanyi. Treatise on Armament Technology. Volume 240, Zhan Du Zhai.Google Scholar
21Huang, Shengzeng. Record of the Tributary Countries of the Western Oceans.Google Scholar
22Gong, Zhen. Accounts of the Countries in the Western Ocean.Google Scholar
23Yan, Dunjie. The Star Plate - A Glimpse of Chinese Astronomy in the Ming Dynasty.Google Scholar
24Huan, Ma. Triumphant Visions of the Ocean Shores.Google Scholar
25LU, Maodeng. Popular Instructive Story of the Voyages and Traffics of the Three-Jewel Eunuch (Admiral Zheng He) in the Western Oceans. With appendix, Fei Huan An Xian Huo Sheng Xiang Ji.Google Scholar
26History of Ming - Biography of Zheng He.Google Scholar
27Liang, Qichao. Biography of Zheng He, the Great Navigator of China.Google Scholar
28Sun, Guangqi (1989). A brief history of ancient Chinese sailing directions. This Journal, 42, 11.Google Scholar