Estudios recientes en China sobre la navegación del almirante Zheng He
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- Category: Historia de la Marina Civil
- Published on Sunday, 28 July 2024 05:14
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https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/default/files/knowledge-bank-article/recent_studies_in_china_on_admiral_zheng_he.pdf
Recent Studies in China on Admiral Zheng He's Navigation Liu Yingsheng Nanjing University, China At the end of 15th century great Portuguese sailor Vasco Da Gama returned to Europe from India. In the history of navigation, the Portuguese discovery is the very beginning of the new era. But before the Portuguese came to the east the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean had already been a busy commercial region for a long time.
Ships of China, Southeast Asia, Subcontinent, West Asia and East Africa had kept on coming and going from east to west and from west to east. Admiral Zheng He and his fleets’ navigation in the West Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean in the early 15th century is one of greatest achievements in the history of Chinese navigation activities. In the period from the 3rd year of Yong Le 永乐 (1405) to the 8th year of Xuan De 宣 德 (1433) Zheng He sailed 7 times to Southeast Asia and in the Indian Ocean.
His fleet was the biggest in the world at that time. It consisted of more than 200 ships and more than 27,800 sailors and soldiers.
The study on Zheng He's navigation activity was begun at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty when Zhang Tingyu 张廷玉 and his colleagues compiled the biography of Zheng He of the Ming Shi in the 17th century. After the article of Liang Qichao 梁启超 namely Zu Guo Da Hang Hai Jia Zheng He Zhuan 祖国大航海家郑和传 (Biography of Our Motherlands Great Admiral Zheng He) published in 1904 the studies developed very quickly.
According to the bibliography since that time till 1989 there had been altogether about 900 articles and book concerning the life and activities of Zheng He published in China, including the continent, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the last 10 years, the number of the publications has kept on increasing to about 60 papers and books per year. In this article I would like to give a brief description of the resent studies on Zheng He and his navigation activities in China.
My introduction includes sources, historic geography, aims and significance, relations between the Ming China and other countries, history of Southeast Asian countries and trade. Because this paper is prepared on board during this expedition of the UNESCO and the material which I have now is limited, so it is only a primary introduction.