Chinese treasure ship

A Chinese treasure ship (simplified Chinese: 宝船; traditional Chinese: 寶船; pinyin: bǎochuán, literally "gem ship") was a special kind of large wooden ship used by the famous explorer Zheng He. Zheng He led seven voyages in the early 1400s for the Ming dynasty. These treasure ships were part of his big fleet and carried very valuable things like beautiful fabrics, shiny porcelain, and tasty tea to trade with other countries.

These treasure ships were the biggest in Zheng He’s group of ships. Some old records from China said they were as long as 44 zhang, which some today think might be more than 100 meters or 330 feet long! Others think the biggest ships were at least 70 meters or 230 feet long. Either way, these were the largest wooden ships ever made before machines changed ship building. Zheng He had between 60 and 300 ships in his fleet, including smaller armed ships, making it an amazing group of big wooden ships.

Accounts

Chinese

Different old records tell us about the ships Zheng He used on his trips. One book from 1658 says the first trip had 63 treasure ships with many sailors. Another book from 1739 says there were 62 ships. Some inscriptions talk about the size of the ships but not how many there were.

We know the second trip had 249 ships, and the third trip had 48 treasure ships. The fourth trip had 63 treasure ships with many sailors. We don’t know exactly how many ships or sailors were on the fifth and sixth trips. But for the seventh trip, there were more than 100 big ships.

Yemen

A record from Yemen tells us about Chinese ships arriving in 1419, 1423, and 1432. These match up with Zheng He's fifth, sixth, and seventh trips. The ships brought gifts like special silk, musk, and chinaware. In return, they got gifts like wild animals and robes.

Mamluks

A writer from the time of the Mamluks in 1432 wrote about Chinese ships arriving in India. Two of these ships wanted to come to Judda but had trouble in Aden. They asked for permission to come to Judda, and the Sultan agreed.

Niccolò de' Conti

Niccolò de' Conti, who lived at the same time as Zheng He, saw big Chinese ships in Southeast Asia. He said these ships were very large, with five masts and could carry a lot of cargo.

Song and Yuan junks

Both Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta wrote about big ships with many masts that could carry hundreds of people in Chinese waters. These large ships, sometimes carrying up to 500–600 men, were much bigger than usual trading ships of the time, which were around 20–30 meters long. Unlike the treasure ships of later times, these Song and Yuan junks used oars to move, and they traveled with smaller ships to help them turn. The biggest junks could be almost twice as long as other ships of that era.

Marco Polo

Marco Polo described these ships as having one deck with many small rooms for merchants. They had four masts and four sails, sometimes adding two more masts with sails when needed. Larger ships had up to 13 sections inside to keep things safe if part of the ship got damaged. The ships were built very strongly with layers of wood and special mixtures to protect them. They needed many sailors to operate, depending on their size.

Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta also wrote about Chinese ships, calling the largest ones 'jonouq.' These ships had up to 12 sails made from bamboo strips woven like matting. The ships were built in cities like Quanzhou and Guangdong. They had four decks with rooms for merchants, who could even bring their families along. The captain of such a ship was treated like an important leader when he arrived at a place. Chinese people were known for being very wealthy and for owning many of these big ships.

Description

Taizong Shilu

The most recent records of the treasure ships come from the Taizong Shilu, which includes 24 notes from 1403 to 1419 about building ships in different places.

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 recent record that mentions both treasure ships and a specific place of construction. Interestingly, the only physical evidence of treasure ships also comes from Nanjing.

On 2 October 1419, 41 treasure ships were ordered without saying who built them.

Longjiang Chuanchang Zhi

Li Zhaoxiang's Longjiang Chuanchang Zhi (1553), also known as the Record of the Dragon River Shipyard, states that the plans for the treasure ships had disappeared from the shipyard where they were built.

Sanbao Taijian Xia Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi

According to Luo Maodeng's 1597 novel Sanbao Taijian Xia Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi (Eunuch Sanbao Western Records Popular Romance), the treasure fleet had five types of ships:

• Treasure ships (宝船, Bǎo Chuán) nine-masted, 44.4 by 18 zhang, about 127 metres (417 feet) long and 52 metres (171 feet) wide.
• Equine ships (馬船, Mǎ Chuán), carrying horses and tribute goods and repair material for the fleet, eight-masted, 37 by 15 zhang, about 103 m (338 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) wide.
• Supply ships (粮船, Liáng Chuán), containing staple for the crew, seven-masted, 28 by 12 zhang, about 78 m (256 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide.
• Transport ships (坐船, Z_uò Chuán_), six-masted, 24 by 9.4 zhang, about 67 m (220 ft) long and 25 m (82 ft) wide.
• Warships (战船, Zhàn Chuán), five-masted, 18 by 6.8 zhang, about 50 m (160 ft) long.

Edward L. Dreyer says that Luo Maodeng's novel is not suitable as historical proof. The novel includes many imaginary parts; for example, the ships were "constructed with divine help by the immortal Lu Ban". However, scholars have tried to separate the imaginary parts from those the author might have known but which have since been lost, including both written and spoken sources.

Dimensions

Contemporary descriptions

Old writings about Zheng He's ships give different sizes. Some say the ships were very big, like 447 feet long, but others say they were smaller, around 500 to 750 tons. One old writing mentions a ship that could hold almost 5,000 tons.

5,000 liao ship

In 2010, a new writing was found that talked about a big ship from Zheng He's time. Some think these big ships were used as leaders of the group, but there weren’t many of them.

44 zhang ship

History of Ming

The History of Ming says the treasure ships were 44 zhang long, but this writing was made much later, in 1739. The real writings from Zheng He's time don’t mention these sizes.

Modern estimates

Today’s experts think these ships could not have been as big as the History of Ming says. Some think they were around 200–250 feet long. Others guess they might have been a bit bigger, but not the huge sizes mentioned in old books.

Measurement conversion

The way people measured things back then might have been different. Some think the “zhang” could mean between 1.5 and 1.6 meters, which would make the ships around 230 feet long. But because measuring wasn’t the same everywhere, it’s hard to know the real size.

Structure

The treasure ships had strong wooden beams tied together with iron hoops for their frame. In rough seas, water would fill holes in the front of the ship, helping to calm the waves. These ships also used floating anchors to stay steady. At the back, they had two big iron anchors for stopping far from shore. The ships had special compartments that kept water out to stay strong. They also had a balanced rudder that could move up and down, helping steer the ship better. Unlike warships, treasure ships had nine masts and twelve big sails, making them faster. They carried 24 bronze cannons that could shoot far, but these ships were built for carrying treasures, not for fighting.

Besides cannons, the ships may have carried bows and other early gunpowder weapons like bombards and hand cannons. They might also have had special bombs made from quicklime. An Italian traveler in 1499 described seeing these Chinese ships, noting they carried fine fabrics and metal goods and returned every two years with many vessels.

Physical evidence

From 2003 to 2004, people dug up a place called the Treasure Shipyard near Nanjing, close to the Yangtze River. This is where they think the ships of Zheng He were built a long time ago. The site used to have thirteen areas where ships could be made, but most of these areas are now covered by buildings. Three long areas still remain, and inside them, there are wooden pieces that might have helped build the ships. The longest area is 421 metres long.

They also found a big piece of wood in 1957 that was part of a ship's steering system. Some experts think this means the ship was very long, but others are not sure because they used different ways to guess the size.

Speed

The treasure ships varied in size but sailed at similar speeds. When conditions were good, such as traveling with the winter winds from Fujian to Southeast Asia, Zheng He's fleet could reach an average speed of about 2.5 knots (4.63 km/h). On other parts of the journey, the ships moved more slowly, averaging between 1.4 and 1.8 knots (2.59–3.33 km/h).

Historians point out that these speeds were slow compared to later European fleets. For instance, in 1809, a group of 10 armed ships led by Admiral Nelson crossed the Atlantic Ocean at an average speed of 4.9 knots (9.07 km/h).

Replica

In 2006, people announced plans to build a copy of a treasure ship that would be 71.1 metres (233.3 feet) long. They wanted to finish it for the 2008 Olympic Games. But the copy was still being built in Nanjing in 2010. They then tried to finish it by 2013, but they couldn’t meet that date in 2014 because of money problems, so they stopped working on it for a while.