Advanced Navigation Civilization

2 min read

From the 15th century on, humans had accelerated their pace in combing the oceans. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) came upon the continent of the Americas in 1492 by traveling across the Pacific with his Spanish fleet. The Portuguese fleet of Vasco da Gama(1460-1524) passed around Africa’s Cape of Hope and across the Indian Ocean, to arrive at Calicut on the west coast of India in 1498. Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) and his Spanish fleet claimed the first round-the-world navigation in 1522.

Compared with these explorers, Zheng He’s voyages took place much earlier and on a much larger scale. On each of the seven voyages to the Western Seas, his fleet consisted of more than 100 ships, with 62 large and medium-sized ships forming the main body. Crews and other personnel added up to morethan 20,000. Columbus’ fleet had only three ships and an 88-member crew.

Obviously, Zheng He’s fleets were unparalleled during his time in terms of size, navigation technology, organization and amenities, in order to be capable of making those successful long trips.

Zheng He’s ships were also constructed with advanced technology and craft.A large-size ship in the fleet was 150 meters long,60 meters wide and 12 meters deep. It had a cargo capacity of about 1,000 tons, with four levels to house more than 1,000 crew and passengers. The foredeck had an area of 9,000 square meters, equal to the size of half a football field. The ship had nine masts with 12 sails. Its iron rudder needed more than 200 people to lift. The large ships of Zheng He’s fleet would still look extraordinary even today.