Treasury Admiral Zheng He. Travel Zheng He travel Chinese navigators in the 15th century

Zheng HE (1371--1435) - Chinese traveler, Flotodets and diplomat, headed by seven large-scale naval trade expeditions sent by the emperors of the Minsk dynasty to Indochyan, Indochian countries, Indoostan, Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.

At birth, the future navigator received the name Ma He. He was born in the village of Hadi, Cunyan County. The family of Ma came from the so-called sam. - immigrants from Central Asia who arrived in China during the time of Mongolian dominion and held a variety of positions in the state apparatus of the Yuan Empire. Most sam., including the ancestors of Zheng He, were Muslim religion (it is often believed that the surname "MA" itself is nothing more than the Chinese pronunciation name "Mohammed"). Traveler Chinese expedition military

About parents Mahe is known not so much. The father of the future navigator was known as Ma Haji (1345--1381 or 1382), in honor of his pilgrimage in Mecca; His spouse was named Wen. The family had six children: four daughters and two sons - senior, Ma Wenmin, and younger, Mahe.

Admission to the service for Zhu Di and Military Career

After the overthrow of the Mongolian Iga in Central and Northern China and the establishment of there Zhu Yuanzhan Dynasty Ming (1368) The Mountain Province Yunnan on the south-western outskirts of China remained under the control of the Mongols. It is not known whether Ma Haji fought on the side of the yuan loyalists during the conquest of Yunnani by Minsk troops, but be that as it may, he died during this campaign (1382), and his younger son Ma He was captured and got into the service of Zhu di , Son of Emperor Zhu Yuanjzhan, who led the Yunnan Campania.

Three years later, in 1385, the boy was castrated, and he became one of the numerous eunuhs at the court of Zhu di,. Young eunuch got a name Ma Sanbao That is, Ma "Three Treasures" or "Three Jewels". According to Nidem, despite the undoubtedly Muslim origin of Enuha, this title served as a reminder of the "three jewels" of Buddhism (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), whose names so often repeat Buddhists.

The first Minsk emperor Zhu Yuanzhzhhan was outlined to give the throne to his original son Zhu Biao, but he died during the life of Zhu Yuanzhzhan. As a result, the first emperor appointed his son the son of Zhu Biao, Zhu Yunweany, although his uncle Zhu di (one of the younger sons Zhu Yuanzhzhan) probably considered himself a more worthy throne. Going to the throne in 1398, Zhu Yunwean, who feared the capture of power with one of his uncle, began to destroy them one after another. Soon between the young emperor in Nanjing and his Beijing Uncle Zhu Di broke out a civil war. Due to the fact that Zhu Yunwean forbade Enuham to take part in the management of the country, many of them were supported by Zhu di during the uprising. As a reward for the Zhu di, for his part, it allowed them to participate in solving political issues, and allowed them to rise to the highest steps of political career, which was also very profitable for Ma Sanbao. The young eunah distinguished himself as during the defense of Baipin in 1399 and when taking Nanjing in 1402 and was one of the commanders who were entrusted to seize the capital of the Empire - Nanjing. By destroying the regime of your nephew, Zhu Di on July 17, 1402 climbed the throne under the motto of the Board of Junle.

On (Chinese) New 1404, the new emperor as a reward for the faithful service granted Ma He new surname Zheng. This served as a reminder of how in the first days of the uprising horse Ma He was killed in the vicinity of Baipina in the town called Zhenlunba.

As for the appearance of the future Admiral, he, "Having become adults, they say, grew up to seven chi (almost two meters. - Ed.), And his belt girth equal to five chi (more than 140 centimeters. - Ed.). His cheekbones and forehead were wide, and the nose is small. He had a sparkling look and voice loud, as if the sound of a big gong. "

After Zheng He for all his merits in front of the emperor was assigned the title "Chief Enun" ( taijian), which corresponded to the fourth rank of the official, the emperor Zhu Di decided that he was best about the role of Admiral Fleet and appointed Eunuch by the head of all or almost all seven swimming pools in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean in 1405--1433, in the 1405--1433 Status before the third rank.

Baochuan: length - 134 meters, width - 55 meters, displacement - about 30,000 tons, team - about 1000 people

• 1. Cabin Admiral Zheng He
• 2. Ship altar. The priests constantly burned incense on it - the gods were asked
• 3. TRUM. Ships Zheng HE were full of porcelain, jewels and other gifts for foreign rulers and demonstration of the power of the emperor
• 4. The steering wheel of the ship was equal to the height of the four-storey house. To bring it into action used a complex system of blocks and levers
• 5. Observation deck. Standing on her, the navigators watched the pattern of constellations, the course was drilled and the vessel speed was measured
• 6. Waterlinia. Water displacement of the BOCAUANY Many times more than the modern European ships
• 7. Woven from bamboo mats of sails dropped like a firm and provided high ship sailing

Santa Maria Columbus: Length - 25 meters, width - about 9 meters, displacement - 100 tons, team - 40 people.

The fleet consisted, apparently, from about 250 vessels, and about 27 thousand people of personnel on board, headed by 70 Emperuchi. Flotilla under the leadership of Zheng He visited over 56 countries and major cities of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean Basin. Chinese ships reached the shores of Arabia and East Africa.

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Throughout its centuries-old history, the Chinese empire did not show much interest in distant countries and sea travel. But in the XV century, her ships were sent seven times in swimming in the Indian Ocean, and headed by a giant junok squadron every time the same person - a diplomat and admiral Zheng He, who was not inferior to Columbus in the wise of his expeditions. Fig. Anton Batov.

Zheng He was born in 1371 in the city of Kunyan (now Jinin), in the center of the south-western Chinese province Yunnan, not far from her capital Kunmina. Nothing as a future fleet, who called Ma He, did not foretell the coming novel with the ocean: in the XV century from Kunyana to the coast there were several weeks drive. The name of Mohammed's transcription is often found in the Chinese Muslim community, and our hero was the origin of the famous Saida Advili Shamsa Al-Dina (1211-1279), who was also overlooking Umaro, - a native of Bukhara, nominated during the Mongolian Great Hanov (Grandson of Genghis Khan) and Hubila. It was the conqueror of China Khabilai in 1274 appointed this Umar governor Yunnani. It is known that the father and grandfather of the future Admiral strictly adhered to Islam's locks and made a hajj in Mecca. Moreover, in the Muslim world there is an opinion that the future admiral itself visited the sacred city, however, with informal pilgrimages.

At the time of the birth of the boy, the median empire was still under the rule of the Mongols who favored to his family. But the beginning of the life of Ma He was quite dramatically. In 1381, when conquering Yunnan, the troops of the Chinese dynasty mines, which took off the foreign yuan, at the age of 39, the father of the future navigator died. The boy was captured by the rebels, wept and handed over to the service of the fourth son of Hunle's leader, the future emperor Junle, who soon went to the governor to Baipin (Beijing).

It is important to note one detail: Eunuchs in China, as well as, for example, in Ottoman Turkey, always remained one of the most influential political forces. Many young men themselves went on terrible not only in essence, but also on the technique of execution the operation, hoping to get into the retinue of any influential person - Prince or, if lucky, emperor himself. So, "color-eyed" (so-called representatives of nonetitoile, nonhangny nation in China) Zheng Hay for then the concepts were just lucky. Young Ma He has proven himself in service. By the end of the 1380s, he was already vividly stood out surrounded by Prince, whose younger was eleven. In 1399, when Beijing was askedid by the troops of the then Emperor Jianwene (Rules from 1398 to 1402), the young dignitarily defended one of the urban reservoirs. It is his actions and allowed the prince to stand up in order to counterattack the opponent and achieve the throne. In a few years, Junle collected a powerful militia, raised the uprising and in 1402, taking the standby Metropolitan Nanjing, proclaimed himself with the emperor. Then he accepted the new Board's motto: Junle - "Eternal Happiness." On the Chinese New Year on February 11, 1404, Ma He in gratitude for loyalty and feats was solemnly renamed Zheng He - this surname corresponds to the name of one of the ancient kingdoms that existed in China in the V-III centuries BC. e.

As for the appearance of the future Admiral, he, "Having become adults, they say, grew up to seven chi (almost two meters. - Ed.), And his belt girth equal to five chi (more than 140 centimeters. - Ed.). His cheekbones and forehead were wide, and the nose is small. He had a sparkling look and voice loud, as if the sound of a big gong. "

When looking at the expedition of Zheng He, after time, it is most surprised that such a serious campaign on their completion were completely forgotten with contemporaries, and descendants. The ambitious UNLE sent the fleet to distant countries at the very beginning of his reign, and returned the last great expedition to the reign of his grandson of Sunita, after which in China for a long time they forgot about the maritime glory. Only at the beginning of the twentieth century, Western scientists have found mentioning these swimming in the chronicles of the Imperial Dynasty Min and wondered: why was this huge flotilla be created? Different versions were highlighted: Zheng Hay turned out to be the "pioneer and researcher" like Cook, it was looking for a colony for the empire like conquistadors, his fleet was a powerful military cover for developing foreign trade, as in Portuguese in the XV-XVI centuries. However, the countries of the South Seas and the Indian Ocean were associated with maritime trade with Middle Kingdom during the days of the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). Then, from the ports of Fujiani, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Guangxi, seaways were already stretched to Indochka, India and even Arabia. Walked by the sea from Liaoning Province to the Korean Peninsula and Japan. So the admiral did not plan to open the new trade routes. Want to conquer new lands? On the one hand, the Chinese Empire, the time of time, sought to attach the lands of the nearest neighbors. Moreover, Armada Zheng Hoe on the most planks was packed with weapons and warriors. But on the other hand, throughout the history, the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom were detained in the distant countries peacefully, formed diasporas, without any need for colonization. "Sons of Heaven" never undertake marine conquests. And if the gifts that the fleet drove back to the court, habitually interpreted as a tribute, then their receipt ceased exactly at the moment when the admiral ships returned to their native harbor. No, Zheng He's mission did not have a military nor aggressive nature. The famous Russian Kitaevyed Alexei Baschinin in the book "China and the countries of the South Seas" leads an interesting consideration about the possible goal of these travels: by the beginning of the 15th century, the relationship between China of the Minsk Epoch and Power Tamerlane was aggravated. The frantic Warrior even planned to go to China. Accordingly, Zheng He could entrust the diplomatic mission to find the seas of allies against Timur. After all, when in 1404 he fell ill, already having the ended and destroyed cities from Russia to India, in the world, the world would hardly happen, capable of having him alone. But in January 1405, Tamerlan died. It seems that the admiral did not seek friends against this enemy. Perhaps the randral lies in a certain complex of inferiority of UNLE, ascended by the Tron of the palace coup. The illegal "son of the sky" seems to be simply not wanted to wait for the hands until the dannikon themselves appear to him on the bow.

Winds of southern seas

The first three expeditions Zheng He followed continuously one after another from 1405 to 1411 with short interruptions in 1407th and 1409. At first, the Emperor Junle himself took a living participation in the project. He then lived in Nanjing, where the ships were built and from where the first journeys started. This later, the arrangement of the new capital in Beijing and the Mongolian campaigns will be cooled by the Emperor's dust, and while he personally delves into each detail, closely monitors each step and order of his admiral. After all, trusted Enun, he set up not only the fleet itself, but also the chambers of the Palace servants. And this means that it was also responsible for the construction and repair of many buildings, and then ships.

The ruler Topeil - Armada was built in a big hurry. The first order for the creation of ships was sounded in 1403th, and swimming began in two years. Special highest orders were devoted commercial parties for wood - to the province of Fujian and in the Ripos of Yangtze. The beauty and pride of the squadron, Baochuani (literally "precious ships" or "Treasury"), were constructed on the so-called "shipyard of precious ships" (Baochuanian) on the Qinhuai River in Nanjing. It is this last fact that, in particular, determines the fact that the precipitate of Johnk with their gigantic amount was not very deep - otherwise they would simply not have passed into the sea through this influx of Yangtz. And finally, everything was ready. July 11, 1405 in the "Chronicle of Emperor Tha-Zun" (one of the ritual names of UNLE) was made a simple entry: "Palace Sanovnik Zheng He and others were sent to the countries of Western (Indian) Ocean with emperor letters and gifts for their kings - Golden Parch, patterned silk, colored silk gas, is all according to their status. " In total, Armada includes up to 255 ships from 27,800 people aboard.

In all swims, the grandiose Armada went from the South China Sea. Through the Indian Ocean, the ships went towards Ceylon and South Industan, and the last journey covered the Persian Bay, the Red Sea and the East Coast of Africa. Zheng Hay walked every time the "rolled" way: catching repeating monsoon winds, which from December to March blowing on these latitudes from the north and northeast. When wet subequatorial flow streams climbed over the Indian Ocean and, as it were, they turned around in a circle back to the north - from April to August, the flotilla, respectively, turned to the house. This is a monsoon schedule. Local sailors knew long before our era, and not only sailors: it dictated and the order of agricultural seasons. Taking into account the monsoons, as well as the pattern of constellation travelers confidently transported from the south of Arabia to the Malabar coast of India, or from Ceylon on Sumatra and in Malacca, adhering to a certain latitude.

Chinese expeditions returned to the same route, and only the incidents on the way allow you to distinguish the navigation "there" from the opposite. So, in the first swimming on the opposite way, the Chinese expedition troops captured the famous Pirate Chen Tzu'i, who captured Palembang at that time - the capital of the Hindus-Buddhist state Srevidaya on Sumatra. "Zheng He returned and brought Chen Tzui in Kandala. Arriving in the old port (Palembang. - Ed.), He called Chen to obey. He attacked that he was subordinate, but secretly planned a riot. Zheng He understood it ... Chen, collecting forces, made a battle, and Zheng He sent troops and accepted the battle. Chen was broken down. More than five thousand gangsters were killed, ten ships burned and seven seven ... Chen and two more were captured and delivered to the imperial capital, where they were announced beheaded. " So the Metropolis was defended by peaceful migrant compatriots in Palembore and at the first time first demonstrated that his ships carried weapons on board not only for beauty.

By the way, about weapons. Historians did not come together, what exactly the subordinates of the admiral fought. The burning of ships Chen Tzui seems to indicate that they were shot from guns. They, like primitive rifles, have already been used then in China, but there are no direct evidence of their use on the sea. In any case, it is obvious that the battle Admiral relied on a living force, on the personal composition, which was planted with huge junks ashore or sent to the storm fortifications. This peculiar maritime infantry was the main vision of flotilla, so imagine the battle of Palambang on the traffalgar manner (as some researchers do), apparently, not worth it.

"Treasury ships" in numbers

It is not possible to reliably determine all the characteristics of the ships of Armada Zheng HE historians and shipbuilders yet. The mass of speculation and discussions in the scientific world is caused by the fact that scientists are known how similar Junks are built to Zheng He and after him. However, the southern seas and the Indian Ocean korozdili specially rebuilt vessels, which are certainly (taking into account the calculations made on the basis of Ruderppost's excavations in Nanjing shipyard) only the following are known.

The length of large boaoic ships was 134 meters, and the width is 55. The sediment to the Waterlinia was 6 more than 6 meters. The mast was 9, and they carried 12 sails from wicker bamboo mats. Baochians in the Zheng HE squadron was from 40 to 60. For comparison: the first transatlantic steamer of Izambara Brunette "Great Western", which appeared in four centuries (1837), was almost twice as smaller (about 72 meters). Measurements of medium ships were equal, respectively, 117 and 48 meters. There were about 200 such junks, and they are comparable to ordinary Chinese courts. The team of such a ship, in 1292, Marko Polo, which took place to India, consisted of 300 people, and Niccolo Di Conti, the Venetian merchant of the XIV-XV centuries, who traveled to India and Ormuz, mentions five-volume junks with displacement of about 2000 tons. The Admiral Fleet consisted of 27-28 thousand people of personnel, among whom they included soldiers, merchants, civilians, officials and master: in terms of quantity it is the population of the large Chinese city of those times.

Chinese ships built quite differently than European. First, they had no keel, although sometimes in the bottom and built a long bar, called Lunga ("Dragon's Bone"), - to mitigate the strike of the soil during mooring. The strength of the design of the ship was achieved by adding wooden strengthening-wavers at the level of Waterlinnia or above on board along the entire length. It was very important that the presence of bulkheads, stretching from the side to board through uniform gaps, were provided to protect the vessel from flooding in the event of damage to some one or more premises.

If in Europe, the mast was located in the center of the vessel, embedded in the foundation in Kiel, then in Chinese Junks, the base of each mast was connected only with a nearby bulkhead, which allowed "scattering" masts on the deck regardless of the central axis of symmetry. At the same time, the sails of different masts did not overlap each other, revealed like a fan, the sailiness increased, and the ship received a greater acceleration accordingly.

The Chinese courts, created to work in shallow waters, differ from European: their precipitate and the length proportionally inferior width. That's all we know reliably. Notes translator Ma Huan, Satellite Zheng He, John Mills complements these data to the assumption that 50 cabins were on the taochia.

Muscles and Tooth Buddha

But back to the chronology. During the second navigation, the geographically similar to the first, there was only one event, the memory of which was preserved in history: the ruler of the Calicut provided Messengers of the Middlewealth of several bases, relying on which the Chinese could continue to go further to the west. But the third expedition brought more interesting adventures. Under the date July 6, 1411, the chronicle recorded: "Zheng He ... returned and brought the captured king Ceillon to Alagakonar, his family and children. During the first journey of Alagakonard was rude and disrespectful and removed to kill Zheng He. Zheng He understood it and left. Moreover, Alagakonar was not friends with neighboring countries and often intercepted and robbed their embassies along the way to China and back. Due to the fact that other barbarians suffered from this, Zheng He, returned, again showed contempt of Ceylon. Then Alagakonar lured Zheng He deep into the country and sent his son Nianana to demand gold, silver and other precious goods. If these goods did not give out, more than 50 thousand Varvarov would rebel from the shelters and captured the ships of Zheng HE. And they squeezed the trees and rearmed to block the narrow tracks and cut the Zheng He way to retreat so that some Chinese detachments could come to each other to help.

When Zheng He realized that they were cut off from the fleet, he quickly deployed troops and sent them to the ships ... And he ordered the messengers to secretly bypass the roads, where the ambush was sitting, to return to the ships and transfer the order to the officers and soldiers to beat death. Meanwhile, he personally led a two-thousandths of the army by coarse tracks. They stormed the eastern walls of the capital, taking her fear, broke into the inside, captured Anlagakonar, his family, children and dignitaries. Zheng He spent a few battles and broke the Army of Varvarov Head. When he returned, the ministers decided that the alagkonar and other prisoners should execute. But the emperor settled over them - over ignorant people who did not know what heavenly mandate on the board, and let them go, giving food and clothing, and ordered the ward of rituals to choose a worthy person in the Aldakconary family to rule the country. "

It is believed that this was the only case when Zheng He was consciously and decisively crossed off the path of diplomacy and entered the war not with robbers, but with the official government of the country to which he arrived. The above quote is the only documentary description of the actions of the fleet on Ceylon. However, besides him, of course, there are many legends. The most popular of them describes the scandal associated with the most revered relic - tooth of the Buddha (Dalad), which our hero was going to steal, or really stole from Ceylon.

The story is: back in 1284, Hubilai sent his emissaries to Ceylon to get one of the main sacred relics of Buddhists quite legally. But the tooth Mongolian Emperor - a famous patron of Buddhism - was still not given, compensating for the refusal to other expensive gifts. On this case, it ended. But according to Sinhal myths, the Middle State in secret did not refuse the desired goal. They generally argue that the admiral swimming was undertaken almost specifically for the abduction of the tooth, and all the other wanders are to remove the eyes. But Singhals allegedly overheut the Zheng He - "slipped" to him in captivity of the royal twin instead of the real king and the false relic, and the real, while the Chinese were fought, strained. The compatriots of the Great Marithener, of course, adhere to the opposite opinion: Admiral still got the invaluable "piece of the Buddha", and he even helped him safely reach Nanjing back to Nanjing. What was really unknown.

Some would not know about Zheng He, it is not doubtful that it was a man of very wide views. It is known for example, that, a Muslim in origin, he opened Buddhism in adulthood and was distinguished by great knowledge in the intricacies of this teaching. On Ceylon, he built the Buddha sanctuary, Allah and Vishnu (one on three!), And in the stele erected before the last swimming in Fujiani, the gratitude of the Taoist Goddess of Tien Fei is "Divine Spouse", which was considered a patronage of the sailors. Anyway, the Ceylon adheres of the admiral, perhaps, became the culmination of his overseas career. In the course of this dangerous military campaign, many warriors died, but UNLE, assessing the scale of the feat, generously awarded the surviving.

Zaganga Zheng HE

Six years ago, the book "1421: a year when China opened the world" was published. Posted by her retired British officer, the commander of the submarine Gavin Menzis, who assured Zheng He was ahead of even Columbus, opening America before him, he was ahead of him allegedly and Magellan, having encouraged the globe. Professional historians reject these constructions as untenable. Nevertheless, one of the admiral cards is the so-called "Map of Can'Nidido" - indicates a minimum that he has a reliable and reliable information about Europe. The search for truth is very complicated by the full destruction of official information on the last two swimming, which, apparently, were the most distances. Did the Chinese get to the Mozambique Strait in East Africa? Researchers also know the testimony of Fra Mauro, a monk-cartographer from Venice, which in 1457 wrote that a certain "Johnka from India" thirty years earlier floated two thousand miles deep into the Atlantic. The opinion is also expressed that Zheng HE has served as the basis of European marine maps of the era of great geographical discoveries. Finally, the last mystery. In January 2006, a 1763 card was presented at one auction, allegedly accurate copy of the card of 1418. The owner is the Chinese collector, who bought it in 2001, immediately relates it with the speculation of Menzis, because on it the outlines of America and Australia appeared, and with the Chinese transcriptions of the names of the names of the Aborigines. Examination confirmed: the paper on which the scheme was performed is the authentic, XV century, but about ink remains doubts. However, even if it is not a fake, then perhaps just the translation of some Western source into Chinese.

Imperial giraffe, or who are such Afro-tree

In mid-December 1412, Zheng He received a new order to carry the gifts to the courtyards of the overseas rulers. Moreover, to this fourth expedition, which saved in 1413, prudently addressed the translator - Muslim Ma Huan. This native Hangzhou owned Arabic and Persian languages. Later he will leave quite detailed stories about the last great swimming in the Chinese fleet, not forgetting about all sorts of household details. For example, he carefully described the diet of the sailors: they ate "hushed and unlucky rice, beans, grains, barley, wheat, sesame and all kinds of vegetables ... They had fruit ... Persian dates, pine nuts, almonds, raisins, walnuts, Apples, grenades, peaches and apricots ... "," Many people made a mixture of milk, cream, oil, sugar and honey and ate it. " It is safe to conclude that Chinese travelers did not suffer from zing.

The main event of this hike was to capture a certain leader of the rebels by the name of secretar. He had a misfortune to speak against the Chinese and related treaty about the friendship of the king of the Semider's state in the north of Sumatra - Zaina al-Abidida. The arrogant doctor was offended that the emperor's messenger did not bring him gifts, which means that he did not recognize the legal representative of the nobility, naspech gathered supporters and attacked the Admiral's fleet. True, he had no more chance of victory than Parambang's pirate. Soon he, his wives and children were aboard Chinese treasury. Ma Huan reports that the "robber" publicly executed on Sumatra, not honored the honor of the Imperial Court in Nanjing. But in the capital, Flotodets brought from this swim to the record number of foreign ambassadors - from thirty powers. Eighteen diplomats of them are Zheng Hewing at home during the fifth expedition. All of them had merciful letters from the emperor, as well as porcelain and silk - embroidered, transparent, painted, thin and very expensive, so that their sovereigns should be assumed. And Admiral himself, this time, went into the uncharted waters, to the shores of Africa.

The farthest to the west, the further divergence of the testimony of sources. So, it is still unclear where there is a mysterious fortified Las, which provided an armed resistance to the expeditionary building and taken by the Chinese with the help of siege guns, called in some sources of Muslim Catapults, in others - "Western" and, finally, in Third - "Huge Catapults shooting stones. " Some sources report that this city was in Africa, near Mogadishu in the present Somalia, others in Arabia, somewhere in Yemen. In any case, the path to it from Calicut was held in the XV century twenty days with a passing wind, the climate there was always hot, the fields are scrubbed, the traditions are simple, and there was almost nothing to take there. Ladan, gray amber and "camels per thousand Lee" (whether - the Chinese length of length, equal to about 500 meters).

The fleet came down the African horn and really went to Mogadishu, where the Chinese met with a real miracle: they saw how the black people were in the lack of wood folded at home from stones - in four or five floors. Rich people were engaged in maritime trade, the poor threw in the ocean. Small cattle, horses and camels fed dried fish. But the main thing is home travelers took a very special "tribute": leopards, zebras, lions and even several giraffes. Unfortunately, African gifts at all satisfied the emperor. In fact, the goods and offering from already acquaintances of Calicut and Sumatra represented significantly greater material value than the exotic newcomers of the imperial belt.

When in the spring of 1421, amplifying the fleet 41 vehicles, the admiral sailed again to the black continent and returned again without any convincing values, the emperor was quite annoyed. In addition, in the most subway, during this time, the criticism of his ruin wars intensified. In general, further trips to the Great Flootilla were under a big question.

As for the trace, which the Chinese left in Africa, he today, of course, is not traced. Is that a legend has been preserved in Kenya: not far from Malindi (apparently, this port turned out to be an extreme point of travel), near the island of Lama, one of the ships flew to reefs. The surviving team members got to the shore, married local girls and as if they would have marked the beginning of the African community. This really exists in Kenya and maintains close ties with the PRC, but the origin, apparently, has nevertheless later.

Karavella vs Johnok

A natural question arises: why did the planet discovered, the portuguese, the Spaniards and the British were investigated and settled, and not the Chinese - after all, Zheng Hay's swimming showed that the Sons of the Middle Kingdom could build ships and ensure their expeditions economically and politically? The answer is simple, and it is reduced not only to the difference of ethnopsychology of the middle European and the Middle Chinese, but also to the historical and cultural situation of the era of great geographical discoveries. Europeans have always lacked land and resources to maintain their rapidly developing economy, they drove them on the seizures of new territories of the closest and eternal shortage of material goods (gold, silver, spices, silk, etc.) for anyone who eager them. Here you can also remember the free spirit of the heirs of Ellinov and Romans, with ancient times they sought to settle the Mediterranean, because they walked to the conquest of new lands even before the first dough and caravels came up with the stapels. The Chinese also had their own problems - overpopulation and land hunger, but, despite the fact that they were always separated from the tempting adjacent territories, they were always separated by the non-erased strait, China remained self-sufficient: the Son Son Son of the sky was spread through Southeast Asia and neighboring countries like peaceful settlers, And not as missionaries or slaves and gold hunters. Casus Emperor Junle and his Admiral Zheng HE is an exception, not a rule. The fact that the Baocuanians were big and that there were many of them, did not mean that China sent them to distant countries for the seizure of land and the dispensation of overseas colonies. Yurk Karavella Columbus and Vasco Da Gama beat in this plan Giant Johnci Zheng He on all fronts. It was this disinterest of the Chinese and their supreme power in the outside world, the concentration of themselves and led to the fact that the Grand Passionate Splash of the Emperor Yunle's time did not find the continuation after his death. UNLE has sent ships for the horizon in spite of the main imperial policy who prescribed the Son of the sky to take ambassadors from the world, and not send them to the world. The death of the emperor and the admiral returned to the status quo: briefly, the sinks of the shell slammed again.

Last parade

In 1422-1424, a considerable break occurred in Zheng HE swimming, moreover, in 1424, Yunle died. But still, on this, the Chinese sea epic has not yet ended: in 1430, a new one, the young emperor Suangtende, the grandson of the deceased, decided to send another "great embassy".

Apparently, feeling that the final is close to the seventh dozen admiral before sailing in the last expedition ordered two inscriptions in the port of Luzzhagan (near the city of Taisan in Jiangsu Province) and Channel (East Fujian) - a kind of epitaph, which were summed up . And the swimming itself passed on the forefronts of the previous ones, except that once the fleet landed a squad under the command of Hong Bao, who made a peaceful tale in Mecca. Sailors have returned with giraffes, lions, "camel birds" (ostrich, gigantic feathers then were still in Arabia) and other wonderful gifts that were taken away from the sheriff of the sacred city. About the time, where the fellow countrymen of the Prophet Mohammed were moved, whether they were back to the fatherland - it is unknown, the chronicles in this period marked noticeably to the acts of the Great Armada.

It is especially surprising that anyone is reliably unknown when the famous admiral Zheng He was died - either during the seventh swimming, or shortly after the return of the fleet (July 22, 1433). In modern China, it is believed that his as a real sailor was buried in the ocean, and Kenotaf, which shown to tourists in Nanjing is only a conditional tribute to the memory.

As for the results of the seventh swimming, after five days after its completion, the emperor, as usual, gave the team with ceremonial robes and paper money. According to the chronicles, while Suanghede said: "We have no desire to receive things from remote countries, but we understand that they were sent with the most sincere feelings. Since they arrived from afar, they should be taken, but it is not a reason for congratulations. "

Diplomatic intercourse with the countries of the West Ocean ceased this time - by century. Separate merchants continued to trade with Japan and Vietnam, but from the "state presence" in the Indian Ocean, the Chinese authorities refused and even destroyed the majority of the Loccas of Zheng HE. The written off ships rotted in the port, and the Chinese ships have forgotten how to build taocoani.

Long swimming Residents of the Middle Empire resumed many later, and even then epizodically. So, in 1846-1848 in England and the United States visited the huge trading junk "Qi'in", successfully reinished the cape of good hope. And yet, we should not blame the country in navigation indecision - China simply had to choose where it is more important to defend its extensive territory, on land or at sea. The other forces were clearly lacked, and at the end of the era of Zheng He sushi again took over: the coast was left defenseless - and in front of the pirates, and in front of Western powers. Well, the energetic admiral remained for the country the only great navigator, a symbol of an unexpected openness of the Middle Mira. At least this is the lessons of these seven swimming in China.

The turbulent development of Chinese navigation begins in the era of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). And in the first third of the 15th century, the Chinese literally shocked the world with their gigantic on scale by sea expeditions under the leadership of the outstanding Chinese Flotoder Zheng He. During seven waters committed in 1405 - 1433, Chinese sailors visited the Stern Islands, Malacca, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Persian Gulf countries, Aden, Somalia, Malindi (Kenya). Some participants of the expedition also visited Muslim Mecca's sacred city.

What a colorful spectacle! Hundreds of ships with raised sails slowly depart from the shore - the greatest flotilla of all time. On the nose of each ship, the eyes of the dragon sparkle the horror of the enemies in the soul and distinguishing evil spirits. Around - a variety of small cargo booties designed to accompany the expedition. They carry thousands of tons of food and water. Thousands of people who went to the distant path should not have anything to lack ...

"Fan" - sail. The hieroglyph with this meaning appeared in China about 1000 BC. The first Chinese sails very much resembled woven mats from the cane. And the type of classical Chinese junki - with a flat bottom and almost vertical nose and feed - finally formed only by the beginning of our era.

Zheng HE swimming remained unsurpassed by the number of ships and people who participated in them: so, 317 ships with 27,870 people took part in the first expedition on board, in the second - 249 ships, in the third - 48 ships and 30 thousand people, in the fourth - 63 ships and 28,560 people, in the seventh - more than 100 ships and 27,550 people. Against the background of these astronomical numbers, it is even somehow improper to remember the three Karavlah Columbus and the entire hundred members of their crews ...

The great eunuch of the imperial court Zheng He was a Muslim, a native of the South-China province Yunnan. For 30 years of his service, Zheng HE at least seven times went to distant sea expeditions - then as ambassador, then as a fleet commander. For the first time he came out in the sea in 1405: the emperor commanded him to find his runling nephew, who claimed the throne. According to rumors, he disappeared "somewhere around the sea."

Zheng HE came out on his search was obviously disproportionate of the task: it included 62 large ship every 440 feet long and 180 feet wide, and there were 17,800 people on board. And this is not counting the large number of auxiliary vessels who were carrying food reserves, fresh water, goods for trade with natives, gifts to foreign rulers. With the summer monsoon, the Fleet Zheng He moved to the southwest: in Indochina, on Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), in Calicut.

The ambassadors of the Chinese emperor waited the warmest reception in the countries where they arrived. "Everyone, without exception, ingenians competed, who will be ahead of others in the presentation of wonderful things stored in the mountains or hidden in the sea, and rare treasures that are in water widths, on land and sands," the Chinese chronicle reports. So, the ruler of thump, the states in South Vietnam, left to meet Zheng He on an elephant. Behind him on horseback riding the most notable courtested hundreds of soldiers walked. Rades drums, sang flutes. It seemed that the whole of the power was ready to praise the Great Guest.

For two years, the Chinese visited about thirty countries and islands. "In the ninth month of 1407, Zheng He and the rest returned. The ambassadors from all countries arrived with them and appeared before the emperor ... The emperor was very pleased, awarding all titles in accordance with merits, "reports" History of the Ming Dynasty ".

Again and again sent Emperor Zheng HE to the distant seas. His ships moored to the coast of the Nikobar and Maldives, the Persian Gulf countries, visited Aden, Mogadishu (Somalia), Malindi, on Zanzibar. Zheng He's escade visited the Islands of Ryuku, lying near Japan, Philippines, Borneo and Timor. From the long swabs, Zheng He delivered countless treasures to the imperial yard. "The indescribable treasures acquired and the goods are difficult to count," the "History of the Ming Dynasty" says.

Only from the island of Java, Chinese admiral brought "Rhino Horn, Panciri Turtles, Eagle Tree, Dill, Blue Salt, Sandalwood, Podpick Pepper, Wood Pumpkin, Boree Camphor, Bananas, Betheless Nuts, Sulfur, Drying Saflor, Sapan Tree, Molucca Sugar Palm , Parade swords, wicker mats, white-gray parrots, monkeys. " "The banner of happiness", "the sign of perfect order and harmony, established in the world and the empire," Chinese chronicles considered ... Living giraffe brought from Africa. In China, they saw this wonderful beast for the first time.

On February 2, 1421, Zheng HE ships came to the fifth swimming - to the shores of Arabia. In the sources, it is documented quite accurately: the ships reached Aden, went into the African Harbor Mogadishu (Somalia). Swimming lasted exactly a year and a half. Upon his return in 1423, gifts from 15 countries were delivered to the court of emperor, where expedition visited. It would seem that there is still talking? But it is precisely the fifth swimming Zheng He that today gave rise to a lot of rumors and speculation. Returning British Sailor Geevin Menzis, put forward such an exciting, how and thatbid to the hypothesis: in his opinion, Zheng HE ships during the fifth swimming ... went around the whole globe and visited America, Australia and Antarctica!

Since the whole story of the fifth campaign of Zheng He is well known, Geevin Menzis went to the trick: in his opinion, these discoveries made separate squadrons separated from the Chinese fleet. Find out this or not so, it does not seem possible. Well, since we go beyond the limits of possible, then there is a broadest expansion for fantasy ...

In general, the little-poor hypothesis of Menzis caused a squall of criticism from historians, and first of all Chinese historians. However, be that as it may, by the XV century. In China, several mysterious cards really appear. Among the lands depicted on them can be guessing Australia, and perhaps even America! And in March 2006, specialists from the New Zealand University of Vaka announced that the Chinese card of 1763 studied by them, which depicts America, Australia and New Zealand, may be a genuine copy of another, earlier Chinese card - 1418 ....

Franciscan missionaries who visited China in the XVI century, became the first Europeans, in the hands of which certificates indicating Chinese contacts with Australia. Among them was engraved on copper rather rough map of the green continent. In 1961, an old porcelain vase was discovered in Hong Kong, which depicts a card that remotely transmitting the outlines of the Eastern Coast of Australia. Another similar "porcelain map" is in Taiwan. She believes depicts the southern coast of New Guinea, the east and southeastern coast of Australia to the field of Melbourne, and the rude scheme of Tasmania. Another "porcelain card" dated 1477, represents part of the West Coast of America, some Pacific Islands, including New Zealand, Australia and New Guinea, Islands of Southeast Asia and China's coast. And on the "map of Fra Ricchi", stored in the Vatican Library (this card was created by a missionary-Jesuit Ricci in 1602 in Beijing on the basis of the then Chinese maps), a part of the northern coast of Queensland is depicted.

Modern researchers believe that the eve of the era of the great geographical discoveries, the navigaters of the Criminal Empire did not have equal in the world. Almost all types of Chinese ships were theoretically able to cross the Pacific Ocean from the West to the East and reach the shores of America. Partly the fact of such swimming is confirmed by finds in the new light of Chinese products - coins, figurines, weapons, as well as characteristic anchor stones. Apparently, the Chinese, conducting a lively marine trade, already in the first centuries, our era sent intelligence expeditions to the northeast. Some of them traveled to the shores of North America and returned back. However, heavy swimming conditions and the lack of prospects for trade led to the termination of such expeditions.

There is no doubt that in the X-XV centuries. The Chinese fleet had sufficient potential to make flights and to the shores of Australia. Dr. Alan Thorn, an employee of the Australian National University, believes that the Chinese already in fairly early times have committed themselves flights to Indonesia and to the shores of the Australian continent. Conductors in unfamiliar waters could serve the yavans, with whom the Chinese traded over the centuries and which undoubtedly had much better knowledge about the lands lying to the south. In any case, the ideas about the existence of a distant and mysterious "land in the south" appear in very early times of Chinese history.

In 1424, Emperor Chetonzzu, the patron of the famous Flotoder, died. When in 1433 Zheng He was last returned to China, it was already another country - a country, extinguished from the entire outside world. Almost five centuries, China remained in isolation. During this time, his farm has declined. The country, stunned by his own officials, became an easy prey to other powers. Only by the end of the XX century. China began to approach leading states in the world. If Zheng He has not opened America, at least he opened a simple truth: any insulatingism leads to a catastrophe, whatever beautiful slogans he covered up ...

Opening of Chinese naval

China was a densely populated country with a fairly highly developed culture. In the north he bordered by Manchuria, and in the south - with Vietnam. And the famous Great Silk Road took place through Central Asia, from China to Europe. Judging by the preserved documents, Chinese sailors were usually floated along the coast of the southeastern and southern parts of Asia. At the same time, their path led, as a rule, from the Pacific Ocean to Indian.

The most convenient was for merchants and discovers that the sea road was. A faithful satellite of the sailor was already the compass, developed and for the first time made by the Chinese.

Chinese Johnka.

One of the most distant and long-term travels of modern scientists consider the journey of the Buddhist monk and Jing, who in the period from 689 to 695 could reach Sumatra, moving along the coast of Indochina and Malakki. And Jing was fighting the beauty of the island, completely covered with greens of tropical and mangroves. Arriving on Sumatra, the monk landed on the shore and stopped at the Cultural and Economic Center of the Island, the city of Srivajai (the modern name - Palembang). For several months and Jing lived on Sumatra, studying the language, literature and the culture of the islanders. After that, on board the merchant ship, the monk went to travel on. So, he visited the Indian Ocean, and then across the Bengal Bay approached the mouth of the Gang River. And only after that, Jing decided to return to their homeland in order to write a detailed story about his distant but interesting journey.

Chinese Emperor Mu Van, ruled by the country in the x century BC. e., preferred sea journeys. So, once he became the organizer and head of the expedition, which made a difficult transition to the Mountains of Kunlun and distant northern regions.

Historians argue that at the beginning of the new era, Chinese vessels regularly went to the Islands of Indonesia, as well as to the Philippine Islands, to India, to Ceylon. In addition, often ships of Chinese travelers furred the expanses of the Arabian Sea and approached close to the coast of the African continent. At the same time, the main goal of maritime travel was trade. It's usually silk, porcelain and metals were brought from China, and they brought gold, spicy herbs, surnames horns, elephant tissue and wood.

To this afternoon, one of the most unique maritime transitions is a journey organized by the Enuhukh, who was in service at the courtyard of the king, Zhei He. The Chinese expedition then consisted of 317 well-equipped ships, on board which there were about 27,000 people, knowledgeable in various fields of knowledge: navigation, navigation, military business, cartography and geography.

India

At that time, the Chinese Johnka was considered one of the most reliable models of the ship around the world. According to its size, she was slightly superior to the European Court of the same class, but they didn't give way to them on maneuverability. On such Johnka Zhei He and traveled by the seas, having visited the coast of Industan, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, South-West Africa, in the Persian Gulf, and was also able to hide the cape of good hope.