Ai generate image of Hongwu Emperor, founder of Ming dynasty..
Early China: History, Legends, and Myths
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Ai generate image of Hongwu Emperor, founder of Ming dynasty..
Discussion and analysis of the Sword of Guojian with an expert in Chinese antiquities, in particular with swords.
Despite all the workmanship that went to the sword, this sword wasn't mean for collection and decorative purpose. It was meant to really kill people and surely this have done so. Yue kings often fight mano o mano in battle, and some die doing so.
Despite all the workmanship that went to the sword, this sword wasn't mean for collection and decorative purpose. It was meant to really kill people and surely this have done so. Yue kings often fight mano o mano in battle, and some die doing so.
An impressive mausoleum.
Ai generate image of Hongwu Emperor, founder of Ming dynasty..
Did Zheng He sail to Americas?
No.
Ancient ships relied exclusively on wind currents to move, aka the trade winds. The wind pattern from China to America is not favorable, it takes you through Japan to Siberia/Alaska before reaching the US. There was no reason for ships to move in that direction since there's no settlement known north of Japan, it's cold as hell, and the seas are especially treacherous.
Furthermore the traditional flat-cut Junk rig (as was on Zheng He's fleet) is good downwind but relatively poor going upwind. This was fine for China because most destinations were downwind and the return journey was aided by the unique nature of the Indian Ocean - the interaction between the Indian Monsoon and the Siberian High causes a seasonal reversal of trade wind direction in the Indian Ocean.
Only the Europeans who didn't have any trade winds in the Mediterranean and needed to fight against the trade winds to get to China developed sails suited for going upwind. In return their downwind performance was worse. Even then, they went with the trade winds as much as possible, which is why the Caribbeans and South America were colonized first before North America.
This is because when you go downwind, you move with the waves and so your ship ride is much smoother and less at risk of capsizing. Going into the wind results in your ship constantly climbing the waves and crashing back down. This of course means more stress on the ship hull and the likely inability to carry fragile goods. So ships going downwind are faster and can safely carry more cargo.
To bring it back to Zheng He; going from China to America would have required his fleet to sail against the wind the entire way without any known target. Going with the winds would mean skirting the Arctic waters where icebergs and rough seas await. The Europeans had both a reason (trade with China without going through the Ottomans) and favorable winds.