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CHINESE TREASURE SHIP
(Bao Chuan ship)
A Chinese treasure
ship is a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of
admiral Zheng He, who lived in the early
15th-century Ming dynasty.
Zheng He
(1371 – 1435) as originally born as Ma He in a Muslim
family in China (his father was a hajji, a Muslim who
had made the hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca) and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred by
the Yongle Emperor. As a favorite of the Yongle Emperor,
whom Zheng assisted in the overthrow of the Jianwen
Emperor, he rose to the top of the imperial hierarchy
and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing.
Zheng was then selected by the emperor to be
commander in chief of what became a series of
missions to the “Western Oceans.” He first set sail
in 1405, commanding 62 ships and 27,800 men. The
fleet visited Champa (now in southern Vietnam), Siam
(Thailand), Malacca (Melaka), and the island of Java
and then through the Indian Ocean to Calicut (Kozhikode)
on the Malabar Coast of India and Ceylon (Sri
Lanka). Zheng He returned to China two years later.
On his fourth voyage
Zheng He left China in 1413. After stopping at the
principal ports of Asia, he proceeded westward from
India to Hormuz. A detachment of the fleet cruised
southward down the coast of Arabia, visiting Dhofar
(Oman) and Aden (Yemen). A Chinese mission visited
Mecca and continued to Egypt. The fleet visited
towns along the east coast of Africa of what are now
Somalia and Kenya and almost reached the Mozambique
Channel. On his return to China in 1415, Zheng He
brought the envoys of more than 30 states of South
and Southeast Asia to pay homage to the Chinese
emperor.
Zheng He’s seventh and
final voyage left China in the winter of 1431. He
visited the states of Southeast Asia, the coast of
India, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the east
coast of Africa. Zheng died in Calicut in the spring
of 1433, and the fleet returned to China that
summer.
Treasure ships (or
Bao Chuan), which are the largest wooden ships
ever built (30 times larger than the Santa Maria.)
From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He ships made seven voyages, visiting 37 countries. The Zheng voyages covered 10,000 miles with a
fleet of more than 300 ships and crews totaling
30,000 men. They were the biggest maritime
expenditure of that time.
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We build this primarily wood Treasure
ship (Bao Chuan
ship) the following sizes:
36" long, 30"
long, 24" long. Email us for quotes.
Model is built per commission only. We require only a
small deposit to start
the process.
The
remaining balance won't be due until the model is
completed, in about 6 months.
Note that the base for the model will be
standard wood. The inlay base in the photo is $400 extra.
Learn more about the
Treasure Boat here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_treasure_ship
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