Zheng He's treasure ship and treasure ship

Zheng He's treasure ship is the largest sea ship in Zheng He's fleet, the main body of Zheng He's fleet, and the flagship of the maritime task force led by Zheng He.

Zheng He's treasure ship was used by the commanders of Zheng He's fleet, members of the mission and foreign envoys. At the same time, it was used to transport treasures, including gifts and items given by the Ming Dynasty emperor to Western countries, as well as tributes and treasures from Western countries to the Ming Dynasty emperor, as well as items exchanged by Zheng He's fleet through trade overseas. For this reason, it is called "treasure ship", which means "treasure ship".

Another theory is that Zheng He's treasure ship is the general name of the sea ships in Zheng He's Western fleet, and Zheng He's fleet is composed of a variety of sea ships of different types, different scales, and different purposes, which are collectively called Zheng He's treasure ships.

According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty, the Biography of Zheng He", Zheng He had a total of 63 nautical treasure ships, the largest of which was 44 zhang 4 feet long and 18 zhang wide, which was the largest sea ship in the world at that time, equivalent to the current length of 151.18 meters and a width of 61.6 meters. The ship has four layers, the 9 masts on the ship can hang 12 sails, the anchor weight is several thousand catties, and it takes 200 people to set sail. Zheng He's treasure ship is a large sea ship with a large scale. Regarding the scale of Zheng He's treasure ship, it is recorded very clearly in the "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Zheng He": "To build a big ship, build forty-four and sixty-two." In the Ming Dynasty's compilation of the "National Treasure", it is said that "there are 63 treasure ships, the big one is 44 zhang long and 18 zhang wide". In the late Ming Dynasty, Luo Maodeng's "Western Records" recorded in detail the scale of various ship types in Zheng He's fleet, among them, the treasure ship "is 44 zhang long and 18 zhang wide." The scale and structure of Zheng He's treasure ship The overall design of the mast and sail of Zheng He's treasure ship adopts a longitudinal sail layout and a hard sail structure, and the canopy surface has a reinforcement effect equivalent to a reinforcing effect of a strut equivalent to a rib. The ocean-going ship type of the 2,000-material ship adopts the structure of "sharp bottom and wide top", with a high bow and a high stern.

The hull structure is provided with a plurality of horizontal bulkheads, and a whole cabin is divided into a plurality of small cabins according to the function, more than 28 cabins, and less than 23 cabins, which not only has the effect of strengthening the structure and sub-compartment watertight and anti-sinking, so that the ship is likely to develop to large-scale, but also is conducive to the division of compartments to classify and carry cargo, and meet the requirements of different functions.

The 2,000-material seagoing ship adopts an all-wood structure. In the Ming Dynasty, the shipbuilding technology developed to include shovel nails, iron shovels, shovel nails, leech nails, etc., so that the complex wooden structure can be easily assembled, hung and reinforced together through various ship nails, so as not to "fall apart". The basic ship type of Zheng He's treasure ship is a lucky ship, with a small square head and a wide flat stern. The architectural form belongs to the building ship, there is a deckhouse in the middle of the main deck to form a midship, with a bulwark, a stern (meaning: tail, reporter's note) part has a three-story stern, and the bow (meaning: first) part has a two-story permeable forecastle. It is divided into five levels, from the bilge to the deck.

There is a majestic tiger head relief on the front of the bow, a solemn dragon relief or painted on the front of the two sides, a phoenix painted on the rear, and a bird with wings spread above the stern plate. [edit this paragraph] what is used to control such a large ship? What did Zheng He use to control such a big ship?

According to historical records, Zheng He's treasure ship was "forty-four zhang long and sixty-two zhang wide". According to this scale, Zheng He's treasure ship will be 135 meters long, with a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons, and a deck area about the size of a football field. It can be said that Zheng He's fleet was the undisputed giant of the sea at that time. Such a large fleet shows the astonishing level of shipbuilding in Ming Dynasty China.

Rear Admiral Zheng Ming, former director of the Navy's Equipment Technology Department, is the vice chairman of the Chinese Society for the Study of Zheng He's Western Oceans, and has devoted himself to the study of Zheng He's treasure ships for many years. At present, preparations are being made for the replication of Zheng He's treasure ship. He exclusively disclosed the technical secrets of the world's most advanced Zheng He treasure ship to the competition reporter at that time.

Rear Admiral Zheng said that although the large treasure ship recorded in the history books is estimated to have a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons, the main ship type that actually accompanied Zheng He on his seven voyages to the Western Ocean was the "2,000-material treasure ship" with a "length of 61.2 meters, a width of 13.8 meters, and a displacement of more than 1,000 tons". This treasure ship had the highest level of craftsmanship at the time.

Power propulsion system: hard sail + swivel oar

Wooden sailing ships rely mainly on sails, wind power, and sailor paddling at sea. In these two important aspects of the power propulsion system, Zheng He's treasure ship adopts a unique design. First of all, unlike the segmented soft sails used in European sailing ships at the time, Zheng He's treasure ship used a hard sail structure with a brace on the canopy surface. Although this type of sail is heavier and more laborious to lift, it has a very high wind efficiency and increases the speed of the boat. And the mast is not set up with a fixed crosswder, which adapts to the sudden change of wind and clouds at sea, and the adjustment and turning of the foot are flexible, and can effectively use the multi-faceted wind. Unlike the oars, Zheng He's treasure ship was equipped with long oars on both sides and stern. This kind of long oar enters the water depth, many people swing, and the action of the oar in the underwater semi-rotation is similar to today's propeller, and the propulsion efficiency is higher. It can also maintain a considerable speed when there is no wind, and the wading area of the oar outside the ship is small, which is suitable for sailing in the crowded waters of narrow harbors.

Boat-shaped structure: wide at the bottom, high stern + transverse bulkhead The shape of the ship affects the speed of the ship and the stability of the hull. Zheng He's treasure ship adopts the shape of a ship with a sharp bottom and a wide upper top, and a high stern at the top. Zheng Ming said that this ship shape had a high performance in controlling the rough sea, and the stability of the ship's bilge was second to none at that time, and it was ballasted with earth and rock. In order to further improve stability, Zheng He's treasure ship also used terrier water wood and two-sided water decks. This plank, which faces the side of the ship, further reduces the amplitude of the hull swinging to the sides. Zheng Ming told reporters that the study found that Zheng Hebao also differed in the design of the main scale ratio of the ship according to different ship types and navigation areas, so as to take into account the speed and stability. In general, transport ships emphasize more on stability, while warships emphasize more on speed. The hull structure of Zheng He's treasure ship also had a unique design at that time, that is, it was equipped with multiple transverse bulkheads. The interior of the ship is divided into different cabins with wooden planks and sealed against each other. This not only strengthens the structure of the ship, but also has the effect of watertight and anti-sinking of the compartment. This design also facilitates the sorting of loads. For example, tea, silk, and tribute treasures from various countries can be stored separately.

Marine equipment: open-bore rudder and giant anchor

The ship sails on the surface of the sea mainly by the rudder to control the direction. The rudder of Zheng He's treasure ship adopts a liftable type, and the depth of the rudder blades can be adjusted according to needs. When the ship is sailing in deep water, when encountering strong winds and waves or turbulent currents, the lower edge of the rudder blade is lowered below the bottom of the ship, so that the rudder can not be affected; When sailing or anchoring in shallow water, the rudder can be raised to a high position so that the rudder blades will not be damaged by grounding. Moreover, the rudder of Zheng He's treasure ship was a balance rudder. This is the inheritance of the invention of the Song Dynasty, the control is relatively light, and the Ming Dynasty further invented the open rudder, which can not only maintain the rudder effect, but also make the rudder more light.

On Zheng Hebao's ship, stone ingots (anchors) with clawed wooden rods and multi-claw iron anchors with horizontal rods were commonly used on seagoing ships, and extra-large iron anchors were also made, which were leading in the history of shipbuilding in the world.

Zheng Ming said that as early as the Han Dynasty, the construction process of Chinese wooden sailing ships used the comprehensive technology of tenon and tenon iron nails. In the Ming Dynasty, the development of ship technology had spade nails, iron shovels, shovel nails, leech nails, etc., so that the more complex wooden structures could be assembled by various ship nails and reinforced by hanging curium cards, so that the scale, tonnage and performance of Chinese ancient wooden sailing ships reached the world's leading level. Five Questions about Zheng He's Treasure Ship Zheng He's long journey to the West left many unsolved mysteries for future generations. What does the legendary big treasure ship look like? How was such a "sea giant" (138 meters long and 56 meters wide) made, and how did it sail? Zheng Ming, former director of the Naval Equipment Technology Department and professor of the Naval Engineering University, analyzed five major questions about Zheng He's treasure ship for reporters.

Question 1: Does a large treasure ship exist?

According to historical records, in Zheng He's fleet to the West, the largest treasure ship was 44 zhang 4 feet long, 18 zhang wide, and had a carrying capacity of 800 tons. Its iron rudder requires two or three hundred people to move. According to today's measurement methods, this treasure ship is nearly 138 meters long and 56 meters wide. Some scholars believe that such a giant wooden sailing ship could not have been possible during the Ming Dynasty in China. In addition, some experts believe that during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the main hall of Zhu Di's administration office——— Fengtian Hall (Taihe Palace), was the largest wooden structure entity at that time. Its size is no more than 63.96 meters wide, 37.20 meters deep, and 35.05 meters high. The area of the large treasure ship alone greatly exceeds it, and from the feudal patriarchal etiquette, Zheng He, as a eunuch, seems to be suspected of trespassing.

In fact, in ancient China, the construction of palaces was based on strict hierarchical boundaries, while ships were regarded as mobile cities on the sea, a kind of military installation, and the two were not comparable.

In this regard, Zheng Ming, former director of the Naval Equipment Technology Department and vice chairman of the Beijing Zheng He Western Society, believes that large treasure ships exist, but they have not gone to sea. Zheng Ming believes that the large treasure ship is not a practical ship, and it should not be a member of the fleet of ships going to the West. So what is the significance of the existence of large treasure ships? He speculated that the large treasure ship was not used by Zheng, but it was very likely that it was used as the emperor's court.

Question 2: How big is a large treasure ship?

The academic community still has doubts about the scale of the large treasure ship "44 zhang 4 feet long and 18 zhang wide". Some scholars believe that the ratio of length and width of Zheng He's treasure ship is not harmonious. "44 zhang 4 feet long, 18 zhang wide", the length-to-width ratio is roughly 2.4666:1, the small proportion makes the "treasure ship" look like a square box, the existing Chinese and foreign ships are never so "thick" with a waist, which also makes people doubt the shape of the treasure ship.

According to the historical materials "Southern Ship Chronicles" (written by Shen Di, director of the Camp Department of the Ministry of Industry of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty), "The Records of the Three Treasure Eunuchs Going to the West" (written by Luo Maodeng of the Ming Dynasty) and the actual hulls unearthed in Quanzhou and other places, the length-to-width ratio of ancient Chinese naval ships was between 2.5~2.8, and most of them belonged to the wide and short type.

How big is the treasure ship? This also depends on physical research. The site of Ming Dynasty Treasure Shipyard in Nanjing Zhongbao Village is the only known Ming Dynasty official shipbuilding base site in China. In 1957, some villagers had excavated a 11.07-meter-long rudder rod at the site of Nanjing Bao Shipyard; in 1965, a section of 2.21-meter-long winch wood was fished out in the ruins, according to expert research, more than two meters long winch log, five or six people need to operate together, can wring up an iron anchor weighing about 500 kilograms. From 2003 to 2004, during the archaeological excavation of the sixth Zuotang of the Ming Dynasty Treasure Shipyard site in Zhongbao Village, two wooden rudder poles with a length of 10.1 meters and 11 meters were found respectively. However, these are not enough to accurately estimate the exact size of the shipyard ships, and can only confirm the huge scale of the Ming Dynasty sea ships recorded in historical records.

According to the British scholar Mills's calculations, the treasure ship has a displacement of 3,100 tons and a load of 2,500 tons. According to the calculations of the Chinese scholar Tang Zhiba (the data are contained in the seventh chapter of his book "The History of Chinese Ships"), the displacement of the treasure ship should reach 5,000~10,000 tons, and according to the cooperation of Jimei Aviation College, Dalian Maritime College, and Wuhan Water Transport Engineering College in 1985, after the treasure ship was restored in accordance with the principle of shipbuilding and the Chinese style of wooden sailing ship, the maximum treasure ship was calculated to have a full load displacement of about 22,848 tons, and the square coefficient was 0.43, and the load was 9,824 tons (see Peng Deqing et al.'s "Chinese Maritime History") Chapter 4)