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Concept
Chinese treasure ship
Summary
A Chinese treasure ship (, literally "gem ship") is a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty. The size of the Chinese treasure ship has been a subject of debate with the Chinese records mentioning the size of 44 zhang or 44.4 zhang, which has been interpreted by some as over in length, while others have stated that Zheng He's largest ship was about or less in length.
According to the zh (1658), the first voyage consisted of 63 treasure ships crewed by 27,870 men.
The History of Ming (1739) credits the first voyage with 62 treasure ships crewed by 27,800 men. A Zheng He era inscription in the Jinghai Temple in Nanjing gave the size of Zheng He ships in 1405 as 2,000 liao (500 tons), but did not give the number of ships.
Alongside the treasures were also another 255 ships according to the zh (1520), giving the combined fleet of the first voyage a total of 317 ships. However, the addition of 255 ships is a case of double accounting according to Edward L. Dreyer, who notes that the Taizong Shilu does not distinguish the order of 250 ships from the treasure ships. As such the first fleet would have been around 250 ships including the treasure ships.
The second voyage consisted of 249 ships. The Jinghai Temple inscription gave the ship dimensions in 1409 as 1500 liao (375 tons).
According to the Xingcha Shenglan (1436), the third voyage consisted of 48 treasure ships, not including other ships.
The Xingcha Shenglan states that the fourth voyage consisted of 63 treasure ships crewed by 27,670 men.
There are no sources for number of ships or men for the fifth and sixth voyages.
According to the Liujiagang and Changle Inscriptions, the seventh voyage had "more than a hundred large ships".
The most contemporary non-Chinese record of the expeditions is an untitled and anonymous annalistic account of the then-ruling Rasūlid dynasty of Yemen, compiled in the years 1439–1440.
Official source
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