Summary:

Title: When China Ruled The Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne (1994) [Buy Here]

Author: Louise Levathes

Genre: Non-Fiction, History

Overview: When China Ruled the Seas is the story of China’s naval and merchant maritime fleet during the 14th through 16th centuries. With a focus on Zheng He, the Chinese Dynasty system, Emperor Zhu Di, and the people and institutions that ended the strongest fleet the world ever knew, Levathes writes a history for those of us who know little about non-European maritime history. 

Critique: This is a great book for those who know little to nothing about the fleet that ruled the seas before Columbus and before Diaz. Levathes keeps the pages turning with simple, sourced historical information.

Suggestions: I can only suggest this book, when it comes to maritime history from this time period, in this part of the world. I would read this. I would also read anything that is seafaring related… Get this book, or at least google Zheng He!

Dirty Sailor Company (DSC) Essay:

 China beat Europe across the Oceans! 

Before Columbus and Before the Portuguese, back when China was crossing oceans, Marco Polo was just a boy with his father, traveling the dust routes through the Middle East, bast India and into China, and the seas there. Polo went on to write about the ships he saw in the China Sea and along the Coast as he went. Though he had little clues as to how large the fleet was produced by Emperor Zhu Zhanji. Now we know that China sailed fleet of 200 to 400 ships. Led by one man, the eunuch Zheng He, who was empowered by his boyhood master, the emperor Zhu Zhanji. There is archeological evidence that Zheng He captained ships up to 400’ in length, as he sailed as far as Africa, and by some reports – to South America in the early part of the 15^th century (100 years before Columbus).

Could you imagine Bartolomeu Dias sailing around Cape of Good Hope to find a fleet of 100s of hundred foot naval ships!  The world would truly be a different place. As it was though, when Zhu Zhanji died, his successors prevented Zheng He from continuing his trade and expeditions. The Chinese fleet was grounded due to isolationist politics.

Before coming to an end, the Chinese effectively established trade routes throughout the Indian Ocean, some historians saying they even reached Australia and the Americas.  Regardless of the wild claims, there is plenty of evidence that supports the fact this was the largest naval fleet the world ever saw and it was traveling thousands and thousands of miles, distributing raw and finished materials, trading tradition and religion, and balancing acts of brutality and kindness with the world they encountered along the way.

Purchase “When China Ruled the Seas.”