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AHOY THERE MEMBERS
Just returned from
a month in China. I had hoped to send a newsletter 'hot off the press' so to
speak whilst there, but couldn't get it to work! Likewise, I couldn't access
my blog for some reason.
Three of my reasons for going were to visit Qing
Dao and check out the sailing facilities for the Olympics, see the Nanhai 1
museum in Yangjiang port and visit the Nanjing museum and shipyard in memory
of Zheng He, the great navigator who sailed his fleets of trading ships on
seven voyages as far as India and Africa almost one hundred years before
Columbus struggled
to the eastern shores of America. Qingdao didn't work out and the Nanhai
1 museum is yet to be finished - it being a three hour flight from Beijing I
decided to wait until another time.
I spent a full day at the Nanjing Museum and
yards (separate locations)catching up on the amazing achievements of this
remarkable navigator. Virtually unknown in the west this admiral commanded
huge fleets(sometimes as many as 200-300 vessels with nearly 30,000 crew)and
proceeded to open up trade routes right through southern Asia, to Burma,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Ceylon, India and right accross to the west coast of
Africa including Mozambique and down as far as the Cape.
It has even been suggested that as he sailed around the southern side of
Indonesia, he may have touched on the north coast of Australia and even more
amazingly sailed as far as America. There have been ancient Chinese
porcelain relics found underwater in the Caribbean.
The full size replica in the shipyard is 60 metres in length with a beam of
10.5 metres - Zheng He's flagship or treasure ships would have been
130mtrs(400ft) in length. Built of timber they incorporated separate water
tight compartments similar to bamboo to prevent them from sinking. This was
a clever idea and light years ahead of European shipbuilding at the
time. His
fleets consisted of separate ships for water, horses, rice, troops, gardens
and even a craft carrying concubines and emissiaries for the pleasure of
entertaining various Kings and
Chiefs they visited along the way.
Visit my blog
http://wwwsailboat2adventurecom.blogspot.com/ for images of the
museum shipyard and ship.
Zheng He himself was a huge man standing well over two metres and in all
probability a eunuch - eunuchs were very powerful in court then. He was a
voyager, navigator, explorer, diplomat and ambassador all rolled into one.
He made seven epic voyages from 1405 and opened up all those trading routes
which ultimately became known as the marine 'Silk Road'. He went in peace,
not war and returned to China with amazing treasures for those times -
lions, bears, tigers and even a giraffe which was comfortably accommodated
in a large treasure ship.
The new Emperor shut down these expeditions and his last voyage was in 1430,
culminating in Zheng He's death on board enroute to home and being buried at
sea.
Strolling around the shipyard where two hundred of these ships were built
over a two year period, one can only marvel at the intense activity and
noise that must have been created by the thirty thousand artisans and
shipbuilders that worked there. There is also a large statue of the Admiral,
a compass replica and a massive iron grapnel type anchor weighing four
tonnes.
Fortunately for us some relics escaped the Emperors commands to destroy
everything, hence the knowledge we have that has been pieced together to
what we know today of this rather remarkable man and period of marine
history.
There are a number of websites you can check out by typing Zheng
He into your favourite search engine.
You can read more about Zheng He's exploits and navigating in my ebook
'Voyage of the
Little Ship 'Tere Moana' on my website
www.sailboat2adventure.com
NAUTICAL
EXPRESSION:
SON OF A GUN:
The Navy
sometimes allowed women on board for lengthy voyages, but it was generally
frowned upon. When, on any of these voyages, a child was born the mother was
usually bedded down in the deck space between two cannons to allow a modicum
of privacy and the birth take place there - hence the term 'son of a gun'.
In addition, if a child was born and the identity of the father was dubious,
the child was entered in the ships log as a 'son of a gun'.
That's all for this
newsletter and remember to check out Zheng
He and much more on my blog at
www.sailboat2adventure.com
UNTIL NEXT TIME
CAP'N VINNIE
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