Ming Dynasty

fleet set out on its first voyage to explore and trade with the world. The entrusted retainer known as Zheng He was put in charge of constructing the ships that would be used to sail the Indian Ocean. He was born in 1337 at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to a family of central Asian Muslims who had been displaced during the Mongol upheavals. Zheng He and the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di were a dynamic duo that left their mark on history and China’s success. Although the expeditions aimed to gain…

Chloe Smith World History Zheng He’s Voyages 30 October 2016 In 1368, Hongwu led a rebel army that finally drove the Mongols out of China. Hongwu then became the first Ming Dynasty emperor and he ruled from the capital, Yuan. Even though Hongwu was able to implement stability in China, problems arose and he became a ruthless tyrant. He doubted the loyalty of his officials and then killed thousands of them. After Hongwu’s death in 1398, his son, Yonglo, became the new emperor. Yonglo had…

voyages. Seven of which were captained by a Chinese man named Zheng He. In 1371, Zheng He was born into a Muslim family in China, with the original name, Ma He. Later in his life, Zheng He became a loyal servant and friend of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor, impressed and appreciative of He’s accomplishments and loyalty, gave Ma He the surname Zheng along with military power. In 1405, Zheng He conducted the first of seven voyages on behalf of Emperor Yongle. China wanted to show…

Ever since the age of sputnik and the race to the moon, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been propelling humanity forward through innovations in technology and providing a brighter future for America. However, recent years have seen cuts to the overall budget of NASA and more budget proposals are seen every year. Our country cannot afford to let NASA fade into irrelevance and be left to romanticize about what could have been. Instead, we should increase NASA’s budget…

Zheng He was a Chinese Muslim admiral during the Ming Dynasty. In 1405, Zheng He received orders from Emperor Yongle to travel down the coast of China and across the ocean to India to show the power of China. For the next 28 years, Zheng He would lead seven voyages and sailed distances farther than anyone had before. He commanded numerous ships of breath-taking size with thousands of people in his crew and established peaceful relationships with other areas. The voyages of Zheng He should be…

women during the Ming and Qing dynasties. How was foot binding representative of the changing social and gender worlds of China? Compare and contrast the situation in China to the role of women in other societies studied so far. First of all, men had more authority on women, and parents prefer a male child over a female. Because man can take a higher jobs, and might have the chance to take the official examination and become a government official. However, during the Qing and Ming dynasty the…

The categorical imperative, to Immanuel Kant, is an overarching principle of acting towards others the way you would like for them to treat everybody else; a slight furtherance of the ‘Golden Rule’(Where your actions are based upon the way you would like them to treat you). The categorical imperative creates a moral basis based upon one’s understanding of their own individuality coupled with an empathetic understanding of those around them, based upon their precepts that they’ve come to…

Duchampian Sunflower Seeds Ai Weiwei's photograph titled Profile of Duchamp, Sunflower Seeds represents the face of the French-American painter Marcel Duchamp. This photo was taken in 1983 as a re-imagining of Duchamp's Self Portrait In Profile that was completed in 1958, by utilizing a coat hanger. The photograph's present location is the Moriss and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in Vancouver, and is one of the series of Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs, 1983-1993. The artist personally picked 227…

The Great Wall of China, built in 206 B.C, is over 5,000 miles and took over 2,000 years to finish. It is a very significant and prominent feature of Chinese society, yet did the benefits outweigh the cost. Having this in mind and viewing both sides of the argument, The Great Wall of China did not outweigh the costs because it took many individuals away from important jobs, as well as increased the number of casualties throughout all of China. A reason why the benefits did not outweigh the cost…

Marco Polo who was a Venetian merchant traveler lived in the Venice Republic. The travels of Marco Polo was recorded by Messer Rustichello of Pisa when Marco Polo was in prison in Genoa in 1298 (Polo Travels extract 1). As the book record, when Marco Polo stayed in China, The book records the Asian wonders and curiosities and Marco Polo’s journey and experience. “It is no exaggeration to say that never before or since has one man given such an immense body of new geographical knowledge to the…