A Chinese treasure ship (simplified Chinese: 宝船; traditional Chinese: 寶船; pinyin: bǎochuán, literally "gem ship") is a type of large wooden Chinese junk in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty. The treasure ships' cargo comprised valuable goods, including fine textiles, porcelain, and tea, to be traded abroad. The size of the treasure ships, the largest ships in Zheng He's fleet, has been a subject of much controversy, with some old Chinese records mentioning the size of 44 zhang or 44.4 zhang, which has been interpreted by some modern scholars as over 100 m (330 ft) in length, while others have stated that Zheng He's largest ship was around 70 m (230 ft) or less.
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👉 Chinese treasure fleet in the context of Ming treasure voyages
The Ming treasure voyages were maritime expeditions undertaken by Ming China's treasure fleet between 1405 and 1433. The Yongle Emperor ordered the construction of the fleet in 1403. The grand project resulted in seven far-reaching ocean voyages to the coastal territories and islands of the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Admiral Zheng He was commissioned to command the fleet for the expeditions. Six of the voyages occurred during the Yongle Emperor's reign (r. 1402–1424) and the seventh voyage occurred during the Xuande Emperor's reign (r. 1425–1435). The first three voyages reached up to Calicut on India's Malabar Coast, while the fourth voyage went as far as Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. In the last three voyages, the fleet traveled up to the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.
The Chinese expeditionary fleet was heavily militarized and carried great amounts of treasures, which served to project Chinese power and wealth to the known world. They brought back many foreign ambassadors whose kings and rulers were willing to declare themselves tributaries of China. During the course of the voyages, they destroyed Chen Zuyi's pirate fleet at Palembang, captured the Sinhalese Kotte kingdom of King Alakeshvara, and defeated the forces of the Semudera pretender Sekandar in northern Sumatra. The Chinese maritime exploits brought many countries into China's tributary system and sphere of influence through both military and political supremacy, thus incorporating the states into the greater Chinese world order under Ming suzerainty. Moreover, the Chinese restructured and established control over an expansive maritime network in which the region became integrated and its countries became interconnected on an economic and political level.