Chapter 50 Chapter Five The Decline of Traditional Chinese Science and Technology

The feats of Zheng He's (1371-1435 AD) seven voyages to the West are familiar to everyone today and praised by the whole world.Indeed, such a large-scale ocean voyage is an extremely important event in the history of the world.Zheng He led more than 27,000 people and drove a huge fleet of more than 100 ships. He made seven voyages from 1405 to 1431 AD, reaching Southeast Asia, South Asia, Southwest Asia, and dozens of countries on the east coast of Africa. It is even unprecedented in the history of the world. In 1492, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the New World of America. There were only three small boats about 19 meters long, and the number of people was only 88. In 1497, Da Gama sailed along the southern coast of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope to reach India. There were only four ships and 148 people (one said 170 people).The scale of their voyages is incomparable with that of Zheng He.

It can be said that Zheng He's voyage represented the highest level of shipbuilding and navigation technology in the world at that time. Zheng He "had a total rate of huge (Zhou Zong) [cong hastily] hundreds of ships" (Ming Huang Shengzeng: "Western Tribute Records"), and his fleet was dominated by "treasure ships".According to historical records, the "treasure ship" is 44 feet long and 18 feet wide.Such a huge ship is second to none in the history of China and the world. During long voyages, in addition to using a compass to navigate, a star board is also used to measure the height of the stars for navigation, which is called "crossing the ocean and star art".The star board may have been invented by the Arabs. Zheng He's fleet absorbed the experience of Arab navigators and combined it with China's inherent nautical astronomy to develop it during the long voyage.The longitude can be determined by using the compass, and the latitude can be determined by using the transoceanic astronomy, so as to determine the position of the ship in the sea, which advances the navigation technology to a new level.Moreover, during the voyage, detailed route records were recorded and nautical charts were drawn.The existing "Zheng He's Nautical Chart", "Yingya Shenglan" and "Xingcha [chacha] Shenglan" are the products of that time, and they are also the earliest nautical charts and route records in my country.

When the Chinese crossed the Indian Ocean is still controversial.However, Zheng He's fleet crossed the Indian Ocean during the fifth voyage, but there are definite records.Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that Zheng He's fleet pioneered my country's voyage across the Indian Ocean. Regrettably, Zheng He's voyage to the Western Seas in the history of Chinese navigation is both unprecedented and unprecedented.Shortly after Zheng He's death, the ruling group of the Ming Dynasty changed its navigation policy, long-distance voyages were suspended, giant ships were not allowed to be rebuilt, and even Zheng He's voyage files were cremated to ashes.The ensuing sea ban caused China's shipbuilding and navigation industry to plummet.However, encouraged and stimulated by the voyages of Columbus and Da Gama, Europe entered an era of great navigation, and the shipbuilding and navigation industries flourished.As soon as it retreats and advances, China will be left behind.