Editing Zheng He (section)

==Size of ships==
According to {{Interlanguage link|Luo Maodeng|zh|羅懋登}}'s novel ''[[Sanbao Taijian Xia Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi]]'' (''Eunuch Sanbao Western Records Popular Romance'', published 1597), the first expedition had:{{sfn|Church|2005|p=6}}{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=104}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=京 (Jing) |first=安 (An) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRCDEAAAQBAJ |title=海疆开发史话 (History of Coastal Development) |publisher=[[Social Sciences Literature Press]] (Social Science Literature Press) |year=2012 |isbn=978-7-5097-3196-3 |page=98 |oclc=886189859}}</ref>

* "[[Chinese treasure ship|Treasure ships]]" ({{lang|zh|宝船}}, ''Bǎo Chuán'') nine-masted, 44.4 by 18 ''zhang'', about {{convert|127|m|ft|abbr=off}} long and {{convert|52|m|ft|abbr=off}} wide.
* Equine ships ({{lang|zh|馬船}}, ''Mǎ Chuán''), carrying horses and tribute goods and repair material for the fleet, eight-masted, 37 by 15 ''zhang'', about {{convert|103|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|42|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide.
* Supply ships ({{lang|zh|粮船}}, ''Liáng Chuán''), containing staple for the crew, seven-masted, 28 by 12 ''zhang'', about {{convert|78|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|35|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide.
* Transport ships ({{lang|zh|坐船}}, ''Zuò Chuán''), six-masted, 24 by 9.4 ''zhang'', about {{convert|67|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide.
* Warships ({{lang|zh|战船}}, ''Zhàn Chuán''), five-masted, 18 by 6.8 ''zhang'', about {{convert|50|m|ft|abbr=on}} long.

On the ships were navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, and soldiers, along with the translator and diarist [[Gong Zhen]]. Six more expeditions took place from 1407 to 1433, with fleets thought to be of comparable size.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007}}

[[Marco Polo]] and [[Ibn Battuta]] both described multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1,000 passengers in their translated accounts.{{sfn|Needham|1971|pp=460–470}} [[Niccolò de' Conti]], a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen five-masted junks weighing about 2,000 ''vegetes'', that is [[Venice|Venetian]] butt. Christopher Wake estimated a burthen of 1300 tons.{{sfn|Wake|1997|p=58}} The ship of Conti may have been a Burmese or Indonesian [[Jong (ship)|jong]].{{sfn|Lewis|1973|p=248}}

The largest ships in the fleet, the [[Chinese treasure ships]] described in Chinese chronicles, would have been nearly [[list of world's largest wooden ships|twice as long as any other wooden ship]] recorded thereafter until the 20th century, surpassing [[Admiral Nelson]]'s [[HMS Victory|HMS ''Victory'']], {{convert|69.34|m|ftin|frac=2}} long, which was launched in 1765, and the {{convert|68.88|m|ft|frac=2|adj=on}} [[Vasa (ship)|''Vasa'']] of 1627. The first ships to attain {{convert|126|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long were 19th century steamers with iron hulls. Many scholars consider it unlikely that any of Zheng He's ships were {{convert|450|ft|m|round=5|order=flip|abbr=on}} in length and have proposed much shorter lengths, as low as {{convert|200|–|250|ft|m|round=5|order=flip|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Church|2005}} Zhao Zhigang claimed that he has solved the debate of the size difference, and stated that Zheng He's largest ship was about {{cvt|70|m}} in length.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://epaper.tyrbw.com/tywb/resfile/2022-07-12/21/tywb2022071221.pdf |title =郑和大号宝船到底有多大？ (How big was Zheng He's large treasure ship?) |last1=Ling |first1=Xue |editor1-last=Li |editor1-first=Ma |editor2-last=Limin |editor2-first=Wu |editor3-last=Xiuling |editor3-first=Pei  |work=扬子晚报 (Yangtze Evening News) |date=12 July 2022 }}</ref>

===Disputes of historical records of length===
[[File:Gall Trilingual Inscription.jpg|thumb|[[Galle Trilingual Inscription]], left by Zheng He in [[Sri Lanka]] in 1409]]

Edward L. Dreyer claims that Luo Maodeng's novel is unsuitable as historical evidence.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=104}} The novel contains a number of fantasy element; for example the ships were "constructed with divine help by the immortal Lu Ban".{{sfn|Church|2005|p=7}}

One explanation for the seemingly-inefficient size of the colossal ships was that the 44 ''zhang'' treasure ships were used only by the Emperor and imperial bureaucrats to travel along the Yangtze for court business, including reviewing Zheng He's expedition fleet. The Yangtze river, with its calmer waters, may have been navigable by these treasure ships. Zheng He, a court eunuch, would not have had the privilege in rank to command the largest of the ships, seaworthy or not. The main ships of Zheng He's fleet were instead six-masted 2000-liao ships.<ref name="Technical1">Xin Yuanou: ''Guanyu Zheng He baochuan chidu de jishu fenxi (A Technical Analysis of the Size of Zheng He's Ships).'' Shanghai 2002, p. 8</ref><ref>[http://www.travel-silkroad.com/english/marine/ZhengHe.html ''The Archeological Researches into Zheng He's Treasure Ships''] {{Dead link|date=February 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}, SilkRoad webpage.</ref> That would give [[Builder's Old Measurement|burthen]] of 500 tons and a displacement tonnage of about 800 tons.<ref name="Technical1" />{{sfn|Needham|1971|p=481}}

Traditional and popular accounts of Zheng He's voyages have described a great fleet of gigantic ships far larger than any other wooden ships in history. The most grandiose claims for Zheng He's 1405 fleet are entirely based on a calculation derived from an account that was written three centuries later and was accepted as fact by one modern writer; rejected by numerous naval experts.<ref>{{cite book|title=Empire of the Winds|last=Bowring|first=Philip|publisher=I B Tauris & Co. Ltd|place=London, New York|date=2019|isbn=9781788314466}}</ref>{{rp|128}} There are even some sources that claim some of the treasure ships might have been as long as {{convert|183|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CqzDSC9VzFEC&pg=PA49 ''Taiwan: A New History''], Murray A. Rubinstein, p. 49, M.E. Sharp, 1999, {{ISBN|1-56324-815-8}}</ref> The claims that the Chinese treasure ships reached such size is disputed because other 17th century Ming records stated that European [[East Indiaman|East Indiamen]] and [[galleon]]s were 30, 40, 50, and 60 ''zhang'' (90, 120, 150, and 180 m) in length.{{sfn|Naiming|2016|pp=56–57}}

It is also possible that the measure of ''zhang'' (丈) used in the conversions was mistaken. The length of a Dutch ship recorded in the ''History of Ming'' was 30 ''zhang''. If the ''zhang'' is taken to be 3.2 m, the Dutch ship would be 96 m long. Also the Dutch [[Hongyipao|''Hongyi'' cannon]] was recorded to be more than 2 ''zhang'' (6.4 m) long. Comparative study by Hu Xiaowei (2018) concluded that 1 ''zhang'' would be equal to 1.5–1.6 m, this means the Dutch ship would be 45–48 m long and the cannon would be 3–3.2 m long.{{sfn|Xiaowei|2018|pp=111–112}} Taking 1.6 m for 1 ''zhang'', Zheng He's 44 ''zhang'' treasure ship would be {{convert|70.4|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|28.8|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} wide, or 22 ''zhang'' long and 9 ''zhang'' wide if the ''zhang'' is taken to be 3.2 m.{{sfn|Xiaowei|2018|p=113}} It is known that the measure unit during the Ming era was not unified: A measurement of East and West Pagoda in Quanzhou resulted in a ''zhang'' unit of 2.5–2.56 m.{{sfn|Xiaowei|2018|p=110}} According to Chen Cunren, one ''zhang'' in the Ming Dynasty is only half a ''zhang'' in modern times.{{sfn|Cunren|2008|p=60}}

===Treasure Shipyard excavation===
From 2003 to 2004, the Treasure Shipyard was excavated in northwestern [[Nanjing]] (the former capital of the Ming Dynasty), near the [[Yangtze River]]. Despite the site being referred to as the "Longjiang Treasure Shipyard" (龍江寶船廠) in the official names, the site is distinct from the actual Longjiang Shipyard, which was located on a different site and produced different types of ships. The Treasure Shipyard, where Zheng He's fleet is believed to have been built in the Ming Dynasty, once consisted of thirteen basins (based on a 1944 map), most of which have now been covered by the construction of buildings in the 20th century. The basins are believed to have been connected to the Yangtze via a series of gates. Three long basins survive, each with wooden structures inside, interpreted to be frames onto which the ships to be built on. The largest basin extends for a length of {{convert|421|m|ft}}. While they were long enough to accommodate the largest claimed Zheng He treasure ship, they were not wide enough to fit even a ship half the claimed size. The basin was only {{convert|41|m|ft}} wide at most, with only a {{convert|10|m|ft}} width showing evidence of structures. They were also not deep enough, being only {{convert|4|m|ft}} deep. Other remains of ships in the site indicate that the ships were only slightly larger than the frames that supported them. Moreover, the basin structures were grouped into clusters with large gaps between them, if each cluster was interpreted as a ship framework, then the largest ship would not exceed {{convert|75|m|ft}} at most, probably less.<ref name="church2010">{{cite book|first1=Church|last1=Sally K.|editor1-first=Jun|editor1-last=Kimura|title =Shipwreck ASIA: Thematic Studies in East Asian Maritime Archaeology|chapter =Two Ming Dynasty Shipyards in Nanjing and their Infrastructure|publisher =Maritime Archaeology Program, Flinders University|location = Adelaide|year =2010|pages=32–49|isbn =9780646548265|chapter-url =http://www.shipwreckasia.org/wp-content/uploads/Chapter3.pdf}}</ref>

The 2003–2004 excavation also recovered two complete wooden rudderposts from the Treasure Shipyard, in addition to another recovered in 1957. They are made of [[teak]] and measure
around {{convert|10|to|11|m|ft}} in length. Zhou Shide (1962) claimed that the first rudderpost recovered was proof of the enormous dimensions of the ships based on his calculations on how big the rudderblade would be. However Church (2010) points out that Zhou was using calculations based on modern steel propeller-driven ships, not wooden ships; as well as the fact that Zhou's hypothetical rudder shape was based on the flat-bottomed ''shachuan'' (沙船) ship type, not the sea-going ''fuchuan'' (福船). The rudderposts cannot be used to infer the actual size of the rudder blades. Church notes that in traditional wooden Chinese ships, rudderposts were necessarily long in order for them to extend from the water level up unto the ship deck, where it was controlled by the tiller. Church compares it with modern wooden junks built in the traditional ''Lümeimao'' ("green eyebrow", 綠眉毛) style, which also have rudderposts that are {{convert|11|m|ft}} long, but are only {{convert|31|m|ft}} in overall length.<ref name="church2010"/>