Chinese treasure ship
Sketch of four-masted Zheng He's ship | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Ming dynasty | |
| Name | 2,000 liao da bo (lit. large ship), hai po, hai chuan (lit. sea going ship) |
| Ordered | 1403 |
| Builder | Longjiang shipyards, Ming dynasty |
| In service | 1405 |
| Out of service | 1433 |
| Notes | Participated in:
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Armed merchant ship |
| Displacement | 800 tons |
| Tons burthen | 500 tons |
| Length | 166 ft (50.60 m) |
| Beam | 24.3 ft (7.41 m) |
| Draught | 8.1 ft (2.47 m) |
| Propulsion | 4 masts |
| Sail plan | Junk rig |
| Complement | 200–300 person |
| Armament | 24 cannons |
| Notes | References: Tonnages, dimensions |
Early 17th century Chinese woodblock print, thought to represent Zheng He's ships. The ships are depicted with 7 masts, but only 4 sails used. | |
| History | |
| Ming dynasty | |
| Name | 5,000 liao ju bo (lit. giant ship), baochuan (lit. gem ship) |
| Ordered | Before 1412 |
| Builder | Longjiang shipyards, Ming dynasty |
| In service | 1412 |
| Out of service | 1433 |
| Notes | Participated in:
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Armed merchant ship |
| Displacement | 3100 tons |
| Tons burthen | 1860 tons |
| Length | 71.1 m (233.3 ft) |
| Beam | 14.05 m (46.1 ft) |
| Draught | 6.1 m (20.0 ft) |
| Propulsion | 6–7 masts |
| Sail plan | Junk rig |
| Complement | 500–600 person |
| Armament | 24 cannons |
| Notes | References: Voyages, tonnages, dimensions |
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. Meanwhile, others have stated that Zheng He's largest ship type was at least 70 m (230 ft), which by any estimation still made it far and away, the world's largest group of wooden ships by similar individual size and total fleet size (60 to 300 of such ships including smaller armed ships) prior to the Industrial Revolution.