A Chinese treasure ship (, literally "gem ship") is a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty. The size of the Chinese treasure ship has been a subject of debate with the Chinese records mentioning the size of 44 zhang or 44.4 zhang, which has been interpreted by some as over in length, while others have stated that Zheng He's largest ship was about or less in length.
Accounts
Chinese
According to the (1658), the first voyage consisted of 63 treasure ships crewed by 27,870 men.
The History of Ming (1739) credits the first voyage with 62 treasure ships crewed by 27,800 men. A Zheng He era inscription in the Jinghai Temple in Nanjing gave the size of Zheng He ships in 1405 as 2,000 liao (500 tons), but did not give the number of ships.
Alongside the treasures were also another 255 ships according to the (1520), giving the combined fleet of the first voyage a total of 317 ships. However, the addition of 255 ships is a case of double accounting according to Edward L. Dreyer, who notes that the Taizong Shilu does not distinguish the order of 250 ships from the treasure ships. As such the first fleet would have been around 250 ships including the treasure ships.
The second voyage consisted of 249 ships. The Jinghai Temple inscription gave the ship dimensions in 1409 as 1500 liao (375 tons).
According to the Xingcha Shenglan (1436), the third voyage consisted of 48 treasure ships, not including other ships.
The Xingcha Shenglan states that the fourth voyage consisted of 63 treasure ships crewed by 27,670 men.
There are no sources for number of ships or men for the fifth and sixth voyages.
According to the Liujiagang and Changle Inscriptions, the seventh voyage had "more than a hundred large ships".
Yemen
The most contemporary non-Chinese record of the expeditions is an untitled and anonymous annalistic account of the then-ruling Rasūlid dynasty of Yemen, compiled in the years 1439–1440. It reports the arrival of Chinese ships in 1419, 1423, and 1432, which approximately correspond to Zheng He's fifth, sixth, and seventh voyages. The 1419 arrival is described thus:
The later Yemeni historian, Ibn al-Daybaʿ (1461–1537), writes:
Mamluks
Mamluk historian Ibn Taghribirdi (1411–1470) writes:
Niccolò de' Conti
Niccolò de' Conti (–1469), a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of Chinese ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen five-masted junks of about 2000 tons* burthen:
Other translations of the passage give the size as a 2000 butts, which would be around a 1000 tons, a butt being half a ton. Christopher Wake noted that the transcription of the unit is actually vegetes, that is Venetian butt, and estimated a burthen of 1300 tons. The ship of Conti may have been a Burmese or Indonesian jong.
Song and Yuan junks
Although active prior to the treasure voyages, both Marco Polo (1254–1325) and Ibn Battuta (1304–1369) attest to large multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1000 passengers in Chinese waters. The large ships (up to 5,000 liao or 1520–1860 tons burden) would carry 500–600 men, and the second class (1,000–2,000 liao) would carry 200–300 men. Unlike Ming treasure ships, Song and Yuan great junks were propelled by oars, and have with them smaller junks, probably for maneuvering aids. The largest junks (5,000 liao) may have had a hull length twice that of Quanzhou ship (1,000 liao), that is . However, the usual Chinese trading junks pre-1500 was around long, with the length of only becoming the norm after 1500 CE. Large size could be a disadvantage for shallow harbors of southern seas, and the presence of numerous reefs exacerbates this.
Marco Polo
Ibn Battuta
Description
Taizong Shilu
The most contemporary accounts of the treasure ships come from the Taizong Shilu, which contains 24 notices from 1403 to 1419 for the construction of ships at several locations.
On 4 September 1403, 200 "seagoing transport ships" were ordered from the Capital Guards in Nanjing.
On 1 March 1404, 50 "seagoing ships" were ordered from the Capital Guards.
In 1407, 249 vessels were ordered "to be prepared for embassies to the several countries of the Western Ocean".
On 14 February 1408, 48 treasure ships were ordered from the Ministry of Works in Nanjing. This is the only contemporary account containing references to both treasure ships and a specific place of construction. Coincidentally, the only physical evidence of treasure ships comes from Nanjing.