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Zheng He Treasure Fleet SIB - 1/1000

This is my illustration of the Zheng He Treasure Fleet.  Zheng He (pronounced "Jung Huh") was a court eunuch in the Ming Dynasty and an accomplished mariner of the early 1400’s.


In 1403, The third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, ordered construction of a massive fleet of ships which would later be known as the Treasure Fleet.  The fleet was a large collection of 250 - 300 ships manned by an estimated 25,000 crew members.  The main ships of Zheng He’s fleet were called “treasure ships” and they were massive – each one was nearly the size of a football field according to some accounts.  Other (smaller) ships in the fleet included equine ships, supply ships, troop transports, guardships, patrol boats, and water tankers.  


The purpose of the Treasure Fleet was to display the power and majesty of the Ming Dynasty while conducting trade as far away as Africa.  From 1405 – 1433, the Zheng He Treasure Fleet made seven far-reaching voyages to coastal territories and islands in the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and the East coast of Africa.


My presentation includes 3 junk ships - a 9-masted treasure ship, a 4-masted guard ship, and a single-masted patrol boat with an oar deck.  The bottled fleet rests on a historical Chinese sword holder.
 

  • Album created by Glen McGuire
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Glen McGuire
8 hours ago, RobMann79 said:

I really like this concept, was the bottle a special blown glass, or a cool find?

Hey Rob, thanks for the comment.  The bottle was a cool find.  I was at Total Wine looking for interesting (and cheap) bottles and saw this bottle of Morey Limoncello on the shelf.  I was not exactly sure what I would do with it but the bottle was such an interesting shape I had to get it.  Later, the idea of the treasure fleet hit me and I thought the 3 bulbs would be a neat way to illustrate the multiple ships in the fleet.

20221118_121628.jpg

Edited by Glen McGuire
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