2.1 Woods. Winds, Shipbuilding, and
Shipping: Why China Didn’t Rule the
Waves
Ashley & Trump
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Chinese navy’s “treasure ships” were the largest ships in the pre-industrial world
Treasure ships were put afloat centuries before European vessels
The ships went from the East African coastline to somewhere around the Cape of Good
Hope
The treasure ships were three times the size of any British navy ship before the 1800s
China’s sea power was lost when the Ming Dynasty withdrew support for treasure ship
journeys after 1433
Chinese ships stayed east of present-day Singapore after the withdrawal of support
Members of China’s Ming court put great focus on domestic and continental matters like
emphasizing agricultural production, internal stability, military buildup and colonization
at the edges of the Chinese steppe, and refurbishment of the Great Wall
The curtailing of private sector ocean trips made private trades more active on the
Southeast Asian shipping routes, but not as far as the treasure ships
Private traders based their decisions on market forces
Timber at the time was very expensive because coal had not been widely available yet
The market developed a huge private trade in timber, wherever water was located
Logs were floated from interior forests down all of China’s rivers canals
The method was only good for tapping resources already close to water routes
Coastal and riverside forests were used up quickly because of it
Log movement required a lot of hard labor, so by the 18th century the cost of build a boat
in central China had risen three times as fast as the price of rice
Rice is the China’s staple food and the most reliable indicator of the general cost of living
Chinese shippers contracted construction of boats at several Southeast Asian locations
There was no longer a market for outsized “treasure ships” anymore
Instead of financing big ships, Chinese traders used smaller vessels that could carry
porcelain and silk to midway points
Shorter routes fit better with weather patterns because it kept Chinese merchants out of
far-flung ports with shifting monsoon winds that left ships stranded for months
Maximum profit meant relying on entrepots
Entrepots developed where winds made it convenient to meet
Overview
China before the early 1400s (1433 specifically) had treasure ship which could be up to 3
time the European vessels before the 1800s. This raises the question “why did they not have a
larger stand in over sea trade if they had such a large lead in navel affairs?” government support
in Chinese treasure ships were withdrawn in the Ming dynasty after 1433. From then on Chinese
Ships stayed east of now present day Singapore.
Later in time long distance exploration was then passed on to the Europeans as well as
long distance trade (but that’s another story for a different day). Attention then became to be
given to domestic and continental matters, agriculture, internal stability military build-up and
colonization at the edges of the central Asian steppe, as well as renovation of the Great Wall.
Timber was becoming expensive and there was a wood shortage causing big boats like the
treasure ships to be outdated.
The Qing dynasty later left the market to respond to timber prices shooting up and the
market responded by developing a huge private trade in timber which grew up wherever there
was water transport. Moving logs from the forest also took a lot of labor so by the 18c the cost of
building a boat in china had risen about tree times as fast as the price of rice. There just wasn’t a
market for the outsized treasure ships anymore.
Chinese trades started using smaller ships to carry porcelain and silk to ports.
these ports called entrepots where developed and created a series of these meeting places created
a marketing network that carried products from the Mediterranean to Japan, China and Korea
without anyone being away for more than one season