Interesting but incomplete.
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I found this book an interesting item, a pleasant reading and a nice window on the China of 6 centuries ago. It is difficult to understand how an eunuch could perform so admirably in a career we are not used to think as open to them, nor how a country can close its borders to the vast wide world, but that's history, and we'd better study such things and make the best out of them.
However, I think that this book is incomplete: a more in-depth examination of Zheng-Ye's ships, a longer exposition of his travels (it's seven travels in thirty years, after all!) and a closer study on how these travels have prompted China to turn its gaze inwards would have been warranted.
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History & cultural lessons
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While the West was still dragging itself out of the Dark Ages, China had a thriving sea trade with India and Africa, and arguably with places as far off as South America and Australia, not to be beaten for hundreds of years. There is an incredible amount of history here, most of it unknown in the West, which sets the scene for the building of a massive trading fleet by the eunuch Admiral Zheng He, and his subsequent voyages of exploration. At least one type of ship was 400 feet long, at the time when Columbus's ships were under 100 - about 50 times the capacity. So what went wrong? What could stop such a powerful naval nation in its tracks? An Imperial Decree - forbidding sea voyages, considering them unproductive, uneconomic and, more importantly, un-Confucian - effectively shut the door on Chinese expansion and fostered the introversion that has only ceased in the last few years. Ms.Levathes has uncovered information hidden for years to present this highly informative and unusual subject in a very accessible form, although I did find the similarity of the Chinese names slightly confusing, which made for heavy reading at times. However, it still gets *****.
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A well-researched, lively look at a great seafaring nation
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An excellent and gripping story that most people have never heard of, I loved the book and have shared it with many friends. This book covers everything from the emporers to the laborers with amazing tales, often reconstructed from archives, that will have you turning the pages too quickly. More than just a look at the ships, the book sheds light on why they were built and later disbanded as well as the impact of those decisions. To imagine what could have been...
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Ill researched, author unfamiliar with technical details
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This is, of course, a fascinating subject, but one I fear ill served by the present volume. Of the treasure ships and voyages there is the most meagre of outlines, and too often the author reveals a lack of familiarity with the techniques involved (e.g. the hull was built, and then covered in planks....) Mere conjecture often takes the place of research (the ships must have carried.....) and while a pleasant, if somewhat chaotic introduction to the subject, this volume is far far from a definitive work.
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A fascinating book I keep re-reading and re-reading
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When Europe discovered East Africa they arrived with 3 battered ships about 80 feet long - when the chinese discovered it 300 years EARLIER they brought an armadda of 300 ships, some over 400 feet long, and over 28,000 men. With fascinating tales like these the writer holds your attention on a remarkable civilization that traded with half the world - and then suddenly stopped. This book explains why and covers the history of China over 1000 years, focusing on their trade and the shifting political landscapes of each dynasty. This is one of the most interesting books I've ever read.
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