NAVAL MIGHT China’s greatest seafarer, Zheng He, leads his colossal fleet of Ming-era ships
HONG NIAN ZHANG/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE X1, ALAMY X1
ZHENG HE AND HIS TREASURE FLEET
During the reign of China’s Yongle Emperor in 1403, an imperial order was issued to begin the construction of a fleet of super-ships – vessels vastly bigger than anything ever seen before. Officially called Xiafan Guanjun (‘The Foreign Expeditionary Armada’), the behemoth boats would become better known as the Ming Empire’s treasure ships.