Text/sec one
China is backed by mountains, sitting on 9.6 million square kilometers of land, facing the sea, is also a maritime power, and now the maritime situation is becoming more and more important, and China's maritime development, although it has undergone several twists and turns, is still a maritime power, our maritime strength is strong, since ancient times, regardless of military strength, the logistics of Zheng He's fleet is enough to be praised.
Zheng He led a huge fleet of ships to the West seven times, each voyage lasting two to three years, with as many as 27,800 people. Do you know if this huge contingent will be attacked by Russia during a long sea voyage? The crew members are sick and dead, are they equipped with specialized doctors? How is the attrition of Zheng He's fleet? Are they blessed to enjoy a variety of foods passing through countries and regions?
First of all, let's see if there is a serious attrition of Zheng He's fleet?
Illness attrition of Zheng He's fleet
Since Zheng He took out many people, he also had the ability to bring them all back. There were once ministers of the DPRK and China who criticized Zheng He for this matter. 30 years after Zheng He went to the West, Liu Daxia, the driver of the DPRK, opposed Zheng He's policy of going to the West, mentioning that "the three guarantees went to the West, costing money and grain 100,000, the soldiers and civilians died and tens of thousands, and even if they got a strange treasure, what would be beneficial to the country." The total attrition is significant, but many of them are non-disease attritions such as combat or ship drifting and disappearance.
Moreover, there are not many historical records of the attrition of the disease. According to the "Ye ChengKe, Snake Pearl" (Ye Chengke, Snake Pearl) "Yongle Zhong (1403 ~ 1424) went to the ocean to a soldier, fell ill and died, the boat people wanted to abandon the sea, the boat master and the old, begging the public, giving the tin kettle clothing and food, staying on the island." After landing on the island, he healed for the heavy rain, so he found a rock dwelling. The island is full of soft grass and trees, where the nest of birds is nested, and the soldiers take bird eggs for food, and the body of the moon is full." One of the crew members had malaria, which could be contagious, and the crew said that they would throw it directly into the sea, but considering the old feelings, the captain still gave him some necessities of life and left him on the island. Later, the soldier lived on the island for more than a year, and the sea ship returned to the island to bring it back. It can be seen that Zheng He's fleet also encountered the harm of diseases such as "malaria", but there has been no record of a large number of personnel reduction due to various diseases.
So, if there is a disease other than malaria, how should Zheng He's fleet respond?
The medical personnel and work of Zheng He's fleet
According to the records of the "Zheng He Family Tree" and "Pai Ya Sheng Lan", Zheng He's fleet was equipped with more than 108 medical officers and medical officers in the Western Ocean, and about 10 crew members on average had 1 medical officer or medical officer. In the Ming Dynasty army at that time, every 100,000 people were assigned 4 doctors, and there was no record of doctors in sailors and ships before this. Therefore, this medical protection is here, and the worries of going to sea are reduced by more than half. Moreover, the level of this medical detachment that can be brought out is also excellent.
Look at the sources of these medical officers and doctors: one is sent by the Mingtai Hospital; the other is recruited from the folk doctors, and the medical skills are higher. For example, Chen Yicheng is a medical officer, according to the "Jiaxing Fu Zhi", "Chen Yicheng, good at poetry and painting, especially good at medicine." In the Yongle Period, he should be selected to belong to the Tai Hospital, from which Zheng He was tired to go to the Western countries and return to the Shaking Hospital for judgment." The equivalent of the hospital is from the class, and the level is exquisite. Those selected by the people have a wide range of medical methods, a wide range of knowledge, a certain ability to deal with difficult and complicated diseases, and a help in dealing with sudden diseases at sea.
In addition, the doctor's after-school cultivation is still quite high. Doctor Kuang Yu is a chang acquaintance and comes from a generation of medical families. From three to seven years later, Yongle accompanied Zheng He to the West three times, and in his spare time, he made an inspection record of the mountains and rivers of the Nine Kingdoms of the West, and painted them into a picture album, entitled "Huayi Shenglan". It can be seen that the medical personnel of Zheng He's fleet were particularly strengthened, which was unprecedented in the history of ancient nautical medicine.
Zheng He's fleet of numerous medical personnel undertook a variety of tasks. The first is to "prevent and treat diseases among the envoys." The second is to prevent and treat diseases for the residents of the western countries they have arrived, as one of the means of peaceful exchanges. According to the "Medicinal Water" article in the "Chronicle of Taiwan Province" revised by the Kangxi Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty, it is said that in the Fengshan County Tamsui Society, it is said that the Ming eunuch Wang Sanbao threw medicine into the water to make the local infected people bathe in the water and be treated." Not only for their own crew, but also for the local population to treat diseases. Worthy of the people of our great country, the tradition of loving the people of our relatives and loving the people spread far and wide.
However, in addition to the medical treatment and level of the superb medical team, wait until the disease comes to cure, after all, it is only the next policy The most important work of the entire fleet in terms of disease health is prevention, and do a good job in daily life, hygiene and diet.
Sanitary conditions of Zheng He's fleet
Since the shipbuilding industry in the Ming Dynasty has developed to a considerable peak of ancient Chinese shipbuilding, the "treasure ships" of Zheng He's fleet (as many as 106 ships) are "majestic and invincible" and have recorded that the treasure ships are 44 zhang and 8 zhang wide (the relationship with the current measurement remains to be examined). British scholars Joseph Needham and Mills speculated that it was 3100 tons, with a load capacity of more than 2500 tons, and if so, it was the largest columbus fleet half a century later. The Maria drained 2,330 tons more, reaching "four decks per ship, full of soldiers, horses on the ground floor, and the cabin and living room high, gorgeous and comfortable". In this way, it is objectively conducive to the hygiene of life during the voyage, so as to prevent the occurrence and epidemic of certain diseases.
Deck settings
The living conditions of Zheng He's fleet
The Ming Dynasty from 1386 to 1414 was the peak of the dynasty's national power. As a result, the treatment of the envoys is more favourable. "The qijun grain reward, salt sauce tea oil candles, etc. are given according to the number of people according to the usual number." The implementation of the supply is guaranteed from the system. Four of the 7 voyages of Zheng He's fleet to the West took Liujiagang port in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, as the departure port. Liujiagang was the main navigation base in China at that time, with a vast hinterland and abundant products, and it was also a transit place for the diversion of grain from the south to the north, and the grain plants and supplies of the officers and soldiers sent out to the army could be supplied here, ensuring the adequate supply of food for the fleet.
Today's Liujiagang
According to historical records, the ships of Zheng He's fleet only had water tanks to store water for daily life. The replenishment of fresh water in the vast seas is very important. The entire fleet is equipped with water boats to transport fresh water supplies. Along the way, fresh water is drawn from the nearby Kawazawa and binhai ports, and water ships carry accumulated food reserves to spare the "Chronicles of the Western Ocean Fanguo".
The vessel also has a galley and food compartment, indicating that it is ready for cooked food and hot drinks. The hardware facilities are all in place.
Speaking of exchanges with coastal people, Zheng He's fleet sent envoys to the West, Western countries, different languages, what kind of diplomatic language was mainly used by the fleet in navigation?
Liu Yingsheng, a professor of history at Nanjing University, pointed out that the main diplomatic language used by Zheng He's fleet overseas was Persian.
Zheng He led his fleet on the second voyage through Ceylon Hill, (in present-day Sri Lanka, he once gave alms to the local Buddhist temple and erected a monument, which is now preserved in the Colombo National Museum.) In the inscriptions of the Ceylon Hill stele, in addition to the Chinese, there are Persian and Tamil. This is puzzling, because in the Middle Ages, Sri Lanka's language of interaction with the Muslim world was Arabic, and Sri Lanka was not a Muslim country and did not belong to the Persian-speaking area, so the use of Persian on the Ceylon Hill stele is difficult to understand.
Liu Yingsheng explored this mystery. He pointed out that the Ceylon Mountain Stele, which combines three scripts, was actually made before Zheng He set sail, and the place of making the monument should be nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty at that time. It can be seen that Persian and Tamil were the main diplomatic languages used by Zheng He's fleet. In the historical data, the description of some overseas things by the envoys of the Ming Dynasty is also obviously transliterated from Persia, which also confirms this view. Therefore, at that time, Zheng He's fleet should also be equipped with scholars who were proficient in Persian, or foreign friends, which needed to be further explored.
The abundant food of Zheng He's fleet
According to the records in the Edict attached to the Chronicle of the Western Ocean fanguo by Guan Zhen, who had accompanied Zheng He on his voyage, the preparations for Zheng He's fleet to go abroad were as follows:
(i) Livestock may be raised on board, vegetables may be grown and large quantities of fresh water may be stored.
Zheng He's fleet traveled mostly in the tropics, even in the winter waxing moon, the temperature is higher than 20 degrees Celsius, in order to continue to prevent food spoilage, the food carried on the ship must be able to withstand storage except for those who can take advantage of fresh food.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, food processing methods were able to handle foods with short shelf life, such as salt, sauce, vinegar, lees, or smoked and dried meat, aquatic products, vegetables and vegetables. The fruit is exposed to the dried fruit, or stained with honey, sugar, or roasted over fire. Therefore, in addition to salt, sauce, tea, wine and drinking water, the food carried on board should include grains and beans such as rice and wheat that are not easy to deteriorate, as well as processed fruits and vegetables, meat, aquatic products, vinegar, honey, sugar and other spices. But just as American soldiers complained that eating canned food often was not nutritious, our crew could not eat pickled food and needed fresh ingredients to replenish their energy.
Pass through southeast Asian countries
After Zheng He's fleet went to sea, in addition to stockpiling food, aquatic products could be fished in situ and raised in live water in the cabin; poultry could be raised on board; vegetables could also be planted on board. According to the Tangier traveler from North Africa in the first half of the fourteenth century, Ibn Khrushchev Battuta described in his Travels that The Chinese ships traveling to and from the Indian Ocean at that time, and their crews often planted vegetables and ginger in wooden pots to provide daily consumption. However, the production on board is limited after all. Plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and drinking water are bound to be replenished when they come ashore, especially the indispensable fresh water. As Gong Zhen said in the preface to the "Chronicle of the Western Ocean Fanguo", "If there is no food and drink, it will be difficult to work, and the sea water will be salty and salty, and it will not be possible to import, all of which are drawn from the nearby Kawazawa and Marina Harbors, and the fresh water is drawn." Water ships carrying, storing grain boats, with spare degrees, even urgent matters, must not be temporarily relaxed. ”
(2) Occasionally, deer, rabbit and camel meat can be used to improve life
Ma Huan went to the West with Zheng He's fleet, recorded his travels into a book, and in 1416 completed the "Liuya Victory", which recorded Zheng He's fleet's passage through the Indochina Peninsula (Champa), the Malay Peninsula (Manchuria), Java, and Sumatra
(Sumatra, Old Port), Ceylon Island, Indian Peninsula (Petite Glen, Kochi, Guri), Maldives Islands, and arabian peninsula and many other places such as geography, climate, religion, customs and goods. From this, we found that Zheng He's fleet was "very delicious" and tasted all kinds of food from different countries.
Wherever Zheng He's fleet went, except for the Indochina Peninsula, the Indian Peninsula, Ceylon and other places, most of them believed in Islam, so the meat they ate was only chicken and mutton. Pigs are recorded only in Champa and Java, where Chinese live, and more special is that there are rabbits and deer in Guri, and Zufar has camel meat. Milk and cheese are not very popular, but are found in Sumatra, Ceylon and Guri.
(3) A variety of fruits are essential
Now one of the purposes of many people traveling is food. Many people go to Southeast Asia for one purpose to visit tropical fruits, and the crew of our Zheng He fleet is also very blessed.
In the indochina Peninsula and other evergreen places, there should be a variety of sample species, but the "Rolling End" only mentions one kind of mustard green. This may be because mustard greens are familiar to Ma Huan, or because the production of mustard greens is more in the Yangtze River Basin and southern provinces, which can not only be eaten freshly, but also can be covered up into sour lai, sherr red, plum dried vegetables, and other leafy vegetables, which are not fully available for processing.
Fruits in Java, the Malay Peninsula and the Indian Peninsula are mainly coconuts, plantains, sugar cane, watermelon, etc., and some fruits are tropical specialties.
Zheng He's fleet has a large number of people, supervising the preparation of diets, dispatching food and service manpower, replenishment procurement when docked, and food preservation and storage, all of which require huge management operations.
The food supply to maintain the health of tens of thousands of crew members to complete the feat of seven long-distance voyages is a daunting challenge.
Adequate food and good health are the most basic conditions for ensuring that the crew goes to sea, of course, the daily life of the crew is also worth excavating. Perhaps, before they traveled, like us, they had a sea of stars in their hearts, and perhaps, they were also looking forward to the mystery of a foreign country, in short, they set out and successfully created history, a history worthy of good excavation by future generations.
bibliography:
1, Su Hu, "What Zheng He's Fleet Ate at Sea Under Seven Voyages to the West", Decision and Information, No. 9, 2004.
2, Jinling,"What Zheng He's Fleet Ate Overseas", "Anecdotes of Food History"
3, Li Guangji, "What Zheng He's Fleet Eats at Sea", "Legend",
4, Yan Xiamei, Dong Xiaohou, "Historical Records on the Health Care of Zheng He's Fleet", History of Nautical Medicine, February 1995, Vol. 2, No. 1.