Seaborne commerce on a large ... the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), an expansion of seaborne trade took place with the construction of an immense treasure fleet—reported to consist of 317 ships ...

Roots of Chinese seapower The first Chinese oceangoing trade ships were built far back in the Song dynasty (c ... 17 th century. Treasure junks: fact or fiction? The Ming account of the voyages ...

Archaeologists think the ships operated during different parts of the Ming dynasty, which lasted from 1368 to 1644. Many of the artifacts came from the Zhengde period of the Ming dynasty, which ...

In the 1400s, China owned the greatest seagoing fleet in the world, 3,500 ships. But by 1525, China's "Treasure Fleet ... but instead the Ming Dynasty retracted into itself and entered a 200 ...