A Brief History of Western Navigation

The age of the great voyage was a period in which mankind's geographic knowledge and seafaring techniques were greatly developed on the basis of their predecessors, but it is inescapable that at the same time this period was also a time of aggression and colonial expansion by European colonizers using their powerful ships and cannons in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

This kind of piratical plundering and colonial trade was the main way of the colonizers' primitive accumulation of capital, and it is on this basis that Western capitalism can have today's development. On the other hand, it can be said that the Age of the Great Seas was a major turning point in human history.

The situation in which the countries and regions of the continents were isolated from each other because of the obstruction of the sea was gradually broken (of course, this turn of events was accompanied by great tragedy and suffering).

It should also be noted that the so-called "Great Geographic Discoveries" of the Age of Sail were only the "discovery" of unknown geographic knowledge by the Europeans, while the "discovered" islands and land masses had already been discovered by the Europeans. Most of the "discovered" islands and lands were already inhabited by certain peoples, not to mention the Chinese in Asia and the Amerindians, who also had their own very incisive knowledge of geography and astronomy.

The earliest navigators are often referred to as Phoenicians, Chinese and Arabs. Europeans also had their own seafaring traditions, not to mention the Greek navigators who sailed the Aegean Sea after B.C., and the seafaring Nordic Norman pirates of Scandinavia who ravaged the whole of Europe from the 8th to the mid-11th centuries.

In the second half of the 9th century, Norwegian pirates boarded Iceland; in the 10th century, the Normans reached Greenland; in the early 11th century, Danish pirates even conquered all of England.

In the 13th century, the Marco. Polo's Travels" was completed. Marco Polo (1254-1323) Polo (1254-1323) was an Italian Venetian who served at the court of the Yuan Dynasty in China for 17 years, returning home in 1295.

The Travels of Marco.

Marco Polo's Travels, dictated from his prison in Genoa and transcribed by the novelist Rustigian, is a detailed account of Marco Polo's travels in China. The book contains a detailed account of Marco Polo's travels in China. After the book was widely circulated in Europe, it opened the eyes of Europeans and made them salivate at the glorious and rich civilization of the East.

At the same time, "Travels" greatly enriched the geographic knowledge of Europeans, became the main reference for Europeans to draw a map of the world at that time, is the 15th century, many European navigators such as Da? Gama, Columbus and other must-read works. Also in the 13th century, the Chinese compass needle was introduced to Europe by the Arabs and was commonly used.

Early in the 15th century, the Roman scholar Ptolemy's doctrine of the geodesic circle began to spread in Europe. During the same period, the Europeans' shipbuilding technology made significant progress, and there appeared the multi-masted ships suitable for ocean voyages. All this shows that the technical and theoretical basis of the Great Age of Sail had gradually matured.

In the 14th and 15th centuries in Europe, capitalism had already sprouted, and the power base was full of greed for wealth, and oriental luxuries such as Chinese porcelain and silk, and Indian spices and precious stones became the necessities of life for the upper class.

At that time, there were roughly only two trade routes between the East and the West, one by land, all the way to Asia Minor through Central Asia; the other was to reach the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf by sea first, and then transported to the Mediterranean area by land.

In the mid-15th century, the rise of the Ottoman Turkish Empire cut off the Central Asian trade routes, while the Red Sea around the sea has always been monopolized by the Arabs.

The lack of goods from the East drove up prices, and Western European merchants were eager to find new ways to the East. The hostility and hatred between Christians and Muslims for a long time made the Europeans have enough reasons to call on the people in the name of God to break the Arabs' monopoly on the eastern trade routes, and put a religious veil over the great voyage.

In addition, the gold of the Orient was also something that the impoverished Europe of that time longed for, as Engels said: "The Portuguese searched for gold on the coasts of Africa, in India and all over the Far East; and the word gold became the charm that drove the Spaniards to cross the oceans..."

Then the curtain of the Age of Sail was drawn back. Speaking of the Great Age of Sail, we must talk about Portugal, a small, insignificant country in Europe that was the vanguard of the Great Age of Sail. Portugal is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, is also the westernmost country in Europe, and North Africa across the sea. With a land area of 92,000 square kilometers, its population was only 1.1 million at the end of the 15th century.

Prior to the 11th century, Portugal was under the rule of the Romans, Arabs and Moors. 1143, the Pope recognized the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal, which was the first country in Europe to achieve national unity and centralization of power, and in 1147, Afonso I seized Lisbon, one of the oldest cities on the Iberian Peninsula, which had been occupied by the Moors.

Portugal had a strong focus on the development of navigation in the early years of its existence as a traditional state policy, which was guaranteed by the crown, and in 1375, the Jewish cartographers Ja? In 1375, the Jewish cartographer Jaime Crescuet and his son drew the most complete and accurate chart of the world in Europe - "Gatalan map", which became the guiding light of the Portuguese navigators.

Talking about the history of Portugal's maritime development must be said to Prince Henrique, that is, the "navigator" called Prince Henry. Don. Prince Henrique (1394-1460) was the third son of King No?o I of Portugal, born in Oporto, he was the spiritual godfather of the Portuguese seafarers, the early days of the Great Age of Sail, Portugal's seafaring career active advocate and promoter.

In 1415, No?o I and Prince Henrique led an army across the Strait of Gibraltar and captured the Muslim town of Ceuta (present-day Sebtea) in Morocco, North Africa. The capture of Ceuta was of great significance to the development of Portuguese navigation. The capture of Ceuta was the first step towards the east along the west coast of Africa, as it held the throat of the Straits of Gibraltar and was extremely important.

After capturing Ceuta, Prince Henrique received important information from his Muslim captors about the Arab trade with black Africans. Prince Enrique was a fervent Christian and had made it his life's mission to fight the Muslims. At the time, there were rumors circulating in Europe about the existence of a powerful Christian black kingdom in Africa, the Kingdom of Plaistow. John's Kingdom.

The name of this kingdom also appears several times in the Age of Sail series. Prince Enrique is convinced and is bent on finding this supposedly gold-filled and wealthy Kingdom of Prester John, eager to make an alliance with it. John's kingdom, eager to ally with it*** in the fight against the Islamic world.

Circa 1420, Henry established an observatory and a navigation school on the Sagres Peninsula, which produced a large number of skilled navigators for Portugal.

In 1420, Madeira was discovered, and the Canary Islands, which had been discovered earlier, had to be ceded to Spain.

In 1431, the Azores were discovered, and became the base of supplies for Atlantic voyages.

In 1434, Henry's expedition crossed Cape Bojador in West Africa for the first time, and in 1445, Gon?alves discovered the Cape Verde ("Green Cape" in Portuguese) Islands. In the same year, the Portuguese began their foray into Black Africa, and in 1448, Henry established the first Portuguese fort in West Africa at Arguin, which served as a base for large-scale plundering.

The gold, ivory, and black slaves plundered from Black Africa enabled the Portuguese to continue to expand to the East in the groping. In the future, Portugal established trading posts or strongholds in each place it entered, and used the proceeds gained there to support its next move.

Henry the Navigator never took part in any voyages of exploration in his life, but played the role of navigator of the Portuguese ship. By the time of Henry's death in 1460, Portuguese navigation had begun to flourish.

In 1481, Portugal, No?o II succeeded to the throne, he also inherited the legacy of his uncle Henry, actively promoting maritime exploration. 1483, Diego? In August 1487, Bartolomeu Dias was ordered to lead an expedition to the mouth of the Congo River. In August 1487, Bartolomeu Diaz was ordered to leave Lisbon with a fleet of ships to explore the coast of West Africa, and in June 1488, Diaz arrived at the southernmost tip of Africa.

Because of the extreme storms there, Diaz called this large cape "Tormento", or "Cape of Storms", and when he returned to Lisbon in 1488 to report to Noon II, he renamed it the "Cape of Good Hope". "Cape of Good Hope" (probably because he was overwhelmed by the thought of the rich east that was about to appear before him).

In 1495, Manuel I succeeded to the throne, coinciding with Columbus's "discovery" of the New World, Portugal immediately stepped up the planning of the voyage to India, da. Gamma was chosen as the commander of the voyage. Francisco. Da. Gama (1460-1524), a Portuguese nobleman, from the military.

On July 8, 1497, Gamma led a fleet of four ships to the sea. Gamma led a fleet of four ships with about 170 sailors from Lisbon to explore the route around the "Cape of Good Hope" to India.

The flagship of the fleet, the St. Gabriel, was the first ship to sail from Lisbon to India. Gabriel", 25.6 meters long, 8.5 meters wide, displacement of only 300 tons. Gama did not go south along the west coast of Africa, the fleet first to the Cape Verde Islands, and then sailed straight south to the South Atlantic Ocean, sailing for three months, and then change to the east, to reach the Cape of Good Hope. This bypassed the extremely unfavorable climate on the west coast of Africa for the journey south.

It takes a lot of courage to sail for months in unfamiliar waters where no one has gone before. Gama was undoubtedly a strong leader, but his personality was described as "domineering and violent," and after rounding the Cape of Good Hope on Nov. 22, Gama entered a new area of the sea. After rounding the Cape of Good Hope on November 22, the Gama fleet entered a new world. He then sailed north along the east coast of Africa.

On March 2, 1498, he entered Mozambique, and in April, at Malindi, Gama was joined by a famous local Arab navigator, Madjed. Under his guidance, the voyage took 23 days across the Arabian Sea, and on May 20, l498, nearly 10 months after leaving Portugal, Gama reached Calicut, the most famous commercial center in southern India.

Here, Gama was not a competent diplomat and was ridiculed for the shoddy gifts and goods he brought. But relying on force, he managed to grab gems and spices. The return voyage was less fortunate for the fleet, with many of the sailors dying of disease en route, including Da? Gamma's brother.

There were only two ships left, the Berio, which returned to Portugal on July 10, 1499, and Gama's flagship, which arrived in Lisbon on September 9, 1499, and survived until the start of the voyage. The surviving sailors were less than a third of the total number of sailors at the start of the voyage. But the profits in Europe from the return of goods such as spices were 60 times the cost of the expedition!

After the completion of the route to India, 1510, Portugal appointed the second "Governor-General of India" Albuquerque led the Portuguese armed ships occupied Goa, India, and established a stronghold for the continuation of eastward expansion. In the following year, he conquered Malacca, Malaysia, and occupied the territory of this "imperial state" of the Ming Dynasty of China as an outpost for the invasion of the Chinese coast.

In 1515, Hormuz also fell into its hands, in December of that year, Albuquerque finally died in Goa. Thus, after nearly a century of exploration, slaughter and looting, Portugal's eastern colonial empire spanning half the globe was finally established. Spain, the first giant of the Age of Sail, finally recovered its lost territory completely in 1492 when it captured Granada, the last Moorish bastion in Europe.

Once freed up, Spain immediately followed the Portuguese into seafaring expansion. Soon the two countries were fighting over colonies, and in June 1494, Pope Alexander VI ruled that the world should be divided into two by the 50th meridian of Greenwich, so that Portugal could only establish colonies east of the meridian, while Spain could establish colonies west of the meridian.

But the two most famous figures who opened the way for Spain were foreigners. Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), a native of Genoa, was of humble origin and almost illiterate until the age of 25. But he soon became proficient in at least four languages and scripts through hard work and self-education.

Columbus accepted the popular doctrine of the circle of the earth, and believed that he could reach India by sailing westward, thus avoiding the need to go around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, and the route could be greatly shortened. But his limited knowledge of geography led him to misjudge the voyage, and he could not have known that there was a continent in between! In 1484, he sold his plan to Portugal, but was met with a cold reception and rejection.

In 1485, he lobbied Spain again, and the Spanish crown was interested, but did not approve the costly project until 1492. Spain's economy was struggling at the time, and Queen Isabella even sold her diamond jewelry to support Columbus' voyage.

August 3, 1492, Columbus led a flotilla of three sailing ships left the port of Barros, members of the *** 121 people, the flagship is the "Santa Maria", only 120 ~ 130 tons. September 6, left the Canary Islands westward, October 12, 1492, "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto", "Pinto" and "Pinto". "On October 12, 1492, the Pinto's lookout finally sighted land.

Columbus was ecstatic, knowing that by this time the crew was desperate and could mutiny at any moment. Columbus's fleet reached a small island in the Bahamas in the Caribbean, but Columbus thought he had reached India and called the natives Indians, giving the word two meanings - Indian and Indian.

The locals were generous with gold for these uninvited guests. Columbus wrote in his journal, "I cannot believe that there are people in the world who are so kind as to give things away." After circling Cuba and Haiti, Columbus built a stronghold in Haiti due to the damage to his flagship, leaving behind a crew of 38. In January 1493, Columbus set sail for home with the remaining 2 ships, returning to Spain in March.

The first voyage discovered the New World, brought back gold, and Columbus was greatly honored and made an admiral. in September 1493, Columbus made a second voyage, but with little success. in 1498, during his third exploration of the New World, Columbus was accused of mutiny and was escorted back to Spain.

In 1502, Columbus managed to organize a fourth voyage across the Atlantic, and in May 1506 he died of illness, still believing that he had reached India. Although Columbus's "discoveries" did not immediately bring significant benefits to Spain, a succession of adventurers, such as Cortés and Pizarro, seized countless treasures from the Americas.

Fernando Magellan (1480-1000 BC), the first Spanish explorer to visit the Americas, was the first to visit the Americas. Magellan (1480-1521), originally a broken Portuguese nobleman, served the Portuguese crown. In March 1518, Charles I of Spain agreed to Magellan's plan to bypass the Americas and travel to the Spice Islands in Southeast Asia.

In September 1519, the five small ships of Magellan's fleet (***265 men) set sail. Unbeknownst to Magellan, he was on a path of no return, arriving in Recife, Brazil, in November and then traveling south along the South American coast. After much hardship and the loss of one ship, in October 1520, the fleet discovered the longed-for Strait.

On Nov. 28, the Magellanic flotilla broke out of the strait and entered the Pacific Ocean. The fleet was down to three ships at this point, as the largest food ship had deserted (these rebels returned home and counterclaimed that Magellan had mutinied, whereupon his family was left without financial resources, and his wife and a son soon died in poverty).

What followed was another 3 months of nightmare crossing the Pacific, and in March 1521, Magellan's fleet reached the Marianas. After getting food and fresh water and resting, Magellan reached the Philippine Islands on March 27th. At this time he finally realized that the route from Europe to the west to the East has been completed, the doctrine of the earth's circle is confirmed.

Magellan's diplomacy was much more skillful than that of Gama. Gamma was much more skillful, and even won the favor of the natives. But he became involved in local tribal infighting, and on April 27th Magellan was killed in battle by tribal warriors. The rest of the crew, under the leadership of El Kano, sailed in the "Sagittarius". Cano under the leadership of driving the "Victoria" after nine months of suffering voyage, in 1522 September 6, back to the starting point of Spain, completed the human history of the first circumnavigation of the world.

There were only 18 survivors and 26 tons of spices on board. In the age of the great voyage, ocean voyage was never a romantic thing. Not to mention the boring life, poor living conditions, hard work, food and fresh water is easy to deteriorate, but there will often be cut off water and food, scurvy is the enemy of the crew's life. Until the 18th century, the British Captain Cook only found an effective way to deal with scurvy.

The untold wealth of gold and silver obtained from the overseas colonies did not allow Portugal and Spain to prosper for long, nor did their domestic productivity develop. Portugal and Spain merely acted as bridges, and the wealth eventually found its way into the pockets of other European nations. from the 16th century onwards, Spain began to dream of hegemony across Europe, waging years of war to do so.

In 1580, Portugal was annexed by Spain. 1588 July, Spain's huge "invincible fleet" attacked Britain, was completely defeated by the British fleet, lost the hegemony of the sea, and has never recovered. The two great seafarers of the age of sail declined rapidly, and became the flower of yesterday.

Since then, Britain and the Netherlands have risen to replace Portugal and Spain. Known as the "sea coachman" of the Dutch by shipping and foreign trade developed rich, while the British rely on "black and white" sea privateering fleet started. The next step is the Anglo-Dutch and Anglo-French rivalry.

A time of wind and clouds change, if a road ... There is no doubt that at the beginning of the Great Age of Sail China has enough navigation technology, shipbuilding capacity and military power. 1405 ~ 1433, Zheng He fleet seven times to the West Ocean is a clear evidence.

Zheng He, whose family name was Ma, Sanbao, was born in 1371 in Yunnan Province, China, in a Hui family, originally practiced Islam, but later converted to Islam. 1405, Zheng He was appointed by Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, to make a mission to the Western Ocean. In 1405, Zheng He was sent by Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty on a mission to the Western Ocean, a region of the South China Sea west of Brunei and along the Indian Ocean.

Zheng He's fleet is huge, the largest treasure ship is about 151.8 meters long, 61.6 meters wide, displacement of more than 3,000 tons, *** more than 60, can be said to be the year of the "sea giant". In addition, there are horse ships, grain ships, grain ships, combat ships, etc., a variety of ships up to hundreds of ships.

The first time when the sea, the entire fleet has more than 27,000 people. 28 years, the seven seas, visited more than 30 countries and regions, the farthest to the northeast coast of Africa (today's Somalia) and the central coast of Africa (today's Kenya).

Everywhere he went, Zheng He, in his capacity as a peace envoy of the Ming Dynasty, presented gifts to the local kings or chiefs, expressing his sincerity in establishing diplomatic relations and friendly trade, and inviting them to visit China.

This was an act of peaceful diplomacy against the backdrop of strength, and it was highly effective. But it never occurred to us to use our great strength to seek Southeast Asia, India or Africa. At that time, the Ming rulers were satisfied as long as the neighboring countries around them verbally expressed their submission to us.

The impact of the Age of Sail continues to this day, with the Dutch invading Penghu in 1622 and massacring its inhabitants, and then invading Taiwan in 1624.

It was only 38 years later that Taiwan was recovered under the leadership of national hero Zheng Chenggong, and it was not until July 1, 1997 that Hong Kong was recovered after Britain forced the Qing government to sign the humiliating Treaty of Nanking on Aug. 29, 1842, which ceded Hong Kong to Britain. Another most prominent example is Macau!

Portugal conquered Malacca began to spy on China. 1513, in China's Guangdong Province near the first appeared by the Ming Dynasty called "Franco" of the Portuguese navigators. 1517, the Portuguese envoy Pires led a flotilla of ships to China. The Portuguese initially came with the ambition of conquering China, and faced with the courtesy of the Ming government more rampant, committed numerous crimes in Guangdong.

In August 1521, the Battle of Tuen Mun finally broke out between the Chinese and Portuguese. In 1522, the king of Portugal sent five ships and 300 expeditionaries to Tuen Mun to reinforce the Portuguese fleet, which led to the Battle of Xicao Bay.

The Ming army fought to the death to kill the enemy, capturing two Portuguese ships, capturing forty-two Portuguese soldiers, beheading more than thirty, and expelling the Portuguese from Guangdong. Since then the Portuguese have colluded with the Japanese and harassed the areas of Zhejiang and Fujian. The so-called Japanese pirates were originally an international pirate organization, in which many Chinese were involved.

Seeing that the hard way was not going to work, the Portuguese were allowed to enter Macau in 1553 on the pretext of drying wet goods and bribing Ming officials. From 1571 until 1849, the Portuguese paid an annual rent to China == to stay in Macau. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, China gained a large amount of silver from trade with the Portuguese in Macau, which also became the gateway for cultural, scientific and technological exchanges between the East and the West at that time.

But the good times didn't last long, in the early 18th century, the Portuguese in order to profiteer, opium as a drug from India to China's large number of smuggling, China's silver began to flow out in large quantities. The Portuguese are the initiator of poisoning our country with opium! The Portuguese also engaged in the criminal slave trade in Macau, which was no different from the slave trade carried out by Europeans in Africa and America at that time.

After the Opium War, Portugal took advantage of our internal and external difficulties to take advantage of the situation, gradually encroaching on and encroaching upon, until it occupied the whole territory of Macao. This was the origin of the Macau issue.

During most of the time that Portugal ruled Macau, the Chinese, who made up more than 90 percent of Macau's population, did not have any human rights to speak of there, but instead, heinous bloodshed and tragedy occurred time and again. The most recent was on December 3, 1966, when the Australian and Portuguese authorities suppressed a mass demonstration, killing 11 Chinese residents, wounding 212 and arresting 62 others.

Extended information:

Brief description of the Age of Sail:

The Age of Sail, also known as the Great Geographical Discovery, refers to the extensive transoceanic activities and major breakthroughs in geography initiated in various parts of the world, especially in Europe, during the 15th to 17th centuries. These seafaring activities facilitated communication between the continents of the planet, and with it the formation of numerous new trade routes.

With the opening of new routes, cultural and trade exchanges between East and West increased dramatically, and colonialism and free trade began to rise. Europe, on the other hand, grew rapidly during this period and laid the foundation for a prosperity that surpassed that of Asia.

People not only discovered new continents in this era, and grew a great deal of geographical knowledge, but also greatly promoted the European overseas trade, and became one of the important links in the rise of European capitalism. And the new routes to the world's continents in the centuries after the development of the long-lasting impact, for countries and peoples other than Europe, the impact of the great geographic discoveries is also complex and contradictory.

Baidu Encyclopedia - The Age of the Great Voyages