Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

600-Year-Old Ancient Warship Found In Shandong
Xinhuanet/China View ^ | 8-12-2005

Posted on 08/13/2005 11:33:57 AM PDT by blam

600-year-old ancient warship found in Shandong

www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-12 10:50:02

@BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Archaeologists have recently founda well-preserved ancient warship dated back to some 600 years ago, at a relics site in the ancient Dengzhou Harbor in Penglai, east China's Shandong Province.

This is the first discovery of a large ancient ship in China in over two decades.

The wooden ancient vessel, more than 20 meters long, is believed to be a warship from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), said You Shaoping, director of the Shandong Cultural Heritage Bureau, on Thursday.

The value of the ancient warship is yet to be determined by experts, said You, adding that it is similar to another ancient ship excavated not far away from the site about 20 years ago, but better preserved than that one.

In 1984, a warship of Yuan Dynasty was found in Penglai, and the ancient ship was the largest and best preserved ancient ship in China at that time.

The ancient ship, unearthed in 1984, is 28 meters long, 5.6 meters wide, and 1.2 meters high. The streamline warship was designed for fast navigation, said experts.

During the excavation of the ship some 20 years ago, a second ancient ship was found. But archaeologists buried it up again because half of the ship was covered by a local home.

Local government conducted a desilting project at the ancient harbor site this year. As residents of the site were relocated, archaeologists began to excavate the buried ship. To their surprise, the third, better preserved ship was discovered.

Experts said Chinese navigation in the Yuan and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties was relatively developed. The ancient Dengzhou harbor had been an important military harbor in north China 1,000 years ago.

The discovery of the ancient ships is of great importance to the research of China's history of warships and harbors, said experts. Enditem


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 1421; 600; ancient; found; gavinmenzies; godsgravesglyphs; history; old; shandong; warship; year
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

1 posted on 08/13/2005 11:34:00 AM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

GGG Ping.


2 posted on 08/13/2005 11:34:42 AM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Robert Byrd said, "Ah ha. That's where I left it."


3 posted on 08/13/2005 11:39:52 AM PDT by new yorker 77
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

The Chinese version of SAHARA ??? (Thank you Cussler for a great story!)


4 posted on 08/13/2005 11:40:53 AM PDT by EagleUSA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
China, a maritime sea-power? I recall after the Mongols conquered China, they attempted to invade Japan. It ended in disaster. Other than attacking Japan to exact revenge for coastal pirating, for what did an inward looking China need a navy?
5 posted on 08/13/2005 11:47:03 AM PDT by LoneRangerMassachusetts (Some say what's good for others, the others make the goods; it's the meddlers against the peddlers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Pictures.


6 posted on 08/13/2005 11:51:55 AM PDT by mtbopfuyn (Legality does not dictate morality... Lavin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LoneRangerMassachusetts

There was a brief period of Chinese navigation & eploration under a great admiral named Zheng He. I think that these vessels dated from around that period.


7 posted on 08/13/2005 12:05:46 PM PDT by Tallguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: LoneRangerMassachusetts

Turns out it's a scuttled loaner nuke sub from the Russians.


8 posted on 08/13/2005 12:17:35 PM PDT by Arkie2 (No, I never voted for Bill Clinton. I don't plan on voting Republican again!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: blam
600-Year-Old Ancient?
9 posted on 08/13/2005 1:27:41 PM PDT by joshhiggins
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LoneRangerMassachusetts; Tallguy
Explorer From China 'Who Beat Columbus To America'


10 posted on 08/13/2005 1:37:02 PM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: blam

Two minds on the same track. As I was reading about the Chinese ship, I was thinking -- that's about the same era as Columbus!


11 posted on 08/13/2005 3:03:59 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: blam
Instead, according to Gavin Menzies, ... the eunuch admiral, Zheng He, was there first.

Hmmmm. The article does not explain how, or why, Zheng He became a eunuch, although the Chinese were known to do that to foreigners and slaves in order to keep their race pure. Is it possible that Zeng He was from another (sea-faring) country? Fascinating!

12 posted on 08/13/2005 3:12:33 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: blam; FairOpinion; Ernest_at_the_Beach; StayAt HomeMother; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; asp1; ...
Thanks Blam.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
Gods, Graves, Glyphs PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

13 posted on 08/14/2005 2:47:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated by FR profile on Tuesday, May 10, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

WOW!

Good stuff!


14 posted on 08/14/2005 2:50:09 PM PDT by Monkey Face (Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Zheng He Ping! :) http://www.1421.tv/ (1421-The Year the Chinese Discovered the World)

While I'm sharing the very best bookmarks, here's another:

http://www.ancientroute.com/


15 posted on 08/14/2005 3:19:55 PM PDT by Graymatter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: afraidfortherepublic; blam
Hmmmm. The article does not explain how, or why, Zheng He became a eunuch, although the Chinese were known to do that to foreigners and slaves in order to keep their race pure.

Maybe he was careless sliding down some of those ratlines?

16 posted on 08/14/2005 3:24:42 PM PDT by tarheelswamprat (This tagline space for rent - cheap!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: blam
Explorer From China 'Who Beat Columbus To America'

Very nice, except that all wooden ships that large have been failures. It requires an iron frame at the least.

So9

17 posted on 08/14/2005 4:24:28 PM PDT by Servant of the 9 (Those Poor Poor Rubber Cows)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: blam
Interesting. By the way , have you ever read ??
18 posted on 08/14/2005 4:30:43 PM PDT by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tallguy
determined by experts, said You

a great admiral named Zheng He

You said, He said. Sounds like the makings of an Abbott and Costello skit.

19 posted on 08/14/2005 4:35:01 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: joshhiggins
600-Year-Old Ancient?

I'd just be making the last payment on it by now.

20 posted on 08/14/2005 4:36:27 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson