Without Beidou satellite, how did Zheng He not get lost in the Western Ocean?

Zheng He was the first representative figure to set sail in Chinese history. Compared with the era of great navigation in Europe, Zheng He's voyage to the West was more than 100 years earlier than that in Europe, and he had to feel that Judy, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, had no worse vision than his father Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, sea navigation is different from land. At that time, the technology of ocean navigation was not mature, there were not many ships at sea, and there was no way to ask for directions. What's more, at that time, the country did not have the concept of maritime territory, so it is hard to imagine how Zheng He did not get lost during his seven voyages to the West. After all, it took 14 times to go back and forth, which can be said to be a big project:

Zheng He was sailing on the shore.

If we observe Zheng He's navigation route map, we will find that almost all treasure ships are sailing close to the shore, which is also commonly known as? Sailing on the shore? .

Zheng He, on the other hand, combined the terrain of the landing site with the chart, because the chart will clearly mark the terrain of this place, tell you in which direction and how long you will encounter a marker, which can be used to estimate the approximate position.

This is also one of Zheng He's ways of sailing. After all, he can go ashore at any time and ensure materials and other aspects by sailing near the shore. Secondly, these landmarks can also ensure that he won't get lost during the voyage.

Of course, some people say that Zheng He reached Africa and other places as far as possible, and the statement of sailing near the shore is not reliable. Bian Xiao didn't comment on this, but according to the level of science and technology at that time, it was actually very difficult to do it, because the sailboats at that time were all wooden sailboats, and the wave resistance and sinking resistance were not very good, so sailing with the technology at that time was a great test for Zheng He.

Zheng He went to the Western Seas mainly to publicize Daming's national prestige and increase foreign trade, but he didn't die. Therefore, it is difficult for the treasure fleet to sail off the coast.

Through astronomical routes

Do friends who often watch TV often see a position similar to a court fortune teller in TV dramas? Their usual job is to record the stars every day, and then infer what will happen according to the recorded stars, and so on.

This seems very? Metaphysics? But sometimes we shouldn't underestimate the wisdom of the ancients, because now we really want many things that science can't explain, such as astronomy. Now we are most interested in feeling the vastness of the universe.

But the ancients didn't have that many hobbies. At that time, their observation of astronomy, in addition to studying life, played a more important role in understanding the road. We can see that these records are found in many ancient books:

Huainanzi:

A boat full of confused people don't know anything, but they will be embarrassed when they see the pole. ? (Western Han Dynasty)

The story of the Buddha:

The sea is vast, I don't know anything, but I hope the sun, the moon and the stars will enter. ? (Eastern Jin Dynasty)

So we can see that this is also a crucial link in ancient navigation technology. At that time, many fleets used to look at the stars at night to identify their direction.

Of course, this method also has limitations. One is that the positioning accuracy is not high and it can only be used as a reference. Another special embarrassment is how to move forward when it is cloudy.

We don't know the magical function of compass?

To say Zheng He's greatest contribution to the voyage to the West, we have to mention one of China's four great inventions: the compass. We know that in ancient times, the compass was the only tool that could tell the direction:

In the Ming Dynasty, the compass became a common navigation tool. Although there was still room for improvement in technology at that time, it was still helpful for navigation at that time.

Today? Beidou navigation? With the comprehensive networking of the system, China's satellite navigation has made a qualitative leap, but it is also the exploration of predecessors that accompanies us. With the progress of mankind, technology is also advancing by leaps and bounds.