Zheng He's navigation chart (Mao Kun map)
Mapa de navegación de Zheng He (carta de Mao Kun)
- Date
- c. 1430 (copia impresa en 1621) · confidence low
- Place
- Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
- Credited to
- Sailors and mapmakers of the Zheng He expeditions
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A scroll chart showing the route from Nanjing to Hormuz and the East African coast with bearings, distances and guiding stars. It summarises the navigation of the treasure fleets in the Indian Ocean.
The chart is known only from the Wubei zhi (1621), about two centuries after the voyages; its original date, authorship and relation to the fleets' navigation charts have been debated.
What it led to
- Chinese knowledge of ocean navigation and Indian Ocean routes
- a source for reconstructing the range of Zheng He's voyages