College Board Themes
1. Interaction between humans and the environment
This theme applies because of how the sailors learned about the wind patterns, and how to sail around the winds
2. Development and Interaction of Cultures
This theme applies because of how the sailors and shipbuilders took ideas from other cultures and applied them to theirs
This theme applies because of how the sailors learned about the wind patterns, and how to sail around the winds
2. Development and Interaction of Cultures
This theme applies because of how the sailors and shipbuilders took ideas from other cultures and applied them to theirs
Advancements
- In order to reach harder to reach places for trade, Sailors learned to build ships stronger to survive bad conditions
- To make ships more maneuverable and make it easier to get places, rudders were added to the rear of ships (a Chinese invention)
- Important navigational equipment consisted of astrolabes and magnetic compasses
- Previous sails were square only, making it hard to sail in crosswinds, so triangular sails were added to work in crosswinds
- To more efficiently sail and move more quickly, sailors started keeping track of wind patterns
- A Portuguese strategy, the volta do mar, was created as a way of sailing around the winds to reach places instead of sailing against the winds
- Later on, compasses and astrolabes were replaced with cross staffs and black staffs
A ship with only triangular sails, note the rudder at the rear of the boat.
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A ship with both triangular and square sails
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A black staff, which was used to help determine location was more accurate than a cross staff pictured to the right.
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A map showing a route that follows the volta do mar. The sailors would follow the winds and currents going a more roundabout way to get to there destination as opposed to trying to sail against the wind.
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A cross staff, used to determine location.
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Comparison: Nautical achievements in Europe vs Tang/Song China
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Europe
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Tang/Song China
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