Chinese junks of the Great Zheng He (Zheng-He or Cheng Ho) (1371-1433) or Hajji Mahmud (Arabic name) Chinese eunuch and marine explorer.

Zheng He’s baochuan, or treasure ships, were enormous, with displacements estimated to be as high as 30,000 tons. Even the smallest of them would have been by far the largest wooden vessel ever built. (Roger Roche/Bridgeman Images)