An example of a louchuan (tower ship) employed in the battle (Example a Song Dynasty ship)
Today marks the 651st anniversary of one of the largest naval battles in history. Yes, you read that correctly 651 years ago in the year 1363 five hundred years before the American Civil War the Battle of Lake Poyang in China ended with the Chinese rebel forces of the Ming rebels under Zhu Yuanzhang defeating his rival, Chen Youliang of the Han. The battle has begun on August 30th and was one of the final battles fought in the fall of China’s Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming and the Han, along with the Wu the three most powerful groups seeking to topple the Yuan Dynasty.
The final elements of the month-long battle played out on October 4th. (You can read the full story of the battle at Wikipedia Battle of Lake Poyang.) On that date, The Ming employed fire ships (ships set on fire and sent into the midst of the enemy) and during the battle Chen Youliang suffered an arrow through the skull and died, shortly after which The Han surrendered. The Ming victory elevated The Ming to the top position among the rebel groups and they became the group that would take command when the Yuan Dynasty was toppled five years later. When that happened Zhu Yuanzhang became the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
In the battle The Han navy commanded led by Chen Youliang was composed of over 100 vessels and 650,000 men while The Ming forces numbered 200,00o men. After the battle defeated navy of The Han lost their leader Chen Youliang and most of their men. The Ming losses totaled 1,346 dead 11,347 wounded.
Of course after reading about Lake Poyang China’s largest freshwater lake I had find out where the lake was and more about it….here’s a map of the location of the lake within China.
From Wikipedia
Poyang Lake…. located in Jiangxi Province, is the largest freshwater lake in China.[3] The area of the lake fluctuates dramatically between the wet and dry seasons, but in recent years the size of the lake has been decreasing overall. In a normal year the area of the lake averages 3,500 square kilometres (1,400 sq mi). In early 2012, due to drought and the practice of storing water at the Three Gorges Dam the area of the lake reached a low of about 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi).[4] The lake provides a habitat for half a million migratory birds[5] and is a favorite destination for birding. It is fed by the Gan, Xin, and Xiu rivers, which connect to the Yangtze through a channel.
During the winter, the lake becomes home to a large number of migrating Siberian cranes, up to 90% of which spend the winter there. Read More
Finally I checked to see where Lake Poyang ranked on a list of the lakes of the world by area. The lake is not among the top 37 lakes of the world in area. What caught my attention though was the size of the Caspian Sea, which is listed as an oceanic lake, and I was off to find out more about it……I’ll tell you what I discovered a little later in the day!!!
