Zheng He’s Voyages on the Western Seas:the Glory of a Great Sea Empire

To China，the”western seas”were what is now called the Indian Ocean.Zheng He is the given name of the great Moslem eunuch admiral who led seven fleets out on extensive ocean going voyages.He lived from 1371 to 1433，his original name was Ma，meaning horse，his “small name”was Sanbao，meaning”three treasures.”He was originally from Kunming，Yun nan.In 1382，with his homeland in chaotic upheaval，he was forcefully conscripted into theMing army and castrated.He later entrered the court of the Prince of Yan，before becoming an imperial bodyguard for the Ming Emperor Chengzu，Zhu Di.At the time，countries on both sides of the Indian Ocean were devout believers in Islam，while many South Asian countries were Buddhist.Since Zheng He was an adherent of the Islamic religion，and knew ocean navigation，and since he had been a senior minister inside the court，the Ming Emperor Chengzu selected him to represent him as an official envoy.

For the 28 years from 1405 to 1433, Zheng He made seven trips to what at the time were called the Western Seas. He initiated and cultivated relations and maritime communicationsbetween China and 30 countries in Asia and Africa. His fleet crisscrossed the Indian Ocean countless times. He visited India, Persia, and the sacred city of Mecca in Arabia; in Africa he visited Mozambique on the eastern coast. These bold explorations preceded the ocean voyages of other maritime nations by some one hundred years. At its greatest, Zheng He’s fleet totaled more than 200 ships. His so-called Treasure Ships could carry goods of more than 1,000 tons.

The number of people in just one of his fleets exceeded 27,000 people. He navigated along more than forty primary lines of voyage, and is estimated to have covered 160,000 nautical miles.

The main purposes of Zheng He’s voyages were to suppress the pirate activity in the eastern Ocean, to protect the peaceful environment on the perimeter of the Ming Dynasty and safety on the seas; to develop foreign trade, to promote Chinese civilization, and to cow into submission the so-called Wokou, or Japanese pirates who operated from the 14th to the 16th century in Chinese coastal waters. Representing the Ming Emperor, Zheng He promulgated a humanist tradition of cooperation with allies, and he developed official trade. The famous British historian of science, Joseph Needham, noted that Zheng He’s fleet was the most powerful of any at the time and yet did not invade and occupy one inch of another county’s territory, nor set up any kind of military povocation to contest borders. It did not plunder the wealth of other countries and in its intercourse with others it adopted a policy of generosity and friendship, so that other countries were glad to submit.

In the third year of Yongle（1405），on the 1 sth of June，Zheng He began the first of his historic voyages.Travelling with him was a host of personnel including sailors，officials，carpenters，doctors，translators，and so on.The capabilities，preparations，and scale of the fleets were unparalleled in the world at that time.Sixty-two treasure ships held silk，ceramics，gold and silver objects，copper and steel objects，all kinds of products.The ships set sail from Liuhe Town，Taicang，Jiangsu（known as Liujia Port in olden times），they passed through Fujian and Guangdong to the central part of Vietnam，Java，Sri Lanka，Calicut，and other places.The first three voyages primarily visited Southeast Asia:Vietnam，Cambodia，Philippines，Indonesia，Singapore，Malaysia，Thailand，Burma，and Sri Lanka.Each time he arrived in a country，Zheng He would go on shore and pay his visit with the status of an official Chinese envoy.He would extend gifts.

Zheng He’s fourth voyage took him to the furthest places，the shores of the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Africa.These voyages were to have a considerable influence on coastal countries that he visited.They stirred up strong interest in visiting Ming-dynasty China and meeting with the emperor.The king and queen of what is now Kalimantan did come to Nanjing to visit，and were received by the Ming Emperor Chengzu，also rulers from Mali in East Africa who personally led a delegation to visit China.Unfortunately，the Mali king died in Fuzhou of illness.In the nineteenth year of the Yongle reign（1421），the envoys of 16 countries arrived in Nanjing.The primary mission of Zheng He’s sixth voyage was to return these sixteen emissaries safely to their home countries.On his seventh voyage，he specifically went to visit Mecca，the holy site of the Islam religion.On his return voyage，passing through“Guli”（nowIndia’s Calicut），he unfortunately passed away，dying honorably in his post of captain ofan ocean-going fleet.

Zheng He’s graveat the southwest side of Niushou Mountain in Nanjing.

Zheng He’s seven voyages strengthened the friendly relations of the Chinese people and the people of Asia and Africa，they displayed the fact that Chinese were building ships and had the various forms of technology necessary for such voyages.They proved that，at that time，China occupied the premier position in the world in the field of navigation.Zheng He’s voyages were a magnificent feat，representing a high point in efforts at global navigation for that age.The people of many Asian and African countries feel lingering affection for this envoy of Chinese friendship named”sanbao.”Today，one can still find traces of his passage:there is a Sanbao City on Java in Indonesia，as well as a Sanbao Mosque，In Thailand there is a Sanbao Temple and a Sanbao Tower.

The emperor who sent Zheng He off on his voyages was intrepid and astute.Zhu Di was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang，the founder of the dynasty.He seized the throne using the pretext of putting down a rebellion.In order to repress any opposition and consolidate his power，his rule was extremely severe.And yet at the same time his reign was characterized by a growing economy and he attempted to establish an open，strong，and unified kingdon He consolidated his frontiers.After taking power，he made five expeditions into Mongolia，pursuing and attacking the remnants of the Mongol army and relieving the Ming Dynasty of its northern threat.He dredged the Grand Canal，he developed communications，he moved the capital and his military presence to Beijing，becoming the first Han-nationality emperor toestablish his capital in that city.Zhu Difocused on restoring a healthy economy and on providinga livelihood for the people.He organized scholars to compile and edit the Yongle Encyclopedia，which contains more than 3 70 million characters’worth of information.He strengthened and consolidated his methods of rule，he established ruled over national minorities in the northeast.The merits of his reign were many，and it can be said that he presided over a country that was at the time the strongest in the world.The land area of the country under the Ming Dynasty，the area of tillable land，the number of total population，the tonnage carried by fleets，all were number one in the world.

hancheng

See author's posts