The treasure ships had an enormous cargo of various products.[2] Admiral Zheng returned to China with many kinds of tribute goods, such as silver, spices, sandalwood, precious stones, ivory, ebony, camphor, tin, deer hides, coral, kingfisher feathers, tortoise shells, gums and resin, rhinoceros horn, sapanwood and safflower (for dyes and drugs), Indian cotton cloth, and ambergris (for perfume).[2] They even brought back exotic animals, such as ostriches, elephants, and giraffes.[2] The imports from the voyages provided the large quantities of economic goods that fueled China's own industries.[3] There was so much cobalt oxide from Persia that the porcelain center Jingdezhen had a plentiful supply for decades after the voyages.[2] The fleet also returned with such a large amount of black pepper that the once-costly luxury became a common commodity in Chinese society.[2] There were sometimes so many Chinese goods unloaded into an Indian port that it could take months to price everything.[4][5] The treasure voyages resulted in a flourishing Ming economy,[6] while boosting the lucrative maritime commerce to an all-time high.[7] The voyages also induced a sudden supply shock in the Eurasian market, where the Chinese maritime exploits in Asia led to disruptions of European imports with sudden price spikes in the early 15th century.[8]
The commodities that the ships carried included three major categories: gifts to be bestowed on rulers, items for exchange of goods or payment of goods with fixed prices at low rates (e.g. gold, silver, copper coins, and paper money), and items in which China had the monopoly (e.g. musks, ceramics, and silks).[9] However, the Ming trade enterprise also saw significant changes and developments in which the Chinese themselves began trading and supplying the commodities that were non-Chinese in origin and earlier entirely in the hands of the Indians, Arabs, and other foreigners.[9] For instance, they shipped Southeast Asian sandalwood and Indian pepper to Aden and Dhofar, Indian putchuk and pepper to Hormuz, sandalwood and rice to Mogadishu, and iron cauldrons and pans to Mecca.[9] This highlighted the commercial character of the voyages, in which the Chinese further expanded upon the already large profits from their trade.[9]
The impact of the Ming expeditions on commerce was on multiple levels: it established imperial control over local private commercial networks, expanded tributary relations and thereby brought commerce under state supervision, established court-supervised transactions at foreign ports and thereby generate substantial revenue for both parties, and increased production and circulation of commodities across the region.[10]
Imperial proclamations were issued to the foreign kings, which meant that they could either submit and be bestowed with rewards or refuse and be pacified under the threat of an overwhelming military force.[11][12] Foreign kings had to reaffirm their recognition of the Chinese emperor's superior status by presenting tribute.[13] Many countries were enrolled as tributaries.[14] The treasure fleet conducted the transport of the many foreign envoys to China and back, but some envoys traveled independently.[15] Those rulers who submitted received political protection and material rewards.[16]
During the Hongwu reign, the situation in the Malay-Indonesian world was viewed with a negative attitude.[17] However, the treasure fleet came to dominate the Malay-Indonesian sphere via Java, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula.[17] In Ceylon and southern India, the treasure fleet forced the political situation of the region into their favor, while making the maritime routes safe for commerce and diplomacy.[17]
Overview
In Malacca, the Chinese actively sought to develop a commercial hub and a base of operation for the voyages into the Indian Ocean.[18] Malacca had been a relatively insignificant region, not even qualifying as a polity prior to the voyages according to both Ma Huan and Fei Xin, and was a vassal region of Siam.[18] In 1405, the Ming court dispatched Zheng He with a stone tablet enfeoffing the Western Mountain of Malacca as well as an imperial order elevating the status of the port to a country.[18] The Chinese also established a government depot (官廠) as a fortified cantonment for their soldiers.[18] It served as a storage facility as the fleet traveled and assembled from other destinations within the maritime region.[19] Ma Huan reports that Siam did not dare to invade Malacca thereafter.[18] The rulers of Malacca, such as King Paramesvara in 1411, would pay tribute to the Chinese emperor in person.[18] In 1431, when a Malaccan representative complained that Siam was obstructing tribute missions to the Ming court, the Xuande Emperor dispatched Zheng He carrying a threatening message for the Siamese king saying "You, king should respect my orders, develop good relations with your neighbours, examine and instruct your subordinates and not act recklessly or aggressively."[18]
In 1404, the eunuch envoy Yin Qing was sent on a mission from Ming China to Malacca.[20] King Paramesvara of Malacca (r. 1399–1413), delighted by this, reciprocated with an envoy bearing tribute in local products.[20] A year later during the first treasure voyage, Admiral Zheng He arrived at Malacca to formally confer Paramesvara's investiture as King of Malacca.[20] Malacca's ruling house would be on friendly terms with Ming China and collaborate with the treasure fleet.[20] The Ming recognition and alliance was a factor that ensured stability in Malacca.[21] Malacca prospered and gradually came to replace Palembang as the regional trading center.[22]
Tribute Giraffe with Attendant, depicting a giraffe presented by Bengali envoys to the Ming court (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
The Taizong Shilu entry of 12 August 1406 noted that Chen Zuyi and Liang Daoming sent envoys to the Ming court, possibly while Admiral Zheng He was commanding the treasure fleet through Indonesian waters to return home.[23] Chen Zuyi sent his son Chen Shiliang to the Ming court.[23] Liang Daoming sent his nephew Liang Guanzheng, Xigandaliye, and Hajji Muhammad to the Ming court.[23] The Ming court understood that Liang Daoming was the leader of the Chinese community at Palembang, but ranked Chen Zuyi above Liang as they saw Chen as the Chieftain (toumu) of Palembang, which was not an official Ming title.[23] It is possible that Chen Zuyi had hoped for official recognition by the Ming court, but it never came to be.[23] Admiral Zheng He was informed by Shi Jinqing about Chen Zuyi's piracy, causing Chen to be classified as a pirate in the eyes of the Chinese authorities.[24] During the first voyage, Admiral Zheng He established order in Palembang under Chinese rule.[25] The Ming court recognized Shi Jinqing as the Grand Chieftain (da toumu) of Palembang after Admiral Zheng He had captured Chen Zuyi.[26] After Shi Jinqing's death, his daughter Shi Erjie became king (wang)—a title normally not held by women—rather than his son, a very uncommon situation for both the patriarchal Chinese and Muslims.[26]
On 27 February 1425, according to the Taizong Shilu, Admiral Zheng He was sent on a diplomatic mission to confer a gauze cap, a ceremonial robe (with floral gold woven into gold patterns in the silk), and a silver seal on Shi Jisun (Shi Jinqing's son), who had received the Yongle Emperor's approval to succeed his father's office of Pacification Commissioner.[27] The Taizong Shilu didn't define Palembang as a separate country on its own right.[28] In contemporary Chinese sources, Palembang was mostly known as Jiugang (lit. "Old Harbor").[25]
During the second voyage, the rulers of Calicut, Malacca, and Champa had made it a policy to cooperate with Ming China and gave the treasure fleet a series of bases from where they could operate during their travels.[29] For the second voyage, one of the main responsibilities was to confer formal investiture on the King of Calicut.[30][31] Early in the voyages, Ceylon was perceived with considerable enmity by China.[22] Its rulers were even actively hostile towards the treasure fleet when they arrived during the third voyage.[22]
On the Malabar coast, Calicut and Cochin were in an intense rivalry, so the Ming decided to intervene by granting special status to Cochin and its ruler Keyili (可亦里).[32] For the fifth voyage, Zheng He was instructed to confer a seal upon Keyili of Cochin and enfeoff a mountain in his kingdom as the Zhenguo Zhi Shan (鎮國之山, Mountain Which Protects the Country).[32] He delivered a stone tablet, inscribed with a proclamation composed by the Yongle Emperor, to Cochin.[32] As long as Cochin remained under the protection of Ming China, the Zamorin of Calicut was unable to invade Cochin and a military conflict was averted.[32] The cessation of the Ming treasure voyages consequently had a negative outcome for Cochin, because the Zamorin would eventually launch an invasion against Cochin.[32]
In 1408, King Ghiyath-ud-Din of Bengal sent a tribute mission to China.[34] In 1412, an envoy was sent to announce the death of King Ghiyath-ud-Din and the accession of his son Sa'if-ud-Din as the new king.[34] In 1414, King Jalal-ud-Din (r. 1414–1431) sent a giraffe as tribute to China.[34] In 1415, the Yongle Emperor sent Hou Xian to confer gifts to the king, queen, and ministers of Bengal.[34] Hou Xian was a Grand Director who had accompanied Zheng He during the second and third voyage.[34] In 1420, when the Sultan of Bengal appealed for Ming protection against attacks from the neighbouring Sultan of Jaunpur, Hou Xian was dispatched with a military force which succeeded in keeping the peace without using violence.[35] In 1438, Bengal sent a giraffe as tribute to China.[34] In 1439, Bengal sent a tribute mission to China.[34]
Ma Huan and the Mingshi described Aden as a Muslim country whose people were overbearing and whose ruler had 7 to 8 thousand well-drilled horsemen and foot soldiers, thus the country was relatively powerful and its neighbors were fearful of it.[36] Aden's king was al-Malik an-Nasir Salah-ad-Din Ahmad (r. 1400–1424) of the Rasulid dynasty, who earlier had taken control of Yemen from the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.[36] King Ahmad accepted the imperial edict and gifts that he received from the Chinese envoys and greeted them "with great reverence and humility" when they visited Aden during the treasure fleet's fifth voyage.[36] He may have hoped for military assistance against the threat that the Mamluk Sultanate posed at the time.[36][37] Even though the fleet returned in the sixth voyage, Yemen fell apart when their slave soldiers repeatedly rebelled under the reigns of King Ahmed's descendants: Abdallah, (r. 1424–1427, his son), Isma'il II (r.1427–1428, his son), and Yahya (r. 1428–1439, son of Isma'il II).[36] The Mingshi noted that Aden had sent a total of four tribute missions to China.[36]
In reference to the last expedition in connection to the Mamluk Sultanate, Ibn Taghribirdi's account, dated 21 June 1432, recorded a report that came from Mecca about two Chinese ships that had anchored at Aden after departing from India.[38] The two captains of the ships had written to Sharif Barakat ibn Hasan ibn Ajlan (Emir of Mecca) and Sa'd al-Din Ibrahim ibn al-Marra (controller of Jeddah) for permission to come to Jeddah, as stated by the report, since the cargo was not loaded off the ships in Aden due to the disorder in Yemen.[38] The account noted that the latter two wrote to the sultan about this, making him eager for the many Chinese goods, thus the sultan wrote back that the Chinese may come to Jeddah and are to be treated with honor.[38]
Several African nations sent ambassadors who presented elephants and rhinoceroses as tribute to China.[39] In 1415, Malindi presented a giraffe.[40] The final tribute mission from Malindi was in 1416, but it is not known which local products were presented to the Ming court.[41]
According to Zheng He's two inscriptions, Mogadishu presented zebras (huafulu) and lions as tribute to them during the fifth voyage.[42] The inscriptions also noted that Brava presented camels and ostriches as tribute during the voyage.[42] Brava sent a total of four tribute missions to China from 1416 to 1423.[42]
Aden had sent tribute giraffes on the fifth and sixth voyages, but the one on the fifth never arrived in China.[41] Mecca had also sent them on the seventh voyage.[41] The giraffes were not likely to be native to Aden or Mecca.[41] Bengal also sent a tribute giraffe, although it was said that it was a re-export from Malindi.[41]
Between 30 December 1418 and 27 January 1419, Ming China's treasure fleet visited Yemen under the reign of Al Malik al Nasir.[43] The Chinese envoy, presumably Admiral Zheng He, was accompanied by the Yemeni envoy Kadi Wazif al-Abdur Rahman bin-Zumeir who escorted him to the Yemeni court.[43] The Chinese brought gifts equivalent to 20,000 miscals, comprising expensive perfumes, scented wood, and Chinese potteries.[43] The Yemeni ruler sent luxury goods made from coral at the port of Ifranza, wild cattle and donkeys, domesticated lion cubs, and wild and trained leopards in exchange.[43] The Yemeni envoy accompanied the Chinese to the port of Aden with the gifts, which maintained trade under the facade of gift exchange.[43]
In 1405–1406, 1408-1410 and 1417, the treasure fleet under Zheng He visited the kingdoms of the Philippines such as Pangasinan, Manila, Mindoro and Sulu, establishing tributary relations and even stationing a "governor", Ko-ch'a-lao, to oversee them. These visits helped to elevate Sulu into a major centre of commerce.[44][45]
The passage of the treasure fleet precipitated the formation of a tributary relationship with Brunei in 1405. The Ming subsequently invested the new ruler of Brunei in 1408 while the Bruneian royals were visiting China, and freed Brunei from paying tribute to the Majapahit, which in 1407 had been successfully pressured by show of force into apologising for the mistaken killing of Ming soldiers.[46]
Related Research Articles
Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa, was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean and built a reputation as a fierce and skilled military commander.
Zheng He was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during the early Ming dynasty often regarded as the greatest admiral in Chinese history. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred by the Yongle Emperor. Commissioned by the Yongle Emperor and later the Xuande Emperor, Zheng commanded seven expeditionary treasure voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. According to legend, his larger ships carried hundreds of sailors on four decks and were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded.
The Malacca Sultanate was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks c. 1400 as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswara, also known as Iskandar Shah, although earlier dates for its founding have been proposed. At the height of the sultanate's power in the 15th century, its capital grew into one of the most important transshipment ports of its time, with territory covering much of the Malay Peninsula, the Riau Islands and a significant portion of the northern coast of Sumatra in present-day Indonesia.
A Chinese treasure ship is a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty. The size of the largest Chinese treasure ships has been a subject of controversy, with some Chinese records mentioning the size of 44 zhang or 44.4 zhang, which has been interpreted by some as over 100 m (330 ft) in length, while others have stated that Zheng He's largest ship was 70 m (230 ft) or less in length.
Kochi is a city located in the Ernakulam District in the Indian state of Kerala about 200 km from Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala.
Liang Daoming was an abscondee of the Chinese Ming Dynasty who became king of Palembang in Srivijaya. He hailed from Guangdong province and was of Cantonese descent. According to the Ming records, he had thousands of followers and a sizable military contingent in Palembang. Liang Daoming's rule over Palembang was acknowledged by the Ming emperor and protected by Zheng He's armada (1403-1424).
Shi Jinqing was a late 14th century chieftain in Palembang. He was a Muslim whose ancestors were Hui people from Hangzhou. The Ming imperial administration appointed him as chieftain xuanweishi of the Palembang district for his contribution in helping Ming admiral Zheng He defeat the pirate leader Chen Zuyi. Shi Jinqing had already been appointed an official civil servant of the Majapahit kingdom of Java, sent to Palembang to serve as a minister after the Majapahit defeated Srivijaya in the year 1377.
Shi Daniang, known as the Great Lady of Gresik or Nyai Gede Pinatih, was a Chinese-Muslim noblewoman from Palembang during the Majapahit era. She was the daughter of chieftain xuanweishi Shi Jinqing of Palembang. After her father died, Admiral Zheng He of Ming China decided to make her brother the new chieftain of Palembang, so she left Palembang and went to Gresik in east Java to preach her religion to the natives.
The Xingcha Shenglan was a Chinese historical work written by Fei Xin. Fei Xin served as a soldier in the third, fifth, and seventh Ming treasure voyages under the command of Admiral Zheng He. The book contains descriptions of foreign places that the Chinese mariners had seen. The literary term "star raft" refers to an ambassador's flagship.
Hong Bao was a Chinese eunuch sent on overseas diplomatic missions during the reigns of the Yongle Emperor and Xuande Emperor in the Ming dynasty. He is best known as the commander of one of the detached squadrons of Zheng He's fleet during the Seventh Voyage of this fleet to the Indian Ocean (1431–1433).
The Galle Trilingual Inscription is a stone tablet with an inscription in three languages, Chinese, Tamil and Persian, located in Galle, Sri Lanka. Dated 15 February 1409, it was installed by the Chinese admiral Zheng He in Galle during his grand voyages.
The Ming–Kotte War was a military conflict between the expeditionary forces of Ming China and the Sinhalese Kotte Kingdom in the southern territories of Sri Lanka. The conflict happened when Ming China's treasure fleet returned to Sri Lanka in 1410 or 1411. It resulted in the overthrow of King Alakeshvara of the Alagakkonara feudatory, who was replaced by Parakramabahu VI of the previous royal family.
Parameswara, thought to be the same person named in the Malay Annals as Iskandar Shah, was the last king of Singapura and the founder of Malacca. According to the Malay Annals, he ruled Singapura from 1389 to 1398. The king fled the island kingdom after a Majapahit naval invasion in 1398 and founded his new stronghold on the mouth of Bertam river in 1402. Within decades, the new city grew rapidly to become the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. Portuguese accounts however, written a hundred years after his death, suggest he was from Palembang in Sumatra and usurped the throne of Singapura; he was driven out, either by the Siamese or the Majapahit, and went on to found Malacca.
The tributary system of China, or Cefeng system at its height was a network of loose international relations centered around China which facilitated trade and foreign relations by acknowledging China's hegemonic role within a Sinocentric world order. It involved multiple relationships of trade, military force, diplomacy and ritual. The other states had to send a tributary envoy to China on schedule, who would kowtow to the Chinese emperor as a form of tribute, and acknowledge his superiority and precedence. The other countries followed China's formal ritual in order to keep the peace with the more powerful neighbor and be eligible for diplomatic or military help under certain conditions. Political actors within the tributary system were largely autonomous and in almost all cases virtually independent.
Chen Zuyi ; died 2 October 1407) was a 15th-century Chinese pirate from Guangdong, and was one of the most feared pirates to infest the seas of Southeast Asia. He ruled the city of Palembang, and raided the Strait of Malacca to plunder shipping and prey on both native and foreign merchants for several years. His fleet was defeated by the Ming dynasty Admiral Zheng He at the Battle of Palembang (1407). Chen was captured and sent to Chinese capital Nanjing for execution.
The Ming treasure voyages were maritime expeditions undertaken by Ming China's treasure fleet between 1405 and 1433. The Yongle Emperor ordered the construction of the fleet in 1403. The grand project resulted in seven far-reaching ocean voyages to the coastal territories and islands in and around the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Admiral Zheng He was commissioned to command the fleet for the expeditions. Six of the voyages occurred during the Yongle Emperor's reign and the seventh voyage occurred during the Xuande Emperor's reign. The first three voyages reached up to Calicut on India's Malabar Coast, while the fourth voyage went as far as Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. In the last three voyages, the fleet traveled up to the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.
Xia Yuanji was a Ming dynasty government minister. He was born in Xiangyin County, Hunan Province, which was then part of Huguang Province. His ancestral home was Dexing, Jiangxi. Xia read the Classic of Poetry and became a Xiucai at the age of 23, joining the Guozijian. Early in his career, he saw service under the Hongwu Emperor and Jianwen Emperor. After the Yongle Emperor came to the throne, he was sent to inspect Suzhou Creek. Xia opposed both Zheng He's overseas voyages and the Yongle Emperor's campaigns against the Mongols.
The Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route is the maritime section of the historic Silk Road that connected China, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula, Somalia, Egypt and Europe. It began by the 2nd century BCE and flourished later on until the 15th century CE. Major players in the Maritime Silk Road include the merchants from the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties of imperial China, Austronesian sailors in Southeast Asia, Tamil merchants in India and Southeast Asia, and Persian and Arab traders in the Arabian Sea and beyond. The network followed the footsteps of older maritime networks in Southeast Asia, as well as the maritime spice networks of Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, India, and the Indian Ocean, coinciding with these ancient maritime trade roads by the current era.
The Battle of Palembang was a naval battle fought in 1407 between Ming China's treasure fleet commanded by Admiral Zheng He and the pirate fleet of Chen Zuyi at Palembang, Sumatra, in what is now modern Indonesia. The battle resulted in the defeat of Chen Zuyi, who was captured and sent to China for execution.
This entry is about sailors during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). China has a long history of navigation and sailing, and in the early Ming, Chinese navigational power was even stronger than the European powers. The founder of the Ming dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor, strictly prohibited sailing abroad, but one of his later successors, the Yongle Emperor, preferred to use large fleets to build a tributary system and to show the Ming empire's national power. After his death, however, emperors were disinclined for supporting such explorations to the world overseas. The revival of maritime trade happened in mid 16th century when the Portuguese were allowed to trade in the port city of Macao and the Longqing Emperor opened Quanzhou as a port for legal international trade.
↑ Juliet Lee Uytanlet; Michael Rynkiewich (2016). The Hybrid Tsinoys: Challenges of Hybridity and Homogeneity as Sociocultural Constructs among the Chinese in the Philippines. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p.222. ISBN978-1498229067.
↑ Ho Khai Leong (2009). Connecting and Distancing: Southeast Asia and China. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p.33. ISBN978-9812308566.
↑ Marie-Sybille de Vienne (2015). Brunei: From the Age of Commerce to the 21st Century. NUS Press. pp.40–43. ISBN978-9971698188.
Bibliography
Brook, Timothy (1998). "Communications and Commerce". The Cambridge History of China, Volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, 1398–1644, Part 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521243339.
Chaudhuri, K.N. (1989). "A Note on Ibn Taghrī Birdī's Description of Chinese Ships in Aden and Jedda". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 121 (1): 112. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00167899. JSTOR25212419.
Church, Sally K. (2004). "The Giraffe of Bengal: A Medieval Encounter in Ming China". The Medieval History Journal. 7 (1): 1–37. doi:10.1177/097194580400700101. S2CID161549135.
Dreyer, Edward L. (2007). Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433. New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN9780321084439.
Finlay, Robert (1992). "Portuguese and Chinese Maritime Imperialism: Camoes's Lusiads and Luo Maodeng's Voyage of the San Bao Eunuch". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 34 (2): 225–241. doi:10.1017/S0010417500017667. JSTOR178944.
Finlay, Robert (2008). "The Voyages of Zheng He: Ideology, State Power, and Maritime Trade in Ming China". Journal of the Historical Society. 8 (3): 327–347. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5923.2008.00250.x.
Mills, J.V.G. (1970). Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' [1433]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-01032-2.
Ray, Haraprasad (1987a). "An Analysis of the Chinese Maritime Voyages into the Indian Ocean during Early Ming Dynasty and their Raison d'Etre". China Report. 23 (1): 65–87. doi:10.1177/000944558702300107. S2CID154116680.
Ray, Haraprasad (1987b). "The Eighth Voyage of the Dragon that Never Was: An Enquiry into the Causes of Cessation of Voyages During Early Ming Dynasty". China Report. 23 (2): 157–178. doi:10.1177/000944558702300202. S2CID155029177.
Sen, Tansen (2016). "The Impact of Zheng He's Expeditions on Indian Ocean Interactions". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 79 (3): 609–636. doi:10.1017/S0041977X16001038.
Tan, Ta Sen (2005). "Did Zheng He Set Out To Colonize Southeast Asia?". Admiral Zheng He & Southeast Asia. Singapore: International Zheng He Society. ISBN981-230-329-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
