Ming Admiral Zheng He: Mysteries Behind the Exploits

More than 600 years ago, a formidable Chinese navy ruled the seas along China’s eastern and southern coastlines extending its superiority throughout the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to the Persian Gulf and East Africa. Between the period from 1405 to 1433, China’s Ming Dynasty launched seven voyages led by Admiral Zheng He to explore these vast regions, known to the Chinese as the Western Oceans.

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’re going to unravel the mysteries left by Zheng He, which are considered to be one of the great wonders of the ancient world.

Transcript

Ming Eunuch Admiral Zheng He: Mysteries Behind the Exploits

 

Hello, and welcome to The Context. My name is Scott Pruett and I’m an anchor with NewsChina. With our podcast, we aim to provide insight into the current trends of modern China allowing you to clearly see what’s happening today through a historical lens.

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’re going to unravel the mysteries left by Ming admiral Zheng He, who more than 600 years ago made seven voyages to the Western Oceans, which are considered to be one of the great wonders of the ancient world.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the commissioning of China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning, which was refitted from the unfinished Soviet-era carrier Varyag. Liaoning was followed a few years later by the country’s first domestically developed aircraft carrier Shandong, which was commissioned to the naval division of the People’s Liberation Army in 2019.

Earlier this year, China unveiled its third aircraft carrier, naming it after the southeast coastal province of Fujian. Fujian weighs in at around 100,000 tons when fully loaded, making it one of the world’s largest and mightiest naval vessels.

More than 600 years ago, a formidable Chinese navy ruled the seas along China’s eastern and southern coastlines extending its superiority throughout the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to the Persian Gulf and East Africa. Between the period from 1405 to 1433, China’s Ming Dynasty launched seven voyages led by Admiral Zheng He to explore these vast regions, known to the Chinese as the Western Oceans.

Zheng He arrived in West India almost a century prior to the inception of the Great Era of Navigation in Europe. The Ming admiral and his armada not only stand among the great wonders of the ancient world, but they also left behind a series of mysteries, which we are going to unravel today.

Zheng He was born in the year 1371 to a Muslim family in the modern-day city of Kunming in southwest China’s Yunnan Province. His family claimed descent from an early Mongol governor of the province. He was originally named Ma Sanbao and later Ma He, with the family name Ma derived from the Chinese rendition of Muhammad.

In the year 1381, following the fall of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, a Ming army was dispatched to Yunnan to put down the remaining rebels. The young Zheng He was among the boys who were captured, castrated, and sent to the army as orderlies. 

The army was placed under the command of Zhu Di, the then Prince of Yan, who later became the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Under Zhu Di, Zheng He not only learned military tactics but was also allowed to receive a proper education. By the year 1390, he had accompanied Zhu Di in numerous battles, distinguished himself as a military officer, and gained the trust of the prince.

Zhu Di was born in the year 1360 as the fourth son to the founder of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. From an early age, Zhu Di already proved to be more courageous and capable than his elder brother, Crown Prince Zhu Biao. However, according to Confucian principles, the eldest son was to succeed to the throne. Zhu Di became Prince of Yan, with his princedom located around modern-day Beijing.

In the year 1392, Crown Prince Zhu Biao grew ill and died unexpectedly. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had to choose a new successor – either the Crown Prince’s teenaged son, Zhu Yunwen, or the 32-year-old Zhu Di. In keeping with Confucian principles, the teenager was entitled to stand next in line for succession.

When Zhu Yuanzhang died in the year 1398, his grandson, Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen, became Emperor Jianwen. Fearing that his position was endangered by the military power of his many uncles, he demoted five of them to commoners. Anticipating that he might be next, Zhu Di rose up in rebellion. As the most powerful military commander, he undertook many campaigns under the pretext of “ridding the emperor of the evil ministers” to “appease the trouble”.

After four years, Zhu Di’s troops stormed the Ming capital of the modern-day Nanjing in east China’s Jiangsu Province. By the time the troops forced an entrance into the imperial palace, Emperor Jianwen, together with his empress and eldest son, had already been consumed by flames.

At the age of 42, Zhu Di took the throne under the name Yongle, meaning “Everlasting Joy”. He conferred the surname Zheng to the then Ma He, as a reward for his support as a key strategist in the campaigns. In the emperor’s new administration, Zheng He was made Grand Director of the Palace Servants, all of whom were eunuchs, by the way, and collectively formed a powerful political faction within the administration. A few years later, Zheng He was given command of the Imperial Navy, the highest rank for any eunuch in the history of China.

As Emperor Yongle set about establishing his regime, rumors persisted that Emperor Jianwen had survived, with some saying that he had escaped to Annam in northern Vietnam or some other foreign lands. Therefore, when Emperor Yongle ordered the construction of a huge ocean-going fleet, many believed that the maritime expeditions were intended to trace his nephew’s whereabouts. But most historians discredit this story, for it is obviously unnecessary to launch seven costly voyages for this purpose. 

Instead, it is suggested that a variety of concerns motivated the missions, including an intent to project a Chinese presence in and beyond the Indian Ocean, extend the new emperor’s political influence, seek trade opportunities and strategic alliances in Central Asia, and perhaps most importantly, gather tributes and endorsements for the legitimacy of his new regime obtained by a bloody coup.

The major trade route connecting China and Eurasia used to be the overland Silk Road, which rose to its peak with the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty by the 8th century. But as the eight-year An Lushan Rebellion struck a deadly blow, the Tang lost control over the Western Regions. By the Ming Dynasty, trade and travel along the route had decreased significantly.

At the same time, economic prosperity in south China was on the rise. The period also saw significant progress in shipbuilding technologies and navigation skills. This combination of factors meant that it was now much easier and there were more reasons to conduct overseas trade via the sea.

Between 1403 and 1407, under command of the emperor, workmen built well over 1,600 oceangoing junks of various sizes. The largest were called Treasure Ships, and the armada was known as the Treasure Fleet.

After much deliberation, the emperor chose to appoint Zheng He as the commander in chief of this mission, as his usurping of the throne encountered resistance from the Confucian scholar-officials in court. In addition to having the emperor’s trust, Zheng He was known for his military talent, knowledge in the classics and strategic insights. Though born to a Muslim family, Zheng He was reportedly also a Buddhist. His eclectic religious attitude and broadened cultural horizons made him a perfect candidate for the armada’s commander in chief.

In the year 1405, the Treasure Fleet left for Calicut, India, under the direction of Admiral Zheng He. The fleet comprised of 62 treasure ships, 190 smaller ones and 27,800 crew members. Emperor Yongle would oversee six such voyages through year 1422, and his grandson would launch a seventh in the year 1433.

During these voyages, Zheng He negotiated trade pacts, fought pirates, and brought back tributes for the emperor. He and his crew traveled and traded in southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and India, and even in the Arabian ports of modern-day Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

At each destination, Zheng He demanded the inhabitants submit to the Ming emperor as the Son of Heaven, and rewarded those who cooperated with gifts including gold, silver, porcelain, and silk. He brought back 36 foreign emissaries to bow before the Ming emperor, along with exotic articles in the form of jewels, medicine and animals. African giraffe and zebra became decorative animals of Chinese imperial gardens. Arabian glass artisans came to China with the fleet, which later resulted in glass vessels becoming common utensils in China.

In the year 1424, Emperor Yongle passed away. Zheng He had made six voyages in his name by then. The missions were impressive demonstrations of the Ming’s organizational capability and technological advancement; however, they did not lead to significant improvements in trade as Zheng He was primarily an admiral, not a merchant. Yet the cost of these expeditions weighed heavily on the Ming treasury.

When Emperor Yongle’s elder son, Zhu Gaozhi, succeeded the throne, he was known as Emperor Hongxi. Following his cautious nature, Hongxi ordered an end to all treasure fleet construction and repairs. He curbed Zheng He’s influence in the imperial court and appointed him garrison commander in Nanjing.

The Ming gave up any ambition to maintain a presence in the Indian Ocean and even destroyed most of the nautical charts that Zheng He had carefully prepared. The motivations were manyfold. In economic terms, the voyages seriously dented the coffers of the empire; in military terms, the Mongols and other nomadic groups were a constant military threat along the northern and western borders; in political terms, the eunuchs, as represented by Zheng He, exercised too much power in the imperial court and were bitterly opposed by the Confucian scholar bureaucrats.

But as fate would have it, Emperor Hongxi died less than a year into his reign. His 26-year-old son became Emperor Xuande. It was he who decided in the year 1430 to send Zheng He and the treasure fleet out again on a seventh voyage. On the return trip of his last voyage, as the fleet sailed east from Calicut, Zheng He died at the age of 62. He was buried at sea, although legend has it that the crew returned with a braid of his hair and his shoes for burial in Nanjing.

Although Zheng He looms as a larger-than-life figure in modern eyes both in China and abroad, Confucian scholar-officials made serious attempts to expunge the memory of him in the decades following his death. They feared a return to the wasteful spending on such expeditions. Nevertheless, Zheng He’s stories managed to survive, together with his descendants.

It might sound puzzling that a eunuch who lost his fertility at the age of 10 had any descents. But it turns out that Zheng He adopted a son from his older brother and recorded it in his genealogy as his own offspring. Over the centuries since Zheng He’s death, his descendants have prospered both in China and overseas, paying homage to their great ancestor on a regular basis. 

Zheng He’s descendants have three main branches: one branch is in Yuxi in his home province of Yunnan; a second is in Nanjing where his symbolic tomb is located; and a third is in Chiang Mai in Thailand. The total number of the three branches amount to about 500.

Memorial temples, halls, and parks dedicated to Zheng He are scattered along the routes he sailed. One of the largest is at the Taicang Port of Jiangsu Province, where it all began. The park is located at the starting point of Zheng He’s first expedition, and the memorial hall there recounts the heroic achievements of the admiral who led the largest and most advanced fleet ever seen until modern times. 

Well, that’s the end of part one of our podcast on Zheng He. Our theme music is by the famous film score composer Roc Chen. We want to thank our writer Lü Weitao, translator Yang Guang, and copy editor Pu Ren. And thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please tell a friend so they, too, can understand The Context.