Between 1405 and 1433, Emperor Yongle of China's Ming Dynasty initiated a series of expeditions and voyages throughout the Indian Ocean basin. These seven journeys, led by Muslim Chinese admiral and eunuch Zheng He, were intended to expand China's sphere of power and influence in the bustling commercial arena of the Indian Ocean. (The routes Zheng He took can be seen in the map at right). The ships carried vast quantities of treasure, and bestowed gifts upon the peoples they encountered in return for new and exotic goods that they could take back to China. They hoped to ensure more lasting trade relationships and a deference to the might and prestige of Chinese culture.
Contributing to the wealth that the Chinese exuded was the enormity of Zheng He's fleet. His first voyage included 317 ships (with 60 treasure ships) and nearly 28,000 men aboard them. At left is a side-by-side comparison of one of Zheng He's treasure ships and the vessel that, within the same century, Christopher Columbus would sail to the Indies in. Naturally, Zheng He's is the far larger ship; some records proclaimed the treasure ships to have been nearly 450 feet in length, with nine masts and four decks. Developing nations in Europe could not hope to compete with the prestige that China had carried for so long - nor had they the wealth that China had - and thus the ships that initially traversed the Atlantic were far smaller than many that had sailed the Indian Ocean's rim.
Zheng He's first ocean voyage took him to Calcutta (Calicut), a major port city on the west coast of India (pictured right). Many stops were made along the way - Vijaya, the capital of Champa; Siam; Java; Malacca, another city made famous through trade; and Ceylon. The most widely desired Indian goods were their textiles - cotton, specifically - and spices, of which there was a huge variety. Zheng He's other Southeast Asian stops would have yielded additional spices, gemstones and precious minerals, a wide variety of agricultural products, and rhinoceros horns. Zheng He's second and third journeys returned him to these locations once again.
Spices were India's most sought-after exports; cardamom, chili, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, bay leaves, coriander, poppy, fennel, and saffron are but a sampling of India's most popular goods. Though the Chinese had the capacity to grow many spices of their own, a tribute gift of Indian spices would be quite impressionable on the Chinese government, considering the value of Indian spices. Additionally, the Chinese economy had grown more and more specialized, with an emphasis on producing goods that could be traded, rather than goods to sustain the native population. Thus, things like food products were more likely to have been traded for, even if they could have been grown in the Chinese climate.
In his fourth, fifth, and sixth journeys, Zheng He and his fleet traveled all the way to Hormuz; the Strait of Hormuz (at right) is located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden. Like India, Hormuz was a great exporter of spices in its region. Other products grown there were indigo, various grains, and palm groves, which would have produced a multitude of products. More important to trade and commerce in Hormuz was its strategic location on a strait, allowing its governing nation more control over the trade in the region. As in Malacca, this position on an important trade route - the one connecting the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean - would make Hormuz more of a trade destination, both for merchants in the Gulf, or from the Indian Ocean. This passage connected Hormuz to the flourishing Ottoman Empire, which was an important trade empire. Serving as the crossroads between East and West, the Ottomans dealt in a wide variety of trade goods, as well as manufacturing their own artisan products.
As Zheng He traveled towards the Strait of Hormuz, he made his way around the edge of the entire Arabian Peninsula, near the cities of Muscat and Aden. These port cities were within a very close proximity to the heartland of Islam - Mecca and Medina - and were thus a part of the prosperous Islamic empire. Beautiful art (left) is one example of the fine goods they would have had to offer the Chinese. Additionally, the scholarship of the empire was expansive, and as well as just material goods, Zheng He would have been able to assist in the trade of cultural and intellectual ideas.
The journeys to the far western edge of the Indian Ocean included not just cities on the Arabian Peninsula, but also on the coast of Africa. Mogadishu and Malindi were two African port cities that Zheng He visited. Most famous were the animals he brought back from Africa; zebras and giraffes (right), neither of which the Chinese had ever seen before. The giraffe, in particular, bore an uncanny resemblance to the Chinese mythical beast called the qilin. Emperor Yongle took the appearance of this "qilin" to be quite auspicious to both his rule, and the dynasty as a whole. In addition to the exotic animals, other African products Zheng He would have encountered would have been gold and precious metals, ivory, salt, timber, and precious gemstones.
On his sixth voyage, Zheng He traveled to many of the same places as in the fourth and fifth journeys (cities on the Arabian Peninsula and East African coast), but also made his way further up the Red Sea to the city of Jeddah (pictured left). Jeddah was a vital city both for trade and religion. It was the gateway to Mecca and Medina, and the vast number of people of varying cultures that passed through Jeddah left it with a unique multiculturalism. Additionally, its advantageous position on the Red Sea made it a trade destination, and the city effectively controlled Red Sea trade. It was a prosperous city, trading in rice, spices, cotton, silk, perfume, and precious metals, many of which had been introduced through trade, or by the pilgrims passing through.
The voyages undertook by Zheng He and his fleet of treasure ships bode well for the economy at home. With the huge influx of desirable goods from distant lands, even the most luxurious of items were more accessible to the everyday people. Black pepper from India, once such a luxury, was now present in China in such quantities that it was an everyday commodity.
Though Emperor Yongle's goal was to assert Chinese dominance in the Indian Ocean basin, Zheng He's treasure ships stimulated both the Chinese economy and trade within the entire Indian Ocean. (States around the Indian Ocean recognize Zheng He as a god-like figure even today). Not until the Europeans entered the stage would another state so thoroughly demonstrate their wealth and power the way the Chinese were able to in their undertaking of these treasure voyages.
Works Cited
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