Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2019 | Page 34

The Legacy of the Ming Treasure Voyages
Renaissance College, Helau, Conrad - 15
The Ming dynasty was a Chinese imperial dynasty lasting from 1368 to 1644. The result of a rebellion
against the Mongol ruler of the previous Yuan dynasty, the Ming was among the stablest and longest ruling
periods in Chinese history and is often characterised by its unmatched development in military, population,
and quality of infrastructure. Early Ming underwent an unparalleled commercial revolution from which
agricultural, science, arts, craftsmanship and technology peaked, giving way to a robust and advanced
economy.
Zhu Di, also known as the Yongle emperor, was the third ruler of the Ming dynasty. Born in 1360, he was
the fourth son of the Hongwu emperor, the Ming's founding ruler, and the former Prince of Yan. In 1402,
with the help of the eunuch faction and the rebel force, Zhu Di overthrew his nephew the Jianwen emperor
and proclaimed himself Tian Zi (Son of Heaven).
The Yongle emperor was known for his vigour and ruthlessness, and under his reign of Yongle (meaning
“perpetual happiness”) from 1402 to 1424, China enjoyed a golden age of political stability and saw an
unprecedented booming economy. The ruler hired an effective and efficient administration that removed
corrupt officials. He reclaimed uncultivated land for agriculture that maximised state revenue, thus
accelerating population growth. The emperor also emphasised trade. He knew that economic benefits would
be guaranteed if China was involved in the Indian Ocean trade, an influential and global maritime network
of its time, and sought to dominate it.
Thanks to his agricultural, political, military, and economic reforms, trade, culture, art, and science
flourished throughout the realm. These advancements, combined with a broadening of geographical
knowledge, the rise of powerful merchants along maritime trade routes, exceptional Ming shipbuilding
techniques, and the development of more effective weapons, propelled China onto the world stage as a large
and wealthy coastal nation.
To further spread this image across nearby regions, the emperor invested vast amounts of resources into one
grand project designed to develop China’s political interests abroad and expand Chinese hegemony around
neighbouring regions: the Ming treasure voyages, one of the most spectacular displays of wealth and power
ever seen in the ancient world.
The Ming treasure voyages were a series of seven maritime expeditions dispatched by the Yongle emperor
from 1405 to 1433 that travelled along maritime trade routes to major ports around the rim of the Indian
Ocean. The vessels carried and exchanged Chinese treasures for foreign commodities, yet the focus of the
voyages was the interactions between the Chinese and foreign traders, and the diplomatic ties that naturally
developed.
Before setting out for sea, however, it was decided that a dramatic and magnificent entrance was necessary to
build a strong first impression with the traders and to do that, the emperor had to construct a fleet that
reflected China’s position as a prosperous and thriving nation. Indeed the Ming treasure ships surpassed all
previous maritime vessels in both grandeur and size.
The largest ships of the fleet — called “ baochuan ” or “treasure ships” — were up to 440 feet long and 180
feet wide; armed with multiple cannons and carrying more than two thousand tons of lucrative goods, they
dwarf Christopher Columbus’s 85 feet long Santa Maria and Vasco De Gama’s 84 feet long São Gabriel .
Other ships included the 370 feet long “horse ships” that carries beasts of burden, multiple 280 feet supply
junks, troop transports, patrol boats, warships, and tankers carrying freshwater. Together, the vessels number
to 250-300 strong. The crew consisted of hundreds of officials and eunuchs, and the rest were cooks,
blacksmiths, carpenters, tailors, doctors, navigators, astrologers, merchants, translators, and more than 27,000
sailors and mariners — soldiers trained to move and fight at sea.
With such splendid vessels, the Yongle emperor needed a trustworthy diplomat familiar with Islam and
navigation to lead his armada into the ocean, so he commissioned Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch, as the
admiral of the treasure fleet and envoy of the Ming.