Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2019 | Page 36

The vessels of the Chinese armada had unique sail designs and much more efficient rigging perfected by
shipbuilders over the centuries. Multiple masted ships were built to harness maximum power of the wind,
which was done nearly a thousand years before Europeans did. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries,
the influence of Arab traders around China prompted shipbuilders to incorporate the lug sails into their
designs. The lug sail was more flexible than the traditional sails, as its direction can be easily adjusted, and
allowed ships to sail against the opposite wind, increasing efficiency and reducing the time it took to travel
by boat.
Compared with European vessels, the width of a Chinese treasure ship was unusually wide; the ratio
between the breadth and length of the vessel is around 0.254. The treasure ship’s wide waist enabled it to
achieve stability much more easily. With a heavy ballast, a long keel, and floating anchors fitted on both of
its sides, the ship’s movement would have been relatively stable and when in turbulent waters, kept its
balance well. These naval technologies were fine-tuned by Ming craftsmen, many of which were later yea
incorporated into the treasure ship designs.
Knowing China’s position as the most powerful nation of its time, the Yongle Emperor restored the
tributary system, an ancient practise where neighbouring states acknowledge the superiority of the Chinese
emperor through gifts of tribute in exchange for certain benefits. The treasure voyages promoted this system
as part of the emperor’s plan to expand China’s sphere of influence onto the banks of other countries
bordering the Indian Ocean.
Often the sight of the mighty Ming navy, equipped with 28,000 soldiers and firearms, was enough to
overawe local authorities, compelling them to declare themselves as tributaries of the Ming. Those who
accepted Ming supremacy were rewarded with Chinese valuables and grants of political protection, while
those who did not submit were, according to a Ming scroll, ‘pacified by force’, their land annexed, and their
leaders coerced to kowtow.
An early example of powerful states exerting soft power, the Ming expeditions sparked economic impacts in
and around China. Dominance over the trade networks and the increased number of tributaries brought
more commerce and trade under Ming regulation. There was a rise in production and circulation of
merchandise which spurred a boost in the region’s economy. Considerable revenue was produced as a result
of increasing numbers of financial negotiations and transactions between Ming and foreign ambassadors.
Additionally, the voyages established a heavy Chinese military presence along the maritime coast. Warships
among the fleets fought and defeated Chen Zuyi's pirate fleet in Palembang, Alakeshvara's forces in Ceylon,
and Sekandar's forces in Semudera, freeing the maritime trade routes from the piracy and hostilities that
plagued the coast of Southeast Asia. The three battles, each ending with Chinese victory, gave Ming China
an even stronger hold on the rules of the tributary system, assisted in their coercive ‘diplomacy’ overseas, and
significant imperial control and dominance over the maritime trade itself, enabling them to dictate the
coming and going of foreign traders and how they interacted.
Following the death of Zheng He and the Yongle Emperor, social unrest, corruption, and political turmoil
weakened the economy. Famine and epidemics raged. When the state revenue dwindled, orders were given
to halt the voyages, and when 1433 rolled in, the treasure fleet arrived home for the last time, never to set
sail again.
“ We have traversed more than 100,000 li of immense water spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge
waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue
transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course
as rapidly as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare. ”
Zheng He’s written entries like these are a testament of the legendary voyages that he commanded. With
the sun in his eyes, the wind whistling in his hair, and the emperor’s decree in his hand, Zheng led a floating
city brimming with priceless treasures across the ocean, seeing exotic sights and people. A symbol of national
pride, the seven expeditions of the Ming treasure fleet was a diplomatic instrument which every nation
bowed to, and to this day serves as a reminder of China’s magnificent maritime history.