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As noted earlier, it has been claimed that Zheng He’s
voyages spent around six million liang of silver. This was out
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of seven million that they took with them. The same source
further records that the Yongle emperor gave the remaining
funds to the Ministry of Works to pay for the construction of
Da Baoensi 大報恩寺 (Great Monastery of Filial Gratitude)
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in Nanjing. This claim is hard to verify. The financial
activities of the imperial court were often left unrecorded.
However, money issued by the Ming government was known
to be ineffective as a market currency at the time, while the
building and decoration of the Da Baoen Monastery needed
special materials that were not easily acquired through
simple corvée labour or purchases from the market. It is thus
feasible that unused silver from Zheng He’s voyages,
accepted by the market and not officially issued, was used to
fund the building of the Monastery. This would have
hastened the process of the monetisation of silver in Ming
society. There is no record that other construction projects
and military campaigns received the same exceptional
financial support as the Da Baoen Monastery, even if they
were more costly. Any silver remaining from the voyages
would have supported very limited projects, while treasures
brought back from the voyages could not be turned into
currency to replenish the resources depleted by wars and
construction. This resulted in a vicious cycle of spending
that could not continue.

Termination of the voyages during the Hongxi reign
(1425)
After the enthronement of the Hongxi 洪熙 emperor
(r. 1425), his officials drafted an edict on his behalf that Plate 12.5 Portrait of Xia Yuanji 夏元吉 in Collected Illustrations of
the Three Realms (Sancai tuhui 三才圖會), published in 1609.
ordered the suspension of treasure ship building activities. SOAS Library, RM c.80.s.1. Portraits, juan 8- additional, p. 10
Ships that were docked at the ports in Fujian 福建 and
Taichang 太倉 were recalled to Nanjing, and goods conflicts through military force along the way, and
intended for overseas trade were returned to the inner attempting to establish an ideal international order shaped
palace for storage. As noted above, several major projects by the Ming empire. While the voyages did establish the
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from the Yongle reign were already unsustainable during Ming empire’s central place in the tribute-trade system, and
the emperor’s lifetime. Some of the projects even competed impressed upon kingdoms in Southeast Asia and the Indian
with each other over resources, while ministers increasingly Ocean the existence of a great power to their east, the cost of
voiced objections towards them. Tensions also existed this enterprise was substantial. Zheng He’s voyages, together
between the Hongxi emperor when he was a prince and his with the Yongle emperor’s other large-scale activities, had
father over his right to govern and inherit the throne. Thus, overstretched the limited capacity of the Ming state.
when he became ruler, the Hongxi emperor agreed with the Consequently, once the Hongxi emperor ascended the
views of his officials and terminated state-sponsored throne, he took a different path, and implemented tightening
maritime voyages, in addition to other costly large-scale and stabilising policies, such as suspending state-sponsored
projects that had begun during his father’s reign. 16 maritime voyages and military campaigns, and even
Although the Hongxi emperor’s enthronement edict was considered moving the capital back to Nanjing, in order to
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issued under his name, it was in fact drafted by the Grand ease the burden on the Ming state.
Secretary Yang Shiqi 楊士奇 (1365–1444) based upon Furthermore, the Yongle emperor was a ruler who came
proposals from officials including Xia Yuanji 夏元吉 to power through usurping the throne. One of the driving
(1366–1430) (Pl. 12.5) and Yang Rong 楊榮 (1371–1440). forces behind his large-scale activities, including cultural
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Thus, the content of the edict, including the declaration to projects such as the compilation of the Yongle dadian 永樂大典
terminate maritime voyages, expressed the shared attitude (Great Canon of the Yongle Reign), was the need to establish
of officialdom. It shows the concern of Confucian scholar himself as an extraordinary emperor and to change the
officials for the well-being of the state and the livelihood of perception that he became emperor through questionable
ordinary people. More importantly, Zheng He’s voyages means, in order to enhance the legitimacy and rightfulness
were not simply commercial in nature; they were primarily of his rulership. The Hongxi emperor did not share this
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political and diplomatic missions aimed at showcasing the experience and attitude. To the contrary, the officials he
might of the Ming state and its dominant status in the relied upon used the suspension of large-scale, exorbitant
region. This included intervening in and pacifying local projects to establish and enhance the standing of the new

The Gradual Termination of the Early Ming Voyages to the ‘Western Ocean’ and its Causes | 109