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Plate 28.12 Jingdezhen official kiln blue-and-white shard Plate 28.13 Jingdezhen official kiln blue-and-white jar with lid,
excavated at the site of Mambrui excavated from Dongmentou, Zhushan, Jingdezhen in 1994. Height
14.8cm; diameter 25.8cm. Jingdezhen Institute of Ceramic
Archaeology

Plate 28.14 (above) Jingdezhen blue-and-white shards of Hongzhi
to Zhengde period excavated from Mambrui site

Plate 28.15 (right) Jingdezhen blue-and-white shards of Jiajing
reign unearthed form Gedi Ruin

Africa on the ‘Zheng He Navigation Chart’ (Zheng He hanghai reign, Chinese ceramic production increased and the scale
tu 鄭和航海圖) has identified seven locations where Zheng of ceramic export became relatively large during a short
He probably landed. The name ‘Man Ba Che’ (慢八撤) period of time (Pls 28.14–15). This was the result of
marked on the chart has been identified as Mambrui. internal changes within the Ming dynasty when the
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Significantly, excavations at the site of Mambrui by our joint manufacture of various products that represented the
archaeological team have yielded a piece of blue-and-white development of market economy increased and had an
imperial ware of the Yongle reign (Pl. 28.12) which may impact on society. The silver standard of the monetary
come from a blue-and-white jar with a lid from the official system was formed in this period which needed more silver
kiln of the Yongle reign (Pl. 28.13) and a Yongle tongbao in exchange for material goods. This caused a shortage of
永樂通寶 (Circulating treasure of the Yongle era) coin. An silver and consequently led to stronger reliance on imported
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official Longquan ware shard was also found at the same site silver. The rapid commercialisation of goods resulted in
(see Pl. 28.10). These archaeological materials provide the flourishing of illegal trade along the coastal regions of
conclusive evidence that Zheng He visited Kenya in East China and ceramics were one of the most important cargos
Africa and that Mambrui was one of the possible places in this illicit trade. Consequently, Chinese porcelain of this
where he landed. period is found in fairly large numbers along the Indian
Ocean rim and Southeast Asia, thereby reflecting the whole
The increase of Chinese ceramics during the mid-Ming trading system of the entire Ming dynasty and not just that
period of East Africa.
During the Chenghua, Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns
(1465–1521), the quantity of Chinese ceramics at the Gedi Notes
Ruins and Mambrui increased tremendously, representing I hereby wish to acknowledge Jessica Harrison-Hall and Dr
a brief upturn in Indian Ocean rim maritime trade Virginia L. Bower who have helped proofread and improve
controlled by the Arabs and Persians. For a long period of this chapter. Their dedication is much appreciated.
time, the coastal areas of East Africa maintained a close Gratitude also goes to Dr Li Baoping for his continuous work
relationship with West Asia and the Middle East. The on improving the text.
dominance of Arab and Persian trade ended when the 本研究為“國家社會科學基金重大項目《非洲出土中國古
Portuguese came to Africa. From the end of the Xuande 代外銷瓷與海上絲綢之路研究》”（項目批准號：15ZDB057
reign to the early years of the Chenghua reign (1436–65), ）的成果之一。本研究得到指南針計劃專項項目“東非地區
there was an extremely low level of Chinese ceramic 出土中國古代外銷瓷的綜合研究”的資助。 This article is
production and trade and we found very few shards from one of the outcomes of a major research project funded by
this period in Kenya. However, starting from the Chenghua the China National Social Science Fund: ‘The Study on

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