Page 30 - Ming_China_Courts_and_Contacts_1400_1450 Craig lunas

was the third of the three prongs of southern expansion
pursued by the Yongle emperor. The most widely known of
these envoys was Zheng He 鄭和 (1371–1433), otherwise
known as Sanbao 三寳, or ‘Three Treasures’ (Pl. 2.3), and it
is around this eunuch that many of the legends relating to
the voyages are centred. Other eunuch commanders
included Wang Guitong 王貴通 (active c. 1407) and Hou
Xian 侯顯 (active 1403–27). Eunuch envoys such as Zhang
Qian 張謙 (active 1408–20) were responsible for voyages to
the polities in the Eastern Ocean including Boni,
Pangasinan, Sulu and Luzon, and for bringing their envoys
and rulers to China.
The eunuch-led missions were, like Yongle’s expansions
into Yunnan and occupation of Đại Việt, intended to create
Plate 2.3 Statues of Zheng He and his attendants, c. 1573–1620.
Earthenware and painted, central figure height: 100cm. Excavated legitimacy for the usurping emperor, display the might of the
from Xianying Temple, Changle, Fujian province, in 1992 Ming, bring known polities to demonstrate submission to the
Ming and collect treasures for the court. To achieve these
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people from their evil rulers or other predicament; 7) aims, the maritime forces needed to be both huge and
Chinese bureaucrats were appointed as either registry powerful. Shipbuilding began almost as soon as the Yongle
managers or more broadly in the larger polities; 8) Military emperor assumed power. In 1405, just after Zheng He
guards and civil administrative offices were established; 9) departed on his first expedition, Zhejiang and other regional
Grain and labour levies were instituted, and monopolies military commissions were ordered to build 1,180 ocean-
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over salt, gold and silver were instituted, or else it was going ships. By 1408, the task was assigned to a central
demanded that such be provided to the state in lieu of ministry and the Ministry of Works was ordered to build 48
labour; 10) Useful human resources were stripped; 11) ‘treasure-ships’ (baochuan 寳船).
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Further opportunities for territorial gain were sought out. To enable these great fleets to maintain the pax Ming in
the immediate region and sail through the Indian Ocean to
Overseas domination I: the voyages led by Zheng He Africa (Pl. 2.4), it was necessary to create staging posts in
and other eunuchs what is today Southeast Asia. These depots (guanchang 官場)
The dispatch of various eunuch-led maritime missions to the were established at Melaka and at the northern end of the
‘Western Ocean’ (Xiyang 西洋, or maritime Southeast Asia Straits of Melaka (old spelling Malacca) near the polity of
west of Borneo extending into the Indian Ocean), as well as Samudera. These can be seen on the Wubei zhi 武備志 maps
other lesser-known missions to the Eastern Ocean (Dong yang which date in original from the first half of the 15th century.
東洋, today’s Philippines, Borneo and eastern Indonesia), The Straits of Melaka were probably more vital in the 15th

Plate 2.4 Map of Zheng He’s voyages

20 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450