Chapter 20 Section 6 The great voyages of Zheng He, Columbus and Vasco da Gama

Compared with land transportation, the Zhongxi sea road transportation in the early Ming Dynasty once shined brilliantly.This is Zheng He's voyages to the West from 1405 to 1433. Zheng He, originally surnamed Ma, with small characters Sanbao, was born in Kunyang, Yunnan (now Jinning, Yunnan).He was born in a family that has believed in Islam for generations.Both grandfather and father had gone on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy place of Islam, so they were honored as "Haji".Since childhood, Zheng He has heard stories from his father about crossing the ocean to go on a pilgrimage, and the mysterious ocean has long been his longing place.When the Ming Dynasty pacified Yunnan, Zheng He was only 12 years old. He was captured in the palace and made a eunuch, and was assigned to Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son, Yan Wang Zhu Di, as a servant boy.Later, Zhu Di raised troops in Beiping (now Beijing), launched the "Battle of Jingnan", and seized the throne of his nephew Emperor Jianwen.Zheng He went through life and death in the war, made great contributions, and has since been specially appreciated by Zhu Di.After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he was promoted to be an eunuch, supervisor and eunuch, and given the surname Zheng. ("Zheng He's Family Tree")

Zheng He sailed for the first time in June of the third year of Yongle (AD 1405).The ocean-going fleet he led had 62 large treasure ships and more than 27,000 personnel.This large treasure ship, each 44 feet long and 18 feet wide, was equipped with the most advanced navigation equipment in the world at that time, such as nautical charts and compass needles.The ships were loaded with goods such as silk, brocade, porcelain, gold and silver, copper coins and ironware.In addition, there are more than 100 small sea-going ships.This fleet, unprecedented in world history, set sail from Liujiagang, Suzhou (now Dongliuhe Town, Taicang, Jiangsu), sailed across the sea to Changle, Fujian, and then set sail from Wuhumen at the mouth of the Minjiang River with the help of the trade winds.First arrived at Champa (now southern Vietnam), then traversed Java, Old Port (now Palembang, Indonesia), Managa (now Malacca, Malay Peninsula), Sumatra, and then sailed west to the Indian Ocean, to Mount Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) , Kochi (now Cochin, India), and the farthest reached Guli (now Kozhikode, India).Guli was an important port for sea traffic between China and the West at that time.Zheng He erected a monument to his voyages there.Then return, using the monsoon to return to China in the autumn of the fifth year of Yongle (AD 1407).

Zheng He's second voyage was between 1407 and 1409.The route and places visited by the fleet are basically the same as the first time. In 1911, a voyage monument erected by Zheng He was discovered in Galle, Sri Lanka.The inscription is written in Chinese, Tamil and Persian, clearly describing the activities of Zheng He's fleet in Sri Lanka. The third voyage took place from 1409 to 1411.This time Zheng He's fleet consisted of 48 ships and 27,000 people.The route of the voyage and the places reached are still roughly the same as the previous two times.During this voyage, Zheng He built fences and built warehouses in Manlajia, which is located in the hub of maritime traffic, as an intermediate transfer station for maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty.

The fourth voyage was only one year away from the last return.The fleet set off in the winter of 1413.After arriving in Champa, sail to Jilantan (now Kelantan, Malaysia), Pahang, Java, Old Port, Managa, Sumatra, Mount Ceylon, Mount Liu (now Maldives), Kochi, and Guri; Rumos (now Hormuz, Iran).Horumos was the most important trading port at the mouth of the Persian Gulf that emerged in the second half of the 13th century, and it was also the crossroads of traffic between the East and the West.Meanwhile, in Sumatra, Zheng He sent a detachment of ships.Sailing westward, this detachment visited the city-states of Mugudushu (now Mogadishu, Somalia), Brawa (now Brawa, Somalia), Marin (now Malindi, Kenya) and other city-states on the east coast of Africa. Adan (now Aden, South Yemen), Laza (now Sanaa, North Yemen), Zufar (now Dhofar, Oman) in the Arabian Peninsula, and then returned to Horumos.

The fifth voyage was in 1417-1419.Zheng He's main mission this time is to escort the envoys of various countries to return home safely.Therefore, the countries that the last voyage passed must be the places that this time.Arab historical materials record the news that the detachment of Zheng He's fleet arrived in Aden during this voyage. The sixth voyage to the West was in 1421-1422.This time the sailing time is shorter.The routes and countries and regions to be reached are roughly the same as the previous one.The detachment fleet visited the coast of East Africa again, arriving at Mugudushu, Brawa, Zhubu (now Juba, Somalia), Malin, Manbasa (now Mombasa, Kenya) and other places.

Not long after Zheng He returned from his sixth voyage, Emperor Yongle died on his way to Mongolia.Zheng He's voyage activities temporarily stopped.It was not until 1430 that Emperor Xuande sent Zheng He to lead the fleet to sea again.The scale of this voyage was huge, and the places visited included Champa, Java, Old Port, Managa, Sumatra, Mount Ceylon, Little Gelan (now Kuilong, India), Kozhi, Guri, Khorumos, Tianfang ( present-day Mecca), Zhida (present-day Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), Zufar, Adan, Mugudushu, Brawa, Liushan and other places.On the way back, Zheng He died of illness in Guli.

Zheng He sailed to the West and served as China's friendly envoy.The voyage fleet is fully loaded with silk, porcelain, ironware, gold coins and other goods.Everywhere they go, they present silk and other things to the monarchs or local leaders of various countries, and invite all countries to come to China for trade activities.Wherever the fleet went, they received a friendly reception.When he returned home, a large number of envoys accompanied him to China.Local products from various places, such as ivory, spices, gemstones, etc., will be brought back with the boat.Seven voyages were made to visit more than 30 countries and regions in Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and East Africa, building a bridge of commerce and friendship.At the same time, it has accumulated rich sailing experience and communicated the maritime traffic between the East and the West.The world-famous "Zheng He's Nautical Charts" records Zheng He's detailed routes through the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the coast of East Africa. It is my country's major contribution to world ocean geography in the early 15th century.

Zheng He's voyages greatly promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West.During the Yongle period, envoys and caravans from various countries came to China in an endless stream. In the 21st year of Yongle (1423 A.D.), there were 1,200 envoys from Hulumos and other countries who came to China.After Zheng He's voyage, the number of people who went abroad to immigrate overseas in the Ming Dynasty also began to increase significantly.They brought Chinese civilization to other countries and promoted the social development and progress there.Through Zheng He's voyage, the world-renowned Chinese silk and porcelain spread to Asian and African countries in large quantities, and became the daily necessities of the people in the vast areas of Asia and Africa.At that time, there were more than 180 kinds of goods shipped from Asian and African countries to China.

Ma Huan, who accompanied Zheng He on the voyage, wrote Yingya Shenglan, Fei Xin wrote Xingcha Shenglan, and Gong Zhen wrote Western Fanguozhi.These three works are true records of Zheng He's voyages to the West, and have been translated into many languages ​​and spread overseas.Zheng He's great achievements are respected and commemorated by the people of Asian and African countries.In Java, Indonesia, there is an important commercial port, Sambo Long; in Malacca, Malaysia, there is Sambo City and Sambo Well; in Thailand, there are Sambo Temple, Sambo Pagoda, etc., all of which express the eternity of this outstanding navigator (known as the Sambo Eunuch in history) nostalgia.

Before and after Zheng He's large-scale voyages, the communication and communication between the Western Mediterranean world and Europe to the East encountered complicated situations again.At that time, there were three main trade routes from the west to the east and China: one was from Asia Minor by land along the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to Central Asia; Take the sea route to Guangzhou, Quanzhou and other places in China; the third is to cross Egypt by land, reach the coast of the Red Sea, and then change the sea route to China.At this time, the East-West communication and trade were mainly in the hands of the Arabs east of the Red Sea, while the Mediterranean area was monopolized by the Italians.After the demise of the Kipchak Khanate, the short-term rise of the Timur Empire once blocked the traffic from land to China.Since then, in the 15th century, the Turkish Ottoman Empire continued to expand. In 1453, Byzantium was destroyed, Western Asia was occupied, Egypt and North Africa were annexed, and the lines of communication from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea to the Mediterranean were controlled.This situation caused a certain obstruction in the traffic and communication between China and the West.Therefore, European countries at that time were eager to open up a new route to the East.The East full of gold, silver and treasures described by Marco Polo attracted Western monarchs, nobles, businessmen and navigators to join in the nautical business, expecting to open up a new sea route to the East.

Half a century after the end of Zheng He's voyages, the Portuguese Dias traveled south along the west coast of Africa and reached the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. In 1498, a Portuguese fleet of four ships led by Vasco da Gama set off from Lisbon, circled the Cape of Good Hope, went north along the east coast of Africa, and crossed eastward under the guidance of an Arab sailor. The western Indian Ocean, reaching the port of Calicut in southern India, finally successfully opened a new sea route to the east.Not long before that, the Spanish fleet led by the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus also set off from Puerto Barros at the southern tip of Spain in 1492, crossed the Atlantic westward, and discovered the New World of America. In 1519, the Spanish fleet led by the Portuguese nobleman Magellan embarked on the first two-year human voyage around the world. The opening of the new sea route played the prelude to the era of capitalism, and also opened a new chapter in the transportation and cultural exchanges between China and the West.