Excursions

Excursions

In the 15th century, the world's richest seas were dominated by Chinese ships.

The Emperor Yung-lo commissioned expeditions to foreign parts, to gather intelligence and demonstrate Chinese superiority to the world. They did it by a crushing display of sea power. The first fleet had more than 300 ships and nearly 28,000 men. The voyages lasted two years and visited 30 countries around the rim of the Indian Ocean.

The Chinese reached as far north as Mecca, as far south as Zanzibar and as far west as Jiddah. The enterprise was led by an admiral of legendary presence and charisma: Zheng He. A Muslim of Mongol descent and a eunuch, Zheng He was chosen for the imperial mission because he was an outsider. In an inward-looking court, Zheng was an imperialist who looked beyond China.

FACT GROUND

Zheng He enjoyed the support of factions whose interests offended the Confucian scholar-elite: the commercial lobby, which wanted to mobilize naval support for long-range traders; the imperialist lobby, which wanted to renew Mongol visions of conquest; the religious lobbies, which wanted to keep state funds out of anti-clerical Confucian hands; and the eunuch lobby, which wanted more offices for its own members.

From Transworld Publishers, Ltd.

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