Zeng He

Studies of the "Age of Exploration" tend to focus on the achievements of Europeans: Portuguese expansion west and south, Spanish conquest of Central and South America, etc.  Europeans may ultimately have been the most successful high-seas travelers and explorers, but they were certainly not the first.  During the early fifteenth century, when the Portuguese were just beginning to expand systematically into the Atlantic and down the coast of Africa, the Ming Emperor of China sent out a huge fleet on a series of voyages designed to reinforce trade contacts and generally extend his influence abroad.  Commanding this fleet was Zheng He, about whom you read in Chapter 16 of McKay, A History of World Societies.  Use the links below to learn more about Zheng He, his voyages, and the contexts in which they occurred.

1. For an overview of where Zheng He went and when, take a look at this chronology of the Ming voyages
2. Now read Admiral Zheng's Fleet and The Admiral Of the Western Seas – Cheng Ho (Zheng He) to learn more about Zheng's voyages and circumstances under which thy took place.
3. Return to The Admiral Of the Western Seas – Cheng Ho (Zheng He) and review the map of Zheng's voyages.  Take a look at this Map of Indian Ocean With Important Trading Ports of the 15th Century: locate the ports at which Zheng's fleet stopped.  Now refresh you memory of the ocean trade routes between China and Africa: how do Zheng's routes resemble and differ from the established trade routes?
4. Consider Zheng's voyages in a broader historical context.  Read The Rise & Fall of 15th Century Chinese Seapower.  Under what circumstances did Ming China try to make itself into a maritime power? Why did it ultimately fail to do so?
5. Two of Zheng's shipmates, Ma Huan and Mao K'un, left important documents of the voyages.  Read the following extracts from Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan (The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores) concerning the fleet's visit to Yemen in the southern Arabian Peninsula.  Now go to Voyage of the Dragon Kings to see a piece of Mao K'un's great map of the expeditions.
6. What were the Europeans doing while Zheng He was plying the Indian Ocean? Review pages 509-10 of McKay, A History of World Societies (Sixth Edition).  For more information on early European exploration, go to European Voyages of Exploration: Introduction.   Read the introductory material and click on "Proceed with the Tutorial" at the bottom of the page; continue reading the tutorial through the page on Africa.  What were the Portuguese doing differently than the Chinese during the first half of the fifteenth century?