Many decades before Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World, the Emperor Yongle of Ming (永乐皇帝) appointed his trusted admiral Zheng He (郑和) to command a massive fleet on diplomatic missions to countries around the “Western Oceans” (西洋)—roughly corresponding to today’s western Pacific and Indian Oceans. Zheng He’s first voyage in 1405 comprised 317 ships carrying some 28,000 sailors. The largest vessels were reportedly over 140 meters long and 57 meters wide (approximately 450 by 185 feet) and had nine masts. By comparison, the Santa María, the largest ship in Columbus’s first voyage in 1492, measured only about 26 meters in length. Zheng He’s crew included soldiers, diplomats, Arabic and other language interpreters, physicians who treated crew members and collected medicinal plants, shipwrights, and skilled craftsmen. By the standards of its time, Zheng He’s fleet was a technological marvel and remained the largest naval force in history until the First World War. The top image depicts this fleet on a 2005 Chinese postage stamp commemorating the 600^th anniversary of Zheng He’s first voyage.

Ma Huan (马欢), Zheng He’s Arabic translator, described the fleet in his Survey of the Ocean Shores (瀛涯胜览) as follows: “Our giant ships, each tall as a mountain and with twelve sails hoisted, travel over the ocean’s unfathomable depths. By day, banners and flags block out the sun; by night, bright lanterns shine like stars… Wherever we go, the local people, dumbfounded by the sight of the ships, gather along the shore to watch” (吾等宝船巨舰, 张十二帆, 浮于沧溟, 巍如山岳. 昼则旌旗蔽日, 夜则灯火辉煌如星. 所至之处, 土民皆聚于海岸, 瞠目结舌).

The first voyage visited many regions in today’s Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and the east coast of Africa, reaching as far as the Horn of Africa. The sight of more than 300 ships stretching beyond the horizon must have been awe-inspiring to local populations. Describing the Southeast Asian trading hub of present-day Malacca, Ma Huan wrote: “Ships fill the harbor like clouds, with masts and rigging resembling trees in a forest. People of various skin tones gather in the markets, where goods pile up like mountains… Their languages are jumbled and difficult to understand, yet they trade with gold and silver, all drawn there by profit” (其港桅樯林立, 舟楫如云. 肤色各异之民, 汇聚于市, 货物堆积如山…言语交杂, 不可尽通, 然金银互通, 皆为利来).

Zheng He presented his hosts with gifts of gold, silver, porcelain, and silk from Emperor Yongle. Upon returning in 1407, the fleet brought back spices, ivory, and exotic animals such as ostriches, zebras, and giraffes. The Survey describes a giraffe—unknown in China at the time—as “a strange beast over ten feet tall, with white spots on its body and a long, slender neck like a dragon… The natives call it a 麒麟” (忽见异兽, 其形高丈余, 身披梅花之纹, 颈修长若龙…彼土人谓之麒麟).

Ma Huan was also a careful observer of foreign cultures. Describing Islamic customs, he wrote: “Men wear turbans, while women fully cover their bodies. They do not eat with chopsticks but with their right hands. In their religion, they pray and bow toward the west five times a day, chanting their scriptures without pause. Though we find their customs unfamiliar, Admiral Zheng He strictly ordered us to respect their practices and not violate the decorum of the [Ming] Imperial Court” (男皆缠头, 女以纱蔽体, 食不以箸, 而以右手攫取. 有教者, 日向西拜五次, 诵经之声不绝于耳. 吾等虽异其俗, 然总兵太监郑公令严, 命我等敬其法, 勿失天朝礼仪).

Although the scale of the fleet and the size of its ships were unprecedented, Zheng He’s voyages followed long-established and well-charted trade routes that had been in use for centuries. While Zheng He did not hesitate to display military force when challenged by pirates, he did not pursue conquest or colonization. Moreover, the ships were far larger than strictly necessary for their stated diplomatic missions. These factors have led some historians to suggest that the voyages were intended partly as demonstrations of power, efforts to bring states along the sea routes into China’s tributary system, and means to expand interregional trade.

Nanjing (南京), the Ming capital at the time, was the birthplace of Zheng He’s fleet. Located along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, just inland from its delta, Nanjing housed extensive imperial shipyards. Archaeologists have unearthed hundreds of shipbuilding tools at these sites, along with evidence showing that in 1407 alone, the shipyards refurbished 249 vessels from Zheng He’s missions. These shipyards were capable of constructing ships larger and more technologically advanced than those of China’s maritime competitors, such as India or Persia. One notable discovery is a massive mahogany rudder plate; based on its size and weight, experts estimate that it belonged to a ship weighing at least 1,000 tons—far larger than any contemporary foreign vessel. Watertight compartmentalization, another advanced feature, was also standard in Chinese ships of this period.

Between 1408 and 1433, Zheng He undertook six additional voyages, each involving dozens of ships. These seven expeditions deeply impressed local rulers, many of whom sent diplomats, merchants, and even heads of state back with the fleet to pay tribute to the Ming court. For instance, the fifth voyage returned with seventeen foreign rulers from South Asia, while the sixth brought nineteen ambassadors to China.

An enormous body of information on maritime routes, societies, and cultures was collected during Zheng He’s voyages. In the spring of 1433, during his seventh expedition, Zheng He died off the coast of southwest India. By the end of Emperor Yongle’s reign, the cost of the voyages, combined with domestic unrest, had severely strained the empire’s finances. Following Zheng He’s death, Yongle’s successor, Emperor Xuande (宣德皇帝), banned further expeditions, and the fleet never sailed again. The emperor also ordered the destruction of the ships and many official records of the voyages. Nevertheless, several important accounts survived, most notably Ma Huan’s Survey of the Ocean Shores, Fei Xin’s (费信) Description of the Starry Raft (星槎胜览), and Gong Zhen’s (巩珍) Records of Foreign Lands of the Western Ocean (西洋番国志). Both Fei Xin and Gong Zhen served as soldiers in the fleet.

Zheng He’s voyages represent a remarkable chapter in Chinese history and played a pivotal role in expanding the Maritime Silk Road. They helped spread Chinese culture and technologies—such as porcelain, paper, and gunpowder—to distant regions, while also introducing foreign goods, cultures, and religions into China. The voyages broadened Chinese awareness of the world beyond their borders and fostered exchanges in art, science, and technology. Although official expeditions ended, international trade continued along the sea routes Zheng He had traveled, and some Chinese later migrated to regions visited by the fleet.

However, the geopolitical influence of Zheng He’s voyages proved short-lived. The Ming court’s decision to terminate the expeditions ushered China into an increasingly isolationist phase. There is no evidence that permanent embassies were established in the regions the fleet visited. By 1500, the Ming government had effectively abandoned maritime ambitions, making it illegal to build ships with more than two masts and ordering the destruction of oceangoing vessels. Ironically, this retreat occurred just as Portuguese and Spanish explorers began venturing into the world’s oceans, inaugurating the European Age of Discovery. China’s withdrawal from maritime exploration thus placed it at a significant disadvantage on the global stage for centuries to come.

Photo credit: Baidu.com