The Results of Zheng He’s Expeditions: Were They What He Had Hoped for

The Results of Zheng He’s Expeditions: Were they what he had hoped for? March 19th, 2013 History1A Mr. O’Leary By Manik Kumar During the early 1400s in China, there existed a naval explorer who extended the realms of his empire’s knowledge and power far beyond any civilization in the world at the time. The name of this legendary navy admiral was Zheng He. He was found by Zhu Di, a Ming prince at the time, on one of his purges to eradicate the Mongols. Zheng He was one of the boys that was castrated there (Menzies, 20), but was then recruited into Zhu Di’s house, and trained as a soldier.In time, Di became the emperor, and Zheng He became his trusted right hand man and the Grand Eunuch, which was the highest title apart from Emperor (Menzies, 24).

Due to his trustworthiness, Zhu Di entrusted Zheng He with the task of commanding the entire Ming navy to conquer the world (Menzies, 26, 37). He had 1,681 ships built for this purpose, many of them gigantic treasure fleets that were larger than any ship at the time, or any that would be built for the next 100 years (Gronewald)!The first voyage was commenced with an elaborate ceremony by the emperor himself, and Zheng He left with 317 enormous ships and a crew numbering about 28,000 (Gronewald). But why all the extravagance? Why all the massive show of power? What were they setting out to do, conquer the whole world? Yes, that is exactly what they had in mind. The aims of the Ming armada and emperor were to unite the “barbarians beyond the seas” under the tributary system, chart all the oceans, and bring trade routes and hubs under their influence and subsequent command (Menzies, 26).Basically, they aspired to become the most powerful empire in the world.

The Ming achieved that prestigious position, but with two major unexpected consequences. One of these out-of-the-blue outcomes was that, the main reason that Zhu Di’s magnificent capital, the Forbidden City (known today as Beijing), was built, was upon the assumption of the arrival of the famed chi’i-lin, or unicorn, with its body made up of parts of other animals as well. It was actually just a giraffe that Zheng He received as tribute from a ruler in Bengal, according to Hadingham. However, Zhu Di, who at the time was pushing to make new capital, pounced at the opportunity and proclaimed this sign of longevity of peace as the right to go ahead with construction, and his ministers approved, according to Menzies’s account (32). This was the last thing that Zheng He expected from his gift, but he took it in stride nevertheless.

Another outcome of his journeys into the unknown was that, albeit inadvertently, he made the seas, and many distant lands, safe and just. He had not really aimed to bring peace to foreign kingdoms, or make the seas safer for civilians, but somehow ended up achieving that.On his first voyage, he crushed pirate activities, and after that he never came across them again (Gronewald). Only after he died, and a weaker Chinese administration took control, did pirates and smugglers resurface (Gronewald). Also, they restored order to small empires or kingdoms in chaos and rebellion: on his fourth voyage, in Sumatra, he fought and defeated a tyrant, and reinstated the power rightfully to the overthrown sultan (Gronewald). Due to his efforts to bring peace in all areas, he is celebrated as a god in some remote ranges in Indonesia, even today (Hadingham).

Zheng He never wanted to become a deity; he was fine with his high position as Naval Commander, and as a bringer of harmonious trade in the Indian Ocean. An outcome of the expeditions that he had aimed for, however, was that trade in the Indian Ocean was brought under Ming control and influence. Trade flourished under his command of the trading ports, especially at Malacca, a port very to the southern tip of Malaysia, right after the straits you had to pass through to reach the Indian Ocean (Jin, 58). The Chinese established very good relations with the city and expanded it into one of the most important centers for trade in that time period.

To cement their position as the overruling entity in the area, they had Sultan Mansur Shah (ruler of Malacca) marry princess Hang Li Poh from China (Jin, 58). Over the years, Malacca became a trusted port, and Zheng He’s fleets always stopped there before moving into the Indian Ocean and uncharted territory (Jin, 58). They even ended up controlling various operations there, such as Malacca’s gambling and entertainment scenes. They also played a major hand in their currency and commodity markets, due to the fact that they were the largest consumer of the main product traded there: spice (Menzies, 73).Controlling this strategic port that accumulated large amounts of cash gave the Ming a lot of influence in the trade business. Most importantly, the Chinese became the most powerful empire in the world at that time, due to Zheng He’s expeditions, just as they had hoped.

They expanded the emerging trade networks of small kingdoms, and were trusted and seen as superior because they had built good relations with them. Zheng’s fleets brought many envoys back to China from distant lands to revel in the extravagant luxuries of the empire, and they returned home impressed and intimidated by Chinese power and wealth (Menzies, 68, 74).All of the ports that dotted the coastlines of the Indian Ocean, from the lower East coast of Africa, to numerous islands on the fringes of the Ocean boundaries, and everything in between was either influenced or outright controlled by the Chinese (Menzies, 71, Gronewald)! Altogether, major hubs such as Malindi, Calicut, Galle, and Malacca, provided a considerable chunk of Chinese wealth. Any resistance was put down easily (Gronewald), and in time, all the places he visited paid China tribute punctually and daily life continued peacefully.Everybody acknowledged the Ming as the most superior power in the region, and nobody dared to challenge their might.

The goals that the Chinese armada set out to accomplish were achieved, but with a couple of side effects. However, these side effects were not hindering in the process that was to take over the whole world. Rather, they advanced the civilization further; the Forbidden City became a center of command for the whole armada (and indeed the empire as well), and eradicating pirate parties provided a safer passage for civilian expeditions.Zheng He and his men truly furthered Chinese civilization and extended its power and influence far beyond any medieval kingdom or empire at the time. WORKS CITED Gronewald, Dr.

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