Worlds of Encounter WHAP/Napp

Worlds of Encounter WHAP/Napp “In 1368, a new dynasty, the Ming, came to power. Especially in the early years of the dynasty, Ming emperors adopted policies of expansionism by land and self-assertion by sea. The Ming Emperor Yongle (r. 1402-24) dispatched a series of seven spectacular ocean voyages under the Muslim eunuch, Admiral Zheng He. The first voyage set out in 1405 with sixty-two large junks, 100, smaller ships, and 30,000 crew. The largest ships were 450 feet long, displaced 1600 tons, held a crew of about 500, and were the largest ships built anywhere up to that time. They carried silks, porcelains, and pepper. The first expedition sailed as far as Calicut [‘the pepper capital of the world’], near the southwest tip of India. In six further missions between 1407 and 1433, Zheng He sailed to ports all along the Indian Ocean shores, at least twice reaching the East African ports of Mogadishu, Brava, Malindi, and Kilwa. Interested in exotic treasures that could not be found in China, Emperor Yongle seemed most pleased with a giraffe sent to him by the sultan of Malindi on the fourth voyage, in 1416-19. These colossal expeditions demonstrated both the skill of Admiral Zheng He and the vision of Emperor Yongle. On the basis of these accomplishments, many historians believe that the Chinese would have been able to cross either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean – had they wished. But they did not push their expeditions any further, and in 1433, the Ming emperor terminated the great, state- sponsored Indian Ocean voyages.

Why did the emperor terminate these voyages? Why did China not dispatch its own missions to Europe, and even the western hemisphere? It appeared to have the technological capability to do so. Why did Chinese emperors choose only to receive European shipping – rather than to dispatch their own ships – beginning with the Portuguese in 1514? Many answers appear plausible. The Ming turned their energies inward, toward consolidation and internal development. At first they pushed the Mongols further north from the Great Wall, but an invasion of Mongolia failed in 1449. Thereafter, the Ming limited their military goals, rebuilt the Great Wall, and restricted their forces to more defensible borders.” ~ The World’s History

1. Chinese naval expeditions were abruptly 2. Chinese naval expeditions were abruptly ended in 1433 because ended in 1433 because (A) Zheng He was suspected of building his (A) Zheng He was suspected of building his personal power. personal power. (B) Maintaining the fleet was considered a (B) Maintaining the fleet was considered a needless waste of national resources. needless waste of national resources. (C) The voyages had led to several (C) The voyages had led to several humiliating defeats. humiliating defeats. (D) The large Chinese vessels proved to be (D) The large Chinese vessels proved to be un-seaworthy. un-seaworthy.

3. Ming Emperor Yongle, inheriting a country well on its way to economic recovery, took advantage of this prosperity to launch China’s first and last great ______under the command of his childhood friend and imperial eunuch, Zheng He, from 1405-1433. (A) Land armies (C) Naval expeditions (B) Religious campaigns (D) Silk Road missionaries

Key Words/ I. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Questions A. After a century of Mongol rule and reduced population due to plague B. Promoted Confucian learning; reestablished civil service examination C. Highly centralized: power concentrated in emperor – with a cadre of eunuchs (castrated men) loyal to the emperor – had great authority D. Repaired damage of Mongols: canals/reclaimed land for cultivation 1. Economy rebounded, trade flourished, and population grew E. Largest and most impressive maritime expeditions world had ever seen 1. Enormous fleet, commissioned by Emperor Yongle, launched in 1405 2. Followed over the next twenty-eight years by six more expeditions 3. Visited ports in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, India, Arabia, East Africa 4. Led by Muslim eunuch Zheng He 5. To enroll distant peoples in Chinese tribute system 6. Served to establish Chinese power and prestige in Indian Ocean 7. However, did not seek to conquer new territories or spread culture 8. Most surprising feature of voyages: abruptly ended a) After 1433, Chinese authorities simply stopped the expeditions and allowed enormous and expensive fleet to deteriorate in port b) Part of the reason: death of emperor Yongle, chief patron c) And many officials [Confucian scholar-gentry] believed expeditions were a waste of resources; believed China was the “middle kingdom” – outside world had nothing of value to offer d) Also believed that real danger came from north: nomadic barbarians e) Viewed voyages as project of court eunuchs, whom officials despised II. Meanwhile A Highly Fragmented Western Europe A. Independent, highly competitive states – states learned to tax more efficiently, raise standing armies, effective administrative structures B. Much of this state building was driven by the needs of war 1. The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1454): England vs. France over rival claims to territory in France C. A renewed cultural blossoming, known as the Renaissance celebrated and reclaimed a classical Greek tradition 1. Began in the commercial cities of Italy (between 1350 and 1500) 2. Belief of elite that they were living in a new era removed feudal past 3. Humanism: the belief in the inherent dignity and worth of the human 4. Machiavelli’s (1469-1527) The Prince: power by any means necessary 5. Secularism: looking at the world through a non-religious perspective D. European Age of Exploration 1. 1415: Portuguese maritime voyages explored west coast of Africa 2. 1492, Columbus to Americas - 1497, Vasco da Gama to India 3. But Europeans seeking gold of Africa and Asia as well as converts 4. Chinese withdrawal from the Indian Ocean facilitated European entry III. Vastly different Points of View: China versus Western Europe Reflections: 1. Who was the great voyager and explorer 4. A Renaissance humanist is one who of early Ming China? (A) Seeks to reconcile Christian values with (A) Yongle a public life. (B) Zheng He (B) Considers Christianity to be an (C) Sun Tzu outmoded superstition. (D) Marco Polo (C) Holds that personal glory is the only (E) Zhu Yuan-chang true value. (D) Withdraws from the world to study ancient texts. (E) Rejects the past and embraces all that is new.

5. Chinese naval expeditions were abruptly 2. The illustration above shows which of the ended in 1433 because following about the fifteenth century? (A) Zheng He was suspected of building his (A) The relative number of ships produced personal power. by the Hangzhou shipyards and the Genoese (B) Maintaining the fleet was considered a shipyards needless waste of national resources. (B) The beginning of a long period of (C) The voyages had led to several Chinese domination of the Indian Ocean humiliating defeats. trade (D) The large Chinese vessels proved to be (C) The meeting of Vasco da Gama and unseaworthy. Zheng He (D) The relative size of the European 6. Under Hongwu, the Ming dynasty was caravel and the Ming treasure ship established as (E) The use of the lateen sail (A) A feudal state dominated by warlords. (B) A military state with a puppet emperor. 3. Which of the following was the primary (C) A constitutional monarchy. goal of Zheng He’s expeditions? (D) A decentralized empire with (A) To eliminate foreign trade with China. considerable autonomy for local authorities. (B) To establish Chinese trading cities on (E) A highly centralized, autocratic state. the Indian Ocean. (C) To impress foreign people with the 7. Which label best characterizes the Italian power and might of the Ming dynasty. Renaissance? (D) To establish diplomatic relations with (A) A political movement the Muslim states in the Indian Ocean. (B) A cultural movement (E) To offer military protection and support (C) A religious movement to Chinese merchants in the Indian Ocean. (D) A mass movement (E) A global movement

Thesis Practice: Comparative Analyze the similarities and differences in motives and methods of exploration in Ming China and Western Europe during the European Age of Exploration. ______“The Ming expeditions into the Indian Ocean basin were launched on a scale that reflected imperial China’s resources and importance. The first consisted of sixty-two specially built ‘treasure ships,’ large Chinese junks each about 300 feet long by 150 feet wide. There were also at least a hundred smaller vessels, most of which were larger than the flagship in which Columbus later sailed across the Atlantic. One expedition carried over 27,000 individuals, including infantry and cavalry troops.

At the command of the expeditions was Admiral Zheng He (1371–1435). A Chinese Muslim with ancestral connections to the Persian Gulf, Zheng was a fitting emissary to the increasingly Muslim-dominated Indian Ocean basin. The expeditions carried other Arabic- speaking Chinese as interpreters. One of these interpreters kept a journal recording the customs, dress, and beliefs of the people visited, along with the trade, towns, and animals of their countries. He observed exotic animals such as the black panther of Malaya and the tapir of Sumatra; beliefs in legendary ‘corpse headed barbarians’ whose heads left their bodies at night and caused infants to die; the division of coastal Indians into five classes, which correspond to the four Hindu varna and a separate Muslim class; and the fact that traders in the rich Indian trading port of Calicut could perform error-free calculations by counting on their fingers and toes rather than using the Chinese abacus.

The Chinese ‘treasure ships’ carried rich silks, precious metals, and other valuable goods, goods intended as gifts for distant rulers. In return those rulers sent back gifts of equal or greater value to the Chinese emperor. Although the main purpose of these exchanges was diplomatic, they also stimulated trade between China and its southern neighbors. For that reason they were welcomed by Chinese merchants and manufacturers. Yet commercial profits could not have offset the huge cost of the fleets.

Interest in new contacts was not confined to the Chinese side. In 1415-1416, at least three trading cities on the Swahili Coast of East Africa sent delegations to China. The delegates from one of them, Malindi, presented the emperor of China with a giraffe, creating quite a stir among the normally reserved imperial officials. Such African delegations may have encouraged more contacts, for the next three of Zheng’s voyages were extended to the African coast. It appears that China’s lavish gifts stimulated the Swahili market for silk and porcelain. An increase in Chinese imports of pepper from southern Asian lands also resulted from these expeditions.

Had the Ming court wished to promote trade for the profit of its merchants, Chinese fleets might have continued to play a dominant role in Indian Ocean trade. But some high Chinese officials opposed increased contact with peoples whom they regarded as barbarians with no real contribution to make to China. Such opposition caused a suspension in the voyages from 1424 to 1431, and after the final expedition of 1432 to 1433, no new fleets were sent out. Later Ming emperors focused their attention on internal matters in their vast empire. China’s withdrawal left a power vacuum in the Indian Ocean.” ~ The Earth and Its Peoples How did the expeditions of Zheng He change China but also the outside world? ______