Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450 Edited by Craig Clunas, Jessica Harrison-Hall and Luk Yu-ping Publishers Research and publication supported by the Arts and The British Museum Humanities Research Council Great Russell Street London wc1b 3dg Series editor The Ming conference was generously supported by Sarah Faulks The Sir Percival David Foundation Percival David Foundation Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450 Edited by Craig Clunas, Jessica Harrison-Hall This publication is made possible in part by a grant from and Luk Yu-ping the James P. Geiss Foundation, a non-profit foundation that sponsors research on China’s Ming dynasty isbn 978 0 86159 205 0 (1368–1644) issn 1747 3640 Names of institutions appear according to the conventions of international copyright law and have no other significance. The names shown and the designations used on the map on pp. viii–ix do not imply official endorsement Research and publication supported by Eskenazi Ltd. or acceptance by the British Museum. London © The Trustees of the British Museum 2016 Text by British Museum staff © 2016 The Trustees of the British Museum 2016. All other text © 2016 individual This publication arises from research funded by the contributors as listed on pp. iii–v John Fell Oxford University Press (OUP) Research Fund Front cover: Gold pillow end, one of a pair, inlaid with jewels, 1425–35. British Museum, London (1949,1213.1) Pg. vi: Anonymous, The Lion and His Keeper, Ming dynasty, c. 1400–1500. Hanging scroll, ink and colours on silk. Image: height 163.4cm, width 100cm; with mount: height 254.2cm, width 108cm. British Museum, given by Professor Roderick Research supported by a British Museum Whitfield, 2014,3032.1 Research Grant Printed and bound in the UK by 4edge Ltd, Hockley Papers used by The British Museum are recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests and other controlled sources. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin All British Museum images illustrated in this book are © The Trustees of the British Museum Further information about the Museum and its collection can be found at britishmuseum.org Contents Acknowledgements vii Map viii Chronology x Introduction 1 Craig Clunas Part 1: Rulership and War 1. Justifying Ming Rulership on a Eurasian Stage 8 David M. Robinson 2. Domination in Four Keys: Ming China and its 15 Southern Neighbours 1400–1450 Geoffrey Wade 3. Diplomacy, Trade and the Quest for the 26 Buddha’s Tooth: The Yongle Emperor and Ming China’s South Asian Frontier Tansen Sen 4. Causes and Consequences of the Ming 37 Intervention in Vietnam in the Early Fifteenth Century Kenneth M. Swope Part 2: Sites, Images and Objects of Power 5. Green Beijing: Ecologies of Movement in 46 the New Capital c. 1450 Jonathan Hay 6. Painting of the Imperial Palace and Zhu Bang 56 Yu Hui 7. The Empress’ Dragon Crown: Establishing 68 Symbols of Imperial Authority in the Early Ming Luk Yu-ping 8. Early Ming Ceramics: Rethinking the Status 77 of Blue-and-White Jessica Harrison-Hall 9. Zhu Quan, A Prince who Changed Ming Musical 87 History Joseph S.C. Lam 10.Fashioning the Imperial Legacy: Yang Shiqi 94 and the Record of Imperial Pronouncements Peter Ditmanson 11.Politics or Entertainment? Examining Jiangxi 99 Scholar Officials and Zhejiang Painters through the Lens of the Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden Yin Ji’nan 12. The Gradual Termination of the Early Ming 106 Voyages to the ‘Western Ocean’ and its Causes Zhao Zhongnan Part 3: Objects, Images and Sites of Belief 13.The New Idea of Ritual Vessels in the Early 113 Ming Dynasty: A Third System? Shih Ching-fei 14.Gifts of Good Fortune and Praise-Songs for 122 Peace: Images of Auspicious Portents and Panegyrics from the Yongle Period Lina Lin 15.Enshrining the Dark Troops: The Printing of 134 Daoist Books in the Early Ming Dynasty Maggie Chui Ki Wan 16.Faces of Transnational Buddhism at the Early 143 Ming Court Marsha Haufler 17.The Early Ming Imperial Atelier on the 152 Tibetan Frontier Karl Debreczeny 18.Religious Consciousness and Beliefs in the 163 Ming Tombs of Princes and Royal Family Members in Hubei Province Yuan Wenqing Part 4: Rules, Regulations and Material Culture 19.Paper Money of the Ming Dynasty: Examining 170 the Material Evidence Caroline R. Cartwright, Christina M. Duffy and Helen Wang 20. The Porcelain Pagoda: A Persisting Enigma 178 Clarence Eng 21. Architecture of the Early Ming Court: 189 A Preliminary Look Aurelia Campbell 22. Investigating Zheng He’s Ships: What is Known 197 and Knowable? Sally K. Church Part 5: Global Ming 23. ‘Trees and Stones Are Only What They Are’: 206 Translating Ming Empire in the Fifteenth Century Carla Nappi 24. Building Cultural Authority in Early Joseon 211 Korea (1400–1450) Lee Soomi 25. The Book of the Five Relationships: Thoughts 219 on Mid-Fifteenth-Century Court Confucianism Sarah Schneewind 26.Looking East, Looking West: The Artistic 228 Connections of Ming China and Timurid Iran Priscilla Soucek 27. Precious Stones and Ming Culture, 236 1400–1450 Craig Clunas 28. Ming Ceramics Discovered in Kenya and 245 Some Related Issues Qin Dashu 29. Traces of the Zheng He Voyages in Late Ming 253 Navigational Materials Timothy Brook Bibliography 260 Contributors 280 Illustration Credits 284 Index 288 The editors would first like to thank the Arts and Acknowledgements Humanities Research Council (AHRC) of Great Britain for supporting the research project into early Ming courts and their global connections which was the starting point for this volume. Their support has not only enabled us to work together, but to bring together this august group of scholars of Ming China’s culture and history. The AHRC has also supported the project by making a film promoting the bp exhibition Ming: 50 years that changed China, publicising the research at other conferences and on their website and using it as an example of bringing together an international team of museum professionals, academics and researchers. The generous sponsorship of the James P. Geiss Foundation, Sir Percival David Foundation, the John Fell Fund, Giuseppe Eskenazi and Xining Group is equally reflected in the quality of production of this volume. Grateful thanks are due to Wenyuan Xin who has worked so hard on the picture research for the 350 images in this volume, and who has been thoroughly involved with the production of this book from its inception to realisation. Her accurate credit lines may be relied on for a whole generation of researchers to come. Nina Shandloff and Sarah Faulks are to be thanked for the sensitive copyediting, design and production of the essays. Maps were made by Paul Goodhead and Craig Williams. We would like to thank our three peer reviewers, Professor Shane McCausland, Professor Anne Gerritsen and Dr Elizabeth Lambourn. Their comments produced many useful insights into the texts and raised new questions for all the authors. There are many people at the Museum to thank, and we are grateful to everyone involved, especially Jonathan Ould for the 3D design and Paul Goodhead for the graphic design of the exhibition. Jessica Harrison-Hall would particularly like to thank the team that keeps all of these projects afloat, especially Martin Keady and Helen Valuks. Acknowledgements | vii SIBERIA Tyr Am u r E EUROPE MONGOLIA P P HEILONGJIANG E hua T ong S S E ASIA H T BLACK SEA UZBEKISTAN Hami GOBI LIAONING Tumu Fort g la Juyong n u Istanbul Xuanfu o s DESERT Pass d n Datong ao i i en Beijing L P Samarkand XINJIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION r Mount NORTH e Wutai Dalian XINJIANG UYGUR ZIZHIQU i v KOREA R w Taiyuan Seoul ello QINGHAI Y SHANDONG SOUTH M G KOREA E AFGHANISTAN ran D I CHINA d C JAPAN T E Xi'an Kaifeng an R R A N al E A N S E A Jeju TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION Mount Mount Island XIZANG ZIZHIQU Nanjing IRAN H Wudang Zhong HUBEI Suzhou I e tz Liujiagang Shanghai M SICHUAN g Cairo n Hangzhou A Ya NEPALL Jingdezhen A Y A S Hormuz New Delhi Ryūkyū Islands Taihe Changle PAKISTAN Okinawa YUNNAN County Quanzhou Medina WEST BENGAL BANGLA Xiamen SAUDI DESH Chittagong Nanning Jeddah ARABIA GUJARAT LAOS PACIFIC Mecca INDIA MYANMAR Red River ARABIAN BURMA Delta PENINSULA V OCEAN I OMAN E T Dhofar N A THAILAND M Mukalla YEMEN Ayutthaya Qui Nhon Aden CAMBODIA Andaman Kozhikode (Calicut) Islands PHILIPPINES AFRICA Cochin Quilon Strait of Malacca SRI LANKA Nicobar Islands Galle Kelantan BRUNEI Banda Aceh Semudera Sulu MALAYSIA SOMALIA Pahang Mogadishu S u m a t r a Malacca Baraawe Borneo Lamu INDONESIA KENYAMalindi Palembang Mombasa ATLANTIC TANZANIA Zanzibar INDIAN OCEAN J a v a Surabaya OCEAN N Zheng He’s main route 0 500 1000 miles Subsidiary route Locations mentioned in the book Istanbul 0 500 1000 1500 kilometres viii | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450 SIBERIA Tyr Am u r E EUROPE MONGOLIA P P HEILONGJIANG E hua T ong S S E ASIA H T BLACK SEA UZBEKISTAN Hami GOBI LIAONING Tumu Fort g la Juyong n u Istanbul Xuanfu o s DESERT Pass d n Datong ao i i en Beijing L P Samarkand XINJIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION r Mount NORTH e Wutai Dalian XINJIANG UYGUR ZIZHIQU i v KOREA R w Taiyuan Seoul ello QINGHAI Y SHANDONG SOUTH M G KOREA E AFGHANISTAN ran D I CHINA d C JAPAN T E Xi'an Kaifeng an R R A N al E A N S E A Jeju TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION Mount Mount Island XIZANG ZIZHIQU Nanjing IRAN H Wudang Zhong HUBEI Suzhou I e tz Liujiagang Shanghai M SICHUAN g Cairo n Hangzhou A Ya NEPALL Jingdezhen A Y A S Hormuz New Delhi Ryūkyū Islands Taihe Changle PAKISTAN Okinawa YUNNAN County Quanzhou Medina WEST BENGAL BANGLA Xiamen SAUDI