WHEN CHINA RULED THE SEAS, Louise Levathes, Oxford, 1994.

This absorbing account of one of the most fascinating episodes in human
interaction is sub-titled, "The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne,
1405-1433." It begins with a prologue starting with the African
perception of the arrival of the great Chinese fleet in 1418 and the
very poor impression made eighty years later when Vasco de Gama arrived
in the same waters.

Chapter One, "The Yi Peoples" (pp. 23-32), considers the great
movements of peoples from southern China and Taiwan to Southeast Asia,
the Pacific, Australia, Madagascar, and possibly America. It suggests
possible Eastern Yi influence on the Shang for the ritual use of turtle
shells.

   From the Eastern Yi, the Shang also acquired wet-rice agriculture,
   irrigation, lacquerware, bamboo, bark cloth, and longboats. The
   Shang shared the Eastern Yi's reverence for jade and their skill in
   carving it. p. 27

The author speculates that on the fall of the Shang Dynasty some of the
Shang may have fled overseas, even as far as America. She mentions the
search during the Ch'in and Han Dynasties for the Eastern Isles
containing the herbs of immortality. She refers specifically to the
three thousand young people of Hsu Fu's second expedition and the young
couples chosen for the expedition of Li Shaochun. There is speculation
linking Hsu Fu and the early Japannese figure Jimmu Tenno.

Chapter Two, "Confucians and Curiosities" (pp. 33-55), begins by
mentioning concepts such as filial piety, avoiding overseas travel
while parents live, the wild extremities and civilized centre that
rendered trade and commerce less respectable. The author proceeds to
describe the outward looking T'ang Dynasty and its capital:

   Chang'an emerged in the seventh century as the greatest city in the
   world at that time -- a mighty metropolis covering thirty square
   miles in the heart of the Yellow River valley in north China with
   more than a million taxable residents. p. 34

   Down the narrow, winding streets of the western market, one could
   smell sweet sandalwood from India or Java, which was mashed into a
   paste and used to cure fevers and intestinal disorders. There were
   aloes to make soothing salves and cloves to freshen the breath.
   Frankincense from Somalia could be found there, as well as myrrh,
   used to treat women who had suffered a miscarriage. There were
   Persian dates for the complexion, saffron powder for perfume, and
   pistachio nuts from Persia for sexual vigor. Black pepper from
   Burma was peddled for stomach ailments and strong mustard from
   Tibet for use in balms. And some days, there was rare ambergris, a
   costly incense, which the Chinese believed was "dragon's spittle."
   The cure for any ailment, from anywhere in the world, could be had
   for a price in the western market of Chang'an." p. 35

Louise Levathes mentions the exotic birds in T'ang imperial gardens,
Ferghana horses, Korean women, African slaves, and foreign influences.
There is reference to the many foreigners in Guangzhou, discriminatory
laws and civil disorders. She cites the tale of Hui Shen, postulating a
connection with Meso-America. Then she turns to the Sung Dynasty, when
China relied on water for defence and for trade.

   By the early thirteenth century the Chinese had the best boats in
   the Indian Ocean and had captured the bulk of the sea trade from the
   Arabs. The average oceangoing merchant junk was about 100 feet long
   and 25 feet wide at the beam, and carried 120 tons of cargo and a
   crew of 60. The largest ships carried three hundred tons and five to
   six hundred people and towed lifeboats. p. 43

She mentions fresh meat and wines, the hazards of shoals, battles
against pirates, the Jin and the Mongols. The Mongols failed
spectacularly when the divine wind defended Japan. The Mongols also
sent fleets to Vietnam and Java. The chapter concludes with a reference
to the transport of grain by ship and the unscrupulous merchants Zhu
Qing and Zhang Xuan.

Chapter Three, "The Prisonner and the Prince" (pp. 57-74) begins with
the chance encounter of General Fu Youde, conqueror of the Mongols in
Yunnan, and a ten year old boy. The general, impressed by the boy's
courage and intelligence placed him castrated into the residence of
Prince Zhu Di. The prince's father had distinguished himself on his
rise to power by not burdening the people and by seeking sage advice.

   Zhu Yuanzhang credited a large part of his military success in the
   rebellion to the spirits of the mountains and rivers, to whom he
   prayed conscientiously. He believed his grandfather was a shaman who
   had the power to persuade water spirits to send rain. Later, when he
   became emperor and took the name Ming (meaning "bright" or
   "enlightened") for the new dynasty, he made belief in spirits a
   state religion above Buddhism and Daoism. pp. 58-59

There is an account of the succession struggle that resulted in the
reign of Zhu Di, the Jongle ("Lasting Joy") emperor, and various rumors
concerning the whereabouts of his nephew, the emperor Zhu Yunwen. These
rumors include one of flight overseas. Soon after coming to power, Zhu
Di ordered the construction of a trading fleet of unprecedented size.

   Part of the purpose of the undertaking, at least according to the
   Ming tong jian, an unofficial history of the period, may have been
   to comb the seas and either find Yunwen or dispel the unsettling
   rumors of his exile abroad. p. 73

Chapter Four, "The Treasure Fleet" (pp. 75-85) begins by describing the
Longjiang shipyards at Nanjing, impressive in size and technological
achievement. The ships are described, the largest 444 chi (c. 400 ft.)
long.

   Four was the symbol for the earth, which was thought to be
   "four-cornered." The Middle Kingdom was imagined to be in the middle
   of four seas. There are four cardinal directions, four seasons, and,
   according to Confucian philosophy, si wei, "four bonds," or virtues:
   propriety, integrity, righteousness, and modesty. All were
   auspicious associations for the treasure ships. p. 80

There were a number of specialty craft. Reference is made to Lou
Maotang, a later Ming novelist whose San Bao taijian Xiyang ji tongsu
yanyi is about these historic voyages of Cheng He. The chapter lists
the communications devices: flag, bells, banners, drum, gong, lanterns
and carrier pigeons. Then comes a look at the officers (military being
subordinate to the eunuchs) and specialists.

   ...the fleet had two secretaries to prepare official documents; one
   senior secretary from the Ministry of Revenue, who was in charge of
   grain and fodder supplies; two officials from the Ministry of Rites,
   who would have been in charge of protocol at official receptions;
   and one official astrologer and geomancer assisted by four student
   astrologers and geomancers, who would have been responsible for
   making astronomical observations, forecasting the weather, keeping
   the calendar and interpreting natural phenomena. Ten instructors,
   whose official title was tong yi fan shu jiao yu guan, lterally,
   "teacher who knows foreign books," were on board to serve as
   translators. Arabic speakers and those knowledgeable in central
   Asian languages would certainly have been among them.

   The fleet also had 180 medical officers and pharmacologists to
   collect herbs in foreign countries. There was one medical officer
   for every 150 men. pp. 83-84

There were also craftsmen to repair any ships that became damaged.
Ordinary seamen and soldiers were mainly criminals. Enormous efforts
went into supplying the fleet with necessities and trade goods,
especially fine silk and porcelain. There was some corruption in the
gathering of these supplies.

Chapter Five, "Destination Calicut" (pp. 87-106), begins by stating
that Zheng He was placed in charge of this vast fleet "...317 brightly
painted junks with a total crew of more than 27,000 men..." There was a
great banquet the evening before the journey and sacrifices to the
sailors' goddess, Tianfei.

   The emperor eventually built a magnificent new temple to Tianfei on a
   hill overlooking the Longjiang shipyard and the Yangzi, and Zheng He
   brought back rare and exotic trees for the temple's orchards and
   lavish gold and silver ornaments to grace the statue of the goddess.
   Murals inside both old and new temples depicted scenes from
   Tianfei's life, beginning with her birth in 960 A.D. to a Fujian
   fisherman named Lin. It was said when she was fifteen or sixteen,
   she received enlightenment while gazing into a well, after which she
   had the power to foresee the future and to heal the sick. According
   to legend, she was able to convey a warning to her brother at sea,
   which saved him from drowning. After she died in 987, her spirit was
   believed to wander above the sea in a red dress, guiding sailors in
   danger. Her cult grew in Fujian and all along coastal China, and she
   was credited with many miraculous rescues and healings. p. 89

There were prayers after boarding. These are quoted for two pages. Then,
the fleet sailed downriver to Liujia and four hundred miles along the
coast to Fuzhou. There it waited the favourable winds to Champa.

   At sea, the ships' pilots navigated principally by means of the
   water compass and measured time by burning graded incense sticks. A
   small basin in the center of the compass was filled with "yang"
   water, seawater taken from the upwind side of the ship, and the
   magnetized needle, in the shape of a flat fish, was then gently
   placed on the water, where it slowly drifted into a north-south
   direction. pp. 93-96 (sic, 94-95 is map illo)

There is mention of measuring speed, latitude, charting, sounding and
trade with Champa for aloe, ebony, ivory and lakawood. The fleet went
on to Sumatra and Java, avoiding the civil disturbance at Palembang.
Many Chinese were living in the islands. A joust was observed, as well
as Hindu burning of wives on husbands' deaths. Thence the fleet sailed
to Ceylon, where it was unwelcome, and to Calicut on India's west
coast. In that highly respected state, patronizing literature and the
arts and boasting an efficient army, navy, civil service and ruler, the
Chinese remained from December 1406 until April 1407. They traded for
pepper, pearls, coral and precious stones.

   While the Chinese made their calculations on an abacus, the Indians
   counted on their fingers and toes, but, according to Ma Huan, they
   did "not make the slightest mistake...[which is] extraordinary."
   p.101

There is mention of encountering the story of Moses and the golden calf
and confusion of this with worshipping cows in India. The Chinese fleet
returned with envoys from India, Malaya and Sumatra, as well as with
the defeated pirate chief Chen Zuyi. The returning fleet ran into a
storm, but prayers to Tianfei were effective. Zheng He was so impressed
by her intervention he remained home during the second voyage to repair
her temple at her birthplace.

The chapter then mentions the visit to China by the king of Brunei, who
died there at the age of 38. There is also reference to the second
expedition's visit to Siam, where women had considerable independence,
and to India, where a new ruler was installed in Calicut.

Chapter Six, "The Strange Kingdoms of Malacca and Ceylon",
(pp. 107-122), begins with an account of the founding of Malacca and
Chinese support for Parameswara.

   Zheng He presented Parameswara with two silver seals, an official
   hat, and a royal girdle and robe and set up a stone tablet
   officially declaring the city and its environs a country. pp. 108-09

There is also a description of Malay folk-beliefs: the presence of
spirits (semargat or mana) in all things, the planting of thorns
beneath houses as protection from an evil spirit, the existence of were
tigers and chants to repel them, including one chant quoted wherein Ali
and Brahma are both called upon. Then comes mention of Sumatra,
hardwoods and remedies for illnesses. There follows a look at the
trilingual stele for Ceylon praising Tenavarai-Nayanar in Tamil, Allah
in Persian and Buddha in Chinese. There was a complicated political
situation on the island, reflected in the contradictory Singhalese and
Chinese accounts. Louise Levathes seeks understanding of what may
actually have happened, for example, that likely the famous tooth of
Buddha was brought to China by a Ceylonese ruler and it helped confirm
his legitimacy and secure his return home with the tooth. Ceylon
acknowledged Chinese suzerainty until 1459.

Next, attention is paid to the envoys in China, the care they received,
prohibitions on their interaction with the general population, tribute
and reciprocal gift giving. The near-sighted Zhu Di especially
appreciated the ten eye glasses given by Parameswara and gave the
Malaccans gifts even richer than usual in return. The chapter concludes
with a description of the pagoda the emperor built for his mother from
the proceeds of these ocean voyages, and how it so impressed visitors
to Nanjing until its destruction in 1856 during the Taiping Rebellion.

Chapter Seven, "Emissaries of the Dragon Throne" (pp. 123-135),
recounts other extensive diplomatic activity during the Yongle period
with Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet and Central Asia. Two
interesting points are the description of the visit of the Tibetan
karmapa to China and Zhu Di's receiving hundreds of Korean women into
his harem.

Chapter Eight, "The Auspicious Appearance of the Celestial Animals"
(pp. 137-153), briefly outlines three more voyages. There is a glimpse
at the conditions of Islam in early Ming China. There was persecution
of Muslims, possibly because of association of Muslims with the
overthrown Mongols. And, there was official tolerance, with the emperor
Zhu Di perhaps favourably influenced by the Muslim Zheng He.

There is reference to the politics of Semudera on Sumatra, where the
Chinese were attacked by one of the rival factions. The Chinese were
victorious and the defeated faction leader was brought to China and
executed. The fourth voyage touched also at the Maldives and Hormuz.
The voyage returned with envoys from Africa, as well as a giraffe, an
animal thought to correspond with the mythical qilin, hence confirming
the virtuous nature of the reign of the Yongle emperor.

The chapter looks at the transfer of the capital to Beijing, and the
tremendous building project in preparation for that, including repair
of the Grand Canal. It also glances at the arrival during the fifth
voyage in Aden and the eastern coast of Africa.

   Fei Xin reported that the inhabitants of Mogadishu were
   "quarrelsome." Luo Maodong's 1597 novel about the voyages of Zheng
   He, which is believed to have some historic reliability, states
   specifically that Zheng He used gunpowder explosives against a
   walled town called La-sa, thought to be near Mogadishu in Somalia,
   and that the ruler of Mogadishu was wary of welcoming the Chinese.
   p. 150

He eventually acknowledged the greater power of the Chinese. The
Chinese fleet also called at Brawa in Somalia and Malindi in Kenya.
While the sixth voyage also included Aden and Africa, Zheng He turned
back at Sumatra, possibly to participate in the official New Year's
celebrations inaugurating Beijing as the new capital on February 2,
1421.

Chapter Nine, "Fires in the Forbidden City" (pp. 155-165), is a look at
a fascinating aspect of Chinese imperial ideology. The change in
residence to Beijing was marred by an alleged conspiracy in the palace,
by the emperor falling from a horse that had allegedly been
Timur-i-Leng's, and by the spectacular fire on May 9, 1421. The fire is
stated to have come from lightning. Levathes writes that this fire was
said to have been predicted to the hour by, "Hu, master of the water
clock." Such a prediction from this official suggests to this reviewer
that some human agency lay behind this encouragement to return to
Nanjing.

   Fire spread quickly up the tall vermilion columns, devouring the
   exquisitely carved, painted ceilings and support beams. The heavy,
   gold-colored tiled roofs that rose nearly a hundred feet caved in,
   while voluminous silk canopies and curtains and the emperor's carved
   wooden thrones were quickly reduced to ashes. p. 157

According to the principle that such signs are an indication of
Heaven's displeasure with the monarch, the emperor apologized, and
issued an edict asking for corrective advice. He temporarily suspended
the treasure fleet's voyages, remitted some taxes and took other steps
to ease the lot of his subjects. However, he refused to consider moving
the capital back to Nanjing and could not be persuaded to refrain from
pointless military ventures to the north. He died on August 12, 1424 at
the age of sixty-four.

   The site for the tomb of the emperor had been selected years before,
   in 1411, at the base of the Tianshou Mountains twenty miles
   northwest of Beijing. Empress Xu was buried there. Like Zhu
   Yuanzhang's tomb outside Nanjing, the burial mound was located
   between a mountain and a river to prevent the soul from wandering.
   Eventually, thirteen Ming emperors would be buried there, and the
   gentle plain and low foothills would be compared to the Valley of
   the Kings in Egypt. pp. 161-162

While the new emperor remained at the palace, the funeral procession
moved in a zigzag as protection from ill-intentioned spirits.

Zheng He had been on a special mission to Sumatra and returned to find
Zhu Gaozhi on the throne. A studious, benevolent, pacific individual
attentive to his Confucian advisors, he ordered an end to future
voyages of the fleet, and placed Cheng He in command of the military in
Nanjing. However, he died on May 29, 1425, perhaps not from natural
causes.

Chapter Ten, "The Last Voyage" (pp. 167-181), tells of the emperor Zhu
Zhanj, who once plowed the land. He reversed some of his father's
policies and, as his grandfather, moved the capital to Beijing and
allowed the Treasure Fleet to sail. The seventh voyage departed China
in January 1432, visiting southern Vietnam, Java, Sumatra, Malacca,
Ceylon, India, Arabia and eastern Africa.

   In Jidda and Dhufar, the center of the frankincense trade, the
   Chinese exchanged their silks and porcelains for aloe, which was
   used as a purgative and tonic; myrrh, the ancient Egyptian
   preservative the Chinese believed invigorated the circulation;
   benzoin, the aromatic gum resin used to treat respiratory ailments;
   storax, an anti-inflammatory drug; and an herbal medicine the
   Chinese called mubietzi, a paste of momordica seeds used to treat
   ulcers and wounds. Chinese interest in Arab drugs and therapies was
   particularly keen following the publication in China of an Arabic
   medical text, Hui yao fang (Pharmaceutical prescriptions of the
   Muslims). p. 171

Zheng He, who may not have travelled beyond Calicut on this voyage,
died on the way home and was buried at sea.

   His shoes and a braid of his hair, at his request, were thought to
   have been brought back to Nanjing and buried near Buddhist caves
   outside the city. p. 172

The death of the emperor in 1435 and the power politics of Confucian
scholar-officials against eunuchs, along with the perceived priority of
the land frontier led to the abandonment of sea travel.

Chapter Eleven, "The Sultan's Bride" (pp. 183-193), tells that, whether
or not Hang Libo, the consort of Malacca's Sultan Mansur Shah, really
was a Chinese princess, a Chinese diaspora to Southeast Asia took place
from at least the Tenth Century. The voyages of Cheng He, and even more
the halting of such voyages provided the opportunity for adventurous
Chinese to settle overseas. As well, the voyages had radiated Chinese
culture, including calendars, rituals, books and systems of
measurement.

Zheng He is venerated throughout Southeast Asia. On the 13th of the 6th
moon, the legendary day of his arrival to Java, people come from across
Southeast Asia to his temple in a cave near Semarang.

   On the day of the festival, a copy of Zheng He's statue in the Dajue
   Temple four miles away is carried to San Bao Gong to "meet" the
   original statue so that the duplicate will receive its sacred power.
   When the Dajue statue reaches the cave, it is turned to face the east
   and the devoted burn incense and pray. Then, waving banners and
   wooden swords, beating drums, and dancing, the large throng carts the
   statue back to the Dajue Temple. p. 192

Regular worship occurs on the first and fifteenth of each month.
Incense is continually burned, fruit offered to his statue, the water
from a spring outside the cave is considered curative, and sea
travellers seek his protection.

There is an epilogue mentioning the legends of Australian Aborigines
about a people known as Baijini and there are the Bajuni in Kenya. The
author speculates whether these similar words may derive from "baju"
(long robe) and designate a characteristic of Chinese travellers to
both places.

The bibliography is sparse, and the text of my copy lacks numerical indicators for notes.

This is a truly fascinating topic and the author has endeavored to
provide a wide background. Thus, the reader is presented with Confucian
attitudes, early Ming politics, prehistoric and historic Chinese
navigation, etc., as well as the central theme of Cheng He's voyages.
It is very much well worth the read. MM March 9, 2002 C.E., modified slightly on October 19, 2005 C.E.


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