Analysis Of Zheng He Voyages

Over the past centuries, the stories of Zheng He Voyages have been marveled at by many, and have even hit many households not only in China, but also in many parts of the world. Zheng He was an influential figure during the Ming Empire, leading an astounding total number of seven voyages, with tens of thousands of people and great fleets under his command. Zheng He was born to a Muslim family in Yunan with the original name of Ma He. Upon being captured by the Ming army, he was sent to serve the Prince of Yan who was to be the future Yongle Emperor, and quickly distinguished himself from the rest of the Eunuch through his brilliance, highest level of loyalty, as well as his braveness as a soldier.

With attentive studies on Zheng He’s miraculous

Economic exploitation was one of the prominent issues, for research had shown that within two years, three maritime trade supervisorates had been created in Vietnam, which was the same number in China, clearly stated the “desire of the Ming to control maritime trade to the south and exploit the economic advantage of such control.” Academic books have also confirmed the Ming’s intentions to colonize Vietnam and thereafter proceeded with economic profiteering. There were also other heavy economic exploitations such as grain taxes, and also the imposition of monopolies on gold, silver and salt. Hence, this could very well pan out the argument that trade benefits was high on the expedition’s agenda, for author Geoff Wade had also stated in his Asia Research Institute paper that “By controlling ports and trade routes, one controlled trade, an essential element for the missions’ treasure-collecting tasks.” The maritime forces thus controlled the main port polities along the major East-West trade network and benefitted economically and

In this case, it will be classified as a political aim, but it can be linked to the heavy economical intentions. Geoff Wade mentioned in his paper that military presence was required and there was the use of violence in the Zheng He voyages, and many attacks on different countries were also reported. One prominent case study was the attack on Sri Lanka in 1411, where Zheng He invaded the country and seized the King and his family back to the Ming court . Later on, in the 1430s and 1440s, the Ming even invaded territories of different natives roots and divided them into smaller administrations . Journal articles have also stated that “They were conducted to establish imperial control over the maritime trade,[2] to bring the maritime trade into the tributary system, and to force foreign countries into compliance within the tributary system.” Based on these information, it is sufficient to assert the fact that threats and violence were indeed in the usage for the maintenance of control over the ports. Nonetheless, the involvement of coercion was only needed for the compliance of the countries in order to preserve their economic