Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Chüan-chow at the end of the Sung Dynasty, whom research showed to be the
descendant of an immigrant Arab who settled in China.
13
In the fi rst three decades of the fi fteenth century, the government of the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) in China expended great efforts in developing oversea
communications between China and the Indian Ocean. These efforts were crowned
by the seven long-distance voyages led by Cheng Ho. As Cheng Ho's expeditions
were by all odds the most impressive achievement in the history of navigation prior
to the Europeans' sailing for the Orient, which did not begin till the end of the fi f-
teenth century, a short description of those remarkable events may not be out of
place here.
The seven voyages of Cheng Ho spanned a period of 29 years (1405-1433 A.D.).
14
His fl eet was composed of more than sixty galleys and a large number of smaller
auxiliary vessels, making a total of well over two hundred. On his seventh voyage
(1431), he was accompanied by various kinds of nautical technicians, soldiers,
interpreters, scribes and medical and service personnel to the number of 27550.
15
When we recall that 61 years later (1492) Columbus had only three ships and eighty-
seven sailors with him in making his fi rst trans-Atlantic voyage, and that 66 years
later (1497) da Gama brought only four ships and 148 (or, according to some
authorities, 178) men to the Orient, we may arrive at a truer estimate of the size of
Cheng Ho's expeditions.
The farthest points reached by Cheng Ho's fl eet in the seven voyages, which
headed in somewhat different directions, are: Hormuz (mentioned in Chinese
records as Hulumussu) on what is now the Iranian Bay, Jeddah (mentioned in
Chinese records as Chihta) on the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and Mombasa (men-
tioned in Chinese records as Manpasa) on the eastern coast of Africa. The last of
these voyages has bequeathed some very valuable legacies to us of the present day,
including a tolerably complete sailing record and a copy of the original sailing
chart.
16
13
Situzo Kuwabara has made an extensive study on the life of P'u Shou-keng and his scholarly
work has been translated into Chinese by Chen Yü-ch'ing entitled
P'u Shou-keng K'ao
(2nd. print,
Shanghai, 1954).
14
The dates of the seven voyages of Cheng Ho are as follows:
1. 1405-1407, 2. 1407-1409, 3. 1409-1411, 4. 1413-1415, 5. 1417-1419, 6. 1421-1423, 7.
1431-1433.
During the last 90 years various studies on the life of Cheng Ho have been published by
European and American scholars. The French Orientalist P. Pelliot has written a comprehensive
dissertation, “Les grands voyages maritimes Chinois au début du xve siècle,”
Toung Pao
, 1933,
pp. 237-452. Owing to the lack of indispensable source materials, mistakes in his conclusions on
the dates of the last six voyages of Cheng Ho are unavoidable.
15
Chu Yün-ming,
Chien Wen Chi,
article on the voyages of Cheng Ho,
Chi Lu Hui Pien
edition,
Chüan
202, p. 37.
16
Chu Yün-ming,
ibid
., and
Cheng Ho Hang Hai T'u
(The Sailing Chart of Cheng Ho), edited by
Hsiang Ta, Peking, 1961.
