Notes on: When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon
Throne 1405-1433 by Louise Levathes 1994
Between 1405 and 1433 the Chinese Empire seven times sent great fleets
into the Indian Ocean as far as Africa. The largest of the ships in
these fleets were nine-masted junks extending 400 feet in length (see
illustration). These large ships filled with trade goods were accompanied
by numerous supply ships and patrol boats. The crews on these armadas
numbered close to 30 thousand. Then, due to internal problems, China
destroyed its fleet and settled into isolation.
The explanation for this strange action lies in the internal politics of
the Empire. The Mandarin bureaucrats generally ran the Empire, but within
the Imperial Court the court eunuchs had control. The admiral of the
Treasure Fleets was Zheng He (jung huh). Zheng He was a Moslem Chinese
who was captured by the army in southwestern China as a boy. His captors
castrated him and sold him as a servant for harems. He ended up in the
Imperial Court. The eunuchs of the Imperial Court functioned as a
separate bureaucracy and the Mandarins were fearful of their power.
When the Treasure fleet expeditions to the Indian Ocean turned out
to be successes the Mandarins were so afraid that the power of the eunuchs
would be enhanced to the point where they would rival the Mandarins in
power that they set to stop the Treasure fleet expeditions. The Mandarins
convinced the Emperor that the Treasure Fleet threaten to contaminate
the Empire and must be destroyed.
Less than a century after the distruction of Treasure Fleets the Portuguese
appeared in the Indian Ocean in their relative small caravels. Soon the
Portuguese gained control over the Indian Ocean and traveled on to China,
where they acquired Macau, and Japan. How much different world history
would have been if the Chinese Treasure Fleets had continued around Africa
and one day appeared in the harbors of Western Europe.
Note: There are two system for writing Mandarin words in Latin letters.
The Wade-Giles system, the older method, is misleading. The newer method,
Pinyin, was developed by the mainland government of China. It is far
simpler to understand. However the Wade-Giles system is still used in
Taiwan and elsewhere outside of mainland China. Pinyin spellings are used
wherever possible in the following with the Wade-Giles version given in
parentheses.
In the first half of the nineteenth century the province of Guangdong
(Kwangtung in the Wade-Giles romanization and known as Canton by Westerners)
in South China was beset by social turmoil from factional and ethnic
disputes as well as from the impact of Western contact. The government
could not cope with the problems. The ethnic conflict was between the
indigenous people and the Hakkas (guest settlers) who had emigrated into
the area from north central China several centuries previously but
maintain a separate identity. The Hakkas tended to be more adventuresome
than the local population. They entered new occupations, engaged in trade,
and migrated to new lands to a greater extent than other Chinese. A
significant share of the Taiwanese and other overseas Chinese are Hakka.
Two important Chinese leaders, Deng Xiaoping of the People's Republic and
Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore are of Hakka background.
About 1850 Hong Xiu-quan (Hung Hsiu-ch'uan) had visions that led him
to found a new religion. This religion had overtones of Christianity
involving the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit but with the new element
that he, Hong Xiu-quan (Hung Hsiu-ch'uan), was the younger son of God.
An early convert, Feng Yun-shan, became the organizer for the movement
and made many converts among mineworkers, charcoal burners, and poor
peasants many of whom were Hakka. One convert, an illiterate orphaned
charcoal maker, Yang Xiuquan, became a brilliant military tactician. A
member of a wealthy clan, Shi Dakai, joined the movement and persuaded
many of his family to join also.
In January of 1851 a new state was declared called the Celestial Kingdom
of Great Peace Taiping Tianguo (Tai-p'ing T'ien-kuo) in Guangxi (Kwangsi)
Province. Later that year the Taiping army was beseiged by the Imperial
Army but it broke the siege and moved into Hunan. Later the Taiping
army moved into the capital of Hubei province, Wuhan, and then in March
of 1853 captured the southern capital of China, Nanjing.
The Taiping movement was a religious movement combined with an
anti-Manchu Chinese nationalism. In addition, there was a spirit of
communism. Followers gave all their property to the movement and shared
in the property possessed by the theocratic state. Village administrators
were appointed by the Taiping state. Taiping leaders intended to
distribute the farmland under their control to the peasants. This was
not accomplished because the land redistribution ended up being
administered by former landlords who had become administrators.
The Taiping army attempted to conquer North China but failed. The
Empire counterattacked using mercenaries equipped with modern weapons.
The major battles took place in the Yangtze River basin area controlled
by the Taiping. Finally in July of 1864 Nanjing, the capital of the
Taiping state, fell and the Taiping movement disappeared.
The Taiping Rebellion in China 1851-1864