foreigners returning to Quanzhou received notes equivalent to fifty taeles of silver as well as rolls of embroidered silk. In 1430, when a foreign Muslim named Sheban returned from the final expedition, the Xuan De Emperor promoted him to deputy battalion commander.
In a paper titled âInstruments and Observation at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau During the Ming Dynasty,â Professor Thatcher E. Deane states:
As with the development of the calendric systemsâ¦were most evident at the beginning of a dynasty, less so at the beginning of an individual emperorâs reign, and almost never at any other time when such expenditures were not direct investments in legitimising state and ruler. Hong Wu had an urgent need to improve the calendrical system because he was the first of the dynasty; Zhu Di was accused of usurping the throne so he also had a very strong need.
Gifts for Foreign Rulers
This obsessive focus on improving navigational techniques enabled Zheng Heâs fleets to reach foreign countries, where, after presenting their credentials, the Chinese ambassadors would supply maps and astronomical tables to the rulers. The gift of knowledge was intended to make it possible for them to return tribute to the Middle Kingdom.
We know from recent excavations at the Jingdezhen kilns (where the bulk of the ceramics carried in Zheng Heâs fleets were fired) and from excavations in Cairo beside the Red Sea Canal, as well as from collections in Europe, that Chinese delegations offered personal gifts toforeign leaders. Ceramic copies of Mamluk candlesticks were given to the Mamluk sultans, along with blue and white flasks, ewers, porcelain cups, and pen boxes. A ewer cover decorated with an armillary sphere in cobalt was fired for the king of Portugal, as were ceramic tiles for Ottoman sultans.
Gifts for more ordinary folk made the journey as well. Playing cards, chess, and mah-jongg sets were given to merchants. Childrenâs whirligig toys, kites, and hot-air balloons were dispensed.
The saddest cargo of the great fleets were women. Traditionally, foreign rulers were each presented with one hundred slave girls. When the fleets returned, the Xuan De emperor observed: âTen thousand countries are our guests.â The number of concubines and slave girls embarked must have been staggering. In a subsequent chapter, weâll show how, after the Chinese squadron reached Venice, female slaves and their offspring made a significant impact on the domestic life and population of Venice, Florence, and Tuscany.
Finally, a word about the most valuable part of the fleetâthe sailors.
Like their modern counterparts, their most prized possessions were mementoes of their loved ones at homeâdrawings, locks of a wifeâs or childrenâs hair, little presents, perhaps a pet dog, a tub of roses, or a tame, flightless bird or pet duck. Chinese sailors were avid gamblers; playing cards and dice were part of everyday life, as was mah-jongg.
Like todayâs sailors, they would have been keen to better themselves. As the voyage progressed and boredom set in, they would have put aside novels for progressively more serious reading. By Zheng Heâs era, printed popular books were widely available and all kinds of pocket encyclopedias were sold. Reference books ( jih yung lei shu ) with illustrations and descriptions covered all manner of practical subjects: agriculture; salt and sugar manufacture; collecting ceramics and bronzes; ship and cart making; coal and fuel use; paper making and printing; welding technology; alcohol fermentation; pearl and jade collecting.
The Nung Shu, a popular encyclopedia first published in 1313, provided descriptions and illustrations of agricultural machinery, including tilt and trip hammers; rotary grinding mills; winnowing fans; bellows powered by piston rods, connecting rods, and horizontal water wheels;flour-sifting machinery drawn by a water wheel; vertical water wheels
In a paper titled âInstruments and Observation at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau During the Ming Dynasty,â Professor Thatcher E. Deane states:
As with the development of the calendric systemsâ¦were most evident at the beginning of a dynasty, less so at the beginning of an individual emperorâs reign, and almost never at any other time when such expenditures were not direct investments in legitimising state and ruler. Hong Wu had an urgent need to improve the calendrical system because he was the first of the dynasty; Zhu Di was accused of usurping the throne so he also had a very strong need.
Gifts for Foreign Rulers
This obsessive focus on improving navigational techniques enabled Zheng Heâs fleets to reach foreign countries, where, after presenting their credentials, the Chinese ambassadors would supply maps and astronomical tables to the rulers. The gift of knowledge was intended to make it possible for them to return tribute to the Middle Kingdom.
We know from recent excavations at the Jingdezhen kilns (where the bulk of the ceramics carried in Zheng Heâs fleets were fired) and from excavations in Cairo beside the Red Sea Canal, as well as from collections in Europe, that Chinese delegations offered personal gifts toforeign leaders. Ceramic copies of Mamluk candlesticks were given to the Mamluk sultans, along with blue and white flasks, ewers, porcelain cups, and pen boxes. A ewer cover decorated with an armillary sphere in cobalt was fired for the king of Portugal, as were ceramic tiles for Ottoman sultans.
Gifts for more ordinary folk made the journey as well. Playing cards, chess, and mah-jongg sets were given to merchants. Childrenâs whirligig toys, kites, and hot-air balloons were dispensed.
The saddest cargo of the great fleets were women. Traditionally, foreign rulers were each presented with one hundred slave girls. When the fleets returned, the Xuan De emperor observed: âTen thousand countries are our guests.â The number of concubines and slave girls embarked must have been staggering. In a subsequent chapter, weâll show how, after the Chinese squadron reached Venice, female slaves and their offspring made a significant impact on the domestic life and population of Venice, Florence, and Tuscany.
Finally, a word about the most valuable part of the fleetâthe sailors.
Like their modern counterparts, their most prized possessions were mementoes of their loved ones at homeâdrawings, locks of a wifeâs or childrenâs hair, little presents, perhaps a pet dog, a tub of roses, or a tame, flightless bird or pet duck. Chinese sailors were avid gamblers; playing cards and dice were part of everyday life, as was mah-jongg.
Like todayâs sailors, they would have been keen to better themselves. As the voyage progressed and boredom set in, they would have put aside novels for progressively more serious reading. By Zheng Heâs era, printed popular books were widely available and all kinds of pocket encyclopedias were sold. Reference books ( jih yung lei shu ) with illustrations and descriptions covered all manner of practical subjects: agriculture; salt and sugar manufacture; collecting ceramics and bronzes; ship and cart making; coal and fuel use; paper making and printing; welding technology; alcohol fermentation; pearl and jade collecting.
The Nung Shu, a popular encyclopedia first published in 1313, provided descriptions and illustrations of agricultural machinery, including tilt and trip hammers; rotary grinding mills; winnowing fans; bellows powered by piston rods, connecting rods, and horizontal water wheels;flour-sifting machinery drawn by a water wheel; vertical water wheels