5 Sea power, tribute and trade
In 1368 the Ming replaced the Yuan dynasty, thereby returning China
to Han Chinese rule. The new dynasty was very conscious of the need
to expunge all barbarian influence, which it undertook to do in time-
honoured Chinese fashion by seeking precedents in the past. Texts
were combed, especially from the former great Chinese dynasties of the
Han and Tang, in order to determine the proper way of conduct, in
government and in foreign relations. What resulted was a systematic
restructuring of institutions based on traditions dating back to the
Zhou dynasty (and projected back even further to legendary times),
administered by a bureaucracy trained in neo-Confucian orthodoxy.
Scholar officials determined the elaborate formalities of state cere-
monies whose purpose was to reassert the supremacy of the Son of
Heaven and the Chinese world order. All aspects of foreign relations—
exchange of envoys, the reception of diplomatic missions, regulation
of trade, even extradition procedures—were systematised.
In the year of his triumph, Hongwu (reigned 1368–1398), the
first Ming emperor, dispatched envoys to all tributary states informing