world’s greatest power at sea. This primacy was the fruit of centuries of experience
in maritime trade. At the same time the Portuguese were tentatively reaching out
along the Moroccan coast and expanding their geographical knowledge of the
Atlantic, the Chinese took a new tack, urged on by the vigorous and ambitious
Yong Le emperor. From 1403 to 1433, the Ming demonstrated their salt-water
power by sending seven interoceanic expeditions, encompassing hundreds of ships,
across the Indian Ocean. Chinese vessels ranged south to Zanzibar, north to
Ormuz, and west to Jiddah, the port of Mecca, crossing the ‘‘savage waves as if...
treading a public thoroughfare.’’ The scope of the voyages testifies to the quality of
the Ming ships, the seamen who sailed them, and the navigational tools they used.
We have little hard information about their commander Zheng He, a high
eunuch official, and what we read about his life is more often eulogistic than bio-
graphical. Despite his emasculation, he was reportedly a physically imposing
man of exceptionally large girth and stature. Eunuchs usually had disagreeably
shrill voices; his was described as pleasingly penetrating in tone, ‘‘bell-like’’ in
its clarity. He was apparently a popular commander.
Castrated as a child prisoner of war, Zheng He built a highly successful career
as a soldier, making a reputation for bravery and loyalty while fighting the
Mongols and catching the eye and winning the friendship of a prince who would
become emperor. Zheng He’s organizational skills, on display as he supervised
the construction and maintenance of imperial palaces—earning himself the high
eunuch rank of Grand Director—were probably another reason the emperor
selected him to command a fleet.
Ming novelist Luo Maodeng declares that Zheng He had been a frog in a
previous incarnation. Perhaps this was one reason for his successful career leap
from land to sea. But the leadership requirements and fighting skills needed for
both domains were quite similar in those days. Yet despite his evident compe-
tence and adaptability, Zheng He was always at a disadvantage in the treacherous
milieu of court politics. He was not only a eunuch, belonging to a group invari-
ably despised by civil bureaucrats, but also a member of a minority ethnic group;
a non-Han Chinese; a professional military man, not a scholar; and a Muslim.
In the world of Chinese officialdom, Zheng He would always remain a consum-
mate outsider.
His position was completely dependent upon the favor of his imperial master.
As long as the occupant of the Dragon Throne favored costly maritime ventures,
they could continue. But because they were both unusual and extravagant, they
remained highly vulnerable to bureaucratic criticism and reliant upon the
imperial whim.
We should think of Zheng He in action as a collector and recorder of informa-
tion, more diplomat than explorer.HewasnotChina’sVascodaGamaor
Christopher Columbus, as some have suggested. After all, he and his fleets were
not charting salt-water space unknown to Chinese mariners. These waters were
Imperial China and the Sea 29