Chinese supremacy in the Indian Ocean in the early 15^th century

Summary

ABSTRACT. In the early decades of the 15^th century, China achieved naval supremacy in the Indian Ocean Basin during seven extensive trade missions to the Malabar coast of India, with some fleets reaching as far as Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, Jidda in the Red Sea, and Mombasa on the West African coast. Riches brought back from these voyages contributed to the Yongle Emperor's extensive building campaign, which included the new Forbidden City in Beijing and the Porcelain Pagoda in Nanjing, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The untimely death of the emperor's grandson Zhu Zhanji, sponsor of the final and grandest expedition (1431–33), set up a fierce political struggle in the court between eunuch Wang, tutor of the child princes and virtual emperor, and The Confucians, custodians of the imperial bureaucracy, dooming the voyages. Lucrative maritime trade had become a private source of wealth for Wang and his fellow eunuchs. So the Confucians did the only thing they could do – they passed laws forbidding overseas journeys and ocean-going ships and, by 1525, just when European explorers entered the Indian Ocean, the building of fleets of giant junks and imperial monopoly on overseas trade ceased. The East–West trade, however, continued in private hands and continues to this day.

RÉSUMÉ. Au début du XV^e siècle, la Chine s'est assurée une totale domination maritime sur l'Océan Indien en envoyant sept expéditions qui ont atteint la côte de Malabar de l'Inde, avec quelques flottes parvenant même jusqu'à Hormuz dans le golfe Persique, Jeddah en la mer Rouge et Mombasa sur la côte ouest de l'Afrique. Les richesses ramenées de ces voyages ont contribué à la vaste campagne de constructions de l'empereur Yongle, qui comprenait la nouvelle Cité Interdite à Pékin et la Pagode de Porcelaine à Nanjing, considérée comme l'une des Sept Merveilles du Monde. La mort prématurée du petit-fils de l'empereur Zhu Zhanji, parrain de la dernière et de la plus grande expédition (1431–33), établit une féroce lutte politique à la cour entre l'eunuque Wang, précepteur des petits princes et empereur virtuel, et les Confucianistes, gardiens de la bureaucratie impériale, condamnant les voyages.