The Ming Voyages: The First Voyage, 1405-1407

 

Evidence for the First Voyage 

The Order for the First Voyage
The Departure of the First Voyage
The Return of the First Voyage

 

About the First Voyage

Imperial Orders for the Expedition: In the 3rd month (of the Chinese lunar calendar) of 1405 Emperor Yongle issued a preliminary order for Zheng He and others to take command of the expedition. The Imperial Edict ordering the expedition was dated 11 July, 1405, and was addressed to Zheng He and his colleagues. The construction of 250 ships had been ordered as early as 1403.

Departed: Yongle 3 (1405), late autumn or early winter

Returned: Yongle 5 (2 October, 1407)

Itinerary:

• Summer-Autumn 1405
  Preliminary order for voyage (preliminary) 3rd month 1405; Edict for voyage 11 July 1405 (ships had been ordered in 1403)

• November 1405
  At Taiping, mouth of Min River (Fujian)

• Dec 1405/Jan 1406
  Left Taiping with favourable monsoon

• March 1406
  Arrived at Champa, Java

• July 1406
  With Favourable wind to Palembang, Ceylon, Calicut

• Dec 1406-April 1407
  Stayed in Calicut

• April 1407
  Defeated pirates and captured leader at Palembang

• 2 Oct 1407
  Arrived at Nanjing

Officials on Board: Zheng He, Wang Jinghong, and others

The Fleet: Consisted of 317 ships altogether, including 62 "treasure ships" and 255 smaller ones.

Personnel: There were 27,870 people on board, including subaltern officers, soldiers of the flag-army, soldiers, civilians, buyers, and clerks.

Places Visited: Champa, Java, Palembang, Semudera, Lambri, Ceylon, Calicut, and probably also Malacca, Aru, and Quilon.

Highlights: Ambassadors from Calicut had arrived in China during the 3rd year of Yongle (1405), bringing horses as tribute. They were allowed to import pepper into China free of duty. The principal objective of this voyage was to send a return mission to Calicut. The expedition stayed in Calicut for 4 months, probably from Dec. 1406 to April 1407.

Probably on the return voyage, Zheng He's engaged in war against bands of brigands led by the Chinese pirate Chen Zuyi (Ch'en Tsu-i), originally from Guangdong. Chen had been terrorizing the Malaccan strait for some time, and wreaking havoc among the native merchants at Sanfoqi (Sri Vijaya, Palembang). Zheng He's troops demanded Chen's surrender, he refused and planned an ambush, but Chinese soldiers defeated him, killing over 5000 pirates, burning ten of their ships and taking seven others. They captured Chen Zuyi alive, and brought him back to China's capital where he was presented to the emperor and sentenced to decapitation in October 1407. This episode delayed Zheng He in Calicut for three months on his return journey.

Foreign Relations: Gifts presented to princes and chiefs of various countries included silk with gold decoration.

Foreign envoys: Envoys came to China with Zheng He's fleet from Calicut, Semudera, Quilon, Aru, Malacca, and other countries and brought tribute to the Chinese emperor.

- J. V. G. Mills, Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' [1433], Translated from the Chinese text ed. by Feng Ch'eng-chün. Hakluyt Society, extra series, no. 42. (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1970); J. J. L. Duyvendak, "The True Dates of the Chinese Maritime Expedition in the Early 15th century", T'oung Pao 34 (1938), pp. 341-412.