The Ming Voyages: The Fifth Voyage, 1417-1419

 

Evidence for the Fifth Voyage 

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

 

About the Fifth Voyage

Imperial Order: The initial edict was dated 28 December, 1416.

Departed: Yongle 15 (1417), probably in the autumn

Returned: Yongle 17 (1419), 8 August, 1419.

Nov '16	28 Dec '16	31 May '17	Autumn '17				8 Aug '19
Ambassadors arrived	Order for expedition	Date of tablet erected at Muslim cemetery in Quanzhou	Left China coast				Returned; Court received ambassadors in 8th month (19 Aug-19 Sept

Visited: Java, Calicut, Hormuz, Aden, Mogadishu, Brava.

Highlights: This voyage went as far as the east coast of Africa. The Chinese fleet was compelled to make a display of military force at Mogadishu and La'sa.

The avowed object of the expedition was to escort back to their respective countries the ambassadors (or merchant-ambassadors) from 19 kingdoms who had arrived on 19 Nov. 1416, and to present gifts to their rulers. These kingdoms included: Champa, Pahang, Java, Palembang, Melaka (Malacca), Semudera, Lambri, Ceylon, the Maldive Islands, Cochin, Calicut, Hormuz, La'sa, Aden, Mogadishu, Brava, and Malindi.

On the return voyage, they also brought additional foreign envoys back to China from various foreign countries. During the 8th month (from 21 August to 19 September, 1419), a large number of these foreign envoys were received at the Ming imperial court bearing tribute.

Tribute: The Changle inscription describes the various items presented to the Chinese throne by each country, during the 8th month of 1419: "The country of Hormuz presented lions, leopards with gold spots, and large western horses. The country of Aden presented qilin of which the native name is zulafa (giraffe), as well as the long-horned animal maha (oryx). The country of Mogadishu presented huafulu (striped zebras), as well as lions. The country of Brava presented camels which run one thousand li as well as camel-birds (ostriches). The countries of Java and Calicut presented the animal called miligao. They all vied in presenting the marvellous objects preserved in the mountains or hidden in the seas and the beautiful treasures buried in the sand or deposited on the shores. Some sent a maternal uncle of the king, others a paternal uncle or a younger brother of the king in order to present a letter of homage written on goldleaf, as well as tribute."

Of these, the most notable were the giraffe, painted by the Chinese artist Shen Du, and the ostrich, lauded in a long descriptive poem (or fu, "rhymeprose") which was composed by the scholar Jin Youzi. This poem aptly portrays the sensation caused by these exotic animals in the Chinese court.

- 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.