The Ming Voyages: The Sixth Voyage, 1421-1422

 

Evidence for the Sixth Voyage 

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

 

About the Sixth Voyage

Imperial edict: The imperial order for the voyage was dated 3 March, 1421.

Departed: Yongle 19 (1421)

Returned: Yongle 20 (3 September, 1422)

3 Mar '21	10 Nov '21						3 Sept '07
Emperor's order	Zheng He still in China	The fleet divided at Semudera	Zhou (Man?) to Aden				Zheng He returned to Nanjing

Officials on board: An edict dated 10 November, 1421, and addressed to the eunuchs Zheng He, Kong He, Zhu Buhua, and Tang Guanbao, instructed the Hong Bao, Zhou (Man?), Li Xing (or Li Kai) to conduct the barbarian envoys home, and to provide them with whatever they required. This edict seems to suggest that Zheng He was still in China 10 November, 1421. If he returned to the capital on 3 September, 1422, he must have sailed on a short branch of the voyage, one that did not go all the way to Hormuz. This was Ma Huan's second voyage. The eunuch Zhou (Man?) went to Aden.

The Fleet: 41 ships, number of personnel unknown.

Visited: Melaka (Malacca), Aru, Semudera, Lambri, Cape Comorin, Kayal, Ceylon, the Maldive islands, Cochin, Calicut, Hormuz, Dhufar, La'sa, Aden, Mogadishu, Brava, and Thailand (on the return journey).

Tribute: The rulers of all these countries presented local products as tribute even more abundantly than before. The Ming historical records say that Siam, Semudera, Aden, and others sent envoys to China in Zheng He's suite to present tribute; Aden's ambassador probably came with the branch of the expedition led by Zhou (Man?) instead.

Highlight: On this voyage, ambassadors from Hormuz and the other countries were conducted home again. This expedition was the first to go to the east coast of Africa.

The fleet divided at Semudera, with Zheng He's branch covering a much shorter distance.

- 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.