The Ming Voyages -- Evidence

 

The Dates of the Expeditions

The exact dates of the order, departure, and return of each of the voyages, is a large and complicated topic. In 1938, J. J. L. Duyvendak published a solid, scholarly article in T'oung Pao on this subject. This article was an advance on previous knowledge, as the first to incorporate information that was revealed in two inscriptions, the Liujiajiang and Changle inscriptions, that had been discovered and uncovered around that time. These two inscriptions give the years of departure and return of all the seven major voyages. They are similar to each other in wording, but not exactly the same, and they thus corroborate each other. Although Duyvendak still did not have as many sources available to him as we have now, his article made an important contribution. We therefore reproduce it here in web format and refer to it from time to time.

Below are links to the seven major voyages, with evidence for the dates these expeditions.

 

1st Voyage		5th Voyage
2nd Voyage		6th Voyage
3rd Voyage		7th Voyage
4th Voyage

 

---

Sources

J. V. G. Mills, Ma Huan, Ying-yai Sheng-lan, "The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores," [1433], Hakluyt Society (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1970).