Lesson 15: Foreign Relations of the Ming Dynasty

Zheng He's visit to the West

At the beginning of the 15th century, the Ming dynasty had become a powerful country in the world. After Ming Emperor Chengzu became emperor, he sent Zheng He to lead a fleet of ships out to the West, mainly to improve the status and prestige of Ming Dynasty abroad, "to show that China is rich and strong", and also to exchange Chinese goods for overseas curiosities.

From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He led a fleet of ships to the Western Ocean seven times, a scale unprecedented in the history of the world. The fleet led by Zheng He was full of Chinese high-quality silk, fine porcelain, fine tea and lacquer ware and other kinds of goods, as well as a large amount of gold and silver currency. Some of these goods were used for generous gift-giving, to show the grace of great powers and develop friendly relations between them; some were used for trade, to exchange and complement each other's needs.

Zheng He's fleet of ships reached more than 30 countries and regions in Asia and Africa, as far as the east coast of Africa and the Red Sea coast. Today, Zheng He's fleet has visited Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and other countries. Everywhere they went, Zheng He and his entourage visited the local chiefs, presented goods and expressed their willingness to pass goodwill, while trading with the local inhabitants. When the fleet returned to China, some countries also sent messengers to accompany the fleet, such as the 6th voyage back, there were 16 countries and regions with a total of more than 1200 people in the mission to China.

Zheng He's voyage, the length of time, the scale of the unprecedented feat in the world's maritime history, not only enhanced mutual understanding and friendly relations between China and Asian and African countries and regions, but also created the Asian-African maritime transportation network between the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, making a great contribution to the cause of human navigation.

Qi Jiguang's fight against Japanese

In ancient China, Japan was called the Japanese Empire. In the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, some Japanese warriors and merchants formed an armed group of pirates and went to the southeast coast of China to carry out smuggling trade and robbery, which was called "Japanese pirates". Many Chinese pirates also joined the ranks of the Japanese pirates.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, as the social turmoil in Japan intensified, especially because of the weakening of the Ming Dynasty and the slackening of the sea defense, the Japanese pirates colluded with Chinese pirates and merchants, and armed robberies on the Chinese coast became increasingly rampant. Everywhere they went, they killed residents, robbed goods, and did everything they could, causing major damage all along the coast, which was then called "Japanese invasion".

When the Japanese invasion was most rampant in the southeast, the Ming Dynasty sent a young general, Qi Jiguang, to the southeast coast to fight against the Japanese. Qi Jiguang was ordered to go south to Zhejiang to fight against the Japanese, and he repelled the Japanese invasion many times. In order to improve the fighting ability of the army and defeat the Japanese completely, Qi Jiguang vigorously reorganized the army and recruited more than 10,000 peasants and miners to conduct strict training and practice new formations. The army under his command was well trained, disciplined, and capable of fighting, and was known as the "Qi family army".（602words）