Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored a series of seven naval expeditions. Emperor Yongle designed them to establish a Chinese presence, impose imperial control over trade, and impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin. He also might have wanted to extend the tributary system, by which Chinese dynasties traditionally recognized foreign peoples.
Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook these expeditions. Zheng He's first voyage consisted of a fleet of around 200 or 300 ships holding almost 28,000 crewmen. These were probably mainly large six-masted ships - it is now thought that the large and flat nine-masted "treasure ships" were probably river ships used by the Emperor.
Zheng He's fleets visited
Arabia, East Africa, India, Indonesia and Thailand (at the time called Siam), dispensing and receiving goods along the way. Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain and silk; in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, ivory and giraffes.
Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger" and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. He also intervened in a civil disturbance in order to establish his authority in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from thirty states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.
In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor (reigned 1424–1425), decided to curb the influence at court. Zheng He made one more voyage under the Xuande Emperor (reigned 1426–1435), but after that Chinese treasure ship fleets ended. Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, buried at sea.
Zheng He, on his seven voyages, successfully relocated large numbers of Chinese Muslims to Malacca, Palembang, Surabaya and other places and Malacca became the center of Islamic learning and also a large international Islamic trade center of the southern seas.
His missions showed impressive demonstrations of organizational capability and technological might, but did not lead to significant trade, since Zheng He was an admiral and an official, not a merchant. Chinese merchants continued to trade in Japan and southeast Asia, but Imperial officials gave up any plans to maintain a Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean and even destroyed most of the nautical charts that Zheng He had carefully prepared. The decommissioned treasure ships sat in harbors until they rotted away, and Chinese craftsmen forgot the technology of building such large vessels.
(source Wikipedia Zheng He web page)
Em 2005, os Correios de Macau associaram-se aos Correios de Hong-Kong e da China, para emitiram uma carteira temática, a assinalar os 600 Anos das Expedições Marítimas para Ocidente de Zheng He.In 2005, the Macao Post Office join with the Hong-Kong Post and National Post of China to issue a thematic pack to mark the 600 Anniversary of the Zheng He’s Maritime Expeditions to the West.
Emissão comemorativa dos 600 Anos das Expedições Marítimas de Zheng He dos Correios Nacionais
Commemorative issue of the 600 Anniversary of ZHENG He’s Maritime Expeditions by the State Postal Bureau
Dados Técnicos/Technical DataValores dos Selos/Stamp Values: 80, 80 and 80 fen
Desenho/Design: Li Qingfa, Jiang Weijie
Data emissão/Issue date: 28.06.2005Impressor/Printer: Beijing PSPH
Impressão/Print: Offset Litography
Papel/Paper: Paper with security fibres
Selos por Folha/Stamps per sheet: 6
Picotagem/Perforation: 13 x 13.5
Valor Bloco/Souvenir sheet Value: 6 yuanDesenho/Design: Hu Zhenyuan, Wang Huming
Emissão comemorativa dos 600 Anos das Expedições Marítimas de Zheng He dos Correios de Hong-Kong
Commemorative issue of the 600 Anniversary of ZHENG He’s Maritime Expeditions by the Hong-Kong Post
Dados Técnicos/Technical DataValores dos Selos/Stamp Values: 1.40, 1.40 and 1.40 HKD
Desenho/Design:
Data emissão/Issue date: 23.11.2004Impressor/Printer: Beijing PSPH
Impressão/Print: Offset Litography
Papel/Paper: Paper with security fibres
Selos por Folha/Stamps per sheet: 6
Picotagem/Perforation: 13 x 13.5
Valor Bloco/Souvenir sheet Value: 10 HKDEmissão comemorativa dos 600 Anos das Expedições Marítimas de Zheng He dos Correios de Macau
Commemorative issue of the 600 Anniversary of ZHENG He’s Maritime Expeditions by the Macao Post
Dados Técnicos/Technical DataValores dos Selos/Stamp Values: 1.00, 1.50 and 1.50 Patacas
Desenho/Design:
Data emissão/Issue date: 28.06.2005Impressor/Printer: Beijing PSPH
Impressão/Print: Offset Litography
Papel/Paper: Paper with security fibres
Selos por Folha/Stamps per sheet: 6
Picotagem/Perforation: 13 x 13.5
Valor Bloco/Souvenir sheet Value: 8.00 Patacas
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