Zheng He went to the West seven times, which lasted for nearly thirty years. This period of history is divided into two historical periods. In each period, the historical background of Zheng He's voyage to the West was different from the task he wanted to accomplish.
We all know that in the early Ming Dynasty, the country was strong and prosperous, and the sea was peaceful. Therefore, in terms of implementing the policy of Huaiju to the outside world, the Ming Dynasty was more ambitious than previous dynasties.
Zheng He went to the West for decades and made fruitful efforts to realize the Ming Dynasty's general policy toward the outside world
The Ming Dynasty regarded itself as a "heavenly kingdom", but it did not blindly use the power of a big country to bully overseas countries, but through peaceful means, let each country become China's "vassal state". This "subservience relationship" was not established under political, economic, and military pressure, but was backed by China's great power and "promoted morality."
Zheng He stills
Zhu Di was quite knowledgeable and dignified in implementing the Huairou policy. It was in this political boldness and background that Zheng He went to the West for decades and made fruitful efforts to realize the general policy of the Ming Dynasty to the outside world in the early days.
Zhu Di has great talent and strategy, and he longs for the stability of the four seas and the coming of all nations. Under the guidance of this political ideal, Zheng He was ordered to send envoys.
Zheng He's seven voyages, the first three of which can be classified as "early" and the last four can be classified as "late".
Zhu Di stills
The "early" and "late" of Zheng He's seven voyages
In the "early period", the scope of zheng he's mission did not go out of Southeast Asia and South Asia, and they mainly traveled between Southeast Asian countries. At that time, the so-called problem of "suspecting the death of emperor Hui overseas" existed objectively, and coupled with the fact that there were many contradictions and conflicts in Southeast Asian countries that urgently needed to be resolved, it was impossible for Zheng He to advance towards a more ambitious present in the "early stage" of going to the West.
Zheng He went to the West three times before, and the sailing mission of this period has been successfully completed, and at the same time, he has accumulated rich sailing experience. At this time, the Yongle Dynasty has also entered its heyday, and its political and economic strength is even stronger. Therefore, the time for Zheng He to go to the West again was fully ripe.
Zheng He began his fourth voyage to the West, each time sailing to Distant Countries in Arabia and East Africa. Zheng He made outstanding contributions to the development of friendly relations between China and Asian and African countries in this "later period." Those distant countries, out of admiration for China, followed Zheng He's delegation to Pay Tribute to China. This situation is "ancient and modern", and previous emperors have not been able to complete such achievements.
Ming Chengzu Zhu Di stills
Zheng He's seven voyages to the West played an important role in enhancing the prestige of Ming Chengzu and Ming Xuanzong, as well as consolidating the rule of the Ming Dynasty, and was also a feat in the history of world navigation, which is beyond doubt.
It is said that Qianlong has always doubted the authenticity of "Zheng He's voyage to the West"
However, the historical facts and achievements of Zheng He's voyage to the West were not valued by the Qing rulers. As we all know, the History of the Ming Dynasty began to be compiled during the Shunzhi period, and went through many deletions and revisions, until it was completed in the Qianlong period.
Yongzheng had unscrupulously revised the historical materials of the Ming Dynasty, believing that Zheng He's going to the West was just an empty drain on national strength; Qianlong Daxing was imprisoned, so many history books were burned, and it is said that Qianlong has always doubted the authenticity of "Zheng He's going to the West", he believes that Zheng He did not go far, and going to the West is just a legend.
Yongzheng stills
In fact, it is very likely that the Qing Dynasty sorted out documents related to Zheng He's voyage to the West, but did not preserve them. When Qianlong revised the "Four Libraries of the Whole Book", he destroyed a lot of historical documents of the Ming Dynasty, most of which were retained in the late Ming Dynasty, and almost all of them in the early Ming Dynasty were gone.
Mysterious drawings were unearthed, shattering historical lies
In the Ming Dynasty tomb in Nanjing, a mysterious drawing was unearthed. In the funerary items of the tomb owner surnamed Wu, some things related to navigation were found, and there was also a fragment of the nautical chart, which was part of the famous "Zheng He Nautical Chart".
Qianlong stills
According to the contents of the "Zheng He Navigation Chart", Zheng He started from Nanjing, traveled down the river, crossed the Strait of Malacca, and reached the Maldives. This was divided into two routes, one reaching the east coast of Africa and the other crossing arabia to the Strait of Hormuz.
From this, it can be proved that Zheng He really went to the West, and the historical lie that "Zheng He went to the West is just a legend" was shattered by the truth.