Six centuries ago, Zheng He accepted the appointment of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di to go to the West, more than 200 ships, more than 27,000 seafarers, carrying a large number of precious items such as silk and porcelain in China, thus starting a long, arduous and extraordinary voyage from the east of the world.
According to the analysis of many historians, Zheng He's seven voyages to the West before and after showed the powerful national strength of the Ming Empire to Southeast Asian countries politically and established a comprehensive Huayi political system; economically, to a certain extent, it broke through Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of banning the sea and opened up a vast overseas trade market; culturally, it built a bridge for exchanges between Chinese and foreign civilizations.
In this historical fact, historians also found a surprising detail: "Zheng He not only did not take any young women with him, but also brought a group of old women and midwives." Why did the ancients arrange this? Looking deeply into the reasons, we feel more and more the intentions and wisdom of the ancients.
A journey to the West with a special mission
Regarding Zheng He's purpose of going to the West, the biggest keywords were always "to promote national prestige", "to expand tributary trade", and "to find Emperor Jianwen", and as for strengthening ties with overseas countries, it was not what the arrogant Ming Empire really cared about.
In fact, the way ancient empires proclaimed national prestige was similar to today's. At today's National Day ceremony, we show the completeness and strength of the country's military equipment by displaying the research results of fighters, missiles, tanks and so on, show the advanced technology of the country through the development of medical and health and aerospace undertakings, and reveal the beauty of the country's customs and customs through literary creation and gastronomic scenery. Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty carried a large amount of porcelain, silk and tools to the West, which was also the intention.
In addition, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di was originally the uncle of the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, when Zhu Yunjiao did not become emperor, Zhu Di's attitude towards him was generally quite polite, and from time to time showed his care as an uncle, it is difficult to say that this care is absolutely sincere, but at least the two seem to be harmonious.
However, after Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, he severely cut the domain, to a certain extent, endangered the interests of Zhu Di, who was the "King of Yan" at that time, and the King of Yan himself was also an ambitious person, so in the name of "Fengtian Jingnan", he launched the "Battle of Jingnan" and attacked Emperor Jianwen.
After about 3 years of hard fighting, Zhu Di finally defeated Emperor Jianwen and became emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Since Emperor Jianwen was seized of the throne, he fled overseas, and since then there has been no news, and Ming Chengzu has always been uneasy in his heart, worried that Emperor Jianwen will have troubles before he dies. One of the purposes of Zheng He's voyage to the West on the orders of Ming Chengzu was to find the unknown Jianwen Emperor.
Zheng He, who went to the West with such a major mission, in order to successfully complete the sailing task, undoubtedly needed to make careful planning and arrangements for the entire voyage, and only taking the old woman and the midwife, but not the young woman to the sea, is a typical reflection of his thoughtfulness, wisdom and stability.
Why not bring young women?
As we mentioned above, Zheng He's voyage to the West was accompanied by a special mission and mission, and the sailing process will be arduous and long, and the reason why he did not bring young women is related to the following two reasons.
First, most of the seafarers selected by Zheng He in the Western Ocean were young, strong, flesh-and-blood men, who were often flexible, responsive, and able to bear hardships and stand hard work. If you take young women on the voyage, it is inevitable that some men will have feelings and unstable moods, and if it is serious, there may be multiple men competing for a woman, resulting in contradictions. So Zheng He simply did not bring young women, eliminating the possibility of spring in the crew.
Second, young women are generally born in the world, have not undergone much training, their physique is relatively weak, and sailing is a very difficult thing, taking them is not only not conducive to sailing, but may become a drag and delay the process of navigation. In addition, young women in general lacked navigational experience, and when a ship or party encountered danger, they could not deal with it with tact.
The old woman and the midwife have their own wonderful uses for Zheng He
The boat of old women that Zheng He brought with him when he went to the West was actually not an ordinary old woman, but an old woman who had been carefully selected, had sailing experience and had her own skills, and the existence of midwives also had a specific effect on the entire sailing journey.
Among the group of old wives led by Zheng He, some of them can embroider and weave, and some are good at cooking, and they arrange chai rice oil and salt carefully. Although when Zheng He went to the West, the materials allocated by Ming Chengzu to Zheng He were rich and comprehensive, after all, the capacity of the ship was limited, and all the ships needed to accommodate the crew, a large number of silk, porcelain, and tools, and the vacancy left for grain was naturally not more than enough.
However, the navigation technology in ancient times was not as developed as it is today, and the forecast of the weather was not accurate and timely, and the sailing team encountered storms on the sea, and the headwind direction was a common thing. Once these problems are encountered, the speed of the voyage will be affected, the physical exertion of the seafarers will be greater, and if the food consumption is not careful and reasonable, it is very likely that it will be difficult to support until the end of the voyage.
Middle-aged and elderly women around the age of fifty know how to plan their daily lives because they have worked hard for half a lifetime, and when the crew's clothes are damaged, they can also use their superb sewing skills to repair the clothes for the team members, so as to provide life services for the voyage.
On the other hand, these old women, compared with young girls, are more dominant in the labor system and experience, because after the ups and downs of the world, their mentality and endurance are also more stable and tenacious than young women, and when they go to foreign countries, they can pass on their skills to the local people to show the charm of our culture.
Midwives are a specific group of people who took care of and guided women to have children in ancient times, and they usually know a certain amount of medical knowledge, especially the traditional Chinese medicine recipes. Zheng He's taking them to the West can not only provide medical services for the sailing team, but also teach China's advanced medical skills to small countries along the route, helping them improve the survival rate of their citizens in childbirth.
Of course, some people believe that Zheng He did not take young girls to the West, only old women and midwives and had a relationship with himself as a eunuch, but from the perspective of the entire historical background and Zheng He's personality characteristics, this view is somewhat narrow. Because Zheng He was a well-known loyalist at that time, his consideration of problems must first focus on the major affairs of the country and the worries of the king.
This can be seen from the fact that after Zheng He went to the West, he also brought back many skills and good things from other countries from abroad, including the spices, peppers, pigments, durians, etc. that we use every day today are the results of Zheng He's voyage to the West.
In short, Zheng He not only did not bring young women to the West, but brought a group of old women and midwives, whether at that time or now, it seems to be a rational and wise choice.
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