[Market Economy Guide] Jeonghwa’s Overseas Expedition

The great oceanic voyages were led by Western Europe, which had awakened early to the importance of commerce

There was a reason Zheng He’s expeditions during the Ming dynasty ended as a brief spectacle

The overseas expansion of the Age of Discovery via sea routes is commonly known as an exclusively European undertaking. That is because Spain and Portugal, located on the far western edge of Europe and excluded not only from the Silk Road but even from Mediterranean trade, set out to open new maritime routes. Examples include Bartolomeu Dias’s discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India, and Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe.

Zheng He launched seven great expeditions

But that is not the whole truth. The East, too, had a history of undertaking overseas expeditions by sea. This was the expedition of Zheng He, grand admiral of the Ming dynasty. Zheng He is famous for having embarked on a total of seven major expeditions between 1405 and 1431 under the orders of the Yongle Emperor. As commander-in-chief of a maritime diplomatic mission visiting foreign lands, he set out with tens of ships and tens of thousands of personnel. His fleet traveled through Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Peninsula, reaching as far as the east coast of Africa. At that time, he is said to have brought diplomatic missions from various countries back to China, thereby promoting economic and cultural exchange. Zheng He’s expeditions preceded Columbus’s exploration of the Americas by more than 70 years. It is also said that the ships used in Zheng He’s voyages were as much as 30 times larger than Columbus’s.

Yet Zheng He’s expeditions left almost no historical impact compared with Columbus. There were reasons for that. Zheng He’s voyages were highly political undertakings, planned to project the Sinocentric worldview and the prestige of the Ming emperor across the world. Unlike the explorers of Western Europe, Zheng He’s expeditionary force did not move with profit as its objective.

Civil servant Zheng He, businessman Columbus

The trade Zheng He conducted was mostly state-led tributary trade, so those participating in the expeditions lacked strong incentives to push farther afield. Had China been more aggressive in overseas expeditions, world history as we read it today would likely have been written in a completely different direction. But China, then the world’s greatest economic power, had little economic need that pressed upon it, so one may infer that the Chinese emperor was unenthusiastic about the profits expected from overseas expeditions. Desire always arises when something is lacking.

Zheng He was a close confidant of the Ming Yongle Emperor and displayed exceptional ability as a naval admiral, but he was originally a eunuch. He was also said to have been not Han Chinese by origin but a Turkic Muslim. Yet because he had made a great contribution to Yongle’s accession to the throne, he became the head of the eunuchs and rose to the pinnacle of power. Because of his background, he draws some interest not only in China but also in the Islamic world. Some analyses suggest that Zheng He was chosen to lead the overseas expeditions precisely because of this international background. But the limitations of his status as a eunuch likely constrained him from acting beyond the emperor’s instructions. This stands in contrast to Columbus, who went from ruler to ruler presenting and advocating his expedition plan in order to secure the enormous investment needed for his European voyages. For all his remarkable abilities, Zheng He was ultimately a civil servant, whereas Columbus, despite his many flaws, was a businessman to the bone.

If one unpacks the meaning of commerce, it means “to connect through trade.” It means that countries buy and sell goods with one another. Zheng He’s expeditions were nearly flawless in planning, investment, and execution, but because their motivation was political, they collapsed easily when political power shifted, such as when the emperor changed. After Zheng He died, the Ming dynasty returned to a policy of seclusion, and no further expeditions were undertaken.

Burning the records Zheng He left behind

It was not that no one afterward argued for continued oceanic voyages, but Confucian-minded officials repeatedly opposed them on the grounds of their enormous cost, and such proposals came to nothing time and again. Fearing that overseas expeditions might continue, Ming officials burned all the records Zheng He had left behind. Thus the records of a monumental enterprise that had consumed vast state finances disappeared in vain. This is also one reason why we know so little today about Zheng He’s expeditions.

How hollow is openness without commerce, and exchange without economic actors? Those who searched for better economic motives in a better world created today’s world and world history. And the protagonists were not the Chinese, but the people of Western Europe.

◆ Please remember

Ming officials burned all the records Zheng He had left behind. Thus the records of a monumental enterprise that had consumed vast state finances disappeared in vain. This is one reason why we know so little today about Zheng He’s expeditions.

Sung-no Choi, President of the Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: [시장경제 길라잡이] 정화의 해외원정

Author: Sung-no Choi

Date: 2019-07-15

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=13&idx=20330