When China Ruled the Seas

This first chapter covers the earliest recorded history of China through the Han dynasty and explains how geography shaped the different peoples’ relationship with the sea. Mountains separated the inland people from those on the coast. Known as the Yi, the coastal people were divided into Eastern and Southern groups, both of which had to rely on the sea rather than large-scale agriculture for food. The Southern group traveled to the islands of what is now Indonesia and as far south as modern-day Australia, while the Eastern group crossed the Bering Strait—then connected by land—into North America.

As the glaciers of the last Ice Age receded and melted, rising seas forced another series of migrations from the southern coast of China. The Southern Yi reached Taiwan and the Philippines before heading farther to Pacific islands such as Fiji. They improved techniques and added elements to the design of boats, like rudders and sails for better control. These innovations allowed Southeast Asians to reach as far west as Madagascar and as far east, scholars believe, as the Americas. If the latter proves true, it would be the first contact there by people from Asia. Aspects of Indigenous culture in the Americas, like boat design and techniques for making bark from clothes, are so similar that Levathes believes the Asian seafarers introduced them.

Meanwhile, the cultures of the Eastern Yi people and inland peoples combined around 1500 BC to form the Shang dynasty, which ended when the Zhou people it five hundred years later. Some scholars think survivors of the Shang fled south, mixed with the Southern Yi, and set off across the sea toward the Americas. As the author writes, “Mysteriously and unexpectedly, out of primitive societies without highly developed arts, two highly sophisticated civilizations took root in the New World as the Shang empire was crumbling” (28). These include handiwork in jade in a Mexican area that did not have this tradition as part of its culture. Such evidence points to Asian influence in parts of Central and South America.

After a period of warring in China, the Qin dynasty unified much of the country in 221 BC Many legends during this period refer to sea travel, often involving the Qin emperor’s search for herbs in a faraway land rumored make one immortal. Some cultural similarities between China and the Mayan civilization in Central America point to the possibility of more contact in the New World during this time and again later in the fifth century. 

This chapter discusses the development of seafaring in China from the Han dynasty in the second century BC to the Yuan dynasty, which lasted until 1368 A.D. During the Han period, the philosophy of Confucius became prominent among the rulers and laid the groundwork for the budding bureaucracy. Born centuries earlier in 551 BC, Confucius viewed trade as lowly, below agriculture and civil service. Likewise, he discouraged travel because it interfered with carrying out family obligations at home. Moreover, many believed that beyond the borders of China lived only barbaric peoples. These two ideas would have a strong influence on later dynasties.

When the Tang dynasty rose to the height of its power in the seventh century, its capital Chang’an—today called Xi’an—was the largest and most diverse city in the world. It was the starting point of the famed Silk Road, a series of trade routes that went deep into Central Asia. Traders from all over came to sell their wares, making the city a cultural melting pot and influencing the fashions and social mores of the Chinese. Just as silk dominated the trade overland, Chinese porcelain was the focus of sea trade out of the southern city of Guangzhou.

The Song dynasty saw the next extended period of sea travel. Because of strong attacks from the north, the court retreated south to establish a capital at Hangzhou in 1127. The decreased geographical area under Song control meant less revenue from taxes, and “[n]ecessity,” Levathes writes, “demanded a reexamination of Confucian texts to put trade and profit into a more favorable light” (41). The emperor built up a fleet of trading ships to challenge Arab and Persian dominance in the Indian Ocean. Hangzhou grew rich from trade and culturally diverse, much as Chang’an had during the Tang dynasty.

In the capital’s southern location, the Yangzi River to the north and the sea to the east and south became part of the dynasty’s defense system. Accordingly, the Song also created a strong navy and developed innovative ship designs. They used paddle wheels for greater maneuverability and catapults to send gunpowder bombs onto enemy ships. Despite these great advantages, the Mongols to the north captured the Song after Song defectors helped them build their own powerful navy.

Led by Khubilai “Kublai” Khan, the Mongols declared the Yuan dynasty in 1271. The khan, Levathes notes, was a powerful, insatiable ruler who used his formidable navy to sail the waters of much of Asia. He invaded Japan twice, succeeding in battle both times until typhoons destroyed much of his armada. According to some accounts, he sent ships as far as Madagascar. As he rebuilt the Grand Canal, the main route for southern crops to reach Beijing, he handed over control of this commerce to two merchants who used alternative routes along the coast. The merchants, however, stole from the state and accepted gifts from foreign representatives. For this, they were put to death. But the incident pointed to the decline of the Yuan dynasty, which fell to the Ming by the end of the 14th century.

Born in 1371 shortly after the fall of the Yuan dynasty, Zheng He was captured as boy by Ming forces in Yunnan, castrated, and sent to Beijing as one of the eunuchs assigned to serve Prince Zhu Di, one of the sons of the new Ming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang. The two became close, and Zheng accompanied Zhu Di on his first successful military campaign in 1390 to subdue a renegade Mongol leader.

When the emperor’s eldest son died, he took the advice of his Confucian advisors to make his 14-year-old grandson, Zhu Yunwen, his heir. The advisors believed this would avoid conflict among his remaining sons who might disagree with whichever other brother their father chose. The emperor, however, wanted Zhu Di to succeed him, and it was clear to all that he was more capable and possessed greater leadership than the chosen grandson. This set up an almost inevitable clash between the two.

When Zhu Yuanzhang died in 1398, protracted fighting between Zhu Di and Zhu Yunwen lasted until 1402, when the prince finally defeated his nephew. Inside the gates of the capital city of Nanjing, the victors found three badly burned bodies. Though they assumed one of the bodies belonged to Zhu Yunwen, it was burned beyond recognition. Thus, rumors lasted throughout Zhu Di’s reign that his nephew escaped and was biding his time until he could regain the throne.