Ming victory
98-480: A fleet crew of over 27,000, including non-combatant personnel The Ming–Kotte War ( Chinese : 明-錫蘭山國戰爭 ) was a military conflict between the expeditionary forces of Ming China and the Sinhalese Kotte Kingdom in the southern territories of Sri Lanka . The conflict happened when Ming China's treasure fleet arrived at Sri Lanka in 1410 or 1411. It resulted in the overthrow of King Alakeshvara and
196-584: A retronym applied to non-simplified character sets in the wake of widespread use of simplified characters. Traditional characters are commonly used in Taiwan , Hong Kong , and Macau , as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia. As for non-Chinese languages written using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts . Korean hanja , still used to
294-484: A blue transparency of light vapours, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds, day and night continued their course with starry speed, breasting the savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare. — Zheng He and his associates Gong Zhen records that an imperial order was issued on 25 May 1430 for the arrangement of necessary provisions for the dispatch of Zheng He, Wang Jinghong, Li Xing, Zhu Liang, Yang Zhen, Hong Bao, and others on official business to
392-503: A certain extent in South Korea , remain virtually identical to traditional characters, with variations between the two forms largely stylistic. There has historically been a debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters . Because the simplifications are fairly systematic, it is possible to convert computer-encoded characters between the two sets, with the main issue being ambiguities in simplified representations resulting from
490-532: A contingent of 2,000 Chinese troops traveled overland into Kotte, because Alakeshvara had lured them into his territory. Alakeshvara cut off Zheng and his troops from the Chinese treasure fleet anchored at Colombo . He planned to launch a surprise attack on the fleet. In response, Zheng and his contingent of troops invaded Kotte and conquered its capital. They captured Alakeshvara with his family and principal officials. For six days hereafter, they fought their way back to
588-404: A single sweep those noxious pests, as if winnowing chaff from grain... These insignificant worms, deserving to die ten thousand times over, trembling in fear... Did not even merit the punishment of Heaven. Thus the august emperor spared their lives, And they humbly kowtowed, making crude sounds and Praising the sage-like virtue of the imperial Ming ruler. — Yang Rong (1515) about
686-463: A tribute mission to express his gratefulness. This conflict reaffirmed Chinese power over the foreign states and the maritime route by protecting the local political authority that sheltered the trade. Sekandar was presented to the Yongle Emperor at the palace gate and later executed. It is not known when this execution happened, but Ma states that Sekandar was publicly executed in the capital after
784-850: Is 産 (also the accepted form in Japan and Korea), while in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan the accepted form is 產 (also the accepted form in Vietnamese chữ Nôm ). The PRC tends to print material intended for people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, versions of the People's Daily are printed in traditional characters, and both People's Daily and Xinhua have traditional character versions of their website available, using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters in order to communicate with consumers;
882-467: Is like that of the gods.'" The fleet returned to Nanjing in the summer of 1409. The confusion of whether Zheng undertook the second voyage stems from the fact that a Chinese envoy was dispatched before he had departed with the main body of the fleet. The imperial edict for the third voyage was issued during the second voyage while the fleet was still in the Indian Ocean, so Zheng was either absent when
980-503: Is possible that Siam and Java were visited by the fleet or by detached squadrons before regrouping at Malacca. During this voyage, the fleet did not land on Ceylon. The fleet was tasked to carry out the formal investiture of Mana Vikraan as the King of Calicut . A tablet was placed in Calicut to commemorate the relationship between China and India. In this voyage, the Chinese forcibly settled
1078-654: The Tarih al-Yaman fi d-daulati r-Rasuliya , the Sultan of the Rasulid issued an order to receive a Chinese delegation in the capital Ta'izz in February and goods were exchanged. This indicates that several Chinese ships did not return with the Chinese treasure fleet to China. On 14 May 1421, the Yongle Emperor ordered the temporary suspension of the treasure voyages. At the expense of
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#17328701771841176-483: The Chinese Commercial News , World News , and United Daily News all use traditional characters, as do some Hong Kong–based magazines such as Yazhou Zhoukan . The Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified characters. DVDs are usually subtitled using traditional characters, influenced by media from Taiwan as well as by the two countries sharing the same DVD region , 3. With most having immigrated to
1274-521: The Kensiu language . Ming treasure voyages The Ming treasure voyages were maritime expeditions undertaken by Ming China 's treasure fleet between 1405 and 1433. The Yongle Emperor ordered the construction of the fleet in 1403. The grand project resulted in seven far-reaching ocean voyages to the coastal territories and islands of the South China Sea and Indian Ocean . Admiral Zheng He
1372-506: The Midsummer Festival of 1413 (5th day, 5th month, 11th year) that all the Chinese officials and foreign envoys were invited to. Duyvendak (1939) states that these envoys were so numerous that they most-likely comprised many of those whom Zheng escorted back to their countries during the fourth voyage rather than just close neighbors. This expedition led the Chinese treasure fleet into Muslim countries, so it must have been important for
1470-622: The Shanghainese -language character U+20C8E 𠲎 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-20C8E —a composition of 伐 with the ⼝ 'MOUTH' radical—used instead of the Standard Chinese 嗎 ; 吗 . Typefaces often use the initialism TC to signify the use of traditional Chinese characters, as well as SC for simplified Chinese characters . In addition, the Noto, Italy family of typefaces, for example, also provides separate fonts for
1568-597: The Yangtze River . Many trees were cut along the Min River and upper reaches of the Yangtze River to supply the necessary resources for the fleet's construction. Existing ships were also converted to serve in the fleet for the voyages, but this can only be said with certainty for 249 ships ordered in 1407. The fleet's high-ranking officers, such as Admiral Zheng He , were from the eunuch establishment. Zheng served as
1666-503: The conflict in Ceylon The imperial order for the third voyage was issued in the first month of the seventh year of the Yongle reign (16 January to 14 February 1409). It was addressed to Zheng He, Wang Jinghong, and Hou Xian. Zheng embarked on the voyage in 1409. The Chinese treasure fleet departed from Liujiagang in the ninth month (9 October to 6 November 1409) and arrived at Changle
1764-542: The treasure fleet . The fleet was known as the Xiafan Guanjun ( 下番官軍 ; 'foreign expeditionary armada'), its original designation, in Chinese sources. It came to comprise many trading ships, warships, and support vessels. The Longjiang shipyard was the construction site for many of the fleet's ships, including all of the treasure ships . It was located on the Qinhuai River near Nanjing, where it flows into
1862-746: The 12th month of the 11th year in the Yongle reign (23 December 1413 to 21 January 1414). Calicut was the westernmost destination during the previous voyages, but the fleet sailed beyond it this time. The Taizong Shilu records Malacca, Java, Champa, Semudera, Aru, Cochin, Calicut, Lambri, Pahang , Kelantan , Jiayile , Hormuz , Bila , Maldives, and Sunla as stops for this voyage. The fleet sailed to Champa, Kelantan, Pahang, Malacca, Palembang, Java, Lambri, Lide, Aru, Semudera, Ceylon, Jiayile (opposite Ceylon), Cochin; and Calicut. They proceeded to Liushan ( Maldive and Laccadive Islands ), Bila ( Bitra Atoll ), Sunla ( Chetlat Atoll ), and Hormuz. At Java,
1960-523: The 16 different states were escorted to their homelands by the fleet. It is likely that the first few destinations were Malacca and the three Sumatran states of Lambri, Aru, and Semudera. The fleet was divided into several detached squadrons at Semudera. All the squadrons proceeded to Ceylon, whereafter they separated for Jiayile , Cochin, Ganbali , or Calicut in southern India. The squadrons traveled from there to their respective destinations at Liushan (Maldive and Laccadive Islands), Hormuz at
2058-519: The Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. In the third lunar month (30 March to 28 April) of 1405, a preliminary order was issued to Admiral Zheng He and others to lead 27,000 troops to the Western Ocean. An imperial edict, dated 11 July 1405, was issued containing the order for the expedition. It was addressed to Zheng He, Wang Jinghong , and others. The Yongle Emperor held a banquet for
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#17328701771842156-534: The Chinese admiral adopted a hostile attitude to Alakeshvara and espoused the cause of this prince. During the third Ming treasure voyage, the Chinese fleet returned to the Kotte Kingdom. This time, the Chinese came to depose Alakeshvara by military force. Dreyer (2007) states that the confrontation against Alakeshvara in Sri Lanka most likely happened during the outward journey of the Chinese fleet in 1410, rather than
2254-468: The Chinese fleet anchored at Colombo, while he planned a surprise attack on the fleet. In response, Zheng and his troops invaded Kotte and captured its capital. The Sinhalese army, recorded to have over 50,000 troops, hastily returned and surrounded the capital, but were repeatedly defeated in battle by the invading Chinese troops. They took captive Alakeshvara, his family, and principal officials. Zheng returned to Nanjing on 6 July 1411. He presented
2352-480: The Chinese fleet returned to Nanjing. The Ming court appointed Shi Jinqing as the Pacification Superintendent of Palembang, establishing an ally at Palembang and securing access to its port. The fleet returned to Nanjing on 2 October 1407. After accompanying the fleet during the return journey, the foreign envoys (from Calicut, Quilon, Semudera, Aru, Malacca, and other unspecified nations) visited
2450-512: The Chinese to seek out reliable interpreters. The interpreter Ma Huan joined the voyages for the first time. A 1523 inscription at a mosque in Xi'an records that, on the 4th month of the 11th year, Zheng was there to seek reliable interpreters and found Hasan (哈三). Hasan was proficient in Arabic and went on this voyage. The fleet left Nanjing in 1413, probably in the autumn. It set sail from Fujian in
2548-512: The East African places visited by the fleet. A Ming tablet at Quanzhou commemorates Zheng burning incense for divine protection for the voyage on 31 May 1417. The fleet visited Champa, Pahang, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Semudera, Lambri, Ceylon, Cochin, Calicut, Shaliwanni (possibly Cannanore ), Liushan (Maladive and Laccadive Islands), Hormuz, Lasa , Aden , Mogadishu , Brava , Zhubu , and Malindi . For Arabia and East Africa,
2646-631: The Grand Director in the Directorate of Palace Servants, a eunuch-dominated department, before his command of the expeditions. The emperor placed great trust in Zheng and appointed him to command the fleet. He even gave him blank scrolls stamped with his seal to issue imperial orders at sea. The other principal officers, such as Wang Jinghong , Hou Xian, Li Xing, Zhu Liang, Zhou Man , Hong Bao , Yang Zhen, Zhang Da, and Wu Zhong, were court eunuchs employed in
2744-605: The Ming court responded by demanding 60,000 liang of gold for compensation and atonement, warning that they would dispatch an army to punish the Javanese ruler for his crime if he failed to comply and stating that the situation in Annam (referring to Ming China's successful invasion of Vietnam) could serve as an example. The Chinese accepted the payment and apology, and restored diplomatic relations. Yan Congjian's Shuyu Zhouzilu notes that
2842-689: The Ming court to pay homage and present tribute with their local products. The Yongle Emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites, whose duties included the protocol concerning foreign ambassadors, to prepare gifts for the foreign kings who had sent envoys to the court. The imperial order for the second voyage was issued in October 1407. The edict was addressed to Zheng He, Wang Jinghong, and Hou Xian ( 侯顯 ). Lang Ying's Qixiuleigao ( 七修類稿 ) records that Zheng, Wang, and Hou were dispatched in 1407. The Taizong Shilu records that Zheng and others went as envoys to
2940-487: The Ming court to take their leave and were bestowed robes before departure. That day, the emperor ordered the undertaking of the fifth voyage, the aim of which was to return the ambassadors and to reward their kings. Zheng He and others received orders to escort the ambassadors back home. They carried imperial letters and gifts for several kings. The King of Cochin received special treatment because he had sent tribute since 1411 and later also sent ambassadors to request
3038-435: The Ming court, nominated by the Ming emperor, and installed with the backing of Zheng and his fleet. Both economic and diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka improved, with Parakramavahu VI as the ruler in Sri Lanka. The Chinese treasure fleet experienced no hostilities during visits to Sri Lanka on subsequent voyages . On 13 September 1411, the emperor granted both rewards and promotions for those who participated in
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3136-462: The Mongols and had not returned when the fleet arrived. After the fleet's return, envoys bearing tribute from 18 countries were sent to the Ming court. On 14 November 1416, the Yongle Emperor returned to Nanjing. On 19 November, a grand ceremony was held where he bestowed gifts to princes, civil officials, military officers, and the ambassadors of 18 countries. On 28 December, the ambassadors visited
3234-547: The People's Republic of China, traditional Chinese characters are standardised according to the Table of Comparison between Standard, Traditional and Variant Chinese Characters . Dictionaries published in mainland China generally show both simplified and their traditional counterparts. There are differences between the accepted traditional forms in mainland China and elsewhere, for example the accepted traditional form of 产 in mainland China
3332-533: The Persian Gulf, the three Arabian states of Dhofar , Lasa , and Aden, and the two African states of Mogadishu and Brava. The eunuch Zhou (probably Zhou Man ) led a detached squadron to Aden. Ma Huan mentions Zhou Man and Li Xing in connection to the visit of Aden. Their squadron may have also visited Lasa and Dhofar. According to the Mingshi , Zheng personally visited Ganbali as an envoy in 1421. Of
3430-594: The Sinhalese Kotte kingdom of King Alakeshvara, and defeated the forces of the Semudera pretender Sekandar in northern Sumatra . The Chinese maritime exploits brought many countries into China's tributary system and sphere of influence through both military and political supremacy, thus incorporating the states into the greater Chinese world order under Ming suzerainty . Moreover, the Chinese restructured and established control over an expansive maritime network in which
3528-520: The Sinhalese captives to the Yongle Emperor , who eventually decided to free Alakeshvara and return him to Sri Lanka. The Chinese were allied with Parakramabahu VI and dethroned Alakeshvara in favor of him. The Yongle Emperor requested from the Ministry of Rites to recommend someone to serve as the new king of Kotte. As documented in Chinese records, Parakramabahu VI was elected by the Sinhalese present at
3626-495: The Sinhalese captives to the Yongle Emperor, who decided to free and return them to their country. The Chinese dethroned Alakeshvara in favor of their ally Parakramabahu VI as the king with Zheng and his fleet supporting him. From then on, the fleet did not experience hostilities during visits to Ceylon. On 18 December 1412, the Yongle Emperor issued the order for the fourth voyage. Zheng He and others were commanded to lead it. The emperor attended an archery contest for
3724-540: The Sinhalese confrontation after the joint recommendation of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites. Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages . In Taiwan , the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the Standard Form of National Characters . These forms were predominant in written Chinese until
3822-521: The United States during the second half of the 19th century, Chinese Americans have long used traditional characters. When not providing both, US public notices and signs in Chinese are generally written in traditional characters, more often than in simplified characters. In the past, traditional Chinese was most often encoded on computers using the Big5 standard, which favored traditional characters. However,
3920-424: The Yongle Emperor, on 12 August 1424. Zheng returned from Palembang after this death. The Hongxi Emperor was against the undertaking of the voyages. On 7 September 1424, the day of his accession to the throne, he terminated the undertaking of further voyages. He kept the treasure fleet, which retained its original designation Xiafan Guanjun , to garrison Nanjing. On 24 February 1425, he appointed Zheng as
4018-618: The ascension of Parakramabahu VI . The kingdoms of Kotte and Jaffna had been in wars against each other. In these wars, Alakeshvara of the Alagakkonara family gained prestige due to his military successes. He had the de facto rule over Kotte under a puppet king from the previous royal dynasty and eventually usurped the throne of the kingdom. During the Ming treasure voyages , a large Chinese fleet, led by Admiral Zheng He , arrived into local waters to establish Chinese control and stability of
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4116-481: The city. According to the Taizong Shilu 's entry for 11 July 1405 about the dispatch of the fleet, Zheng and "others" left on the first expedition "bearing imperial letters to the countries of the Western Ocean and with gifts to their kings of gold brocade , patterned silks , and colored silk gauze, according to their status". The fleet made a stop at Liujiagang . There, the fleet was organized in squadrons while
4214-474: The civil service. The rest of the crew was predominantly from the Ming military and mostly recruited from Fujian. During the onset of the Ming treasure voyages, the Chinese treasure fleet embarked from the Longjiang shipyard and sailed down the Yangtze River to Liujiagang , where Zheng He organized his fleet and made sacrifices to the goddess Tianfei . Over the course of the following four to eight weeks,
4312-681: The countries of Calicut, Malacca, Semudera, Aru, Jiayile , Java, Siam , Champa, Cochin , Abobadan , Quilon, Lambri, and Ganbali . On 30 October 1407, a grand director was dispatched with a squadron to Champa before Zheng followed with the main body of the treasure fleet. The fleet departed in the fifth year of the Yongle reign (late 1407 or possibly early 1408). The fleet traveled from Nanjing to Liujiagang to Changle. Then it sailed to Champa; Siam; Java; Malacca; Semudera, Aru, and Lambri on Sumatra ; Jiayile, Abobadan, Ganbali , Quilon, Cochin, and Calicut in India . Dreyer (2007) states that it
4410-493: The countries of the Western Ocean. It was addressed to Yang Qing ( 楊慶 ), Luo Zhi ( 羅智 ), Tang Guanbo ( 唐觀保 ), and Yuan Cheng ( 袁誠 ). On 29 June 1430, the Xuande Emperor issued his orders for the seventh voyage. It was addressed to Zheng and others. The Xuanzong Shilu reports that Zheng, Wang, and others were sent to distant foreign lands to bring them into deference and submission. The emperor wished to reinvigorate
4508-421: The course of 1403, Fujian , Jiangxi , Zhejiang , and Huguang 's provincial governments as well as Nanjing , Suzhou , and other cities' military garrisons were ordered to begin constructing ships. Under the reign of the Yongle Emperor, Ming China underwent militaristic expansionism with ventures such as the treasure voyages. In 1403, he issued an imperial order to start the immense construction project of
4606-432: The court issued the imperial order or he had not accompanied the fleet during the second voyage. On 21 January 1409, a grand ceremony was held in the honor of the goddess Tianfei, where she received a new title. Duyvendak (1938) thinks that Zheng could not have been on the second voyage, because the ceremony's importance required Zheng's attendance. Mills (1970), citing Duyvendak (1938), also states that he did not accompany
4704-417: The crew on the evening before the treasure fleet's maiden voyage. Gifts were presented to the officers and the common crew according to their rank. Sacrifices and prayers were offered to Tianfei , the patron goddess of sailors and seafarers, in the hopes of ensuring a successful journey and safe passage during the voyage. In the autumn of 1405, the fleet had assembled at Nanjing and was ready to depart from
4802-525: The defender of Nanjing and ordered him to continue his command over the fleet for the city's defense. The Hongxi Emperor died on 29 May 1425 and was succeeded by his eldest son Zhu Zhanji as the Xuande Emperor . The Xuande Emperor left his father's arrangements in place, so the fleet remained as a part of the institutions in Nanjing. On 25 March 1428, the Xuande Emperor ordered Zheng and others to supervise
4900-410: The emperor later forgave 50,000 liang of gold that was still owed from this as long as the western ruler was remorseful for his crime. Tan (2005) remarks that Zheng had submitted the case of the killings to the emperor for a decision, rather than undertake a military invasion in revenge, as the killings were not willful. The Chinese would use further voyages to keep surveillance over Java. During
4998-559: The enmity between Ming China and Java. In a civil war on Java between 1401 and 1406 , the King of West Java killed 170 members of a Chinese embassy who had come ashore in his rival's territory at East Java. The entry dated to 23 October 1407 in the Ming Shilu states that the Western King of Java had sent an envoy to the Ming court to admit his guilt for mistakenly killing 170 Ming troops who had gone ashore to trade. It further states that
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#17328701771845096-400: The expeditions. Near the end of the maritime voyages, the civil government gained the upper hand within the state bureaucracy, while the eunuchs gradually fell out of favor after the death of the Yongle Emperor and lost the authority to conduct these large-scale endeavors. Furthermore, local authorities and elites had economic interests antagonistic to the central state control of commerce, since
5194-479: The fall of 1420, after the emperor announced the move of the capital to Beijing, he made arrangements for all foreign envoys to journey to the new capital for a celebration in early 1421. The Taizong Shilu 's 3 March 1421 entry notes that the envoys of sixteen countries (Hormuz and other countries) were given gifts of paper money, coin money, ceremonial robes, and linings before the Chinese treasure fleet escorted them back to their countries. The imperial order for
5292-472: The fifth, sixth, and seventh voyages, the fleet traveled further to destinations in the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa . For the sixth voyage, the fleet sailed up to Calicut, where several detached squadrons proceeded to further destinations at the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. For the seventh voyage, the fleet followed the route up to Hormuz, while detached squadrons traveled to other places at
5390-528: The fleet delivered gifts and favors from the Yongle Emperor. In return, a Javanese envoy arrived in China on 29 April 1415 and presented tribute in the form of "western horses" and local products while expressing gratitude. In 1415, the fleet made a stop at northern Sumatra during the journey homeward. In this region, Sekandar had usurped the Semudera throne from Zain al-'Abidin, but the Chinese had formally recognized
5488-637: The fleet followed the same basic maritime route: from Fujian to the first call in Champa, across the South China Sea to Java and Sumatra , up the Strait of Malacca to northern Sumatra for assembly of the fleet, across the Indian Ocean to Ceylon , then along the Malabar Coast to Calicut . At the time, the fleet sailed no further than Calicut. During the fourth voyage, the route was extended to Hormuz . During
5586-431: The fleet for this voyage. However, Dreyer (2007) states that it is strongly suggested that Zheng had been on the second voyage, as Fei's account about the 1409 visit to Pulau Sembilan explicitly mentions him. Straight-away, their dens and hideouts we ravaged, And made captive that entire country, Bringing back to our august capital, Their women, children, families and retainers, leaving not one, Cleaning out in
5684-646: The fleet gradually proceeded to Taiping anchorage in Changle , where they waited for the favorable northeast winter monsoon before leaving the Fujian coast. The monsoon winds generally affected how the fleet sailed through the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. They reached the sea through the Wuhumen ('five tiger passage') of the Min River in Fujian. The port of Qui Nhon in Champa
5782-522: The fleet returned. Fei Xin describes Sekandar as a false king who robbed, stole, and usurped the throne of Semudera, Ma Huan portrays him as someone who attempted to overthrow the ruler, and the Ming Shilu records that Sekandar was the younger brother of the former king and plotted to kill the ruler. On 12 August 1415, the fleet returned to Nanjing from this voyage. The Yongle Emperor was absent since 16 March 1413 for his second military campaign against
5880-501: The fleet sailed straight through the Indian Ocean instead of following the Bay of Bengal coastline to Ceylon. Three days after their departure from Lambri, a ship split off and went to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Six days after the separation, the fleet saw the mountains of Ceylon and arrived at Ceylon's western coast two days later. They left this region as they were met with hostility from
5978-461: The fleet traveled up to the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa . The Chinese expeditionary fleet was heavily militarized and carried great amounts of treasures, which served to project Chinese power and wealth to the known world. They brought back many foreign ambassadors whose kings and rulers were willing to declare themselves tributaries of China . During the course of the voyages, they destroyed Chen Zuyi's pirate fleet at Palembang , captured
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#17328701771846076-476: The fleet's crew honored Tianfei with prayers and sacrifices. Then, the fleet sailed down the coast to Taiping anchorage in Changle near the Min River , where it awaited the northeast monsoon . The crew offered more prayers and sacrifices to Tianfei during their wait. Afterwards, the fleet departed via the Wuhumen. The fleet sailed to Champa , Java , Malacca , Aru , Semudera , Lambri , Ceylon , Quilon , and Calicut . From Lambri,
6174-402: The fleet's personnel. The accompanying ambassadors were received at the Ming court in the eighth lunar month (21 August to 19 September) of 1419. Their tribute included lions, leopards, dromedary camels, ostriches, zebras, rhinoceroses, antelopes, giraffes, and other exotic animals. The arrival of the various animals brought by foreign ambassadors caused sensation at the Ming court. Early in
6272-551: The fleet. The Sinhalese army hastily returned and surrounded the capital, but was repeatedly defeated in battle by the invading Chinese troops. Straight-away, their dens and hideouts we ravaged, And made captive that entire country, Bringing back to our august capital, Their women, children, families and retainers, leaving not one, Cleaning out in a single sweep those noxious pests, as if winnowing chaff from grain... These insignificant worms, deserving to die ten thousand times over, trembling in fear... Did not even merit
6370-429: The following month (7 November to 6 December 1409). They left Changle in the twelfth month (5 January to 3 February 1410). They proceeded via the Wuhumen. The fleet made stops at Champa, Java, Malacca, Semudera, Ceylon, Quilon, Cochin, and Calicut. They traveled to Champa within 10 days. Wang and Hou made short detours at Siam, Malacca, Semudera, and Ceylon. The fleet landed at Galle , Ceylon, in 1410. During
6468-457: The homeward journey in 1411, but he also notes that most authorities think that the confrontation happened during the homeward journey in 1411. On their return to Sri Lanka, the Chinese were overbearing and contemptuous of the Sinhalese, whom they considered to be rude, disrespectful, and hostile. They also resented that the Sinhalese were committing hostilities towards neighboring countries that had diplomatic relations with Ming China. Zheng He and
6566-641: The homeward journey in 1411, the Chinese treasure fleet confronted King Alakeshvara of Ceylon . Alakeshvara posed a threat to the countries and local waters of Ceylon and southern India. When the Chinese arrived at Ceylon, they were overbearing and contemptuous of the Sinhalese, whom they considered rude, disrespectful, and hostile. They also resented the Sinhalese for attacking and committing piracy against neighboring countries that had diplomatic relations with Ming China. Zheng and 2,000 troops traveled overland into Kotte , because Alakeshvara had lured them into his territory. The king separated Zheng and his men from
6664-493: The inverse is equally true as well. In digital media, many cultural phenomena imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan into mainland China, such as music videos, karaoke videos, subtitled movies, and subtitled dramas, use traditional Chinese characters. In Hong Kong and Macau , traditional characters were retained during the colonial period, while the mainland adopted simplified characters. Simplified characters are contemporaneously used to accommodate immigrants and tourists, often from
6762-464: The island to cut incense. They obtained six logs, each eight or nine chi in diameter and six or seven zhang in length, whose aroma was pure and far-ranging. The pattern [of the wood] was black, with fine lines. The people of the island opened their eyes wide and stuck out their tongues in astonishment, and were told that 'We are the soldiers of the Heavenly Court, and our awe-inspiring power
6860-492: The journey, as recorded by Fei Xin , the fleet visited the Pulau Sembilan in the Strait of Malacca in the seventh year of the Yongle reign (1409). Dreyer (2007) concludes that the stop was made during the return journey of the second voyage as the fleet did not leave the Chinese coast for the third voyage until early 1410. Fei wrote that "In the seventh year of Yongle, Zheng He and his associates sent government troops onto
6958-514: The latter as the King of Semudera. In contrast, Sekandar, an autonomous ruler, was not recognized by the Chinese. Zheng was ordered to launch a punitive attack against the usurper and restore Zain al-'Abidin as the rightful king. Sekandar and his forces, comprising reportedly "tens of thousands" of soldiers, attacked the Ming forces and were defeated by them. The Ming forces pursued Sekandar's forces to Lambri where they captured Sekandar, his wife, and his child. King Zain al-'Abidin later dispatched
7056-518: The local ruler, Alakeshvara . Dreyer (2007) states that it is possible that Zheng made port at Quilon—although there is no account confirming this—because the King of Quilon traveled with the fleet to China in 1407. Mills (1970) states that the fleet may have stayed four months at Calicut from December to April 1407. Around Cape Comorin on the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent , the fleet changed direction and began its return journey to China. During
7154-725: The mainland. The increasing use of simplified characters has led to concern among residents regarding protecting what they see as their local heritage. Taiwan has never adopted simplified characters. The use of simplified characters in government documents and educational settings is discouraged by the government of Taiwan. Nevertheless, with sufficient context simplified characters are likely to be successfully read by those used to traditional characters, especially given some previous exposure. Many simplified characters were previously variants that had long been in some use, with systematic stroke simplifications used in folk handwriting since antiquity. Traditional characters were recognized as
7252-682: The majority of Chinese text in mainland China are simplified characters , there is no legislation prohibiting the use of traditional Chinese characters, and often traditional Chinese characters remain in use for stylistic and commercial purposes, such as in shopfront displays and advertising. Traditional Chinese characters remain ubiquitous on buildings that predate the promulgation of the current simplification scheme, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional Chinese characters continue to be used for ceremonial, cultural, scholarly/academic research, and artistic/decorative purposes. In
7350-480: The maritime routes in the waters around Sri Lanka and southern India . Alakeshvara posed a threat to Chinese trade by committing piracy and hostilities in the local waters. Due to Alakeshvara's hostilities against the Chinese presence in Sri Lanka during the first Ming treasure voyage, Zheng decided to leave the island for other destinations. It is probable that the then-prince Parakramabahu VI or others acting on his behalf solicited aid from Zheng during this time, so
7448-975: The merging of previously distinct character forms. Many Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between these character sets. Traditional characters are known by different names throughout the Chinese-speaking world. The government of Taiwan officially refers to traditional Chinese characters as 正體字 ; 正体字 ; zhèngtǐzì ; 'orthodox characters'. This term is also used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard characters, including both simplified, and traditional, from other variants and idiomatic characters . Users of traditional characters elsewhere, as well as those using simplified characters, call traditional characters 繁體字 ; 繁体字 ; fántǐzì ; 'complex characters', 老字 ; lǎozì ; 'old characters', or 全體字 ; 全体字 ; quántǐzì ; 'full characters' to distinguish them from simplified characters. Some argue that since traditional characters are often
7546-448: The middle of the 20th century, when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of the predominant forms. Simplified characters as codified by the People's Republic of China are predominantly used in mainland China , Malaysia, and Singapore. "Traditional" as such is
7644-586: The most likely route was Hormuz, Lasa , Aden, Mogadishu, Brava, Zhubu , and then Malindi. The Tarih al-Yaman fi d-daulati r-Rasuliya reports that Chinese ships reached the Aden coast in January 1419 and did not leave the Rasulid capital at Ta'izz before 19 March. On 8 August 1419, the fleet had returned to China. The Yongle Emperor was in Beijing, but he ordered the Ministry of Rites to give monetary rewards to
7742-653: The nautical charts employed, the countries visited, and the cargo carried. On 17 July 1402, in Ming China , Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, ascended the throne as the Yongle Emperor . He inherited a powerful navy from his father, the Hongwu Emperor , and further developed it as an instrument for an expansive overseas policy. The Taizong Shilu contains 24 short entries for the imperial orders for shipbuilding, with figures pointing to at least 2,868 ships, from 1403 to 1419. Over
7840-665: The official script in Singapore until 1969, when the government officially adopted Simplified characters. Traditional characters still are widely used in contexts such as in baby and corporation names, advertisements, decorations, official documents and in newspapers. The Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative in Southeast Asia regarding simplification. Although major public universities teach in simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications such as
7938-700: The original standard forms, they should not be called 'complex'. Conversely, there is a common objection to the description of traditional characters as 'standard', due to them not being used by a large population of Chinese speakers. Additionally, as the process of Chinese character creation often made many characters more elaborate over time, there is sometimes a hesitation to characterize them as 'traditional'. Some people refer to traditional characters as 'proper characters' ( 正字 ; zhèngzì or 正寫 ; zhèngxiě ) and to simplified characters as 簡筆字 ; 简笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'simplified-stroke characters' or 減筆字 ; 减笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'reduced-stroke characters', as
8036-536: The patent of investiture and a seal. The Yongle Emperor granted him both requests, conferred to him a long inscription (allegedly composed by the emperor himself), and gave the title "State Protecting Mountain" to a hill in Cochin. Zheng may have left the Chinese coast in the autumn of 1417. He first made port at Quanzhou to load up the treasure fleet's cargo holds with porcelain and other goods. Archaeological finds of contemporary Chinese porcelain have been excavated at
8134-477: The punishment of Heaven. Thus the august emperor spared their lives, And they humbly kowtowed, making crude sounds and Praising the sage-like virtue of the imperial Ming ruler. — Yang Rong (1515) about the confrontation in Sri Lanka The conflict resulted in the overthrow of King Alakeshvara of the Alagakkonara family. After their voyage, Zheng He returned to Nanjing on 6 July 1411 and presented
8232-467: The rebuilding and repair of the Great Bao'en Temple in Nanjing. The construction of the temple was completed in 1431. It is possible that the funds to build it were diverted from the treasure voyages. We have traversed more than one hundred thousand li of immense water spaces, and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising sky-high. We have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in
8330-460: The region became integrated and its countries became interconnected on an economic and political level. The Ming treasure voyages were commanded and overseen by the eunuch establishment whose political influence was heavily dependent on imperial favor. Within Ming China's imperial state system, the civil officials were the primary political opponents of the eunuchs and the opposing faction against
8428-480: The return, the fleet stopped at Malacca again. During the return trip in 1407, Zheng and his associates engaged Chen Zuyi and his pirate fleet in battle at Palembang . Chen had seized Palembang and dominated the maritime route along the Malaccan Strait. The battle concluded with the defeat of Chen's pirate fleet by the Chinese treasure fleet. He and his lieutenants were executed on 2 October 1407 when
8526-459: The sixth voyage was dated 3 March 1421. Zheng He was dispatched with imperial letters, silk brocade, silk floss, silk gauze, and other gifts for the rulers of these countries. Gong Zhen 's Xiyang Fanguo Zhi records a 10 November 1421 imperial edict instructing Zheng He, Kong He ( 孔和 ), Zhu Buhua ( 朱卜花 ), and Tang Guanbao ( 唐觀保 ) to arrange the provisions for Hong Bao and others' escort of foreign envoys to their countries. The envoys of
8624-502: The squadrons regrouped further at Semudera. Siam was likely visited during the return journey. The fleet returned on 3 September 1422. They brought with them envoys from Siam, Semudera, Aden, and other countries, who bore tribute in local products. The foreign envoys, who traveled with the fleet to China, proceeded overland or via the Grand Canal before reaching the imperial court at Beijing in 1423. On 31 January 1423, as reported in
8722-405: The state-sponsored maritime enterprise had been key to counterbalancing localized private trade. Over the course of these maritime voyages, Ming China became the pre-eminent naval power by projecting its sea power further to the south and west. There is still much debate regarding issues such as the actual purpose of the voyages, the size of the ships, the magnitude of the fleet, the routes taken,
8820-627: The traditional character set used in Taiwan ( TC ) and the set used in Hong Kong ( HK ). Most Chinese-language webpages now use Unicode for their text. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends the use of the language tag zh-Hant to specify webpage content written with traditional characters. In the Japanese writing system , kyujitai are traditional forms, which were simplified to create shinjitai for standardized Japanese use following World War II. Kyūjitai are mostly congruent with
8918-970: The traditional characters in Chinese, save for minor stylistic variation. Characters that are not included in the jōyō kanji list are generally recommended to be printed in their traditional forms, with a few exceptions. Additionally, there are kokuji , which are kanji wholly created in Japan, rather than originally being borrowed from China. In the Korean writing system , hanja —replaced almost entirely by hangul in South Korea and totally replaced in North Korea —are mostly identical with their traditional counterparts, save minor stylistic variations. As with Japanese, there are autochthonous hanja, known as gukja . Traditional Chinese characters are also used by non-Chinese ethnic groups. The Maniq people living in Thailand and Malaysia use Chinese characters to write
9016-450: The tributary relations that were promoted during the Yongle reign. The Xia Xiyang provides information about the dates and itinerary for this voyage. On 19 January 1431, the Chinese treasure fleet embarked from Longwan ('dragon bay') in Nanjing. On 23 January, they came to Xushan (an unidentified island in the Yangtze ) where they went hunting. On 2 February, they passed through
9114-516: The twelve visited nations west of Sumatra, this was the only one explicitly reported to have been visited by Zheng himself. Even though Quilon was not visited, the squadron for Mogadishu probably separated near Quilon as a navigation point while the main body of the fleet continued to Calicut. A large squadron proceeded further from Calicut to Hormuz. They may have traveled via the Laccadives. Upon return, several squadrons regrouped at Calicut and all
9212-509: The ubiquitous Unicode standard gives equal weight to simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and has become by far the most popular encoding for Chinese-language text. There are various input method editors (IMEs) available for the input of Chinese characters . Many characters, often dialectical variants, are encoded in Unicode but cannot be inputted using certain IMEs, with one example being
9310-522: The voyages, imperial attention and funding was diverted to the emperor's military campaigns against the Mongols . Between 1422 and 1431, the Chinese treasure fleet remained in Nanjing to serve in the city's garrison. In 1424, Zheng He departed on a diplomatic mission to Palembang . Meanwhile, Zhu Gaozhi ascended the throne as the Hongxi Emperor on 7 September 1424 following the death of his father,
9408-571: The words for simplified and reduced are homophonous in Standard Chinese , both pronounced as jiǎn . The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han dynasty c. 200 BCE , with the sets of forms and norms more or less stable since the Southern and Northern dynasties period c. the 5th century . Although
9506-553: Was always the first foreign destination that the fleet visited. The voyages sent the fleet to the Western Ocean (西洋), which was the maritime region encompassing today's South China Sea and Indian Ocean during the Ming dynasty. More specifically, contemporary sources such as the Yingya Shenglan place the dividing line between the Eastern Ocean and Western Ocean at Brunei . During the first three voyages from 1405 to 1411,
9604-469: Was commissioned to command the fleet for the expeditions. Six of the voyages occurred during the Yongle Emperor's reign ( r. 1402–1424 ) and the seventh voyage occurred during the Xuande Emperor 's reign ( r. 1425–1435 ). The first three voyages reached up to Calicut on India's Malabar Coast , while the fourth voyage went as far as Hormuz in the Persian Gulf . In the last three voyages,
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