The Ming Voyages

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2011

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Ming Voyages. In 1405 a Chinese admiral, Zheng He, set sail with an enormous fleet of ships carrying more than 27,000 people. This was the first of seven voyages of discovery which took Zheng and his ships all over the known world, from India to the Gulf of Persia and as far as East Africa. They took Chinese goods, evidence of the might of the Ming Empire, to the people they visited; and they also returned to China with treasure from the places they visited, and exotic items including a live giraffe. These seven voyages were an expression of the might of the Ming Dynasty; but they were regarded by some Chinese courtiers as a wasteful extravagance, and after internal disputes they came to an end in 1433. These extraordinary journeys live on in the imagination and the historical record - and had a profound effect on China's relationship with the rest of the world.With:Rana MitterProfessor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of OxfordJulia LovellLecturer in Chinese History at Birkbeck College, University of LondonCraig ClunasProfessor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford.Producer: Thomas Morris.

Transcript

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0:49.2	Hello in the winter of 1405 a fleet of 317 Chinese ships manned by more than 27,000 crew members set sail from the
0:57.0	Yancy estuary and headed south towards Siam. These were the treasure ships of the Ming Empire, so called because some of them not only carried
1:04.8	treasures such as silk, porcelain and gold, but also sought riches from distant lands.
1:10.0	This was the first of seven voyages over the course of 28 years.
1:13.1	We saw the Chinese sail to myriad ports across the globe, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea
1:17.5	in the East Coast of Africa.
1:19.0	They brought back much booty to China, including precious stones and even a giraffe.
1:23.8	But what was the purpose of these voyages and why did they come to an end in 1433?
1:28.3	With me to discuss the Ming voyages, Iran Emitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford,
1:35.0	Julia Lovell, lecturer in Chinese history at Birkbeck College University of London,
1:39.0	and Craig Klunas, Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford.
1:43.0	Arnamita, these epic journeys are known as the Ming voyages.
1:47.0	Can you tell us a bit about the Ming first?
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