On May 9th, Chen Xiaoshan, who has extensive research on the maritime industry of the Ming Dynasty, was a guest at the fourth issue of the "Xiang Ming Forum" of the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
As the pinnacle of ancient Chinese navigation, the records left by "Zheng He's voyages to the West" And the legend is almost universally known. However, historical conclusions are often constantly updated, expanded or even overturned due to the richness of historical materials, and the opening and intersection of researchers' perspectives will bring about new discoveries. The "Ming Dynasty China in the Perspective of World History" series of academic lectures initiated by the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences once again focused on the theme of "Zheng He's voyages to the West in the perspective of maritime history", which brought the above strong impact to the listeners.
Recently (May 9), the third lecture was given by Chen Xiaoshan, a researcher at the Institute of Natural Science History, Chinese Academy of Sciences. From the comparative perspective of Chinese and Western navigation technology, the navigation technology of Zheng He's voyages to the West was systematically demonstrated with vivid and detailed cases and verification. and its status. From the perspective of internal history, we compare the exchange and integration of world navigation technology, and from the perspective of external history, we analyze the political relationship behind the peak of the Ming Dynasty's maritime industry and the maritime ban. In a panoramic historical experience brought about by the intersection of disciplines in multiple fields, why did Chinese navigation have a unified measurement unit after Zheng He? Why did the peak and decline of Ming Dynasty navigation coexist? The reader is presented with a richer and more eloquent answer.
The theme of the Ming Dynasty in the perspective of world history opened up the positioning of Chinese dynasties in the spatial dimension.
The standardization of navigation information began with Zheng He. : International exchanges are the first contribution.
Before setting off to a certain place, people will first think of viewing the place through map navigation. It takes time to get the general direction and route, and the same goes for Zheng He. Chen Xiaoshan's narration begins with a 20-page "Zheng He Navigation Chart". The original title of this map is "Sail from Bao Shipyard and go from Longjiang Pass to various foreign countries." It contains 4 maps of crossing the ocean and catching stars, 109 needle routes and about 500 place names. Sea routes are more complex than land routes. The formation of such a set of nautical charts requires many technical prerequisites, including not only the exploration of measurement units and tools, but also the integration of navigation knowledge from all over the world. From the nautical charts, we can see that Sino-foreign exchanges are actually more extensive than imagined.
The Zheng He navigation chart below is 20.3 centimeters high and 560 centimeters long. It was probably completed after the sixth voyage to the Western Ocean and before the seventh voyage.
Form
Ancient China's method of measuring sea distances was very crude. The statements of hundreds or thousands of miles a day basically came from estimates based on personal experience. Due to different weather and sea conditions, the error is even greater. Chen Xiaoshan introduced that ancient Chinese navigation generally only estimated the time it would take to get to a certain place under favorable wind conditions. In the early days, journeys were calculated by day and night. Or throw wood chips from the bow and follow the wood chips to the stern. Use the running speed on land to estimate the sailing speed and calculate the required sailing time.
Using a shorter time period to accurately measure is naturally more conducive to navigation. The ancient Babylonian beru represents a 2-hour journey, while the Persian parasang and the Arabian farsakh represent a 2-hour journey. It represents a 1-hour journey, while the Indian Ocean uses zam to represent a 3-hour journey. When using these units, you also need to consider the effects of different vehicles and terrain, and the idea of measuring in shorter time periods is the same. Chen Xiaoshan discovered that after Zheng He's voyages to the West, China's travel units originally measured in terms of day, night and day were all changed to "shifts". One day was divided into 10 shifts, and 1 shift lasted 2.4 hours. The accuracy increased by an order of magnitude.
"The Guidance Guide" records that the mission of Zheng He's fleet was "heavy in tribute" and the reason for integrating domestic and overseas technologies "to be the yardstick of the navy"
There are two reasons why the accuracy suddenly increased. Chen Xiaoshan believes that, first, it is related to the tasks undertaken by Zheng He’s fleet. Official shipping is also a royal tribute, and safety requirements are very high. There are many islands and reefs in China's offshore waters, and the "geng" unit is very suitable for allowing the fleet to maneuver accurately to avoid danger when sailing in the island and reef areas. The second has to do with communication among crew members and sailors. In the book "Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty", it is recorded that there was a foreign pilot (Fan Huochang) in Zheng He's fleet.When Chinese and foreign sailors sail together, technical communication and exchanges are inevitable. This kind of "international cooperation" allows foreign experience to be Chineseized. In addition to measurement units, technologies such as bathymetry and celestial navigation were also standardized and unified after Zheng He's voyages to the West.
* "Across the Ocean" technique · Water depth measurement was introduced into China to form a standard
In addition to using "gen" as the unit of measurement, the measurement of water depth also originated from Sino-foreign exchanges. The earliest record of the use of plumb bobs for sounding was recorded by envoys to Goguryeo in the Northern Song Dynasty. A plumb bob with a bottom depression filled with animal fat was tied to a rope and dropped into the water. The seabed sediment that stuck up was used to determine which sea area the ship had sailed to. According to Chen Xiaoshan's verification, bathymetric plumb bobs were frequently used in the ancient Mediterranean starting from BC, and were eventually introduced to China from the Indian Ocean. Before the sounding plumb bob, long bamboo poles were commonly used in China. The length limit of the bamboo poles was obvious. The sea area that the length of the rope could detect enabled navigation to reach deeper and further sea areas.
The astronomical navigation technology also introduced from the Indian Ocean is the star-crossing technique.
The principle used in the star-crossing technique is common around the world, that is, using the North Star for positioning.
The principle behind the seemingly romantic and profound name is actually very simple. Chen Xiaoshan mentioned that overly complex theories are obviously not conducive to practical operations by sailors, and this technology uses the natural phenomenon that the height of Polaris is consistent at the same latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. Using this as a ruler, the direction of the voyage can be roughly recorded through the altitude changes of Polaris during the voyage. As a result, the ancient Chinese, Arabs, and Indians each adopted their own unique measurement methods. When Zheng He's fleet entered the Indian Ocean, they adopted the measurement units used by local navigators in the manner of "doing as the Romans do." Chen Xiaoshan believes that the simple explanation of principles allows experienced sailors to sail on the sea with only ropes and wood chips, which is one of the important reasons for the brilliance of ancient navigation civilization.
Zheng He's voyages to the West not only brought exchanges of navigation technology, but also completed standardization in the process of inward transformation. A major feature is that after the voyage to the Western Ocean, the measurement units in the navigation guides for the north and south waters of China began to be basically consistent, that is, closer to the "Zheng He Navigation Chart". Before that, there were very few textual records related to navigation, and the records using day and night as the unit of measurement were relatively rough. Many experiences were only passed down orally among sailors. With the spread of standardized records and measurement units, the names of some islands with small intervals can be easily recorded. The names of islands in Xisha and Nansha, as well as Diaoyu Island, Huangma Island and other islands on the Ryukyu route also appear in documents. Standardization has also brought about the popularization of navigation technology and reduced the risks of sailing in island and reef areas. As a result, the safety of life and property of ordinary people during navigation is better protected.
From this perspective, the value of Zheng He's voyages to the West is immeasurable.
Why it was stopped due to the waste of people and money: Inland cronies served as naval officers
"Hongwu Shipping" established the pattern of maritime activities in the Ming Dynasty. The navy troops left behind by the previous dynasty served as the main force, and heroes from the mainland served as "general soldiers" and various The senior officer is in charge.
Zheng He's voyages to the West made such achievements that Zheng He was even worshiped as a god in Southeast Asia. However, at that time in mainland China, he was considered a waste of people and money. Behind the completely opposite evaluation lies the reason for the complicated political turmoil and the decline of the navigation industry in the Ming Dynasty. . The navigation industry of the Ming Dynasty fell from its peak, and political factors dominated the situation. Chen Xiaoshan’s research mainly focused on examining the composition of crews in previous voyages of the Ming Dynasty.
According to historical records, the size of Zheng He's fleet reached more than 20,000 people. However, in the Ming Dynasty, which emphasized the inheritance of patriarchal traditions, the "Hongwu Shipping" during the Zhu Yuanzhang period often numbered 80,000 to 90,000 people, which laid the foundation for subsequent maritime operations. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it was necessary to mobilize grain from the Jiangnan area to Liaodong. In order to ensure safety, Zhu Yuanzhang mobilized the navy troops of the previous dynasty that transported grain from the Jiangnan area to Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty as the main force for shipping grain northward.
By looking through the "Collection of Archives of the Ming Dynasty in China and the Selected Military Officers" to check the information of the troops responsible for shipping during the Hongwu period, Chen Xiaoshan found that only 24 officers who participated in shipping were recorded in the army of tens of thousands, and half of them were originally from Anhui. Huaixi and Anhui are located in the mainland and it is difficult to produce sailing talents. The only reason is that they are worried about the changes in the transportation of grain by the former navy. The suspicious Zhu Yuanzhang could only trust these Huaixi fellows who accompanied him to conquer the world to take on this important task. In the subsequent political turmoil, many Huaixi heroes were killed and no historical records were left. Similarly, nearly one-third of the officers in Zheng He's fleet were Jin Yiwei, the "Emperor's Bodyguard" with great military exploits, and there were many officers from the Jin Yiwei who were from around Beijing. From Zhu Yuanzhang to Zhu Di, the Ming Dynasty used to use "laymen" from the mainland to lead the navy. In Chen Xiaoshan's view, this was a measure to ensure technical security with political security.
"Curse the Soldier No. 8" records: Because the southern soldiers bought their own wine and meat without giving it to their superiors, the northern governor Qin Zhongliang actually cursed his ship to sink in the "Black Water Ocean", which reflects the hidden dangers of misaligned political management
This measure also brings a series of problems. First of all, the officers who came from the mainland were not good at water, and working at sea for many years was very harmful to their health. Every time a shipwreck occurred, hundreds of people were injured or killed. "Whenever a man is about to sail, his family will say goodbye" is a true portrayal of that time. Chen Xiaoshan believes that being born in the mainland has always been a rejection and fear of navigation. It is conceivable that there will not be high enthusiasm for developing the navigation industry. Secondly, mainland officers commanded the southern navy, which caused many conflicts and resentments. According to records, during the Zhu Yuanzhang period, after Liaodong's farming operations made grain self-sufficient, maritime grain transportation was immediately stopped. Among them were the suggestions and influence of heroes from the mainland on Zhu Yuanzhang. After Emperor Yongle, his successor Ming Renzong believed that sailing to the West was too laborious for people and money, so Zheng He stayed in Nanjing and stayed away from the political center, which became a preview of the end of the Ming Dynasty's maritime peak.
Behind the progress : Open exchanges and civil vitality cannot be ignored
Li Mingfei pointed out that the Chagatai Khanate and Ogedai Khanate in Central Asia blocked the diplomatic exchanges between the land-based Yuan Dynasty and the Ilkhanate, leading the Yuan Dynasty to choose water routes. Long-distance voyages
There are many reasons why Ming Dynasty navigation fell from its peak. In addition to political intervention, the interlocutor Li Mingfei, an associate researcher at the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, added folk and other elements from the Song and Yuan dynasties before the Ming Dynasty.
It is generally believed that the development of the maritime industry began in the Southern Song Dynasty when the Maritime Silk Road flourished. However, in fact, through historical research and archaeological salvage of shipwrecks in the Southern Song Dynasty, it has been found that navigation in the Song Dynasty was mainly short-distance voyages for trade purposes, and truly long-distance voyages The route began in the Yuan Dynasty. The main reason is that for political and diplomatic purposes, the Yuan Dynasty needed to communicate with the Ilkhanate of Mongolia, while the Chagatai Khanate and Ogedai Khanate in Central Asia were at a disadvantage with the Yuan Dynasty and the Ilkhanate. Hostile and impassable by land, long-distance sea routes became the option.
In diplomatic activities, due to the long-term dispatch of envoys or merchants to sea, they relied on technical officials who came from sailing families on the southeast coast. However, there are not many relevant documents left. Li Mingfei believes that the reason is that these technologies are circulated within the family, and many details can only be understood by experts. This also explains why the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to absorbing and transforming navigation technology into standards. Non-technical officials who understand navigation-related knowledge need to organize the technology into standardized knowledge to reduce learning and management costs. In the process, they also integrate it incidentally. He learned a lot of foreign navigation technology. From the perspective of today’s efficiency management, Li Mingfei also pointed out that “not letting professional people do professional things” is a governance flaw.
In Sri Lanka today, there are still inscriptions in three languages commemorating the achievements of Zheng He’s fleet.
In addition, in terms of technology and tools, after Chen Xiaoshan introduced the technique of star-finding across the ocean, she thought why the same set of astronomical navigation theories using the North Star was the same. China has not created a more glorious maritime history than Europe. The reason may be that Europe's mathematical astronomy theories since ancient Greece, such as the use of trigonometric functions, have supported more precise measurements.
The lack of basic original theory led to ancient Chinese navigation being only satisfied with the superficial application of technology and failing to upgrade technology. Luo Wei, an assistant researcher at the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believed during the discussion that during the Song Dynasty, In the Yuan Dynasty, there were active non-governmental exchanges between China and foreign countries in navigation. Chen Xiaoshan's research opened up the disciplinary extension of the history of natural science. From the Tang, Song, Yuan and then to the Ming Dynasty, it is natural to question whether navigation technology has progressed. He agreed with Chen Xiaoshan’s inference because the Ming Dynasty incorporated the private maritime industry into the state through maritime bans, which led to the destruction of the most active folk vitality in maritime exchanges, which directly led to the decline of the maritime industry in the Ming Dynasty.
As a result, openness brings exchanges, and exchanges bring integration and progress. This has been clearly exemplified in the history of ancient Chinese navigation.
The lecture was hosted by Xie Yang (top row, second from right). Li Mingfei (top row, first from right), Luo Wei and He Guowei (second row, first from left) participated in the discussion (picture from the WeChat public account of the Institute of Ancient History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Zheng Chen Xiaoshan, who has a comprehensive training in liberal arts, science, and engineering, is based on science and her research involves many aspects such as political history, social history, and the history of Sino-foreign relations. She has received the full support of He Guowei, a senior professor who has been engaged in maritime history research for more than 40 years. He was delighted to speak highly of it and put forward his own understanding of professional navigation terms such as "gentle", "floating plate" and "navigation plumb bob".
is just like the positioning of this series of themes "Ming Dynasty China in a World Perspective", which opens up the extension of history in the comparison of China and the West and the intersection of multiple fields, and sees the trickles of countless individual fates surging in the historical waves: being proactive in open communication Learning advanced technology, the prosperity of a country cannot be separated from the vitality of the people. Zheng He's seven voyages to the West 600 years ago taught future generations a rich lesson of "learning from history".
Author: Mao Ying Li Nian
Pictures: Except for posters and signatures, all are of the speaker PPT
Editor: Li Nian
