China: Isolationist, or Iconoclast?
When discussing concepts of Chinese history, the theme of isolation will inevitably arise. Common perception sees Dynastic China as an enduring cultural giant, as a nation of rich tradition, and, perhaps, as an authoritarian empire. The Western view of China, though, has largely been that the empire perpetually maintained a closed-door, isolationist policy. Although this is indeed partly true, further inquiry reveals the actuality of China's periodic ages of openness, times often overlooked during discussion of the larger picture of Chinese history.
To bring to light this less known period of Chinese history, the extroverted and outreaching age during which China was a dominant world power with far-reaching influence, both militarily and economically, Louise Levathes 1994 novel When China Ruled the Sea explores the circumstances surrounding the treasure fleet of the Dragon throne, including the origins of the fleet, from the beginnings of Chinese seafaring to the construction of the massive fleet. Additionally, Levathes discusses the reasons why the treasure fleet was such a momentous shift in Chinese foreign policy, in comparison to the traditionally domestic foci of Chinese government policy. Finally, Levathes gives a description of the voyages of the treasure fleets, to conclude the first half of her novel.
Levathes prefaces When China Ruled the Sea with an image of the deep impression the treasure fleet probably had on bystanders, upon first sight of such an unknown and powerful armada. Within the first pages of her book, Levathes asserts her credentials and abilities as not just a historian, but also as a storyteller. Her method of relating information is logical, as she progresses, in sequence, writing of China through the beginning of social organization and culture, on to the first waves of exploration by people of Chinese descent, and into early vestiges of Chinese naval power. Her discussion through the first chapter leads to the eventual position that China, even relatively early on in its history, "cannot be dismissed as a land-based power with no interest in the sea." Already, Levathes is beginning to dispel the conventional thought about China and its assumedly exclusive isolationist policy.
In presenting her case for China's early explorative case, Levathes suggests possible evidence regarding influence in areas outside nearby southeastern Asia that would have, necessarily, required maritime travel in order to affect any influence. Levathes notes the difficulty southeast Asians overcame in settling Madagascar and, possibly, in traveling all the way across the Pacific Ocean and arriving in Central and South America. Levathes uses a connection between two distant tribes to help support the theory of trans-Pacific travel, noting the intricate process involved in manufacturing a particular type of bark-cloth to be strikingly similar in tribes an ocean apart. Levathes points to a common ancestry, passed down traditions, and a trans-oceanic migration to explain the similarities. Levathes presents various other instances that suggest possible Chinese or Asian influence in distant places, all of which serve to enhance the validity of the Chinese (and their Asian ancestors) as viable seafarers. Thus, even very early on in China's history, the seeds of exploration and expansion seemed to exist. The precedent to later exploration and travel had been set, before the Zhou ousted the Shang Dynasty.
From such an energetic, explorative beginning, China indeed did develop into the isolationist, closed state so well known to common knowledge. The advent of Confucius and his philosophies helped to make China ever more introspective, as a whole, as the "Middle Kingdom" concept became ingrained into the common consciousness, as well as the prevailing conception of everything non-Chinese as being "barbaric." One of the ways in which Confucianism played a key role in furthering Chinese isolationism involved Confucius' debasing categorization of the merchant classes as being, by and large, profit seeking, immoral, "exploitative," and "corrupt." With commerce thus developing a stigma, the desire for international trade took a concordant drop. Hence, China remained isolated, keeping its potentially mammoth trade economy under wraps, for a time. As the Han Dynasty passed, followed by centuries of strife and fragmentation, China eventually reorganized under the rule of the Tang Dynasty in 618 A.D. As Levathes notes, the territories controlled by China included many other ethnicities, which reestablished curiosity for foreign goods. As a result, China began to trade more extensively, in order to secure the goods for which the wealthy were clamoring. Over time, the Confucian deprecation of commerce had subsided enough, or had been ignored enough, to allow trade to become quite prominent.
Among the effects of trading, China gained an increased knowledge of foreign lands and peoples. A reading of Zhau Rugua's A Description of Foreign Peoples gives insight into a Southern Song era understanding of the larger world. In his records, Rugua describes the Arab people, culture, and geography. As valuable as any goods his voyages could have carried, Rugua's description of lands outside the Chinese orbit helped to move China ever more toward integration with the outside world, by sheer existence of knowledge. The Chinese were actively trading with the Arab lands and, in so doing, cultural diffusion would have been occurring more significantly than in previous times of lesser foreign contact. Even if Rugua's account is not entirely accurate in its exaggeration of some facts , the document nevertheless helps tremendously in gaining insight as to the value of the Chinese trading missions, as China did indeed gain a good deal of exposure to foreign ideas, inching further from isolation with each subsequent encounter.
Levathes focuses upon the rise of Emperor Zhu Di to the throne in 1402, as he is the emperor who will launch the great treasure fleet in the following years. The reason for the fleet, posits Levathes, is that following a long civil war to proclaim the throne, the government coffers likely needed bolstering. More than 100 years after the closing of the Song Dynasty, and the expeditions about which Zhau Rugua wrote, Zhu Di sought to make China even more powerful on the seas. The fleet Zhu Di ordered was staggering. Levathes' description numbs the mind with the size of the treasure fleet, as Zhu Di had at his disposal a tool of instant and forcible foreign policy; with such a force amassed, no navy could stand against him. The purpose of his grand navy was to protect the valuable cargo he intended to trade, as well as to entice awed nations to pay tribute to the Son of Heaven. . If assumptions of Chinese policy as being solely domestic prevailed before his reign, after Zhu Di's reign those assumptions could no longer stand any scrutiny whatsoever, given his successful assembly of China's manifest power.
Levathes provides a detailed description of the treasure fleet's voyage, veritably setting to sea with the thousands of sailors and hundreds of vessels, as they began their journey to proclaim the greatness of China and assert its dominance in commerce. Fittingly, Zhu Di's destination for this great fleet was Calicut, the most important port in south Asia. Certainly, other nations had traded extensively with Calicut, in order for the city to gain its prominence, so Zhu Di had competition for the city's trade. However, the contest for Calicut's trade effectively ended when Zheng He, the emperor's trusted eunuch servant, arrived. Indeed, so great was the Chinese influence in Calicut that during a second voyage to the city, Chinese envoys helped to install a new king. Another instance of Zhu Di exerting great influence as a result of his powerful navy exists in his treatment of the pirate infestation throughout the East Indies, which had caused considerable trouble to shipping, as well as being very disruptive to area government. On the way back from trading in Calicut, Zheng He set the emperor's awesome fleet against the pirate warships. Within a few months, Zheng He had ended the pirate operations. Superior naval forces and weaponry allowed the victory. Returning to the port of origin, Nanjing, the voyage of the great treasure fleet had been completed. In the process, China had asserted its dominance over any would be rivals. With such a commanding position, China clearly had turned from a policy of isolation toward interaction with the outside world.
Louise Levathes' well written and very readable account of the lesser known, expansionist China provides a new perspective to complement an already detailed study of the isolationist China which is more generally remembered in historical reflection. While the events of its history will indeed often prove China to have a tendency to exclude outside influence, periods of openness have also been an integral part of its history, and also warrant examination. As a great symbol of Chinese openness, the treasure fleet serves an iconoclast to the flawed idea of perpetual isolationism.