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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Experts: ancient China tried to seek strategic partnership through navigation

Experts from both China's mainland and Taiwan have put forth a novel view that the most likely motive for the marine expeditions of ancient Chinese navigator Zheng He was to look for strategic allies.


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Experts from both China's mainland and Taiwan have put forth a novel view that the most likely motive for the marine expeditions of ancient Chinese navigator Zheng He was to look for strategic allies.

At a recent seminar which was part of a series of activities to mark the 600th anniversary of Zheng's starting voyages, the experts held that the originally acknowledged motives for Zheng's voyages -- looking for a former emperor and showing off the Ming Dynasty's grandness -- were not convincing enough.

Zheng He, a eunuch-turned navigator in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), led seven great naval voyages between 1405 and 1433 into southeast Asia, India, Persia, Arabia and Africa. His voyages showed the dynasty's impressive naval power at that time, and he initiated or reaffirmed contacts with some 30 countries.

According to Xin Yuan'ou, professor of Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Xie Taixi, secretary-general of Taiwan's "China Strategy Institute", the security of the Ming Dynasty was threatened by central Asia's Timur Empire at the time when Zheng was ordered to navigate.

In consideration of this, Zhu Di, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, sent Zheng He to unite countries alongside the Indian Ocean so as to jointly resist Timur's expansion, according to the experts.

Xie said that although the sudden death of Timur disabled its empire's invasion, Zheng continued his diplomatic mission. Thanks to his persistent efforts, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and its southeast Asian neighbors turned out to be pleasant.


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