“Introduction” in “African Community in China”
Introduction
China’s contact with Africa dates back many centuries. Contact was first established in the 1400s, when a Chinese imperial fleet of trading ships, warships, and support vessels commanded by Admiral Zheng He (1371–1435) crossed the Indian Ocean, reached Madagascar, and then sailed along the African coast, anchoring in different ports of East Africa such as Mogadishu, Brava (Somalia), and Malindi (in Kenya) (Swanson, 1982).
China embarked on seven trade and discovery missions in the Southeast and South Asian waters between 1405 and 1433. The aim of these missions was to create legitimacy for the new emperor, Zhu Di, to collect tribute and gifts for the Imperial Court, and to display the might of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) by having states and kingdoms demonstrate their submission to the new Son of Heaven (Geoff, 2004).1
To achieve these goals, impressive maritime forces were needed, so the construction of the fleet began almost as soon as the new emperor assumed power. With fifty to a hundred ships of different sizes and tonnage,2 the imperial fleet under the command of Admiral Zheng He was a technological wonder by the standards of the time, featuring innovations that did not make their way into European naval architecture until the nineteenth century.
On his voyages, Zheng He’s fleet carried all kinds of goods, including gold, porcelain, tea, silk and Chinese craftwork. These were exchanged in foreign ports or given away as gifts from the Chinese emperor. In return, Zheng He brought home ivory, spices, myrrh, glassware, sampan wood, kingfisher feathers, and aromatics. He also brought zebras, camels, and a giraffe for the imperial garden. (The giraffe was a gift from the Sultan of Malindi, a ruler from Kenya’s northern coast.)3
Although the Chinese had discovered and established contact with several African ports on the Eastern coast during their exploration of maritime Asia and the Indian Ocean, it is unclear what impact Zheng He’s fleet had on medieval Africa. No lasting political or commercial ties were made, and the only traces of the early Chinese presence in Africa are oral stories and legends that linger in Kenya’s Lamu archipelago (Tharoor, 2010). Legend has it that a Chinese ship sank somewhere near the islands hundreds of years ago and that Chinese sailors swam ashore, settled down, married local women and gradually merged with the African community. Although archeologists have found several pieces of Chinese ceramics and some Ming period coins, there are no traces of Chinese customs or language among the local population in Kenya.4
Beginning with the creation of independent states in Africa in the 1950s, the continent came to occupy an increasingly important place in China’s foreign policy and geopolitical doctrine. According to many scholars and practitioners, the cornerstone of today’s flourishing China-Africa relationship was laid at the Asia-African Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, April 18–24, 1955 (Taylor, 2006; Muekalia, 2004; van de Looy, 2006). As most of the participants at the conference shared a history of colonization by Western states and a common desire to overcome the legacies of former regimes by forging closer ties with one another, the conference became a symbol of Afro-Asian solidarity and anti-imperialism. It was also a milestone on the road to multi-dimensional Sino-African cooperation, because Communist China used this opportunity to enhance its solidarity with the Third World as a whole and to deepen diplomatic relations with particular African and Asian nations.5
Even though his image as a patriotic national hero has been created and popularized only in the past decade,6 Zheng He has become a powerful symbol for modern China.7 His notoriety has risen in parallel with China’s emergence in global affairs and geopolitics, especially following an increase in the Chinese presence on the African continent. In official Chinese discourse, Zheng He’s maritime expeditions are often cited as an example of the difference between the roles of China and the West in the world.8 Zhen He’s peaceful missions in Africa9 are commonly compared to the coercive and economically aggressive measures Europeans have employed for centuries in their relations with Africa.
1. Zhu Di (1360–1424), known to history as Emperor Yongle, had launched a coup d’état and started a civil war in order to take the power from his nephew. During his reign, Zhu Di realized a number of ambitious projects. He ordered the Grand Canal, which carried grain and other goods from southern China to Beijing in the north, lengthened and widened, and he also ordered the building of the Forbidden City. For a detailed biography of Yongle, see Tsai, 2001.
2. The number and dimensions of ships of Zhen He’s fleet is a matter of dispute. Some of the ships were probably more than 250 feet long and displaced about 3,100 tons, and, according to historical Chinese sources, the largest missions were accompanied by 27,500 persons (Finlay, 1991; Mills, 1970; Mills, 1970).
3. There are many theories on how exactly this giraffe arrived in China. For instance, some scholars believe the giraffe was taken from the ruler of Bengal—who himself had received it as a gift from the Sultan—and that it inspired Zheng He to visit Kenya a few years later (Zyang, 2006; Ringmar, 2006).
4. As a result of the discovery of these coins, China launched a three-year project with the assistance of the Kenyan government to search for the wreckage of one of Zhen He’s ships, which had supposedly foundered off the East African coast.
5. As a result of these first tentative links that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) made in Bandung, bilateral trade between China and the African continent grew steadily, increasing nearly sevenfold between 1955 and 1965 (Cooley, 1965).
6. Time’s correspondent, who visited Zheng He’s memorial in Jiangsu province in 2001, describes the site as a deserted place with a dirt path leading to Zheng He’s tomb, which is covered with graffiti and surrounded by overgrown weeds. The museum was closed and there were no markings for the site along the road, no signposts or souvenir shops selling Zheng He memorabilia. Now, however, the site attracts thousands of tourists from all over China (Ignatius, 2001).
7. In 2005, China celebrated with great pomp the 600th anniversary of the first voyage undertaken by Zheng’s fleets, dedicating the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to this adventurer.
8. As Xu Zu-yuan, PRC Vice-Minister of Communications stated in July, 2004, Zhen He’s missions “were friendly, diplomatic activities. During the overall course of the seven trips to the Western Ocean, Zheng He did not occupy a single piece of land, establish any fortress or seize any wealth from other countries. In the commercial and trade activities, he adopted the practice of giving more than he received, and thus he was welcomed and lauded by the people of the various countries along his routes” (Geoffrey, 2004).
9. In fact, these missions were not as peaceful as Chinese officials and certain Chinese and non-Chinese scholars pretend. For instance, Zheng He’s fleet included quite a number of important military men, approximately 20 thousand on each occasion. On several occasions related in Chinese historic documents, Zheng He intervened in local conflicts, and in 1411 he invaded the royal city of Sri-Lanka, captured the king, destroyed his military, and carried the king and his family members back to the imperial court (Geoffrey, 2004, 16).
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