This inscription was carved on a stele erected at a temple to the goddess the Celestial Spouse at Changle in Fujian province in 1431.
Record of the miraculous answer (to prayer) of the goddess the Celestial Spouse.
The Imperial Ming Dynasty unifying seas and continents, surpassing the
three dynasties even goes beyond the Han and Tang dynasties. The countries
beyond the horizon and from the ends of the earth have all become subjects
and to the most western of the western or the most northern of the northern
countries, however far they may be,
the distance and
the routes may be calculated. Thus the barbarians from beyond the seas,
though their countries are truly distant, "with double
translation" have come to audience bearing precious
objects and presents.
The Emperor, approving of their loyalty and sincerity, has ordered us
(Zheng) He and others at the head of several tens of thousands of officers
and flag-troops to ascend more than one hundred large
ships to go and confer presents on them in order to make manifest the
transforming power of the (imperial) virtue and to treat distant people
with kindness. From the third year of Yongle (1405)
till now we have seven times received the commission of ambassadors to
countries of the western ocean. The barbarian countries
which we have visited are: by way of Zhancheng (Champa), Zhaowa (Java),
Sanfoqi (Palembang) and Xianlo (Siam) crossing straight over to Xilanshan
(Ceylon) in South India, Guli (Calicut), and Kezhi (Cochin), we have gone
to the western regions Hulumosi (Hormuz), Adan (Aden), Mugudushu (Mogadishu),
altogether more than thirty countries large and small. We have traversed
more than one hundred thousand
li of immense water
spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising sky-high,
and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency
of light vapours, while our sails loftily unfurled like clouds day and
night continued their course (rapid like that) of a star, traversing those
savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare. Truly this was
due to the majesty and the good fortune of the Court and moreover we owe
it to the protecting virtue of the divine Celestial Spouse.
The power of the goddess having indeed been manifested in previous times
has been abundantly revealed in the present generation. In the midst of
the rushing waters it happened that, when there was a hurricane, suddenly
there was a divine lantern shining in the mast, and as soon as this miraculous
light appeared the danger was appeased, so that even in the danger of capsizing
one felt reassured that there was no cause for fear. When we arrived in
the distant countries we captured alive those of the native kings who were
not respectful and exterminated those barbarian robbers who were engaged
in piracy, so that consequently the sea route was cleansed and pacified
and the natives put their trust in it. All this is due to the favours of
the goddess.
It is not easy to enumerate completely all the cases where the goddess
has answered (prayers). Previously in a memorial to the Court we have requested
that her virtue be registered in the Court of Sacrificial Worship and a
temple be built at Nanking on the bank of the dragon river where regular
sacrifices should be transmitted for ever. We have respectfully received
an Imperial commemorative composition exalting the miraculous favours,
which is the highest recompense and praise indeed. However, the miraculous
power of the goddess resides wherever one goes. As for the temporary palace
on the southern mountain at Changle, I have,
at the head of the fleet, frequently resided there awaiting the (favorable)
wind to set sail for the ocean.
We, Zheng He and others, on the one hand have received the high favour of a gracious commission of our Sacred Lord, and on the other hand carry to the distant barbarians the benefits of respect and good faith (on their part). Commanding the multitudes on the fleet and (being responsible for) a quantity of money and valuables in the face of the violence of the winds and the nights our one fear is not to be able to succeed; how should we then dare not to serve our dynasty with exertion of all our loyalty and the gods with the utmost sincerity? How would it be possible not to realize what is the source of the tranquillity of the fleet and the troops and the salvation on the voyage both going and returning? Therefore we have made manifest the virtue of the goddess on stone and have moreover recorded the years and months of the voyages to the barbarian countries and the return in order to leave (the memory) for ever.
I. In the third year of Yongle (1405) commanding the fleet we went to Guli (Calicut) and other countries. At that time the pirate Chen Zuyi had gathered his followers in the country of Sanfoqi (Palembang), where he plundered the native merchants. When he also advanced to resist our fleet, supernatural soldiers secretly came to the rescue so that after one beating of the drum he was annihilated. In the fifth year (1407) we returned.
II. In the fifth year of Yongle (1407) commanding the fleet we went to Zhaowa (Java), Guli (Calicut), Kezhi (Cochin) and Xianle (Siam). The kings of these countries all sent as tribute precious objects, precious birds and rare animals. In the seventh year (1409) we returned.
III. In the seventh year of Yongle (1409) commanding the fleet we went to the countries (visited) before and took our route by the country of Xilanshan (Ceylon). Its king Yaliekunaier (Alagakkonara) was guilty of a gross lack of respect and plotted against the fleet. Owing to the manifest answer to prayer of the goddess (the plot) was discovered and thereupon that king was captured alive. In the ninth year (1411) on our return the king was presented (to the throne) (as a prisoner); subsequently he received the Imperial favour of returning to his own country.
IV. In the eleventh year of Yongle (1413) commanding the fleet we went to Hulumosi (Ormuz) and other countries. In the country of Sumendala (Samudra) there was a false king Suganla (Sekandar) who was marauding and invading his country. Its king Cainu-liabiding (Zaynu-'l-Abidin) had sent an envoy to the Palace Gates in order to lodge a complaint. We went thither with the official troups under our command and exterminated some and arrested (other rebels), and owing to the silent aid of the goddess we captured the false king alive. In the thirteenth year (1415) on our return he was presented (to the Emperor as a prisoner). In that year the king of the country of Manlajia (Malacca) came in person with his wife and son to present tribute.
V. In the fifteenth year of Yongle (1417) commanding the fleet we visited the western regions. The country of Hulumosi (Ormuz) presented lions, leopards with gold spots and large western horses. The country of Adan (Aden) presented qilin of which the native name is culafa (giraffe), as well as the long-horned animal maha (oryx). The country of Mugudushu (Mogadishu) presented huafu lu ("striped" zebras) as well as lions. The country of Bulawa (Brava) presented camels which run one thousand li as well as camel-birds (ostriches). The countries of Zhaowa (Java) and Guli (Calicut) presented the animal miligao. They all vied in presenting the marvellous objects preserved in the mountains or hidden in the seas and the beautiful treasures buried in the sand or deposited on the shores. Some sent a maternal uncle of the king, others a paternal uncle or a younger brother of the king in order to present a letter of homage written on gold leaf as well as tribute.
VI. In the nineteenth year of Yongle (1421) commanding the fleet we conducted the ambassadors from Hulumosi (Ormuz) and the other countries who had been in attendance at the capital for a long time back to their countries. The kings of all these countries prepared even more tribute than previously.
VII. In the sixth year of Xuande (1431) once more commanding the fleet
we have left for the barbarian countries in order to read to them (an Imperial
edict) and to confer presents.
We have anchored in this port awaiting a north wind to take the sea, and recalling how previously we have on several occasions received the benefits of the protection of the divine intelligence we have thus recorded an inscription in stone.
Sources: Teobaldo Filesi. David Morison
trans. China and Africa in the Middle Ages. (London: Frank Cass,
1972). 57-61.
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Comments to: Robert Jeremy Fish
Last updated:12/23/98