Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T01:43:52.076Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Zheng He's voyages to Hormuz: the archaeological evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2015

Lin Meicun  and
Ran Zhang
Lin Meicun
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100871, China
Ran Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The imperially sponsored maritime expeditions led by Zheng He in the early fifteenth century AD projected Ming Chinese power as far as Java, Sri Lanka and the East African coast. The Indian Ocean voyages are well documented in Chinese and Islamic historical accounts and by the nautical charts of Zheng He's journeys. Less clear has been the exact location of ancient Hormuz, the destination of Zheng He's voyages in the Persian Gulf. Recent re-analysis of ceramics from coastal southern Iran provides a solution. Archaeological evidence for Ming ceramics on present-day Hormuz Island and jewellery and gemstones of Iranian origin in southern China suggest that ancient Hormuz and Hormuz Island are one and the same.

Keywords

Persian GulfIranHormuzMing ChinaZheng HeIndian Ocean tradeceramics
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 89 , Issue 344 , April 2015 , pp. 417 - 432
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd., 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anonymous. 1962. Ming Shilu [Veritable records of the Ming]. Taipei.Google Scholar
Aubin, J. 1953. Les Princes d’Ormuz du XIIIe au XVe siècle. Paris: Imprimerie nationale.Google Scholar
Beijingshi Wenwu Yanjiusuo. 2007. Maojiawan Mingdai Ciqikeng Kaogu Fajue Baogao. Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Brown, R.M. 2009. The Ming gap and shipwreck ceramics in Southeast Asia: towards a chronology of Thai trade ware. Bangkok: Siam Society.Google Scholar
Chao, Z. 2012. Mingdai Haiwai Maoyi Yanjiu. Beijing: Gugong Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Chen, J., Xie, F. & Lu, J.. 1986. Gudai Nanhai Diming Huishi. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.Google Scholar
Chen, X. & Zhang, Y.. 2004. Hu Lu Mo Si-Zhenghe Yuanhang De Zuiyuan De Jidi. Zheng He Yanjiu Yu Huodong Jianxun [Newsletter on Cheng-Ho] 3: 27–31.Google Scholar
Clunas, C. & Harrison-Hall, J.. 2014. Ming, 50 years that changed China. London: The British Museum.Google Scholar
Dreyer, E.L. 2005. Zheng He: China and the oceans in the early Ming Dynasty 1405–1433. New York: Pearson Longman.Google Scholar
Gu, Y. 2012 [1639–1662]. Tianxia Junguo Libing-Shu [Qing Dynasty] , in Xu Xiu Siku Quanshu-Lishi Dili Bu [Complete library in four sections: the section of history and geography]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Hojabri-Nobari, A., Khosrowzadeh, A., Mousavi, S.M. & Kouhpar, H.V.. 2011. Trade and cultural contacts between northern and southern Persian Gulf during Parthians and Sasanians: a study based on pottery from Qeshm Island. International Journal of Humanities 18 (2): 89–115.Google Scholar
Huang, R. 1981. 1587, a year of no significance: the Ming Dynasty in decline. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Huo, J. & Lin, L.. 2004. Fujian Dongshandao Songyuan Yaozhi Diaocha Baogao. Nanfang Wenwu 2004 (1): 11–15.Google Scholar
Kauz, R. & Ptak, R.. 2001. Hormuz in Yuan and Ming sources. Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient 88: 27–75.Google Scholar
Kennet, D. 2002. The development of northern Ra's al-Khaimah and the 14th-century Hormuzi economic boom in the lower Gulf. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 32: 151–64.Google Scholar
Kennet, D. 2003. Julfar and the urbanization of southeast Arabia. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 14: 103–25.Google Scholar
Kennet, D. 2004. Sasanian and Islamic pottery from Ras al-Khaimah: classification, chronology and analysis of trade in the western Indian Ocean, with a contribution by Regina Krahl. Oxford: Archaeopress.Google Scholar
Kennet, D., Zhang, R. & Priestman, S.. 2011. Jindong Diqu Kaogu Yizhi Faxian De Longquan Yao Ciqi, in Institute of Chinese Ceramics (ed.) Longquan Yao Yanji: 447–57. Beijing: Gugong Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Kerr, R. 2002. Chinese porcelain in the Gulf Region. Journal of Oman Studies 12: 125–31.Google Scholar
Khosrowzadeh, A. 2006. Report on first season of archaeological survey at Qeshm Island, in Persian with an English summary: Gozaresh-e Fasl-e Avval-e Barrasi-ye Bastanshenakhti-ye Jazire-ye Qeshm. Unpublished report.Google Scholar
Krahl, R. 1986. Export porcelain fit for the Chinese emperor: early Chinese blue-and-white in the Topkapĭ Saray Museum, Istanbul. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1: 68–92.Google Scholar
Li, D. 1995. Daming Huidian [The collected statutes of the Ming Dynasty]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Liang, Z. 2003. Hubei Zhongxiang Mingdai Liangzhuangwang Mu Fajue Baogao. Wenwu 2003 (5): 4–23.Google Scholar
Lin, M. 2010. Dahanghai Shidai Dongxifang Wenming De Jiaoliu Yu Chongtu-15–16 Shiji Jingdezhen Qinghuaci Waixiao Diaocha Zhi Yi. Wenwu 2010 (3): 84–96.Google Scholar
Lin, M. 2013. Arts of jewellery and the Sino-foreign cultural exchanges. Kaogu Yu Wenwu 2013 (1): 87–99.Google Scholar
Liu, Y., Qin, D. & Kiriama, H.. 2012. The Chinese porcelains unearthed at Gedi ruins in Coast Province, Kenya . Wenwu 2012 (11): 37–60.Google Scholar
Morgan, P. 1991. New thoughts on Old Hormuz: Chinese ceramics in the Hormuz region in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Iran 29: 67–83.Google Scholar
Nanjingshi Bowuguan. 1999. Jiangsu Nanjing Shi Tangjia’ao Mingdai Zhangyun Mu. Kaogu 1999 (10): 27–30.Google Scholar
Nanjingshi Bowuguan. 2001. Nanjing Shi Liang Zuo Ming Mu De Qingli Jianbao. Huaxia Kaogu 2: 6–13.Google Scholar
NWBW Nanjingshi Wenwu Baoguan Weiyuanhui. 1962. Nanjing Zhonghuamen Wai Mingmu Qingli Baogao. Kaogu 1962 (9): 470–78.Google Scholar
Park, H. 2012. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic worlds: cross-cultural exchange in pre-modern Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Piacentini, V.F. 1992. Merchants: merchandise and military power in the Persian Gulf (Soriyãnj/Shahriyãj - Sïrâf). Rome: Finito di Stampare nel Mese di Giugno.Google Scholar
Pirazzoli T’ Sertevens, M. 2003. La céramique extrême-orientale a Julfar dans l’Emirat de Ra’S Al-Khaimah (XIVe–XVIIe siècle), indicateur chronologique, economicque et culturel. Beijing: Centre de Pekin.Google Scholar
Priestman, S. 2005. Settlement and ceramics in southern Iran: an analysis of the Sasanian and Islamic periods in the Williamson Collection. Unpublished MA dissertation, Durham University.Google Scholar
Priestman, S. & Kennet, D.. 2002. The Williamson Collection Project: Sasanian and Islamic pottery from southern Iran. Iran 40: 265–67.Google Scholar
Qin, D. 2013. China's first ceramic export trade peak-focus on the volume and characteristics of ancient Chinese ceramics foreign trade in the 9th and 10th century. Gugong Bowuyuan Yuankan 5: 32–49.Google Scholar
Qin, D. & Liu, J.. 2012. Meiqing Shuibi Meiyan Qingci, in Bowuguan, Shoudu (ed.) Wenwen Yuse Zhao Ci’ou: 1–29. Beijing: Shoudu Bowuguan Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Shoudu Bowuguan (ed.). 2012. Wenwen Yuse Zhao Ci’ou. Beijing: Shoudu Bowuguan Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Shen, Y. 2009. Fengdongyan Yizhi Fajue De Zhuyao Shouhuo He Chubu Renshi, in Yanjiusuo, Zhejiangshen Wenwu Kaogu, Xueyuan, Beijing Daxue Kaogu Wenbo & Bowuguan, Longquan Qingci (ed.) Longgquan Dayao Fengdongyan Yizhi Chutu Ciqi: 1–10. Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Thackston, W.M. 2001. Album prefaces and other documents on the history of calligraphers and painters. Cologne: Brill.Google Scholar
Wang, G. 2004. Zhongguo Gudai Guanyao Zhidu. Beijing: Zijincheng Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Weng, H. 1991. Lun Mingdai Qianqi Zhongguo Yu Nanyang Waijiao De Yanbian, in Xuehui, Zhongwai Guanxi Shi (ed.) Zhongwai Guanxi Shi Luncong 3: 77–110. Beijing: Shijie Zhishi Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Wiesner, U. 1979. Chinesische Keramik auf Hormoz: Spuren einer Handelsmetropole im Persischen Golf. Köln: Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst.Google Scholar
Williamson, A. 1973. Hormuz and the trade of the Gulf in the 14th and 15th centuries A.D. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 3: 52–68.Google Scholar
XDFB & JTKY Xianggang Daxue Fengpingshan Bowuguan & Jingdezhenshi Taoci Kaogu Yanjiusuo. 1992. Ceramic finds from Jingdezhen kilns. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University & Feng Pingshan Museum.Google Scholar
Xiang, D. (ed.). 1961. Zheng He Hang Hai Tu [The nautical chart of Zheng He's voyages]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.Google Scholar
Yang, M., Di, J. & Zhou, Y.. 2004. Hubei Zhongxiang Mingdai Zhuangliangwang Mu Chutu Baoshi De Zhuyao Tezheng. Baoshi He Baoshixue Zazhi 3: 22–24.Google Scholar
Yuba, T. 2014. Chinese porcelain from Fustat based on research from 1988–2001. Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society 76: 1–17.Google Scholar
Zhang, B. 2008. Zhongguo Chutu Ciqi Quanji-Jiangxi [Complete collection of ceramic art unearthed in China: Jiangxi volume]. Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Zhang, T. 1974. Mingshi [The history of Ming]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.Google Scholar
Zhou, Y. 2007. Lun ‘Wu Bei Zhi’ He ‘Nan Shu Zhi’ Zhong De ‘Zheng He Hang Hai Tu’. Zhongguo Lishi Dili Luncong 2: 145–52.Google Scholar
Zhu, B. 1998. Longquan Yao Qingci. Taipei: Yishujia Chubanshe.Google Scholar
ZWKY, BDKWX & LQB Zhejiangshen Wenwu Kaogu Yanjiusuo, Beijing Daxue Kaogu Wenbo Xueyuan & Longquan Qingci Bowuguan. 2009. Longquan Dayao Fendongyang Yizhi Chutu Ciqi. Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe.Google Scholar