Armstrong, Benjamin

Dreyer, Edward L.

English

U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons

Naval War College ReviewVolume 60Number 4 Autumn Article 142007Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the EarlyMing Dynasty, 1405–1433Benjamin ArmstrongEdward L. DreyerFollow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-reviewThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contactrepository.inquiries@usnwc.edu.Recommended CitationArmstrong, Benjamin and Dreyer, Edward L. (2007) "Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433,"Naval War College Review: Vol. 60 : No. 4 , Article 14.Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol60/iss4/14no first use of nuclear weapons (NFU).Indeed, the authors demonstrate that,alarmed at the prospect of a conven-tional attack on its strategic infrastruc-ture, China’s military planners haverecently revisited NFU. This, and lin-gering problems with military aviation(despite the catalyst of the 1991 GulfWar, subsequent Russian imports, andincremental domestic progress), havecaused Beijing to seek additional deter-rence through a growing arsenal of con-ventional missiles.Finally, the authors assess the degree towhich China’s military has met the stra-tegic imperatives of its ancient strate-gists and modern leaders. They reachthe sobering conclusion that despiteChina’s continuing difficulty in ap-proaching Western technological andeven organizational levels, Taiwan’s im-portance to Chinese identity, strategicvalue, and position as a bellwether ofnational territorial integrity justify ex-traordinary expenditure of blood andtreasure. Moreover, China’s militaryplanners appear to believe that by in-vesting selectively in asymmetric weap-ons, they can reconcile these conflictingrealities without fueling an arms raceand hence mutual insecurity. It is to behoped that a new generation in Beijing,Taipei, and Washington, drawing onLewis’s and Xue’s research, will find thecollective wisdom to avert conflict thatwould devastate all parties involved.ANDREW S. ERICKSONNaval War CollegeDreyer, Edward L. Zheng He: China and theOceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433. OldTappan, N.J.: Pearson Longman, 2006. 238pp.$20.67The military history of China has be-come a common element in the profes-sional reading of many Americanmilitary officers. Journals like this onehave included an important focus on theChinese past and present, and EdwardDreyer’s book contributes importantnew history and analysis to that under-standing. Studying the Chinese foreignexpeditionary armada of the early fif-teenth century, Dreyer outlines a Chi-nese strategy and set of naval tacticsthat are familiar to today’s naval officer.Starting in 1405 the eunuch AdmiralZheng He led a series of seven voyagesfrom the shores of the Ming empireinto the South China Sea and IndianOcean. These voyages were made byfleets larger than any the world had everseen; armadas of over two hundred ves-sels, the largest wooden vessels everconstructed, carrying roughly thirtythousand sailors and marine infantry.Scholars and Chinese government his-torians have characterized these expedi-tions, which reached as far west as thecoast of Africa, as peaceful voyages ofdiscovery. Dreyer, however, disagrees.He writes instead, “After thoroughly re-viewing the primary Chinese sources, Iconcluded that the purpose of the voy-ages was actually ‘power projection’ . . .rather than mere exploration. ZhengHe’s voyages were undertaken to forcethe states of Southeast Asia and the In-dian Ocean to acknowledge the powerand majesty of Ming China and itsemperor.”The book is structured in a straightfor-ward manner, chronologically movingfrom Zheng He’s personal biographyand the background history of the voy-ages to the voyages themselves. Whilenot a professional naval architect,Dreyer has obviously done his research.1 4 0 N A V A L W A R C O L L E G E R E V I E WC:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Autumn 2007.vpThursday, September 13, 2007 3:41:49 PMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen1Armstrong and Dreyer: Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–14Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2007He provides documentary and archaeo-logical evidence, as well as explanationof basic principles of naval architecture,to support his conclusion that the larg-est of the ships, the baochuan, or “trea-sure ships,” were at least three timeslarger than Nelson’s flagship HMSVictory.While the book is not annotated, thelevel of academic rigor is evidenced byan impressive group of appendixes. Thereader should expect nothing less fromDreyer, a leading sinologist who is wellversed in not only the history but alsothe language of the original Chinesesource materials. Much of his historycomes directly from contemporary pri-mary sources, and the appendixes in-clude translations of the originalhistorical material. This inspired inclu-sion allows readers to draw their ownconclusions. There are also time lines, avaluable index, and a bibliographic es-say discussing previous interpretationsof Zheng He’s voyages from academic,journalistic, and Chinese governmentsources.Conventional wisdom in the military-history community holds that China’ssmall naval heritage is of little value.Naval battles on the grand lakes andrivers of the Middle Kingdom are notafforded the consideration or impor-tance given to Admiral Matthew C.Perry’s victory on Lake Erie or Rear Ad-miral David Porter’s gunboat cam-paigns on the Mississippi. Dreyer’sprofile of Zheng He and the history ofthe voyages of the Foreign Expedition-ary Armada provide a new view of Chi-nese naval heritage, one that includesinteresting parallels to American navalstrategy important to today’s naval pro-fessionals. The Chinese government hasheld up the voyages of Zheng He asexemplars of their own future navalstrategy. Dreyer’s book offers a compel-ling revision of past views on the Mingfleets that can help guide future discus-sion on China’s modern navalambitions.BENJAMIN ARMSTRONGPace, FloridaBauer, Gretchen, and Scott D. Taylor, eds. Politicsin Southern Africa: State and Society in Transition.Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 2005. 404pp.$26.50In the first few pages of this book it be-comes clear that Gretchen Bauer andScott Taylor are not Afripessimists. In-deed, one rather suspects that they havelittle tolerance for observers who lookat the African continent and see noth-ing but misery, defeat, and despair.Such a depiction, according to the edi-tors, relies on far too broad an analyti-cal brush. Bauer and Taylor warn, quitereasonably, against treating Africa assome sort of political and culturalmonolith and argue instead for a moreregionally focused research approach.The editors defend with convincinglogic their choice to examine the regionof southern Africa. Southern Africacontains some of the strongest econo-mies on the continent and is moreclosely intra-linked than other Africanregions. If, as Bauer and Taylor con-tend, regional success stories are beingsubmerged by Africa-wide studies, thiswork should give those stories the ex-posure and credit they deserve. Politicsin Southern Africa is certainly organizedto identify regional and local state suc-cess. Having made a convincing argu-ment for a regional approach, theyB O O K R E V I E W S 1 4 1C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Autumn 2007.vpThursday, September 13, 2007 3:41:50 PMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen2Naval War College Review, Vol. 60 [2007], No. 4, Art. 14https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol60/iss4/14

Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433

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Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433

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