Hong Bao (seafarer)

This article is about the Chinese diplomat and explorer, for other meanings with different Chinese characters, see Hong Bao (紅包, hóngbāo).

The 7th journey of Zheng He. One possible route of Hong Bao's ships is shown as a broken line, after Edward L. Dreyer .

Hong Bao ( Chinese  洪 保 , Pinyin hóng bǎo ; fl . ~ 1412-1433) was a Chinese eunuch who was on diplomatic missions in the course of the treasure ship expeditions during the rule of the Yongle Emperor and the Xuande Emperor in the Ming Dynasty was posted. He was in command of a squadron of Zheng He's fleet on the seventh voyage of the fleet in the Indian Ocean from 1431 to 1433.

Career

The Míng Shǐ (明 史, "History of the Ming") reports that Hong Bao was sent to Thailand by the Yongle Emperor in 1412 (sometime between the third and fourth voyages of Zheng He) .

In 1421 Hong Bao took part in the sixth journey of Zheng He, during which foreign envoys were brought back to their home countries, to the Tiel as far as Ormus .

The seventh journey of Zheng He

Hong Bao's name appears in 1431 on the inscription on the Liujiagang stele of Zheng He in Liujiagang , which was made before the fleet left China on the seventh (last) voyage to the "Western Ocean" (Indian Ocean). According to the inscription, the two heads of the mission (正 使, Principal Envoys) were the eunuchs Zheng He and Wang Jinghong . Hong Bao was one of five "Fushi" (副使, Assistant Envoys) along with Zhu Liang , Zhou Man , Yang Zhen and Zhang Da . Hong Bao, like all the other envoys except Zhang Da, had the eunuch rank of " Taijian " (太監, Grand Director).

Most of what we know about Hong Bao comes from a book by translator Ma Huan , who served in the squadron. According to Edward L. Dreyer's analysis of the sources received, Hong Bao commanded a squadron that probably split from the main fleet in Semudera in northern Sumatra (possibly earlier in Qui Nhon in Champa ). The squadron then went to Bengal and later to Calicut in South India , where the main fleet had sailed directly across the Bay of Bengal .

While the main fleet was leaving Calicut for Ormus in the Persian Gulf , Hong Bao's squadron sailed from Calicut to various destinations on the west coast of the Arabian Sea in southern Arabia and the Horn of Africa , including Aden and Mogadishu . Before leaving Calicut, Hong Bao sent seven of his seamen, including Ma Huan , to Mecca and Medina on board a local ship bound for Jeddah .

dig

In June 2010, the head of the announced Archeology Department at Nanjing Museum , Wang Zhigao that a grave of the Ming Dynasty, which recently at Mount Zutangschan (祖堂山) in Jiangning District of Nanjing has been had been discovered, identified as grave of Hong Bao (and not, as originally assumed by Zheng He).

In popular culture

The amateur historian Gavin Menzies claims in his book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World that Hong Bao also made trips to Antarctica and Australia.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dreyer 2006: 156-157.
2. ↑ Tsai 2002: 198.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} 南京 发现 郑 和 下 西洋 副手 之 墓. (Nanjing faxian Zhenghe Xiaxiyang fushou zi Mu; The grave of Zheng He's deputy on his Voyage to the Western Ocean found in Nanjing) News.sina.com.cn 2010-06-26.
4. ↑ Dreyer 2006: 146, 191.
5. ↑ 娄 东 刘家 港 天妃宫 石刻 通 番 事迹 碑 (Loudong Liujiagang Tianfei gongshiketongfan shijibei; text of the Liujiagang inscription).
6. ↑ Dreyer 2006: 156-157.
7. ↑ Dreyer 2006: 156-157.
8. ↑ Dreyer 2006: 158-159.
9. ↑ 南京 祖 堂 山 神秘 大 墓主 人 系 郑 和 副手 洪 保. (Nanjing Zutangshan Shenmi damuzhuren xi Zhenghe fushou Hong Bao, The "owner" of the mysterious grave on Nanjing's Zutang Mountain is Zheng He's deputy Hong Bao) news.xinmin.cn 2010-06-26.
10. ↑ Zheng He's Tomb Found in Nanjing. english.cri.cn CRIENGLISH.com 2010-06-25. (published before the correction!)

• Edward L. Dreyer: Zheng He: China and the oceans in the early Ming dynasty, 1405-1433. Pearson Longman 2006. ISBN 0-321-08443-8 (The library of world biography)
• Shih-Shan (Henry) Tsai: Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle. University of Washington Press 2002. ISBN 0-295-98124-5 [1]

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Hong is the family name here, Bao is the first name.