KERAMIK KERAJAAN TIONGKOK YANG DITEMUKAN DI INDONESIA(BAGIAN KE 7)

INI CUPLIKAN INFO DARI MUSEUM LELUHUR INDONESIA WANLI , KHUSUS UNTUK KOLEKTOR BONAFIDE BUKAN UNTUK PEDAGANG.

BILA ANDA MAU LIHAT SILAHKAN MENGHUBUNGI

iwanuwandy@gmail.com

The Ming Ceramic History Collections

Part One

Created By

Dr Iwan Suwandy<MHA

Limited E-Book In Cd-Rom Edition

Special For Senior Collectors

Copyright @ 20`15

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Pada tahun 2013 saya berkunjung ke Malaka,Negeri Sembilan dan Kualalumpur untuk bertemu dengan teman dari Penang untuk membuat kerjasama membangun museum Zheng He di Penang.sampai july tahun 2014 saya menunggu kedatangannya di Indonesia untuk menanda tangani Kerjasama ,

 

untuk itu saya sudah mempersiapkan sebuah CD_rom berisi The Ming Zheng He Ceramic History Collections, karena teman dari Penang

Tak mau datang ke Indonesia,dan ia tidak mau menanggung biaya untuk membawa koleksi saya ke Penang,ia hanya meminta pecahan keramik ming yang tidak ada harganya

 

dan kertika saya menayakan apa keuntungan yang akan saya peroleh ia menjawab Cultural Benefit no $$$$$$.

Saya menghentikan rencana tersebut

 

 

dan kemudian berusahaka kerjasama dengan margo Wu untuk membangun museum yang sama dengan nama Museum Leluhur Margo Wu(the Hung Wu King our ancestors) dan ternyata ia melangar janji ,

 

waktu yang sudah dipersiapkan ternyata minta diundur dan saya taidak memiliki waktu lagi karena akan ke Taiwan Teipeh untuk melihat museum keramik Imperial Tiongkok disana.

Baru saja saya melihat dua artikel yang sangat bagus terkait dengan

museum yang sudah saya bangun di Jakarta,yaitu ceramic ming by Mr Koh dan Ming Ceramic by Geogrey Wade

saya harap teman saya pemilik zheng he museum penang dan letua margo Wu Indonesia di Jakarta akan senang melihat perkembangan museum saya ini,

Bila anda ingin melihat museum sebaiknya membeli CD-Rom saya Ceramic Motif seharga lima ratus ribu rupiah dan membayar satu juta untuk melihat dan belajar di museum Saya di Jakarta,untuk itu silahkan menghubungi saya liwat email

iewansuwandy@gmail dengan mengupload kopi KTP dan alamat lengkap agar bila CD dikrim sampai dengan selamat di rumah anda.

Saya harap CD-Rom ini akan berguna bagi para kolektor di Indonesia untuk belajar motif dan tipe keramik ming yang asli dan langka sebagai pedoman dalam membangun koleksinya.

Jakarta Oktober 2015

Dr Iwan Suwandy,MHA

 

 

 

 

2010

SELAMAT DATANG DI PINTU MASUK HOMEOFFICE

SILAHKAN MELIHAT TAMAN TANAMAN HIAS HOME OFFICE

ANDA MEMASUKI RUANG TAMU
 DAN RUANG RAPAT.

SILAHKAN MELIHAT RUANGAN KANTOR ELEKTRONIK INTRENET KOMPUTERISASI HOME OFFICE

RUANGAN PERPUSTAKAAN


KAMAR REST ROOM

SELANJUTNYA AND DIPERSILAHKAN MELIHAT MUSEUM MINI KOLEKSI Dr IWAN S PRIBADI, MULAI TANGGA MASUK YANG ARTISTIK DENGAN PELINDUNG CHILLIN DAN KERAMIK CHILLIN DINASTI MING

 

KOLEKSI MUSEUM MINI PERTAMA ADALAH PATUNG ETHNIS INDONESIA

LEMARI

 

Tahun 2014 sampai 2015 saya memperoleh banyak koleksi baru yang mutunya lumayan sehingga isi lemari nerubah silhkan dilihat dihalaman berikut ini

 

 

Selesai Hak Cipta @Dr Iwa

 

 

2011


The Introduction From The Founder of Driwancybermuseum Web Blog

Posted on June 12, 2011 | 6 comments

MUSEUM DUNIA MAYA DR IWAN S.

Dr IWAN ‘S CYBERMUSEUM

THE FIRST INDONESIAN CYBERMUSEUM

MUSEUM DUNIA MAYA PERTAMA DI INDONESIA

DALAM PROSES UNTUK MENDAPATKAN SERTIFIKAT MURI

PENDIRI DAN PENEMU IDE

 

THE FOUNDER

Dr IWAN SUWANDY, MHA

WELCOME TO THE MAIN HALL OF FREEDOM

SELAMAT DATANG DI GEDUNG UTAMA “MERDEKA

The Driwan’s  Cybermuseum

(Museum Duniamaya Dr Iwan)

Driwancybermuseum Blog A.Driwancybermuseum homeoffice openhouse

Cybermuseum open house”

Qillin decoration

Postal History and Document History collections in antique cupboard

Library

Meeting room

working room

dragon boat mini musuem

Ceramic Collection

Ceramic Collections 2

VOC ship gauda tile

VOC delf Tile

Ngoc San Hanoi tile

Ancient Wayang Petruk

Ancient wayang Semar

Photography by my son

Albert Suwandy ST.Geo

 

 

The Study Of Ming Ceramic Shape

Dr Iwan

 

 

have two cup ,

 

two vase with dragon motif like ceramic bove but without imperial mark

Breast kendi with wuchai ming

Ming wanly cover box,cover restored.

Beberapa koleksi keramik Ming milik Dr Iwan dapat dilihat pada halaman berikut.

 

Early ming dragon-phoenix vase

Jade with carving siluman babi dan iluman monyet bersama bksuni,legenda mencari kitab Buddha ke Tbet

THE STUDY OF MING CERAMIC MARK

Source

Thank Mr Gao Hei for your excellent information, I hope you give me permission to upload this info due to many repro exist now in Indonesia, I only give this inmfo to my son and my best fru=iend.

Withnthis study, I only have three pieces original ming imperil mark ceramic, one base of blue and white coverbox,the cover not yet found, one sheard of bigger cup with drgon five clawan motif but the mark not clear, and one plate with mrk t the lips ony small part but complete Hsuante mark, orther are Qing copy mung with wan li,chenghua and hsuante mark, may be one day I will found

This rare ceramic.

(Dr Iwan)

 

 

Overview of Folk Kiln (Minyao) Ming Blue and White

 

Early Ming Period [Hungwu (洪武) to Tianshun (), 1368 To 1464 ]

During the  early Ming period, the court imposed a relatively high degree of  control on  political and cultural development.   For e.g.. during the reign of Hongwu, a decree was issued in the year 1371 which forbid certain subjects such as previous emperors, queens, sages or saints, dragon, phoenix, lion and chilin on porcelains.  Another instance was the  decree  issued in the year 1447 by emperor Zhengtong () which prohibited the production of colour glaze such as yellow, purple, red or blue glazes including those with under glazed blue design.

Such restrictions significantly impacted the type of decorations found on folk kiln blue and white wares.  Only a relatively limited range of motifs were available.  Usually the motifs are highly stylised and simplified and executed in calligraphic style.  It was dictated by economic considerations as such mode of production facilitated quick execution  and increased production volume. The calligraphic  lines of the motif  is spontaneous and highly rhythmic.  This carefree style without depiction of details has a charm and character of its own.

Recent scientific tests seem to indicate that Yuan blue and white used solely imported cobalt.  During the reign of Hongwu, he issued decrees prohibiting foreign contact and trade.  Hence, the source of imported cobalt would have been cut off.  It is likely that remaining imported cobalt during the period were used for imperial blue and white.  Hence, very few, if any, folk kiln blue and white had been produced during Hongwu or even Yongle () period.  This is not far-fetched.   For those Hongwu imperial blue and white, we can still see stylistic continuity from the Yuan period.  However, for motifs on folk kiln blue and white attributed to Hongwu, they generally lack stylistic similarity to those from Yuan period.  This logically should not be the case in the evolvement of artistic styles.  Another issue which need to be explored is when the potters started using local cobalt if only imported cobalt was used during the Yuan period.  For more discussion, please read : Early Ming Folk kiln blue and white revisit.

During the early Ming period, the typical motifs depicted included:  interlacing floral scroll with Sanskrit character , rolling clouds, 3 friends of  winter (represented by pine, plum and bamboo), ornamental balls with silk knots, characters fu ()  (fortune) and shou (寿) (longevity), rolling clouds with human figures which resemble dreamland and hermit in countryside setting.   The influence of Tibetan Buddhism is shown in elements such as Sanskrit/Tibetan characters and Buddhist 8 precious objects (conch shell, wheel, umbrella, canopy, lotus, vase, fish, endless knot).

 

 

Interlacing floral scrolls with Sanskrit characters. It shows  typical calligraphic style of execution of the motif

 

Cloud motif

rolling clouds with human figures

Majority of the wares produced during the Early Ming period were functional in nature, such as bowl, plate, covered jar and incense burner.  Vases only constituted a small quantity of the production.

In 1964, Wang Zhimin (王志敏) of Nanjing museum pioneered a project on identification of early Ming blue and white.   He collected tens of thousands ceramic shards from the Yudai  river where the old Nanjing palace was located.  Based on stylistic comparison, he was able to form some meaningful deductions on characteristics associated with each dynastic Ming period.  With the guidelines formulated, one could more confidently separate  Xuande (宣德) or earlier  blue and white from those dated to the Interregnum period [Zhengtong (), Jingtai (景泰) and Tianshun (), with a duration of 29 years spanning 1436 to 1465].

To a  significant extent, his findings was a big step forward for the study of Ming folk kilns blue and white.  But there is still the difficulty in determining the end-date for a particular style of motif.   It is not unjustifiable to assume  a transitional phase during which an old style and an emerging new style co-existed.  The old style will ultimately be abandoned but there is still difficulty in determining the end point of a particular style.

Two examples illustrate this problem.  The calligraphic chilin and lion plates are known to have been produced during the Xuande/Interregnum period.  A small quantity of Chinese ceramics including some dishes with the chilin motif, were salvaged from the Pandanan shipwreck in Philippines and dated to the Interregnum period.  However, the Lena shoal junk  (found near the Lena Shoal of Busuanga Island in the Philippines in 1997) with its well preserved cargo of typical Hongzhi blue and white wares, sprung up a few surprises.  There were a number of chilin plates and some bowls with abstract cloud and floral motifs executed in calligraphic style usually attributed to Early Ming  Interregnum period.

The second case concerned a Guangdong Dongguan  family graveyard of Zhong Songxue.   The earliest burial was in second year of Zhengde .  Five jars with typical Hongzhi style scholar in garden setting were found.  in the adjacent  burial site of one of Zhong Songxue’s son, two big late Zhengde/early Jiajing jars, one with floral and the other with fish motif were recovered.  Also found together was a lion plate and a bowl executed in interregnum period calligraphic style.  Based on the Dongguan chronicle,  one of Zhong Songxue’s sons died in the 7th year of Jiajing.

 

   

Similar Qilin plate found in Lena and Pandanan wreck.  This one is most probably dated to Hongzhi period.  Those from the Interregnum period are better drawn especially the cloud’

Plate with lion motif are mostly from the Chenghua/Hongzhi period.  Some were found after Hongzhi period but the drawing appears more sketchy and poorly drawn.

During the interregnum period  there were numerous laws restricting or banning production of blue and white wares.   Coupled with a declining tribute system of trade and ban on illegal private trade, the amount of porcelain that reached the overseas market would have been small.  This appears to have been the case based on shipwrecks findings.  So far, shipwrecks, such as  Pandanan and the Royal Nanhai wreck in South China sea, which are dated to Interregnum period carried only small quantity of Chinese ceramics.  However by the Hongzhi period, a thriving illegal private trade has developed.  The Hongzhi period Lina cargo is clear reflection of the situation.  It carried a  relatively large quantity of good quality blue and white wares.   Another contributing factor which prompted this development was the situation during the Hongzhi period.  During the reign of Chenghua, the imperial kiln produced large quantity of porcelains as can be seen from the excavations in Jingdezhen.  When Hongzhi took over, he recognised that it was a big drain on the state finance.  He ordered imperial porcelain production to be drastically reduced.  As a result, the redundant potters would have to find other means to support their livelihood.  They turned to production of wares to meet oversea demand.

A significant volume of blue and white excavated in Southeast Asia were usually attributed to the  interregnum period.  The political situation in China highlighted above suggested that the dating could be wrong. They may have been produced later,  most probably during the Chenghua to Hongzhi period instead.

Almost all the known folk kiln sites in Jingdezhen region were badly disturbed and destroyed.  Hence, scientific excavation is almost impossible.   Currently, a good source for dating is artefacts recovered from datable tombs.  Regrettably, the information is limited and not widely circulated.  Such excavation information together with those from shipwrecks will enable more detailed studies and accurate dating.  We will also be able to ascertain how a particular motif evolved over time and the duration which a particular style of the motif persisted.  Hopefully, we can also better identify the minor stylistic changes associated with a style as they evolved over time. It is a worthwhile project but it would require patience and co-operation from different sources to build up a comprehensive database.

 

Mid Ming Period (Chenghua (成化) to Zhengde (正德), 1465 to 1521)

By the Mid Ming period ,  production and demands for porcelain increased considerably due to demand from illegal private trade.   Officially the tribute system of foreign trade implemented since Hongwu period only came to an end in 1567 (Jiajing) with the opening of Yuegang (月港)  in Fujian for legal foreign trade.   The tribute system of trade reached its peak during the Yongle/Xuande period epitomised by  Admiral Zhenghe’s trips on large fleet of treasure ships which reached as far as East coast of Africa.  Subsequently, the tribute system could not be implemented effectively after the decline of the power of the empire.  Some contributing factors included internal problem such as the capture of Zhengtong () emperor by the Mongols and official corruption.   To meet overseas demand, illegal foreign trade became increasingly more prevalent.  By the Chenghua period, the 3 coastal province of  Zhejiang, Fujian and Guongdong had flourishing private trade.    Such illicit arrangement involved powerful rich families and facilitated by tacit assistance of  corrupt provincial officials.

The pigmented-wash method of decoration which was experimented most probably during the Tianshun period gained greater popularity and used on bulk of the blue and white wares from late Chenghua onward.  The wash was applied over some part of the drawn motif such as the flower or dress of human figure. Generally you can distinguish two tonal blue in the wash area   Most actually utilised a combination of calligraphic and pigmented-wash method to execute the motif.   Those that utilised fully calligraphic style or with motif completely cover with pigment wash constitute a smaller portion of the production.

 

   

The above ink grinder is dated to 9th year of Hongzhi period.  The flower is completed using the pigmented wash while the leaves still used the typical calligraphic strokes

 

   

Hongzhi warmer bowl

Example showing  motif completely covered with wash of blue

The Lena cargo is a very interesting and important find.   The varied styles of motif indicated that Hongzhi is a watershed period.  The majority can be positively identified with the Chenghua/Hongzhi period.  There is a small number with typical interregnum calligraphic style.  It indicated the dying interest in the style. Lastly, there was a small number such as the floral scrolls with Buddhist precious objects and lingzhi fungus scrolls, which shows emerging elements  typical of Jiajing period.

During the Zhengde period, some blue and white porcelains with Islamic influence such as Arabic scripts were produced.  Some speculated that it was because emperor Zhengde was converted to Muslim faith.  However, the more probable  reason could be the influence of the powerful eunuchs , many of whom were Muslims.

Ming Hongzhi period also witnessed a change in the design composition.   Many bowls and plates have  more densely and fully decorated inner wall.  This is a rather unique phase as those before and after this period generally  have plain or more sparsely decorated inner wall.  The exception was the kraak style motifs of Wanli/Chongzhen period.

 

   

More densely decorated interior of bowls and plates

Mark  such as “Fu ()” , “Da Ming Nianzao (大明年造)”, “Tian ()” and “Tai ping (太平)” , on the outer base also appeared in wares during Chenghua/Hongzhi  period.

Bowl with fu mark on outer base

 

Late Ming Period (Jiajing (嘉靖) to Chongzhen (), 1522 to 1644)

Jiajing period heralded the implementation of the Guan da min shao (官搭民) system.  Under this system, imperial porcelain production was contracted out to private kiln operators.  The high quality requirement forced the potters to improve quality of their products.  The penalty for failure to meet quantity and quality requirements was stiff.  Besides paying a fine, they had to buy in pieces from the officials to meet any shortfall in government order.

Emperor Jiajing who succeeded Zhengde was a devout Taoist.   Taoist symbolism became a common decorative element during the late Ming period.   Taoist motifs such as the Eight immortals, eight Taoist Emblems, the Pakua (eight diagrams) , the cranes, auspicious character shou (often formed by twisted peach tree as above picture) were frequently used.

 

   

 

   

Jiajing bowl with crane’s and deer’s motif.  They are all Taoist symbols of longevity

   

 

.  

Jiajing jar with floral scrolls and Taoist 8 diagrams

A unique feature for Jiajing/wanli period is the use of Hui qing (回青) , a form of imported cobalt which is purplish in colour tone.  Hui qing  needs to be mixed with local cobalt as too high an amount of it will conceal the details of the lines under the wash.  A well proportioned mixture of hui-qing and local cobalt will create a brilliant clear purplish motif.  From Jiajing onward, the outline and wash method became the mainstream style of decoration.  The outline is thin and of even thickness, which the Chinese calls iron thread.  The good quality pieces also have clear even one tone wash.   
 
 

 

   

A typical late Jiajing/early wanli bowl with outline and wash floral  motif.  It also has the purplish tone of Hui qing.

Tianqi bowl which shown the initial phase of shading of the rock which became a typical feature on Qing Kangxi pieces.

 

   

Wanli bowl with infants motif

Jiajing/Wanli jar with bird/floral motif

Many of the Jiajing/Tianqi bowls/plates also carried auspicious phrase consisting of 4 Chinese characters on the outer base.  Some common phrases include Wan Fu you tong (万福攸同), Fu gui Jiaqing (贵佳器), Chang Ming Fugui (长命富贵) and etc.

The Jiajing period also saw the emergence of blue and white wares manufactured in Zhangzhou region.  This category of wares was termed Swatow wares in the past.  It is usually associated with wares with grits adhering to the foot ring and outer base.  For a more detailed discussion, please view the article: A general survey of Zhangzhou (Swatow) wares.

The Portuguese  maritime explorers made their way to China around 1514.   The high quality of the Chinese porcelains generated great interest and demand from the European elite class and the wares became a form of status symbol.  Some of the earliest typical blue and white wares exported to Europe are similar to those found in the  Fort Sebastian Wreck.  A unique form of wares termed the kraak wares made to meet the specifications  of European clients were produced from the Wanli period.   Kraak derived from “carrack”, a type of  Portuguese ship captured by the Dutch in 1603 inside which carried a large quantities of these wares.   The typical Kraak ware has a central theme on the inside of a bowl or plate and  panelled motifs on the interior walls.  The walls of the bowls and plates are generally thin.   One common defect of the kraak wares is flaking of the glaze along the rim.  The Japanese called it mushikui, i.e.. “insect nibbles”.  Some examples of Wanli kraak wares could be seen in the San Diego Shipwreck.

 

Jiajing/Wanli Kraak style plate

Wanli Kraak ware

During the Chongzhen period, a type of porcelain, commonly called transitional wares were produced.  One common feature of these wares is the thick construction.  The quality of the porcelain is comparable to those found on imperial wares.  The glaze is excellent and the standard of blue and white painting is superb.  The subjects covered  are varied: including flowers, landscapes and scenes taken from Chinese plays or historical episodes.  Many of the pieces also incorporated supplementary foreign decoration, such as the tulip.   Also commonly found is a band of incised pattern near the rim of the ware such as incense burners, brush pots, and sleeve vases.  The fish scale-like representation of grasses, the curling shaded clouds and mountains/stones with fine shadings were common features during Chongzhen period.

Chongzhen brush pot with fish scale grasses and fine shading of the rocks

Chongzhen vase with tulip motif on the neck

Source

Mr Koh collections

 

 

Early Ming Folk kiln blue and white Revisit

Recently I have the opportunity to attend a series of lectures on Jingdezhen Qingbai and blue and white conducted by Professor Ouyang Shibin of the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute.  The lectures are enlightening and some information he imparted regarding Yuan and Early Ming Blue and white required a re-examination of current dating of early Ming folk kiln Blue and white.

According to him, some recent tests revealed that Yuan blue and white, even those which appeared greyish and commonly found on the lower end pieces, used imported cobalt.   Another surprise is that tests on some Xuande imperial blue and white samples supplied by Prof Liu Xinyuan revealed that local cobalt was used.

Hongwu blue and white are now confirmed to have used imported cobalt despite the greyish appearance. If indeed all Yuan Blue and white were painted using imported cobalt, then cobalt supply during Ming Hongwu period would pose a problem as foreign contacts and trade were forbidden.   The remaining cobalt acquired during the Yuan period would be scarce and precious.  Hence, not surprisingly they were used only for the imperial wares.  The fact that no local cobalt was used as a substitute to produce blue and white might be an indication that they were indeed not available yet.  Instead, during the Hongwu period, copper red and iron red pieces were also produced in considerable quantity to meet the need of the palace.  The supply of imported cobalt would have resumed in Yongle period and possibly brought back by the fleets of Admiral Zhenghe whose maritime trips reached as far as East Africa.

 

 

 

During the  early Ming period, a relatively high degree of  control was imposed on  political and cultural development.   For eg. during the reign of Hongwu, a decree was issued in the year 1371 which forbid certain subjects such as previous emperors, queens, sages or saints, dragon, phoenix, lion and chilin on porcelains.  During the Hongwu period, there were many instances of capital punishment for infringement of the policies.  To quote an example, an artist named Sheng Zhu was executed because he painted the drawing of a celestial being riding a dragon.  That was deemed a grave crime as the dragon is associated with the emperor.

Hence,  Hongwu imperial blue and white have only motifs which are limited in scope.  They consisted meanly of various type of flowers essentially.  There were none with human subjects.  The composition and style of the decoration still show influence of Yuan blue and white.

 

If we examine motifs commonly attributed to Hongwu folk kiln blue and white, they  consisted of simplified cloud motif, scholar with background with cloud, floral scrolls, floral scrolls with sanskrit/tibetan character or buddhist precious objects, embroidered balls with ribbons. 

 

All the motifs were new and stylistically clearly different and not found during the Yuan period.   It would seem inconceivable that the folk kilns created all those new motifs in an environment which stifled artistic expression.  Most  artists lived in constant fear and understandably would be reluctant to attempt new designs which may be deemed taboos and incurred severe punishments.

Most of the above motifs started to appear on imperial blue and white from Yongle/Xuande period onward.  In fact, mostly only gained popularity from Xuande period onward.  On imperial wares they are executed in more elaborate form.  It is most likely that the potters from folk kilns copied them but simplified them to facilitate quick execution and large scale production to meet the needs of common follks.

 

 

Hence, the possibility that  Ming Folk kiln blue and white may have appeared later than Hongwu or even Yongle period merits further study.  This seems incredulous but archeological evidence appears to support it.  If we take note of dated excavated Folk kiln Ming blue and white wares from graves, there were none earlier than Zhengtong Period.  According to Professor Ouyang, those excavated graves from Xuande and earlier consisted of white wares and other wares instead.

If indeed there is no local cobalt use on Hongwu blue and white, the answer to when local cobalt was first used is important.  From the series of tests done on Xuande pieces, it is now certain that at least some also used local cobalt.  But it does not give any clue on whether the local cobalt was first used by imperial kiln or folk kilns. 

But what is certain is that the availability of local cobalt at least by Xuande period would enable folk kilns to produce blue and white wares.  More studies on the cobalt used and more reliable dating of Yunnan blue and white might also throw light on when folk kiln blue and whites were first produced.

Personally, I think folk kiln blue and white were produced on larger scale only after Xuande period.  Historically, we know that Xuande period produced hugh amount of imperial blue and white.  But upon his death, his mother who disapproved of his extravagance life style ordered porcelain production to be sized down.  This would definitely force many imperial kiln workers to seek employment with the folk kilns instead.  It would have facilitated the transfer of technology and raised the quality of folk kiln porcelain production.

Two recorded events would substantiate  this development.  On the first year of Zhengtong (A.D 1436) , a civilian named Lu zhishun presented 50,000 pieces of porcelain as tribute to the court.  Another instance was the  decree  issued on 12th year of Zhengtong (A.D. 1447 ) which prohibited the production of color glaze such as yellow, purple, red or blue glazes including those with underglazed blue design.  The need to issue the decree showed that many folk kilns must have produced them despite the prohibition.

Ming Fujian Ceramics

Swatow (Zhangzhou) blue and white

Following a lull in Fujian ceramics production from late Yuan to Mid Ming, a distinctive group of Blue and whites and overglaze enamelled wares were produced in the Zhangzhou region.  They were characterised by grits adhesion on the outer base.  The main market was Southeast Asia but smaller quantity were also found in west asia and East coast of Africa.   For more details on the rise of Zhangzhou kilns and the products produced, please read : A General survey of Swatow (Zhangzhou) wares .

 

The early Zhangzhou wares were produced during the Jiajing period.  The motifs were executed using calligraphic strokes.  Such examples could be found in the Nan ao 1 shipwreck near Chaozhou in China and the San Isidro wreck near Philippines.

Ming Jiajing Zhangzhou wares from Nan ao wreck

Those from the Wanli period onwards have motif executed mainly using the outline and wash method and kraak style panelled composition.  Such examples were found in the 1600 A.D Ming Wanli San Diego wreck in Philippines and Binh Thuan wreck in Central  Vietnam.

 

 

 

 

 

Dehua Blanc de chine wares

During the late Ming period, Dehua exported many varieties of blanc de chine wares: cups, censers, gu-vases, ewers, bowls, large plates, lamp, seated lions, figurines. Blanc de chine wares have a silky ivory white tone and the porcelain is translucent.  In this aspect, they were different from the early Dehua wares with the white/bluish white/yellowish white glaze.  Dehua potters introduced the blanc de chine wares during the 16th century firstly mainly for the Southeast Asian market.  During the 17th/18th century, many Dehua blanc de chine were exported to Europe.  Dehua ivory colour tone blanc de chine attracted considerable favourable responses in Europe and were widely collected by royal families and nobles.

Those from the Early Qing period still retained the ivory tinge glaze but the later Qing pieces became a less attractive more grayish white tone.

 

 

Source :Mr Koh

 

 

I found the same cup in broken lips and good condition with the Conchshell motif at center.

 

I found the same type, in one set one idle plate, one saucers and one cup, also with other design like dragon cup, chillin plate two pieces

The non Imperial also gave for the officers of the ship or the traders. The ming banned only for imperial Hsuan Te ceramic, which only given to the emperor friend like sultan In ndoneia like Bntam sultan.

(Dr Iwan)

 

 

Ming Wanli Cover Box

Source Erwanto Aceh

I found this type from west java near Tangerang and Makassar.

(DR Iwan )

 

I found this type from west Java near Tangerang

(Dr Iwan)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found the same type from west java near Tangerang

(Dr Iwan)

 

I found this type bowl and small cup from Makassar/a;so fpoound at Jakarta type with lotus and conch shell inside cup

(Dr Iwan)

 

 

I have found the same cover box at west Java and baten

(Dr Iwan)

 

 

 

Source

Geofry wade

 

 

 

 

Dr Iwan Havew this cup

Early Ming Underglazed Red Ceramic

Original

Porcelain of the Hongwu Reign

During the Hongwu reign (1368-1398) of the Ming period Jingdezhen kilns produced under-glaze blue,

under-glaze red, over-glaze red, and monochrome wares glazed white, blue, and red.

Of these the under-glaze red is especially prized. Achieving a good colour was very difficult, particularly on large objects, as the copper oxide which produces the red colour is hard to control at high temperatures.


Under-glaze blue was rarer than under-glaze red in the Hongwu reign. The designs, made with domestic as opposed to imported cobalt, have a blackish-blue colour. Shapes are stout, with an easy naturalness.

 


VASE WITH TWO EARS AND UNDER-GLAZE RED
 
DESIGN OF CLOUDS AND DRAGONS JINGDEZHEN WARE
Hongwu Reign (A.D. 1368—1398), Ming


UNDER-GLAZE RED CUPSTAND WITH
 
FLOWER DESIGN JINGDEZHEN WARE
Hongwu Reign (A.D. 1368—1398), Ming

 

 

Attanttion beware,my friend from aceh Mr Erwanto just bought thus reproduction at Axceh,Better the collectors   consult befote buy or asked sertificate of orginalisation,(Dr Iwan)

Look at the next page

(DR Iwan Suwandy)

Repro Ming Hungwu Plate

Source Erwanto Aceh

Ming Dynasty Chinese Red Under Glaze Yuhuchuan Vase

Ming Dynasty Hong Wu Period Chinese Red Under Glaze Yuhuchuan Porcelain Vase, height: 32cm. We are just only Online auction, and have no buyer’s premium, you can bid this item directly.

Estimate

$1,000 – $1,500

Starting Bid

$600

 

Replica

Antique Ming Dynasty Style Underglazed Red Porcelain Vase With Fish Design For Collection

US $87.35

Dr Iwan have the same replica with phoenix design.

Ming dynasty Children playing Jade Pot Bottle chinese antiqueporcelain crafts vintage home decor

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Repro ming vase

Source Erwanto Aceh

Ming Dynasty WanLi Red green color porcelain dragon phoenix plateMing Dynasty antique vase chinese old porcelain plate

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Ming Dynasty WanLi Red green color porcelain Two mandarin ducks were tumbling merrily about in the water bowl Ming Dynasty

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Ming dynasty dragon general jar

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Beautiful chinese antique porcelain Lotus painting tea cup Mingdynasty Chenghua mark classical drinkware handmade hand-painted

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Source

aliexpress.

Sumber rwanto found aceh

Mangkuk Naga ini sangat langka, saya belum pernah melihatnya,dibaningkan dengan koleksi yang ada ini dari Kaisar Ming Jiajing.arti huruf cgina pajang umur ,sehat dan bnayak rezeki

Dr Iwan suwandy,MHA

Lihat foto perbandingannya dibawah ini

Sumber erwanto found aceh

Piring Ming merah dengan disain naga ini langka,belum pernah saya lihat dan belum pernah kelihatan dilelangan inernasional, ini dari produksi idstana Kaisar Ming Wan Li, Ta = great Ming nama kaisar Wan Li produksi istana Nien Hao

INi yang paling langka, harganya 100 juta rupiah dn mungkin bisa lebih bilapemiliknya sangat mengingginkannya.

Selamat anda benar-benar sudah jadi jutawan ,dan segera akan jadi milyarder.

Sebaiknya untuk piring ini diminta sertifikat Chriesties.com

Dr Iwan Suwandy,MHA

Dr IWAN CYBERMUSEUM

SPECIAL SHOW

SEJARAH LELUHUR MARGA WU INDONESIA

PART THREE

 

CREATED

BY

Dr IWAN SUWANDY GHO,MHA

COPYRIGHT @ 2014

 

 

This Special Show dedicated to

My Loving GandGandpa

1890

1915

Chua Chay Hiok

 

 

Bukittinggi west Sumatra atfort de Kock 1950

My grandpa Gho Kim Thian and whole family ,myfather Djoaahan Gho,My mother Anna Chua Giok Lan, My brother Dr Edhie Djohan Gho, My sister Elina Widyono,Dr Erlita Gho

Padang citymhuse of Chua Giem Toen,1968

My Grandpa Chua Giem Toen and Grandmother Tan KimSoan with whole Chua family from my mother

 

Also Especially For

My loving wife

Lily Oei ,

My Son and wife

Albert –Alice,

Anton-Grace

my Granddaughters

cesa,celin and

My Grandson Antoni Gho

 

 

 

 

 

Special Show

The Chinese Wu Ancestor History Collections

                    

Era emperor Hong Wu and Admiral Zheng he

 

Introduction

EMPEROR WU OF MING DYNASTY

THE ANCESTOR OF WU CLAN

Emperor Hong Wu Profile

 

Hongwu

, Wade-Giles romanization Hung-wu, posthumous name (shi) Gaodi, temple name (miaohao) Taizu,

original personal name (xingming) Zhu Chongba, later Zhu Yuanzhang   (born Oct. 21, 1328, Haozhou [now Fengyang, Anhui province], China—died June 24, 1398Nanjing),

 reign name (nianhao) of the Chinese emperor (reigned 1368–98) who founded the Ming dynasty that ruled China for nearly 300 years. During his reign, the Hongwu emperor instituted military, administrative, and educational reforms that centred power in the emperor..

 

Emperor Hung Wu and Admiral Zheng He

Coutecy

TAMAN BUDAYA TIONGHOA

TAMAN MINI INDONESIA INDAH

JAKARTA, INDONESIA

Zheng He profile

 

 

Zheng He

ARTIFACT STONE STATUE

FOUND AT KRAWANG WEST JAVA

COURTECY

DR IWAN GHO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zheng He (1371-1433),

 

 

 

TAMAN BUDAYA TIONGHOA

TAMAN MINI INDONESIA INDAH JAKARTA

 

China is celebrating the 600th anniversary of its greatest adventurer, the “Three-Jewel Eunuch Admiral”, and hailing him as the inspiration for its current success.

 

Almost a century before Columbus, at a time when China was the richest and most advanced country in the world, Zheng He [also known as Cheng Ho] sailed further than anyone before him, at the head of an armada bigger than the combined fleets of all Europe.

 

 

 

His giant “treasure ships”,

packed with the finest goods and most sophisticated weaponry of the time, went to 37 countries over 28 years, exacting tribute for the Dragon Throne and extending China’s influence across much of the globe.

But around the time of his death, a new Chinese ruler, suspicious of the outside world, banned all further expeditions, ushering in 500 years of isolation and leaving the way open for countries such as Spain and Portugal, and later Britain and America, to rule the waves instead.

While he remains little-known to most people even in his own country, Zheng He is now being turned into a communist hero and held up as the pioneer of the open-door policies that have brought China once again to the brink of being a world power.

Castrated

 

The eunuch admiral became known as “Three Jewels” – in Chinese, San Bao. Some say he is the original Sinbad the Sailor.

 

Such is his popularity among South East Asia’s Chinese communities that people still touch his statue for good luck at temples dedicated to his memory.

 

In Singapore, the Friends of Admiral Zheng He are building a replica of a treasure ship as part of national celebrations of this year’s anniversary.

“Asia’s role in maritime history has not been recognised,” according to the group’s leader, Chung Chee-kit.

 

Ever since China decided to call back its fleets, it has seen itself as a land rather than sea power and has looked on seafarers and merchants as little more than pirates, he said.

Hero once more

But today things are changing, and suddenly Zheng He is a hero in his own country.

 

China is building its own replica ship and hopes to use it to retrace the original journeys.

 

The man in charge is another Admiral Zheng – a retired naval officer from the People’s Liberation Army.

 

Zheng Ming is working to raise awareness of the Ming Dynasty voyages, now seen as a model for China’s “peaceful rise”.

“China is calling on its people to blaze forth Zheng He spirit, accelerate the development of the oceanic economy and contribute to the country’s reunification, friendly relationships, and co-prosperity among good-neighbourly countries,” he said.

 

 

Zheng He’s tomb

 

is a humble affair hidden away in paddy fields outside Nanjing. Almost the only people to visit it until now have been his family – descendants of his adopted nephew.

 

As we watched a huge new cultural centre being erected next to the tomb, one of them told me how proud he was of his ancestor, who had done so much to “open China to the world”.

It had taken a long time, he said, to reassert his rightful place in history.

Swimming Dragons can be heard on BBC Radio 4 on Friday 3 June at 1000 GMT.

By Tim Luard

 

Zheng He Map

Cheng Ho Navigation Map in Wubeizi showing the location of Man-la-ka (Melaka) and Guan Chang

 

 

Map of the known world by Zheng He:India at the top, Ceylon at the upper right andEast Africa along the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

Zheng he document

Courtecy

 

 

 

Zheng He Relic

Malacca

Among the collected items are

Emperor Yongle presented a seal to Parameswara,

. It is said that Zheng He brought the seal to Malacca

over 20 ancient relics, some ancient historical books, and more than 80 pictures of cultural relics.

 

According to the museum’s president, there are not many materials about Zhen He’s activities in the Southern Seas despite his close relationship with Malacca.

Therefore, those historical materials exhibited in the hall mostly record Zheng He’s activities in China and the places he went by during his seven voyages.

.

The exhibition hall also boasts a collection of ancient “Zheng He” coins, which are similar to the square-hole copper coins in external shape and which were donated by a collector of ancient coins.

However, there is no way of verifying the original source of these coins.

 

“The Monument to Zheng He”,

a precious relic displayed in the exhibition hall, was erected in 1431 before Zheng He made his seventh voyage to the western seas.

The inscription on the stele, totaling 1,177 characters, recorded in detail the process of Zheng He’s sixth voyage to the western seas and the tasks to be achieved during the seventh one.

The inscription is an important historical material for research on the history of overseas communication history as well as the history of Sino-foreign exchanges during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

 

 

Inside the spacious hall,

Zheng He’s historical relics are exhibited in four parts –

“Prelude,”

“Historical Background of Zheng He’s Voyages to the Western Seas,”

“Zheng He’s Voyages, with Fujian as the Navigation Base,”

and “Great Achievements and Profound Impacts.”

Duplicates of bronze bells, precious ships, navigation charts, and other relics as well as pictures are among the exhibited items.

There are also many books, including, “In Commemoration of Zheng He’s Voyages to the Western Seas,” written by Xiang Nan, and “Zheng He and Fujian,” which came out after the academic forum held during the 580th anniversary, and so on.

On the second floor,

many calligraphic works by famous calligraphers are on exhibition.

In addition,

duplicates of the ships used by Zheng He have been made, and are displayed in the exhibition hall

 

Zheng he Museum At Santosa

 

Source :Sentosa Zheng He museum

Zheng he Mosque Purbalingga

 

 

Zheng He video

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ming Emperor   Relic

The Ming Dynasty Tombs (Chinese: 明十三陵; pinyin: Míng shísān líng; lit. Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty) are located some 51.35 kilometers due north of centralBeijing, within the suburban Changping District of Beijing municipality. The site, located on the southern slope of Tianshou Mountain (originally Mount Huangtu), was chosen on the feng shui principles by the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle(1402–1424), who moved the capital of China from Nanjing to its the present location in Beijing. He is credited with envisioning the layout of the Ming-era Beijing as well as a number of landmarks and monuments located therein. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum.

 

Chinese Xin Shape Jewelry from Ming Dynasty Tombs

From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area. The Xiaoling Tomb of the first Ming Emperor, Hongwu, is located near his capital Nanjing; the second emperor, Jianwen was overthrown by Yongle and disappeared, without a known tomb. The “temporary” Emperor Jingtai was also not buried here, as the Emperor Tianshun had denied him an imperial burial; instead, Jingtai was buried west of Beijing.The last Ming emperor Chongzhen, who was hanged in April 1644, named Si Ling by the Qing emperor, was the last to be buried here, but on a much smaller scale than his predecessors

Golden crown (replica) excavated from Dingling tomb

During the Ming dynasty the tombs were off limits to commoners, but in 1644 Li Zicheng‘s army ransacked and set many of the tombs on fire before advancing and capturing Beijing in April of that year.

The excavation of Dingling began in 1956, after a group of prominent scholars led by Guo Moruo and Wu Hanbegan advocating the excavation of Changling, the tomb of the Yongle Emperor, the largest and oldest of the Ming Dynasty Tombs. Despite winning approval from premier Zhou Enlai, this plan was vetoed by archaeologists because of the importance and public profile of Changling. Instead, Dingling, the third largest of the Ming Tombs was selected as a trial site in preparation for the excavation of Changling. Excavation completed in 1957, and a museum was established in 1959.

The excavation revealed an intact tomb, with thousands of items of silk, textiles, wood, and porcelain, and the skeletons of the Wanli Emperor and his two empresses. However, there was neither the technology nor the resources to adequately preserve the excavated artifacts

. After several disastrous experiments, the large amount of silk and other textiles were simply piled into a storage room that leaked water and wind.

As a result, most of the surviving artifacts today have severely deteriorated, and many replicas are instead displayed in the museum.

Furthermore, the political impetus behind the excavation created pressure to quickly complete the excavation. The haste meant that documentation of the excavation was poor

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yongle

Xuan De

 

 

 

 

Cheng hua

Cheng te

 

 

 

 

Diplomacy and commerce

Porcelain wares, such as those similar to these Yongle-era porcelain flasks, were often presented as trade goods during the expeditions. (British Museum)

 

The treasure ships had an enormous cargo of various products.[211]

Admiral Zheng He returned to China with about 180 kinds of tribute goods, such as silver, spices, sandelwood, precious stones, ivory, ebony, camphor, tin, deer hides, coral, kingfisher feathers, tortoise sheels, gums and resin, rhinoceros horn, sapanwood and safflower (for dyes and drugs), Indian cotton cloth, and ambergris (for parfum).[211]

 

They even brought back exotic animals, such as ostriches, elephants, and girrafes.[211]

The fleet brought back so much cobalt oxide from Persia that Jingdezhen (the porcelain center in Jiangxi Province) had a plentiful supply even decades after the voyages had ended.[211]

The fleet also returned with such a large amount of black pepper that the once-costly luxury became a common commodity in Chinese society.[211]

It has even been said that there was sometimes so many Chinese goods unloaded into a single foreign port that it could take about three months to price everything.[9]

The treasure voyages resulted in a flourishing Ming economy.[212] It also boosted the lucrative maritime commerce to an all-time high.[213]

Imperial proclamations were issued to the foreign kings, which meant that they could either submit and be bestowed with rewards or refuse and be pacified under the threat of an overwhelming military force.[136][214]

They had to reaffirm their recognition of the superior status of the Chinese emperor by presenting tribute.[215]

Many countries were enrolled as tributaries.[145]

 

 

The treasure fleet conducted the transport of the many foreign envoys to China and back, but some envoys traveled independently.[216]

Those rulers who submitted received political protection and material rewards.[185]

Geography and society[edit]

During the onset of their voyages, the treasure fleet would embark from the Longjiang shipyard, north-west of Nanjing.[230] They would then sail down the Yangtze River to Liujiagang.[230] Once there, Admiral Zheng He would organize his fleet and make sacrifices to Tianfei.[230] Afterwards, over the course of four to eight weeks, the fleet would gradually proceed to Taiping anchorage in Changle, Fujian.[230] There, the fleet would wait for the favorable northeast monsoon of winter[p] before leaving the Fujian coast.[22][222][230] They would reach the sea through the Wuhumen.[22] For the voyages, the fleet always visited the port Qui Nhon (in Champa) first.[21]

During the first three voyages from 1405 to 1411, the fleet followed the same basic maritime route: from Fujian to the first call in Champa, across the South China Sea to Java and Sumatra, up the Strait of Malacca to northern Sumatra for assembly of the fleet, across the Indian Ocean to Ceylon, then along the Malabar Coast to Calicut.[231] It had not yet ventured further than Calicut on India’s southwestern coast during these voyages.[207] During the fourth voyage, the route was extended to Hormuz.[232] During the fifth voyage, the fleet proceeded further to other destinations at the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.[232] During the sixth voyage, the treasure fleet sailed up to Calicut, where several detached squadrons proceeded to further destinations at the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.[232] During the seventh voyage, the treasure fleet followed the route up to Hormuz, while detached squadrons traveled to the other far-lying destinations at the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.[232]

The treasure fleet sailed the equatorial and subtropical waters of the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, where they were dependent on the circumstances of the annual cycle of monsoon winds.[217] During all the voyages, the fleet would sail westward across the Indian Ocean after departing from Sumatra.[233] Semudera and its neighbor (on Sumatra) were important for its location to the fleet rather than for its wealth or products.[121] Ma Huan stated that Semudera was the main route to the Western Ocean.[234] He characterized it as the most important port of assembly for the Western Ocean.[66] Northern Sumatra was an important region for the fleet’s anchorage and assembly before the long journey through the Indian Ocean to Ceylon and southern India.[66] The journey from northern Sumatra to Ceylon involved sailing for about two to four weeks without laying sight on land.[222]

The first part of Ceylon that would visible after departing from Sumatra was Namanakuli (or Parrot’s Beak Mountain), the eastern-most mountain (6680 ft in elevation and 45 miles away from the coast).[233] Two or three days after sighting this geographical feature, the treasure fleet would adjust their course to sail south of Dondra Head at Ceylon.[233] The fleet would have been at sea for a considerable long time by then since departing from Sumatra, thus they would make a call at a port in Ceylon, usually at Beruwala and sometimes at Galle.[235] Even though the fleet would make a port call at Galle at times, it was clear that the fleet’s preference laid at Beruwala as port-of-call.[47] Ma Huan characterized Beruwala as “the wharf of the country of Ceylon.”[47]

Ming China had cordial relations with Calicut, which was valuable as they tried to extend the tributary system to the states around the Indian Ocean.[161] Ma Huan described Calicut as the “great country of the Western Ocean”.[27][66] He was very positive about the Calicut authorities’ regulation of trade and attention to weights or measurements.[27] Fei Xin described Calicut as the “great harbor” of the Western Ocean countries.[123]

Fei Xin wrote that the people of Mogadishu were bigoted and insincere (wangyin, both words can also mean “stupid”).[236] This was the most-pejorative description of any foreign nation that they had visited during the ocean voyages.[236] It was further mentioned that they often drilled their soldiers and practiced archery.[236] However, Fei Xin characterized the people of Brava as pure and honest.[236]

The return journey was set during the late summer and early autumn, because favorable monsoon winds would be present during this period.[237]

Navigation[edit]

Admiral Zheng He followed for the most parts established trade routes during his voyages rather than unknown territory.[149] During the treasure voyages, the crew acquired and collected a large amount of navigational data.[238] The astrological officer and his four astrologers specifically recorded the astronomical data.[239] The general mass of navigational data were processed into different kind of charts by a cartographic office.[238][239] The office included an astrological officer, four astrologers, and their clerks.[239] This provided the expeditionary commanders with the necessary navigational charts for their voyages.[238] Many copies of the expeditionary charts were housed in the Ministry of War.[238] Additional navigational data were probably also supplied by local maritime pilots, Arab records, Indian records, and earlier Chinese records.[239]

The Mao Kun map is associated with the route of the voyages.[240]

The Wubei Zhi includes four stellar diagrams after the Mao Kun map. These charts were derived from records of Zheng He’s navigators.

Faith and ceremony[edit]

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 a divine lantern was seen shining at the masthead, and as soon as that miraculous light appeared the danger was appeased, so that even in the peril of capsizing one felt reassured and that there was no cause for fear.

Admiral Zheng He and his associates [124]

The true faith of the crew of the treasure fleet centered around Tianfei, the “Heavenly Princess”, who was the goddess of sailors and seafarers.[241] The Liujiagang and Changle inscriptions suggest that Zheng He’s life was mostly defined by the treasure voyages.[242] Consequently, they also suggest that his devotion to Tianfei was the dominant faith that he adhered to.[242] The two inscriptions honored and commemorated the Goddess Tianfei.[243] Admiral Zheng He and his associates had established these inscriptions at the temples of Tianfei at Liujiagang on 14 March 1431 and Changle between 5 December 1431 and 3 January 1432.[244] These inscriptions make reference to the crew witnessing St. Elmo’s fire during dangerous storms and interpreting it as a sign of divine protection by Tianfei.[245] The Liujiagang and Changle inscriptions are considered the epitaphs of the treasure voyages.[107]

In Galle at Ceylon, Admiral Zheng He set up a trilingual inscription dated 15 February 1409.[46] The Galle Trilingual Inscription is in three languages: Chinese, Tamil, and Persian.[47] For protecting the treasure fleet during the voyages, the Chinese section praised the Buddha, the Tamil section praised a local god who was an incarnation of Vishnu, and the Persian section praised Allah.[47] The three sections each contained the same lists of offerings: 1000 pieces of gold, 5000 pieces of silver, 100 rolls of silk, 2500 catties of perfumed oil, and a variety of bronze ornaments.[47] Thus, the inscription paid respect to the three religions that were dominant in Ceylon.[241] The noted date could refer to when it was erected in Galle, which would indicate that it was put up during the homeward journey of the second voyage.[46] The inscription could also have been prepared beforehand in China and erected at Galle between 1410 to 1411 during the third voyage.[246]

On 20 September 1414, Bengali envoys presented a tribute giraffe in the name of King Saif Al-Din Hamzah Shah of Bengal (r. 1410–1412) to the Yongle Emperor of Ming China.[247] The giraffe was presented as the qilin, but this association was met with a dismissive attitude from the Yongle Emperor who rejected the

 

 

laudatory memorials of his officials.[248]

Literature[edit]

See also: Ming Shilu, Mingshi, Ma Huan’s Yingya Shenglan, Fei Xin’s Xingcha Shenglan, and Gong Zhen’s Xiyang Fanguo Zhi

Pages from a copy of the Yingya Shenglan

There were several major contemporary records preserved into present times. These works include Ma Huan‘s Yingya Shenglan [瀛涯勝覽],[249][250] Fei Xin‘s Xingcha Shenglan [星槎勝覽],[249][250] and Gong Zhen‘s Xiyang Fanguo Zhi [西洋番國志].[249][250]

Ma Huan served as an interpreter on the fourth, sixth, and seventh voyage.[133][251]

Guo Chongli was Ma Huan collaborator on the Yingya Shenglan.[252]

He personally participated in three of the expeditions.[252]

These two gentlemen recorded their observations into notes, which were used to compose the Yingya Shenglan.[252] Fei Xin served as soldier on the third, fifth, and seventh expedition.[251][253] Gong Zhen served as Zheng He’s private secretary on the seventh voyage.[251][254]

The Ming Shilu, Ming veritable records containing sections about reigns of individual emperors, also provided much of the information relating to the treasure voyages.[255] Zheng He lived through the reigns of five Ming emperors,[255] but he directly served three emperors in his life.[148] He is mentioned in the Taizong Shilu of the Yongle reign, the Renzong Shilu of the Hongxi reign, and the Xuanzong Shilu of the Xuande reign.[255]

The Taizong Shilu had combined the second and third voyages into one expedition.[195][256] This was followed by the Mingshi.[256][257] It led to the confusion of Zheng He’s Palembang journey of 1424-25[q] as being wrongly construed as the sixth voyage to make up for the seven voyages.[99][195][256] However, the Liujiagang and Changle inscriptions made a clear distinction between the second and third voyage as they correctly date the second voyage from 1407 to 1409 and the third voyage from 1409 to 1411.[37][195][258]

A number of later works have also been preserved. The accounts in the Mingshi (1739) and Huang Xingzeng’s Xiyang Chaogong Dianlu [西洋朝貢典錄] (1520) rely on Ma Huan’s original Yingya Shenglan.[259] However, Zheng Xiao’s Wuxuebian [吾學編] (ca. 1522) relies on Zhang Sheng’s “rifacimento”.[259] Zhu Yunming’s Qianwen Ji [A Record of Things Once Heard] (ca. 1526) contains his Xia Xiyang [Down the Western Ocean].[242][260] This work provides a detailed itinerary of the seventh voyage.[242][260] There are also Lu Rong’s Shuyan Zaji [Bean Garden Miscellany] (1475),[261] Yan Gongjian‘s Shuyu Zhouzilu [Record of Despatches Concerning the Different Countries] (1520),[261] Gu Qiyuan‘s Kezuo Zhuiyu [Boring Talks for My Guests] (ca. 1628).[261] Mao Yuanyi‘s Wubei Zhi (1628) is a military encyclopedia that preserved the Mao Kun map, which is largely based on material from the treasure voyages.[261]

Luo Maodeng’s Sanbao Taijian Xia Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi [三寶太監西洋記通俗演義] (1597) is a fiction novel about the exploits of Admiral Zheng He and his fleet.[251][262] In the preface, Luo states that Chinese maritime power was essential to maintaining the world order.[263] In Luo’s work, Admiral Zheng He sailed the oceans in search for a sacred imperial seal to restore harmony in the Middle Kingdom.[262] However, he never finds the seal in the story, suggesting that it showed that the world order cannot be restored by other means than military force according to Finlay (1992).[264] Luo Maodeng’s novel contains a description of different classes of ships with their sizes: the 36 nine-masted treasure ships (baochuan) were 44.4 by 18 zhang, the 700 eight-masted horse ships (machuan) were 37 by 15 zhang, the 240 seven-masted grain ships or supply ships (liangchuan) were 28 by 12 zhang, the 300 six-masted billet ships or troop transports (zuochuan) were 24 by 9.4 zhang, and the 180 five-masted combat ships or warships proper (zhanchuan) were 18 by 6.8 zhang.[265] Dreyer (2007) argues that this work holds little to none evidential value as a historical source.[266] However, Duyvendak thinks that there may be some truth to it.[266]

The Kezuo Zhuiyu and the Shuyu Zhouzilu describes the following circumstances of what happened to the official archives about the expeditions.[267] The Chenghua Emperor issued an order to retrieve the documents concerning expeditions to the Western Ocean from the Ministry of War archives.[268][269] However, the official Liu Daxia had hidden and burned them.[269][270] He had the opinion that they were “deceitful exaggerations of bizarre things far removed from the testimony of people’s ears and eyes.”[267][269]

The Shuyu Zhouzilu then adds the following to the story.[267] The Minister of War Xiang Zhong (in office 1474-1477) had sent a clerk to retrieve the documents, but could not find them after several days of searching.[268][269] Liu Daxia eventually confessed and justified his actions to Xiang Zhong by stating that “the expeditions of Sanbao to the Western Ocean wasted tens of myriads of money and grain, and moreover the people who met their deaths [on these expeditions] may be counted by the myriads. Although he returned with wonderful things, what benefit was it to the state? This was merely an action of bad government of which ministers should severely disapprove. Even if the old archives were still preserved they should be destroyed in order to supress [a repetition of these things] at the root.”[268][269] Minister Xiang Zhong was recorded to have been impressed by this explanation.[268][269]

The Mingshi, the Xianzong Shilu, and the Mingshi Jishi Benmo attributes the reason for the suppression and destruction of the archived records to preventing that the powerful eunuch Wang Zhi could consult it for his invasion of Vietnam.[271] Dreyer (2007, 173–175) notes that Liu Daxia couldn’t have had access to the records in his capacity at the time, thus raising doubt about his actual involvement.[269] Duyvendak (1938, 397–398) stated that the Ministry of War officials weren’t influential enough to stop the retrieval of the documents and therefore speculates that Liu Daxia may have destroyed them with the approval of the Minister of War.[272]

Legacy[edit]

Admiral Zheng He‘s empty tomb at Nanjing

In September 1499, Vasco da Gama returned to Lisbon, Portugal, from his voyage to India.[273] Before da Gama’s return, Girolamo Sernigi wrote about Portuguese accounts that “certain vessels of white Christians” had made port at Calicut on the Malabar coast generations before their arrival.[274] The Portuguese speculated that these unknown mariners could have been the Germans or the Russians, but Sernigi concluded that “on the arrival of the captain [da Gama] we may learn who these people are.”[274] After his arrival at Calicut, Vasco da Gama began hearing tales of pale bearded men who sailed with their giant ships along the local coastal waters of Calicut generations before.[275] At the time, the Portuguese had not yet discovered that these stories were actually about Zheng He’s fleets.[275] Although, they would eventually discover that these unknown mariners were, in fact, the Chinese.[273] Da Gama’s men were apparently even mistaken for the Chinese at first on arrival at the East African coast, because the Chinese had been the last-seen pale-skinned strangers arriving with large wooden ships in the memories of the East African people.[273]

In Calicut, da Gama had received permission to build a factory at Chinacota, where a Chinese storehouse first stood eighty years before.[276] In the 16th century, Juan González de Mendoza wrote that “it is plainly seene, that [the Chinese] did come with shipping into the Indies, having conquered al that is from China, unto the farthest part thereof. . . . So that at this day there is great memory of them . . . in the kingdom of Calicut, where be so many trees and fruits . . . were brought thither by the Chinos when that they were lords and governours of that countrie.”[277]

In November 1997 during a Harvard University speech, President Jiang Zemin praised Admiral Zheng He for spreading Chinese culture abroad.[278] This may give an indication on how the present-day Chinese people perceive these historical events, namely that the voyages were conducted in accordance to Confucian ideals.[278] In 2005, China commemorated the 600th anniversary of Zheng He’s maiden voyage, characterizing it as the start of a series of peaceful seafaring explorations.[279]

1346

Civil war destruction created space for individual estate-building early in the Ming. A contemporary of Chiang Hsuan’s was Lo An-tao (1346-1426). Because he was orphaned young, Lo’s uncles seized his original inheritance in Tu-yuan Ward (township 57). Lo moved in with his father-in-law, in Hsiu-ch’i in T’ai-ho city, and went on to build a wholly new estate of his own in Hou-t’ang Ward (also in township 57). So big a landowner did he become that he was made a tax captain, reportedly a kind one who paid shortfalls out of his own pocket. (He also abetted T’ai-ho’s early Ming population boom, with five sons, one daughter, fifteen grandsons, six granddaughters, thirty great-grandsons, and sixteen great-granddaughters.)[53]

Source

John W. Dardess,Ming Society,1996

(Dardess.1996)

 

Zheng He History collections

 

On 15 August, 1363

the two fleets engaged one another in Lake Poyang.

The large Han tower ships, with their deeper draft, were constrained by declining water levels and numerous shoals, which evened the odds for the smaller Ming fleet with their shallow draft ships.

The battle raged for four days, the momentum switching between the two forces several times. Hundreds of ships were sunk on each side and thousands of casualties mounted. The huge, armored Han tower ships proved virtually unassailable on the first day of the battle, but a fire ship attack by the Ming on the second day decimated the Han fleet.[17]

As the two fleets engaged in the Lake the overland Ming relief army swept into Nanchang and routed the Han forces that had remained. The third day of the four-day engagement was used by the two fleets to regroup.

After another day of battle on the lake Zhu pulled back from the Han fleet and set sail for the Yangzi River. There he hoped to bottle up the Han and destroy them in one final battle.[18]

The Ming use of joint warfare left the Han in a difficult position. The overland relief army had retaken Nanchang and the now reinforced garrison there blocked any attempt to escape south via the Kan River.

The Ming fleet had disembarked ground forces earlier to close the straits that would allow the Han to escape north to the Yangzi. Any attempt to escape in the direction of Han territory required not only the defeat of these troops, but also another engagement with the Ming fleet. It took over a month, with supplies dwindling and the fleet on the verge of starvation, before Chen initiated his attempt to break out of the lake.

The Han fleet successfully fought its way clear of Lake Poyang, fighting pitched battles with and defeating the garrisons on the shores of the strait. The fleet finally broke out onto the Yangzi, their only possible escape route. It was there, as they attempted to turn upstream toward home, that the Ming fleet was waiting. With the advantage of the currents on their side the Ming descended on the Han and the two engaged in a fierce sea battle, ships locked together with crews grappling and the vessels being carried downstream by the current. A Ming reserve squadron from downstream joined the fight and as the Han ships struggled to break away Chen himself was killed by an arrow.[19]

Several Han ships managed to escape upstream but hundreds surrendered or were destroyed. The Ming took dozens of warships intact, including the weapons and horses aboard, thus strengthening both their sea and land forces.

The death of Chen provided Zhu with the decisive victory he needed. With his now reinforced fleet and victorious land forces he was on the path toward conquering the rest of the China.

 

1364

They fought over Shanxi, and Bolod fled to the capital; but Ayushiridara took refuge with Koko in 1364. Bolod’s tyranny at court led the Yuan emperor to have him assassinated the next summer. Koko was named prince of Henan and commanded north China; but another civil war broke out when four Shaanxi warlords turned against him.

Zhang Shicheng returned to Yuan loyalty and promised to send grain to Daidu (Beijing). However, in 1363 he repudiated the Yuan government and called himself Prince of Wu, taking Hangzhou.

 

1367

Zhang Shicheng attacked Zhu Yuanzhang, who was fighting the central Yangzi Red Turbans led by Chen Yuliang. Zhu defeated Chen and challenged Zhang but was not able to defeat him until 1367, when Zhang hanged himself.

The old Red Turban capital of Anfeng had been captured the previous year. Prince Han Liner drowned crossing the Yangzi just as Zhu Yuanzhang declared a new calendar for the year 1367.

Civil service examinations and the Hanlin Academy were revived. Zhu sent his armies to invade northern China and conquer the south.

 

 1368

By 1368 he had subjugated the Han and the Wu, continued to force the remnants of the Mongol Yuan back toward the steppes of Central Asia, and established the Ming Dynasty which would last almost three century

 

 

1367

 

Celadon Ceramic during Early Ming

1367 AD twenty seventh year of the reign of Zhinzheng, last emperor of the Yuan Dynasty

 

From the ceramics recovered from the wreck it must now be assumed that the Longquan kilns were still full production at the beginning of the Ming dynasty in 1368, This information helpful in determining

 

the end of the occupation of Kota Cina

(by Chola King from Tamil India-Dr Iwan),

 

the predominat green glazed ware related to souhter sung and yuan dynasty

(DR E>E>Mackinnon)

 

Dr Iwan Note

The result of DR Mackinnon studies above, will help us to know that the Admiral Zheng he also bring celadon ceramic but in later type almost in porcelain and high fire ware with small base with spur mark, different with the Kublaikan army bring the early yuan celadon with bigger base without spur mark and not porcelain only with added kaolin.

 

To understand the type of late celadon during early Ming era which bring by Admiral Zheng Ho during expedition to Indonesia , let we lok the information of the sina shipwrech treasure at next page and compare with celadon ware found by dr Iwan at Samudera Pasai,Riau,palelmband,Tuban and west Borneo.

1368

 

A malignant inflation

resulted in which these notes also lost all value.

When that happened, people wereforced to fall back and rely entirely upon their “square holes” (as copper coins were commonly called) and barter.

 

This condition prevailed until the end of the dynasty in 1368, hastening its demise. At the end, the enormous sums, which had been swindled from the Chinese by the Mongol emperors, helped to hasten their defeat at the hands of the Ming.

 

 

1368

The next year Zhu Yuan Shang named his new dynasty Ming, meaning “radiant.” As the Yuan emperor fled to Mongolia,

Daidu was taken by Zhu’s general Xu Da in September 1368 and renamed Beijing, meaning “the north is pacified.”

Zhu ordered his Ming armies to deliberately secure the territories conquered in Shanxi and Shaanxi; but this enabled Koko to unite his army with the fleeing Yuan emperor in Mongolia.

The racial discrimination that the Mongols imposed on China is detailed by Tao Zongyi in his Interrupted Labors, which described the popular revolts in southeastern China in mid-century.

1369

Yuan dynasty continued until 1369

 

 

ZHENG HE’S SEXCENTENARY

The recent production of a set of 600 Ming-style imperial cooking vessels, ironically including a steamboat, to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the maiden voyage of the 15th century navigator Zheng He, better known by the arresting honorary title of the Three Treasure Eunuch (Sanbao taijian), is perhaps no more an ironic juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern than the recent carving on Qin-style bamboo slips of China’s

Anti-Secession Law aimed against Taiwanese independence and approved by the National People’s Congress on 13 March 2005.

[1] The role of cooking in China’s “march on the world” and the evocation of Qin Shihuang’s legal codes in the interests of national unity reveal the breadth of China’s contemporary appeal to history encompassing the range of cultural production from gustatory delights and national treasures all the way to kitchen kitsch.

Illustration of flat-bottomed caofang or coastal tributary grain vessel from woodblock edition of the technological and scientific treatiseTiangong kaiwu (Exploitation of the Works of Heaven), 1637 [as reproduced in Gujin tushu jicheng]

 

The ancient-style cooking vessels, each weighing approximately 30 kilograms, and emblazoned with appropriate relief-carved dragon motifs and a schedule of Zheng He’s seven voyages spanning the 28-year period from 1405 to 1433, went on display in the Nanjing Museum on 19 May 2005.

The vessels took six months to produce, and absorbed the creative energies of six local artists.

This tribute to Zheng He, master mariner of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), is merely one frisson in the flurry of activities organised for the sexcentenary. Stamped with patriotism, most events are designed to appeal to Chinese who hail from the various hometowns and localities in China associated with Zheng He, or who now live in the areas of Southeast and South Asia,  as well as the Middle East and even East Africa, once visited by Zheng He’s fleets.

Although Zheng He came to be deified and included in local Chinese pantheons in Tian Hou temples, he was in fact a Muslim, a fact not overlooked in the present celebrations.[2]

Although the Ming had adopted Guo Shoujing‘s Shoushi calendar of 1281, which was just as accurate as the Gregorian Calendar, the Ming Directorate of Astronomy failed to periodically readjust it; this was perhaps due to their lack of expertise since their offices had become hereditary in the Ming and the Statutes of the Ming prohibited private involvement in astronomy.[163]

 

Zheng He (1371-1433),

commander-in-chief of the renowned Ming expeditionary fleets of

the early 15th century, was born into a Muslim family surnamed Ma

in Kunyang, Yunnan province.

 

His grandfather and father both bore the title Hajji, suggesting that they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

 

1375

in 1375 , Adityawarman sent envoys to China . Adityawarman died and was buried in the tomb of King , Five Tribe of West Sumatra .

 

But according to Uli , Adityawarman is Malay ( Sumatra ) were born and raised in Sumatra and no relationship with Raden Wijaya , the king of Majapahit .

Her mother was not Dara Orange as written in the national history during this , because according to him , when Dara Orange is the mother , then at least Adityawarman became king at the age of 45-50 years are especially impossibility to establish and lead a new kingdom established in Sumatra .
Similarly, the founder of the kingdom that Adityawarman not Malay but the kingdom was founded by Akarendrawarman whose name is often mentioned in the inscriptions in various inscriptions such as PGR 7 Minangkabau who called it maharajadhiraja ,

inscription PGR 8 issued in 1316 and the inscription airport where Adityawarman continue development Bapahat previous king namel Akarendrawarman .

 

So , before Adityawarman ,  existing and established the kingdom of Malayu in Sumatra founded by Akarendrawarman and Adityawarman aspires to continue his predecessor ‘s development .

 

Further argued that Uli Based on primary sources and critical analysis done to these sources , Uli asserted that Adityawarman is probably the nephew Akarendrawarman born between the years 1310 and 1320 in Sumatra and never sent to China as an ambassador of Majapahit .
 Likewise that accompany Adityawarman never to invade Majapahit Bali or Sumatra Adityawarman assigned an expedition to conquer Pamalayu Singhasari era .

 

Adityawarman itself is not buried in the Tomb of Kubu Rajo , because not ditemukkanya Kubu Rajo as evidence that the tomb . Kubu Rajo himself is a stronghold or fortress defense . expedition Pamalayu
by Uli is a communion ( in the framework of cooperation between Java and Sumatra ) , and not in order to conquest , as it is called in the national history as long as this .

 

Uli further asserts that , Kertanegara ( king Singhasari ) threatened by Kublai Khan of the Mongol troops as a result of refusing to pay tribute to China .

 

As a result of the refusal ,  Singhasari position increasingly threatened and afraid when attacked by Mongol forces .

 

Similarly, the relationship between Java and Sumatra showed no subordinates and superiors in which the kings of Sumatra called the vassal of the king of Java making it possible to attack the kingdom of Java .

 

On that basis , Kertanegara realize that posisisnya increasingly threatened , he formed an alliance with the Malay kingdoms known as Pamalayu expedition .

 

Furthermore , Manjushri inscription which is now located in the temple complex Jago reported that Adityawarman set up statues in Bhumi Java which means that Adityawarman not someone who was born and raised in Majapahit ( Java ) . But he was born and raised in Sumatra and young when sent to Majapahit to friendship Java and Sumatra .

 

Further confirmed that the use of the term Maharaja an Maharajadiraja have confirmed that there is no relationship between Java and Sumatra conquered .

 

Maharaja is the name or title for the king was maharajadiraja is the title of king of kings ( king of the king ) . Adityawarman itself has been using the same maharajadiraja Akarendrawarman which means that the kingdom is a sovereign that has no relationship with Majapahit .

 

 

Sung celadon

 

 

Early Ming Celadon

 

1323 sinan shipwreck celadon

 

Paper money During Ming times

 

paper money became so depreciated and was so disliked by the peasants that local officials treated these criminals more leniently, often letting the miscreant off with only a fine.

 

One emission of notes stated a desire to single out only the true offenders, offering amnesty to accomplices who confessed their wrongdoing.

 

Several types of counterfeiting were prevalent. Of course, the most frequently encountered were notes printed from counterfeit blocks or plates.

 

Another form of counterfeiting, known as “pasting”, consisted of notes that were pasted together from bits of other notes so that one kwan became ten and so on. For this type of counterfeiting the punishment was less severe than for printing.

 

A most original solution to the counterfeiting problem occurred in Sung times

after a large shipment of counterfeit money had been seized.

 

During the discussion as to what should be done with the counterfeiters, one court official stated that the current policy of beheading the criminals and destroying their money was a mistake. He proposed instead the following:

 

“If you put the official imperial stamp on the counterfeited paper, it will be just as good as genuine paper.

 

If you punish these men only by tattooing them, and circulate these notes, it is exactly as if you saved each day 300,000 copper cash together with fifty lives.” It is said that the proposition was adopted.

 

Lastly I would like to call to the reader’s attention to an anomaly I noted some years ago when inspecting a specimen of the Ming 1 kwan note. It concerns the depiction of strings of cash shown on the face and reverse of the note. As early as Sung times representations of coins found their way onto their paper money counterparts.

 

In ancient times, when the majority of the population consisted of an illiterate peasantry, it was necessary to identify the value of the paper money note by placing ideograms or pictographs upon it which everyone could recognize. This practice was continued by succeeding dynasties, up to and including the Ming.

 

Individual coins were sometimes depicted but more often, because the intrinsic value of a single coin was so low, they were shown grouped together as strings, or groups of strings.

 

A standard string was theoretically composed of one thousand cash, which were strung together to facilitate handing. Each string of one thousand cash coins had the equivalent value of one ounce of pure silver.

 

When one examines the 1 kwan note of Hung-wu closely he finds a depiction of

what appears to be at first glance ten strings of ten coins each which must be considered to be of 10 cash denomination. Thus ten strings x ten coins per string x 10 cash per coin = 1,000 cash, or 1 kwan. In reality what is depicted are ten strings of 10 cash coins; however on close examination we will find that there are only nine coins to a string.

 

Aha! This is interesting. Could it be a mistake on the engravers part? This cannot be the answer as a check of other cash notes in this series reveals the same anomaly, i.e., only nine 10 cash coins per string, or 900 cash.

 

I have concluded, therefore, that the representation of only nine coins, or 90 cash per string was deliberate. But how can 900 cash be the same as 1000 cash?

 

 

The explanation, I believe, lies in the fact that during the Hung-wu reign 900 cash passed for 1000; just as 770 cash represented a string in Sung dynasty times and 800 during the Chin dynasty.

 

In other words the government’s financial arm, the Board of Revenue,

must have set the relation of cash coin to the value of a string by decree. Thus the official value of cash in the marketplace would vary from time to time.

 

 

As we have seen, the pictorial representations of cash seen on ancient Chinese banknotes are highly picturesque, tending more to reality than surrealism. One may therefore conclude that the imagery of the coins contained in each string actually

 

 

This blow-up of the strings of cash depicted on the Ming 200 cash note of Hung-wu reveals but nine 10 cash coins per string, not the ten one would expect. Ten strings of ten coins each representing 10 cash would equal 1000 cash, or one ounce of silver, otherwise known as 1 kwan. This was the official ratio of cash to an ounce of silver.

 

A depiction of nine 10 cash coins per string is found on all Ming dynasty notes of 100 cash and above. So why are there only nine coins per string? There is an explanation!

 

On lower Ming denominations face value was depicted, not to represent the “official” ratio, but rather what the note could be exchanged for in the marketplace.

 

 

 

depicted the real thing.

 

If this is so, one must ask: “What exact coin was being represented”? It would have to be a 10 cash piece, which circulated side-by-side with paper money.

 

Ming coinage production consisted overwhelmingly of one cash “square holes” augmented occasionally by value “two’s”, “three’s” and “fives”. But, what of the value “ten” cash pieces?

 

A close examination reveals that the Ming Board of Revenue minted ten cash pieces on only three occasions.

 

The first of these was during the Tachung era (1364-1367AD), and the second during the Hung-wu era (1368-1398AD).

The final Ming 10 cash coin issue appeared late in the dynasty (1621-1627AD) under the reign period of T’ien-ch’i.

 

 

 

Ming 10 cash coin of the Hung-wu reign (1368-1398 AD)

 

 

together with six reverses depicting the value as “ten cash of a tael” (upper left) and five other coins with mint marks representing Nanking, Honan, Peking, Chekiang and Fukien. This coin was most certainly the one represented on Ming dynasty notes.

 

 

Since the 1 kwan Ming note states that it was sanctioned by emperor T’ai Tsu for release under the Hung-wu reign title, the earliest date during which Hung-wu 1 kwan paper money circulated would have been the year 1368. From this extrapolation we can eliminate the 10 cash pieces of the T’ien-ch’i era, since they did not enter circulation until almost three hundred years later.

 

That leaves us with the ten cash pieces of the Tachung and Hung-wu eras, either of which could have been the coins represented by the pictograms.

 

More than likely the contemporary coins of Hung-wu were those shown in these illustrations, those whose legend reads “Hung-wu t’ung-pao” (current money of Hung-wu).

 

If this be so, we have narrowed our identification down to a series of six 10 cash pieces minted from 1368-1398AD. All bear the character “shih” (ten) on their reverse.

 

One specimen has in addition the characters “yi-liang” (one tael). When read together the inscription reads “10 cash of a teal”, much as we would say “10 cents of a dollar”.

 

The remaining five specimens vary only by the position of the “shih” and the location of the mint mark – “ching” for Nanking, “yu” for Honan, “Pei-ping” for the Peip’ing Fu mint in Chihli, “che” for Chekiang and “fu” for the Fukien mint. These coins are identified in Schjoth’s catalog The Currency of the Far East as

S1158-S1163. I believe these 10 cash pieces to be those appearing in the pictorial representations found on Ming dynasty paper money.

 

 

In the field of paper money research there is probably more yet to be discovered among ancient Chinese cash notes than in any other area. There is no doubt that additional discoveries will be forthcoming from yet to be exploited archaeological sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pada 1377,

beberapa tahun setelah kematian Gajah Mada’s, Majapahit mengirim menghukum serangan laut terhadap pemberontakan di Palembang, [4] memberikan kontribusi ke ujung kerajaan Srivijayan. umum lainnya yang terkenal adalah Gajah Mada Adityawarman [rujukan?], yang dikenal karena penaklukannya di Minangkabau.

Sifat dari kerajaan Majapahit dan luasnya adalah subjek untuk diperdebatkan. Ini mungkin memiliki pengaruh yang terbatas atau seluruhnya nosional atas beberapa negara jajahan di termasuk Sumatera, Semenanjung Melayu, Kalimantan dan Indonesia timur di mana wewenang diklaim dalam Nagarakertagama [19].

Geografis dan kendala ekonomi menunjukkan bahwa lebih dari biasa otoritas terpusat, negara-negara luar yang paling mungkin telah terhubung terutama oleh hubungan perdagangan, yang mungkin sebuah monopoli kerajaan. [4] Ia juga menyatakan hubungan dengan Champa, Kamboja, Siam, Birma bagian selatan, dan Vietnam, dan bahkan mengirim misi ke Cina. [4]

Walaupun penguasa Majapahit diperpanjang kekuasaan atas pulau-pulau lain dan menghancurkan kerajaan tetangga, fokus mereka tampaknya telah pengendalian dan mendapatkan bagian yang lebih besar dari perdagangan komersial yang melewati nusantara. Tentang waktu Majapahit didirikan, pedagang Muslim dan proselytizers mulai memasuki daerah tersebut.

Menurun
Setelah kematian Hayam Wuruk’s AD 1389,

kekuasaan Majapahit memasuki masa penurunan dengan konflik atas suksesi. Hayam Wuruk digantikan oleh putri mahkota Kusumawardhani, yang menikah dengan seorang kerabat, Pangeran Wikramawardhana. Hayam Wuruk juga memiliki putra dari pernikahan sebelumnya, putra mahkota Wirabhumi, yang juga mengklaim takhta. Perang sipil, yang disebut Paregreg, diperkirakan telah terjadi 1405-1406, [8] yang Wikramawardhana dan Wirabhumi menang tertangkap dan dipenggal. Perang saudara telah melemahkan pegangan pengikut Majapahit di luar dan koloni.

Selama masa pemerintahan Wikramawardhana, seri Ming armada ekspedisi angkatan laut yang dipimpin oleh Zheng He, seorang laksamana Muslim Cina, tiba di Jawa beberapa kali membentang periode 1405-1433. Dengan 1430 Zheng ekspedisi Dia telah membentuk komunitas Muslim Cina dan Arab di pelabuhan utara Jawa seperti di Semarang, Demak, Tuban, dan Ampel, sehingga Islam mulai mendapatkan pijakan di pantai utara Jawa.

1368

Ming dynasty 1 kwan note of

the Hung-wu era (1368-1398).

 

This large note, printed in gray mulberry bark paper, measures 8 x 11 . inches. The two vermilion seals shown in the next illustration do not appear on this prototype. This is the only ancient Chinese paper money likely to be found in private collections today.

 

 

 

1368

Gazetteers across the empire noted this and made their own estimations of the overall population in the Ming, some guessing that it had doubled, tripled, or even grown fivefold since 1368.[204] Fairbank estimates that the population was perhaps 160 million in the late Ming Dynasty,[205]while Brook estimates 175 million,[204] and Ebrey states perhaps as large as 200 million.[206] 

1371

1371

Zheng He was born in 1371 in the city now called Jinning, in Yunnan Province. His given name was “Ma He,” indicative of his family’s Hui Muslim origins, sinceMa is the Chinese version of “Mohammad.”

 

 

Zheng He’s great-great-great-grandfather,

 

Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, had been a Persian governor of the province under the Mongolian Emperor Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan Dynasty, which ruled China from 1279 to 1368.

Ma He’s father and grandfather were both known as “Hajji,” the honorific title bestowed upon Muslim men who make the hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. Ma He’s father remained loyal to the Yuan Dynasty even as the rebel forces of what would become the Ming Dynasty conquered larger and larger swathes of China.

Another version

Zheng He was born in the poor, mountainous Chinese province of Yunnan in 1372, just as Genghis Khan’s Mongols were being overthrown by a new, home-grown dynasty, the Ming.

 

His family were Muslims from Central Asia who had fought for the Mongols.


The dominant religious beliefs during the Ming dynasty

were the various forms of Chinese folk religion 

and

the Three Teachings

  Confucianism, Taoism, andBuddhism.

The Yuan-supported Tibetan lamas fell from favor and the early Ming emperors particularly favored Taoism granting its practitioners many positions in the state’s ritual offices.[135] 

The Hongwu Emperor curtailed the cosmopolitan culture of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, and the prolific ]

Prince of Ning Zhu Quan

 

even composed one encyclopedia attacking Buddhism as a foreign “mourning cult” deleterious to the state and another encyclopedia that subsequently joined the Taoist canon.[135]

 

 

Islam

was also well-established throughout China,

with a history said to have begun with 

Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas 

during the Tang Dynasty 

Look click

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lBC_RnjawI

 

and strong official support during the Yuan.

Although the Ming sharply curtailed this support,

there were still several prominent Muslim figures early on, including

 

 

the Hongwu Emperor’s generals Chang Yuqun, Lan Yu, Ding Dexing, and Mu Ying[136] 

 

 

and the Yongle Emperor’s powerful eunuch Zheng He.

 

The advent of the Ming was initially devastating to Christianity:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1375

The Huolongjing, compiled by Jiao Yu and Liu Ji sometime before the latter’s death on May 16, 1375 (with a preface added by Jiao in 1412),[183] 

featured many types of cutting-edge gunpowder weaponry for the time.

This includes hollow, gunpowder-filledexploding cannonballs,[184] 

land mines that used a complex trigger mechanism of falling weights, pins, and a steel wheellock to ignite the train of fuses,[185]naval mines,[186] fin-mounted winged rockets for aerodynamic control,[187] multistage rockets propelled by booster rockets before igniting a swarm of smaller rockets issuing forth from the end of the missile (shaped like a dragon’s head),[188] and hand cannons that had up to ten barrels.[189]

 

 

 

 

1381

The number of people counted in the census of 1381 was 59 873 305;

Even though underreporting figures was made a capital crime in 1381, the need for survival pushed many to abandon the tax registration and wander from their region, where Hongwu had attempted to impose rigid immobility on the populace.

 

1381

In 1381, the Ming army killed Ma He’s father and captured the boy. Just 10 years old, he was made into a eunuch and sent to Beiping (now Beijing) to serve in the household of 21-year-old Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, who later became the Yongle Emperor.

Ma He

 

rew to be 7 Chinese feet tall (probably around 6′ 6″), with “a voice as loud as a huge bell.”

He excelled at fighting and military tactics, studied the works of Confucius and Mencius, and soon became one of the prince’s closest confidants.

 

 

1382

When Ming armies came looking for rebels, they captured the 10-year-old boy and, as was the custom with young male prisoners, castrated him.

 

“He was ashamed of being a eunuch,” said Professor Liu Ying Sheng of Nanjing University, adding there was little information about this aspect of Zheng He’s life.

 

In 1390

Prince Zhu Zi committed suicide as the Hu Weiyong purge claimed more victims from trumped-up charges.

in his first year,

the Hongwu Emperor declared the eighty-year-old Franciscan missions among the Yuan heterodox and illegal.[137] 

 

1392

The Emperor’s heir Zhu Biao died of illness in 1392. Koreans let Emperor Hongwu choose the old Chinese name of Choson for its new state.

Hongwu merged the tributary gifts with the trading system and required government supervision of trade.

After Lan Yu’s victory over Orlug Temur, the Emperor assigned him, Feng Sheng, and Fu Yude to the staff of the young crown prince Zhu Jianwen, Zhu Biao’s son.

Hongwu had established the succession principle of primogeniture.

 

1391

Hung Wu would name ten more in 1391

In 1393

four more princes were given fiefs in the north. Lan Yu was tried for mutiny and publicly dismembered.

The Emperor granted an amnesty in September 1393 but acknowledged that 15,000 had been executed in this purge.

Ten princes were called to the capital for consultation, and the generals Fu Yude, Wang Bi, and Feng Sheng died in the next two years.

The Emperor tried to restrict the princes’ recruiting, but they gained control of their military forces.

Contrary to Confucian tradition, Hongwu began the custom of inflicting corporal punishment on government officials; some were beaten to death, though this did discourage bribery and corruption. Between 1378 and 1395 Hongwu sent seventeen of his sons to princely fiefs.

1397

The Ming code of laws of Hongwu was developed over thirty years and was completed in 1397. The young scholar Xie Jin criticized the Emperor for changing the laws too often.

He wrote that this causes doubt and cynicism, and he recommended ending extralegal punishments and collective responsibility for criminal acts.

Punishment had five levels of severity-beating with a light stick (10 to 50 strokes), beating with a heavy stick (60-100 strokes), penal servitude (1-3 years with 60-100 blows), banishment (to varying distances with 100 blows), and death (by strangulation or decapitation).

The Ming code allowed for the paying of fines in place of any of these punishments, especially for nominal capital crimes. Women were remanded to the custody of their husbands, except in sexual and capital crimes, because of the danger of rape in prison. Killing for adultery was justified if done by the husband when the couple was caught in the act. If the wife survived, the husband could sell her as a concubine.

In the Ming code the man’s family was no longer exempt from punishment for breaking a marriage agreement.

Driving a person to commit suicide was punished by a hundred blows or by death if aggravated by other crimes.

Economic reconstruction of land, dikes, and canals revived the economy. A rational and comprehensive system of taxation and labor service was instituted. Paper money was issued; but after it was no longer convertible to metal currency, it had to be abandoned by the mid-15th century.

1391

however, this number dropped significantly when the government found that some 3 million people were missing from the tax census of 1391.[200]

 

 

 

In 1392

families in Anhui were directed to plant 200 mulberry trees, 200 jujube trees, and 200 persimmon trees. Scholars estimate that in this decade about one billion trees were planted in China.

1393

The government tried to mitigate this by creating their own conservative estimate of 60 545 812 people in 1393.[199] 

In his Studies on the Population of China, Ho Ping-ti suggests revising the 1393 census to 65 million people, noting that large areas of North China and frontier areas were not counted in that census.[201]

Brook states that the population figures gathered in the official censuses after 1393 ranged between 51 and 62 million, while the population was in fact increasing.[199] 

 

 

In 1395

they repaired or built 40,987 reservoirs in China. That year Emperor Hongwu issued a list of regions not to be invaded by the Ming, and tributary relations were limited to Ryuku Island (Japan), Cambodia, and Siam.

Imperial commands posted in all villages urged the “six injunctions” which were to be filial to parents, respect elders and superiors, maintain harmonious relations with neighbors, teach and discipline their sons, peacefully pursue their livelihoods, and do not commit wrongful actions. Tax captains were responsible for registering property and collecting taxes and labor services.

Crimes were prosecuted locally, but serious offenders were sent to the capital. In 1395 the Emperor decreed that all Buddhist and Daoist monks must go to the capital and pass an examination, and those failing were to return to a lay life. After learning that no one from the north had passed the examinations in 1397, Hongwu read the papers himself and awarded degrees to 61 northerners.

 

1398

Although the Emperor hated Mongol customs that violated Chinese ethics, after his death on June 24, 1398 all but two of his forty concubines took their lives in the traditional Mongol way.

 

During the reign of the Hongwu Emperor,

the situation in the Malay-Indonesian world was viewed with a negative attitude.[217]

However, the treasure fleet came to dominate the Malay-Indonesian sphere via Java, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula.[217]

In Ceylon and southern India, the treasure fleet forced the political situation of the region into their favor, while making the maritime routes safe for commerce and diplomacy.[217]

The Ming court understood that Liang Daoming was the leader of the Chinese community at Palembang, but ranked Chen Zuyi above Liang as they saw Chen as the Chieftain (toumu) of Palembang, which was not an official Ming title.[220] It is possible that Chen Zuyi had hoped for official recognition by the Ming court, but it never came to be.[220]

Admiral Zheng He was informed by Shi Jinqing about Chen Zuyi’s piracy, causing Chen to be classified as a pirate in the eyes of the Chinese authorities.[221]

During the first voyage,

Admiral Zheng He established order in Palembang under Chinese rule.[222]

The Ming court recognized Shi Jinqing as the Grand Chieftain (da toumu) of Palembang after Admiral Zheng He had captured Chen Zuyi.[33]

After Shi Jinqing’s death, his daughter Shi Erjie became king (wang)—a title normally not held by women—rather than his son succeeding him in his position in Palambang, a very uncommon situation for the patriarchal Chinese and Muslims.[33]

 

Ming Empire 1398-1464

The second Ming emperor Zhu Jianwen was twenty years old when he succeeded his grandfather Hongwu. He proclaimed a general amnesty, put three Confucian tutors in influential positions, and tried to make Ming government more benevolent. The six chief ministers were elevated in rank over the military commissioners. Hanlin scholars instructed the princes in Confucian policies, and the princes were also ordered not to interfere in civil and military matters. Jianwen canceled many of the harsh pronouncements and notices that had been made by Hongwu. Excessive land taxes in the Jiangnan region were reduced, and restrictions were put on the tax-exempt lands of the Buddhists and Daoists. Failing to control the princes, Jianwen decided to abolish their fiefdoms, and five of them were eliminated.

Zhu Di of Yan was Hongwu’s fourth son; his mother was probably a lesser consort, but he later claimed he was the son of Empress Ma. He was born on May 2, 1360 and married the daughter of General Xu Da in 1376. He did not take up his Yan fiefdom at Beijing until 1380. Zhu Di was ordered to patrol Daning in 1396 and captured Bolin Temur. By 1398 he had become the dominant power in the north. After the five strategic princedoms were abolished, Zhu Di feared he was the next target; but his three sons were hostages at the court in Nanjing until Jianwen consented to their return in June 1399. After two of his officials were executed for sedition the next month, Zhu Di attacked neighboring counties. The Prince of Yan claimed that he was upholding the laws of Hongwu and blamed the three Confucian advisors for persecuting the princes.

In the civil war Emperor Jianwen began with larger forces, but his army of 130,000 sent to attack Beijing was defeated. A siege of Beijing also failed. In May 1400 about 600,000 men fought near Baoding. The southern army used explosive weapons but suffered heavy losses and retreated. Prince Zhu Di was nearly captured but was relieved by reinforcements. He attacked again at Dezhou; but in 1401 after losing tens of thousands of troops, he decided to use guerrilla tactics in a war of attrition. By 1402 the Prince of Yan was able to attack the capital at Nanjing. He refused to negotiate, and Jianwen’s generals opened the city gates. The imperial palace was set on fire, and burned bodies were claimed to be those of Jianwen, Empress Ma, and Jianwen’s eldest son. On July 17, 1402 Zhu Di claimed that he was succeeding Hongwu and proclaimed himself Emperor Yongle. The three Confucian advisors refused to serve the new Emperor and were executed with many others. Eventually tens of thousands were executed, incarcerated, or banished. Military power of an autocratic prince had overcome the civil government of Confucian liberalism. Legends were passed on that Jianwen had escaped and continued to live as a monk, and this tragic hero became a popular literary motif.

 

 

 

 

 

15th Century

Kerajaan Minagkabau Pagaruyung mencapai puncak kejayaan sekitar abad ke-15 Masehi, semasa pemerintahan Adityawarman berkuasa (Amran, 1981 : 37 ; Kiram, dkk, 2003 : 11 dan Imran, 2002 : 20). Sebagai sebuah kerajaan besar dizamannya, Kerajaan Pagaruyung sendiri memiliki kerajaan kecil sebagai “wakil raja” untuk memerintah di daerah. Kerajaan-kerajaan ini merupakan bagian dari Kerajaan Pagaruyung dan langsung diberi otonomi khusus untuk mengurus kepentingan pemerintah dan ekonominya.

Raja-raja dibawah panji Kerajaan Pagaruyung tersebut telah menyebar ke berbagai daerah, bukan saja di Indonesia namun sampai ke mancanegara, yakni Malaysia

(kesulatanan Newgeri Sembilan dengan istana Sri menanti di Kuala Pilah,Dr Iwan visit nov 2013) dan Brunei Darussalam.

Kekuasaan Kerajaan Pagaruyung tersebut telah membentuk suatu hegemoni, dibawah Raja Alam berpusat di Pagaruyung.

Khusus di alam Minangkabau, raja-raja kecil tersebut berjumlah 61 buah kerajaan, baik yang ada di daerah darek dan rantau Minangkabau.

Mereka biasanya dipangil dengan istilah Yang Dipertuan, Rajo, dan Sutan. Mereka ada yang berasal dari keturunan langsung raja Pagaruyung dan adapula yang ditunjuk oleh raja sebagai wakilnya untuk memerintah di daerah.

Dalam kondisi inilah muncul hubungan yang diistilahkan dengan sapiah balahan, kuduang karatan, kapak  radai, dan timbang pacahan Kerajaan Pagaruyung

 

 

1402

As a boy of ten, Zheng He was recruited for military service as a eunuch

in the retinue of Zhu Di, Prince Yan, who usurped the throne in 1402

to become known to history as the Yongle Emperor, known posthumously

as Emperor Ming Chengzu (see illustration). For his service in helping

1404

the new emperor win the throne after three years of vicious warfare,

Zheng He was promoted in 1404

to the position of Director of Eunuch Affairs

and given the surname Zheng.

Detail of portrait of the third Ming emperor, Zhu Di, better known

as the Yongle Emperor

[Original work is in the collection of the China National Museum]

The overthrown emperor, Zhu Yunwen,

was never captured nor was his body found, and was rumoured

to have fled abroad.

Some accounts state that the Yongle Emperor was so obsessed with

the desire to find his potential rival and remove the possibility of the throne

ever reverting to him or his descendants that he conceived the plan

to despatch an expeditionary fleet to hunt to the ends of the earth for

the potential pretender.

This explanation seems far-fetched, although it should be viewed in the context

of the brutal dictatorship characterised by fratricidal enmity that was instituted

by the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang.

Even if the Yongle Emperor was obsessed with maintaining his own power,

the voyages seem to have been also conceived as part of a diplomatic

and commercial initiative undertaken because the Chinese

were hemmed in by the Mongols on the north

and north-western frontiers.

Emperor Ming Chengzu

ordered all coastal shipyards to construct vessels to be part of

his first fleet.

However,

according to Professor Xin Yuan’ou of Shanghai’s Jiaotong University,

although many shipyards were involved in assembling the pan-shaped hulks

of the vessels, similar to shallow draught rice transportation vessels

(caofang, see illustration), the Longjiang Shipyard in the southern Ming

capital Nanjing had mastered the technology for modifying such hulls

so that they were wedge-shaped like Western vessels.

Hulls produced in other shipyards were transported to Nanjing for finishing.

How this “Western” technology was introduced to China is not explained in the press report by Professor Xin.

By 1405,

some 1,180 ships of various types had been built,

according to Chang Kuei-sheng’s account (see references),

and Zheng He was appointed to direct the expeditions.

The first voyage began in the winter of 1405 with a fleet comprising more

than 60 large vessels and 255 smaller vessels.

The total crew consisted of more than 27,800 men. The valuable cargoes

carried by the vessels and the range of participating vessels in

the flotilla demonstrate that the reasons for the voyages were more complex

than the mere hunt for a pretender.

The first fleet sailed from the Yangtze estuary and headed south,

travelling along the coast to Champa, a wealthy kingdom on

the Indochinese coast, and then to Thailand.

Passing through the Straits of Malacca, the flotilla was attacked by

an armada led by a powerful Chinese pirate, Chen Zuyi,

who controlled these waters and the kingdom of Palembang in Sumatra.

Zheng He’s forces succeeded in defeating Chen,

although Zheng lost five thousand of his men.

After recuperating in Palembang,

Zheng He entered the Indian Ocean and sailed on to India and Sri Lanka.

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