Zheng He was a great navigator and diplomat in the history of our country. The size, number, duration and length of the fleet he led to the Western Ocean were unique in the world at that time. of. Zheng He's voyages left many valuable legacies to later generations and attracted people's attention and research. However, there are very few existing materials recording Zheng He's maritime thoughts. Dozens of monographs and hundreds of papers at home and abroad are mostly devoted to the study of Zheng He. Mainly focusing on navigation activities, there are not many systematic and in-depth studies on Zheng He’s navigation thoughts. Zheng He was the first great man in Chinese history to link the ocean with national prosperity and destiny. From this perspective, Zheng He was not only a great navigator, diplomat, but also a great Maritime strategic thinker. Here, I will only give an overview of Zheng He’s maritime strategic thoughts, in order to stimulate in-depth research on Zheng He’s maritime thoughts.

1. The main contents of Zheng He’s maritime strategic thoughts and their historical status

Mr. Zheng Yijun quoted the French scholar Lanseau twice in his book "On Zheng He's Voyages to the West" ① War Debre's book "Overseas Chinese" records Zheng He's words when he was trying to persuade Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi to retain the treasure fleet: "If you want the country to be strong and prosperous, you must not ignore the ocean. Wealth comes from the ocean, and danger also comes from it. At sea... Once the king of another country seizes the Nanyang, China will be in danger. Our fleet will be invincible and can be used to expand business and subdue foreign lands so that they will not dare to covet the Nanyang..." Although Zheng He did not say much, there were only a few words. The words are rare and the sentences are penetrating. He linked the ocean with the country's prosperity and the country's security, clearly revealed the close relationship between the ocean and the country's politics, economy, and military, and profoundly elaborated on the impact of developing the naval fleet and controlling the ocean on national security and national security. The vital importance of trade. This is a high-level summary of Zheng He's lifelong navigation experience and the crystallization of his maritime thoughts. This passage is of precious historical value for studying Zheng He's maritime strategic thoughts.

An overview of Zheng He’s maritime strategic thoughts can be summarized as follows: awareness of ocean openness, awareness of ocean wealth, awareness of ocean sovereignty and awareness of ocean dangers. Its core is the idea of ??sea power.

First, open awareness of the ocean. It is mainly reflected in Zheng He's strong desire to go to the ocean, his sense of conquest that is not afraid of taking risks, and his fighting spirit of self-improvement and fulfilling his mission. During the 29 years from 1405 to 1433, Zheng He served as Emperor Yongle's leader with the majesty of a great nation "building large ships, sailing the oceans, harmonizing all nations, and bringing peace to the world" and the sense of political mission of "bringing troops to foreign lands and demonstrating the country's prosperity". The envoy led the world's largest naval treasure fleet on seven voyages to the Western Ocean, which lasted 29 years and visited 37 countries and regions in Asia and Africa. Active in the vast sea area from today's Southeast Asian countries to the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf and Red Sea coasts, and to the east coast of Africa. The spectacular scenes of "Looking at the ocean, with huge waves reaching the sky and huge waves like mountains" and "My clouds and sails are spread high, the stars are relaxed day and night, I wade through the wild waves, and I feel like crossing the thoroughfare" are the true reflections of Zheng He's love for sailing and his heroic spirit in conquering the ocean. Portrait. Until his later years, he still cared about the ocean, loved sailing, and cared about the fate of the treasure fleet and the safety of the motherland's maritime borders. In July 1433, Zheng He completed his last voyage and returned to his motherland across the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. Zheng He devoted his life completely to the navigation cause of his motherland, and wrote an unprecedentedly glorious chapter in the solemn epic of mankind going to the ocean.

Second, awareness of ocean wealth. Zheng He's awareness of marine wealth is to effectively develop and utilize the ocean, expand business and opening to the outside world, prosper trade, and put the country on the road to prosperity. Through decades of sailing career, Zheng He realized that the ocean is a transportation avenue connecting countries around the world and a bridge and link to promote the development of the world economy. The prosperity of a country is inseparable from the development of overseas trade, which is the "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation". This is a major change in the traditional ocean view of "the benefits of fishing and salt, and the convenience of boating". Although the Ming government at that time excluded competition and prohibited immigration and private trade in order to maintain its monopoly on this trade. Tribute trade has its limitations, but after all, through this form of trade, China has launched large-scale economic and trade exchanges with overseas countries.

As all countries and the number of trades increase, it is inevitable that fair trade will be induced. Zheng He regarded "expanding business" and implementing open trade as an important part of his voyages to the West. He always carried out extensive trade activities overseas, and gradually transformed the tribute trade, which mainly focused on paying tribute and rewards from the emperor, into a long-lasting and balanced trade exchange. Fair trade and exchange of needed goods with the countries visited promoted the development of overseas trade and made huge profits②. "Since Yongle changed the Yuan Dynasty, envoys were sent out in four directions, and all the edicts were issued. After all, the contributions arrived, and rare goods and valuable treasures were collected. The treasures were filled with the treasures of the previous generations. The poor people inherited the ancestors and bought a lot, and they may become rich, and the state will also be envious of it." , it is not difficult to see from the records that the vigorous development of maritime trade not only adapts to the ruling class's pursuit of "imported goods", but also satisfies the desire of officers and soldiers on the voyages to make profits. It also makes some people rich and plays an important role in the market prosperity of coastal areas. effect. It is precisely based on this that Zheng He made the cry in his later years, "If you want the country to be strong and prosperous, you must not ignore the ocean...wealth comes from the ocean...".

Third, awareness of maritime sovereignty. Through Zheng He's navigation practice, his awareness of maritime sovereignty gradually increased, and his maritime thoughts became increasingly mature. Zheng He further realized that the ocean is closely related to national prosperity and national security. In order to achieve the political goal of showing off one's wealth and intimidating the barbarians, one must rely on strength to "command tens of thousands of official school flag troops and ride on more than a hundred huge ships" to patrol foreign lands and "terrify" those who dare to compete with China, "its barbarian kings" Those who are disrespectful will be captured alive; those who are plundered by the bandits will be destroyed." In this way, foreign countries can obey the edict and bow their heads in submission③. At that time, China had been the number one maritime power in the East for about 30 years. Although this was due to the country's prosperity during this period, it directly relied on the strength of the naval fleet at that time. It was precisely because Zheng He led the world's largest naval treasure fleet on the Western Expedition, accompanied by many diplomatic envoys to promote China's prosperity, that China's authoritative position in the East was ensured. Envoys from more than 20 countries and 7 The king, came with tributes to pay his respects to the Ming emperor. During his decades of foreign wars and diplomatic career, Zheng He saw the important strategic position of the ocean, and the situation in Southeast Asia had a great impact on national security. When Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Gaochi wanted to dismantle the treasure fleet, Zheng He stood at the strategic height of national security and advocated for the retention of the treasure fleet and the importance of maritime rights in the South China Sea. "Once the king of another country seizes the Nanyang, China will be in danger. Our fleet is invincible and can be used to expand business and subdue foreign lands so that they will not dare to covet the Nanyang..." Zheng He's sonorous, powerful and sonorous cry clearly stated Tell the rulers at that time: The naval fleet is the foundation of sea power and the guarantee of maritime commerce. Whoever has a strong naval fleet can control the ocean, develop business, and stabilize the people and prosper the country; if you lose the naval fleet, you will lose the ocean. Not only is maritime commerce insecure, but the country is also in danger.