1. Although the Heavenly Purity Palace was damaged in a fire a few days earlier, Yongle’s daily routine begins from the moment he wakes up in his chief residential palace.

2. Zhang Tingyu et al., eds., Ming shi, 47, Treatise 23: 1239. Hereafter cited as MS.

3. Liu, Zhuozhong zhi, 147, 151, 195.

4. MS, 74, Treatise 50: 1803.

5. MS, 53, Treatise 29: 1351–52.

6. MS, 7, Annals 7: 101. The description of the palace layout is based upon Sun, Chun Ming mengyulu, juan 6–8.

7. MS, 56, Treatise 32: 1415; also Beijing Daxue Lishixi, ed., Beijing shi, 214.

8. Lo Lun, “Mingdai di xiangshi huishi yu dianshi,” 81.

9. Ming Taizong shilu, 274: 4a, 9th moon of 22nd year, Yongle reign. See also Joseph S. C. Lam, “Transnational Understanding of Historical Music: State Sacrificial Music from Southern Song China (A.D. 1127–1279),” The World of Music 38, no. 2 (1996): 77.

10. For more on music and ritual, see MS, 47, Treatise 23: 1227–33; 48, Treatise 24: 1246–47. See also Lam, State Sacrifices and Music in Ming China.

11. Wang Chongwu, “Ming Chengzu yu fangshi,” 16–18.

12. Lü Bi, Minggong shi, 43–44. This particular prescription is based upon Li Shizhen’s Materia Medica (Bencao gangmu; 1578).

13. MS, 74, Treatise 50: 1812.

14. Lü Bi, Minggong shi, 14, 29, 44.

15. The figure of the 1,500 capital officials is based upon a 1409 record. For more on the number of Ming officials, see Hucker, “Governmental Organization of the Ming Dynasty,” 11–12.

16. One picul equals 60.453 kilograms.

17. Jian, Zhongwai lishi nianbiao, 568.

18. Jian Yi was set free and reinstated as minister of personnel in March 1423, and one month later Minister of Rites Lü Zhen was also released. But Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji and Minister of Punishment Wu Zhong would not be released and reinstated until after Yongle’s death.

19. Ironically, several of Yongle’s successors became lazy and extravagant. Wanli (r. 1573–1620), the thirteenth Ming emperor, became uninterested in government and for over two decades refused to grant interviews to his ministers. See Ray Huang, 1587, A Year of No Significance.

20. Wang Shizhen, “Zhongquan kao” (On eunuchs). In Yanshantang bieji, juan 90: 3975–77 (Nanjing: 1591; reprint, Taipei: 1964).

21. In a typical ten-day period, Emperors Hongwu and Yongle dealt with 1,160 memorials as well as some 3,290 separate matters (Qian Mu, Zhongguo lidai zhengzhi deshi, 79).

22. Contrary to general belief, a substantial number of eunuchs were already literate at the time Yongle seized the throne in 1402 (Zhou, “Mingdai zhi huanguan,” 41, 103).

23. Liu, Zhuozhong zhi, 104–5.

24. See Crawford, “Eunuch Power in the Ming Dynasty,” 131–33; Ding, Mingdai tewu zhengzhi, 28–29.

25. According to many entries in Ming Taizong shilu (e.g., 59, 60, 79, 91, 104), Yongle routinely sent eunuchs to members of his family. For example, in 1408 he gave thirty eunuchs to the Prince of Su (Zhu Ying), twenty to the Prince of Shu (Zhu Chun), and five each to the Prince of Gu (Zhu Hui) and the Prince of Qing (Zhu Zhan). In 1412 Yongle sent ten castrati to the Prince of Jin (Zhu Jixi) and in 1417 showered the Prince of Shu (Zhu Chun) with one hundred castrated servants.

26. Tan Tianxing, Mingdai neige zhengzhi, 21.

27. Ibid., 44. See also Hucker, “Governmental Organization of the Ming Dynasty,” 64.

28. On these events and imperial decisions, see MS, Annals 7: 101–3.

29. MS, Annals 7: 113; Biography 1: 3511.

30. Another well-known Ming-Qing emperor, Kangxi (r.1662–1722), was also concerned about his place in China’s history. Although one of the most admired rulers, he was not always successful nor happy. He lived in despair near the end of his life and had failed to name an heir when he died in December 1722. For Kangxi’s biography, see Spence, Emperor of China.

31. This character is normally pronounced tun, but in The Book of Changes, it is pronounced zhun. For more on the interpretation of this particular hexagram, see Shang Binghe, Zhouyi shangsixue, 42–46.

1. For more on the rise of Ming, see Dardess, “The Transformation of Messianic Revolt and the Founding of the Ming Dynasty,” 539–58.

2. Wu Han, “Ming Chengzu shengmukao,” 631–46; Serruys, “A Manuscript Version of the Legend of the Mongol Ancestry of the Yung-lo Emperor,” 19–61; Li Dongfang, Xishuo Mingchao, vol. 1: 218; Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, s.v. “Chu Ti.”

3. Lü Bi, Minggong shi, 11.

4. Dreyer, “The Chi-shih of Yu Pen,” 901–4.

5. Lü Ben et al., eds. Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 1: 1–2.

6. Ming Taizu shilu, 147: 7b, 8th moon of 15th year, Hongwu reign.

7. Later, in the first few years of Zhu Di’s reign, Zhu Su basked in imperial favor.

8. MS, 40, Treatise 16: 910; Chen Qiaoyi, ed., Zhongguo lishi mingcheng, 82–84.

9. MS, 128, Biography 16: 3785–87.

10. MS, 135, Biography 23: 3922–23.

11. Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 1: 16–17.

12. MS, 137, Biography 25: 3949; Goodrich and Fang, Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1025.

13. Dayue Shanren, Jianwen huangdi shiji beiyilu, 8.

14. Long, Ming huiyao, juan 13. See also Shang Chuan, Yongle huangdi, 6–7. It is interesting to compare Yongle’s rise to power with two other monarchs of the late imperial period: Wanli, the thirteenth Ming emperor, was only ten years old when he assumed the throne, and the Qing emperor Kangxi was only thirteen when he, with the help of his grandmother, moved to oust the regent Oboi.

15. Ming Taizu shilu, 80: 1b–2a, 3rd moon of 6th year, Hongwu reign. Venerable tutors were also chosen for both Emperors Wanli and Kangxi, as the young monarchs were watched with close attention.

16. Ibid., 90: 4a–4b, 6th moon of 7th year, Hongwu reign.

17. Ibid., 193: 6a, 9th moon of 21st year, Hongwu reign; Ming Taizong shilu, 159: 2b–3a, 12th moon of 12th year, Yongle reign; 177: 3a–3b, 6th moon of 14th year. See also MS, 155, Biography 43: 4253–54; Wang Shizhen, Yanshantang bieji, juan 71: 20a.

18. MS, 40, Treatise 16: 912.

19. Ming Taizu shilu, 71: 5a, 1st moon of 5th year, Hongwu reign; 98: 2a–2b, 3rd moon of 8th year; 104: 4b, 2nd moon of 9th year.

20. Ming Taizu shilu, 117: 6a, 3rd moon of 11th year, Hongwu reign; 122: 1a, lst moon of 12th year.

21. Chan, The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty, 29.

22. Ming Taizong shilu, 24: 6a, 10th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

23. Wang Puzi, “Yanwangfu yu Zijingcheng,” 74.

24. On the Grand Canal, see Ray Huang, “The Grand Canal during the Ming Dynasty.”

25. Beijing Daxue Lishixi, ed., Beijing shi, 207–9.

26. Ibid., 126.

27. Ibid., 147.

28. MS, 129, Biography 17: 3801–3.

29. The most obvious parallel between Alexander and Yongle is their love of glory and expansion. See Michael Wood, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, PBS television documentary, May 5, 1998.

30. Lü Ben et al., eds, Min Taizong baoxun, juan 1: 54–55; juan 2: 134–35.

31. MS, 113, Biography 1: 3508.

1. Da Ming huidian, 1587 Wanli rev. ed., juan 1: 17, 19–20. See also Ho, Studies on the Population of China, 2–23; and Ray Huang, Taxation and Governmental Finance in Sixteenth-Century Ming China, 32–63.

2. Lo Lun, “Mingdai di xiangshi huishi yu dianshi,” 76–81.

3. Tsai, Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, 30–31.

4. Xu Daolin, “Song Lian yu Xu Da zhishi,” 56–58.

5. Zhongguo Hanghai Lishi Xuehui, ed., Zheng He jiashi ziliao, 2–5.

6. Zhu Yuanzhang, Mingchao kaiguo wenxian, 1716–19, 1744–45.

7. Ibid., 1614–17, 1657–59. For a translation of Hongwu’s “Ancestor’s Instructions,” the great commandment, the placard of people’s instructions, and the contents of the Ming Code, see Farmer, Zhu Yuanzhang and Early Ming Legislation, 114–229.

8. For more on the rights and obligations of the Ming princes, see Huang Zhangjian, “Lun Huang Ming ‘Zuxunlu’ di banxing niandai benlun Mingchu fengjian zhuwang zhidu” (On the timing of publication of the Ming “Ancestor’s Instructions” and the establishment of the princely system in the early Ming), Academia Sinica History and Philosophy Institute Collections, 32 (1961): 119–37.

9. MS, 116, Biography 4: 3557.

10. MS, 72, Treatise 48: 1730; 175, Biography 5: 3580–82; Zhu Yuanzhang, Mingchao kaiguo wenxian, 1714–16.

11. MS, 75, Officialdom 4: 1837–38.

12. Zhu Yuanzhang, Mingchao kaiguo wenxian, 1703, 1744–45.

13. Wang Chongwu, Fengtian jingnanji zhu, 4.

14. MS, 145, Biography 33: 4079–80.

15. Dreyer, Early Ming China, 160.

16. Wang Chongwu, Fengtian jingnanji zhu, 2–3; Farmer, Early Ming Government, 211 n. 51.

17. Ming Taizu shilu, 85: 3a–3b, 9th moon of 6th year, Hongwu reign; MS, 5, Annals 5: 69.

18. Wu Han, Chaoxian Lichao shilu zhong di Zhongguo shiliao, vol. 1, juan 2: 209.

19. Farmer, Early Ming Government, 92; Zhu Yuanzhang, Mingchao kaiguo wenxian, 1756–58.

20. MS, 129, Biography 17: 3798.

21. Lin, “Manchuria in the Ming Period,” 8–12.

22. MS, 132, Biography 20: 3864–65.

23. Ming Taizu shilu, 199: 1a–1b, 3a–4a, 1st moon of 23rd year, Hongwu reign.

24. Ibid., 201: 2b & 3b, leap 4th moon of 23rd year, Hongwu reign.

25. Ibid., 201: 2b & 4b, leap 4th moon of 23rd year, Hongwu reign; 202: 7a, 6th moon of 23rd year.

26. Tan Qian, Guoque, 720.

27. Wang Chongwu, Fengtian jingnanji zhu, 6–7.

28. MS, 137, Biography 25: 3942.

29. MS, 132, Biography 20: 3866.

30. Wang Shizhen, Yanshantang bieji, juan 20: 17–18.

31. Wang Xingtong, “Mingchu wenwu zhi zeng,” 80.

32. Ming Taizu shilu, 225: 1a, 2nd moon of 26th year; 226: 2a–2b, 3rd moon of 26th year, Hongwu reign; Wu Han, Zhu Yuanzhang zhuan, 148.

33. MS, 116, Biography 4: 3560.

34. Zhu Yuanzhang, Mingchao kaiguo wenxian, 1628, 1707.

35. Ibid., 1629, 1631; Ming Taizu shilu, 242: 2a–2b, leap 9th moon of 27th year, Hongwu reign.

36. Ibid., 225: 4b, 2nd moon of 26th year, Hongwu reign; 227: 2a, 4th moon of 26th year.

37. Wu Han, Chaoxian Lichao shilu zhong di Zhongguo shiliao, vol. 1, juan 1: 119, 179.

38. Wang Chongwu, Fengtian jingnanji zhu, 3–4; Gu Yingtai, Ming shi jishi benmo, juan 16: 163.

39. Ming Taizu shilu, 236: 2b, lst moon of 28th year, Hongwu reign; 244: 7a, 2nd moon of 29th year; 245: 1a, 3rd moon of 29th year.

40. Ibid., 253: 5a–6b, 6th moon of 30th year, Hongwu reign.

41. Ibid., 257: 5a, 5th moon of 31st year, Hongwu reign.

1. MS, 3, Annals 3: 55; Annals 4: 59. According to two reports (Feb. 13–14, 1999) from the New China News Agency, Emperor Hongwu and Empress Ma were buried in a secretly designed compound several dozen meters beneath the surface of the earth. The Chinese authorities claim to have recovered vases, yellow tiles, and other Ming artifacts from this so-called “underground palace” and assure the public that the tombs will remain intact.

2. According to Louise Levathes’ June 1990 interview of Wei Yuqing, historian at the Ming tombs, the number of concubines buried with Emperor Hongwu exceeded one hundred. They were buried alive or had their throats cut (Levathes, When China Ruled the Seas, 66, 214).

3. MS, 141, Biography 29: 4014–15.

4. Wu Han, Zhu Yuanzhang zhuan, 232–33; Meng Sen, Mingdai shi, 83.

5. Ibid., 89–90; Wang Chongwu, Ming jingnan shishi kaozheng gao, 46ff.

6. MS, 4, Annals 4: 59.

7. Xia Xie, Ming Tongjian, 7th moon of 26th year, Hongwu reign, juan 10: 510; Fu, Ming shu, juan 4: 121.

8. MS, 143, Biography 31: 4053; 151, Biography 39: 4174.

9. Tan Qian, Guoque, 840–43.

10. MS, 141, Biography 29: 4014–15.

11. MS, 141, Biography 29: 4024; 143: Biography 31: 4058.

12. Ibid.; David B. Chan, “The Problem of the Princes as Faced by the Ming Emperor Hui, 1398–1402,” 183–93.

13. Zhang Yishan, “Duoguohou di Ming Chengzu yu zhuwang kao,” 52–55.

14. Gu Yingtai, Ming shi jishi benmo, juan 16: 164.

15. MS, 141, Biography 29: 4015–16.

16. Huang Zhangjian, Ming Qing shi yanjiu conggao (Collected drafts on the study of Ming and Qing history) (Taipei: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1977), 38.

17. MS, 4, Annals 4: 61.

18. Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 4: 304.

19. Wang Chongwu, “Lun Huang Ming zuxun yu Ming Chengzu jidong” (On “The Ancestor’s Instructions” and Emperor Yongle’s succession), Dongfang zazhi (Eastern miscellany) 43, no. 7 (1947): 46.

20. Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 3: 216–17.

21. For a detailed and well-documented narrative and analysis of the civil war, see Dreyer, Early Ming China, 161–70.

22. Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1127.

23. MS, 4, Annals 4: 62.

24. Ibid., 117, Biography 5: 3591–92.

25. Ibid., 113, Biography 1: 3510.

26. Zhongguo Hanghai Lishi Xuehui, ed., Zheng He jiashi ziliao, 2–3.

27. MS, 4, Annals 4: 62–63.

28. MS, 144, Biography 32: 4068.

29. Wu Han, Chaoxian Lichao shilu zhong di Zhongguo shiliao, 1: 168.

30. MS, 142, Biography 30: 4035; 144, Biography 32: 4070–71.

31. MS, 4, Annals 4: 65–66.

32. MS, 141, Biography 29: 4028.

33. Wang Chongwu, Ming jingnan shishi kaozheng gao, 53–84.

34. MS, 141, Biography 29: 4014–16.

35. Gu Yingtai, Ming shi jishi benmo, 218–19.

36. MS, 141, Biography 29: 4019.

37. Shen Gangbo, “Fang Xiaoru di zhengzhi xueshuo” (The political philosophy of Fang Xiaoru), in Dalu zazhi shixue congshu (History collections of the continent miscellany) (Taipei, 1967), vol. 2, book 4: 16–18.

38. Zheng Xiao, Wuxuebian, vol. 58, “On Jianwen’s Vassals,” juan 5: 27a–38b.

39. Qian Shisheng, Huang Ming biaozhong ji (Loyalty roll of the imperial Ming) (17th cent. edition), s.v. “Huang Zicheng,” 17a.

40. Ming Taizong shilu, 274: 4a, 9th moon of 22nd year, Yongle reign. See also Tan Qian, Guoque, 866.

41. MS, 308, Biography 196: 7910.

42. MS, 151, Biography 39: 4176–78; 154, Biography 42: 4225–28; 162, Biography 50: 4398.

43. MS 126, Biography 14: 3746–47.

44. Yongle’s successor would later restore Xu Qin’s noble title and privileges (MS, 125, Biography 13: 3731; Li Dongfang, Xishuo Mingchao, 1: 155–56).

45. MS, 121, Biography 9: 3663–64.

46. Wu Han, “Mingdai jingnan zhiyi yu guodu beiqian” (The Jingnan campaign and the moving of the capital to the north during the Ming period), Qinghua xuebao (Journal of Qinghua University) 10, no. 4 (1935): 933–34.

1. MS, 5, Annals 5: 75.

2. Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 2: 27–28.

3. In 1382 Emperor Hongwu expanded the Hanlin Academy to include several grand secretaries, but it was Yongle who began to utilize these Hanlin scholars to play an executive role in government (Huang Zuo, Hanlin ji, juan 2: 12–13).

4. For a comprehensive study of the eunuch administration, see Tsai, Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.

5. Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 2: 37.

6. Ibid., 29.

7. Ibid., 32.

8. Ibid., 38.

9. Ming Taizong shilu, 13: 10a–10b, 10th moon of 35th year, Hongwu reign.

10. Ibid., 16: 1a, 1st moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

11. Ibid., 20: 1a–1b, 5th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

12. Ibid., 87: 1a, 1st moon of 7th year, Yongle reign.

13. Dreyer, Early Ming China, 173.

14. Ming Taizong shilu, 160: 1a, 1st moon of 13th year, Yongle reign.

15. Zhu Di, Shengxue xinfa, “Preface,” 1b–4a, 5a–5b.

16. Smith, Chinese Religion, 33.

17. Lü Bi, Minggong shi, juan 2: 13.

18. Ming Taizong shilu, 274: 4a, 9th moon of 22nd year, Yongle reign.

19. Ibid., 160: 2a–3b, 1st moon of 13th year, Yongle reign.

20. Ibid., 236: 1a–4b, 4th moon of 19th year, Yongle reign.

21. Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 1: 2–3.

22. MS, 147, Biography 35: 4125.

23. MS, 151, Biography 39: 4178.

24. Nan Bingwen, “Mingdai di shiguan jingji” (Monastery economy during the Ming period), Nankai xuebao (Journal of Nankai University) 4 (1991): 48–52.

25. MS, 76, Treatise 52: 1875–76.

26. MS, 316, Biography 204: 8169.

27. MS, 316, Biography 204: 8168–70.

28. Li Dongfang, Xishuo Mingchao, 1: 177–78.

29. MS, 46, Treatise 22: 1197–98; 316, Biography 204: 8167. Zunyi, the important Guizhou city where Mao Zedong regained his leadership as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party in January 1935, was not yet incorporated into the new province in Yongle’s time. It was then under the jurisdiction of Sichuan Province.

30. Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 3: 1.

31. For more on Chinese dynastic Veritable Records, see Charles S. Gardner, Chinese Traditional Historiography (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1961), 91–97.

32. Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 3: 9–10.

33. Ming Taizong shilu, 86: 4a, 12th moon of 6th year, Yongle reign.

34. Ibid., 23: 4a–4b, 9th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign; 29: 9a–9b, 3rd moon of 2nd year.

35. Ibid., 80: 5a, 6th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

36. Ibid., 88: 4b–5a, 2nd moon of 7th year, Yongle reign.

37. Zhu Di, Shengxue xinfa, 11b–12b.

38. Ming Taizong shilu, 94: 2a–2b, 7th moon of 7th year, Yongle reign.

39. Ibid., 69: 3b, 7th moon of 5th year, Yongle reign.

40. MS, 150, Biography 38: 4159.

41. MS, 151, Biography 39: 4179–83.

42. On his way to Annam in 1406, Huang Fu kept a journal that provides invaluable information on conditions in southwest China during the early fifteenth century (Huang Fu, “Fengshi Annam shuicheng riji,” juan 64: 1a–11b; idem, Huang Zhongxuangong wenji).

43. MS, 151, Biography 39: 4183; 153, Biography 41: 4204–5; 154, Biography 42: 4225–28.

44. MS, 149, Biography 37: 4147–49.

45. MS, 149, Biography 37: 4150–54.

46. MS, 151, Biography 39: 4180–85.

47. Tu Shan, Mingzheng tongzong (Central hierarchy of Ming administration), 1615 blockprint (reprint, Taipei: Chengwen Chubanshe, 1977), juan 7: 4a–4b.

48. Tan Tianxing, Mingdai Neige zhengzhi (Politics of the Grand Secretariat during the Ming period), 10–11.

49. Grimm, “Das Neiko der Ming-Zeit, von den Anfangen bis 1506,” 139–77.

50. Huang Zuo, Hanlin ji, juan 2: 13–19.

51. Zheng Kecheng, “Mingdai Jiangxiji shiren he guanliao di zhengzhi biaoxian,” 55.

52. Hucker, Chinese Government in Ming Times, 185; Wang Chongwu, Ming jingnan shishi kaozheng gao, 88–89.

53. Yu Jideng, Diangu jiwen (Recording the old cliches), Ming blockprint, juan 6: 112–14.

54. MS, 147, Biography 35: 4123.

55. Ibid., 4120–21.

56. Ibid., 4121–22.

57. Ibid., 4128–29.

58. Ibid., 4124, 4132–36.

59. Ibid., 118, Biography 6: 3617–20.

60. Jin Youzi’s Beizeng lu is collected in Shen Jiefu, Jilu huibian, juan 32. See also Jiang Shengli, “Mingdai yeshi shulun” (Commentary on Ming unofficial histories) Nankai xuebao, 1987, no. 2: 37; MS, 147, Biography 35: 4125–26.

61. MS, 148, Biography 36: 4138–41. Yang Rong’s Beizeng ji is collected in Shen Jiefu, Jilu huibian, juan 34.

62. Yu Jideng, Recording Old Cliches, juan 6: 116; Lü Ben et al., eds., Ming Taizong baoxun, juan 1: 17–18.

63. See Herrlee G. Creel, What Is Taoism? And Other Studies in Chinese Cultural History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), chaps. 5 and 6.

1. Ming Taizong shilu, 15: 2a–3b, 12th moon of 35th year, Hongwu reign.

2. Ibid., 10B: 5a–5b, 7th moon of 35th year, Hongwu reign.

3. Ibid., 10A: 7b–8a; 10B: 2a–2b, 7th moon of 35th year, Hongwu reign.

4. On the early Ming censors, see Hucker, The Censorial System of Ming China, 30–107.

5. Hucker, “Governmental Organization of the Ming Dynasty,” 55–56.

6. Ming Taizong shilu, 119: 3b, 9th moon of 9th year, Yongle reign; MS, 94, Treatise 70: 2320.

7. Ming Taizong shilu, 121: 5a–5b, 11th moon of 9th year, Yongle reign; MS, 94, Treatise 70: 2320–21.

8. Wang Jing, “Mingdai minjian zhongjiao fanzhengfu huodong di zhuzong biaoxian yu tezeng” (Various appearances and characteristics of popular religious antigovernment activities during the Ming period), Nankai xuebao, no. 2 (March 1987): 28.

9. Zhao, Nianershi zhaji, juan 36: 521–22.

10. Xia Xie, Ming Tongjian, juan 14: 633, 12th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

11. Ming Taizong shilu, 10B: 1b–6b and 11, Hongwu reign: 2b–3a, 7th moon of 35th year; 11: 4a and 8a, 8th moon of 35th year.

12. MS, 126, Biography 14: 3747; 130, Biography 18: 3815; 144, Biography 32: 4073.

13. Ming Taizong shilu, 160: 4a–4b, 1st moon of 13th year, Yongle reign.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid., 19: 7a–7b, 4th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

16. Ibid., 11: 5a–5b, 8th moon of 35th year, Hongwu reign.

17. MS, 166, Biography 54: 4480.

18. Ming Taizong shilu, 28: 1a–1b, 2nd moon of 2nd year, Yongle reign.

19. Ibid., 12B: 3a–3b, 9th moon of 35th year, Hongwu reign.

20. MS, 77, Treatise 53: 1880.

21. Farmer, Early Ming Government, 170.

22. Liang Fangzhong, Zhongguo lidai hukou tiandi tianfu tongji (Statistics of households, lands, and land taxes throughout China’s dynasties), vol. 1, table 52. See also Shang, Yongle huangdi, 308.

23. Tang, “Lun Mingdai juntun di xingzhi yu zuoyong,” 58.

24. Ray Huang, Taxation and Governmental Finance in Sixteenth-Century Ming China, 47.

25. MS, 82, Treatise 58: 1997–99.

26. Zhang Hua, “Luelun Ming Chengzu di lishi diwei,” 96.

27. See Wang Yuquan’s comprehensive study of the Ming agro-military colonies, Mingdai di juntun (Agro-military colonies during the Ming period) (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1965).

28. Tang, “Lun Mingdai juntun di xingzhi yu zuoyong,” 51.

29. MS, 77, Treatise 53: 1882.

30. Ibid., 1884.

31. Tang, “Lun Mingdai juntun di xingzhi yu zuoyong,” 60–61.

32. Ibid., 62; Tang Jingshen, “Growth and Development of the System of Having Garrison Troops Engage in Farming in the Early Ming,” Lanzhou Daxue Xuebao (Journal of Lanzhou University), 1982, no. 3: 38; Yuan et al., Taijian shihua, 171–72.

33. MS, 77, Treatise 53: 1884–85.

34. Ibid., 159, Biography 47: 4342.

35. Nan Bingwen, “Mingdai di shiguan jingji” (Monastery economy during the Ming period) Nankai xuebao (Journal of Nankai University), July 1991, no. 4: 46–48.

36. Ming Taizong shilu, 161: 1a–1b, 2nd moon of 13th year, Yongle reign.

37. Tang, “Lun Mingdai juntun di xingzhi yu zuoyong,” 57; Zhu Hong, Ming Chengzu yu Yongle zhengzhi, 193.

38. Levathes, When China Ruled the Seas, 78.

39. Farmer, Early Ming Government, 156–61.

40. MS, 153, Biography 41: 4204.

41. Ibid.

42. Ibid., 85, Treatise 61: 2080. On the rebuilding of the Grand Canal, see Hoshi Ayao, Mindai soun no kenkyu; Peng Yunhe, “Shilun Mingdai di caoyun” (On the tribute grain transport of the Ming period), in Ming Qing shi quoji xueshu taolunhui lunwenji (Proceedings of the International Conference on Ming and Qing History) (Tianjin: Renmin Chubanshe, 1981): 518–535.

43. MS, 153, Biography 41: 4206–8.

44. Ibid., 79, Treatise 55: 1915–16.

45. Ray Huang, Taxation and Governmental Finance in Sixteenth-Century Ming China, 54–55.

46. Lu, Shuyuan zaji, juan 12: 135; MS, 75, Treatise 51: 1847–48.

47. See Chen Huan-chang, “The Economic Principles of Confucius and His School,” Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1911.

48. MS, 78, Treatise 54: 1895.

49. Wu Han, “Shiliu shiji qian zhi Zhongguo yu Nanyang,” 154.

50. MS, 81, Treatise 57: 1980; Zhang Dechang, “Mingdai Guangzhou zhi haibo maoyi,” 4–7.

51. T’ien Ju-kang, “Cheng Ho’s Voyages and the Distribution of Pepper in China,” 188–89.

52. Farmer, Early Ming Government, 118.

53. Cha, Zuiwei lu, 2605.

54. Tan Qian, Guoque, 1179–81.

55. Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 360.

56. For more about the palace layout, see Wang Puzi, “Yanwangfu yu Zijingcheng”; Zhu Qi, Beijing gongque tushuo (An illustrated account of the palaces of Beijing), Changsha, 1938.

1. In his newest book, State Sacrifices and Music in Ming China, Joseph S. C. Lam explains the central relationship between Ming music and ritual.

2. Ming Taizong shilu, 22: 3a, 8th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign; 47, 4b–5a, 10th moon of 3rd year, Yongle reign.

3. MS, 61, Treatise 37: 1500–1516.

4. MS, 47, Treatise 23: 1224.

5. Ibid., 61, Treatise 37: 1499–1500.

6. Ibid., 63, Treatise 39: 1568–70; Youth Cultural Enterprises ed., Chinese Art, 148–50.

7. Lo Lun, “Mingdai di xiangshi huishi yu dianshi,” 78–81.

8. MS, 69, Treatise 45: 1670, 1679; Treatise 46: 1694.

9. Bai Xingliang, “Zhongguo gudai shuyuan kao” (A study of private academies in ancient China), Nankai shixue (Nankai historical review), 1992, no. 2: 12–13.

10. Youth Cultural Enterprises ed., Chinese Art, 167; MS, 50, Treatise 26: 1296–97.

11. Ibid., 147, Biography 35: 4125–28.

12. Shang, Yongle huangdi, 143–44.

13. Ming Taizong shilu, 21: 9a, 7th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

14. Ibid., 36: 5a–5b, 10th moon of 2nd year, Yongle reign.

15. Ibid., 73: 2b, 10th moon of 5th year, Yongle reign.

16. Ibid., 73: 3a–4a, 11th moon of 5th year, Yongle reign.

17. Chen Xiang, “Ming Chengzu Zhu Di yu Yongle dadian” 30–31. See also K. T. Wu, “Ming Printing and Printers,” 203–60.

18. Sun, Chun Ming mengyulu, juan 12: 6.

19. Yao Guangxiao, Daoyulu, n.d., “Preface,” cited in Shang, Yongle huangdi, 147.

20. Guo Bogong, Yongle dadian kao, 15–86; MS, 147, Biography 35: 4121–22; 150, Biography 38: 4165.

21. Ma Shutian, “Ming Chengzu di zhengzhi yu zongjiao,” 35–51.

22. Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 363.

23. Ming Taizong shilu, 69: 3b–4a, 7th moon of 5th year, Yongle reign.

24. Xu Huanghou (Empress Xu), Neixun, “Preface,” 1a–2b.

25. Xu Huanghou (Empress Xu), Quanshan shu (1407 Inner Court edition), “Preface,” 1a–4b.

26. Xie, ed., Gujin lienü zhuan, 1a–4b.

27. Xie, Tianhuang yudie, 11b.

28. Ming Taizong shilu, 158: 2a, 11th moon of 12th year, Yongle reign; 168: 2b–4a, 9th moon of 13th year.

29. Lu, Shuyuan zaji, “On Selected Copying,” juan 2: 10. See also Shen Jiefu, ed., Jilu huibian, juan 181.

30. Hu et al., eds., Sishu daquan, 6, juan 36, “Abstract”: 2a.

31. Gu Yanwu, Rizhi lu jishi, juan 18: 428.

32. Yang Shiqi, Dongli quanji, 7, juan 2, s.v. “Puzaiji” (Notes from my humble library).

33. Thompson, Chinese Religion, 148–49.

34. Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 363.

35. Thompson, Chinese Religion, 148.

36. Ming Taizong shilu, 210: 1b–2a, 3rd moon of 17th year, Yongle reign.

37. Zhu Di, Weishan yinzhi, “Preface,” 1a–1b.

38. Ibid., 1a–2b, 4b–7a.

39. Ming Taizong shilu, 226: 1a, 6th moon of 18th year, Yongle reign.

40. Zhu Di, Xiaoxun shishi, juan 2: 24b–25a.

41. Ming Taizong shilu, 32: 2b, 6th moon of 2nd year, Yongle reign; 96: 2b, 9th moon of 7th year; 97: 4b, 10th moon of 7th year; 160: 4a, 1st moon of 13th year.

42. Gu Yanwu, Rizhi lu jishi, juan 18: 427–28.

1. Gu Yingtai, Mingshi jishi benmo, juan 10: 127–49.

2. Dardess, “The Transformation of Messianic Revolt,” 539; Chaqi, “Zi Bei Yuan zhi Qingchu di Menggu, 1368–1635,” 19.

3. Ibid., 57. See also Serruys, “The Mongols in China,” 233–305.

4. Li Dongfang, Xishuo Mingchao, 190–91.

5. Cai, “Mingchao qianqi dui Menggu di minzu zhengce,” 59.

6. Ibid.

7. MS, 145, Biography 33: 4091.

8. Ibid., 156, Biography 44: 4273.

9. Ming Taizu shilu, 30: 10a, 2nd moon of 1st year, Hongwu reign. See also Farmer, Zhu Yuanzhang and Early Ming Legislation, 36.

10. Ming Taizu shilu, 51: 5a–5b, 4th moon of 3rd year, Hongwu reign.

11. Cai, “Mingchao qianqi dui Menggu di minzu zhengce,” 60–62.

12. On the origens of the term “Tartar,” see Curtain, The Mongols; Gernet, A History of Chinese Civilization, 398.

13. Li Shanchang et al., eds., Yuan shi, juan 29, Annals 29: 638.

14. Cai Meibiao, “Mingdai Menggu yu Da Yuan guohao,” 46.

15. Ming Taizong shilu, 92: 3b, 5th moon of 7th year, Yongle reign.

16. Zhu Di, Shengxue xinfa, juan 4: 29.

17. MS, 40, Geography 1: 882; Lu, Shuyuan zaji, juan 5: 49.

18. Chen Qiaoyi, ed., Zhongguo lishi mingcheng, 52.

19. Victor Mair, “Mysterious Mummies of China,” on NOVA, PBS, January 20, 1998.

20. Sinclair, The Yellow River, 78–81.

21. Farmer, Early Ming Government, 139–41; Lin, “Manchuria in the Ming Period,” 8–9.

22. MS, 328, Foreign Countries 9: 8504.

23. Gu Yingtai, Ming shi jishi benmo, juan 20: 316.

24. MS, 328, Foreign Countries 9: 8504–5.

25. Serruys, Sino-Jurched Relations during the Yung-lo Period (1403–1424), 16–35; Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 361.

26. Lin, “Manchuria in the Ming Period,” 33–41; Serruys, “Foreigners in the Metropolitan Police during the 15th Century,” 59–83.

27. Rossabi, “Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia,” 8–9.

28. Zhang Hua, “Luelun Ming Chengzu di lishi diwei,” 97.

29. Da Ming huidian, juan 108.

30. Yuan et al., Taijian shihua, 171–72.

31. Farmer, Early Ming Government, 171.

32. Tani, A Study on Horse Administration in the Ming Period, 10–13.

33. Jian et al., eds., Zhongwai lishi nianbiao, 559–560, 568.

34. MS, 329, Biography 217: 8511. See also Morris Rossabi, “Ming China’s Relations with Hami and Central Asia, 1404–1513: A Re-examination of Traditional Chinese Foreign Policy,” Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1970.

35. MS, 329, Biography 217: 8528–29.

36. For an invaluable study on this subject, see Morris Rossabi, “The Tea and Horse Trade with Inner Asia during the Ming,” Journal of Asian History 4, no. 2 (1970): 136–68.

37. Ray Huang, Taxation and Governmental Finance in Sixteenth-Century Ming China, 257–58.

38. Tani, A Study on Horse Administration in the Ming Period, 7. See also Wang Shizhen, “Shimakao,” 3925–31.

39. Chen Shengxi, “Mingchu Tiemuer diguo he Zhongguo di quanxi,” 34–48; MS, 332, Biography 220: 8599.

40. Gao, “Mingdai di Guanxi qiwei ji qi dongqian,” 42–48.

41. MS, 330, Biography 218: 8550.

42. Ibid., 8551.

43. Ibid., 8554–55; Gao, “Mingdai di Guanxi qiwei ji qi dongqian,” 45–46.

44. MS, 330, Biography 218: 8563–64.

45. I visited Yang Pass and the Mogao Grottoes in 1988 and saw the remains of a wall and a beacon tower that had been used to warn of approaching marauders and to guide camel caravan travelers.

46. MS, 330, Biography 218: 8559–62.

47. Ibid., 8565–66.

48. Ibid., 8556–58.

49. See Pokotilov, “History of the Eastern Mongols During the Ming Dynasty, 1368–1634,” 15–23.

50. Both Li Dongfang and Wada Sei maintain that Guilichi was the Oirat chief Ugechi Khashakha (Li, Xishuo Mingchao, 188; Wada Toashi kenkyu, “Moko hen” (Section on Mongols).

51. Ming Taizong shilu, 17: 3b, 2nd moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

52. Ibid., 21: 11a–11b, 7th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

53. Ibid., 52: 5a, 3rd moon of 4th year, Yongle reign.

54. Ibid., 75: 1b, 1st moon of 6th year, Yongle reign; 77: 2a–2b, 6th moon of 6th year.

55. Ibid., 82: 1a and 5b, 8th moon of 6th year, Yongle reign; 83: 1a, 9th moon of 6th year.

56. Ibid., 83: 1a, 10th moon of 6th year, Yongle reign; 84: 4b, 12th moon of 6th year; 86: 5b, 12th moon of 6th year; 87: 3a–4a, 1st moon of 7th year.

57. Ibid., 86: 6a, 12th moon of 6th year, Yongle reign. See also Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 12.

58. Ming Taizong shilu, 93: 4b, 6th moon of 7th year, Yongle reign.

59. Ibid., 94: 1a, 7th moon of 7th year, Yongle reign; 95: 2b–3a, 8th moon of 7th year.

60. Ibid., 96: 3a, 9th moon of 7th year, Yongle reign.

61. Tan Qian, Guoque, 1028; Dreyer, Early Ming China, 178.

62. Wu Han, Chaoxian Lichao shilu zhong di Zhongguo shiliao, 3, juan 18: 37a; MS, 6, Annals 6: 87.

63. Farmer, Early Ming Government, 110–11.

64. Terada, Ei raku tei, 146–47; Kasakevich, “Sources of the History of the Chinese Military Expeditions into Mongolia,” 330.

65. Ming Taizong shilu, 111, 1a, 12th moon of 8th year, Yongle reign.

66. Shang (Yongle huangdi, 201) says that Bunyashiri was killed in October 1412, but Dreyer (Early Ming China, 178) says that the murder took place in 1413.

67. MS, 328, Biography 216: 8498.

68. Ming Taizong shilu, 150, 1a–5b, 4th moon of 12th year, Yongle reign.

69. See Serruys, “The Mongols in China,” Monumenta Serica 27 (1968): 233–305.

70. MS, 328, Biography 216: 8498.

71. MS, 149, Biography 37: 4153; 151, Biography 39: 4183–84.

72. In the eyes of Yongle’s courtiers, his decision to fight the Mongols at all costs seemed irrational. But Yongle was not an ordinary monarch, as he believed he was destined to build an empire that would surpass those of the Han and the Tang. See MS 7, Annals 7: 105.

73. Ming Taizong shilu, 246: 1b–2a, 2nd moon of 20th year, Yongle reign.

74. Ibid., 250: 2a–9b, 8th moon of 20th year, Yongle reign.

75. Shang, Yongle huangdi, 220.

76. Ming Taizong shilu, 261: 2b–4a, 7th moon of 21st year, Yongle reign.

77. Wu Han, Chaoxian Lichao shilu zhong di Zhongguo shiliao, 1, juan 4: 310.

78. Cha, Zuiwei lu, 4, Biography 29: 2604–5.

79. Ming Taizong shilu, 264: 1a–3b, 10th moon of 21st year, Yongle reign; MS, 156, Biography 44: 4274.

80. Ming Taizong shilu, 267: 1b, 1st moon of 22nd year, Yongle reign.

81. Yang Rong, Beizeng ji, juan 34.

82. Ibid.

83. MS, 7, Annals 7: 104; Wu Han, Chaoxian Lichao shilu zhong di Zhongguo shiliao, 1, juan 4: 319–21.

1. Thomas Hodgkin, Vietnam: The Revolutionary Path (New York: Macmillan Press, 1981), 55–58.

2. MS, 324, Biography 212: 8383–85.

3. For more about Le Qui-ly’s life and career, see Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 797–800.

4. MS, 321, Biography 209: 8314; Ming Taizong shilu, 52: 6a–6b, 3rd moon of 4th year, Yongle reign.

5. Ming Taizong shilu, 56: 1a–3b, 7th moon of 4th year, Yongle reign.

6. Ibid., 60: 1a, 10th moon of 4th year, Yongle reign; MS, 6, Annals 6: 83.

7. Huang Fu, “Fengshi Annam shuicheng riji,” 1–11.

8. Dreyer, Early Ming China, 208–9.

9. Ming Taizong shilu, 60: 1b–8b, 10th moon of 4th year, Yongle reign; 67: 1b–2b, 5th moon of 5th year.

10. MS, 321, Biography 209: 8315–16.

11. Tran, ed., Dai-Viet su-ky toan-thu, juan 9: 493.

12. Ibid., juan 9: 500.

13. Ibid., juan 9: 503; MS, 321, Biography 209: 8317.

14. Ming Taizong shilu, 111: 6a, 12th moon of 8th year, Yongle reign; 113: 1a–3b, 2nd moon of 9th year.

15. As the Chinese invaders became numb to endless and mindless slaughter, they committed horrors similar to those perpetrated by Americans at My Lai on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War. See Tran ed., Dai-Viet su-ky toan-thu, juan 9: 501.

16. Huang Fu, Huang Zhongxuangong wenji (Literary collections of Huang Fu) (Ming Jiajing edition), juan 4: 4–5, 10–11, 21.

17. Tran, ed., Dai-Viet su-ky toan-thu, juan 6: 506; juan 9: 506–8; MS, 321, Biography 209: 8317–20.

18. On local governments in Annam, see Zheng Yongchang, “Ming Hongwu Xuande nianjian Zhong Yue guanxi yanjiu,” 52–56.

19. Tran, ed., Dai-Viet su-ky toan-thu, juan 9: 509–17; Shang, Yongle huangdi, 285–86.

20. Tran, ed., Dai-Viet su-ky toan-thu, juan 9: 505.

21. MS, 321, Biography 209: 8320–21; Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 793–94.

22. Yang Shiqi, Dongli quanji, 15.

23. Murphey, East Asia, 176.

24. MS, 304, Biography 192: 7768–69.

25. Ibid.: 8580–84, 8586; Ming Taizong shilu, 87: 1a–3b, 2nd moon of 11th year, Yongle reign.

26. MS, 304, Biography 192: 7769; Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 522–23.

27. MS, 332, Biography 220: 8609.

28. Fletcher, “China and Central Asia, 1368–1884,” 206–24; Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes, 459, 624.

29. MS, 332, Biography 220: 8598–99; Rossabi, “Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia,” 17–18; Fletcher, “China and Central Asia,” 214–15.

30. Chen Cheng, “Xiyu xingcheng ji,” 260–95.

31. When I visited the ruins of Gaochang and the oasis city of Turfan in 1988, my Uygur guide said that Gaochang was called Huozhou (Flaming Land) during the Ming period, but the Uygur called it Kara-khoto. See Rossabi, “Ming China and Turfan, 1406–1517,” 206–25.

32. Rossabi, “Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia,” 27.

33. Zhang Dechang, “Mingdai Guangzhou zhi haibo maoyi,” 5–12.

34. Goodrich and Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography, 144–45, 360; Hucker, “Governmental Organization of the Ming Dynasty,” 35.

35. MS, 320, Biography 208: 8283–84.

36. Ibid., 8284–85. On fifteenth century Korea, see Gale, History of the Korean People, 234–51; Lee Ki-baik, A New History of Korea, 192–200.

37. Wu Han, Chaoxian Lichao shilu zhong di Zhongguo shiliao, 230–31.

38. Ni Qian, Chaoxian jishi, juan 65: 1a–12b.

39. MS, 320, Biography 208: 8284–85.

40. Tsai, Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, 138.

41. MS, 113, Biography 1: 3511.

42. Jian et al., eds., Zhongwai lishi nianbiao, 562, 566, 569.

43. Many of the navy conscripts were poor boatmen and supporters of Hongwu’s opponents (Ming Taizu shilu, 70: 3a–3b, 12th moon of 4th year, Hongwu reign).

44. Ming Taizong shilu, 22: 3a–3b, 8th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

45. Da Ming huidian, juan 108, “Tributes”: 66.

46. MS, 322, Biography 210: 8347; Zhang Dechang, “Mingdai Guangzhou zhi haibo maoyi,” 5–12.

47. Terada, Ei raku tei, 232–34.

48. Wang Yi-t’ung, Official Relations between China and Japan, 1368–1549, 23.

49. Terada, Ei raku tei, 236–37.

50. Ibid., 237–38; Chen Wenshi, Ming Hongwu Jiajing jian de haijin zhengce, 56–62.

51. MS, 322, Biography 210: 8346.

52. See So, Japanese Piracy in Ming China During the Sixteenth Century.

53. Xia Ziyang, Shi Liuqiu lu, juan: 55a–56a.

54. Lidai baoan (Valuable documents of the Ryukyu kingdom) (reprint, Taipei: National Taiwan University, 1973); MS, 322, Biography 211: 8361–64.

55. Ibid., 8365.

56. Henry Yule and Henri Cordier, The Book of Sir Marco Polo (London: J. Murray, 1903), 1: 204; Henry Yule, “Ibn Battuta’s Travels in Bengal and China,” in idem, Cathay and the Way Thither (reprint, London: Nendeln, Liechtenstein, Kraus, 1916), 4: 24–25, 96.

57. See Lo Jung-pang, “The Emergence of China as a Sea Power,” 489–503.

58. Da Ming huidian, juan 108, “Tributes”: 66.

59. Ming Taizong shilu, 22: 2a–2b, 8th moon of 1st year, Yongle reign.

60. MS, 324, Biography 212: 8394–95.

61. Ibid., 8398–99.

62. MS, 325, Biography 213: 8416–17.

63. Ming Taizong shilu, 183: 1a–1b, 12th moon of 14th year, Yongle reign; 233: 5a–5b, 1st moon of 19th year.

64. Ibid., 71: 1a–2a, 9th moon of 5th year, Yongle reign; 134: 3a, 11th moon of 10th year.

65. MS, 325, Biography 213: 8412–15.

66. Ibid., 8420; Wolters, The Fall of Srivigaya in Malay History, chaps. 4, 7, 11.

67. In 1669 the Dutch traded Banda, one of the valuable Spice Islands they controlled in Indonesia and a source of cloves and nutmeg, to the English for a New World island known then as New Amsterdam—and now as New York.

68. MS, 324, Biography 212: 8403–4; Chang, “The Chinese Maritime Trade,” 90–103.

69. Zhongguo Hanghai Lishi Xuehui, ed., Zheng He xia xiyang, 19.

70. On early literature describing the Ming voyages, see Needham, Science and Civilization in China, vol. 4, part 3, sec. 29, “Nautics,” 476–540; Pelliot, “Les grands voyages maritimes chinois au début du XVe siècle,” 237–452.

71. On Zheng He’s background, see Zhongguo Hanghai Lishi Xuehui, ed., Zheng He jiashi ziliao; Cha, Zuiwei lu, 4, Biography 29: 2603–4.

72. Mills’s book, Yingya shenglan (The overall survey of the ocean’s shores), was published by Cambridge University Press for the Hakluyt Society (J. V. G. Mills, The Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores [Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1970]). See also idem, “Malaya in the Wu Pei Chih Charts,” Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Journal, vol. 15 (1937).

73. After Yingya shenglan was published in either 1433 or 1436, it was amplified by the Ming scholar Zhang Sheng; the entire text is collected in Shen Jiefu’s Jilu huibian (1617), juan 62: 1a–47b. See also J. J. L. Duyvendak, “Ma Huan Re-examined,” Verhandeling d. Koninklijke Akademie v. Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, Afd. Letterkunde, 32, no. 3 (1933).

74. The entire text of Xingcha shenglan is also collected in Shen Jiefu’s Jilu huibian, juan 61: 1a–28b.

75. See W. W. Rockhill, “Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coast of the Indian Ocean During the Fourteenth Century,” T’oung Pao 16 (1915): 61–84.

76. Zhongguo Hanghai Lishi Xuehui, Zheng He xia xiyang, 28–29.

77. Mulder, “The Wu Pei Chih Charts,” 1–14.

78. George Phillips, “The Seaports of India and Ceylon, Described by Chinese Voyagers of the Fifteenth Century, Together with an Account of Chinese Navigation,” Journal of the Chinese Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 20 (1885): 209–26; 21 (1886): 30–42; Charles Otto Blagden, “Notes on Malay History,” Journal of the Chinese Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 53 (1909): 153–62.

79. Duyvendak, “The True Dates of the Chinese Maritime Expeditions in the Early Fifteenth Century,” 347–99.

80. MS, 326, Biography 324: 8439–44.

81. Ibid., 8451–53; Ming Taizong shilu, 134: 3a–3b, 11th moon of 10th year, Yongle reign.

82. MS, 304, Biography 192: 7767–68.

83. Ibid.

84. Pelliot, “Les grands voyages maritimes chinois,” 446–48.

85. Ming Taizong shilu, 71: 1a–1b, 9th moon of 5th year, Yongle reign.

86. On Zheng He’s ships, see Bao, “Zheng He xia Xiyang zhi baochuan kao,” 6–9.

87. After Yongle’s death, none of the succeeding Ming emperors really challenged the power of the civil officials, who after 1424 frustrated most plans for voyages and military expeditions, and for a while planned to move the capital back to Nanjing.

1. The change of Yongle’s posthumous title from Taizong to Chengzu might also be viewed as an implicit criticism rather than an added honor.

2. MS, 113, Biography 1: 3510.

3. Of the thirteen tombs, only those of Changling (the burial name of Yongle) and Dingling (the burial name of Wanli) have been excavated. The latter has been open to the public since 1950.

4. Zhongguo Jianzhushi, ed., Gu jianzhu youlan zhinan, 1: 35–37.