Hong Bao (; '' fl.'' ''ca.'' 1412–1433) was a Chinese

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

sent on overseas diplomatic missions during the reigns of the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

and

Xuande Emperor The Xuande Emperor (16 March 1399 31 January 1435), personal name Zhu Zhanji (朱瞻基), was the fifth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1425 to 1435. His era name "Xuande" means "proclamation of virtue". Ruling over a relatively p ...

in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. He is best known as the commander of one of the detached squadrons of

Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred ...

's fleet during the Seventh Voyage of this fleet to the Indian Ocean (1431–1433).

Early career

According to the ''

History of Ming The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the ''Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It ...

'', in 1412 (i.e., some time between the third and fourth voyages of Zheng He's fleet), Hong Bao was sent by the

Yongle Yongle () (23 January 1403 – 19 January 1425) was the era name of the Yongle Emperor, the third emperor of the Ming dynasty of China. Comparison table Other eras contemporaneous with Yongle * Vietnam ** ''Thiệu Thành'' (紹成, 1401–1 ...

Emperor as the envoy to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. In 1421 Hong Bao participated in the sixth voyage of Zheng He, during which foreign envoys were transported back to their countries, as far as

Ormus The Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Hormoz; fa, هرمز; pt, Ormuz) was located in the eastern side of the Persian Gulf and extended as far as Bahrain in the west at its zenith. The Kingdom was established in 11th century initially as a depe ...

Hong Bao on the Seventh Voyage of Zheng He

Hong Bao's name appears in the

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

made by

Liujiagang Liuhe (; (Liuho) lit. "Liu Creek") is a town under the jurisdiction of Taicang county-level city in Suzhou, China. Liuhe has an area of , with around permanent residents. Name Liuhe town was called Liujiagang (; lit. "Liu Family Harbor"). It is s ...

in 1431, before his fleet left China on its 7th (and last) voyage to the "Western Ocean" (

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

). According to the inscription, the two Principal Envoys (正使) sent by the

Xuande Xuande () (8 February 1426 – 17 January 1436) was the era name of the Xuande Emperor, the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty of China. Comparison table Other eras contemporaneous with Xuande * Vietnam ** ''Thiên Khánh'' (天慶, 1426–142 ...

Emperor to the countries of the Western Ocean were the eunuchs

and Wang Jinghong. Hong Bao was one of the five Assistant Envoys (副使) (along with Zhu Liang,

Zhou Man Zhou Man (), was a 15th-century Chinese admiral and explorer. He was born into a wealthy merchant family in the year 1378. When he was six years old, his father died on an overseas voyage to Korea. Mourning his father's death, he left his mother ...

, Yang Zhen, and Zhang Da). Hong Bao, as well as all other Principal and Assistant Envoys except for Zhang Da, had the eunuch rank of Grand Director (太監, ''Taijian''). Much of what we know about Hong Bao comes from the book written by the interpreter

Ma Huan Ma Huan (, Xiao'erjing: ) (c. 1380–1460), courtesy name Zongdao (), pen name Mountain-woodcutter (會稽山樵), was a Chinese voyager and translator who accompanied Admiral Zheng He on three of his seven expeditions to the Western Oceans. Ma ...

, who served in his squadron during the 7th voyage of Zheng He's fleet. According to

Edward L. Dreyer Edward L. Dreyer (1940–2007) was an American historian known for his work and expertise on the history of China's Ming dynasty. Early life and education Dreyer was born in 1940 in San Diego. He earned his Bachelor of Arts, BA in history from Har ...

's analysis of the preserved sources about the voyage, in particular

's book, Hong Bao commanded a squadron which most likely separated from the main fleet in

Semudera The Samudera Pasai Sultanate (), also known as Samudera or Pasai or Samudera Darussalam or Pacem, was a Muslim harbour kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra from the 13th to the 16th centuries CE. The kingdom was believed to have been founded ...

in northern

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

(although other suggested it may have happened earlier, in

Qui Nhon Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. Hi ...

Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...

), and visited

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. From Bengal, Hong Bao's squadron would then go to

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

in southern India, to which the main fleet came directly from Semudera across the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

. While the main fleet left Calicut to

(in

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

), Hong Bao's squadron went from Calicut to various destinations on the west side of the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

in southern Arabia and

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

, including

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

and

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

. Before leaving Calicut, Hong Bao sent seven of his sailors, including

, to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

and

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

aboard a native (Indian?) ship going to

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

Grave

In June 2010, the Chief of Archaeology Department at

Nanjing Museum The Nanjing Museum () is located in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province in East China. With an area of , it is one of the largest museums in China. The museum has over 400,000 items in its permanent collection, making it one of the largest ...

Wang Zhigao announced that a Ming Dynasty grave recently found near Zutang Mountain (祖堂山) in the

Jiangning District Jiangning District () is one of 11 districts of Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, China. The District has a population of 1,025,000 and an area of 1600 square kilometers. It includes southern and south-eastern suburbs of Nanjing. Jiangnin ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

was identified as that of Hong Bao (and not of Zheng He himself, as it was earlier surmised). (This is published ''before'' the inscription identifying the "owner" as Hong Bao was read)

In literature

In his book '' 1421: The Year China Discovered the World'', amateur historian

Gavin Menzies Rowan Gavin Paton Menzies (14 August 1937 – 12 April 2020) was a British submarine Lieutenant Commander#Royal Navy, lieutenant-commander who authored books claiming that the Chinese sailed to America before Columbus. Historians have rejected ...

claims Hong Bao made voyages to Antarctica and Australia.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hong Bao Chinese explorers Ming dynasty eunuchs Chinese admirals Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain History of Kerala Treasure voyages Explorers of India