Hongxi

Hongxi was the Ming emperor who made the suspension of China’s large government-sponsored overseas voyages permanent. During his brief reign, he ended the maritime expansion begun under Yongle, turning a temporary halt into a lasting prohibition that helped redirect the Ming state inward.

Succession and the Voyages

Yongle had sponsored Admiral Zheng He’s major expeditions to Southeast and South Asia, Arabia, and Africa. The first fleet alone comprised 27,800 men, 62 large treasure ships, and 190 smaller vessels, including ships for freshwater, supplies, and troops. After six missions, Yongle temporarily stopped the voyages in 1422.

A Permanent Halt

Hongxi ruled from 1424 to 1425 and made the stoppage permanent. After his premature death, his successor, Xuande, initially permitted Zheng He to undertake one final mission in 1433. But the voyages did not resume as a continuing program: after that mission, overseas trade was banned, and by 1436 the construction of seagoing ships had also been made illegal. The ban on overseas trade remained in place until 1567.

Historical Significance

The book presents Hongxi’s decision as one step in a broader policy of restricting activities the state regarded as potentially destabilizing. While Atlantic trade was transforming institutions in England, China was withdrawing from overseas commerce and turning inward. Hongxi’s role is therefore significant less as a fully developed personal portrait than as a hinge in the chronology: a temporary pause in state-sponsored voyages became a permanent retreat, with consequences the book links to China’s economic development.