China and Japan "Look Out": Zheng He's Voyages and the Arrival of the Portuguese

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Emperor Yongle, to display Ming power and prestige and to draw foreign rulers into the tribute system after Mongol rule ended.

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Muslim eunuch admiral who commanded seven Ming treasure fleet voyages between 1405 and 1433, reaching as far as East Africa.

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Seven voyages (1405-1433); reached India, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, and the East African coast (Malindi).

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Zheng He's fleet captured and executed a pirate leader who defied Ming authority — one of the rare uses of force during the voyages.

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1543 — a Portuguese ship was blown off course by a storm and landed at Tanegashima.

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The Japanese term ("southern barbarian trade") for commerce with Portuguese and Spanish traders, centred on the port of Nagasaki.

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Jesuit missionary who landed in Japan in 1549 and began the Christian mission there, working alongside Portuguese traders.

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Good relations with missionaries helped secure access to profitable Portuguese trade and firearms — trade and mission were linked.

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Portuguese navigator who opened the first direct European sea route to Asia by sailing around Africa to Calicut, India.

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Afonso de Albuquerque led Portugal's capture of the Sultanate of Malacca, giving Portugal control of the key strait between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

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Spanish-sponsored voyage seeking a westward route to the Spice Islands; Magellan died in the Philippines in 1521, but his crew completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.

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China (Zheng He) sought tribute and prestige within an existing world order, with no permanent colonies. Portugal and Spain sought control of trade routes and profit, backed by naval force and fortified bases like Malacca.