Bengal through Chinese eyes

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A 15th century account of Bengal by the famous Chinese traveller Ma Huan

Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, 220 x 150 cm. Located at the National Palace Museum, Taibei. Chengzu is commonly called the Yung-lo Emperor. This picture shows him sitting in the ‘Dragon’ chair. He ordered Cheng Ho to go as envoy to the kingdoms in the India Ocean including Bengal.

The following account of Ma Huan was written at the commencement of the fifteenth century. It is a chapter taken from a work, bearing the title Ying-yai-sheng-lan (a general account of the shores of the ocean) compiled by Ma Huan who was an interpreter attached to the suite of Cheng Ho who was sent to the various kingdoms of the Indian Ocean by the Chinese Emperor Yung-lo. This account was translated by Geo. Phillips. The translation was originally published in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in its July 1895 issue. The object of the expedition was that the Emperor feared that Hui-ti, his predecessor, whom he had driven out of the throne, was concealing himself in some country over the sea; he wanted to trace him, and at the same time display his military force in foreign countries, in order to show that China was rich and strong. In 1413 Ma Huan accompanied Admiral Chengo Ho, along with the other interpreter Guo Chongli, on the fourth voyage which took the fleet for the first time to Hormuz. After that, he went on the voyage during 1421-23 and on the last voyage in 1431-33 when he journeyed to Mecca with the mission. During these three voyages the Chinese missions came to Bengal and Ma Huan acquired first-hand knowledge about the country. Back in 1416, he had prepared the first draft of his work along with a foreword. It was given its final form in 1433. His colleague Guo Chongli could print the book only in 1451, as the foreword of that year by the imperial clerk Gu Po testifies.

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