THE MATTER OF THE SIZE AND THE SIZE OF THE MATTER IN MING CHINA AND PORTUGUESE D’ AVIS MARITIME EXPEDITIONS. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MISSION AND CONSEQUENCES OF ZHENG HE AND VASCO DA GAMA FLEETS明代中國和葡萄牙阿維什王朝海上探險：鄭和和達伽馬船隊航海成果的比較分析
The article proposes a comparative analysis of the maritime expeditions of Zheng He (Ming) and Vasco da Gama (Portugal), focusing on how the "dimension" of the missions and their historical "consequences" were interpreted, mythified, and reconstituted by historiography. Proceeding from the difficult...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40042/2880 |
| Summary: | The article proposes a comparative analysis of the maritime expeditions of Zheng He (Ming) and Vasco da Gama (Portugal), focusing on how the "dimension" of the missions and their historical "consequences" were interpreted, mythified, and reconstituted by historiography. Proceeding from the difficulties of reading the past—the "fog of memory" and the "mystification of history" arising from documentary gaps, political interests, and traditions of celebration—the authors argue that both official accounts and popular narratives tend to convert complex strategic choices into heroic gestures that are teleologically self-justifying. Methodologically, the text mobilizes a comparison of trajectories, objectives, and results on an Atlantic/Indian Ocean and Sino-maritime scale, engaging critically with historiographical debates and with contemporary uses of the past (including distortions publicized by widely circulated works). The conclusions maintain that the two fleets should be read less as "absolute ruptures" and more as situated responses to specific economic, political, and technological networks, whose impacts varied according to institutions, routes, and forms of commercial control. By recommending transnational studies, the article aims to reduce cultural biases and offer a balanced appreciation of the "virtues" attributed to maritime heroes in the Luso-Chinese space. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |