China and Africa in the Middle Ages

Teobaldo Filesi, David L. Morison

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040338797
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: History

From the evidence of Chinese documents, East African excavations and the researches of scholars and historians, the author of this book, originally published in English in 1972, gives a fascinating account of China's early relations with Africa, the development of China's navy and overseas enterprises, the visits of the great Ming expeditionary fleets in the early fifteenth century, and finally, why the vast Chinese shipyards ceased all activity by the end of the 15th century.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• I Introduction
• II From the Han Dynasty to the T’ang and Sung Dynasties
• III The Expansion and Deployment of China’s Navy
• IV The Earliest Chinese Descriptions of African Countries
• V China’s Westward Ventures in the Early Ming Period
• VI Chinese Accounts of Brava, Giumbo and Mogadishu
• VII Chinese Coins and Porcelain on the East African Coast
• VIII The Dates of the Early Ming Voyages to the West
• IX Cheng Ho’s Two Inscriptions
• X The Ending of the Chinese Expeditions to the Western Seas and Africa
• References
• Bibliography
• Index