论郑和下西洋对中国海外开拓事业的破坏——兼论朝贡制度的虚假性

ON the Negative Influence on Chinese Overseas Expansion Contained in Zheng He's Expeditions

集中体现在郑和下西洋的明初海外政策,其核心是朝贡制度和海禁政策。郑和下西洋的动机,既是为了营造“万国来朝、四夷咸服”“天朝”的气势,也是中央集权政府打击东南沿海民间贸易和海上流民的措施。其结果是“倾国力”进行的“下西洋”活动因国库告罄而无力继续,“厚往薄来”的朝贡贸易随之烟消云散,宋元时期国人方兴未艾的海外拓殖也为之中断。明朝政府也因此背向海洋,继续维持海禁政策。中央政府对东南沿海人民的海外拓殖事业的敌视,是明清时期国人海外贸易与移民扩张的最主要障碍,它使中国多次丧失向海洋发展的机会。

The core of overseas policies of the early Ming Imperial Court mirrored in the period of Zheng He's expeditions are the tribute system and the ban on maritime trade or relations with foreign countries. The motives of Zheng He's expeditions are to show the greatness of the Ming emperor with mass tribute envoys appearing in China and to crack down the flourishing private Chinese maritime trade and overseas settlements. Zheng He s expeditions have resulted in the exhaustion of the imperial treasury and the tribute trade comes to end. And the Chinese private overseas expansionist activities starting in the Song and the Yuan Dynasties have broken down. The overseas policies of the central governments in the Ming and the Qing Dynasties are the main negative factors for Chinese overseas expansion.