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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