XXXI Международный конгресс ИИСАА. 23–25 июня 2021 г. Т. 1

Россия и Восток. К 100-летию политических и культурных связей новейшего времени. Т. 1 287 СЕКЦИЯ IX • SECTION IX ИСТОЧНИКОВЕДЕНИЕ И ИСТОРИОГРАФИЯ КИТАЯ HISTORIOGRAPHY AND SOURCE STUDIES OF CHINA Hompot Sebestyén (University of Vienna, Austria) Mainland Chinese Historiography in Search of National and Global Narratives: A Discourse Analysis of Recent Historiography on the Zheng He Maritime Missions (1405–1433 CE) At the order of the Chinese Ming dynasty’s emperors, the Muslim-born court eunuch and admiral ZhengHe 郑和 (a.k.a. ChengHo) led sevenmajor missions around the Indo-Pacific maritime space between 1405 and 1433. During these missions, Zheng He established diplomatic relations and engaged in trade with seaports located in Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa. In mainstream Chinese historiography of the post-Mao period (1976–), ZhengHe has generally been celebrated as a national hero, messenger of peace towards the outside world, as well as founder of equal trade relations. His instrumentalization as a symbolic figure in cultural diplomacy has become especially widespread since the 2013 inauguration of the ‘21st-Century Maritime Silk Roads’ initiative by Chinese President Xi Jinping, constituting part of the global development strategy known as the ‘Belt &Road Initiative’ (BRI). His Muslim ancestry has made him an important identity figure for China’s Hui (Chinese-speaking Muslim) minority throughout the modern era, and further added to his significance in recent cultural diplomacy towards Muslim-majority countries. His public support for other religious traditions — namely the Mazu Sea Goddess cult of Chinese folk religion and Buddhism — led to the frequent framing of his figure as a symbol of religious hybridity and openness as well.