Michael L. Hadley

Book Review: Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv 29 (2006): Wissenschaftliches Jahrbuch des Deutschen SchiffahrtsmuseumsSchollLars (gen. ed.); HoopsErik, FeldkampUrsula (eds.), Deutsches Schiffahrtsarchiv 29 (2006): Wissenschaftliches Jahrbuch des Deutschen Schiffahrtsmuseums. Hamburg: Convent Verlag for the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum [www.dsm.museum], 2007. 366 pp., photographs, illustrations (colour, b+ w), maps, figures, chapter notes. English and French summaries of articles. €23.50, hardbound; ISBN 978-3-86633-011-5.

By and large, the legend of Zheng He looms as large in most of the essays as does the desire to establish historical fact, as does a clear nationalist interest in some essays, reducing their immediate credibility. Also reducing their credibility is an apparent willingness on the part of Widodo and Chung to lend credence to Gavin Menzies and his outrageous claims about Chinese discoveries with no basis whatever in the existing sources. Another problem throughout the essays Wang wrote long ago and cannot be blamed is the very limited range of source material, primary and secondary cited. As a result, some statements made have now been entirely outdated by recent scholarship, including the usual assertions as to the impossibly large sizes of Zheng Hes ships, etc., although not in all the essays. In conclusion, libraries should certainly buy this very reasonable volume, if for no other reason because it contains a great deal of information not found elsewhere and presents a valuable local perspective. At the same time, each article must be read carefully and critically with the other scholarship on the general topic in mind and an awareness that the topic of Zheng He is very much caught up in myth, pseudo-history, and nationalism, even if this myth, pseudo-history, and nationalism is fascinating in and of itself, particularly because of the enormous role played by the real and imagined Zheng He in Southeast Asian history.