Blue and White Tea Cup of Zheng He's Fleet
By Capt. Lim Keow Wah (Singapore)
Zheng He's voyages to the Western Oceans refer to China's seven consecutive large-scale maritime expeditions during the early Ming Dynasty from 1405 to 1433. These voyages spanned East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula, and regions of East Africa, and are considered the largest oceanic navigation projects in the world at that time. From 1405 (the third year of the Yongle era) to 1433, each expedition involved a massive fleet of approximately 100 to 200 large ships and 27,400 crew members, visiting over 30 countries and regions in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean.
The enormous fleet undertook seven voyages, and the sheer number of crew members and foreign envoys meant that the daily consumption of tableware and other utensils must have been staggering. As the world's earliest and most advanced origin of porcelain, it is inevitable that these utensils were predominantly made of ceramics. Setting aside the even larger quantities of porcelain traded or gifted to various countries (which we won’t delve into here), my previous article has already introduced the Zheng He pottery jars used for storing pickled food and water. This article will focus solely on the porcelain used aboard Zheng He's fleet.
During the Yongle to early Xuande periods, the porcelain used on the ships was likely primarily blue-and-white ware from Jingdezhen, the largest porcelain production hub at the time, along with a small portion of ceramics from other kilns and other types of glazed or painted porcelain. For simplicity, we will refer to them collectively as "Zheng He porcelain." Previously, there has been very little physical evidence or information about such porcelain that has survived from the ships. To understand the actual Zheng He porcelain, speculation alone is insufficient—tangible evidence is essential. Therefore, more individuals knowledgeable about Chinese ceramics must continue researching and collecting such artifacts to integrate them into the broader study of Zheng He's voyages.
Descendants of Zheng He’s Shipwrecked Crew in Kenya
Historical records indicate that Zheng He's fleet reached the Lamu Archipelago, located in today’s northeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean, in the 13th year of the Yongle era (1415 AD). This region was one of the endpoints of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Local legend holds that 600 years ago, a Chinese merchant ship ran aground and sank near the southern waters of Pate Island in the Lamu Archipelago, specifically in the reef area southwest of Kisingati islet (Figure 1). More than 20 crew members survived by swimming ashore to Pate Island and settling in the village of Shanga. These sailors intermarried with the local population, and their descendants are known today as the "Famao" people.
Figure 1: The shallow reef southwest of Kisingati Islet, the southernmost part of Pate Island, is said to be the site where a ship from China's Zheng He fleet ran aground and sank.
The tombs of the Famao people here are mound-shaped and face northeast (toward China)
The Famau people's tombs here are mound-shaped and face northeast (toward China) (Figure 2). The tomb walls were originally inlaid with Ming Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain fragments, but these have all been stolen. The orientation and form of these tombs differ from those of local Muslims and instead resemble the rounded mound shape typical of traditional Chinese burial mounds.
However, deeper research reveals the following connections with China: The Hermitage Museum in Russia houses a Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain piece, previously referred to as a "yurt-shaped vessel," standing 18 cm tall with a base diameter of 18.5 cm (Figure 3). An online article studying this artifact, titled "The Mongolian Yurt Shape of This Yuan Blue-and-White Porcelain—Where Did It Come From?", provides a detailed analysis suggesting that this porcelain piece was not modeled after a yurt. Instead, its small size and the niche-like opening at the bottom indicate that it was a reliquary (stupa) designed to hold the relics of high-ranking Buddhist monks. This resembles the burial practice for Buddhist monks in southern Fujian during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, where cremated remains were interred in structures called "bone-ash stupas."
For example, in Yutian Village, Nanyu Town, Minhou County, the Haihui Stupa of Xianzong Temple stands at the northern foot of the mountain behind the village (Figure 4). Constructed from granite, the stupa is about 4.1 meters tall, with a main body shaped like an inverted alms bowl atop a pillar. This porcelain reliquary and the numerous bone-ash stupas in southern Fujian demonstrate that the burial customs of the Famau people—descendants of Zheng He’s crew—are deeply connected to China.
Figure 2: The tomb walls were originally inlaid with Ming Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain fragments, but these have since been stolen.
Figure 3: Yuan Dynasty Blue-and-White Reliquary Pagoda, housed in the Hermitage Museum, Russia. Height: 18 cm.
Figure 4: Haihui Ossuary Pagoda at Xianzong Temple, located at the northern foot of the back mountain in Yutian Village, Nanyu Town, Minhou County. Height: 4.1 meters.
1. A Family Heirloom Blue-and-White Teacup from a Descendant of Zheng He's Crew in Kenya
Mwamaka Shariff is a girl from Pate Island, Kenya. Shariff is locally known as the "Chinese girl." In 2005, Shariff (Chinese name: Xia Ruifu) received funding from the Chinese government to study traditional Chinese medicine in Nanjing for five years. After completing her studies, she returned to Kenya to practice medicine.
In 2017, a YouTube channel video titled "The Adventures of Zheng He's Treasure Fleet" (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntzc6HVKSac) visited Mama Baraka (Figure 5), Shariff’s mother on Pate Island, Kenya, a matriarch of the village. Mama Baraka stated that their ancestors were descendants of shipwrecked sailors from 600 years ago. During the interview, she presented a small floral-patterned teacup (Figure 6), said to be a family heirloom passed down through many generations from their shipwrecked sailor ancestors. The cup has no string lines or decorations on its inner base or foot rim.
Figure 5: Mama Baraka from Pate Island, Kenya, a descendant of Zheng He’s crew, holding the family heirloom blue-and-white teacup.
Figure 6: A Yongle-era blue-and-white teacup, a family heirloom of Zheng He’s crew descendants.
Another article of mine, "Nan Yang Ong"(South Ocean Jar) , also documents two Long (dragon) jars from the Cizao kiln of the Yongle period (Figure 7), salvaged from the shallow reefs of Pate Island, Kenya—believed to be the site where a Chinese Zheng He ship ran aground and sank. These two dragon jars and the aforementioned blue-and-white teacup likely originated from the same ill-fated ship of Zheng He’s fleet.
Figure 7: In 2002, fishermen salvaged two Cizao kiln four-handled dragon jars from the wreckage of Zheng He’s fleet in the waters off Pate Island. The left jar still bears traces of oyster shells.
Tracking and Research of Yongle Blue-and-White Small Tea Cups:
The video of descendants of Zheng He’s shipwrecked sailors in Kenya was forwarded to me by Mr. Song Weichang of Sarawak in 2021. This was the first time I had seen the blue-and-white small tea cups passed down by descendants of Zheng He’s crew, but the cup in the video appeared only as a blurry image. For the study of Zheng He’s maritime silk route ceramics, I considered this a significant lead. Researching and dating the kiln origins of Chinese ceramics is exceedingly difficult without physical examination of the porcelain’s texture, characteristics, and sufficient information. Fortunately, after considerable effort, I have obtained relevant materials and similar antique artifacts.
2. Yongle Blue-and-White Tea Cups in the Collection of Song Weichang
Sarawak collector Mr. Song Weichang (Figure 8) acquired three small Yongle blue-and-white tea cups (Figure 9) in Malacca in 1999, said to have been salvaged from Zheng He’s fleet. Similar to the heirloom of the descendants of Zheng He’s sailors in Kenya, these three cups exhibit the following characteristics:
Shape: Slightly inward-curving rim, thick and shallow ring foot, deep belly with a rounded cavity, flat inner base.
Body: Unglazed foot rim revealing a greyish-white, relatively coarse texture typical of early Ming "Macang clay."
Trimming: A "mud eel’s back" finish on the foot, with a slight nipple-like protrusion at the centre of the outer base—a trimming technique of the late Yuan and early Ming periods.
Glaze: Thick egg-white glaze characteristic of the early Ming, with areas of shrinkage.
Blue-and-white motifs: Painted in the classic early Ming "single-stroke" style. Two cups feature a wave pattern between double lines below the outer rim, with four evenly spaced floral motifs on the belly—each with serrated edges and three upward-pointing prongs. The floral structure resembles the three stigma of a passionflower (Passiflora). The "Western floral" (Xifanlian) or "treasure-flower" (Baoxianghua) motif dates back to the Tang Dynasty, and the Western floral scroll was the most common design in Yuan blue-and-white before the Ming. The third cup has an aquatic grass motif on the exterior. The inner base of all three has double concentric lines, with the first cup featuring a crescent moon (later gifted to the author), the second a small dot (possibly representing the sun), and the third having no central motif.
Cobalt pigment: Exhibits typical "black flaws" and metallic crystallization, indicative of imported Sumali blue cobalt.
Aging traces: The glaze shows an antique luster or "clam-shell iridescence." The belly has old hair lines crack with black staining. The glaze bears clear signs of seawater erosion, with salt crystallization causing a cloudy, greyish-white opacity, while the blue pigment has turned greyish-blue. These features confirm it as an authentic antique porcelain several centuries old.
Figure 8 Left: Author Lim Keow Wah; Right: Sarawak collector Song Weichang with his Yongle blue-and-white cups.
Figure 9 Allegedly salvaged from Zheng He’s fleet in Malacca—Yongle blue-and-white cups. Measurements: Mouth 8.4–8.1 cm, foot 3.1 cm, height 3.8–4.2 cm, weight 71 g. Collection of Song Weichang.
3. Lim Keow Wah’s Collection of Yongle Blue-and-White Tea Cups
In September 2023, after Mr. Song gifted the author a blue-and-white tea cup from his collection featuring a crescent moon design, the author discovered eight similar Yongle-era blue-and-white tea cups in Malacca over the course of 2023–2024 (Figure 10). These nine cups are largely identical, except for one difference in the bottom-left cup: it has three flowers instead of four, the clay body is milky yellow-white rather than grey-white, and the interior base and foot rim lack string lines or decorative motifs. Additionally, this cup still has barnacle shells attached, indicating its prolonged submersion in seawater.
Figure 10: Yongle blue-and-white tea cups recovered from Malacca, believed to be from Zheng He’s fleet. Measurements: mouth diameter 7.5–8.5 cm, foot diameter 2.9–3.5 cm, height 3.5–4.2 cm, weight 65–91 g. Collection of Lim Keow Wah.
These cups are said to have been mostly collected in the 1980s from the land reclamation site at Heeren Street (Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock) and the low-tide beaches to its south, separated by a waterway from Pulau Melaka (Malacca Island) *"In the 1980s, during land reclamation and dredging at the coastal area of Heeren Street, numerous shipwreck frames were exposed from the thick seabed mud. Treasure hunters flocked to the site, while more astute buyers purchased unearthed artifacts by weight—including various animal-shaped tin coins, later collectively referred to as 'Zheng He coins.' This marked the largest treasure-hunting frenzy in Malacca’s history. The site, located in the Strait of Malacca in front of the ancient fort, had witnessed countless merchant and warships anchoring and sinking over centuries—an unimaginable trove of historical relics.
Figure 11: Yongle blue-and-white cups and other artifacts unearthed from the 1980s land reclamation site and beaches in Heeren Street, Malacca.
4. Yongle Blue-and-White Tea Cups Excavated from Malacca’s Official Depot
Around 2003, during the reconstruction of the Zheng He Museum site in Malacca (the location of Zheng He’s official depot), a small Yongle-era blue-and-white tea cup was excavated (Figure 12). This cup is similar in size, cobalt-blue hue, glaze, and clay body to those in Groups 2 and 3, but differs in its painted design, cup curvature, and flared rim shape.
Figure 12: A Yongle blue-and-white tea cup with cloud, mist, and pine motifs, excavated from the Guan Chang 官厂(Official Base) site in Malacca. Measurements: mouth diameter 8.2 cm, foot diameter 3.6 cm, height 4.1 cm. Collection of the Zheng He Museum, Malacca.
5. Yongle Blue-and-White Cup Unearthed from Pulau Semakau, Singapore
Pulau Semakau derives its name from the Malay word bakau (mangrove). Originally a small island 8 km south of Singapore’s main island, it was surrounded by coral reefs and measured 2 km north-south and 0.7 km east-west (Figure 13). The 1957 census recorded 322 inhabitants, mostly Orang Laut (sea nomads) and some Chinese fishermen. The island was attacked by pirates in 1844, but evidence suggests human habitation dates back even earlier.
In 1991, the Singapore government relocated the island’s residents and merged Pulau Semakau with the adjacent Pulau Seking via land reclamation to serve as an offshore landfill for incinerated waste. According to records from the National Library of Singapore:
*"On September 21, 1991, prior to reclamation, an archaeological team led by John Miksic, a historian from the National University of Singapore (NUS), conducted a survey. They discovered approximately one kilogram of ceramic and pottery fragments along the beaches, behind rocks, and in mangrove swamps (Figure 14). The blue-and-white fragments were dated to the 18th century, while the pottery shards resembled 12th-century finds from Fort Canning Hill on Singapore’s main island."*
Figure 13: Stilt houses of the Orang Laut on Pulau Semakau before reclamation, where the Yongle blue-and-white cup was found.
Figure 14: Ceramics collected from Pulau Semakau in 1991, labeled as 19th–20th century. Displayed at the NUS Museum on October 4, 2021.
In 2023, the author identified a Yongle-era blue-and-white tea cup (Figure 15) among the NUS Museum’s photographed artifacts—originally mislabeled as 19th–20th century—that closely resembles those found on Paté Island, Kenya. The cup’s glaze and blue pigment appear greyish and opaque, a result of prolonged seawater exposure. Despite the museum’s classification of these ceramics as 19th–20th century, this cup, adorned with xi fan lian (Western lotus) motifs, is unmistakably an earlier Yongle artifact. The author has since notified the museum to correct its dating to the Yongle period.
Figure 15: Yongle Blue-and-White Cup Collected from Pulau Semakau in 1991, Displayed at the National University of Singapore Museum on August 24, 2023
Zheng He’s Official Island in Singapore
The article above discusses my discovery that St. John’s Island in the Singapore Strait was the "Official Island" (官屿) established by Zheng He during the Yongle period Figure 16A。
Figure 16A：Navigation chart of Zhenghe from Malacca to Petra Blanca East of Singapore indicated "Official Island" (官屿) in Singapore waters。
On this island, I found fragments of late Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain on the surface, but unfortunately, no Yongle-era blue-and-white porcelain has been discovered yet. The only references to this Official Island’s location come from Zheng He’s nautical charts and ancient navigational records. National archaeological teams have unearthed earlier Yuan dynasty blue-and-white porcelain in Singapore but have not reported any Yongle-era examples.
The Yongle blue-and-white cup (Figure 15) in the National University of Singapore Museum, collected from Pulau Semakau, is the long-awaited evidence I had hoped for. As shown in Figure 16, Pulau Semakau is located just 10 km west of the Official Island (St. John’s Island). It is highly plausible that islanders transported or relocated this Yongle cup from the Official Island to Semakau. This is currently the only physical artifact supporting the claim that Zheng He established an Official Island on St. John’s Island.
Figure 16: Pulau Semakau, where the Yongle blue-and-white cup was found, is located 10 km west of the Official Island (St. John’s Island).
References to Other Yongle Blue-and-White Cups
· Edmund Grundner’s Auction (Austria) – Yongle Blue-and-White Cup (Figure 17):
Similar in shape, size, and glaze, but with more intricate exterior patterns of scrolling lotus vines and Sanskrit inscriptions inside. The key difference is the unglazed base.
· Shipwreck Artifact – Coral-Embedded Ming Blue-and-White Cup (Figure 18):
Comparable in size but with a flared rim. The exterior design features similar scrolling lotus motifs.
Figure 17: Edmund Grundner’s Auction (Austria) – Yongle Blue-and-White Cup, 9.9 cm diameter, 5.4 cm height.
Figure 18: Auction listing of a coral-embedded Ming blue-and-white cup.
· Malacca River Excavation – Yongle Folk Kiln Blue-and-White Cup (Figure 19):
Unglazed base with a "fire-rust" reddish tone at the foot, decorated with two simplified kui dragons and a spiral pattern inside. The walls are straighter, and the foot is taller than the scrolling lotus cups. The cobalt blue shows characteristic "sumali" speckling.
Figure 19: Yongle Kui Dragon Tea Cup from the Malacca River, 7.6 cm diameter, 4.1 cm foot, 4.9 cm height, 89 gm. Collection of Captain Lim Keow Wah.
Summary of Zheng He Fleet’s Blue-and-White Tea Cups
From the blue and white cups found in:
1.Kenya
2-4. Malacca
5.Singapore
A comprehensive analysis of their form, body, glaze, decoration, cobalt pigment, and aging traces—alongside comparisons with two auctioned pieces of the same period and my own collection of Yongle-era Southeast Asian folk kiln ceramics—confirms that these 13 cups are consistent with early Ming (specifically, Yongle-period) Jingdezhen folk kiln production.
They differ significantly from official imperial wares, such as the Yongle-marked "interlocking lotus" cups, in quality and craftsmanship (a topic for future discussion).
Though these cups come from three distinct regions—Kenya, Malacca, and Singapore—their historical and geographical connections all trace back to one figure: Zheng He. His voyages, driven by diplomacy, trade, and maritime exploration, brought his massive fleet and crew to these locations.
The evidence is compelling:
· The heirloom cup from descendants of Zheng He’s crew in Kenya.
· Multiple similar cups from Malacca’s Official Base and Singapore’s Official Island.
These artifacts collectively support the argument that they were part of Zheng He’s fleet—either as personal-use ceramics or "Zheng He porcelain." This is the core focus of my research, and I hope it gains wider recognition. They also reflect the daily lives and pastimes of Zheng He’s crew during their long voyages.
Discovering and studying Zheng He-era artifacts is exceptionally challenging, but this article demonstrates that persistent investigation can yield new breakthroughs.
By Captain Lim Keow Wah
Written on March 3, 2025
· Long-time ExxonMobil employee (retired), serving as navigation consultant for super tankers in the Malacca Strait, port captain, and chartering advisor.
· President, Singapore Penjing & Stone Appreciation Society.
· Deputy Secretary, International Zheng He Association (Singapore).
· Deputy Director, Zisha Pottery Committee (China).
· Organizer of major antique auctions.
· Antique collector & researcher: https://www.limkw.com