A “Celestial Empire courtesy system，” with the Chinesefeudal dynasties as the center， had long existed in the eastprior to western colonial invasion. Zheng He earnestlyexecuted the decrees of Emperor Yongle to maintainhis Celestial Empire courtesy system during his sevenvoyages. He visited more than 30 countries and regionsin Asia and Africa and consistently carried out the policyof “peaceful diplomacy，” convincing others by truths andeducating others by morality. This helped reinforce theCelestial Empire courtesy system dominated by Chinaof the Ming Dynasty and create the amazing spectacle
祈求远航平安；归航后，又隆重祭祀妈祖，以酬谢妈祖的保佑。郑和在京师南京、太仓、长乐、湄洲屿等地督造妈祖宫、天妃庙，多次维修各地的妈祖庙宇，并立碑记事，赞颂妈祖护航的功德。郑和在福建长乐县撰立的《天妃灵应之记碑》碑文说：“我之云帆高张，昼夜星驰，涉波狂澜，若履通衢者，诚荷朝廷威福之致，尤赖天妃之神护佑之德也。”
从宋代初年始于福建沿海地区的妈祖崇拜，经由明初郑和下西洋的促进和弘扬，得到了更大的发展。其后随着闽粤华人的“下南洋”，妈祖崇拜传播到东南亚，并进而传播到欧美。妈祖文化已发展成为中外炎黄子孙广泛信仰的一种中华民俗文化。
制度文化的交流
西方殖民主义东侵以前，世界东方存在着一个以中国封建王朝为中心的“天朝礼治体系”。郑和七下西洋，忠实地执行永乐皇帝“维护天朝礼治体系”的旨意，遍访亚非30多个国家和地区，通过和平外交，以德服人，以理感人，努力建立以明代中国主导的“天朝礼治体系”，缔造出“梯航万国悉来庭”的旷
that was described as “lots of people from differentcountries all flocking to flourishing China.” Zheng Headmirably fulfilled the commission entrusted by EmperorYongle. Under that historical background， the courtesysystem was the supreme system of international relationsavailable in Asia and Africa. It basically featured peaceand friendliness as a sort of feudal international order.
Awarding official costumes. While announcing the“imperial edicts” to the Asian and African countries，Zheng He was also entrusted to award them palacecostumes of the Ming Dynasty. The costume system waspart of the nation，s political system. The costumes thatZheng took to those countries included leather hats，crowns， robes， clothes and jade belts for kings， as well ascourt dresses and ceremonial dresses for general envoys.That helped overseas Asian and African nations copythe official costume system of the Ming Dynasty. In 1409，when he arrived in Malacca， Zheng He read the edictsfrom Emperor Yongle， conferring the title of king on itschieftain， helping found the kingdom of Malacca andawarding the royal family imperial costumes. Then， thekingdom of Malacca followed the Chinese rituals andcourtesy. In addition， there were many other cases wheresome Asian and African countries requested costumesfrom the Chinese government of the Ming Dynasty. In1406， when leaving from China， Sheng Alie Bocheng， the
世盛景。郑和出色地完成了永乐皇帝交付的在亚非地区建立和维护“天朝礼治体系”的任务。在当时的历史条件下，“天朝礼治体系”是亚非地区所能提供的最高层次的国际关系体系。这种封建的国际秩序，从基本方面讲，是和平的、友好的。
颁赐冠服。郑和下西洋，奉命向亚非国家“颁诏”的同时，还赏赐明朝宫廷的冠服。冠服制度是一个国家政治制度的一部分。郑和颁赐给亚非国家的冠服，给国王的是皮弁、王圭、麟袍、龙衣、犀带、玉
envoy of Borneo， begged Emperor Yongle to award himan imperial belt， a request the emperor satisfied. Manyother envoys followed suit， because it really was a greathonor for overseas envoys to return imperial belts. Thecostume system of the Ming Dynasty still has an effect onsome Asian and African countries to this day. For instance，the displays in the Thai Palace and the ceremonies heldfor the king，s inspection tours are all from ancient Chinaof the Ming Dynasty. The statues in many of the Thaitemples are wearing clothes featuring traditional MingDynasty styles and the buttons weaved with fabric strips，
带；赐给一般使节的是朝服、公服。这就将明代中国的官制及其服饰制度“复制”到海外亚非国家。1409年，郑和到满剌加，宣读永乐皇帝敕书，册封其酋长为国王，成立满剌加国，并赐国王、王妃、王子、官吏以仪仗、冠服。于是，该国遂行中国礼仪。除明朝政府主动颁赐冠服以外，也有很多亚非国家请求颁赐中国冠服。1406年，渤泥国使臣生阿烈伯成访问明朝回国前，请求永乐皇帝说：“远在海外之人，仰慕中国衣冠礼仪，请授冠带还国。”永乐皇帝满足了他的请求。当时对海外国家使者来说，如能“冠带还国”，是一件令人羡慕的荣耀的事，所以请求者不少。明代中国的冠服制度，至今还可在一些亚非国家中看到它的影响。现在泰国王宫里的陈设以及陈列的泰王出巡仪式，都是中国明朝的式样；泰国很多寺庙里的人物塑像，所穿服饰系中国明朝服饰；胸前用布带编成的纽扣，俗称合桃纽，也是中国明时的旧制。许多亚非国家的使臣到中国访问时主动要求颁赐中国冠服，显示了亚非国家对明代中国先进的文物典章制度的向往。
颁赐历法。历法是国家文明的一项重要标志。郑
also called “peach buttons，” are typical of the costumesfrom the Ming Dynasty. The active requests from envoysof Asian and African nations for Chinese costumesreflected their desire for China，s advanced ritual systemduring the Ming Dynasty.
Awarding Chinese calendars. Calendars are amongthe major symbols of a nation，s civilization. ZhengHe was entrusted to give the countries he visited the“Imperial Calendars” and “Chinese Lunar Calendars，”both of which noted major events (the former included30 events and the latter 32). The contents covered a widerange of items from national politics and social life toagricultural production and feudal etiquette， offeringthe auspicious days for granting awards， offering officialposts， dispatching troops， sending envoys， going toschool， leaving for trips， opening businesses， doingtransactions， sowing seeds， raising animals， offeringsacrifice， launching wedding or burial ceremonies andbuilding houses. Following the Chinese calendars， peoplein Asia and Africa countries were able to better arrangetheir production and lives， which consequently improvedthe degree of civilization. For example， people in Champapreviously had no knowledge of calendars， taking thephases of the moon as a month， ten months as a year andten “gengs” (“geng” was a way to measure the time bybeating the drums) as a night. They wouldn，t sleep until
和奉命向所访亚非国家颁赐《王历》和《农历》。两种历法都有历注，《王历》历注30事，《农历》历注32事，其内容包括国家政治、社会生活、农业生产、封建礼俗等方面，诸如封赏、拜官、出师、遣使、入学、出行、开市、交易、栽种、牧养、祭祀、嫁娶、动土安葬、动工上梁等等。亚非国家有了中国历法，即可遵循仿效，据以安排生产和生活，提高了社会文明程度。举一例以明之。占城国本不懂历法，仅以月亮的圆缺一次作为一个月，十个月为一年，敲鼓十更为一夜，人们每天不到子时（夜里11点到1点）不睡觉，不到午时（白天11点到1点）不起床。每当月亮升起，就喝酒跳舞作乐。郑和去后颁赐中国历法，该国才知有闰月和24节气的划分；改夜鼓为八更，这对该国天文气象的发展和人民生产、生活的科学安排，起到了促进作用。
输出中国铜钱。郑和出使，每次都携带大量的中国铜钱，或作馈赠之用，或作贸易之用。郑和船队通过赏赐、贸易等方式输出的中国铜钱，大量传播到东南亚，致使原来使用贝币的东南亚国家过渡到使用中国钱币。奉行中国货币制度，大大有利于东南亚的商