The maritime transportation between China and the regions around the Indian Ocean dates from the beginning of the 2th century BC, when China was under the rule of Emperor Wudi of the Han dynasty. Up until the dynasties of Song, Yuan, and Ming in the 13th to 15th centuries, Chinese fleets sailed to the regions around Indian Ocean more frequently on political and diplomatic missions and for commodity trading, thus establishing a prosperous era of maritime transportation between the China Sea and the Indian Ocean. There were two main symbols of this ‘China Sea – Indian Ocean era’. The first was that many political authorities of islands and coastal areas around the Indian Ocean paid tribute to the Chinese Central Government of the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties and became subsidiary countries and regions under Song, Yuan and Ming admirals. The second was that the government fleets as well as the trade fleets of Song, Yuan and Ming China sailing in the Indian Ocean provided the connections that made commodity and cultural exchanges possible, not only between China and the Indian Ocean rim including some coastal regions of African, but also between China and Europe both directly and indirectly.