Gold ingot, Ming Dynasty, Hubei Provincial Museum Collection.

Gold ingot inscribed "Yongle seventeen year on the fourth month of the day of the Western Ocean and other places to buy / eight colour gold ingot of five hundred and two heavy", indicating that this ingot of gold is for Zheng He fleet of the fifth trip to the West China Sea in the "Western Ocean and other places". The inscription, "80% colour gold", is consistent with the measured gold content of 83.24%; and the weight of the ingot, "five hundred taels", is 1,937 grams.

The term "Western Ocean" was used in the Yuan Dynasty to refer to the western part of the present-day South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Before the end of the Ming Dynasty, the scope of the Western Ocean is generally consistent with the previous dynasty, but some ancient texts will also cover the southern part of the island of Java and Kalimantan. In some Yuan and Ming documents, "Western Ocean" was recorded as the name of a country, referring to the southern part of present-day India. In the Ming History, Borneo (present-day Kalimantan, or Brunei to the north of the island) is used as the basis for the division between East and West.