Admiral zheng he of the ming dynasty
Young Pioneer Tours
by Andy khong
Being a modern-day traveler/explorer, have you heard of Admiral CHENG Ho* (ZHENG He^)?
At a time when China was the richest, and most advanced country in the world, Admiral Cheng Ho was head of an armada bigger than the combined fleets of all of Europe, and explored further than anyone before him going to 37 countries over 28 years. He led seven expeditions which were astonishing in distance, and size that are unmatched in history.
[CHENG Ho – Wade-Giles* spelling; “ZHENG He” – Pinyin^ spelling. Wade-Giles is the system of Romanization for Mandarin developed from 1867 named after Thomas WADE, Herbert GILES, & Lionel GILES. Pinyin meaning ‘spelled sounds’ was developed by ZHOU Youguang during the 1950ies. Pinyin was adopted as the international standard for Romanization of Mandarin by the International Organization for Standardization (IOS) in 1982, and the United Nations in 1986].
Admiral Cheng Ho was a Chinese admiral, explorer, and diplomat who lived during the early 15th century. He was born as MA He in 1371, a member of the Hui Muslim minority in the province of Yunnan, in south-west China during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Ma He was the great-great-great-grandson of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, the Governor of Yunnan province during the Yuan dynasty (Mongol dynasty).
Ma He was captured, and castrated by the army of the Ming Dynasty at the age of 10, and taken as prisoner of war to serve as a eunuch in the Imperial Court. Ma He became a trusted adviser, and administrator to the Prince of Yan, and for his meritorious service was nicknamed “SanBao” (meaning Three Jewels) by Prince of Yan’s household. The Prince of Yan eventually through a power struggle became Emperor Yongle (meaning ‘perpetual happiness’). The Emperor then changed Ma He’s name to Cheng Ho to commemorate the roles Ma He played in battles to help him ascend the throne.
Emperor Yongle conferred Cheng Ho the title of Admiral
Zheng He (1371 - 1433) was a Chinese admiral who commanded seven expeditionary voyages during China's early Ming Dynasty. Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government launched the expeditions to expand China's presence, influence trade, impress foreign governments, and extend the empire's tributary system throughout the Indian Ocean.
The voyages were astonishing, both in size and scope: during the early voyages, Zheng He travelled from China to Southeast Asia and then on to India's southwest coast. In the fourth voyage, the fleet traveled to the Persian Gulf. And on the three last voyages, the fleet traveled even further, all the way to the east coast of Africa. While this was impressive, Chinese merchants had traveled this far before. What was unprecedented was that the voyages consisted of hundreds of huge ships and tens of thousands of sailors and other passengers. Over sixty of the more than three hundred ships on the first voyage were enormous "Treasure Ships," sailing vessels over 400 hundred feet long, 160 feet wide, with several stories, nine masts and twelve sails. The likes of these ships had never before been seen in the world, and it would not be until World War I that such an armada would be assembled again.
Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large fleet and army awed most would-be enemies into submission. However, Zheng He did not shrink from force when necessary. During the voyages, he battled pirates that had long plagued Chinese and Southeast Asian waters. He also waged a land war against the Kingdom of Kotte on Ceylon, and made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in the Middle East and East Africa. Over the course of the voyages, envoys from over 30 states traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court. 1371: Born in , (now ) 1382: Left hometown and recruited into the official office of the emperor 1399: Fought brave battles and won meritorious acclaim in the name of the emperor. Gained the emperor’s trust and favor. 1405: First voyage to the western seas. 1407: Second voyage 1409: Third voyage 1413: Fourth voyage 1417: Fifth voyage 1421: Sixth voyage 1431: Seventh voyage 1433: Died while on the seventh and last voyage of the legendary Treasure Fleet. - Zheng He was born the second son of a poor Muslim family in Kunyang (central in ) - His father and grandfather both Haji: meaning they were both Muslims who had visited for their Muslim pilgrimage. - His birth name was Ma He—“Ma” meaning ‘horse’ in Chinese, and being the Chinese abbreviation for the Muslim “Mohamed”. - He was raised a Muslim, and studied the teachings of Islam. - Was very influenced by his father’s, Ma Haji’s, strong character, great military mind, and altruistic nature. - In 1381, when Zheng He was 10, his father was killed in the Ming Dynasty’s cleansing of the remnants of the Yuan Dynesty (1279-1368) - Led by General Fu Youde, the Ming army swarmed and tried to subdue the Mongols. - The Ming army butchered an estimated 60,000 people, and castrated the young sons of prisoners, as per custom since the first millennium. - Ma He was taken prisoner by Fu Youde. In 1385, at the age of 14, he was castrated and placed in the ho Zheng He or Ma He is en (Chinese 郑和; 1371–1433) was an explorer, diplomat, and admiral from China. He lived during the Ming Dynasty. Zheng He was the leader of a very large fleet of ships that traveled all over the Indian Ocean and Southwest Asia. Zheng He was an eunuch of China's Imperial Court. The fleet that Zheng He commanded had 317 ships that were very large. 28,000 Chinese soldiers were on board these ships. Zheng He was born in Kunyang, a village in Yunnan. He was born with the name Ma He (Chinese 马三宝). He and his family were Muslim. At the time, Yunnan was ruled by Mongols. In 1381, however, a Ming army invaded and took control of the area. Ma He was taken as a prisoner by the Ming armies. He was about 10 years old. He was castrated and then taken away to serve the Prince, Zhu Di (the future emperor). Ma He became a servant at the Imperial Court. The name Zheng He was given to him by the Prince. He also came to be called "Sanbao", a reference to the Three Jewels of Buddhism. From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He went on seven journeys to the Indian Ocean, or what the Chinese people called the "Western Ocean". He was the leader of a large fleet of ships and a big army. In his first three journeys he visited the countries of Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka. In his fourth to seventh journeys he went as far as the east African coast. In his journeys he gave the countries he visited gifts of silk, porcelain, gunpowder and other goods. He got lots of unusual gifts as well, including giraffes and zebras. Zheng He had his first journey from 1405–1407, but it is not known why the journey was made. He travelled from the mouth of the Yangtze River to Vietnam, as well as the south of India. His fleet was made up of 317 ships, more than 27
In spite of the successes of the voyages, they remained a continuous point of contention between the Emperor and his court, most of whom believed the Timeline
Admiral Zheng He
Zheng He
Early life
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