Difference between revisions of "Zheng He" - New World Encyclopedia

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:''For the [[Three Kingdoms]] general, see [[Zhang He]].''
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[[Image:ZhengHeShips.gif|thumb|250px|Early [[seventeenth century]] Chinese [[woodblock]] print, thought to represent Zheng He's ships.]]
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'''Zheng He''' ({{zh-tspw|t=鄭和|s=郑和|p=Zhèng Hé|w=Cheng Ho}}; Birth name: 馬三寶 / 马三宝; {{zh-p|p=Mǎ Sānbǎo}}; [[Islamic]] name: حجّي محمود شمس ''Hajji Mahmud Shams'') (1371–1433), was a [[China|Chinese]] mariner, [[exploration|explorer]], [[diplomat]] and fleet [[admiral]], who made the voyages collectively referred to as the travels of "''Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean''" (Chinese: 三保太監下西洋)<ref>[http://www.qsn365.com/qsn365/articles/11260 三保太監下西洋]. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref> or "''Zheng He to the Western Ocean,''" from 1405 to 1433.
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As a young boy, Zheng He was taken captive by the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] and made a [[eunuch]] in the imperial service. He became a close confidant of the [[Yongle Emperor]]. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He commanded a series of seven naval expeditions sponsored by the Ming government to establish a Chinese presence and extend the tributary system to the maritime nations in [[Southeast Asia]]. Zheng He set sail on his first voyage on July 11, 1405, commanding 62 treasure ships, 190 smaller ships and 27,800 men. At each port, Zheng He demanded that the inhabitants submit to the “Son of Heaven” (''tianzi,'' the Chinese Emperor), and rewarded those who cooperated with gifts. Zheng He brought back emissaries from 36 countries who agreed to a tributary relationship, along with rich and unusual gifts, including African [[zebra]]s and [[giraffe]]s that ended their days in the [[Ming]] imperial zoo. Zheng He died during the seventh voyage and was buried at sea off the [[Malabar]] coast near [[Calicut]] in Western India.
  
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:''For the [[Three Kingdoms]] general, see [[Zhang He]].''
 
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'''Zheng He''' ({{zh-tspw|t=鄭和|s=郑和|p=Zhèng Hé|w=Cheng Ho}}; Birth name: 馬三寶 / 马三宝; {{zh-p|p=Mǎ Sānbǎo}}; [[Islamic]] name: حجّي محمود شمس ''Hajji Mahmud Shams'') (1371&ndash;1433), was a [[China|Chinese]] mariner, [[exploration|explorer]], [[diplomat]] and fleet [[admiral]], who made the voyages collectively referred to as the travels of "''Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean''" (Chinese: [http://www.qsn365.com/qsn365/articles/11260 三保太監下西洋]) or "''Zheng He to the Western Ocean''," from 1405  to 1433 .
 
 
==Life==
 
==Life==
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Zheng He was born in 1371 of the [[Hui people|Hui ethnic group]] and the [[Muslim]] faith in modern-day [[Yunnan Province]],<ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/data/minorities/Hui.html The Hui ethnic minority] - [[People's Daily]]. "During the Ming Dynasty, the ''Hui navigator Zheng He'' led massive fleets in making as many as seven visits to more than 30 Asian and African countries in 29 years."</ref><ref>[http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/zhenghe/activities.html National Library of Singapore] - "''Zheng He himself was a Muslim'' who made a great contribution to the spread of Islam 600 years ago"</ref> one of the last possessions of the [[Mongols]] of the [[Yuan Dynasty]] before being conquered by the [[Ming Dynasty]]. He served as a close confidant of the [[Yongle Emperor]] of [[China]] (reigned 1403–1424), the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. One of Zheng He's ancestors includes a general for [[Genghis Khan]].
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Zheng He was born in 1371 of the [[Hui people|Hui ethnic group]] in [[Kunyang]] (昆阳), [[Jinning]] (晋宁), modern-day [[Yunnan Province]] (雲南),<ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/data/minorities/Hui.html The Hui ethnic minority] - [[People's Daily]], ''People's Daily'' Online. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/zhenghe/activities.html] Zheng He Exhibitions at Singapore National Library. National Library Board, Singapore. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref> one of the last possessions of the [[Mongols]] of the [[Yuan Dynasty]] before being conquered by the [[Ming Dynasty]]. According to his biography in the [[History of Ming]], he was originally named Ma Sanbao (Ma Ho; 馬三保). Zheng belonged to the [[Semu]] or Semur caste which practiced [[Islam]]. He was a sixth-generation descendant of [[Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar]], a famous [[Khwarezmian language|Khwarezmian]] Yuan governor of Yunnan Province from [[Bukhara]] in modern day [[Uzbekistan]]. His family name "Ma" came from Shams al-Din's fifth son Masuh (Mansour). Both his father Mir Tekin and grandfather Charameddin had traveled on the [[hajj]], the Islamic pilgrimage to [[Mecca]], and their travels contributed much to the young boy's education.
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In 1381, following the fall of the [[Yuan Dynasty]], a [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] army was dispatched to Yunnan to put down the [[Mongols|Mongol]] rebel [[Basalawarmi]], commonly known as the Prince of Liang, a descendant of [[Kublai Khan]] and a Yuan Dynasty loyalist. Zheng He, then only a young boy of eleven years, was taken captive by that army and [[castration|castrated]], becoming a [[eunuch]]. He was made an orderly in the army, and by 1390, when the army was placed under the command of the Prince of Yen, Zheng He (Ma Ho) had distinguished himself as a junior officer, skilled in war and diplomacy. He became a close confidant of Prince of Yen. In 1400, the Prince of Yen revolted against his nephew, the Jianwen (Chien-wen) Emperor (建文帝; the second Emperor of the Ming dynasty, personal name Zhu Yunwen), and took the throne in 1402 as the Yongle Emperor]] (永楽帝) of [[China]] (reigned 1403–1424, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty). The [[Yongle emperor]] conferred the name ''Zheng He'' as a reward for his support in the Yongle rebellion against the [[Jianwen Emperor]] (建文帝 ). Zheng He studied at [[Nanjing Taixue]] (The Imperial Central College).
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The Ming court then sought to display its naval power to the maritime states of South and Southeast Asia. The Chinese had been expanding their influence across the seas for three hundred years, establishing an extensive sea trade to bring spices and raw materials to China. Chinese travelers visited foreign nations, and Indian and Muslim visitors had widened China’s geographical horizons. By the beginning of the Ming dynasty, shipbuilding and the art of [[navigation]] had reached new heights in China.
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Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored a series of seven naval expeditions. Emperor Yongle intended them to establish a Chinese presence, impose imperial control over trade, and impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin. He also might have wanted to extend the tributary system, by which Chinese dynasties traditionally recognized foreign peoples.
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Zheng He was selected by the Yongle Emperor to be commander in chief of the missions to the “Western Oceans.” He set sail on his first voyage on July 11, 1405, commanding 62 treasure ships and 27,800 men. Many of these ships were mammoth nine-masted "[[treasure ships]]," by far the largest marine craft the world had ever seen. The fleet visited Annan, Champa (now South Vietnam), Siam, Malacca, and Java; then sailed through the [[Indian Ocean]] to Calicut, Cochin, and Ceylon (now [[Sri Lanka]]), returning to China in 1407.
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On his second voyage, in 1409, Zheng He (Cheng Ho) encountered hostility from King [[Alagonakkara]] of [[Ceylon]]. He defeated his forces and took the King back to [[Nanking]] as a captive to apologize to the Emperor. In 1411, Zheng He (Cheng Ho) set out on his third voyage, sailing to Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. On his return he touched at Samudra, on the northern tip of [[Sumatra]].
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Zheng He set out on his fourth voyage in 1413. After stopping at the principal ports of Asia, he proceeded westward from India to [[Hormuz]]. A part of the fleet then cruised southward down the Arabian coast, the [[Persian Gulf]] and [[Arabia]], visiting Djofar and Aden. A Chinese mission visited [[Mecca]] and continued to Egypt. The fleet visited Brava and Malindi in what is now [[Kenya]], and almost reached the Mozambique Channel. On his return to China in 1415, Cheng Ho brought envoys from more than 30 states of South and Southeast Asia to pay homage to the Chinese emperor.
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During Zheng He (Cheng Ho)'s fifth voyage (1417–1419), the Ming fleet revisited the [[Persian Gulf]] and the east coast of Africa. In 1421, a sixth voyage was launched to return the foreign emissaries to their homes, again visiting Southeast Asia, [[India]], Arabia, and [[Africa]].
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==Final Voyage==
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In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the [[Hongxi Emperor]] (reigned 1424–1425), decided to curb Zheng He’s influence at court and appointed him garrison commander in [[Nanking]]. Zheng He made one final voyage under the [[Xuande Emperor of China|Xuande Emperor]] (reigned 1426–1435), visiting the states of Southeast Asia, the coast of India, the Persian Gulf, the [[Red Sea]], and the east coast of Africa, but after that the Chinese treasure ship fleets were disbanded. Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, [[buried at sea]].<ref>[http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=explorersection&id=57 The Seventh and Final Grand Voyage of the Treasure Fleet], ''The Mariners' Museum''. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref>
  
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According to his biography in the [[History of Ming]], he was originally named Ma Sanbao (馬三保), and came from [[Kunyang]] (昆阳), present day [[Jinning]] (晋宁), [[Yunnan]] Province. Zheng belonged to the [[Semu]] or Semur caste which practiced [[Islam]]. He was a sixth generation descendant of [[Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar]], a famous [[Khwarezmian language|Khwarezmian]] Yuan governor of Yunnan Province from [[Bukhara]] in modern day [[Uzbekistan]]. His family name "Ma" came from Shams al-Din's fifth son Masuh (Mansour). Both his father Mir Tekin and grandfather Charameddin had traveled on the [[hajj]] to [[Mecca]]. Their travels contributed much to the young boy's education. In 1381, following the fall of the [[Yuan Dynasty]], a [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] army was dispatched to Yunnan to put down the [[Mongols|Mongol]] rebel [[Basalawarmi]]. Zheng He, then only a young boy of eleven years, was taken captive by that army and [[castration|castrated]], thus becoming a [[eunuch]]. He soon became a servant at the Imperial court. The name ''Zheng He'' was given by the [[Yongle emperor]] for the war [[merit]] in the Yongle rebellion against the [[Jianwen Emperor]]. He studied at [[Nanjing Taixue]] (The Imperial Central College).
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The records of Zheng He's last two voyages, which were believed to have been his farthest, were unfortunately destroyed by the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] emperor. Therefore it can never be ascertained exactly where Zheng sailed on these two expeditions. The traditional view is that he went as far as [[Iran|Persia]]. It is now the widely accepted view that his expeditions went as far as the [[Mozambique Channel]] in East Africa, from the ancient Chinese artifacts discovered there.
  
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Zheng He travelled to Mecca, though he did not perform the pilgrimage itself. At the beginning of the 1980s, his tomb was renovated in a more Islamic style, although he himself was [[burial at sea|buried at sea]]. The government of the [[People's Republic of China]] uses him as a model to integrate the Muslim minority into the Chinese nation. He himself was a living example of [[religious tolerance]], perhaps even [[syncretism]]. The [[Galle Trilingual Inscription]] set up by Zheng He around 1410  in [[Sri Lanka]] records the offerings he made at a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] mountain temple.<ref>[http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/zhenhe/134661.htm A Peaceful Mariner and Diplomat]</ref>
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==International Relations==
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[[Image:Yongle-Giraffe1.jpg|thumb|right|240px|An African [[giraffe]] being led into a Ming Dynasty [[zoo]].]]
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[[Image:MalindiGiraffe.jpg|thumb|240px|A [[giraffe]] brought from [[Africa]] in the twelfth year of Yongle (1414 C.E.)]]
  
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In around 1431, he set up a commemorative pillar at the temple of the [[Taoism|Taoist]] [[goddess]] [[Tian Fei]], the [[Celestial Spouse]], in [[Fujian]] province, to whom he and his sailors prayed for safety at sea.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sultan/explorers2.html Ancient Chinese Explorers]</ref> This pillar records his veneration for the goddess and his belief in her divine protection, as well as a few details about his voyages.<ref>[http://www.hist.umn.edu/hist1012/primarysource/source.htm Zheng He's Inscription]</ref> Visitors to the [[Jinghaisi]] (静海寺） in Nanjing are reminded of the donations Zheng He made to this non-Muslim area.
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At each port, Zheng He demanded that the inhabitants submit to the “Son of Heaven” (''tianzi,'' the Chinese Emperor), and rewarded those who cooperated with gifts. Throughout his travels, Zheng He liberally dispensed Chinese gifts of [[silk]], [[porcelain]], and other goods. In return, he received rich and unusual presents from his hosts, including African [[zebras]] and [[giraffes]] that ended their days in the [[Ming]] imperial zoo. Zheng He and his company paid respects to local [[deities]] and customs, and in Ceylon they erected a monument honoring [[Buddha]], [[Allah]], and [[Vishnu]].
  
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==Zheng He's missions==
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Ultimately, 36 countries in what the Chinese called the “Western Ocean” agreed to a tributary relationship with China. Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger," and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. He also intervened in a civil disturbance in order to establish his authority in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and east Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from 30 states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.
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Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored a series of seven naval expeditions. Emperor Yongle designed them to establish a Chinese presence, impose imperial control over trade, and impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin. He also might have wanted to extend the tributary system, by which Chinese dynasties traditionally recognized foreign peoples.
 
  
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Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook these expeditions. Zheng He's first voyage consisted of a fleet of 317 ships holding almost twenty-eight thousand armed troops. Many of these ships were mammoth nine-masted "[[treasure ships]]" which were by far the largest marine craft the world had ever seen.  
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==Legacy==
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Zheng He’s missions were impressive demonstrations of organizational capability and technological advancement, but did not lead to significant trade, since Zheng He was an admiral and an official, not a merchant. Chinese merchants continued to trade in Japan and southeast Asia, but Imperial officials gave up any plans to maintain a Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean, and even destroyed most of the nautical charts that Zheng He had carefully prepared. Their motivations were political; during much of the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644), the eunuchs exercised great power in the imperial court, at the expense of the Confucian civil bureaucracy. The expeditions of Zheng He, who was himself a eunuch, were strongly supported by eunuchs in the court and bitterly opposed by the Confucian scholar bureaucrats.<ref>Richard Gunde, [http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=10387 Zheng He's Voyages of Discovery], Berkeley: The Regents of the University of California. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref>
  
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On the first three voyages, Zheng He visited southeast Asia, [[India]], and [[Ceylon]]. The fourth expedition went to the [[Persian Gulf]] and [[Arabia]], and later expeditions ventured down the east [[African]] coast, as far as [[Malindi]] in what is now [[Kenya]]. Throughout his travels, Zheng He liberally dispensed Chinese gifts of [[silk]], [[porcelain]], and other goods. In return, he received rich and unusual presents from his hosts, including African [[zebras]] and [[giraffes]] that ended their days in the [[Ming]] imperial zoo. Zheng He and his company paid respects to local [[deities]] and customs, and in Ceylon they erected a monument honouring [[Buddha]], [[Allah]], and [[Vishnu]].
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During the 1950s, historians including [[John Fairbank]] and [[Joseph Needham]] popularized the idea that after Zheng's voyages, China turned away from the seas and underwent a period of technological stagnation. Most current historians of China question the accuracy of this view, pointing out that Chinese maritime commerce did not stop after Zheng He, and that active Chinese trading with India and East Africa continued long after the time of Zheng and Chinese ships continued to dominate Southeast Asian commerce until the nineteenth century. The travels of the Chinese ''[[Junk Keying|Junk Keying]]'' to the [[United States]] and [[England]] between 1846 and 1848 testify to the power of Chinese shipping. Historians such as [[Jack Goldstone]] argue that the Zheng He voyages ended for practical reasons that did not reflect the technological level of China<ref>Jack A. Goldstone, [http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/10/114.html The Rise of the West—or Not?]. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref> Starting in the early fifteenth century, China experienced increasing pressure from resurgent [[Mongolia]]n tribes from the north. In 1421 the emperor [[Yongle]] (the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty) moved his capital north from [[Nanjing]] to present-day [[Beijing]], from where, at considerable expense, China launched annual military expeditions to weaken the Mongolians. These land campaigns and a massive expansion of the [[Great Wall of China]] took precedence over state-sponsored naval explorations.
  
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Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger," and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. He also intervened in a civil disturbance in order to establish his authority in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and east Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from thirty states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.
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===Zheng He's tomb and museum===
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[[Image:Zheng He's tomb, Nanjing.jpg|thumb|250px|Zheng He's tomb, [[Nanjing]]]][[Image:Museum in honour of Zheng He in Nanjing.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Museum in honor of Zheng He, Nanjing]].
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Zheng He's tomb in [[Nanjing]] has been repaired and a small museum has been built next to it. The tomb is empty as he was buried at sea off the [[Malabar]] coast near [[Calicut]] in Western India. However, his sword and other personal possessions were interred in a typical Muslim tomb inscribed with Arabic characters. [[Image:Statue of Zheng He with great great grandnephew.jpg|thumb|250px|Direct descendant of Wenming, Zheng He's elder brother, next to Zheng He's statue.]]
  
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In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the [[Hongxi Emperor]] (reigned 1424–1425), decided to curb the influence at court. Zheng He made one more voyage under the [[Xuande Emperor of China|Xuande Emperor]] (reigned 1426–1435), but after that Chinese treasure ship fleets ended. Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, [[buried at sea]].<ref>[http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=explorersection&id=57 The Seventh and Final Grand Voyage of the Treasure Fleet]</ref>
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===Zheng He as a Chinese Muslim===
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Zheng He travelled to [[Mecca]], though he did not perform the pilgrimage itself. The government of the [[People's Republic of China]] uses him as a model to integrate the Muslim minority into the Chinese nation.
  
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Zheng He, on his seven voyages, successfully relocated large numbers of Chinese Muslims to [[Malacca]], [[Palembang]], [[Surabaya]] and other places and Malacca became the center of Islamic learning and also a large international Islamic trade center of the southern seas.
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Zheng He was a living example of [[religious tolerance]], perhaps even [[syncretism]], or at least a master of diplomacy. The [[Galle Trilingual Inscription]] set up by Zheng He around 1410 in [[Sri Lanka]] records the offerings he made at a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] mountain. "Inscriptions written in Chinese, Tamil and Persian praise Buddha, Shiva and Allah in equal measure."<ref>Alex Perry
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[http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/journey2001/india_sb1.html A Testament to an Odyssey, A Monument to a Failure Set in stone: Sri Lanka]. ''TIME'' Asia, August 2001, 158 (781). Retrieved January 15, 2008.</ref>
  
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His missions showed impressive demonstrations of organizational capability and technological might, but did not lead to significant trade, since Zheng He was an admiral and an official, not a merchant. Chinese merchants continued to trade in Japan and southeast Asia, but Imperial officials gave up any plans to maintain a Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean and even destroyed most of the nautical charts that Zheng He had carefully prepared. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} The decommissioned treasure ships sat in harbors until they rotted away, and Chinese craftsmen forgot the technology of building such large vessels.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
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Around 1431, he set up a commemorative pillar at the temple of the [[Daoism|Daoist]] [[goddess]] [[Tian Fei]], the [[Celestial Spouse]], in [[Fujian]]( 福建) province, to whom he and his sailors prayed for safety at sea.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sultan/explorers2.html Ancient Chinese Explorers], NOVA Online. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref> This pillar records his veneration for the goddess and his belief in her divine protection, as well as a few details about his voyages.<ref>[http://www.hist.umn.edu/hist1012/primarysource/source.htm Zheng He's Inscription], the ''Regents of the University of Minnesota''. excerpt from the book, ''Teobaldo Filesi,'' David Morison (trans.) ''China and Africa in the Middle Ages.'' (London: Frank Cass, 1972), 57-61.
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Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref>
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<blockquote><p>We have traversed more than 100,000 [[Li (Chinese unit)|li]] (50,000 kilometers) of immense water spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course [as rapidly] as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare…</p>
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<p>—(Tablet erected by Zheng He, [[Changle]], [[Fujian]], 1432. Louise Levathes</p></blockquote>
  
 
==Voyages==
 
==Voyages==
 
[[Image:KangnidoMap.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Kangnido map]] (1402) predates Zheng's voyages and suggests that he had quite detailed geographical information on much of the [[Old World]].]]
 
[[Image:KangnidoMap.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Kangnido map]] (1402) predates Zheng's voyages and suggests that he had quite detailed geographical information on much of the [[Old World]].]]
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<table>
 
{|class="wikitable"
 
{|class="wikitable"
 
! width=20% | Order
 
! width=20% | Order
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</table>
 
</table>
  
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Zheng He led seven expeditions to what the Chinese called "the Western Ocean" ([[Indian Ocean]]). He brought back to China many trophies and envoys from more than thirty kingdoms — including King [[Alagonakkara]] of [[Ceylon]], who came to China to apologize to the Emperor.
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== Size of Zheng He’s Ships ==
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The records of Zheng's last two voyage, which is believed to be his farthest, were unfortunately destroyed by the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] emperor.  Therefore it is never certain where Zheng has sailed in these two expeditions.  The traditional view is that he went as far as to [[Iran|Persia]].  It is now the widely accepted view that his expeditions went as far as the [[Mozambique Channel]] in East Africa, from the Chinese ancient artifact discovered there.  The latest view, advanced by [[Gavin Menzies]] (see below) suggested Zheng's fleet has travelled every part of the world.  However, virtually every authority in the field denounces Menzies' claims as speculation.
 
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[[Image:FraMauro1420Ship.png|thumb|Detail of the [[Fra Mauro map]] relating the travels of a [[Junk (sailing)|junk]] into the Atlantic Ocean in 1420. The ship also is illustrated above the text.]]
 
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There are speculations that some of Zheng's ships may have traveled beyond the [[Cape of Good Hope]]. In particular, the [[Venice|Venetian]] monk and cartographer [[Fra Mauro]] describes in his 1457 [[Fra Mauro map]] the travels of a huge "[[junk (ship)|junk]] from India" 2,000 miles into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in 1420 .
 
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Zheng himself wrote of his travels:
 
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<blockquote><p>We have traversed more than 100,000 [[Li (Chinese unit)|li]] (50,000 kilometers) of immense water spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course [as rapidly] as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare…</p>
 
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<p>— (Tablet erected by Zheng He, [[Changle]], [[Fujian]], 1432. Louise Levathes</p></blockquote>
 
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His voyages, records, and maps are suggested to be the sources of some of the other [[Ancient world maps]], which are claimed by Menzies to have depicted the [[Americas]], [[Antarctica]], and the tip of [[Africa]] before the (European) official discovery and drawings of the [[Fra Mauro map]] or the [[De Virga world map]].
 
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Former submarine commander [[Gavin Menzies]] in his book ''[[1421: The Year China Discovered the World]]'' claims that several parts of Zheng's fleet explored virtually the entire globe, discovering West Africa, North and South America, Greenland, Iceland, Antarctica and Australia (except visiting Europe). Menzies also claimed that Zheng's wooden fleet passed the Arctic Ocean. However none of the citations in''1421'' are from Chinese sources and scholars in China do not share Menzies's assertions.
 
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A related book, [http://www.islandofsevencities.com/ ''The Island of Seven Cities: Where the Chinese Settled When They Discovered America''] by [[Paul Chiasson]] maintains that a nation of native peoples known as the [[Mi'kmaq]] on the east coast of Canada are descendants of Chinese explorers, offering evidence in the form of archaeological remains, customs, costume, artwork, etc. It is worth noting that several advocates of these theories believe that Zheng He also discovered modern day New Zealand on either his sixth or seventh expedition.
 
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== Size of the ships ==
 
  
 
=== Ancient chronicles ===
 
=== Ancient chronicles ===
  
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'''Treasure ship''' is the name of a type of [[ship|vessel]] that the [[China|Chinese]] [[admiral]] Zheng He sailed in. His fleet included 62 treasure ships, with some said to have reached 600 [[foot (unit)|feet]] (146 [[meter]]s) long. The fleet was manned by over 27,000 crew members, including [[navigator]]s, [[explorer]]s, [[sailor]]s, [[physician|doctors]], [[manual labor|workers]], and [[soldier]]s. See also [[Junk (ship)]].
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'''Treasure ship''' is the name of a type of [[ship|vessel]] that the [[China|Chinese]] [[admiral]] Zheng He sailed in. His fleet included 62 treasure ships, with some said to have reached 600 [[foot (unit)|feet]] (146 [[meter]]s) long. The fleet was manned by over 27,000 crew members, including [[navigator]]s, [[explorer]]s, [[sailor]]s, [[physician|doctors]], [[manual labor|workers]], Muslim teachers, and [[soldier]]s.  
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As the size estimates are those given in later works of fiction, it's likely that actual ships may have been smaller, since in later historical periods ships approaching this size(such as [[HMS Orlando (1858)|HMS ''Orlando'']]) were unwieldy and visibly undulated with the waves, even with steel braces.  The problem of "hogging," the tendency of the [[largest wooden ships]] to sag (like a [[pig]]'s body) because of buoyancy in the middle, would have been impossible to solve.
 
  
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According to ancient Chinese sources, Zheng He commanded seven expeditions. The 1405  expedition consisted of 27,800 men and a fleet of 62 treasure ships supported by approximately 190 smaller ships.<ref>Dreyer (2006): 122–124</ref><ref>[http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_focus/2005-07/05/content_70352.htm Briton charts Zheng He's course across globe]</ref> The fleet included:
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According to ancient Chinese sources, Zheng He commanded seven expeditions. The 1405  expedition consisted of 27,800 men and a fleet of 62 treasure ships supported by approximately 190 smaller ships.<ref>Edward L. Dreyer. ''Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming, 1405–1433.''(London: Longman, 2006), 122–124</ref><ref>[http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_focus/2005-07/05/content_70352.htm Briton charts Zheng He's course across globe], ''Ministry of Culture, P.R. China''. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref> The fleet included:
  
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[[Image:WorldShips1460.jpg|thumb|Ships of the world in 1460, according to the [[Fra Mauro map]]. Chinese junks are described as very large, three or four-masted ships.]]
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[[Image:WorldShips1460.jpg|thumb|240px|Ships of the world in 1460, according to the [[Fra Mauro map]]. Chinese junks are described as very large, three or four-masted ships.]]
  
 
The dimensions of the Zheng He's ships according to ancient Chinese chronicles and disputed by modern scholars (see below):
 
The dimensions of the Zheng He's ships according to ancient Chinese chronicles and disputed by modern scholars (see below):
  
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* '''"[[Treasure ship]]s"''', used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (nine-masted, about 126.73 [[metre]]s (416 [[Foot (unit of length)|ft]]) long and 51.84 metres (170 ft) wide), according to later writers (no proof of the supposed great size of these ships exists, and as stated above, they are improbably large). The treasure ships purportedly weighed as much as 1,500 tons.126.73m by 51.84 m (415.780ft by 170.078ft)<ref name="ming">"History of the Ming dynasty" «明史», [[Zhang Tingyu]] chief editor, published 1737, “四十四丈一十八丈”</ref><ref>"Eunuch Sanbao's Journey to the Western Seas" «三宝太监西洋通俗演义记»,[[Luo Maodeng]], published 1597, “宝船长四十四丈四，阔一十八丈，每只船上有九道桅。”</ref> By way of comparison, a modern ship of about 1,200 tons is 60 [[meter]] (200 ft) long [http://www.fcca.demon.co.uk/Flowernum.htm], and the ships [[Christopher Columbus]] sailed to the New World in 1492 were about 70-100 tons and 17 meter (55 ft) long.<ref>http://www.columbusnavigation.com/ships.shtml</ref>
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* '''"[[Treasure ship]]s"''', used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (nine-masted, said to be about 126.73 [[meter]]s (416 [[Foot (unit of length)|ft]]) long and 51.84 meters (170 ft) wide), according to later writers. The great size of these ships was probably exaggerated by later writers. The treasure ships purportedly weighed as much as 1,500 tons.126.73m by 51.84 m (415.780ft by 170.078ft)<ref>Zhang. ''"History of the Ming dynasty"'' («明史»), [[Zhang Tingyu]] chief editor, (originally published 1737), (“四十四丈一十八丈”)</ref> <ref>"Eunuch Sanbao's Journey to the Western Seas" («三宝太监西洋通俗演义记»),[[Luo Maodeng]], (originally published 1597), (“宝船长四十四丈四，阔一十八丈，每只船上有九道桅。”)</ref> By way of comparison, a modern ship of about 1,200 tons is 60 [[meters]] (200 ft) long [http://www.fcca.demon.co.uk/Flowernum.htm], and the ships [[Christopher Columbus]] sailed to the New World in 1492 were about 70-100 tons and 17 meters (55 ft) long.<ref>Keith A. Pickering.[http://www.columbusnavigation.com/ships.shtml Columbus's Ships]. ''www.columbusnavigation.com''. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref>
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* '''"[[Horse ships]]"''', carrying tribute goods and repair material for the fleet (eight-masted, about 103 m (339 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) wide).<ref name="ming">"History of the Ming dynasty" «明史», [[Zhang Tingyu]] chief editor, published 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Horse ships]]"''', carrying tribute goods and repair material for the fleet (eight-masted, about 103 m (339 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) wide).<ref>Zhang, 1737 </ref>
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* '''"[[Supply ships]]"''', containing staple for the crew (seven-masted, about 78 m (257 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide).<ref name="ming">"History of the Ming dynasty" «明史», [[Zhang Tingyu]] chief editor, published 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Supply ships]]"''', containing staple for the crew (seven-masted, about 78 m (257 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide).<ref>Zhang, 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Troop transports]]"''', six-masted, about 67 m (220 ft) long and 25 m (83 ft) wide).<ref name="ming">"History of the Ming dynasty" «明史», [[Zhang Tingyu]] chief editor, published 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Troop transports]]"''', six-masted, about 67 m (220 ft) long and 25 m (83 ft) wide).<ref>Zhang, 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Fuchuan warships]]"''', five-masted, about 50 m (165 ft) long).<ref name="ming">"History of the Ming dynasty" «明史», [[Zhang Tingyu]] chief editor, published 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Fuchuan warships]]"''', five-masted, about 50 m (165 ft) long).<ref>Zhang, 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Patrol boats]]"''', eight-oared, about 37 m (120 feet) long).<ref name="ming">"History of the Ming dynasty" «明史», [[Zhang Tingyu]] chief editor, published 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Patrol boats]]"''', eight-oared, about 37 m (120 feet) long).<ref>Zhang, 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Water tankers]]"''', with 1 month supply of fresh water. 126.73 m by 51.84 m (415.780ft by 170.078ft)<ref name="ming">"History of the Ming dynasty" «明史», [[Zhang Tingyu]] chief editor, published 1737</ref>
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* '''"[[Water tankers]]"''', with 1 month supply of fresh water. 126.73 m by 51.84 m (415.780ft by 170.078ft)<ref>Zhang, 1737</ref>
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Six more expeditions took place, from 1407  to 1433, with fleets of comparable size.<ref>Dreyer (2006)</ref>
 
  
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[[Image:ZhengHeShips.gif|thumb|250px|Early [[17th century]] Chinese [[woodblock]] print, thought to represent Zheng He's ships.]]
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Six more expeditions took place, from 1407 to 1433, with fleets of comparable size.<ref>Dreyer, 2006</ref>
  
 
=== Modern scholarship ===
 
=== Modern scholarship ===
  
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The dimensions of the treasure ship as recorded in historical chronicles are disputed by scholars, since the length-to-width ratio of 2.47 isn't very well suited for fast navigation on the oceans. Hydrodynamic models have proved ships with such dimension are unsailable in open ocean. Also the Treasure Ships are several times larger than any wooden ship ever recorded, including the largest ''l'Orient''(65 m long). By comparison, the length of Treasure Ships is equivalent to that of the first generation aircraft carriers in the early 20th century. Research on the first source of these dimensions indicated that they came from a novel in the 16th century. For debates of these dimensions, see Chinese articles in http://proj.ncku.edu.tw/chengho/ at National Cheng Kung University of Taiwan.
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The dimensions of the treasure ships, as recorded in later historical chronicles, are disputed by scholars. It is probable that the actual size of the ships was smaller, since in later historical periods wooden ships approaching this size (such as [[HMS Orlando (1858)|HMS ''Orlando'']]) were unwieldy and visibly undulated with the waves, even with steel braces in the hull. The problem of "hogging," the tendency of the [[largest wooden ships]] to sag (like a [[pig]]'s body) because of buoyancy in the middle, would have been impossible to solve. The length-to-width ratio of 2.47 is not well suited for fast navigation on the oceans. Hydrodynamic models have proved that ships with such dimension are unsailable in open seas.  
  
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Recent research suggests that the actual length of the biggest treasure ships may have lain between 59 m and 84 m.<ref>Sally K. Church: The Colossal Ships of Zheng He: Image or Reality ? (p.155-176) Zheng He; Images & Perceptions In: South China and Maritime Asia , Volume 15, Hrsg: Ptak, Roderich /Höllmann Thomas, O. Harrasowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, (2005)</ref>
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Recent research suggests that the actual length of the biggest treasure ships may have lain between 59 m and 84 m.<ref>Sally K. Church, "The Colossal Ships of Zheng He: Image or Reality?" (155-176);and  "Zheng He; Images & Perceptions," in ''South China and Maritime Asia''  Volume 15, Hrsg: Roderich Ptak, Thomas O. Höllmann, (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag, 2005)</ref> If the treasure ships actually had the dimensions attributed to them, they would have been several times larger than any wooden ship ever recorded, including the largest ''l'Orient'' (65 m long). The length of the treasure ships would have been equivalent to that of the first generation aircraft carriers in the early twentieth century. Research on the original source of these dimensions indicates that they came from a novel written in the sixteenth century. <ref>For debates of these dimensions, see Chinese articles in [http://proj.ncku.edu.tw/chengho/ National Cheng Kung University] at National Cheng Kung University of Taiwan. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref>
  
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=== Accounts of medieval travellers ===
+
=== Accounts of Medieval Travelers ===
  
 
The characteristics of the Chinese ships of the period are described by Western travelers to the East, such as [[Ibn Battuta]] and [[Marco Polo]]. According to Ibn Battuta, who visited China in 1347:
 
The characteristics of the Chinese ships of the period are described by Western travelers to the East, such as [[Ibn Battuta]] and [[Marco Polo]]. According to Ibn Battuta, who visited China in 1347:
  
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<blockquote><p>…We stopped in the port of [[Calicut]], in which there were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and disembarked. [[China Sea]] traveling is done in Chinese ships only, so we shall describe their arrangements. The Chinese vessels are of three kinds; large ships called chunks ([[junk (sailing)|junks]]), middle sized ones called zaws ([[dhow]]s) and the small ones [[kakams]]. The large ships have anything from twelve down to three sails, which are made of bamboo rods plaited into mats. They are never lowered, but turned according to the direction of the wind; at anchor they are left floating in the wind.</p>
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<blockquote><p>…We stopped in the port of [[Calicut]], in which there were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and disembarked. [[China Sea]] traveling is done in Chinese ships only, so we shall describe their arrangements. The Chinese vessels are of three kinds; large ships called chunks ([[junk (sailing)|junks]]), middle sized ones called zaws ([[dhow]]s) and the small ones [[kakams]]. The large ships have anything from twelve down to three sails, which are made of bamboo rods plaited into mats. They are never lowered, but turned according to the direction of the wind; at anchor they are left floating in the wind.</p>
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<p>Three smaller ones, the "half," the "third" and the "quarter," accompany each large vessel. These vessels are built in the towns of [[Quanzhou|Zaytun]] and [[Sin-Kalan]]. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupants.</p>
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<p>Three smaller ones, the "half," the "third" and the "quarter," accompany each large vessel. These vessels are built in the towns of [[Quanzhou|Zaytun]] and [[Sin-Kalan]]. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupants.</p>
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<p>This is the manner after which they are made; two (parallel) walls of very thick wooden (planking) are raised and across the space between them are placed very thick planks (the bulkheads) secured longitudinally and transversely by means of large nails, each three [[ell]]s in length. When these walls have thus been built the lower deck is fitted in and the ship is launched before the upper works are finished."'' (Ibn Battuta).</p></blockquote>
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<p>This is the manner after which they are made; two (parallel) walls of very thick wooden (planking) are raised and across the space between them are placed very thick planks (the bulkheads) secured longitudinally and transversely by means of large nails, each three [[ell]]s in length. When these walls have thus been built the lower deck is fitted in and the ship is launched before the upper works are finished."'' (Ibn Battuta).</p></blockquote>
  
 
==Zheng He and Islam in Southeast Asia==
 
==Zheng He and Islam in Southeast Asia==
 
{{Islam and China}}
 
{{Islam and China}}
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[[Indonesia]]n religious leader and Islamic scholar [[Hamka]] (1908–1981) wrote in 1961: ''"The development of Islam in Indonesia and [[Malaya]] is intimately related to a Chinese Muslim, Admiral Zheng He."''<ref>[http://210.0.141.99/eng/malaysia/ChineseMuslim_in_Malaysia.asp Chinese Muslims in Malaysia, History and Development] by Rosey Wang Ma</ref> In Malacca he built granaries, warehouses and a stockade, and most probably he left behind many of his Muslim crews. Much of the information on Zheng He's voyages was compiled by [[Ma Huan]], also Muslim, who accompanied Zheng He on several of his inspection tours and served as his chronicler / interpreter. In his book 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores' (Chinese: 瀛涯勝覽) written in 1416, Ma Huan gave very detailed accounts of his observations of the peoples' customs and lives in ports they visited. Zheng He had many Muslim Eunuchs as his companions. At the time when his fleet first arrived in Malacca, there were already Chinese of the '[[Muslim]]' faith living there. Ma Huan talks about them as ''tangren'' (Chinese: 唐人) who were Muslim. At places they went, they frequented mosques, actively propagated the Islamic faith, established Chinese Muslim communities and built mosques.
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[[Indonesia]]n religious leader and Islamic scholar [[Hamka]] (1908–1981) wrote in 1961: ''"The development of Islam in Indonesia and [[Malaya]] is intimately related to a Chinese Muslim, Admiral Zheng He."''<ref>Rosey Wang Ma,[http://210.0.141.99/eng/malaysia/ChineseMuslim_in_Malaysia.asp Chinese Muslims in Malaysia History and Development], Chinese Muslims in Malaysia. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref> In Malacca, Zheng He built granaries, warehouses and a stockade, and it is likely that he left behind many of his Muslim crews. Much of the information on Zheng He's voyages was compiled by [[Ma Huan]], also Muslim, who accompanied Zheng He on several of his inspection tours and served as his chronicler and interpreter. In his book ''The Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores'' (Chinese: 瀛涯勝覽) written in 1416, Ma Huan gave very detailed accounts of his observations of the peoples' customs and lives in ports they visited. Zheng He had many Muslim eunuchs as his companions. At the time when his fleet first arrived in Malacca, there were already Chinese of the '[[Muslim]]' faith living there. Ma Huan talks about them as ''tangren'' (Chinese: 唐人) who were Muslim. According to Ma Huan, Zheng He’s entourage frequented mosques, actively propagated the Islamic faith, established Chinese Muslim communities and built mosques.
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Indonesian scholar Slamet Muljana writes: "Zheng He built Chinese Muslim communities first in [[Palembang]], then in San Fa (West Kalimantan), subsequently he founded similar communities along the shores of [[Java]], the [[Malay Peninsula]] and the [[Philippines]]. They propagated the Islamic faith according to the [[Hanafi]] school of thought and in Chinese language."
 
  
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Li Tong Cai, in his book 'Indonesia – Legends and Facts', writes: "in 1430, Zheng He had already successfully established the foundations of the Hui religion Islam. After his death in 1434, Hajji Yan Ying Yu became the force behind the Chinese Muslim community, and he delegated a few local Chinese as leaders, such as trader Sun Long from Semarang, Peng Rui He and Hajji Peng De Qin. Sun Long and Peng Rui He actively urged the Chinese community to 'Javanise'. They encouraged the younger Chinese generation to assimilate with the Javanese society, to take on Javanese names and their way of life.  Sun Long's adopted son Chen Wen, also named Radin Pada is the son of King [[Majapahit]] and his Chinese wife."
+
Indonesian scholar Slamet Muljana writes:  
−
 
+
<blockquote>"Zheng He built Chinese Muslim communities first in [[Palembang]], then in San Fa (West Kalimantan), subsequently he founded similar communities along the shores of [[Java]], the [[Malay Peninsula]] and the [[Philippines]]. They propagated the Islamic faith according to the [[Hanafi]] school of thought and in Chinese language." When the Chinese naval expeditions were suspended after Zheng He's death, the Hanafi Islam that Zheng He and his followers propagated lost almost all contact with Islam in China, and gradually was totally absorbed by the local Shafi’i sect.</blockquote>  
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After Zheng He's death, Chinese naval expeditions were suspended. The Hanafi Islam that Zheng He and his people propagated lost almost all contact with Islam in China, and gradually was totally absorbed by the local Shafi’i sect. When Melaka was successively colonised by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]], the [[Netherlands|Dutch]], and later the [[Great Britain|British]], Chinese were discouraged from converting to Islam. Many of the Chinese Muslim mosques became San Bao Chinese temples commemorating Zheng He. After a lapse of 600 years, the influence of Chinese Muslims in Malacca declined to almost nil.<ref>{{cite book | author=Suryadinata Leo| title=Admiral Zheng He & Southeast Asia | publisher=Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies | year=2005 | id = ISBN 981-230-329-4| note=[http://www.infobold.com/ChinaBooks/search.cfm?UR=26121&search_stage=details&records_to_display=50&this_book_number=10]}}</ref>
 
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In many ways, Zheng He can be considered a major founder of the present community of [[Chinese Indonesian]]s. 
 
  
 
===In Malacca===
 
===In Malacca===
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According to the [[Malaysia]]n history, Sultan [[Mansur Shah of Malacca|Mansur Shah]] (ruled 1459–1477) dispatched Tun Perpatih Putih as his envoy to China and carried a letter from the Sultan to the Ming Emperor. Tun Perpatih succeeded in impressing the Emperor of Ming with the fame and grandeur of Sultan Mansur Shah. In the year 1459, a princess [[Hang Li Po]] (or Hang Liu), was sent by the emperor of Ming to marry Malacca Sultan Mansur Shah (ruled 1459–1477). The princess came with her entourage 500 male and a few hundred handmaidens. They eventually settled in [[Bukit Cina]], [[Malacca]]. The descendants of these people, from mixed marriages with the local natives, are known today as [[Peranakan]]: Baba (the male title) and [[Nyonya]] (the female title).
+
When Melaka was successively colonized by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]], the [[Netherlands|Dutch]], and later the [[Great Britain|British]], Chinese were discouraged from converting to Islam. Many of the Chinese Muslim mosques became San Bao Chinese temples commemorating Zheng He. After a lapse of six hundred years, the influence of Chinese Muslims in Malacca had almost disappeared. <ref>Leo Suryadinata, (ed.) ''Admiral Zheng He & Southeast Asia.'' (Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2005), note [http://www.infobold.com/ChinaBooks/search.cfm?UR=26121&search_stage=details&records_to_display=50&this_book_number=10]. Retrieved January 15, 2008. </ref>
  
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In Malaysia today, many people believe it was Admiral Zheng He (died 1433) who sent princess [[Hang Li Po]] to Malacca in year 1459. However there is no record of Hang Li Po (or Hang Liu) in Ming documents, she is known only from Malacca folklore. In that case, Ma Huan's observation was true, the so-called Peranakan in Malacca was in fact Tang-Ren or Hui Chinese Muslims. These Chinese Muslims together with [[Parameswara]] were refugees of the declining [[Srivijaya]] kingdom, they came from [[Palembang]], [[Java]] and other places. Some of the Chinese Muslims were soldiers and so they served as warrior and bodyguard to protect the Sultanate of Malacca.
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According to the [[Malaysia]]n history, Sultan [[Mansur Shah of Malacca|Mansur Shah]] (ruled 1459–1477) dispatched Tun Perpatih Putih as his envoy to China and carried a letter from the Sultan to the Ming Emperor. Tun Perpatih succeeded in impressing the Emperor of Ming with the fame and grandeur of Sultan Mansur Shah. In the year 1459, a princess [[Hang Li Po]] (or Hang Liu), was sent by the emperor of Ming to marry Malacca Sultan Mansur Shah (ruled 1459–1477). The princess came with her entourage of five hundred male servants and a few hundred handmaidens. They eventually settled in [[Bukit Cina]], [[Malacca]]. The descendants of these people, from mixed marriages with the local natives, are known today as [[Peranakan]]: Baba (the male title) and [[Nyonya]] (the female title).
  
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On his return trip from China, Parameswara was so impressed by Zheng He that he converted to Islam and adopted the name Sultan Iskandar Shah. Malacca prosper under his leadership and became the half-way house, an entreport, for trade between India and China.
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In Malaysia today, many people believe that it was Admiral Zheng He (died 1433) who sent princess [[Hang Li Po]] to Malacca in year 1459. However there is no record of Hang Li Po (or Hang Liu) in Ming documents, she is known only from Malacca folklore. The so-called Peranakan in Malacca were probably Tang-Ren or Hui Chinese Muslims who came with Parameswara, the founder of Malacca, from [[Palembang]], [[Java]] and other places as refugees of the declining [[Srivijaya]] kingdom. Some of the Chinese Muslims were soldiers and served as warriors and bodyguards to protect the Sultanate of Malacca.
  
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== Connection to the history of Late Imperial China ==
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In 1411, Admiral Zheng He brought Parameswara, his wife and 540 officials to China to pay homage to Emperor [[Yongle]]. Upon their arrival, a grand welcoming party was held. Animals were sacrificed, Parameswara was granted a two-piece gold-embroidered suit of clothing with dragon motifs, Kylin robe, gold and silverware, silk lace bed quilt, and gifts for all officials and followers. Upon returning home, Parameswara was granted a jade belt, brace, saddle, and coroneted suit for his wife. Upon reaching the heaven’s gate (China), Parameswara was again granted a jade belt, brace, saddle, a hundred gold & platinum pieces, 400,000 banknotes, 2600 cash, 300 pieces of silk brocade voile, 1,000 pieces of silk, two pieces of whole gold plait, two pieces of knee-length gown with gold threads woven through sleeves…. On his return trip from China, Parameswara was so impressed by Zheng He that he adopted the name Sultan Iskandar Shah. Malacca prospered under his leadership and became a half-way port for trade between India and China.
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[[Image:MalindiGiraffe.jpg|thumb|250px|A [[giraffe]] brought from [[Africa]] in the twelfth year of Yongle (AD 1414).]]
 
  
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Zheng He's initial objective was to enroll far flung states into the Ming tributary system, but it was later decided that the voyages were not cost efficient.  One popular belief holds that after Zheng's voyages, China turned away from the seas and underwent a period of technological stagnation. Although historians such as [[John Fairbank]] and [[Joseph Needham]] popularized this view in the 1950s, most current historians of China question its accuracy.  They point out that Chinese maritime commerce did not stop after Zheng He, that Chinese ships continued to dominate Southeast Asian commerce until the 19th century and that active Chinese trading with India and East Africa continued long after the time of Zheng. The travels of the Chinese ''[[Junk Keying|Junk Keying]]'' to the [[United States]] and [[England]] between 1846 and 1848  testify to the power of Chinese shipping until the 19th century.  Moreover historians such as [[Jack Goldstone]] argue that the Zheng He voyages ended for practical reasons that did not reflect the technological level of China<ref>{{cite web
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== Popular Theories ==
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| last = Goldstone
 
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| first = Jack
 
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| title = The Rise of the West - or Not? A Revision to Socio-economic History
 
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| url = http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/10/114.html}}</ref>
 
  
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Although the Ming Dynasty did ban shipping for a few decades with the ''[[Hai jin]]'' edict, they eventually lifted this ban. The alternative view cites the fact that by banning oceangoing shipping, the Ming (and later Qing) dynasties forced countless numbers of people into black market smuggling. This reduced government tax revenue and increased piracy. The lack of an oceangoing navy then left China highly vulnerable to the [[Wokou|Waku]] (wakou) pirates that ravaged China in the 16th century.
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Former British submarine commander [[Gavin Menzies]] in his book ''1421: The Year China Discovered the World'' claims that several parts of Zheng's fleet explored virtually the entire globe, discovering West Africa, North and South America, Greenland, Iceland, Antarctica and Australia before the voyages of [[Ferdinand Magellan]] and [[Christopher Columbus]]. Menzies also claims that Zheng's wooden fleet passed through the Arctic Ocean. Menzies proposes that Zheng He’s voyages, records, and maps are the sources for some of the other [[Ancient world maps]], which he claims depicted the [[Americas]], [[Antarctica]], and the tip of [[Africa]] before the official European discovery of these areas, and the drawings of the [[Fra Mauro map]] or the [[De Virga world map]]. However none of the citations in''1421'' are from Chinese sources and scholars in China do not share Menzies' assertions.
  
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One thing is certain: State-sponsored Ming naval efforts declined dramatically after Zheng's voyages. Starting in the early 15th century, China experienced increasing pressure from resurgent [[Mongolia]]n tribes from the north. In recognition of this threat and possibly to move closer to his family's historical geographic power base, in 1421  the emperor Yongle moved the capital north from [[Nanjing]] to present-day [[Beijing]]. From the new capital he could apply greater imperial supervision to the effort to defend the northern borders. At considerable expense, China launched annual military expeditions from Beijing to weaken the Mongolians. The expenditures necessary for these land campaigns directly competed with the funds necessary to continue naval expeditions.
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A related book, ''The Island of Seven Cities: Where the Chinese Settled When They Discovered America'' by Paul Chiasson maintains that a nation of native peoples known as the Mi'kmaq on the east coast of Canada are descendants of Chinese explorers, offering evidence in the form of archaeological remains, customs, costume, and artwork. Several advocates of these theories believe that Zheng He also discovered modern day New Zealand on either his sixth or seventh expedition.
  
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In 1449  Mongolian [[cavalry]] ambushed a land expedition personally led by the emperor [[Zhengtong]] less than a day's march from the walls of the capital. In the [[Battle of Tumu Fortress]] the Mongolians wiped out the Chinese army and captured the emperor. This battle had two salient effects. First, it demonstrated the clear threat posed by the northern nomads. Second, the Mongols caused a political crisis in China when they released Zhengtong after his half-brother had proclaimed himself the new [[Jingtai]] emperor. Not until 1457  did political stability return when Zhengtong recovered the throne. Upon his return to power China abandoned the strategy of annual land expeditions and instead embarked upon a massive and expensive expansion of the [[Great Wall of China]]. In this environment, funding for naval expeditions simply did not happen.
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It has been suggested by some historians and mentioned in a recent [[''National Geographic'']] article on Zheng He that [[Sindbad the Sailor]] (also spelled "Sinbad," from Arabic السندباد—As-Sindibad) and the collection of travel-romances that make up the "Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor" found in [[The Book of One Thousand and One Nights]] (Arabian Nights) were influenced heavily by the cumulative tales of many seafarers that had followed, traded and worked in various support ships as part of the armada of Chinese Ming Imperial Treasure Fleets. This belief is supported in part by the similarities in Sindbad's name and the various iterations of Zheng in Arabic and Mandarin (pinyin: Mǎ Sānbǎo; Cantonese: Máh Sāambóu; Arabic name: Mahmud Shams) along with the similarities in the number (seven) and general locations of voyages between Sindbad and Zheng. This idea has no credibility within the scholarly community.
  
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More fundamentally, unlike the later naval expeditions conducted by European nations, the Chinese treasure ships appear to have been doomed in the long run because the voyages lacked any economic motive. They were primarily conducted to increase the prestige of the emperor and the costs of the expeditions and of the return gifts provided to foreign royalty and ambassadors more than outstripped the benefits of any tribute collected. Thus when China's governmental finances came under pressure (which like all governments' finances they eventually did), funding for the naval expeditions melted away. In contrast, by the 16th century, most European missions of exploration made enough profit from the resulting trade to become self-financing, allowing them to continue regardless of the condition of the state's finances.
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==Notes==
 +
<references />
  
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== Cultural echoes ==
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== References ==
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<!-- Image with questionable fair-use claim removed: [[Image:1120031329 2zhenghe2.jpg|thumb|left|Stamps commemorating the 600th anniversary of Zheng's voyages]] —>
 
  
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[[Gavin Menzies]]'s book asserts that Zheng He circumnavigated the globe and arrived in America in the 15th century before [[Ferdinand Magellan]] and [[Christopher Columbus]]. His ''[[1421 hypothesis]]'' is highly controversial and not accepted by mainstream scholars.
+
* Dreyer, Edward L. 2006. ''Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming, 1405–1433.'' (Library of World Biography Series). London: Longman. ISBN 0321084438.
 +
* Filesi, Teobaldo. David Morison (trans.) ''China and Africa in the Middle Ages.'' (London: Frank Cass, 1972.
 +
* Finlay, Robert. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jwh/15.2/finlay.html How (not) to rewrite World History. Gavin Menzies and the Chinese Discovery of America], ''Journal of World History'' 15 (2) (2004): S.229–242. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
 +
* Kahn, Joseph. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/20/international/asia/20letter.html China Has an Ancient Mariner to Tell You About]. July 20, 2005, the ''New York Times''. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  
−
The [[Qeng Ho]] space-faring society alluded to in [[Vernor Vinge]]'s [[science fiction]] novel ''[[A Fire Upon the Deep]]'' (and later prominently featured in ''[[A Deepness in the Sky]]'') reflects the name of Zheng He. His voyages and the subsequent possible abandonment (as some have argued) of maritime exploration by the Chinese emperors have become symbolic in the [[space advocacy]] community of the success and cancellation of the [[Project Apollo|Apollo Program]].
+
* Levathes, Louise. 1997. ''When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433.'' Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195112075.
 +
* Ma, Huan. 1970. ''Ying-yai Sheng-lan, The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1433), translated from the Chinese text edited by Feng Ch'eng Chun with introduction, notes and appendices by J.V.G. Mills.'' White Lotus Press. Reprinted 1970, 1997. ISBN 9748496783.
 +
* Menzies, Gavin 2003. ''1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered the World.'' Morrow/Avon. ISBN 0060537639. (Scholars consider this book, insofar as it relates to the Chinese discovery of America, to lack factual foundation:
 +
* 黃振翔: [http://proj.ncku.edu.tw/chengho/newsletter/no17.html Newsletter on Cheng-Ho]. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
 +
* Suryadinata, Leo (ed.) ''Admiral Zheng He & Southeast Asia.'' Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2005. ISBN 9812303294. Collection of essays written from Chinese points of view.
 +
* Viviano, Frank. 2005. "China's Great Armada," ''National Geographic'' 208(1)(July 2005):28–53.
 +
* Wilford, John Noble. [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/02/books/review/02WILFORT.html?tntemail1  Pacific Overtures], a book review of ''1421'' by a science editor at the ''New York Times''. February 2, 2003. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  
−
It has been suggested by some historians and mentioned in a recent [[National Geographic]] article on Zheng that [[Sindbad the Sailor]] (also spelled "Sinbad," from Arabic السندباد—As-Sindibad) and the collection of travel-romances that make up the Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor found in [[The Book of One Thousand and One Nights]] (Arabian Nights) were influenced heavily by the cumulative tales of many seafarers that had followed, traded and worked in various support ships as part of the armada of Chinese Ming Imperial Treasure Fleets. This belief is supported in part by the similarities in Sindbad's name and the various iterations of Zheng in Arabic and Mandarin (pinyin: Mǎ Sānbǎo; Cantonese: Máh Sāambóu; Arabic name: Mahmud Shams) along with the similarities in the number (seven) and general locations of voyages between Sindbad and Zheng. This idea has no credibility within the scholarly community{{Fact|date=February 2007}}.
+
* Zhang Yen-Yu and Zhong Hua Shu Ju (Editor). ''History of the Ming Dynasty, Complete 28 Volume Set'' (Ming Shu) (Official Dynastic Histories of China) Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju, 1st edition, 1995. (in Chinese) ISBN 7101003273
  
−
==Zheng He's Tomb and Museum==
 
−
[[Image:Zheng He's tomb, Nanjing.jpg|thumb|250px|Zheng He's tomb, [[Nanjing]]]][[Image:Museum in honour of Zheng He in Nanjing.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Museum in honour of Zheng He Nanjing]].
 
−
Zheng He's tomb in [[Nanjing]] has been repaired and a small museum has been built next to it. Of course, Zheng He's body is not here as he was buried at sea off the [[Malabar]] coast near [[Calicut]] in Western India. However, his sword and other personal possessions were interred in the typical Muslim tomb inscribed with Arabic characters. [[Image:Statue of Zheng He with great great grandnephew.jpg|thumb|250px|Direct descendant of Wenming, Zheng He's elder brother, next to Zheng He's statue]]
 
  
−
=== The "Zheng He map" ===
+
There are other books, publications and papers available (especially in Chinese), but they have not yet been translated into English.
−
[[Image:Zhenghemap.jpg|thumb|300px|1763 Chinese map of the world, claiming to incorporate information from a 1418 map. Discovered by Lui Gang in 2005.]]
 
−
[[Image:ZhenghemapAmerica.jpg|thumb|200px|Phonetic transcription of the word "America" on the "Zheng He map." Literally: "Now Name Northern A-me-ri-ca" ("今名北亞墨利加").]]
 
−
In January 2006, [[BBC News]] and ''[[The Economist]]'' both published news regarding the exhibition of a Chinese sailing map claimed to be dated 1763, which was stated to be a copy of another map purportedly made in 1418 . The map has detailed descriptions of both Native Americans and Native Australians. According to the map's owner, Liu Gang, a Chinese lawyer and collector, he purchased the map in 2001  for $500 USD from a Shanghai dealer.
 
  
−
After Liu read the book "1421: The Year China discovered the World" by [[Gavin Menzies]], he realized the significant potential value of the map. The map has been tested to verify the age of its paper, but not the ink. Even though the map has been shown to date from a period that could cover 1763, the question remains as to whether it is an accurate copy of an earlier 1418 map, or simply a copy of a contemporary 18th-century European map.
+
== External links ==
−
 
+
All links retrieved July 3, 2013.
−
A number of authorities on Chinese history have questioned the authenticity of the map. Some point to the use of the [[Mercator projection|Mercator-style projection]], its accurate reckoning of [[longitude]] and its North-based orientation. None of these features was used in the best maps made in either Asia or Europe during this period (for example see the [[Kangnido map]] (1410) and the [[Fra Mauro]] (1459)). Also mentioned is the depiction of the erroneous [[Island of California]], a mistake commonly repeated in European maps from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. On the map the American continent is labelled phonetically "A-me-ri-ca" (亞墨利加), also a clear borrowing from the West.
+
* [http://proj.ncku.edu.tw/chengho/ Newsletter on Cheng-Ho]. National Cheng Hang University. (in Chinese)
−
 
+
* FSTC Ltd. [http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=218 Zheng He - The Chinese Muslim Admiral]. 2001, ''MuslimHeritage.com''.
−
Geoff Wade of the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore has strongly disputed the authenticity of the map and has suggested that it is either an 18th or 21st-century fake. He has pointed out a number of anachronisms that appear in the map and its text annotations. For example, in the text next to Eastern Europe, which has been translated as "People here mostly believe in God and their religion is called 'Jing' (景, referring to [[Nestorianism]])," Wade notes that the Chinese word for the Christian God is given as "Shang-di" (上帝), which is a usage that was first borrowed from Chinese ancient text by Jesuit missionary [[Matteo Ricci]] in the 16th century.<ref>[www.singtaonet.com:82/arts/200702/t20070208_465576.html]</ref>
+
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/swimming_dragons.shtml BBC radio program "Swimming Dragons"]. BBC Radio.
 +
* Dr. Siu-Leung Lee [http://www.asiawind.com/zhenghe The Mystery of Zheng He and America (June 2006)]. ''www.asiawind.com''.
 +
* ''Economist'' [http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5381851 China beat Columbus to it, perhaps]. "Chinese cartography: A map that revises history."
 +
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609074.stm BBC News China map lays claim to Americas]. January 13, 2006.
 +
* [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Asia&month=0601&week=b&msg=gv1CuUMQ0QkDD0gKTUJ//A&user=&pw= Exchange between Liu Gang and Geoff Wade].
 +
* [http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2006/01/16-0036-4322.html Laputan Logic: China's Own Vinland Map] Liu Gang's map, Chinese cartography and the Island of California myth.
 +
* [http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0507/feature2/index.html National Geographic magazine special feature "China's Great Armada" (July 2005)].
 +
* [http://www.chinapage.com/chengho.html The Great Chinese Mariner Zheng He (brief biography with map and images)].
 +
* [http://www.1421exposed.com/ Academic website debunking Menzies' theories and the map].
  
−
In May 2006, it was reported by the [[Dominion Post]] that Fiona Petchey, head of the testing unit at [[Waikato University]], which had carbon dated the map, had asked Gavin Menzies to remove claims from his website that the dating proved the map was genuine. The carbon dating indicated with an 80% probability a date for the paper of the map between either 1640–1690 or 1730–1810. However as the ink was not tested, it was impossible to know when it was drawn. Ms Petchey said, "''we asked him to remove those, not because we were not happy with the dates, but because we were not overly happy with being associated with his interpretations of those dates.''"<ref>[http://www.1421exposed.com/html/maori_don_t_exist.html "Writer trashes origins of Maori"], 1421exposed.com.</ref>
 
  
−
==Appearances in popular culture==
 
−
 
−
*The [[Europa Universalis II]] [[grand strategy]] game by [[Paradox Interactive]] spawns a naval explorer '''"Zheng He"''' for China in the beginning of the '''Grand Campaign''' with (the customary) three ships to begin with (although in some mods he begins with more to compensate for attrition).
 
−
 
−
*The name of the "Qeng Ho," the Chinese-derived clan that dominates interstellar trade in [[A Deepness in the Sky]], a 1999 [[science fiction]] novel by [[Vernor Vinge]], is an erroneous transliteration of Zheng He's name.  ISBN 0-812-53635-5. 
 
−
 
−
*The personage of Zheng He appears as a minor character in the 2002  historical [[science fiction]] novel [[The Years of Rice and Salt]], written by [[Kim Stanley Robinson]]. ISBN 0-553-10920-0.
 
−
 
−
*[[WizKids]]' [[Pirates of the Spanish Main]] [[constructible strategy game]] contained a convention-exclusive Admiral Zheng He game piece packed with a [[treasure ship]] game piece in 2005.
 
−
 
−
*The backstory of the [[Seven Brothers]] comic book ([[Virgin Comics]]) by [[Garth Ennis]] and [[John Woo]] is based on the events of Zheng He's voyages.
 
−
 
−
== Further reading ==
 
−
 
−
* [[Dreyer, Edward L.]] (2006). ''Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming, 1405–1433 (Library of World Biography Series)''. Longman.  ISBN 0-321-08443-8.
 
−
* [[Levathes, Louise]] (1997). ''When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433.'' Oxford University Press, trade paperback. ISBN 0-19-511207-5.
 
−
* [[Ma Huan|Ma, Huan]] (1970). ''Ying-yai Sheng-lan, The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1433), translated from the Chinese text edited by Feng Ch'eng Chun with introduction, notes and appendices by J.V.G.Mills.''  White Lotus Press.  Reprinted 1970, 1997. ISBN 974-8496-78-3.
 
−
* [[Gavin Menzies|Menzies, Gavin]] (2003). ''[[1421 theory|1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered the World]]''. Morrow/Avon, hardcover 576 pages. ISBN 0-06-053763-9. (Scholars consider this book, insofar as it relates to the Chinese discovery of America, to lack factual foundation:
 
−
:: [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/02/books/review/02WILFORT.html?tntemail1 Review of ''1421'' by a science editor at the ''New York Times'']
 
−
:: Robert Finlay: [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jwh/15.2/finlay.html How (not) to rewrite World History. Gavin Menzies and the Chinese Discovery of America], ''Journal of World History'', Vol. 15, No. 2 (2004), S.229–242
 
−
:: 黃振翔: [http://proj.ncku.edu.tw/chengho/newsletter/no17.html 《1421》的大謊言]
 
−
* Viviano, Frank (2005). China's Great Armada. ''National Geographic'', 208(1):28–53, July.
 
−
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/20/international/asia/20letter.html China Has an Ancient Mariner to Tell You About]
 
−
 
−
There may be other books, publications and papers available (especially in China), but these have not yet been translated into languages other than the original Chinese.
 
−
 
−
==References==
 
−
<references />
 
−
 
−
== See also ==
 
−
* [[Zhou Man]]
 
−
* [[Timeline of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact]]
 
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* [[Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact]]
 
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* [[1421 Hypothesis]]
 
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* [[Ming Shi-lu]]
 
−
 
−
== External links ==
 
−
* [http://proj.ncku.edu.tw/chengho/ Newsletter on Cheng-Ho]
 
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* [http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=218 Zheng He - The Chinese Muslim Admiral]
 
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* [http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-22-2005-75259.asp Zheng He Journey to Arabia]
 
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* [http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2245/2005–6–13/119@246723.htm Zheng He Background]
 
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* [http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2245/2005-6-13/Zt119@569.htm Zheng He 600th Anniversary]
 
−
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/swimming_dragons.shtml BBC radio programme "Swimming Dragons".]
 
−
* [http://www.asiawind.com/zhenghe The Mystery of Zheng He and America (June 2006)]
 
−
* [http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5381851 Economist: China beat Columbus to it, perhaps] (January 12 2006)
 
−
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609074.stm BBC News China map lays claim to Americas] (January 13 2006)
 
−
* [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Asia&month=0601&week=b&msg=gv1CuUMQ0QkDD0gKTUJ//A&user=&pw= Exchange between Liu Gang and Geoff Wade]
 
−
* [http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2006/01/16-0036-4322.html Laputan Logic: China's Own Vinland Map] Liu Gang's map, Chinese cartography and the [[Island of California]] myth
 
−
* [http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0507/feature2/index.html National Geographic magazine special feature "China's Great Armada" (July 2005)]
 
−
* [http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/journey2001/ TIME magazine special feature on Zheng He (August 2001)]
 
−
* [http://www.chinapage.com/chengho.html The Great Chinese Mariner Zheng He (brief biography with map and images)]
 
−
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/03/04/nexp04.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/03/04/ixhome.html Explorer from China who 'beat Columbus to America']
 
−
* [http://www.1421.tv Gavin Menzies' official website about his research on Zheng He]
 
−
* [http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=EarthHistory&Number=37092&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 Google Earth Interactive Map of Zheng He's Voyages]
 
−
* [http://www.visitsingapore-zhenghe.com/1421/index.php Singapore Tourism Board – "1421: The Year China Discovered The World" exhibition]
 
−
* [http://www.1421.tv/index.asp 1421]
 
−
* [http://www.1421.tv/pages/maps/1418.htm Latest Map]
 
−
* [http://www.1421exposed.com/ Academic website debunking Menzies' theories and the map]
 
−
* [http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,372474,00.html Hero of the High Seas] from ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', by Andreas Lorenz, August 29, 2005
 
−
* [http://www.elibraryhub.com/zhengHe/home.html Virtual exhibition from elibraryhub.com]
 
  
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<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] —>
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[[Category:explorers]]
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[[Category:history and biography]]
  
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{{Persondata
 
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|NAME=Zheng He
 
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|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
 
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|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Chinese explorer
 
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|DATE OF BIRTH=1371
 
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|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Yunnan Province]], [[China]]
 
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|DATE OF DEATH=1433
 
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|PLACE OF DEATH=
 
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}}
 
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[[Category:1371 births|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:1433 deaths|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Chinese explorers|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Explorers of Asia|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Explorers of Africa|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Chinese admirals|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Chinese geographers|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Ancient geographers|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Islamic travel writers|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Ming Dynasty eunuchs|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Hui people|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Naval history of China]]
 
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[[Category:Chinese diplomats]]
 
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[[Category:Burials at sea|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:Muslims|Zheng He]]
 
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[[Category:People from Yunnan]]
 
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{{credits|Zheng_He|147099017}}
 
{{credits|Zheng_He|147099017}}

Revision as of 15:43, 3 July 2013

For the Three Kingdoms general, see Zhang He.
Early seventeenth century Chinese woodblock print, thought to represent Zheng He's ships.

Zheng He (Traditional Chinese: 鄭和; Simplified Chinese: 郑和; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhèng Hé; Wade-Giles: Cheng Ho; Birth name: 馬三寶 / 马三宝; pinyin: Mǎ Sānbǎo; Islamic name: حجّي محمود شمس Hajji Mahmud Shams) (1371–1433), was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who made the voyages collectively referred to as the travels of "Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean" (Chinese: 三保太監下西洋)[1] or "Zheng He to the Western Ocean," from 1405 to 1433.

As a young boy, Zheng He was taken captive by the Ming and made a eunuch in the imperial service. He became a close confidant of the Yongle Emperor. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He commanded a series of seven naval expeditions sponsored by the Ming government to establish a Chinese presence and extend the tributary system to the maritime nations in Southeast Asia. Zheng He set sail on his first voyage on July 11, 1405, commanding 62 treasure ships, 190 smaller ships and 27,800 men. At each port, Zheng He demanded that the inhabitants submit to the “Son of Heaven” (tianzi, the Chinese Emperor), and rewarded those who cooperated with gifts. Zheng He brought back emissaries from 36 countries who agreed to a tributary relationship, along with rich and unusual gifts, including African zebras and giraffes that ended their days in the Ming imperial zoo. Zheng He died during the seventh voyage and was buried at sea off the Malabar coast near Calicut in Western India.

Life

Zheng He was born in 1371 of the Hui ethnic group in Kunyang (昆阳), Jinning (晋宁), modern-day Yunnan Province (雲南),[2][3] one of the last possessions of the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty before being conquered by the Ming Dynasty. According to his biography in the History of Ming, he was originally named Ma Sanbao (Ma Ho; 馬三保). Zheng belonged to the Semu or Semur caste which practiced Islam. He was a sixth-generation descendant of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, a famous Khwarezmian Yuan governor of Yunnan Province from Bukhara in modern day Uzbekistan. His family name "Ma" came from Shams al-Din's fifth son Masuh (Mansour). Both his father Mir Tekin and grandfather Charameddin had traveled on the hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, and their travels contributed much to the young boy's education.

In 1381, following the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, a Ming army was dispatched to Yunnan to put down the Mongol rebel Basalawarmi, commonly known as the Prince of Liang, a descendant of Kublai Khan and a Yuan Dynasty loyalist. Zheng He, then only a young boy of eleven years, was taken captive by that army and castrated, becoming a eunuch. He was made an orderly in the army, and by 1390, when the army was placed under the command of the Prince of Yen, Zheng He (Ma Ho) had distinguished himself as a junior officer, skilled in war and diplomacy. He became a close confidant of Prince of Yen. In 1400, the Prince of Yen revolted against his nephew, the Jianwen (Chien-wen) Emperor (建文帝; the second Emperor of the Ming dynasty, personal name Zhu Yunwen), and took the throne in 1402 as the Yongle Emperor]] (永楽帝) of China (reigned 1403–1424, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty). The Yongle emperor conferred the name Zheng He as a reward for his support in the Yongle rebellion against the Jianwen Emperor (建文帝 ). Zheng He studied at Nanjing Taixue (The Imperial Central College). The Ming court then sought to display its naval power to the maritime states of South and Southeast Asia. The Chinese had been expanding their influence across the seas for three hundred years, establishing an extensive sea trade to bring spices and raw materials to China. Chinese travelers visited foreign nations, and Indian and Muslim visitors had widened China’s geographical horizons. By the beginning of the Ming dynasty, shipbuilding and the art of navigation had reached new heights in China.

Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored a series of seven naval expeditions. Emperor Yongle intended them to establish a Chinese presence, impose imperial control over trade, and impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin. He also might have wanted to extend the tributary system, by which Chinese dynasties traditionally recognized foreign peoples.

Zheng He was selected by the Yongle Emperor to be commander in chief of the missions to the “Western Oceans.” He set sail on his first voyage on July 11, 1405, commanding 62 treasure ships and 27,800 men. Many of these ships were mammoth nine-masted "treasure ships," by far the largest marine craft the world had ever seen. The fleet visited Annan, Champa (now South Vietnam), Siam, Malacca, and Java; then sailed through the Indian Ocean to Calicut, Cochin, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), returning to China in 1407.

On his second voyage, in 1409, Zheng He (Cheng Ho) encountered hostility from King Alagonakkara of Ceylon. He defeated his forces and took the King back to Nanking as a captive to apologize to the Emperor. In 1411, Zheng He (Cheng Ho) set out on his third voyage, sailing to Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. On his return he touched at Samudra, on the northern tip of Sumatra. Zheng He set out on his fourth voyage in 1413. After stopping at the principal ports of Asia, he proceeded westward from India to Hormuz. A part of the fleet then cruised southward down the Arabian coast, the Persian Gulf and Arabia, visiting Djofar and Aden. A Chinese mission visited Mecca and continued to Egypt. The fleet visited Brava and Malindi in what is now Kenya, and almost reached the Mozambique Channel. On his return to China in 1415, Cheng Ho brought envoys from more than 30 states of South and Southeast Asia to pay homage to the Chinese emperor. During Zheng He (Cheng Ho)'s fifth voyage (1417–1419), the Ming fleet revisited the Persian Gulf and the east coast of Africa. In 1421, a sixth voyage was launched to return the foreign emissaries to their homes, again visiting Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and Africa.

Final Voyage

In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor (reigned 1424–1425), decided to curb Zheng He’s influence at court and appointed him garrison commander in Nanking. Zheng He made one final voyage under the Xuande Emperor (reigned 1426–1435), visiting the states of Southeast Asia, the coast of India, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the east coast of Africa, but after that the Chinese treasure ship fleets were disbanded. Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, buried at sea.[4]

The records of Zheng He's last two voyages, which were believed to have been his farthest, were unfortunately destroyed by the Ming emperor. Therefore it can never be ascertained exactly where Zheng sailed on these two expeditions. The traditional view is that he went as far as Persia. It is now the widely accepted view that his expeditions went as far as the Mozambique Channel in East Africa, from the ancient Chinese artifacts discovered there.

International Relations

An African giraffe being led into a Ming Dynasty zoo.
File:MalindiGiraffe.jpg
A giraffe brought from Africa in the twelfth year of Yongle (1414 C.E.)

At each port, Zheng He demanded that the inhabitants submit to the “Son of Heaven” (tianzi, the Chinese Emperor), and rewarded those who cooperated with gifts. Throughout his travels, Zheng He liberally dispensed Chinese gifts of silk, porcelain, and other goods. In return, he received rich and unusual presents from his hosts, including African zebras and giraffes that ended their days in the Ming imperial zoo. Zheng He and his company paid respects to local deities and customs, and in Ceylon they erected a monument honoring Buddha, Allah, and Vishnu.

Ultimately, 36 countries in what the Chinese called the “Western Ocean” agreed to a tributary relationship with China. Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger," and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. He also intervened in a civil disturbance in order to establish his authority in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and east Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from 30 states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.

Legacy

Zheng He’s missions were impressive demonstrations of organizational capability and technological advancement, but did not lead to significant trade, since Zheng He was an admiral and an official, not a merchant. Chinese merchants continued to trade in Japan and southeast Asia, but Imperial officials gave up any plans to maintain a Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean, and even destroyed most of the nautical charts that Zheng He had carefully prepared. Their motivations were political; during much of the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644), the eunuchs exercised great power in the imperial court, at the expense of the Confucian civil bureaucracy. The expeditions of Zheng He, who was himself a eunuch, were strongly supported by eunuchs in the court and bitterly opposed by the Confucian scholar bureaucrats.[5]

During the 1950s, historians including John Fairbank and Joseph Needham popularized the idea that after Zheng's voyages, China turned away from the seas and underwent a period of technological stagnation. Most current historians of China question the accuracy of this view, pointing out that Chinese maritime commerce did not stop after Zheng He, and that active Chinese trading with India and East Africa continued long after the time of Zheng and Chinese ships continued to dominate Southeast Asian commerce until the nineteenth century. The travels of the Chinese Junk Keying to the United States and England between 1846 and 1848 testify to the power of Chinese shipping. Historians such as Jack Goldstone argue that the Zheng He voyages ended for practical reasons that did not reflect the technological level of China[6] Starting in the early fifteenth century, China experienced increasing pressure from resurgent Mongolian tribes from the north. In 1421 the emperor Yongle (the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty) moved his capital north from Nanjing to present-day Beijing, from where, at considerable expense, China launched annual military expeditions to weaken the Mongolians. These land campaigns and a massive expansion of the Great Wall of China took precedence over state-sponsored naval explorations.

Zheng He's tomb and museum

Zheng He's tomb, Nanjing
File:Museum in honour of Zheng He in Nanjing.jpg
Museum in honor of Zheng He, Nanjing

. Zheng He's tomb in Nanjing has been repaired and a small museum has been built next to it. The tomb is empty as he was buried at sea off the Malabar coast near Calicut in Western India. However, his sword and other personal possessions were interred in a typical Muslim tomb inscribed with Arabic characters.

Direct descendant of Wenming, Zheng He's elder brother, next to Zheng He's statue.

Zheng He as a Chinese Muslim

Zheng He travelled to Mecca, though he did not perform the pilgrimage itself. The government of the People's Republic of China uses him as a model to integrate the Muslim minority into the Chinese nation.

Zheng He was a living example of religious tolerance, perhaps even syncretism, or at least a master of diplomacy. The Galle Trilingual Inscription set up by Zheng He around 1410 in Sri Lanka records the offerings he made at a Buddhist mountain. "Inscriptions written in Chinese, Tamil and Persian praise Buddha, Shiva and Allah in equal measure."[7]

Around 1431, he set up a commemorative pillar at the temple of the Daoist goddess Tian Fei, the Celestial Spouse, in Fujian( 福建) province, to whom he and his sailors prayed for safety at sea.[8] This pillar records his veneration for the goddess and his belief in her divine protection, as well as a few details about his voyages.[9]

We have traversed more than 100,000 li (50,000 kilometers) of immense water spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course [as rapidly] as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare…

—(Tablet erected by Zheng He, Changle, Fujian, 1432. Louise Levathes

Voyages

The Kangnido map (1402) predates Zheng's voyages and suggests that he had quite detailed geographical information on much of the Old World.
Order Time Regions along the way[10]
1st Voyage 1405-1407 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Aru, Sumatra, Lambri, Ceylon, Kollam, Cochin, Calicut
2nd Voyage 1407-1408 Champa, Java, Siam, Sumatra, Lambri, Calicut, Cochin, Ceylon
3rd Voyage 1409-1411 Champa, Java, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Quilon, Cochin, Calicut, Siam, Lambri, Kaya, Coimbatore, Puttanpur
4th Voyage 1413-1415 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Cochin, Calicut, Kayal, Pahang, Kelantan, Aru, Lambri, Hormuz, Maldives, Mogadishu, Brawa, Malindi, Aden, Muscat, Dhufar
5th Voyage 1416-1419 Champa, Pahang, Java, Malacca, Sumatra, Lambri, Ceylon, Sharwayn, Cochin, Calicut, Hormuz, Maldives, Mogadishu, Brawa, Malindi, Aden
6th Voyage 1421-1422 Hormuz, East Africa, countries of the Arabian Peninsula
7th Voyage 1430-1433 Champa, Java, Palembang, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Calicut, Hormuz... (17 politics in total)

Size of Zheng He’s Ships

Ancient chronicles

Treasure ship is the name of a type of vessel that the Chinese admiral Zheng He sailed in. His fleet included 62 treasure ships, with some said to have reached 600 feet (146 meters) long. The fleet was manned by over 27,000 crew members, including navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, Muslim teachers, and soldiers.

According to ancient Chinese sources, Zheng He commanded seven expeditions. The 1405 expedition consisted of 27,800 men and a fleet of 62 treasure ships supported by approximately 190 smaller ships.[11][12] The fleet included:

Ships of the world in 1460, according to the Fra Mauro map. Chinese junks are described as very large, three or four-masted ships.

The dimensions of the Zheng He's ships according to ancient Chinese chronicles and disputed by modern scholars (see below):

  • "Treasure ships", used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (nine-masted, said to be about 126.73 meters (416 ft) long and 51.84 meters (170 ft) wide), according to later writers. The great size of these ships was probably exaggerated by later writers. The treasure ships purportedly weighed as much as 1,500 tons.126.73m by 51.84 m (415.780ft by 170.078ft)[13] [14] By way of comparison, a modern ship of about 1,200 tons is 60 meters (200 ft) long [3], and the ships Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492 were about 70-100 tons and 17 meters (55 ft) long.[15]
  • "Horse ships", carrying tribute goods and repair material for the fleet (eight-masted, about 103 m (339 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) wide).[16]
  • "Supply ships", containing staple for the crew (seven-masted, about 78 m (257 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide).[17]
  • "Troop transports", six-masted, about 67 m (220 ft) long and 25 m (83 ft) wide).[18]
  • "Fuchuan warships", five-masted, about 50 m (165 ft) long).[19]
  • "Patrol boats", eight-oared, about 37 m (120 feet) long).[20]
  • "Water tankers", with 1 month supply of fresh water. 126.73 m by 51.84 m (415.780ft by 170.078ft)[21]

Six more expeditions took place, from 1407 to 1433, with fleets of comparable size.[22]

Modern scholarship

The dimensions of the treasure ships, as recorded in later historical chronicles, are disputed by scholars. It is probable that the actual size of the ships was smaller, since in later historical periods wooden ships approaching this size (such as HMS Orlando) were unwieldy and visibly undulated with the waves, even with steel braces in the hull. The problem of "hogging," the tendency of the largest wooden ships to sag (like a pig's body) because of buoyancy in the middle, would have been impossible to solve. The length-to-width ratio of 2.47 is not well suited for fast navigation on the oceans. Hydrodynamic models have proved that ships with such dimension are unsailable in open seas.

Recent research suggests that the actual length of the biggest treasure ships may have lain between 59 m and 84 m.[23] If the treasure ships actually had the dimensions attributed to them, they would have been several times larger than any wooden ship ever recorded, including the largest l'Orient (65 m long). The length of the treasure ships would have been equivalent to that of the first generation aircraft carriers in the early twentieth century. Research on the original source of these dimensions indicates that they came from a novel written in the sixteenth century. [24]

Accounts of Medieval Travelers

The characteristics of the Chinese ships of the period are described by Western travelers to the East, such as Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo. According to Ibn Battuta, who visited China in 1347:

…We stopped in the port of Calicut, in which there were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and disembarked. China Sea traveling is done in Chinese ships only, so we shall describe their arrangements. The Chinese vessels are of three kinds; large ships called chunks (junks), middle sized ones called zaws (dhows) and the small ones kakams. The large ships have anything from twelve down to three sails, which are made of bamboo rods plaited into mats. They are never lowered, but turned according to the direction of the wind; at anchor they are left floating in the wind.

Three smaller ones, the "half," the "third" and the "quarter," accompany each large vessel. These vessels are built in the towns of Zaytun and Sin-Kalan. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupants.

This is the manner after which they are made; two (parallel) walls of very thick wooden (planking) are raised and across the space between them are placed very thick planks (the bulkheads) secured longitudinally and transversely by means of large nails, each three ells in length. When these walls have thus been built the lower deck is fitted in and the ship is launched before the upper works are finished." (Ibn Battuta).

Zheng He and Islam in Southeast Asia

Template:Islam and China Indonesian religious leader and Islamic scholar Hamka (1908–1981) wrote in 1961: "The development of Islam in Indonesia and Malaya is intimately related to a Chinese Muslim, Admiral Zheng He."[25] In Malacca, Zheng He built granaries, warehouses and a stockade, and it is likely that he left behind many of his Muslim crews. Much of the information on Zheng He's voyages was compiled by Ma Huan, also Muslim, who accompanied Zheng He on several of his inspection tours and served as his chronicler and interpreter. In his book The Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores (Chinese: 瀛涯勝覽) written in 1416, Ma Huan gave very detailed accounts of his observations of the peoples' customs and lives in ports they visited. Zheng He had many Muslim eunuchs as his companions. At the time when his fleet first arrived in Malacca, there were already Chinese of the 'Muslim' faith living there. Ma Huan talks about them as tangren (Chinese: 唐人) who were Muslim. According to Ma Huan, Zheng He’s entourage frequented mosques, actively propagated the Islamic faith, established Chinese Muslim communities and built mosques.

Indonesian scholar Slamet Muljana writes:

"Zheng He built Chinese Muslim communities first in Palembang, then in San Fa (West Kalimantan), subsequently he founded similar communities along the shores of Java, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines. They propagated the Islamic faith according to the Hanafi school of thought and in Chinese language." When the Chinese naval expeditions were suspended after Zheng He's death, the Hanafi Islam that Zheng He and his followers propagated lost almost all contact with Islam in China, and gradually was totally absorbed by the local Shafi’i sect.

In Malacca

When Melaka was successively colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and later the British, Chinese were discouraged from converting to Islam. Many of the Chinese Muslim mosques became San Bao Chinese temples commemorating Zheng He. After a lapse of six hundred years, the influence of Chinese Muslims in Malacca had almost disappeared. [26]

According to the Malaysian history, Sultan Mansur Shah (ruled 1459–1477) dispatched Tun Perpatih Putih as his envoy to China and carried a letter from the Sultan to the Ming Emperor. Tun Perpatih succeeded in impressing the Emperor of Ming with the fame and grandeur of Sultan Mansur Shah. In the year 1459, a princess Hang Li Po (or Hang Liu), was sent by the emperor of Ming to marry Malacca Sultan Mansur Shah (ruled 1459–1477). The princess came with her entourage of five hundred male servants and a few hundred handmaidens. They eventually settled in Bukit Cina, Malacca. The descendants of these people, from mixed marriages with the local natives, are known today as Peranakan: Baba (the male title) and Nyonya (the female title).

In Malaysia today, many people believe that it was Admiral Zheng He (died 1433) who sent princess Hang Li Po to Malacca in year 1459. However there is no record of Hang Li Po (or Hang Liu) in Ming documents, she is known only from Malacca folklore. The so-called Peranakan in Malacca were probably Tang-Ren or Hui Chinese Muslims who came with Parameswara, the founder of Malacca, from Palembang, Java and other places as refugees of the declining Srivijaya kingdom. Some of the Chinese Muslims were soldiers and served as warriors and bodyguards to protect the Sultanate of Malacca.

In 1411, Admiral Zheng He brought Parameswara, his wife and 540 officials to China to pay homage to Emperor Yongle. Upon their arrival, a grand welcoming party was held. Animals were sacrificed, Parameswara was granted a two-piece gold-embroidered suit of clothing with dragon motifs, Kylin robe, gold and silverware, silk lace bed quilt, and gifts for all officials and followers. Upon returning home, Parameswara was granted a jade belt, brace, saddle, and coroneted suit for his wife. Upon reaching the heaven’s gate (China), Parameswara was again granted a jade belt, brace, saddle, a hundred gold & platinum pieces, 400,000 banknotes, 2600 cash, 300 pieces of silk brocade voile, 1,000 pieces of silk, two pieces of whole gold plait, two pieces of knee-length gown with gold threads woven through sleeves…. On his return trip from China, Parameswara was so impressed by Zheng He that he adopted the name Sultan Iskandar Shah. Malacca prospered under his leadership and became a half-way port for trade between India and China.

Popular Theories

Former British submarine commander Gavin Menzies in his book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World claims that several parts of Zheng's fleet explored virtually the entire globe, discovering West Africa, North and South America, Greenland, Iceland, Antarctica and Australia before the voyages of Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus. Menzies also claims that Zheng's wooden fleet passed through the Arctic Ocean. Menzies proposes that Zheng He’s voyages, records, and maps are the sources for some of the other Ancient world maps, which he claims depicted the Americas, Antarctica, and the tip of Africa before the official European discovery of these areas, and the drawings of the Fra Mauro map or the De Virga world map. However none of the citations in1421 are from Chinese sources and scholars in China do not share Menzies' assertions.

A related book, The Island of Seven Cities: Where the Chinese Settled When They Discovered America by Paul Chiasson maintains that a nation of native peoples known as the Mi'kmaq on the east coast of Canada are descendants of Chinese explorers, offering evidence in the form of archaeological remains, customs, costume, and artwork. Several advocates of these theories believe that Zheng He also discovered modern day New Zealand on either his sixth or seventh expedition.

It has been suggested by some historians and mentioned in a recent ''National Geographic'' article on Zheng He that Sindbad the Sailor (also spelled "Sinbad," from Arabic السندباد—As-Sindibad) and the collection of travel-romances that make up the "Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor" found in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) were influenced heavily by the cumulative tales of many seafarers that had followed, traded and worked in various support ships as part of the armada of Chinese Ming Imperial Treasure Fleets. This belief is supported in part by the similarities in Sindbad's name and the various iterations of Zheng in Arabic and Mandarin (pinyin: Mǎ Sānbǎo; Cantonese: Máh Sāambóu; Arabic name: Mahmud Shams) along with the similarities in the number (seven) and general locations of voyages between Sindbad and Zheng. This idea has no credibility within the scholarly community.

Notes

  1. ↑ 三保太監下西洋. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  2. ↑ The Hui ethnic minority - People's Daily, People's Daily Online. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  3. ↑ [1] Zheng He Exhibitions at Singapore National Library. National Library Board, Singapore. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  4. ↑ The Seventh and Final Grand Voyage of the Treasure Fleet, The Mariners' Museum. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  5. ↑ Richard Gunde, Zheng He's Voyages of Discovery, Berkeley: The Regents of the University of California. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  6. ↑ Jack A. Goldstone, The Rise of the West—or Not?. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  7. ↑ Alex Perry A Testament to an Odyssey, A Monument to a Failure Set in stone: Sri Lanka. TIME Asia, August 2001, 158 (781). Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  8. ↑ Ancient Chinese Explorers, NOVA Online. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  9. ↑ Zheng He's Inscription, the Regents of the University of Minnesota. excerpt from the book, Teobaldo Filesi, David Morison (trans.) China and Africa in the Middle Ages. (London: Frank Cass, 1972), 57-61. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  10. ↑ Maritime Silk Road 五洲传播出版社. ISBN 7508509323
  11. ↑ Edward L. Dreyer. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming, 1405–1433.(London: Longman, 2006), 122–124
  12. ↑ Briton charts Zheng He's course across globe, Ministry of Culture, P.R. China. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  13. ↑ Zhang. "History of the Ming dynasty" («明史»), Zhang Tingyu chief editor, (originally published 1737), (“四十四丈一十八丈”)
  14. ↑ "Eunuch Sanbao's Journey to the Western Seas" («三宝太监西洋通俗演义记»),Luo Maodeng, (originally published 1597), (“宝船长四十四丈四，阔一十八丈，每只船上有九道桅。”)
  15. ↑ Keith A. Pickering.Columbus's Ships. www.columbusnavigation.com. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  16. ↑ Zhang, 1737
  17. ↑ Zhang, 1737
  18. ↑ Zhang, 1737
  19. ↑ Zhang, 1737
  20. ↑ Zhang, 1737
  21. ↑ Zhang, 1737
  22. ↑ Dreyer, 2006
  23. ↑ Sally K. Church, "The Colossal Ships of Zheng He: Image or Reality?" (155-176);and "Zheng He; Images & Perceptions," in South China and Maritime Asia Volume 15, Hrsg: Roderich Ptak, Thomas O. Höllmann, (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag, 2005)
  24. ↑ For debates of these dimensions, see Chinese articles in National Cheng Kung University at National Cheng Kung University of Taiwan. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  25. ↑ Rosey Wang Ma,Chinese Muslims in Malaysia History and Development, Chinese Muslims in Malaysia. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  26. ↑ Leo Suryadinata, (ed.) Admiral Zheng He & Southeast Asia. (Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2005), note [2]. Retrieved January 15, 2008.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Levathes, Louise. 1997. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195112075.
  • Ma, Huan. 1970. Ying-yai Sheng-lan, The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1433), translated from the Chinese text edited by Feng Ch'eng Chun with introduction, notes and appendices by J.V.G. Mills. White Lotus Press. Reprinted 1970, 1997. ISBN 9748496783.
  • Menzies, Gavin 2003. 1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered the World. Morrow/Avon. ISBN 0060537639. (Scholars consider this book, insofar as it relates to the Chinese discovery of America, to lack factual foundation:
  • 黃振翔: Newsletter on Cheng-Ho. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  • Suryadinata, Leo (ed.) Admiral Zheng He & Southeast Asia. Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2005. ISBN 9812303294. Collection of essays written from Chinese points of view.
  • Viviano, Frank. 2005. "China's Great Armada," National Geographic 208(1)(July 2005):28–53.
  • Wilford, John Noble. Pacific Overtures, a book review of 1421 by a science editor at the New York Times. February 2, 2003. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  • Zhang Yen-Yu and Zhong Hua Shu Ju (Editor). History of the Ming Dynasty, Complete 28 Volume Set (Ming Shu) (Official Dynastic Histories of China) Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju, 1st edition, 1995. (in Chinese) ISBN 7101003273


There are other books, publications and papers available (especially in Chinese), but they have not yet been translated into English.

External links

All links retrieved July 3, 2013.

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