Zhen He (1371-1433) was a Chinese military man, navigator, and explorer who undertook seven iconic expeditions on behalf of the Ming dynasty to expand China's territorial power throughout the world..
As a eunuch slave, he served four different emperors of the Ming dynasty and came to command possibly the most impressive series of maritime exploration and conquest expeditions in history..
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Ma He, who later became known as Zheng He, was born in 1371 in Yunnan, a Mongol-controlled Chinese province. The future navigator grew up in a Muslim family of the Hui ethnic group, made up of his father Ma Ho, his mother Weng, an older brother and four sisters.
It is estimated that his father and grandfather were highly respected in their community for having made the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca that few in their lives achieved due to the distance that separated them from the sacred city..
It is likely that this is why the little one knew through stories what the world was like beyond his community.
In 1381 the village where Ma He lived was attacked by the Chinese army of the Ming dynasty as part of the reconquest of Yunnan province. The ten-year-old was captured along with other children, castrated and sent to work as a servant at the royal court..
Three years after his capture, the little eunuch was assigned as a servant of Prince Zhu Di (1360-1424) who, according to some historians, was the one who led the attack on the village of Ma He.
Despite the terrible circumstances that led him to that place, Ma He stood out at the royal court for his development and intelligence. With the passage of time, he began to gain influential friends, in addition to the esteem of the prince himself, who always had him among his closest advisers..
By 1390, at the age of 19, Ma He already distinguished himself on the battlefields, accompanying the prince in military campaigns against the Mongols.
After the death of Emperor Honwu (1328-1398), three years of an internal war passed for the occupation of the throne. Prince Zhu Di, who was not the immediate successor, overthrew his nephew ZhuYunwen (1377-1402) and assumed control as Yongle Emperor in 1402.
After serving more than twenty years at court, Ma He managed to occupy the highest rank among the eunuchs and received from the new emperor the name Zheng He: "Eunuch worth as much as three precious stones" in honor of his military achievements..
From then on, Zheng He received additional military training, and was in charge of palace repairs and shipbuilding..
Eventually, the Yongle Emperor appointed Zheng He as admiral of the Treasury Fleet, a huge contingent of ships with which he planned to show the world the glory and power of the Chinese empire..
Historians claim that the first expedition left Nankin in 1405 with 300 ships and 30,000 men, including crew, officers, diplomats, doctors, astrologers and military personnel..
The Treasury Fleet vessels are claimed to measure an impressive 136 meters long by 56 meters wide. They were equipped with fresh water, food, horses; as well as valuable goods such as silver, silk and Ming porcelain to offer as presents.
During the first voyage the fleet visited present-day Vietnam, Thailand, Malacca and the Java Islands, and then headed to India and Sri Lanka..
In each place that they arrived they gave gifts, left a delegation of diplomats and asked the regent of the place to pay tribute and assign an ambassador to accompany them voluntarily to China..
On some occasions the leaders accepted, but this was not the case of King Alagonakkara of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, who confronted Zheng He and was taken to China as a hostage..
During the return to China in 1407 they also captured the pirate Chi in Tsu, a very feared criminal in Southeast Asia.
In the second expedition that began in 1408, they again visited India and the seas of South Asia..
In 1409 Zheng He embarked again and this time he traveled far beyond what he had previously dared, reaching Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. On his return to China in 1411 he stopped at Samudra in North Sumatra.
In 1413 the fourth voyage commanded by Zheng He took place, who after stopping in India, visited the Maldives Islands and again the Persian Gulf. On that occasion, part of the fleet traveled to the east coast of Africa, in the territory that today belongs to Somalia and Kenya..
The fleet returned to China in 1415 after obtaining more than 19 states willing to pay tribute to the Ming dynasty..
On their fifth voyage in 1417 they stopped again in the Persian Gulf and the east coast of Africa, returning in 1419.
In 1421 they undertook their sixth expedition to bring home a group of Chinese emissaries abroad, in addition to exploring Southeast Asia again..
Upon his return from the sixth voyage, Zheng He learned of the Yongle Emperor's death. His successor, Emperor Hongxi (1378-1425) immediately banned naval expeditions due to the economic cost of the Treasury Fleet voyages..
However, Emperor Hongxi maintained good relations with Zheng He, putting him in charge of the Nankin Province army, but his legacy only lasted one year. He was succeeded by his eldest son Zhu Zhanji (1425-1435) who adopted the name Xuande and in whose reign the navigator made one last expedition..
In 1431, 60-year-old Zhen He undertook his seventh expedition visiting Southeast Asia, as well as the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa..
It is estimated that Zhen He died in Calicut, present-day Kozhikode, India in 1433. His body was taken to China for burial in Nanjing, although there are versions that indicate that his tomb is empty and that Zhen He's body was thrown into the sea as part of a traditional maritime funeral.
Zheng He's missions had the effect of expanding the territory of the Ming dynasty across Asia. It was an exchange not only political and economic but also cultural, which represented a meeting of worlds long before the explorers Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus made their findings known..
Upon returning from his travels, the navigator arrived in China with never-before-seen jewels, spices, medicines, cotton fabrics and unknown animals, among which a giraffe gifted by King Al-Din of Bengal is documented..
The purpose of his travels, the routes taken and the size of his boats are currently debated, but the leadership capacity demonstrated by Zheng He during his life as a navigator is unquestionable, as well as his willingness to overcome the adverse circumstances that him. They went from being a slave to becoming an admiral of the Ming dynasty.
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