He again visited Southeast Asia, the coast of India, the Arabian Peninsula, and the east coast of Africa. He apparently never found time for a pilgrimage to Mecca but sent sailors there on his last voyage. The treasure fleet also left stone markers at the places they visited. For the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages in 2005, China Central Television produced a special television series, Zheng He Xia Xiyang, starring Gallen Lo as Zheng He. Zheng He's story survived, however, in the accounts of crew members including Fei Xin, Gong Zhen, and Ma Huan, who went on several of the later voyages. [18] Zhu Di was eleven years older than Ma. [46], In 1430, the new Xuande Emperor appointed Zheng He to command over a seventh and final expedition into the "Western Ocean" (Indian Ocean). As a favorite of the Yongle Emperor, whom Zheng assisted in the overthrow of the Jianwen Emperor, he rose to the top of the imperial hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing. He had himself crowned as the Yongle Emperor. During this trip, Zheng He temporarily split from the fleet and made his hajj to the Muslim holy city of Mecca. 8.1—Exploration & Interconnection. He probably died in 1433, during or shortly after his last voyage. In its worldview, it was improper to go abroad while one's parents were still alive. In 1424 the Yongle emperor died. [90] Even some of his crew members who happened to stay in some port sometimes did so as well, such as "Poontaokong" on Sulu. Zheng He is the namesake of the ROCS Cheng Ho missile frigate in Taiwan. Less than 100 years after his death, all of the ships from China were destroyed. Zhang applied his extensive knowledge of mechanics and gears in several of his inventions. Moreover, revisionist historians such as Jack Goldstone argue that the Zheng He voyages ended for practical reasons that did not reflect the technological level of China. "[attribution needed][50] The voyages "were contrary to the rules stipulated in the Huang Ming Zuxun" (皇明祖訓), the dynastic foundation documents laid down by the Hongwu Emperor:[50], Some far-off countries pay their tribute to me at much expense and through great difficulties, all of which are by no means my own wish. What is he best known for? The stele was submerged and lost but has been rebuilt. [31] Zhu Di accepted the elevation to emperor four days later. Treasure Ship voyages to India. It is believed that a significant number of them married into the local populace, creating the descendants now known as the Peranakan. A Revision to Socio-economic History", "Zheng He's Voyages of Discovery – UCLA center for Chinese Study", "China-Sri Lanka: Trade and Diplomatic Relations including the voyages for Cheng Ho", "Theme Park, Museum, Zoo Industry News for Professionals", "China: Two New Multimedia Shows at Romon U-Park", "Naval training ship going round the globe", Ancient History Encyclopedia - The Seven Voyages of Zheng He, TIME magazine special feature on Zheng He (August 2001), "China Has an Ancient Mariner to Tell You About", Newsletter, in Chinese, on academic research on the Zheng He voyages, Geography and cartography in the medieval Islamic world, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zheng_He&oldid=1000676134, Articles containing Chinese-language text, Articles with dead external links from February 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from July 2016, Articles with Chinese-language sources (zh), Articles lacking reliable references from October 2012, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text, Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2012, All Wikipedia articles needing words, phrases or quotes attributed, Wikipedia articles needing words, phrases or quotes attributed from March 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2017, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 January 2021, at 04:59. 16 Terms. [79][80] That would give burthen of 500 tons and a displacement tonnage of about 800 tons. Initially Kunming Changshui International Airport was to be named Zheng He International Airport. There are also fifty observations of stellar altitude. [62] During the Three Kingdoms Period, the king of Wu sent a 20-year diplomatic mission led by Zhu Ying and Kang Tai along the coast of Asia, which reached as far as the Eastern Roman Empire. [30], In 1402, Zhu Di's armies defeated the imperial forces and marched into Nanjing on 13 July 1402. "[b] Ma received a proper education at Beiping, which he would not have had if he had been placed in the imperial capital, Nanjing, as the Hongwu Emperor did not trust eunuchs and believed that it was better to keep them illiterate. [32] During the Chinese New Year on 11 February 1404, the Yongle Emperor conferred the surname "Zheng" to Ma He, because he had distinguished himself defending the city reservoir Zhenglunba against imperial forces in the Siege of Beiping of 1399. [13] This name could also be written 三保; sānbǎo, literally "Three Protections. [65] He referred to the expatriate Chinese as "Tang" people (唐人; Tángrén). Zheng He is the first attested Chinese to visit the Swahili coast. [19] Ma was also known as "Sanbao" during his service in the household of the Prince of Yan. The information in the Yongle and Xuande Emperors' official annals was incomplete and even erroneous, and other official publications omitted them completely. The new Yongle Emperor faced serious legitimacy problems due to his seizure of the throne and the possible murder of his nephew. He probably died in 1433, during or shortly after his last voyage. His family were Hui people. For example, he defeated Chen Zuyi, one of the most feared and respected pirate captains, and returned him to China for execution. Wilson, Samuel M. "The Emperor's Giraffe", "The Ming Court as Patron of the Chinese Islamic Architecture: The Case Study of the Daxuexi Mosque in Xi'an", "Huangming zuxun and Zheng He's Voyages to the Western Oceans (A Summary)", "The Archaeological Researches into Zheng He's Treasure Ships", "Book Review of Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433", "The Seventh and Final Grand Voyage of the Treasure Fleet", "Zheng He: An investigation into the plausibility of 450-ft treasure ships", "Events – November 20, 2012: The Chinese Admiral Zheng He: Uses and Abuses of an Historical Figure", Chinese Muslims in Malaysia, History and Development, "The Rise of the West – or Not? The History of Ming records imperial edicts forbade Java, Champa, and Siam from sending their envoys more often than once every three years. Each of these maps is positioned at a different orientation to fit with the ocean currents and winds required of a sailing chart, rather than a formal map. [48] Upon Zheng He's death and his faction's fall from power, his successors sought to minimize him in official accounts, along with continuing attempts to destroy all records related to the Jianwen Emperor or the manhunt to find him. As an admiral, explorer, eunuch, diplomat, and trader, Zheng He led China to become the superpower of the Indian Ocean, considered to be “the world’s most important crossroads of trade”, in the 15 th century. He had four sistersand one older brother. [33] Another reason was that the eunuch commander also distinguished himself during the 1402 campaign to capture the capital, Nanjing.[34]. The main ships of Zheng He's fleet were instead 6 masted 2000-liao ships. some say say 1433 and others say 1435 When did Zheng Changtu die? In modern times, interest in Zheng He has revived substantially. The three languages used in the inscription were Chinese, Tamil, and Persian. The Yongle Emperor's cautious and scholarly elder son, Zhu Gaozhi, became the Hongxi Emperor. During his career as a naval commander, Zheng He negotiated trade pacts, fought pirates, installed puppet kings, and brought back tribute for the Yongle Emperor in the form of jewels, medicines, and exotic animals. The expeditions featured prominently in Heather Terrell's 2005 novel The Map Thief. Next month, archaeologists will begin work off … On the return trip in 1433 Zheng He died from illness in Calicut, India, and was reportedly buried at sea. When was he born? Zheng Changtu died in 887. [10] Zheng He's grandfather carried the title hajji,[11] and his father had the sinicized surname Ma and the title hajji, which suggests that they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. [14] In his capacity as Admiral, Zheng He had an epitaph engraved in honour of his father, composed by the Minister of Rites Li Zhigang on the Duanwu Festival of the third year in the Yongle era (1 June 1405). Nanjing, China. [23] On 2 March 1390, Ma accompanied the Prince when he commanded his first expedition, which was a great victory, as the Mongol commander Naghachu surrendered as soon as he realized he had fallen for a deception. In 1433, at the age of 62, Zheng He was reported to have gotten sick from overworking during the seventh trips and in Guli (古里), modern day Calicut, he died. What was his occupation? af As gevolg van Zheng He se indrukwekkende seereise het tientalle heersers in die gebied van die Indiese Oseaan ambassadeurs na China gestuur om aan die keiser hulde te bewys. [55] Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain, and silk, and in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, and ivory from the Swahili Coast. Ancient China had a massive problem in court politics. [43] He completed the construction of the temple in 1431. Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433) The Early Years. The General Survey of the Ocean Shores (瀛涯勝覽, Yíngyá Shènglǎn), composed by the translator Ma Huan in 1416, gives very detailed accounts of his observations of people's customs and lives in the ports that they visited. His successor, the Xuande emperor, temporarily halted all expeditions. He had an older brother and four sisters. Zheng He[a] (Chinese: 郑和; simplified Chinese: 郑和; traditional Chinese: 鄭和; pinyin: zhèng hé; 1371 – 1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. [65], Investigation into folios 19V to 20R of the Mao Kun Map which covers the Indian Ocean including South India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and East Africa suggests that it is a composite of four maps, one for Sri Lanka, one for South India one for the Maldives and one for around 400 km of the East African coast, no further south than 6 degrees south of the Equator. Xuande believed his father's decision to halt the voyages had been meritorious and thus "there would be no need to make a detailed description of his grandfather's sending Zheng He to the Western Ocean. [19] Enslaved as a eunuch servant, Ma He eventually gained the confidence of Zhu Di, who, as his benefactor, would gain the allegiance and loyalty of the young eunuch. [104] However, his sword and other personal possessions were interred in a Muslim tomb inscribed in Arabic. [97], Despite the official neglect, the adventures of the fleet captured the imagination of some Chinese and novelizations of the voyages occurred, such as the Romance of the Three-Jeweled Eunuch in 1597. 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. [15], Zheng He was captured by the Ming armies at Yunnan in 1381. Another suggestion is that he managed to return to China, and died some years later. When he was around ten, he … They were only made possible by (and therefore continued to represent) a triumph of the Ming's eunuch faction over the administration's scholar-bureaucrats. 1433. With a mandate to collect tribute and establish ties with rulers all around the Indian Ocean, Zheng He and his armada set forth for Calicut on India's western coast. Zheng He made one more voyage during the reign of Hongxi's son, the Xuande Emperor (r. 1426–1435) but, the voyages of the Chinese treasure ship fleets then ended. [86] Although some have seen that as a conspiracy seeking to eliminate memories of the voyages,[88] it is likely that the records were dispersed throughout several departments and the expeditions, unauthorized by and in fact counter to the injunctions of the dynastic founder, presented a kind of embarrassment to the dynasty.[86]. Menzies says that the Chinese map, found in a bookstore and created in the 18 th century, is attributed to Chinese Admiral Zheng He and shows a detailed map of America dating back to 1418. Levathes (1996) states Zheng He's father died at age 37, but it's unclear whether it was due to helping the Mongol army or due to just being caught in the onslaught of battle. He was tossed overboard for fear of spread of disease but his empty tomb is outside of Nanjing. 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