Zheng He was a Muslim admiral of one of the greatest fleets in Chinese history and perhaps world history. Born to a poor family in southwest China, Zheng was captured by the Ming army as a young boy and became a eunuch. Quickly rising up the ranks, he was eventually given command of the navy after Emperor Chengzu seized power. What followed were voyages of exploration that took Chinese “treasure ships” all over the globe.
From 1405, they visited Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Java, Ceylon, India, Persia, Arabia, the Red Sea as far as Egypt and parts of east Africa. Tributes and envoys were carried back to China from more than 30 countries and naval charts of unparalleled accuracy were drawn.
The size of the fleet was awesome. Around 30,000 men on up to 200 junks sailed with Zheng He and his flagship was one and a half times the length of a football field, by far the biggest vessel in the world at that time. The fleet made seven separate expeditions and spread knowledge of Chinese silk and porcelain as well as nervous appreciation of the Ming dynasty’s military might.
When the emperor died in 1424, Zheng He lost imperial sponsorship due to palace intrigue. When the succeeding emperor turned the Ming dynasty inwards, the days of Zheng He roaming the seas with the massive tribute fleet were finally over. The Chinese would never again dominate the sea as they did with Zheng He.
Recently Gavin Menzies in his book 1421 claims that Zheng He’s fleet also reached America and Australia years before Christopher Columbus or Captain Cook ever set sail. While many historians are skeptical about Menzies’ claims, he has renewed public interest in this fascinating period of Chinese history.