Who is ZhenHe?

• Zhen He 鄭和 (1371~1435 AD) was a Ming dynasty general 明朝一代良將who commanded the seven historical Chinese sea trade expeditions to Asia & Africa 七次下西洋
• 又名三保

What was his background?

• Zhen He was born in 1371 AD into a Chinese Muslim family in South China
• His surname was Ma 馬 & both his grandfather & his father were called Ma Hajj, as respect for their difficult pilgrimage to the Islamic holy land, Mecca 天方
• The young Zhen He was mesmerised by the stories of sea voyage & adventures on the road to Mecca
• Zhen He too was a Muslim following the Quran 古蘭經 & good at Arabic languages 阿拉伯語
• Due to war, famine & poverty, he was sold as a slave & castrated, but freed during the formation of Ming dynasty
• He was selected for his diligence, skills & intelligence as the chief eunuch by Ming cheng zhu 明成祖朱棣
• For political reasons, he also became a Buddhist

What made Zhen He suitable for such treacherous expeditions?

• He was selected to lead the expeditions due to his
• Vigilance
• Capability (political, military, diplomatic)
• Courage
• Familiarity with Islam & Buddhism (religions of most of Asia) 是回教徒, 又是佛教徒
• Speaks Arabic
• Most importantly, he was young, fit & high-spirited 鄭和年少力壯, 文武雙全, 勇敢上進

Why did China (the Ming dynasty) need these sea expeditions?

• The sea expeditions were first conceived around 1400 AD
• A few factors contributed to this need:

1. Strong economy: Ming dynasty was stable, people were hardworking & productive; China was then the most powerful country in the world due to its strengths in agriculture, handicrafts & materials
2. Trade explosion: the transition from years of war & devastation produced the need for construction & trade; economic activities drove the need for much resources through the trade of things in abundance
3. Promotion & strengthening of overseas traffic, socio-economic relations: for trade to be prosperous, the Chinese need to relate to the people of faraway lands
4. Support from the emperor: Ming chen zhu strongly supported the sea expeditions due to its beneficial effects for the empire, his desire to make a name for his regime & his need to prove his capabilities to his dissidents (he abdicated the formal emperor)
5. Empire expansion: with a strong internal, the Chinese seek to expand their influence to further regions as was expected of any successful civilisation

• 下西洋的目的是和亞洲非洲各國來往, 促進貿易, 經濟, 文化, 科學與政治上的交流

Tell us about the sea expeditions

• All sea expeditions contained the following:

1. 100~200 ships with about 62 ships were 149m long, 60m wide
2. The whole fleet had 20,000 plus members performing everything from military & navigation to translation & trade to medicine
3. The goods carried included silk, ceramic wares, tea leaves, bronze tools, iron wares, gold, paints & various handicrafts
4. Navigation equipment & methods 羅盤指南針

• The seven sea expeditions (1405~1433 AD) led by the fleet commander, Zhen He, are presented in chronological order as follows:

1. 1405 Jul-1407 May: Vietnam, Java, Sumatra (met pirate king, 陳祖義)
2. 1407 Sep-1409 Oct: Thailand, India
3. 1409 Dec-1411 Dec: Malacca, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
4. 1413 Dec-1415 Jun: Sumatra, Iran
5. 1417 May- 1419 Oct: Saudi Arabia, Africa (somalia & Kenya), did not reach Mecca, collected many exotic fauna
6. 1421- 1423: Bangladesh, Middle East, Taiwan

• 1424 AD: Ming chen zhu passed away

1. 1431 Jan- 1433 Jul: reached Mecca, then prosperous & buzzing with activities; 鄭和因病無法到天方, 而由洪保代令

The implications

• The dedication of Zhen He through the 29 years of high seas expeditions is admirable & legendary
• Improved the trade & culture relations between the then enclosed Chinese empire with other Asian & African societies
• Expanded the science, knowledge & trade of the Chinese with detailed records by Ma Huan 馬歡, Fei Xin 費信 & Gong Zhen 鞏珍
• Paved the way for the subsequent outflux of Chinese migrants to Asia & beyond – the overseas Chinese