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During the Ming Dynasty's first imperial rule, "Ma He grew unusually tall and strong and became a skilled fighter and brave leader." This helped him rise through the ranks of Ming government to become an Admiral.
https://school.bighistoryproject.com/pages/console#media/9c8b9d1b-00a4-412a-85f8-0dcb0e23dfa9

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Born in Yunnan, "foothills of the Himilaya Mountains" as Ma He (pronounced Ma Ha)
https://school.bighistoryproject.com/pages/console#media/9c8b9d1b-00a4-412a-85f8-0dcb0e23dfa9

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To show the Power of the new Ming Dynasty:

"However, Zheng He started a battle, easily defeating the pirates — his forces killing more than 5,000 people and taking the leader back to China to be beheaded."

"[O]ne of Ming Di's first acts was to commission the construction of 3,500 ships, with Zheng He supervising the construction

and then commanding the fleet.

Some of these ships were the largest marine craft the world had ever known. Zheng He’s nine-masted flagship measured about 400 feet long; for comparison, Christopher Columbus’s Santa Maria measured just 85 feet.

On the first voyage, from 1405 to 1407, 62 nine-masted “treasure ships” led the way, followed by almost 200 other ships of various sizes, carrying personnel, horses, grain, and 28,000 armed troops"

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Travelled from 1405-1433
https://school.bighistoryproject.com/pages/console#media/9c8b9d1b-00a4-412a-85f8-0dcb0e23dfa9

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Zheng He's first voyage began in July 1405 and ended in 1407

set sail from Liujiagan Port in Taicang and sailed westward

the fleet had 208 vessels in total

traveled to present day Vietnam where they met with the King and presented him with gifts

after leaving the fleet traveled to Java, Sumatra, Malacca, crossed the Indian Ocean and sailed west to Cochin and Calicut

first voyage ended when he returned to China in 1407

Zheng He's second (1408-1409) and third (1409-1411) voyages followed a similar route

Zheng He's fourth voyage, starting from 1413 and ending at 1415, would be his most impressive

the Chinese emperor wanted to display his wealth, so Zheng He set sail with 63 large ships and 27,000 men

on his fifth expedition Zheng He set sail into new waters: Somali Coat and Kenya

returned back to China in 1419

by the time he had returned back from his sixth expedition (1421-1422) the emperor had died

the new emperor suspended all voyages

it was 10 years before Zheng He went on his seventh and final voyage

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Zheng He was commander of many treasure fleets of commerce and exploration from China to other regions of Asia and to Africa.

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in the summer of 1405 AD Zheng He began the first of seven voyages that would take him around the world.

sailed with a large fleet (nearly 300,000 men)

from Nanjing to Vietnam, Sri Lanka and India

individual ships were 400 feet long and had as many as 9 masts

with each voyage Zheng He's ships traveled further west

reached ports in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Iran, Yemen and the east coast of Africa

last voyage included a stop at Makkah (Mecca)

Zheng He's voyages were an impressive fear but did not have a lasting impact

did not establish trading relations between China and other parts of the world

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Sailing the Western Oceans: the Voyages of Zheng He

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Legacy of Zhang He

https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he

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Zheng he travelled all over the Indian ocean He travelled to the Persian gulf, Africa, India, Vietnam Java (the spice islands) and brought back gifts, riches, envoys, giraffes, zebras, and lastly spread Chinese power all over the globe and expanded China's trade.

https://exploration.marinersmuseum.org/subject/zheng-he/

https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he

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- Zhang He led the largest ships in the world
- He demonstrated the Chinese excellence at shipbuilding and navigation
- He was made the director of chief of palace servants and was renamed to "Zheng He" from Ma He
- Zheng He's ship measured 400 feet long, compared to Christopher Columbus's Santa Maria which was 85 feet long
-   Zheng He stopped at two places in China to have granite inscriptions placed so that his deeds would be understood and not forgotten
- Altogether, Zheng He made 7 voyages, dying on 7th voyage

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"The emperor's purpose for this expedition seems to have been to obtain recognition and gifts from

other rulers. The voyagers did not intend to conquer or colonise, but they were prepared to use military force against those who refused to respect them"

https://school.bighistoryproject.com/pages/console#media/9c8b9d1b-00a4-412a-85f8-0dcb0e23dfa9

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Inscribing his adventures

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Read and learn for free about the following article: Zheng He

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Map of Zheng He's travels:
https://school.bighistoryproject.com/pages/console#media/9c8b9d1b-00a4-412a-85f8-0dcb0e23dfa9

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Zheng He stopped at two places in China to have granite inscriptions placed so that his deeds would be understood and not forgotten

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In his first inscription he describes his dependence on the goddess of chinese sailors:

"[Had we] not trusted her [Heavenly Princess’s] divine merit, how could we have done this in peace and safety?"

When we met danger, once we invoked the divine name, her answer to our prayer was like an echo; suddenly there was a divine lamp which illuminated the masts and sails, and once this miraculous light appeared, then apprehension turned to calm.

In his second inscription he explains the purpose of the voyages and his gratitude to the sea goddess

"If men serve their prince with utmost loyalty, there is nothing they cannot do, and if they worship the gods with utmost sincerity there is no prayer that will not be answered..."

"We, [Zheng] He and the rest, have been favored with a gracious commission from our Sacred Prince to convey to the distant barbarians the favor [earned by their] respectfulness and good faith."

"Therefore we have made manifest the virtue of the goddess with this inscription on stone, which records the years and months of our going to and returning from the foreign [countries] so that they may be remembered forever."

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Zheng He: Impacts

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Political impacts of Zheng He's exploration was that he helped show the wealth and power of the Ming Dynasty, and influenced maritime trade and ports in Asia. He developed the relationships between...

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There were many social and political impacts of Zheng He's Exploration

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Political impacts of Zheng He's exploration

he helped show the wealth and power of the Ming Dynasty, and influenced maritime trade and ports in Asia.

He developed the relationships between China and other countries

Social impacts of Zheng He

he opened up trading routes to countries and developed relationships between China and other countries.

Environmental impacts of Zheng He's exploration:

is that sailing on the sea would damage the sea because the ship pollute the water in the oceans

He would have produced waste from what they do in the countries and through trade

. Economic Impacts is that Zheng He

developed relationships between China and other countries which allows them to trade a lot of luxurious goods and items. These goods and items help the economics of China by trading with other valuable items which could cost a lot of money

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-Set sail in 1405
-visited Champa (south vietnam)
-Siam (Thailand)
-Malacca (Meleka)
-Seven voyages

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Original name:

Ma Sanbao

(Show more)

Zheng He (born c. 1371, Kunyang, near Kunming, Yunnan province, China-died 1433, Calicut [now Kozhikode], India) admiral and diplomat who helped extend the maritime and commercial influence of China throughout the regions bordering the Indian Ocean. He commanded seven naval expeditions almost a century before the Portuguese reached India by sailing around the southern tip of Africa.

Background and early years

Zheng He was from a Hui (Chinese Muslim) family. His father was a hajji, a Muslim who had made the hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. His family claimed descent from an early Mongol governor of Yunnan province in southwestern China as well as from King Muḥammad of Bukhara (now in Uzbekistan). The family name Ma was derived from the Chinese rendition of Muḥammad.

In 1381, when he was about 10 years old, Yunnan, the last Mongol hold in China, was reconquered by Chinese forces led by generals of the Ming dynasty, which had overthrown the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty in 1368. The young Ma Sanbao (later Ma He), as he was then known, was among the boys who were captured, castrated, and sent into the army as orderlies. By 1390, when those troops were placed under the command of the prince of Yan, Ma He had distinguished himself as a junior officer, skilled in war and diplomacy. Ma also had made influential friends at court.

In 1400 the prince of Yan revolted against his nephew, the Jianwen emperor, taking the throne in 1402 as the Yongle emperor. Under the Yongle administration (1402-24), the war-devastated economy of China was soon restored. The Ming court then sought to display its naval power to bring the maritime states of South and Southeast Asia in line.

For some 300 years the Chinese had been extending their power out to sea. An extensive seaborne commerce had developed to meet the taste of the Chinese for spices and aromatics and the need for raw industrial materials. Chinese travelers abroad, as well as Indian and Muslim visitors, widened the geographic horizon of the Chinese. Technological developments in shipbuilding and in the arts of seafaring reached new heights by the beginning of the Ming.

Naval expeditions

Ma He quickly became a eunuch of great influence in the Yongle court. Soon after he ascended the throne, the emperor conferred on Ma the surname Zheng, and he was henceforth known as Zheng He. Zheng was then selected by the emperor to be commander in chief of what became a series of missions to the "Western Oceans." He first set sail in 1405, commanding 62 ships and 27,800 men. The fleet visited Champa (now in southern Vietnam), Siam ( Thailand), Malacca ( Melaka), and the island of Java and then through the Indian Ocean to Calicut ( Kozhikode) on the Malabar Coast of India and Ceylon ( Sri Lanka). Zheng He returned to China in 1407.

On his second voyage, in 1408-09, Zheng He again visited Calicut-stopping as well in Chochin ( Kochi) along the coast to the south-but encountered treachery from King Alagonakkara of Ceylon. Zheng defeated Alagonakkara's forces and took the king back to Nanjing as a captive. In October 1409 Zheng He set out on his third voyage. This time, going beyond the seaports of India, he sailed to Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. On his return in 1411 he touched at Samudra, on the northern tip of Sumatra.

On his fourth voyage Zheng He left China in 1413. After stopping at the principal ports of Asia, he proceeded westward from India to Hormuz. A detachment of the fleet cruised southward down the coast of Arabia, visiting Dhofar ( Oman) and Aden ( Yemen). A Chinese mission visited Mecca and continued to Egypt. The fleet visited towns along the east coast of Africa of what are now Somalia and Kenya and almost reached the Mozambique Channel. On his return to China in 1415, Zheng He brought the envoys of more than 30 states of South and Southeast Asia to pay homage to the Chinese emperor.

During Zheng He's fifth voyage (1417-19), the Ming fleet revisited the Persian Gulf and the east coast of Africa. A sixth voyage was launched in 1421 to take home the foreign emissaries from China. Again he visited Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and Africa. In 1424 the Yongle emperor died. In the shift of policy his successor, the Hongxi emperor, suspended naval expeditions abroad. Zheng He was appointed garrison commander in Nanjing, with the task of disbanding his troops.

Zheng He's seventh and final voyage left China in the winter of 1431. He visited the states of Southeast Asia, the coast of India, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the east coast of Africa. Zheng died in Calicut in the spring of 1433, and the fleet returned to China that summer.

Zheng He was the best known of the Yongle emperor's diplomatic agents. Although some historians see no achievement in the naval expeditions other than flattering the emperor's vanity, those missions did have the effect of extending China's political sway over maritime Asia for half a century. Admittedly, they did not, like similar voyages of European merchant-adventurers, lead to the establishment of trading empires. Yet, in their wake, Chinese emigration increased, resulting in Chinese colonization in Southeast Asia and the accompanying tributary trade, which lasted until the 19th century.
Jung-pang Lo

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Zheng He | Biography, Facts, & Significance

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Zheng He (original name Ma Sanbao, later Ma He), admiral who helped extend the influence of China throughout the regions bordering the Indian Ocean. Zheng He was the best known of the Yongle emperor's diplomatic agents. Learn more about Zheng He here.