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Blue- Starting Point
Orange- Places he traveled on his voyages
Pink- Birthplace (Contextualization and sourcing is here)
Dashed Line- Direction in which he traveled.

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The ambassadors of the countries the Ming Dynasty encountered were invited to the palace by Zheng He to visit the emperor. However this was not the case for all societies. Some of the ambassadors decided to come of their own volition. They came to China bearing tributes for Zhu Di. These ambassadors live with the greatest living conditions that they could have. Large feasts, many physicians, and comfortable housing for all of them, all provided by the emperor. He received many tributes but the most important was probably the eyeglass. It was the beginnings of glasses, and it was a very important item. Parameswara, the king of Malacca, brought ten eyeglasses to the emperor. He was very pleased and gave him and his family and ministers many gifts in reward for this new technology.

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Yunnan, this was the city in which Zheng He, the commander in chief of the Chinese treasure fleets that were sent out to trade and create relationships for China. Zheng He was born a Muslim, and was sold as a slave and made a eunuch. Later in his life, He was sent to work for the emperor, as the principal envoy of the fleet. Zhu Di was reluctant to grant him this position however, his court officials had persuaded him to grant Zheng He this honor, as he was very skilled, and knew the routes better than anyone else, even though he was 35, which was thought to be too old to travel. Zheng He must have taken this into account when going on his voyages. Since he was granted this honor by the emperor, he had to make sure not to displease him in any way. While writing his travels, he wrote for a multitude of people, however he primarily wrote for the emperor, as he was traveling for his sake, and he needed to write to impress him. When in Ceylon, there were different stories about how the events there took place, and how Zheng He's involvement played out in the larger part of the war. The Chinese version of the story exaggerated Zheng He's victory, while the Singhalese version told a different version of the saying that the Singhalese were not in a battle, and invited them to the palace before they were kidnapped by Zheng He, showing the possible bias of Zheng he and that he could be trying to impress the emperor with his works. Zheng He's travels were made possible because of the Emperor's decision to open China for trade, because if he didn't, there wouldn't have been any traders coming in or out of the country, and China would not have received tributes from the other cities they came across, and they would not have been introduced to new technologies, such as the eyeglass.

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Hormuzd Apartment, Kemps Corner, Malabar Hill, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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After traveling to the Maldives, Zheng He went to Hormuz in India. Hormuz was a very wealthy country, it dominated the Indian Ocean trade route from the 1200s. This is why Zheng He was elated to be going there. His trip was fast, the good winds allowed for them to cover 61 miles per day, usually only 45 miles would be covered. When he arrived he said that the people were "handsome, distinctive, elegant" and that everyone was very rich. On arrival, the Chinese traded their porcelains and silks for sapphires, rubies, oriental topaz, pearls, coral beads, amber, woolens, and carpets. As well as receiving gifts such as lions, leopards, and Arabian horses.

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Nanjing, China, where Zhu Di, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty resides. China has opened up it's gates to traders and foreigners, and has started to send out explorers to expand the rule of the Ming Dynasty. One of these explorers, and the most important, is Zheng He, the principal envoy and commander in chief of the treasure fleet sent out to explore the Indian Ocean Trade Complex. With them, they brought many different luxury goods, such as their finest silks, porcelains, art objects and lacquerwares. However, the Emperor's decision has created great conflict within the country. The living conditions of the Chinese citizens has worsened greatly, as the traders bringing in foreign goods have made the demand in the local goods lower. However, the Emperor continues to live lavishly in his palace, with the goods he was getting from the voyages. Because of the Emperors decision to open China, the Chinese citizens started to lose their sources income from trading inside the country because new traders were coming in with new goods, decreasing the demand in the goods made in China.

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In the 1410's Zheng He traveled to the Maldives. The trip was one that was dangerous. He had to carefully navigate through the eight narrow islands. But he was able to arrive there safely and he set off there for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the Maldives had many different important goods. For example, while there, they purchased ambergris, cowrie shells, and coconut. This was important for them because cowrie shells were used as currency in some countries. Here they were so abundant they were piled in heaps. Ambergris was important because it was worth silver back then. Coconut was important because aside from being edible, in the Maldives, it was used as a means of creating strong rope.

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Calicut. The first destination on Zheng He's many travels. In 1405, 317 junks were sent in the treasure fleet, and their commander in chief was none other than Zheng He. Calicut was the most important city in all of south Asia, and in the city was an assortment of varying spices, and rare woods. These goods attracted many traders and explorers, and Zheng He, and more than him, the Emperor, Zhu Di, especially. However, there were more reasons to this trip than just the goods in Calicut. China had just recently come out of their isolation, and they needed to renew ties with other cities and countries, and one of the more beneficial cities to have good relations with is Calicut. Zheng He returned to the Emperor two years later, and Zhu Di sent him back to install a new king and establish better friendships between the two.

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Sumatra is an island in Indonesia. Parameswara was was given a seal of investiture by the Chinese which was stolen by the Siamese. This managed to alienate himself from both of his neighbors and was forced out of Sumatra. He went on to create Malacca. Zheng He was coming with a replacement seal and visited Sumatra afterwards to pick up a very remarkable wood. He paid the Siamese in gold. Sumatra also had many valuable trading resources like, camphor, frankincense, and gharawood, used to make incense, and pepper, ginger, and healing herbs. Sumatra also had rhinoceros horns, used to help with snake bites, and deer antlers, believed to strengthen bones and restore sexual potency. They also had sulfur, valued in the west as a skin ointment and cure for rheumatism and lung aliments.

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During this time in Ceylon, the once unified island was divided into three warring states. These three nations were the Singhalese, the Hindu Tamils and the Muslims. Upon Zheng He's arrival to the area he found these three nations fighting. The local chief met Zheng He, where the local chief, Alakeswara, refused to pay tribute to the Chinese emperor or to erect on the tablet, which he thought was some symbol of Chinese sovereignty. He fought the Chinese and won to drive them back to their ships. After trading in India the Chinese came back for revenge. However there were many different interpretations of this event that the different nations came up with. In Chinese history it is said they kidnapped Alakeswara after Zheng He's refusal to pay tribute to Alakeswara. After a large battle with Zheng He and their army storming the capital and fending off the Singhalese army, they seized Alakswara and took him to the emperor. According to the Chinese, they pardoned the king, but installed one of his followers to take his place. But in Singhalese history it is said that after making negotiations, the Chinese entered the palace, and took the king and many nobles back to China, and from there, both nations agreed on their story.

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In 1409 a third treasure fleet was sent out to Malacca. In the years before the king of Malacca, Parameswara went to China and swore his alliance to them. China gave Malacca a seal of investiture recognizing Malacca as its own city-state. The Siamese were very upset with this and stole the seal. On Zheng He's third voyage he went to Malacca to give Parameswara his seal of approval. This was very important for Malacca because this meant that China would provide protection from both their neighbors, whom they were actively at war with. Malacca thrived through trade, and this is why they were important to China. Malacca had many spices, such as cloves, nutmeg, seed pearls, bird plumes, and batiks. They traded these for Indian textiles. Furthermore, by having Malacca as an ally, they could use the strait of Malacca to get to other countries.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies