Zheng He

Zheng He or Cheng Ho (c. 1371-1435), Chinese admiral, explorer, and diplomat, born in Kunming, Yunnan Province. He helped to extend widely Chinese maritime and commercial influence in the regions bordering the Indian Ocean. He was the son of a Muslim and claimed Mongol descent. When Yunnan was reconquered by Chinese forces of the Ming dynasty, the boy was captured, castrated, and sent into the army. These troops were placed under the command of the Prince of Yen who, in 1402, took the throne. Zheng He (English, “Three-Jewel Eunuch”)—the surname was conferred on him by the Emperor—who had become an influential court eunuch, was selected to command missions to the “Western Oceans”. He first set sail in 1405, with 62 ships laden with gold and other treasures, and reached Indochina, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and Kozhikode (Calicut). On five subsequent voyages (1409-1421), squadrons of Zheng's fleet reached South East Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, east Africa, and Egypt, and brought emissaries of more than 30 states to pay homage to the Chinese Emperor. When naval expeditions resumed after a change of emperor, Zheng made his seventh and last voyage (1431-1434), revisiting South East Asia and states around the Indian Ocean. He died in 1435. His missions extended China's political sway rather than its trading empire but they encouraged the emigration that was the basis of Chinese colonization in South East Asia with its accompanying trade.