Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 1 | Page 74

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
St Stephen's College Preparatory School, Ma, Nathan - 9
This story is dedicated to my ancestor who worked on one of the Ming Treasure fleets in the early
1400s. At that time, the Yongle Emperor was trying to make friends with neighbouring countries such as
India, Siam Africa and Arabia. The fleet carried a lot of precious treasures such as gold, silver, silk and
gemstones. Together they made seven voyages across the Indian and Pacific Ocean They had to fight against
local pirates and foreign enemies. Even though they fought many battles, they won most of the time and
returned safely from their journey to China. The Chinese admiral who guided them was called, ‘Zheng He’
and he had won many awards from the emperor and the respect from the Chinese People.
The first three expeditions were so amazing because they carried the most military weapons,
thousands of sailors and passengers. As the ships arrived at the port in Champa, the king greeted the crew
members with local treasures and gifts in exchange for Chinese silk and gold. Sailing to the island Java, the
fleet faced many dangers and threats by pirates. However, the mighty power of the fleet led them to victory.
They even sent the pirate chief back to Nanjing for punishment. They met the King of Calicut and received
a stately welcome at his inauguration. They had a long feast and food to take along for their journey.
During the last four expeditions, they saw many types of western ships. They traded crewman with
each other to learn foreign languages, New battle ships were made and constructed, the Chinese Emperor
became more powerful and rich. The officials from Ceylon, Cochin, Hormuz, Sumatra, and Mogadishu sent
their ambassadors to the capital city, Beijing for commerce and more language training.
At that time, many young people followed alongside Zheng He on a maritime adventure to
become a sailor. When they first got on, they often had motion sickness. They were given Chinese
medicine to settle their stomach. After that, they were given a variety of jobs on the boat such as cleaning
the decks, halls, toilets and kitchen. Besides that, they had to build stalls and coops to hold the pigs, chicken
and sheep for the crew to eat. The young men were extremely welcomed by the crew and they listened and
obeyed every order. They helped loading cannons and preparing weapons during battles. They learnt how
to fight alongside admiral Zheng He. When they travelled to the next port, they picked up other supplies
for the fleet. The young men were extremely grateful that they could travel the Indian and Pacific Ocean for
free and received free meals and drinks.
There were dangers at sea especially traveling to Calicut. A few men got lost at sea without notice
when they lost balance climbing on the rope. If they fell into the sea, they usually drowned before the ship
could rescue them. However, the long journey was worth making because they were recorded in the history
books.