Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 197

“Zheng He was clever, he invited different people on the ships, those included: Crewmen, recorders,
diplomatic officials, weathermen, interpreters, doctors, and pharmacists. Altogether, there were about 27,800
people on the ships! The people on the ships could send and deliver messages by lanterns and gongs during
terrible weather, for example, typhoons and hurricanes. Those were some common natural disasters that
appeared during their journeys.”
“When the ships arrived in the countries, they presented gifts to the country’s emperor and told the country
about Chinese stories and explained the Chinese culture. Zheng He won trust from all the countries leaders,
so they were allowed to exchange goods and materials with the local people. Soon the team had lots of
goods, so they headed back to China. But none of them were the special color.”
“Later on, he went to several other voyages, and traveled to over 30 countries and regions. But there was no
special blue color. After a while, Zheng He heard some news about a blue color. So he went to the place
and finally found the special blue material! It was called Cobalt. Many loads of Cobalt were shipped back to
China.”
“Zheng He died later on during his seventh voyage in Calicut, India, at the age of 62. He was remembered
for building a good relationship with other countries, and starting a trading system, as well as introducing
many countries to China. He was also always compared to Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.”
“What do you think will happen if there were no voyages in the Ming dynasty?” asks the spirit.
“Then there will be countries we will miss out on. And the shipbuilding industry may not be developed as
well in the Old Shanghai.
“Yes, you’re right. And also, the voyages Zheng He went on is to benefit other countries, (eg. Vietnam),”
the spirit continues, “Vietnam is one of the places Zheng He went to, the team traded with the local people,
and also told about their countries, cities, and Chinese culture. During Tang dynasty, Silk Road was used to
travel around to trade unique goods with other countries. When the voyages happened, it developed
another efficient way to travel, through the sea. So, when China and neighboring countries built a good
relationship, people in both countries can trade with each other by the route the ships went on. It will be
much easier to trade with them because people could either walk Silk Road or sail in the route Zheng He’s
ships went. Besides trading, and sharing culture, some of the crewmen stayed behind in the countries that
Zheng He visited, to start a new life. So the voyages weren’t only to achieve Zheng He’s dream to find the
special blue material, but was also to help the country with the trading system, transportation means, and
also cultural exchange.”
Sunday, 8:30 am, 20th January 2019
“Okay, you may need to stop, I need to go write all this information down on paper……” I ask, “Wait, was
that all a dream?”
No one answers.
I open my eyes on the fabulous Sunday morning, as the sun shines on me brightly through the gaps of the
window. I write down everything I have heard and design my project.