Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 40

The Epic Voyage
Clearwater Bay School, Wan, Adrian - 9
In the third lunar month of year 1405, in the palace of Nanjing, the third Ming Emperor Yongle, gave an
order that Zheng He would be the leader of a chinese voyage to explore the outside world! To venture to
the unknown areas, the Yongle emperor gave the order of 252 ships (62 treasure ships and 190 smaller
junks) to be constructed. The treasure ships carried troops of soldiers and cannons just in case if they were
attacked by armies or pirates. Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens mentioned that Christopher
Columbus’s ships would been just lifeboats compared to Zheng He’s Flagship.
Before Zheng He and his crew set off, they gave sacrifices and prayed to one their gods Tianfei, the
guardian of sailors at sea, to grant them safety for the dangers at sea. The emperor gave them gifts to
exchange with foreign countries. They first departed through the Wuhem passage. The treasure fleet first
sailed to many different countries including Ceylon. When they landed into Ceylon, they were met by a
hostile attitude with Alagakkonara, who was the ruler of Ceylon that time. On the way back home, the
Chinese had to confront the Guangdong pirate Chen Zuyi. The pirates were confronted by a naval battle
between each other. In the end,the winners were the chinese navy. When Zheng He returned to Nanjing
he was greeted as a hero. The emperor met lots of ambassadors from different countries that Zheng He had
brought from.
On the second voyage, Zheng He and his fleet traveled to Champa; Siam; Java; Malacca; Semudera, Aru,
and Lambri on Sumatra; Jiayile , Abobadan , Ganbali , Quilon, Cochin, and Calicut in India.
The imperial order for the third voyage was issued on the first month of the seventh year of the Yongle
reign. It was addressed to Zheng He, Wang Jinghong, and Hou Xian. The fleet made stops at Ceylon,
Quilon. Wang Jinghong and Hou Xian made short stops at Siam, Malacca, Semudera, and Ceylon. Arriving
in Ceylon in 1410, the treasure fleet landed at Galle. On arrival at Ceylon, King Alagakkonara cut off Zheng
He and his troops from the treasure fleet. In response, Zheng He and his troops invaded Kotte, conquering
its capital. They took captive Alagakkonara, his family, and principal officials. The Sinhalese army of 50,000
hastily returned and surrounded the capital, but they were repeatedly defeated in battle against the invading
Chinese troops. Admiral Zheng He returned to Nanjing on 6 July 1411. There, he presented the Sinhalese
captives to the Yongle Emperor. Eventually, the emperor decided to free and return them to their country.
He also requested someone to serve as the new king. However, the previous dynasty had already re-
established themselves in Kotte by the time the Chinese embassy arrived. From then on, the treasure fleet
would experience no hostilities during visits to Ceylon on subsequent treasure voyages.
Before Zheng He set off, he recruited some new people for his fleet. One of them was a muslim scribe who
was called Ma Huan. On the Fourth voyage, The fleet sailed to many different countries including Java and
Hormuz. In 1415, the fleet made a stop at Sumatra during the journey home from Hormuz. While the
Chinese were there, they realised that the ruler Sekandar had usurped the Semudera throne from Zain al-
'Abidin, but the Chinese had formally recognized the latter as the King of Semudera. Admiral Zheng He
had orders to launch a punitive attack against the usurper and restore Zain al-'Abidin as the rightful king. In
retaliation, Sekandar led his forces to attack the Ming forces and was defeated. He reportedly attacked with
"tens of thousands" of soldiers. The Ming forces pursued Sekandar's forces to Lambri where they caught
Sekandar, his wife, and his child.
On the Fifth voyage, Zheng He and his fleet traveled to these places: Champa, Pahang, Java, Palembang,
Malacca, Semudera, Lambri, Ceylon, Cochin, Calicut, Shaliwanni , LiuShan (Maladive and Laccadive
Islands), Hormuz, Lasa , Aden, Mogadishu, Brava, Zhubu , and Malindi. The accompanied ambassadors
arrived at the Ming court in the eighth lunar month of 1419. Their gifts included lions, leopards, dromedary
camels, ostriches, zebras, rhinoceroses, antelopes, giraffes, and other exotic animals, causing a great sensation
among those at the Ming court.