Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 41

On the Sixth Voyage, Zheng He and his fleet was divided into separate squadrons at Ceylon, they separated
for Jiayile , Cochin, Ganbali , or Calicut in southern India. The squadrons travelled from there to their
respective destinations at Liushan , Hormuz at the Persian Gulf, the three Arabian states of Djofar, Lasa , and
Aden, and the two African states of Mogadishu and Brava. On the return home, several squadrons
regrouped at Calicut and all the squadrons regrouped further at Semudera. Siam was likely visited during the
return journey. The fleet returned on 3 September 1422.
On the Seventh voyage, Zheng He split his fleet into different squadrons. One squadron went to Arabia and
Mecca. Ma Huan turned out to be with the squadron that sailed to Mecca. In Mecca, Ma Huan got to do
the Hajji. The squadron traded with the Sharif of Mecca and the Sharif also sent envoys to Ming China. Ma
Huan wrote a chapter in a book that he was writing about the voyages about his experience in Mecca. The
squadrons got together for the homeward bound. Sadly, Zheng He died on the journey back to China at the
age of 62. When the treasure fleet came back to Ming China, the civil ministers of the Ming Court said that
the voyages were a waste of the emperor’s money, because japanese pirates were raiding China and the
money should be spent on land defences. And the ships should be left to rot and all the books and charts and
maps of the ocean and places that Zheng He had crossed and carefully made by the scribe Ma Huan were
decided to be burned. Thankfully, some stone tablets still contain the stories of Zheng He’s voyages.