Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 213

The Adventures of Zheng He
Shanghai Singapore Internatinoal School, Roslee, Aina Sofia Binti - 12
Hello my name is Ma He or Zheng He. I was born in 1371 to a noble family in Yunnan (a province in
China). I have one older brother and four sisters and my family is Muslim. When I was little my mom
would always tell me amazing stories about pirates and big, gigantic ships, which made me very curious
about the outside world and told me if I worked hard I could be the person making those expeditions. My
father and grandfather both went on a pilgrimage called Haji in Arabic, to the Muslim holy city of Mecca,
which made me ask them lots of questions about their expedition.
When I was only 11 years old, Yunnan was attacked and conquered by the marching soldiers from the Ming
army. I was panicky and agitated at that time because one day soldiers came to our house and brought me to
the Ming court to be a eunuch. As they imprisoned us I saw many other children and was hoping and
praying that we were all going to be fine.
When I was serving in the royal court, I worked really hard with the desire that I could go back home to
my family. Instead of going back home the soldiers ordered me to go to the throne room to meet the
Emperor. I was frightened, shaking and praying that nothing bad was going to happen.
When I entered the throne room I looked straight at the Emperor, in his large booming voice the emperor
had said that I have been working well, and that he is going train me and if I thrived I was to be his assistant
and adviser. I was so confused by everything he just said. After his talk, I was transported to a military camp
where each day was harder than the last.
After the hard years of military camp, in a flash I was the Emperor’s trusted adviser and assistant. I also had to
be a bodyguard for Prince Zhu Di during battles against the Mongols, which was tiring but worth it. Soon
after, Zhu Di became the next Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He instantly made me the highest-ranking
eunuch because I had served in court for many years; after I earned the rank he renamed me to Zheng He.
When he promoted me to Grand eunuch I was so proud of myself, and told myself that I’ll work as hard as I
can forever until I die.
After I had my new title I got to be in charge of palace construction and repairs, weapons, and ship
construction which made me very knowledgeable about ships. In 1403, Zhu Di ordered the construction of
The Treasure Fleet (a group of trading ships, warships and some support vessels) to travel across the South
China sea and Indian Ocean areas. The emperor had chosen me to command the fleet which made me feel
very honored, and excited for all the exciting encounters and mysteries.
My very first voyage began in July, 1405. We set sail from LiuJiagan Port in Taicang of Jiangsu Province and
headed westward. When we travelled to Vietnam and met the king. We presented the king with presents
and because he was pleased with our gesture our visit was fairly nice.
After leaving we travelled to Java, Sumatra, and Malacca, carefully avoided the Pirate Chen Zu Yi.
Unfortunately, in 1407 we encountered CHEN ZU YI and with that, a bloodthirsty battle erupted. With
5000 of Chen’s men eliminated. We finally defeated Chen Zu YI, and he was captured and was publicly
executed in Nanjing in 1407.
My adventure continued, with seven main voyages. Unfortunately, because of the financial drain and the
Mongols threat, later Emperors and Scholars tried to erase all of my expeditions. Hopefully this passage
doesn’t get destroyed too...