Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 241

Humility, Morality, and The Ming Treasure Voyages
St Margaret's Co-Educational English Primary & Secondary School, Kwok, Harmoni - 13
“China is the greatest country in the world! It is time to show our power and wealth to the rest of
the world!” The Emperor of Ming dynasty announced proudly. “Zheng He, choose anyone you please from
our elite force and load your vessel with valuable presents. Remember, no wars or violence! We are not
invaders, but explorers showing our friendship to the world.”
Zheng He selected ten physically fit male sailors, two female chefs, and he gave himself the role of
captain before heading westwards. Their wooden ship was huge and well-equipped for whatever dangers
and adventure lay before the crew. They were excited and curious about who and what they would meet
on this long journey.
After a few days on the calm ocean they made landfall in India, the birthplace of Hinduism. The
Indians welcomed Zheng He’s and his team, although they did not understand each other’s languages. They
prepared a big feast with different curries and traditional Indian cuisine. The food smelled delicious and
stimulated the team’s appetite, especially after their time at sea. However, they felt confused about how to
eat the food without utensils. They observed how the Indians ate and reluctantly followed them. “What?
They use their hands to eat without using chopsticks? This shows a total lack of civilization!” whispered
Zheng He. The captain was a left hander and he tried to use his left hand to scoop up the food. The Indians
laughed loudly and stopped the captain because using the left hand to eat was considered to be unclean in
Indian culture as it was used to perform matters associated with going to the washroom. Zheng He marked
down this cultural shock in his journal for future reference. The two chefs gathered some local herbs and
studied how to cook Indian cuisine. Before leaving, Zheng He presented the Indians with some chopsticks
made of elephant tusks before gesturing how to use them. He hoped the Indian would eat in a more
civilized way.
Their journey into the unknown continued and they were lucky to have good weather without
any bad storms due to it being the middle of summer. After a long time at sea, the lookout spotted
something and called excitedly, “Captain! Can you see those huge stone pyramids over there?”. They
decided to stop and explore this strange land. A group of people with heavy make-up, no matter if man or
woman, greeted Zheng He’s team warmly. The Egyptian’s eyes looked odd by Chinese standards due to the
black kohl eyeliner and the darkened eyelashes and eyebrows. However, their clothes looked almost see-
through with transparent linen and some of the children were even naked! Zheng He’s team felt shy around
this and avoided looking at them directly. The idea of beauty was extremely different in Egypt. The
Egyptians showed the crew the mighty Pyramids, the Great Sphinx of Giza, and mummification helped
people reach the afterlife. The team was impressed and amazed by Egyptian architecture and culture. They
simply would never have believed the Egyptians would mummify their cats before the saw it with their own
eyes. After five horizon-widening days, Zheng He offered some silk cloth as a parting gift. He suggested
that the Egyptians try using silk clothes for clothing so that their bodies would be well covered with
comfortable material.
The team passed through the Mediterranean Sea and berthed in Spain. As they were leaving the
boat, they were shocked and horrified to see a large crowd of people taking part in a huge tomato fight. The
crowd was laughing playfully as they caught and threw tomatoes at one another “Oh dear! What are they
doing with those tomatoes? The amount of food they are wasting would last me at least 3 months!” wailed
the two chefs who were not happy to see such a scene. “The Chinese value and treasure food much more
than the people here.” As they edged past the crowd throwing tomatoes, they saw a man waving a red flag
to irritate a bleeding and distressed bull. Every time the bull charged at the man, he would nimbly leap to
the side and gash it with a sword. The worst thing was that the people watching were applauding the man in
a respectful way. They were treating him as a hero. Zheng He was angry to see this brutal behaviour. He
believed humans should care about animals and should not hurt them for fun. “People here need more
education in humanity, benevolence, and morality,” thought Zheng He. He decided to gift the Spanish the
writings of Confucius in the hope that they would change their ways. However, the Spanish could not read
the Chinese characters. Zheng He was determined the Spanish should learn the teachings of Confucius, so
the team stayed in Spain for a longer period to help with translation. In the meantime, the team found out
that there was also wonderful culture in Spain, such as energetic Flamenco dancing. All the team members
enjoyed learning the dance before heading to the next destination - it was unlike anything they had ever
seen or done before.