Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 242

Upon hearing that France was not far away from Spain, the exploring team set off and it took them
three days to reach France. They walked off the ship and wondered what new cultural shock would be
waiting for them this time. Once they landed, a group of people stepped forward and attempted to hug
them and kiss them. Chinese people are not get used to such close physical contact and pushed them away
hastily. One of the chefs screamed and slapped the face of French man who was trying to kiss her cheek.
The French people misunderstood their reaction and presumed Zheng He’s team came to invade their land.
The French called for weapons and were ready to fight back. “No! No! We are coming in peace!” screamed
Zheng He. After taking some time to figure out each other’s intentions, both sides realized that it was just a
misunderstanding between two different cultures. The French brought forth some high-quality red wine to
show their hospitality and acceptance of Zheng He’s crew. Everyone took pleasure from the wine highly
and Zheng He decided to take the technique of the winemaking back to China. The French proudly
displayed the traditional grape stomping process. However, Zheng He and his team members quickly began
to feel uncomfortable and they had the feeling that they would threw up after every single drop of the wine
they drunk. “Our sorghum wine or huangjiu are definitely much better!” So, they left the Chinese
traditional sorghum wine as a gift for the French.
Zheng He was satisfied with the trip and thought it was a big success. On his return to China he
reported to the emperor: “My dear Emperor, I can confirm that China is the best country in the world after
our voyages. We are civilized and eat with chopsticks. We know how to cover our body well with beautiful
silk. Our people have morality and show appreciation for their food. Furthermore, we know how to
appropriately interact with other people and we would do not use our bare feet to stomp on the grapes!”
The Ming Emperor was overjoyed. “I knew it! I knew it! No wonder China is respected and admired by
the rest of the world! No one can compare to us as they are far behind us! How wonderful it is to be
invincible and so advanced!” Zheng He nodded his agreement and added, “I have given different presents to
them and hopefully those less civilized nations will learn from us and be able to develop as we have.”
Due to the self-confidence of the Ming Emperor, Chinese people during this period did not give
any effort to further improve their quality of life or search out new scientific knowledge. Due to this, the
country experienced an economic breakdown a few years later, before China was invaded and the Ming
Dynasty was conquered by Manchurian tribes. Zheng He’s journey took him through many strange and
exotic lands, yet it is important to remember that even if something is different, strange, or unusual, it does
not necessarily mean it is bad or uncivilized. If we open our eyes and our ears then there is always something
to be learned from different cultures and experiences.
Even if in this story the explorer Zheng He was not as understanding as he could have been of other
cultures, his travels can be seen as a great starting point in spreading Chinese culture across the globe.