Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2019 | Page 15

The Ming Treasure Fleet Information Report - All About
Zheng He
Hong Kong Baptist University Affiliated School Wong Kam Fai Secondary & Primary School,
Yuen, Eires – 10
Zhang He had a lot of jobs! For example, he was actually a Chinese mariner, diplomat, explorer, fleet
admiral, and court eunuch during China’s early Ming Dynasty. That’s quite a lot of jobs for one person.
Zhang He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family, then later adopted the surname Zhang from the
Yongle Emperor. Zhang He commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia
and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. His larger ships stretched 120 metres or more in length! These carried
hundreds of sailors on four tiers of decks .
As the favorite member of palace of the Yongle Emperor, whose usurpation he assisted, Zhang He was
Yongle Emperor’s favourite,so Zhang He rose to the top of the imperial hierarchy and served as
commander of the capital Nanjing. His voyages were long neglected in official Chinese histories but have
become well known in China and abroad since the publication of Liang Qichao’s Biography of Our
Homeland's Great Navigator, Zheng He in 1904. A trilingual stele left by the navigator was discovered on
the island of Ceylon shortly thereafter.
Zhang He used a went on a lot of voyages, which means he boarded a lot of ships. Like chinese
treasure ships, equine ships, supply ships, troop transports, and many more!
In the decades after the last voyage, Imperial officials minimized the importance of Zheng He and his
expeditions throughout the many dynastic histories they compiled. The information in the Yongle and
Xuande Emperors’ official annals was incomplete and even erroneous;other official publications omitted
them completely. Although some have seen this as a conspiracy seeking to eliminate memories of the
voyages,it is most likely that the records were dispersed throughout several departments and the expeditions
– unauthorized by the injunctions of the dynastic founder - presented a kind of embarrassment to the
dynasty.
Lastly, I’ll tell you about Zhang He‘s unfortunate but true death. It was said that he died of disease in
1433 during his last voyage, and that he was tossed overboard for two reasons. The first is because that was
his religion, Muslim, were supposed to be tossed in the ocean with his/her head facing a religious Muslim
Tower. The second reason is because that the other voyagers on the ship were scared that the disease would
spread. Sadly, after Zhang He died, the whole treasure fleet was destroyed. But that’s not all! The shipyards
were shut down and most of the documents that related to the fleet were “lost”. Yeah, you probably
understand the meaning of “lost”.
Did you learn more about Zhang He now after reading this information report? I think Zhang He is a
very courageous man who liked traveling on boats. It’s such a shame that his documents related to the ship
were ruined by other people! This story’s moral is: Act before thinking!