Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2019 | Page 22

In 1403, Zheng He's fleet was in a very huge scale with nearly 28,000 men on board including professionals
like sailors, diplomatic specialists, scholars and more. The fleet of Zheng He then travelled all the way to the
bustling and famous place, Calicut, India. After that, one of the most important parts of the first voyage was
to visit Calcutta, the world’s major trade depot at that time.
During the voyage, Zheng’s journey was not always safe. The pirate, Chen Zuyi, might have spotted the
huge and splendid fleet, and that attracted the greed of Chen. Chen attacked the fleet in order to get the big
fortune, however, with the mighty force of Zheng’s voyage fleet, the ships were well protected, and Chen
lost everything, as he was arrested and sent to Nanjing. There, he received severe punishment from the
Emperor.
The first voyage allowed foreign countries to know more about China, and the Great Ming Dynasty. Thus,
the foreign ambassadors from various kings and rulers did not hesitate to make their way to go to China in
return to pay tribute to the Yongle Emperor. The diplomatic relationship between China and those
countries were strengthened by, of course, the exchange of goods, especially the luxury goods which
included gemstones, spices, exotic treasures and rare animals. The First Voyage offered instant benefits to
China and its diplomatic affairs. The second one was carried out in 1407, and this time, he was one of the
honourable guests who were invited to join the inauguration of a new king in Calicut, India.
The third voyage was initiated in 1409, and this time, the places visited by Zheng He were not limited to a
few, but quite a number of different ones. He travelled to Malacca on Malay Peninsular Ceylon (Sri Lanka),
and this trip was pretty much challenged by the people of Ceylon who were totally clueless about the Great
Ming Dynasty. The people of Ceylon appeared to be rude and disrespectful to Chinese. Zheng then
captured the Sri Lankan King, Vira Alakeswara, using the impressive military power of Ming Dynasty. More
importantly, Zheng also brought the tooth relic of Buddha back to China, and it was only returned to Sri
Lanka in 1960.
After this incident, the Ming Dynasty had a great influence in Indian Ocean and the nearby areas which
allowed Chinese to develop a maritime Silk Road in the future. The fourth voyage then followed in 1413.
Zheng He and his fleet arrived Hormuz which was on the Persian Gulf. During the fourth expedition,
Zheng He had a Muslim translator to help him on the way, and this helped Zheng a lot to communicate
with the people in other countries effectively. The fifth one took place in 1417, and Zheng even visited the
cities of the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa. The friendly visit of Zheng was always accompanied by the
strong military force of Ming Dynasty, which was indeed quite a powerful image given to foreign countries.
The last two expeditions, which were started in 1421 and 1431 respectively, enabled Zheng He to reach
more places and visit all important ports in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean.
The seven voyages were definitely a demonstration of Chinese shipbuilding technology. Zheng He’s armada
was believed to be built partly at Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing, and its docks were once the home to an
army of between 20 and 30,000 shipbuilders from Hunan and Guangdong provinces. The spectacular
“Treasure Fleet” was actually a gigantic navy with junks that had nine masts, and they were up to 400ft
long. The ships carried cargos of precious gifts like silk, porcelain and tea as gifts to the diplomatic friends of
China in Asia. Recently, the glory of the voyages was revealed again through subsequent excavations in
Nanjing. Iron anchors and shipbuilding tools like axes, stone hammer, nails and knives were found, and all
these help to compile a good documentary on Zheng He’s successful voyages.
Zheng He's voyages took him to 37 countries over 28 years, and his fleet was one of the mightiest fleet that
ever sailed. With the scale of 300 ships with 28,000 men on board, his journeys were indeed the biggest
flotilla before the First World War. The dazzling and glorious success of Zheng He’s voyages is something to
be proud of as a Chinese student. Zheng He, a legendary explorer and “China’s Columbus” helped China
open its eyes to see the brave new world. Though the treasure fleet was put to an end eventually, it was still
the most remarkable fleet that China has ever had.