Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2019 | Page 23

The Great Voyages of the Great Ming Dynasty
Immaculate Heart of Mary College, Chou, Cheuk Yan Ambrose - 12
The trace of the Great Chinese explorer, Zheng He, can be found everywhere in Asia. During
last Christmas holiday, I travelled to Indonesia with my family. In the trip, I saw a statue of a Chinese man
in the Sam Po Kong Temple, which is in Semarang, a city in Indonesia. Then, I found the words, “General
Zheng He” below the statue. Who is Zheng He? How come he can attract so many tourists, or even
Indonesians to pay a visit there? Later, our tour guide even told me that this city was actually named after
him!
Zheng He, originally named Ma He, was born in a Muslim family in Kunming, Yunnan, China.
It was not a great place or a capital like Nanjing. However, he was a well-educated man. He was also
known as San Bao, which refers to the Three Jewels in Buddhism. As a eunuch serving the Ming Emperor,
he once assisted the Yongle Emperor to ascend the throne and was given the surname 'Zheng', so he
changed his name to ‘Zheng He’ afterwards.
Zheng He was well known as a navigator, but he was also an admiral diplomat. Despite he had a
shining career in the Yongle Emperor’s court, he did have an unbearable past. Unfortunately, his father was
killed in the wars between the Ming armies and Mongol forces.
Zheng He was captured by the Ming armies in Yunnan in 1381. In 1385, he was ordered to serve
the young Zhu Di, who is the Yongle Emperor later. Therefore, Zheng He was one of the Yongle
Emperor's favorites in his court. Zheng He at first was only a soldier of Zhu Di in the war of 1402;
however, after helping Zhu Di become the Yongle Emperor, Zheng He rose to the top of the imperial
hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital, Nanjing.
Later, the Yongle Emperor ordered him to sail to the west for the first time in 1405 because the
emperor wanted to showcase the powerful Ming Dynasty to other countries. Also, he wanted to make
friends with other Asian countries, and get more trading partners as well. The Yongle Emperor chose Zheng
He because he knew lots of things about foreign countries, and Zheng was a well-trained diplomat. Zheng
He had the total trust from the Emperor who believed that Zheng would never betray him.
Zheng He started his naval expeditions with 27 thousand people on board. There were six kinds
of ships all together. They were: Chinese treasure ships, supply ships, troop transport, Fuchuan warships,
patrol boats and water tankers. The Chinese treasure ships were the largest ships in the world. Zheng He
started the voyage at Liu Jia port and went to more than 30 countries in Asia and Africa during his voyages.
During Zheng’s voyages, he taught people from other countries the skills of farming and well-
drilling, giving out silk in exchange for local goods to help the Yongle Emperor develop friendship with
other Asian countries. There was, of course, cultural exchange between the Ming Emperor’s court and
Southeast Asian countries like India, the Medalees and Africa. Zheng introduced the worship of Mazu, the
Chinese goddess of the sea, to different countries; so many temples were built for this traditional religion. In
return, some countries offered China some special gifts like giraffes and camels. When Zheng He brought
back these animals with him, the people of China were overjoyed to see all these new faces. They even sent
someone to study these animals carefully. Though the Treasure Voyages were full of excitement, some
people thought that the expeditions were used for searching for the Jianwen Emperor, as he disappeared
after the victory of the Yongle Emperor in Nanjing. In 1424, when the Yongle Emperor passed away,
Zheng He had completed his great missions, six voyages at that time.
Although China could attain a lot of lands, products and new technology from the countries or
cities in Asia like Calicut, a city located on India's western coast. However, the six voyages drained a lot of
money from the Ming government. The expenses of the voyages included the cost for making a ship and
taking some special products from China in exchange for something good and exotic. After the death of the
Yongle Emperor, his elder son, Zhu Gaozhi, became the Hongxi Emperor. During his nine-month reign,
Zhu Gaozhi put an end to all the treasure fleet constructions and maintenance. Though everyone might find
that was pity to stop all the voyages, but more money of the Ming government could be saved then because
of having less expenses on the lavish and ambitious naval expeditions.
The Hongxi Emperor, a practical Confucian, preferred to spend money on fending off the
Mongols in the north and feeding people in famine-ravaged provinces instead of having ambitious voyages
which were too expensive to afford.