Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2019 | Page 7
The Great Voyages of Zheng He
Shanghai United International School WanYuan Campus, Liu, Matt - 9
During Zheng He’s sea voyage, he was in his cabin room and taking a rest. Suddenly, he heard a
sound. The sound said, “Give me all your gold, silk and porcelain. If you don’t do that, the people on the
boat will all die.”
Zheng He got up to see who that was and he saw a strong man was shouting. It was Chen Zuyi, the
cruelest and greediest pirate of the sea, and just because of him no one wanted to travel on the sea. Now he
met Zheng He and he knew that Zheng He and his fleet had more than 200 boats with 2500 people. He
thought, “If I can get all of these boats, I will rule the sea!” And then, they began to fight. The Ming army
had very strong weapons and those pirates just had knives. So, Zheng He defeated the pirates.
Now Zheng He and his fleet began to sail again. They had reached more than twenty countries that
was never known before. On the journey, they met more pirates but they defeated them all.
Zheng He was a brave man because when he got this mission from the emperor, he accepted it
although he knew it was hard. He finished the task perfectly. He was one of the greatest navigators in
Chinese history.
The Great Voyages of Zheng He
Shanghai United International School WanYuan Campus, Ma, Thomas - 8
In 1405 (Ming Dynasty), Emperor Yong Le sent Zheng He to lead the Chinese ships to the Indian
Ocean. It was Zheng He’s first voyage. He was a brave and resourceful man. He went on to lead seven
expeditions in 28 years. He visited more than 40 countries and went as far as the east coast of Africa.
On the fourth expedition, Zheng He and his fleet sailed on the Indian Ocean. That day they had a storm
at sea. The waves were so big. Some ships struck on a rock and sank. The crew drifted ashore. When they
woke up, they found it was a wonderland. It was very hot there. People were all black and they spoke a
strange language. They lived in thatched huts. People used elephants to travel. There were many strange
animals and plants which they have never seen before. The crew wanted to stay there for the time being.
They helped the local villagers defeat the boa constrictor. They traded silk and porcelain with the villagers
for food.
After a few months, Zheng He led the other ships came to rescue them. That is Malind what is now
Kenya. It is on the east coast of Africa. So the people there are all black. The strange animals are giraffes and
zebras. Zheng He met the king of Malind and introduced Chinese culture. He gave the king many
wonderful presents they had brought. The king was very happy. In return, the king gave him some giraffes
and zebras.
Through this expedition, Zheng he and his crew made a relationship with Africa and opened up trade
routes in Africa. In addition, Zheng He brought exotic foreign items back to China.