Admiral Zheng He
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Inthe school curricula of the recent past, we were taught of seafaring nations such as the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the English and the French and of the feats of their navigators such as Columbus, Vascode Gama, Bartholomes Dias, Magellan, etc., but never of a Chinese navigator called Zheng He, who crisscrossed the Indian ocean and the Arabian Sea several times with a large fleet before these European navigators.
It is believed that Chinese navigators took to sea from the dawn of history. They have sailed up to the Red Sea, visiting parts of Asian and Arabian countries mainly for trading purposes.
Chinese naval power was at its peak during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It reached its apex during the reign of Emperor Yong Le. He was a firm believer of trade and friendship with other countries and encouraged navigators to take to sea. He also encouraged ship builders to build big and strong vessels that could withstand extreme conditions.
Zheng He whose original name was Ma He, was a Muslim. First he was a general of the Emperor’s army. The Emperor developed a liking to him and made Zheng He an admiral of the Emperor’s navy recognizing his abilities.
The Emperor not only changed his name to zheng he, but also made him an ambassador at large and delegated him powers to represent the Emperor at the courts of the rulers of the countries he visited. His naval headquarters was stationed at the mouth of the Yangtze River close to Nanjing, then capital of China.
This pioneer navigator who was said to be daring, courageous, bold, imaginative and above all tenacious took part in seven voyages within a span of twenty eight years. These voyages were recorded in the books of the History of the Ming Dynasty and inXing Cha Shang Lan written by Zheng He’s interpreter Feixin.
These expeditions not only covered Asian regions but also extended up to the eastern coast of Africa and Red Sea. That means Zheng He extended the silk route up to eastern coast of Africa.
He undertook expeditions of this nature in years 1405, 1407, 1409, 1413, 1417, 1421 and 1431. For every expedition about 60 large ships built to a length of about 120 metres and a fortilla of about 150 small ships with 28,000 men took part. In six of his voyages he visited Sri Lanka and during one of his visits he held Pooja (a religious ceremony) at Sri Pada. The things that were offered at this Pooja were found in a inscription that was erected at the Galle harbour. Presently the said inscription is found at the Colombo museum. This was inscribed in Chinese, Persian and Tamil and among the things donated at the Pooja were some gold plates to light joss-sticks, silver, silk, porcelain and five pairs of golden lotus.
These sea adventures helped China for an enormous reawakening economically. In earlier times pepper was a scarce commodity and was used only in the preparation of medication. After the expeditions pepper was abundantly available in China and Chinese merchandise such as porcelains, found a ready made market in the environs. It is said that as a result of these voyages there was a upward surge in the economic activities of the provinces of China. Nearly 1,000 porcelain factories had sprung up in Jingdezhen area. During this period Chinese porcelain was widely introduced to Southeast Asia, West Asia and Africa by him, and people in those countries it is said acquired a fondness for Chinese white and blue porcelain. Chinese porcelain was introduced to Europe by Muslim merchants from East Africa. Thanks to Zheng He, today Chinese porcelain is extremely popular in those countries.
Chinese silk also become a fashionable commodity among the elite of these countries and it is recorded that more than 500 new silk weaving centres sprung up in China.
It is said that the Asian countries too benefited from the visits of Zheng He. The spices from these countries found a ready made market in China.
On his return from voyages, Zheng He brought large numbers of treasures and lots of valuable things such as rhinoceros horns, ivory, perfumes, hawks bills, turtles, animals like giraffes and zebras which were gifts given by kings and tribal leaders along the way or commodities bartered with porcelain. The first giraffe gifted by Malindu of Kenya in 1414, thoroughly surprised and delighted the Ming court and Chinese people.
It created what was called the “Giraffe Diplomacy”. Countries vied with one another to present giraffes to win the favours of the imperial court of the Ming Dynasty.
With every return journey to China after the voyages, diplomatic missions from different countries comprising 50 to 60 and at times as large as 500 to 600 diplomatic personnel accompanied Zheng He to the imperial court of the Ming Dynasty.
Historical records show that in the 21st year of the reign of Emperor Yong Le, 12,000 such diplomatic personnel visited China with Zheng He.
Zheng He encouraged some of his men to remain in the countries he visited and marry local women. Specially he brought Chinese Muslims to settle down in Indonesia and a number of Chinese too migrated to other Asian countries as a result of his voyages. These people practiced various businesses such as textile, making food, traditional medicine clinics with massage doctors in the countries they domiciled. Their houses were similar to ancient Chinese architecture. In Sri Lanka also these Chinese people settled down in Galle, Colombo and Trincomalee.
He is considered a hero in China as well in some Asian countries. There are some places of religious worship named after him in Asia and East Africa. A beautiful mausoleum has been built in Nanjing with 28 steps to approach it. These 28 steps resemble 28 years of his life devoted for expeditions.
Finally we can say he was one of great and legendary navigators in the world and an envoy of peace and friendship of the Chinese people. His voyages were significant in promoting the further development of science and technology in China.
Because of him, China was better known in the world and the world better known in China.
The author is former secretary of the Sri Lanka China Society.