View source for Zheng He

{{Short description|Chinese mariner and diplomat (1371–1433/1435)}}
{{Distinguish|Zhang He}}
{{Redirect|Ma Sanbao|the Tang dynasty general|Ma Sanbao (Tang dynasty)}}
{{Other uses|Zheng He (disambiguation){{!}}Zhenghe}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{CS1 config|mode=cs1}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Zheng He
| image              = 2016 Malakka, Stadhuys (09).jpg
| caption            = Statue from a modern monument to Zheng He at the [[Stadthuys]] museum in [[Malacca City]], Malaysia
| native_name        = {{langn|zh|鄭和}}
| birth_name         = Ma He
| birth_date         = 1371{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=11}}
| birth_place        = [[Kunming]], Yunnan, [[Yuan dynasty]]<!--Northern Yuan-->
| death_date         = {{death year and age|1433|1371}} ''or'' {{death year and age|1435|1371}}
| native_name_lang   = zh
| other_names        = {{ubl|Ma He|Ma Sanbao|Cheng Ho|Mahmud Shams}}
| occupation         = Eunuch, admiral, diplomat, explorer, bureaucrat
| era                = [[Ming dynasty]]
| module = {{Infobox Chinese
| child=yes
| s = 郑和
| t = 鄭和
| p = Zhèng Hé
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|zh|eng|4|-|h|e|2}}
| myr = Jèng Hé
| w = {{tonesup|Cheng4 Ho2}}
| wuu = Zen Wu
| j = Zeng6 Wo4
| y = Jehng Wòh
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|z|eng|6|-|w|o|4}}
| poj = Tēⁿ Hô
| tl = Tēnn Hô
| altname = Birth name
| t2 = 馬和
| s2 = 马和
| p2 = Mǎ Hé
}}
}}

'''Zheng He''' (also romanized '''Cheng Ho'''; 1371–1433/1435) was a Chinese [[eunuch]], [[admiral]] and diplomat from the early [[Ming dynasty]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zheng-He |title=Zheng He |publisher=Britannica |access-date=2025-04-25}}</ref> who is often regarded as the greatest admiral in [[History of China|Chinese history]]. Born into a [[Muslims|Muslim]] family as '''Ma He''', he later adopted the surname Zheng conferred onto him by the [[Yongle Emperor]] ({{reign|1402|1424}}).{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=22–23}}

Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng commanded seven [[Ming treasure voyages|treasure voyages]] across Asia under the commission of the Yongle Emperor and the succeeding [[Xuande Emperor]] ({{reign|1425|1435}}). According to legend, Zheng's largest ships were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded, and carried hundreds of sailors on four decks.

A favorite of the Yongle Emperor, whom Zheng assisted in the [[Jingnan campaign]] that overthrew the previous [[Jianwen Emperor]] in 1402, Zheng He rose to the top of the Ming [[Government of the Ming Empire|imperial hierarchy]] and served as commander of the southern capital [[Nanjing]].

==Early life and family==
Zheng was born Ma He to a Muslim family of [[Kunyang Subdistrict|Kunyang]], [[Kunming]], Yunnan, then under the rule of the [[Basalawarmi|Principality of Liang]] loyal to the [[Northern Yuan]] dynasty.{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1pp=11, 148|Mills|1970|2p=5|Ray|1987|3p=66|Levathes|1996|4p=61}} He had an older brother and four sisters.{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1p=11|Mills|1970|2p=5|Levathes|1996|3p=62|Perkins|2000|4p=621}} The Liujiagang and Changle inscriptions suggest that devotion to [[Mazu (goddess)|Tianfei]], the patron goddess of sailors and seafarers, was the dominant faith to which he adhered, reflecting the goddess's central role to the [[Chinese treasure fleet|treasure fleet]].{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=148, 150|loc="The inscriptions [...] devotion to Tianfei, the goddess of seafarers, had become the dominant strand in his eclectic religious heritage."}} John Guy mentions, "When Zheng He, the Muslim eunuch leader of the great expeditions to the 'Western Ocean' (Indian Ocean) in the early fifteenth century, embarked on his voyages, it was from the Divine Woman that he sought protection, as well as at the tombs of the Muslim saints on Lingshan Hill, above the city of Quanzhou."<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nCIPD1V39QkC&pg=PA163|chapter=Quanzhou: Cosmopolitan City of Faiths|title=The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty|first=John| last=Guy|page=176|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-16656-9|year=2010}}</ref>

Zheng He was a great-great-great-grandson of [[Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar]], who served in the administration of the [[Mongol Empire]] and was the [[governor of Yunnan]] during the early [[Yuan dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book| first=Shih-Shan Henry| last=Tsai| title=Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle| publisher=University of Washington Press| year=2002| isbn=978-0-295-98124-6| page=38}} ({{Google books|aU5hBMxNgWQC|restricted online copy|page=38}})</ref><ref>{{cite book| first1=Chunjiang| last1=Fu| first2=Choo Yen| last2=Foo| first3=Yaw Hoong| last3=Siew| title=The great explorer Cheng Ho. Ambassador of peace.| publisher=Asiapac| year=2005| isbn=978-9-812-29410-4| pages=7–8}} ({{Google books|VxJDSA80YcsC|restricted online copy|page=8}})</ref> His great-grandfather Bayan may have been stationed at a Mongol garrison in Yunnan.{{sfn|Mills|1970|p=5}} Zheng He's grandfather carried the title ''[[hajji]]'',{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1p=11|Levathes|1996|2pp=61–62}} and his father had the [[sinicization|sinicized]] surname Ma and the title ''hajji'', which suggests that they had made the [[hajj|pilgrimage to Mecca]].{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1p=11|Mills|1970|2p=5|Levathes|1996|3pp=61–62}}

In the autumn of 1382, a [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] army invaded and [[Ming conquest of Yunnan|conquered Yunnan]], which was then ruled by the Mongol prince [[Basalawarmi]], Prince of Liang.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=12}} In 1381, Ma Hajji, Zheng He's father, died in the fighting between the Ming armies and Mongol forces.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=62}} Dreyer states that Zheng He's father died at 39 while resisting the Ming conquest, while Levathes states that Zheng He's father died at 37, but it is unclear if he was helping the [[Mongol Army]] or was just caught in the onslaught of battle.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=62}} Wenming, the oldest son, buried their father outside Kunming.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=62}} In his capacity as Admiral, Zheng He had an epitaph engraved in honour of his father, composed by the Minister of Rites Li Zhigang on 1 June 1405, which was [[Duanwu Festival]].{{sfn|Levathes|1996|pp=62–63}}

== Capture and service ==
Zheng He was captured by the Ming armies in Yunnan in 1381.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=62}} General [[Fu Youde]] saw Ma He on a road and approached him to inquire about the location of the Mongol pretender. Ma He responded defiantly by saying that the Mongol pretender had jumped into a lake. Then the general took him prisoner.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=58}} He was [[castrated]] between the ages of 10 and 14,{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=58}}{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=12, 16}} and placed in the service of the Prince of Yan.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=12, 16}}

Ma He was sent to serve in the household of Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, who later became the [[Yongle Emperor]].{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1p=12|Levathes|1996|2p=58}} Zhu Di was 11 years older than Ma.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=18}} Enslaved as a eunuch servant, Ma He eventually gained the confidence of Zhu Di, who, as his benefactor, gained the allegiance and loyalty of the young eunuch.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Zheng He's art of collaboration: Understanding the legendary Chinese admiral from a management perspective|last=Hoon|first=H. S.|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|year=2012|pages=32, 155}}</ref> The prince had been governing Beiping (modern [[Beijing]]) since 1380.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=12}} It was near the northern frontier with hostile Mongol tribes.{{sfnm|Levathes|1996|1p=58|Dreyer|2007|2p=18}} Ma spent his early life as a soldier on the northern frontier{{sfnm|Levathes|1996|1p=58|Dreyer|2007|2p=16}} and often participated in Zhu Di's military campaigns against the Mongols.{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1p=18|Levathes|1996|2p=64}} On 2 March 1390, Ma accompanied the prince when he commanded [[Ming campaign against the Uriankhai|his first expedition]], which was a great victory, as the Mongol commander [[Naghachu]] surrendered as soon as he realized he had fallen into a trap.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|pp=64–66}}

[[File:Kunyang - Zheng He Park - P1350545.JPG|thumb|Sculpture in Zheng He Park, Kunyang, featuring a young Zheng He with his father Ma Hajji]]

Eventually, he gained the confidence and trust of the prince.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=18}} Ma was also known as "Sanbao" during his service in the household of the Prince of Yan,{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=63}} a reference to the Buddhist [[Three Jewels]].{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=12}} Ma received a proper education at Beiping, which he would not have had if he had been placed in the imperial capital of Nanjing as the Hongwu Emperor, the father of Zhu Di, did not trust eunuchs and believed that it was better to keep them illiterate.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=63}} The Hongwu Emperor purged and exterminated much of the original Ming leadership and gave his [[enfeoffment|enfeoffed]] sons more military authority, especially those in the north, like the Prince of Yan.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=19}}

== Adulthood and military career ==
{{Quote box
|quote =The power of the [[Tianfei|goddess]], having indeed been manifested in previous times, has been abundantly revealed in the present generation. In the midst of the rushing waters it happened that, when there was a hurricane, suddenly a [[St. Elmo's fire|divine lantern]] was seen shining at the masthead, and as soon as that miraculous light appeared the danger was appeased, so that even in the peril of capsizing one felt reassured and that there was no cause for fear.
|source =— ''Admiral Zheng He and his associates (Changle inscription) about witnessing [[Tianfei]]'s divine lantern, which represented the natural phenomenon [[St. Elmo's fire]]''<ref>Translation by Duyvendak (1939; 1949). Cited in {{cite book|last=Needham|first=Joseph|year=1959|title=Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 3: Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=558|isbn=0-521-05801-5}}</ref>
|align = left
|width = 350px
|border = 1px
|fontsize = 88%
|bgcolor = #F9F9F9
|qalign = left
|quoted =
|salign = right
}}

Zheng He's appearance as an adult was recorded: he was seven ''[[chi (unit)|chi]]'' {{NoteTag|A ''chi'' is thought to vary between 26.5–30 cm / 10.5–12 inches{{Sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=19}}}} tall, had a waist that was five ''chi'' in circumference, cheeks and a forehead that was high, a small nose, glaring eyes, teeth that were white and well-shaped as shells, and a voice that was as loud as a bell. It is also recorded that he had great knowledge about warfare and was well-accustomed to battle.{{sfnm|Levathes|1996|1p=62|Dreyer|2007|2pp=18–19}}

The young eunuch eventually became a trusted adviser to the prince and assisted him when the [[Jianwen Emperor]]'s hostility to his uncle's feudal bases prompted the 1399{{ndash}}1402 [[Jingnan Campaign]], which ended with the emperor's apparent death and the ascension of Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, as the [[Yongle Emperor]]. In 1393, the Crown Prince had died, thus the deceased prince's son became the new heir apparent. By the time the emperor died (24 June 1398), the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Jin had perished, which left Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, as the eldest surviving son of the emperor. However, Zhu Di's nephew succeeded the imperial throne as the [[Jianwen Emperor]]. In 1398, he issued a policy known as ''xuēfān'' ({{zh |labels = no |c = 削藩 }}), or "reducing the feudatories", which entailed eliminating all princes by stripping their power and military forces. In August 1399, Zhu Di openly rebelled against his nephew. In 1399, Ma He successfully defended Beiping's city reservoir, Zhenglunba, against the imperial armies.{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1pp=19–23|Levathes|1996|2pp=67, 72–73}} In January 1402, Zhu Di began with his military campaign to capture the imperial capital, Nanjing. Zheng He would be one of his commanders during that campaign.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=70}}

In 1402, Zhu Di's armies defeated the imperial forces and marched into Nanjing on 13 July 1402.{{sfnm|Levathes|1996|1p=70|Dreyer|2007|2pp=21–22}} Zhu Di accepted the elevation to emperor four days later.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=21–22}} After ascending the throne as the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di promoted Ma He as the Grand Director ({{lang|zh-Hant|太監}}, ''tàijiān'') of the Directorate of Palace Servants ({{Lang|zh-Hant|内宫監}}).{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=21–22}} During the [[Chinese New Year]] on 11 February 1404, the Yongle Emperor conferred the surname "Zheng" to Ma He, because he had distinguished himself defending the city reservoir against imperial forces in 1399.{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1pp=22–23|Levathes|1996|2pp=72–73}} Another reason was that the eunuch commander also distinguished himself during the 1402 campaign to capture the capital, Nanjing.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|pp=72–73}}

In the new administration, Zheng He served in the highest posts as Grand Director and later as Chief Envoy ({{zh|labels=no|t=正使|p=zhèngshǐ}}) during his sea voyages.{{sfnm|Mills|1970|1p=5|Levathes|1996|2pp=61–63|Perkins|2000|3p=621}} Over the next three decades he conducted seven of the voyages on behalf of the emperor, trading and collecting tribute in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans.

In 1424, Zheng He traveled to [[Palembang]] in Sumatra to confer an official seal{{NoteTag|The ''Taizong Shilu'' 27 February 1424 entry reports that Zheng He was sent to deliver the seal because the old seal was destroyed in a fire. The ''Xuanzong Shilu'' 17 September 1425 entry reports that Zhang Funama delivered a seal, because the old seal was destroyed in a fire. The later ''Mingshi'' compilers seem to have combined the accounts, remarking that Shi Jisun's succession was approved in 1424 and that a new seal was delivered in 1425, suggesting that only one seal was destroyed by fire.{{Sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=96}}}} and letter of appointment upon Shi Jisun, who was placed in the office of Pacification Commissioner.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=95 & 136}} The ''Taizong Shilu'' 27 February 1424 entry reports that Shi Jisun had sent Qiu Yancheng as envoy to petition the approval of the succession from his father Shi Jinqing, who was the Pacification Commissioner of Palembang, and was given permission from the Yongle Emperor.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=95}} When Zheng He returned from Palembang, he found that the Yongle Emperor had died during his absence. On 7 September 1424, Zhu Gaozhi had inherited the throne as the Hongxi Emperor after the death of the Yongle Emperor on 12 August 1424.{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1pp=136–137|Duyvendak|1938|2p=388}}{{sfnm|Dreyer|2007|1pp=95, 136–137|Duyvendak|1938|2p=387}}

On 7 September 1424, the [[Hongxi Emperor]] terminated the undertaking of further treasure voyages.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=137}} On 24 February 1425, he appointed Zheng He as the defender of Nanjing and ordered him to continue his command over the treasure fleet for the city's defense.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=139–140}} On 25 March 1428, the Xuande Emperor ordered Zheng He and others to take over the supervision for the rebuilding and repair of the [[Great Bao'en Temple]] at Nanjing.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=142}} He completed the construction of the temple in 1431.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=135 & 144}}

On 15 May 1426, the [[Xuande Emperor]] ordered the Directorate of Ceremonial to send a letter to Zheng He to reprimand him for a transgression. Earlier, an official{{NoteTag|Unnamed official who served as a Department Director under the Ministry of Works, who had departed for Nanjing to supervise the renovation of government buildings and to reward the skilled workers.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=141}}}} petitioned the emperor to reward workmen who had built temples in Nanjing. The Xuande Emperor responded negatively to the official for charging the costs to the court instead of the monks themselves, but he realised that Zheng He and his associates had instigated the official. According to {{harvtxt|Dreyer|2007}}, the nature of the emperor's words indicated that Zheng He's behaviour in the situation was the last straw, but there is too little information about what had happened earlier. Nevertheless, the Xuande Emperor would eventually come to trust Zheng He.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|pp=141–142}}

In 1430, the new [[Xuande Emperor]] appointed Zheng He to command over a seventh and final expedition into the "Western Ocean" (Indian Ocean). In 1431, Zheng He was bestowed with the title ''Sanbao Taijian'' ({{zh|labels=no|t={{linktext|三寶|太監}}}}), using his informal name Sanbao and the title of Grand Director.{{sfn|Mills|1970|pp=6–7}}

==Expeditions==
{{main|Ming treasure voyages}}

[[File:ZhengHeShips.gif|thumb|Early 17th-century Chinese [[woodcut|woodblock]] print, thought to represent Zheng He's ships]]
The [[Yuan dynasty]] and the expanding Sino-Arab trade during the 14th century had gradually expanded Chinese knowledge of the world since "universal" maps previously displaying only China and its surrounding seas began to expand farther and farther southwest, with much more accurate depictions of the extent of Arabia and Africa.{{sfn|Chang|1974}} Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored seven naval expeditions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Hagras|first=Hamada|title=The Ming Court as Patron of the Chinese Islamic Architecture: The Case Study of the Daxuexi Mosque in Xi'an|date=20 December 2019|url=http://www.fayoum.edu.eg/english/shedet/ISSUES201908.aspx|journal=SHEDET|issue=6|pages=134–158|doi=10.36816/shedet.006.08|doi-access=free|access-date=12 March 2020|archive-date=18 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018002837/http://www.fayoum.edu.eg/english/shedet/ISSUES201908.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Yongle Emperor]], disregarding the [[Hongwu Emperor]]'s [[Huang Ming Zuxun|expressed wishes]],<ref name=HuiChunHing/> designed them to establish a Chinese presence and impose imperial control over the Indian Ocean trade, impress foreign peoples in the Indian Ocean basin, and extend the empire's tributary system.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} It has also been inferred from passages in the ''[[History of Ming]]'' that the initial voyages were launched as part of the emperor's attempt to capture his [[Jianwen Emperor|escaped predecessor]],{{sfn|Chang|1974}} which would have made the first voyage the "largest-scale manhunt on water in the history of China."{{sfn|Deng|2005|p=13}}

Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook the expeditions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marks |first=Robert B. |title=The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Environmental Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-First Century |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2020 |isbn=9781538127032 |edition=4th |location=Lanham, Maryland |pages=44 |language=en}}</ref> [[Wang Jinghong]] was appointed as second in command. Preparations were thorough and wide-ranging, including the use of so many linguists that a foreign language institute was established at Nanjing.{{sfn|Chang|1974}} Zheng He's first voyage departed 11 July 1405, from [[Suzhou, Jiangsu|Suzhou]]<ref name="Tsai2002"/>{{rp|203}} and consisted of a fleet of 317<ref name=autogenerated1/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/news/article.asp?parentid=10387|title=Zheng He's Voyages of Discovery|publisher=UCLA Asia Institute|author=Richard Gunde|access-date=1 September 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612195734/http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/news/article.asp?parentid=10387|archive-date=12 June 2008}}</ref><ref name=Tamura/> ships holding almost 28,000 crewmen.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.travel-silkroad.com/english/marine/ZhengHe.htm|title=The Archaeological Researches into Zheng He's Treasure Ships|publisher=Travel-silkroad.com|access-date=1 September 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827195453/http://www.travel-silkroad.com/english/marine/ZhengHe.htm|archive-date=27 August 2008}}</ref>

Zheng He's fleets visited [[Brunei]],<ref>{{cite news|title=China, Brunei jointly reviving ancient maritime Silk Road|first1=Alex|last1=Chan|work=[[China Daily]]| year=2018| url =http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201811/19/WS5bf28b55a310eff303289a37.html}}</ref> [[Java]], [[Siam]] (Thailand), [[Maritime Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]], India, the [[Horn of Africa]], and [[Arabia]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Faculty of Archaeology|publisher=Fayoum University|last2=Hagras|first2=Hamada|title=The Ming Court as Patron of the Chinese Islamic Architecture: The Case Study of the Daxuexi Mosque in Xi'an|date=20 December 2019|url=http://www.fayoum.edu.eg/english/shedet/ISSUES201908.aspx|journal=SHEDET|issue=6|pages=134–158|doi=10.36816/shedet.006.08|doi-access=free|access-date=12 March 2020|archive-date=18 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018002837/http://www.fayoum.edu.eg/english/shedet/ISSUES201908.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> dispensing and receiving goods along the way.<ref name=Tamura>{{cite book| last =Tamura| first =Eileen H.|author2=Linda K. Mention|author3=Noren W. Lush|author4=Francis K. C. Tsui|author5=Warren Cohen| title =China: Understanding Its Past| publisher =University of Hawaii Press| year =1997| isbn =978-0-8248-1923-1| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=O0TQ_Puz-w8C&q=Zheng+He+voyages&pg=PA70| page =70}}</ref> Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, [[porcelain]], and silk, and in return, China received such novelties as [[ostrich]]es, [[zebra]]s, [[camel]]s, and [[ivory]] from the [[Swahili Coast]].<ref name="Tsai2002">{{cite book| author =Shih-Shan Henry Tsai| title =Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle| publisher =University of Washington Press| year =2002| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=aU5hBMxNgWQC| isbn=978-0-295-98124-6}}</ref>{{rp|206}}<ref name=Tamura/><ref>East Africa and its Invaders p. 37</ref><ref>{{cite book| last =Cromer| first =Alan| title =Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science| publisher =Oxford University Press US| year =1995| isbn =978-0-19-509636-1| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=8cT2C87tb-sC&q=Zheng+He+voyages&pg=PA117| page =117}}</ref><ref name="pbs.org">{{cite web|author=Evan Hadingham|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/ancient-chinese-explorers/|title=NOVA &#124; Ancient Chinese Explorers|publisher=Pbs.org|date=6 June 1999|access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref> The [[giraffe]] that he brought back from [[Malindi]] was considered to be a ''[[qilin]]'' and taken as proof of the [[Mandate of Heaven]] upon the administration.{{sfn|Duyvendak|1938|p=402}} The Daxuexi Alley Mosque in Xi'an has a stele dating to January 1523, inscribed with Zheng He's fourth maritime voyage to Tianfang, Arabian Peninsula.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Voyages of Zheng He.png|thumb|Voyages of Zheng He|center|600x600px]]
While Zheng He's fleet was unprecedented, the routes were not. His fleet followed long-established, well-mapped routes of trade between China and the [[Arabian Peninsula]]<ref name=":0" /> that had been used since at least the [[Han dynasty]]. That fact, along with the use of a more-than-abundant number of crew members who were regular military personnel, leads some to speculate that the expeditions may have been geared at least partially at spreading China's power through expansion.<ref>{{cite news|title=Book Review of Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433|first=David A.|last=Graffe|url=http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6e77ebc7-6b4e-4827-bf59-1136f1b39b63%40sessionmgr14&vid=4&hid=10|work=Journal of Military History|access-date=14 November 2012}}</ref> During the [[Three Kingdoms]] Period, the king of [[Wu (Ten Kingdoms)|Wu]] sent a 20-year diplomatic mission led by Zhu Ying and Kang Tai along the coast of Asia, which reached as far as the [[Eastern Roman Empire]].{{sfn|Deng|2005|p=12}} After centuries of disruption, the [[Song dynasty]] restored large-scale maritime trade from China in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans and reached as far as the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.{{sfn|Deng|2005}} When his fleet first arrived at [[Malacca]], there was already a sizable Chinese community. The ''General Survey of the Ocean Shores'' ({{lang|zh|瀛涯勝覽}}, ''Yíngyá Shènglǎn''), composed by the translator [[Ma Huan]] in 1416, gives very detailed accounts of his observations of people's customs and lives in the ports that they visited.{{sfn|Mills|1970}} He referred to the expatriate Chinese as "[[Tang dynasty|Tang]]" people ({{zh|labels=no|t=唐人|p=Tángrén}}).

[[File:KangnidoMap.jpg|thumb|The [[Kangnido map]] (1402) predates Zheng's voyages and suggests that he had quite detailed geographical information on much of [[East Asia]] and moderate information on the rest of the [[Old World]].]]
[[File:FraMauro1420Ship.png|thumb|Detail of the [[Fra Mauro map]] relating the travels of a [[junk (ship)|junk]] into the Atlantic Ocean in 1420. The ship also is illustrated above the text.]]

The fleet included troops, their purpose was to demonstrate the Middle Kingdom's strength.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Simon |title=The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order |last2=Klaus |first2=Ian |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=9780300266900 |location=New Haven and London |publication-date=2024}}</ref>{{Rp|page=48}} However, a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger" and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might.<ref>{{cite book|title=Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past|url=https://archive.org/details/traditionsencoun00bent_523|url-access=limited|first1=Jerry H.|last1=Bentley|first2=Herbert|last2=Ziegler|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=2007|isbn=978-0-07-340693-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/traditionsencoun00bent_523/page/n260 586]}}</ref> He ruthlessly suppressed pirates, who had long plagued Chinese and Southeast Asian waters. For example, he defeated [[Chen Zuyi]], one of the most feared and respected pirate captains, and returned him to China for execution.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shipping News: Zheng He's Sexcentary|url=http://www.chinaheritagenewsletter.org/articles.php?searchterm=002_zhenghe.inc&issue=002|work=China Heritage Newsletter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128061753/http://www.chinaheritagenewsletter.org/articles.php?searchterm=002_zhenghe.inc&issue=002|archive-date=28 November 2011|access-date=4 December 2011}}</ref> He also waged [[Ming–Kotte War|a land war]] against the [[Kingdom of Kotte]] on [[Ceylon]], and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa.{{sfn|Pereira|2012|p=265}} From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from 30 states, who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the [[Hongxi Emperor]] (r. 1424{{ndash}}1425), stopped the voyages during his short reign. Zheng He made one more voyage during the reign of Hongxi's son, the [[Xuande Emperor of China|Xuande Emperor]] (r. 1426–1435) but, the voyages of the Chinese treasure ship fleets then ended. Xuande believed his father's decision to halt the voyages had been meritorious and thus "there would be no need to make a detailed description of his grandfather's sending Zheng He to the Western Ocean."{{attribution needed|date=March 2019}}<ref name=HuiChunHing/> The voyages "were contrary to the rules stipulated in the [[Huang Ming Zuxun]]" ({{lang|zh|皇明祖訓}}), the dynastic foundation documents laid down by the [[Hongwu Emperor]]:<ref name=HuiChunHing/>

<blockquote>Some far-off countries pay their tribute to me at much expense and through great difficulties, all of which are by no means my own wish. Messages should be forwarded to them to reduce their tribute so as to avoid high and unnecessary expenses on both sides.<ref>Yen Ch'ung-chien. ''Ch'u-yü chou-chih lu'', Vol. III, ch. 8, 25. National Palace Museum (Peiping), 1930. Cited in {{harvtxt|Chang| 1974}}.</ref></blockquote>

They further violated longstanding Confucian principles. They were only made possible by (and therefore continued to represent) a triumph of the Ming's eunuch faction over the administration's [[scholar-bureaucrat]]s.{{sfn|Chang|1974}} Upon Zheng He's death and his faction's fall from power, his successors sought to minimize him in official accounts, along with continuing attempts to destroy all records related to the Jianwen Emperor or the manhunt to find him.<ref name=HuiChunHing>{{cite journal|author=Hui Chun Hing|year=2010|title=Huangming zuxun and Zheng He's Voyages to the Western Oceans (A Summary)|journal=Journal of Chinese Studies|volume=51|page=85|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/54558019|access-date=11 May 2011}}</ref>

Although unmentioned in the official dynastic histories, Zheng He probably died during the treasure fleet's last voyage.{{sfn|Chang|1974}} Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty since he was [[buried at sea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=explorersection&id=57|title=The Seventh and Final Grand Voyage of the Treasure Fleet|publisher=Mariner.org|access-date=23 July 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220112256/http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=explorersection&id=57|archive-date=20 December 2008 }}</ref>

[[File:《鄭和歸來》。 藝術家弗拉基米爾·科索夫 2018.jpg|alt=Treasury ship.Zheng He.|thumb|Artist's illustration of Zheng He's fleet]]

Zheng He led seven expeditions to the "Western" or Indian Ocean. Zheng He brought back to China many trophies and envoys from more than thirty kingdoms, including King [[Vira Alakesvara of Gampola|Vira Alakeshwara]] of [[Ceylon]], who came to China as a captive to apologize to the Emperor for offenses against his mission.

Zheng He wrote of his travels:

<blockquote>We have traversed more than 100,000 ''[[li (unit)|li]]'' of immense water spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course [as rapidly] as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare....<ref>Tablet erected by Zheng He in [[Changle]], Fujian, in 1432. Cited in {{harvtxt|Levathes|1996}}.</ref></blockquote>

==Sailing charts==
{{see also|Chinese geography|Mao Kun map}}
[[File:WuBeiZhi.jpg|thumb|One of a set of maps of Zheng He's missions ({{lang|zh|郑和航海图}}), also known as the [[Mao Kun map]], 1628]]
[[File:Zhenghe-sailing-chart.gif|thumb|A section of the ''Wubei Zhi'' oriented east: India in the upper left, Sri Lanka upper right, and Africa along the bottom.]]

Zheng He's sailing charts, the [[Mao Kun map]], were published in a book entitled the ''[[Wubei Zhi]]'' (''A Treatise on Armament Technology'') written in 1621 and published in 1628 but traced back to Zheng He's and earlier voyages.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chinese Marine Cartography: Sea Charts of Pre-Modern China|author=Mei-Ling Hsu|edition=Imago Mundi|volume=40|pages=96–112|year=1988}}</ref> It was originally a strip map 20.5&nbsp;cm by 560&nbsp;cm that could be rolled up, but was divided into 40 pages which vary in scale from 7 miles/inch in the Nanjing area to 215 miles/inch in parts of the African coast.{{sfn|Mills|1970}}

Investigation into folios 19V to 20R of the Mao Kun Map, which cover the Indian Ocean including South India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and East Africa, suggests that the map is a composite of four maps, one for Sri Lanka, one for South India one for the Maldives and one for around 400&nbsp;km of the East African coast, no further south than 6 degrees south of the Equator. Each of these maps is positioned at a different orientation to fit with the ocean currents and winds required of a sailing chart, rather than a formal map. The analysis also suggests that Arabic-speaking pilots with a detailed knowledge of the African coast were involved in the cartography.{{sfn|Pereira|2012|pp=273–277}}

There is little attempt to provide an accurate 2-D representation; instead, the sailing instructions are given using a [[Chinese directions|24-point compass system]] with a Chinese symbol for each point, together with a sailing time or distance, which takes account of the local currents and winds. Sometimes depth soundings are also provided. It also shows bays, estuaries, capes and islands, ports and mountains along the coast, important landmarks such as [[pagoda]]s and temples, and [[shoal]] rocks. Of 300 named places outside China, more than 80% can be confidently located. There are also fifty observations of stellar altitude.

==Size of ships==
According to {{Interlanguage link|Luo Maodeng|zh|羅懋登}}'s novel ''[[Sanbao Taijian Xia Xiyang Ji Tongsu Yanyi]]'' (''Eunuch Sanbao Western Records Popular Romance'', published 1597), the first expedition had:{{sfn|Church|2005|p=6}}{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=104}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=京 (Jing) |first=安 (An) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRCDEAAAQBAJ |script-title=zh:海疆开发史话 (History of Coastal Development) |publisher=[[Social Sciences Literature Press]] (Social Science Literature Press) |year=2012 |isbn=978-7-5097-3196-3 |page=98 |oclc=886189859}}</ref>
* "[[Chinese treasure ship|Treasure ships]]" ({{lang|zh|宝船}}, ''Bǎo Chuán'') nine-masted, 44.4 by 18 ''zhang'', about {{convert|127|m|ft|abbr=off}} long and {{convert|52|m|ft|abbr=off}} wide.
* Equine ships ({{lang|zh|馬船}}, ''Mǎ Chuán''), carrying horses and tribute goods and repair material for the fleet, eight-masted, 37 by 15 ''zhang'', about {{convert|103|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|42|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide.
* Supply ships ({{lang|zh|粮船}}, ''Liáng Chuán''), containing staple for the crew, seven-masted, 28 by 12 ''zhang'', about {{convert|78|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|35|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide.
* Transport ships ({{lang|zh|坐船}}, ''Zuò Chuán''), six-masted, 24 by 9.4 ''zhang'', about {{convert|67|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide.
* Warships ({{lang|zh|战船}}, ''Zhàn Chuán''), five-masted, 18 by 6.8 ''zhang'', about {{convert|50|m|ft|abbr=on}} long.

On the ships were navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, and soldiers, along with the translator and diarist [[Gong Zhen]]. Six more expeditions took place from 1407 to 1433, with fleets thought to be of comparable size.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007}}

[[Marco Polo]] and [[Ibn Battuta]] both described multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1,000 passengers in their translated accounts.{{sfn|Needham|1971|pp=460–470}} [[Niccolò de' Conti]], a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen five-masted junks weighing about 2,000 ''vegetes'', that is [[Venice|Venetian]] butt. Christopher Wake estimated a burthen of 1300 tons.{{sfn|Wake|1997|p=58}} The ship of Conti may have been a Burmese or Indonesian [[Jong (ship)|jong]].{{sfn|Lewis|1973|p=248}}

The largest ships in the fleet, the [[Chinese treasure ships]] described in Chinese chronicles, would have been nearly [[list of world's largest wooden ships|twice as long as any other wooden ship]] recorded thereafter until the 20th century, surpassing [[Admiral Nelson]]'s [[HMS Victory|HMS ''Victory'']], {{convert|69.34|m|ftin|frac=2}} long, which was launched in 1765, and the {{convert|68.88|m|ft|frac=2|adj=on}} [[Vasa (ship)|''Vasa'']] of 1627. The first ships to attain {{convert|126|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long were 19th century steamers with iron hulls. Many scholars consider it unlikely that any of Zheng He's ships were {{convert|450|ft|m|round=5|order=flip|abbr=on}} in length and have proposed much shorter lengths, as low as {{convert|200|–|250|ft|m|round=5|order=flip|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Church|2005}} Zhao Zhigang claimed that he has solved the debate of the size difference, and stated that Zheng He's largest ship was about {{cvt|70|m}} in length.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://epaper.tyrbw.com/tywb/resfile/2022-07-12/21/tywb2022071221.pdf |title =郑和大号宝船到底有多大？ (How big was Zheng He's large treasure ship?) |last1=Ling |first1=Xue |editor1-last=Li |editor1-first=Ma |editor2-last=Limin |editor2-first=Wu |editor3-last=Xiuling |editor3-first=Pei |script-work=zh:扬子晚报 (Yangtze Evening News) |date=12 July 2022 }}</ref>

===Disputes of historical records of length===
[[File:Gall Trilingual Inscription.jpg|thumb|[[Galle Trilingual Inscription]], left by Zheng He in [[Sri Lanka]] in 1409]]

Edward L. Dreyer claims that Luo Maodeng's novel is unsuitable as historical evidence.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=104}} The novel contains a number of fantasy element; for example the ships were "constructed with divine help by the immortal Lu Ban".{{sfn|Church|2005|p=7}}

One explanation for the seemingly-inefficient size of the colossal ships was that the 44 ''zhang'' treasure ships were used only by the Emperor and imperial bureaucrats to travel along the Yangtze for court business, including reviewing Zheng He's expedition fleet. The Yangtze river, with its calmer waters, may have been navigable by these treasure ships. Zheng He, a court eunuch, would not have had the privilege in rank to command the largest of the ships, seaworthy or not. The main ships of Zheng He's fleet were instead six-masted 2000-liao ships.<ref name="Technical1">Xin Yuanou: ''Guanyu Zheng He baochuan chidu de jishu fenxi (A Technical Analysis of the Size of Zheng He's Ships).'' Shanghai 2002, p. 8</ref><ref>[http://www.travel-silkroad.com/english/marine/ZhengHe.html ''The Archeological Researches into Zheng He's Treasure Ships''] {{Dead link|date=February 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}, SilkRoad webpage.</ref> That would give [[Builder's Old Measurement|burthen]] of 500 tons and a displacement tonnage of about 800 tons.<ref name="Technical1" />{{sfn|Needham|1971|p=481}}

Traditional and popular accounts of Zheng He's voyages have described a great fleet of gigantic ships far larger than any other wooden ships in history. The most grandiose claims for Zheng He's 1405 fleet are entirely based on a calculation derived from an account that was written three centuries later and was accepted as fact by one modern writer; rejected by numerous naval experts.<ref>{{cite book|title=Empire of the Winds|last=Bowring|first=Philip|publisher=I B Tauris & Co. Ltd|place=London, New York|date=2019|isbn=9781788314466}}</ref>{{rp|128}} There are even some sources that claim some of the treasure ships might have been as long as {{convert|183|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CqzDSC9VzFEC&pg=PA49|title=Taiwan: A New History|author=Murray A. Rubinstein|page=49|publisher=M.E. Sharp|year=1999|isbn=1-56324-815-8}}</ref> The claims that the Chinese treasure ships reached such size is disputed because other 17th century Ming records stated that European [[East Indiaman|East Indiamen]] and [[galleon]]s were 30, 40, 50, and 60 ''zhang'' (90, 120, 150, and 180 m) in length.{{sfn|Naiming|2016|pp=56–57}}

It is also possible that the measure of ''zhang'' (丈) used in the conversions was mistaken. The length of a Dutch ship recorded in the ''History of Ming'' was 30 ''zhang''. If the ''zhang'' is taken to be 3.2 m, the Dutch ship would be 96 m long. Also the Dutch [[Hongyipao|''Hongyi'' cannon]] was recorded to be more than 2 ''zhang'' (6.4 m) long. Comparative study by Hu Xiaowei (2018) concluded that 1 ''zhang'' would be equal to 1.5–1.6 m, this means the Dutch ship would be 45–48 m long and the cannon would be 3–3.2 m long.{{sfn|Xiaowei|2018|pp=111–112}} Taking 1.6 m for 1 ''zhang'', Zheng He's 44 ''zhang'' treasure ship would be {{convert|70.4|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|28.8|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} wide, or 22 ''zhang'' long and 9 ''zhang'' wide if the ''zhang'' is taken to be 3.2 m.{{sfn|Xiaowei|2018|p=113}} It is known that the measure unit during the Ming era was not unified: A measurement of East and West Pagoda in Quanzhou resulted in a ''zhang'' unit of 2.5–2.56 m.{{sfn|Xiaowei|2018|p=110}} According to Chen Cunren, one ''zhang'' in the Ming Dynasty is only half a ''zhang'' in modern times.{{sfn|Cunren|2008|p=60}}

===Treasure Shipyard excavation===
From 2003 to 2004, the Treasure Shipyard was excavated in northwestern [[Nanjing]] (the former capital of the Ming Dynasty), near the [[Yangtze River]]. Despite the site being referred to as the "Longjiang Treasure Shipyard" (龍江寶船廠) in the official names, the site is distinct from the actual Longjiang Shipyard, which was located on a different site and produced different types of ships. The Treasure Shipyard, where Zheng He's fleet is believed to have been built in the Ming Dynasty, once consisted of thirteen basins (based on a 1944 map), most of which have now been covered by the construction of buildings in the 20th century. The basins are believed to have been connected to the Yangtze via a series of gates. Three long basins survive, each with wooden structures inside, interpreted to be frames onto which the ships to be built on. The largest basin extends for a length of {{convert|421|m|ft}}. While they were long enough to accommodate the largest claimed Zheng He treasure ship, they were not wide enough to fit even a ship half the claimed size. The basin was only {{convert|41|m|ft}} wide at most, with only a {{convert|10|m|ft}} width showing evidence of structures. They were also not deep enough, being only {{convert|4|m|ft}} deep. Other remains of ships in the site indicate that the ships were only slightly larger than the frames that supported them. Moreover, the basin structures were grouped into clusters with large gaps between them, if each cluster was interpreted as a ship framework, then the largest ship would not exceed {{convert|75|m|ft}} at most, probably less.<ref name="church2010">{{cite book|first1=Church|last1=Sally K.|editor1-first=Jun|editor1-last=Kimura|title =Shipwreck ASIA: Thematic Studies in East Asian Maritime Archaeology|chapter =Two Ming Dynasty Shipyards in Nanjing and their Infrastructure|publisher =Maritime Archaeology Program, Flinders University|location = Adelaide|year =2010|pages=32–49|isbn =9780646548265|chapter-url =http://www.shipwreckasia.org/wp-content/uploads/Chapter3.pdf}}</ref>

The 2003–2004 excavation also recovered two complete wooden rudderposts from the Treasure Shipyard, in addition to another recovered in 1957. They are made of [[teak]] and measure
around {{convert|10|to|11|m|ft}} in length. Zhou Shide (1962) claimed that the first rudderpost recovered was proof of the enormous dimensions of the ships based on his calculations on how big the rudderblade would be. However Church (2010) points out that Zhou was using calculations based on modern steel propeller-driven ships, not wooden ships; as well as the fact that Zhou's hypothetical rudder shape was based on the flat-bottomed ''shachuan'' (沙船) ship type, not the sea-going ''fuchuan'' (福船). The rudderposts cannot be used to infer the actual size of the rudder blades. Church notes that in traditional wooden Chinese ships, rudderposts were necessarily long in order for them to extend from the water level up unto the ship deck, where it was controlled by the tiller. Church compares it with modern wooden junks built in the traditional ''Lümeimao'' ("green eyebrow", 綠眉毛) style, which also have rudderposts that are {{convert|11|m|ft}} long, but are only {{convert|31|m|ft}} in overall length.<ref name="church2010"/>

== Death ==
One theory is that Admiral Zheng He died in 1433, during or shortly after his seventh voyage.{{sfn|Dreyer|2007|p=165}} Another is that Zheng He continued to serve as the defender of Nanjing, and died in 1435.{{sfn|Mills|1970|p=6}}

A tomb was built for Zheng He at the southern slope of Cattle Head Hill, [[Nanjing]]. The original tomb was a horseshoe-shaped grave. It is a [[cenotaph]] believed to contain his clothes and headgear. In 1985, the tomb was rebuilt following a Muslim style.<ref name="lin05">{{cite book |year=2005 |title = Zheng He's Voyages Down the Western Seas |publisher=China Intercontinental Press |page=45 |editor1-last = Lin |display-editors = etal |others = Compiled by the Information Office of Fujian Provincial People's Government }}</ref>

==Legacy==
Zheng's 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.<ref>Liang Qichao. "''Zuguo Da Hanghaijia Zheng He Zhuan''". 1904. {{in lang|zh}}</ref><ref name="HMZX">Hui Chun Hing.<!--sic--> "[http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/journal/articles/v51p067.pdf ''Huangming Zuxun'' and Zheng He’s Voyages to the Western Oceans]". ''Journal of Chinese Studies'', No. 51 (July 2010). Retrieved 17 October 2012.</ref>

===Imperial China===
[[File:Chen Zhang's painting of a giraffe and its attendant.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The pet giraffe of the [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah|Sultan of Bengal]], brought from the Somali [[Ajuran Sultanate|Ajuran Empire]], and later taken to China<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Wilson|first=Samuel M.|title=The Emperor's Giraffe|journal=Natural History|volume=101|number=12|date=December 1992|url=http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/WILSON09.ART|access-date=14 April 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202235051/http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/WILSON09.ART|archive-date=2 December 2008 }}</ref> in the thirteenth year of Yongle (1415).]]

In the decades after the last voyage, Imperial officials minimized the importance of Zheng He and his expeditions throughout the many regnal and dynastic histories they compiled. The information in the [[Ming Taizong Shilu|Yongle]] and [[Ming Xuanzong Shilu|Xuande Emperors' official annals]] was incomplete and even erroneous, and other official publications omitted them completely.<ref name="HMZX"/> Although some have seen that as a conspiracy seeking to eliminate memories of the voyages,<ref name="heyhei"/> it is likely that the records were dispersed throughout several departments and the expeditions, unauthorized by and in fact counter to the [[Huang Ming Zu Xun|injunctions of the dynastic founder]], presented a kind of embarrassment to the dynasty.<ref name="HMZX"/>

State-sponsored Ming naval efforts declined dramatically after Zheng's voyages. Starting in the early 15th century, China experienced increasing pressure from the [[Northern Yuan dynasty|surviving Yuan Mongols]] from the north. The relocation of the capital to Beijing in the north exacerbated this threat dramatically. At considerable expense, China launched annual military expeditions from Beijing to weaken the Mongolians. The expenditures necessary for the land campaigns directly competed with the funds necessary to continue naval expeditions. Further, in 1449, Mongolian cavalry ambushed a land expedition personally led by the [[Zhengtong Emperor]] at [[Battle of Tumu Fortress|Tumu Fortress]], less than a day's march from the walls of the capital. The Mongolians wiped out the Chinese army and captured the emperor. The battle had two salient effects. Firstly, it demonstrated the clear threat posed by the northern nomads. Secondly, the Mongols caused a political crisis in China when they released the emperor after his half-brother had already ascended and declared the new [[Jingtai Emperor|Jingtai era]]. Not until 1457 and the restoration of the former emperor would political stability return. Upon his return to power, China abandoned the strategy of annual land expeditions and instead embarked upon a massive and expensive expansion of the [[Great Wall of China]]. In that environment, funding for naval expeditions was simply absent.

However, missions from Southeastern Asia continued to arrive for decades. Depending on local conditions, they could reach such frequency that the court found it necessary to restrict them. The ''[[History of Ming]]'' records imperial edicts forbade Java, Champa, and Siam from sending their envoys more often than once every three years.<ref name="Tata"/>

===Southeast Asia===

====Veneration====
[[File:Cakra Donya.JPG|thumb|The Cakra Donya Bell, a gift from Zheng He to [[Pasai]], now kept at the [[Aceh Museum]] in [[Banda Aceh]].]]

Among the [[Chinese diaspora]] in Southeast Asia, Zheng He became a figure of folk veneration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ias.umn.edu/2012/11/20/wade-geoffrey/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121211193248/http://ias.umn.edu/2012/11/20/wade-geoffrey/|first1=Geoffrey|last1=Wade|url-status=dead|title=Events – November 20, 2012: The Chinese Admiral Zheng He: Uses and Abuses of an Historical Figure|website=Institute for Advanced Study|archive-date=11 December 2012|publisher=University of Minnesota|access-date=25 November 2012 }}</ref> Even some of his crew members who happened to stay in some port sometimes did so as well, such as "Poontaokong" on [[Sulu Archipelago|Sulu]].<ref name="Tata">Tan Ta Sen & al. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vIUmU2ytmIIC&pg=PA221 Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia]''. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009. {{ISBN|978-981-230-837-5}}.</ref> The temples of the cult, called after either of his names, Cheng Hoon or Sam Po, are peculiar to overseas Chinese except for a single temple in [[Hongjian]] originally constructed by a returned [[Filipinos|Filipino]] Chinese in the Ming dynasty and rebuilt by another Filipino Chinese after the original was destroyed during the [[Cultural Revolution]].<ref name="Tata"/>

====Malacca====
The oldest and most important Chinese temple in Malacca is the 17th-century Cheng Hoon Teng, dedicated to [[Guanyin]]. During [[Dutch East Indies|Dutch colonial rule]], the head of the Cheng Hoon Temple was appointed as chief over the community's Chinese inhabitants.<ref name="Tata"/>

Following Zheng He's arrival, the sultan and the sultana of Malacca visited China at the head of over 540 of their subjects, bearing ample tribute. Sultan [[Mansur Shah of Malacca|Mansur Shah]] (r. 1459–1477) later dispatched Tun Perpatih Putih as his envoy to China, carrying a letter from the sultan to the Ming emperor. The letter requested the hand of an imperial daughter in marriage. Malay (but not Chinese) annals record that in 1459, a princess named [[Hang Li Po]] or Hang Liu was sent from China to marry the sultan. She came with 500 high-ranking young men and a few hundred handmaidens as her entourage. They eventually settled in [[Bukit Cina]]. It is believed that a significant number of them married into the local populace, creating the descendants now known as the [[Peranakan]].<ref name="malacca">{{cite book|last=Jin|first=Shaoqing|title=Zheng He's Voyages down the Western Seas|editor=Office of the People's Government of Fujian Province|publisher=China Intercontinental Press|location=Fujian, China|year=2005|page=58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmpkR6l5MaMC&pg=PA58|access-date=2 August 2009| isbn=978-7-5085-0708-8}}</ref> Owing to this supposed lineage, the Peranakan still use special honorifics: ''[[Baba (honorific)|Baba]]'' for the men and ''[[Nyonya]]'' for the women.

====Indonesia====
[[File:Stamps of Indonesia, 026-05.jpg|thumb|Stamp from [[Indonesia]] commemorating Zheng He's voyages to secure the maritime routes, usher urbanisation and assist in creating a common prosperity throughout continents and cultures.]]
[[File:Cheng Hoo1.JPG|thumb|The Zheng Hoo Mosque in [[Surabaya]].]]

The [[Indonesian Chinese|Chinese Indonesian]] community have established temples dedicated to Zheng He in [[Jakarta]], [[Cirebon]], [[Surabaya]], and [[Semarang]].<ref name="Tata"/>

In 1961, the Indonesian Islamic leader and scholar [[Hamka]] credited Zheng He for playing an important role in the development of Islam in Indonesia.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wang|first=Rosey Ma|url=http://210.0.141.99/eng/malaysia/ChineseMuslim_in_Malaysia.asp|title=Chinese Muslims in Malaysia, History and Development|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717054928/http://210.0.141.99/eng/malaysia/ChineseMuslim_in_Malaysia.asp |archive-date=17 July 2006}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=October 2012}} The ''Brunei Times'' credits Zheng He with building Chinese Muslim communities in [[Palembang]] and along the shores of [[Java]], the [[Malay Peninsula]], and the [[Philippines]]. These Muslims allegedly followed the [[Hanafi]] school in the Chinese language.<ref>{{cite news|last=Aqsha|first=Darul|title=Zheng He and Islam in Southeast Asia|url=http://www.bt.com.bn/art-culture/2010/07/13/zheng-he-and-islam-southeast-asia|access-date=28 September 2012|newspaper=The Brunei Times|date=13 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509022407/http://www.bt.com.bn/art-culture/2010/07/13/zheng-he-and-islam-southeast-asia|archive-date=9 May 2013}}</ref>

=== West Asia ===
There is a monument to Zheng He in [[Salalah]], Oman.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Zhang |first=Chuchu |title=China's Changing Role in the Middle East: Filling a Power Vacuum? |date=2025 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-032-76275-3 |series=Changing Dynamics in Asia-Middle East Relations series |location=Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY}}</ref>{{Rp|page=67}}

===Western scholarship===
In the 1950s, historians such as [[John King Fairbank|John Fairbank]] and [[Joseph Needham]] popularized the idea that after Zheng He's voyages China turned away from the seas due to the ''[[Haijin]]'' edict and was isolated from European technological advancements. Modern historians point out that Chinese maritime commerce did not totally stop after Zheng He, that Chinese ships continued to participate in Southeast Asian commerce until the 19th century, and that active Chinese trading with India and East Africa continued long after the time of Zheng. Moreover, [[historical revisionism|revisionist historians]] such as [[Jack Goldstone]] argue that the Zheng He voyages ended for practical reasons that did not reflect the technological level of China.<ref>{{cite web| last=Goldstone| first=Jack| title=The Rise of the West – or Not? A Revision to Socio-economic History| url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/10/114.html}}</ref> Although the Ming dynasty prohibited shipping with the ''Haijin'' edict, it was a policy of the [[Hongwu Emperor]] that long preceded Zheng He and the ban, so obviously disregarded by the [[Yongle Emperor]], was eventually lifted entirely. However, the ban on maritime shipping forced countless numbers of people into smuggling and [[wokou|piracy]]. Neglect of the imperial navy and Nanjing dockyards after Zheng He's voyages left the coast highly vulnerable to Japanese [[wokou]] during the 16th century.<ref name="Wang2013">{{cite book|author=Yuan-Kang Wang|title=Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxVfTuKsaJQC&pg=PT286|year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-52240-3|page=286}}</ref><ref name="Grygiel2006">{{cite book|author=Jakub J. Grygiel|title=Great Powers and Geopolitical Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZjpcHnxH2QC&pg=PA153|year=2006|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8480-1|page=153}}</ref>

Richard von Glahn, a [[UCLA]] professor of Chinese history, commented that most treatments of Zheng He present him wrongly, "offer counterfactual arguments," and "emphasize China's missed opportunity" by focusing on failures, instead of accomplishments. In contrast, Glahn asserts that "Zheng He reshaped Asia" because maritime history in the 15th century was essentially the Zheng He story and the effects of his voyages.<ref name="glaan">{{cite web|url=http://www.international.ucla.edu/china/article.asp?parentid=10387|title=Zheng He's Voyages of Discovery&nbsp;– UCLA center for Chinese Study|publisher=International.ucla.edu|date=20 April 2004|access-date=23 July 2009}}</ref>

===Cultural influence===
Despite the official neglect, the adventures of the fleet captured the imagination of some Chinese with some writing novelisations of the voyages, such as the ''Romance of the Three-Jeweled Eunuch'' in 1597.<ref name="heyhei">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UMIKjFQB98MC&pg=PA121|title=Blacks in Pre-Modern China|pages=121–132}}</ref>

On his travels, Zheng He built mosques<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Dasheng |title=Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia |date=2009 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |others=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-230-837-5 |location=Singapore |page=250 |oclc=427974635}}</ref> and also spread the worship of [[Mazu]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} He apparently never found time for a [[hajj|pilgrimage]] to [[Mecca]] but sent sailors there on his last voyage. He played an important part in developing relations between China and Islamic countries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tan Ta Sen|title=Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia|year=2009|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-837-5|page=171|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIUmU2ytmIIC&pg=PA171}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gunn|first=Geoffrey C.|title=History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000–1800|year=2011|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|isbn=978-988-8083-34-3|page=117|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E10tnvapZt0C&pg=PA117}}</ref> Zheng He also visited Muslim shrines of Islamic holy men in the [[Fujian]].{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

In modern times, interest in Zheng He has revived substantially. In [[Vernor Vinge]]'s 1999 science fiction novel ''[[A Deepness in the Sky]]'', an interstellar society of commercial traders in human space are named the Qeng Ho, after the admiral. The expeditions featured prominently in [[Heather Terrell]]'s 2005 novel ''The Map Thief''. For the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages in 2005, [[China Central Television]] produced a special television series, ''[[Zheng He Xia Xiyang (TV series)|Zheng He Xia Xiyang]]'', starring [[Gallen Lo]] as Zheng He. He is also mentioned in part of the main storyline of the first-person shooter game [[Far Cry 3]]. The [[Star Trek]] series ''[[Star Trek: Picard|Picard]]'' further featured an advanced starship named USS ''Zheng He''. There was even a [[US Navy]] boat that was acquired for picket duty during [[World War II]] that was named [[USS Cheng Ho (IX-52)|''Cheng Ho'']] by its previous owner.

===Relics===
* Zheng He built the Tianfei Palace ({{zh|labels=no|t=天妃宫|p=Tiānfēigōng|l=Palace of the Celestial Wife}}), a temple in honour of the goddess [[Mazu (goddess)|Mazu]], in Nanjing after the fleet returned from its first western voyage in 1407.
* The "Deed of Foreign Connection and Exchange" ({{lang|zh|通番事跡}}) or "Tongfan Deed Stele" is located in the Tianfei Palace in [[Liuhe, Taicang]], whence the expeditions first departed. The [[stele]] was submerged and lost but has been rebuilt.
* To thank the [[Mazu (goddess)|Celestial Wife]] for her blessings, Zheng He and his colleagues rebuilt the Tianfei Palace in Nanshan, [[Changle]] County, Fujian Province as well before they left on their last voyage. At the renovated temple, they raised a stele, "A Record of Tianfei Showing Her Presence and Power" ({{zh|labels=no|t=天妃靈應之記|p=Tiānfēi Líng Yīng zhī Jì}}), discussing their earlier voyages.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fish|first=Robert J.|url=http://www.hist.umn.edu/hist1012/primarysource/source.htm|title=Primary Source: Zheng He Inscription|publisher=Univ. of Minnesota|access-date=23 July 2009}}</ref>
* The [[Galle Trilingual Inscription]] in Sri Lanka was discovered in the city of [[Galle]] in 1911 and is preserved at the [[National Museum of Colombo]]. The three languages used in the inscription were Chinese, [[Tamil language|Tamil]], and [[Persian language|Persian]]. The inscription praises [[Buddha]] and describes the fleet's donations to the famous [[Tondeswaram temple|Tenavarai Nayanar temple]] of [[Tondeswaram]] frequented by both [[Hinduism|Hindus]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref>{{cite web|agency=Xinhua News Agency|url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/zhenhe/134661.htm|title=A Peaceful Mariner and Diplomat|date=12 July 2005}}</ref><ref>Association for Asian Studies. ''Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368{{ndash}}1644'', Vol. I. Columbia Univ. Press (New York), 1976.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledge-bank-article/china_sri_lanka_trade_and_diplomatic_relations_including_the_voyages_of_cheng_ho.pdf|title=China-Sri Lanka: Trade and Diplomatic Relations including the voyages for Cheng Ho|first=B. E. S. J.|last=Bastiampillai|website=UNESCO Silk Roads}}</ref>
* Zheng He's tomb in Nanjing has been repaired and a small museum built next to it, but his body was buried at sea off the [[Malabar Coast]] near Calicut, in western India.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=172}} However, his sword and other personal possessions were interred in a Muslim tomb inscribed in [[Arabic]]. The tomb of Zheng He's assistant [[Hong Bao]] was recently unearthed in Nanjing as well.
* Seven large sunken ships were found in the sea near [[Dongsha Island]], which were confirmed to belong to Zheng He's fleet. The types of the seven sunken ships were Shachuan (沙船), Fuchuan (福船), and Zhanzuochuan (戰座船).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nsysu.edu.tw/p/404-1000-52738.php?Lang=zh-tw |title=打撈鄭和沉船 撈船 有宣示主權意義 再造鐵達尼傳奇 內政部委託國內學術單位進行海洋考古作業 初期探勘將花費數億元 |author=中國時報 |date=1 January 2004 |publisher=National Sun Yat-sen University |language=Chinese |accessdate= |quote= |archive-date=21 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121125614/https://www.nsysu.edu.tw/p/404-1000-52738.php?Lang=zh-tw |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Commemoration===
In the People's Republic of China, 11 July is [[China National Maritime Day|Maritime Day]] ({{lang|zh|中国航海日}}, ''Zhōngguó Hánghǎi Rì'') and is devoted to the memory of Zheng He's first voyage. Initially [[Kunming Changshui International Airport]] was to be named Zheng He International Airport.

In 2015, [[Emotion Media Factory]] dedicated a special multimedia show "Zheng He is coming" for amusement park [[Romon U-Park]] ([[Ningbo]], China). The show became a finalist of the amusement industry prestigious Brass Rings Awards by [[IAAPA]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blooloop.com/news/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923192214/http://www.blooloop.com/news/emotion-media-factory-multimedia-romon-u-park/29189|url-status=dead|title=Theme Park, Museum, Zoo Industry News for Professionals|archive-date=23 September 2015|website=Blooloop}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.eap-magazin.de/48-News/4150,China%3A-Two-New-Multimedia-Shows-at-Romon-U-Park.html| title=China: Two New Multimedia Shows at Romon U-Park}}</ref>

Zheng He is the namesake of the [[ROCS Cheng Ho (PFG2-1103)|ROCS ''Cheng Ho'']] missile frigate in Taiwan.

The [[People's Liberation Army Navy]] ship ''[[Type 679 training ship|Zheng He (AX-81)]]'' is a Chinese [[training ship]] named for him. Like her namesake, she serves as a goodwill ambassador for China, becoming the first Chinese Navy ship to visit the United States in 1989 and completing a circumnavigation of the globe in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Zhang|first1=Xiaomin|title=Naval training ship going round the globe|url=http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-04/17/content_25160837.htm|work=China Daily|date=17 April 2012}}</ref>

The [[sample-return mission|sample-return]] spacecraft ''[[Tianwen-2]]'' was originally named ''ZhengHe''. It launched in 2025 with the mission to explore [[Near-Earth asteroid]] [[469219 Kamoʻoalewa|2016 HO3]].

Named after the explorer, the Zheng He Seamount is an underwater mountain in the Arabian Sea. It is located southwest of Socotra island at {{coord|11|44|18|N|55|08|18|E|display=inline,title|type:seamount_region:IO}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.marineregions.org/gazetteer.php?p=details&id=5809 |title=Zheng He Seamount |website=Marineregions.org |publisher=Flanders Marine Institute |access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Zheng He's tomb, Nanjing.jpg|Zheng He's tomb in [[Nanjing]]
File:Museum in honour of Zheng He in Nanjing.jpeg|Museum to honour Zheng He, Nanjing
File:Zheng He Gallery in Malacca.JPG|[[Gallery of Admiral Cheng Ho]] in [[Malacca]]
File:Admiral Zhenghe.jpg|Zheng He [[Wax sculpture|wax statue]] in the [[Quanzhou Maritime Museum]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|China|Geography|History|Biography}}
{{Div col}}
* {{annotated link|Chang Yuchun}}
* {{annotated link|Chinese exploration}}
* {{annotated link|CMA CGM Zheng He}}
* {{annotated link|Fei Xin}}
* {{annotated link|Galle Trilingual Inscription}}
* {{annotated link|Hong Bao}}
* {{annotated link|Hui people|Hui}}
* {{annotated link|Ma Huan}}
* {{annotated link|Man-cheti}}
* {{annotated link|Ming dynasty}}
* ''{{annotated link|Ming Veritable Records}}''
* {{annotated link|Romon U-Park}}
* {{annotated link|Timeline of the Ming treasure voyages}}
* {{annotated link|Zhou Man}}
* {{annotated link|Zhu Di}}
{{colend}}

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last=Chang|first=Kuei-Sheng |title = The Maritime Scene in China at the Dawn of Great European Discoveries |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=94|number=3|date=July–September 1974 |pages=347–359 |jstor=600069 |doi=10.2307/600069 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Church |first=Sally K. |year=2005 |title=Zheng He: An Investigation into the Plausibility of 450-ft Treasure Ships |journal=Monumenta Serica |volume=53 |pages=1–43 |doi=10.1179/mon.2005.53.1.001 |s2cid=161434221 |url=http://contacthistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/monumenta_serica.pdf}}
* {{citation |last=Cunren |first=Chen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=viFKAQAAIAAJ |script-title=zh:被误读的远行: 郑和下西洋与马哥孛罗来华考 |trans-title=The Misunderstood Journey: Zheng He's Voyages to the West and Marco Polo's Visit to China |publisher=广西师范大学出版社 (Guangxi Normal University Press) |year=2008 |isbn=9787563370764}}
* {{cite book |last=Deng|first=Gang|year=2005 |title=Chinese Maritime Activities and Socioeconomic Development, c. 2100 BC – 1900 AD |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-29212-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Dreyer|first=Edward L. |year = 2007 |title = Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming, 1405–1433 |series=Library of World Biography|location=New York|publisher=Pearson Longman|isbn=978-0-321-08443-9}}
* {{cite journal |last=Duyvendak |first=J.J.L. |title = The True Dates of the Chinese Maritime Expeditions in the Early Fifteenth Century |journal = T'oung Pao |year=1938 |volume=34 |issue=5 |pages=341–413 |author-link = J.J.L. Duyvendak |jstor=4527170 |doi=10.1163/156853238X00171 }}
* {{cite book |last=Levathes|first=Louise|year=1996|title= When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433 |url = https://archive.org/details/whenchinaruledse00loui |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-511207-8 }}
* {{citation |last=Lewis |first=Archibald|date=December 1973 |title=Maritime Skills in the Indian Ocean 1368–1500 |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |volume=16 |issue=2/3|pages=238–264 |doi=10.2307/3596216 |jstor=3596216}}
* {{cite book |last=Mills |first=J.V.G. |year=1970 |title=Ying-yai Sheng-lan, The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1433) |translator-first=Ch'eng Chun |translator-last=Feng |others=Introduction, notes and appendices by J.V.G. Mills |publisher=White Lotus Press |isbn=978-974-8496-78-8 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Naiming |first=Pang |year=2016 |title=船坚炮利：一个明代已有的欧洲印象 |trans-title=Ship and Guns: An Existing European Impression of the Ming Dynasty |script-journal=zh:史学月刊 (History Monthly) |volume=2 |pages=51–65 |url=https://www.doc88.com/p-2085237799491.html }}
* {{cite book|last=Needham|first=Joseph|title=Science and Civilization in China|volume=4, Physics and physical technology. Part III, Civil engineering and nautics|year=1971|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, England |oclc=634783184}}
* {{cite book |last=Perkins|first=Dorothy |title = Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, Its History and Culture |year=2000 |publisher=Roundtable Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8160-2693-7 |url-access=registration |url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofch00perk_0 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Ray |first=Haraprasad |title = An Analysis of the Chinese Maritime Voyages into the Indian Ocean During Early Ming Dynasty and Their Raison d'Etre |journal=China Report |year=1987 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=65–87 |doi=10.1177/000944558702300107 |s2cid=154116680 }}
* {{cite book |title=Zheng He and the Afro-Asian World|editor-first1=Chia Lin|editor-last1=Sien|editor-first2=Sally K. |editor-last2=Church|publisher=Perbadanan Muzium| location=Melaka|year=2012|isbn=978-967-11386-0-1}}
** {{cite book |last1=Church|first1=Sally K. |first2=John C. |last2=Gebhardt|first3=Terry H. |last3=Little |chapter = A Naval Architectural Analysis of the Plausibility of 450-ft Treasure Ships |title=Zheng He and the Afro-Asian World|editor-first1=Chia Lin|editor-last1=Sien|editor-first2=Sally K.|editor-last2=Church|publisher=Perbadanan Muzium |location=Melaka|year=2012|isbn=978-967-11386-0-1}}
** {{cite book|last=Rivers|first=P.J.|chapter=A Nautical Perspective on Cheng Ho, Admiral of the Western Oceans Concerning the Ming Voyages|title=Zheng He and the Afro-Asian World|editor-first1=Chia Lin|editor-last1=Sien|editor-first2=Sally K.|editor-last2=Church|publisher=Perbadanan Muzium| location=Melaka|year=2012|isbn=978-967-11386-0-1}}
** {{cite book|last=Pereira|first=Clifford J. |chapter = Zheng He and the African Horizon: An Investigative Study into the Chinese Geography of Early Fifteenth-Century Eastern Africa|title=Zheng He and the Afro-Asian World|editor-first1=Chia Lin|editor-last1=Sien|editor-first2=Sally K.|editor-last2=Church|publisher=Perbadanan Muzium |location=Melaka|year=2012|isbn=978-967-11386-0-1 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Wake |first=Christopher |date=December 1997 |title=The Great Ocean-Going Ships of Southern China in the Age of Chinese Maritime Voyaging to India, Twelfth to Fifteenth Centuries |journal=International Journal of Maritime History |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=51–81 |doi=10.1177/084387149700900205 |s2cid=130906334 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Xiaowei |first=Hu |year=2018 |title=郑和宝船尺度新考{{snd}}从泉州东西塔的尺度谈起 |trans-title=A New Research on the Scale of Zheng He's Treasure Ship{{snd}}From the Scale of Quanzhou East-West Pagoda |script-journal=zh:海交史研究 (Journal of Maritime History Studies) |issue=2 |pages=107–116 |url=https://www.doc88.com/p-7728721680403.html}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Chan |first=Hok-lam |title = The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1 |year=1998 |publisher = Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-24332-2 |chapter = The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-hsi, and Hsüan-te reigns, 1399–1435 }}
* {{cite book |first = Ming-Yang |last = Su |year=2005 |title = Seven epic voyages of Zheng He in Ming China, 1405–1433: facts, fiction and fabrication |location = Torrance, CA |publisher = self-published |oclc=62515238 }}
* {{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050623222048/http://chinaheritagenewsletter.org/articles.php?searchterm=002_zhenghe.inc&issue=002|archive-date=2005-06-23|url=http://chinaheritagenewsletter.org/articles.php?searchterm=002_zhenghe.inc&issue=002|title=Shipping News: Zheng He's Sexcentenary|work=China Heritage Newsletter|date=June 2005|issn=1833-8461|publisher=China Heritage Project of The Australian National University}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Viviano |first=Frank |date=July 2005 |title = China's Great Armada |magazine = National Geographic |volume=208 |issue=1 |pages=28–53 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Library resources box |by = no |viaf = 72199054 }}
* [https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1334/the-seven-voyages-of-zheng-he/ World History Encyclopedia – The Seven Voyages of Zheng He]
* [http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=218 Zheng He – The Chinese Muslim Admiral]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060310203031/http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2245/2005-6-13/Zt119%40569.htm Zheng He 600th Anniversary] (archived)
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/swimming_dragons.shtml BBC radio programme "Swimming Dragons".]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010913001234/http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/journey2001/ TIME magazine special feature on Zheng He (August 2001)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060221135224/http://www.elibraryhub.com/zhengHe/home.html Virtual exhibition] from elibraryhub.com
* [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200609/25/eng20060925_306133.html ''Ship imitates ancient vessel navigated by Zheng He''] at peopledaily.com (25 September 2006)
* {{cite news| last=Kahn| first=Joseph| year=2005| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/20/international/asia/20letter.html|title=China Has an Ancient Mariner to Tell You About| work=[[The New York Times]]}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141118011340/http://proj.ncku.edu.tw/chengho/ Newsletter, in Chinese, on academic research on the Zheng He voyages]

{{Chinese travellers}}
{{Islamic geography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zheng, He}}
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