Western historians seem largely to have overlooked this enterprising eunuch who rose to be the most renowned fleet admiral of China’s early Ming dynasty and one of the world’s great unsung navigators. According to historical accounts, Zheng led seven naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean and Zheng’s fleet was some ten times bigger than others of the time, comprising over sixty ‘treasure ships.’ Contemporary records describe it moored off the coast of Sri Lanka as a ‘massive shadow on the horizon’, that moved like a ‘floating city’.
Zheng is venerated almost like a Hindu god himself in several parts of China, with temples dedicated to him in Malaysia and Indonesia. Born in Yunnan province in 1371 into a Muslim family, and his father and grandfather both carried the title of hajji which suggests that they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. His original name Ma He name is a Chinese version of Muhammed, but this did not protect him from suffering the unkindest cut at the age of ten, at the hands of an invading Ming army.
Zheng’s first voyage began in 1405, almost a century before Columbus left Genoa for Japan and Vasco da Gama set sail for India. Zheng reached Calicut – via Indonesia and Malaysia – then a flourishing spice port under the rule of the local Zamorin and an ideal base for further trade expeditions. His subsequent trips took him as far as east Africa and Persia. At his height, Zheng was the admiral of a giant fleet of over 27,000 men. Between 1405 and 1433 his seven epic voyages to the Indian Ocean established Chinese authority throughout the region. His fleet contained sixty-three ships, the largest ships of which were several times larger than any wooden ship ever created in history, sufficient to contain all the ships of Columbus and Vasco da Gama combined.
Their giant ships certainly created a stir. The Chinese were entertained with music and songs. Zheng He’s four latter expeditions were recorded by a Chinese scribe named Ma Huan, who was attached as a translator to the fourth armada, which sailed in 1413 with 63 ships and 28,560 men. The book is titled The Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shore (Ying-yai Sheng-tan).Fei Xin another writer/translator who accompanied Cheng Ho. Ma Huan wrote that the Indians’ musical instruments (Veena) were “made of gourds with strings of copper wire, and the sound and rhythm were pleasant to the ears.”
What did the Chinese do at Calicut?
They picked up spices of course, but only on the Journey eastwards back to China. They did stop over in Calicut on each of the 7 voyages, recuperated, replenished their stores and continued on frequently to the west. For the westerly trade, they bartered in Calicut with gold coins, spices from SE Asia and mainly rice that they had picked up at Orissa, to purchase Silver for the trip to Zanzibar.
Cheng Ho died at Calicut and was either buried there or at sea. His shoes and a braid of his hair, at his request, were thought to have been brought back to Nanjing and buried near Buddhist caves outside the city according to Fei Xin. To day Zheng He is revered in China, there are museums and you can see his tomb as well.
“The commander could not have been buried on land because according to Chinese traditions, a eunuch cannot go to heaven because he has a deformed body. That’s why he was ceremonially buried at sea’.
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