Biography cheng ho

1371-c. 1433

Chinese Admiral and Explorer

Cheng Ho was one of the greatest early explorers, expanding the predominance of his homeland China into many foreign lands, particularly those in or bordering on the Indian Ocean. After his death, however, powerful Chinese officials became increasingly isolationist, eventually destroying many of the records documenting his travels.

Cheng Ho (also known as Zheng He) was born in 1371 in China's Kunyang, Yunnan province, under the name of Ma Sanpao. Ming troops captured him when he was ten years old and sent him as a household servant to a prince named Chu Ti (Zhu Di). Like the other local children captured by the army, Cheng was castrated.

Over the next two decades, Cheng's duties grew, and he soon began following the prince into battle against the Mongols. Through these engagements, Cheng made a name for himself as a military leader. In 1402, the prince led a successful revolt against the throne and became Ming emperor, with the new name of Yung-lo. Yung-lo repaid Cheng for his accomplishments by giving him the title of Imperial Palace Eunuch and making him commander of an overseas expedition that, at least in part, was to search for the fleeing previous emperor Hui-ti.

Cheng prepared for the voyage and set sail in 1405 with his Grand Fleet of 28,000 men and more than 300 vessels, some nearly 450 feet (137 m) long. Carrying various valuable commodities, including fine silk, the fleet left the Yangtze River and headed into the South China Sea for what would become a two-year trading expedition. During the voyage, Cheng entered into a conflict with Chen Tsu-i, a pirate and ruler of Sumatra. Cheng was victorious in battle, and sent the pirate as a prisoner to meet his fate back in Nanjing.

Over the next four years, Cheng made two more voyages. In these trips, he revisited the spice capital Calicut in India, made side trips to Thailand, Java, Malacca, Sumatra and Sri Lanka, and offered gifts from the Min

Decades before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in search of a water route to Asia, the Chinese were exploring the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific with seven voyages of the "Treasure Fleet" that solidified Chinese control over much of Asia in the 15th century.

The Treasure Fleets were commanded by a powerful eunuch admiral named Cheng Ho. Cheng Ho was born around 1371 in China's southwestern Yunan Province (just north of Laos) with the name Ma Ho. Ma Ho's father was a Muslim hajji (who had made a pilgrimage to Mecca) and the family name of Ma was used by Muslims in representations of the word Mohammed.

When Ma Ho was ten years old (around 1381), he was captured along with other children when the Chinese army invaded Yunan to take control over the region. At the age of 13 he was castrated, as were other young prisoners, and he was placed as a servant in the household of the Chinese Emperor's fourth son (out of twenty-six total sons), Prince Zhu Di.

Ma Ho proved himself to be an exceptional servant to Prince Zhu Di. He became skilled in the arts of war and diplomacy and served as an officer of the prince. Zhu Di renamed Ma Ho as Cheng Ho because the eunuch's horse was killed in battle outside of a place called Zhenglunba. (Cheng Ho is also Zheng He in the newer Pinyin transliteration of Chinese but he's still most commonly called Cheng Ho). Cheng Ho was also known as San Bao which means "three jewels."

Cheng Ho, who was said to have been seven feet tall, was given greater power when Zhu Di became emperor in 1402. One year later, Zhu Di appointed Cheng Ho admiral and ordered him to oversee the construction of a Treasure Fleet to explore the seas surrounding China. Admiral Cheng Ho was the first eunuch appointed to such a high military position in China.

First Voyage (1405-1407)

The first Treasure Fleet consisted of 62 ships; four were huge wood boats, some of the largest ever built in history. They were ap

This is a Chinesename; the family name is Zheng.

Zheng He or Ma He is en (Chinese 郑和; 1371–1433) was an explorer, diplomat, and admiral from China. He lived during the Ming Dynasty. Zheng He was the leader of a very large fleet of ships that traveled all over the Indian Ocean and Southwest Asia. Zheng He was an eunuch of China's Imperial Court. The fleet that Zheng He commanded had 317 ships that were very large. 28,000 Chinese soldiers were on board these ships.

Early life

Zheng He was born in Kunyang, a village in Yunnan. He was born with the name Ma He (Chinese 马三宝). He and his family were Muslim. At the time, Yunnan was ruled by Mongols. In 1381, however, a Ming army invaded and took control of the area.

Ma He was taken as a prisoner by the Ming armies. He was about 10 years old. He was castrated and then taken away to serve the Prince, Zhu Di (the future emperor). Ma He became a servant at the Imperial Court. The name Zheng He was given to him by the Prince. He also came to be called "Sanbao", a reference to the Three Jewels of Buddhism.

Journeys

From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He went on seven journeys to the Indian Ocean, or what the Chinese people called the "Western Ocean". He was the leader of a large fleet of ships and a big army.

In his first three journeys he visited the countries of Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka. In his fourth to seventh journeys he went as far as the east African coast. In his journeys he gave the countries he visited gifts of silk, porcelain, gunpowder and other goods. He got lots of unusual gifts as well, including giraffes and zebras.

Zheng He had his first journey from 1405–1407, but it is not known why the journey was made. He travelled from the mouth of the Yangtze River to Vietnam, as well as the south of India. His fleet was made up of 317 ships, more than 27