ZH: Greatest Naval Explorer You Never Knew? China's Zheng He

http://www.1000pictures.tv/ Please visit us here to order your DVDs and books.

GHOST FLEET: THE EPIC VOYAGE OF ZHENG HE - THE GREATEST EXPLORER YOU NEVER HEARD OF.

A Muslim castrated as a young boy in China, this man would still serve his nation with total loyalty. Zheng He:
China's Greatest Admiral who may have discovered America even before Columbus.
A man of peace whose fleet had half the world in his grasp and the other half within easy reach. And a leader whose giant Treasure Fleet suddenly vanished because of a colossal mistake.

600 years ago, China emerges from an age of darkness - with the biggest naval fleet ever assembled. It will forge a new path across unknown oceans, led by a towering Admiral -- 100 years before Columbus. And China will stand as the world's undisputed superpower. But in time, this supreme leader would be brought to an end by a catastrophic decision. What happened?

Join National Geographic photographer Mike Yamashita as he retraces Admiral Zheng He's epic journeys and discover how China's internal struggles turned this Admiral's forces into a ghost fleet, and setback this great nation for hundreds of years.

From the breathtaking opening shots of the African Swahili coast, this film is cinematic celebration of timeless beauty. Medieval Yemeni hilltop towns, ancient martial arts portrayed with balletic artistry, brutal religious piercings and the incomparable majesty of Perahera, all contribute to a pallet of rarely equaled cultural diversity.

From the eerie castration of the young hero to his final faltering steps in the Forbidden City as his enemies close in like vultures around carrion, the historical recreations about the life of Zheng He are executed with the grandeur and distance of a renaissance painting.

In tracing the voyages of the great fleet and its enigmatic leader, 'Ghost Fleet' brings the past alive through its observant narrator Mike Yamashita, and brings the documentary film into the realm of the epic feature.

This 2-hour documentary was shot on 16 mm film. Its initial airing: Dec 2005 on National Geographic Channel Asia.

Winner at the Asian TV Awards 2006: Best Cinematography, Best Original Music Score

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Zheng
• He
• China's
• Greatest
• Admiral
• Explorer
• Diplomat
• Ming
• Dynasty
• Emperor
• Zhu
• Di
• Michael
• Yamashita
• National
• Geographic
• photographer
• WorldBizWatch
• Farland
• Chang
• documentary
• armada
• fleet
• eunuch
• diplomat
• war
• peace
• religious
• tolerance
• Muslim
• Buddhist
• Christian
• DVD
• sail
• South
• China
• Sea
• Indian
• Ocean
• columbus
• vasco
• da
• gama
• china
• west
• east
• superpower
• confucian

[zhongguo999]

This is amazing!!

I have been reading about it this week for the first time. When thinking back at my history class regarding sea expeditions where he is not even mentioned in my books, I have the feeling that some parts of history regarding exploring the sea has been somewhat Europeanized and miscredited.

China is a mysterious place we (get to) really know so little about, its exciting to explore it then. : )

[storiesthatstick]

@zhongguo999 thank you for your kind words and support!

[Mrasianpopmusic]

china discovered America

[Vilicus3]

@VanillaSnow23 That is true but remind the preverb: the prophet has no honor in his own country.! I hope China honors its big son now and as a part of the gloabl society all children all over they world should learn about his great voyagers with the treasure fleet.

If you listen to statements in current US politics you find the same - like China which gave the mankinds so much the USA gave a lot but now current politic elite ruins that. Same happened in 20th Century in Europe.

[VanillaSnow23]

@Vilicus3 Well yeah it is ironic that the Chinese viewed Zheng He's travels as "Failures".

Shame....During Zheng He's time, he had corrupt, ultra-conservative political leaders that ruined his voyages. History would've turned out much different if it weren't for bad luck =(

[Vilicus3]

@VanillaSnow23 That is true, but like Columbus who got betrayed by the Spainish - because the declared Amerigo Vespucci to the discoverer of New World and said Columbus only found some Islands- same happened to Zheng He. For centuries his travels were called as big failures.

But it is good that time changes.

[VanillaSnow23]

@Vilicus3 But that doesn't change the fact what Zheng he accomplished....compared to Columbus or any European explorer.

[VanillaSnow23]

@USMarineRifleman0311 Nope. The Chinese contributed to America by planting many fertile crops on American soil.....

Real history is quite hidden. Also, Zheng He > Columbus & Vikings.

[USMarineRifleman0311]

@Mrasianpopmusic

no this has been disproven.

PBS did a documentary and actual Chinese historians outright said he never did

[misterbadgerman]

lol, the people Zheng He visited must have shat bricks when they saw the huge fleet with its massive ships heading their way.

[TsangBokyan]

@PITSTOP19website

pre-columbus contact has already been established with DNA analysis. it seems that the people of iceland many hundreds of years ago brought back some of the natives from the americas. also, it seems that the natives on or near the west coast of the americas have a distinct korean ancestry