Gigant der Meere p.5 - Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433)

Little did the famous Muslim geographer, Ibn Battuta know, that about 22 years after his historic visit to China, the Mongol Dynasty (called the Yuan Dynasty in China) would be overthrown. The Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) would begin. A Muslim boy would help a Chinese prince. That prince would become emperor and the boy would grow up to be the "Admiral of the Chinese Fleet."

His name... Zheng He. The ships that he would sail throughout the Indian Ocean would retrace some of the same routes taken by Ibn Battuta, but he would be in huge boats called "junks". He would go to East Africa, Makkah, Persian Gulf, and throughout the Indian Ocean.

Speak of the world's first navigators and the names Christopher Columbus or Vasco da Gama flash through a Western mind. Little known are the remarkable feats that a Chinese Muslim Zheng He (1371-1433) had accomplished decades before the two European adventurers.

A Muslim and a warrior, Zheng He helped transform China into the region's, and perhaps the world's, superpower of his time.

In 1405, Zheng was chosen to lead the biggest naval expedition in history up to that time. Over the next 28 years (1405-1433), he commanded seven fleets that visited 37 countries, through Southeast Asia to faraway Africa and Arabia. In those years, China had by far the biggest ships of the time. In 1420 the Ming navy dwarfed the combined navies of Europe.

Ma He or Haji Mahmud Shams, as he was originally known, was born in 1371 to a poor ethnic Hui (Chinese Muslims) family inYunnan Province, Southwest China. The boy's grandfather and father once made an overland pilgrimage to Makkah. Their travels contributed much to young Ma's education. He grew up speaking Arabic and Chinese, leaming much about the world to the west and its geography and customs.

Recruited as a promising servant for the Imperial household at the age of ten, Ma was assigned two years later to the retinue of the then Duke Yan, who would later usurp the throne as the emperor Yong Le. Ma accompanied the Duke on a series of successful military campaigns and played a crucial role in the capture of Nanjing, then the capital. Ma was thus awarded the supreme command of the Imperial Household Agency and was given the surname Zheng.

Emperor Yong Le tried to boost his damaged prestige as a usurper by a display of China's might abroad, sending spectacular fleets on great voyages and by bringing foreign ambassadors to his court. He also put foreign trade under a strict Imperial monopoly by taking control from overseas Chinese merchants. Command of the fleet was given to his favorite Zheng He, an impressive figure said to be over eight feet tall.

A great fleet of big ships, with nine masts and manned by 500 men, each set sail in July 1405, half a century before Columbus's voyage to America. There were great treasure ships over 300-feet long and 150-feet wide, the biggest being 440-feet long and 186-across, capable of carrying 1,000 passengers. Most of the ships were built at the Dragon Bay shipyard near Nanjing, the remains of which can still be seen today.

Zheng He's first fleet included 27,870 men on 317 ships, including sailors, clerks, interpreters, soldiers, artisans, medical men and meteorologists. On board were large quantities of cargo including silk goods, porcelain, gold and silverware, copper utensils, iron implements and cotton goods. The fleet sailed along China's coast to Champa close to Vietnam and, after crossing the South China Sea, visited Java, Sumatra and reached Sri Lanka by passing through the Strait of Malacca. On the way back it sailed along the west coast of India and returned home in 1407. Envoys from Calicut in India and several countries in Asia and the Middle East also boarded the ships to pay visits to China. Zheng He's second and third voyages taken shortly after, followed roughly the same route.

In the fall of 1413, Zheng He set out with 30,000 men to Arabia on his fourth and most ambitious voyage. From Hormuz he coasted around the Arabian boot to Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea. The arrival of the fleet caused a sensation in the region, and 19 countries sent ambassadors to board Zheng He's ships with gifts for Emperor Yong Le.

In 1417, after two years in Nanjing and touring other cities, the foreign envoys were escorted home by Zheng He. On this trip, he sailed down the east coast of Africa, stopping at Mogadishu, Matindi, Mombassa and Zanzibar and may have reached Mozambique. The sixth voyage in 1421 also went to the African coast.

Emperor Yong Le died in 1424 shortly after Zheng He's return. Yet, in 1430 the admiral was sent on a final seventh voyage. Now 60 years old, Zheng He revisited the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and Africa and died on his way back in 1433 in India.

http://www.islamfortoday.com/zhenghe.htm
http://muslimwelt.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/zheng-hehaji-mahmud-shams-islam/

Category:

Education

Tags:

• admiral
• zheng
• he
• seefahrer
• sailor
• muslim
• chinese
• chinesisch
• warrior

[xuantzi]

The end of Ming is a end of China !

[orchardr]

china shipbuilding r best for at least 2000 years

[Zhonguoria]

What is the title of this music? It is beautiful!

Too bad these voyages were all about Admiral Zheng He.

In the 1970's, China was all about Mao, but they found a way to transfer power peacefully.

During Ming Dynasty, China would have created a lasting treasure if they built a naval school that produced more than one Admiral Zheng He.

[HistoryHmoobGuy]

ASIANS = SUPERIOR HUMANS

When i'm at work and i observe the way White people work and the way Asian people work ?, It seem like the Caucasians are so dumb and slow and lazy !, while the Asians are so efficient !.

[PacificCircle1]

@lolozai91 China has allowed LIMITED other points of view.

I don't think any country compliant with Kyoto - I drive to save gas, emissions, money, yet most are lead footing around me! I do my best to reduce my foot print on every thing.

Pacific rim rising, many have said 'it is the future', I think so too, but china got a long way to go - I had cancelled plans to go to SF to protest Olympic procession, as I heard mayor Newsom was changing routes. me middle leftist

[lolozai91]

@PacificCircle1 Well, I sincerely hope that China would change for a better future, but that doesn't seems to be going well right now. United States, on the other hand, should be capable of affording such technology, yet they doesn't seems to comply in reducing their emission rate as stated in Kyoto Protocol (they possess the 2nd highest carbon dioxide emission after China).

[PacificCircle1]

@lolozai91 Not news to me! Too often the scales have tillted too much towards 'sacrfice' versus stewardship.

Just because it has been the pattern does no mean it is the only pathway.

Farms, cities, mines, roads, ect takes up land - unaviodable; but it can be less destructive.

Chinese will eventually get sick and tired of (for example) air like 1960's LA.

I todays world, no excuse for not learning lessons of history!

[lolozai91]

@PacificCircle1 erm, just to correct you, China is a developing country, with basic economic knowledge you would know why in becoming a industrialized nation, you would need to sacrifice some of other factors including environment for the sake of economic growth. Thats what most nation been through, during the Industrialisation of great colonial power including Great Britain. Just saying, as a country need to be advanced enough to possesses required technology in preserving the environment.

[dhg1234]

This is German, how do I get the English version?

[OpenTheTrollGate]

The Greeks glorified war

The Chinese glorified family activities

[BaroqueWorksz]

@xuantzi, China is rising again with the Communist Peoples Republic of China!

[TheAdidasjabulani]

if muslim have a strong faith to Allah...they can conquer the World....Allah will give them a great civilization....with great knowledge....history prove it.....the world miss when Islam rule the world....the world can't take along time while other than islam rule it...it suffering...becoz nowadays, the rule of Allah are not apply fully and successfully...as a way of life....Islam, a way of life, in every aspect of life muslim should submit totally to his Lord...insyaAllah, soon..Islam will back