50 Fun Facts About Zheng He

Zheng He served as admiral and diplomat under which Chinese dynasty?

He commanded seven voyages between 1405 and 1433 for the Yongle and Xuande emperors.

How many treasure voyages did Zheng He command?

The first sailed in 1405 and the last in 1430-33; the Hongxi Emperor briefly halted them in 1424.

What was Zheng He's birth name?

He was born into a Muslim Hui family; the surname Zheng was conferred by the Yongle Emperor in 1404.

Which ruler granted Zheng He his surname and commissioned his voyages?

As Prince of Yan, Zhu Di had been Zheng He's master since boyhood and was 11 years his senior.

By what alias is Zheng He widely known in Chinese culture and Southeast Asian temples?

The name refers to the Buddhist Three Jewels; temples of the 'Sam Po' cult stand across the Chinese diaspora.

In which province was Zheng He born?

Kunyang near Kunming was then held by a Mongol prince loyal to the Northern Yuan; Ming armies conquered it in 1382.

What title held by Zheng He's father and grandfather suggests they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca?

He was also a descendant of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, Mongol governor of Yunnan.

How did the young Ma He answer General Fu Youde's question about where the Mongol claimant was?

The defiant reply got him taken prisoner; he was castrated between the ages of 10 and 14.

Into whose household was the boy eunuch placed?

The prince governed Beiping, modern Beijing, and took Ma He on campaigns against the Mongols from 1390.

Why did Ma He receive an education in Beiping that he would have been denied at the imperial capital?

The dynasty's founder distrusted eunuchs; his son's northern court had no such rule.

Which 1399-1402 civil war brought Zheng He's master to the throne?

The Prince of Yan rebelled against his nephew the Jianwen Emperor and marched into Nanjing in July 1402.

For defending which Beiping site in 1399 was Ma He later rewarded with the surname Zheng?

The name was conferred during Chinese New Year 1404, also honouring his role in capturing Nanjing.

How was Zheng He's height recorded?

The same account gives him a five-chi waist, glaring eyes, teeth like shells and a voice as loud as a bell.

When did Zheng He's first voyage depart?

The fleet of 317 ships carried almost 28,000 crew; 11 July is now Maritime Day in China in its memory.

How many ships sailed on the first voyage?

So many linguists were needed that a foreign-language institute was founded at Nanjing.

Who was appointed second in command of the treasure fleet?

Ma Huan was the translator whose 1416 General Survey of the Ocean Shores describes the ports they visited.

Which animal brought back from Malindi was hailed as a qilin and proof of the Mandate of Heaven?

Zebras, camels, ostriches and ivory also came from the Swahili Coast in exchange for gold, silk and porcelain.

Which feared pirate did Zheng He defeat and send back to China for execution?

The Ming then set up the Old Port Pacification Superintendency at Palembang under Shi Jinqing.

Against which kingdom on Ceylon did Zheng He wage a land war?

King Vira Alakeshwara was taken to China as a captive to apologise to the emperor.

From how many states did Zheng He bring envoys to the Ming court after his fourth voyage?

His fleets called at Brunei, Java, Siam, India, Arabia and the Horn of Africa.

Which ruler halted the treasure voyages in September 1424?

His reign lasted under a year; his son Xuande allowed one final expedition in 1430.

Which city was Zheng He appointed to defend in 1425?

He kept command of the treasure fleet for the city's defence and later oversaw rebuilding of the Great Bao'en Temple there.

According to one reading of the History of Ming, what was the hidden purpose of the first voyages?

That would make the first voyage 'the largest-scale manhunt on water in the history of China'.

How did a contemporary describe the way Zheng He walked?

He did not shrink from violence when he thought it necessary to impress foreign peoples with Ming might.

How many li of ocean did Zheng He claim to have traversed?

His inscription describes waves like mountains and sails 'loftily unfurled like clouds day and night'.

In which 1621 book were Zheng He's sailing charts, the Mao Kun map, published?

The strip map was 20.5 cm by 560 cm and could be rolled up; it uses a 24-point compass with sailing times.

How many masts did the largest 'treasure ships' reportedly carry?

Luo Maodeng's 1597 novel gives them 44.4 by 18 zhang, roughly 127 by 52 metres, figures many scholars doubt.

Which famous 1765 warship do the claimed treasure ships dwarf at nearly twice its length?

No wooden ship recorded until the 20th century approached 127 m; the first 126 m vessels were iron-hulled steamers.

What length did Zhao Zhigang propose for Zheng He's largest ship?

Skeptics suggest 60-75 m; the zhang unit itself may have been misread, halving the traditional figures.

How wide at most was the largest surviving basin at the excavated Treasure Shipyard?

At 421 m long the basin could fit the claimed ships lengthwise but not even half their claimed width.

Where is Zheng He believed to have been buried?

His Nanjing tomb is a cenotaph thought to hold his clothes and headgear; it was rebuilt in Muslim style in 1985.

On which rise outside the old southern capital does Zheng He's cenotaph stand?

The original horseshoe-shaped grave was rebuilt in 1985 and a small museum built beside it.

Which sailors' goddess did Zheng He honour with the Tianfei Palace after his first voyage?

Inscriptions suggest devotion to Tianfei was his dominant faith, though he also built mosques.

In which three languages is the Galle inscription left by Zheng He's fleet in Sri Lanka?

Found in 1911, it praises Buddha and records gifts to the Tenavarai Nayanar temple.

Which Malaysian city's sultan visited China with over 540 subjects after Zheng He's arrival?

Malay annals say a Chinese princess, Hang Li Po, later married the sultan; her entourage settled at Bukit Cina.

Which Indonesian Islamic scholar credited Zheng He with spreading Islam in Indonesia in 1961?

Chinese Muslim communities were established in Palembang and along Java following the voyages.

Did Zheng He ever complete the pilgrimage to Mecca?

He built mosques on his travels and visited Muslim shrines in Fujian.

What date is China's Maritime Day, honouring the first voyage?

Kunming's new airport was at one stage to be named after Zheng He.

Which event did the US Navy vessel USS Cheng Ho survive in 1941?

Zheng He is one of the few non-Americans to have a US Navy ship named after him.

In which Star Trek series does an advanced starship named USS Zheng He appear?

Vernor Vinge's novel A Deepness in the Sky also names its interstellar traders the Qeng Ho after him.

Which naval role did Zheng He hold at the top of the Ming hierarchy?

He also served as Grand Director of the Directorate of Palace Servants and Chief Envoy on the voyages.

Whose forces did the Ming defeat in 1382 in the fighting that killed Zheng He's father?

His father Ma Hajji died in 1381; the eldest son buried him outside Kunming, and Zheng He later had an epitaph engraved.

Zheng He's nickname in the Prince of Yan's household referred to which Buddhist concept?

The name stuck: in 1431 he was formally titled Sanbao Taijian, Grand Director Sanbao.

Roughly how many crewmen sailed with Zheng He's first fleet in 1405?

Preparations needed so many interpreters that a foreign-language institute was founded in Nanjing.

Zheng He's ancestor Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar governed Yunnan under which dynasty?

The family's Mongol-era service helps explain why Zheng He was born into a Hui Muslim household in Kunming.

Zheng He's fleets brought back ostriches, zebras, camels and ivory from which part of Africa?

In return China handed out gold, silver, porcelain and silk along the long-established Indian Ocean trade routes.

In Luo Maodeng's 1597 novel, the 'equine ships' that carried the fleet's horses had how many masts?

The novel's nine-masted treasure ships, eight-masted horse ships and seven-masted supply ships are the source of the most grandiose size claims.

After its 1911 discovery, the Galle Trilingual Inscription was moved to which museum?

The stele praises Buddha and records the fleet's gifts to a temple visited by both Hindus and Buddhists.

When Zheng He's Nanjing tomb was rebuilt in 1985, what style was chosen?

The horseshoe-shaped cenotaph is thought to hold only his clothes and headgear, since he was buried at sea.

From which city did Zheng He's first treasure voyage set sail in 1405?

The 317-ship fleet departed on 11 July, a date China now marks as Maritime Day.