Zheng He’s Voyages on the Western Seas：the Glory of a Great Sea Empire
To China，the“western seas”were what is now called the Indian Ocean.Zheng He is the given name of the great Moslem eunuch admiral wholed seven fleets out on extensive ocean-going voyages.He lived from 1371 to 1433，his original name was Ma，meaning horse，his“small name”was Sanbao，meaning“three treasures.”He was originally from Kunming，Yunnan.In 1382，with his homeland in chaotic upheaval，he was forcefully conscripted into the Ming army and castrated.He later entrered the court of the Prince of Yan，before becoming an imperial bodyguard for the MingEmperor Chengzu，Zhu Di.At the time，countries on both sides of the Indian Ocean were devout believers in Islam，while many South Asian countries were Buddhist.Since Zheng He was an adherent of the Islamic religion，and knew ocean navigation，and since he had been a senior minister inside the court，the Ming Emperor Chengzu selected him to represent him as an official envoy.
For the 28 years from 1405 to 1433，Zheng He made seven trips to what at the time were called the Western Seas.He initiated and cultivated relations and maritime communications between China and 30 countries in Asia and Africa.His fleet crisscrossed the Indian Ocean countless times.He visited India，Persia，and the sacred city of Mecca in Arabia;in Africa he visited Mozambique on the eastern coast.These bold explorations preceded the ocean voyages of other maritime nations by some one hundred years.At its greatest，Zheng He’s fleet totaled more than 200 ships.His so-called Treasure Ships could carry goods of more than 1，000 tons.The number of people in just one of his fleets exceeded 27，000 people.He navigated along more than forty primary lines of voyage，and is estimated to have covered 160，000 nautical miles.
The main purposes of Zheng He’s voyages wereto suppress the pirate activity in the eastern Ocean，toprotect the peaceful environment on the perimeter of the Ming Dynasty and safety on the seas;to develop foreign trade，to promote Chinese civilization，and to cow into submission the so-called Wokou，or Japanese pirates who operated from the 14th to the 16th century in Chinese coastal waters.Representing the Ming Emperor，Zheng He promulgated a humanist tradition of cooperation with allies，and he developed official trade.The famous British historian of science，Joseph Needham，noted that Zheng He’s fleet was the most powerful of any at the time and yet did not invade and occupy one inch of another county’s territory，nor set up any kind of military povocation to contest borders.It did not plunder the wealth of other countries and in its intercourse with others it adopted a policy of generosity and friendship，so that other countries were glad to submit.
In the third year of Yongle（1405），on the 15 th ofJune，Zheng He began the first of his historic voyages.