He was not born Zheng He. His name was Ma He, a Muslim boy from the remote frontier of Yunnan. His life began with war, was reshaped by forced castration, and culminated in an imperial gift: a new name, a new identity, and a mission that would connect continents. These three ruptures—loss of home, body,…

On a sweltering July day in 1405, the waters of Longjiang Port in Nanjing shimmered under the summer sun. Along the Yangtze River lay 317 massive ships—floating citadels with masts like forests and sails that blotted out the sky. Aboard them stood 27,800 officers and crew, not as an army of conquest, but as an…