china zheng he

When Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic in 1492 with three small ships, Zheng He had already completed Zheng He’s seven epic voyages across the Indian Ocean—87 years earlier—commanding a fleet of over 250 vessels, including 62 colossal “treasure ships.” His flagship stretched 130 meters long—equivalent to one and a half football fields. It wasn’t…

At the age of ten, he was captured amid the war in Yunnan, castrated, and forced into the palace. Physically mutilated and stripped of his identity, he might have been destined for a life of insignificance. Yet he rose from the ashes to become the most formidable naval commander of the 15th century—commanding a super…

Wang Jinghong (c. 1369–1434) was not merely Zheng He’s subordinate, but the second-in-command of the Ming Dynasty’s maritime expeditions. After Zheng He’s death in India in 1433, it was Wang who single-handedly led over 200 treasure ships, nearly 30,000 officers and soldiers, and envoys from dozens of nations back to China safely, completing the most…

Was Zheng He Truly a Muslim? In short: yes. Zheng He (1371–1433), originally named Ma He, was born into a Muslim family in Yunnan, China. His father’s name was recorded as Ma Hajji—“Ma” being the family name, and “Hajji” (from Arabic Ḥājjī) an honorific title for those who have completed the pilgrimage to Mecca. Throughout…

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…