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Zheng He

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Zheng4 He2 (鄭和 or Cheng Ho) (1371-1435) was a famous Chinese mariner and explorer who, from 1405 to 1433, explored Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Java, Ceylon, India, Persia, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, the Red Sea as far north as Egypt, and Africa as far south as the Mozambique channel. His fleet comprised 30,000 men and seventy ships at its height. He brought back to China many trophies and envoys from more than thirty kingdoms -- including King Alagonakkara of Ceylon, who came to China to apologize to the Emperor.

Zheng He was a eunuch and close confidant of the Yongle Emperor of China, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. His original name was Ma San Bo (馬 三保). The name Zheng He was given by the emperor. His missions flattered the Yung-lo Emperor's vanity, were impressive demonstrations of organizational capability and technological might, but did not lead to significant trade: Zheng He was an admiral and an official, not a merchant.

In 1424 the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hung-hsi Emperor, decided to curb influence of the eunuchs at court. Zheng He made one more voyage under the Hung-hsi Emperor, but after that, Chinese naval exploration ended.

Some recent controversal theory suggested that Zheng He circumcircled the globe and discovered America in the 1400s before Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus.

The "Qeng Ho" space-faring society in Vernor Vinge's science fiction novels A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky are named for Zheng He.

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