During the period of 1405-1433, the Chinese government then referred to as the Ming government under emperor Ming Chengzu had an intention of establishing itself as a strong yet friendly government. It intended to strengthen its relationship with the neighboring countries especially those located along the Indian Ocean. In order to achieve these objectives, it had to resort to trade with different countries, establish a Chinese presence in these countries, and astound foreign people around the Indian Ocean. In fulfilling these objectives, Zheng He, born in 1371 was chosen to lead the expedition into various countries and kingdoms (Hadingham, www.pbs.org).
Zheng He, under the orders of the emperor, conducted seven expeditions to the West seas thereby visited countries such as India, Indonesia, East Africa, Arabia, and Thailand. Zheng He acted as an envoy of China and conducted his activities in a diplomatic manner and in situations where he was attacked especially by pirates; he dealt with them in a magnificent Chinese military-style thereby showcasing Chinese superiority both in diplomacy and battle. His first expedition was in the period 1405-1407; with him were more than 300 ships that carried soldiers to assist during an attack, medicine men, interpreters, and meteorologists. In addition, the ship carried precious commodities such as silk, gold, copper, utensils, and mercury to be given out as gifts to the kings and emperors of the various countries that he would have visited. In this expedition, he covered the following regions; Champa currently known as Vietnam; Java currently known as Indonesia; the city of Palembang in South Sumatra; Malacca in the State of Malaysia; Sumatra; Cochin of India; Kollam; Lambri, and Aru. The second expedition was during 1407-1409 that he made it to the same country as the first expedition. The third expedition was in 1409-1411 where he visited Kaya and Coimbatore in addition to his first and second expedition countries he had visited. The most expeditious and ambitious journey of Zheng was his fourth trip (1413-1415) where he traveled to the Persian Gulf. In this expedition, he met numerous merchants dealing with invaluable stones and metals where he was able to collect various precious commodities for the emperor. His trip went as far as Bangladesh, and Malindi, a town in East Africa where he together with his crew saw various wild animals and consequently came back home with a Giraffe from Malindi as a gift which acted as a symbol of lasting peace and prosperity according to the Court officials. His fifth expedition (1416-1419) covered Mogadishu, a city in East Africa, Pahang, Brawa, Aden, Maldives, Sharwayn, and Hormuz in addition to all other towns he had already covered before. The sixth expedition was around (1421-1422) and the seventh expedition occurred in 1430-1433.
In total, Zheng has covered approximately thirty countries during his expeditions. Through these expeditions, China established a good relationship with various countries especially countries located along the Indian Ocean. For example, a trade relationship was established between China and Malindi where wild animals from East Africa were traded with Commodities from China. In all the expeditions, Zheng acted as an envoy a job he performed extremely well, and to a small extent acted as a commercial representative of China thereby marketing China’s commodities abroad. In every country he visited, he made a lasting impression on the leaders of those countries by presenting them with gifts such as Gold and Silver from the emperor of China and subsequently inviting them to China. He did this by skillfully adopting the native’s cultural practices that made him welcomed frequently in those countries. Consequently, his expeditions were fruitful when various countries sent their diplomats and trade representatives to China; cases in point being the Philippines and Malaysia. As a result, the economic, political, and cultural exchanges grew between China and other countries where Zheng visited.
In conclusion, Zheng represented China as a diplomat and not as a merchant thereby building on the relationship between China and various countries. However, he did not establish a strong trade relationship between China and these countries. As a result of these expeditions, Zheng established himself as the greatest explorer of all time according to many scholars.
References
China Style. Zheng He’s Great Voyages. 2009. Web.
Hadingham, Evan. Ancient Chinese Explorers. 2009. Web.
Prof. Su. Story of Zheng H. National Taiwan Ocean University. 2009. Web.
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Research topic: Zheng He. 2009. Web.