Zheng He: First Voyage ~Mariah L

I am Zheng He and I am a Chinese explorer. I was assigned to explore for China and I was the admiral to the emperor. I went towards India but along the way I found myself in Indonesia and Champa (which nowadays people refer to as Vietnam) to trade. My first voyage was very successful and I even defeated a pirate named Chen Zuyi! In Champa, the people gave rare aloe wood, rhinoceros horn, and elephant ivory as tribute to give to the Emperor. I also traded silk for spices in Java and traded coral, pepper, pearls, and precious jewels with merchants in India.  The trade went smoothly and there were no conflicts until I came upon a pirate in the Straits of Malacca named Chen Zuyi. I battled and captured him. He was then taken to Nanjing and executed. I had help from a Chinese inhabitant of Palembang in Sumatra. That man was then made a ruler who was loyal to the Ming, and in turn China gave protection.In this way, China had some control over foreign lands. In my travels, my country mainly gained many unique trade items. In my first voyage, they did not lose control. I mainly went for trade and to make stronger bonds with those unions. After I left from my first voyage in India and my other stops, the relationship with the country I left behind, because of the defeat of Chen Zuyi, was rather friendly.

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The Voyages of Zheng He- Danielle Hickman

I Zheng He was born the year 1371 as Ma Sanbao in Yunnan Province, China. My family is Muslim and my grandfather, dad, and I have all made the pilgrimage to Mecca. I have been on several expedition, which consisted of hundreds of ships and thousands of crew and soldiers, but not all were used on each expedition. I have explored Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, and the east coast of Africa.

Some people did not approve of the voyages because they felt that they were violent and effected China. People thought that the voyages produced little benefits for China, and they opposed such wastes of our nation's resources.

In 1405 I sailed for the Indian Ocean for the sake of China. Along the way, me and my crew picked up exotic products and treasures and arranged for foreign embassies to visit the Ming capital at Nanjing. We stopped in Calicut, which was an important destination because of the pepper trade.

As a result of the explorations, I picked up several ambassadors from the lands and brought them back to China to strengthen the political ties established between the Ming and such places as Sumatra and India. The exploration heightened Chinese prestige, increased trade, added more countries to the Ming tribute system and increased China's foreign contacts. And know we are able to trade with Indian and it has helped us gain more knowledge on the word.

Sources:

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