Zheng He was a famous navigator and diplomat in the Ming Dynasty of China. Zheng He was also a eunuch. His original name was Ma He and his nickname was Sambo. Eunuchs usually have a nickname. He is from Kunyang, Yunnan. The story of Zheng He’s voyages to the West should be familiar to everyone.
In the thirteenth year of Hongwu's reign, Zheng He was brought to Nanjing by a deputy general of the Ming Dynasty, castrated as a eunuch, and later entered the Yan Palace of Yan King Zhu Di. He was only ten years old that year. Although he suffered such cruel things when he was young, Zheng He has been working hard and positive. During the Jingnan Incident, Zheng He made great contributions to King Zhu Di of Yan. This surname Zheng was also given to Zheng He by Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing. It was to commemorate Zheng He's military exploits and promote Zheng He to the eunuch of the inner palace. Unlike the ordinary eunuchs on Zheng He's voyages to the West, he was resourceful and proficient in military knowledge and tactics. Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty trusted him very much.
In the decades from 405 AD to 1433 AD, Zheng He completed seven voyages to the Western Ocean. This was also a very great operation in human history at that time. Zheng He's voyages to the West had a great impact on China and later generations, so in the sixth year of Xuande, Zheng He was named the Three Treasures Eunuch. Zheng He's Seven Voyages to the West were state actions. Zheng He was a country that met the standards. Dealing with countries along the way was conducive to stabilizing the international order in Southeast Asia and implementing China's peaceful foreign policy. To a certain extent, it also allows enemies to see how powerful China is and dare not invade easily, which is conducive to maintaining national security. In the history of world civilization, the development of private trade has also been beneficial to economic development and broadened waterways.
Zheng He's famous quotes
Zheng He was one of the greatest navigators in ancient China. Many scholars commented that Zheng He was the person who opened the world's age of great navigation. In fact, Zheng He, as the most adventurous person in ancient times, made seven voyages to the West, bringing Chinese cultural concepts and exquisite porcelain, silk and other items to China's neighboring countries and surrounding countries, which greatly contributed to China's peaceful diplomacy, trade and culture. The output had a profound impact.
Zheng He was also a very far-sighted person. In the 15th century, Zheng He realized the importance of the ocean. Zheng He said a famous saying at that time: If a country wants to be strong and prosperous, it cannot ignore the ocean. Wealth comes from the sea, and danger comes from the sea.
From this sentence we can see Zheng He’s fancy for marine resources. It is truly commendable that he had such a far-sighted vision in the 15th century. To this day, we continue to explore the ocean that holds countless treasures and resources around us. The desire to understand the ocean has inspired generations of people to dedicate themselves to the blue world.
On the other hand, Zheng He was also aware of the threat from the ocean. This danger includes not only the infinite unknown possibilities brought by the ocean, but also the natural disasters caused by the ocean itself. More importantly, Zheng He realized the dangers of those civilizations on the other side of the ocean. With this awareness, Zheng He began his ocean voyage. He took the Chinese people's idea of ??"benevolence" to China's neighboring countries to promote China's friendship and kindness, laying the foundation for China's peaceful foreign policy.
But hundreds of years later in the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Aisin Gioro did not realize the importance of the ocean and adopted a closed-door policy, causing China to lag behind the West.
Where is Zheng He from?
Zheng He’s ancestors moved to Yunnan in the early Yuan Dynasty, and their ancestors were nobles below the king of Yunnan. Zheng He was born in Kunming, Yunnan in 1371, so he should be said to be from Yunnan.
But when the Ming army went to Yunnan to clean up the old forces of the Yuan Dynasty, Zheng He, who was only eleven years old, was taken away by the then deputy commander-in-chief of the Ming army. Lan Yu castrated Zheng He and left him in the army as a soldier. Handyman. Later, Zheng He was sent to the Prince's Mansion in Nanjing. After that, Zheng He left his hometown and began his decades-long life abroad.
But unfortunately, Zheng He did not return to his hometown after his death and was buried in Nanjing. There is no historical record that Zheng He ever returned to Yunnan, but some of Zheng He's descendants still live in Yunnan. Many people are curious. Zheng He was not castrated and lost his fertility. How could he have descendants? In fact, Zheng He's descendants were inherited from his eldest brother's son Zheng En as his heir. One of Zheng Enlai's heirs has been living in Yunnan.
In fact, it doesn’t matter where Zheng He is from. What is important is that Zheng He made important contributions.
There is a very abnormal phenomenon in society at present, that is, people like to compete for the ownership of celebrities. This abnormal phenomenon is also a strange phenomenon in cultural development. But Zheng He's contribution was not just to a certain region or person, but to the development of the entire Chinese civilization and even the world's civilization. To this day, when people remember Zheng He, the question of where he was from seems no longer so important.