Zheng He

Zheng He is a traditional Chinese sailor. That made voyages from 1403-1433. He was born in 1371 and was a Muslim. His original name is Mǎ Sānbǎo. He was captured at age eleven and was made an eunuch, later he became a trusted adviser and was renamed Zheng He. He made a Buddhist Mountain temple in 1410. Zheng He was put as the admiral in control of the huge fleet, and there were expeditions that had armed forces that had been overtaken. During the 1st voyage from 1405-1407 Champa,Java, Palembang, Malacca, Aru, Sumatra, Lambri, Ceylon, Kollam, Cochin, and Calicut. He also wanted to extend tributary systems, by which Chinese dynasties traditionally recognized foreign peoples. He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy , and his large army awed most would be enemies into submission. He brought back more than 30 kingdoms when all of his expeditions were done. The traditional view is that he went as far as to Iran. Of the European navigators Zheng He's expedition was half a century earlier. Materials such as fuel and exotic articles were brought back by Zheng He, it was at this time that the so called Kylin and fulu became decorative animals for the Chinese imperial garden. Zheng He led his fleet from 1405 to 1433 to voyage to the Western Sea for seven times. The initial objective of Zheng He was trying to enroll far flung states into a ming tributary system.Zheng He died at age 65 in 1435.(Paraphrased from wikipedia)