I'm Mr. Beat
87 years before Christopher Columbus sailed for Spain to the “New World,” a Muslim dude from China set sail for a new world.
Columbus had 3 ships. This dude had 317, and some of his ships were twice as big as Columbus’ ships.
Columbus had a crew of 87. This dude had 30,000.
Columbus traveled 4,000 miles (6400 km). This dude traveled 7,000 (11,000 km).
And this dude didn’t steal resources from foreign lands or take over these foreign lands quite like Columbus did.
In fact, instead, he gave pretty gifts and brought folks home to introduce them to his family.
His name was Zheng He, and here is the story of his voyages.
At the beginning of the 1400s, China was the top dog in the world.
This was when it was known as the Great Ming Empire, named after the ruling Ming dynasty.
The third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di aka the Yongle Emperor, wanted the world to know how strong China was.
He had an aggressive foreign policy, leading military campaigns against the Mongolian tribes to the north and west.
Di also brought back the traditional tribute system, which said countries on China’s borders all had to recognize China as their boss and basically kiss his feet.
These countries would give gifts to China, and in return China offered its protection and access to goods.
Di sent his favorite generals to meet with the Manchurian people to the north, the Koreans and Japanese to the east, and Vietnamese to the south.
To the southwest and west, however, he had a different idea in mind.
He decided to send out a gigantic naval expedition, and he chose his buddy Zheng He to lead it.
Di and He went way back, since they were kids.
After He’s father died resisting the Great Ming Empire, He was captured and promptly castrated and forced to be a servant.
But as a servant is when he became friends with Di.
Eventually, He became one of Di’s most trusted generals.
So hey, it DOES pay to have friends in high places.
In 1405, China had the best naval technology and the largest ships in the world.
They had the best ships, man.
It was during this time that Di sent Zheng He off on his first expedition.
Their mission was not only to go forth and show everyone how awesome they were and collect tribute, but also to explore new lands, ideas and products.
Zheng He commanded 317 of the world’s most advanced ships and around 28,000 men.
On board, sailors, builders and maintenance workers, soldiers, diplomats, doctors, and even astronomers and religious leaders.
Oh, also on board, the finest Chinese goods, as well as a bunch of gold and silver. Yep, they were all about that bling.
The expedition went to modern day central Vietnam, Thailand, the island of Java, along the Straits of Malacca, and ended up on the southwest coast of India in Calicut.
And yes, everywhere they went, the people they visited were very impressed.
Some of the people joined He to return to China with the expedition.
On their return to China in 1407, Zheng He even found the time to stop an attempted pirate uprising in Sumatra, bringing the pirate who led the whole thing back to Nanjing for punishment.
But the same year He got back, he sent a second expedition, directing 68 ships back to Calicut to go to a big party celebrating the inauguration of a new king.
In October 1409, He began his third expedition, this time joining them in person.
Oh, and with 30,000 troops. You’ll find out why shortly.
He went to a lot of the same places he went the first time, but also to Sumatra.
On his way back, he also got into a bit of a tussle with King Alagonakkara of Ceylon, which is today known as Sri Lanka.
Well, despite being outnumbered, He defeated Alagonakkara’s soldiers and even captured HIM, taking HIM back to Nanjing as prisoner.
In 1413, Zheng He led a fourth expedition, going further than no Chinese man had gone before.
All the way to the Persian Gulf, as matter of fact.
In addition to visiting many of the same spots they previously visited, He and his 63 ships headed west to Hormuz.
Some of the fleet then went south down the coast of modern-day Oman and Yemen.
Some of them went up to Mecca and then Egypt, while the rest of the fleet when further down the east coast of Africa into modern-day Somalia, Kenya, and even all the way down to modern Mozambique.
Holy crap, that’s far. When Zheng He and the rest of his boys returned to China in 1415,
they had collected representatives from 30 different countries, all of them going to China to honor Zhu Di.
Two years later, He set out on a fifth expedition mostly to return 17 leaders of different countries throughout South Asia.
They were homesick, you know?
The expedition returned to the Persian Gulf, with this time He venturing down to the east coast of Africa himself.
He went to Aden and modern-day Somalia and Kenya.
Usually when they arrived the locals were like…”what the heck are YOU doing here? Go away!"
But each time, Zheng He and his men were able to calm them down and basically say “dude, we’re not here to colonize. We’re here to trade, show off, and recruit more visitors to pay tribute to our emperor.”
And indeed he collected more representatives somehow to come back with him in 1419.
In 1421, He set out on his sixth expedition again mostly to return the new folks who had visited China.
Again, they went all the way to the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the east coast of Africa.
He went home early on this trip after he sent a fleet to head as far as modern day Mozambique again.
In 1424, Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor, died, and the future of these expeditions was suddenly in jeopardy.
His successor, his son Zhu Gaochi, aka the Hongxi Emperor, wasn’t too excited about keeping them going and put them on hold.
But Gaochi didn’t last too long, dying of a heart attack the next year.
His son, Zhu Zhanji, aka the Xuande Emperor and Di’s grandson, granted Zheng He one final voyage.
The seventh and final expedition set out in 1431, and felt like a farewell tour.
It featured over 100 ships and 27,000 men, hitting all the major ports in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean and going back to the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and East Africa.
Some historians believe that on the trip home, things took a turn for the worse for Zheng He.
He apparently died in Calicut, India in the spring of 1433.
They buried his body at sea and the fleet returned to China that summer.
Zheng He’s official grave still stands in Nanjing, even though his body never made it there.
The Ming dynasty ended all voyages after that, shifting its dwindling resources to the north to focus on keeping the Mongols out.
You know, rebuilding a great wall
Trump - a big, beautiful, powerful wall
to keep them out. Stuff like that.
The voyages of Zheng He made it as far as 7,000 miles, or 11,000km away from home.
However, even though they traveled great distances, they weren’t really exploring much.
The land they went to was largely known to them before.
Some historians talk trash about the voyages of Zheng He, saying they had no value other than propping up the emperor’s image.
However, there is no doubt those expeditions helped greatly extend China’s political influence in the region for a big chunk of the 1400s and beyond.
Little did China know that countries like Spain and Portugal would be doing something similar in another part of the world a few decades later, but unlike China, Spain and Portugal built giant empires.
So yeah this is part of a huge collaboration of a ton of history YouTubers.
It’s called Operation Odysseus, and we’ve all been planning this thing for months.
We're looking at different historical periods, looking at maritime history.
and I chose the Early Modern Period.
as well as other YouTubers, such as Cogito, History with Hilbert, and Brandon F.
And the four of us are in a playlist
of the Early Modern Period. You can check it out below or up there right now.
And why stop there? There are a total of 17
That's right. 17 history YouTube channels
all participating in this maritime history collaboration
Just check them all out, ok?
You don't need to sleep anymore. Don't worry about sleeping.
Just go check them all out, beginning right now. I dare you. Go ahead. Do it.