Editing Zheng He (section)

==Legacy==
Zheng's voyages were long neglected in official Chinese histories but have become well known in China and abroad since the publication of [[Liang Qichao]]'s ''Biography of Our Homeland's Great Navigator, Zheng He'' in 1904.<ref>Liang Qichao. "''Zuguo Da Hanghaijia Zheng He Zhuan''". 1904. {{in lang|zh}}</ref><ref name="HMZX">Hui Chun Hing.<!--sic--> "[http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/journal/articles/v51p067.pdf ''Huangming Zuxun'' and Zheng He’s Voyages to the Western Oceans]". ''Journal of Chinese Studies'', No. 51 (July 2010). Retrieved 17 October 2012.</ref>

===Imperial China===
[[File:Chen Zhang's painting of a giraffe and its attendant.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The pet giraffe of the [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah|Sultan of Bengal]], brought from the Somali [[Ajuran Sultanate|Ajuran Empire]], and later taken to China<ref>Wilson, Samuel M. "The Emperor's Giraffe", ''Natural History'' Vol. 101, No. 12, December 1992 {{cite web|url=http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/WILSON09.ART|title=Archived copy|access-date=14 April 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202235051/http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/WILSON09.ART|archive-date=2 December 2008 }}</ref> in the thirteenth year of Yongle (1415).]]

In the decades after the last voyage, Imperial officials minimized the importance of Zheng He and his expeditions throughout the many regnal and dynastic histories they compiled. The information in the [[Ming Taizong Shilu|Yongle]] and [[Ming Xuanzong Shilu|Xuande Emperors' official annals]] was incomplete and even erroneous, and other official publications omitted them completely.<ref name="HMZX"/> Although some have seen that as a conspiracy seeking to eliminate memories of the voyages,<ref name="heyhei"/> it is likely that the records were dispersed throughout several departments and the expeditions, unauthorized by and in fact counter to the [[Huang Ming Zu Xun|injunctions of the dynastic founder]], presented a kind of embarrassment to the dynasty.<ref name="HMZX"/>

State-sponsored Ming naval efforts declined dramatically after Zheng's voyages. Starting in the early 15th century, China experienced increasing pressure from the [[Northern Yuan dynasty|surviving Yuan Mongols]] from the north. The relocation of the capital to Beijing in the north exacerbated this threat dramatically. At considerable expense, China launched annual military expeditions from Beijing to weaken the Mongolians. The expenditures necessary for the land campaigns directly competed with the funds necessary to continue naval expeditions. Further, in 1449, Mongolian cavalry ambushed a land expedition personally led by the [[Zhengtong Emperor]] at [[Battle of Tumu Fortress|Tumu Fortress]], less than a day's march from the walls of the capital. The Mongolians wiped out the Chinese army and captured the emperor. The battle had two salient effects. Firstly, it demonstrated the clear threat posed by the northern nomads. Secondly, the Mongols caused a political crisis in China when they released the emperor after his half-brother had already ascended and declared the new [[Jingtai Emperor|Jingtai era]]. Not until 1457 and the restoration of the former emperor would political stability return. Upon his return to power, China abandoned the strategy of annual land expeditions and instead embarked upon a massive and expensive expansion of the [[Great Wall of China]]. In that environment, funding for naval expeditions was simply absent.

However, missions from Southeastern Asia continued to arrive for decades. Depending on local conditions, they could reach such frequency that the court found it necessary to restrict them. The ''[[History of Ming]]'' records imperial edicts forbade Java, Champa, and Siam from sending their envoys more often than once every three years.<ref name="Tata"/>

===Southeast Asia===
[[File:Miếu Nhị Phủ.jpg|thumb|The Ông Bổn Temple, built to venerate Zheng He, or Bổn Đầu Công in [[Ho Chi Minh City]], [[Vietnam]]]]

====Veneration====
[[File:Cakra Donya.JPG|thumb|The Cakra Donya Bell, a gift from Zheng He to [[Pasai]], now kept at the [[Aceh Museum]] in [[Banda Aceh]].]]

Among the [[Chinese diaspora]] in Southeast Asia, Zheng He became a figure of folk veneration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ias.umn.edu/2012/11/20/wade-geoffrey/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121211193248/http://ias.umn.edu/2012/11/20/wade-geoffrey/|first1=Geoffrey|last1=Wade|url-status=dead|title=Events – November 20, 2012: The Chinese Admiral Zheng He: Uses and Abuses of an Historical Figure|website=Institute for Advanced Study|archive-date=11 December 2012|publisher=University of Minnesota|access-date=25 November 2012 }}</ref> Even some of his crew members who happened to stay in some port sometimes did so as well, such as "Poontaokong" on [[Sulu Archipelago|Sulu]].<ref name="Tata">Tan Ta Sen & al. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vIUmU2ytmIIC&pg=PA221 Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia]''. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009. {{ISBN|978-981-230-837-5}}.</ref> The temples of the cult, called after either of his names, Cheng Hoon or Sam Po, are peculiar to overseas Chinese except for a single temple in [[Hongjian]] originally constructed by a returned [[Filipinos|Filipino]] Chinese in the Ming dynasty and rebuilt by another Filipino Chinese after the original was destroyed during the [[Cultural Revolution]].<ref name="Tata"/>

====Malacca====
The oldest and most important Chinese temple in Malacca is the 17th-century Cheng Hoon Teng, dedicated to [[Guanyin]]. During [[Dutch East Indies|Dutch colonial rule]], the head of the Cheng Hoon Temple was appointed as chief over the community's Chinese inhabitants.<ref name="Tata"/>

Following Zheng He's arrival, the sultan and the sultana of Malacca visited China at the head of over 540 of their subjects, bearing ample tribute. Sultan [[Mansur Shah of Malacca|Mansur Shah]] (r. 1459–1477) later dispatched Tun Perpatih Putih as his envoy to China, carrying a letter from the sultan to the Ming emperor. The letter requested the hand of an imperial daughter in marriage. Malay (but not Chinese) annals record that in 1459, a princess named [[Hang Li Po]] or Hang Liu was sent from China to marry the sultan. She came with 500 high-ranking young men and a few hundred handmaidens as her entourage. They eventually settled in [[Bukit Cina]]. It is believed that a significant number of them married into the local populace, creating the descendants now known as the [[Peranakan]].<ref name="malacca">{{cite book|last=Jin|first=Shaoqing|title=Zheng He's Voyages down the Western Seas|editor=Office of the People's Government of Fujian Province|publisher=China Intercontinental Press|location=Fujian, China|year=2005|page=58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmpkR6l5MaMC&pg=PA58|access-date=2 August 2009| isbn=978-7-5085-0708-8}}</ref> Owing to this supposed lineage, the Peranakan still use special honorifics: ''[[Baba (honorific)|Baba]]'' for the men and ''[[Nyonya]]'' for the women.

====Indonesia====
[[File:Stamps of Indonesia, 026-05.jpg|thumb|Stamp from [[Indonesia]] commemorating Zheng He's voyages to secure the maritime routes, usher urbanisation and assist in creating a common prosperity throughout continents and cultures.]]
[[File:Cheng Hoo1.JPG|thumb|The Zheng Hoo Mosque in [[Surabaya]].]]

The [[Indonesian Chinese|Chinese Indonesian]] community have established temples dedicated to Zheng He in [[Jakarta]], [[Cirebon]], [[Surabaya]], and [[Semarang]].<ref name="Tata"/>

In 1961, the Indonesian Islamic leader and scholar [[Hamka]] credited Zheng He for playing an important role in the development of Islam in Indonesia.<ref>Wang, Rosey Ma. "[http://210.0.141.99/eng/malaysia/ChineseMuslim_in_Malaysia.asp Chinese Muslims in Malaysia, History and Development] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717054928/http://210.0.141.99/eng/malaysia/ChineseMuslim_in_Malaysia.asp |date=17 July 2006 }}".{{unreliable source?|date=October 2012}}</ref> The ''Brunei Times'' credits Zheng He with building Chinese Muslim communities in [[Palembang]] and along the shores of [[Java]], the [[Malay Peninsula]], and the [[Philippines]]. These Muslims allegedly followed the [[Hanafi]] school in the Chinese language.<ref>{{cite news|last=Aqsha|first=Darul|title=Zheng He and Islam in Southeast Asia|url=http://www.bt.com.bn/art-culture/2010/07/13/zheng-he-and-islam-southeast-asia|access-date=28 September 2012|newspaper=The Brunei Times|date=13 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509022407/http://www.bt.com.bn/art-culture/2010/07/13/zheng-he-and-islam-southeast-asia|archive-date=9 May 2013}}</ref>

===Western scholarship===
In the 1950s, historians such as [[John King Fairbank|John Fairbank]] and [[Joseph Needham]] popularized the idea that after Zheng He's voyages China turned away from the seas due to the ''[[Haijin]]'' edict and was isolated from European technological advancements. Modern historians point out that Chinese maritime commerce did not totally stop after Zheng He, that Chinese ships continued to participate in Southeast Asian commerce until the 19th century, and that active Chinese trading with India and East Africa continued long after the time of Zheng. Moreover, [[historical revisionism|revisionist historians]] such as [[Jack Goldstone]] argue that the Zheng He voyages ended for practical reasons that did not reflect the technological level of China.<ref>{{cite web| last=Goldstone| first=Jack| title=The Rise of the West – or Not? A Revision to Socio-economic History| url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/10/114.html}}</ref> Although the Ming dynasty prohibited shipping with the ''Haijin'' edict, it was a policy of the [[Hongwu Emperor]] that long preceded Zheng He and the ban, so obviously disregarded by the [[Yongle Emperor]], was eventually lifted entirely. However, the ban on maritime shipping forced countless numbers of people into smuggling and [[wokou|piracy]]. Neglect of the imperial navy and Nanjing dockyards after Zheng He's voyages left the coast highly vulnerable to Japanese [[wokou]] during the 16th century.<ref name="Wang2013">{{cite book|author=Yuan-Kang Wang|title=Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gxVfTuKsaJQC&pg=PT286|year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-52240-3|page=286}}</ref><ref name="Grygiel2006">{{cite book|author=Jakub J. Grygiel|title=Great Powers and Geopolitical Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZjpcHnxH2QC&pg=PA153|year=2006|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8480-1|page=153}}</ref>

Richard von Glahn, a [[UCLA]] professor of Chinese history, commented that most treatments of Zheng He present him wrongly, "offer counterfactual arguments," and "emphasize China's missed opportunity" by focusing on failures, instead of accomplishments. In contrast, Glahn asserts that "Zheng He reshaped Asia" because maritime history in the 15th century was essentially the Zheng He story and the effects of his voyages.<ref name="glaan">{{cite web|url=http://www.international.ucla.edu/china/article.asp?parentid=10387|title=Zheng He's Voyages of Discovery&nbsp;– UCLA center for Chinese Study|publisher=International.ucla.edu|date=20 April 2004|access-date=23 July 2009}}</ref>

===Cultural influence===
Despite the official neglect, the adventures of the fleet captured the imagination of some Chinese with some writing novelisations of the voyages, such as the ''Romance of the Three-Jeweled Eunuch'' in 1597.<ref name="heyhei">''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UMIKjFQB98MC&pg=PA121 Blacks in Pre-Modern China]'', pp. 121–132.</ref>

On his travels, Zheng He built mosques<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Dasheng |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/427974635 |title=Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia |date=2009 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |others=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-230-837-5 |location=Singapore |page=250 |oclc=427974635}}</ref> and also spread the worship of [[Mazu]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} He apparently never found time for a [[hajj|pilgrimage]] to [[Mecca]] but sent sailors there on his last voyage. He played an important part in developing relations between China and Islamic countries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tan Ta Sen|title=Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia|year=2009|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-837-5|page=171|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIUmU2ytmIIC&pg=PA171}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gunn|first=Geoffrey C.|title=History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000–1800|year=2011|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|isbn=978-988-8083-34-3|page=117|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E10tnvapZt0C&pg=PA117}}</ref> Zheng He also visited Muslim shrines of Islamic holy men in the [[Fujian]].{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

In modern times, interest in Zheng He has revived substantially. In [[Vernor Vinge]]'s 1999 science fiction novel ''[[A Deepness in the Sky]]'', an interstellar society of commercial traders in human space are named the Qeng Ho, after the admiral. The expeditions featured prominently in [[Heather Terrell]]'s 2005 novel ''The Map Thief''. For the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages in 2005, [[China Central Television]] produced a special television series, ''[[Zheng He Xia Xiyang (TV series)|Zheng He Xia Xiyang]]'', starring [[Gallen Lo]] as Zheng He. He is also mentioned in part of the main storyline of the first-person shooter game [[Far Cry 3]]. The [[Star Trek]] series ''[[Star Trek: Picard|Picard]]'' further featured an advanced starship named USS ''Zheng He''. There was even a [[US Navy]] boat that was acquired for picket duty during [[World War II]] that was named [[USS Cheng Ho (IX-52)|''Cheng Ho'']] by its previous owner.

===Relics===
* Zheng He built the Tianfei Palace ({{zh|labels=no|t=天妃宫|p=Tiānfēigōng|l=Palace of the Celestial Wife}}), a temple in honour of the [[Chinese mythology|goddess]] [[Mazu (goddess)|Mazu]], in Nanjing after the fleet returned from its first western voyage in 1407.
* The "Deed of Foreign Connection and Exchange" ({{lang|zh|通番事跡}}) or "Tongfan Deed Stele" is located in the Tianfei Palace in [[Liuhe, Taicang]], whence the expeditions first departed. The [[stele]] was submerged and lost but has been rebuilt.
* To thank the [[Mazu (goddess)|Celestial Wife]] for her blessings, Zheng He and his colleagues rebuilt the Tianfei Palace in Nanshan, [[Changle]] County, Fujian Province as well before they left on their last voyage. At the renovated temple, they raised a stele, "A Record of Tianfei Showing Her Presence and Power" ({{zh|labels=no|t=天妃靈應之記|p=Tiānfēi Líng Yīng zhī Jì}}), discussing their earlier voyages.<ref>Fish, Robert J. "[http://www.hist.umn.edu/hist1012/primarysource/source.htm Primary Source: Zheng He Inscription]". Univ. of Minnesota. Retrieved 23 July 2009.</ref>
* The [[Galle Trilingual Inscription]] in Sri Lanka was discovered in the city of [[Galle]] in 1911 and is preserved at the [[National Museum of Colombo]]. The three languages used in the inscription were Chinese, [[Tamil language|Tamil]], and [[Persian language|Persian]]. The inscription praises [[Buddha]] and describes the fleet's donations to the famous [[Tondeswaram temple|Tenavarai Nayanar temple]] of [[Tondeswaram]] frequented by both [[Hinduism|Hindus]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref>Xinhua News Agency. "[http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/zhenhe/134661.htm A Peaceful Mariner and Diplomat]". 12 July 2005.</ref><ref>Association for Asian Studies. ''Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368{{ndash}}1644'', Vol. I. Columbia Univ. Press (New York), 1976.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledge-bank-article/china_sri_lanka_trade_and_diplomatic_relations_including_the_voyages_of_cheng_ho.pdf|title=China-Sri Lanka: Trade and Diplomatic Relations including the voyages for Cheng Ho|first=B. E. S. J.|last=Bastiampillai|website=UNESCO Silk Roads}}</ref>
* Zheng He's tomb in Nanjing has been repaired and a small museum built next to it, but his body was buried at sea off the [[Malabar Coast]] near Calicut, in western India.{{sfn|Levathes|1996|p=172}} However, his sword and other personal possessions were interred in a Muslim tomb inscribed in [[Arabic]]. The tomb of Zheng He's assistant [[Hong Bao]] was recently unearthed in Nanjing as well.
* Seven large sunken ships were found in the sea near [[Dongsha Island]], which were confirmed to belong to Zheng He's fleet. The types of the seven sunken ships were Shachuan (沙船), Fuchuan (福船), and Zhanzuochuan (戰座船).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nsysu.edu.tw/p/404-1000-52738.php?Lang=zh-tw |title=打撈鄭和沉船 撈船 有宣示主權意義 再造鐵達尼傳奇 內政部委託國內學術單位進行海洋考古作業 初期探勘將花費數億元 |author=中國時報 |date=1 January 2004 |publisher=National Sun Yat-sen University |language=Chinese |accessdate= |quote= |archive-date=21 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121125614/https://www.nsysu.edu.tw/p/404-1000-52738.php?Lang=zh-tw |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Commemoration===
In the People's Republic of China, 11 July is [[China National Maritime Day|Maritime Day]] ({{lang|zh|中国航海日}}, ''Zhōngguó Hánghǎi Rì'') and is devoted to the memory of Zheng He's first voyage. Initially [[Kunming Changshui International Airport]] was to be named Zheng He International Airport.

In 2015, [[Emotion Media Factory]] dedicated a special multimedia show "Zheng He is coming" for amusement park [[Romon U-Park]] ([[Ningbo]], China). The show became a finalist of the amusement industry prestigious Brass Rings Awards by [[IAAPA]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blooloop.com/news/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923192214/http://www.blooloop.com/news/emotion-media-factory-multimedia-romon-u-park/29189|url-status=dead|title=Theme Park, Museum, Zoo Industry News for Professionals|archive-date=23 September 2015|website=Blooloop}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.eap-magazin.de/48-News/4150,China%3A-Two-New-Multimedia-Shows-at-Romon-U-Park.html| title=China: Two New Multimedia Shows at Romon U-Park}}</ref>

Zheng He is the namesake of the [[ROCS Cheng Ho (PFG2-1103)|ROCS ''Cheng Ho'']] missile frigate in Taiwan.

The [[People's Liberation Army Navy]] ship ''[[Type 679 training ship|Zheng He (AX-81)]]'' is a Chinese [[training ship]] named for him. Like her namesake, she serves as a goodwill ambassador for China, becoming the first Chinese Navy ship to visit the United States in 1989 and completing a circumnavigation of the globe in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Zhang|first1=Xiaomin|title=Naval training ship going round the globe|url=http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-04/17/content_25160837.htm|work=China Daily|date=17 April 2012}}</ref>

The proposed [[sample-return mission|sample-return]] spacecraft ''[[Tianwen-2]]'' was originally named ''ZhengHe''. Its mission to explore [[Near-Earth object#Near-Earth asteroids|Near-Earth asteroid]] [[469219 Kamoʻoalewa|2016 HO3]] is scheduled to launch in 2025.