Zheng He's Voyages to the "Western Ocean"

From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He, a Chinese navigator, led a gigantic fleet on seven epic voyages to the "Western Ocean" (the Indian Ocean) and visited more than 30 countries and regions in Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and East Africa, which kicked off the Age of Discovery in the 15th century. At the time, Zheng He's fleet was unrivaled globally, but it never invaded or plundered anywhere. Instead, they communicated with all the countries and peoples along the way, treating them with courtesy and kindness. Zheng He's mission did more than convey friendly messages from China to other countries. It also helped local people build city walls and moats and fend off pirates as well as sharing advanced techniques such as shipbuilding, ox plowing, animal husbandry, rice planting, and cooking. On his fourth voyage, Zheng He passed the Arabian Peninsula and reached Africa for the first time, opening a sea trade route between China and Africa. His ships were loaded with Chinese porcelain, silk, and lacquerware, among others, which were immensely popular among the locals and became highly sought as symbols of wealth.

Zheng He's voyages to the "Western Ocean" were insurmountable in the history of ancient China in scale, number of ships, crew size, and duration. They were celebrated as milestones in world navigation history. They also helped forge friendly ties between China and Asian and African countries on political, cultural, and economic fronts. The expeditions helped others learn more about the Chinese people, and the Chinese people greatly broadened their horizons and acquired more knowledge of world geography. The peaceful connections established between ancient China, Asia, and Africa by the voyages paved the way for the Maritime Silk Road to boom for a long time.

鄭和下西洋

1405年至1433年，中國(guó)航海家鄭和率龐大船隊(duì)七次出使，造訪了東南亞、南亞、西亞、東非等地的三十多個(gè)國(guó)家和地區(qū)，拉開(kāi)了15世紀(jì)世界“大航海”活動(dòng)的序幕。盡管鄭和船隊(duì)是當(dāng)時(shí)世界上最大的船隊(duì)，但他們并沒(méi)有侵占、掠奪，而是始終對(duì)沿線所有國(guó)家、民族以禮相待，友好交往。鄭和使團(tuán)不僅傳遞國(guó)家之間的友好問(wèn)候，還幫當(dāng)?shù)厝私ㄔ斐浅亍Ⅱ?qū)逐海盜，傳授造船、牛耕、畜牧、水稻種植、烹飪等先進(jìn)技術(shù)。鄭和第四次下西洋航行時(shí)，首次繞過(guò)阿拉伯半島，抵達(dá)非洲，打通了中非之間的海路貿(mào)易。鄭和帶去的瓷器、絲綢、漆器等中國(guó)物產(chǎn)備受當(dāng)?shù)貧g迎，一時(shí)間成為財(cái)富的象征。

鄭和下西洋是中國(guó)古代規(guī)模最大、船只和海員最多、時(shí)間最久的海上遠(yuǎn)航活動(dòng)，不僅締造了世界航海業(yè)發(fā)展的里程碑，而且為發(fā)展中國(guó)和亞非各國(guó)的政治、文化、經(jīng)濟(jì)上的友好關(guān)系作出了卓越貢獻(xiàn)，增進(jìn)了各國(guó)人民對(duì)中國(guó)的了解，也大大開(kāi)闊了中國(guó)人的眼界，豐富了海外地理知識(shí)，建立了古代中國(guó)和亞非國(guó)家間的和平關(guān)系，使得海上絲綢之路得以暢通和綿延。