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Wellsprings
Zheng He

Zheng He

c. 1371 CEc. 1433 CE · Explorer · Kunyang, Yunnan (modern Jinning District)

Zheng He was a Chinese mariner, diplomat, and fleet commander of the early Ming dynasty. Born Ma He into a Muslim family in Yunnan, he was captured as a boy during the Ming conquest of the province, castrated, and placed in the household of the Prince of Yan, who as the Yongle Emperor later entrusted him with command of vast maritime expeditions. Between 1405 and 1433 he led seven voyages of the "treasure fleet" across Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, reaching Sri Lanka, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the coast of East Africa, carrying envoys, trade goods, and tribute. He died in 1433 during the final voyage.

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Stop 1 of 4Born

Kunyang, Yunnan (modern Jinning District)

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The world in their lifetime

Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Zheng He’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.

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