The Beginnings Of A Great Explorer.

Zheng He was a big Chinese explorer. He went on seven major expeditions to explore the world for the Chinese emperor and to make trades in new areas.

When he was born his name was Ma He. He was born in 1371. His father and grandfather were Muslim leaders of the Yuan Dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty took over, Chinese soldiers captured Ma He and took him as a slave to one of the Emperor's sons, Prince Zhu Di.

Ma He served the prince very well. Soon he became one the closest advisor of the prince. He won honor and the prince awarded him changing his name to Zheng He. Later the prince became the Emperor of China.

The Emperor wanted to show the rest of the world the power of the Chinese Empire. He also wanted to establish lot of trade and relations with other peoples of the world. So he put Zheng He to explore the world.

Zheng He had large navy of ships. His first voyage had 200 total ships and like 28,000 men. Some of the ships were over 400 feet long (a football field only measures 300 ft.!) They had different ships to carry treasure, horses and crew. They even had special ships to carry water! With these enormous troops all of the civilizations that Zheng He visited were amazed because of the power of the Chinese Empire.

It is believed that he died during the seventh and final trip.