The 14th century was an new and exciting time for China, during this time the Mongolian empire was being attacked and chased out of China by the Ming army. In about 1380, Zheng He’s father was killed, it’s unsure if he was just a bystander that got caught in the onslaught, or if he was helping the Mongol army. After this Zheng He was taken captive by the Ming army. He was castrated and sent to the servitude of the Prince of Yan who raised him to become a well respected individual. He became a wealthy and powerful individual and was given a new mission. He was assigned to go down the coast of China, then across the ocean to India, and this is where Zheng He’s journey began. Zheng He’s overall distance he travelled on all of his journey’s, that fact that he made China a much safer place, and the organized and amazing leadership of He on his journeys is why he should be celebrated. …show more content…
The whole journey showed the amount of hard work and dedication he put into his journey and shows the success of someone commendable. For example a map adapted from “China’s Great Armanda” National Geographic shows just how extensive all of his journeys were. The map shows that during all of his journeys, he traveled an overall distance of 19,000 miles over the 25 years that he spent on his voyages. To give some comparison, Columbus spent a total of 2 months on his voyages and accumulated around 3,000 nautical miles. This comparison shows the magnitude of Zheng He’s journeys. America gives Columbus a whole day to be celebrated while Zheng He is barely recognized around the world to this