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Zheng He (1371–1433 or 1435), originally named Ma He, was a Hui court eunuch, mariner, explorer, diplomat, and fleet admiral during China's early Ming dynasty. Zheng commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. His larger ships stretched 400 feet in length (Columbus's Santa Maria was 85 feet). These carried hundreds of sailors on four tiers of decks. As a favorite of the Yongle Emperor, whose usurpation he assisted, he rose to the top of the imperial hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing (the capital was later moved to Beijing by the Yongle Emperor). These 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''〔Liang Qichao. "''Zuguo Da Hanghaijia Zheng He Zhuan''". 1904. 〕 in 1904.〔Hui Chun Hing. "(''Huangming Zuxun'' and Zheng He’s Voyages to the Western Oceans )". ''Journal of Chinese Studies'', No. 51 (July, 2010). Accessed 17 October 2012.〕 A trilingual stele left by the navigator was discovered on the island of Sri Lanka shortly thereafter. ==Family== Zheng He was the second son of a family from Kunyang, Yunnan.〔Levathes 1996, 61.〕 He was originally born with the name Ma He.〔〔 His family were Hui people. He had four sisters〔〔Mills 1970, 5.〕〔〔 and one older brother.〔〔 Zheng He was born into a Muslim family.〔〔〔 His religious beliefs may have become all-embracing and eclectic in his adulthood.〔Ray 1987, 66.〕〔Dreyer 2007, 148.〕 According to Edward Dreyer, the Liujiagang and Changle inscriptions suggest that Zheng He's devotion to Tianfei (the patron goddess of sailors and seafarers) was the dominant faith to which he adhered, reflecting the goddess' central role to the treasure fleet.〔Dreyer 2007, 148 & 150. "() The inscriptions () devotion to Tianfei, the goddess of seafarers, had become the dominant strand in his eclectic religious heritage."〕 John Guy mentions, "When Zheng He, the Muslim eunuch leader of the great expeditions to the “Western Ocean" (Indian Ocean) in the early fifteenth century, embarked on his voyages, it was from the Divine Woman that he sought protection, as well as at the tombs of the Muslim saints on Lingshan Hill, above the city of Quanzhou." He was a great-great-great-grandson of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, a Persian who served in the administration of the Mongol Empire and was the governor of Yunnan during the early Yuan dynasty.〔Shih-Shan Henry Tsai: ''Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle''. University of Washington Press 2002, ISBN 978-0-295-98124-6, p. 38 ()〕〔Chunjiang Fu, Choo Yen Foo, Yaw Hoong Siew: ''The great explorer Cheng Ho. Ambassador of peace''. Asiapac Books Pte Ltd 2005, ISBN 978-981-229-410-4, p. 7-8 ()〕 His great-grandfather was named Bayan and may have been stationed at a Mongol garrison in Yunnan.〔 His grandfather carried the title ''hajji''.〔Dreyer 2007, 11.〕〔Levathes 1996, 61–62.〕 His father had the surname Ma and the title ''hajji''.〔〔〔 The title suggests that they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca.〔〔〔 It also suggests that Zheng He may have had Mongol and Arab ancestry and that he could speak Arabic. In the autumn of 1381, a Ming army invaded and conquered Yunnan, which was then ruled by the Mongol prince Basalawarmi, Prince of Liang.〔 In 1381, Ma Hajji (Zheng He's father) died in the fighting between the Ming armies and Mongol forces.〔 Dreyer (2007) states that Zheng He's father died at age 39 while resisting the Ming conquest.〔 Levathes (1996) states Zheng He's father died at age 37, but it is unclear if he was helping the Mongol army or just caught in the onslaught of battle.〔Levathes 1996, 62.〕 Wenming, the oldest son, buried their father outside of Kunming.〔Levathes 1996, 62.〕 In his capacity as Admiral, Zheng He had an epitaph engraved in honor of his father, composed by the Minister of Rites Li Zhigang on the Duanwu Festival of the 3rd year in the Yongle era (1 June 1405).〔Levathes 1996, 62–63.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zheng He」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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