The most outstanding navigator in the history of China.
Zheng He (137 1 year-1433), a Hui nationality, was named Zheng by Zhu Di, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Also known as "Sanbao Eunuch" (also known as "Sanbao Eunuch"), a native of Kunyang Prefecture, Yunnan Province (now Kunyang Street, Jinning District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province). China was a eunuch, navigator and diplomat in the Ming Dynasty.
Zheng He's talent has been vividly reflected in all the great undertakings he has done in his life. He has shown outstanding wisdom and talent in navigation, diplomacy, military affairs, architecture and many other aspects.
From the early years of Yongle, Zheng He turned to sailing under the arrangement of Ming Taizu Judy.
In Zheng He's early sailing activities, he was already studying and analyzing nautical charts, familiar with the navigation skills of leading stars across the ocean, familiar with all kinds of compass books in the East and West, astronomical geography, marine science, ship driving and repair.
From the third year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1405) to the eighth year of Xuande (A.D. 1433), Zheng He led a huge fleet to the Western Ocean for seven times, passing through Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, Asia and Africa, reaching as far as the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa, and covering more than 30 countries and regions in Asia and Africa.
Zheng He's voyage to the West was an unprecedented feat in the history of world navigation at the beginning of the15th century, which played a positive role in economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.
Zheng He himself showed his diplomatic ability, military strategy and spiritual quality in this historical event, and won the respect and commemoration of the world.
2. Xu Fu
Jun Fang, a native of Qin and Qi Dynasties, was a famous alchemist at that time. His hometown is still unclear. It is generally believed that he is from Xufu Town, Longkou City, Shandong Province, Ganyu County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, and Jiaonan City, Qingdao.
Xu Fu's deeds were first seen in Biography of Qin Shihuang and Biography of Hengshan in Historical Records (called "Xu" in Biography of Qin Shihuang and "Xu Fu" in Biography of Hengshan in Huainan).
According to historical records, Qin Shihuang hoped to live forever. In 2 19 BC, Xu wrote that there were three fairy mountains in the sea, Penglai, abbot and Yingzhou, where immortals lived.
So Qin Shihuang sent Xu Shiling to lead thousands of boys and girls, as well as three years of food, clothing, shoes, socks, medicines and farm tools to seek immortality in the sea, which cost a lot of money. However, Xu led many people to the sea for several years and did not find the holy mountain.
In 2 10 BC, Qin Shihuang traveled eastward. Xu explained that he was blocked by huge mackerel after going out to sea and could not sail. He asked more shooters to deal with mackerel. Qin Shihuang agreed and sent a shooter to shoot a big fish.
Later, Chui Fu led many people to the sea and came to the "Guangze Plain" (probably Kyushu, Japan). He felt that the local climate was warm, the scenery was beautiful, and the people were friendly, so he stopped being king and taught the local people the methods of farming, fishing, whaling and paper arrangement, and never came back.
Later, history books recorded that Xu Fu went to sea, but there were different opinions about where he went. The reflection "Wu Shu? Biography of Wu Sovereignty, History of the Later Han Dynasty, Biography of Dongyi and Biography of Kuodi are all recorded as, but the specific location is unknown.
In the last week of the Five Dynasties, monk Yi Chu wrote "City Wall?" Japan, for the first time, explicitly mentioned that Xu Fu finally arrived in Japan, which is today's Qin family (an ancient Japanese ferry family. ) is his descendant, and said that after Xu Fu arrived, it was called Mount Fuji Penglai.
Extended data:
First, the influence of Zheng He's voyage to the West.
1, the establishment of political order
In terms of diplomacy and military affairs, Zheng He made great achievements in his voyages to the West. While maintaining peace as a whole, Zheng He's fleet attacked the rule of Alec Kunai in Sri Lanka's Ceylon Mountains by force, wiped out Sumatra monarch Suganla who usurped the throne, punished pirate Chen Zuyi, and supported the propaganda department of Laogang ruled by overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.
Some scholars believe that Zheng He's voyage to the West enabled the Ming Dynasty to establish a comprehensive political system for China people and foreigners in Southeast Asia. This kind of political order is generally non-aggressive, because it is based on the traditional concepts of "kings are no exception" and "respecting the distance with morality".
2. Expand the tribute system.
Zheng He's fleet's voyage to the Western Ocean showed the political and military advantages of the Ming Empire, and with the stimulation of economic interests, the scale of the tribute system led by the Ming court was greatly expanded.
This tributary system is a powerful international political system, which is not hegemonic (whether military, political, economic, religious or ideological). Zheng He was also regarded as the messenger of peace in Ming Dynasty.
3. Develop overseas trade.
Zheng He's voyage to the West changed the policy of banning the sea since Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, to a certain extent, and opened up overseas trade. Zheng He's voyages to the West included tribute trade, official trade and folk trade.
Tribute trade is dominated by luxury goods (such as spices), and some scholars even think that finding overseas spices to meet domestic demand is the fundamental reason for Zheng He's voyage to the West.
4. Increase domestic production.
There is a view in academic circles that Zheng He's voyages to the West imported new craft products, raw materials and technologies for China, which affected the handicraft production in China.
For example, the reason why overseas hardwoods are hard and fine is because Zheng He went to the West to enter China, so that China craftsmen gradually accumulated rich experience in hardwood management.
In the production of ceramics, craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty used Ma Su Li Qing (also known as Su Bo Ni Qing) imported by Zheng He's voyage to the West as colorant, forming a style of harmony and blue and white.
It also absorbed the factors of Islamic culture and Persian culture, and produced new types of utensils (such as flat pots and flower watering devices) and new patterns. On the one hand, the development of cloisonne is also related to Zheng He's voyages to the West.
Second, the whereabouts of chui fook.
There is a tomb of Xu Fu in Japan, but it was built quite late. It was built when the legend of Fulai Xu Tian was introduced to Japan. Moreover, there are too many tombs of Xu Fu, such as the tomb of Yang Guifei, with dozens of back and forth, which can only increase doubts.
But Japan was inhabited and had its own culture long before Xu Fu arrived. Chui fook with the arrival of virgins, at best, just intermarry with local people to reproduce.
"A Brief History of Japan" contains: "In seventy-two years of Xiaoling, Fulai Xu was a Qin native. (Or cloud, Xu Fu led three thousand men and women, and hired three tombs and five classics. If you can't ask for medicine, stay and don't come back. Or clouds, stop at Mount Fuji. Or cloud, bear wild mountain, there is Xu Fu Temple. )"
It is said that Xu Fu took boys and girls to Japan to study, pay tribute to the Three Graves and Five Codes, and seek the elixir of life, not the elixir of life, only to be settled. In the Fuji document, it is mentioned that Fu Laixu went to Japan to assist local farmers in farming and brought some new technologies.
After arriving in Japan, Xu Fu never returned home, and he didn't get the elixir. Worried that Qin Shihuang would kill him, he asked his men and women to change their surnames to Qin, Dian, Futian, Haneda, Futai and Fukuyama.
Coincidentally, Lianyungang also has Yuntai Mountain range, and all surnames have a strange origin with mountains. There are also Japanese surnamed Qin in Shinmiya City, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, and the word "Qin" is engraved on the upstairs of some homes.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Zheng He
Baidu Encyclopedia-Xu Fu
Baidu Encyclopedia-Zheng He's Journey to the West