TheHistoricalSignificanceofZhengHe'sVoyagesInthe28yearsafterAD1405,ZhengHeledthefleetforsevenvoyagestotheWesternOcean.TheroutecrossedtheIndianOceanfromtheWesternPacificOceantoWestAsiaandtheeastcoastofAfrica,passingthroughmorethan30countriesandregions.Hesailed87yearsearlierthanColumbusdiscoveredtheAmericancontinent,92yearsearlierthanDaGamaand114yearsearlierthanMagellan.SincethefireinBeijing’sForbiddenCityinthe19yearsofDamingYongleburnedmostofthematerialsofZhengHe’swesternworld,thepeopleofthecountrycannotseeittoday.Inthehistoryoftheworld’snavigation,heopenedadirectroutetothePacificoceanandtheIndianOceanandotheroceans.600yearsago,from1405,in28years,ZhengHeledmorethan200vesselsoftheChineseMingDynastytosailontheworldseasandvisitedvariouscountries.AccordingtoDr.Needham,awell-knownBritishhistorianandHarvardUniversity,thetotalnumberofshipsownedbytheMingDynastyofChinain1420shouldnotbelessthan3,800,whichexceedsthetotalnumberofEuropeanshipsatthetime.Today'sWesternscholarsandexpertsalsoadmittedthatforthecountriesoftheworldatthetime,thefleetledbyZhengHewasunparalleledinscaleandstrength.ShowcasingthestrengthofChina’snationalpowerintheearlyMingDynasty,China’snavymadeitswayacrosstheoceansandachievedatributetoallnations,andtheprosperouseratracedtheHanandTangdynasties.ZhengHehadvisitedover30countriesincludingJava,Sumatra,Sulu,Pahang,TrueWax,Guri,Siam,Adan,Tianfang,Zuofar,Hulundus,Mugudu,etc.ItreachestheeastcoastofAfrica,theRedSea,MeccaandmayhavebeentoAustralia.TheserecordsallrepresentthepeakofChina'sseafaringexpedition,morethaneightyyearsbeforeWesternexplorersDaGama,Columbusandothers.Atthattime,theMingDynastywasleadingtheWestinthesameperiodoftimeintermsofnavigationtechnology,fleetsize,distance,duration,andareasofinvolvement,creatingmiraclesinthehistoryofworldnavigation.InthehistoricalsignificanceofZhengHe’stravelingtotheWest,therearemanyinterpretationsthatgobeyondnavigation.Inthelong-termimpactofoverseaspoliticalinterventionbyZhengHe’sWesternandWesterncounterparts,themostimportantthingistomanipulatetheStraitsofMalacca(themainchannelfortradebetweenChinaandthesea)andchoosetohelptherobber’shead,Berry’sfan,Suzy,in1409.ZhengHeawardedhiscountryandroyalrobe.BerryFaisalhadpersonallypaidtributetoChina,makingitastrongandprosperouscommercialcenterintheMalaccaswamp
