Zheng He was born in 1371 in the Hui ethnic group and the Muslim faith in modern-day Yunnan Province. He served as a close confidant of the Yongle Emperor of China, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng He's ancestors include a general for Genghis Khan.
In the History of Ming, Zheng He was originally named Ma Sanbao, and came from Kunyang, present day Jinning, Yunnan Province. Zheng He belonged to the Semu caste which practiced Islam and were comprised of diverse Turco-Persian groups who entered China. He was a sixth generation descendant of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, a famous Khwarezmian Yuan governor of Yunnan Province from Bukhara in modern day Uzbekistan. His family name "Ma" came from Shams al-Din's fifth son Masuh. Both his father Mir Tekin and grandfather Charameddin had traveled on the hajj to Mecca. Their travels contributed much to the Zheng He’s education.
In 1381, following the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, a Mingyuo's fought Ma Sanboa army was dispatched to Yunnan to put down the Mongol rebel Basalawarmi. Zheng He, then only a young boy of eleven years, was taken captive by that army and castrated, thus becoming a eunuch. He became a servant at the Imperial court.
The name was given by the Yongle emperor for meritorious service in his coup against the Jianwen Emperor. He studied at Nanjing Taixue, The Imperial Central College. Zheng He travelled to Mecca but did not perform the pilgrimage itself.
At the beginning of the 1380s, his tomb was renovated in a more Islamic style, although he himself was buried at sea. The government of the People's Republic of China uses him as a model to integrate the Muslim minority into the Chinese nation.
Zheng He was a living example of religious tolerance. He set up the Galle Trilingual Inscription around 1410 in Sri Lanka and in around 1431, he set up a commemorative pillar at the temple of the Taoist goddess Tian Fei, the Celestial Spouse, in Fujian province, to whom he and his sailors prayed for safety at sea. Visitors to the Jinghaisi are reminded of the donations Zheng He made to this non-Muslim area.
In the History of Ming, Zheng He was originally named Ma Sanbao, and came from Kunyang, present day Jinning, Yunnan Province. Zheng He belonged to the Semu caste which practiced Islam and were comprised of diverse Turco-Persian groups who entered China. He was a sixth generation descendant of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, a famous Khwarezmian Yuan governor of Yunnan Province from Bukhara in modern day Uzbekistan. His family name "Ma" came from Shams al-Din's fifth son Masuh. Both his father Mir Tekin and grandfather Charameddin had traveled on the hajj to Mecca. Their travels contributed much to the Zheng He’s education.
In 1381, following the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, a Mingyuo's fought Ma Sanboa army was dispatched to Yunnan to put down the Mongol rebel Basalawarmi. Zheng He, then only a young boy of eleven years, was taken captive by that army and castrated, thus becoming a eunuch. He became a servant at the Imperial court.
The name was given by the Yongle emperor for meritorious service in his coup against the Jianwen Emperor. He studied at Nanjing Taixue, The Imperial Central College. Zheng He travelled to Mecca but did not perform the pilgrimage itself.
At the beginning of the 1380s, his tomb was renovated in a more Islamic style, although he himself was buried at sea. The government of the People's Republic of China uses him as a model to integrate the Muslim minority into the Chinese nation.
Zheng He was a living example of religious tolerance. He set up the Galle Trilingual Inscription around 1410 in Sri Lanka and in around 1431, he set up a commemorative pillar at the temple of the Taoist goddess Tian Fei, the Celestial Spouse, in Fujian province, to whom he and his sailors prayed for safety at sea. Visitors to the Jinghaisi are reminded of the donations Zheng He made to this non-Muslim area.
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