It is a fact that Zheng He of Turk ethnic origin, had Y-DNA Haplogroup L1a-M76. In the 15th Century AD, Zheng He executed dozens of missions/voyages to some regions such as Indonesia, Madagascar, Somalia. It is a fact that Zheng He and his crew/team brought Islam(or at least caused for Islam to be dominant) into these regions.
Zheng He had the typical noble Turk mental character, he brought peace in the regions he managed or ruled, justice was performed equally for the complete population. For example, Zheng He played such an important role in the history of Indonesia, that even today some people in Indonesia consider Zheng He as a GOD.
The people in Indonesia speak a Malagasy language. The people in Madagascar also speak a Malagasy language. A similar genetic structure was found among the samples from Indonesia, Madagascar and Somalia/Ethiopia at the studies Capredon et al 2013, Kusuma et al 2014, Tofonelli et al 2009, and C. A. Plaster et al. The high frequencies of haplogroup O found in these samples, shows that there was a migration conducted of Muslim Turks from China into these countries.
Zheng He was a Muslim of Central Asian Turk ethnic origin, his Y-DNA haplogroup was L1a-M76. The Y-DNA mutation LT-P326 is the direct ancestor of the Y-DNA haplogroups L1a-M76 and T1a-M70. This fact shows that both haplogroups are of Turk origin.
The existance of these two haplogroups L1a and T1a(together with J1, J2, R1a and R1b) among the Indonesian and Madagascar samples, shows that the members of these haplogroups are brought by the Muslim Central Asian Turks whom were ethnically related to Zheng He. The same Muslim Central Asian Turks brought these haplogroups also into Somalia. The Dravidians(their homeland is Central Asia, migrated later to India) that speak a language closely related to Altaic and Turk and Proto Turk(Sumerian) languages, could also have played an earlier role(maybe during the time of the Sumerians) in the transportation of these haplogroups into these regions. Not to forget the fact that the Ottoman Turks ruled the regions around Somalia for a long time.
Some of the haplogroup O members could be associated with Han Chinese people. The haplogroup B and some of the haplogroup E members could be associated with African people.
The finding at the
M. A. Gubina et al 2013 study, of 38,8%(19/49) of haplogroup K*(xL,N,O,P) among the Muslim Kosh-Agach tribes of the Kazakh Turks who live in the Altai Republic, confirms the fact that haplogroup T1a, together with L1a, G, H, J1, J2, R1a and R1b is of Muslim Central Asian Turk ethnic origin.
The Gonzalez et al 2012 study finds a high frequency of R1b1 among the Guinean nation. 16.97%(19/112) of R1b1a* and R1b1b2 was found among the Guineans. Also other West Eurasian and East Eurasian haplogroups(not counting the E1b results) were found. 1.79%(2/112) of G, and 0.89%(1/112) of N1c were found, which makes it a total of 18.76% of West Eurasian haplogroups among the West-African Guineans.
The Ming Voyages
IntroductionFrom
1405 until 1433, the Chinese imperial eunuch
Zheng He led seven ocean expeditions for the Ming emperor that are unmatched in world history. These missions were astonishing as much for their distance as for their size: during the first ones, Zheng He traveled all the way from
China to Southeast Asia and then on to India, all the way to major trading sites on India's southwest coast. In his fourth voyage, he traveled to the Persian Gulf.
But for the three last voyages, Zheng went even further, all the way to the east coast of Africa.
This was impressive enough, but Chinese merchants had traveled this far before. What was even more impressive about these voyages was that they were done with hundreds of huge ships and tens of thousands of sailors and other passengers. Over sixty of the three hundred seventeen ships on the first voyage were enormous "Treasure Ships," sailing vessels over 400 hundred feet long, 160 feet wide, with several stories, nine masts and twelve sails, and luxurious staterooms complete with balconies. The likes of these ships had never before been seen in the world, and it would not be until World War I that such an armada would be assembled again. The story of how these flotillas came to be assembled, where they went, and what happened to them is one of the great sagas — and puzzles — in world history.
The Emperor and His AmbitionsThe Ming dynasty (1368-1644) was a Chinese dynasty with a Chinese imperial family, as distinct from the dynasty that came before it (the Mongol, or Yuan, dynasty of Chinggis and Khubilai Khan) or the one that followed it (the Manchu, or Qing, dynasty). To demonstrate Ming power, the first emperors initiated campaigns to decisively defeat any domestic or foreign threat. The third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di or the Yongle Emperor, was particularly aggressive and personally led major campaigns against Mongolian tribes to the north and west. He also wanted those in other countries to be aware of China's power, and to perceive it as the strong country he believed it had been in earlier Chinese dynasties, such as the Han and the Song; he thus revived the traditional tribute system. In the traditional tributary arrangement, countries on China's borders agreed to recognize China as their superior and its emperor as lord of "all under Heaven." These countries regularly gave gifts of tribute in exchange for certain benefits, like military posts and trade treaties. In this system, all benefited, with both peace and trade assured. Because the Yongle emperor realized that the major threats to China in this period were from the north, particularly the Mongols, he saved many of those military excursions for himself. He sent his most trusted generals to deal with the Manchurian people to the north, the Koreans and Japanese to the east, and the Vietnamese in the south. For ocean expeditions to the south and west, however, he decided that this time China should make use of its extremely advanced technology and all the riches the state had to offer. Lavish expeditions should be mounted in order to overwhelm foreign peoples and convince them beyond any doubt about Ming power. For this special purpose, he chose one of his most trusted generals, a man he had known since he was young, Zheng He.
The Trusted Admiral Zheng He
Zheng He was born Ma He to a Muslim family in the far southwest, in today's Yunnan province. At ten years old he was captured by soldiers sent there by the first Ming emperor intent on subduing the south. He was sent to the capital to be trained in military ways. Growing up to be a burly, imposing man, over six feet tall with a chest contemporaries said measured over five feet around, he was also extremely talented and intelligent. He received both literary and military training, then made his way up the military ladder with ease, making important allies at court in the process. When the emperor needed a trustworthy ambassador familiar with Islam and the ways of the south to head his splendid armada to the "Western Oceans," he naturally picked the talented court eunuch, Ma He, whom he renamed Zheng. Preparing the FleetChina had been extending its power out to sea for 300 years. To satisfy growing Chinese demand for special spices, medicinal herbs, and raw materials, Chinese merchants cooperated with Moslem and Indian traders to develop a rich network of trade that reached beyond island southeast Asia to the fringes of the Indian Ocean. Into the ports of eastern China came ginseng, lacquerware, celadon, gold and silver, horses and oxen from Korea and Japan. Into the ports of southern China came hardwoods and other tree products, ivory, rhinoceros horn, brilliant kingfisher feathers, ginger, sulfur and tin from Vietnam and Siam in mainland southeast Asia; cloves, nutmeg, batik fabrics, pearls, tree resins, and bird plumes from Sumatra, Java, and the Moluccas in island southeast Asia. Trade winds across the Indian Ocean brought ships carrying cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and especially pepper from Calicut on the southwestern coast of India, gemstones from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), as well as woolens, carpets, and more precious stones from ports as far away as Hormuz on the Persian Gulf and Aden on the Red Sea. Agricultural products from north and east Africa also made their way to China, although little was known about those regions.
By the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, China had reached a peak of naval technology unsurpassed in the world. While using many technologies of Chinese invention, Chinese shipbuilders also combined technologies they borrowed and adapted from seafarers of the South China seas and the Indian Ocean. For centuries, China was the preeminent maritime power in the region, with advances in navigation, naval architecture, and propulsion. From the ninth century on, the Chinese had taken their magnetic compasses aboard ships to use for navigating (two centuries before Europe). In addition to compasses, Chinese could navigate by the stars when skies were clear, using printed manuals with star charts and compass bearings that had been available since the thirteenth century. Star charts had been produced from at least the eleventh century, reflecting China's concern with heavenly events (unmatched until the Renaissance in Europe).
An important advance in shipbuilding used since the second century in China was the construction of double hulls divided into separate watertight compartments. This saved ships from sinking if rammed, but it also offered a method of carrying water for passengers and animals, as well as tanks for keeping fish catches fresh. Crucial to navigation was another Chinese invention of the first century, the sternpost rudder, fastened to the outside rear of a ship which could be raised and lowered according to the depth of the water, and used to navigate close to shore, in crowded harbors and narrow channels. Both these inventions were commonplace in China 1,000 years before their introduction to Europe.
Chinese ships were also noted for their advances in sail design and rigging. Bypassing the need for banks of rowers, by the third and fourth centuries the Chinese were building three- and four-masted ships (1000 years before Europe) of wind-efficient design. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries they added lug and then lateen sails from the Arabs to help sail against the prevailing winds.
By the eighth century, ships 200 feet long capable of carrying 500 men were being built in China (the size of Columbus' ships eight centuries later!) By the Song Dynasty (960-1279), these stout and stable ships with their private cabins for travelers and fresh water for drinking and bathing were the ships of choice for Arab and Persian traders in the Indian Ocean. The Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) encouraged commercial activity and maritime trade, so the succeeding Ming Dynasty inherited large shipyards, many skilled shipyard workers, and finely tuned naval technology from the dynasty that preceded it.
Because the Yongle emperor wanted to impress Ming power upon the world and show off China's resources and importance, he gave orders to build even larger ships than were necessary for the voyages. Thus the word went out to construct special "Treasure Ships," ships over 400 feet long, 160 feet wide, with nine masts, twelve sails, and four decks, large enough to carry 2,500 tons of cargo each and armed with dozens of small cannons. Accompanying those ships were to be hundreds of smaller ships, some filled only with water, others carrying troops or horses or cannon, still others with gifts of silks and brocades, porcelains, lacquerware, tea, and ironworks that would impress leaders of far-flung civilizations.
The Seven VoyagesThe first expedition of this mighty armada (1405-07) was composed of
317 ships, including perhaps as many as sixty huge Treasure Ships, and nearly 28,000 men. In addition to thousands of sailors, builders and repairmen for the trip, there were soldiers, diplomatic specialists, medical personnel, astronomers, and scholars of foreign ways, especially Islam. The fleet stopped in
Champa (central Vietnam) and Siam (today's Thailand) and then on to island Java, to points along the Straits of Malacca, and then proceeded to its main destination of Cochin and the kingdom of Calicut on the southwestern coast of India. On his return, Zheng He put down a pirate uprising in Sumatra, bringing the pirate chief, an overseas Chinese, back to Nanjing for punishment.The second expedition (1407-1409) took 68 ships to the court of
Calicut to attend the inauguration of a new king. Zheng He organized this expedition but did not actually lead it in person.
Zheng He did command the third voyage (1409-1411) with
48 large ships and 30,000 troops, visiting many of the same places as on the first voyage but also traveling to
Malacca on the Malay peninsula and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). When fighting broke out there between his forces and those of a small kingdom, Zheng put down the fighting, captured the king and brought him back to China where he was released by the emperor and returned home duly impressed.
The fourth voyage (1413-15) extended the scope of the expeditions even further. This time in addition to visiting many of the same sites, Zheng He commandeered his 63 ships and over 28,000 men to Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. The main chronicler of the voyages, the twenty-five year old Muslim translator Ma Huan, joined Zheng He on this trip.
On the way, Zheng He stopped in Sumatra to fight on the side of a deposed sultan, bringing the usurper back to Nanjing for execution.The fifth voyage (1417-1419) was primarily a return trip for
seventeen heads of state from South Asia. They had made their way to China after
Zheng He's visits to their homelands in order to present their tribute at the Ming Court.
On this trip Zheng He ventured even further, first to Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea, and then on to the east coast of Africa, stopping at the city states of Mogadishu and Brawa (in today's Somalia), and Malindi (in present day Kenya). He was frequently met with hostility but this was easily subdued. Many ambassadors from the countries visited came back to China with him.The sixth expedition (1421-1422) of 41 ships sailed to many of the previously visited Southeast Asian and Indian courts and stops in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the coast of Africa, principally in order to return nineteen ambassadors to their homelands. Zheng He returned to China after less than a year, having sent his fleet onward to pursue several separate itineraries, with some ships going perhaps as far south as Sofala in present day Mozambique.The seventh and final voyage (1431-33) was sent out by the Yongle emperor's successor, his grandson the Xuande emperor. This expedition had more than one hundred large ships and over 27,000 men, and it visited all the important ports in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean as well as Aden and Hormuz. One auxiliary voyage traveled up the Red Sea to Jidda, only a few hundred miles from the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. It was on the return trip in 1433 that Zheng He died and was buried at sea, although his official grave still stands in Nanjing, China. Nearly forgotten in China until recently, he was immortalized among Chinese communities abroad, particularly in Southeast Asia where to this day he is celebrated and revered as a god.The Fateful DecisionFactions at court had long been critical of the Yongle emperor's extravagant ways. Not only had he sent seven missions of the enormous Treasure Ships over the western seas, he had ordered overseas missions northeast and east, had sent envoys multiple times across desert and grassland to the mountains of Tibet and Nepal and on to Bengal and Siam, and had many times raised armies against fragmented but still troublesome Mongolian tribes to the north. He had embroiled China in a losing battle with Annam (northern Vietnam) for decades (most latterly due to exorbitant demands for timber to build his palace). In addition to these foreign exploits, he had further depleted the treasury by moving the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and, with a grandeur on land to match that on sea, by ordering the construction of the magnificent Forbidden City. This project involved over a million laborers. To further fortifying the north of his empire, he pledged his administration to the enormous task of reviving and extending the Grand Canal. This made it possible to transport grain and other foodstuffs from the rich southern provinces to the northern capital by barge, rather than by ships along the coast.
Causing further hardship were natural disasters, severe famines in Shantong and Hunan, epidemics in Fujian, plus lightning strikes that destroyed part of the newly constructed Forbidden City. In 1448, flooding of the Yellow River left millions homeless and thousands of acres unproductive. As a result of these disasters coupled with corruption and nonpayment of taxes by wealthy elite, China's tax base shrank by almost half over the course of the century.
Furthermore the fortuitous fragmentation of the Mongol threat along China's northern borders did not last. By 1449 several tribes unified and their raids and counterattacks were to haunt the Ming Dynasty for the next two centuries until its fall, forcing military attention to be focused on the north. But the situation in the south was not much better. Without continual diplomatic attention, pirates and smugglers again were active in the South China Sea.
The Ming court was divided into many factions, most sharply into the pro-expansionist voices led by the powerful eunuch factions that had been responsible for the policies supporting Zheng Ho's voyages, and more traditional conservative Confucian court advisers who argued for frugality. When another seafaring voyage was suggested to the court in 1477, the vice president of the Ministry of War confiscated all of Zheng He's records in the archives, damning them as "deceitful exaggerations of bizarre things far removed from the testimony of people's eyes and ears." He argued that "the expeditions of San Bao [meaning "Three Jewels," as Zheng He was called] to the West Ocean wasted tens of myriads of money and grain and moreover the people who met their deaths may be counted in the myriads. Although he returned with wonderful precious things, what benefit was it to the state?"
Linked to eunuch politics and wasteful policies, the voyages were over. By the century's end, ships could not be built with more than two masts, and in 1525 the government ordered the destruction of all oceangoing ships. The greatest navy in history, which once had 3,500 ships (the U.S. Navy today has only 324), was gone.
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/c ... tm#trustedEnd of an eraToward the end of his seventh voyage in 1433, the 62-year-old Zheng He died and was said to have been buried at sea. Although he had extended the wealth and power of China over a vast realm
and is even today revered as a god in remote parts of Indonesia, the tide was already turning against foreign ventures.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/an ... orers.htmlSam Poo KongSam Poo Kong (Chinese: 三保洞; pinyin: Sānbǎo Dòng), also known as Gedung Batu Temple, is the oldest Chinese temple in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. Originally established by the Chinese Muslim explorer Zheng He (also known as Sanbao), it is now shared by Indonesians of multiple religious denominations, including Muslims and Buddhists, and ethnicities, including Chinese and Javanese.The foundations of Sam Poo Kong were set when Chinese Muslim explorer Admiral Zheng He arrived in the western part of what is now Semarang via the Garang River; the year is disputed, with suggestions ranging from 1400 to 1416. After disembarking from his ships, Zheng found a cave in a rocky hillside and used it for prayer. He established a small temple before leaving Java, but having grown fond of the area his deputy Wang Jing and several crewmen remained behind. A statuette of Zheng was installed in the cave.
The original temple was reportedly destroyed in 1704, collapsing under a landslide. In October 1724 the temple was completely renovated. A new cave was also made, located next to the old one.
In the middle of the 1800s Sam Poo Kong was owned by a Mr. Johanes, a landlord of Jewish descent, who charged devotees for the right to pray at the temple. Unable to pay individual fees, the Chinese community spent 2000 gulden yearly to keep the temple open; this was later reduced to 500 gulden after worshipers complained of the expense. As this was still a heavy burden, devotees abandoned Sam Poo Kong and found a statue of Zheng He to bring to Tay Kak Sie temple, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) away, where they could pray freely.
In 1879, Oei Tjie Sing, a prominent local businessman, bought the Sam Poo Kong complex and made its use free of charge; in response, local Chinese celebrated by holding a carnival and began returning to Sam Poo Kong. The temple's ownership was transferred to the recently founded Sam Poo Kong foundation in 1924.
The temple received another full renovation in 1937. After the Japanese invasion of the Indies, the Japanese command installed electricity and provided the temple with a framed written appraisal for Zeng He. During five years of revolution after the Japanese left the newly independent Indonesia, the temple was poorly maintained and fell into disrepair.
In 1950, Sam Poo Kong was again renovated. However, beginning in the 1960s increased political instability led to its being neglected again. From 2002 to 2005 it underwent another major renovation.
The Sam Poo Kong temple complex includes five temples in a mixed Chinese and Javanese architectural style. The temples are Sam Poo Kong (the oldest), Tho Tee Kong, Kyai Juru Mudi Temple, Kyai Jangkar Temple, and Kyai Cundrik Bumi Temple. An additional worship site, Mbah Kyai Tumpeng, is also located within the complex. The buildings are spread over 3.2 hectares (7.9 acres).
Tho Tee Kong (also known as Dewa Bumi Temple), is located just within the large gate at the northern end of the complex; it is used by those who seek the blessings of the earth god Tu Di Gong. Next to Tho Tee Kong is Kyai Juru Mudi Temple, the burial site of Wang Jing Hong, one of Zheng He's deputies. It is often frequented by people looking for success in business.
The main temple is built directly in front of the cave, located south of Kyai Juru Mudi. In the cave itself are an altar, fortune-telling equipment, and a small statue of Zheng He; underneath the altar is a well that is said to never go dry and to be capable of healing various ailments. Before the 2002 renovations, the temple measured 16 by 16 metres (52 by 52 ft); it now measures 34 by 34 metres (112 by 112 ft).
Further south is the Kyai Jankar Temple, named after a sacred anchor used by Zheng He which is held inside. The temple also contains an altar to those of Zheng's crewmen who died while fulfilling their duties. The southernmost temple is Kyai Cundrik Bumi, which is used to worship a weapon used by Zheng. Nearby is Mbah Kyai Tumpeng, a prayer site used by people wishing for their well-being.
The main temple (left), Kyai Juru Mudi Temple (center), and Tho Tee Kong (right)
CarnivalEvery lunar year on the 30th day of the sixth month, the anniversary of Zheng He's arrival in Semarang, Chinese Indonesians parade statues of Zheng He, Lauw In, and Thio Ke from Tay Kak Sie to Sam Poo Kong. Started after Sam Poo Kong again became free to use, the carnival is meant to show respect to the explorers.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Poo_KongThe Rasikajy civilization in northeast Madagascar: a pre-European Chinese community?
Guido Schreurs, Sandra J.T.M. Evers, Chantal Radimilahy et Jean-Aimé RakotoarisoaMost of the tombs at Vohemar are roughly oriented east - west with the head of he deceased toward the east and facing north (Vernier & Millot 1971). The positioning of the bodies has been previously interpreted to be typical of muslim burials (Vernier & Millot 1971, Vérin 1986) and it can not be excluded that the Rasikajy at Vohemar had muslim roots. During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and later during the Ming Dynasty Chinese muslims controlled much of the trade of goods leaving China (Crick 2010).
The large Chinese fleets with hundreds of ships and thousands of crew that visited various regions of the Indian Ocean including the coasts of east Africa during the early 15th century were led by a muslim eunuch, Zheng He (Levathes 1986). Ma Huan who joined these tributary missions and wrote about them in detail (Ma Huan 1433) was also a muslim. Chinese muslim communities existed in Indonesia (e.g. Semarang, Java) in the 15th century (Suryadinata 2005). Although the majority of known soapstone objects originate from the tombs at Vohemar, a number of soapstone objects have been discovered at several other locations along
the east coast of northern Madagascar. These objects include well-shafts found South of Vohemar at Bemanevika near the mouth of the Bemarivo river and at Angolovato near the mouth of the Mahanara river (Vérin 1986) and an unfinished basin measuring 143 by 94 cm left near a quarry at Amboaimohehy (ibid.). Other soapstone objects found in the Vohemar region include a block perforated with a circular hole and used as a foundry tube (Vernier & Millot 1971 49), and a knife sharpener with part of an iron blade still attached found in a grave at Antanandava (ibid.).
About 750 km south of Vohemar, a soapstone sculpture of an animal is present in the village of Amobhitsara (e.g. Jully 1898, A. Grandidier & G. Grandidier 1908, Griffin 2009). The Malagasy refer to the statue as vatolambo (stone wild boar) or vatomasina (sacred stone). The sculpture measures 106 cm in height, is largely hollow and is described in detail by Molet & Vernier (1956), who suggest that it resembles the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus). The presence of soapstone quarries in the immediate surroundings (e.g. Griffin 2009) suggests that the sculpture was made at or near Ambohitsara and that the Rasikajy migrated along the east coast of
Madagascar. It is speculated here that the stone sculpture might have played a role in the funeral rituals of the Rasikajy. In
ancient China, the path leading to tombs of important persons was often aligned with stone sculptures representing (mythical) animals or humans, a tradition that started in the Han Dynasty and lasted well into the 20th century (Paludan & Wilkinson 1998).
http://oceanindien.revues.org/1221(2) Australia’s stories told by Zheng He Navigation ChartAmong the Chinese scholarship on Zheng He history in the 1980s, a groundbreaking study by Professor Zheng Yijun dares blazing the unbeaten path.
It boldly suggests that during the 1421 western voyage, Zheng He fleets took the old sea route of Sukatana to reach Australia and then across the Pacific Ocean to Madagascar. According to him, in the sixth expedition there were three southeast sea routes from Malacca. One of which was setting out from Malacca to Medan and then Java and Timor. According to him, the direction of the good wind changed from Northeast to Northwest after Zheng He fleets sailed across the tropics. As soon as the fleets arrived in Tuban of east Java, they can catch the Northwest wind to sail to the islands of Timor and New Guinea. At this time, in the tropical south it was when the season of Southeast monsoon began. Catching the trade winds, the fleets can sail passed Solomon Islands and enter the Pacific Ocean.
Meanwhile, during the Southeast monsoon season, they can also sail back to Java from Solomon Islands and New Guinea. During their route of return, they crossed the Coral Sea, passing the Arafura Sea and Timor Sea north of Australia to return to Java. And then from Java, they got out from the Sunda Strait heading west straight to Madagascar. (10)
Professor Zheng also thinks Zheng He Navigation Charts show a sea route from Java and Gillimum that can be extended to Australia and Madagascar. This sea route reflected the fact that during the sixth mission, a division of Zheng He fleets from Malacca was coasting along Java - 2 - across southeast of the tropics to explore Timor Sea and Arafura Sea. (11) In addition, Zheng Yi Jun also cites a Ming author, Sheng Mao Sheng’s Haiguo Guangji [Notes on marine countries] as evidence. According to an old man with the surname Zhou, who joined Zheng He naval expedition during the reign of Xuande Emperor, they had visited Xiwen Dala or Sumatra, Su Ji Dan or Sukatana, Manali or Maraje meaning the kingdom of the queen in the East Coast of today Darwin. (12) Needless to say, here the vast regions of subsidiary states under the entry of Sukatana, like I said before, started from Sunda Islands in the western most to Timor Island in the eastern most. It was the same seas route from Java that took Wang Da Yuan to Timor, New Guinea and Australia in the late Yuan times. Moreover, based on the surviving document of Zheng Wei Pian[compass bearings sea chart book] from the early Ming dated at 1411, Professor Zhang even speculates about Yang Ming division of Zheng He fleets making a global circumnavigation during the period of 4 years when they were reportedly blown off the course in a gusty storm at the ocean named as the Tortoise Ocean and sailing across the uncharted seas. From 1421 to 1425, they had set sail crossing the Indian Ocean to the south of the tropics, entered deep into the Atlantic Ocean and coasted along Southwest Africa, and then turned east into the Pacific Ocean and eventually arriving at the coasts of Australia.(13)
http://www.gavinmenzies.net/Evidence/5- ... gust-2006/The Sultanate of Mogadishu (Somali: Saldanadda Muqdisho, Arabic: سلطنة مقديشو) (fl. 10th-16th centuries) was a medieval trading empire in Somalia.
Archaeological excavations have recovered many coins from
China, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. The majority of the Chinese coins date to the
Song Dynasty, although the
Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty "are also represented," according to Richard Pankhurst.
In 1416, Mogadishu sent ambassadors to pay tribute to the Ming dynasty.
The Yongle Emperor dispatched Admiral Zheng He to return ambassadors to the Somali city, with Zheng He revisiting Mogadishu along with Barawa in 1430 during his fourth trip. He would also return during his fifth, sixth, and seventh voyages in the Indian Ocean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_MogadishuFinally I have understood the “Zheng He’s Fleets Nautical Chart”
Zheng He’s Fleets Had Reached Australia Before 1450
by Professor Zhiqiang ZhangAfter “decoding” that the names of places in the coastal area on the “Zheng He Nautical Chart” are respectively “ Ji’er’wa ”, “ Suo’fa’la” and “Ma’er’jia’shi” (translator note: sounds in Chinese with ’separating each character), I deduced that “Malindi” on the Chart is not in Kenya, nor in Tanzania, but at the south tip of Africa. At that time, I was taking a tumble(meaning suddenly realized something). Actually there were three places all with the name of Malindi along the south-east coast of Africa in early 15th century.
Zheng He’s Fleets not only had been to Somalia, Mozambique, Madagascar, but also had been to Malindi at the south tip of South Africa. This indeed shows that Zheng He’s Fleets had been to the south tip of Africa more than half a century earlier than the Portuguese navigators. The Nautical Chart itself is the evidence. I couldn’t help jumping joyfully!
Lessons From Zheng He: Love of Peace and Multiculturalism Chapter 9
Choirul MahfudViolence, radicalism and terrorism are issues that have recently raised
concern in many different parts of the world. These have become intractable
problems that challenge our civilisation. Efforts to fiht against violence
and terrorism in order to achieve peace are indispensable. The question
is where should we begin? One solution is to learn from Zheng He, one
of the world’s most outstanding historical fiures. He set an example to
show how to promote peace, tolerance, mutual understanding and even
respect for religious and cultural diversity (multiculturalism).
In Indonesia, Zheng He is also popularly known as Sampokong,
or Cheng Ho. He became an Admiral, diplomat, and explorer during the
Ming dynasty (1368-1644) in China. His original name was Ma He and
he was born in 1371 into a Muslim family in Kunyang, Yunnan province.
He was captured by the Yuan army in 1382, and impressed into the service
of one of the imperial princes, Zhu Di, in 1382. In this capacity he helped
Zhu Di become Emperor Yongle, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
In gratitude for his service, Zhu Di appointed him Grand Imperial Eunuch
and changed his name to Zheng He. Yongle instructed him to command
a series of naval expeditions to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean
(Stuart-Fox 2003). His flet was the largest in history before the First
World War, and travelled more than 35 countries during his voyages.1
Zheng He’s mission was certainly a diplomatic one, and may also have
had scientifi and commercial aims as well.
His voyages pre-dated those of the European explorers, such as
Columbus and Vasco da Gama. His flet was much larger than Columbus’
flet (two hundred ships compared to only three), and his ships were also
said to have been much larger. His seven expeditions totalled a distance of more than 50,000 kilometers. It was during these expeditions that Admiral
Zheng He put into practice a multiculturalism approach. He showed great
respect for the cultural diversity of the local communities he encountered,
including their languages, cultural values, religions, and artefacts.2
The Indonesian historian Slamet Muljana (2005) said that few
diplomatic efforts were made between China and other countries during
the Yuan dynasty. However, the Ming dynasty promoted diplomacy on
a grand scale, mainly through Zheng He’s voyages. His flets travelled
to Aceh, Palembang, Cirebon, Semarang and Gresik. He established
diplomatic relations with the Majapahit Kingdom in Central Java. Zheng
He may have been responsible for the introduction of the Chinese system
of government and politics to the Javanese kingdom.
According to Muljana (2005), when the Javanese Hindu kingdom,
Majapahit Kingdom, was in decline, the Chinese Muslim community,
under Zheng He’s guidance, helped the native people establish an Islamic
Demak Kingdom in the archipelago. According to Pong (2009) during
one of his voyages, Zheng He intervened in a civil war in Java and
established a new king there. Muljana added that after Zheng landed in
Semarang in 1413 to repair his ship, he prayed daily, and the place where
he prayed was later called Sam Po Kong. Oei Thiam Hien, caretaker of
the Zheng He Temple in Semarang, was quoted by local media as saying
that Sam Po Kong was thought to have originally been a mosque, but was
later turned into a Chinese temple and named after Zheng He.
Indonesian religious leader and Islamic scholar, Hamka (1961),
was quoted by Rosey Wang Ma that the development of Islam in Indonesia
and Malaya is intimately related to Admiral Zheng He, a Chinese Muslim.
In Melaka, he is said to have built granaries, warehouses and a stockade.
Some of his crew members, who may have been Muslim, stayed behind.3
Tan (2009) explained that Zheng He’s voyages took place within
the larger context of “culture contact” between China and the West. He
illustrates the peaceful impact of culture contact, and gave an account of how such cultural inflences led to transmissions, conversions and
transferences of religion and cultural practices. The process involved
Muslims from Western China and Yunnan as well as Chams, Javanese,
Malays, Arabs and Indians. However, many Chinese in the Malay world
chose to retain their non-Muslim cultural traits.
Tan (2009) showed evidence to argue in favour of the existence
of the “Third Wave”, i.e. “the Chinese Wave”, in the spread of Islam to the
Southeast Asian region - the two other major waves were the India-Gujarat
Wave and the Middle East Wave. Muljana (2005) suggests that Zheng He
built Chinese Muslim communities fist in Palembang, and then in San Fa
(West Kalimantan), subsequently he founded similar communities along the
shores of Java, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines. These communities
propagated the Islamic faith according to the Hanaf school of thought.
Early Ming rhetoric makes abundantly clear the intention of the
dynasty to re-establish the Chinese ‘imperial order’. The lofty tolerance,
the benevolence and impartiality, masked a reality with regard to power
that the Ming were determined should be well understood. Power had
always formed a crucial dimension of the hierarchical Chinese world
order. China stood at the centre of the world, not just because of its
superior civilisation and the virtue of the emperor, but because of its
imperial power—to command, enforce, and punish if necessary. Zheng
He’s kid-glove diplomacy only masked his capacity to enforce the order
he represented (Stuart-Fox 2003, pp. 87-89).
It is clear that we can learn some important lessons from Zheng
He. Firstly, it is with regard to his love of peace and anti-violence.
Secondly, he set an example for us all to follow by paying respect to
the spirit of multiculturalism and building social solidarity, without
favouring the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia or discriminating against the
local community at the time. We need to emulate Zheng’s spirit of broadminded tolerance of each other’s differences to create opportunities
through increased cooperation. The story of Zheng He’s expeditions is rich in spiritual wealth, and we can learn much from him in the area of
peaceful diplomacy and non-violence in order to achieve multiculturalism
and pluralism for all.
REfERENCES
Berlie, Jean A. Islam in China: Hui and Uyghurs Between Modernization
and Sinicization. Bangkok Thailand: White Lotus Press, 2004.
Hamka. Sedjarah Umat Islam Jilid 1 dan 2. [History of Islamic
Followers, First and Second edition]. Jakarta: Nusantara, 1961.
Ma Huan and J.V.G. Mills, tr. Ying-yai Sheng-lan: The Overall Survey of
the Ocean’s Shores (1433). Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1997.
Muljana, Slamet. The Collapse of the Hinadu-Javanese Kingdom and the
Rise of Islamic States in the Archipelago. Yogyakarta: LKIS, 2005.
Pong, David. ed. Encyclopedia of Modern China, Farmington Hills, MI:
Gale of Cengage Learning/Scribners’ Sons, 2009.
Stuart-Fox, Martin. A Short History of China and Southeast Asia; Tribute,
Trade And Inflence, Crows Nest NSW Australia: Allen & Unwin, 2003.
Suryadinata, Leo. ed. Laksamana Cheng Ho dan Asia Tenggara (Admiral
Zheng He and Southeast Asia). Jakarta: Pustaka LP3ES, 2007.
Tan Ta Sen. Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute
of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009
ENDNOTES
1 See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He, and
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/cheng-ho and
http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b3zhenghe.
htm (accessed 5 June 2010).
2 See
http://www.china.org.cn/english/2005/Jul/134724.htm (accessed 6 June 2010).
3 Rosey Wang Ma quoted from an article by Hamka entitled “Zheng He”, Star
Weekly, Indonesia, 8 March 1961. In turn, Hamka’s article appears to
have been featured in a paper delivered by Kong Yuan Zhi at the Conference
to Commemorate Zheng He, Kun Ming 1992. (See <http://210.0.141.99/eng/
malaysia/ChineseMuslim_in_Malaysia.asp#Early presence of Chinese
Muslims – Zheng He, the Muslim Eunuch and Hamka>
Zheng He's Voyages Down the Western SeasApart from escorting the envoys of 16 countries home, Zheng He had the mission of visiting other countries in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. After settling sail from Sumatra, the fleet broke up into several routes. Written records show that Zheng He's fleet arrived at Juba of Somalia south of Mogadishu and Mombassa of Kenya. Zheng He's fleet returned in August 1422 while other branch fleets returned one after another. Some sub-fleets even reached the coasts of West Africa. In 1495, German cartographer Fra Mauro noted that Chinese once reached Good Hope(at the southern end of Africa in his world map). The inscription for the map say: "In about 1421, a Chinese sialing boat from India passed through the Good Hope to Green Islands and Black Ocean toward west, sailing about 2000 miles in 40 days. When they saw nothing but water the boats returned to the Cope of Good Hope after 70 days."
https://books.google.nl/books?id=QmpkR6 ... ca&f=falseFormer British submarine commander Gavin Menzies in his book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World claims that several parts of Zheng's fleet explored virtually the entire globe, discovering West Africa, North and South America, Greenland, Iceland, Antarctica and Australia before the voyages of Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbus. Menzies also claims that Zheng's wooden fleet passed through the Arctic Ocean. Menzies proposes that Zheng He’s voyages, records, and maps are the sources for some of the other Ancient world maps, which he claims depicted the Americas, Antarctica, and the tip of Africa before the official European discovery of these areas, and the drawings of the Fra Mauro map or the De Virga world map. However none of the citations in1421 are from Chinese sources and scholars in China do not share Menzies' assertions.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Zheng_HeIslam in Guinea2005 official statistics for Islam in Guinea estimate that
85% of Guinea's 7.8 million people are Muslim.
Islam in Equatorial GuineaAccording to the U.S. State Department International Religious Freedom Report 2006, practitioners of Islam comprised less than 1 percent of the population of Equatorial Guinea. Adherents.com, however, estimates that
Muslims make up anywhere from 1% to 25% of the population.
Guinea, is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea, it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres.
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country located in Central Africa, with an area of 28,000 square kilometres. Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name evokes its location near both the Equator and the Gulf of Guinea. Equatorial Guinea is the only sovereign African state in which Spanish is an official language. As of 2012, the country has a population of 1.6 million.
