Zheng He's Floating City: When China Dominated the Oceans

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In our new animated historical documentary, we will talk about Zheng He and his Great Fleet of the Ming Dynasty, which traveled the Indian ocean, bringing the riches of China to the distant coasts, showing Empire’s might, conquering pirates and creating Kings. This Treasure Fleet entered the history symbolizing the decades China dominated the seas.
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The video was made by our friend Oğuz Tunç bit.ly/2H6oRjw while the script was researched and written by Leo Stone
This video was narrated by Officially Devin ( / @offydgg & / @gameworldnarratives )
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[@KingsandGenerals]

We are working on more videos. No stopping until all of history is covered. :-) You can help us by subscribing, sharing, liking. :-)

[@israelgallegos6810]

Love your work keep it up

[@VictoryStudios2012]

I sure hope you dont do one on ancient thailand or laos ;)

[@theotherside931]

*Pinned comment is 1 hour ago. Yet this video was uploaded now according to KZbin notification.*

[@chenhaowu6184]

Kings and Generals Amazing videos！Loves from China. One question tho, what happens next if all history was covered?

[@zecanas1]

Dont forget last month was the 500 aniversary of the start of the first circunnavigation.

[@AcZe1188]

Ming's so rich they decided to flex on the world by building one of the largest ships and fleet of the discovery era just to bring home souvenirs instead of colonizing.

[@nsebast]

Trading is Chinese culture

[@vapidrabbit198]

they were also building alliances... if the emperors had followed through, they could have ruled the southern hemisphere, and made bank on it...

[@mastermirror3888]

Back then Chinese people believed that China is the best place around the world and nowhere else was worth living in. And to some extent it was the truth at that time.

[@Das70954]

Well, you need to be industrialized for any colonization to be profitable.

[@pflernak]

Somehow missed the part where they intervened in local disputes and set their preferred candidates on the thrones.

[@aimanmarzuqi4804]

In Malaysia 🇲🇾 we call him “Laksamana Cheng Ho”. Laksamana in Malay means admiral. The site where he first docked at Malacca is now a major historical landmark in my country and also a powerful symbol of my country’s relationship with China.

[@aimanmarzuqi4804]

@@单向度人 Thanks and believe me you won't regret it.

[@TubersAndPotatoes]

Yet the Malaysian history books heavily downplayed the role of China in securing the establishment of the origins of the Malay Sultanate in Melaka, because many Malays in Malaysia don't like the Chinese. The progeny of Parameswara would continue to establish many of the other Sultanates in Peninsular Malaysia. Even legendary figures like Hang Tu Ah, Hang Je Bat, and Hang Li Poh are suspected to be Chinese. The peranakan Chinese in Melaka has been around for about as long as Parameswara's people brought in from Sumatra.

[@aimanmarzuqi4804]

@@TubersAndPotatoes From what I remember studying in high school in Malaysia, China's role was never downplayed. It was considered the main factor why the Majapahit Kingdom and Ayyuthaya kingdom couldn't really challenge Malacca at the Malacca strait. And I think its misleading to say that many Malays don't like the Chinese. Sure there are the vocal minority who like to use the Malaysian chinese as a type of Boogeyman to scare the Malays. However the Malays for the most part have a very complicated relationship and sentiment regarding the Malaysian Chinese. This complication stems from the issue of the Chinese not wanting to assimilate with the majority Malays. Of course I don't really have enough time to go over these issues in a youtube comment. Finally about Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat, I am so sick of listening to people saying they are Chinese. They are not, there is no evidence of them being Chinese other than their name sounding like Chinese. The name Hang is an honorific title given certain people of nobility. Coming from the Austronesian word "Sang", which is an archaic word for "the" While the name Tuah in Malay means "luck" while the name Jebat in Malay means "musk". Hang Li Po on the other hand really is Chinese. She is a Chinese Princess who, when married to the Sultan of Malacca was given the title of Hang.

[@nelsoncheng2674]

Dexter Marzookey China 🇹🇼 ❤️Malaysia 🇲🇾

[@aimanmarzuqi4804]

@@nelsoncheng2674 Haha, I get it bro 👍.

[@thienhaobui3978]

Population of London in 14th century: ~45,000 Zheng He's Floating City "population": ~27,000

[@Muralidharan001]

Black plague effect. Most people left for countryside and residing people 2/3 died.

[@averongodoffire8098]

Hoooolyyyy shit😧😦😦 that’s a lot of people on boats

[@vasileiospapazoglou2362]

@@averongodoffire8098 not rly just read how many Romans were in the first punic war.

[@ShangDiAboveGodhood]

Shang China's 武丁王 could amass an army of ~13,000 soldiers and send his favourite _wife_ 婦好王后 to lead them _all_ and _win._ 2637-2759 years before 鄭和.

[@Robert399]

It's certainly impressive but not unprecedented. e.g. in the First Punic War, the Romans and Carthaginians fielded fleets of at least that size (sometimes several at the same time), as did the Greeks and Persians in their wars.

[@dominicguye8058]

Last time I was this early, the Shang dynasty was being overthrown.

[@Liquidsback]

Now I can't back this up with Archaeological Evidence but I was so early the Xia Dynasty was around.

[@JonManProductions]

Aww dangit I came by when the Yellow River was being settled by people and the Mages used burned turtle shells as fortunes.

[@NodDisciple1]

Raijin: SHANG TSUNG!!! D-X< kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJLJmJp5d8SMrZo kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoXddmd-pdGNjLs

[@northman8845]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6jUo6WgbdqIo7M

[@alvintheng8501]

All the emperors LMAO in their coffin!

[@suriyanikkaran]

As a person from Kerala (Quilon specifically), we still use chinese jars, woks, nets and even have a place named the Chinese market (Chinnakada) 😇

[@acemiyamoto61]

Omg really 😮I spend a brief holiday in Kerala few years back,would have visited it if I had known.our travel guide took us to Jew island(or something I actually forget).Kerala is a cool place to visit 👍🏻

[@suriyanikkaran]

@@acemiyamoto61 😃 Kollam was also a Jewish settlement. We emigrated 1200 years ago, there's a lot of history in Kollam, the Portuguese inquisition, our old buildings and more! Do visit Kollam, Wayanad, Kozhikode etc if you visit again!

[@茜罗]

😲Indian?

[@monthycristo]

*Chinese makes ships*: We come to trade *Europeans makes ships*: It's free real estate

[@andrewmcgarrigle7615]

More fool china.

[@josephmcbloggs8447]

@Zu Who did this? Many natives of these countries wouldn't have their own languages in writing if it wasn't for Europeans. I don't know what you are talking about if anything we tried to examine them.

[@josephmcbloggs8447]

@Tong Su French don't boil dogs alive in hot oil or cats and bat's. Swiss like cheese not dogs.

[@reminorea8676]

@@josephmcbloggs8447 Literally everything you said is wrong. Pretty much ALL of the countries Zheng He went to is now Muslim. Coincidentally, ALL of them have some form of Arabic script (Kenyans, Malays, all the other Sultans and stuff ALL have arabic script. Zheng He is also Muslim. Also, swiss eat dogs.

[@fredtian5345]

​@@josephmcbloggs8447 don't u funking justify bloody colonizer🤮

[@abcdef27669]

Those voyages of Zheng He reminds me of the old Star Trek series: Traveling to several places and sometimes helping or fighting the natives, but never colonising those places.

[@davidsuda6110]

Funny you should mention that, classic Trek is partly inspired by the age of exploration in Europe. In fact the iconic line, " to boldly go is borrowed from there. I learned this on extra credits.

[@samladybird6834]

Star Trek series copycat Zheng He voyage ! Haha!

[@masterdeetectiv9520]

@@davidsuda6110 in the start even europe was about trading and not colonising. The portuguese mainly setup trade posts in asia since they couldnt invade the natives The americas were colonised since so many people there died to disease it was easy to invade

[@nsebast]

Anglo-Saxons = Not our motto. Our motto is colonize all and they should follow our way of life under us and never be our equals.

[@Chris-nk7mq]

They had no interest in those primitive's land, it was to secure the southern hemisphere without much military spending, and they succeeded in that. If they had interest in those lands they would've colonized it.

[@Dragons_Armory]

Random Factoid: Zheng He was not only very important to the overseas Chinese in South East Asia, but he was very instrumental in the early history of Malaysia as well. The city of Singapore (Singapura) was actually a refugee hold out from the once mighty kingdom of Srivijaya that sprawled all across the many islands across modern Malaysia and Indonesia. But by 1398 the kingdom was reduced by its arch-rival the Majapahit Empire to only a remnant inhabited by the refugee nobles from Srivijaya. When Majapahit finally destroyed Singapura, those who survived, including the king Parameswara founded the Sultanate of Malacca. At that time, it was still a vulnerable hold out surrounded by many powerful enemies. And that's why the King in 8:27 pledged vassalage to the Ming Emperor for direct protection. With this regional understanding they become virtually untoucheable and it was with this stability they were able to eventually become a strong regional power.

[@raeaugustus586]

I'm from Malaysia and I'm fascinated that you know so much of the history of Malacca and the neighboars such as srivijaya as well!!!

[@SupremelyFly]

This definitely sparks my interest. I'm gonna have to start doing more research into the region. It's an area I don't know much about.

[@northman8845]

Exactly, the great Explorer Zheng He. One of the greatest man in Chinese history.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6jUo6WgbdqIo7M

[@supertib1]

A fellow Malaysian as well. I'm surprised that they didn't mention this in our history books taught at schools .

[@esarossiarthato4271]

I'm Indonesian an i think in my country that called Sriwijaya from Palembang, Sumatra. And now it's become one of the professionals football club or Sriwijaya FC

[@mdmahbubulalam2170]

Being a bengali and muslim I couldnt help but be amazed by this story.....what a thrilling life he must have had.

[@LeoWarrior14]

Fun fact, in some southern Chinese Dialects, the word for "Giraffe" is still "Qilin"!

[@Shangwuning_Floating]

In Korean and Japanse, giraffe both originated from Qilin.

[@donaldlee8249]

Same in Japan

[@harryy33]

haha true, it is the case in Hokkienese. Not sure about Cantonese

[@LeoWarrior14]

@@harryy33 yep! My mom is Taiwanese, that's how I found out about this tidbit.

[@larsdelver385]

And in Japanese, it’s Kilin

[@TheSage9191]

Zheng He and the treasure fleets are one of my fav historical what if's and parts of history thank you guys for making this!

[@deathbyastonishment7930]

TÜRK what are you talking about? you buffoon

[@fatbadboy329]

@TÜRK Yea but Turkey is a rubbish country now compared to China. You are even Germany's bitch to this day but China is already squaring up with the US. Continue your dream but Turkey already became a failure as a country back in Ottoman. Poor Turks, sickman of Europe.

[@hwachahistorychannel1617]

I would really love to see a movie based on Zheng He's final voyage. The emotional aspect would be wonderful for Zheng He, after being denied any more voyages, is allowed to travel one last time and completes his life at sea.

[@williamkhoo4115]

There was a 59 episodes Chinese TV series in 2009 called Zheng He Xia Xi Yang if you're searching

[@mozambique9113]

Dang, completing life at the sea is the true sailor's way to go.

[@slyninja4444]

FACT: One Ming ship crashed on an Island on the swahili coast. The Chinese stayed there and intermarried with the locals. To this day, people on the island look half black half asian.

[@otgunz]

super cool fact! 👍

[@liam-ethanwallis4924]

Dakota Conn What's it called

[@williamgong2351]

Dakota Conn this doesn’t seem to be concrete, their isn’t any hard evidence yet, so you can’t call it a “fact”

[@slyninja4444]

@@williamgong2351 From what I saw in a documentary, archeologists did find a Chinese grave there, AND one of the part black, part asian women showed a family heirloom (chinese porcelain cup) to the archeologist to which he said that it does indeed look authentic...

[@henryettoit897]

@@williamgong2351 theres a interview with artifacts shown too kzbin.info/www/bejne/f36plo1sr82Ji6s

[@oohlala444]

Chen Zuyi: Man those massive treasure ships look like a great target to raid! Let's do it men. Zheng He and the Treasure Fleet: Imma end this man's whole career

[@randyalexander4820]

It's a she

[@eugeneng7064]

@@randyalexander4820 The famous female pirate only came into power in the late Qing, at least 300 years after Zheng He.

[@samuelwithers2221]

@@eugeneng7064 Cheng I Sao would come about later. She was still kick-ass though

[@rayray6490]

@@randyalexander4820 ...different person, different time

[@unifieddynasty]

The equivalent of a bandit trying to mug the player in any RPG. lol

[@sleepingdragon9664]

Hi guys, im from Indonesia, If u all want to see zheng he’s relics, come to Indonesia, precisely in Semarang on the island of Java, the name is Sampokong Temple, usually the local peoples call it like that.

[@jackconate9569]

I guess Sampokong means "三保公", one of the names of that man.

[@unholydanger]

Im from Singapore, we have a spot by the sea at Labrador's Park, called the Dragon Tooth Gate, where Zheng He landed from his ship. When i was 5 years old, my mother taught me that Zheng He was called "Sampokong" in Hokkien language.

[@兔子王-q5l]

@@unholydanger 郑和，小名三保太监

[@distortdude80]

Claim war has started

[@pemudaasiatimurraya2887]

Udahlah orang-orang Indonesia nggak usah ikut-ikutan, punya kelas dikit lah, biar orang-orang malay ama singapur ini aja yang komen-komen overproud pernah disinggahi laksamana cheng ho, kita orang Indonesia jangan ikutan norak kayak mereka

[@StaleBaguette]

Everybody gangster until the treasure fleet pull up

[@TraviansLittleHelpe]

Stale Baguette vikings stilll gangster cuz they know they gonna be rich soon

[@NyangisKhan]

@@TraviansLittleHelpe Yep! Rich with arrows and shipwreck. I don't see any other outcome against literal medieval era dreadnoughts protected by *professional soldiers.*

[@Overneed-Belkan-Witch]

*Britain Man O War has enter the Chat*

[@CrabTastingMan]

*Zheng He is actually Muslim of Central Asian blood, like Uighurs China is oppressing in concentration camps right now.* But modern artwork depict him with Chinese-washing. Zheng He's father is Ma Hazhi, 馬哈只, where "Ma" means Mohammed, and "Hazhi" is transliteration of "Hajj," a title for people who made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

[@gokhanbursa6227]

kl wies wow you really are under influence of a brainwashing campaign imposed by the despotic country’s you mentioned above.I felt pity for you

[@SteveL11]

Those Chinese writing @ 4:40 translate: I like big boats and I can not lie. My big boats bring all the treasure to the city.

[@Midnight_x_Sin]

Steve L I played total war: 3 kingdoms twice, I can confirm this.

[@Trgn]

Haha

[@yhong9733]

Now sing it Sir Mix-a-Lot

[@SteveL11]

@@quocvietophu1627 Hai` VCL

[@pinkmancn9985]

Lmao

[@萧萧-c8q]

Interesting point, giraffe in Japan and Korea is called kirin(qilin).

[@seadog1334]

萧萧 in Thailand it’s also refer in old literature as กิเลน (quilen) a sort of Asian unicorn.

[@bmona7550]

They're all affected by China duhh. Most Japanese and Koreans may deny it but history proves the Chinese built the foundation to these nations whether it be genetically or cultural

[@lolsmo395]

krillin confirmed a giraffe

[@arthas640]

@@bmona7550 Kind of like how most western countries are based heavily on greek and roman ideas/laws/languages most of Indochina and East Asia got alot of their laws/ideas/languages based on China's. This is partially due to cultural osmosis but also heavily because it was very fashionable for the wealthy to hire Chinese court officials, bureaucrats, and administrators both due to being fashionable/prestigious if you could get one and because they were often well trained.

[@sgcl10658]

@@bmona7550 A lot of Korean and Japanese words have Chinese origins. I know Nippon was named by a Chinese Empress.

[@mrblack888]

Europe: These treasure ships of our are making us rich China: These treasure ships of our are bleeding us dry

[@TheGetout04]

Cause China's aim was project Power while Spain, Portugal etc. wanted to extract riches (silver, slaves spices etc.) thus colonies

[@fludblud]

Blame the Aztecs and Incans for having such an obscene amount of gold to justify all dat colonisation.

[@Deadmangafan]

I read somewhere, that all the gold they took from South America actuallly caused the value of gold to drop significantly. Even think Spains economy crashed because of it at one point.

[@aronzimas5660]

@@Deadmangafan True, but the problem was more with silver than gold since only rich people could afford gold anyway. The treasures from the Americas completely tanked the markets. Spanish greed was legendary, and they tried to spend all that money at once without thinking of the long term effects. Whereas the British were creating communities and putting down roots, the Spanish were just there for the loot (and the French just stopped caring about their colonies lol). That looting mentality is still prevalent in Latin America to this day.

[@asasas9146]

@@Deadmangafan Actually i heard Spanish economy crashed some 3 times.

[@kyoshinronin]

I first learnt about Admiral Zheng He from Age of Empires 3

[@kyoshinronin]

@@单向度人 Yes! I remember those pirates talking about Zheng He's hidden treasure ship.

[@muhammadabdullahy9281]

In that game this admiral visit american continent

[@cseijifja]

@Aleksa Petrovic he made it to the aztec in the game man, the incas would have probably bought their ships and started a maritime age of their own.

[@Renwoxing13]

@@cseijifja bro the Inca were the most primitive of the big three empires of the Americas.《Maya, Aztec, and Incan》

[@TOTCTY]

Sadly, AOE 3 made Ming Dynasty warriors just the same to Qing's: long hairtail, and round hat.

[@ThinkerYT]

You imagine being a random dude on a beach watching this massive fleet come towards you. like damn.

[@otgunz]

😁

[@otgunz]

then a smaller vessel reaches the shore before you a Chinese diplomat jumps and asks in English "we are here for the giraffes where is the giraffe market sir?"

[@Dumb-Comment]

that's literally a city floating to you

[@benice6908]

Just to bring goods to trade and not to hurt you, you’ll be praying all day

[@kyledabearsfan]

It's a shame that a lot of language barriers have limited western knowledge of amazing people such as this. All the world should learn of the amazing feats of early history.

[@thedirty530]

This is by far one of the coolest stories I've ever heard!!

[@m4gn3tic82]

He went to Indonesia and has one of his ships settled in the rivers of Semarang.(Central Java) it’s still there

[@qs332]

@ You will sink easily

@@qs332 Poor little 50 cent army landlubber CCP propagandist. I sailed my little lifeboat sized sailboat across the Pacific Ocean via the South Pacific.

[@qs332]

@ We all know CIA slaves tell a lot of lies, but i believe you. Wish you sink soon.

[@p.p.2904]

​@ Poor little yankee army landlubber CIA propagandist. Good luck with your medical bill and student debt.

[@我-o3q]

@ poor CIA slaves licking the evil US gov's ass

[@danielcuevas3025]

I wish I was there to sail with the Treasure Fleet

[@jonyzeng2478]

yeah，that will be a wonderful trip

[@mozambique9113]

Maybe you all here did it in the past lives several incarnations ago.

[@Martijn_Steinpatz]

Imagine the Chinese would have continued with the fleet. How interesting the confrontation with Western explorers would have been.

[@saixiongsun4480]

the history continues today when chinese meet the western influences in africa and near east

[@madwolf0966]

Calvin Blue to think they were called Junks truly is ironic

[@peterpark8486]

that kinda led the western to trade with the far east through the sea. After 100 years of zheng ha, spain came to japan to trade through the same route.

[@hiyukelavie2396]

@@alexdunphy3716 Uhm I suggest you read up more about the interactions between Ming and the Portuguese The Portuguese were beaten so badly that it wasn't even funny

[@keny4281]

so true... honestly if it did happen i'd assume the Inca and Aztec will still be alive today... also it might saved Africa from centuries of plundering and slavery...

[@marykathleensapp6937]

Asia is so very rich in amazing history! Thank you for always providing quality and informative videos!

[@Phlegethon]

China goes to foreign lands with gigantic fleets of gifts. Europeans come with guns.

[@monk8864]

They knew that building relationships with other nations pays off for everyone, rather than dominating them and changing their culture. China has that mindset today too, building the infrastructure and friendships around the world, because they know both parties will benefit, especially China eventually.

[@jamesoleary2476]

monk china has been extremely imperialist for all history. Like they are to Tibetans and xuigurs today

[@hendrysugianto8012]

@@jamesoleary2476 really? they didnt conquer America and Australia though..

[@fabiolaiiludwigvonhoffenhe2264]

@@jamesoleary2476 What???? Tell me where are the native people in North America, South America and Australia now???????

[@zhouwu]

@@jamesoleary2476 Something completely unrelated. It's late and I'm tired, and I thought your name was OJ, but that was just because I was switching back to reading everything left to right instead of right to left. Ok, nevermind me. Carry on then. As you were.

[@InspectHistory]

Now that's what we call "Amazing Historical Content" :))

[@KingsandGenerals]

Thanks!

[@gregoriusgins9261]

AKA Laksamana Cheng Ho

[@InspectHistory]

@@KingsandGenerals Ur welcome dude

[@ahmadyounas7372]

@@KingsandGenerals please make more videos about saladin and Khalid bin Walid

[@robot2098]

@@InspectHistory nyasar lu min 🤣

[@devvv4616]

Damm, imagine being on this crew, you'd have so much adventure and stories to tell that people in your hometown could hardly imagine. Also, during these times, the muslims really were everywhere, pretty amazing. From the Arabs, Persians and the Central Asian Turkic-Mongol tribes, to the Chinese, to Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe if we include Andalus(Spain). I assume the Arabs had some form of connections to all these parts of the world

[@stephenlaw1910]

Devvv and they are great traders that travel across everywhere, according to Zheng he fleet history records.

[@ayoubwidadi2911]

@@stephenlaw1910 zheng he is muslim actually

[@mr.smiths220]

*Europeans* : Lets steal *China* : Lets trade

[@mr.smiths220]

Ooki Cooki Of course, all major empires of the time did those things (conquering). My comment was just making fun of the fact that the Chinese gave gold and riches to entice these “tributary” states, while the Europeans did a completely different tactic...to put it lightly.

[@birdyashiro1226]

British: let's sell them opium

[@javierperalta7648]

Europeans traded too lol. They'd do anything that could give them money

[@LNo-re7sk]

Dude literally raided part of Mongolia, kidnapped a man and chopped his cock off. Yeah he seems like a nice guy.

[@LNo-re7sk]

@张林 yeah compare all of European history with one guy. Of course he looks good by comparison. Let's forget Mao killed more people than hitler or Stalin. Why would China need to oppress people from other countries when they're so good at doing it to their own.

[@yokatta-f]

>When China dominated the oceans 2020: Oh sheet here we go again.

[@comradetiedanski6038]

@Miller Mayhem hmm, more like South Korea's and Japan's big daddy :P

[@erwingobig1954]

Western visit poor region: Attack, conquer the land, salve the people. Chinese visit poor region: Would you like our product? If you can not afford it, we will give some to you as a gift.

[@aaronmarsch2614]

Ever heard of an area called Tibet or Vietnam. Or how about the Austronesian people who were enslaved by the Chinese for millennium.

[@miguelpereira9859]

Survival of the fittest bitch

[@unknow7686]

@@aaronmarsch2614 ur idiot

[@John-doe955]

9:10

[@rhysstanley7387]

China now: Attack, conquer the land, salve the people.

[@grammarnazi1469]

Admiral Zheng: You don't have to have balls to be a man.

[@邓梓薇]

All you need is will and victory is yours!

[@btt8967]

Grammar Nazi it is unclear that he is lost her balls or penes(or both), so maybe he had her balls without penes...............

[@enenao]

Varys: You can do better than that.

[@sonnyg3282]

China never went to the Philippines

[@hikari9433]

@Mx Pathetic The admiral was an eunuch meaning his genitals were cut off.

[@HistorySkills]

This was awesome. I definitely need to learn more Chinese history. How many more are you going to do in this series?

[@KingsandGenerals]

Many? Few? Depending on how well this one will do :-)

[@InspectHistory]

Subscribe, Share, and support King and Generals in Patreon :) Then, we can see more Chinese History Content :D

[@lantinian]

Such a great video to start the day. I feel I have so much to talk about and share with my friends

[@KingsandGenerals]

Happy to hear that!

[@azamkhan1526]

17:28 Zheng He also went to Hajj in Makkah

[@slyninja4444]

Yes, as a Muslim, he needed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca...

[@johntan1064]

He never went, he was denied entry because of being an Eunuch but he sent someone to do haj and umrah for him.

[@alvintheng8501]

Azam Khan true. Whether he is being allow or denied at Makkah, still debatable because he is an eunuch

[@eliispion2763]

@Karl Scher are you ok

[@madaranotsoanonymousnowuch1539]

eliispion no he has a severe need of attention it seems

[@fakyu9346]

I live in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, u can see it on the map 5:43 And we have a mosque named after him. It doesn't look like average Indonesian mosque tho, it looks like a temple from outside because of the Chinese architecture. And we Indonesian called him "Laksamana Cheng Ho", admiral Cheng Ho.

[@otgunz]

thanks alot for sharing this. I enjoy puting city names and icons when I create maps for our videos. I feel like someone would feel happy when see his/her city name/location on the map. I feel that I belong to all those mystical, ancient, far away cities even though I never visited like Sumatra. Greetings and goodluck!

[@fakyu9346]

@@otgunz thank u. You did a great job, keep it up!

[@wise003090]

Interesting. Makes me want to visit Palembang

[@fakyu9346]

@@wise003090 unfortunately because of this pandemic, most of people have to stay at home, and Palembang is entering 2nd month of quarantine

[@TeamShibe]

Thank you for making this video, almost in tears. Several thousand years of Chinese history, self-bound to isolationism. So few such as Zheng He/Yongle/Ban Chao are willing to go beyond. Thank you K&G team!!!!!!

[@RayshiaRoman]

This Muslim admiral is really famous in Indonesia

[@suadrifkoplak]

Many Confucius temple and some mosque named from his name like Cheng Ho (Zheng He) mosque in Surabaya also Cheng Ho temple in Semarang

[@hadesolympus6069]

also in Melacca there is his statue

[@rezatravilla2893]

@@suadrifkoplak they even make the movie about Cheng Ho (Zheng He) with the former Law and Human Rights's minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra as the main role. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWeppZSgqsahm9E

[@mahirshahriyar545]

Tasin Al-Hassan assalamu alaikum brother. Thanks for the info.

[@suadrifkoplak]

@@tasinal-hassan8268 Zheng He fleet voyage was one of reason why Malay archipelago became more muslim beside Majapahit decline and Sufi saint and preacher from Yemen and Gujarat

[@Monochromicornicopia]

A Chinese colonial empire? Now THAT'S an interesting what-if scenario I would love to watch

[@wisdomleader85]

Geography determines destiny. That scenario is fun to think about, but that's it.

[@Monochromicornicopia]

@@wisdomleader85 Not geography - actually those who eventually gained power decided to become isolationist. If they had decided to continue exploring/spreading their influence it could have turned out very different.

[@wisdomleader85]

@@Monochromicornicopia As the video stated, the voyages were put to a halt due to economic reasons. Isolationism was merely an excuse. I mentioned geography because unlike China, many European countries became colonial powers due to their geographical conditions. Agriculture was difficult to develop in western Europe and wealth was generated through trading with the middle east before the age of discovery, so Europeans were pretty much forced to explore and expand, especially after the Ottomans rose and imposed heavy tariffs. Same problem didn't exist in China since two massive rivers and three rich plains ensured the prosperity of agriculture there, and the gigantic landmass of China was unified under one centralized regime at the time.

[@barbiquearea]

Except China was already extremely wealthy and powerful and hegemonic in its corner of the world. The Ming and later Qing didn't feel the need to expand their sphere of influence around the world like the fractious European powers did.

[@Monochromicornicopia]

@@wisdomleader85 Isolationism is the cause. As stated in the video, the funds that could have been put towards voyages were instead put toward building a giant wall.

[@kiryu2000]

More Chinese history please. I'm an American Chinese and I find this fascinating as hell. 谢谢你们！

[@tmmquovarius891]

watch the recent Chinese drama "The Imperial Age." Zheng He however was a very minor character and the fleet was not included until the end

[@KC-de1ds]

Such an amazing docummentary! Didn't occurred to me that Zheng He was such a pivotal figure in southeast asia. It was said that the fleet was used to search the missing Emperor Jian Wen during the civil war to avoid future claims to the throne. A minor info that is inaccurate is the civil war embroiled the Ming realms was between Hong Wu's grandson and zhu di, Hong Wu's forth son.

[@fsdds1488]

Fun fact: Zheng He expedition is funded by the remains of Yuan treasury, as the mongols doesnt have to maintain the great wall and the border defense, they could save a lot in their coffers.

[@lucisleesion8824]

Fake Fact, sorry

[@fsdds1488]

@@lucisleesion8824“国初，府库充溢，三宝郑太监下西洋，赍银七百余万，费十载，尚剩百万余归。盖乘元人所藏。而元时不备边，故其充溢至此。” Translation: Coffers were full at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, while Zheng He's ten year voyage cost about 7 million silvers, the budget surplus was around 1 million when he returned. That is because the voyage was funded by the wealth in the treasury of Yuan Dynasty. As there are no border defense in Yuan Dynasty, the coffer were flooded with money like this. 王士性《廣誌繹》卷一

[@MrLi-fd4hs]

@@aaronlimeuchin7352 It depends on the degree of damage to the economy caused by the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, China had a population of nearly 200 million. It was the largest economy in the world at that time and was fully capable of building such a huge fleet. In addition, the Ming Dynasty was one of the golden periods in Chinese history, but the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty were stronger than the Ming Dynasty.

[@fsdds1488]

@@aaronlimeuchin7352 Actually the voyage is possibly an attempt to nationalise maritime trade. But the thing is, what Zheng He brought back belongs to the royal treasure, not the coffers, thus the government was in deficit while the royal family were profiting.

[@MrLi-fd4hs]

@@aaronlimeuchin7352 Yeah, agree with your point of view.

[@YeeeeGreg]

This channel never ceases to amaze me. Every single video is just so interesting, and I am grateful that a channel such as this exists. Excellent job as always!

[@KingsandGenerals]

Thanks!

[@d.r.sdimas7442]

"China Rules the wave" British: Angry noises

[@birdyashiro1226]

D.M.S_Craft XX lol

[@josephmcbloggs8447]

Silence or we will conquer China again - Britain

[@Munahang]

Joseph Mc Bloggs lol 😂 good joke come and try we have no problem kicking your ass

[@liltigris4335]

@@josephmcbloggs8447 lol there's no "again" coz you guys never did it for once, unless you say the fishmen's island in Hong Kong is "conquer china" lol

[@Clee-os6pv]

+@@josephmcbloggs8447 : The British never conquered China. Hong Kong was stolen small land and given back to China.

[@Hape1112]

In Indonesia Cengho commander is very famous for many historical relics and travel traces spread from Java to Sumatra. many temples and mosques are called Cengho

[@damionag]

There is no way I could be loyal and fight for a guy that forcibly castrated me

[@teevee3647]

There more to life then sex and jerking off.

[@tastydragon7651]

Zhenghe is only loyal to emperor Yongle, and Zheng was castrated by another emperor many years ago when emperor Yongle was just a kid.

[@unifieddynasty]

Well, I mean, the price of dick is $20k according to Hasan Minhaj, so maybe Zheng He got paid. 😃

[@damionag]

@@tastydragon7651 Zhu Dhi was 11 years older than Zheng He. So yea still having problems fighting and being loyal to the guy I was sent to serve after being castrated by his dad

[@damionag]

@@odenat3701 Yea I know many people were willing to castrate themselves to get work inside the palaces and eunuchs were generally considered more trustworthy and given high ranking positions because they couldn't seize power and set up their own dynasty.

[@fatmanyevo6235]

Is he bird? Is he plane? No He's floating city: When China dominated the oceans

[@Gojoseon]

Amazing story about one of the most epic time periods in Chinese history. Loved the ink drawings and watercolor too.

[@teytreet7358]

Wow, that's one hell of an adventurer.

[@davidbocquelet-dbodesign]

Great work ! I'm following you channel since a while and the quality is always top-notch... Glad you also covers non-military historical subjects. Zheng He history (which is revived now by China) always seemed fascinating to me and the treasure boats are mindboggling behemoth yet conventionally built very old junks. They were also called Baochuan. The fleet indeed consisted in more than 200 junks of all sizes, ranging from the giant junk-admiral to 62 more conventional boats, down to the smallest auxiliaries. The fleet included a very hierarchical set of 2 great commanders, 93 naval commanders, the equivalent of generals, 140 millerions and 406 centurions for 26,800 soldiers and 868 civilian officers, a finance reporter, a geographer, an instructor and two military judges, 180 medical officers and their assistants, while Zheng He himself (which was an imperial eunuch, trusted for this expedition) was assisted by 2 ordinances, 7 ambassadors, 10 young eunuchs, 53 chambellans. These treasure ships, according to the Chinese texts which reported the size of their dock, were junks, so flat-bottom ships of 130 to 150 meters long for 40 to 60 m of wide, estimated about 1500 to 2500 tons, with a crew of 1000 men and about 100 merchants and their families housed in the apartments of these ships with up to 6 decks. This has to be compared with the Santa Maria of Cristobal Colomb, almost a century later. The Baochuan was also given nine masts, on which were mounted up to 30 battened sails. Dimensions that are questionable for wooden vessels, but it must be said that the very special technique of the Chinese, far ahead of Europe at the time on flat-bottomed ships, allowed a great rigidity, authorizing of such dimensions. Each of these giant junks had 16 to 30 huge cannons in order to impress the locals.

[@cbrtdgh4210]

I went to see a replica of one of the ships in Nanjing. Nanjing is definitely worth a visit for all the history there! It also has the Ming emperor tombs.

[@georgevlavianos1401]

Maybe that's why the Japanese massacred and destroyed Nanjing, to erase this memorable history.

[@cbrtdgh4210]

@@georgevlavianos1401 I don't think they destroyed much physical property. All the Republican era buildings still stand like Sun's mausoleum and the presidential palace, along with the ancient history.

[@georgevlavianos1401]

@@cbrtdgh4210 Oh, so it was just a good ol' plain massacre. Thanks for the info!

[@apinl8844]

@@georgevlavianos1401 They massacred the city because at that time, Nanjing was the capital of China and Japan thought China would surrender its entire country if its capital fell. Surprisingly, China just moved to another capital and did not surrender the entire country.

[@georgevlavianos1401]

@@apinl8844 I know the history. Still nothing excuses what Japan did to China.

[@Chinaman508]

I hope one day they make an epic movie to cover just one of his voyages. It would be awesome!

[@gokhanbursa6227]

Best video so far this is why I love this channel they talk about history’s most exquisite topics I really really appriciate your efforts.

[@otgunz]

Thanks for watching! İzlediğiniz için teşekkürler!

[@danielconde13]

Very interesting! As a Portuguese it's impressive to see these exploits, so related in a way to subsequent Portuguese endeavours through the Indian Ocean. This was decades before Bartolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope (previously known as Cabo das Tormentas (Storms Cape), and renamed by Dias as Cabo da Boa Esperança (Cape of Good Hope)), and Vasco da Gama reached Calecut, opening the doors to the impressive achievements of viceroys Francisco de Almeida and Afonso de Albuquerque, who managed to found an empire from Ormuz to Malaca, and finally reaching China itself, securing Macau. Reason enough to think "what if...", right?

[@GokulKrishnaB]

I am from the city of Quilon (Kollam) mentioned in the video and Calicut (Kozhikode) and Cochin (Kochi) once a Ming Protectorate is close by. All three cities are part of Kerala State and people here have long forgotten the trade links with China. Calicut is mostly remembered today as the first indian port Vasco Da Gama landed.

[@liubalthsar9820]

Some documents show that both Zheng He and his father have accomplished Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. An almost impossible deed to Chinese at that time due to distance and laws&regulation. But there was also evidence pointing out that Zheng’s visit on Mecca was abuse of official power to his own means. Well, the historians still have this debate as we speak, while this trip to Mecca was officially pointed or just for his(and some of his crews’) purpose. But the result justified the means Edited to correct typos

[@kimothyhimmler3921]

Give that guy a break, they even chopped his balls lol

[@alvintheng8501]

There are no specific law or regulation for people of different faith. If visiting Mecca was abuse of official power, how about hundreds of mosque he commence to build? He went for a total of 8-9 voyage back and forth. There will be no subsequent voyage if he abuse his power to build mosque

[@liubalthsar9820]

@@alvintheng8501 This would requires a lot to explain in Chinese arts of courts. Zheng could easily build mosques as long as he put Emperor as No.1 contributor or even described Yongle as one of Sayyid reigning in China.(in China even till this day some imams in Islam Umam will describe Mao as one of new prophets sent by Allah, which CCP, by their Atheism nature, would respectfully deny....) In his report saying that he has build shrine spreading his majesty's name. Which can be beneficial to everyone.

[@Aeybiseediy]

In malaysia, he is called as Laksamana Cheng Ho

[@ANTSEMUT1]

And every city or big town in Malaysia has at least one building or road named after him.

[@HomemdaFaina]

Some amazing effort went into this. Thank you.

[@KingsandGenerals]

Thanks for watching!

[@pw11S46]

In his seventh voyage he finally made it to Mecca and performed pilgrimage as a Muslim. He died on his way back.

[@stephenlee3911]

Nonsense

[@Gongolongo]

His fifth sixth and seventh voyages went very far reaching Western Africa. Mecca was likely the third or fourth voyage.

[@dabo5078]

@@stephenlee3911 Fairly likely. It’s not like Mecca is in the America’s and Zheng he is a Muslim after all.

[@abumuhaiminul9818]

@@stephenlee3911 but why are you using bad language? Are you idiot?

[@enlg3750]

To reach Mecca was also his private initiative in the voyages. His father used to sail before the downfall of the Yuan dynasty, and told him of the holy land of their faith. Zhen He have had desires of going to Mecca since he was young.

[@brightonbegole5459]

I’ve been looking for a clear, definitive history of Zheng He. Thank you for this.

[@nikitaostrovsky8416]

Ming was SO close to being the only Asian colonial Empire!

[@HakenRider]

Japan had a colonial empire, though be it with only colonies in Asia itself.

[@fernandopineda993]

Probably

[@rickr9435]

well, colonialism was not a thing to the han chinese emperors. they gave more than what they took from other nations. not so sure about the manchu chinese emperors though.

[@TerryKayic]

​@Hernando Malinche Manchuria was the base of the Jurchen People (Qing) as they pushed out other nomadic tribes. They conquered Ming when the dynasty was embroiled in civil war. Southern China was annexed before the establishment of Han Dynasty so I wouldn't call it colonization.

[@cbrtdgh4210]

Not close at all, since the motivations were never there to create one in the first place.

[@theobenzmiller5522]

Really cool seeing you take on a new concept. I'd love to see more naval-focused videos.

[@marsillinkow]

You guys were just waiting for Total War 3 Kingdoms to come out before making these right?

[@ahamedihamiyun5927]

The game hasn't came out ?

[@aliehsan8738]

What? I thought it was out ages ago

[@Croydondebruyne]

It’s been out for a few months

[@abdurrahmanf.a.5624]

i wish they make another medieval total war, for me it's the best set for this type of game

[@崔莱]

This is how I feel international interactions are supposed to go: I give you something nice, and you give me something nice, and we become friends. How nice. Also I JUST realized how appropriate it is that Zheng He happened to be Muslim and a lot of the places he visited were under Islamic influence.

[@AnonozChong]

Melaka didnt become islamic until decades later

[@williamyao5317]

Ming felt like the whole world was paying tribute to it, however, it was actually paying tribute to the entire world. Exactly how Xi dada is dealing with third world countries nowadays.

[@崔莱]

@@williamyao5317 Yes and pigs fly across huge rainbows carrying goblins with purple horns. See it's easy to just say things without evidence.

[@williamyao5317]

@@崔莱 lmao

[@崔莱]

@@Aaron_1428 Well, parts of India, but other than that you're completely correct I believe!

[@adidonujoysautudina2925]

Zhu yuanzhang(first ming ruler) was a self made emperor as a young boy he was just a poor peasant to become the Son of Heaven Incredible!

[@S3Cs4uN8]

That's pretty awesome.

[@上下左右-k7k]

That's due to the special situation. The dynasty before ming dynasty is a dynasty ruled by mongolian which is considered as barbarians in most of Han chinese opinions. Therefore, there are a lot of han chinese rebels rised during that dynasty which give zhu yuanzhang a chance to be the rebel leader. It is true that zhu yuanzhang's experience is a miracle since he was just a peasant boy but end as an emperor. But this all depends on the situation that the current emperor is not accepted by the most of chinese. If the former dynasty is an ordinary dynasty ruled by han chinese he won't be that lucky and the best result for him is to be a famous general...

[@goldenginger257]

there are many comics and novel about him rising to the throne...mostly fantasy martial art sction..but it is fun .. especially made by jade comics

[@PeakAtU2]

Liu Bang(first han emperor), a gangster, now thats made.

[@liaoh1661]

@@PeakAtU2 刘邦是一个小官吧，他称自己是氓流也只是谦虚而已。

[@OceanHedgehog]

I really appreciate that your channel covers history outside of Europe!

[@KingsandGenerals]

Thanks for watching!

[@Indrakusuma_a]

Been loving History for a long time since school times. Visuals beautifully done and great narratives. You guys get a new subscriber here. Such behemoth fleets will easily put everyone in awe even in our time. Imagine the people who gazed those tremendous ships during their time. It's just truly unbelievable. One little fun fact. The tallest Zheng He statue in the world is located in Semarang, Indonesia, inside Sam Po Kong temple complex. It's a 12 metres tall statue made of bronze. I can't really confirm this since there's nothing mentioning this with a short search from Google, but that's what the local news said.

[@rockerdrake]

The contents, presentation, figures, narration of this video have reached excellency. My utmost respect and aknowledgment to the authors. - V. From Alicante, Spain.

[@KingsandGenerals]

Thanks for watching!

[@robertmiller9735]

Behold: the Ming Apollo program.

[@somalienterprise]

East Asian languages still use the Somali word 'Girin' for Giraffe, 600 years later. Fascinating!

[@huanhuang311]

Maybe not. Qilin (or kirin) is some kind of sacred animal in Chinese legends and has some similarities with a Giraffe (though no one has seen one).

[@AJamieSaris]

A great video on this underappreciated period in global history. If the Treasure Fleets had gone on a few more years, they would have certainly encountered the Portuguese, who were groping their way down the west coast of Africa from the beginning of the 15thC. One can only imagine the scale of the shock to those European sailors, proud of the recent advances they had made in ship-building and nautical knowledge, seeing the advanced engineering and the sheer scale of Chinese superiority. A little deflection in the timeline, and one could easily have seen a fleet of Chinese ships in Lisbon and Europe's "Age of Discovery" would've looked very different indeed.

[@arashnozarinejad9915]

I was a bit hesitant at first by the title of the video since I'd never heard of anything like this but my god what an incredibly interesting video, gonna have to research more. thanks K&G

[@iwasapirateonce1639]

Naval historians think that the largest treasure ships were more likely around ~85m long maximum. This is due to how wooden ships begin to warp drastically when on the open sea when their length is 75m or greater. They were probably still the largest ships of their time, it's just that the ~120m monster ships were likely only designed for river journeys.

[@monk8864]

Naval historians, meet the pyramid experts of today, who still have no idea how they were built with primitive technology of that day. (not the aliens nonsense) They just had some smart people back then, so no matter what the present experts say with all of the science, many times we're just proven wrong.

[@zeno_2688]

​@@alexdunphy3716 no.we dont .with the same condition and limitation we wont be able to do it nor know the ways

[@naruteoh123]

@@alexdunphy3716 Structural design wise yes. But with the tools from that time? Sorry, we don't know how they build the pyramids without using any heavy lifting equipment from this era.

[@tyrionstark380]

What a great Admiral.Rules sea with peace ,just going war when it's needed.

[@mozambique9113]

And completed his life in the sea. Thats way for a great sailor's throughout history.

[@lerneanlion]

Can you do a video about Bao Zheng, the Chinese official who served the government with honesty and has incorruptible personality?

[@vguyver2]

I second that.

[@蛙岛小泰迪]

s b

[@johnyricco1220]

Some scholars say Sinbad the Sailor was an Arabic legend inspired by Zheng He, who’s title was “Sanbao”, or Three Jewels. Sinbad’s stories first appeared in the 17th century and tells of his 7 voyages, just like the real Zheng He led 7 voyages.

[@anggastapratama2370]

We Indonesian still respect chengho till this day.. You can find a mosque with Chinese architecture influence with his name or statue of chengho

[@koootoshidayo]

Zheng He, an eunuch, warrior, and hero of SE Asia from China Still, there's racism toward chinese peoples in Indonesia and Malaysia that were influenced by Zheng He. Either by culture, technology, and islamic faith in asia

[@ikapuchino]

Maybe because Chinese here not Muslim and looking down on Malay people..

[@TheExtraterrestrial99]

Don't know about others, but Malaysia, those politician love to use and implemented racism to the people, dividing it's people by race, allowing them to receive support from their own race since they are bigger group in Malaysia. Racism is used as a political move.

[@RezaOLine]

today chinese is not the same chinese.. im talking about communism here..

[@lionsdontreplytodogs8415]

haha zeng he was muslim

[@alejandrovaldez6458]

This guy was a badass. Thank you guys for putting this info in such a consumable way

[@silentkiller421]

i am from sri lanka .... chong ho has placed a stone inscription in the place that he first docked in to the island ...the tribute that he brought to the island has offered to a temple in that area...and he has come back and has brought our army commander to china

[@legpol]

kawishka subod : A book written by Zheng He's interpreter Ma Huan said : when Zheng He visited Sri Lanka (古里國 ), a stone was placed in your country. The inscription reads:：「去中國十萬餘里，民物咸若，熙皞同風，刻石於茲，永示萬世。」Did you mean this stone? Did you see the stone in person? If not, then the thing might all be a hoax. You see, Zheng He was reported to come to your country with a huge fleet of 317 huge ships, each measuring about 140 meters long x 50 meters wide. Such a huge armada must have been seen by your local people, government officials, and your king, etc. And some records should have been written down by a lot of witnesses. This naval fleet visited Sri Lank not once, not twice, but 7 times. A lot of Sri Lankans must have seen them. Did any of you people see the fleet?

[@silentkiller421]

@@legpol sorry for being so late. When Chong ho docked in to our country no one cared him that made him very angry so he offered all the tribute brought with him to a temple. Theres a rock inscription in a city called galle in southern sri lanka it was put there by Chong Ho it tells what happened. And yes i think Mahavamsa also mentions abt him.

[@youtianz8764]

@@legpol Sad for u Ignoring real history but believing some false propaganda

[@legpol]

@@silentkiller421 : I also say sorry to you for being so late. The rock inscription you named was not the rock I named for 古里国。Yours was a different rock "reportedly" given to a Buddhist tempe in the city of Galle in southern Sri Lanka, as you quoted. If the "report" is true, the rock must have been kept in the Buddhist temple ever since Chong Ho's visit 600 years ago. But why it only appeared in the year of 1911, 500 years after Chong Ho. Do you know why? The year 1911 means Chong Ho never gave any rock to anybody. It could have been done by some Chinese immigrants to fool Sri Lankan people.

[@legpol]

@@youtianz8764 : Please point out the propaganda part of my post. Also please point out the real history of Zheng He. I believe I am able to show that the whole Zheng He story is not history at all. I am glad to meet you.

[@Dragons_Armory]

Thank you guys so much for this vid, Really dig the artstyles and the time you guys spent to give context to the whole era. Over all, this is a good coverage and I am glad it made people aware of Zheng's voyages. I always imagined him like Ming's version of Jean Luc Picard. Such fuels for imagination. Thank you so much for covering this, and please be encouraged to do more vids like this in the future. You guys rock! 💖ヾ(≧▽≦*)o Two quick nitpicks, at 1:48 the map of Ming is a bit small for the size achieved by the Hongwu Emperor. Hongwu campaigned vigorously in the north and had stretched Ming dominions far into what is Liaoning and Manchuria (NE China) and also part of modern Mongolia.A more accurate map of the period denoting early Ming is actually already within this video itself: on 10:55 that map is very good 👍 Another quick note is that Hongwu's succeeding Emperor was not his son, but his young grandson (the son of his dead 1st born son) - Hongwu effectively bypassed his large group of sons and passed the throne to an inexperienced but promising teenager. Because of this, the royal uncles: especially the dangerous uncle Zhu Di (the future Yongle Emperor) got into a civil war with the young 2nd Emperor and usurped him. Interesting to note is that because of the Neo- Confucian morality of East Asian societies, Yongle's usurpation could never be totally justified in the eyes of the surrounding East Asian kingdoms who mostly shared the same Neo- Confucian attitude, that's why in order to overcompensate he ordered Zheng He to awe the leaders of the rest of the world to flex and boost his prestige to fresh eyes. 👍

[@Dragons_Armory]

@not fan yr mom is a middle aged man (￣y▽,￣)╭

[@ZhangtheGreat]

I'm so glad that Zheng He has been getting more and more recognition for what he and his crew accomplished in recent years. I think it's completely unfair to claim his voyages are insignificant because they didn't lead to the "discovery" of new lands before the Ming shut the voyages down, because this man was the true pioneer of the Age of Exploration. He was first to set sail during that era, he commanded the largest crew and armada by far, and he established a sea network of contacts around an entire ocean unmatched at that time. The Ming may have tried to erase his legacy after his death, but he's well-remembered in many of the lands his crew visited.

[@陈陳-t5c]

Zheng He was a Muslim. There were many people in the Ming court who believed in this religion. At the same time, the emperor’s best friend was a Buddhist. China has always been a country with a very open religion. This Buddhist was called Yao Guangxiao, and it was he who prompted Zhu Di to send troops to usurp the throne.

[@王家瑞少-t8r]

China's fleet arrived in Africa hundreds of years before the European fleet, but hardly turned a black man into a slave！

[@winniekuma4542]

昆仑奴也有，还有得了吧，明朝海禁，如果没海禁说不得也搞黑奴贸易去了

[@在下-n1g]

@@winniekuma4542 昆仑奴是阿拉伯带到唐的，并不是唐去奴役黑人，概念完全不一样。

[@yw6676]

熊维尼 黑奴贸易是要劳动力 明朝缺劳动力？缺的是倾销的市场

[@3rdPlanetFromTheSun]

One minor error 2:03 - emperor Hongwu passed the throne directly to his grandson after the crown prince died. Yongle was Hongwu's fourth son. He wasn't happy with his father decision and thought he should be the heir instead. He later waged a war against his nephew and won.

[@IncoherentSchizo]

Devin is such a great narrator

[@Noacuracy]

an incredibally well researched and fair video. Great job!

[@jannusetan8306]

The ming are the first country to use musket and grenade

[@xenotypos]

According to wiki, the Musket (and its ancestor the Arquebus) both were invented in Europe. You probably refers to the handcannon, invented in China, which was totally different and had other military uses (the handcannon was more like a big shotgun, not something you used for distant targets).

[@Azamat421]

@@xenotypos bullshit

[@zer0nix]

@Xaris Xeros it wasn't laziness but a poisonous fear of rebellion that suppressed many innovations in China. If you can call that laziness, I might agree with you, but that would be the laziness of the authoritarian regime rather than of the Chinese people. Countless Chinese have literally been executed explicitly for inventing improvements to art, science and technology, because, as Confucius recommends, "simple art and simple technology creates simple minds that are easier to control." I won't make a comment on the current regime in China but you can draw your own conclusions there. As the guy above me noted, innovations happen during wartime because suddenly they stop being a destabilizing threat and become a necessity, if for nothing else then to show off and win a war in the mind before the first shot is fired.

[@Daily_Wisdom24]

رحمه الله واسكنه فسيح جناته May allah have mercy on him and placed him into his paradise

[@Daily_Wisdom24]

@@davidcabreonmunoz6258 The Aramaic word for "God" in the language of Assyrian Christians is ʼĔlāhā, or Alaha. Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God". The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for "God" than "Allah".

[@Daily_Wisdom24]

@@monk8864 Yes, so violent that he killed millions of Native Americans and imposed his violent religion on the whole continent.

[@hwasiaqhan8923]

Actually in the Book of Ming(official Ming dynasty history), Zheng he wasn’t a Muslim but a Buddhist. Later during Qing dynasty, hui(Muslim) people fabricated many “evidence” such as a fake grave tomb of Zheng he to claim he was a Muslim. In fact, many noble Han Chinese during Ming dynasty was claimed to be hui by the hui people, and they were so frustrated so they went to the courts to seek help and to prove they are Han not hui.

[@wanderingwonderer5442]

Fuck off racist prick!!!

[@dans1466]

Considering the fact that "Hui" Muslims were promoted by "Yuan" Mogol rulers, to watch and suppress local Chinese. Those "Han" Chinese nobles were likely true Muslims, they declare to be "Han" Chinese just want to avoid being punished by the new "Ming" dynasty.

[@上下左右-k7k]

@@dans1466 well after the establishment of ming dynasty, the old nobles in china are all erased no matter what nation he come from. That's why a lot of chinese scholars think ming cut the heritage of chinese noble history. The ming emperor abandoned all nobles existed in china and give their lands to his soilders and generals, most of them are all pure han chinese. Zhenghe's father is a muslim noble during former dynasty, the reason he become a enunch is due to his father's rebel and excution. The only noble in china survived is the offspring of Confucious.

[@uniquesensitivesnowflake7366]

They traveled back and forth without a loss of any ship. Thats amazing for there time.

[@subliminal-tone]

There is an error in the narration. Emperor HongWu passed his throne to his grandson not his son. Prince Zhu Di was Emperor HongWu's fourth son who overthrew his nephew Emperor Jianwen. Zhu Di became the third emperor, Emperor Yong Le of the Ming dynasty.

[@angelopueyygarcia43]

“Fine Arabic horses” Camels. Nice

[@thehunter5311]

Don't you know that the best breed of horses is arabic you ignorant?

[@ExcelonTheFourthAvalonHeirs]

@@thehunter5311 Persian horse still the best. Well, Arabian horse are not that bad, but still!!!

[@angelopueyygarcia43]

@@thehunter5311 11:21 I'm talking about the graphics they use in describing "Arabic horses." Do you see the camels? Hmm?

[@sgt.krakatoa1093]

Antarctic Horses forever!!

[@Jose-xh5qb]

@@thehunter5311 Thoroughbreds are actually the best as they are a mix of Arabian and European horses.

[@philiptan2051]

Zheng he is still worshiped in temples bearing his name in Malacca and the biggest mosque in Surabaya on Java island of Indonesia is still standing to commemorate Zheng he’s visit to the island during the time of the kingdom of Modjopahit in the 15th century. A very interesting museum with his big statue and many artifacts is in Malacca, Malaysia. The relationship between the kingdom of Malacca and the Ming dynasty was very close as the king Mansour shah was married to a Ming princess who brought 800 of her maids to Malacca. A palace bearing her name is still standing in the old town of Malacca.

[@darthmortus5702]

The issue with China is that they were for a long time so big and so indisputably the center of the world, or the Middle Kingdom as they put it, that they invariably grew complacent and isolationist because nothing could rival them. By the time Europeans started showing up a lot and rude awakenings like the Opium Wars happened they were already heavily on the back foot and it took them 200 years to sort themselves out and to bounce back. The so called Two Centuries of Humiliation, which is why the Chinese are still somewhat angry at the West.

[@MB-vm1fu]

It is called the Century of humiliation. Also it took them 150 years not 200 years.

[@darthmortus5702]

@@MB-vm1fu I have heard both, century and two. Likewise for Japan's lost decade, sometimes they say two decades.

[@aredtomato8957]

And today 2022 China is coming back. People tend to say China is rising but to me more like a comeback. They are making a huge comeback. Back to their golden age.

[@ultimate-voyage]

This has to be the best video of the subject. Thank you for making it. We are developing a board game based on Zheng He's final voyage and find this very informational.

[@legpol]

I believe the Zheng He voyages is not history. It is a novel because today we don't see his ships, his writings, his correspondence, documents he signed with his host countries, etc. What we saw were monuments built by his believers.

[@ultimate-voyage]

@@legpol ​​⁠there are at least 3 books written by the crews of Zheng He, , numerous mentioning of his encounters from sources in India to Africa, archeological evidences from ship building docks to artifacts, as well as detailed maps and charts of each of the seven voyages.

[@legpol]

@@ultimate-voyage : Please name the names of the books and their authors. I shall read them if they were available online.

[@独孤白亭]

​@@legpolThis is indeed history.

[@legpol]

@@独孤白亭 : No, this Zheng He story is not history. It is a novel mistaken for history.

[@deadfichboat]

The rare stories like this makes one proud of what humanity can acomplish when working togheter for something grand.