Zheng He's Road

Author: Han Shengbao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Commemorating the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Oceans, the world-renowned great navigator who achieved the magnificent feat of seven voyages. Six hundred years ago, the great Chinese navigator Zheng He set sail from Liujiagang in Taicang, leading the world's largest and most advanced oceanic fleet on seven voyages to the Western Oceans, which lasted for twenty-eight years. He traveled through Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, reaching the Red Sea and the coast of Africa, visiting more than thirty countries and regions, creating a historic feat without precedent. In the "Stone Inscription of Tianfei Palace in Loudong Liujiagang for Maritime Trade," it is recorded that Zheng He's seven voyages all set sail from Taicang. Taicang was an important port for China's foreign exchanges during the era of Zheng He's voyages, playing an extremely important role in his maritime endeavors and experiencing a period of the most glorious history. It is understood that this year marks the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's seven voyages, and the Chinese government will hold a series of grand commemorative activities, while various colorful commemorative events will also be held around the world. Zheng He was not only one of the greatest navigators in the world but also an outstanding diplomat and military strategist. He was an envoy of Chinese civilization, an envoy of world peace, and an envoy of China's foreign economic, cultural, medical, and technological exchanges and dissemination. He is one of the most mysterious great figures in the world, with many mysteries still unsolved to this day. To commemorate the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Oceans, Xinhua News Agency sent a text journalist, Han Shengbao, and a photojournalist, Jiang Zhenjiang, with over a hundred exploration topics, to interview domestic and international experts and scholars on Zheng He's studies, visit Zheng He's relics, and reveal many little-known mysteries of Zheng He from political, military, navigational, economic, cultural, technological, diplomatic, and religious perspectives through text and images, promoting the great national spirit of Zheng He. After the reports from this exploration were published by Xinhua News Agency, they were widely reprinted by newspapers and many online media both at home and abroad, generating significant social impact. These reports were compiled into the book "The Road of Zheng He," which systematically records and explores the great historical event of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Oceans from multiple aspects, angles, levels, and perspectives, filling some gaps in Zheng He's studies, and is undoubtedly a book that blends journalistic and academic qualities.