The Voyages of the Chinese Explorer Zheng He

Great Voyages: Travels, Triumphs, and Tragedies

at the Penn Museum

October 2, 2013

Adam Smith, Curator, Penn Museum Asian Section
"The Voyages of the Chinese Explorer Zheng He"

Zheng He, a Muslim-born eunuch, is the most famous of the men that led the spectacular maritime expeditions of the Ming Dynasty, mounted during the early 15th century as an assertion of China's power and prestige among neighboring peoples of Southeast Asia. Dr. Smith discusses Zheng He's seven voyages, which reached beyond Southeast Asia to India, the Middle East, and the east coast of Africa over three decades—half a century before Portuguese navigators reached these same regions via the Cape of Good Hope.