Born c. 1371,
Kunyang, K’un-ming, China
Died c. 1433,
Calicut, India

When Cheng Ho (or Zheng He) was a young boy, he was made a servant of the Chinese emperor. He then rose to become an important military leader and admiral. Although his expeditions to Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and the east coast of Africa contributed significantly to Chinese knowledge of these areas, the government failed to recognize the advantages to be gained from this information. The history of the centuries that followed might have been different had the Chinese taken better advantage of the voyages of Cheng Ho.

Taken from home as a child

Cheng Ho was born into a Muslim family in the city of Kunyang in the K’un-ming province of southwestern China. When he was ten years old, the Muslims of K’un-ming rebelled against their Chinese rulers. The Chinese...