China has never produced giraffes since ancient times. Six hundred years ago, Zheng He went to the Western Ocean in the Ming Dynasty, with a history as far away as Africa. It is said that the reason for running so far is to look for the auspicious animal "Kirin" in China.
In the 12th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 14 14), on September 20th, Zheng He brought a giraffe back to Min Yang as a tribute to the new king Saifuddin of Bangra (now Bangladesh), which made the Ming Dynasty stunned the whole country.
Because the giraffe's appearance and habits are too consistent with the Kirin described in China's ancient books, after further understanding, it is found that the giraffe's origin is in East Africa, and the local Somali language calls it "Jiri", which is very similar to the pronunciation of Kirin, which makes China people believe that the giraffe is Kirin.
So Zheng He's fleet sailed to West Asia for the fourth time, bypassed the Arabian Peninsula, made its maiden voyage to East Africa, and arrived at the giraffe's hometown in the 13th year of Yongle.
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Zheng He was born in Hongwu, Ming Dynasty, a Hui nationality. He was a famous navigator, diplomat and martial artist in ancient China. At the age of ten, he was taken to Ming camp and castrated as a eunuch. In the second year of Yongle, Ming Taizu gave Ma Nanjing a royal letter named Zheng, renamed He, and served as a eunuch in the imperial palace, ranking second only to Si.
1June, 405, Ming ordered Zheng He to lead a fleet to the Western Ocean. At that time, people's "western ocean" only referred to the sea area and coastal areas west of the South China Sea. Zheng He's fleet, consisting of 27,800 men, set sail south.
During his first voyage, Zheng He went to many places, including Zhancheng, Java, Wine Port, Sumatra, Malacca, Guri and Ceylon. Wherever he went, he first expressed his friendship and submitted a letter from Ming Chengzu, giving him gold and silver treasures, so he was warmly welcomed by other countries.
In the process of carrying out the task, everything went smoothly, but when I returned home through the old port, I met a group of robbers headed by Chen Zuyi. Drooling over the treasure on Zheng He's boat, he planned to pretend to meet him, but caught off guard and began to rob him. But I didn't expect Zheng He to be well prepared. It is conceivable that Chen Zuyi suffered a fiasco. And obediently became a prisoner and returned to China.
After returning to Beijing, Ming Chengzu hosted a banquet for envoys from various countries and accepted gifts. He was glad that Zheng He didn't go to China for nothing. Later, Ming Chengzu confirmed that Emperor Wen Jian was dead, and there was no need to look for him again, but he still felt it was important to go to sea.
During the nearly 30 years from 1405 to 1433, Zheng He went to sea seven times, covering more than 30 countries along the Indian Ocean and reaching as far as Africa (now Mogadishu, Somalia).
Baidu Encyclopedia-Zheng He's Journey to the West